L E A R N I N G F R O M T H E L E A D E R S Old Testament Portraits of Life ZIMRI THE LAW OF THE HARVEST

Text: 1 Kings 16:8–20 king’s house over him with fire, and died, because of his sins which he sinned, doing evil in the sight of the Lord, walking in the way of Zimri: Have you heard of him? We remem- Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, making ber Joseph for his purity, Abraham for his faith, Israel sin (16:15–19). Saul for his looks, David for his heart—but what comes to your mind when you think of Zimri? Zimri was a follower of the ways of Jeroboam. Probably nothing. The reason we draw a blank He usurped the throne and tried to reign over when the name Zimri comes up is that he does Israel, but his attempt was a dismal failure, last- not stay around long in the Scriptures. His rule ing only seven days. At the time of the usurpa- lasted only the blink of an eye, one week in 885 tion, the military forces of Israel were engaged in B.C., the shortest rule of any Northern king. It the siege of Gibbethon, in an effort to recover could even be convincingly claimed that he was that “thorn-in-the-side” city from the Philis- not really a king; he was only a “would-be” king, tines. Israel’s army was led by Omri, who was just a momentary usurper, and should not be especially popular with the people. When the dignified with his inclusion in the list of the people heard that Zimri had killed Elah, they Northern kings. made Omri king of “all Israel.” Zimri apparent- His divine biography, consisting of only six ly had a small following who supported his verses, is a short, pathetic story: anointing as king, so the first thing that Omri had to do was to deal with Zimri. He immedi- In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of ately marched to Tirzah and surrounded the Judah, Zimri reigned seven days at Tirzah. city. Zimri saw his predicament and, realizing Now the people were camped against Gib- bethon, which belonged to the Philistines. And that he was doomed, simply gave up. He shut the people who were camped heard it said, himself in the palace, set it afire, and burned it “Zimri has conspired and has also struck down down, taking his own life. Instead of going out in the king.” Therefore all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that a blaze of glory, he went out in a puff of smoke day in the camp. Then Omri and all Israel with and humiliation. him went up from Gibbethon, and they be- Thus Zimri came to the throne by usurpation sieged Tirzah. And it came about, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into and was taken from the throne by usurpation. the citadel of the king’s house and burned the What he had done to Elah, Omri did to him. He

1 experienced the golden rule in reverse: “As you We like to talk about how life is unfair. We have done to others, it will be done to you.” A especially express this thought when some- “would be” monarch became a suicide victim thing has gone wrong in life. For example, a when he saw that he was going to be killed. The loved one of ours who has lived a good life gets event of his death was described by the Holy sick, and we say, “That’s just not fair!” Yes, I Spirit as God’s judgment sentence upon him: know there are times when life does not seem to be fair; but for most people life is remarkably Because of his sins which he sinned, doing evil in the sight of the Lord, walking in the way of just. Usually, it gives back to us what we have Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, making given. The general rule of life, a rule that we can Israel sin (16:19). never get far away from, is that we reap what we sow. Plato saw this truth regarding evil, as Zimri’s short attempt to rule should make us is revealed in his affirmation that ”evil and think about the law of life that every person must its due reward are riveted together.” All men face sooner or later: the law of reaping. Zimri everywhere, in all ages, recognize this truth faced this law, as all must, and was broken by it. when they deal soberly with the testimony of Whether this law of reaping “makes” or“ breaks” life’s experiences. You may have heard the old us will depend upon the approach we take to- saying “As among a thousand cows a calf will ward it. We would be wise to consider the find its own mother, so the deed comes home to different aspects of this law against the back- the doer.” ground of Zimri’s brief rule. Someone may argue, “But I’ve seen ex- THE HARVEST: ceptions! I know a wicked man who seems to be doing fairly well.” This would not be the first REAPING WHAT WE SOW time that argument has been made, for years The first truth that Zimri discovered about ago the psalmist made the same one (Psalm 73). this law is that we reap what we have sown. The He saw the wicked seemingly prospering and harvest was determined by the sowing that he the righteous being persecuted. The falsity in had done. He had sown violence and murder, this contention, as the psalmist observed, is that living by the belief that might makes right, and some reaping is going on even though the physi- soon he reaped the results that his living pro- cal eye cannot see it. We must realize that we duced. Jesus said, “. . . for all those who take up will not do all the reaping in this life. Some of the