GOD SAYS DESTROY ALL!
"Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have,
and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and
suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass" (1 Samuel 15:3).
It may surprise some for me to say that the Lord has not
made it easy to believe and accept Him. Here we have a verse that
if you wanted a verse to help you walk away from God, this is
probable as good as any.
Here the Eternal orders a whole people to be slain,
including infants and suckling, even the cattle.
What is the answer to this verse?
I do NOT know! I cannot give you an answer from the pages of
the Bible. For NO REASON is given to us. We can speculate till
the cows come home as they say, but an answer in the Scriptures
is simply NOT given to us. There are times when the things that
belong to God are His, not for us, not revealed to us. We do as
the apostle Paul said, look through a glass darkly at times.
Jesus, when as a man on earth, also said some hard to
understand things. One specifically is in John chapter 6
concerning the eating of His body and the drinking of His blood.
Now He did not explain what He was talking about right away, and
just left it as is. Some of His disciples just could not take it.
They said it was too hard to understand, and because Jesus did
not give them the understanding, they packed their bags and left.
It was a little later that to those disciples who did not leave,
that He explained exactly what He means by eating His body and
drinking His blood.
We can be at times be bewildered by the Lord. Jesus asked
the twelve if they would also leave (John 6:67). Peter replied,
"Lord to whom shall we go."
The bottom line is, although some things are hard to
understand, as in 1 Samuel 15:3, and no answer even given
anywhere in the Bible, there is no person we can go to and
follow; Jesus still has the words of eternal life; He is still
the Christ, the Son of God (John 6:68-69). God still exists, and
He is still Holy, perfect, without sin, and the righteous judge.
I cannot tell you why God wanted the Amalek people destroyed
even down to their cattle. I can tell you that God knows why; I
can tell you He had a perfect reason for wanting it so; and I can
tell you by the words of Paul, that we shall know one day even as
we are known.
God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18
and 19). Were there children and infants there also. The Bible
does not say in specific words. Maybe, but maybe not. It may be
possible that the two cities were "adults only" cities, for
indeed science has not made it possible for homosexuals and
lesbians to produce children, as husband and wife produce
children in sexual union. It is not unthinkable to speculate that
Sodom and Gomorrah were adult only cities, but then that is only
speculation.
There are some things in the Bible, concerning God, that we
must admit we do not have an answer, not now. We must keep in
mind deuteronomy 29:29. Mark it in your Bible. Some things are
kept for now secret from you, while other thing are revealed.
GOD LOOKS ON THE HEART
We have seen that Saul was chosen by God to be king over
Israel, but I have stated the Lord chose him with a view of the
mind of the Israelites in the picture, what they would look to as
a "Wow, he's the big strong handsome fellow we want." And we have
seen God gave him the Spirit and a changed heart, with men also
that God had touched. He was given a pretty darn good set of
tools to be able to govern Israel. Saul threw them away,
wanting to do his own thing, and make up the rules as he
went along. God took him away from being Israel's king.
Now, the Lord basically said, "I'm putting what the
Israelites would like on the outside, the physicallly large and
powerful looks, will be put to one side, and I will dig deep into
the persons soul and inner heart-mind. I'm putting aside the equation
of how man looks on the outside, and I'll really this time search
the heart, know the depth of the heart, for this time their king
will have a heart after my very own heart.
It was basically, "I've learned a lesson with Saul. I am
doing it differently this time around. What the minds of people
think about a man to lead them, is not coming into the equation
at all this time. I'm looking only at the heart, and it must be
very much like mine."
The boy David was chosen by God as Israel's next king.
This whole experience for God, was an experience. He put
Himself in a position with how he knew Israel would look more on
the outside and not as much on the character and heart, and went
along, God put Himself in the willed position of mind, that He
did not know how spiritually strong Saul would remain. He knew He
had given him a changed heart and also the Holy Spirit, but it
would seem He concerned Himself with what the physical people
would vote for. So Saul was chosen.
After that did not work out, God put the people to one side,
He would no longer look at their heart and what they might like
in a leader - someone big, tall, and in size outstanding, head
and shoulders above all the people .
The people's idea of a leader was set to one side, Now it
would be the heart that the Lord would search.
The sheep-caring lad David was eventually found and the Lord
told Samuel that it was this somewhat unsuspecting young shepherd
lad, that had the heart that was after God's own heart.
