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| Allow prayer and your relationship with God move you in position! |
IN 1 Samuel we find something in Saul that he did not obey the instructions given him.
1 Samuel 13:8 Then he waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. 9 So Saul said, "Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me." And he offered the burnt offering. 10 Then it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the brunt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him.
11 And Samuel said, "What have you done?" Saul said, "When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, 12 "then I said, 'The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the LORD.' Therefore I felt compelled and offered a burnt offering." 13 And Samuel said to Saul, "YOU have done foolishly. "You have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you. For now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept wht the LORD commanded you."15 Then Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people present with him, about six-hundred men.
Saul sits on the outskirts of Gibeah. There with him was 600 men. Out of control by not obeying God, Saul watches. He knows not where his son Jonathan is at. Ahijah the great-grandson of Eli the former prophet in Shiloh who had seen Samuel come in to serve the LORD at 2 years of age had fallen from the graces of God and not obeyed either. So all of Eli's line was rejected by God. The Two men, Jonathan and his armor bearer go in against the Philistines. And God helps them!
but Saul has continuing wars and within 1 Samuel 14:47 he fights the Amalekites. In 1 Samuel 15:7 Saul attacked the Amalekites, from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8 He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 but Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.
By verse 10 word has come to Samuel the prophet that God has rejected Saul. Samuel the prophet sets out to meet with Saul but when he arrives he finds "Saul went to Carmel, and indeed he set up a monument for himself; and he has gone on around, passed by and gone down to Gilgal.
In his defiant manner, he stroked his ego by building a monument for himself. He was making his own rules to live by....and calling it the LORD's.
Samuel finally has conversation with Saul! 1 Samuel 15:13 Then Samuel went to Saul and Saul said to him, "Blessed are you of the LORD! I have performed the commandment of the LORD." 14 But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating fot he sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?" 15 And Saul said, "they have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed." 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, "Be quiet!" And I will tell you what the LORD said to me last night." And he said to him, "Speak on". 17 So Samuel said, "when you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the LORD anoint you king over Israel?" 18 "Now the LORD sent you on a mission, and said, 'Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.' 19 "Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you swoop down on the spoil and do evil in the sight of the LORD?" 20 And Saul said to Samuel, "
but I have obedyed the voice of the LORD, and gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
Then Saul again speaks: 21 "But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the tings which should have been utterly destroyed to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.
Yes, twice Saul has regarded God as Samuel's God and not as his God. And any religious activity has no value at all! Continuing on in this passage Saul shows his true nature or colors you might say. We recall he blamed the people in verse 15. He desires to be honored but has done everything according to his own plan. He desires people to look to him but has no intent to repent of his total error against God.
In verse 32 Samuel says, "Bring Agag king of the Amalekites here to me." So Agag come to him cautiously. and Agag said, "Surely the bitterness of death is past." 33 But Sameul said, "As your sword has women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women." And Samule hacked Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.
Samuel returned to Ramah and Saul went to his house. Samuel went no more to see Saul.
Then jumping to the days of Esther. We read of Esther and how Haman has appeared in the lives of the Jewish people because Saul did not obey God and rid the land of the Amalekites.
Esther 2 :8-17
NKJV 8 So it was, when the
king’s command and decree were heard, and when many young women were gathered
at Shushan the citadel, under the custody of Hegai, that Esther also was taken
to the king’s place, into the care of Hegai the custodian of the women. 9 Now
the young woman pleased him, and she obtained his favor; so he readily gave
beauty preparations to her, besides her allowance. Then seven choice maidservants
were provided for her from the king’s palace, and he moved her and her
maidservants to the best place in the house of the women. 10 Esther had not
revealed her people or family, for Mordecai had charged her not to reveal it.
11 And every day Mordecai paced in front on the court of the women’s quarters,
to learn of Esther’s welfare and what was happening to her. 12 Each young
woman’s turn came to go in to King Ahasuerus after she had completed twelve
months’ preparation, according to the regulations for the women, for thus were
the days of their preparations apportioned; six months with oil of myrrh, and
six months with perfumes and preparations for beautifying women. 13 Thus
prepared, each young woman went to the king, and she was given whatever she
desired to take with her from the women’s quarters to the king’s palace. 14 In
the evening she went, and in the morning she returned to the second house of
the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who kept the
concubines. She would not go in to the king again unless the king delighted in
her and called for her by name. 15 Now when the turn came for Esther the
daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his daughter,
to go in to the king, she requested nothing but what Hegai the king’s eunuch,
the custodian of the women advised. And Esther obtained favor in the sight of
all who saw her. 16 So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal
palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year
of his reign. 17 The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she
obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the
royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.
As Queen, Esther finds herself in an environment far from where she was brought up. What ultimately looked like another face in the crowd proved to be a lot more. God was with her!
BUT within this new environment she had to heed new instructions for those in royalty and still remember what "royalty" she truly belongs to!
Favor
surely came to her, but she had to follow instructions, and obey every command
whether she liked it or not. Sometimes people think they know better maybe by
their age or even their schooling. But it must have been Esther’s upbringing in
the Lord God that brought her to the place she was meant to stand. We only
looked at the first part of the walk Esther took toward being Queen. Her
greatest obstacle still lay before her, yet she had made it through the first
hallmark of being favored by God.
Then in comes Haman, yes descendant of King Agag. Yes, the king Agag had a pregnant wife who managed to get away from Saul and delivered a child. And the hate had continued against the Jewish people. All the while the king Ahasuerus planned to go to battle, another battle was brewing within Haman against the Jews. Haman continued to apply his subtle ways and thoughts into the king every chance he got and when chosen by the King Ahasuerus to be left in charge when the "king" was away at war appeared to bring more threats and a heavy arm against the nation. (Esther 5:11)The plot is heard by Mordecai and he gets word to his niece Esther who is within the palace. (Esther 2:19-3: 1-15)
Led into this position Esther sets to pray and fast for the coming event. For the showdown would become evident as the days would reveal Haman's plot, not only by the letters sent out but by the gallows being built. (Esther 5:13-14)
But what Haman had planned for the Jews, God turned it around. Haman was hung on the gallows he had built. (Esther 7:9-10)
I believe this to be a "prophetic" word for those called to stand as Esther in these last days however long they may be. Being led into position, you are led into provision and protection. Seek the welfare of God's people when you find yourself standing in those positions to speak.
Understand what was allowed either before your birth or soon after, you will have stand against!
It is paramount to stay close to God and to hear His every instruction in your days ahead.
It will be in your devotion to God that He will propel you into the greatest days in the moments of history that will unfold. Remain firm, remain diligent in your worship to Him..........this is not about any "religious rules" and will not abide in opinions of you or others. It will always bring praise and glory to God that you stand in Him and reveal His purpose to a world needing Jesus! YOU WILL BE MARKED AS THE ONE SPEAKING PEACE AND SEEKING THE GOOD OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE GOD'S!
GO now and obey the Lord's guidance and instructions. Amen!
Notice:
New teaching at: Voice of Prayer
The Manifest Presence of Jesus: Touching Jesus is Touching Our Furure
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New teaching at: Life Giving Wells
Being Wise is Not Human Self-Rule
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