WISDOM FOR LIVING DAILY DEVOTIONAL
JANUARY 11, 2025
TOPIC: THE ENDS DO NOT JUSTIFY THE MEANS
BY T. O. BANSO
“Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank” (Numbers 20:11 New King James Version).
The end justifies the means is a popular saying. It is “used to say that a desired result is so good or important that any method, even a morally bad one, may be used to achieve it” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary).
The idiom or phrase is “said about a situation in which the final aim is so important that any way of achieving it is acceptable” (Cambridge Dictionary). It means that the result is important, not how it is achieved. In other words, if a wrong method achieves a good end, the wrong method can be excused. That means if evil is committed in a process that leads to a good result, the evil cannot be condemned. Unfortunately, this is the philosophy of many people.
More unfortunately, some people in church also adopt this philosophy, which is contrary to the Word of God. The Bible does not teach that the end justifies the means. God will not approve of stealing just because the thief gave all the money to the church as a seed or offering! A criminal may use the proceeds of his crime to build a cathedral for God but that will not make him holy or his crime a noble act. Deuteronomy 23:18 says, “You must not bring the earnings of a female prostitute or of a male prostitute into the house of the LORD your God to pay any vow, because the LORD your God detests them both” (New International Version). God does not accept just any offering; the church may.
God is not only interested in your result; He is also interested in your method. He is interested in both the process and the product. 2 Timothy 2:5 says if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. Paul said he strictly disciplined his body and made it his slave so that he would not be disqualified after he had preached to others (1 Corinthians 9:27).
Rebekah’s attitude, when she taught Jacob to lie to deceive his father, Isaac, and received the blessing meant for his brother, Esau, suggested that she believed the end justified the means. Even when Jacob told him the father would curse him if he found out the truth, she was more concerned about the end, not the means.
Genesis 27:13-17 says, “But his mother said to him, ‘Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.’ And he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory food, such as his father loved. Then Rebekah took the choice clothes of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. And she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. Then she gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob” (New King James Version).
Although Jacob successfully deceived his father and received the blessing meant for his brother, the truth came out. Consequently, there was a serious problem between the two brothers. Jacob had to flee from home to his uncle’s place, whom he served for many years, and he cheated Jacob. Jacob became an accidental polygamist as he married Laban’s two daughters and their maids.
On his journey back home later after many years, he was hunted by his past. Esau would probably have killed him as he had threatened to do in the past if not for God’s intervention. His mother caused all he went through after he had deceived his father. You cannot use deceit to get the spiritual blessing and hope to enjoy it peacefully.
You cannot use an immoral or sinful method to achieve a noble goal or result and then give the glory to God! Some Christians do this. They go to church to share testimonies, keeping silent or lying about how they achieved their results! God doesn’t want these kinds of testimonies. Don’t glorify Him for the result you achieved sinfully. God didn’t do it; you did.
God’s work must be done God’s way. You cannot use the power of the kingdom of darkness to do the work of the kingdom of light and think that on Judgment Day, God will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord” (Matthew 25:23 New King James Version). No, never!
God is more interested in the means employed to do His work than the results that are visible to man. Paul said, “For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you. For we are not writing any other things to you than what you read or understand. Now I trust you will understand, even to the end (as also you have understood us in part), that we are your boast as you also are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus” (2 Corinthians 1:12-14 New King James Version).
See what the Apostle Paul said again, “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire” (1 Corinthians 3:9-15 New King James Version). God is interested in how you built what you have built.
People often say you don’t query results, but God does. Man may not bother about how a result is achieved, but God cares about that. He queries results if the process fails His test.
He queried the result of David, who was carrying the ark of God the wrong way. The ark of God must never be transported in a cart, not even in a new cart as David did (2 Samuel 6:3). The Levites must always carry the ark of God with the poles on their shoulders, as Moses had commanded according to the Word of the LORD (Numbers 4:15; 1 Chronicles 15:13-15).
David succeeded in carrying the ark in a new cart in a procession from Baalah of Judah (Kiriath-jearim) into Jerusalem until tragedy struck. Uzzah was killed when he put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, as the oxen stumbled (2 Samuel 6:1-8). If David had carried the ark the proper way, there was no way Uzzah would have touched the ark. He wouldn’t have died because of God’s anger.
