"The people of Israel took captive 200,000 of their kin, women, sons & daughters; they also took much booty from them and brought the booty to Samaria. But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Obed..."
(2 Chronicles 28:8-9a)
So Israel (the nation) is divided into 2 kingdoms: the North ("Israel") and the South ("Judah"). 2 Chronicles 28 states that because of their sinful behavior, the people of the South were defeated in battle by a combined army from the North & Syria. The result: 200,000 Israelites were taken captive by their Northern brothers (Not to mention great loss of life from the battle, and much "booty," ie. spoil). As the Northern army was carrying off the people & the "spoils of war,"they were met by OBED - a prophet of God. Obed severely chastises the Northern army, telling them their victory was due to God's anger at Judah - but they went too far in slaughtering their compatriots. And that the 200,000 captives (which Israel planned to turn into slaves) will only bring further guilt on the people of the North. "Release them!" Sure enough, that's exactly what they did!!! Not only that, but some of the leaders went out of their way to clothe, feed, anoint, & strengthen the captives... then returned them peaceably to Jericho.
On the one hand, this is an amazing story because a military force listened to a prophet of God and changed their plans/ways. On the other hand, it was an army (entire people) who were at least used to the idea that God's words played a key role in life.
What would it take for our military today to change their ways, based on "divine inspiration?" Never having been in the military myself, this seems a bit far-fetched. However, I do know quite a few people of faith who serve in the US military. I can honestly see their faith having a HUGE impact on how they fulfill their duties. But why limit this question to the military? Would our legal system change a stance if they received divine guidance? How about our politicians? Our teachers? Our police department? How about our doctors and medical personnel? Or our financial market folks? What about our CLERGY and our churches? Can we change our plans when God gives us new instructions (even reprimands our current plans?)? I sure hope so!
PRAYER: LORD, keep me open to the voice of the prophets among me. May I never be so wedded to a plan/idea of my own, that I fail to hear your voice. AMEN.
1 comment:
Divine guidance would make a great presidential slogan!
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