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Obadiah 7, Various

Betrayed by Friends

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
July 5, 2023

Obadiah prophesied, as did Jeremiah, of the complete destruction of Edom, the descendants of Esau, Jacob’s twin brother. Unlike other plundering and pillaging, that of Edom will be thorough, and nothing will be left. The judgment would result in the complete nihilation of the Edomites. Edom was perpetually at war with Israel and would often align itself with the other enemies of Israel. The plundering of Edom would come from their supposed allies. Obadiah 1:7 says, “All your allies have driven you to your border; those at peace with you have deceived you; they have prevailed against you; those who eat your bread have set a trap beneath you—you have no understanding.”  The key point of this verse, as well as other verses that will follow, is that Edom will be betrayed by those he thought he could trust. They had misplaced confidence.

Betrayal is not an infrequent theme in the Bible. In Psalm 41:9, we read, “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.” This is a prophetic psalm. It speaks of the Messiah being betrayed by a close friend. It’s mostly understood as referring to Judas. In John 13:11, Jesus said he knew who it was that would betray him. It’s interesting also that it was his closest disciple who denied him in the courtyard on the night of his crucifixion. We see how David, a prefigure of the Messiah, was treacherously betrayed by Ahithophel. He was also betrayed by several of his own sons. Shenton observes, “Obadiah prophesies in this verse about the nations who were in league with the Edomites, who were supposedly trustworthy and friendly; they will not only ‘deceive’ them by feigning their support, but will, when war comes, actively help the enemy to ‘overpower’ them. The Edomites, for their part, will fail to ‘detect’ the secret treachery of their friends. Without wisdom or discernment, they will fall into the traitors’ trap. Ironically, those who know so much will fall because of their ignorance; the people who had betrayed their brother will be betrayed by their friends.” This is clear from the condemnation Obadiah delivers to Edom in verse 15. “As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head.”[1]

History is full of famous betrayals. Julius Caesar was surprised when the man he considered a faithful son, Brutus, pulled his dagger and killed him. William Tyndale, who translated the bible from the original languages into English, was betrayed by a friend that had him turned over to the king of England, that had Tyndale burned alive at the stake. His last words in the fire were, “May God open the eyes of the King of England.” That happened a year later. The birth of the United States records the betrayal of Benedict Arnold. Yes, from biblical days to the race to colonize the New World to the situation in the Middle East today, human history has been dotted with self-serving traitors and collaborators who have betrayed their peoples and their nations. One website tries to describe the pain of a betrayal. It’s very much like death. She writes, “Imagine one day you wake up, and you find yourself 30,000 feet above the earth, and you are free-falling. You don’t know how you got into this situation. But, you feel sheer terror. You instinctively start grabbing everything on your body to feel for something like a parachute cord. You search frantically for this cord that will save your life. You never find the cord. Soon, you pinch yourself and tell yourself, ‘It’s all a bad dream. It’s all a bad dream. Isn’t it? Wake up. Wake up. WAKE UP!!!’ You do not wake up. With each second, you grow closer to the ground below. You have not woken up yet, and you have not found a parachute cord. A minute later, your body smashes into the earth at 500 miles per hour; your body is shattered into a million pieces. It was NOT a bad dream, and you just died. Everything that was you was obliterated into formless and scattered pieces.”[2] It’s not a physical death, but everything you trusted in and believed in is gone. Jesus warns us of this in Luke 21:16-19. He says, “You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all, for my name’s sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance, you will gain your lives.” We will all face betrayal of some kind in life. The only sure thing is to trust in the one who said, “I will never leave you. I will never forsake you.”

[1] Shenton, Tim. 2007. Nahum and Obadiah: An Expositional Commentary. Exploring the Bible Commentary. Leominster, UK: Day One Publications.

