Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him. – 1 Samuel 16:23

Today’s Scripture Reading (January 25, 2016): 1 Samuel 16

The question “Who is at fault?” for any situation raises some interesting philosophical question. And often the question isn’t as clear cut as we might want it to be. For instance, one of the troubling questions in our current political environment is the one that asks “who is at fault for the current situation in the Middle East and the existence of ISIS.” The easy answer is to lay the blame at the feet of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Leader of ISIS who his followers have declared is a caliph, a political and spiritual descendent of the Prophet Muhammad. But the easy answer maybe isn’t the most accurate. ISIS itself seems to exist as a wave that is currently rolling over the area we know of as “The Levant.” It doesn’t take much imagination to imagine ISIS continuing to exist even if the United States gets its way and captures the Islamic Leader. But if that’s true, then what caused the wave. And several scholars have laid the responsibility for that on the shoulders of the cultural West and the actions that they have taken in the area surrounding The Levant without really understanding the region. But the question of fault doesn’t really end there. The presence of Israel in the Levant, an action that goes back to 1948 and a decision to give the Jews a homeland, also plays a part. But the tendrils of blame extend even further back than that. In fact, the seeds of the conflict in The Levant may be able to be laid at the feet of the conflict between the Jews and Muhammad centuries ago – a conflict that seems to be the immediate cause of some of Muhammad’s more violent ideas, and the seed for the concept of Jihad or Moral War. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi might be the immediate target for fault, but the reality of these other conditions mean that the tide of ISIS will roll even if he is not in command.

The other immediate cause is one that we often miss, especially in the current political debate. ISIS wants direct conflict with the United States. In their mind, this is the fight that will turn the tide, not just in the Levant but in the entire world, to their advantage. If they can goad the United States into placing a military presence in the Middle East and defeat them there, then there will be nothing that will be able to stop them. And they have a prophecy which states that they would win such a conflict. And so, the United States has decided to try to stay out of the area. This is the time for the Islamic neighbors to react, because for the United States to react would be just another element of blame that would eventually be placed back on them.

The convoluted idea of fault is also a problem with which the biblical writings often flirt. And the Bible comes to an interesting conclusion – in the end of every problem, the fault belongs to God. This idea of fault is plain in this passage as the author describes the evil spirit as “coming from God.” The idea behind the phrase is the belief that God is in total control. He had the power to stop the spirit, but for some reason chose not to. From a more modern interpretation, we would probably attribute the evil spirit to the choices that Saul had made throughout life, but for the Hebrew fault laid in the lap of the one who had the power to stop it, but didn’t.     

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 17