Born To Win Podcast - With Ronald L. Dart

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It is hard to think of a family situation worse than one created by a man named Amnon, the son of David. It was event of sexual violence, ultimately leading to bloodshed. But considering what David had done with Bathsheba, and the wretched example it set, it is just as hard to think this event was not connected, somehow. But there is a lesson or two to be learned here.The first is that the biblical account says that Amnon loved Tamar—his half-sister. I’m afraid the Bible here uses the word love in broadest possible sense. Because his behavior in this case was nothing at all like true love. He was a completely self-centered, self-indulgent, weak young man—spoiled rotten, no doubt, as is too often the case with royalty—and he had the presumption of royalty, perverted by his father’s own example. I can’t help pondering what young people can learn from this incident.Under a pretext, Amnon managed to get the girl alone. The ensuing dialogue showed that she did not consider him r

It is always painful to see a good man fall. And in the affair of David and Bathsheba, that is pretty much what happened. It happened to a good woman at the same time. Who knows, maybe this was somewhere in the back of King Solomon’s mind when he wrote:Dead flies cause the ointment of the perfumer to send forth a foul odor: so does a little folly to him that is respected for wisdom and honor.Ecclesiastes 10:1 KJ2000And he had a classic example in his own mother and father. This affair is loaded with lessons to be learned and questions to be answered. Someone said, Power corrupts. At the time this happened, David was at the peak of his power, his influence, and his popularity. There seems to be a sense of invincibility that comes over powerful men at times. They come to think they are above the law—that they can get away with things ordinary men can’t. After all, they are not ordinary.But in David’s case, this is singularly stupid. He had a covey of wives. And if they had not been enoug

And it came to pass after this, that the king of the children of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his stead. Then said David, I will show kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness unto me. And David sent to comfort him by the hand of his servants for his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the children of Ammon.2 Samuel 10:1–2 KJ2000Here is the picture: the king of Ammon dies and David sends mourners on a state visit, for a state funeral. Unfortunately, the king’s son was an idiot. Israel had good relations with Ammon up to this point, but this young man and his companions decided to exert themselves. Normally, the servants of David would have diplomatic immunity (just as in the modern world). But when they arrived:3 [T]he princes of the children of Ammon said unto Hanun their lord, Think you that David does honor your father, that he has sent comforters unto you? Has not David rather sent his servants unto you, to search the city, and to spy

It isn’t always easy to understand why God does some of the things he does. It isn’t always certain, even, that God does everything attributed to him. In our generation, for example, we use the expression, an act of God, for all kinds of things I really don’t think God is directly involved in. An earthquake, for example—insurance people would call that an act of God. And in the broad sense that God is creator of all things, and therefore everything that happens in nature is an act of God, even when God is not the proximate cause of the event, I guess we could call it that. In other words, a great tsunami is a result of the properties of matter. Since God created the matter, I guess we could say that the tsunami is an act of God…but it’s not a deliberate attack on some group of people. So an act of God can be an idiom, not a literal attribution.There was an incident early in the reign of David where I can’t help wondering exactly what it was that went wrong. I’m

When I study the prophets, I am looking for God. I’m not looking for an outline of what’s going to happen tomorrow or the events of the next few years. What I want to know is: What does God have to say, what does it mean, and how might it affect my life? Because God doesn’t change, if God came down on an ancient people because they behaved a certain way, I figure if I behave the same way that same God is liable to come down on me.God doesn’t often speak to man, and when he does it pays to listen very carefully. And just because events were long ago doesn’t mean you and I can afford to ignore them. Now, I can throw out all the old clichés about history repeating itself, but in truth it comes down to this one simple fact: human nature doesn’t change and neither does God. If God has responded to human actions in the past, he is likely to respond the same way in the future. Which is why he said this to Isaiah:Produce your case, says the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons, sa

It is fascinating, when you’re reading history, to see how much people are the same—in every age and every time. Cultures change, standards change, technology changes, but human nature—at its base—changes very little, if at all. Petty politics, palace intrigue, deal making, trivial and great jealousies: They make us feel right at home even in strange times and places. It is one of the reasons Shakespeare remains so relevant. His plots have been stolen over and over again by playwrights and movie-makers. (When Solomon said, There is nothing new under the sun, he could have been talking about Hollywood.) For all I know, Shakespeare stole some of his stuff from the Bible.But when you read along in the history of Israel, you feel right at home, even in these days of modern, political assassination. When Saul died in battle against the Philistines, anyone reading the story, or even remotely familiar with subsequent history, would have assumed that David would have assumed the throne over al