[2] The Pain of Betrayal – Do We Have Words to Describe What it Feels Like? (emotionalaffair.org)

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Amos 1:4-5, Various

Through the Fires of Life

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
July 4, 2023

In 2022, we had all watched the atrocities perpetuated on the Ukrainian people by the invading Russian armies. NATO has documented many war crimes, and when we see their reports on the news, we cringe at man’s inhumanity to man. Every war has had its atrocities. But, as I read the account of the Assyrian king, describing his brutality towards his defeated enemy, it’s hard to imagine anything could be worse. He writes, “I burnt many captives from them. I captured many troops alive; I cut off of some their arms [and] hands; I cut off of others their noses, ears, and extremities. I gouged out the eyes of many troops. I made a pile of the living [and] one of the heads. I hung their heads on trees around the city. I burnt their adolescent boys [and] girls.”[1] Because of the repeated sins against mankind as a whole, God will send judgment on the Assyrians and their leaders and their capital city of Damascus. Amos tells the people what God is about to do to them, “So I will send a fire upon the house of Hazael, and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad. I will break the gate-bar of Damascus and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven, and him who holds the scepter from Beth-Eden; and the people of Syria shall go into exile to Kir, says the Lord.”

The flood was God’s judgment on the sins of mankind. At the end of the flood, God promised Noah that he would never again bring a flood upon the whole world as judgment for man’s sin. Instead of water, God will send fire. It seems that the image of “sending fire” is God’s metaphor for judgment on sin. God rained down fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah as a form of judgment, and this has become the picture of God’s judgment for sin. In the book of Ezekiel, God says, “6 I will send fire on Magog and on those who dwell securely in the coastlands, and they shall know that I am the Lord.” God also promises to send fire upon Edom, Moab, Temah, and others. Then, In Hosea 8:14, the prophecy is on Israel and Judah “For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces, and Judah has multiplied fortified cities; so I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour her strongholds.” God used the flood to purify the world, but he preserved his remnant. God uses fire to purity his people, but he preserved a remnant. God always promises his people redemption, not judgment, from their sins. Isaiah 43:1-2 says, “But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire, you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.’”

“Most of the Psalms were born in difficulty. Most of the Epistles were written in prisons. Most of the greatest thoughts of the greatest thinkers of all time had to pass through the fire. Bunyan wrote Pilgrim’s Progress from jail. Florence Nightingale, too ill to move from her bed, reorganized the hospitals in England. Semi-paralyzed and under the constant menace of apoplexy, Pasteur was tireless in his attack on disease. During the greater part of his life, American historian Francis Parkman suffered so acutely that he could not work for more than five minutes at a time. His eyesight was so wretched that he could scrawl only a few gigantic words on a manuscript, yet he contrived to write twenty magnificent volumes of history. Sometimes it seems that when God is about to make preeminent use of a man, he puts him through the fire.”[2]

[1] Smith, Gary V. 1998. Amos. Mentor Commentaries. Fearn, Ross-shire, Great Britain: Mentor.

[2] Galaxie Software. 2002. 10,000 Sermon Illustrations. Biblical Studies Press.

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Joel 1:6-7, 1 Peter 5:8, Revelation 5:5

The Lion King!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
July 3, 2023

Joel warns the people of God that judgment will come upon them like a locust plague. He calls them to wake up to the reality of their situation. He rebukes the people for their luxurious lifestyles and excessive indulgences, and then he gets specific on the judgment that’s about to come. In Joel 1:6-7 God lays out the devastation, “For a nation has come up against my land, powerful and beyond number; its teeth are lions’ teeth, and it has the fangs of a lioness. It has laid waste my vine and splintered my fig tree; it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down; their branches are made white.”  It’s almost like Joel is describing what the land would look like after a locust plague passed through. But these locusts were more like lions! The produce of the field would be either eaten or destroyed. The bark of trees would be torn away, exposing the naked wood. The nation had just experienced a devastating locust plague, and they all remembered that experience. What was coming would be multiplied greatly as much as a predator the size of a lion would do more damage to a predator the size of a locust.

There were so many of them that they could not be counted. “The strength of the locusts is defined not only by their numbers but also by their voracious appetite and ability to devour anything in their path. And thus, the seer describes these hostile, countless intruders as possessing some formidable weapons: the teeth of a lion and the fangs of a lioness. The lion is often used to picture enemies who attack the people of God. In typical Hebrew poetical style, the locust’s ability to tear and shred is described by a parallel phrase: And it has the fangs of a lioness. The lioness is occasionally employed as a symbol of violence.”[1] Wikipedia says that the lion is an ancient Babylonian symbol and symbolically represents the King of Babylon. The lion imagery that Joel employs might very well represent the massive Babylonian army that would do the invading.

