“The LORD was with him”: Walking Back Through David’s Life.

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Daily Reading: 1 Samuel 24–26

Text: “And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the LORD was with him.” (1 Samuel 18:14)

Click here to listen to Alexander Scourby reading the King James Bible

This is one week’s worth of reading—1 Samuel 16–31—and it ought to be an encouragement. If you’ve stayed with it day by day, you’ve walked beside David from the sheepfold to the edge of the throne. Let’s use this “week in review” to remind ourselves how good it is to read our Bible faithfully and then go tell others what they’re missing.

  1. Chosen in the field (1 Samuel 16)
  • God rejected Saul from reigning and sent Samuel to Jesse because He had “provided… a king” among his sons (1 Samuel 16:1).
  • Samuel looked at Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’S anointed,” but God said He looks on the heart, not the height (1 Samuel 16:6–7).
  • David was the youngest, out keeping the sheep; God said, “Arise, anoint him: for this is he,” and “the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward” (1 Samuel 16:11–13).

In just a few verses, your daily reading took you from a forgotten boy in a field to an anointed king in God’s plan. This is what faithful reading reveals day by day when you stay in the Book.

  1. Serving before he ever sits (1 Samuel 16–17)
  • After the Spirit departed from Saul and an evil spirit troubled him, David was brought in to play the harp; Saul loved him and made him his armourbearer (1 Samuel 16:14–23).
  • In chapter 17, running a simple errand for his father, David heard Goliath’s challenge (1 Samuel 17:17–23).
  • He asked, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine…?” and when accused of pride, answered, “Is there not a cause?” (1 Samuel 17:26, 29).
  • He refused Saul’s armor, went with a sling and five smooth stones, and declared, “the battle is the LORD’S” before the stone ever flew (1 Samuel 17:39–47).
  • God put that stone in Goliath’s forehead, and David cut off his head with his own sword (1 Samuel 17:48–51).

In a couple of chapters, your reading showed you God taking the boy He chose in private and using him in public. This is the kind of encouragement that comes from opening your Bible faithfully every day.

  1. Favored, then hated (1 Samuel 18–20)
  • Jonathan’s soul was knit with David’s, and he loved him as his own soul (1 Samuel 18:1–4).
  • David went out wherever Saul sent him, behaved wisely, and was accepted by the people (1 Samuel 18:5).
  • The women sang, “Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands,” and Saul eyed David from that day (1 Samuel 18:7–9).
  • Twice Saul cast the javelin, saying, “I will smite David even to the wall,” but David escaped; yet “David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the LORD was with him” (1 Samuel 18:10–14).
  • Saul schemed through his daughters, but David kept winning battles and growing in favor (1 Samuel 18:17–30).
  • In chapters 19–20, Jonathan defended David, Michal helped him escape, and David and Jonathan parted with tears because of Saul’s hatred (1 Samuel 19–20).

In just a few days of reading, you watched how God can be with a man when he’s loved and when he’s hated. This strengthens your heart through faithful Bible reading when your own circumstances swing.

  1. On the run, still in God’s hand (1 Samuel 21–23)
  • David fled to Nob and received the hallowed bread and Goliath’s sword from Ahimelech (1 Samuel 21:1–9).
  • He went to Achish of Gath and pretended to be mad to escape (1 Samuel 21:10–15).
  • In the cave of Adullam, “every one that was in distress… in debt… discontented” gathered to him; he became a captain over about four hundred men (1 Samuel 22:1–2).
  • Doeg the Edomite reported to Saul; Saul ordered the slaughter of the priests, and Doeg killed eighty‑five that wore a linen ephod and destroyed Nob (1 Samuel 22:9, 18–19).
  • David kept moving—Keilah, the wilderness, strongholds—while Saul sought him every day, “but God delivered him not into his hand” (1 Samuel 23:14).

Over just a couple of readings, you saw caves, betrayal, bloodshed, and yet that quiet line: God did not let Saul get him. This is the kind of detail that builds strength when you read the Bible consistently day after day.

  1. Twice spared, never self‑promoted (1 Samuel 24–26)
  • In the cave at En‑gedi, David cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe but refused to kill him, saying, “The LORD forbid that I should do this thing… against the LORD’S anointed” (1 Samuel 24:1–7).
  • He showed Saul the skirt, proved his innocence, and Saul confessed David would “surely be king” (1 Samuel 24:9–22).
  • In chapter 25, David nearly avenged himself on Nabal, but God used Abigail’s words to turn him; later the LORD smote Nabal, and David took Abigail to wife (1 Samuel 25:21–39).
  • In chapter 26, David again had Saul’s life in his hand, took his spear and cruse of water, and again left Saul alive, committing his cause to the LORD (1 Samuel 26:7–11, 21–24).

Across a few days’ reading, you watched a man refuse shortcuts, twice. This kind of steady character is built day by day through faithful reading of Scripture.

  1. The low point and the comeback (1 Samuel 27–30)
  • David said in his heart, “I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul,” and went to dwell among the Philistines with Achish in Gath (1 Samuel 27:1–4).
  • He lived in Ziklag, raiding enemies while keeping Achish pleased (1 Samuel 27:5–12).
  • When the Philistines gathered for war against Israel, David found himself in a compromised spot in their ranks, but the Philistine princes sent him back (1 Samuel 29:1–11).
  • Coming back to Ziklag, he found it burned and their families taken; “David was greatly distressed… but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God,” then pursued and recovered all (1 Samuel 30:3–8, 18–19).

In just a couple more chapters, you will watch David hit bottom and then get back up by turning to the Lord. This is the kind of scene that will come back to your mind on your own Ziklag days when you have been faithful in the reading.

  1. Saul’s fall, God’s plan still standing (1 Samuel 31)
  • The Philistines fought against Israel; Saul’s sons fell, including Jonathan (1 Samuel 31:1–2).
  • Saul was wounded and fell on his sword; the Philistines took his body and fastened it to the wall of Beth‑shan (1 Samuel 31:3–10).
  • The men of Jabesh‑gilead traveled all night, took the bodies of Saul and his sons, and buried them (1 Samuel 31:11–13).

By the end of the tomorrow’s reading, you’ll see the first king fall, but God’s man is still standing, waiting in the wings. This is how the Lord teaches you, over several days of faithful Scripture reading, that He always finishes what He starts.

This is one week’s worth of reading and this should be an encouragement. Look at what the Lord has already shown you just by staying in the Book every day. Let’s tell others how great it is to read our Bible every day faithfully—because if they’ll walk with us through these chapters, they’ll see the same God who was with David is still working in the lives of His people now.

Continue reading because tomorrow’s reading from 1 SAMUEL 27–31 we’ll finish this first Samuel journey, watching God close Saul’s chapter and set the stage for David’s next one.

Tomorrow’s Reading: 1 Samuel 27–31

Until tomorrow, Stay in the Book. 📖
Brother Tony

Divine Dodgeball

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Daily Reading: 1 Samuel 18–20

Text: 1 Samuel 18:14 – “And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the LORD was with him.”

Click here to listen to Alexander Scourby reading the King James Bible

Picture David skipping through the palace like a kid who just found out recess is all day, lyre in hand, humming a praise song, while old Saul is lurking behind columns with an arsenal that would make a siege engine blush—spears, boulders, bullets, buses, and even a few bats for good measure. Saul winds up and launches a spear—whizzes past David’s ear. David doesn’t even blink; he’s too busy fixing armor and running errands for Jonathan. Saul heaves a boulder—crashes into the wall where David stood a second ago. David just smiles, hands Jonathan a tunic, and says, “Nice throw, Dad—almost had me!” Next comes a barrage of bullets that ping harmlessly off the columns, then Saul tries to roll a bus down the hallway—only to have it stall right before it could flatten the harpist. Finally, in a fit of desperation, Saul grabs a bat and swings—misses completely, sending the bat flying into a pile of laundry.

Through it all, David walks on, serving God and his king with a cheerful heart, completely oblivious to the lethal lunchbox Saul keeps tossing his way. The LORD’s invisible shield is working overtime, turning every weapon into a whiff and every lethal launch into a comic miss. Saul’s sweating bullets (literally and figuratively); David’s sweating only from honest work—and the LORD’s making sure none of those crazy projectiles ever find their mark.

So here’s the humorous take: when God’s on your side, you can serve faithfully, work diligently, and stay joyful even while the enemy’s practicing his aim with spears, stones, steel, steel‑clad buses, and wooden bats. You might not see the danger flying, but you can trust the One who’s turning every “throw” into a miss. Keep serving, keep smiling, and let the LORD handle the dodgeball.

Continue reading because tomorrow’ reading from 1 SAM 21–23 we’ll see David on the run, eating holy bread, pretending to be mad, and learning that even when the props get stripped away, God’s protection never takes a day off.

Tomorrow’s Reading: 1 Samuel 21–23

Until tomorrow, Stay in the Book. 📖
Brother Tony

IS THERE NOT A CAUSE?

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Daily Reading: 1 Samuel 16–17

Text: 1 Samuel 17:29 – “And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?”

Click here to listen to Alexander Scourby reading the King James Bible

David looked at a valley full of armed Israelites hiding behind rocks and one loud‑mouth giant cussing God, and he said what the average Baptist in 2026 needs to hear: “Is there not a cause?” (1 Samuel 17:29) They had armor, training, a king, and a covenant, but no courage. We have Bibles, churches, freedom, air‑conditioning, and podcasts – and in these last days we’re acting like there’s nothing left worth swinging at. (2 Timothy 3:1–5)

We are not fighting for the literal Kingdom of Heaven like David, with a sword and shield and a Philistine’s head in our hand. Our battle is for the spiritual Kingdom of God – the new birth, sound doctrine, holy living, and the testimony of Jesus Christ in a crooked generation. (John 3:3–7; Romans 14:17) But the spiritual kingdom looks like it’s on life‑support in a lot of places because the church does not see that there is still a cause.

Here are four Bible causes worth fighting for in these last days:

  1. Fight for the faith once delivered
    Jude said we are to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” (Jude 3) That faith is fixed, not up for edits and updates. The cause here is doctrinal purity – standing for the Book, the blood, the new birth, the blessed hope, and the fundamentals without apology. In an age of “deconstruction” and spiritual mush, somebody has to draw a line and say, “No, that’s error,” even if the giant is a best‑selling Christian celebrity.
  2. Fight for personal holiness
    In the last days, men are “lovers of their own selves… lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” (2 Timothy 3:1–5) The cause here is a clean life in a dirty world. We are not saved by holiness, but we are absolutely called to holiness. The church has traded separation for relevance, and then wonders why we have no power. Someone has to decide that a pure mind, a guarded tongue, and a separated walk are worth taking shots over.
  3. Fight for the local church
    Christ “loved the church, and gave himself for it.” (Ephesians 5:25) The cause here is the old‑fashioned local assembly – preaching, praying, soulwinning, discipline, fellowship, missions – in a day when folks treat church like a background option if the schedule is clear and the game isn’t on. Hebrews says we are not to forsake assembling, “and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25) That means the closer we get to the trumpet, the more we should fight for faithful attendance, not less.
  4. Fight for souls
    Paul said, “knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.” (2 Corinthians 5:11) The cause here is evangelism – personal, local, and worldwide. Hell has not cooled off in the twenty‑first century. The gospel is still “the power of God unto salvation.” (Romans 1:16) While churches argue about coffee bars and light shows, sinners are dying without Christ. Somebody needs to pick up a tract, open a Bible, talk to a co‑worker, and see souls as the real battlefield.

This is a strong charge, so let me say it plain: these are the last days, and God did not accidentally drop you here in these days before the Rapture. You are here on purpose, in a dark hour, with a living Book and a living Saviour. The Kingdom of Heaven on earth is not ours to claim right now – that literal throne belongs to Jesus at His coming – but the Kingdom of God inside men is being neglected, mocked, and starved because God’s people forgot there is a cause. (Luke 17:20–21; Romans 14:17)

David walked into that valley and refused to let God’s name be blasphemed without raising a voice and a weapon. (1 Samuel 17:26, 29) The question today is not, “Is there a cause?” The question is, “Will you fight for it, or hide with the rest of the army?”

Continue reading because tomorrow’s reading from 1 SAMUEL 18–20 we’ll watch how standing for the cause puts David on the right side with God, but on the wrong side with Saul, and we’ll learn that doing right will cost you – but it is still worth it.

Tomorrow’s Reading: 1 Samuel 18–20

Until tomorrow, Stay in the Book. 📖
Brother Tony

Big Moves With Little Steps…

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Daily Reading: 1 Samuel 6–9

Text: 1 Samuel 9

Click here to listen to Alexander Scourby reading the King James Bible

Today’s devotion is an important principle that is being taught, because 1 Samuel 9 is one of those chapters where God hides big providence inside little ordinary events. Saul is out looking for lost asses, but the Lord is looking for a king. What looks like a farm chore turns into a divine appointment.

This chapter is a blessing for anybody who thinks God only works through thunder, lightning, and religious fireworks. In this present age of grace, the Lord still works His providence through ordinary events in the preserved words of the AV1611, without the sensational signs, wonders, or religious fireworks that some seek today. Saul starts out chasing animals that wandered off, and before the day is over he is standing in front of Samuel exactly where God intended him to be. The Lord had already told Samuel, “to morrow about this time I will send thee a man,” so what looked accidental on earth was scheduled in heaven. Think about that, I mean really think about that.

There is a lesson there worth nailing down.

  • God uses ordinary troubles. Lost livestock got Saul moving, and God used that irritation to direct his steps.
  • God uses faithful servants. Saul’s servant had more spiritual sense in this chapter than Saul did; he suggested going to the man of God.
  • God uses timing. When Saul entered the city, Samuel “came out against them” right on time.
  • God uses closed doors. They searched one place after another and did not find the asses, because God was steering them somewhere better.

A lot of us want God’s will written in the clouds while we ignore the plain steps in front of us. The Lord often leads a man by the next field, the next conversation, the next delay, and the next interruption. We call it inconvenience; God calls it guidance. We grumble over lost asses while He is setting up a meeting we could not have arranged with a road map, a flashlight, and a church committee.

So this chapter teaches us that God’s providence is real; He can guide a man through missing livestock, weary travel, and a servant’s suggestion.

There is a practical help in that for us.

  • Do not despise small duties. Saul met Samuel while handling family business.
  • Do not overlook godly counsel. The servant’s advice moved the whole story forward.
  • Do not assume delays are wasted time. Those failed searches were part of the route.

If you want a good phrase for the devotion, here it is: God’s providence rides in on plain things. No miracle at the Red Sea here, no fire from heaven, no walls falling down. Just lost asses, dusty roads, tired travelers, and a prophet waiting in the right place at the right time. That is just like the Lord. He can steer a whole kingdom with the disappearance of a few farm animals.

Continue reading because tomorrow’s reading from 1 SAMUEL 10–13 we’ll watch Saul move from private selection to public spotlight, and we’ll see in a hurry that a man can be chosen for a throne and still make a wreck of things when he will not stay lined up with the word of God.

Tomorrow’s Reading: 1 Samuel 10–13

Until tomorrow, Stay in the Book. 📖
Brother Tony

Hitherto Hath the Lord Helped Us

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Daily Reading: 1 Samuel 2–5

Text: 1 Samuel 7:12 – “Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.”

Click here to listen to Alexander Scourby reading the King James Bible

This devotion reaches a little beyond today’s reading into tomorrow’s, because the word Ebenezer shows up first in 1 Samuel 4:1 as a place of defeat, and later in 1 Samuel 7:12 as a memorial of deliverance. That contrast fits beautifully with the hymn Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. One Ebenezer reminds us what happens when men trust religion without repentance. The other reminds us what God can do when a people get right and can honestly say, “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.”

Verse 1: God’s help remembered.
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet, Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the Mount! I’m fixed upon it, Mount of God’s unchanging love.

The first verse fits the Ebenezer of 1 Samuel 7. It is the language of a heart tuned to grace, a soul stopping long enough to say, “God has brought me this far.” That is what Samuel’s stone was: a marker of divine help. In 1 Samuel 4, Israel stood beside Ebenezer and lost because they had a religious object without a right heart. In 1 Samuel 7, Samuel raised Ebenezer because the people had turned to the Lord, and now they had His help instead of just His furniture.

Verse 2: God’s grace in bringing wanderers back.
Here I raise my Ebenezer; Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure, Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger, Interposed His Precious Blood.

The second verse brings in the testimony of a sinner sought and brought back. That fits the whole drift of 1 Samuel 2–5, because the chapters are loaded with corruption, presumption, judgment, and loss. Eli’s sons are wicked, the priesthood is polluted, and Israel imagines that carrying the ark into battle will force God to bless their mess. But the Lord is not a rabbit’s foot and the ark is not a magic box. The only reason anybody ever gets to raise an Ebenezer is because God, in mercy, seeks wandering people and brings them back to Himself.

Verse 3: God’s grace needed to keep us from wandering again.
O to grace how great a debtor Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above.

The third verse is where the hymn gets painfully honest, and that honesty matches these chapters. “Prone to wander” might as well be written over the whole nation in 1 Samuel 2–5. The priests wander, the people wander, and everybody seems to think that having sacred things nearby is the same as walking with God. It is not. The first Ebenezer is tied to defeat because men presumed on outward religion. That is why this verse matters so much: if God does not keep your heart, you can be standing next to holy things while your soul is miles away.

The lesson of the two Ebenezers will preach. In 1 Samuel 4, Israel had religion without repentance, form without power, and a sacred object without the favor of God. In 1 Samuel 7, after repentance and prayer, Samuel could raise a stone and say, “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.” So the old hymn is not just pretty poetry. It is the cry of a heart that knows the difference between dead religion and divine help.

The first Ebenezer is a WARNING, and the second Ebenezer is a WITNESS. One says you can stand near holy things and still be defeated if your heart is wrong. The other says that when the Lord helps you, you ought to mark it down and never forget it. That is why this hymn means so much to God’s people. It gives us words to praise, words to remember, and words to confess our wandering hearts while thanking God for helping us this far.

Continue reading because tomorrow’s reading from 1 SAMUEL 6–8 will show the ark returning, Samuel calling Israel to repentance, the Lord thundering against the Philistines, and that great memorial stone called Ebenezer being raised as a testimony that God’s help is better than religious machinery and stronger than Israel’s enemies.

Tomorrow’s Reading: 1 Samuel 6–8

Until tomorrow, Stay in the Book. 📖
Brother Tony

Fixing Sin with Sin

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Daily Reading — Judges 20,21 – Ruth 1

Click here to listen to Alexander Scourby Reading the King James Bible.

The sin of chapter 19 shows the wickedness that lies in the heart of men who do whatever “feels good”. Israel is right about the sin at Gibeah—but wrong in how they handle it.

They never ask, “Should we go?”
Only, “Who shall go up first?” (Judges 20:18)

They come to God with their decision already made.

Book of Ezekiel 14:4 — “I the LORD will answer him… according to the multitude of his idols”

Their idol is their own judgment.

So God answers within that framework: Judah goes first.

Then God begins to deal with them:

  • 22,000 fall (Judges 20:21)
  • 18,000 more (20:25)

They were right about the sin—but wrong in spirit, wrong in approach, and now the consequences are unfolding.

As a former leader of a Reformers Unanimous chapter, I taught these principles often:

Principle #5: “Small compromises lead to great disasters (otherwise known as little sins lead to big sins).”

That is exactly what unfolds here:

  • One sin at Gibeah
  • A decision made in the flesh
  • 40,000 dead
  • A tribe nearly wiped out
  • Another city destroyed
  • Moral compromise sanctioned

What looked small did not stay small.

And alongside that:

Principle #7: “We lose our freedom to choose when we give in to temptation. The consequences of sin are inevitable, incalculable, and up to God.”

They started it—but they could not stop it.

Only after loss do they finally submit:

“Shall I yet again go out… or shall I cease?” (20:28)

Now victory comes—but the damage is already done.

Benjamin is nearly destroyed (20:48).

And instead of repenting, they begin managing consequences:

  • Destroy Jabesh-gilead for wives (21:8–12)
  • Justify it under their vow
  • Then permit wives to be taken from Shiloh (21:20–23)

Sin… fixing sin… with more sin.

They never return to God about:

  • their excess
  • their vow
  • their solutions

They just keep deciding—and acting.

The diagnosis:

“Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25)

They asked God to guide their plan—instead of asking God for His.

And once that begins, sin will not be corrected.

It will be compounded.

Even well-intentioned people can move in the flesh. Paul said:

Book of Romans 7:18 — “for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.”

The desire to do right is not the same as the ability to do right. Israel had the right desire—to judge sin—but lacked the submission to do it God’s way. That is where the danger begins.

Scripture shows us how to stop sin before it multiplies:

Book of Proverbs 3:5–6 — “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

The failure in Judges 20 was not ignorance—it was leaning on their own understanding first, then asking God to assist. The correction is simple, but absolute: acknowledge Him first, not after the plan is formed.

And when failure has already begun, the answer is not to manage it—but to stop and deal with it honestly before God:

Book of Proverbs 28:13 — “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”

Israel covered, adjusted, and engineered—but never truly confessed and forsook. That is why the problem grew.

Practically:

  • Stop before acting—seek God, not confirmation
  • When wrong—confess it, don’t manage it
  • Forsake it early—before it spreads

That is how small sin is cut off before it becomes great disaster.

Keep reading, Ruth begins where Judges leaves off—with a different spirit altogether.

Until tomorrow, stay in the Book. 📖
Brother Tony

Tomorrow’s Reading: Ruth 2 – 1 Samuel 1

The Hellish Roots of Man-Made Religion

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Daily Reading: Judges 18-19

Text: “In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25, KJV)

Brethren, as we open the infallible Authorized King James Bible this morning, the Holy Ghost pulls back the curtain on the very birthplace of false religion. No king in Israel—every man doing that which was right in his own eyes—and immediately we see the devil’s blueprint: stolen money, carved idols, a hired preacher, and the proud boast, “Now know I that the LORD will do me good” (Judges 17:13).

This is not just ancient Israel. This is the foundation of the Roman Catholic system.

The Original “Clergy Career Move” – Mocked by the Holy Ghost

Micah hires a wandering Levite: “Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals” (Judges 17:10). The Levite is content.

Then the men of Dan come along with a sweeter deal: “Is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel?” (Judges 18:19).

“And the priest’s heart was glad.” (Judges 18:20)

Here is the very first clergy career move—leaving a small family shrine for a bigger tribe, better pay, and wider influence. Same compromise, just a larger crowd. Same devils behind the altar, just more pews to fill the offering plate.

Sound familiar, brethren?

How many popish priests have left some dusty little parish for a grand cathedral with bigger collections, finer vestments, and more prestige? Their “heart was glad” at the promotion—just like this Levite.

But let us not leave the Baptists out of this mess either! In our own circles it may be called a “green lead”—that sweet-sounding opportunity when a bigger church with a fatter salary, a nicer parsonage, and a larger platform comes calling. Suddenly the preacher hears from the Lord: “It’s time to move on, brother!” The heart is glad, the résumé is updated, and off he goes—leaving behind the small work for the “bigger blessing.”

The Holy Ghost is grieved watching all of this. Whether it is a Roman priest chasing cathedrals or a Baptist preacher chasing a “green lead,” it is the same spirit: hireling religion. The Lord Jesus warned us plainly:

“But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the hireling fleeth, because he careth not for the sheep.” (John 10:12-13)

The Levite cared not for Micah’s little shrine once a bigger offer appeared.

The Idols That Cannot See, Speak, or Save

While the priest is busy advancing his career, the people are busy with their idols. Micah’s graven image and molten image get stolen and carried off to Dan. Micah runs after them crying, “Ye have taken away my gods which I made… and what have I more?” (Judges 18:24).

What a laughable tragedy! A god you carved with your own hands, a god you can steal with your own arms, a god that needs bodyguards—is no God at all!

The Bible mocks such foolishness with holy fire:

“Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.” (Psalm 115:4-8)

Rome’s statues, crucifixes, and relics are no better. They cannot see, cannot hear, cannot save. And the poor souls who trust them become just as blind and dead.

It’s the same spirit that shows up in Baptist circles when men trust buildings, programs, famous preachers, or big offerings instead of the living God. Anything that takes the place of simple faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and obedience to the word of God becomes an idol.

Dan’s Idols Become a Continual Curse

The Danites set up Micah’s stolen gods in their new city and make Jonathan (grandson of Moses!) their priest. “And they set them up Micah’s graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh” (Judges 18:31).

That idolatry became a curse that followed Israel for generations. Dan turned into a center of calf worship under Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:28-30). The tribe is even missing from the sealed 144,000 in Revelation 7—its name blotted out because of persistent idolatry.

Brethren, false religion started in Judges 17–18 has never stopped spreading its curse. Rome is the full-grown daughter of this harlotry.

The Hellish (not holy) Roman Church, that great whore of Revelation 17:1-6, is the direct spiritual descendant of the idolatrous system born in Judges 17-18, where stolen silver funded graven and molten images, a hired Levite priest followed bigger pay check, a larger tribe, and where every man could openly do that which was right in his own eyes.

She is Mystery Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth, decked in purple and scarlet, holding a golden cup full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication, drunken with the blood of the saints and martyrs of Jesus. This is the same system that sets up carved images that cannot see, speak, hear, or save (Psalm 115:4-8; Isaiah 44:9-20), sells spiritual favors through indulgences and masses for the dead, exalts a man in Rome as “Vicar of Christ” who sits in the temple of God showing himself that he is God (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4), practices the witchcraft of transubstantiation, confesses sins to a priest instead of to Christ the only Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5), and has shed the blood of millions of Bible believers across the centuries.

She is ground zero for the Antichrist of the Great Tribulation, the final Pope who will head the one-world false church, enforce the mark of the beast, and fulfill every prophecy of the man of sin while the world wonders after the beast (Revelation 13; 17:8-18). This is not the bride of Christ but the great harlot riding the beast, destined for destruction when the Lord Jesus returns in glory.

Let us take warning from the Authorized Version. The Lord Jesus Christ alone is Head of the church. He alone calls and equips true shepherds—not bigger salaries or greener pastures.

“Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength.” (Isaiah 26:4)

May the Holy Ghost keep us from every form of idolatry—whether Roman statues or Baptist programs. Let every man do that which is right in God’s eyes, not his own.

“To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” (Isaiah 8:20)

Tomorrow’s Reading: Judges 20 – Ruth 1

Continue reading because tomorrow’s reading from JUDGES 20–RUTH 1 will show the bloody fallout of the moral filth in Judges 19, as Israel tears itself apart in civil war, and then—like a shaft of light through a storm cloud—the book of Ruth opens to remind us that when the nation is collapsing, God is still quietly working through faith, loyalty, and grace to bring in His purpose. After the madness of Benjamin, the butchery of civil war, and the wreckage caused by every man doing that which was right in his own eyes, Ruth 1 will be a blessed reminder that God can still bring hope out of ruin and a future out of famine.

Until tomorrow, Stay in the Book. 📖
Brother Tony​