I am a list maker…even in retirement from my secular work. For me, what doesn’t get listed, doesn’t get done. It is also very rewarding for me to check that item off the list when it is accomplished. The list has a progression of priorities. One task cannot happen until another task is completed. And so life goes with my lists guiding my behavior and productivity.
As I journal each morning in my conversational prayer with God, the Father, His Spirit guides me to make another list that helps me to mature and grow in Him. I am convicted of some of those “fruits of the Spirit” that I have not tended to or cultivated, have ignored or left undone. His Holy Spirit redirects my thoughts and helps me form a list of tasks that will help me improve my behavior. “Keep a close check on yourself”, writes Paul to Timothy. For me, that means to make a spiritual checklist that keeps me in close contact with the will and purpose of our Father, God and helps me to grow closer to Him.
We can do nothing of significance without God. I am convinced that He guides us to all things that are good for our growth and aid our learning about Him and how He works. Paul also gives Timothy sound advice about how to treat those whom God has called to lead with character traits with another list of how to lead. This list still applies to us today. The theme of this episode seems to be; Know God, Know Yourself, Know The Message, Know Your Audience. Our deeds, good and bad, will be evident. Be driven by God’s love in us.
1 Timothy 5, The Message
17-18 Give a bonus to leaders who do a good job, especially the ones who work hard at preaching and teaching. Scripture tells us, “Don’t muzzle a working ox” and “A worker deserves his pay.”
19 Don’t listen to a complaint against a leader that isn’t backed up by two or three responsible witnesses.
20 If anyone falls into sin, call that person on the carpet. Those who are inclined that way will know right off they can’t get by with it.
21-23 God and Jesus and angels all back me up in these instructions. Carry them out without favoritism, without taking sides. Don’t appoint people to church leadership positions too hastily. If a person is involved in some serious sins, you don’t want to become an unwitting accomplice. In any event, keep a close check on yourself. And don’t worry too much about what the critics will say. Go ahead and drink a little wine, for instance; it’s good for your digestion, good medicine for what ails you.
24-25 The sins of some people are blatant and march them right into court. The sins of others don’t show up until much later. The same with good deeds. Some you see right off, but none are hidden forever.
LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLE #6: Keep a Close Check on Yourself
Leadership Characteristics –
–Fully rely on God. Trust Him with all you are and all you have. We are His. All we have is His.
–Ask God “if there is anything offensive to you, cleanse me.” as the Psalmist prayed.
–Repent with a heart and mind not wanting to return to the old life.
–Look full into the face of Jesus, our Master, Lord and Savior with laser focus so we know what direction to take next.
–“Keep a close check on yourself.” Avoid, “he did it, I can, too” or “my sin is not as bad as his sin” or “everybody’s doing it” mentality.
–Ask God for wisdom, insight and understanding.
–Allow God’s transformation to continue in our lives.
–Ask God to make your lists of to BE and to DO. HE will prioritize your lists in ways you cannot imagine! Where He guides, He provides help all along the journey.
–Do all in a Spirit of love for God and others.
–Care enough to confront others with God’s love and concern for their spiritual well-being and growth.
WarningThe things on our spiritual check list can never be crossed off because we’ll be working on them our whole lives. By listing we are reminding ourselves of what we need to work on to “keep a close check” on our lives. It is only by The Atonement of Jesus Christ can we accomplish anything of eternal significance.
Dear Heavenly Father, You have convinced me that we must do spiritual “business” with You each day to improve our being in You. Thank you for helping us on this journey. Thank you for Your Holy Spirit that points out things in our behavior that could cause us to crash…before crashing. Thank you for always being with us, guiding and directing, loving and protecting and challenging us to grow and bear Fruit. Continue to transform me. Transform your church. Transform the world through your church. In Jesus Name, Amen
“I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”—Jesus, Luke 15:7
“Heaven rejoices over one sinner” is a core message from Jesus that reminds us that all people have been created by God and matter to God. God’s immense joy and celebration in heaven when even a single lost person repents and returns to Him extends to all the inhabitants of heaven with loud, joyous, worshipful celebration!
Take a minute to imagine it! Do we realize just how important each one of us is to God? The One who created us “in His own image” and so loved us that He sent His Son, Jesus to demonstrate His love for us—with His own life? Do we believe, really believe that Jesus come down from heaven to show us the Way to God, told humanity the Truth of God, and then sacrificed His life to provide eternal Life with God for all who would believe, repent and turn back to God?
Repentance on earth gets the attention of God and triggers a joyous celebration in heaven!Repentance from one or from many sets off a rapturous, celebratory “party” for every person who turns from sin.
Jesus emphasizes the immense worth of each person, even those who have gone far astray, contrasting the search for the lost with the security of those who are already “found”. Wouldn’t we leave the ninety-nine sheep to go and search for the one sheep lost from the fold,” teaches Jesus. All the parables found in Luke (lost sheep, lost coin, lost son) reveal God’s heart for the lost and His desire for their restoration.
True, Humbled Repentance involves a change of heart and life, turning from past sins and seeking God’s purpose, a humbled act of surrender worthy of divine celebration.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17
Hezekiah, the King who proclaimed repentance with a return to God, sought restoration from God for all who would come to Jerusalem. In the past, three times each year, the Israelite men were required to go to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feasts of the Passover and Unleavened Bread, Harvest (Pentecost), and Tabernacles (Final Harvest) according to God’s Law given to Moses. But “not since Solomon” had the celebrations been done with real repentance with a desire to return to God, seeking restoration from God.
Hezekiah’s proclamation to return to Jerusalem for the purpose of returning to the Lord, their God led to revival and exuberant rejoicing with true worship to God. God was pleased with their seeking of Him. God heard their prayers from heaven and their rejoicing and celebration from heaven of Him. After King Hezekiah’s prayer for all; God then healed His people! Read on…this is so awesome!
2 Chronicles 30
Hezekiah Celebrates the Passover
Hezekiah sent word to all Israel and Judah and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, inviting them to come to the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel.2 The king and his officials and the whole assembly in Jerusalem decided to celebrate the Passover in the second month. 3 They had not been able to celebrate it at the regular time because not enough priests had consecrated themselves and the people had not assembled in Jerusalem. 4 The plan seemed right both to the king and to the whole assembly.5 They decided to send a proclamation throughout Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, calling the people to come to Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel. It had not been celebrated in large numbers according to what was written.
6 At the king’s command, couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and from his officials, which read:
“People of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, that he may return to you who are left, who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. 7 Do not be like your parents and your fellow Israelites, who were unfaithful to the Lord, the God of their ancestors, so that he made them an object of horror, as you see. 8 Do not be stiff-necked, as your ancestors were; submit to the Lord. Come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever. Serve the Lord your God, so that his fierce anger will turn away from you. 9 If you return to the Lord, then your fellow Israelites and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will return to this land, for the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him.”
10 The couriers went from town to town in Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulun, but people scorned and ridiculed them. 11 Nevertheless, some from Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves and went to Jerusalem. 12 Also in Judah the hand of God was on the people to give them unity of mind to carry out what the king and his officials had ordered, following the word of the Lord.
13 A very large crowd of people assembled in Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread in the second month. 14 They removed the altars in Jerusalem and cleared away the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley.
15 They slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites were ashamed and consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the temple of the Lord. 16 Then they took up their regular positions as prescribed in the Law of Moses the man of God. The priests splashed against the altar the blood handed to them by the Levites. 17 Since many in the crowd had not consecrated themselves, the Levites had to kill the Passover lambs for all those who were not ceremonially clean and could not consecrate their lambs to the Lord. 18 Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the Lord, who is good, pardon everyone 19 who sets their heart on seeking God—the Lord, the God of their ancestors—even if they are not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary.” 20 And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people.
21 The Israelites who were present in Jerusalem celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great rejoicing, while the Levites and priests praised the Lord every day with resounding instruments dedicated to the Lord.
22 Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites, who showed good understanding of the service of the Lord. For the seven days they ate their assigned portion and offered fellowship offerings and praised the Lord, the God of their ancestors.
23 The whole assembly then agreed to celebrate the festival seven more days; so for another seven days they celebrated joyfully. 24 Hezekiah king of Judah provided a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep and goats for the assembly, and the officials provided them with a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep and goats. A great number of priests consecrated themselves.25 The entire assembly of Judah rejoiced, along with the priests and Levites and all who had assembled from Israel, including the foreigners who had come from Israel and also those who resided in Judah. 26 There was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. 27 The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place.
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13
The repeated word “return” reveals the desire of Hezekiah’s heart. If the people all turned in repentance to God, God would return to bless His people with restoration and healing. The restoration of the Passover celebration was the ideal way to “return” to God with their whole hearts. Here was an opportunity to make a new beginning and glorify the Lord by seeking His compassion, grace, and mercy.
Many common people in the large congregation were unclean, perhaps because they had left their homes quickly or because they had been defiled during the journey to Jerusalem according to the stipulations in God’s Law for “cleansing”. Hezekiah knew that God was concerned about the hearts of the worshipers, not the details of meeting ceremonial requirements, and he asked God to cleanse and accept them. God did.
“To obey is better than sacrifice” Samuel once said to King Saul. (1 Samuel 15:22) “Man looks at the outer appearance; but God looks at the heart,” Samuel said he anointed the shepherd boy David as the next King to succeed Saul—in front of his father and brothers! (1 Samuel 16:7)
God answered Hezekiah’s prayer because God wants the heart’s devotion and not mere religious ritual. Today if God’s people would prepare their hearts for worship with as much care as they prepare their appearance; the Lord would send His blessings on His church, heal, and restore them.
Repent, return to God, and be restored in relationship with God!
