Moab

“For your name’s sake, O LORD, preserve my life! In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble!” (Psalm 143:11)

No one plans on dying in Moab. But Elimelech did. His two sons did. This man, whose name means “My God is King” left Bethlehem (The House of Bread) to go down to the place of backsliding. Moab came into being by Lot (Abraham’s nephew) and his oldest daughter. It was incestuous and ungodly. The child’s name was named Moab (Genesis 19:37). The Moabites had a false god by the name of Chemosh (Numbers 21:29). When a Moabite man was desperate for the help of Chemosh, it was a common practice for the father to sacrifice one of his children to this demonic god (2 Kings 3:26-27).

It was to this land that Elimelech took his family. He left the land of Bethlehem to “improve his family.” Elimelech lived a lie. Elimelech was the king of his own life, and it’s certain the Lord wasn’t. During the days of judges this man typified a man “who did what was right in his own eyes.” Instead of following the path of repentance and faith, trusting the Lord to provide for his family’s needs during the famine months, he moved to follow what seemed best to him. He chose the road to Moab.

Don’t streak down to Moab. It’s not worth it. Stay the course! Stay with God! Don’t become a platinum member of this club. The price and cost is too high. Elimelech, preoccupied with packing his U-Haul for Moab, never sought the solution: Jehovah God. Whatever you do–whatever I do–we both need to turn and run to the Lord. Ride out the hard times while trusting in the goodness of God.

 

 

Similar Posts

  • Testimony Matters

    > “But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be
    > made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”–John 3:31
    >
    > Cockroaches run for cover when the light is turned on, while bugs are
    > found underneath a log when turned over, and criminals hide under a
    > disguise when committing devilish deeds of destruction. They all hide
    > under the cover of darkness.
    >
    > God’s people run to the light. Why? Because God’s people have a desire
    > to be clean before God, to flee from the darkness of sin, and to find
    > maturity, hope, and encouragement.
    >
    > A child of God who has been born of God does not live to do good deeds
    > to earn their way to heaven, but because they are going to heaven they
    > do good deeds. They love as the Lord Jesus, they live as the Lord
    > Jesus, and, unlike the Lord Jesus, they repent of known sin, but they
    > want to be clean as their Lord.
    >
    > Anything less is suspect, anything more is sustainably built upon
    > because of God’s Word. A lost man sees the light and he can’t take it,
    > for he closes his eyes; but a saved man opens his heart for he wants
    > God’s heart to open wide in them.

  • Making Mistakes Work

    “And the children of Israel journeyed, and came into their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Bibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjathjearim” (Joshua 9:17).

    Of all liars religious liars are the worst. Many have come to churches as seekers and after wards to learn they are sneakers. They “love God” and then proceed to tell you of their sad tales of woe, hoping to break hearts and then pick pockets.

    This scenario took place in Joshua and Israel’s life. Joshua and the princes of Israel did not ask God for instruction concerning the strangers before them (Josh. 9:14). They were duped and deceived by the enemies of God. They traveled to them as people who sought after their God because they were afraid Israel would kill and destroy them, so they lied.

    Though deceived the lies were there, but the people of God stood by their vow of protection and took the cities in but made them servers of the people of God. When we do something wrong by not taking heed to God’s Word and follow our own intuition, we still can go to God and do what is right.

    God is able to make even those things which were not in wisdom and work them out for our good. Since we fail we must not stay down but get back up and follow God. We are to take the ploy and reinstall our lives to His benefit. That is the power of the third day. Because of the resurrection of Christ, the Lord is able to make all things abound!

  • Facing the Challenge

    “Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem” (Nehemiah 2:20).

    It is important to remember that all who are Christians have one life.  In the sight of heaven there is only one life that matters before God — it is the life of the Lord Jesus, indwelling each of us by His Spirit.  This is an amazing fellowship.  Because we share that one life, we share one great purpose and one great work:  it is the building of lives into the Kingdom of God, and in such a task one hundred per cent cooperation between Christian people is absolutely vital.  The greatest menace to revival is the Christian who refuses to work with other people because his view of Christian togetherness is different and short-sighted.

