Just Do It!

Just Do It!

11/22/18

When we read the Bible and an act is played out that seems harsh in its direction, we have a tendency to ask why such events had to occur in a certain manner or wonder why God wanted to wipe out an entire ethnic population.  Many times when we read such a passage it is easy for us to point fingers or to shake our fist at God because of such action, but do we know all of the history behind such a group and what it means to the existence of Israel both in that moment and in the future?  We can also place this type of setting into our own lives as well, not so much on the killing aspect but taking care of the issues around us in a godly manner in order to ease our potential agony in the future.  God always does things for a specific person in a specific manner and while we may not fully understand why at that moment God is at the same time protecting us from our future and while leading us through the course of holy obedience.  Presently, we have taken God’s plan for our lives and have twisted its content so that it fits our worldly agenda, a sin that will cost us dearly one day just as it did for Israel as this article unfolds.

A while back, God shared with us a passage concerning procrastination and how we should take God seriously at what He tells us to do and not to hesitate when doing it.  God also says that He expects complete obedience in all things that we do and this includes what He tells us to do, many of us including myself sometimes have issues with the word “complete” by not doing such techniques when told.  Another issue that we have that brings forth the procrastination point of view is that we may do things that God tells us to do completely but we do it when we are ready and not in the timely manner in which God tells us to complete it.  It does not matter which setting suits your practice because all of them fall within the category of disobedience and the consequences of our actions may not immediately be known but recognized years or even centuries down the road.

We must ask ourselves if our selfish conditions are worth not listening and obeying what God commands us to do.  Many times over I have not done what my parents asked me to do when I was growing up, or I waited until I was “ready” to do what they asked and did so with a grudgingly weighted heart.  This is a human trait and one that all of us deal with at some point in our lives and to this day I continue to procrastinate at times about what God has given me to do and it is through this portion of my heart that God is now exposing to a great extent He wants us to understand that when He speaks in a certain way or in a specific manner it is for a reason that He wants dealt with now and not later, for if we wait and do not deal with things at the moment they could grow into a much larger problem that will affect more people than just our personal lives or family.  Unfortunately, I see some of these procrastination qualities in my daughters and even though I try and teach them not to harbor such tendencies it pains me to see that their attitudes and actions towards this malady bring back memories of my words and thoughts, sometimes precision responses sends chills through my spirit.  Through these responses of theirs, I know that if not checked and gotten rid of they shall grow further and deeper and could prove painful or present as a devastation in their future; a condition I do not wish to occur.

The passage that God wants to share with us today comes from the first three verses of 1 Samuel 15, and we see that Israel has fulfilled its desire to have a worldly king as other nations had.  God has chosen a king for Israel and while the physical king is present God still has His say over the duties of the land for this is one of the times that God confirms to us that He never leaves us even though we kick Him out of our lives.  Saul has become king and is now receiving instructions from Samuel concerning what God has said to do about Amalek, but the first order of business was that Samuel was to anoint Saul as King of Israel.  This was the official recognition of Saul from God to the people of Israel that He was in allowance of their decision; God still knew what was about to occur in their ways and what this election meant for His people down the road as well.  However, the anointing from God gives Saul an opportunity to understand that his leadership is still or should still be under God and for him to obey God’s commands at all times.  We are about to see what happens when disobedience reigns instead of God within a person’s heart.

1 Samuel 15:2 states that God remembers what Amalek did to the people of Israel while they were proceeding in the wilderness after they had left Egypt.  It is this verse that sets the stage of why God wanted Saul to destroy Amalek and every one of his followers and people and when we understand what occurred in the desert a while back with these parties we will know why God is so vehemently aware that Saul must obey His command.  Even though we as a people, as individuals, or as nations may not agree with what God does or accepts we must contend that whatever God says and needs to be completed is for a reason and that reason is always in the interests of His people and their well-being.  God does not do things haphazardly in any way shape or form, His Ways and methods are clear and give us the opportunity to express His Will through the words that He gives us to do.