Lord,
May we come with a grateful heart, a humbled mind, with a soul ready to be filled with you. Help us to daily prepare our whole being for worship of You, the Most High and Holy God! May we hear with understanding your purpose and plan for each one of us who seek you with all our hearts. I think I can hear the joyful noise of heaven now!
Have you ever had this experience? We long for a new and improved product that we think will bring peace and harmony to our lives. We finally get it but it comes with directions to build and maintain it. Ugh, the directions are too many and don’t explain why the pieces must fall into place nor does it momentarily make sense to us as we browse through them with only a slight nano minute to really read them.
So, we set the directions aside. Not to worry, we have dreamed of this and studied it long before we received it so we think we know how it should be put together by seeing pictures of others having it. We also think we can put this together using our own standard of logic. So, we go to work, with a bit of frustration, when all the pieces don’t come together perfectly. We also wonder why some pieces are left over after the task is complete by our own understanding of the product. But we will use it like it is—because on the outside—it looks really good. Well, good enough for us.
Later however, when “all the wheels fall off,” and we are left with a pile of junk; we might say, “Wait, let’s go back and read those directions again. Maybe we missed something. Ya think?!
King Hezekiah’s dad, King Ahaz did not read the directions of God’s Law meant to benefit God’s people with protection and provisions from God. If fact, Ahaz closed the doors of the Temple! He “closed up shop” so to speak so the sins of the people had no chance of being atoned by the priests, according the stipulations of God’s Law and direction. Repentance meant nothing to Ahaz. Evil ran rampant in Judah with the introduction of even more ways to sin with disgusting and detestable behaviors. These extreme sins included sacrificing their own children to godless idols.
Ahaz and few other kings before him, ignored the directions of God’s Law completely. The results of ignoring God and His directions soon led His people being overrun by the enemy nations, held in captivity for a time by their own families of Israel for one reason—they rebelled against God. God was no longer their God by choice. The kings fostered this rebellion and led the people to sin against God, too. God, angered by their rebellion because of what they were giving up, waited for them to come back to Him. In the meantime, they lived with the consequences of life without God.
But his son who succeeded him, King Hezekiah was different…He read the directions!
2 Chronicles 29
Hezekiah Purifies the Temple
Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done.
3 In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the Lord and repaired them.4 He brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east side 5 and said: “Listen to me, Levites!Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary. 6 Our parents were unfaithful; they did evil in the eyes of the Lord our God and forsook him. They turned their faces away from the Lord’s dwelling place and turned their backs on him. 7 They also shut the doors of the portico and put out the lamps. They did not burn incense or present any burnt offerings at the sanctuary to the God of Israel. 8 Therefore, the anger of the Lord has fallen on Judah and Jerusalem; he has made them an object of dread and horror and scorn, as you can see with your own eyes. 9 This is why our fathers have fallen by the sword and why our sons and daughters and our wives are in captivity. 10 Now I intend to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us.11 My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before him and serve him, to minister before him and to burn incense.”
12 Then these Levites set to work:
from the Kohathites, Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah;
from the Merarites, Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel;
from the Gershonites, Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah;
13 from the descendants of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeiel;
from the descendants of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah;
14 from the descendants of Heman, Jehiel and Shimei;
from the descendants of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.
15 When they had assembled their fellow Levites and consecrated themselves, they went in to purify the temple of the Lord, as the king had ordered, following the word of the Lord. 16 The priests went into the sanctuary of the Lord to purify it. They brought out to the courtyard of the Lord’s temple everything unclean that they found in the temple of the Lord. The Levites took it and carried it out to the Kidron Valley. 17 They began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and by the eighth day of the month they reached the portico of the Lord. For eight more days they consecrated the temple of the Lord itself, finishing on the sixteenth day of the first month.
18 Then they went in to King Hezekiah and reported: “We have purified the entire temple of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the table for setting out the consecrated bread, with all its articles. 19 We have prepared and consecrated all the articles that King Ahaz removed in his unfaithfulness while he was king. They are now in front of the Lord’s altar.”
20 Early the next morning King Hezekiah gathered the city officials together and went up to the temple of the Lord.21 They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven male lambs and seven male goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary and for Judah. The king commanded the priests, the descendants of Aaron, to offer these on the altar of the Lord. 22 So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and splashed it against the altar; next they slaughtered the rams and splashed their blood against the altar; then they slaughtered the lambs and splashed their blood against the altar. 23 The goats for the sin offering were brought before the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands on them. 24 The priests then slaughtered the goats and presented their blood on the altar for a sin offering to atone for all Israel, because the king had ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.
25 He stationed the Levites in the temple of the Lord with cymbals, harps and lyres in the way prescribed by David and Gad the king’s seer and Nathan the prophet; this was commanded by the Lord through his prophets. 26 So the Levites stood ready with David’s instruments, and the priests with their trumpets.
27 Hezekiah gave the order to sacrifice the burnt offering on the altar. As the offering began, singing to the Lord began also, accompanied by trumpets and the instruments of David king of Israel. 28 The whole assembly bowed in worship, while the musicians played and the trumpets sounded. All this continued until the sacrifice of the burnt offering was completed.
29 When the offerings were finished, the king and everyone present with him knelt down and worshiped. 30 King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to praise the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness and bowed down and worshiped.
31 Then Hezekiah said, “You have now dedicated yourselves to the Lord. Come and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the temple of the Lord.” So the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all whose hearts were willing brought burnt offerings.
32 The number of burnt offerings the assembly brought was seventy bulls, a hundred rams and two hundred male lambs—all of them for burnt offerings to the Lord. 33 The animals consecrated as sacrifices amounted to six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep and goats. 34 The priests, however, were too few to skin all the burnt offerings; so their relatives the Levites helped them until the task was finished and until other priests had been consecrated, for the Levites had been more conscientious in consecrating themselves than the priests had been.35 There were burnt offerings in abundance, together with the fat of the fellowship offerings and the drink offerings that accompanied the burnt offerings.
So the service of the temple of the Lord was reestablished. 36 Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had brought about for his people, because it was done so quickly.
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
King Hezekiah, in a few short months, reestablished a relationship between God and His people because of his own holy relationship with God. Hezekiah followed God and desired to please him by knowing and obeying God’s Law of direction.
This king was different in every way. Hezekiah immediately went to work to destroy the pagan temples and altars that had become common in Judah. He reopened the doors of the temple in Jerusalem that had been slammed shut in anger and hate by his father. This king brought about a religious revival with a holy purpose—to restore the nation to God.
God does not tolerate compromise with the pagans. Nothing is to be added or left out concerning God’s Directions. We sometimes set aside God’s Directions because of our arrogant thinking that we know better without reading or obeying His direction; but the longer compromises go unchecked, the harder it becomes to turn back. Pride and arrogance are sins that create extreme ways to sin against God.
Hezekiah, king of Israel, stirrer of religious revival in the land, calls upon the people to abandon false gods and return to the true God. No more compromise! There is only One God. Worship Him alone. This was Hezekiah’s message. Return to God’s Law and obey what He says!
There is much more to come in God’s story of how He worked through the life of King Hezekiah. Stay tuned. But for now, know this about the man who turned the kingdom back to God; The name Hezekiah means “the Lord strengthens,” and King Hezekiah needed God’s strength to accomplish all that he did during his reign of twenty-nine years. This king did what was right and humbly walked with God—refreshing news, right?!
“The restoration began with the removal of the refuse. If we are to have revival in the Lord’s work, we must begin with cleansing. Over the years, individuals and churches can gradually accumulate a great deal of religious rubbish while ignoring the essentials of spiritual worship. We don’t experience God’s blessing by doing some unique and new thing but by returning to the old things and doing them well. If we confess our sins (7:14), light the lamps, burn the incense (a picture of prayer, Ps. 141:1, 2), and offer ourselves as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1, 2), the Lord will see and hear and will send His blessing.” –Warren Wiersbe, Wiersbe Study Bible
Lord,
Cleanse our hearts, remove all that does not belong. Renew our minds and transform our thinking to be more like you. Refresh our souls then with your new, tender mercies fresh each day. Continually restore the joy of your salvation at work within us. You in us and us in You. We draw closer to you when we read your directions each day, holding what you say close to our hearts.
I cannot imagine the troubles and trials that were avoided because of the prayers of my Grandma Kellerby who prayed daily for me. I admired her wisdom in asking for God’s protection over me. Did she know something my driving capabilities? Probably. As an eighteen-year-old who commuted 45 minutes from home daily to the university of choice to become a teacher, while holding down a part time job, I took risks in driving too fast down backroads to avoid the traffic so I could get there in 30 minutes or less! I confess this sin to all who think righteousness ends when we get behind the wheel of our vehicles. At that time in my life, leaving all that I knew was right and good for me and others on the road did not stop me for the thrill of making it to school in record time! These are thoughts of the young and foolhardy.
On my way to school, I saw more than one person fail to negotiate the infamous curve on this country road and end up in the ditch in front of a farmhouse. I guess they didn’t have a prayer warrior speaking to God on their behalf! Something within me told me to slow down for that obstacle! Mm. Seriously though, we need the wisdom of those who love us to intervene in prayer for us until we have the wisdom to pray asking for protection, wisdom, and guidance ourselves with a humbled trusting and obedient heart—not as one who will do anything to beat our previous times of arrival at our destination! Do not test the Lord, Your God!
We begin our study today with the foolhardy activities of King Ahaz. He not only “did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord” but pushed the limits of how many ways he could sin against God and his own family! How low into the disgusting ways of sin does he go? Friends, the king sacrificed his own children to gods of evil!
Our sin separates us from God who is perfect and holy and without sin. God, by His nature and character will not occupy the same space as sin. God will not abide in people who knowingly sin against Him. People who sin, therefore, forfeit His protection.
