In part one of the series of our discourse, we tried to lay the foundation about hearing from God and the benefits of obedience to divine instructions.
The first person that was obedient to divine instructions was Noah. In Hebrew 11:7, it was said of Noah, “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear,
Prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
In the bible history, Abraham perhaps was one of the legends of faith that carried out God’s divine instruction without looking back.
In Genesis 22:1 – 2 which says, “Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
God’s divine instruction to Abraham was to offer his son Isaac as a burnt sacrifice which Abraham obeyed and was ready to kill or sacrifice his son in obedience.
In Genesis 22:15 – 18 Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: “By Myself, I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son –
“Blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore, and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.
“In your seed, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” See Genesis 24:1 and see how God fulfilled that vow, “Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.
Another direct instruction was to a man called Gideon. Gideon was a born leader who should have taken over as a judge of Israel after Deborah.
However, the altar in his father’s house kept him in bondage not knowing who he was. Look at what happened and the reaction of Gideon.
In Judges 6:12 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!”
Also in Judges 6:14 And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?
But Gideon reacted, and he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.
God then went ahead to give him a divine instruction as can be seen in Judges 6: 25 “And it came to pass the same night that the Lord said unto him,
Take thy father’s young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it:
And build an altar unto the Lord thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down.
Gideon was obedient to the instruction and see what happened after obeying God in Judges 6:34-35 But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, and Abiezer was gathered after him.
And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was gathered after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali, and they came up to meet them.
From then on it was said of Gideon in Judges 8: 22 “Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian.”
Looking at what happened in Judges 6:34 “But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon. It was when Gideon obeyed fully that the Spirit of God came upon him.
It was the Spirit of God coming upon him that he was able to take action to fulfill his destiny. In the same way, we may never be able to fulfill our destiny unless we have fully obeyed the divine instruction from God.
End of part two, we shall continue the series of our discourse in part three so keep a date with us next. Shalom!
