Christian Stress Management: Bible Study Lessons from Hormah

When King Arad heard that the Israelites were coming to Atharim, he fought them and captured some of them as prisoners.

The Israelites vowed to God that if He helped them defeat the Canaanites, they would destroy their cities.

God listened to the Israelites' prayer and delivered the Canaanites into their hands. As a result the Israelites destroyed them and their cities and named the place Hormah which means Utter Destruction. (Numbers 21:1-3)

Lesson #1

Ask God for help

When the Israelites were captured by the Canaanites, they did the correct thing by asking God to help them instead of complaining about their defeat.

Therefore when you face a defeat in life, pray and ask God to help you instead of complaining about the effects of your defeat.

Lesson #2

Promise God something

When the Israelites were defeated, they promised to destroy the Canaanites if God granted them victory.

Therefore if you are in a desperate situation, ask God to help you and promise to give Him something in return.

We can see this principle from Hannah when she was barren because she promised to give God her son if she gave him a child (1 Samuel 1:11) and God honored her promise.

However before you begin promising God things know that When you make a vow to God, do not delay in paying it because He does not have pleasure with fools. Pay what you have vowed for it is better not to vow than to vow and not to pay. (Ecclesiastes 5:4-5)

Click here for the Exodus Bible Study which shows you all the things that kept the Israelites wandering in the wilderness for 40 years (14,600 days) instead of taking 11 days to move from Egypt to their Promised Land.