the sword shall perish by the sword” (Matthew reaping is done here, but most of it will be done 26:52). Once sown, the seed cannot be changed in eternity. and the harvest cannot be changed. The harvest The basic rule for living in this world is that will grow out of the sowing as night follows you will reap what you sow—friendly people day. Paul assured us of this fact: have more friends, diligent people receive the Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for rewards, honest people receive the trust, etc. whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. Apparent exceptions occur here and there. We For the one who sows to his own flesh shall have all seen them, but even those who appear to from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap be exceptions will eventually come to a harvest eternal life (Galatians 6:7, 8). time—if not in this life, in eternity. Whether Zimri did not know about the law Every human being upon this earth is sow- of the harvest or whether he knew about it and ing seeds of thoughts, words, and actions that just ignored it, that law worked in his life: It will mature later, with some results coming in repaid him with a coin from the money he had this life and some in eternity. Here are three of invested in life. He got the same treatment he life’s inescapables: had given to others. That law will do the same with you and me. Pleading ignorance of the law WE CANNOT keep from sowing. will not avail. Ignoring the law will not excuse WE CANNOT escape reaping. us. The only way to handle the law is by recog- WE CANNOT avoid reaping what we sow. nizing it and sowing the positive seed of godly living, something Zimri did not do.

2 THE HARVEST: REAPING MUCH massive calamity that resulted in the bone- MORE THAN WE SOW chilling choice of either public execution or pri- A second truth that Zimri learned about the vate suicide. Overwhelmed by his defeat and law of the harvest is that the harvest is larger powerless to do anything about it, Zimri chose to than the seeds sown and the harvest time much take his own life and exit this world as a disaster. longer than the time of sowing. Seeds are small Withdrawing into seclusion, hidden from the in size, but they produce a harvest many times view of others in an inside room of the palace, their size. One seed makes a stalk, and a stalk he took his own life and thereby added another makes a sack of grain. We can count the seeds in black mark to his name. The harvest he had to an apple, but we cannot count the apples in a reap was too much for him. seed. The harvest is always greater than the Unknown to him, Zimri was living in the sowing. If this were not true, there would not be glass house of God’s Word. Through the lens of much use in farming. divine, inspired history, the whole world would We do not know when Zimri started sowing watch and study what Zimri chose to do about the seeds that led to this awful harvest. Did he the law of the harvest. He would pass on a legacy start in his teen-age years to cultivate the devil- to all the people who would read the Scriptures: ish idea that he could take whatever he wanted? “Do not ignore the law of the harvest. I did, and Did he begin in his boyhood days to believe the look what happened to me.” idea “If you are big enough to take what you While the world reads his legacy, Zimri lives want, it is all right for you to take it”? We do not in eternity, reaping from the sowing he did in know when he started sowing, but we do know life. The harvest is perpetual, an unending eter- that he eventually drew up a plan in his mind to nity of defeat. He will be reaping, reaping, and take over the throne by assassination. He then reaping. Truly, he found out the hard way that began to search for a time and a place to carry out the harvest is larger and longer than the sowing. his plan. The actual execution of the plan did not Do not make the same mistake Zimri made. take long. When the opportune time came, the We make our decisions, but our decisions king, Elah, was killed in just a matter of minutes. determine our destinies. The sowing finally was done. Then, more quickly than he could have expected, the harvest came— Sow a thought, reap character. and what a harvest it was! The reaping he must Sow a character, experience will stretch out for eternity. The har- reap a life, vest, in this case, took hold of his life and wrecked Sow a life, it for the whole world to see. He would person- reap a destiny. ally know the tragedy of coming to the end of life’s journey before it was time for him to die. He THE HARVEST: REAPING had brought tragedy into the lives of others, and INFLUENCED BY OTHERS similar tragedy would come into his life. Another truth that Zimri discovered regard- I wonder how Zimri viewed his act of trea- ing the law of harvest is the truth that one’s son. Perhaps he thought, “I will rush in and kill harvest can be influenced by the sowing and Elah, and the matter will be over. I will then be reaping of others. He actually partook of the on the throne, and all Israel will be glad to have crops that others produced. me as king. I will be a secure king on the throne, Zimri no doubt believed in the thinking of for I will have the whole army to protect me. his time, the philosophy that was in vogue. One The kingdom is mine for the taking. The right assassination, that of Nadab, had already oc- moves at the right time should do it.” If that was curred before him (15:25–31). A prediction of his thinking, he had a surprise coming—a har- another one had been made by Jehu, the prophet vest to reap. The people did not want him to be (16:8–13). Leaders of the day seemed to think king. More important, Omri, the captain of the that the way to change a situation was by taking army and the man with the power, did not want charge with the sword and killing anyone who him to be king. His little plan—a few seeds sown got in the way. God’s people were living and at a well-chosen time—came up in the form of a thinking as pagans. Perhaps he had been around