King Ahaz chose sins of evil over and against God. Because of this; he no longer has God’s Hand of protection over him and the people who sin with him. God’s love, compassion, provision, and protection is still within reach; but the king refused God. It was the King and the people who left God and moved out from underneath the shadow of his wings of protection! The young king’s rebellion against God will come at great cost. King Ahaz’s forefather, King David, a man after the heart of God, writes;
“Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the ocean depths. You care for people and animals alike, O Lord. How precious is your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.”—King David, Psalm 36:5-7, NLT
King Ahaz refuses God and all His benefits. Here’s what happened when he did…
2 Chronicles 28
Ahaz King of Judah
Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord.2 He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and also made idols for worshiping the Baals.3 He burned sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and sacrificed his children in the fire, engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 4 He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree.
5 Therefore the Lord his God delivered him into the hands of the king of Aram. The Arameans defeated him and took many of his people as prisoners and brought them to Damascus.
He was also given into the hands of the king of Israel, who inflicted heavy casualties on him. 6 In one day Pekah son of Remaliah killed a hundred and twenty thousand soldiers in Judah—because Judah had forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors. 7 Zikri, an Ephraimite warrior, killed Maaseiah the king’s son, Azrikam the officer in charge of the palace, and Elkanah, second to the king. 8 The men of Israel took captive from their fellow Israelites who were from Judah two hundred thousand wives, sons and daughters. They also took a great deal of plunder, which they carried back to Samaria.
9 But a prophet of the Lord named Oded was there, and he went out to meet the army when it returned to Samaria. He said to them, “Because the Lord, the God of your ancestors, was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand. But you have slaughtered them in a rage that reaches to heaven.10 And now you intend to make the men and women of Judah and Jerusalem your slaves. But aren’t you also guilty of sins against the Lord your God? 11 Now listen to me! Send back your fellow Israelites you have taken as prisoners, for the Lord’s fierce anger rests on you.”
12 Then some of the leaders in Ephraim—Azariah son of Jehohanan, Berekiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai—confronted those who were arriving from the war. 13 “You must not bring those prisoners here,” they said, “or we will be guilty before the Lord. Do you intend to add to our sin and guilt? For our guilt is already great, and his fierce anger rests on Israel.”
14 So the soldiers gave up the prisoners and plunder in the presence of the officials and all the assembly. 15 The men designated by name took the prisoners, and from the plunder they clothed all who were naked. They provided them with clothes and sandals, food and drink, and healing balm. All those who were weak they put on donkeys. So they took them back to their fellow Israelites at Jericho, the City of Palms, and returned to Samaria.
16 At that time King Ahaz sent to the kings of Assyria for help.17 The Edomites had again come and attacked Judah and carried away prisoners, 18 while the Philistines had raided towns in the foothills and in the Negev of Judah. They captured and occupied Beth Shemesh, Aijalon and Gederoth, as well as Soko, Timnah and Gimzo, with their surrounding villages. 19 The Lord had humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had promoted wickedness in Judah and had been most unfaithful to the Lord.20 Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came to him,but he gave him trouble instead of help.21 Ahaz took some of the things from the temple of the Lord and from the royal palace and from the officials and presented them to the king of Assyria, but that did not help him.
22 In his time of trouble King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the Lord.23 He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus, who had defeated him; for he thought, “Since the gods of the kings of Aram have helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me.”But they were his downfall and the downfall of all Israel.
24 Ahaz gathered together the furnishings from the temple of God and cut them in pieces. He shut the doors of the Lord’s temple and set up altars at every street corner in Jerusalem. 25 In every town in Judah he built high places to burn sacrifices to other gods and aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of his ancestors.
26 The other events of his reign and all his ways, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 27 Ahaz rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of Jerusalem, but he was not placed in the tombs of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son succeeded him as king.
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
Sins gives birth to more sin. Sin compounds sin. Sin exponentially produces more ways to sin. I think we get the picture, so I’ll stop. After reading this passage, you might be thinking like me, is there anyone in Judah who is committed to God and still worships Him alone?
Ahaz was the son of Jotham, a good king, and the father of Hezekiah, a very good king. Ahaz, however, was not a godly man or even a good man. King Ahaz’s sins against God were far reaching! He took all the sins of all the enemy nations around him and multiplied them! Instead of discovering and doing the will of God, Ahaz imitated the wicked kings of Israel and even the pagan practices of Assyria. He even adopted the horrible worship practices of the pagans and sacrificed his sons to a pagan gods such as Baal or Molech. Of course, this practice was clearly prohibited in the Law God gave to Moses and His people! See Leviticus 18:21; Deuteronomy 18:10. Sinning was the kings decision. Imagine the Enemy of God standing by proudly as the King self-destructs in front of him without God’s protection. But God still loves His people…that has not changed in this story of rebellion.
The Lord raised up a prophet named Obed in Israel who brought to light their own sins against God and reminded them that Judah and Israel were part of the same family! Making slaves of their own brothers and sisters was indeed against the Law of God. Remarkably the leaders of Israel listened and accepted God’s message! They repented and immediately changed their treatment of the prisoners. They clothed and took care of their injuries before returning them back to their homes! They were the first “Good Samaritans!”
The greatest sin of King Ahaz was to look for help in all the wrong places and put his faith in all the wrong people. Imitating evil as demonstrated by the aggressive Assyrians led to his downfall. The King, like us today, had two choices in life—he chose to be without protection of God. What is our response?
WITHOUT PROTECTION—To follow evil and be consumed with committing the sins of darkness which eventually leads to death
WITH DIVINE PROTECTION—To believe, follow, trust, and obey the One and Only God who knows all and is always “ready to help in times of trouble” with His Mighty Hand of protection in all circumstances. God is our Source of Life!
King David writes and sings of God’s protection! If only King Ahaz would have listened to his forefather’s songs of truth!
“God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea.” Psalm 46:1-2 NLT
David is making it clear that the Lord will be with us in ALL types and times of trouble. Go to God first in times of trouble and doubt with a repentant heart who seeks His will. God answers those whose hearts are committed to Him with his guidance and protection. God’s love for all He has created in his own image never changes and never fails in all of life’s circumstances. I’ve seen it with my own eyes!
Lord,
This passage is full of sin and the darkness that sinful behaviors cause to those who no longer seek you for help, wisdom and protection. It grieves our hearts but also reminds us that we too fall for the worry that sin breeds within us. Holy Spirit, thank you for bringing to our mind the Hope of heaven we have in Jesus. Father God, Your Love is unlike any other on earth. Your love drives out our fears of the unknown and secures our longing for protection when we seek you with all that is within us. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I will meditate on these words all day long.
“Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:28-31
Isaiah, prophet of God, seems to shout this message to encourage God’s people who live in peril consistently when Judah’s kings “did notdo what was right in the eyes of God” but instead influenced the people of their kingdoms to detestable sins that blocked their relationship with God. There were a few kings, like Jotham who we will read about today, who did what was right but failed to influencethe people they served to worship God. Jothan himself never went the Temple. The attitude seems to be a “live and let live” way of life that we often see in our world today.
But God who is faithful even when we are not, still fulfilled His promise. The Promise of God was still on God’s agenda from David, through Jotham’s reign and in the succeeding kings to come. That promise was Messiah come; Jesus, God’s own Son. Though under served and highly under influenced by kings born from in the line of David, the Promise of Messiah will be fulfilled from this line of descendants from David—as promised. “Have you never heard?” Trust God, He knows!
Fun Fact: Isaiah tells what God has told him to Jotham’s son, King Ahaz in a divine moment of The Promise to be born from the line of David!
“Now it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to make war against it, but could not prevail against it. 2 And it was told to the house of David, saying, “Syria’s forces are deployed in Ephraim.” So his heart and the heart of his people were moved as the trees of the woods are moved with the wind.
Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz…” –Isaiah 7:1-3
Isaiah obeys God and meets with King Ahaz who seeks answers for his war problems but receives instead news of the Promise of God who is the victor over all wars with evil! Go ahead, says Isaiah to King Ahaz, “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above.”
But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!”
Then he said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings.” Isaiah 7:11-16
At just the right time, God sent Isaiah with a message of hope, a promise, to King Ahaz. These were perilous days for the nation of Judah as Assyria, the enemy, had plans to overtake the nation of Judah. If Ahaz had believed God’s promise, he would have broken his alliance with the enemy, Assyria, and called the nation to prayer and praise, but the king refused to listen and continued in his unbelief. Realizing the weakness of the king’s faith, Isaiah offered to give a sign to encourage him, but Ahaz put on a pious front and still refused his offer. The people of God remained under influenced for faith in God. But the Promise is still to come. God is faithful and never fails to keep His promises—even when we are unfaithful to Him.
Warren Wiersbe, Bible Scholar, comments;
“The ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy is in our Lord Jesus Christ, who is “God with us” (see Matthew 1:18–25; Luke 1:31–35). The virgin birth of Christ is a key doctrine; for if Jesus Christ is not God come in sinless human flesh, then we have no Savior. Jesus had to be born of a virgin, apart from human generation, because He existed before His mother. He was not just born in this world; He came down from heaven into the world (John 3:13; 6:33, 38, 41, 42, 50, 51, 58). Jesus was sent by the Father and therefore came into the world having a human mother but not a human father (John 4:34; 5:23, 24, 30; 9:4).”—Wiersbe Study Bible
A time of great humiliation and suffering could have been avoided had the leaders trusted in the Lord and influenced the people to trust and obey God. Although King Jotham obeyed God, his subjects did not. It seems he never encouraged them to walk in God’s way.
God places people around us who can benefit from our influence. Hold that thought.
