- araratchurch
- Jan 20
- 2 min read
“And the Philistines yet again made a raid in the valley.”
1 Chronicles 14:13 ESV
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he was lead into the wilderness to be tested by the devil. He ate no food for 40 days, at which point Satan began a cycle of temptation. But Jesus answered each temptation with the word of the Lord. Satan, seeing he was not going to get anywhere with Jesus on that day, recoiled; but he wasn’t done trying to thwart Jesus’ mission.
“And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.”
Luke 4:13 ESV
Yes, satan would find that “opportune time” when he entered into Judas, putting it in his heart to betray the Lord.
“Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death, for they feared the people. Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.”
Luke 22:1-6 ESV
Indeed, Jesus had warned the disciples when the time was near that Satan would again try to make headway against Him. As well, he assured them that Satan would not be victorious.
“And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me,”
John 14:29-30 ESV
So Judas’s plan culminated in the Garden of Gethsemane where he had led the chief priests and officers of the temple to arrest Jesus. This ultimately led to Jesus’ crucifixion.
Interestingly, while being arrested, the Lord remarked that it would look like, that this time, Satan had won.
“Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there every day. But this is your moment, the time when the power of darkness reigns.””
Luke 22:53 NLT
Praise the Lord, as we know, Jesus was victorious. Yes, even though it looked like Satan had won, the Lord emerged victorious over death, hell, and the grave.
In today’s portion of the story of David’s victory at Baal-perazim, we see that after a stunning victory against the enemy, they circled back to try, yet again, to defeat David and the armies of Israel.
Child of God, when the Lord has given us a victory, whether that victory is over an enemy, victory over sickness, temptation, sin, and so on, there may come a time (there probably will come a time) when the enemy of our souls will try again to destroy us. But know this: The One Who was completely victorious over Satan, is with us. And, no matter how many times the enemy may circle back, Jesus is there to help us endure whatever he throws our way!
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Jan 17
- 3 min read
“And he went up to Baal-perazim, and David struck them down there. And David said, “God has broken through my enemies by my hand, like a bursting flood.” Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-perazim. And they left their gods there, and David gave command, and they were burned.”
1 Chronicles 14:11-12 ESV
Most Christians know that God will not tolerate idolatry. Indeed, in addition to prohibition of idolatry being the first of the Ten Commandments, the Old Testament is fraught with examples of God being angry with His people because of idolatry. Time and again the people of God are warned against idolatry, even into the New Testament, through the teachings of Jesus, as well as through various New Testament writers.
Consider the loving admonition of John:
“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”
1 John 5:20-21 ESV
Paul also confronts and warns against idolatry:
“For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.”
1 Corinthians 10:1-12, 14 ESV
Notice, Paul’s warning is to “flee,” to run from idolatry. I think that for most Christians, the falling into forms of idolatry comes as the result of trying to navigate the slippery slope of loving the things of this world. Friend, that particular slippery slope often ends in full scale idolatry that started with covetousness and love of pleasure.
In today’s portion of the Baal-perazim victories, we see that when the enemy was defeated, David ordered the burning of the gods they had brought into battle. Now consider: Some of these objects were probably valuable, or could even be seen as “souvenirs” of a great victory in battle; but David did not want to take any chance that those who took the idols, would somehow be drawn into the worship of the demons they represented.
Looking back at Paul’s warning about idolatry referenced above, let us consider the verses that follow his admonition:
“Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?”
1 Corinthians 10:14-22 ESV
As God works through us to bring victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil, let us not be sloppy in our living, ultimately embracing the very things that can pull us into putting something before God, becoming an idol.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Jan 16
- 3 min read
“And David inquired of God, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up, and I will give them into your hand.” And he went up to Baal-perazim, and David struck them down there. And David said, “God has broken through my enemies by my hand, like a bursting flood.” Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-perazim.”
1 Chronicles 14:10-11 ESV
King Hezekiah of Judah had been threatened by the Assyrian king, Sennacherib. Hezekiah prayed to the Lord for deliverance from this mighty king. Surely enough, the Lord heard Hezekiah’s prayer and supernaturally destroyed the army that was coming against Judah.
“And that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh.”
2 Kings 19:35-36 ESV
Yes, without lifting a finger, Hezekiah was handed the victory against Sennacherib. As a matter of fact, after Sennacherib went back to Nineveh, he was killed by his own sons!
Now let’s consider another story:
Ahab, king of Israel, was facing a battle with Ben-hadad, king of Syria. The Lord sent a prophet to deliver this message to Ahab:
“And behold, a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel and said, “Thus says the Lord, Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will give it into your hand this day, and you shall know that I am the Lord.” And Ahab said, “By whom?” He said, “Thus says the Lord, By the servants of the governors of the districts.” Then he said, “Who shall begin the battle?” He answered, “You.””
1 Kings 20:13-14 ESV
Wait a minute. What’s going on here? When Ahab asked the Lord who would start the battle, he was told that he would be the one to do it. And as it turned out, the victory was given to Ahab when he personally went out to battle.
You see, sometimes the Lord deals with things that stand in our way, or threaten us, by supernaturally removing or destroying the threat or obstacle. But make no mistake, sometimes the answer comes in the form of our acting under the power of God, acting on His word, and following through with what He says, as we discussed last time.
In our opening scripture, we see that when David was extolling what God had done, he describes the event this way:
“And David said, “God has broken through my enemies by my hand, like a bursting flood.”
It’s interesting to consider how this is worded in The Message Bible:
“David attacked at Baal Perazim and slaughtered them. David said, “God exploded my enemies, as water explodes from a burst pipe.” That’s how the place got its name, Baal Perazim (Baal-Explosion).”
1 Chronicles 14:11-12a MSG
Yes, God can explode your enemies—or any other obstacle—out of your way. Sometimes He will do this for you without you lifting a finger. But as we have seen and discussed, sometimes the explosion of those obstacles comes through our own hand, through our own actions.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!