Faith, Entropy, and You
1 Samuel 14:1-13
The Second Law of Thermodynamics states: “All matter works towards greater disorder-not greater order.” Meaning: A system left to itself will over the course of time deteriorate unless an outside force is exerted upon that system thereby regaining some form of order. Case in Point: (Photos) House, Car, Tractor, Barn, Body etc. Any system left to itself will over the course of time deteriorate unless there is an outside force exerted upon that system, which brings about some form of order. This is called Entropy. Let’s look at this from a Biblical standpoint. If you could compare Entropy with one act in the Bible, what would you equate it with? (Photo of Adam and Eve) “For in the day that you eat thereof…You shall surely (?) DIE!” Mankind when left to themselves tend towards greater disorder rather than order. And that ONE ACT of disobedience…Began the process of deterioration. A deterioration that affected everything on planet earth. From man, to plant, to animal, and on down the line. No matter how wise mankind may think himself to be, we are completely helpless to stop the results of the fall. Our bodies are deteriorating. And unless we ACT upon them with proper diet and exercise and rest…They will fail us sooner than we would like for them to. Stop eating and you will eventually die. Stop walking and you will eventually lose muscle tone in your legs and without proper therapy you’ll lose the ability to walk. Any system left to itself…Tends towards greater disorder rather than order. We are living in a world that is moving more and more towards greater disorder! Left to itself…There would be nothing to stop the process. And yet just as sure as Adam and Eve disobeyed God, God promised a Savior. A FORCE…Acting outside of the system working to bring about order. Without that OUTSIDE FORCE working on our behalf…You and I would be hopeless! Because in and of ourselves there is nothing we can physically DO to stop the deterioration. But now, I want you to notice something about this outside force. The Outside Force (God)…Restores order to the SPIRIT, He does not restore order to the FLESH! Christians continue to age. Christians continue to die. Entropy will ultimately run its course on the body. We can maintain our physical bodies for only so long. Ultimately they will fail us and we will die. God performs a work on the heart! A work that if He did not perform we would have absolutely no means of recourse. We cannot exert an outside force on our soul. Only God can do that! However before that act can take place you and I have a part to play. See it’s not enough to know that there’s a cure if we aren’t willing to take the medicine. Two aspirin may make your headache go away but they can’t help you sitting inside the bottle. You have to TAKE them internally before you can feel their effect. In like manner simply knowing that a cure exists for your soul does you no good if you aren’t first willing to take the cure internally! Head knowledge of God will not save your soul. You and I need Heart Knowledge! Heart Knowledge means coming to the point in my life where I realize that I don’t have all the answers AND that I am helpless to do anything about the condition my heart and mind are in. Heart Knowledge means arriving at the conclusion that left to myself I can do nothing to FIX the situation I’m in. “My life is only getting more and more out of control and I don’t seem to be able to DO anything about it.” “I need something outside of myself to change me from the inside out.” Having reached that point it then becomes my responsibility to find and digest the cure. S (Satan) + S (Sin) = E (Entropy). Entropy left to itself produces D (Destruction). I need something to change the equation. Because unless there’s an outside force this equation will remain unchanged.
And there is nothing I can do about it myself. (Results are always the same.)
Remember what the Lord said to Cain BEFORE he killed his brother Abel?
“If you do well, you will be accepted. And if you don’t do well (or what’s right), sin lies at the door.” What had taken place for sin to lie at the door? Mom and Dad partaking of the forbidden fruit! That act opened the door for sin to become a universal cancer. Entropy! Satan + Sin = Destruction! What happened to Cain after he killed his brother? His life was never the same. He became an outcast.
Whatever future he may have had was destroyed the moment he took his brother’s life. Nothing Cain could have said or done would have changed his situation. There weren’t enough “good works” to perform. Didn’t matter how many little old ladies he helped across the street. Didn’t matter how much time he spent volunteering down at the homeless shelter. Didn’t matter how much community service he performed. There was nothing Cain could do to reverse the effects of the equation. The only thing that could have changed Cain’s future
was an outside force acting upon his life in a positive manner. You and I are in that exact same boat. We need to find something that can ACT upon us, that has the ability to change the equation. So where do we turn? Where do we turn to find such a force as that? And when we find that force how do we receive it?