I’m moved by 1 Peter 5:8. It describes our enemy as a devouring lion. It says, “Your adversary, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” This is a familiar verse, but we must remember that it uses a simile. Just to refresh your high school English a simile is a figure of speech comparing one thing with another to make a description more vivid or colorful. The Babylonian Army is not made of lions. Satan is not a lion. The Army and Satan are “Like” a prowling lion. There is a fascinating video of two lions fighting to see who will be king of the pride.[2] They will also fight over the right to mate with a fertile female as well. With the lion imagery being used in the Bible, both the Old Testament and the New Testament, I can’t help but think that the authors understood lions better than we do. The Messiah is also figuratively referred to as a lion in both the Old Testament and the New. The word “Satan” actually means “Adversary.” There is a battle between two forces. Jesus, the lion of the tribe of Judah, and Satan, the prowling lion wanting to devour us. I’m pleased to quote the book of Revelation here. One of the elders, in John’s vision, sees his anxiety and says, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered” (Revelation 5:5).

[1] Busenitz, Irvin A. 2003. Commentary on Joel and Obadiah. Mentor Commentaries. Geanies House, Fearn, Ross-shire, Great Britain: Mentor.

[2] Wildlife: Two Lions Fight to See Who’s King! – YouTube

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Hosea 1:4-6, Various

From Unloved to Loved!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
July 2, 2023

Hosea was instructed to name his son, born to Gomer, Jezreel. That was to be his name because it would declare the coming judgment of God upon an adulterous nation. Hosea 1:4-5 says, “And the Lord said to him, ‘Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. And on that day, I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.’” Gomer conceived again, but it appears this child was not from Hosea but from one of her many adulteries. God directs Hosea to give it a name with a specific meaning as well. Hosea 1:6 says, “She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, ‘Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all.’”  Many commentators think that the ESV’s (English Standard Version) translation of the child’s name as “No Mercy” might not be as accurate as it should be. In Hebrew, it is Lo-Ruhamah. Some English translations like the King James, New King James, and many others just put the Hebrew word in English letters without defining it. The Good News Translation says, “The Lord said to Hosea, ‘Name her Unloved because I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them.’” Garrett says, “The name Lo-Ruhamah means ‘not loved.’ It is a dreadful name to give to a little girl. It communicates rejection by her father and says that he has abandoned her to all the troubles of the world. For a culture as child-centered as Israel was, it is difficult to imagine a name more scandalous and offensive. Whenever her name was spoken, it commanded the attention of the people around and invited the question, Why would anyone call his daughter that?”[1]

The commentators are also divided on the issue of whether this little girl is Hosea’s daughter or one of his many consorts. But the name itself seems to imply to me that this daughter, who is unloved by her father, is the offspring of another man. Garrett goes on to observe, “The people heard that terrible name, and no doubt whispered to one another, ‘Hosea’s wife is unfaithful; he must doubt that this child is his. He has rejected the poor thing!’” The most important translation confusion, however, rests with the phrase “to forgive them at all.” Garrett and other Hebrew scholars argue that it’s a total mistranslation. He translates this verse as “Call her name ‘Not Loved.’ Thus I shall no longer let it happen, that I should love the house of Israel. But I shall completely forgive them.” This seems to be the message of the whole book and fits the context much better. Hosea is about a husband who continues to love and forgive an unfaithful wife. It was a picture of how God continues to forgive his unfaithful people.

As I think about this, it’s truly humbling. We might want to point our fingers at Israel, which I think I do often and say what an ungrateful, unthankful, and rebellious people they were. They deserve everything they get. But then I remember the indignation that David showed to the parable Nathan told him about the wealthy man slaughtering the only beloved pet of his poor neighbor while he kept his own herd safe. When David got indignant and said, “that man should die.” Nathan said to him, “you are that man.” It’s always tempting for us to identify with the righteous people in the Bible stories, but if the truth be told, I am the one that has proven unfaithful. I am the illegitimate child of God that has been named “unloved.” Although we were all foreigners, not natural children, God bestows upon us in Christ the blessing of adoption. As Paul tells the Romans, we are now legitimate children of God who cry, “Abba! Father.” Although we were once aliens and unloved by God, He demonstrated his love for us in Christ. While we were still sinners, Christ took the shame of our sins on himself and paid the penalty for us.

