Faithful Fridays Two: 2nd Samuel

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Near the end of  David's reign, he did a foolish thing: he counted the fighting men in Israel.  Even Joab, who was not known for his reasoned thinking, tried to dissuade David but David was determined to find out what his military strength actually was.

This doesn't sound like a problem to most of us...it even sounds like wisdom.  But this isn't an ordinary kingdom, this was God's kingdom and God had reminded them not to put their trust in military strength but to trust in God.  Counting  the fighting men for his own benefit was kind of a slap in the face to God.  In fact, God had said in Exodus 30 that whenever there was a census, every person (in this case, every man of fighting age) was to give a half shekel to the LORD as a ransom for his life for having been counted (Ex 30:12-13).  The ransom was to stave off a plague that would come and decimate the counted men. (Ex. 30:12).  God was to be the strength of Israel...not the numbers of men who could fight.

So David send Joab out to count the fighting men and God was displeased.  Seventy thousand people died in the plague before God said, 'Enough!' (the account in 1 Samuel hints that the people had displeased God and this was His way of sending the judgment).

The angel was ready to destroy Jerusalem and stopped at the threshing floor of Araunah the  Jebusite.  David was instructed to build an altar there and make a sacrifice.

David went to buy the land and oxen.  Aruanah protested, offering to give it to David so he could sacrifice.

But the king replied to Araunah, "No, I insist on paying you for it.  I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing."  So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them. -- 2 Sam. 24:24

David knew what it was to make a sacrifice.  Owning his error required it.  We tend to want to wiggle out of consequences from our...lack of trust? Our wanting to do things the way it makes sense to us?  But when those schemes backfire...and they always do...repentance involves making restitution when possible. Not because we owe God...but because it's the right thing to do.  Why should Araunah bear the cost of David's error?

Our debt to God has been paid by the cross.  But when we owe a debt to another person...that is something we should take care of.  Yes, it will cost.  But it's the Right Thing to Do.

Faithful Fridays Two: 1 Samuel

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

What is obedience?

Saul had been instructed to completely annihilate the Amalekites (1 Sam 15:3).  Unlike the instruction given to Israel regarding Jericho under Joshua, which was to reserve specified items (gold, silver and bronze) for the Lord's use and destroy the rest, Saul was told to completely destroy the Amalekites. put every living thing (including the livestock) to death.  Saul, however, didn't exactly follow the instructions, which resulted in the following exchange:

[Samuel speaking] "Why did you not obey the LORD?  Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the LORD?"  

"But I did obey the LORD, " Saul said, "I went on the mission the LORD assigned me.  I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king.  The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to devote them to the LORD your God at Gilgal."

But Samuel replied, "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as obeying the voice of the LORD?  To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams."  -- 1 Samuel 15:19 - 22

Self deception is the most insidious thing.  It perverts honesty, blinds eyes, and breaks faith.  Because self deception is what convinces someone that the end justifies the means.

Saul declared that he HAD obeyed God...and then promptly confessed to disobeying him.  And didn't even see it.  God said 'Destroy it all at once'; Saul said, 'I will design my own plan to destroy it over time." That is, of course, assuming he told Samuel the truth, that they brought back the choicest of the livestock for a sacrifice at Gilgal.  Saul thought that was good enough....but it wasn't what he was told to do.  Which means it was not obedience.

As far as Agag goes, there's no explanation at all as to why he was taken captive instead of killed as instructed.  The Amalekites had attacked Israel without provocation during the Exodus (Ex. 17:8); Joshua had defeated them in the day when the sun stood still, but God had pronounced judgment on them (Ex. 17:14)...that they would be blotted out.   Now was the time for that judgment to fall, and Saul was to be the executioner.  But he held back and did not do as he was instructed.

And then had the audacity to declare that his task was done and he had obeyed, when the evidence to the contrary was right in front of everyone.  He said he 'destroyed the Amalekites completely', when he had, in fact, kept their king alive, along with the best animals of their flocks and herds.

Saul wanted to define his obedience himself...which earned him a stinging rebuke from Samuel and cost his family the royal dynasty that went to David.

Did Saul really not know the difference?  Or did he rationalize his choices to himself?  Or...was his story an outright lie:  the animals WEREN'T kept out for sacrifice but had been doled out among the men as plunder, with the sacrifice story being a made-up explanation to get off the hook?

As if God doesn't know the true motives behind everything we say and do...

To obey is better than sacrifice.  Why do we find it so hard to just do what He says?

Faithful Fridays Two - Ruth

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Ah, the sweet little book of Ruth...a breath of fresh air after the mire and muck of Judges.

A book about devotion and respect and honor and commitment.  

It is not a romantic love story. Boaz was likely old enough to have been Ruth's father.  The two times he is recorded as speaking to her, he refers to her as 'my daughter'.

