“But he
shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt,
to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto
you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.” Deuteronomy 17:16
God never intended for his people to be safe,
he wanted his people to be His. To
depend on Him, to trust Him, and to love Him above all else. A sanctified life is a life of hazardous
faith, consistently met with abundant blessings (the kind that doesn’t show up on
a balance sheet). God calls us to love,
give, and “go out.” In doing so, we put
our trust in him. The ministry will
always be met with risk. You must
leave off safety to gain “blessed assurance.”
Idols are born out of our carnal ideals, wants,
and needs. They deeply resonate with our
humanity and reach far into our culture.
The idol of safety has been commoditized and marketed broadly. We want to live in the safe neighborhood,
drive the safe car, and get a good education so we can work to gain a safe and
stable income; in hope to maintain our safety.
Consider this, if we spend our lives “getting horses” and striving to
serve the false idol of safety, will we then reject the providence of God in
our lives and lose out on the blessing that would have followed? Long before
the prophet Samuel anointed King Saul, Moses prophesied of the day when the
children of Israel would demand a temporal king. They wanted a king because they wanted to be like
the other nations. The other nations had
kings to govern them, provide for them, and protect them. This was the agreement between the royal and
his subjects. You give the king your
subjection and adoration, he gives you safety.
Moses told them, when you do this, when you reject God and set a king
over you, make sure it is one of your brethren; and when he is king, he should
not multiply horses (along with wives and gold) to himself. In that day, horses were incredibly
useful. They were weapons of war, capital
investments, and a mode of transportation.
The horse was quantifiable prosperity and security. What would be considered in our day and age
as a well-diversified portfolio. The
king with armies, horses, land, and gold, is one who is safe; and the people
under such king are safe. Furthermore,
Moses told the people, don’t let the king cause the people to return to
Egypt. Egypt was no picnic for Israel,
but at least it was familiar and familiar is safe. Canaan land was not going to be safe, Canaan
land is a land of unknown. They were
never to go back to Egypt; Egypt was not their home, it was not their promise,
and though familiar, it was so much less than what God had in store for them in
Canaan. They had to trust God in Canaan
land, they had to rely on God in Canaan land, and they had to believe God in
Canaan land. Therefore, the temptation
to tangible safety was powerful. They
wanted to “see” their king, “see” his horses, “see” his chariots, and “see” his
coffers full of silver and gold. They
wanted to “see” their safety. They
rejected God and opted for safety. In
doing so, they built up an idol that would eventually condemn them to captivity. The people of God, of Almighty God, convinced
they are threatened, weak, and in need of horses to protect them. The devil does the same thing today. He tells us we need all this “stuff” to keep
us safe, and that our neighbor is a threat to our much-needed safety. The reality is, our trust in “stuff” is the
threat to our ultimate security, and our neighbor needs Jesus; just like we do. Where would be if Jesus had said: “I better
not preach, they might kill me.”
Mission work is not safe, preaching the gospel
is not safe, outreach is not safe, and serving the Lord is not safe. Lusting for temporal safety will undermine evangelism. The desire to protect the little bit you
have, can cause you to lose everything. Would
you rather live for a king, or the King of Kings? Would you rather serve an idol or the one
true God? Lord help us to be committed
to Christ and not our own safety.
