People advertise themselves as a “Bible-believing church,” but we need to be “Bible-obeying.”
In recounting the sins of Ahab, a solemn footnote is added: “In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation with Abiram his firstborn, and with his youngest son Segub he set up its gates, according to the word of the Lord, which He had spoken through Joshua the son of Nun” (1 Ki 16:34). After Jericho’s destruction, Joshua had placed a curse on it ( Jsh 6:26). Five hundred and thirty years later, in a time when the word of God meant nothing to most, Hiel from Bethel (ironically, from “God’s house,” his name means “God lives”) thought he would rebuild the city. Like a haunted house in the neighborhood, everyone would know about the curse on Jericho. But it was ideally situated beside the world’s largest oasis, “the city of palm trees” (Deut 34:3), the gateway to the land. The curse was probably just an old wives’ tale, he thought, and so began construction. But as they labored to lay the foundation stones, a runner appeared, carrying the sad news that Hiel’s oldest son, Abiram, had died. A mere coincidence, Hiel must have concluded, and, no doubt, after an appropriate time of mourning, back to work they went. Everything progressed well, and soon the massive project was almost complete. All that was left was the setting up of the gates. Imagine Hiel standing there, overseeing the final step of the project, when suddenly, over the hill another runner appears. Segub, his youngest, has just died. In letters as tall as Jericho’s walls, the God of heaven was declaring to this delinquent nation: I. SAY. WHAT. I. MEAN. AND. MEAN. WHAT. I. SAY. In another building metaphor (Mt 7:24-26), Jesus said the only difference between success and failure in life comes down to this: Do we take what He says seriously?