Dead For Disobedience

Dead For Disobedience 

I Kings 13:23-24 NKJV

[23] So it was, after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, the prophet whom he had brought back. [24] When he was gone, a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his corpse was thrown on the road, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the corpse. 

Paul attempts to explain to us why we are taught somethings in the old testament. "  Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come". Bill Stocham in a devotional submission of August,2020 points out somethings the people of Israel did: " committed sexual immorality, tempted Christ, and grumbled against God"( 1Cor.10:11 ).  Then God visited them with deadly consequences. Stocham emphasis  Paul's statement that these were written as object lessons to stop our repeating the same mistakes. Have that in mind as we examine this vignette today. By going back to eat in the place he was forbidden by God, this Man Of God diobeyed God. Disobedience attracts consequences.

Charles Stanley points out four ways we are likely going to disobey God. 1. Neglecting to obey God's command. 2. Actively pursuing what God forbids. 3. Doing what the Lord says in a wrong manner. 4. Insisting on our own agenda. Our disobedience will not only affect us, but it will affect others. The irony is that others will find it out eventually. Please don't die by disobedience. The dead of that Man Of God was enough. Good morning

when God fights For You.

When God Fights For You

I Kings 13:4-6 NKJV

[4] So it came to pass when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, who cried out against the altar in Bethel, that he stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Arrest him!” Then his hand, which he stretched out toward him, withered, so that he could not pull it back to himself. [5] The altar also was split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. [6] Then the king answered and said to the man of God, “Please entreat the favor of the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.” So the man of God entreated the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored to him, and became as before. 

One of the devil's strongest weapon is fear. The other is ignorance.  Fear is an intense paralysing emotion responding to threats, pain  or harm. If the devil can make you afraid, it will create what is spoken. The words spoken by Jeroboam was to have sent shivers to the Man of God, destabilize him and declare him personal non-grata. That's when God took over. Moses told the people of Israel when they were near the Red Sea, " The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”

Exo.14.14. There are two parts to that verse. One is that " the Lord will fight for you". God fought for the Man Of God. He still does.  Check out Deut. 3:22;  Isa.42:13; Psa.44:3. The other is that you will hold your peace. Now that's moyt easy if you're as active as I am.The CEV says, " you wont have to do a thing". Really? GNB says that " all you have to do is to keep still". Did you feel like asking: keep still? In essence, don't panic. Believe in God. This is God's standard practice. Check out, Prov. 20:22 and Rom.12:19. God fought for the Man Of God. The tables turned. I may not understand what you are experiencing. God does. He has decided to step into your condition today and give you victory. Hold your peace and see the victory of the Lord. All you need to do is allow God! Good morning.

The Man Of God From Judah.

The Man Of God From Judah 

I Kings 13:1-3 NKJV

[1] And behold, a man of God went from Judah to Bethel by the word of the Lord, and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. [2] Then he cried out against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said, “O altar, altar! Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men’s bones shall be burned on you.’ ” [3] And he gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign which the Lord has spoken: Surely the altar shall split apart, and the ashes on it shall be poured out.”

There's a bit of argument as to who this man of God was. He is called a prohet by the Chaldee, Arabic and Syriac versions.  David Guzik explains that  the man was imported fom Judah because, " Apparently, there were no qualified messengers within the northern kingdom of Israel" This is a sad commentary on the spiritual state of Jeroboam’s kingdom". Then he adds a crucial lesson that this "anonymous man of God was used in an important way to demonstrate a lesson that one does not need to be famous to be significantly used by God". The man of God prophesied against the altar. This was a hard one. He wasn't going to receive an offering. He faced a possible execution. But Israel was one in the sight of God. God used the man to prophesy the restoration of the Kingdom. God declares before He acts. The king was to come from the house of David. That was bold. No wonder Jeroboam wanted him arrested, but God was on scene to confirm His words. That altar was split and Jeroboam had to pray for help. Carrying a prophetic word may cause you some trouble, but if the word came from God, He will defend His word. While you carry the word, be careful how you walk. The words came to pass. Good morning.

The Pragmatism Of Jeroboam

The Pragmatism Of Jeroboam 

I Kings 12:26-28 NKJV

[26] And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom may return to the house of David: [27] If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah.” [28] Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!” 

Jeroboam had become a Pragmatist. Pragmatism is described by Sandra Rosenthal and H.Thayer in Britannicca as a pattern of thinking based on " ...the principle that the usefulness, workability, and practicality of ideas, policies, and proposals are the criteria of their merit. It stresses the priority of action over doctrine, of experience over fixed principles". It takes God and His principles out of daily experience. Yet God had spoken in 1Kings 11:38 the conditions in which Jeroboam will have His  blessings.  God is the one who gave prophet Ahijah the initial prophecy in 1Kings 11:31. Now the fear of loosing the Northern kingdom because of worship in Jerusalem has forced him to act out of God. He replaced God with idols. This is John MacArthur on the subject. "... when pragmatism is used to make judgments about right and wrong, or when it becomes a guiding philosophy of life and ministry, it inevitably clashes with Scripture. Spiritual and biblical truth is not determined by testing what "works" and what doesn't". 1 Cor.1:22-23: 2:14. By now you're probably feeling this is heading into a catastrophe. Have you ever felt like screaming at a Bible character, " No, thats not right!" God's promise may appear to delay, dont become pragmatic. Stay on the word. We wiill find out more about this tomorrow. Good morning.