[1] Garrett, Duane A. 1997. Hosea, Joel. Vol. 19A. The New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

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Daniel 1:8-15, Various

Dare to be a Paul

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
July 1, 2023

The King of Babylon was intent on converting the Jewish youth to their lifestyle and culture. But Daniel and his friends found ways to resist. Daniel 1:8-15 tells some of the story, “But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore, he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, ‘I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.’ Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ‘Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king’s food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.’ So he listened to them in this matter and tested them for ten days. At the end of ten days, it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food. So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables.”

“Dare to be a Daniel” has been the title of many books and sermons, past and present. But it’s important that we understand the “stand” that Daniel took and why. The nation of Israel was in captivity because of its failure to keep the law of Moses. Daniel and his young friends were dedicated Jews and had set their hearts on keeping the law while in captivity in Babylon. As God had punished the nation for failing to keep the law, God rewarded these young men for keeping it while prisoners in Babylon. The pressure to compromise their standards was great. They were offered all the good things of Babylon and received very special treatment from their captives. Yet, even in the face of this pressure, they held firm to the conviction to keep the law of Moses. Daring to be a Daniel is holding firm to one’s convictions in spite of pressure from others to compromise them. What does that mean for us today?

Peter was told in Acts chapter 10 to take and eat foods that had been forbidden to Jews according to the law of Moses. Peter refused to eat, saying that he would never compromise this standard. But God repeated his vision three times, telling him not to call unclean what God has declared clean. Most commentators suggest that this was simply symbolic and represented the Gentiles who did eat unclean food but did not refer to eating the forbidden food itself. This suggests that the standard of a Jewish diet is still applicable to us today. But Jesus said in Mark 7:18-19, “Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him,  since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled? (Thus he declared all foods clean.)” Peter’s peer pressure was not from a gentile culture that ate such foods but from the Judaizers who insisted that all gentile converts keep the Jewish laws regarding their diets as well as circumcision. Peter struggled with this peer pressure during much of his ministry. Paul had to confront Peter on these issues, as recorded in his letter to the Galatians. In Galatians 2:11-12 we read Paul’s testimony, “But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came, he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.” There are still those who would restrict Christians from certain foods. Paul warned Timothy about them. He urges Timothy to stand against those who “forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods created to be received with thanksgiving… for everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer” (1 Timothy 1:3-5). Daniel stood against those pressuring him to violate God’s revealed truth. Paul stood against those who pressured him to violate God’s revealed truth. Jesus fulfilled the law, and we are called to stand against the legalists who want to rob us of our freedom in Christ. Dare to be a Paul.

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Ezekiel 1:4-6

Every Knee Will Bow

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 30, 2023

Although God is often pictured in scripture as the “rider on the storm” in Ezekiel’s vision, there seem to be four riders. Each of the riders has four faces and four wings. Ezekiel 1:4-6 says, “As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming metal. And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings.” Cooper talks about the vision of the storm, “The storm vision has several significant features. It was described as ‘immense,’ a reference not only to its size but also to its intensity. Successive bursts of lightning came from this storm, creating an intense electrical display. The flashing fire was so intense that it illuminated the storm cloud like the brightness of the molten metal. The storm came from the north, the direction from which the Babylonians invaded Judah. The great storm from the north represented the coming invasion and destruction of Judah and Jerusalem by the Babylonian army.”[1]

Out of the storm walks the four living creatures, a tetramorph. The word comes from the Greek for tetra, meaning four, and morph, meaning shape. In Christian history, this word is often used to refer to the four Gospels; Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. In ancient art, you will see drawings associated with them and the four living creatures mentioned in Ezekiel. Wikipedia says, “The tetramorphs were especially common in Early Medieval art, above all in illuminated Gospel books, but remain common in religious art to the present day.”[2] I don’t think Ezekiel is picturing the Gospels. I think he’s showing that the gods of Assyria and Babylon are simple instruments in God’s hands to bring judgment on Israel for failing to abide by their covenant promises.

