- araratchurch
- Jan 23
- 4 min read
“And the Philistines yet again made a raid in the valley. And when David again inquired of God, God said to him, “You shall not go up after them; go around and come against them opposite the balsam trees.”
1 Chronicles 14:13-14 ESV
Dealing with large groups of people over an extended length of time is a challenge. Now, add to that challenge, that you are trying to lead this large group of people through the wilderness to a land of promise. Well, this is exactly what Moses did; and it was a very trying experience for him, to say the least.
At one point, when the people began to grumble about having no water, Moses and Aaron again sought the Lord and He instructed Moses to gather the people, then speak to the rock and water would come forth from it, enough to supply their need. Now, bear in mind, at another time when this happened, the Lord had instructed Moses to hit the rock with his staff; but that was not the command this time. However, Moses’ exasperation with the people led him to again hit the rock, rather than speaking to it as the Lord had instructed. This act of willful disobedience, kept Moses and Aaron from being able to enter into the Promised Land.
“Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.””
Numbers 20:10-12 ESV
You may have heard the saying, “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.” But did you know where this is found in the Bible? To answer that question, let’s look at a story about Saul:
Saul, Israel’s first king, was once instructed by the Lord to go and destroy the Amalekites. That is, completely destroy them, taking no hostages, no spoil, from the battle. Saul did as the Lord instructed—except for overlooking some of the details.
“Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’” But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.”
1 Samuel 15:3, 9 ESV
Needless to say, the Lord was not pleased with Saul. So, the Lord sent the prophet Samuel to give Saul some very bad news.
“The word of the Lord came to Samuel: “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night. And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed be you to the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.” Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the Lord said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.” And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. And the Lord sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?” And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.” And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.””
1 Samuel 15:10-11, 13-23 ESV
Yes, the Lord rejected Saul as king, because he did not pay attention to the details, rather going with what the people wanted to do. So, Saul learned the hard way that “obedience is better than sacrifice.”
In today’s portion from the story of David’s victory at Baal-perazim, we see that the Lord instructs David to approach the follow-up battle with the Philistine’s, in a different manner than he did in the first battle with them. David obeyed all the details given to him by the Lord. And, he was all the better for it.
Child of God, details matter to the Lord. If He is leading us, then He is not expecting that we will go rogue and decide to improvise. As we have seen, doing so, can have disastrous consequences.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Jan 21
- 3 min read
“And the Philistines yet again made a raid in the valley. And when David again inquired of God, God said to him, “You shall not go up after them; go around and come against them opposite the balsam trees.”
1 Chronicles 14:13-14 ESV
In the days of Elisha, there was a leper named Naaman. He was a powerful commander of the army of Syria. At one point, a little girl went to the wife of Naaman, saying that if only Naaman was in Samaria, there was a prophet there who would heal him. You see, this little girl was taken captive from Israel, and now worked for Naaman‘s wife.
“So Naaman went in and told his Lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.” And the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing. And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy.””
2 Kings 5:4-6 ESV
When the king of Israel heard what was in the letter from Naaman, his heart was struck with terror, thinking that he had been set up with an impossible situation, in order that the king of Syria would have reason to be angry with him. Elisha, hearing that the king of Israel was distressed, sent word to him that if he would send Naaman to him, he would heal him. Surely enough, Naaman headed out to see Elisha.
“So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.”
2 Kings 5:9-12 ESV
As we see, Naaman, having been told indirectly by Elisha, what he should do, took umbrage. In expressing his anger, Naaman revealed that he had a preconceived notion as to how this event would look. Well, when that didn’t happen, he was offended and came very close to missing his opportunity to be healed.
To make a long story short, after one of his men brought him to his senses, Naaman acquiesced and did what the prophet had commanded, and was completely healed of leprosy.
“So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.”
II Kings 5:14 NKJV
As ridiculous as it may sound, the fact is, we often have an idea in our mind of how God should do what we’ve asked Him to do. And when He “goes off script,” we can be confused, or angry like Naaman, and possibly miss our answer by not obeying what God has said.
In today’s portion of the story of David and his victory at Baal-perazim, we see that when the enemy doubled back and David again inquired of the Lord, the Lord gave him a different strategy than He had okayed the first time. As in the case of Naaman, it wasn’t any particular method per se, that brought the victory, that brought the answer. What did bring the answer, was the obedience of the one to whom the word of God was given.
Child of God, let us not miss an opportunity to receive what we need, just because we are stubbornly clinging to some idea of how things should look, of how things should be done. Ours is only to listen and obey, “letting” the Lord be in charge of His methods. Again, the victory is not in the method. The victory, perhaps the needed miracle, is found through obedience to what God has said.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Jan 20
- 2 min read
“And the Philistines yet again made a raid in the valley. And when David again inquired of God, God said to him, “You shall not go up after them; go around and come against them opposite the balsam trees.”
1 Chronicles 14:13-14 ESV
Abraham was 99 and Sarah was 90 years old. The Hagar incident had happened. Now the Lord would come to Abraham again, changing his name from Abram to Abraham, and again clarifying that the son of promise would come through Sarah. Interestingly, before the Lord spoke anything else to Abraham about the covenant, he said this to Abraham:
“When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless,”
Genesis 17:1 ESV
When Solomon had completed the house of the Lord, the Lord appeared to him a second time having appeared to him before at Gibeon.
“And the Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’ But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples.”
1 Kings 9:3-7 ESV
In both of the instances referenced here with Abraham, as well as with Solomon, the Lord uses a certain phrase: “Walk before me”
What this command references, and indeed, what is made clear as the Lord spoke further to them, is that they should live their lives with a constant awareness of the Lord‘s presence and an ongoing posture of inquiring of Him. They were to be locked in a position of complete obedience, and adoration of the One Who is all-in-all.
In today’s portion of the story of David’s victory against the Philistine’s at Baal-perazim, we see that when the enemy doubled back, David again inquired of the Lord. You see, David knew it’s never one and done with the Lord. He is our everything. We are not merely having transactions with Him; we are in a relationship with Him, now and forevermore.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!