God's Word is Final

Day 81

Reading: 1 Sam. 14:1- 1 Sam. 15:35

God doesn't need your weapons to win a battle. He just needs a willingness to believe that He is able and total obedience to His instructions. The children of Israel whilst held captive by the Philistines had no weapons. The only people with swords were Saul and Jonathan. Everyone only had the tools for farming but not for war. To ensure that they had no fighting implements there were no blacksmiths. Sometimes the enemy comes and removes every and any fighting chance from our lives. However, he may remove the weapons but as long as you are alive, God still has a weaponised fighter in you.  No one has an excuse to say that I have nothing to wage war against my enemy. As long as you have breath you have a weapon against the enemy. Blacksmiths are those who sharpen, mould, improve the tools we have. May God raise gifts, blacksmiths, amongst His children who will train us up for war.

Jonathan proceeds to the camp of the enemy with his armourbearer accompanying him and a battalion of faith in the capabilities of God. God can win a battle with many or few is a statement of faith that expresses confidence  in the invincible nature of God. Jonathan understood all God needed was a willing person to take on the enemy and create the atmosphere for God to deliver victory. They arrived and are welcomed into the enemy's garrison. A garrison is a place where soldiers are stationed or based. No real numbers are known of how large the garrison then may have been. Today garrisons can be from 2000 to 50000 people. They soon began to wage war, and in a short space, half an acre of land had killed 20 people. Soon the enemy was trembling, the garrison trembled and the even the earth trembled. Just the faith of Jonathan and his armourbearer caused the enemy and the earth to tremble. I pray that everywhere you are approaching the enemy there will be a trembling, a panic of fear gripping the enemy as they flee in shock! 

From the watchtower where Saul was there comes a report to him that there is pandemonium in the Philistine's garrison. God is a Watchtower. May the report you and I receive be one of the enemy fleeing in every direction. Following a quick count, they discovered that Jonathan was missing from the camp and they conclude that he must be the one stirring the trouble that the enemy was melting away. 

Saul gathers the troops to battle, however, he made a rash vow that no one was to eat until the battle was over. Jonathan didn't hear the vow and when he was told about it he had already eaten the honey. His comment about his father being the troubler of Israel reveals that Jonathan definitely could see his dad as one who was not behaving wisely. It is sad when our children label parents as the one who troubles the land and the populace. May God give us the wisdom to be trouble to the enemy and not God's people.

It was after this battle that Saul made his first altar to worship God. This was already years into his reign as King. Saul's heart was so far from God. God didn't come first. The patriarchs made the altar at every encounter with God. When he became king he would have made an altar to God but that didn't happen. It's when he defeated the Philistines this time round that he made an altar. Where is your heart? Is your life an altar to God? Are you a living altar to God or is money the altar of your life? Live every day as an altar of God, and let the fire of God fall on you daily.

God is so merciful. He already had declared that the kingdom wouldn't be with Saul's family yet he honoured him. Please before you discredit someone as finished with God know that only God has the final say. Saul excited by the victory desires to wage battle against the Philistines at night and on consulting the opinion of God he receives no answer. God watches over every word that is spoken. Saul may have had the victory however the vow was broken. Jonathan was saved from death because of the cry and wisdom the people who knew that Jonathan was the catalyst for victory. 

Samuel speaks to Saul and tells him to deal with the Amalekites as vengeance for what they did to the children of Israel when they were journeying to the land of Canaan. Saul was reminded how he was called and anointed and was given explicit instructions on what to do to avenge the ambush by the Amalekites. The Amalekites had fought with the children of Israel in a battle where Moses was at the top of a hill with Aaron and Hur holding his hands while Joshua was leading the fight against the Amalekites- Ex. 17:8-14. God promised Moses that he would blot out the Amalekites and Saul was expected to do exactly that. 

Saul went into battle and did partially what was expected. They were to kill everything and everyone. Saul, however, lets the soldiers choose the best livestock and returned with King Agag. Samuel was upset with Saul because he didn't do as instructed. To Saul, partial obedience was full obedience however to God it was no obedience. He gave excuses that the livestock was to an offering to God. If God wanted an offering he would have asked for it. Believers today have to beware that we don't commit this sin of partial obedience. Where we serve God partially and say we are serving God? Where we pray hard for breakthroughs however we are not willing to forgive others? We exercise partial obedience when we say we are the light but live like the darkness personified. Partial obedience is when we say we tithe but we tithe on convenience, not on the increase of our lives. Partial obedience is when we say we are disciples of Christ yet we never tell others of the gospel of Christ. When we say we worship God alone but we can't even read the Bible, who really are we worshipping.

Is it any wonder that Samuel gives a mathematical equation to Saul, that rebellion is equal to witchcraft and that stubbornness is equal to idolatry and iniquity. In short, Saul was told that he was practising witchcraft by rebelling against God and by being stubborn to always fear men more than God was making the people an idol in his life. When you are walking in rebellion you invite the forces of witchcraft into your life. Rejecting the word of God is what causes one to walk in partial obedience whilst thinking that all is well. When you reject the Word you reject God. Is it any wonder that Saul was rejected by God? In 1 Samuel 3:21 we see that God revealed Himself by the Word to Samuel. When the Word is rejected God cannot be revealed. When God cannot be revealed we miss the opportunity to reign in life. Obedience to the Word of God will result in God being revealed to us and the world at large. 

God regretted making Saul the king. May heaven never regret because of you and I. As I pondered on this I realised that God is so merciful,however, we must not take for granted His mercy and abuse it. We should walk in the fear of God to properly appropriate the mercy of God in our lives. Saul didn't value the mercy of God yet God let him live when he had already revealed that He had a replacement. However, Saul never saw the opportunity to do right as an opportunity to lay before God a reason to extend his reign. Don't shortcircuit the mercy of God in your life. Samuel never saw Saul again, implying that he didn't received the Word of the Lord again. 

The One who gave the Word is also called the Strength of Israel. By this name God reveals that He is the Strength of His people and not anyone or anything else.  God will not fail to fulfil His Word.

Memory verse: 1 Sam. 15:29

Decree:

Father, I come before with a broken heart. I repent of the many times I have taken Your word for granted and obeyed partially. I realise that I have taken for granted Your mercy in my life. Lord, I pray that You will change my heart. Give me a heart of flesh that I may walk uprightly before You. Lord fight for me against my enemies. As I arise I decree that every enemy will tremble and the ground where they are will tremble in Jesus name. Amen.