"The Spirit Of Elijah" Part 6 "Trivial Pursuit"

1 Kings 16:30-33  Now Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him. 31 And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians; and he went and served Baal and worshiped him. 32 Then he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. 33 And Ahab made a wooden image. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. NKJV

This week I want of look at the origins of witchcraft.   Jezebel was able to prognosticate one phrase and caused Elijah to run for his life.  We looked at the lie that Elijah had held unto and believed and ultimately caused him to miss his ultimate destiny.    If we can identify why all of Gods people went astray, we can find God’s remedy and begin to see why the Spirit of Elijah is going to proceed the second coming of the Lord and prepare the way! 

First, when Ahab became king, he thought it was a trivial thing to walk in the sins of Jeroboam.  Jeroboam set up alters to sacrifice and worship other gods.  Trivial is a key word here that we need to take a closer look at.  The word actually means no big deal or a light thing.  God says it is a big deal and very important so let’s see what His Word says.

Deut 30:15-19  "See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, 16 in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, 18 I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess.  NKJV

This indeed is the key to what God blesses and what He does not.  The first promise of the "No Compromise" is life!  You may live!  Second:  Multiply!  No matter how you look at it, this is a promise of prosperity! Third: God will bless you in the land you go in to possess!  This means God will be with us with victory over all of our enemies as well as dominion over the land we will possess!

Here comes the “But”:  But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them,  I announce to you today that you shall surly perish;  you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over Jordan to possess.   The first thing that happens when your heart turns away is “You do not hear.”  I understand there may some reading this that will say this is Old Testament and we are in the New Testament.  So let’s look at a New Testament scripture that will reveal this about hearing.

John 8:47 He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God." NKJV 

Not being able to hear Him is a good indication that you are not of Him.  There are many who say they know Him but their heart is far from Him.   Repent and forsake whatever it is that you have been following and Return to God.   Here is another very clear portion in scripture about hearing.

John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. NKJV

If you are saying you can’t hear God, it’s because you are away from Him and it is time to return to your first Love.  If you have never heard God, then ask Jesus to reveal Himself to you and He will.  The Way into His presence is with Thanksgiving in your heart and you enter His courts with praise. However if you continue down the path of being drawn away from Him and begin to serve other gods , your life will be cut short and you may not fulfill His ultimate destiny for your life. 

Ahab, because of this compromise and considering it to be no big deal or trivial, did more to provoke the Lord to anger then any king that proceeded him.   This compromise is what led to him to marry Jezebel and her reign of terror over Gods people.  The weak compromising character of Ahab will allow a Jezebel to be enthroned. Weak leadership will always lead to destruction and bondage of God’s people.
  

2 Cor 6:14-18  Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people." 17 Therefore "Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you." 18 'I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty."  NKJV

Ahab married Jezebel.  He went outside of his own people and married Jezebel whose people were worshipping and serving the Baal gods.  This scripture from the New Testament, confirms why this is absolutely wrong before God.  If we heed God and his Word we won’t end up in the ditch.  I’ve met many Christians over the years, who have married unbelievers and ended up in constant struggle with their mate, because in most of the cases the unbeliever was the dominate one in the relationship.  They would compromise the true and living God to appease the unbelieving spouse.  If you are in this situation now, I pray that you become courage’s and begin to no longer compromise God but stand up and stand on the principles laid out in the Word of God.  This is not a go ahead for you to not walk in Love, but an understanding that God is Love and His Word is not to be compromised.  This in itself may win the unbeliever over but one things for sure, compromise never will!  The way of the world is compromise, and in order for anyone to be truly set free, is Truth.  Jesus is that Truth and He is the only way of salvation and deliverance.  If your reading this and you are dating an unbeliever now, don’t be deceived, God’s Word here is an understanding and a warning to you not to be unequally yoked to unbelievers.  If you compromise Gods word to begin with you will find yourself compromising it over and over to have peace in your house.

Now let me not address an issue on a corporate scale that has gained some traction in the Christian church.  This would be the marriage of Christianity and Islam.  The term for this movement is called Christlam.   This in fact comes in direct confrontation of Jesus being the only Way to salvation.  This false doctrine is now being adhered to by over 60 churches in America and some of these are mega churches!  This is a very serious error but always has its roots in compromise of what God has already said.
 

Ahab compromised and married Jezebel and brought idolatry to the whole nation of Israel!  Now lets look at the connection of compromise which leads to Idolatry.  Whenever you decide that what God says is trivial you are already in compromise and heading down the slippery slope. This indeed is the origin of Idolatry.   Let’s look at another passage of scripture that will give us a clearer picture.

1 Sam 15:20-23  And Saul said to Samuel, "But I have obeyed 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. 21 But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal."  22 So Samuel said:  "Has 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 heed than the fat of rams.  23 For rebellion is as the sin of  itchcraft,And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king."  NKJV

Saul was told by the Word of the Lord to destroy all of the Amalekites, including the king and not bring anything back with them that the Amalekites possessed.   So let’s look at that scripture for a clear understanding.

1 Sam 15:1-3  Samuel also said to Saul, "The Lord sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the Lord. 2 Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. 3 Now go and 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.'"  NKJV

The instruction was very straight forward.  Now let’s look at Saul’s justification of the compromise that led to him being rejected by the Lord as king. 

First Saul said he had obeyed the voice of the Lord.  Is this true? No, because in the very next statement he says he brought back Agag, who was king of Amalek.   “Do not spare them” is absolute clarity.   So why did Saul think that this gave him an exception to spare the king?  That is a good question, and can be answered with clarity in the following scripture.