God disapproved of David’s method of transporting the ark, though he made progress moving it from where it had been, and was on its way to Jerusalem before God stopped the procession. Carrying the ark of God in a new cart was using the method of the Philistines (1 Samuel 6:7-8). It might be right for the Philistines, but it wasn’t right for the Israelites.
The end does not justify the means. When King Baasha of Israel, a neighbour, came against Judah, Asa entered into a military alliance with Syria, which was worldly wisdom, instead of relying on the LORD (2 Chronicles 16:1-6). God disapproved of his method. Though the treaty worked, and Syria helped Judah against Israel, God said Asa had done foolishly and would from then on have wars (verse 9). That was the beginning of Asa’s problem with God and the beginning of his end.
Asa’s method was wrong, and therefore, his result was. He used Benhadad, king of Syria, to replace God in his life. Early in his reign, he trusted God against the army of Zerah the Ethiopian. Asa’s army of 580,000 men routed Zerah’s army of one million men and their chariots. Ordinarily, Judah was no match for the Ethiopians. The Ethiopians came against Judah with an army of one million men and three hundred chariots (2 Chronicles 14:8-15).
The Ethiopians were superior. King Asa of Judah admitted this when he told God that it wasn’t a problem for God to help the powerless against the mighty. He trusted God and went in His name against the superior army of the Ethiopians. But God turned the battle against the Ethiopians; the powerful fled before the weak, and the weak pursued the powerful! God gave the victory to Judah.
But in his thirty-sixth year on the throne – he was now an accomplished person; he was now experienced - over 35 years’ experience! He couldn’t trust God again when Baasha, king of Israel came up against Judah. If God had protected him and Judah for thirty-five years, Asa should have known better.
Leaders must know the difference between God and man! They shouldn’t pretend to be confused about the two! God is God, and man is man. Leaders shouldn’t put themselves in trouble by replacing trust in God with trust in man. It won’t work!
In Numbers 20, the Bible shows that the end does not justify the means when Moses acted contrary to God’s instruction to speak to the rock to provide water for the Israelites. “Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank” (verse 11 New King James Version).
The end was the water the Israelites wanted, but God disapproved of Moses’s and Aaron’s methods. Moses said, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” (Verse 10 New King James Version). In addition, he struck the rock twice. Water came out, and the people drank, but God was not pleased. He told Moses and Aaron that because they did not believe Him, to hallow Him in the eyes of the children of Israel, they would not bring the Israelites into the land He had given them. They didn’t.
A good idea is not necessarily God’s idea. Every child of God, especially leaders, must be careful and always seek the mind of God. Use God-approved methods, not worldly ones. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2 New International Version).
Let your methods agree with the Word of God. Seek God’s approval on measures to take in any situation, especially when the Word of God does not specifically reveal His will. You should avoid acting under pressure or assuming on God. Don’t act contrary to the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. What is popular or trending is not always right or God’s way. The ends do not always justify the means!
TAKE ACTION!
If you are not born again, you need to give your life to Jesus now. Take the following steps: *Admit that you are a sinner, and cannot save yourself, and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life – your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start attending a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching, and Bible-practising church. There they will teach you how to grow in the Kingdom of God.
Kindly say this prayer now: O Lord God, I come unto You today. I know I am a sinner, and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and God raised Him on the third day. I repent of my sins and confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I surrender my life to Jesus now and invite Him into my heart. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank You, Jesus, for saving me and making me a child of God.
I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You must join a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching, and Bible-practising church where they will teach you how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like a palm tree and grow like a cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things and become all God wants you to be. I will be glad to hear from you. The Lord be with you.
PRAYER POINTS: Father, I repent of any method or means I have been using that is contrary to Your Word. I shall no longer use any means contrary to Your Word. Holy Spirit, help me not to depend on worldly methods to do the work of God or assignments He has given me. I shall do God’s work God’s way. I shall pursue my destiny without compromising with the devil.
(For over 900 in-depth and powerful messages by T. O. Banso, visit www.cedarministry.org).
T. O. Banso is the President of Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
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