Month: July 2023

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Will you go?

                                

Jonah 1-4    Jonah is not only a Hebrew but also a Hebrew who worships the Lord, the God of heaven. Yet, Jonah is a picture of the selfish racial condemnation of others. God said in Isaiah, who will go for us and Isaiah said, “send me.” Yet, Jonah hearing that same call turns a blind eye and says, “send another, not me.” Does this sound familiar? Do we have excuses why we do not say “send me?” Look within and see why we take a ship to Tarshish and sleep away the opportunities God has placed before us. We are the Jonahs of today with our plethora of excuses.

Yet as the Psalmist said, “The Lord is merciful and fair; our God is compassionate.” [Ps 116:5] He will not relent when He has a plan to send men/women to the lost fields of Nineveh to bring them hope and the message of salvation. He may send a fish or a neighbor, or another believer to accost us in our tracks and redirect us to the lost. God is the antithesis of Jonah, and we are to be His messengers of hope as He is the God of hope.

Where is God directing you this day? To whom will you bring the message of God’s love and hope?

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There are no “but’s” in God’s Vocabulary

2 Kings 14, 2 Chron 25 “But…” 

King Amaziah has been enthroned and is blessed by God “but” …yes, there is that little word “but” again showing us a contrast to something that has occurred or will occur to alter that blessing. Amaziah followed in his father’s footsteps, “but” he did not eliminate the high places where people could go to offer sacrifices. Partial obedience is still disobedience, no matter how you look at it. Amaziah obeyed the Law regarding the Commandment about punishment for a father, “but” not the children. Yet, in his pride, he overstepped his boundaries and paid the price. What boundary has God put in your life that you are testing? 

Amaziah defeated his enemies but gathered their idols and began to worship them. Do we honor God and put no other gods in His place, as the first Commandment says? Amaziah did not heed the prophet’s warning, and from the time he turned from following the Lord, he faced more defeats and was finally assassinated.

Joshua reminded us: choose ye this day whom you will serve. [Jos 24:15] There are no “but’s” in God’s vocabulary. Serve God and God only. [Deut 13:4]

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Bandages only mask a divided heart

2 Kings 12-13, 2Chron 24 The question before us is, where is God in this story? Do you ask, like me, how/why one can turn away from God after years of a righteous lifestyle under pure teaching? Why does that happen?

Just as then, so today, men begin to trivialize God’s Word and listen instead to the voices of those whose lips speak disdainfully of God. The heart is revealed as deceitful and desperately wicked   [Jer 17:9]. The truth is one can wear the mask of righteousness, but as Jesus said, inwardly, one is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. [Matt 7:15]

So it was with Joash. He was righteous as long as his mentor, the high priest Jehoiada, was alive. But, just as it is said, out of sight, out of mind. After his death, Joash listened to the advice of his officials, not to the words of Jehoiada’s son Zechariah. Little by little, his faith was tested and found wanting. How about us? Is our faith strong enough to stand against those who falsely say they are of God but whose works prove otherwise?

Where is God in this chapter? He is where He has always been – in the heavens. He watches over men and tests their hearts to see if they will follow Him.

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God’s Ways Triumph

2 Kings 9-11 Proverbs 31 gives the wisdom principles for a godly woman in her home and culture. She is to be of noble character and trustworthy. However, in 2 Kings 11, we meet two women; one is the antithesis of this, and the other is the true Proverbs 31 woman. Again, we see God’s ways are not our ways [Is 55:8-9] So who are these women, and what can we learn from them?

First is “Queen” Athaliah, whose son, King Ahaziah, has died, and she opportunely seeks to usurp the crown. As a worshiper of the idol Baal, she aims to destroy the royal godly line. Our arch-enemy Satan has been seeking to accomplish this from Gen 3:15, and Athaliah is his tool of choice. There is a warning here for us. Observe and interpret the wisdom of God’s word, not the lifestyle of the “rich and famous.” 

But, God has a woman of noble character waiting in the wings: Jehosheba, the sister of Ahaziah and wife of the High Priest Jehoiada. Bravely she takes the last remaining royal descendant and hides him away from “Queen” Athaliah for seven years. Truly “her value is far more than rubies” [Prov 31:10] 

Principle: Satan roams about seeking whom he can kill and destroy, [1Pet 5:8] but God seeks the godly. [Jn 4:23]

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God’s ways are not our ways

2 Kings 5-8 Out of the Mouth of Babes

Elisha is a prophet in Israel, but the King of Aram and his entourage have no knowledge of him and his work, yet God has His way of drawing the less fortunate to His side. This wicked king of Aram has a devoted servant in his entourage, a leper, who had captured an Israelite girl child and placed her in the house of this leper. One day while working, she innocently said to her mistress: “If only my master were in the presence of the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his skin disease.” [2 Kings 5:3]

The king writes a letter to the king of Israel seeking help. Enraged, the king of Israel sends this soldier of Aram to Elisha, the prophet, who tells him to go and wash in the Jordan seven times. Grumbling, he stalks off, but one of his men cautiously reminds him that if Elisha had said to do something hard, he would have done it, so he submits and is cleansed.

How often do we experience challenges only to growl and grumble rather than seeing God at work as we obey? God desires obedience rather than sacrifice. God used a little child for Naaman’s healing, and He may do the same for us.

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A Test: Who is the True God?

2 Kings 1-4 King Ahaziah has not yet learned or accepted the true God of Israel. He falls through the lattice roof but sends his messengers to go and inquire how to be healed by the false god Baal Zebub.  God sends Elijah, the true prophet, with a message to Ahaziah. Because you reject Me, you will not recover but die. In anger, Ahaziah seeks Elijah, but the fate of his new messengers is death until the last set of fifty who humble themselves before the prophet. Yet, even with this evidence, Ahaziah still rejects God, His prophet, and His word.

Today, many like Ahaziah hear but reject the truth. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” [Jn 14:6] He who seeks for me will be found, and I will give him life everlasting.[Pro 8:17; 8:35] Like Ahaziah, they are listening to the “Baal Zebub’s” of this world. They reject God and His Word and will die in their sins and face the everlasting fire of hell.

Do you know the true God, or are you listening to Baal Zebub’s false words? Just as Elijah prophesied, so did Ahaziah die. [2 Kings 1:17] And now he knows which God is real. Don’t wait until death is before you; accept the true God and be saved. 

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