Ezekiel was captive in Babylon when he saw this vision, and it’s hard not to connect it with the Lamassu of that culture. The Lamassu was a Sumerian god or goddess depicted by the hybrid image of a human, bird, bull, and/or lion. According to a Wikipedia article, this is a well-known symbol, even today. The British 10th Army, which operated in Iraq and Iran in 1942-1943, adopted the Lamassu as its insignia. Further, the United States Forces in Iraq used a bearded man with a winged bull body in its logo. The article goes on, “A man with a bull’s body is found among the creatures that make up Aslan’s army in “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” by C.S. Lewis. He appears at the Stone Table, challenging the White Witch “with a great bellowing voice.” In the film Alexander (2004), lamassu are seen at the Ishtar Gate in Babylon. In the Disney film Aladdin (1992), a gold lamassu can be found in the scene where Aladdin and Abu enter the cave in the desert to find the lamp. And, in the “Star Wars” prequel: Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Lama Su is the name of the Kaminoan cloner who tells Obi-Wan-Kenobi about Jango Fett.”[3] In the book of Revelation, we see very similar “living creatures” that worship at the throne of God. If I’m right, and I’m always right, the depiction of these creatures pictures God’s use of these nations and their gods to do His will. They only worship and serve at the command of the one true God. In the end, every knee shall bow, of things on earth, under the earth, and above the earth, at the name of Jesus. He is seen as the lamb that sits upon the throne in the book of Revelation accepting the worship of the 24 elders along with the living creatures. As Ezekiel is a prisoner in Babylon, it’s only temporary. God will bring his storm of judgment upon the world, and all will bow to worship his Son Jesus.

[1] Cooper, Lamar Eugene. 1994. Ezekiel. Vol. 17. The New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetramorph

[3] Lamassu – Wikipedia

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Lamentations 1:4, Various

A Time to Celebrate!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 29, 2023

Lamentations 1:4 continues the narrative on the suffering of Israel at its enslavement by the Babylonians. Jerusalem, the capital of Judah, the home of King David, and the center of Israeli life, has been left as a ghost town. There are no more neighborhoods, the Temple has been destroyed, and the walls have been torn down. Except for a few stragglers, the city is empty of all life.  The city that once buzzed with commerce, celebrations, and social activity is now left desolate. The passage says, “The roads to Zion mourn, for none come to the festival; all her gates are desolate; her priests groan; her virgins have been afflicted, and she herself suffers bitterly.” The phrase in this passage that says “her virgins have been afflicted” is rendered by the Septuagint (The Greek Translation of the Old Testament) as “her maidens have been dragged away.” The New Revised Standard Version has this translation. It seems to complement the rest of the verse in that all signs of life are gone. The “virgins” or young maidens represent the hope for future generations. All hope is gone. Gingrich writes, “The roads to Jerusalem, formerly crowded with pilgrims, were empty, for the feasts were no longer kept. The open places inside the city’s gates (where the merchants had sold their wares, where the judges had settled disputes, and where the people had gathered to converse) were deserted. The city’s priests sighed for they offered no sacrifices and so had no income. Her virgins were afflicted with sorrows, for they had no prospects for a husband and children. All of these things caused Jerusalem to dwell in bitterness.”[1]

I’m reminded of our stay at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem several years ago. We arrived at the Hotel after a long day of walking to several places in the city. Jerusalem is divided into four quarters: Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim. In a video presentation on the city, a young girl of each religion explains what it’s like to live in her quarter of Jerusalem.” Although they all have distinct characteristics, the business, the activity, the commerce, and the crowds make the walk very interesting. When we arrived at the Hotel, we enjoyed a great meal in a restaurant that overlooked a modern swimming pool with a large pavilion where a band was set up. We watched a young Jewish couple perform their routines in a traditional wedding ceremony. It was very Jewish and very somber. When the ceremony was over, men cleared away the tables, and the band began their opening set of music for the newlyweds and their guests. I was rather surprised that the first song the band played was one we all know from KC and the Sunshine Band, “Get Down Tonight.” The wedding was in Hebrew. The music was English.

