When God Sighs

# 207 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 15:10,11 “Now the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying, 11 "I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments." And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the LORD all night.” (1 Sam 15:10,11) Three words you don't want to hear from God, “I greatly regret,” The King James puts it this way, “It repenteth me that I have set Saul up to be king,” This same word is found in Ge 6:6 before God destroyed the earth with the flood. “And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.” The word means to sigh deeply. I think we've all heard that sigh at one time or another, it is usually associated with extreme disappointment over something we did or didn't do, and is a precursor of action that must be regrettably taken by someone in authority over us. This “repenting of God” is simply God's expression of the truth found in Eze 33:11 "Say to them: 'As I live,' says the Lord GOD, 'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?' God was sighing over what He was going to have to do to Saul because of his continued disregard for God's commands. Samuel knew what that sigh meant and note his reaction. He stayed up all night grieving over Saul and no doubt interceding for him. We could learn from that. When we hear of someone who has rejected God or fallen into deep sin we are often quick to condemn them to eternal hellfire, but would it not be better to “sigh” with God and Samuel and get on your knees and pray for mercy? God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked and neither should we.

Cafeteria Christianity

# 206 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 15:7-9, “And Saul attacked the Amalekites, from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8 He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed. (1 Sam 15:7-9) Initially it sounds like Saul was very successful in carrying out God's command against the Amalekites....then we read verse 9. “But” King Agag was spared along with the best of the livestock. We read that the people were “unwilling to destroy them.” Well, what's the big deal right? It is a big deal because when God puts something to the ban, He means all of it. This is a picture of what we are to do with sin in our own lives. It must be “put to the ban.” Now, pay attention to what the people chose to do and learn from it. They chose to destroy only those things that they deemed worthless, and to keep those things they valued. Friend this is an Old Testament illustration of what is called “cafeteria Christianity.” It's a Christianity that picks and chooses what it will obey and conform to in the Word of God. It picks and chooses what it wishes to believe and it is a huge problem in the church today. I think we are all guilty of it to some degree. It's easy to like that command to not kill, but not so easy to like that command about letting go of anger and unforgiveness and gossip. It's easy to blast homosexuality while our own sexual appetites find an outlet in fornication, adultery, and pornography. This should not be so, we must not pick and choose, rather we should pray daily, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts; 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting. Ps 139:23) Pray this with your whole heart and then allow God to help you make those tough choices you face every day.

Be A Kenite

# 205 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 15:4-6, “So Saul gathered the people together and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah. 5 And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and lay in wait in the valley. 6 Then Saul said to the Kenites, "Go, depart, get down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt." So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. Saul readies his troops for the battle with the Amalekites, but there's a problem. Some of the Kenites were living with the Amalekites at the time and since Saul's orders were to destroy everything the Kenites would be destroyed too. So he warns them to get out of town before the battle starts. There is not a lot said about the Kenites in Scripture, but we do know that Moses father-in-law was a Kenite, and we also know that he had a special connection with the Israelites and their God. Ex 18:12 says, “Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took a burnt offering and other sacrifices to offer to God. And Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before God.” It wouldn't do to “put these God-fearing Kenites to the ban” and so they were warned to leave before the total destruction began. Although we aren't told of any specific act of kindness, the word “kindness” here means “merciful love.” Somewhere along the line, these people prompted by their faith in God, demonstrated the God-like quality of unmerited love among the Israelites. We should go and do likewise, and we should also heed the warning to remove ourselves from the things of this world that are doomed to destruction just as Lot and his family heeded their warning before Sodom and Gomorrah were put to the ban. Re 18:4,5 says, “And I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. 5 "For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Beloved, be a Kenite. Be loving and merciful, but never a partaker of sinful lifestyle of the world. As the saying goes, “Be in the world, but not of the world.”

WE ARE the Amalekites!

# 204 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 15:2,3 "Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. 3 'Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'" (1 Sam 15:2,3) God, in His Sovereignty, has decided that the time has come to “put Amalek to the ban.” This was spoken of back in De 25:19 "Therefore it shall be, when the LORD your God has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, that you will blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget.” Why? What was Amalek's crime? Here it is: They had pounced on the Israelites soon after they had left Egypt and attacked the rear ranks, (this is the place of the weary and the defenseless. We read about it in De 25:17 "Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, 18 "how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God. Understand this, attacking the weary and defenseless shows a total lack of the fear of God. Can you lack a fear (reverence) of God and still claim to have saving faith? This total destruction of the Amalekites was to serve as a picture of the end of those who do not fear God. This act of the Amalekites should cause us to wake up in America! For we too have mounted an attack against the weak and defenseless through legalized abortion. Over 54 million defenseless unborn babies have died through legalized abortion since 1973. In this regard, WE ARE the Amalekites, and I'm afraid it's going to get worse for the weak and defenseless as we embrace selective and expedient health care. Do you think God's attitude toward the weak and defenseless has changed? Wake up America! Thankfully, His love for us has not changed either and He will forgive us of our sins if we find and embrace true repentance. God have mercy on us and forgive us in the Name of Jesus. Amen. Remember, beloved, there is no sin that Jesus did not pay for on Calvary.

