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I’ve always wondered when reading the Old Testament how Baal worshippers could sacrifice their own children in their worship of Baal… unless somehow they got something out of it? Like for example they petitioned Baal for rain… sacrificed a child and then it rained.
Paul states (1 Cor. 10:20) that those sacrificing to idols are actually sacrificing to “Demons” or “Devils”.
A-Ha! Baal is really Satan or a minion of Satan.
That begs the question… can Satan do anything beneficial for mankind? If a Baal/Satan worshipper sacrificed a child could Baal/Satan reward that behavior by sending rain or whatever else was requested for the purpose of gaining followers?
During Jesus temptation in the wilderness (Mt. 2:8-9) the Devil offered to give Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world” if Jesus would fall down and worship him. Presumably Satan could deliver on that promise.
In the Book of Job we find that Satan has great supernatural powers… the power to manipulate the weather, the power to strike with disease, the power to send other people to pillage, etc.
This concept is something very important to realize about Satan… he may do a form of good for people… but at what price?
So before we start getting envious of people who seem to have great lives and seem to have everything going for them… conside this... they might have “sacrificed their babies to Baal” and in so doing… sold their souls to Satan.
When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left.
Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel. Deut. 17:18-20
This is found in a section concerning the duties of a king over Israel. Note that he is to read the Law “all the days of his life.” Not some of the days. Nor is he to read it and put it up and think to himself… I’ve read it… I don’t need to read it again.
As a leader in the congregation I can see the wisdom in that. I read my Bible every day and have developed the habit of writing notes in the margin. As I cycle back through the Bible I sometimes run across some notes that I don’t remember and think… hmmm that’s very interesting.
So as humans we’re forgetful and as leaders we can never forget so we have to read… read…read.
This text also reveals a benefit of reading… we learn (by reading) to “revere the Lord our God”. So important. The moment we stop revering God and substitute that with revering ourselves we’re in huge trouble and so is the congregation.
Note the last sentence in the text… “not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites…”
You see sometimes when you have a lot of success and people are complimenting you all the time you might start buying into that and might think… I am special… I am great… I’m the greatest! and in doing so neglect God who put you in that position.
So we have to keep reading to know how to lead and how to be humble giving the true credit to God.
In that way the congregation will have the kind of leadership she needs and will prosper.
“‘Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt” Leviticus 19:17.
This is an interesting verse because it calls on us to do something a lot of us are uncomfortable doing… rebuking or getting in someone else’s business.
It also qualifies the type of rebuke… rebuke frankly. Sometimes we can get to that business of rebuking and are so timid in doing so that the message is watered down and loses its true impact.
I’ve listened to that kind of weak rebuking before and walked away and wondered… what just happened?
I know people who if something can be said in 10 words will use 1000 words and after I’ve heard about 20 of those words I mentally check out and start looking for a way to escape. It doesn’t take a lot of words to rebuke.
It’s kind of like rebuking a child for not minding and telling the little rascal that if he doesn’t mind he’s going to get a whipping, or wait ‘til your daddy gets home or I’m going to count to 100 and if you’re not minding by then you will be in gigantic trouble. Most parents know that “frank rebuke” is telling the little miscreant one time and if he doesn’t mind then snatch him up and paddle his rear end.
Same thing with rebuking a fellow Christian… get a serious look on your face, identify the problem and let him know the consequences in as few words as possible and then wait for a response.
Of course I know of folks who believe and teach this but as soon as it happens to them or one of theirs they get their feathers all ruffled and start squawking all about it.
But remember we’re supposed to love our fellow Christians right? Well this text says if you don’t rebuke a bad behavior that in fact you HATE them.
Not only do you HATE them but you share in their guilt. It’s like being condemned to Hell twice.
It’s also like standing at the judgment seat, maybe next to the Apostle Peter, and feeling pretty good about yourself and the Lord God Almighty condemns you for getting drunk and you tell Jehovah God… that’s just not true… I’ve never had a drink in all my life!!!
Then God says… you saw one of your fellow Christians boozing it up and never said a word. Guilty as charged… who’s next?
Love your fellow Christian. If you see him doing wrong go tell him. He might change his ways or he might get really mad at you. If he gets mad at you he’s really getting mad at Jesus Christ because Jesus would have said the exact same thing and you’re just speaking for him.
There was a Priest in Israel named Eli who had two adult sons who also served as Priests named Hophni and Phineas. Hophni and Phineas were doing some very bad things and their father Eli said this to them…
“No, my sons; the report I hear spreading among the Lord’s people is not good. If one person sins against another, God may mediate for the offender; but if anyone sins against the Lord, who will intercede for them?”
So just what were they doing that was bad? For one thing they were having sex with some of the women who also served before the “Tent of Meeting”, i.e. the sin of fornication.
