Woe to those who turn people against Me and My plans / Blog Pt 2

 

Part 2

In this blog, I sensed the Lord wanted me to share more of how the enemy gets you. How something as simple as bad counsel can lead people astray. He first brought this to my attention when I was reading 2 Samuel. It didn't even hit me when I read the story about David and Bathsheba, except that I did find myself angry and disappointed in him. Here was this man after God's own heart who had done so much and that we often teach and preach about, but to be honest, none of us would want his life. He was a mighty man of war, but the sin that he committed with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah was the beginning of the destruction of his family.

We all know the stories. David is at the top of his game. He is finally King and has won war after war and taken down countless other kings to possess their lands, but all of a sudden he sends his army out without him, and being at home, he gets bored and is walking on the roof when he sees a beautiful woman bathing on a deck below. Sadly, he goes with his flesh rather than being ruled by the Spirit. 

Wait a minute. Did I say ruled by the Spirit? Yes, I did. Although we find the stories about David in the Old Testament, the Bible tells us that the Spirit of the Lord came upon him.

1 Samuel 16:13

Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. 

And what happens from one act of the flesh is just the beginning of woes for those around David and even his own household. Once he has taken Bathsheba into his bed, she comes to him and tells him that she is pregnant, and rather than deal with any of it before the Lord or righteously with Uriah, who was a faithful man to God and to David, he cooks up a terrible murder scheme and has Uriah killed so that he will never find out what he had done. (Please read 2 Samuel 11 to have more of an understanding of all that David did. If I shared the whole chapter, it would make this far too lengthy.)

Once Uriah has been killed, David then takes Bathsheba into his home to be one of his wives. The child she gives birth to dies, and of course they later have Solomon, who becomes heir to the throne once David passes, but let's look at what Nathan the prophet said to David about this little infraction because I believe it is important for us all even today.

2 Samuel 12: 7-12

7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! 9 Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. 10 Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11 Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.’ ”

It appears that God can get pretty angry even with someone called 'a man after His own heart.' Why do I find that this is important for all of us? Because what the Lord said to me when I was reading 2 Samuel is, 'The cover-up is always worse than the original sin. You can cover up anything you'd like, but I, your Father, see it all.' Just like God forgave David (2 Samuel 13b), He also forgives us, but the sin itself opens doors that were at one time closed and brings many other difficulties and trials into our lives. This one door opened up horrible and tragic things for the house of David.

Be Careful Who You Take Advice or Counsel From...

After I read this entire account with David, the Lord also reminded me of yet another tragic story found in 1 Kings where a prophet has been told not to eat bread or drink water and even a King offers him food and he says no, even if you offered me half your house I could not go against the word of the Lord, but then an older prophet chases after him and finds him...

1 Kings 13:15-19

15 Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.”

16 And he said, “I cannot return with you nor go in with you; neither can I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place. 17 For I have been told by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by going the way you came.’ ”

18 He said to him, “I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’ ” (He was lying to him.)

19 So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water.

Now what happens after this, of course, is a tragedy in that this young man was faithful to the Lord to a T. He knew how God spoke; he listened to the prophet who originally told him what the Lord had said. He walked in total obedience and was not even willing to take food, water, or anything from the King, whom he had brought the miracle of restoring his withered hand; but in his confusion, all it took was a man who said he was a prophet and was older than him to make him go completely against the Lord. In this, you have to wonder if he was looking after the flesh. What do I mean by that? I mean, did he decide that because this prophet was older, he somehow knew better or even heard better than he did?

Sadly, the conclusion is the young prophet ends up dead alongside the road for disobedience to the Lord. It appears, if you read more, that the older prophet did not believe that the word of the Lord truly came through the younger one, but even though there is more to this story, I will let you read 1 Kings 13 for space reasons. 

What is your point, Sheryl?

My point here is that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Yes, we are forgiven, and we have a better covenant, but walking in disobedience brings things upon us and our families that we would not want. Again, I will say we must listen to Paul.

Galatians 1:8

But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.

Let's look at verse 18 of 1 Kings again to see what happened...

1 Kings 13:18

18 He said to him, “I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’ ” (He was lying to him.)

He clearly used an angel speaking to him to sway the prophet. In face the Bible says he was lying. Paul later tells us in the New Testament not to be swayed by any other gospel that is preached and not to go against what the Lord has told you, even if an angel speaks it. Obviously, Paul learned this from these stories.

Is it wrong to talk to angels?

No, that is not what I am saying at all. The word of God shares far too much proof that Angels are involved in our lives, give instruction, and speak to people. What I am saying is that we must become better at discerning what the Lord is speaking and has spoken to us and not be moved by every wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:14) and be willing to move off of what He has said. Do not simply be a follower of man but follow Christ who is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). 

Will your disobedience or listening to the wrong counsel cause death like it did for the young prophet in 1 Kings 13? Probably not, because of God's patience and longsuffering, but we are in different days, beloved. Days that many of the prophetic voices are saying are like the book of Acts, where we have a disturbing story about Ananias and Sapphira. You are called to put on Christ and to walk in the light, so that is what you should be doing. Not gossiping, slandering, lying, or deceiving, and if God doesn't want you to do those things, then He certainly doesn't want you listening to it either. 

Remember Proverbs 6:16-19, and you will walk in the light. Model Jesus to your families, as I am certain of one thing: Jesus did not sit around listening to the evils of others. Nor did He go around gossiping or slandering others. He did bring out evils (like the Pharisees), but we never see Him talking about Peter to John or slandering Andrew to Thomas. He came to set us free, not to condemn us. He is our example. Don't ever allow yourself to become a part of condemning others as many prognosticators seem to be doing today. And I will close by saying this. Most of all, always remember to live in Philippians 4:8. 

Philippians 4:8

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

Sheryl York 🕊️

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