2 Chronicles 27
Jotham King of Judah
Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. His mother’s name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Uzziah had done, but unlike him he did not enter the temple of the Lord. The people, however, continued their corrupt practices. 3 Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the temple of the Lord and did extensive work on the wall at the hill of Ophel. 4 He built towns in the hill country of Judah and forts and towers in the wooded areas.
5 Jotham waged war against the king of the Ammonites and conquered them. That year the Ammonites paid him a hundred talents of silver, ten thousand cors of wheat and ten thousand cors of barley. The Ammonites brought him the same amount also in the second and third years.
6 Jotham grew powerful because he walked steadfastly before the Lord his God.
7 The other events in Jotham’s reign, including all his wars and the other things he did, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. 8 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. 9 Jotham rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. And Ahaz his son succeeded him as king.
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
Jesus was, is and always will be God’s Son sent to be the Savior of all who would believe in Him. “God with us” came down from heaven, to be born of a virgin and her espoused husband, experienced childhood, grew to be called the Son of Man, he who was without sin, and moved into the neighborhood of humanity. He came to seek and to save the lost but Jesus also demonstrated God’s love and compassion for all people “created in the image of God” to teach them who God really is while showing a weary world the love of God for all who received Him. Jesus, The Greatest Influencer of all times came down from heaven to a world in desperate need of a Savior and Lord!
“Have you never heard? Have you never understood…” are still the words of the prophets of God, also known as pastors and committed to God leaders of God’s church, called the bride of Christ by God! “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17
“…God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
But how will they know unless we who know Christ tell them?
“Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.
So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” Paul to the church, 2 Corinthians 5:14-21
“Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy…” Psalm 107:2 Speak Jesus and His message of reconciliation so others will know God, believe in His Son’s sacrifice and resurrection and be saved for eternal life, too!
Max Lucado writes;
“And so reads the list of Jesus’ not-so-great grandparents. Seems like the only common bond between this lot was a promise. A promise from heaven that God would use them to send his Son.
Why did God use these people? Didn’t have to. Could have just laid the Savior on a doorstep. Would have been simpler that way. And why does God tell us their stories? Why does God give us an entire testament of blunders and stumbles of his people?
Simple. He knew what you and I watched on the news last night. He knew you would fret. He knew I would worry. And he wants us to know that when the world goes wild, he stays calm.
Want proof? Read the last name on the genealogical list in Matthew 1. In spite of all the crooked halos and tasteless gambols of his people, the last name on the list is the first one promised—Jesus.
Period. No more names are listed. No more are needed. As if God is announcing to a doubting world, “See, I did it. Just like I said I would. The plan succeeded.”
The famine couldn’t starve it.
Four hundred years of Egyptian slavery couldn’t oppress it.
Wilderness wanderings couldn’t lose it.
Babylonian captivity couldn’t stop it.
Clay-footed pilgrims couldn’t spoil it.
The promise of the Messiah threads its way through 42 generations of rough-cut stones, forming a necklace fit for the King who came. Just as promised.
And the promise remains.
Those people who keep their faith until the end will be saved (see Mt 24:13), Joseph’s Child assures.
“In this world you will have trouble, but be brave! I have defeated the world” (Jn 16:33 NCV).
The engineer has not abandoned the train. Nuclear war is no threat to God. Yo-yo economies don’t intimidate the heavens. Immoral leaders have never derailed the plan.
God keeps his promise.
See for yourself. In the manger. He’s there.
See for yourself. In the tomb. He’s gone.
You can encourage other believers today! You can help unbelievers find Christ! How? Look for the hurting. Look for the lost. Watch for needs. Opportunities are plentiful. Accept the challenge of an opportunity and pray that God will help you be successful.” —Lucado, Encouraging Word Bible
Lord,
May these words linger on our hearts all day until we see the opportunities lying before us by you at your appointed time to help other as we tell your story so others will know and believe.
“Pride comes before the fall”—Proverb 16:18 Another translation adds the attitude before falling; “Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall. (NKJV)
Pride tarnishes all the good done through us by God when we think we did all by ourselves. Watch a toddler learning to walk. At first, toddlers cling tightly to the hand of the one keeping them upright and steady in their attempts to walk. They learn soon to reach out to things in the room they think are stable and strong enough to help them rise up and walk on their own. Later the learn to walk on their own—unassisted. They walk confidently. When a parent tries to lead them from danger or a fall; they arrogantly tell them, “No, I do it myself.” The toddler wants to not only walk but run without holding anyone’s hand. We all know what happens next—they fall.
Sometimes in our growing and maturing faith, we act like a bunch of spiritual toddlers! We become so confident in our walk with God that we think we are ready to do life without Him. The “God, I’ve got this” pride enters in like an unwanted disease. The symptoms of arrogance and self-righteousness are readily seen by God before we notice the infection spreading in our hearts, minds, and souls. Others will notice but God sees it first as He sees us from the inside out. “Haughty,” arrogant overconfident spirits soon take over our being and focus on God blurs in the distance. God stands nearby. God didn’t move but we have walked away from his assistance in our walk. Then we fall.
Our passage today speaks of Uzziah, the king of Judah, who did what was right in the eyes of God—until pride took over his being. With God’s leading he did great works for God’s people and stabilized the kingdom. But all that good was tarnished by the disease of pride from the inside out. Then the disease of leprosy was allowed to affict him from the outside in. Read to the end for the results of pride.
2 Chronicles 26
Uzziah King of Judah
Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. 2 He was the one who rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah after Amaziah rested with his ancestors.
3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jekoliah; she was from Jerusalem. 4 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. 5 He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success.
6 He went to war against the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh and Ashdod. He then rebuilt towns near Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. 7 God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabs who lived in Gur Baal and against the Meunites. 8 The Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread as far as the border of Egypt, because he had become very powerful.
9 Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate and at the angle of the wall, and he fortified them. 10 He also built towers in the wilderness and dug many cisterns, because he had much livestock in the foothills and in the plain. He had people working his fields and vineyards in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil.
11 Uzziah had a well-trained army, ready to go out by divisions according to their numbers as mustered by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the officer under the direction of Hananiah, one of the royal officials. 12 The total number of family leaders over the fighting men was 2,600. 13 Under their command was an army of 307,500 men trained for war, a powerful force to support the king against his enemies. 14 Uzziah provided shields, spears, helmets, coats of armor, bows and slingstones for the entire army.15 In Jerusalem he made devices invented for use on the towers and on the corner defenses so that soldiers could shoot arrows and hurl large stones from the walls. His fame spread far and wide, for he was greatly helped until he became powerful.
16 But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.17 Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the Lord followed him in. 18 They confronted King Uzziah and said, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the Lord God.”
19 Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the Lord’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead. 20 When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the Lord had afflicted him.
21 King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house—leprous, and banned from the temple of the Lord. Jotham his son had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land.
22 The other events of Uzziah’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 23 Uzziah rested with his ancestors and was buried near them in a cemetery that belonged to the kings, for people said, “He had leprosy.” And Jotham his son succeeded him as king.
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
In the end, the King who did great things by God’s Mighty Hand, was only remember as the king who had leprosy. How sad…pride brings sadness.
I’m now recalling how Jesus answered and dealt with another proud, rich young ruler, a ruler similar to Uzziah. He came to Jesus honestly, but with hints of pride, and asked;
“Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”
“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”
“Which ones?” he inquired.
Jesus replied, “’You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”
“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.” Matthew 19:16:22
Was the rich young ruler hoping to buy his way into heaven by writing a sizable check as a donation to Jesus and his group of followers? Would that be good enough? Wait, Jesus, you want all from me? Mm, that’s a bit too pricey for me—beyond any tax break you could give me. But sadness comes refusing God. “I’ve got this God,” is the plight of many believers and the not yet believers of Jesus.
Later, Jesus will explain this conversation to his disciples—
“Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne,you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyonewho has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.” Matthew 19:23-30
Pride has no place in our humbled walk with God in His Kingdom.
Pride that states confidently, “I do it myself,” leads quickly to fall. Some of us who fall, humbly call out to God, “Lord, help me.” But others of us act like toddlers in defiance of the fall. We just sit and stew in our tears, wondering what went wrong when we were doing so good. Pride blames everyone but us. Pride tarnishes all the good achieved before the fall because we think the good came all from our own strengths. Pride, in fact, is our greatest weakness!
This is why the “pride proverb” is so famous!“All have sinned and fall short,” writes Paul to the church and then and speaks to us today! (Romans 3:23) It is a sin not to give God all the glory for all that is good! Pride is a sin that must be removed! Pride is removed only by repentance to God in the Name of Jesus!
This proverbial wise advice is for all people and is said by believers and unbelievers alike. But it specifically warns us all who have had the holy privilege to be a part of doing great works for the good of all by God leading, help, protection, and provision to stay humble, recognizing that it was God who did it through us as we held His Hand of wisdom and guidance. Our only power to do good comes from God who is good through is Holy Spirit living and working in us. Listen to Him!
Lord,
I repent of pride to you right now. All I am, all I have I give back to you who gave life to me. I’m yours. I offer my life as an offering to you today. Guide me in all I think, say, and do so that others will know you, too. Cleanse our hearts, remove all pride and all affects of this disease. Renew our minds, refresh our souls with your new mercies. Continually restore the joy of your salvation at work within us. And renew a right spirit within me.
Just yesterday we reverently sang; “You can have it all” in worship to our Lord. But I confess that when I sing the chorus; I wonder if the words are still too inadequate for the One who already owns it all. Are the words merely mankind’s attempt to give God permission to bless us in our feeble surrender in song? It feels good but is it good? The intended message is surrender. But even in surrender, God seeks wholehearted surrender, the kind of surrender where there is not even a hint of our arrogant thinking of “oh how noble and good we are to sing these very words to Him” or to think “how pleasing we must be to God, blessing Him like this with our song of surrender.” Especially when after the service is over; we return to our “regularly schedule programs” of self.
