SATURDAY, JUNE 4
Scripture: 1 Samuel 2:12-14

There are four places in Scripture that specifically tell us we cannot not resist evil. 1 Samuel makes it clear that we cannot always resist evil. In 1 Samuel 2:12-14 we are told, “Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the Lord. And the priests’ custom with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fleshhook in his hand while the meat was boiling. Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; and the priest would take for himself all that the fleshhook brought up. So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.” This is parallel – the same issue is here that Jesus reacted to in John 2. There were thieves that were stealing for themselves. The sons of Eli were not obeying God in the sacrifices. They were cheating people in the temple, selling them what they needed to make their sacrifice. In 1 Samuel it says they abhorred the offering. The historian Josephus tells us that ultimately the people were so fed up they did away with the bazaars completely and that was at the same time that Titus and the Roman legions were executing the judgment of God on the whole nation, so it was a little too late. It is obvious that God demands that we take a stand against evil when it is defiling the church and when it causes people to turn away from God. We do not have any choice. We have to move and be directed by the Holy Spirit. We have to walk in the Spirit. We cannot take a ‘one principle fits all’ mindset – Jesus did not operate that way and we cannot either. The Word has to be applied by the Spirit, and He will be faithful to guide us if we are willing.