Why did Philistine sing at Gilboa? Earlier, in another episode, they succeeded in capturing the Ark of the Covenant. Naturally, they gave all the glory to Dagon, and to their many gods. Except that, it did not take long before they discovered that they had taken what they could not keep.
Today, evil speaks confidently in our midst. Secret societies now operate in the open, questioning why their progenitors had even attempted to function in the secret. What they forget is that, the climate then was not what obtains today. What alarmed the rest of us have all but become norm right now. The church itself shares a lot in common nowadays with much of what we used to know as the recesses of darkness.
So why does darkness speak on the roof tops? You needn’t travel so far to know the answer. Look among the people who call themselves by our Lord’s name! Overt disobedience is rife. Blatant rebellion wears princely garbs of charisma. A form of godliness which denies godliness itself. The scripture assures that none can avenge disobedience without himself or herself being compliant.
So, we who call ourselves by God’s name continue to invent ways of disregarding His commandments, therefore we inflate darkness and the powers thereof with the boldness they need.
Sometimes those who began with obedience start to look for direction inside their own heads. A case that still beats my imagination is that of Gibeon and Joshua.
Due to a combination of partial and total rebellion on Israel’s part, the Lord had to keep some of the Canaanites for much longer than He intended to, at a very great cost to Israel.
The body at large pays for it when we derail. Right now, it will take the special grace of God, perhaps even greater grace, to lead anyone to Christ in truth. The name of the Lord is blasphemed everywhere before a watching world, no thanks to our excesses and hypocrisy.
From our passage, 2 Chronicles chapter 19, we see that despite all of Jehoshaphat’s faith and devotion, he refuses to discontinue his close ties to Ahab the King of Israel. Even up to this point, Jehoshaphat fails to read all the writing on the wall. Ahab had just attempted to exchange his own life for Jehoshaphat’s, yet the King of Judah has chosen to blind himself to the very obvious.
Some of us confuse something a whole lot. When we see God move in somebody’s life or ministry, we immediately read that to mean God approves such a person.completely. Some of the time, that is just the call of God in manifestation. It is the faithfulness of God playing out. The painful outcome of God’s judgement is still to be dreaded, that is, if we are wise.
There was without doubt an anointing in operation in Ramoth Gilead which saved Jehoshaphat’s life. But because he would not repent, his children are classed among those to be removed when the sword of Jehu fell in Samaria.