1 Sam 15:7-9  And 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.

He was unwilling to destroy him.  He was also unwilling to destroy the best of all the spoil.  "Unwilling" is a key word here, because this is where deception starts.  Why was he unwilling?  Because, he placed a value on them according to his understanding and disregarded God's clear instruction.  I can almost hear the justification coming out of his mouth now!  Let’s see how he does justify the compromise.

1 Sam 15:13-15  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 of the 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."  NKJV

So what was His justification for bringing the best of everything back?  “To sacrifice to the Lord!”   He turned it into a religious reason!   This lie has been used over and over to justify disobedience to the Lord.  It is the same lie that started in the garden when Eve decided that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was good for food.  This was the justification to eat from a tree that God had told them no.  What part of “Don’t eat” did she did not understand?  It is always about bending and compromising what God said.  This indeed is where idolatry starts.  When we raise our understanding higher than God’s Word ,our understanding becomes a god to us and this is Idolatry.   What about his justification for bringing the king of the Amalekites back?  It does not really indicate in this scripture.  But Saul liked to look good and loved to be seen and accepted as somebody important.  This particular frame of mind becomes clearer in the rest of his life and especially the way he responded to David.  Now let’s look to see how Samuel confronts this error and sin in Saul.

1 Sam 15:22-23   So Samuel said: "Has 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 heed than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.  Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king."  NKJV 

Samuel deals directly with the compromise and justification of bringing back the best of the spoil to use in religious sacrifice to the Lord.  Is doing religious things more important than obeying Him?  The answer is obviously no.  This should be as clear to us in this day and age as well.  We are required to obey the Word of the Lord.   This scripture makes a direct connection between rebellion and witchcraft. So let’s break this down.
 

Rebellion: OT:4805  meriy (mer-ee'); from OT:4784; bitterness, i.e. (figuratively) rebellion; concretely, bitter, or rebellious: KJV - bitter, (most) rebel (-lion, -lious). OT:4784  marah (maw-raw'); a primitive root; to be (causatively, make) bitter (or unpleasant); (figuratively) to rebel (or resist; causatively, to provoke): KJV - bitter, change, be disobedient, disobey, grievously, provocation, provoke (-ing), (be) rebel (against, -lious).

Notice here in this Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance definition of Hebrew words that rebellion has the word bitter in it which is one of the bedrock foundations of the definition.   What is bitter?   It is heaviness, discontented, chafed and angry.    It goes deeper than that and these are unresolved issues that are deep down.

 If you find yourself justifying disobedience to Gods clear word, you may want to search your heart and see if there are unresolved issues of bitterness buried deep inside.
  

Since Samuel connects rebellion to witchcraft, let’s define it and this may shed a little more light on compromise which leads to rebellion.
 

Witchcraft: OT:7081  qecem (keh'-sem); from OT:7080; a lot: also divination (including its fee), oracle: KJV - (reward of) divination, divine sentence, witchcraft.  OT:7080   qacam (kaw-sam'); a primitive root; properly, to distribute, i.e. determine by lot or magical scroll; by implication, to divine: KJV - divine (-r, -ation), prudent, soothsayer, use [divination].

There is a lot to this but I will try to break this down and keep it as simple as possible.  First: It starts with a departing from God and his word.  This is the foundation of rebellion.  God’s Word is the authority.  This is where a false spirit can try to deceive us in doubting the authority of the Word of God.   Witchcraft is the practice of some other means to determine direction.  Let’s break down some of the words that are used in the definition of witchcraft to see if we can get a clearer picture.

Divination: OT:5172  nachash (naw-khash'); a primitive root; properly, to hiss, i.e. whisper a (magic) spell; generally, to prognosticate: KJV -  certainly, divine, enchanter, (use) enchantment, learn by experience, indeed, diligently observe.

The primary word used in this definition is to prognosticate.  This word means to interpret of foretell by the use of symptoms or signs.   Now we are the people of God, so first and foremost we must adhere to the already established Word of God and not compromise.  We as God’s people can hear the voice of God.  Jesus said in the 10^th chapter of John “His sheep hear His voice and the voice of a stranger they will not follow.”

  Many people can’t wait to read their horoscopes everyday to see what is prognosticated about their life using astrological signs.   Also some will visit a fortune teller or call a physic hotline to again find out what is prognosticated about their future.

Another subtle trap that many Christians have fallen into is more faith in the medical field’s ability, then the finished work of what Jesus accomplished on the cross.   If the Doctor looks at your medical condition and says you only have a month to live, this would  be a prognostication on the length of your life.  This is not to discredit the medical field, but the Word of God says by Christ stripes you were healed.  So at this point you will be confronted with "Who's" report are you going to believe?  What the Doctor said? Or God's already established Word?

Matt 8:16-17   When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses."  NKJV

I will continue to look closer at the connection between rebellion, witchcraft and idolatry in my next blog.  But this week I want to sum up and focus on the beginning of the error that leads down this path and that is: "Compromise".  Never consider what God has clearly instructed to be "Trivial"  He means what he says!  When we lean or rely on something besides or instead of God and His Word for whatever reason or justification, we are already heading down the slippery slope of deception, error and sin.  God’s Word is the authority that we are to be governed by and when we don’t believe or obey it we have already taken the bait of deception.   I will have much more to say about witchcraft,rebellion, idolatry and compromise in this blog as we continue this series “The Spirit Of Elijah”  next time!