A Devotional Verse From The Book Of Judges

And I said unto you, I am the LORD your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice.     Judges 6:10

          The book of Judges shows us a very important principle for national living. God’s chosen people had been led into the land of Canaan as their homeland. They were to follow, serve, and obey the God of creation, the God of the Torah, the God who had chosen them, but they did not always obey. They were often drawn away from the true God to worship false gods, and commit the atrocities that were associated with such false gods. As a result the living LORD would deliver them into the hands of their enemies, and they would suffer persecution and poverty. When they would return to the true God and call upon him for help, God would raise up a strong, believing leader (called judges) and would deliver His people from her enemies.

          The principle that follows is that when any nation turns from the true God to the false gods of religion, pornography, deceit, criminality, violence, the dissolution of families, and so many of the evils that are perpetrated throughout the nations of the world, those nations find themselves falling on hard times. When a nation preserves, supports, and encourages its people to follow the traditional morality of the biblical scriptures that nation finds itself on a path to prosperity and peace. Even in those nations where non-biblical religion is dominant, the greater the amount of biblical morality held by that society, the greater their progress and prosperity.

A Devotional Verse From Joshua

 Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that you turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left;     Joshua 23:6

This verse from Joshua indicates an interesting thing true in Joshua’s day as it is in ours; it takes courage to follow the word of God. It takes a courageous heart of faith to follow and promote the teaching of the Word of God.

While it is evident that the moral and spiritual lifestyle advocated by the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, if followed by everyone in the world would re-create human society and solve the majority of problems created by human sin, society at large is not open to scriptural guidance. It takes courage to advocate these things because modern day people in many cases do not like what the Bible has to say. They do not like the Bible’s definition of marriage and marital fidelity and fight against it. They do not like the Bible’s expression of an exclusive salvation that comes through faith in Jesus, even though it’s not forced on anyone but offered to them by faith. They do not like the concept that national governments are the servants of God to do what is good and right and to punish evil. They oppose the Bible’s teaching on sexual purity. They oppose the sanctity of the life of pre-born babies, and will go to almost any lengths to allow the termination of the lives of these children (presumably conceived in love). Drunkenness and dishonesty are popular despite the Bible's insistence that they are sin. Take any list of values from the Scriptures and the sinners of this world will reject and fight them.

So to advocate such things in this day and age causes those who believe and preach them to be ridiculed, branded intolerant, ostracized, even persecuted or killed. And yet our challenge is Joshua’s: Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and do all that is written in the book… When we present God’s word we do it in love, we do it in kindness, we do it to help and improve the world situation and make the lives of people in need better, so be very courageous! God’s word will not return unto Him void.

And I saw thrones, and they that sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their fore heads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Revelation 20:4

John saw the souls of them that were beheaded during the tribulation for their witness to salvation through Jesus. It is clear that the terror of beheading  will be used against Christian believers by the forces of evil during that time of wrath some theologians call the tribulation. This monstrous form of execution is from the pits of hell and the most rotten part of the human heart. 16,500 people, among the thousands upon thousands who died during the French Revolution were beheaded. The Nazi’s records indicate that beheading was used in over 16,000 executions during their reign of terror in Germany and Austria. Islamic terrorists of the Middle East use individual beheadings in the most brutal way to attempt to terrorize the world. Underlying these examples, and, in my opinion, true in almost all historical uses of beheading, appears to be an ultimate satanic plan to oppose Christianity and terrorize and kill people who in any way have a connection, however tenuous, to Christianity or the God of Israel. The time will come when God’s justice will prevail and all unredeemed terrorists will regret and lament for eternity their personal evil and unbelief in Christ. Until that time the governments in existence around the world (according to Romans 13:1 ordained of God to be a terror …to the evil) have the responsibility before God to confound and eliminate terrorism of any sort, thus promoting a more stable, peaceful world, and protecting citizens of all nations, who seek to live and work without fear, from the murderous intent and actions of terrorists.

Devotional  Verses From Joshua

Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses: That the slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. And when he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the entering of the gate of the city, and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city unto them and give him a place that he may dwell among them. And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand; because he smote his neighbor unwittingly, and hated him not beforetime. And he shall dwell in that city, until he stand before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days; then shall the slayer return, and come unto his own city, and unto his own house, unto the city from whence he fled.     Joshua 20:2-6

Under the Jewish law, which was the most protective of the rights of individuals of ancient days and has been a model for the legal systems of modern civilized countries, there was a consideration for accidental death. Accidents do happen, God understands, and made a provision that in such a case the ancient idea of blood for blood and life for life could be set aside for the cause of justice. Yet, what people may not know, or may misunderstand is that the accidental killer did not get off without consequences. He could save his life from the family member called the avenger of blood by going to a city of refuge, but there he had to be tried to see if he really was innocent, and if he was he still could not leave the city until the death of the high priest who was currently in office. If the High Priest were quite old the accidental slayer might be released after a very short time, but if the High Priest had just come into office and was younger than the slayer, the accidental killer might have to spend his entire life within the city of refuge.  He had to leave his home and family (unless they moved to be with him), give up his way of life, and perhaps his profession, miss the birthday parties of his aging mother and father, the special community festivals, and all the blessings of his life before the accident. But his life was safe, and within the bounds of the city of refuge, whether it was Shechem,  Ramoth in Gilead, or any of the others, he was free. So even in an accidental killing there was a price to be paid. One of the problems in modern society is that there is so much crime and unintended tragedies that come from bad or reckless behavior, and often so little cost to those involved in these events that the same people repeat them over and over again. Modern society must find a way to make the cost for any kind of accident due to unlawful behavior, or what are called “minor crimes” be sufficient to be a deterrent to stupid and sinful activities.

A Devotional Verse From The Book of Deuteronomy

Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.

Deuteronomy 29:9

Chapters 28 and 29 of Deuteronomy are filled with two lists: one of blessings and one of curses. The blessing list is wonderful, and the list of curses is horrific. God told his ancient people that one or the other of these lists would be their experience based upon whether they obeyed the rules for life that He set before them in their covenants. Do the things that God says and blessings will fill your life, do the things that God says not to do and curses will fill your life.

Today, the principle still holds true. Christian nations, or those who have Christian heritage and still retain some memory of New Testament morality and religious understanding, give away their best chance for prosperity, peace, and blessings, by turning away from the teaching of God (the one, holy, living, God of the Bible). The pleasure seeking morality of modern Western nations crumbles the will to stand and resist that which is evil, and the nation without a moral backbone can become prey to terrorist invaders of many sorts. As unpopular as it is in the current let me have what  I want to have and do what I want to do without interference culture of the West our greatest security and expectation of good lives comes from believing God and following His principles for right living.