South End
Church of Christ

4001 Taylor Blvd
Louisville, KY 40215

 

Respect the Pattern
Aaron Erhardt

The Lord has always dealt with mankind in patterns. For instance, Noah was given a pattern for the ark. It was to be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. It had to be made of gopher wood with three stories and a single door on the side. There were to be rooms and a roof with a window, and it had to be covered inside and out with pitch. Similarly, patterns were given for the tabernacle and the temple.

 Since God used patterns throughout the Old Testament, it should not surprise us that there is a pattern for the church in the New Testament. The pattern details its work, worship, organization, and plan of salvation. Though some scoff at the idea of “pattern-keeping,” it is imperative that members of the Lord’s church recognize and comply with the divine model. As God said to Moses, “See that you make everything according to the pattern…” (Hebrews 8:5).

 Examples

There are many biblical examples that demonstrate the importance of complying with the divine pattern. Even those who were highly favored by God had to do exactly what He said to do or suffer rejection. Let’s just consider some of these examples, knowing that they were recorded “for our learning” (Romans 15:4).

Lot’s Wife. After the men of Sodom tried to sexually assault two angels who were in human form, Lot was told that God would destroy the city and was urged to escape with his family. They were commanded, “Do not look back…lest you be swept away” (Genesis 19:17). As the family fled, God rained down sulfur and fire on the city and it was consumed. Sadly, however, Lot’s wife looked back and immediately became a pillar of salt.

Though she had left the city, was better than her neighbors, and was married to a “righteous man” (2 Peter 2:8), Lot’s wife was not excused for her disobedience. She did what God said not to do. Jesus later recalled this incident in Luke 17:32, when He said, “Remember Lot’s wife.” An ESV study note at that place says, “Her death is an example of divine judgment that comes quickly on those who do not wholeheartedly obey the Lord’s commands.”

Moses. Near the end of the wilderness journey, the people of Israel found themselves in need of water and complained to Moses and Aaron. The two men then went to the entrance of the tent of meeting and heard from the Lord. He told Moses to assemble the congregation before the rock and speak to it with his rod in hand. Then water would come forth for the people to drink.

 Moses gathered the people before the rock, but he acted presumptuously by assuming credit for himself and Aaron (“shall we bring water for you”). He also struck the rock twice rather than just speaking to it as commanded. He spoke rashly with his lips (Psalms 106:33) and smote defiantly with his rod. Therefore, he was not allowed to enter the Promised Land.  

Though God had told Moses to strike the rock on a different occasion (Exodus 17:6), and one can imagine how easy it would be to speak out of turn having to deal with the continual grumbling of the Israelites, that did not excuse his disobedience, which God considered unbelief (Numbers 20:12).

Uzzah. As the ark was being moved from one place to another, the procession made its way to Nachon’s threshing floor when the oxen stumbled and the ark shook. Uzzah, who was standing nearby, reached out his hand to steady the ark and was immediately struck dead. God “smote him there for his error” (2 Samuel 6:7, KJV).

Though he may have been acting by mere instinct at that moment and with the best of intentions, Uzzah was punished for not following God’s instructions. He had no right to touch the holy thing (Numbers 4:15).

Uzzah was not the only one who failed to follow God’s instructions that day. David and the people had acted presumptuously by transporting the ark on a new cart. They imitated the Philistine procedure of moving the ark rather than the divine procedure, which required the Levites to carry the ark on their shoulders using poles. As David later realized, “…the Lord our God broke out against us, because we did not seek him according to the rule” (1 Chronicles 15:13).

While the intentions of David and the people were appropriate and commendable (moving the ark from the house of Abinadab to Jerusalem), that did not excuse their disobedience. Nor did the end justify the means.

“It is frequently said that the end justifies the means, but it did not in this case. What matter is it, some of this generation say, if the money has been obtained in ways that are not commendable, just so it is used for the poor or the preaching of the word? Does it matter how or by whom the gospel is preached, if the evangelization of the nations is the purpose? Does it make any difference what is done in worship, if it is all intended for the glory of God? All who speak after this fashion should remember that David could have asked, ‘What difference does it make how we move the ark, just so we bring it to Jerusalem?’ with as much show of reason as they. It is never right to set aside God’s way of doing things for man’s way” (B. C. Goodpasture, David and His New Cart, article).