This book is about the inheritance.

Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, "Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of  Elimelech, Killion and Mahlon.  I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon's widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from the town records.  Today you are witnesses."  -- Ruth 4:9-10, NIV  84

That was the wedding, right there.

Hardly the stuff of romance novels.

This was so all the property of Elimelech, Killion and Mahlon could be passed to Ruth's son, Obed.

Who became the father of Jesse, who became the father of  David, who became king of all Israel.

That is the wonder of the story to me; Ruth, a foreigner, turned her heart to her Jewish mother in law, to care for her as if she were her own mother, and to live in reverence of Naomi's God.  Was this only out of respect for Naomi, or did she see something that contrasted with the pagan idols she had grown up with?  I am sure that Ruth had a genuine faith; I can't imagine her abandoning her people if she didn't have a heart for the God of her husband's people.  I wonder when it took root..because the fruit of it was amazing.  

Her great grandson was the king of all Israel, a man after God's own heart.

Because of devotion, respect, honor and commitment...on the part of both Ruth and Boaz.

If we learned to value devotion, respect, honor and commitment as much as we value 'romantic love'...we will see a complete turn around in our divorce statistics.

Just sayin'.

Hodge-Podging....a Trip Down Memory Lane

Posted to Beer Lahai Roi by Lisa Laree

So many moments of reminiscing in the last few weeks; oddball moments have brought up unexpected flashbacks...

For an example, yesterday I opened up a box and found patterns and spread sheets from church sewing projects going all the way back to 2003.

 Then, this week,  Joyce over at From This Side of the Pond takes us back to 2010 and the very first Hodgepodge.

Since I found myself in a rather reminiscent  frame of mind...I thought I'd just flashback along with everyone this week....

1. How did you name your blog and do you now wish you had thought about it maybe another five minutes before hitting publish? Would you change your blog title if it were not a huge pain in the derriere? 

I have two blogs...they were in my heart for a while before I actually started posting.  Because I was waiting for The Perfect Name, lol.   I actually wrote a blog post about it...but, suffice it to say I'm happy with the names for both of them. They fit.

2. What bill do you least like to pay? 

Um, is there ANYone who won't answer 'All of them'? LOL

3. What is your favorite word? Okay okay, calm down. How about one of your favorite words? 

Forgiven.

4. Is the glass half full or half empty? Elaborate. 

Oh, half full.  As in, 'Dang it!  I can't believe I left that half full glass of milk on the counter!'

5. Were you here for that very first Hodgepodge post? If so, were your answers then similar to what they are today? Tell us what was happening in your life in November of 2010? 

I'm pretty sure I read the first one...or at least some of the first ones.  I only manage to play along once in a while. In November 2010  I was heading up the church photo directory project...the one that inspired me to develop the little mantra 'Thank you, Jesus, for this opportunity to crucify my flesh, grow in you, and develop the fruit of the Spirit in my life.' Eventually I learned to mean it when I said it...

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

It's good to look back now and then, eh?

 

Faithful Fridays Two - Judges

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

It happened again.  

Knowing I would be selecting a passage from Judges, I thought about Judges all through this crazy week.  And one verse from Judges kept repeating itself in my head.

Turns out, it was the verse I selected last go-round on this skim through the Bible looking for a standout verse from each book.

So, time to skim through and see if there is another verse/passage that seems especially relevant to me.

Sigh.  The book of Judges ends so...dismally.  There is a passage which pretty much sums up the whole book, so I'm going to use that  today:

They provoked the LORD to anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.  In his anger against Israel the LORD handed them over to raiders who plundered them.  He sold them to their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.  Whenever Israel went out to fight, the LORD was against them to defeat them; just as he had sworn to them.  They were in great distress.

Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders....Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the LORD had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed them.  But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping them.  They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

Judges 2:12b - 16,18 - 19

It was a cycle; Israel served God when they took the land, but after the death of Joshua it only took a couple of generations for the land to be led by those who didn't listen to the old folks, didn't remember what had happened to bring them into the land, who married whoever they wanted to, and didn't keep their faith pure but took on the worship of the pagan idols of the land.  Eventually, when the people refused to repent, God allowed them to be overrun and subjugated to one of the enemies around them, who oppressed them.  After wearying years of oppression, they would cry out to God for deliverance and he would raise up a leader who rallied them and drove off the oppressors, and they lived in thanksgiving and peace until that generation...and judge...died off. A generation or two later the whole cycle started over again.

In short, they couldn't resist the appeal of the pagan societies around them and chose to do what they did instead of what the Lord required.

And it caused all kinds of problems for them.

God's people are not supposed to behave like those who do not follow him.  Obedience brings blessing; disobedience...removes the blessing.

Disobedience is ultimately what makes Judges so dismal.