No Fridge Magnet Verses Here

With this chapter, there begins a lengthy denunciation of the Israelites. Chapters 4 and 5, along with 7-10, are often omitted in devotionals, even ones that claim to cover the whole Bible. It's easy to see why. They are full of place names that don't mean anything to us, and they make for bleak reading. You won't find anyone suggesting memory verses from these chapters. There are no what I call "fridge magnet" verses here.

But if we consistently read past passages like this, we end up with a distorted view of God and what he wants to say to us. Ask yourself how you think of God. He is our Creator, our Father, our Sustainer. He loves us. He forgives us. He saves us from our sin, and when we die, he will take us to be with him forever. All true.

But it's all too easy to slide from selective reading like this to thinking that we need no longer concern ourselves with evil—that the battle is over, and we can relax and do what we like. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Evil One is still out to get us.

The apostle Peter wrote to the Christians scattered in the Roman empire: "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith" (1 Peter 4:8-9).

In 4:17, Israel is referred to as "Ephraim" for the first time. (Ephraim was one of the sons of Joseph.) The places mentioned in chapter 5, Gibeon, Ramah and Bethaven, were major religious centres. Once places where God's people had profound encounters with him, they are now denounced for faithlessness. The priests are as corrupt as the rest.

Respond in Prayer

Father God, help me not to be naive about evil, even as I thank you for sending Jesus to save me from it. For his name's sake, Amen.

Annabel Robinson