"Bring Hither the Ephod!"

By:
Stan Moody

August 28, 2008

1 Samuel 23:7-18
Hebrews 3:7-15

We live in a day when we are accustomed to “taking the Lord’s name in vain.” By that, I am not necessarily talking about using God’s name as an expletive, although that certainly is very common. What I am referring to is another way of taking the Lord’s name in vain. That is, to evaluate what is happening around us and interpret that God is speaking to us and determine what He is trying to tell us. It is a form of reading the tea leaves, so to speak, and blaming God for the results.

That is not to say that God does not at times give us clear indications that we are walking in His will. The Holy Spirit has a way of confirming our steps from time to time. We have to be careful, however, and make certain that it is God who is affirming what we are doing and not just one of those coincidences to which all of us are exposed from time to time.

I once had the idea that if the direction we are taking flows, the Spirit must be directing it. No longer do I have that point of view. You can have an affair that seems to flow. You can be making a lot of money without much effort and be fooled into thinking that God wants you to be rich. You can go your entire life without ever having surgery or serious illness and believe that you must be pleasing God because you are healthy. You can have a great family and believe that it is because you have been faithful to God.

There may be an element of truth in all of this, but the Holy Spirit is evident especially at times when there is great conflict. Jesus declared the HS to be a “comforter” that He would send in His physical absence. The need for a Comforter comes from needing to be comforted. That suggests conflict, confusion and desperation at times when things are rough and God appears to have left us out on a limb to be knocked around by Satan.

Faith comes at times of being uncertain of what we are doing and where we are going, does it not? God reveals Himself to us by directing our ways when we are wandering about aimlessly. In fact, if it goes too smoothly, we might be inclined to question whether we are walking where God wants us to walk.

Our faith does not grow if we walk on a smooth road. Our faith grows when we are sorely tested and tried. “Broad is the gate and wide the way that leads to death, and many there by that go therein” refers to the easy way of walking through life – looking for the most-traveled road, so to speak. The “narrow way” is the way of life and requires of us that we step into uncertainty without a roadmap. The point is that we cannot see where we are going but are depending on God through Christ to lead us there.

It is all too easy to interpret events that happen to us daily as evidences of God’s direction in our lives. I am working at the prison today because of a couple of strange events. The first event was that I needed something to do. One morning, Barbara asked me what I would prefer to do. I told her that I had always wanted to be a prison chaplain. I went to my computer, Googled “Maine prison chaplain job” and discovered that there was a half-time position open. Bingo!

I then called the prison and was told that it had been closed. I then called the House Speaker’s Office and asked them to inquire. I then received back the word that they would re-open the position. Bingo!

The fact is that I didn’t exactly call for the Ehod. I interpreted events to fit my interests. That is not to say that God does not want me to be a prison chaplain – certainly, there is enough conflict there to satisfy me for the rest of my life. You might say that, like my election to the legislature, I got there on a wing and a prayer. The real test is how and when I get out. To leave this position because it is too rough or too non-productive might be to take the broad, easy way. On the other hand, while David found it relatively easy to run to Keilah with his men, he called for the priest and the Ephod and inquired of the Lord whether he should stay. The answer was that he should leave Keilah because they were going to give him up to King Saul, who was chasing him intent on killing him.

What, then, is the Ephod? The Ephod is the process by which we find the assurance that we are in God’s will. In ancient Israel, The Ephod was an apron-like garment worn by the high priest. It was made in four colors: blue, purple, scarlet and the white of the fine linen. These are the same colors that could be seen in the Temple at the Door to the Outer Court, the Door to the Sanctuary and in the Veil; they refer to Christ as He is revealed in the four gospels. There is an important additional feature of the Ephod, though: gold thread (cut from gold plate) was interwoven with the other colors. Gold is not only precious, it implies that the Ephod is 'of God, divine and heavenly.


When Saul or David wished to question Yahweh, they commanded the priest, "Bring hither the Ephod."

Now, you and I do not have any Ephod to consult. We have redemptive history, however, in which the blue door of the Outer Court is the broad way to participate in a Godly atmosphere without commitment. You could say that America, if it is a Christian nation, is a form of Outer Court. The church is a form of Outer Court. You can glean from the benefits of both without committing yourself.


The purple Door to the Sanctuary is the narrow way, and the scarlet veil is narrower still – the entrance to the Holy of Holies – into the presence of Almighty God. Christ is revealed to us as the way to the Father. Many go into the outer court but remain there throughout their lives. Many sneak a peak through the Door of the Sanctuary. They seek the safety of the outer court but resist the uncertainty of what is hidden by the veil. Few, we are told, enter God’s presence through the veil.

