Living in the Will Rather than the Concessions of God - Biblical Examples of Concessions
A Christian Living Article from All-Creatures.org Guide to Kingdom Living

True Christian living requires us to live according to Kingdom standards which bring Heaven to earth.

FROM Frank L. Hoffman, all-creatures

Before we discuss the first of God’s concessions, and to better understand how the Bible explains these concessions, lets look at two examples.

The first is in 1 Samuel 8, when the people demanded a human King.

1 Samuel 8:4-7

4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah;

5 and they said to him, "Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations."

6 But the thing was displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to judge us." And Samuel prayed to the LORD.

7 And the LORD said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.

NASB

God knows that what the people wanted was wrong for them and against His will, but He allowed them to have what they wanted. He conceded to their evil desires and warned them of the consequences of their choice.

1 Samuel 8:11-20

11 And he said, "This will be the procedure of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and place them for himself in his chariots and among his horsemen and they will run before his chariots.

12 And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and of fifties, and some to do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.

13 He will also take your daughters for perfumers and cooks and bakers.

14 And he will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive groves, and give them to his servants.

15 And he will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards, and give to his officers and to his servants.

16 He will also take your male servants and your female servants and your best young men and your donkeys, and use them for his work.

17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his servants.

18 Then you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day."

19 Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, "No, but there shall be a king over us,

20 that we also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles."

NASB

And we are still suffering from this to this very day, and it matters not whether it be from a king or an elected president.

Jesus gave us the second of these Biblically spelled out concessions, and it concerns marriage and divorce, as recorded in Matthew 19:

Matthew 19:3-9

3 And some Pharisees came to Him, testing Him, and saying, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause at all?"

4 And He answered and said, "Have you not read, that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female,

5 and said, 'For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh'?

6 "Consequently they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."

7 They said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?"

8 He said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart, Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way.

9 "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery."

NASB

From these two examples, we can clearly see that God does grant concessions to his errant children, with the full knowledge that these things are against His will and will bring harm to the people.

The difference between our 1 Samuel example, and what Jesus is telling us, is that we are to now recognize these concessions for what they are, and no longer live in them, but wholeheartedly return to the will of the Lord.

Go on to: Understanding the Other Concessions
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