sacrifice Archives - Dennis Conrad Author

Defend the Honor!

Dear Lord, I pray for wisdom for those who assemble to defend the honor of a nation. In Jesus’ name, amen.

When enemies came against Israel, there were victories and defeats.

This time, when word of what the Ammonite wants reaches Saul, Saul’s reaction will change the people of Israel and usher in a new era.

1 Samuel 11:5-15 (ESV) tells how Saul helped the people of Israel move from fear and weeping to unity.

“Now, behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen. And Saul said, “What is wrong with the people, that they are weeping?” So they told him the news of the men of Jabesh. And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled. He took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of the messengers, saying, ‘Whoever does not come out after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen!’ Then the dread of the Lord fell upon the people, and they came out as one man. When he mustered them at Bezek, the people of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. And they said to the messengers who had come, ‘Thus shall you say to the men of Jabesh-gilead: ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have salvation.’ ’ When the messengers came and told the men of Jabesh, they were glad. Therefore the men of Jabesh said, ‘Tomorrow we will give ourselves up to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good to you.’ And the next day Saul put the people in three companies. And they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch and struck down the Ammonites until the heat of the day. And those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.

“Then the people said to Samuel, ‘Who is it that said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Bring the men, that we may put them to death.’ But Saul said, ‘Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the Lord has worked salvation in Israel.’ Then Samuel said to the people, ‘Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingdom.’ So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal. There they sacrificed peace offerings before the Lord, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.”

In summary, Saul took action, the people acted in unity, a victory was won, Samuel told the people to go to Gilgal, Saul became king, the Lord was given offerings, and there was rejoicing.

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Sacrificed Their Sons and Daughters?

Dear Lord, I pray for the wisdom for those who never want to make the mistake of serving idols. In Jesus’ name, amen.

King Ahaz was Hezekiah’s father.

2 Kings 16:2-3 (ESV) says,
“Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God, as his father David had done, but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.” (See 2 Chronicles 28:1-4 for a similar account.)

Hezekiah’s bother was one of those sacrificed.

In Psalm 106:34-38 reminds of the horrors of human sacrifice.

“They did not destroy the peoples,
as the Lord commanded them,
but they mixed with the nations
and learned to do as they did.
They served their idols,
which became a snare to them.
They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to the demons;
they poured out innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
and the land was polluted with blood.”

Scripture is full of stories of kings who served foreign gods. God’s word tells the truth about those who disobeyed him. Let this be instructive. If you or someone you know is worshiping idols, tell them how knowing God personally can give them new life.

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