Dear Family,
Today is Wednesday, June 5, 2024. It is Day 39 and Day 4 of Week 6 in our Count to Pentecost.
A key point for God‛s people to grasp about the story of Amalek and Israel is that Amalek did not fear God. Amalek‛s attack against Israel was a form of attack against God.
Deuteronomy 25:17-18 (17) Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt; (18) How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God.
When people (or angels) do not fear God, there is little or nothing to keep them from sinning. God makes this connection between “fear” of God and not sinning in Exodus 20.
Exodus 20:20 And Moses said unto the people; Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that His fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
There are many characteristics God lists for us that describe someone who lives before God with the proper awe and respect. One of the primary characteristics is “to hate evil” just as God hates it. Notice God lists pride, arrogancy, the evil way, and the forward mouth as examples of evil.
Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the forward mouth, do I hate.
However, sometimes people live as if there is no distinction between good and evil, or they have their own list of what is “good” and “evil” where these categories do not agree completely with God. Ancient Israel, for example, would be hard pressed to believe they did not know the difference between the two. They might find it difficult to admit that they often chose what God labeled as evil. Frankly, many “Christians” have the same problem today.
In the story of the Exodus and Israel‛s journey to Mt. Sinai, we learn that neither ancient Israel nor Amalek feared God. The difference between the two nations was that one was favored through Abraham‛s seed and had the absolute certainty of God‛s promises.
Brethren, we are truly privileged; we are favored today. God has brought us into covenant with Him and has made sure and certain promises to us. Let us do our part faithfully, and learn carefully what God labels as “good” and “evil.”
Israel did not hate evil. Do we? Can we recognize it in all its forms and truly hate it? As we move toward Pentecost, let us become more aware of the differences between good and evil and be more and more determined to choose the good (as God defines it) in the fear of God.
Ben Faulkner, Pastor
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