The Nugget:
1Sa 14:15 And there was trembling in the host, in the field, and among all the people: the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled, and the earth quaked: so it was a very great trembling. (KJV)
1Sa 14:15 There was panic among the army in the field and all the troops in the military post. The raiding party also trembled in fear. The earth shook, and there was a panic sent from God. (GW, God’s Word translation)
1Sa 14:15 All the Philistines in the countryside were terrified; the raiders and the soldiers in the camp trembled with fear; the earth shook, and there was great panic. (GNB, Good News Bible)
1Sa 14:15 The whole Philistine army panicked–those in camp, those on guard duty, those in the fields, and those on raiding patrols. All of them were afraid and confused. Then God sent an earthquake, and the ground began to tremble. (CEV, Contemporary English Version)
My Comment:
I found the four New Testament statements about the directly stated four wills of God fully discussed in a book I purchased for my Logos Bible Software library:
Eggerichs, E. (2018). The 4 wills of god: the way he directs our steps and frees us to direct our own. B&H Books.
At first, I was not inclined to purchase the book. I try to avoid buying books that my Greek and Old Testament Prophecy courses instructor, Dr. Stuart Custer, described as “devotional fluff.” Professor Custer told us in Greek class, “If you want devotional fluff, write your own.” I have generally followed his advice.
But this time, my interest in The Four Wills of God: The way He directs our steps and frees us to direct our own was piqued when I carefully read the “See Inside” preview of the book.
It turns out that the author, Pastor Emerson Eggerichs, was the pastor of East Lansing Trinity Church just after I attended that church when I worked at Resources Development Corporation (RDC) of East Lansing, Michigan. I learned of RDC through Dr. Donald J. Lloyd, my professor at Wayne State University, from whom I took courses in linguistics in graduate school. I lived in the basement apartment of Dr. Lloyd’s home while working at RDC. I wrote programmed instruction materials for industry. The following summer I lived in a basement apartment of a missionary couple who served in campus ministry at Michigan State University. They were affiliated with East Lansing Trinity Church, while I was continuing my work at RDC.
I have never met Pastor Emerson Eggerichs, but his book brought back memories of those years I worked summers in East Lansing.
Pastor Eggerichs fully discusses the Four Wills of God and the four New Testament passages that state them (Matthew 6:40; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:18; 1 Peter 2:13-15). These wills, in brief, are (1) that we be saved through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ; (2) that we maintain moral purity by avoiding all sexual sin, whether adultery or fornication or any other; (3) that we be thankful for everything–the good and the bad–that comes our way; (4) that we be truly submissive to all the authorities that are over us unless they ask or demand that we violate what God commands of us in Scripture.
Pastor Eggerichs asserts that (5) when we have fully complied with the Four Wills of God directly revealed in the New Testament, if God provides us no further guidance regarding our life choices, we are free to choose our path as seems best to us: God then frees us to direct our own steps.
I found it interesting to learn that Pastor Eggerichs first learned of some related principles from a book written by Pastor John MacArthur:
MacArthur, J., Jr. (2012). Found: god’s will. David C Cook.
In a much earlier edition (1973) of Found: God’s Will, John MacArthur had remarked that he was helped greatly by studying this subject by means of The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Pastor Eggerichs remarks that he, too, found much help in studying the subject by using The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, though he mistakenly refers to it as The Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge in his book.
In The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury and The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge I have indexed the topic “Guidance, hand of providence in” to 1 Samuel 14:15, where a note from the original Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on this subject occurs.
Cross Reference Bible Study for 1 Samuel 14:15 from The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury:
1 Samuel 14:15
there was trembling. Jos 2:9, Jdg 7:21, 2Ki 7:6, 7, Job 18:11, Psa 14:5.
the spoilers. 1Sa 13:17; 1Sa 13:23.
the earth quaked. Exo 19:18, Mat 24:7; Mat 27:50, 51.
very great trembling. Heb. trembling of God. +*Gen 23:6; +Gen 35:5, Lev 26:36, 37, 2Sa 5:24, 1Ch 12:22, +Psa 36:6 mg. Dan 5:6, Act 7:20, FS108C4, Idiom F/S 834, “of God” is used as an adjective. Here, “trembling of God” means a very great trembling, meaning an earthquake. For another instance of this figure see Psa 36:6 mg. Note (from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, not in the Comprehensive Bible): God will in some way or other direct the steps of those who acknowledge him in all their ways, and seek unto him for direction with full purpose of heart. Sometimes we find most comfort in that which is least our own doing, and into which we have been led by the unexpected, but well observed, turns of Providence.