Getting Even With People That Hurt You God Is The Only One That Can Take Care Of Them

Today’s "Life Journal" Daily Bible Reading can be found on Line. Click Here!
2 Samuel 3; 1 Chronicles 12; Matthew 15

Getting Even With People That Hurt You 

God Is The Only One 

That Can Take Care Of Them

Scripture

1 Chronicles 12

³⁸ Then King David said to his officials, “Don’t you realize that a great commander has fallen today in Israel? ³⁹ And even though I am the anointed king, these two sons of Zeruiah—Joab and Abishai—are too strong for me to control. So may the Lord repay these evil men for their evil deeds.” 

Observation

David had no problem taking care of Goliath when he was only a teenager, but Joab and Abisai were evil characters that he had to live with even though he was now King of Israel. Joab was powerful – he was too powerful for even King David. 

Have you ever wondered why King David could not discipline or could not control Joab? I think about this every year as I read the Bible through. 

It makes me think of someone else who was extremely brave, but this person also had someone that made him shake in his boots. And to make it was worse his worse nightmare was not an excellent warrior like Joab; no it was a very evil woman. Do you remember this story about Elijah? 

1 Kings 18:18-40
¹⁸ “I have made no trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “You and your family are the troublemakers, for you have refused to obey the commands of the Lord and have worshiped the images of Baal instead. ¹⁹ Now summon all Israel to join me at Mount Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who are supported by Jezebel.”
²⁰ So Ahab summoned all the people of Israel and the prophets to Mount Carmel. ²¹ Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, “How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!” But the people were completely silent.

²² Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only prophet of the Lord who is left, but Baal has 450 prophets. ²³ Now bring two bulls. The prophets of Baal may choose whichever one they wish and cut it into pieces and lay it on the wood of their altar, but without setting fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood on the altar, but not set fire to it. ²⁴ Then call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by setting fire to the wood is the true God!” And all the people agreed.

²⁵ Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “You go first, for there are many of you. Choose one of the bulls, and prepare it and call on the name of your god. But do not set fire to the wood.”

²⁶ So they prepared one of the bulls and placed it on the altar. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning until noontime, shouting, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no reply of any kind. Then they danced, hobbling around the altar they had made.

²⁷ About noontime Elijah began mocking them. “You’ll have to shout louder,” he scoffed, “for surely he is a god! Perhaps he is daydreaming, or is relieving himself. Or maybe he is away on a trip, or is asleep and needs to be wakened!”

²⁸ So they shouted louder, and following their normal custom, they cut themselves with knives and swords until the blood gushed out. ²⁹ They raved all afternoon until the time of the evening sacrifice, but still there was no sound, no reply, no response.

³⁰ Then Elijah called to the people, “Come over here!” They all crowded around him as he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been torn down. ³¹ He took twelve stones, one to represent each of the tribes of Israel, ³² and he used the stones to rebuild the altar in the name of the Lord. Then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold about three gallons. ³³ He piled wood on the altar, cut the bull into pieces, and laid the pieces on the wood.

Then he said, “Fill four large jars with water, and pour the water over the offering and the wood.”
³⁴ After they had done this, he said, “Do the same thing again!” And when they were finished, he said, “Now do it a third time!” So they did as he said, ³⁵ and the water ran around the altar and even filled the trench.

³⁶ At the usual time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and prayed, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command. ³⁷ O Lord, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.”

³⁸ Immediately the fire of the Lord flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the trench! ³⁹ And when all the people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried out, “The Lord—he is God! Yes, the Lord is God!”

⁴⁰ Then Elijah commanded, “Seize all the prophets of Baal. Don’t let a single one escape!” So the people seized them all, and Elijah took them down to the Kishon Valley and killed them there.

After all the prophets of Baal have been put to death, Jezebel’s threats to Elijah terrify him and he goes into a great depression and wants to die! Incredible! 

Read how scared Elijah was of this woman Jezebel:

1 Kings 19:1-4

19 When Ahab got home, he told Jezebel everything Elijah had done, including the way he had killed all the prophets of Baal. ² So Jezebel sent this message to Elijah: “May the gods strike me and even kill me if by this time tomorrow I have not killed you just as you killed them.”

³ Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. ⁴ Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”

She was evil to the core and made Elijah shake in his boots just like Joab’s evil personality made David afraid. 

There will be people in our lives that for some strange reason they just scare us. They flat out intimidate us. When you are dealing with people like that I think it is a super idea to remember these two stories from scripture and remember how they turned out. Joab was finally killed during the reign of David’s son Jonathan and Jezebel death was even more remarkable. Do you remember how her life was ended? 

Here is the end of the story of Jezebel if you haven’t read it lately:

2 Kings 9:30-35

³⁰ When Jezebel, the queen mother, heard that Jehu had come to Jezreel, she painted her eyelids and fixed her hair and sat at a window. ³¹ When Jehu entered the gate of the palace, she shouted at him, “Have you come in peace, you murderer? You’re just like Zimri, who murdered his master!”

³² Jehu looked up and saw her at the window and shouted, “Who is on my side?” And two or three eunuchs looked out at him. ³³ “Throw her down!” Jehu yelled. So they threw her out the window, and her blood spattered against the wall and on the horses. And Jehu trampled her body under his horses’ hooves.

³⁴ Then Jehu went into the palace and ate and drank. Afterward he said, “Someone go and bury this cursed woman, for she is the daughter of a king.” ³⁵ But when they went out to bury her, they found only her skull, her feet, and her hands.

Application

I will let God get even with folks that hurt or intimidate me or cause me to fear.  

Prayer

Heavenly Father, these two stories from Your Word remind me that we are made of clay. You are our strength. You are our Rock. You are our Hiding Place. You are our Shelter. You protect us. You also get even with those that do us harm. Thank You for Your Word. David and Elijah were men, human beings and they had to rely on You. I will rely on You and Your Power to get me through this day. 

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