By Olubunmi Adebayo
*Several times we make our judgement based on _Prima-Facie_ impressions.*
*There are good times that this works out as we judge situations.*
*But most of the time, prima facie decisions don’t normally work out well.*
*Prima facie simply means “at first glance” or “on the face of it.”*
*Without any doubt, because we are highly mobile and up-running people, we make a lot of conclusions and judgements based on face value. But face value can be deceptive and misleading, even to the best of assessors.*
*There is a classical biblical example I want us to learn from today :*
*The selection of a replacement king for Israel after the disappointment of God with Saul :*
*The process pointed in the direction of Eliab, the first son of Jesse. Please read the story in some details :*
*1 Sam 16: [6] “And it came to pass, when they were come, that he (Samuel ) looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD’S anointed is before him”.*
*[7] “But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart”.*
*About to make a very grievous mistake here is no less a person but Samuel – a servant of God, and the number one Chief Priest of the nation of Israel.*
*WHAT WERE THE PRIMA FACIE FACTS IN THIS CASE AS THEY APPEAR TO SAMUEL?*
*When Prophet Samuel was sent to the house of Jesse to anoint the next king, his oldest son – Eliab walked in first for consideration, and he made a positive impression on Prophet Samuel, to a level that he thought – “This is the one”.*
*Let us consider the obvious facts here :*
*A) APPEARANCE – Eliab by body build was tall, strong, and impressive. Just like Saul at first selection of king for Israel – Saul was chosen essentially because “from his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people” (1Sam 9:2). In fact, God in verse 7 of 1Sam 16 mentioned the “height of Eliab’s stature”.*
*B) PRECEDENCE OF BIRTH – Eliab was the firstborn among the 7 sons of Jesse that were physically present that day (with David in the bush, we have 8 sons). And in Israel by tradition, the firstborn gets double honour and leadership. By this, Samuel might have started mental calculations that he was taking over the leadership that was naturally designed for him by birth.*
*C) FAMILY CONNECTION : Eliab by ancestry was of the family of Jesse which was from the city of Bethlehem, in the tribe of Judah. This was the tribe that by pedigree, God had already promised the kingship of Israel to :*
*Gen 49:[8] Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee.*
*[9] Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?*
*[10] The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.*
*All put together, it was as if by looks, birth, status, and position, Eliab was like God’s obvious choice to replace Saul.*
*But all of the above were no facts of consideration before God, WHO IS NOT A MAN. No wonder, Samuel was immediately corrected by God himself, Who pointedly told him :*
*“Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”(1 Sam 16:7)*
*What were the things that Prophet Samuel couldn’t see on the physical platform, but which were crucial to God’s judgement?*
*We shall be considering this angle tomorrow, God willing.*
Top of the day to you 👍.
©️ Olubunmi S Adebayo.