God is the Mastermind

God Is The Mastermind.

I Kings 12:21-22, 24 NKJV

[21] And when Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah with the tribe of Benjamin, one hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. [22] But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 

[24] ‘Thus says the Lord: “You shall not go up nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel. Let every man return to his house, for this thing is from Me.” ’ ” Therefore they obeyed the word of the Lord, and turned back, according to the word of the Lord. 

A Mastermind is described in Britannica as " a person who plans and organizes something". Another word used for a Mastermind is Archtect.  An Architect is  a person who designs and guides a plan or undertaking. In Heb.11:10, God is described as an architect whose city Abraham waited for. In our read today, God stopped the civil war by the prophecy of Shemiah. God said, " ...this thing is of me". That's the Mastermind, the Architect who designs and executes events in His creation. God knows the end from the beginning. He plans things to fit His purpose. This looked like a scattering of the kingdom of Israel, but God was behind it. Thank God, Rehoboam listened to the counsel. Has God ever stopped you from an avowed responsibility? Thats because He knows the end. Why would God send His only begotten son to die on earth? He knew Jesus will become a bye word that will send terrors to the devil. Our prayers are an invitation to the Mastermind to accomplish His will on earth. His thoughts are not always our thoughts. His ways may be different from ours. Humility is accepting the will of God. The king  stayed from prosecuting the war. Thank you Lord for divine directions. Good morning.

 

When the Leader looses Legitimacy

When The Leader Looses Legitimacy 

I Kings 12:18, 20 NKJV

[18] Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of the revenue; but all Israel stoned him with stones, and he died. Therefore King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste to flee to Jerusalem. 

[20] Now it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, they sent for him and called him to the congregation, and made him king over all Israel. There was none who followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.

In Political Science, " legitimacy is the right and acceptance of an authority, usually a governing law or a regime.". It comes from being recognized by the people as authority. Someone describes the chemistry of legitimacy in leadership  in the following words, " A legitimate leader is not in charge because of his rank, he is in charge because his people trust his ability to lead. When a leader is illegitimate, people follow him not because they want to, but because they fear the consequences of being insubordinate (like people obeying a dictator). The moment an illegitimate leader loses his leverage or power over his people, they immediately revolt". That describes what happened to Rehoboam. When he tried to send the Minister of finance to get taxes, they people stoned him to death. The revolution had begun. Destiny had arranged for Jeroboam to have come back and be in the center of Ahijah's prophesy. The people took and made him the king of the northern kingdom. Rehoboam had abused power by being arrogant and unfeeling for the plight of his people . A blog writer submits that, " Leaders who abuse power, however, lose favor in the eyes of those they lead.  Eventually, their abusive behavior leads to a diminished leader-member exchange that eventually erodes and power is lost". Our leaders need to learn from this. Christ demonstrates the height of a leaders sacrifice for his people. Christ died, but his influence lives on for today. Dont loose your legitimacy. Good morning.

 

The Consequence

The Consequence 

I Kings 12:15-16 NKJV

[15] So the king did not listen to the people; for the turn of events was from the Lord, that He might fulfill His word, which the Lord had spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat. [16] Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying: “What share have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Now, see to your own house, O David!” So Israel departed to their tents. 

I read this in a company's training post. " Over every decision hovers a measure of uncertainty—for all decisions play out in an uncertain future. Making good choices depends on three elements: the quality of your definition of specific factors that must be satisfied, the quality of your evaluation of available alternatives and finally, the quality of your assessment of the risks associated with those alternatives. Yet too often decisions are made without assessment of the risks associated with a final choice." These statements appear to summarize the state of confusion Rehoboam entered into. Suddenly it became clear to him  that every action, every statement he made has consequences. Margaret J. Wheatley submits that " Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful". In this matter, Rehoboam failed. He lost control of the people. Jeroboam had his ground ready made for the  fulfillment of Ahija's prophecy. Be careful of taking emotional decisions. James Faust says it better, " In this life, we have to make many choices. Some are very important choices. Some are not. Many of our choices are between good and evil. The choices we make, however, determine to a large extent our happiness or our unhappiness, because we have to live with the consequences of our choices". Rehoboam lived with a broken nation. He regretted this decision for the rest of his life. You have a better opportunity. You have the help of the Holy Spirit. Take a decision that honours Christ. Remember, there's always a consequence. Good morning.