"Have you SPARED all the women? Behold these have caused the son of Israel . . . to trespass against the Lord . . . " (Numbers 31: 15)
So we can get a better idea of what was really being said to the Israelites (and so we can understand what God is now saying to us), let's take a closer look at the word 'spared.' An English dictionary defines it as 'let live,' but looking at the Hebrew root of the word in order to discover its more literal meaning in its context, we can gain greater understanding as to what God meant when He said this to Israel. To the Hebrew, 'spared' meant this:
1. To revive
2. To keep, leave, or make alive
3. To give life to
4. To nourish (feed)
5. To preserve
6. To repair or restore to life
You might be asking yourself, "So what?" I agree that it may not seem like a riveting revelation, but it will take on brand new meaning to you if you will apply these definitions to yourself and your gods!
In light of the gods that you have dwelling in the safe harbor of your own heart, can you see what you are doing when you spare them by letting them completely off the hook, letting them live on inside of you instead of taking full vengeance on them? Choose one of your most prevalent sins or gods in your life and put its name in place of the the word 'god' below.
1. Reviving my [god] -- Bringing it back to life again and again after it has been killed by repentance
2. Keeping, leaving, or making my [god] alive -- Giving life willingly to a new sin
3. Nourishing my [god] -- Feeding it to keep it alive and refusing to starve it
4. Preserving my [god] -- Doing what it takes to keep it alive and active in my life
5. Repairing and restoring my [god] -- Making adjustments in order to keep it alive and active, like it used to be
Can you see where you are disobeying God's call to take full vengeance on your sins and gods? Did the light bulb just go on? By sparing the women, Israel left the door wide open to be influenced again by false gods. When we let our sins be spared, we open a door to the enemy to gain victory again and again in our lives. When we walk in our sins, according to the flesh, our level of holiness is directly affected. In actuality, our gods reveal just how un-Christlike we truly are. Sometimes we can take some ground back from the enemy who seeks to lure us away from God, but if we don't wipe out the entire stronghold, then we are continuing to allow our sins to co-exist with the Spirit within us. You must learn how to bring your sins to a complete death. Then your responsibility will be to pay close attention to those areas where you have gained victory by continuing to keep that sin out of your heart. That is how you can stand firm in not reviving or restoring your former gods.
(Excerpted from Chapter 7, "Taking Full Vengeance" from Spiritual Healing: The Surrender That Brings Victory)
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