Seek the counsel of God now
Whenever we do not seek counsel of the Lord in all our ways, we end up with snares and sorrows that cause us heart aches, and pains. This continues to plague even the best of the people of God. Josh. 9:14 is a prime example of the human nature; “and the men took of their victuals and asked not counsel at the mouth of God.” Does this sound familiar? Have you found yourself so doing?
Josh. 9:15 reads and Joshua made peace with them and made a league, to let them live and the princes of the congregation swore unto them. As you read verse 1-14, you will be surprised, how both Joshua and the elders of Israel accepted the lies of the Gibeonites. There was no vision or revelation or dream. They lied but Israel may have been confident that the story of these strangers made sense, Israel had shown power and success: But forgetting that the Lord God is the one who can show confidence. The only way we humans can show, or exercise confidence is to consult and commit everything to the Lord. We humans look at peoples’ faces and emotions, but the Lord looks at the heart. The Gibeonites showed guile, but the children of Israel saw it not, but the Lord knows all things.
Be careful today because the Gibeonites are always around us. We are at the end of the age and the true believers need to be watchful for the Gibeonites. The Gibeonites had these characteristics: Fear of the exploit of Israel, verse 1; Deceit as they approached Israel, verse 4; Hypocrisy in that they lied, verse 5 and lies without fear of God, verse 6-13.
They asked for a league with Israel, and they made that, as verse 15 reads, “And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, and let them live; and the princes of the congregation swore unto them.” They swore unto them definitely in the name of the Lord. They never considered finding out from the Lord, if they should make a league with a people, they knew nothing about. That is exactly what most of us do today; we take actions without asking for God’s opinion. Many are married and in agony today because they did not talk it over with Jesus Christ, to have his opinion. Many act as God and take any decision they consider good but, in the end, it will be the wisdom of man not God. Yes, as many as are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God (Rom. 8:14); that does not mean we do not ask the Lord about anything before we act. To be led by the Spirit, is to be obedient to the Spirit. You have to keep the Lord before you and with you in all things; else you will be operating on assumption, not by the leading of the Spirit.
Josh. 9:16 reads, “and it came to pass at the end of three days after they had made a league with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors, and that they dwelt among them and did not come from a far country.” Israel, the believers, discovered that the unbelievers had tricked them. It happens to us from time to time when we leave God out of our decisions. Sometimes we become so sure we know the mind of God, but forget that God speaks, and can speak for himself in all matters: if we are gracious enough to recognize that He is totally in charge of all things. These Gibeonites were of the remnants of the Amorites that were all supposed to be killed on the way to the Promised Land by the Israelites. They made a binding league with them, and it stood but when Saul was king, he killed many of them and God was not pleased with that and brought famine on Israel, (Study 2nd Sam. 21:1-7). Our decisions without consultation with the Lord often have far reaching consequences, like the case of the Gibeonites in the days of Joshua and the days of Saul and David.
Samuel the great prophet of God, humble from his childhood, knew the voice of God. He always inquired of God before doing anything. But there came a day when for a split second, he thought he knew the mind of God: 1st Sam. 16:5-13, is the story of the anointing of David as King; God never told Samuel who he was to anoint, he knew from the Lord it was one of Jesse’s sons. When Samuel arrived, Jesse called for his children by the word of the prophet. Eliab was the first to come and had the height and personality to be king and Samuel said “surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.”
The Lord spoke to Samuel in verse 7 saying, “Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature, because I have refused him; for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” If God did not intervene right here, Samuel would have chosen the wrong person as King. When David came in from the sheep fold in the field the Lord said in verse 12, ” Arise and anoint him for this is he.” David was the youngest and was not in the army, too young, but that was the Lord’s choice as king of Israel. Compare God’s choice and the choice of Samuel the prophet; Man’s choice and that of God are different, except we follow the Lord step by step. Let him lead and let us follow.
David desired to build a temple for the Lord; he told this to Nathan the prophet, who also loved the King. The prophet without consulting the Lord said to David, 1st Chron. 17:2 “Do all that is in thine heart; for God is with thee. “This was the word of a prophet, who could doubt it; David could go on and build the temple. The prophet said the Lord is with thee, on this desire, but that was strong. There was no assurance the prophet inquired of the Lord on the issue.
In verse 3-8, the Lord spoke that same night to Nathan the prophet saying in verse 4, “Go tell my servant David, thus saith the Lord, thou shall not build me a house to dwell in.” This was another case of not inquiring or asking or consulting with the Lord before making any moves in life matters. How many moves have you made in life without talking or inquiring from the Lord: only God’s mercy has covered us?
Prophets have made mistakes in decisions, why would any believer ever do anything or take any decisions without consulting with the Lord. In everything, consult the Lord, because the consequences of any mistakes or assumptions could be disastrous. Some of us are living with mistakes we have made in our lives by not talking over things with the Lord before acting. It is most dangerous today, to act without talking to the Lord and getting an answer before taking any steps. We are in the last days and the Lord should every moment be our companion in all decisions. Arise and repent for not fully seeking God’s leading before taking major decision I our small lives. We need His counsel in these last days and only His counsel shall stand. Praise ye the Lord, Amen.
037 – Seek the counsel of God now