EVIL SPIRIT FROM THE LORD?
"But the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil
spirit from the Lord troubled him" (1 Samuel 16:14).
It sounds as if God may deliberately send evil spirit to
trouble people.
James the apostle puts this to rest by being inspired to
write:
"Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God
cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts any man. But every
man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and
enticed. Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin...."
(James 1:13-15).
God does not sit down in His boardroom with His executive
angels, just collecting all kinds of ideas and plans whereby he
can send evil spirits to tempt people to sin. There is no
deliberate planned forethought by the Lord to scheme up various
ways to have evil spirit (we call demons) trying to make
individual people fall into sin.
The answer to 1 Samuel 16 is found in the book of Job. This
man Job was perfect and upright, one that feared God and avoided
evil. One day Satan comes before the Lord and the Lord asks him
if he has considered His servant Job, that there was none like
him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, fearing God and
avoiding evil.
Satan accused God of setting an hedge about him, and
blessing the work of his hands. "But," says Satan, "put forth
your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you
to your face."
The Lord answered Satan, "Behold all that he has is in your
power: only upon him do not put your hand" (Job 1:1,6,8,12).
The story goes on to show that eventually God ALLOWED Satan
to take just about everything away from Job and even curse his
physical flesh.
The point is we can clearly see that sometime God MAY ALLOW
an evil spirit to have some power over a human person in the
physical part of life. So such a situation may be a test for that
individual to see if they will be defeated and do as Satan
thought Job would do, that is curse God to His face. But such a
test being allowed is not in any way a deliberate plan on God's
part to entice people to sin. Trials and test ALLOWED by God to
come on people is NOT with the view to entice them to sin. That
is what James wanted to make crystal clear to people, who were
thinking that God spent time in His study-den plotting how to
entice people to sin.
Paul was also inspired to re-assure us that even with trials
and tests allowed to come our way, God would not try us above
what we are able to bear, but will with the trial, make a way of
escape (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Job was not tested above what he could endure. He was indeed
quite the man Job was. When you read what he was able to endure
in the physical, and not curse God, he was a very strong minded
man. He was able to endure very much. God knew him and knew also
what he could take on the physical side of this life. He did take
it. A way of escape was given. The Lord was there in it all, not
leaving Job, but agreeing Job was perfect and upright, and did
indeed fear the Lord.
Job was humbled by and through it all. He came to see God
with a clearer eye, and the Lord once more blessed Job in many
physical ways. Read chapter 42!
In the Spirit of God leaving Saul and an evil spirit from
the Lord coming to him, we also have the teaching Jesus gave us.
You may clean your house, yourself, be converted, but if you put
out the Spirit of God, and you are empty, then any number of evil
spirits can come and make their abode in you. And the latter end
is worse than the first.
Saul, as a free agent, put away the Spirit of the Lord,
departed from that personal relationship with God, and in so
doing he left himself open to an evil spirit to come upon him,
and evil spirit that God ALLOWED to influence him.
There are a number of times in the Bible where it puts
something as "coming from God." As God is always THE power of the
universe every second of every day, days without end, then
knowing He is and has authority over everything and every being
in the universe, we could say "everything comes from God" - the
good the bad and the inbetween as we say. Nothing happens in the
universe that God does not allow. He allows everything that
happens. God does not will Himself to step in and stop all that
we could consider evil, sin, wickedness, and just "bad." So yes
bad things happen every day on this earth, and sometimes bad
things happen to good people, to the very children of God. The
Bible is full of that sure truth. Somebody (I forget who) wrote a
book entitled "When Bad Things Happen To Good People."
Now, if you reject, cast out the Spirit of the Lord from
your mind and heart, then sure enough it is quite possible you
are going to leave yourself open to an evil spirit coming to
trouble you. God will not always stop that evil spirit attacking
you. He may allow it freedom to do what evil spirits like to do,
which is, come and trouble you in various and different ways.
In that sense, because God does not stop the evil spirit
from coming to you, you can say as the Bible puts it, "and an
evil spirit from the Lord troubled him."