There is no longer any reason to celebrate. There are no more weddings in Jerusalem. The city itself is in mourning. There is no more commerce, and there are no more celebrations of any kind. The city lies desolate. Yet, as the Psalmist sings, there is coming a great day of restoration. Psalm 65:11-13 says, “You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with abundance. The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy, the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy.” The outcasts in Jeremiah’s day could not even imagine what God had in store for them. In the midst of their great “lamentation” God did not totally desert them and had great plans for their future. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.” This is God’s plan for us as well. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 2:9, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.” That will be a great time of celebration.

[1] Gingrich, Roy E. 1998. The Book of Lamentations. Memphis, TN: Riverside Printing.

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Jeremiah 7:21-23, Various

The Pit of Despair

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 28, 2023

 Jeremiah warns the people that God’s wrath is to be poured out on man and beast and the whole created order. This is an irreversible prophecy. It came to us beginning with our ancestors, Adam and Eve. God sent the curse on sin. Every generation since has followed in the footsteps of the first sinners. We felt shame and remorse and try to hide from God and even appease Him with our sacrifices. But none of that will assuage God’s wrath on sin. He does not want our sacrifices. He wants our obedience. Jeremiah explains this to the children of Israel who have turned from God to idols. In Jeremiah 7:21-23 we read, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat the flesh. For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’” This is reminiscent of 1 Samuel 15:22. Saul disregarded Samuel’s instructions and offered the sacrifices on his own, “And Samuel said, ‘Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.’”

We seem to think, maybe subconsciously, that we can do something or give something that will make up for our failure to obey. It’s a lesson we all have to learn the hard way. David had learned the hard way that obedience is better than sacrifice. He had learned it with Bathsheba. He learned it when he failed to handle the Ark in accordance with God’s instructions to Moses, and it cost Uzzah his life. He learned it again in 1 Chronicles 19 when Satan inspired him to take a census contrary to God’s instructions, and a plague killed thousands of his citizens. Yes, David learned the hard way (like most of us) that obedience is better than sacrifice. This theme is repeated in the Bible a lot. Solomon speaks of it in Ecclesiastes. It’s in Proverbs. According to Loizeaux, “The book of Esther contains principles of great value at all times, but especially at the present one when some who delve very little into the word of God are liable to wonder at some of His ways and grow discouraged in the path of obedience. It is needful, therefore, that such, and all of us, should have detailed before us the fact that ‘obedience is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.’ May God richly bless your effort to bring to the surface what His Spirit has laid up for us in this little book.”[1]

As I ponder the struggles in my life right now, there are some ways in which I don’t feel I have the ability to do even know I believe God wants me to do them. I still harbor some bitterness against people. I’ve said some things that I should go apologize for. I’ve even told some lies that I should go back to those people and ask for forgiveness. This thinking has often led me to the pit of despair. It was extremely refreshing to read Charles Stanley’s explanation from the Christian perspective. He writes, “What happens when you ignore God? In your mind, do you picture Him just walking away, looking forlorn and rejected? Or do you have a mental image of God getting mad at you and banishing you to forty years of wilderness wandering? Neither is correct. God loves you perfectly. And His love for you is not based on your obedience. Though He tells us in His Word that obedience is better than sacrifice, the thing that God wants most from you is a love that comes from your heart. He doesn’t stop loving you just because you do something wrong. None of us can earn God’s love by being good or trying to be perfect. For one, we do not have the ability to do either of these on our own. We need a Savior. And this is why Jesus came to die for you and me. He does the very thing that you cannot do for yourself. He makes you acceptable in God’s eyes. He sets you free from sin. When we ignore the Lord, we are the ones who suffer and miss a great opportunity for blessing. God is not a strong and mighty taskmaster who waits for us to do something wrong so He can pounce. He is a loving God who listens to our cries. When He draws you to Himself, He uses love, not a rod of thunder. God knows that once you drink of His love, the world’s appeal will fade. Give Him your heart, and you will be blessed by what you receive from Him.”[2]

[1] Loizeaux, Paul J. 1921. “Prefatory Note.” In Notes on the Book of Esther, 2d ed., 5. New York: Loizeaux Bros.

[2] Stanley, Charles F. 2006. Pathways to His Presence. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

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