Monday, September 12, 2011

Elijah's Obedience

"So he went, and did according to the word of the Lord." (I Kings 17:5).

Elijah obeyed. He did what God told him to do. This observance of God’s word was part of the fiber of his life. It has always been so with all great men and women of God.

Joshua was to lead Israel into the first battle for the land God had promised. Instead of a traditional military attack that made sense to the natural mind, God gave an unusual command to him—‘You shall march around the city, all you men of war: you shall go around the city once. This you shall do six days. And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of ram’s horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets." (Joshua 6:3).

God promised that the walls around the city of Jericho would fall flat. Joshua and his army obeyed and it happened just as God had promised. To use the language applied to Elijah, Joshua "went and did according to the word of the Lord."

King Saul was one who did not obey God fully. God commanded him to "attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey."(1 Samuel 15:3). This command was given because God was punishing that nation for ambushing Israel when they came out of Egypt. (1 Samuel 15:2).

Saul did not follow fully but "spared the king and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good." (1 Samuel 15:9). The prophet Samuel came with a message that the kingdom would be taken away from this king. He demanded of Saul "Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord?" (1 Samuel 15:10).

Unlike Elijah and Joshua, Saul did not "do according to the word of the Lord."

Do we have the same mind as Elijah and Joshua? When God speaks to us will we respond as they did? Has God given a command to us? What will we do with what we have clearly heard from Him?

Elijah "went and did according to the word of the Lord." We must offer the same obedience. In all our ways, we are to go and do.