The other thing they were doing was taking God’s portion of meat that was sacrificed by the people of Israel.
So which sin was worse? They were both bad but the sin of fornication could have been repented of and sacrifices offered and forgiveness given, but for the sin of stealing from God there was no intercessor and it could be punished by death.
In fact isn’t that the exact same thing that happened with Ananias and Sapphira? They made a verbal commitment to give a certain amount to God but they stole part of it back for themselves and died for that great sin.
So which sin was worse? Let me suggest that the sin with the greatest punishment is worse. Sinning directly against God is worse than sinning against another human being.
Which brings up the “unforgivable sin” that we read about... just what is that sin? Maybe it’s sinning directly against God… the sin of Blasphemy.
Can we steal what is God’s today and duplicate the sin of Hophni, Phineas, Ananias and Sapphira?... probably. The bottom line is this… don’t sin!
Don’t sin against other people and certainly don’t sin directly against God.
Both could have disastrous consequences and one is worse than the other.
And David danced before the Lord with all his might, wearing a priestly garment. So David and all the people of Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord with shouts of joy and the blowing of rams’ horns.
As the ark of the covenant of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David dancing and celebrating, she despised him in her heart.
When David returned home to bless his own family, Michal, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet him. She said in disgust, how distinguished the king of Israel looked today, shamelessly exposing himself to the servant girls like any vulgar person might do!
The event recorded above illustrates King David’s and the people’s great joy at the return of the Ark of the Covenant. There was singing and music and David, perhaps overwhelmed with great joy, danced in celebration. It was a big event!
However David’s wife Michal wasn’t too impressed with David’s behavior and dressed him down good. She was disgusted with him and mocked him and said he was “vulgar”.
David defended himself and told Michal… God chose me over your precious father Saul and he did it for a reason. You may not like it Michal but I serve God and I will celebrate before him and if you think my behavior was undignified just wait… I will become more undignified in my celebration of Him. Yay David!
We kind of see the same thing today… people’s expression of joy before the Lord. I’ve seen people lifting their arms up and swaying with the singing. I’ve seen clapping and whooping and hollering. Even people speaking during a public prayer saying things like… “amen” and “tell it brother.”
I’m uncomfortable with that kind of thing because that’s not my culture. I was raised to sit in the pew and keep my mouth shut and my arms down, but to tell you the truth I kind of wish I was free to express my joy like David expressed his.
Just because I’m uncomfortable with expressive behavior doesn’t make that behavior wrong and I’d better think two or three times before I condemn others for it.
Michal was the daughter of a king who wasn’t like her husband-King and in her princess pride she failed to account for the fact that she married a King who was really just a shepherd boy at heart and whom God loved very much. She should have gone down and danced in joy with him.
Way too bad for her that God cursed her so she would never bear God’s anointed son David… a son and never have a chance to be named in the lineage of Jesus Christ. Huge mistake… gigantic.
“Listen to me, my fellow Israelites, my people. I had it in my heart to build a house as a place of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, for the footstool of our God, and I made plans to build it. But God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for my Name, because you are a warrior and have shed blood.”
David had an independent idea to build a house for God. I don’t see anywhere in the scriptures that God told him to do this and as far as we can tell it was David’s own idea.
I mention that because sometimes we have the idea that we can’t do anything unless it is authorized in some way or in some form from the scriptures.
We also don’t see in the text that anyone rose up and said… King David… where is your authority for this? God only directed us to make him a tent. We need to speak where God speaks and be silent where God is silent. If God wanted a Temple he would have told us to build him a Temple.
It’s okay to think outside the box like David did. He had an idea and God validated that idea. Don’t be afraid of ideas that you may not have Book, Chapter and Verse for... David didn't. You might have a great idea that God just loves and who knows... maybe God put it in your heart.
“The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God.
They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.”
This figure describes God’s righteous people as trees planted in God’s house that are… flourishing… that is they are growing the best that they can in the perfect environment… God’s House and Courts.
They’re not like ordinary trees that grow old and weak and diseased and unproductive. No… these trees defy aging and are, from an empirical standpoint, young and ageless. Their “fruit” is to declare wonderful things about God almighty.
What was true at the time of this writing (the Israel of King David) must also be true in our day and age… the Israel of Jesus Christ.
After all God’s trees today grow in a better environment… the New Covenant established by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Growth and productivity not restrained by impossible “Law keeping” but growth and productivity in an environment of “Incomprehensible love”.
That’s why when we look in a mirror we may see features that demonstrate aging… wrinkles and scars and deterioration, but what God and fellow Christians see are a stalwart tree that has weathered many storms but come out victorious.
When I look at my aged mother I don’t see her infirmities… I see her life and I stand in awe.
Don’t ever give up on God… don’t do it. Stay righteous.