Believers who go deeper and wholeheartedly into a posture of humbled surrender — weep. This outpouring of emotion is because wholehearted believers realize the true cost to not only believe Jesus but in the following of Jesus which involves ALL our hearts, minds, and souls—all that is within our “created in His own image” being! Wholehearted surrender comes because of realizing the fullness and significance of what God has surrendered for us—Jesus, His Son, a part of Himself which is more than enough! “We love Him because He first loved us,” John teaches us. (1 John 4:19) We also know that God created Love. God demonstrated His Love in surrender of His Son to save us.
Yes, “In the beginning, God…” is the beginning of God’s Story and Plan that includes surrender by Him for us. When we realize this truth, only then can we begin to grasp the depth of Real Love, created by God, Who is Love. Because of Love; God surrendered His One and Only Son to die for us because of this wholehearted Love for us!
God created ALL. God owns all. He created all that is within us, surrounding us and is over and under us. We are standing on the ground God created to hold us physically upright. We are spiritually standing wholeheartedly on the Truth Who has all Authority. We are redeemed and blessed with life eternal because God created the Way back to Him through believing in His Son, Jesus! God is Sovereign because God alone reigns over all He created and owns. Yes, the first four words of His Word speaks volumes about God; “In the beginning God…”
Everything in and on earth belongs to the Maker who gives life to new born infants who God knew in the wombs of their moms and who gave each one purpose to walk with Him! King David, the descendant of the new king of Judah, sang wholeheartedly;
“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.
Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.
They will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, God of Jacob.
Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty—he is the King of glory. –David, Psalm 24
How it must grieve the heart of God for us to come to him with half-hearted surrender to His wholehearted redemption of us.
Amaziah, descendent of David, new King of Judah is described as, “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord,but not wholeheartedly.” Read on to see the results of half-hearted thinking followed by arrogant behaviors. Spoiler alert—It’s not good.
2 Chronicles 25
Amaziah King of Judah
Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan; she was from Jerusalem. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly.3 After the kingdom was firmly in his control, he executed the officials who had murdered his father the king. 4 Yet he did not put their children to death, but acted in accordance with what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the Lord commanded: “Parents shall not be put to death for their children, nor children be put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin.”[a]
5 Amaziah called the people of Judah together and assigned them according to their families to commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He then mustered those twenty years old or more and found that there were three hundred thousand men fit for military service, able to handle the spear and shield. 6 He also hired a hundred thousand fighting men from Israel for a hundred talents of silver.
7 But a man of God came to him and said, “Your Majesty, these troops from Israel must not march with you, for the Lord is not with Israel—not with any of the people of Ephraim. 8 Even if you go and fight courageously in battle, God will overthrow you before the enemy, for God has the power to help or to overthrow.”
9 Amaziah asked the man of God, “But what about the hundred talents I paid for these Israelite troops?”
The man of God replied, “The Lord can give you much more than that.”
10 So Amaziah dismissed the troops who had come to him from Ephraim and sent them home. They were furious with Judah and left for home in a great rage.
11 Amaziah then marshaled his strength and led his army to the Valley of Salt, where he killed ten thousand men of Seir. 12 The army of Judah also captured ten thousand men alive, took them to the top of a cliff and threw them down so that all were dashed to pieces.
13 Meanwhile the troops that Amaziah had sent back and had not allowed to take part in the war raided towns belonging to Judah from Samaria to Beth Horon. They killed three thousand people and carried off great quantities of plunder.
14 When Amaziah returned from slaughtering the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the people of Seir. He set them up as his own gods, bowed down to them and burned sacrifices to them. 15 The anger of the Lord burned against Amaziah, and he sent a prophet to him, who said, “Why do you consult this people’s gods, which could not save their own people from your hand?”
16 While he was still speaking, the king saidto him, “Have we appointed you an adviser to the king? Stop! Why be struck down?”
So the prophet stopped but said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.”
17 After Amaziah king of Judah consulted his advisers, he sent this challenge to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel: “Come, let us face each other in battle.”
18 But Jehoash king of Israel replied to Amaziah king of Judah: “A thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ Then a wild beast in Lebanon came along and trampled the thistle underfoot. 19 You say to yourself that you have defeated Edom, and now you are arrogant and proud. But stay at home! Why ask for trouble and cause your own downfall and that of Judah also?”
20 Amaziah, however, would not listen, for God so worked that he might deliver them into the hands of Jehoash, because they sought the gods of Edom. 21 So Jehoash king of Israel attacked. He and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other at Beth Shemesh in Judah. 22 Judah was routed by Israel, and every man fled to his home. 23 Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh. Then Jehoash brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate—a section about four hundred cubits long. 24 He took all the gold and silver and all the articles found in the temple of God that had been in the care of Obed-Edom, together with the palace treasures and the hostages, and returned to Samaria.
25 Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel. 26 As for the other events of Amaziah’s reign, from beginning to end, are they not written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel? 27 From the time that Amaziah turned away from following the Lord, they conspired against him in Jerusalem and he fled to Lachish, but they sent men after him to Lachish and killed him there. 28 He was brought back by horse and was buried with his ancestors in the City of Judah.
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
Both Amaziah and the next king, Uzziah who we will read about tomorrow, were God-fearing kings. As long as they surrender to God and acknowledged God’s part in their achievements, they prospered. When ambition and pride caused them to forget God, and lean on their own understanding of how to lead the people of Judah; they paid the price for their sin.
Pride that lies within our sin nature is an old tool of our Enemy that he uses tirelessly. I believe Satan trains battalions of demons to whisper one question in our ears daily: “What are people thinking of you?” Pride causes us to set ourselves up as gods, thinking we own all that we have accumulated and therefore decide how to use it for our glory and position in life. Because of pride, we sin without regard to God’s standards of holiness. When our pride overtakes our being there is no longer any room for God. Surrender no longer becomes a part of our vocabulary or our response to God who gave His all for us.
Those who deliver the Good News message of Jesus each week from the platforms are tempted most with pride—especially when beginning to make a difference for Christ! The devil hates success in God’s church! So, evil tempts God’s servants with pride that seeks ambition. It creeps in slowly but soon sweeps away our wholehearted devotion to God. Success often tries to squeeze God out of our minds. So, we must guard our hearts like precious treasures. We must daily ask God to renew our minds, transform our thinking and our attitudes while refreshing our souls with a reset of His mercies as our default.
Resist pride like the plague. Wholeheartedly focus on Christ in surrender to Him. “Here’s how” says Paul to the church;
“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” Romans 12:1-2, MSG
Paul explains true surrender of self to God, the One who truly has it all;
“Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.” Romans 12:3, MSG
Amaziah was not wholehearted in his relationship to the Lord, and this revealed itself in the way he argued with the prophet about the will of God. The king was unwilling to send the mercenaries home because it would have meant forfeiting the 7,500 pounds of silver he had paid to the king of Israel. Amaziah was counting the cost and adjusting his priorities, hoping he could change God’s mind. The prophet wisely replied that God could give him much more if he would only trust Him and obey His will.
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”—Jesus, Matthew 6:33
“You are my strength when I am weak, You are the treasure that I seek You are my all in all I’m seeking You like a precious jewel, Lord, to give up I’d be a fool You are my all in all…
Taking my cross my sin my shame, Raising again I praise Your name You are my all in all When I fall down You pick me up, When I run dry You fill my cup You are my all in all…”
(Composer, Dennis Jernigan, 1991 Shepherd'’s, Heart Music, Inc. (Admin. by PraiseCharts Publishing, Inc.)
“I surrender all, I surrender all; All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all…”(Judson W. Van DeVenter, composer, 1896)
Lord,
I surrender all that is within me for all you want to do and through me as your servant. I’m yours. And I’m listening wholeheartedly. I’m singing the Song of the Redeemer!
From the womb to the tomb we will hear a multitude of voices flow in and out of our ears. The voice we depend on at birth was heard from the womb with joyful anticipation of our birth. We loved that voice first who held and protected us in her womb—the voice of mom. We also heard and recognized a deeper voice, too. The voice our dad was distinctive, deeper and would get our attention quickly when we were called to attention by all the names given to us at birth! Other voices were heard as other family members leaned over the crib to see us for the first time. Later, voices of certain relatives will feel it is there job to speak their voice over us to guide us to their ways while others voices will encourage us in the ways of the Lord they trust.
A time will come five years or so later when we enter a new world of voices—School. We are brought by the hand of our mom or dad into a rectangle room with colorful posters. We hear lots of other voices of children like us with a grown up’s voice guiding the chaos into learning things we didn’t know before coming. It is the teacher’s voice we learn to trust and rely on most.
From the elementary classroom we move on to enter a larger place with even more voices—Middle and High School. There are many more classrooms where we rotate with all the other voices of adolescents to hear and learn from the voices of many teachers and administration who teach a plethora of information every day, all day long, until we graduate. These voices add to those of our parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and all other family members who feel they can contribute to our lives with their voice. From graduation, we learn that there are many voices who speak many opinions on life either in a college setting and/or in the workplace. Voices everywhere have something to say. Who do we listen to now?
Jehoiada, the priest, was the voice of God to Joash. From infancy, Jehoiada was also the voice he heard as a male father figure. The only other voice he heard came from his nurse who cared for all his physical needs. His own father, and former king of Judah was killed along with the rest of his family by the enemy. God led Jehoiada to quickly hide and protect the infant because God had promised that a person born in the hereditary line of David would always be placed on the throne as king. God kept His promise. Jehoiada and the nurse trusted God’s voice and became part of the Promise!
