1 Samuel

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NASB	1 Samuel 27:1 Then David said to himself, "Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape into the land of the Philistines. Saul then will despair of searching for me anymore in all the territory of Israel, and I will escape from his hand."
AMPLIFIED 2015 2015	1 Samuel 27:1 But David said in his heart, "Now I will die one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me inside the borders of Israel, and I will escape from his hand [once and for all]."

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Bible Question: This is not an attempt to start a debate.

I am struggling to understand something.

Please consider the following and see if you can help me understand better your view on this issue.

In Hebrews 10:23 it says that by FAITH when Moses was born he was hidden for three months because they were not afraid of the king's edict. They disobeyed the king and therefore are guilty of the sin of not obeying every authority as all of Romans chapter 13 states and as 1 Peter 2:13-20. These passages by the apostles were written to people being persecuted for beleiving in God and they were instructed to submit, not to save lives.

How then are we to understand this concept that the hiding of Moses, which included sinnnig to do it, was of FAITH?

Next part of this "problem".

Hebrews 10:13 By FAITH Rahab welcomed the spies in peace. That included both lying to the kings men and going against the same scriptures that apply to saving Moses.

How are we to understand the concept of FAITH seeing as how the actions that led up to the result included sinning?

Next part of the "problem".

Sin is always wrong, lying is always wrong, I do not deny that, I don't know any Christian that denies that fact.

Here is the crux, not of my arugment, because I am not posting with that I have an agenda to proove in mind, but to understand what I do not understand, the crux - How is it wrong for David to do what was necessary to save lives, both genocide, and lying as if he had no faith, but Rahab and the Exodus mid-wives are considered to have had FAITH even though they broke two of God's statutes and commandments in the process of earning that FAITH?

blessings abound, bowler

Bible Answer: Greetings Bowler!

Let me try one more time.

Do you understand the difference between narrative and teaching?

A narrative simply lays out the story without necessarily making value judgments about the actions of the people (though sometimes a narrative may include editorial content that will make value judgments).

With that in mind, let's look at the passages that you mention.

1) Moses: Heb. 11:23 says, "By faith Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict."

As you correctly noted, Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2:13-20 speak of civil obedience. However, no where in Scripture are we told to obey man if by obeying man we would be disobeying God.

We see this principle at work in Acts 4:19, where Peter and John say, "But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God."

Acts 5:29 makes it even clearer, "Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than men!"

Here, the word 'must' refers to moral necessity. It is not just an optional principle, but a necessary one that we obey God over man (if the two conflict).

Therefore, there was no sin involved in the hiding of Moses. God has forbidden murder. What Pharaoh was about to do was murder of the worst kind. Therefore, Heb. 11:23 tells us that Moses' parents acted in faith.

2) Rahab:

Note carefully what Heb. 11:31 says and does not say.

"By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient."

She was commended for welcoming the spies, not for lying. No mention of lying is included in this verse. It does not say, 'By faith, Rahab lied...' :-)

As for governmental authority, Rahab also was right to obey God rather than her government.

It is important not to go beyond what the text actually says.

Plus, we should remember with Rahab that she was not a Christian or a Jewish believer. She responded to God and acted in accordance with what she knew at the time. She may not have even know about the command not to lie. The reference to her faith is not a justification of her every action, but to the fact that she welcomed God's people and trusted that God would save her and her family.

I hope this clears up some of your questions my friend. From this post, I wasn't clear about your David reference, but from other posts I would say that, again, we need to remember that a narrative passage detailing something that someone did which was wrong is not justification for others to do it as well. :-)

Your Brother in Christ,

Tim Moran

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1 Samuel

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