Word for Today: Thursday, February 21, 2013

1 Samuel 7:2-177 Day of National Repentance

Memory Verse 1 Samuel 7:12(KJV)

“Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”

Yesterday, we learnt that God is not a respecter of anybody. Yes, he is merciful but he is also just. Failure to obey God’s commandments can lead to severe punishment or even death as in the case of the men of Beth Shemesh.

We will see the difference between Eli and Samuel, while Eli was responsible for turning the hearts of the Israelites away from God, Samuel was responsible for turning their hearts back to God Verse 3. This is what a priest or any man of God should do; they should lead the sheep astray but instead guide them and lead them to God.

Israel heeded to Samuel’s call for repentance, by turning away from idol worship. Samuel in turn arranged a day of national repentance for them verses 5, 6. The Philistines mistook the repentance rally for a war rally and assembled their troops terrifying the Israelites verses 7, 8 but Samuel interceded for them and God answered verse 9. After many years of defeat the Israelites were able to subdue the Philistines verse 13.

There are dangerous consequences for sinning and turning our hearts away from God. When you sin, do not hesitate to return back to God. True repentance means forsaking those idols or things that holds first place in our lives and turning to God totally and when we return to God in true repentance we are assured of victories especially in that situation that currently seem impossible. When you get the victory, do not forget to thank God, our Helper (Ebenezer). God bless you.

Word for Today: Wednesday, February 20, 2013

1 Samuel 6:1-7:1 Joy and Sorrow

Memory Verse 1 Samuel 6:20(KJV)

 “And the men of Bethshemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? And to whom shall he go up from us?”

Yesterday, we saw how God severely punished the Philistines and destroyed their god Dagon. Initially, the Philistines thought it was a good idea to capture the ark of God but decided to return the ark after keeping it for seven months.

In desperation to return the ark of God, the Philistines consulted their Priest and diviners on how to return the ark. The priest advised them to return the ark with gifts of golden tumours and rats symbolising the plague and diseases on the Philistines Verses 4 and 5.

From verse 6, it is apparent that the Philistines heard about the Egyptians plague and how they perished in the Red sea because they refused to allow the Children of Israel go to the promised Land, one would think that this would have made the Philistines more afraid of the Israelites but instead at every slight opportunity they had they used it to wage war against the Israelites.

With the glaring signs, the priests were still not totally convinced that it was God causing their plague; they might have thought it was just pure coincidence. So they hitched the cart which would carry the ark to untrained cows that had just calved. Should these cows dessert their calves despite their motherly instincts and carry the ark directly to Israel, even though they have never pulled a cart, this would be irrefutable proof verses 8-9.

 This was exactly what happened; the ark of God arrived at Beth Shemesh, a town just inside Israel’s border. Initially, there was a great rejoicing and sacrificing to God but unfortunately tragedy struck. Seventy Beth Shemesh men died because they looked into the ark Verse 19. Some people may think God was too hard on these men, after all they were happy the ark was back, they even made sacrifices but if you read Numbers 4:20, God gave strict orders about the ark, only the Levites should handle the ark and looking at the sacred things will result to death. God is a God of justice.

Really who can stand in the presence of the Lord? Let us thank God for his son Jesus who is constantly interceding on our behalf and for his grace and mercy that has been given to us freely. God bless you.