King Saul. The Lord had not forgotten the past transgressions of the Amalekites and commanded King Saul to attack them. He said, “Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey” (1 Samuel 15:3). However, rather than utterly destroying everything, Saul spared the king and the best booty.

When Samuel confronted Saul for his disobedience, the king said that things were spared for sacrifice to the Lord. Though his intentions may have been good, that did not excuse his disobedience. He was rejected as king and soon lost his throne.

This was not Saul’s first act of disobedience. In 1 Samuel 11, he went up to Gilgal ahead of Samuel and offered a burnt offering to God after being told to wait for the prophet. That misstep resulted in the rejection of his dynasty while this one resulted in his personal rejection.

Whereas Saul thought that partial obedience was equal to full obedience (“I have performed the commandment of the Lord”), God considered partial obedience to be no obedience at all.

Young Prophet. After Jeroboam erected golden calves in Dan and Bethel, a young prophet was sent to prophesy against the king and his altar. God gave the young prophet specific instructions. He said, “You shall neither eat bread nor drink water nor return by the way that you came” (1 Kings 13:9). He then went and prophesied as he was commanded.

When the young prophet performed a sign to confirm his word before the king, Jeroboam was impressed and invited the young prophet to his house for dinner. However, he declined the invitation based on the divine instructions he had received. He told the king that he was not to eat bread, drink water, nor return the way he came. The young prophet then started home in a different direction.

An older prophet in the area heard about the young prophet and pursued after him. When he caught up to the young prophet, he invited him to dinner. Like before, the young prophet declined the invitation citing the divine instructions he had received. The old prophet, however, lied to the young prophet by saying that an angel of the Lord had given him new instructions. Sadly, the young prophet was deceived and did what God said not to do.

Though he had boldly confronted King Jeroboam, had started home in a different direction, and was lied to by the old prophet, that did not excuse his disobedience. As he went back, the young prophet was killed by a lion.  

King Uzziah. Uzziah ascended to the throne when he was sixteen, and reigned for 52 years in Jerusalem. Much of his reign was characterized by great success because he sought the Lord. However, he eventually grew proud and fell from grace.

Uzziah presumptuously entered the temple to burn incense. When he was opposed by Azariah and eighty priests, who told him that he was acting lawlessly, he became angry with them. His response was one of utter defiance. Then God smote him with leprosy and he dwelled in a separate house until his death.

The Jewish historian Josephus described the confrontation between the priests and Uzziah as follows:

“And when they cried out, that he must go out of the temple, and not transgress against God, he was wroth at them, and threatened to kill them, unless they would hold their peace. In the meantime, a great earthquake shook the ground, and a rent was made in the temple, and the bright rays of the sun shone through it, and fell upon the king’s face, insomuch that the leprosy seized upon him immediately” (Josephus, The Works of Josephus, b. 9, c. 10, p. 260-261).

Though the king had found favor in the sight of God many times before, that did not excuse his disobedience. He had no right to invade the priest’s office. Uzziah will forever be remembered as Proverbs 16:18 personified: “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

Lesson

Each of these stories emphasize that obedience is not optional. If we are going to please God, we must comply with the divine pattern. Yet, one can surely hear the groans of many religious folks in protest, who say of Lot’s wife, “She did what God said to do by fleeing from the city, and who wouldn’t look back as fire fell from heaven? It was just a glance.” And of Moses, “All he did was misspeak and hit the rock. The punishment doesn’t fit the crime.” And of Uzzah, “He was merely trying to keep the ark from falling. His good-intentioned touch should be excused.” And of Saul, “He utterly destroyed most of the Amalekites and the rest was for sacrifice. He was doing it for the Lord.” And of the young prophet, “He did what he was told until the old prophet deceived him. The lion killed the wrong man. The young prophet is innocent.” And of Uzziah, “It’s not like he was trying to burn incense to some pagan god. So what if he invaded the priest’s office? They should have just let him worship.” When will we ever learn?

 


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