2 Chronicles 24
Joash Repairs the Temple
Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba. 2 Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years of Jehoiada the priest.3 Jehoiada chose two wives for him, and he had sons and daughters.
4 Some time later Joash decided to restore the temple of the Lord. 5 He called together the priests and Levites and said to them, “Go to the towns of Judah and collect the money due annually from all Israel, to repair the temple of your God. Do it now.” But the Levites did not act at once.
6 Therefore the king summoned Jehoiada the chief priest and said to him, “Why haven’t you required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax imposed by Moses the servant of the Lord and by the assembly of Israel for the tent of the covenant law?”
7 Now the sons of that wicked woman Athaliah had broken into the temple of God and had used even its sacred objects for the Baals.
8 At the king’s command, a chest was made and placed outside, at the gate of the temple of the Lord. 9 A proclamation was then issued in Judah and Jerusalem that they should bring to the Lord the tax that Moses the servant of God had required of Israel in the wilderness. 10 All the officials and all the people brought their contributions gladly, dropping them into the chest until it was full.11 Whenever the chest was brought in by the Levites to the king’s officials and they saw that there was a large amount of money, the royal secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and carry it back to its place. They did this regularly and collected a great amount of money. 12 The king and Jehoiada gave it to those who carried out the work required for the temple of the Lord. They hired masons and carpenters to restore the Lord’s temple, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the temple.
13 The men in charge of the work were diligent, and the repairs progressed under them. They rebuilt the temple of God according to its original design and reinforced it.14 When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made articles for the Lord’s temple: articles for the service and for the burnt offerings, and also dishes and other objects of gold and silver. As long as Jehoiada lived, burnt offerings were presented continually in the temple of the Lord.
15 Now Jehoiada was old and full of years, and he died at the age of a hundred and thirty. 16 He was buried with the kings in the City of David, because of the good he had done in Israel for God and his temple.
The Wickedness of Joash
17 After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them.18 They abandoned the temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols. Because of their guilt, God’s anger came on Judah and Jerusalem. 19 Although the Lord sent prophets to the people to bring them back to him, and though they testified against them, they would not listen.
20 Then the Spirit of God came on Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you disobey the Lord’s commands? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.’”
21 But they plotted against him, and by order of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple. 22 King Joash did not remember the kindness Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had shown him but killed his son, who said as he lay dying,“May the Lord see this and call you to account.”
23 At the turn of the year, the army of Aram marched against Joash; it invaded Judah and Jerusalem and killed all the leaders of the people. They sent all the plunder to their king in Damascus. 24 Although the Aramean army had come with only a few men, the Lord delivered into their hands a much larger army. Because Judah had forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, judgment was executed on Joash.25 When the Arameans withdrew, they left Joash severely wounded. His officials conspired against him for murdering the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they killed him in his bed. So he died and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
26 Those who conspired against him were Zabad, son of Shimeath an Ammonite woman, and Jehozabad, son of Shimrith a Moabite woman. 27 The account of his sons, the many prophecies about him, and the record of the restoration of the temple of God are written in the annotations on the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son succeeded him as king.
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
As long as Joash listening to the voice of Jehoiada the priest, great things of God happened under the young king’s leadership. Worship of God alone was restored worship in the temple and the altars of Baal were destroyed. But when Jehoiada voice ceased; Joash turned his back on God to endure God’s discipline and punishment.
Surrounded by voices who honored God, chosen by the priest, Jehoiada who heard the voice of God; Joash made God-honoring decisions. When his counselor’s voice ceased; Josiah listened to everyone around him who wanted to return to evil ways. Joash didn’t replace the Voice who kept him safe and secure. He chose the voice of evil who led him to selfish evil deeds of darkness. God gave Joash many chances to repent. But Joash would not listen to the Voice he needed to hear most of all.
Max Lucado writes of choosing the right voice;
“Ever wonder why there were two crosses next to Christ? Why not six or ten? Ever wonder why Jesus was in the center? Why not on the far right or far left? Could it be that the two crosses on the hill symbolize one of God’s greatest gifts?The gift of choice.
The two criminals have so much in common. Convicted by the same system. Condemned to the same death. Surrounded by the same crowd. Equally close to the same Jesus. In fact, they begin with the same sarcasm: “In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him” (Matthew 27:44).
But one changed. “Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise’ ” (Luke 23:42–43).
Think about the thief who repented. Though we know little about him, we know this: He made some bad mistakes in life. He chose the wrong crowd, the wrong morals, the wrong behavior. But would you consider his life a waste? Is he spending eternity reaping the fruit of all the bad choices he made? No, just the opposite. He is enjoying the fruit of the one good choice he made. In the end all his bad choices were redeemed by a solitary good one.” Lucado, The Encouraging Word Bible
All of us have listened to the wrong voices and followed those voices into a bondage of bad circumstances that overwhelm us as a result. But that does not have to be the end of our story!
We have a choice still to listen to the Voice who gives us a new start with a new life that lasts for eternity. Listen to Him! Love Him back, trust His voice, ready to follow the Voice who knows our name and calls to us to follow with humbled obedience! This Voice of choice is filled with compassion, love, mercy, and grace. This Voice listens to our voice of repentance with pure joy and immediately cleanse our hearts of all that does not belong there.
This Voice goes to work to renew our minds, training us to think more like He thinks. His Voice calms and soothes us with peace unlike all other voices of this world in good times and in times of challenge. God’s Voice called His Holy Spirit then becomes a forever Counselor for life who leads us to Truth and all that is holy! Listen to God—the Voice of Choice for abundant living that leads to eternal life. It begins with our voice of sincere surrender to Him.
May God be our Voice of Choice forever and ever, Amen! God never fails!
THE REST OF THE STORY—
Jehoiada died at the advanced age of one hundred and thirty. He was so beloved by the people that he was buried with the kings. But when Jehoiada passed and his voice no longer heard; King Joash listened to the voices of evil. He had two choices: The voice of God or the voice of evil. He chose evil. His behaviors soon reflected his true faith. This abandoning of faith the fault of Jehoiada, for the high priest had faithfully taught Joash the Scriptures. The problem was Joash’s shallow faith and his desire to please the voices of all the other leaders of the land, “the leaders of Judah” who visited Joash and asked him to be more lenient in matters of religion (vv. 17-18). By listening to his voices of choice over God’s Voice; idolatry, once again, moved mightily into Judah and Jerusalem.
A good beginning is no guarantee of a good ending. King Joash had every encouragement to become a godly man, but he didn’t take advantage of his opportunities by taking God’s truth into his heart. God spoke through his prophets to warn Joash—but he would not listen. King Joash even plotted with his other voices of choice to have Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, stoned to death because he rebuked the king for his sins. Imagine murdering the son of the very people who saved your life!
Following the wrong voice leads only to despair, deception, destruction, which ends in death forever. Choose your influencing voices wisely! Above all however, may our Voice of Choice always be the One who protects, provides, and redeems.
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.”—Jesus, John 10:27-28
Lord,
May we be the ones who hear your Voice with understanding so that we may tell others what you have said to us so they will know and listen to your voice, too.
There was once a woman who came to our church with her three young boys. She was a relative of a family who were faithful members and attenders. At first, all seemed well. Her husband come later and gave his life to Jesus, too. This family was loved well because that’s what our church did best—love and accept each other well.
Being a church around hundred in attendance; we also knew each other well. We loved and supported each other through challenging times and in good times of celebrations of marriages, births, graduations, and our milestones in life. We were truly family. Others saw the love of Christ in our church which spread to our workplaces and they began to come, too. As the church grew in number, however, evil reared its ugly head to cause a batte of division that no one saw coming.
The woman who openly and emotionally showed her love for Jesus in very demonstrative ways began to become close to the pastor, not in a relationship but with manipulation that gave her more control than necessary in leadership. She would then infiltrate every group from young to old with her influence. I was in youth group at the time as a growing leader, mentored by our current devoted youth leader. I had grown up in the church and was a strong believer in Jesus. I began to notice how the woman influenced the kids in our once strong, tight-knit group of teens who loved each other well with undertones of exclusion and division. Something’s wrong, I thought but being inexperienced I couldn’t quite put my finger on it; but I knew this woman was the one causing the divisions among the group who held each other in high esteem to a group that was being torn apart by undertones of gossip.
The woman was popular among those she complimented highly; but was feared by those who discerned trouble and saw what was happening among God’s people who once loved each other well. The pastor defended her because she told him how underappreciated he was by the church who supported him. Without going into any more details behind the scenes where evil does its best work; all this led to our church spitting painfully into two factions. One Sunday morning, the pastor left a letter in the lobby telling of all the people he was taking with him. He and his new flock led by the woman also took furniture and some supplies from our church to start their new church a few miles away.
This was a devasting blow to my family. It affected my life personally in many ways as a teen getting ready to graduate high school. Interestingly enough, the woman rarely tried to influence me, in fact she avoided me. My parents and grandparents, all who chose to stay behind and not go with the pastor, and even fringe attenders were also devasted and very confused by these actions. What happened left those left behind in despair with much confusion. How could this happen? Why did it happen? God, what’s nest?
What I once knew as our church, a loving, supportive and nurturing group of people who loved God and who personally formed and shaped my life to believe, trust, and obey Jesus alone was now a smaller group, weakened by gossip and slander. At first, we felt like casualties of the battle between good and evil. We needed to heal and God provided but the scars remained to remind us to always and continually to “guard our hearts” and stay alert always. Although, weak God’s strength in us prevailed. Peace, that had eluded us before now came from the departure of who was driven by evil. God was still in charge. He had not given up His authority. God even taught us to pray for our “enemies” and forgive them.
