Shout For Joy
The son of David who inherited the kingdom was known as Solomon the Wise. At the beginning of his reign he had prayed to God to give him the wisdom to lead his people. God honored that and gave him great wisdom – at least to lead. I through that qualifier in there because I don’t think he was wise when it came to his personal life. He married many women which was the custom of kings of that era. Some of those women worshiped man-made gods. How foolish to follow the example of those who do not belong to God. It is even more foolish to allow the evil influence of pagan worship in to one’s home. No, these were the acts of a fool. I bring this up because Nehemiah mentions this folly at the end of his book.
Nehemiah 13: 23-26
“In those days also I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah, but only the language of each people. And I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. And I made them take an oath in the name of God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. Did not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women? Among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin.”
Even the wisest of human beings sin.
Finally, Psalm 126 is a short and joyful Psalm. It reminds me of how wonderful it is to be a child of the living God. God has restored my fortunes which I had thrown away in my sin. My mourning has been turned to rejoicing because of His sacrifice on my behalf. Now, as I struggle through the challenges of life in this sinful world I am reminded that my tears will be turned into shouts of joy on the great and glorious day!
Have a blessed day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
The Darkest Days
We’ve been reading in Jeremiah for a little while now and in the last day or two we saw Jeremiah’s prophecy that Judah would be laid waste by Babylon come to pass. Today we read of the same event as described in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. How awful those days must have been. I imagine they were scared and lonely, and struggling just to survive. I found it heart breaking to read how the glory of God’s temple was torn up and carted off.
2 Kings 25:13-17
“And the pillars of bronze that were in the house of the Lord, and the stands and the bronze sea that were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried the bronze to Babylon. And they took away the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the dishes for incense and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service, the fire pans also and the bowls. What was of gold the captain of the guard took away as gold, and what was of silver, as silver. As for the two pillars, the one sea, and the stands that Solomon had made for the house of the Lord, the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight. The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and on it was a capital of bronze. The height of the capital was three cubits. A latticework and pomegranates, all of bronze, were all around the capital. And the second pillar had the same, with the latticework.”
Remember the minute detail God gave Moses when instructing him on how to build each of the temple utensils? Remember the long descriptions of these very items and the bronze pillars and sculpted pomegranates? Remember how David and Solomon both invested great wealth and artistry to create all of these things that now are cut up and carried off. Why did it have to happen? It had to happen because the blessings of God had been taken for granted.
I know that in today’s economy if you aren’t looking for work you know someone who is. I know of men who have been out of work for two years and counting. A few years back I had been unemployed for 9 months. I realize that compared with what folks are experiencing today that may not seem like much, but it was a scary time for my wife and me. God had truly blessed us and we had gotten rather used to those blessings. You know, God’s many blessings kind of became my normal. I had a good job, a great income, a wonderful house, three cars, several TVs, lots of electronic gadgets. Life was good, but that was my floor. I still dreamed of more blessings. I thought about how I could improve my career. I dreamed of a nicer house in a nicer neighborhood and a sexy little sports car. I really wanted to get a lot more money into our retirement fund and boy wouldn’t it be nice to someday have a vacation home on a beach someplace warm?
Then the company I worked for shut its doors. My floor suddenly dropped a couple of stories. Thankfully I am married to a frugal woman who long ago helped me to stifle my spendthrift ways. We had put away in a savings account what we thought was 6 months of expenses. Thank God He brought Dave Ramsey into this world brother! We made that little nest egg last beyond the nine months. At the time, however, we were frightened. The months went by and I couldn’t get a job. I was either over qualified or under qualified. I tried my hand at a few things but they weren’t generating any income.
A strange thing happened during that lean time. I turned toward God with a vengeance. I knew I wasn’t going to get through the trouble without Him by my side. Yep, the guy I couldn’t seem to find time for was suddenly my most precious companion. In that lean time God reminded me of how much I needed Him and how precious was His company. Funny how God’s blessings seem to separate us from Him and how His discipline draws us closer.
That’s what happened to Judah. They had long ago become accustom to God’s blessings; so much so that those blessings became their floor, their normal. They turned their backs on God and no matter how long and hard He tried to get their attention they just didn’t have time for Him. Brothers, there are consequences for turning our backs on God. The further we are from Him the more we hurt. Eventually, out of His infinite love, God will discipline His children. Now I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, sometimes bad things happen to us as a result of God’s discipline and sometimes bad things happen just because we live in a fallen world. The trick is to know which is which.
If you are struggling today it may be due to God’s discipline or living in a fallen world but it still offers the same opportunity; the opportunity to spend time with your most precious companion. You can’t make it without Him so why try? Jesus didn’t promise us that we wouldn’t have trouble. He promised us that He would go with us through the trouble. Have you been walking through difficult times ignoring Him? Don’t miss your silver lining my friend. Spend time in the Master’s presence. Pray. Read the Bible. Get active in your church. Serve God and serve others. You’ll find that sometimes the best blessings emerge from our darkest days.
