Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
When the ark of the Lord had been in Philistine territory seven months, the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, "What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it back to its place."
They answered, "If you return the ark of the god of Israel, do not send it away empty, but by all means send a guilt offering to Him. Then you will be healed, and you will know why His hand has not been lifted from you."
The Philistines asked, "What guilt offering should we send to Him?"
They replied, "Five gold tumors and five gold rats, according to the number of the Philistine rulers, because the same plague has struck both you and your rulers. Make models of the tumors and of the rats that are destroying the country, and pay honor to Israel's god. Perhaps He will lift His hand from you and your gods and your land. Why do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When He treated them harshly, did they not send the Israelites out so they could go on their way?
1 Samuel 6:1-6
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
After capturing the ark of God from Israel, the Philistines held it for seven months during which time they suffered great affliction from a plague that struck their land. From the scriptures, we know the plague involved tumors and rats since these seem to be the main components listed. Most probably, the plague was transmitted by the rats and those infected by the plague developed tumors. Whatever the case, the Philistines knew one thing. They had to get rid of the ark. How to get rid of it was the question that they brought to their pagan “priests and diviners”.
We read where the Philistines were advised to not send the ark of the god of Israel away empty but with a guilt offering to Israel’s God. Their pagan advisors told them that if they sent a guilt offering then they would “be healed and…know why His hand has not been lifted from you." So the Philistines then inquire about what guilt offering to bring and are told to take “five gold tumors and five gold rats, according to the number of the Philistine rulers, because the same plague has struck both you and your rulers”. They were to “make models of the tumors and of the rats” that were “destroying the country and pay honor to Israel's god”. If they did this, then there would be a chance that the God of Israel would “lift His hand from you and your gods and your land”. Note that there isn’t a certainty given. For it is God and God alone who judges and pardons. No one can speak for God.
But the priests and diviners aren’t done counseling the Philistines. For they ask a very important question saying, “Why do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When He treated them harshly, did they not send the Israelites out so they could go on their way?” In other words, didn’t you learn anything from what happened in the past? You are repeating the mistakes of the Egyptians and Pharoah by hardening your hearts and stubbornly discounting the mighty power of Israel’s God. And like Egypt and Pharoah, the Philistines were paying a heavy price and learning about the power and might of God the hard way.
How often are we like the Philistines? We read the scriptures and see all these examples of stubborn, hardened-hearted people who willingly choose to either disregard or disobey God. We also see that God will not tolerate this attitude and behavior, dealing with it harshly with severe consequence. And yet we, like the Philistines, refuse to learn from the mistakes of the past. We repeat the stubborn, hard heartedness and find ourselves being disciplined just as God has shown He would do in the past.
And how many times do we repeat out past mistakes over and over again? We all have a certain number of weaknesses that we seem to struggle with. I know I do. So how do we deal with those weaknesses, especially when Satan knows how to exploit them and draw us into sin? We turn to the One and only One who can always lead us to righteousness and away from wickedness. For when we turn to the Lord and only when we turn to the Lord, can we find the strength to deal with our shortcomings…our temptations…our weaknesses. We are no way near strong enough to deal with them ourselves. If we were, we wouldn’t keep failing the same way.
So friends, it’s time for us to let go and let God. If we do then we will find ourselves able to withstand sin’s attacks when they come. If we don’t, then we will end up like the Philistines, the Egyptians, and countless other peoples who have had to learn the hard way through consequence and discipline.
Sin is not going away anytime soon and will continue to afflict us all until that day when we die. Until that time, we had better pay attention to guidance of the Holy Spirit and the scriptures, committing ourselves to willful obedience and loyalty to out Almighty, Infinite Father and Maker. He deserves and expects nothing less that that. Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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