3 relatives and friends who advocated, “The right friends, and actions carefully; for they enter into man at the right time can take over the throne the overall sowing that we are doing and the with the strong arm of the flesh.” He was influ- reaping that we will do. Whether your thoughts enced by that type of thinking, but what he did and actions came only from you or were influ- not realize was that this sinister thinking was a enced by another, your reaping will be in har- kind of sowing. It would contribute to the har- mony with what you sow. vest that he would have to reap. We do not live in a vacuum. All kinds of ideas THE HARVEST: REAPING THAT are afloat, having been spewed out of the cess- INFLUENCES OTHERS pools of evil minds. Those thoughts, if allowed, A fourth truth that we see regarding Zimri is can become part of our thinking. After entering that his harvest did and will affect the harvest of our minds, they move into the formation of our others. Anyone connected with Zimri lived to character; then they come out in words and regret that association. actions. Whatever is down in the well of one’s Zimri left behind an influence that said, “The heart will come up in the bucket of his speech good things go to the fittest, the toughest, the and actions (Matthew 12:25). When the harvest strongest. The biggest fist gets the victory.” What time comes, we will have to admit, “I am reaping an awful message to send out with your life! some of the harvest that was sown by others. Zimri’s life became a proverb (2 Kings 9:31). He They have influenced me and changed me. I would be remembered for his assassination of have allowed them to do it, and now I am paying Elah. Anyone who assassinated a king would be for it.” The harvest that you must reap is oblivi- called “Zimri.” What a reputation to leave be- ous to who influenced you; it makes you reap hind! You may say, “Perhaps no one was listen- what you have sown regardless of when, why, or ing to or watching Zimri. Maybe they were smart how you did the sowing. enough to ignore the lesson he was teaching.” A few years ago I urged a talented young Most likely, some were influenced by his devi- man to get a Christian college education. He ous ways. When Zimri went out in degradation wanted to go to college, but his parents were low and defeat, those who had listened to him may on funds. With the proper encouragement, they have taken notice and resolved to take a differ- joined together as a family and helped him at- ent route, but a residue would remain in their tend a Christian college. They had some savings character that had been deposited by the life of that they decided to use. The young man worked Zimri touching theirs. during the summer to earn as much as he could. In society in general, Zimri’s contribution His mother took a job, hoping to work for the was to chaos, not to good community life. He left duration of the four years he would be in college. behind a trail of tears, not a smoother road that It was a successful family effort; the young man would make traveling easier for those who were was soon on his way to college. In spite of this coming after him. Instead of picking up rocks accomplishment, his story has a sad ending. The that made the road bumpy, he threw down a few young man had a roommate who did not have and made the journey harder for those following high moral principles. Over time, his roommate him. Those coming after Zimri would find life led him into the use of drugs. As soon as the more difficult, because they would have to par- college authorities found out about it, he and his take—whether they chose to or not—of the har- roommate were dismissed in dishonor and dis- vest that Zimri’s life had produced. Zimri left grace for themselves and their families. They behind a cloud of despair and distrust that the sowed, and they reaped. I know that young man communities of Israel would have to overcome was a good young man. He could have gone far, to be decent, respectable, and God-fearing again. but he allowed the sowing of another to become You are leaving a harvest behind—a harvest his sowing, and eventually the harvest of an- that you must reap and a harvest that others, at other became his harvest. least in part, must reap. What kind of harvest is Others contribute to our sowing and reap- it? No one lives entirely to himself, for himself, ing. We permit them to do so. We must resolve, or by himself. All of us live in a community. We then, to choose our thoughts, philosophies, influence others and are influenced by others.