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Going All The Way
2 Kings 9-11
Before I get into commentary on today’s reading let me wish you a happy 4th of July. Now, down to business.
Ahab was a bad king of Israel and his wife Jezebel was even worse queen. Ahab died and his son Joram reigned in his place. This was no improvement. As they say, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. God called a son of Jehoshaphat, Jehu, to fulfill His promise to wipe out Ahab’s wife and children. As we read of Jehu’s execution of God’s plan, we see some pretty bloody things. Jehu killed Joram, Jezebel, Ahab’s 70 sons and finally all Baal worshipers.
Prior to wiping out the prophets, worshipers, and priests of Baal, Jehu said to Jehonadab:
2 Kings 10:16
“And he said, “Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord…”
That is some pretty intense zeal isn’t it? He killed all these people who worshipped this Baal idol – king, queen, princes, false prophets, false priests, men, women and children. The worship of Baal was like a cancer killing the body of Israel and Jehu took a knife and cut deeply to destroy it. As drastic as his actions may seem by today’s standards, Jehu didn’t go far enough as the following from our reading today shows.
2 Kings 10:28-29
“Thus Jehu wiped out Baal from Israel. But Jehu did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin—that is, the golden calves that were in Bethel and in Dan.”
Following the death of Solomon, Jeroboam split the 10 northern tribes of Israel away from the tribe of Judah. The kingdom had remained split ever since. Jeroboam was worried that the tribes of Israel might later re-unite the kingdom out of reverence for the One True God. He therefore re-created the golden calves that the Israelites had made during their time in the wilderness. Jeroboam claimed, as the Israelites had claimed in the desert, that it was the calf that brought them freedom from Egypt and he called for the people to worship the golden calf.
That horrendous practice of calf worship continued even after Jehu had destroyed Baal. Baal and the golden calf were the same disease. They both were manmade gods that allowed and encouraged people to worship the work of their hands rather than the One True God. This is the ultimate in spiritual adultery. God does not take such things lightly even if He gives wrong doers time to change their evil ways. Jehu killed the cancer growing in the limbs of Israel but not the cancer growing in the heart. Jehu went far in obeying God but he did not go all the way. This meant that the cancer grew and eventually lead to the Assyrian exile.
Brothers, have you gone all the way in obedience to God? You accepted Christ as your Savior – great! Have you submitted to His authority over your life? Have you continued to cut sin out of your life? Some of us only go part of the way down the road of sanctification. As you know sanctification is the process by which we become like Christ. Day by day we conform our life to that of Christ’s; we separate ourselves from the world and unto God; we grow in obedience to the Word of God and live out its truth in our life. Have you gone all the way in this? Are you attempting to go all the way or have you sputtered out and now sit stalled on the side of the road?
May I suggest that you continue to pour the Word of God into your spiritual tank every day, keep your foot on the accelerator, and keep driving down the road of sanctification until that great and glorious day when you reach your destination? That is my sincere prayer for you my friend.
Have a blessed day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Which Way Are You Going
1 Kings 15:25-16:34, 2 Chronicles 17
Today’s reading in 1 Kings shows us how bad the kings of the Northern Tribe, Israel, were. There were from time to time “good” kings in Judah. Our reading in 2 Chronicles today mentions one of these good king, Jehoshaphat. In fact Jehoshaphat stands in stark contrast to the string of godless Israelite kings. We keep reading how one was worse than the previous ending today’s reading with Ahab who was worse than all the rest. You may not remember Ahab but I’m sure you’ve heard of his wife, Jezebel.
What stood out most to me in our reading of these evil kings is how they kept killing their predecessor and then every one of their predecessor’s children. This was a rather common occurrence and continued right up to the 20th Century when the Bolsheviks killed the Royal Family of Russia. This was done to eliminate anyone who could challenge the new ruler’s claim to the throne. If a child of the previous king survived they could rally enough people to them to overthrow the new king. The Bolsheviks killed all of the Czar’s children so no one could use them as a focal point of resistance to the new regime.
I am amazed at how quickly Israel turned from God. Solomon turned away toward the end of his life and these tribes that now make up Israel went south and kept going. When David took the throne following the death of Saul and most of his sons, he took the remaining son into his court and took care of him all his life. How different are these post-Solomon kings. David’s way was God’s way; the way of these other kings was the way of man. Where does the way of man lead? It leads to death my friends.
Proverbs 16:25
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.”
All these bad kings came to bad ends. That is the only outcome for any who go their own way. You aren’t a king but you are the head of your household. What way are you going – yours or His?
Have a blessed day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Are You A Good King?