Our Ephod, then, is prayer through Christ. We make decisions to go or to leave in Christ and Christ alone. God desires of us that wherever we are, we walk with Him through the valley of the shadow of death that we are bound to find there. What that means to me is that, like the Energizer Bunny, I keep going and going until it is clear that changing course is inevitable. That applies to the prison, where it is almost impossible to see any results, as well as the NMMH Church.

Bring the Ephod! I want to know what God wants me to do!

God wants us to stay where we are planted or have planted ourselves, until we either bloom or die, all the time trusting Him to direct our lives; all the time desiring to live and die for His glory.

I think about the time when Joshua had just crossed the Jordan River and was scoping out the walls of Jericho. He saw a “…man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, ‘Are you for us or for our enemies?’” (Joshua 5:13).

The man answered this way: “Neither, but as commander of the Lord’s army, I have come.” At that, Joshua stepped aside from his preoccupation with himself – what he was doing and where he was going – and fell facedown on the earth in reverence and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?”

To assume that God is on your side because you somehow are in the right place at the right time is not to delve deeply enough into how you are to conduct yourself in this place in which you find yourself. We here at the NMMH Church have been bound together by God and before God. It is not enough just merely to be here and greet each other. Somehow, there is more to this bonding about which we need to seek God’s guidance and direction.

The answer that Joshua” received from the angel was, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” Joshua did as he was told. Awe and respect are the responses due to God – power, authority and deep love must be our attitudes, no matter in what circumstances we find ourselves.


In the East, it is a gesture of respect to the owner of a house to remove your shoes before entering. I wonder if we could take that metaphor a bit further. The only other time when removal of shoes in the presence of God is commanded was when Moses in curiosity approached the burning bush. In both the cases of Moses and Joshua, God was sending them on a specific mission with specific instructions. “Moses and Joshua, take off your shoes so that you will not be tempted to walk away and will not put them back on until you have received instructions from me.” Shoes are our vehicle of choice when we want to go our own way. Holy ground demands that we take off our walking shoes, stop and listen to God before moving on – hopefully in the direction He desires for us.

Wherever we are, we are symbolically to recognize that we are standing on holy ground. The Christian stands on holy ground because he has entered the temple veil into the Holy of Holies. We are to seek God’s direction for each step we take because we stand on holy ground. We are to consult the Ephod, so to speak. It is not enough just to be there. Like Joshua, we have to ask the Lord, “Now that I am here, what do you want me to do next?” God is not on anyone’s side. He is on His own side, and he will join with us when we call on Him to direct our ways: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5, 6).

One of the key differences between Saul and David, both anointed of the Lord as kings of Israel, is that David was in pursuit of God’s heart. Saul was not. David refused to presume anything for God by taking His name in vain. Saul read the tea leaves and decided what God wanted him to do, thereby taking His name in vain. Jonathan, Saul’s son, sought the Lord, took enormous personal risks and came out to see David in order to “strengthen his hand” in the Lord.

This tells us something about what it means to live out our separate lives while, at the same time, living out God’s will and way. That is where we are going with this message this morning.

The 23rd chapter of 1 Samuel offers insight ass to why the Holy Spirit left Saul and descended on David as the anointed King of Israel. It offers insight as to why David was a “man after God’s own heart,” while God repented that He had made Saul king. It raises the more common interpretation of “man after God’s own heart” as David having the spirit of Christ in the way he went about things.

Saul was content to interpret events that were happening around him as evidence that God was with him. David insisted on confirming God’s will and presence, despite what was happening around him. Like so many Christians today, Saul interpreted what God was doing by how he personally was affected. We find David inclined always to inquire of the Lord.

David inquired of the Lord, and God delivered the city of Keilah into his hands by driving out the Philistine forces. He saved the people of Keilah. That would have been enough for Saul to build a monument to himself. David, however, took nothing for granted.

Saul pursued him to Keilah, a city surrounded and locked in with gates and bars. David deserves to assume that since he has just delivered Keilah, he and his men are safe there. Nevertheless, he calls for the Ephod and inquires of the Lord: “Will Saul come down to Keilah and destroy the town on account of me?” The Lord answered, “He will.” “Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me to Saul?” The Lord answered, “They will.” So he escaped to Horesh.