War makes strange bedfellows sometimes. It’s possible that David might well have been an ally of the Philistines when they went to war against Israel and Saul. It’s hard to imagine David at war with Israel, but it was on its way to happening…except for one thing—the lords of the Philistines didn’t trust him and wouldn’t bring him into combat. After all, David had killed more than a few Philistines in his time, and they just didn’t much like the man. But bad things were going on while David was gone.He had been given a town called Ziklag, where all his camp followers were. When David’s men returned after their exclusion from the Philistine war party, they found that the Amalekites—those dread Amalekites that should have been killed off a long time ago, but weren’t—had come to Ziklag before them.And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Zik

The long pursuit of David by King Saul, would make for a great movie. It has all the elements. Danger, treachery, romance, suspense, the chase. And the characters are all fascinating and any actor would love the roles. There was King Saul, who was a depressive paranoid, and yet a big handsome fellow; David, of course, red-headed, small, good looking, and very well built; Abigail, the intelligent, beautiful woman who became his second wife; Nabal, her brutish husband who died; Doeg the snitch; the Ziphites who ratted David out to Saul…twice.No producer could ask for a better story. And there is more to come. I feel quite sure the story has been transposed into other times, places and characters, because it is so human. It was not easy for David to stay hidden from Saul, because every time he showed himself anywhere, and he had to do so to get supplies, he was seen by a friend or an enemy. Not very many were neutral, and even without cell phones, word traveled fast. And so the Ziphites ratted David out t

And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi. Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men on the rocks of the wild goats. And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave.1 Samuel 24:1–3 AKJVAs Saul approached the cave:[…T]he men of David said to him, Behold the day of which the Lord said to you, Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as it shall seem good to you. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe privately.1 Samuel 24:4 AKJVDavid could easily have struck Saul down at that moment. But he simply cut of the hem of Saul’s robe.And it came to pass afterward, that David’s heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt. And he said to his men, The Lord forbid that

After the win over Goliath, David went on to show himself a true fighting man. He apparently fought without fear, believing with all his heart that he was in the right and that God would fight alongside him. He chalked up some great victories, and the people loved him and honored him to such an extent that it generated great jealousy on the part of King Saul. Saul had promised his daughter’s hand to the man who slew Goliath. Knowing this, wheels began to turn in the king’s mind, that he might find a way he might be rid of David.And Michal Saul’s daughter loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Therefore Saul said to David a second time, you shall this day be my son-in-law. And Saul commanded his servants, saying, Talk with David secretly, and say, Behold, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you: now therefore be the king’s s

One of the truly great ironies of the Bible followed on the heels of the failure of Israel’s first king: Saul, the son of Kish. From the moment of Saul’s rejection by God and the anointing of David as King in his place, the Spirit of God departed from Saul and went to David. The result for Saul was tragic. Because in the beginning, God gave him every chance. He had all the physical assets of a king and, in addition, God gave Saul his spirit and changed him into another man. He was converted. Then, when he disobeyed, he lost it all. Samuel told him flatly:And Samuel said, has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.1 Samuel 15:22–23 KJ2000Later, When Samuel was sent to find another k

The first king of Israel was exactly what the people envisioned for a king—tall, handsome, athletic. And God gave him the gifts he would need as king. He had a chance to become great and to have his dynasty established forever. It was a real chance, too—not something extended and then taken away. But it was as true then as it is today that power corrupts, and early on Saul displayed an impulsiveness and a headstrong approach that nearly led him to kill his own son.The first thing he did wrong was to assume the office of priest when Samuel was later than Saul thought he ought to be. And then (trying to be religious, I suppose) on the day of a major battle with the Philistines, he commanded that everyone fast. His son did not hear his father’s command and ate some honey. Only then did someone tell him what his father had commanded.Then answered one of the people, and said, your father strictly charged the people with an oath, saying, Cursed be the man that eats any food this day. And the peopl

The decision by Israel to change their government from a theocracy to a monarchy was a disastrous decision. It was surely not God’s will for them, because they had lived in freedom for so long. But freedom includes heavy burdens for a people, and they just got tired. Sadly, I see signs of the same fatigue among our own people today. But the fact that the decision was not God’s will for them, he cannot be accused of giving them an inferior king.The kings in those days had to lead people into battle, and the first king of Israel was well endowed for that. He was head and shoulders taller than any other man. He was handsome and possessed of the necessary charisma to lead. He was humble—that is to say, he was little in his own eyes. And God changed him into another man by filling him with the Spirit. It was not long before Saul’s leadership and his resolve were tested. Terrorism is not new to the Middle East, and what is threatened here is terrorism of the worst sort.1 Then Nahash the Ammo