It is something like some insurance policies. They may have
a clause in there that says you are not insured for "acts of
God." It means in plain terms that a tornado that blows your
house into the next county, is deemed as coming from the Lord, an
act of nature He did not will Himself to step in and prevent
happening. Hence termed by the Insurance Company as "an act of
God" - and your possibly out of luck - no coverage for God
allowing various things He CAN CONTROL *if* He wanted to but
often does not want to do. In that sense the hurricane or tornado
or forest fire started by lightning, is called an act of God. The
Lord could stop such things happening but chooses not to, so the
Insurance Company claims the "act of God" clause, if that is
there in your policy, you are on your own, or on the shoulders of
the Government giving you financial help deeming they classify
you and others as a National Disaster, which then entitles you to
qualify for funds from the State or Federal Government.
EVIL SPIRITS LEAVE
"And it cam to pass when the evil spirit from the Lord was upon
Saul, that David took a harp and played with his hand: so Saul
was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed" (1
samuel 16:23).
This I'm going to talk about is only one part of the whole
subject of Demons. But it is an important part. A fuller indepth
study I will upload to this Site by Ralph Woodrow in the very
near future called "Dealing with Demons." Not many take the time
to write on the subject of DEMONS, but it is a subject we need to
know, as the Bible is quite open to the fact demons are very real
and are out to stick our Christian hide to the wall.
The human mind, thankfully, was created by the Lord in such
a way that demons CANNOT EASILY posses it. True, the Bible talks
about people having demons INSIDE of them, possessing them. But
this is ONLY the relatively FEW in the overall population of the
earth, past and present. Most minds, most people do not give much
thought, or put the other way, they are putting their minds on
the everyday life of living on this planet. They are as we say,
"getting on with it" - occupying their minds with work, school,
study of this or that, marriage, child rearing, and hobbies and
sports.
Now, demons (fallen angels, who rebelled along with the one
we now know as Satan, in the ages of the past) would if they
could, love to posses the bodies and minds of all individuals on
this earth. But God has not made that possible for them. When the
human mind is shall we say in "normal" mode, it is impossible for
demons to move right on in.
The mind of Saul is a good example. As we read through the
life of Saul in 1 and 2 Samuel, we see that the evil spirit came
on Saul at different times. When David played his harp, something
in the mind of Saul changed: it went back to "normal" mode, and
the evil spirit left. Yes it can be true that some minds never go
back to normal mode and so the evil spirit can stay, until the
healing power of God would cast out the evil spirit and re-
establish that mind back to normal mode.
That is why MOST of the world's population are not possessed
by evil spirits. If they were then we would have destroyed human
life from off this earth, as we generally know and experience
human life. There has to be more normal minds that cannot be
demon possessed than ones that can be possessed, or it would be
constant hell on earth out there.
But Satan and the demons, though not able to posses the
average normal mind, they can INFLUENCE the human mind, in MANY
various ways, as through wrong idea, concepts, teachings, through
wrong practices, traditions, and many others ways. They only need
to get the snowball moving down the hill, and they know it will
become larger and larger as it picks up speed.
God ALLOWS it all, it is one way by which people are BLINDED
to truth, and only God through His Spirit can come and remove
that blindness and grant someone His thoughts and His mind.
So demons are limited to WHO and HOW many they can literally
posses, but the deceptions they can manifest by manipulation with
the human mind can be multitudinous, myriad, and diversified and
simple to complex.
The New Testament is full of warnings about the deceptions
of Satan, and the warning that he is like a lion going about
trying to devour everyone. It seems there is no limits set on
Satan and his helpers as far as deceptions of falsehood. The
world is traffic-jam filled with WRONG teachings, philosophies,
ideologies, and religions. There is utter CONFUSION out there,
and your Bible says God is NOT the author of confusion (1
Corinthians 14:33).
SOME of the horrible things done by humans to other humans
could be the result of demon possession, then it may not be
either, for we have to keep in mind what is written in Jeremiah
17:9. The word "is" is not in the Hebrew; the human heart CAN BE
deceitful above all, and desperately WICKED. A number of facts
must be taken into account (such eduction, influence, up-bringing
etc.) to make the heart desperately wicked. Add to all that the
INFLUENCE the demons can have on the human mind, and yes, the
human heart could turn out to be in that individual desperately
wicked.
Demon POSSESSION, thankfully, is not around every corner; it
is relatively the very few who are literally demon possessed. But
it does take place, and Saul was one of those individuals who
allowed his mind to be in such a state that demons could come in
at times.
For further study on this subject of demon possession I
refer you to the study on this Website called "Dealing with
Demons."
..................
To be continued
|
No comments:
Post a Comment