-Devotion by Tom Siderius (MI)
Psalms 66:8-10(NKJV)
Oh, bless our God, you peoples!
And make the voice of His praise to be heard,
9 Who keeps our soul among the living,
And does not allow our feet to be moved.
10 For You, O God, have tested us;
You have refined us as silver is refined.
There is a theme going through all the sections we are reading today. We are slaves to sin before we receive Christ, but then after, we can walk with righteous new life before our Father. Our hearts need to become like the heart of Christ and not the heart of disobedience which is what we had before we became children of God. Silver is refined by heat, a process carried out multiple times. Our heart needs continual refining towards the goal of becoming like Christ. We don’t start out that way and the lifetime fight with the deceitful heart is something all of us will have with our walk with God.
Genesis 8:21(NLT) And the LORD was pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice and said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood. I will never again destroy all living things.
The nation of Israel had as king Ahab and the queen his wife Jezebel who led their nation into a continual and total worship of Baal. This was the time of Elijah and then Elisha. Remember the contest on the mountain between the prophets of Baal and the prophet of God Elijah? This became a time of such idolatry in the 10 tribes’ nation of Israel that God calls out and then sends Jehu, one of the commanders in Ahab’s army, to settle the situation. God has the prophet tell Jehu that he will be king, but he must kill Ahab and all his family. He also was directed to destroy all the temples and prophets of Baal.
2 Kings 10:25-31(NLT) Then Jehu’s men went into the innermost fortress of the temple of Baal. 26 They dragged out the sacred pillar used in the worship of Baal and burned it. 27 They smashed the sacred pillar and wrecked the temple of Baal, converting it into a public toilet, as it remains to this day.
28 In this way, Jehu destroyed every trace of Baal worship from Israel. 29 He did not, however, destroy the gold calves at Bethel and Dan, with which Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to sin.
30 Nonetheless the LORD said to Jehu, “You have done well in following my instructions to destroy the family of Ahab. Therefore, your descendants will be kings of Israel down to the fourth generation.” 31 But Jehu did not obey the Law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He refused to turn from the sins that Jeroboam had led Israel to commit.
Many questions come to mind as I read the passage. Why does God choose Jehu to become king when God knows that Jehu will not settle the issue of the golden calf worship that was started by Jeroboam. This was after Solomon died and the nation split. The refining mission of Jehu on the nation of Israel is partial but not complete. The true worship of Yahweh would include going to the temple at Jerusalem three times per year and apparently Jehu did not want to let the people go there. Instead, he kept the worship of the calves which the people were told that they should do instead of going to the feasts at the temple. His desire to control the people outweighed a decision to follow God’s law. Further refinement will be on the way for the nation of Israel.
Also, why does the whole family, children and servants of Ahab and Jezebel have to die in the process? Worship of Baal and the Astaroth was a fertility worship that included a great deal of activities that would be shocking to us even to today. (Or maybe not.) When the king of Israel led the people to do evil continually the smell of their sacrifices and altars was so putrefying to God that He sent the ultimate judgement against their whole family. By eliminating the many sons of Ahab there would be no palace intrigue against Jehu and his sons as kings in Israel. The deaths of so many that did evil is truly a refining process.
It was a bloody, violent and gruesome ending for them and especially Jezebel who ends up crushed and eaten by dogs to leave only a few of her bones. The pit they dug for others is where they died.
Psalms 9:15-16(NLT) The nations have fallen into the pit they dug for others.
Their own feet have been caught in the trap they set.
16 The LORD is known for his justice.
The wicked are trapped by their own deeds.
Why does God execute such judgement against people in the Old Testament time?
Should we look for this judgement today against those that do evil?
The New Testament brings us the teaching of Jesus and the apostles and prophets of the early church. Now we are admonished to love our enemies, to turn our cheek, and to give grace to all we meet. Sometimes this is used by Christians to justify a completely pacifist view. Certainly, Jesus does not call or lead us to dominate our world by military power or war. But the viewpoint we should have should be to see that sometimes evil is so great that God will lift his hand of protection against those people and the destruction of war and violence will come from this time of unbelief. They will be refined by falling into their own pit that they have dug, and captured by the net they have set. Unbelief and greed coming from evil leaders is certainly the source of most conflicts in history and in the world today. Evil and deceit come from the heart of man to do evil continuously and leaders who lead from this deceit are responsible for most misery and war.
We have no promise of peace in this administration of grace but are admonished by God not to be the cause of the disharmony or conflict. We are to be light in the world showing others the way to Christ and God. If our country and leaders lead us into wars which are based on greed and deceit there may be Christians caught up in these conflicts. The records of the Word show many times the strength of warriors who do righteous battle for nations and we are certainly not immune from war today.
In Hebrews 11 we find a list of men who battled for their nation from the weakness of being the hand of the army of God. They include David, Gideon, Barak, and others. These are armies which depend on the living God to help them to victory and show us a pattern of righteous action. Not armies dependent on their own strength.
What is it to fight from weakness and how does that work?
Our 2 Corinthian reading also shows us further refining the silver of our lives. Yokes of livestock need to be closely matched in order to get the best effort for their work. You can pair a small horse with a large ox, but the results will be a very crooked plowing path. In the same way God tells us to look to our family in the church for those to be paired up in our work. We will be both pulling in the same way in the same direction. Our efforts will work together for righteousness,
2 Corinthians 6:11-16(NKJV) O Corinthians! We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open. 12 You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections. 13 Now in return for the same (I speak as to children), you also be open. 14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said:
“I will dwell in them
And walk among them.
I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.”
Leviticus 26:12-13(NLT) I will walk among you; I will be your God, and you will be my people. 13 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so you would no longer be their slaves. I broke the yoke of slavery from your neck so you can walk with your heads held high.
Do you see yourself and the church today as the chosen people of God?
Our warfare as the church today, we pray, will not be with the weapons of this world, but our national identity is the true people of God and our weapons are spiritual. Our authority is established with God as our Father and leader and any state mandated statues must be subservient to this authority. God calls for us to not be unequally yoked with the unbeliever. We should not be yoked to the sin and passion of this world. We need to support and strengthen each other in our spiritual family and relationships. God has not delivered us from the slavery to sin of this world for us to willingly go back to its authority. We cannot change the world’s violence in every situation but rather we teach and preach Christ the prince of peace to all we meet. God continues to refine us as silver in our thoughts and actions when we trust Him.
Reflection Questions – see above and …
Has this discussion changed your view of the conflicts of this world?
Prayer
Father God, we lift all our people that may be involved in the conflicts of this world. We ask Your protection for all of us from the evil that is so pervasive. Continue to refine our lives to become like Christ and help us to act from our new hearts. Give us today the bread of our need and deliver us from the pit others have dug for us. Thank you Father for all that Your do to protect and keep us in every way. In the precious name of Jesus Christ, we pray this day.
Seek Grow Love 