A few years later, the rogue church plant and our church would meet as one in Christ, giving all glory to God. Only God can turn our battles with evil, meant for harm for His Body of believers, into something for our good while declaring His glory! The woman departed eventually. God brought healing to families in the churches that were also torn apart. As a church, we learned that we had become complacent. God used the schemes of evil to teach us more about how God works along with a “higher” education about how our real Enemy, not of flesh and blood, works among gullible people whose hearts are tuned to self. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, says Paul who convicts us to return to our first love, God, who sent His Son to save us. We learned that what seems wrong should be not be dismissed or ignored; but prayed over, asking for God’s spirit of discernment—which He will provide.
But when evil is left unchecked, as in the case of Israel in our reading today; God intervenes in ways the people could not have imagined or dreamed of—and when He did there was much rejoicing when evil was overcome by God in Victory. Yes, God will always have the final say.
This is the story of God through Jehoiada who “showed his strength.” Jehoiada who trusted God became the priest who protected Joash in infancy and then brought him out to be the new King of Judah at just the right time. Joash was seven years old. Then Evil reared its ugly head through a woman called Athaliah who thought she was in charge. I’m not making this stuff up! Read on!
2 Chronicles 23
In the seventh year Jehoiada showed his strength.He made a covenant with the commanders of units of a hundred: Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zikri. 2 They went throughout Judah and gathered the Levites and the heads of Israelite families from all the towns. When they came to Jerusalem, 3 the whole assembly made a covenant with the king at the temple of God.
Jehoiada said to them, “The king’s son shall reign, as the Lord promised concerning the descendants of David.4 Now this is what you are to do: A third of you priests and Levites who are going on duty on the Sabbath are to keep watch at the doors, 5 a third of you at the royal palace and a third at the Foundation Gate, and all the others are to be in the courtyards of the temple of the Lord. 6 No one is to enter the temple of the Lord except the priests and Levites on duty; they may enter because they are consecrated, but all the others are to observe the Lord’s command not to enter. 7 The Levites are to station themselves around the king, each with weapon in hand. Anyone who enters the temple is to be put to death. Stay close to the king wherever he goes.”
8 The Levites and all the men of Judah did just as Jehoiada the priest ordered. Each one took his men—those who were going on duty on the Sabbath and those who were going off duty—for Jehoiada the priest had not released any of the divisions. 9 Then he gave the commanders of units of a hundred the spears and the large and small shields that had belonged to King David and that were in the temple of God. 10 He stationed all the men, each with his weapon in his hand, around the king—near the altar and the temple, from the south side to the north side of the temple.
11 Jehoiada and his sons brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him; they presented him with a copy of the covenant and proclaimed him king. They anointed him and shouted, “Long live the king!”
12 When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and cheering the king, she went to them at the temple of the Lord. 13 She looked, and there was the king, standing by his pillar at the entrance. The officers and the trumpeters were beside the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and musicians with their instruments were leading the praises. Then Athaliah tore her robes and shouted,“Treason! Treason!”
14 Jehoiada the priest sent out the commanders of units of a hundred, who were in charge of the troops, and said to them: “Bring her out between the ranks and put to the sword anyone who follows her.” For the priest had said, “Do not put her to death at the temple of the Lord.” 15 So they seized her as she reached the entrance of the Horse Gate on the palace grounds, and there they put her to death.
16 Jehoiada then made a covenant that he, the people and the king would be the Lord’s people.17 All the people went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars and idols and killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars.
18 Then Jehoiada placed the oversight of the temple of the Lord in the hands of the Levitical priests, to whom David had made assignments in the temple, to present the burnt offerings of the Lord as written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and singing, as David had ordered. 19 He also stationed gatekeepers at the gates of the Lord’s temple so that no one who was in any way unclean might enter.
20 He took with him the commanders of hundreds, the nobles, the rulers of the people and all the people of the land and brought the king down from the temple of the Lord. They went into the palace through the Upper Gate and seated the king on the royal throne. 21 All the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was calm, because Athaliah had been slain with the sword.
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
Background information: Here is what’s at stake. Jehoiada, Jehoshabeath and the boy’s nurse had the patience to wait for God’s timing to bring Joash out of hiding. The prophet Isaiah writes; “Whoever believes will not act hastily” (Isaiah 28:16). Wait for God’s order to move!
God is and always will be in control with authority over all He has created. In His gracious providence, the Lord watched over the child, Joash, as well as the three people who knew who he was and where he was. If Queen Athaliah had known what they were doing, she would have killed them along with the prince! God knows that!
Do we really realize that God actually knows (more than we do) what we are going through, at any given moment, and is already working on our behalf? The more we realize this truth results in less worry and greater our trust our God who knows! Wow, can we truly wrap our minds around who God is? “Oh what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!” is the hymn of my childhood that comes to mind right now. Truly, what a friend we have in Jesus!
What a glorious day when everybody was in place, Jehoiada brought out the closely guarded seven-year-old king and presented him to the people. Jehoiada put the crown on Joash’s head and gave him a copy of the law of God that he was to obey. The high priest anointed him, and the people joyfully welcomed him as their ruler. “Long live the king” is literally “Let the king live!” The people knew the Enemy could take his life!
Here’s a beautiful parallel of thought that declares the sovereignty of God;
God’s covenant promise to put one of David’s descendants on the throne of Judah was fulfilled yet again! God never fails! This parallels God’s timing in sending his Son to earth to redeem us; “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,” Galatians 4:4 God knows when.
Israel was a theocracy, and God was their King.The king ruled as God’s chosen representative, and the people obeyed the king as they would obey God. That’s why it was necessary that both the people and the king affirm their allegiance to one another and to the Lord. God made this covenant with Israel at Mount Sinai as their ancestors swore allegiance to the Lord and His Word. (Exodus 18-24). The Psalmist writes a song for this moment;
“He has revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel. He has done this for no other nation; they do not know his laws. Praise the Lord.” Psalm 147:19-20
God put Jehoiada in the right place at the right time—isn’t that just like God who knows? This man of great faith was given great strength, wisdom, and knowledge as he obeyed God. With diligence, he hid the infant Joash until God told him to bring him out to be anointed as king. We are minded of Moses’ sister, Miriam who stood watch over her infant brother, placed in the river of protection until God provided a secure way out of being killed so Moses could later lead God’s people out of bondage. God knows and His timing is perfect in every way.
And remember how many times Jesus, God’s One and Only Son was protected from murder until the time was right for the Promise of God to redeem the world to be fulfilled in Jesus!
There is no one like our God. Trust God, He knows what He is doing!
Lord,
What a path you took us on today to help us understand how much You know, love, and care for us! The Truth is—YOU know what you are doing and when it is best to do it. You are God—we are not. We must trust and obey You for there truly is no other way to Truth but to trust and obey! Help us, Lord when we doubt and fall. Pick us up and place us back on higher ground thinking and behaving with the guidance of your Holy Spirit.
The phrase, “the sins of the father are visited upon the children,” is a proverb meaning that a parent’s bad actions or mistakes can cause suffering for their children. The saying originates from biblical passages in Exodus and Deuteronomy, where God states that he will punish the iniquity of parents on their children, but in the context of idolatry and other severe evil transgressions. Sin habits must be removed.
As humans, God has given each one of us the freedom to choose who we believe and how we will respond as we live our lives. When our choices of bad behaviors turn on us and we fall; we want to blame someone else. But in reality, we can’t just blame mom and dad for our own sins that bring us down even if they committed the same sins themselves. We can’t even blame the devil with the excuse; “The devil made me do it!” Each person is created in the image of God with the choice to love, trust and obey God or not, and continue the cycle of sin.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17
This is God’s Plan that breaks the cycle of sin within us when we believe in Jesus who paid the debt for our sin once and for all. This is a demonstration of the love and power of God who can do more for and in us than we can do for ourselves. Trust Him!
So, we learn that the cycle of sin in a family can be broken by our Merciful Father who is ready to help, heal the brokenness caused by sin, forgive, and even remove and forget our sins when repented in Jesus Name. I’ve seen it with my own eyes in my own family and in the families of those we have ministered to and taught in public schools over the years. Jesus changes everything and breaks every chain of the sin cycle!
When we fall humbly to our knees seeking God to forgive—He does! When we ask for His wisdom and power to transform who we were to a person who trusts Him—He will! But it is up to us to make the first move to Him with a heart that desires to leave the cycle of sin that is going nowhere. We must reach up and grab the Hand of the Master who rescues us and gives us purpose and meaning and takes us everywhere we truly want to be! With expectant Hope, our God takes us on new adventures of righteousness with Him!
The sins of the father are visited on their sons and daughters in the divided kingdom of Israel. Jehoram was succeeded by his son Ahaziah, who was also part of the Ahab clan—his mother, Athaliah, was Ahab’s daughter. Ahaziah joined with his uncle, King Joram, to take Ramoth Gilead from Hazael, king of Aram, and there Joram was wounded. Sins of violence seem to be in control of Israel and Judah.
Ah, but on the horizon is coming a new king in Judah, born from the line of David, who will bring God’s people back to Him. His name is Joash. Read on…this is good!
2 Chronicles 22
Ahaziah King of Judah
The people of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, Jehoram’s youngest son, king in his place, since the raiders, who came with the Arabs into the camp, had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign.
2 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri.
3 He too followed the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother encouraged him to act wickedly. 4 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done, for after his father’s death they became his advisers, to his undoing. 5 He also followed their counsel when he went with Joram son of Ahab king of Israel to wage war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth Gilead. The Arameans wounded Joram; 6 so he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds they had inflicted on him at Ramoth in his battle with Hazael king of Aram.
Then Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to Jezreel to see Joram son of Ahab because he had been wounded.
