pray and be humble

2 Kings 20:1-ff
In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prphet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, "Thus says the Lord, "Set your house in order, for you shal die and not live." Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, Remember now, O Lord, I beseech you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in your sight." And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to hm saying, Return and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, "this says the Lord, the God of your father David, "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you.

God goes on to tell Hezekiah what to do to be healed (and you better bet if he didn't do it the healing wouldn't have happened). The point here is that Hezekiah was told by revelation through Isaiah that he would die. Hezekiah humbled himself and the revelation changed. So things arn't set in stone!

Deutoronomy 34: 4-5
Then the Lord said to him, "This is the land I swore to which I swore to Abraham, Isaac and jacob saying, 'I will give it to your descendents'; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there." So Moses the sevant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord.

It's important to remember that Moses was told by God earlier that he wouldn't go into the promised land. Moses asked God to reconsider so God let him see it. Look up the record. However, God did not just ignore Moses request. Why Moses was not to go into the promised land will become evident when you read the entire record earlier in the book of moses with prayer on your part of course.

1 Samuel 3:11-14
The Lord said to samuel, "Behold I am about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. In that day I will carry out against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. For I have told him that I am about to judge his house foreverfor the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves and he did not rebuke them. Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever."

What did these sons of Eli do?
The king james will refer to them as being the sons of belial, The new american standard as worthless men. Men in the old testament at times would commit themselves to another God Baal. It could be that these men made themselves the sons of Baal (aka the devil). In any case we know they didn't know the Lord and that they slept with the women that worked there. Read the early chapters of 1st Samuel, you'll get the idea.

So Samuel tell Eli what God told him at Eli's request.

1 Samuel 3:18
So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he (Eli) said, "It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to Him."

Eli didn't humble himself like Hezekiah did. besides in 1 Sam 3:11-14 we learn that Eli was told this before by God and he did NOTHING. Obviously God gave the guy more than one chance to humble himself, and God might have changed his mind if Eli would have gotten a clue. Eli was apathetic. Slumber, and lazy would describe him well. He put his two devilish sons above God. God gave Eli a chance.

1 Samuel 4:11 And the ark of God was taken and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

Such is whats promised to all those who work for the devil.

1 Samuel 4:18 is where Eli dies (read the first four chapters I can't do it justice)

The major points here are as follows:

1.Revelation can change. If one humbles themselves God will have mercy on them. However, that individual will need to follow through on what God tells them to do. God doesn't repeat himself much in the bible. If God ever talks to you and tells you to do something it might not be a bad idea to write it down.

2. Think of Eli. He put his sons above God. He allowed Gods people to be abused (even sexually) to protect his sons. God spoke to Eli about this and he did nothing. God finally told Samuel about this, and Samuel told Eli what was going to happen to him. Eli wasn't humble he was indifferent. How can God work with someone who doesn't care?

3. 1 Samuel 3:1 states that the word of the Lord was infrequent in those days. And that, visions were infrequent." Thats because the spiritual leaders were out to lunch. God doesn't waste his time talking to people who are to stubborn and arrogant to listen. Even in Hezekiahs case the word had to come through Isaiah. The point is you have to be in prayer, close to God, paying attention. Doesn't mean God is going to be pounding you with revelation (he probably wont, most of what we need we can find in his word). However, you will be able to feel him gently lead you in certain situations if you allow him. Remember, 1 Kings 19 (read it if unfamilar).

God Bless you,
Marc