Six months ago we were starting the renovations for my home office and my great uncle had just built my deck. I would go out there multiple times a day and try to envision what it was going to look like completely finished. I bought one of those big comfortable egg chairs for my deck and I’d go sit out there, sometimes sleep out there.
Well one thing I really wanted to do was stargaze from my porch because we didn’t have many lights out there. So I sat out there for a while and admired the stars and then started to make my way back to the house.
Not used to my new deck steps yet, I went face first into the grass. Not only did I hit the ground, but my shin hit the fresh wood step. I instantly got a huge bruise accompanied with a large bump and intense pain. At first I wasn’t sure if I could get myself up, but I stumbled in the dark to the house. When I got in the house and turned on the light, I realized there was something in my hand that I had carried in… A LANTERN. Not only did I have my cell phone which has a decent flashlight, but I was holding a lantern. Had I turned on the lantern and treaded carefully down my steps, and not been looking up in the sky saying “wow the stars are so pretty!”, I would not have fallen. 6 months later, I still have a bruise, still have a bump on my shin, and I’m still feeling the pain.
How many times do we go through life without the guidance of our lamp, the light to our path, the Word? We stumble around and fall in the darkness, potentially harming ourselves and possibly others, physically and/or spiritually. We set our gaze on distractions rather than on the Light.
We’re going to look at 3 cases:
1. There is hearing the Word and acting against it.
2. There is hearing the Word and putting it into practice.
3. There is hearing the Word and not acting on it at all.
1. Stories of when people didn’t listen to God’s word and tried to do it their way
The Bible is full of stories of where the Lord gave instructions to an individual or a people and they tried to do things their own way.
What Jesus said –
In John 12:46-48, Jesus said “‘I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day.’”
We’re going to look at a situation between King Ahab and King Jehoshaphat in 1 Kings 22. Both men were kings over the Israelites at the same time. Historically, we know that the Israelites first king was Saul, then King David, then King Solomon. After Solomon, the kingdom divided and there were two rulers: King of Israel and King of Judah. So we are coming into Chapter 22, looking at King Ahab, ruling over Israel and King Jehoshaphat ruling over Judah. (King Ahab is the king that was married to Queen Jezebel, the wicked queen.) Ahab was involved in a lot of wars with the Syrians and he promoted pagan worship and idolatry.
However, in the chapter before this, Ahab repents and tries to make it right with the Lord. 1 Kings 21:28-29 says, “And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,”Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son’s days I will bring the disaster upon his house.”
So now let’s read 1 Kings 22:1-35 (ESV):
“For three years there was no war between Aram and Israel. But in the third year Jehoshaphat king of Judah went down to see the king of Israel. The king of Israel had said to his officials, “Don’t you know that Ramoth Gilead belongs to us and yet we are doing nothing to retake it from the king of Aram?”
So he asked Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to fight against Ramoth Gilead?”
Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “First seek the counsel of the Lord.”
So the king of Israel brought together the prophets—about four hundred men—and asked them, “Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?”
“Go,” they answered, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.”
But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire of?”
The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.”
“The king should not say such a thing,” Jehoshaphat replied.
So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, “Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once.”
Dressed in their royal robes, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them. Now Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared, “This is what the Lord says: ‘With these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyed.’ ”
All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing. “Attack Ramoth Gilead and be victorious,” they said, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.”
The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, “Look, the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king. Let your word agree with theirs, and speak favorably.”
But Micaiah said, “As surely as the Lord lives, I can tell him only what the Lord tells me.”
When he arrived, the king asked him, “Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or not?”
“Attack and be victorious,” he answered, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.”
The king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?”
Then Micaiah answered, “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the Lord said, ‘These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.’ ”
The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?”
Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’
“One suggested this, and another that. Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’
“‘By what means?’ the Lord asked.
“’I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said.
“‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the Lord. ‘Go and do it.’
“So now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster for you.”
Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face. “Which way did the spirit from the Lord go when he went from me to speak to you?” he asked.
Micaiah replied, “You will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner room.”
The king of Israel then ordered, “Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the king’s son 27 and say, ‘This is what the king says: Put this fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safely.’ ”
Micaiah declared, “If you ever return safely, the Lord has not spoken through me.” Then he added, “Mark my words, all you people!”
Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead
So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will enter the battle in disguise, but you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.
