20 Clues from the Old Testament

"Pascal's Wager"

     Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, philosopher, and Christian theologian. Some of his quotes are so outstanding that we still hear them today, for instance:

· “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.”

· “In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don’t.”

· “The heart has reasons that reason cannot know.”

· “Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it.”

· “I have made this letter longer than usual, only because I have not had the time to make it shorter.”

· “Faith is different from proof; the latter is human, the former is a Gift from God.”

        But what was Pascal’s “wager”? And what was a Christian doing “wagering” anyway? In fact, Pascal wasn’t placing any bets, he was balancing Christianity against unbelief. One form of his evaluation says, “If you gain, you gain all. If you lose, you lose nothing. Wager then, without hesitation, that He exists.”

        To explain a little further, Pascal is saying that if you believe in God you’ve covered all your bets—if there is a hell, you’re safe, and if there isn’t, it doesn’t matter. But there is more. How do you establish yourself on “God’s side”? Mental assent to the wager is not enough because it should be blindingly obvious to everyone.

        The Apostle Paul said, ‘If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.’ (Rom.10:9). Jesus himself explained: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Mat.11:28). And the end result will be, “I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” (John 10:14).

Absolute Commitment!

     For most people in the Bible, their commitment wavered—at some point they faltered. Think of Abraham in Egypt; think of Jacob with his father-in-law; think of Peter at the high priest’s palace; think of Mark, going home from the gospel work in Asia Minor. But there are several people whom we never hear backed down, even under the severest resistance and even when it seemed that God Himself was against them. We might mention Job, or Ruth, or Elisha, for starters.

      The man I want to look at is Ittai the Gittite. Who on earth was Ittai the Gittite? Read the story in 2 Samuel 15:14-22 and 18:1-12. Being a Gittite (a non-Israelite), he was from Gath, the former home of Goliath, deep in Philistine territory.

When David was on the run from Saul, his only refuge was with Achish (aka Abimelech), king of Gath. David and his men were given Ziklag as their town, but from there they secretly raided other Philistine towns. The story is sordid but we believe that at some time during these years Ittai learned of David’s God. He could no longer stay with his own people and, like Ruth in an earlier day, he joined the Israelites, along with his 600 men and their families.

        The real test of his commitment came years later when Absalom rebelled. As David evacuated Jerusalem, he told Ittai to go back to Absalom. Ittai’s response:—“As surely as the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether it means life or death, there will your servant be.”

        Ittai is a hero from God’s word—Peter made exactly the same promise to his King only a few meters from the same spot, and failed miserably (John 13:37). Let’s remain faithful and claim David’s blessing on Ittai for ourselves, as well, “May the LORD show you kindness and faithfulness.”