To answer those questions I want us to very briefly look at the lives of two men. In fact two men who were father and son. The father’s name was Saul. Saul was the first king of Israel. An appointment given to Saul because Israel just had to have a king. They had been without formal government for a long time and those pesky Philistines just wouldn’t leave them alone. So they begged Samuel (the religious leader of the day) to find them a king. Saul is made king over Israel.
The Bible says this in…
1 Sam 13:1-5
1 Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel,
2 Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in mount Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent.
3 And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear.
4 And all Israel heard say that Saul had smitten a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel also was had in abomination with the Philistines. And the people were called together after Saul to Gilgal.
5 And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Beth-aven.
KJV
Saul believed that he had been placed where he was for this reason. To rid Israel of any threat by the Philistines. Needless to say the Second Law of Thermodynamics was well at work in Israel. Sin had led to destruction time and time again in the book of Judges until finally Saul is chosen king. Within two years of his kingship Saul is determined to led the Philistines know who he was.
So he gets 3000 men together has some amount of success in one confrontation but then as quickly as the success came it disappeared. Because compared to Israel’s 3000 men the Philistines had 30,000 chariots 6000 horsemen and as many warriors as the sand along the seashore. Quite an impressive show of defense. And what does the Bible say Israel did when the Philistines took this stand?
1 Sam 13:6-8
6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people were distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits.
7 And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.
8 And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.
KJV
When the Philistines rose up and took a stand Israel fell apart. Now granted having such a large fighting force had something to do with Israel’s fear. But there was another reason. We’re told that reason starting in verse 19…
1 Sam 13:19-22
19 Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears:
20 But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter (plow), and his axe, and his mattock.
21 Yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to sharpen the goads.
22 So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan: but with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found.
KJV
There were only 2 swords in Israel and Saul and Jonathan had them! So here are 3000 fighting men with no swords lined up against an untold number of Philistines who have all sorts of weapons at their disposal. Is it any wonder why Israel crawled under the rocks and tried to hide? Here is a system that being left to itself is only getting worse! Because rather than following the proper channels of the time and seeking God’s advice through Samuel the Priest Saul takes it upon himself to offer some sacrifices to God. Here again is where you’ll be extremely glad you went through the Leviticus Series. Because only the Priest could intercede on behalf of Israel to God. This is Israel’s very first king ASSUMING that he had the right to do what God said only the Priest could.
Here again we’re shown deterioration and disorder. Saul trying to do for himself and Israel what he did not have the ability to do. What did Saul’s act earn him?
1 Sam 13:13-14
13 And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel forever.
14 But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee.
KJV
Who is Samuel referring to in these verses? David! Saul’s attempt at solving the equation his way cost him his throne. Eventually we find Saul left with an army of 600 men and everyone else hiding under the rocks and trees. That brings us to the second individual we need to discuss…That is Saul’s son Jonathan. While Saul is camped out under a tree with 600 men who don’t know what to do, Jonathan reaches the conclusion that he needs to be doing something as well.
So we read this…
1 Sam 14:1-2
1 Now it came to pass upon a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bare his armour (remember one sword), Come, and let us go over to the Philistines' garrison, that is on the other side. But he told not his father (in fact…Dad is about an hour away).
2 And Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron: and the people that were with him were about six hundred men;
KJV
Word reaches Jonathan about his father and Israel’s predicament. There are only two swords in the whole of Israel all but 600 men have fled for their lives Saul has acted in haste causing him to eventually lose his throne and the Philistines have grown so large that they seem unbeatable. If a system is left to itself disorder and deterioration occur. So what does Jonathan do? What is Jonathan’s plan for breaking the equation? He goes and gets his armour bearer and says…“Let’s cross over the enemy line and visit the Philistine outpost.”
1 Sam 14:4-7
4 Between the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistines' garrison, there was a sharp rock on one side and a sharp rock on the other side. And the name of one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.
5 The front of one faced northward opposite Michmash, and the other southward opposite Gibeah.
6 Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, "Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will work for us. For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few."