Exodus 17:8-14 gives us the history lesson as to why God has specifically targeted Amalek for destruction.  We see that the Israelites are in the process of making their way through the desert towards the Promised Land, but they are at a point of intrusion that is in wait for them and it is in the form of Amalek and his warriors.  The Israelites are in Rephidim for a time of rest and recovery from the journey and Amalek meets them there and is ready to do battle.  Moses gives the instructions to Joshua to mobilize the army for the next day and after speaking the instructions went up to the top of the hill with the rod of God.  Amalek begins his attack and according to Deuteronomy 25, Amalek assaults the stragglers, the feeble and weak that are in the last portion of the Israelites first, a dirty trick by any measure of warfare, but not an unusual move when one does not first respect God and His Ways.  Okay, we now know that Amalek did not play by the rules during this attack on the Israelites but is this is the single reason why God has said to Saul that he needs to destroy Amalek and every person associated with him along with all of their possessions?  No, there is another reason and one that is the reason that Israel has so many issues today.

How important is it to keep intact your lineage and heritage along with a righteous and pure heart?  We find that the command that God gives to Saul is for him and his army to completely destroy Amalek and his army, this is a clear order and one that should not have had any problems in not understanding the direction that was given.  God also said to Saul that he was to not wait but to go immediately and do what He had commanded completing His mission with fervor and with purity.  There was no need in taking their time with the plan that God had laid out for them, it was a simple command after the battle was over, which also meant that God was going to deliver them from an enemy.  We have heard countless sermons and sand wonderful songs about how God delivers us from our enemies and how He defeats them completely, so why is it when we read a battle plan in the Word of God like this one we become hesitant about how God completes this action.  Amalek seemed like a “normal” enemy but once again we have to go back to the heritage and lineage aspect of things in order to understand why God wanted everyone and everything destroyed.  Another detail that we need to remember is how important it is to read and study the entire Word of God so that we have more information at hand when we run across such activities we might not understand.

Genesis 25:27-34 gives us the origin of why this battle was to be completed in a specific manner along with all of the possessions of those with Amalek.  This is the story of Jacob and Esau and most of all know what occurred here with the selling of Esau’s birthright to Jacob.  Esau leaves the meeting with nothing and realized that in his weakened state that his brother has taken everything from him to the point that his foolishness has caused him to even hate his own family origins.  Amalek was the grandson of Esau and the progenitor of the Arab people which is the reason God said to complete the battle and the destruction of these people, not only was it for the present tense of the Israelites but if Saul would have completed the mission commanded by him the issues of Israel today would have been totally different in many aspects of life.  For those of you who do not know what the definition of progenitor is, it is as follows: a person or thing from which a person, animal or plant is descended or originates; an ancestor or parent.  It is for this reason that God gave Saul the command to destroy everything and everyone when it came to the cause of Amalek.  We cannot forget that Amalek was not only a physical enemy of Israel but a spiritual one as well and a spiritual enemy represents a far greater threat than a physical one due to the sin of death in all of us. 

In a few verses later in the 1 Samuel passage, we find that Samuel does not complete the mission as God had instructed him to do, for he spared Amalek his life.  God’s command to Saul was to utterly destroy the Amalekites and Amalek himself with nothing left alive.  God uses the word “wehaharamtem” here which is the Hebrew word for utterly and has the meaning of completely destroying and to be devoted to this task of extermination, to be forfeited.  This is a specific and powerful word and the usage of such word is very clear in its meaning.  Saul had no reason to misunderstand what God was saying and while he followed through with most of the command it was not completed accurately as it had been told to do.  This word that God used served as the direct command that He wanted to be completed and it was this word that was not obeyed, and we all know what happens when we do not obey.  Here is what is so ironic about this setting and story, that while Saul chose not to follow and obey the command of God, Amalek did follow the command of Satan so in this grotesque comparison who actually obeyed to a greater extent?

And then we must ask who actually won the victory that day?