Freedom is a terrible burden to bear, and it is a sad fact of life that men are all too willing to lay down that burden in the name of security or some other combination of social goods that are promised by political leaders. We need to think about this, because the result of laying down the burden of freedom is the laying down of freedom itself.One of the times of the greatest freedom a people could ever have enjoyed was the period of time described in the Bible in the Book of Judges. It was a stormy time, and Israel was terrorized by the enemies from time to time. It happened to them when they let down on the most fundamental principles of divine law, an essential to any free people. They lived under a true theocracy. That is to say, God was their only king. Problem was, God was out of sight for the most part and they were free to do as they pleased. Which is all well and good as long as you are the doer. It is not so good when you are the one being done to.In the course of time, the Israelites got weary of

If you saw the movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark, you will have been introduced to the idea that the Ark of God is a source of great power. Power that could be used, theoretically, as a weapon of war. Anyone remotely familiar with the Bible should know that while the Ark had great symbolic power, and was an object of great holiness, whatever power that was there was not mindless. It was the power of God, and God was highly unlikely to use that power in the projects and wars of the murdering band of thugs we call the Third Reich.Nevertheless, the scene in the movie where the Ark is opened and men look into it is a riveting piece of movie-making—and it is not entirely without Biblical foundation. There was an occasion where 50 men died because they looked into the Ark. It was this idea of the ark as a source of power that led the men of Israel to carry it into battle with them, and that myth was demolished when the Philistines not only whipped their army, they captured the ark itself.Now to the Philistines,

There aren’t very many things you can do that are worse than making people dread the worship of God. I know, you can kill people, you can maim them, you can cut off their heads. All these things and a lot more have been done to Christians in history. But when you begin to undermine the joy of worship, when you take away the comfort that people feel in coming to appear before God and walking through the prescribed ceremonies, you take the first steps in destroying the relationship with God.And this is singularly cruel, because it is that blessed hope in God that gives life meaning. When you destroy the relationship with God, you take away the meaning of a man’s life. This happens in many ways, and it has happened all too often in the history of the faith. And it isn’t the outsiders who are the greatest danger. Sometimes the greatest danger can come from those who are supposed to be the custodians of the faith.Such were two men named Hophni and Phineas, priests at the Tabernacle of God who the

It has been said repeatedly that those who cannot learn the lesson of history are condemned to repeat it. I can only conclude that not many people believe that statement, because so few have any interest whatsoever in history. Eyes glaze over when it is mentioned. You may even have started to reach for the button on your radio when I mentioned it. But if you are still listening, consider this: It is entirely the fault of your teachers that you never acquired a taste for history. I will confess that I came to my interest in history late in life. I blame my teachers for that. History is a set of fascinating stories, and who doesn’t like a good story? And more than that. These excellent stories go a long way toward explaining what’s going on around us.Great leaders always are students of history. If they weren’t they would find themselves utterly lost in understanding the world around them. They are able to lead people because they understand what is happening, and their decisions are based on

The earth was not made to last forever. All of us know that our sun will burn out one of these days and, if you look a little further into it, you’ll know that what happens when the sun burns out is that it gets a whole lot bigger. In fact, the size of the sun will actually reach beyond earth’s orbit. But the earth is getting warmer now because the sun is getting hotter. I didn’t really know that. I thought the sun was in a state of equilibrium, but apparently not. Recently I happened to be watching a documentary titled Hyperspace which included a fascinating segment on the end of life on earth. This was not a Biblical apocalyptic thing. It was a graphic explanation of the facts of the solar system.The earth appears to rotate around the sun in a kind of green belt. The graphic on the screen showed a belt area some distance from the sun, in which life, like ours, is possible. We wobble back and forth a bit over long time periods, but we stay within the narrow range of that distance which allo

There is something that is puzzling me about our society. Maybe you have the answer. When the time comes to execute a murderer, and all the television crews are out filming the demonstrators, interviewing talking heads for and against the death penalty, why is it that they hardly ever tell us in any detail what the murderer did? And, during election years, why is the execution of a criminal so much more important in a state where the governor is running for president? Why is the governor of a state more important than the victims of the criminal rampage. It is incredible to me how some people can muster so much sympathy for the murderer and forget altogether the victim and his family.Don’t get me wrong. It is a terrible thing to take anyone’s life. I cannot conceive of anyone taking pleasure in the execution of a killer. God certainly doesn’t. He spoke to Ezekiel:Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us