Now the king of Aram had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, “Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel.” When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought, “Surely this is the king of Israel.” So they turned to attack him, but when Jehoshaphat cried out, the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel and stopped pursuing him.
But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the sections of his armor. The king told his chariot driver, “Wheel around and get me out of the fighting. I’ve been wounded.” All day long the battle raged, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans. The blood from his wound ran onto the floor of the chariot, and that evening he died.”
Wow. So we see from this story that picking and choosing what you want from the Word will end in destruction. It’s not sustainable. When you inquire of the Lord, and you seek His Word, and you find your answer, DO WHAT THE LORD SAYS. What happens if you don’t obey the Word of the Lord? When you don’t accept the guidance of the lamp of His words?
Deuteronomy 28 lays out 2 choices for the Israelites:
Blessings for Obedience (Verses 1-14) and Curses for Disobedience (verse 15-68)
These were specific instructions from the Lord given through Moses to the Israelites to follow. Reading through the old testament, we see that eventually God gave them over to other nations and they were exiled from their land. Diseases and disaster befell them.
In a similar way, God blesses us for our faithful obedience to His Word and we put ourself at risk of destruction if we stray from His paths, His guidance.
2. Stories of when people listened to God’s word, acted on it, and were successful
The Bible is full of stories of where the Lord gave someone a word and they acted on it and were successful:
Noah – The Lord gave Noah instructions which he acted on. For over 100 years, Noah worked on building the ark. The Lord’s Words to Noah were a lamp to his feet and a light to his path that he acted on. Instead of panicking and stumbling around in the waters when the rain came, Noah and his family were safe in the ark. Safe from destruction.
Gideon – In Judges Chapter 6 we learn that God gave the Israelites over to the hand of Midian because of their disobedience and the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help. The Angel of the Lord appears to a boy named Gideon and tells him to lead an army against Midian. After some convincing, Gideon gathers up 32,000 men, which the Lord reduces the size to 300 men.
Judges 7:15-22 (ESV) states,
“When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, “Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands.” Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside.
“Watch me,” he told them. “Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’ ”
Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled.
When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.”
And what did they hold in their hands? TORCHES. (Lantern, anyone?) So they followed the Lord’s instructions and the Lord fought for them and they were victorious.
Sometimes the instruction from the Lord is to wait!
Acting otherwise would be like your light is staying in one place and you are deliberately choosing to wonder off into the dark on your own.
We read the account of Kings Ahab and Jehoshaphat again in 2 Chronicles 18. It’s the same account of the battle against the Syrians where Ahab dies. 2 Chronicles 19 and 20 continue in Jehoshaphat’s story and in Chapter 20, it tells us that the Moabites, Ammonites, and Meunites came against Jehoshaphat for battle. And Jehoshaphat learned his lesson. His immediate response was to turn his face to the Lord. And he has his entire assembly turn to the Lord. And the Lord responded in Chapter 20: 14-17 (ESV):
““And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly.”
And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel. You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.””
I love this passage so much.
So the instruction was to stay put. Do not do anything on your accord. Don’t wonder off the well lit-up path that God has shown you. Wait for Him before you move forward.
Let’s look at a very familiar passage – Matthew 7:24-27 (ESV). Jesus tells us “‘Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.’”
3. And this is where we see the third case of hearing the Word but not acting on it. Just like me with my lantern. I bought the lantern, I carried the lantern in my hand, I knew the lantern would give me light to my steps, but I didn’t turn it on, I didn’t put it into practice and I definitely fell with a great crash. And how often do we do this with the Word as well? We buy a Bible, we carry it to church on Sundays, We know it provides instruction and guidance, but we don’t open it. We don’t read it. We don’t apply it. We don’t put it into practice.
Read the Word
So when we think about a lantern or even a light in your home, we can’t use a light if we don’t buy one, right?
In the same way, we must READ the Word to be able to use it as our light. We can’t expect the Lord to guide us without seeking Him through His word. We of course can hear from the Lord in our spirit or audibly or through a message or a song, but we can’t just follow that. We have to read His Word.
In closing, we need to be like the Good Soil that Jesus talks about in the Parable of the Sower. He says in Matthew 13:3-9 (ESV),
“’And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.’”
He later explains this Matthew 13:18-23 (ESV):
“‘When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.’”
Let’s be the good soil. Reading the Word and soaking it in. Then using that Word as a lamp until our feet and a light unto our paths.
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