7 So his armorbearer said to him, "Do all that is in your heart. Go then; here I am with you, according to your heart."
NKJV
Jonathan calls his armour bearer and says…“Here’s the plan. Everybody else in Israel is hiding under a rock or in a cave.Dad is an hour’s walk away. You and me are going to get up and walk over to the Philistines outpost. It MAY BE that God will intercede on our behalf.” Does this sound like a plan to you? “It MAY BE?” Jonathan knows that something needs to be done. Dad’s plan failed. And yet the Philistines are the enemy. Rather than sitting back and waiting for the hand to appear out of thin air and write on the wall, Jonathan decides that some action is better than inaction. How many times have we as Christians been guilty of sitting back waiting on a sign from God? Meanwhile the enemy is out gaining more and more of our territory! Instead of trying to solve the world’s problems in our own strength perhaps what we need to do is GET UP and place our faith in God! Jonathan’s armour bearer says…“Man that sounds good to me. What are we waiting on?” Then Jonathan reveals the rest of the plan.
1 Sam 14:8-10
8 Then Jonathan said, "Very well, let us cross over to these men, and we will show ourselves to them.
9 If they say thus to us, 'Wait until we come to you,' then we will stand still in our place and not go up to them.
10 But if they say thus, 'Come up to us,' then we will go up. For the Lord has delivered them into our hand, and this will be a sign to us."
NKJV
“Ok. So the plan is we’re going to cross over into enemy territory and stand there and see how they respond to us.” Right about here is where you start to think
that the Second Law of Thermodynamics is about to blow this plan sky-high. As disorganized as it sounds surely no good could come from it.
1 Sam 14:11-12
11 So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, "Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden."
12 Then the men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armorbearer, and said, "Come up to us, and we will show you something." Jonathan said to his armorbearer, "Come up after me, for the Lord has delivered them into the hand of Israel."
NKJV
Just as soon as the Philistines said…“Come up to us”, Jonathan knew the battle had been won! Who did Jonathan place his trust in for the battle? Jonathan or God? Jonathan placed his FAITH in a FORCE outside of his abilities to accomplish for Israel what Saul and Jonathan on their own could not! When Jonathan did that what do you think happened to the equation? God blew it to bits!
1 Sam 14:13-15
13 And Jonathan climbed up on his hands and knees (look at the faith!) with his armorbearer after him; and they fell before Jonathan. And as he came after him, his armorbearer killed them.
14 That first slaughter which Jonathan and his armorbearer made was about twenty men within about half an acre of land.
15 And there was trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and the raiders also trembled; and the earth quaked, so that it was a very great trembling.
NKJV
Concerning verse 15 J.F.B. say:
"And there was a trembling in the camp, and in the field, and on all the people in Messab, and the spoilers stood still, and would not do (anything)." When Jonathan stepped out by faith God took control! All of a sudden it didn’t matter how many chariots there were! It didn’t matter how many horsemen there were! It didn’t matter how vast the number of Philistine warriors were! When ONE MAN stepped out on faith God disintegrated the equation! Look at what the Bible says took place…
1 Sam 14:20-23
20 Then Saul and all the people who were with him assembled, and they went to the battle; and indeed every man's sword was against his neighbor, and there was very great confusion.
21 Moreover the Hebrews who were with the Philistines before that time, who went up with them into the camp from the surrounding country, they also joined the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.
22 Likewise all the men of Israel who had hidden in the mountains of Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, they also followed hard after them in the battle.
23 So the Lord saved Israel that day, and the battle shifted to Beth Aven.
NKJV
When word got around that the Philistines were on the run Israelites started coming out holes in ground to fight! How much could the Church of God accomplish in the 21st century if only we would step out by faith? If I truly believe that nothing is impossible with God what am I doing that would bear out that witness in my life? So many of us are like Saul. We think we can do this all by ourselves. What we fail to realize is that we never break the cycle. Our disorder tends to produce only more disorder. Remember we asked the question "who do I turn to and how do I do it?" We said we were going to answer that question by looking at the lives of two men. The Bible enabled us to take a real life example, and prove how to break the equation Satan + Sin = Entropy. How? You analyze the situation and realize that the only way the battle can be won and the equation broken is by giving the battle to God! What annihilates the equation? OF (Outside Force) (God) + F (Faith) operating within me = V (Victory). This equation trumps the Second Law of Thermodynamics every time!