Saul, on the other hand, sees that David is locked into Keilah and takes the Lord’s name in vain: “God has handed him over to me, for David has imprisoned himself by entering a town with gates and bars.” Like the religious leaders who thought they were doing God’s will be crucifying Jesus, Saul interpreted events to fit his own interests.

David searches for God, while Saul searches for David. David’s vision is with his God, while Saul’s is with killing David. David was a man after God’s own heart.

Saul was ready to take David’s life at Horesh. Saul’s son, Jonathan, went to David and “helped him find strength in the Lord.” “Don’t be afraid. My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you. Even my father, Saul, knows this.” Saul knew what God was going to do, but what he wanted stood in the way. Jonathan served God at the expense of his loyalty to his father. Jonathan strengthened David’ hand in the Lord. Jonathan was also a man after God’s own heart. He resolved the conflict between his earthly ties and God’s will and stood in support of God’s will at his own risk.

In fear, David sought the Lord. In anger, Saul did whatever was necessary to achieve his goal of killing David and interpreted every advantage as God’s blessing on his mission. Saul was unable to discern God’s will because he did not love God enough to become a man after God’s own heart.

It is the heart of unbelief in the infinite love of God that leads to falling away from the Lord. It is the ability to have a little bit of God and a lot of ourselves and still be successful that gets us off track. As Christians, God has appointed a means by which He will enable us to hold our confidence in Him even when everything seems stacked against us. That means is the fellowship of other Christians – relationships that help us hold fast to the promises of God and escape the deceitfulness of going in our own direction, no matter how logical it may seem.

Success in ministry is not the criteria by which we measure if God is with us. The criteria by which we measure if God is with us is whether or not we are unified in strengthening each other in the Lord. Our church ought to be about Christian relationships pledged to each other to fight the fight of faith and protect each other from the subtle encroachments of sin. Every decision is made, not just on the basis of our worldly interpretation of supporting events as they unfold, but on the grounds of what happens when we call for the Ephod. “Bring the Ephod!” David had the edge, but he inquired of the Lord even when he had the edge.

If, as a Christian, you are making decisions about your life outside the exhortation of a cluster of other Christians who inquire of the Lord even when things are going your way, you neglect the means of grace God has intended for you. The decisions we make and the directions we go in life can seem right to us because they are successful. But without the cluster of Christian friends who strengthen us by seeking God’s will rather than their own, we neglect the means of grace necessary to keep us focused on Him.


The church is about Christian comrades who need each other to strengthen their hands in the Lord. We never grow out of our need for Christian comrades. The minute we think that we no longer need daily exhortation in the fight of faith, we probably already have fallen prey to the deceitfulness of sin.

I am pleased that I have Christian friends here who would rather strengthen me in Christ than see me and us wildly successful. The great 19th Century evangelist, Charles Spurgeon, in one of his depression bouts, once preached a sermon in which he cried out to his congregation, seeking deliverance from his malady and seeking God’s will on his life. He desperately needed to have his hand strengthened in the Lord.


It takes a conscious effort to strengthen each other hands in the Lord. It is much more than mere visitation. It is speaking to the other person’s heart when it is needed and at the lowest ebb. What a difference it would make in our church if we were to awaken tomorrow morning and plan to strengthen someone’s hand in God. Jonathan did not see much of his beloved friend, David. But he did not accidently meet David in Horesh, either. He planned to go and strengthen him.


Are we calling for the Ephod? Are we inquiring of the Lord? Are we helping each other fight the fight of faith? Do we desire to be men and women after God’s own heart, or are we satisfied with where we are, what we have accomplished and the barricades we have erected against God’s will?

We have a paradox here. On the one hand, we say that we need each other. On the other hand, we say that the only way we can really help each other is by saying something or doing something that will cause us to depend on God and not on ourselves.

The theme of being men and women after God’s own heart is to have a radical God-centeredness in everything we do.


What Hebrews 3:12 tells us is this:


See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
Apparently, then, there is a very serious danger of becoming so hardened by our own directions in life, as Saul was, that we interpret events around us as evidences of God’s will. We may use our faith as a cover for our selfishness, but we are no longer centered on God. We may be men and women after God’s own head, but we are not men and women after God’s own heart.

Like with Job, Saul’s ears had heard of God, but his eyes did not see him. God was only skin deep in Saul.

Strengthening a hand in the Lord is far more important than anything else we can do here. Be open to God’s timing. Be ready to take action when that timing is right. Become a fountain of living water. Come; let us strengthen each other’s hands in God!