    Would it not make a great difference if each believer would say this before God, “Lord, I will make my own immediate locality my mission field. I will see to it that every family is regularly supplied with gospel literature, loved and urged to attend church“?  Would it not make a great difference if every believer was an example to their family and to others that the prayer meeting is the most important meeting of the week night?

    In the Christian work organizing and agonizing should go together.  Alas, too often organizing has crowded out the agonizing.  There is too much working before men and too little waiting before God.  There is more and more motion and less and less unction.  We wrestle with problems but we seldom wrestle on our knees before God against the real enemy, Satan.  We should have a ready burden at all times for the work of 100% cooperation in this work!  We have no room for the independent Christian; we are engaged in one supreme task, that of reaching this world for God, and it will take all of us.  This is how our God works.  Let’s allow the Lord Jesus to work in us and through us.

  • Watch and Pray

     
    “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak” (Matthew 26:41).

    David was at it again. Another day of being a king. It had taken its toll on him. He was tired, mentally tired. Not long before, he had sent his troops off to fight and die in the wars against the hated Ammonites. He had stayed behind, though the weight of his kingship rested heavily upon him.

    David was in bed about all day. He decides to get up and take a stroll on the rooftop in the evening. The man was under pressure. Ruling a country and running a long-distance war can do that.

    We all face pressure. We all seek something to take our minds off of the struggles of work and the battles at home. We all would love an escape. There are many ways we can get that little respite.

    We can take a walk, just like David. We can watch a college basketball game. We can take the wife out for dinner (even McDonald’s). We can mow the lawn. We can play a round of golf. We can grab a good book. Or we can find a woman–man–whose looks and wiles we cannot resist. Umm!

    Don’t yield to the temptation to do something wrong to get your minds off of that which is wearing you down. David’s sin on that cool spring evening followed him the rest of his life.

    We all face pressures and temptations. But we can run to Jesus. He defeated everything that came His way. And you and I can defeat anything that comes our way. How? Why? Jesus lives in us and we are more than conquerors.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Can Revival Happen?

    “Run to and fro through the streets…and see now, and know, if you can find a man…that seeketh the truth…” (Jeremiah 5:1).

    There is a great problem today as it was in the days of Noah and Lot. Many do not believe in the existence of God, or the biblical God that we serve. Also, there is not a  respect for Scripture as authoritative and lawful. There is another quandary as well, it is the problem of a guilty conscience over personal sin.

    Throughout the history of the church, there have been episodes of revival and reformation within and through the church. But upon closer observation, the people revived and the sinners converted, already had, for the most part, a belief in the evidence of God, which is described in Scripture as a respect for the authenticity and authority of Holy Scripture, as well as the presence of a guilty conscience over one’s own personal sin.

    We must turn back to the doctrines of Scripture found in the only Book that shows us who God is and what we are. We are totally depraved–mankind is not lightly sinful-we are totally, entirely sinful. We sin because we are sinners. And because of this fact every unbeliever is headed for a future damnation. Society is ignoring this truth, but more than they, the church is ignoring the warning of the Bible.

    Pleasing God is better than feeling good. Truth hurts before it heals. There is coming judgment wherein a judgment day appointed by God. The payment for sin is death–an eternity in hell, instead of heaven. May we tell and may we tell someone soon.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • All That We Need

    “For we do not walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh” (I Corinthians 10:3).

    We have secret weapons that the world knows nothing about. God has given us truth, faith, prayer, love, and service that invites our ever-present God to be with us.

    Do you long for peace? Look into God’s Word and find Him. Do you long for victory? God has given us Himself. The Word of God will give you Christ.

    Let us not go around stressed when we have the answer before us. He will never fail nor be unfaithful to His character. Look to Him and abide in His Word and He will give and give and give.