2 Chronicles 13-16, 1 Kings 15:1-24
Do you remember “The Wizard of Oz”? When Dorothy landed in Munchkinland the Good Witch Glinda asked her if she was a good witch or a bad witch. Today’s reading reminded me of that question. There weren’t a lot of good kings in the divided kingdoms after Solomon. Today we are comparing the 2 Chronicles and 1 Kings versions of the story of Asa who is generally considered a “good king”. The following verses are examples of why.
1 Kings 15:11
“And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as David his father had done.”
1 Kings 15:14
“…Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true to the Lord all his days.”
Asa was the great grandson of Solomon. This means there were two kings who reigned after Solomon and prior to Asa. Solomon had started strong and then faded away from his relationship with God. Rehoboam followed Solomon and reigned for 17 years. He did not follow the ways of God. His son Abijah followed Rehoboam and he reigned 3 years. He did not follow the ways of God. His son Asa followed Rehoboam and he reigned for 41 years. He did follow in the ways of God.
I ran across a chronological table of the kings of the divided kingdoms which showed their order and length of reign as well as their character in J Vernon McGee’s “Thru the Bible” commentary. The Northern Kingdom made up of 10 Tribes of Israel, and called Israel, had no king listed as good. The Southern Kingdom made up of the tribe of Judah and part of Benjamin, and called Judah, had only 8 out of 20 listed as good. I have included the table below. I hope you can see it. If it looks too small hold down your control key and push your “+” button, that will magnify the web page. To make it smaller hold the control key and press your “-” key.
What struck me about the table is the difference between the good and bad kings length of reign in the kingdom of Judah. On average a good king’s reign lasted 29.5 years while a bad king’s reign lasted 10.8 years. That’s a big difference isn’t it? In the Bible God says to obey your mother and father so that it will go well with you in the land He is giving you and that your days may be long. That principle is true with your Heavenly Father as well. If you obey him your life will, on average, be better and longer. This seems to have been the case with the kings of the divided kingdoms. Those that attempted to be faithful to God had longer reigns than those who did not.
Are you faithful to God? Are you obedient? Are you a good king or a bad king? Anything in your life that is more important to you than Him is an idol which means you are being unfaithful. Ouch! First things first brothers, get right with God and stay right with God.
Have a blessed day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Riding The Rails Away From God
2 Chronicles 10-12
Much of today’s reading in 2 Chronicles will look extremely familiar as portions are virtually word for word what we read yesterday in 1 Kings. I pointed out yesterday that both Rehoboam and Jeroboam were not exactly godly men. God was not blessing Jeroboam by giving him part of the kingdom; He was punishing all of Israel for walking away from Him. Jeroboam was a tool of that punishment. As part of his strategy to keep the Northern Kingdom, Jeroboam took his subjects further from God. He was afraid that if his subjects continued to worship the God of Israel, and continued to go to Jerusalem to make sacrifice to Him, that they would eventually decide to reunite the two kingdoms under Rehoboam.
Rather than concern himself with what was best for the nation he was leading, Jeroboam concerned himself with doing what he thought was best for himself. Boy, politicians have been the same for thousands of years haven’t they? All of this turmoil was due to one very important issue. Israel had turned its back on God. Now Jeroboam was trying to make that a complete and permanent reality. He created golden calves and called for the people of the Northern Kingdom to worship man-made gods. He also sent the priests and the Levites packing.
These fellows left the Northern Kingdom and journeyed to Judah, the Southern Kingdom under Rehoboam. Take a look at the following verses.
2 Chronicles 11:13-17
“And the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel presented themselves to him from all places where they lived. For the Levites left their common lands and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons cast them out from serving as priests of the Lord, and he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat idols and for the calves that he had made. And those who had set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their fathers. They strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehoboam the son of Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.”
Those that remained faithful to God left the Northern Kingdom rather than conform to the religious whims of an earthly king. What was the result of these pilgrims going over to Judah? Why they influenced the Southern Kingdom toward obedience to God and the result was a security that lasted three years – the length of time they continued to walk in God’s ways. (The text says the ways of David and Solomon but those ways which lead to blessing were God’s ways.)
Even thousands of years ago we can see the impact godly people can make on a nation. This story reminds me of the Pilgrims coming to America. America has been blessed because it started by following the ways of God. Today, like a train racing down the tracks, America has turned its back on God. The end, however, is still in doubt. Whether America finishes like Israel or not will be determined by those still within her borders who choose to influence the people toward obedience to God. If there are enough of these people, and they are faithful in their God-given task, then America could conceivably jump the track of human relentless human history and ride the rails back to God’s blessing. It won’t be easy and it won’t be quick but each Christian is called to do the work.
Brothers, if you love this country, and you want to see God continue to bless it, I would suggest that, after meeting your responsibilities as a husband and father, you meet your responsibilities as a child of God. You really can make a difference.
Have a blessed day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