4 As we think about this truth, we can hardly Holy Spirit, and the church to help him or her to keep from thinking about children. They do not face the harvest which must be reaped from a get to choose their parents or the society in thus far misspent life.” He was right, but an- which they will be reared. One day they realize other thought needs to be added: Becoming a that they exist and that they must live with the Christian will not only help an individual to deal parents they have, in the community into which with the harvest that he must reap from yes- they were born. From day one, they partake of a terday, but it will also give him the needed harvest that someone else planted. They must direction to do the right kind of sowing for live in the garden or briar patch which those tomorrow and for eternity. ■ living before them have created. They inherit the harvest of the sowing that preceded them. The Lesson To Be Learned: truth of this law should make us stop and think. Be careful how you sow, Not only will I reap what I sow, but others— because you and others especially those near and dear—will reap, to will reap as you have sown. some extent, from what I sow. They will live with the kind of harvest I have provided for them by the choices I have made and the life I New People in Christ have lived. In 2 Corinthians we find the exciting, en- couraging message that whatever our lives have CONCLUSION been in the past, they can be made new. One Surely, if Zimri could have lived his life who has been a loser can become a winner. One over—an opportunity that no one gets—he would who has been spiritually dead can be made alive. have gone about it differently. He would have Paul wrote, “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he chosen another path. He would have gone about is a new creature; the old things passed away; life by choosing to sow carefully and thought- behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians fully. Hindsight is always better than foresight. 5:17). Zimri cannot relive his life. His life is over. How does God make a new person? Zimri can, however, in a negative way, instruct First, God’s remaking process requires a sepa- us with his life. In fact, God made sure of that, ration from sin, or death to sin (Romans 6:1, 2). even without Zimri’s consent. In this little biog- One can go through this separation stage by raphy of his life, Zimri, by what he did, says, coming to a genuine belief in Christ (Acts 15:9), “You will reap what you sow; you will reap repenting of his sins (1 Thessalonians 1:9), and more than you sow; your harvest will be in- confessing Jesus as Lord and Christ (Romans fluenced by others; and your harvest will influ- 10:10). ence the harvest of others.” His life preaches a Second, one can accept God’s salvation by sermon we need to hear. Will we listen? becoming part of the spiritual body of Christ. The story is told of a preacher who was Romans 6:3, 4 says that this happens when a preaching a message on sowing and reaping. In person is buried with Christ in baptism. At the a forceful fashion, he declared that no one can point of baptism, the new Christian is freed from change the harvest. “We sow, and we will reap sin (Romans 6:6, 7) and added to the church what we have sown,” he declared with a strong (Acts 2:47), the body of people who have been voice. After the sermon, someone asked him, “If made alive through Christ. we must reap what we have sown, why should Third, once a person is remade, he or she we become Christians? We are already going to must walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4). This reap what we have already sown anyway. Be- life is to be characterized by a new fruitfulness coming a Christian will not change that.” The (Romans 6:21, 22; Galatians 5:16–24). preacher thought for a moment and then replied, Anyone can become a new person in Christ. “Yes, you are right. We must receive back what God invites each of us to submit to His remaking we have sown. The earthly harvest will not be process and live the new life in Christ. canceled just because we have become Chris- Adapted from God’s Design for the Church tians, but the Christian has God, Christ, the Eddie Cloer

©Copyright, 1997, 1998 by Truth for Today 5 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED