Broken Down Walls

Ever struggled with walls and chains that just did not want to budge or break?  We all have.  Then God comes onto the scene and sets us free, break down the walls and a new life begins.  Change, however, is not easy in any man’s vocabulary.  It is hard and often times quite uncomfortable.  Sometimes we look back and miss certain aspects of our old life or how things used to be, and so we make the biggest mistake possible and head back to where we were.

I know that at this moment you probably read the paragraph above, and thought to yourself; never!  “There is no way I would ever do something this dumb.”  Fact of the matter is that this might be a lot simpler than we realise.  Take the character if Hiel for instance.  We read that during the time of King Ahab, this man started rebuilding the walls of Jericho.  If this sounds a little off to you as well, then you also realised what I realised while reading this passage in 1 Kings. 

34In Ahab’s time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the Lord spoken by Joshua son of Nun. -1 Kings 16:34

Now this might have been a noble act originally.  When we see the rebuilt city as an economic move ahead or it might even be strategic for warfare with the enemy.  All things considered, this might have been a great advancement for the kingdom.  However, there is a catch.  Have you noted in what way this happened as well?  This man buried his firstborn beneath the foundations of this restoration.  This was strange in the sense that it was a pagan practice.  In order to receive favour from the gods, firstborns were used to lay the foundations of a new building or city.  Clearly this was not a Godly act.  

26At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: “Cursed before the Lord is the one who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho:
“At the cost of his firstborn son
he will lay its foundations;
at the cost of his youngest
he will set up its gates  -Joshua 6:26

This is shocking.  Joshua clearly made it known that to rebuilt this city that God destroyed in favour of His people, will in no way be an act inspired by Him but an act inspired by evil.  It is not our place to rebuilt what God broke down for us.  Do not go back to the cage that God broke you out of.  Put that in the past and let it go.  The good news is. and I'll leave you with this, is that God is overflowing with grace...

8The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust. -Psalm 103:8-14