Putting To the Ban Part 4

# 203 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 15:2,3 "Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. 3 'Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'" (1 Sam 15:2,3) This command seems unduly harsh to us and thankfully we are no longer authorized to carry out this kind of judgment in the physical sense. But God had His reasons for “putting entire peoples and their property to the ban” In De 20:16-18 we read, “But of the cities of these peoples which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive, 17 "but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the LORD your God has commanded you, 18 "lest they teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, and you sin against the LORD your God.” These hard-hearted unredeemable peoples were judged harshly by God so that we might learn how much God hates sin. Johann Arndt in his book “True Christianity,” sheds interesting light on this subject. He reminds us that “God gave the whole of the Holy Scriptures in spirit and in faith and everything in them must happen to you (and I) spiritually.” For instance in the account of Cain and Abel, we discover what each child of God MUST face, namely the battle between the murderous devil and the Holy Spirit. In Noah we see that the flood MUST occur in us, namely the drowning of the old man in baptism, and in these battles of the Israelites against the pagans we see the reality of the battle between the flesh and the spirit which we MUST engage in. These harsh commands of the Old Testament are to serve as reminders to each of us to not compromise with sin. Col 3:5 says, Therefore put to death (put to the ban) your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” Instead of doubting God's love and mercy when reading of these things, see His mercy and grace at work on your behalf in using these things and all of Scripture for preparing you and I for the realities of spiritual warfare.

Putting To the Ban Part 3

# 202 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 15:2,3 "Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. 3 'Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'" (1 Sam 15:2,3) We have been talking about the concept of “putting to the ban” that is, deeming something for destruction because God in His omniscience, has determined it has been tainted beyond redemption. Sodom and Gomorrah and Jericho are classic examples. God chose to spare righteous Lot and Rahab in these mass destructions of cities, He is God and that is His prerogative. He says in Ro 9:15, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion." Idolatry and all it's associated sinful practices were one of the reasons that God “put entire cities to the ban.” De 13:12-17 says, "If you hear someone in one of your cities, which the LORD your God gives you to dwell in, saying, 13 'Corrupt men have gone out from among you and enticed the inhabitants of their city, saying, "Let us go and serve other gods"' -which you have not known- 14 "then you shall inquire, search out, and ask diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an abomination was committed among you, 15 "you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword-utterly destroying it, all that is in it and its livestock, with the edge of the sword. 16 "And you shall gather all its plunder into the middle of the street, and completely burn with fire the city and all its plunder, for the LORD your God. It shall be a heap forever; it shall not be built again. 17 "So none of the accursed things shall remain in your hand, that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of His anger and show you mercy, have compassion on you and multiply you, just as He swore to your fathers,” Note the words “true and certain.” No destruction would be carried out unless the people were certain that the abomination had been committed. On the last Day when God decides who will be “put to the ban,” you can be sure that His judgment will be “true and certain,” for He knows the heart! Again, these mass destructions of cities, people and goods serve us today solely as reminders of the end that awaits all who turn away from God. Thankfully, we no longer have authorization to carry out such punishment. However we do have a responsibility to serve as watchmen, warning others to turn from their wicked ways and believe the Gospel, lest God put them to the ban on the Last Day. And this “putting to the ban” serves as a reminder to you and I to “put to the ban” all forms of idolatry in our own lives. Col 3:5 says, Therefore put to death (put to the ban) your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. May the Holy Spirit ever help us in this regard.

Putting To the Ban Part 2

# 201 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 15:2,3 "Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. 3 'Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'" (1 Sam 15:2,3) I want to continue the discussion of God's commands to wholesale annihilation found in the Old Testament because Christians struggle with the idea that a loving God could order such wholesale destruction and atheists use these incidents as excuses to dismiss any reason to put their trust in a god. I'm not here to defend God. He doesn't need to be defended, (He is God) but Christians do need a better understanding of this policy called “putting to the ban” found in Lev. 27:29. The command to annihilate an entire population does not reflect a primitive concept of God which gives way to a more humane New Testament God. God is immutable, He doesn't change. He still PERMITS natural and man-made catastrophe's that wipe out masses of people without discrimination of age or sex. Think of the attempts of genocide and victims of natural disasters that we have seen throughout the New Testament age in which we live. Genocide is horrific and no human agent can claim divine AUTHORIZATION for such actions because no human agent is in the position of God's Old Testament people. The Old Testament incidents were unique, never to be duplicated situations that God used as examples for us today. 2Pe 2:6 says, “And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; Remember, the ULTIMATE purpose of disasters rests in God's will and providence. No human speculation about the nature of God should attempt to give any other answer. God is God and He knows what He is doing. Even believers are victims in these disasters and attempts at genocide, but God knows the heart, and the innocent victims, (those in Christ) are taken up to be with Him and the guilty are “put to the ban” in hell. When disaster of any kind strikes Jesus tells us how to rightly view it as He commented on the time the tower of Siloam fell and killed 18 people He said in Lu 13:5b “unless you repent you will all likewise perish." (Be put to the ban) The suddenness and total destruction prevalent in disasters and calamities are reminders to all, to be ready. Therefore, repent!