Humans have a tendency to have a problem with God taking care of things around them that they do not fully understand and then complain about things when issues that could have been prevented some time ago present them on a personal condition today.  It is difficult for us to imagine how it would be if the Arabs were not in any place to torment Israel or any other ethnic nation, but in many instances the world does not see it in this fashion and would provide a worldly view of why they should have been allowed to exist and justify Saul’s actions.  The Arab’s had already placed their beliefs and attitudes into motion after Esau walked out of that tent so long ago and had begun to cultivate that anger toward Israel in Exodus.  God provided an opportunity to end the presence of a hated and vile enemy with Saul and he failed to do so only establishing a further and deeper anger to encourage over the millennia.  We also must take into consideration that it is the Arabs who created and now embrace Islam, the hated enemy of Zionism and Christianity.

It can be said that Saul dealt with Amalek and his people superficially since he did not fully complete and obey what God had commanded him to do.  How many times have we dealt with issues and problems in the same manner?  Then when we ask ourselves this question we must also ask how many problems could have been avoided if we had just done what God had asked us to do.  When God speaks His mission to us there can be no misguidance or interpretations for He is always clear in His words and statements.  When Saul chose to disobey what was commanded of him the future consequences, consequences he had no idea about, would cause great pain, agony, and sorrow onto his people in the future.  God knew that these types of clashes and tragedies would occur in the future and it would have been so much easier for Israel to pursue God without such a distraction facing them.

Can one now say that obedience is not better than sacrifice?  God has a reason for what He says and tells us to do and if we choose not to fully obey His words our inaction can have a devastating effect on our lives today and for our children and grandchildren in the future.  God always gives us a path to walk and to follow but it always our choice to walk this path or to choose our own to follow.  God’s commands to us demonstrate His commitment to our existence and to the holy and eternal protection He wants to provide.  His Ways do not always seem the easiest or most humane path at the time but as we say many times over the course of the year God works in mysterious ways but we need to not only understand this truth but walk in its obedience as well.  Once God makes a command known to mankind He will find a way to complete such a mission whether we obey it or not, a part of His completeness that we forget about and when observed do not always like to witness.

There are countless ways that the world has that contradict with God and the people who follow and believe in such ways will staunchly defend their presence.  One of the issues that the Church has today is that we are fully and completely destroying the works of the devil but allowing his kingdom to live and dwell within our lives.  This is exactly what Saul did when he did not obey the command of God and it cost him the authority of the kingship of Israel and it causes so many deaths of his people as time passed along.  We continually cry to everyone and point fingers at so many others when it comes to the problems that we face today but what we do not understand or what we ignore is the fact that there is an answer to our issues, an answer that will not only take away such pain today but prevent any further pain on that or any other related issue in the future.  But in order for us to achieve such life, we must turn our hearts back over to God and put His Ways first at all times.  Putting God first means trusting and obeying completely His Ways and Word, not 95% but 100%.  What is this disobedience of ours costing us Church?  It is costing us thousands of lives lost to Satan every day, that is the cost and unless we change our hearts and once again teach the true gospel that Jesus commanded us to do, this cost shall continue to increase.  In this light, we cannot ignore the fact that if we do not witness to these people so they follow God they or their children or grandchildren may become enemies of the Church in such a way where more lives are needlessly ended; an end that could have been avoided if we would have obeyed Jesus’ command to His Church in the first place.

The actions of the true and complete obedient Church shall never coincide with the ways of the world.  God and the world cannot ever coexist on any level nor can they mix together either.  It is this basic and foundational truth that will always make them eternal enemies that will never cease to end their struggles for your eternity.  The world may never understand why it is necessary for us to withdraw from its kingdom type thinking and living, the world may even scoff or mock you for separating yourself from its ways but it is this command following process that is vital to our eternal status and the key component that we must convey and manifest to those who are really seeking help.  If we teach anything else but the complete and total Word of God and Kingdom message, then we are once again roleplaying Saul in his worldly conquests instead of obtaining the future security of Israel.  When God tells us to do something, do not do anything that is on your own but through His Words alone.  Just do it!

DLB