OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR JANUARY 2023 18, (SACRIFICES CAN AVERT DISASTERS)

TOPIC: SACRIFICES CAN AVERT DISASTERS

MEMORISE: (2 Samuel 24:25)

“And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.” –

READ: 1 Kings 17:8-16 (KJV)

8 And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,

9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.

10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.

11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.

12 And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.

14 For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.

15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.

16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.

MESSAGE

In our Bible text for today, we read about the widow of Zarephath who had only one meal left. She and her son were going to eat and die. She sacrificed that one meal and she and her son lived on. In Psalm 50:14-15, the Bible says if you offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and pay your vows, God will deliver you in the day of trouble. In (2 Samuel 24:11-25), seventy thousand men had died from a pestilence that arose in Israel due to David conducting a census that displeased God.

This was a big disaster and something had to be done immediately to stop it. They had prayed and, although God had stopped the angel that was spreading the plague, He did not recall him; the angel remained at the threshing place of Araunah the Jebusite. This still meant trouble, so David’s seer – Gad decided that they should apply a principle to avert the disaster.

And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite. (2 Samuel 24:18)

When David wanted to make the sacrifice, Araunah tried to give everything needed to him for free, but he refused. He insisted that he had to bear the cost. He gave the sacrifice and the disaster was immediately averted.

And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel. (2 Samuel 24:25)

The funny thing is that many non-Christians know this principle: that, in the face of impending doom or disaster, a really big sacrificial offering can avert it (2 Kings 3:26- 27). We as the children of the living God should follow David’s example and be ready to give a sacrificial offering, especially in troubled times.

May God help us – the true children of God to apply this principle in order to avert looming disasters, in Jesus’ name.

PRAYER POINT: Father, when a disaster seems to be looming around me, teach me what to do and give me the grace to do it.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Exodus 8-10

HYMNAL: Hymn 19 – Rock of Ages, cleft for me