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RIZPAR

Rizpar was one of Saul's concubines. She stood and witnessed the gruesome murder of her two sons -  Armoni and Mephibosheth.  More disdainful to her is the fact that the two were not burried; they were left to rot contrary to the prevalent tradition of burrying the dead within the next 24hours.  With sorrow, Rizpar spent days and nights with the corpses ensuring that they were neither swamped nor dragged away by any animals. Soon enough, King David noticed her discomfort, and was moved by her attitude; David ordered for the burrying of Rizpar's sons, the remains of their father, Saul and that of Jonathan. BACKGROUND:  Joshua promised that Israel would be at peace with the Gibeonites. But Saul broke that oath, killing as many Gibeonites as he could in his time. In retallating, the Gibeonites asked David for seven of Saul's son whom they murdered in the presence of Rizpar. LESSONS:   1. Customes can be broken; protocols are skipable. If only we consistently...
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QUEEN JEZEBEL

HER NAME : Where is the Prince ( Baal)? JOY :  Jezebel realised her evil ambitions by killing Elijah's Prophets and initiated her subjects into idolatory. SORROW : Her arrogance and twisted heart brought her disgrace. STORY IN SHORT: Jezebel was a daughter of Ethbaal, the King of Sidon and the priest of the god, baal. She was also the wife of King Ahab. Jezebel reigned as Queen over part of Israel, 100years after David's death but 60years after the death of Solomon. Like her father, Jezebel would force all, including the Israelites into idol worship for she believed baal was the one causing the rains to pour. She did not only initiate her subjects into idolatry and witchcraft - spirits that dominated the princess herself, but also killed all of God's Prophets except Elijah. One day, Elijah summoned Jezebel's 850 false Prophets for a match to find out if baal had the supremacy over God. But Elijah won as he successfully called down fire from God to consume the sacrificia...
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MOSES

  MEANING OF NAME : Drawn forth or taken out of water. PROFILE OR CHARACTER : historian, orator, leader, statesman, legislator and a patriot. REGRET : Moses could not enter the promised land. JOY : Not only did he successfully bring out the Israelites from Egypt, but he had the privilege to be called, " Friend of God."  STORY IN BRIEF:   MOSES, a son of Jechrobe and Amram, and the last of Aeron and Miriam. Moses was born at the time Pharaoh ordered that all Israelites young males be killed. So her mum had to preserve him till she was ordered to go leave him at the bank of a river. Pharaoh's daughter who later found Moses in a basket on the river, cared for him in their palace through his maturity. God would later call Moses by the burning bush and task him to lead out the Israelites out of Egypt.  Moses did not only achieve that but also successfully brought his followers out through the red sea. Moses was burried by God in Moab, at the summit of Nebo's mountain whe...
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EZEKIEL

  MEANING OF NAME: God is strong or The Man God strengthens STORY IN BRIEF: Ezekiel, son of Buzzi, like Jeremiah, started first as a priest, but later had the calling of a Prophet at age thirty. He served in the Temple of Jerusalem that was later destroyed by the Babylonians. In the midst of events, God warned that the desire of his eye would die. And after his wife died, he was disallowed from publicly wailing - a sign of how Israel would suffer in the hands of their captivators without lamenting.  While in exile ( in Babylon by the River Chebar), the Prophet, also an artist, made a model of Jerusalem city, laid prostate and always prophesied over it. He either used symbols or demonstrations to deliver his messages. Ezekiel acted strangely because of the strange nature of his visions; he would either cut his hair and burn it, or he totally went dumb for a period of time. He had two major metaphorical visions where God - Israel's husband, was betayed by his wife after He had g...
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THE GREATEST WEAPON ( Part 2))


And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

1 Samuel 15:22 KJV .

Our preliminary article has established that of all the weapons, including prayer, praise/worship, knowledge and faith, obedience is the greatest. Faith is proved by obedience. As the popular adage is, ” practice makes perfect.”, so knowledge itself is also not complete without obedience. Prayer, praise and worship are all forms of sacrifices, yet God says obedience is better than them all. Today’s piece reveals why Obedience is God’s number one !

As quiet as obedience is, it remains the loudest tone of faith amongst prayer, praise and worship. The three Hebrew boys had not even the slightest hint of deliverance from God if they disobeyed the king’s orders.But their faith-oriented obedience was voiceferous in the ears of God ! How about Daniel, Job and Joseph? They equally had no tangible sign of God’s presence yet their continued obedience saved them ! Beloved, faith is expressive but obedience is not because it is powerful in itself; what fast or prayers could not offer, obedience would. However, the extent to which we obey God determines the amount of POWER we wield !

Now, obedience is not only powerful but also fiery – it is a good servant but a bad master. Same Power that enthroned Saul dethroned him when he disobeyed ! If Ananias and his wife obeyed they would enjoy. But for disobedience, they were killed by God’s Power contained in Peter. Prophet Isaiah says, ” If ye be willing and obedient,you shall eat the good of the land. But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” Isaiah 1:19-20(KJV). Apparently, obedience serves right but when we do not obey, it ( our disobedience) becomes a troubling master !

By strength no man prevails – 1 Samuel 2:9; God does not expect us to excel in obedience by our physical strength. He rather suggests that we constantly ponder over His Words. Then, His Spirit whom He has already deposited in us would help us live them out. And to keep obeying, there is the need for a prayerful, praiseful life as well; prayer and praise are preservatives of obedience. They require purity, and as such serve as checks to obedience. Remember Daniel? His prayerfulness helped him obey God to the end ! Likewise Jesus ! – Joshua 1:8, 1 Timothy 4:15, Ezekiel 36:27 & Matthew 26:41.

Moses would overcome his fear of being attacked for murdering, obeying God’s instructions to go back and lead His people out of Egypt. Naman, a proud military officer, decided to rather humbly obey so he could be healed of leprosy. Isaac shunned his starving belly to obey God when he was asked never to step in Egypt during the farmine. Beloved, like these elders, let us chose obedience over the quests of the flesh. what great honour await us who follow these elders ! Glory to God ! ( 1 Samuel 2:30 ).

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