7 Through Ahaziah’s visit to Joram, God brought about Ahaziah’s downfall. When Ahaziah arrived, he went out with Joram to meet Jehu son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab. 8 While Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he found the officials of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s relatives, who had been attending Ahaziah, and he killed them. 9 He then went in search of Ahaziah, and his men captured him while he was hiding in Samaria. He was brought to Jehu and put to death. They buried him, for they said, “He was a son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with all his heart.” So there was no one in the house of Ahaziah powerful enough to retain the kingdom.
Athaliah and Joash
10 When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to destroy the whole royal family of the house of Judah.11 But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the royal princes who were about to be murdered and put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Because Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of the priest Jehoiada, was Ahaziah’s sister, she hid the child from Athaliah so she could not kill him. 12 He remained hidden with them at the temple of God for six years while Athaliah ruled the land.
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
“Humanly speaking, were it not for the courageous service of the high priest, Jehoiada, and his wife Jehoshabeath, the Davidic dynasty would have come to an end. The future of God’s promises to David, that involved his great plan of salvation, was wrapped in a little baby boy named Joash.
Studying this time in Judah’s history gives us the feeling that we are reading the morning paper or watching the news on television. We meet two leaders—Jehu, former army commander and now ruler of the northern kingdom of Israel, and Jehoiada, high priest at the temple in Jerusalem in the southern kingdom. As we watch these two men, we recognize the fact that the same forces for good and for evil were at work in their world that are at work in our world today.” –Warren Wiersbe, Wiersbe Study Bible
Good and evil—still both at work.
God who is Good, leads to eternal life.
Evil, with the same old tricks of distraction, deception, and destruction, cycles through each generation to lead us to eternal death in hell.
Who do you choose this day? Pause. Reflect. This is a holy moment of daily deciding whom we will love, trust, and obey with all our hearts, minds, and souls. Our behaviors reflect who we truly love, believe, and serve wholeheartedly.
Just to clarify…Old habits of sinful behaviors that hold us back and chain us to the walls of unbelief can be broken to set us free to humbly walk with God who created us just because He loved us! Believing in Jesus sets us free to talk with God the Father who listens AND responds with all that is good for us for God is Good. Only God is Good.
Redeemed, set free believers are changed from the inside out as they come to depend on the One who washes dirty feet as a demonstration of His compassion for us and as an example of a new life of serving in us. Jesus, who laid down His life to pay for our sins in full—did what He said God told Him to do—removed our sins from God’s ledger. Gone, wiped clean, to be remembered no more! So, why trust anyone else in the world? There is no one like our God who created the world and everything in it!
Lord,
Evil then evil now—but greater are you in us than he who is evil that is in the world trying to destroy our faith! Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, refresh our souls, keep us alert to evil’s schemes, and continually restore the joy of your salvation at work within the redeemed who choose You! I’m yours. I’m listening.
For most of us these days, the phrase, “you reap what you sow” might only be understood by farmers. This phrase also comes froman ancient proverb of which many stories have been told with the moral of “future consequences are inevitably shaped by present actions.” Aesop’s Fable of the Grasshopper and the Ants is a great example. The ants vigorously gathered food and stored it for winter so they would survive. The grasshopper taunted them as he sat lazily nearby not doing anything about saving for later. He just played his fiddle and danced the summer away. When winter came, the grasshopper ended up cold and hungry. He went to the ants and begged for food. The ants reply delivered the moral of the fable; “What in the world were you doing all last summer?”
“I didn’t have time to store up any food,” whined the Grasshopper; “I was so busy making music and dancing that before I knew it the summer was gone.”
The Ants shrugged their shoulders in disgust. “Making music, were you?” they cried. “Very well; now dance!” And they turned their backs on the Grasshopper and went on with their work. (Source: Library of Congress)
In other words, we reap what we sow and must live with the consequence of our behavior.
Jesus puts a twist on sowing and reaping while teaching his disciples on the road to Samaria but after he offered salvation to the Samaritan women at the well. (John 4) Jesus stayed at back to rest at the town well, Jacob’s well to be exact, for a divine appointment with a particular woman while his disciples went to town to buy food. Upon their return with food, they were appalled at seeing Jesus with her; because Jews were customarily enemies of Samaritans. Upon the offer of food, and seeing another “teachable moment for His ragtag learners, Jesus shares;
“My food, said Jesus, is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don’t you have a saying, It’s still four months until harvest? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus, the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”—Jesus, John 4:34-38
Jesus did not look on the Father’s will as a heavy burden or a distasteful task. He viewed His work as the very nourishment of His soul. Doing the Father’s will fed Him and satisfied Him inwardly. “I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart” sings the Psalmist was the heart of the Singer! (Psalm 40:8).
Later in John 4 we learn that the Samaritan woman was now doing the Father’s will and finding excitement and enrichment in it! She went back to town and told everyone who would listen; “Come, seea man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him.” John 4:29-30
We have the choice to sow seeds of goodness or weeds of evil. Jesus teaches us to give. Evil teaches us to take. Jesus offers The Way to help others have eternal life while the Enemy seeks to lead us to eternal death in hell. Our choice. Do we sow seeds or weeds to the world in need of a Savior? It depends on who we love with all our hearts, minds, and souls. Our behaviors will reflect the depth of our belief.
King Jehoshaphat trained his son Jehoramto succeed him as king. Jehoshaphat did “what was right in the eyes of the Lord.” However, Jehoram chose evil.
Jehoram will reap what he sows.
2 Chronicles 21
Then Jehoshaphat rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. And Jehoram his son succeeded him as king. 2 Jehoram’s brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat, were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael and Shephatiah. All these were sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel. 3 Their father had given them many gifts of silver and gold and articles of value, as well as fortified cities in Judah, but he had given the kingdom to Jehoram because he was his firstborn son.
Jehoram King of Judah
4 When Jehoram established himself firmly over his father’s kingdom, he put all his brothers to the sword along with some of the officials of Israel. 5 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. 6 He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. 7 Nevertheless, because of the covenant the Lord had made with David, the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David. He had promised to maintain a lamp for him and his descendants forever.
8 In the time of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up its own king. 9 So Jehoram went there with his officers and all his chariots. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he rose up and broke through by night. 10 To this dayEdom has been in rebellion against Judah.
Libnah revolted at the same time, because Jehoram had forsaken the Lord, the God of his ancestors. 11 He had also built high places on the hills of Judah and had caused the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves and had led Judah astray.
12 Jehoram received a letter from Elijah the prophet, which said:
“This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: ‘You have not followed the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or of Asa king of Judah. 13 But you have followed the ways of the kings of Israel, and you have led Judah and the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves, just as the house of Ahab did. You have also murdered your own brothers, members of your own family, men who were better than you. 14 So now the Lord is about to strike your people, your sons, your wives and everything that is yours, with a heavy blow. 15 You yourself will be very ill with a lingering disease of the bowels, until the disease causes your bowels to come out.’”
16 The Lord aroused against Jehoram the hostility of the Philistines and of the Arabs who lived near the Cushites. 17 They attacked Judah, invaded it and carried off all the goods found in the king’s palace, together with his sons and wives. Not a son was left to him except Ahaziah, the youngest.
18 After all this, the Lord afflicted Jehoram with an incurable disease of the bowels. 19 In the course of time, at the end of the second year, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great pain. His people made no funeral fire in his honor, as they had for his predecessors.
20 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. He passed away, to no one’s regret, and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
Jehoram rejected all that his father Jehoshaphat had stood for and believed with all his heart. Jehoram sowed weeds of evil in ways that brought disaster to his own family and choked the lives of the people who lived in the kingdom of Judah. God spared Judah, as promised, because from Judah the Messiah would come to save us. But He allowed Jehoram to die a painful death for murdering his brothers, worshipping idols, along with other detestable evil deeds. Jehoram’s evil work was so disgustable that when he died—he was given no honor in death as a king. Everyone was glad to see him go!
God intervenes to end the evil Jehoram was sowing among God’s people. God cause him to reap what he had sown as a murderer, idolator, and leader of evil among God’s people. The enemy would invade and loot the kingdom of Judah and take Jehoram’s treasures as well as his wives and sons. Then, the king would be afflicted with an incurable bowel disease that would give him great pain and ultimately take his life. Elijah, the great prophet predicted it as truth from God and it happened just as God said it would. Writing this letter to the king of Judah may have been one of Elijah’s last prophetic actions. And no kingly honor was given to a dishonarable king.
We reap what we sow. Later, another convert of Jesus who becomes a sower of the Good News reaps a harvest of blessings. Paul was a missionary who planted churches all over the known world but only where God sent him. He wanted to know Christ so he could be like Him and love like Him and share all the suffering Christ did for us! With this heart for Jesus; Paul taught the church then to “imitate Christ” in all they think, say, and do. This truth delivered though Paul by God’s Holy Spirit is for us today. Paul,the passionate pastor, teaches;
“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatian 6:7-9
Don’t give up because God certainly never gives up on us!
Lord,
Wow, this passage took a turn that I did not expect to happen—but isn’t that just like you to teach what I needed for today. May we all pause to reflect on our habitual lifestyles. Are we sowing seeds of Life or weeds of destruction. Lord, help us. Cleanse our hearts; remove the weeds. Renew our minds with Truth. Refresh and fill our souls with your tender mercies that teach us to be merciful. Restore the joy of your salvation at work within us like an ever flowing fountain of your love, mercy, and grace! I’m yours. I’m listening. Help me to trust and obey as I seek to know you more.
I am a list maker…even in retirement from my secular work. For me, what doesn’t get listed, doesn’t get done. It is also very rewarding for me to check that item off the list when it is accomplished. The list has a progression of priorities. One task cannot happen until another task is completed. And so life goes with my lists guiding my behavior and productivity.
LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLE #6: Keep a Close Check on Yourself
Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus) 