Susie

I'm reading in the Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy.

I'm intrigued with chapter three.

God has told the children of Israel

(I like to call them "the world's largest backpacking group")

to destroy certain cities, kings and people.

As you know . . .

before Christ came 

and paid for evil 

with His death,

God often dealt with evil

by obliteration.

(Remember the world in Noah's day?

And Sodom and Gomorrah?

God dealt with the evil

by obliterating it

with death.

A clean wipe-out.)

Back to Deuteronomy chapter three.

God is instructing the children of Israel

to deal with those who 

defiantly

and

willfully

oppose Him

by wiping them out.

"So God, our God, also handed Og king of Bashan

over to us—Og and all his people—

and we utterly crushed them" (Deuteronomy 3:3 The Message).

And we read a little further . . .

"There were also numerous unwalled villages.

We totally destroyed them—a holy destruction" (Deuteronomy 3:4 The Message).

Wow.

A couple of strong things to notice here:

1. unwalled villages

If a village didn't have a strong wall

to surround it

and protect it,

the city and its people

were an easy target.

We need a strong wall of protection

around our lives!

2. a holy destruction

Are there some things in your life that need

a holy destruction?

Check out Deuteronomy 3:11. 

Catch this description of King Og's bed:

"His bed, made of iron, was over thirteen feet long and six wide."

Why do you suppose

God wanted a description of a king's bed in the Bible?

Maybe God wants us to know

that the quality of stuff we have

doesn't matter—

if it's evil . . .

or if it's causing us to do evil things . . .

He wants to perform

a

holy

destruction.

You see, God doesn't want ANYTHING

to come between us and Him.

And if it does?

We need a holy destruction.

I have a few questions for you:

First . . .

about unwalled cities that were easily destroyed.

—Do you have a wall of protection surrounding your life?

If you don't, you'll be an easy target for Satan.

If you do have a wall or protection surrounding 

your life, tell me about it. 

Second . . .

—Is there anything in your life

that needs a holy destruction?

Would you be willing to ask God?

Here's a prayer to get you started:

Dear Jesus,

Is there anything in my life that's not

right with You?

Anything I'm connected with 

that needs a holy destruction?

If so, Jesus,

will You bring it to my mind?

Help me think of it.

When You show it to me,

I'll destroy it

in obedience to You.

In Your name I pray,

Amen.

How do you know if something

needs to be destroyed?

Well . . .

if that "something" is in disobedience to God

or

if that "something" is pulling you away from God,

those

are 

signs that they need to be destroyed.

I'll write more later.

But first I want to hear your answer to these two questions:

Again:

—Do you have a wall of protection surrounding your life?

 and

—Is there anything in your life

that needs a holy destruction?

You are loved!

Susie