Living According To Heaven Part 6
God is doing something new in us. Every word that He has promised, He wants to bring to pass but we have to work with God. We need to be careful that what He has promised is not delayed because of where our hearts are. We can miss it. We shouldn’t miss our season. In the Bible, Israel missed their season because of unbelief. We have a part to play in the entire process and there can be things around us that are not in the right place. The glory of God can depart as a result of disorder, disobedience and dishonour.
Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’s wife, was with child, due to be delivered; and when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and gave birth, for her labor pains came upon her. 20 And about the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, “Do not fear, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer, nor did she regard it. 21 Then she named the child Ichabod,[c] saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.” 1 Samuel 4:19-22
Eli was the high priest over Israel at the time when Samuel was born. His sons were also priests. It was the sins of the high priest and his sons that caused the glory to depart from Israel. The hearts of the priests were far from God and as a result of this, the glory departed. We are also priests (1 Peter 2:9). We need to examine our hearts so that the glory wouldn’t depart from us.
Disorder
In Israel, there was disorder in the house (1 Samuel 2:12-17). The sons of Eli didn’t know God. Heaven demands that we know God, that our hearts are pursuing Him and that we have a burning passion for Him. It is possible that we could live a life as priests and still not know God. If we are priests of God, we have to know Him. Many people are preaching the word of God and they don’t know Him. That is a tragedy. Do you know God? Knowing God is a heart that goes after Him and that has to be in us. If we are to live according to heaven, we have to search for God and long after Him.
Persons came to offer sacrifices and the priests would take up what they desired first without giving it to God. There was disorder and this is the breeding ground for all types of sin (James 3:16). The sons of Eli had selfish ambitions and caused disorder. When disorder is present, anything goes. A portion of meat was supposed to be given to God first but the sons of Eli changed the law and took what was for God. Through their disorder, it caused people not to want to give sacrifices unto God. We have to ask ourselves, if there is disorder in the house. We have to ask if we are hindering people from truly worshipping God because we refuse to speak them. Are there people who want to stay home because of us? Do we show pride? Do people say they don’t want to serve God because of you? God is calling the church to order. He is saying that there must be order in the house if the glory is to come. Order means that we will do the things that God wants us to do. It means that we would follow our leaders and not disobey them and that we are not our own man but that we follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
It is not about charisma. It is about character and that is what matters. There was disorder in the church of Corinth and this caused division and envy. Apostle Paul told them that God is not the author of confusion but of peace (1 Corinthians 14:33). Disorder is the act of opposition against authority. We can’t have disorder in the church and among the priests. Are we opposing the Word of God? Are we against the authority of this house? Is it difficult to obey? Do you grumble and complain against your leaders? Are you doing your own thing? Disorder will block the things that God wants to bring into the church and it needs to be addressed. God does not bless disorder. He deals with it. Whenever there is disorder, there is rebellion. In disorder, people do their own thing but not in this season. Is there disorder in your life, in your marriage or in your finances? You need to get it in order. If our body is in disorder, it is sick and if the church is in disorder, it is sick. We have to get things in order. We must be orderly in our minds, in our hearts and in everything.
In 1 Samuel 15:14-23, we see that when our life is in disorder, we would end up doing wrong. We would think we are doing right but we actually aren’t. Wherever there is disorder, flesh is operating. There are people who want to obey God but don’t obey their leaders. We may be praying for the glory but it will not come to us if there is disorder. If in the ministry we serve in, we don’t follow our authority, we are dishonouring God. If disorder is in one ministry, it is in the entire church. Disorder produces curses and order produces blessings. Those who are in order, blessings automatically come to them. We have to ask God to order our steps (Psalms 119:133).
Now Eli was very old; and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel,[c] and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 23 So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people. 24 No, my sons! For it is not a good report that I hear. You make the Lord’s people transgress. 25 If one man sins against another, God will judge him. But if a man sins against the Lord, who will intercede for him?” Nevertheless they did not heed the voice of their father, because the Lord desired to kill them. 1 Samuel 2:22-25
Disobedience
Disobedience hinders the glory of God. The sons of Eli were disobeying God and were filled with lust and committed adultery in the house of God. Eli was also disobedient to the law by not removing his sons from the role of being priest. He didn’t take the necessary steps to solve the problem (1 Samuel 3:11-13). We need to correct the problems and speak to sin. We shouldn’t allow sin to be in the house of God. There will always be a consequence as a result of disobedience. Israel’s disobedience caused people not to see the glory of God (Numbers 14:20-23). Israel was called to be an instrument through which the glory of the Lord would be shown but they didn’t want it. God still said that His glory would fill the earth. He picked someone else for His glory. God is calling us to live uprightly before Him so that sin and iniquity would not rule over us. Sin must not rule in us but God must. If we walk in obedience, there would be a breaking out of His glory.
Dishonour
Dishonour also hinders the glory of God (1 Samuel 2:17, 29-30). Honour means to hold in high regard and to respect. The sons of Eli took the ark of the covenant to battle without the permission of God (1 Samuel 4:1-4). The ark of the covenant was a representation of the throne of God and was only seen by the high priest. Is there dishonour in the church? Many people have lost the fear of the Lord and are not honouring God. When we sin and decide to go our own way, we dishonour God. Sometimes we don’t give honour to our leaders because we think that we are worshipping them. Honouring our leaders is biblical but more so we have to honour God (Romans 13:1-2, 1 Peter 2:17, 1 Timothy 5:17). Where there is no honour to God, there is no glory from God.
Disorder, disobedience and dishonour results in defeat and death. There is death to the vision of the church and to the things of God in our lives. We need to examine ourselves and ask the Holy Spirit to search us. Ichabod must never happen to us. The glory must never depart in this generation or in the next.
