2nd Evangelical Free Church

The Chronicles of the Kings: Speaking the truth boldly.

2 Chronicles 2

As we read of Solomon’s preparations for the construction of the Temple that will be the dwelling place of God on earth, we learn of his communication with Hiram, the pagan King of Tyre. As Solomon requested his assistance he presented him with a faithful and godly testimony that reflected his familiarity with the Mosaic Law concerning sacrifices and offerings. In addition Solomon told him that Yahweh is an infinite and omnipotent God who has no equal. In this way, he glorified the Lord and enabled Hiram to do the same. 

Solomon’s testimony should serve as an example to us to always stand up for our faith, to always maintain that there is no God but Yahweh. Of course someone might argue that Solomon could speak with such boldness without fear of repercussions because of his status, his power and his military might. He did not have to worry that someone would get offended and file a lawsuit for his intolerance of other faiths which exalt gods other than Yahweh, gods who are not Almighty God in any way. Today we indeed have to face such a possibility because to exalt our God as the only one and true God to whom none can compare is to show cultural insensitivity and intolerance. And what is worse, the gods of other faiths either do not exist or are demon minions of Satan who delight in enslaving people to lies and sensuality. 

To state such things publicly will offend many. Our neighbors will complain that we have violated their civil rights. But we need not fear because our God is in control. He will empower us to speak the truth with boldness no matter what the opposition may say or do. As we enter the New Year 2012, we can be sure He will be with us to enable us to persevere in preaching HIs word of mercy and forgiveness to all who are held bpund by Satan and the world.

 

The Chronicles of the Kings: God’s priorities should be our priorities.

2 Chronicles 1

As a reminder, the history of the Kings of Israel which we read in the 2 books of Chronicles gives us a different perspective of the period than the books of Kings for Chronicles was written after the Jews returned from exile. The main focus of the writer is on faithful worship of the Lord in the light of Israel’s past history. This 2^nd book resumes the history with the reign of Solomon. The writer immediately focuses us on God as our first priority. As Solomon took over the Kingdom of Israel he did so with an act of worship before the Ark of the Lord at Gibeah. This demonstrated that he desired the Lord and dedicate His life to God. 

The Lord responded to His worship with a promise to grant Solomon any thing he asked. Solomon did not ask anything for himself. He asked for wisdom and knowledge so that he could perform the work of the Lord and serve God’s people with righteousness and sound judgment. 

The Chronicler wrote of this incident because he wanted to teach his readers a lesson about prayer. We must not be afraid to ask God to fulfill His promises, but He is not a genie that will grant us every wish. He wants us to ask for that which will help us perform the work of establishing His kingdom. As with Solomon, once we have the Lord’s agenda as our first priority, He will bless us with the wisdom and guidance to perform His work. We will also find that those who follow the Lord’s advice will be blessed with prosperity as well as security. These are fitting words to ponder as we approach the end of the year. We should submit our will to that of the Lord in the coming year 2012 so that we can be at peace no matter what occurs. 

 

The Chronicles of the Kings: Dealing with despair.

2 Kings 24-25

With the death of Josiah, the kingdom of Judah proceeded to undergo God’s judgment. We read these events with sadness. Although the details are not graphically portrayed we can assume that the land was wracked by great violence and bloodshed. Eventually all the people were uprooted from their land and their homes and sent into exile in Babylon, hundreds of miles to the east. The innocent and the righteous people were carried off as well as the idolaters. Among these were Daniel and his friends and Ezekiel. The prophet Jeremiah remained in Judah until he was taken to Egypt by those who had rebelled against Gedaliah, the puppet ruler enthroned by the Babylonians.   

The kings of Judah and some of the elite families are mentioned by name but from the greatest to the least all suffered extreme hardship. The loss of a King upon the throne of Judah was probably the worst of all the trials they endured. It meant the loss of hope, of any possibility of the kingdom being restored. It also seemed to indicate that the Lord had deserted them, that He had abrogated the covenant in which He had established the line of David to last forever. These feelings were shared by those who returned from the exile many years later. Yet the end of the book served to dispel their doubts and fears. A descendant of David still lived to carry on his name. God had kept His covenant after all. Eventually a Messiah would spring forth from David’s line to liberate them.  

Often we undergo such great trials and suffering that we feel as if God has deserted us, that our lives have fallen apart, that there is no hope. At such times we ought to recall the promises God made to the Jews and how He always fulfilled them in unexpected ways. This should give us the strength to endure and persevere. 

 

The Chronicles of the Kings: Thrilling deeds of righteousness.

2 Kings 23

The writer of Kings detailed the reforms of Josiah perhaps because they filed him with great courage and faith. He was writing from the perspective of those who had returned from exile and were in Jerusalem. He wanted his fellow Jews them to feel zealous for the Lord and to understand the necessity for righteous and holy living. As we read the account of Josiah’s sweeping and massive reforms we too should feel thrilled at the display of righteousness. At last we see that the Name of the Lord is being exalted. At last the King is zealous for the covenant of God. 

Yet we also may feel a little cheated. The whole of the books of the Kings has stressed the need for repentance and holiness. Yet every King failed in some way to uphold the covenant, to trust God fully. Now at the end of the book we find a King who meets the ideal and acts upon it. But Josiah’s reforms came too late and could not counteract the evil of his predecessors or that of the Jews. This is because Josiah’s reforms reflected only his personal conviction and not that of the majority of the people. Josiah was spared seeing the downfall of Judah and in that sense died in relative peace, but the punishment must still be carried out. Josiah’s good deeds did not save him but were evidence of his faith and trust in the Lord.

One thing this tells us is that no amount of righteous deeds can save anyone. Salvation comes only by grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross. As we look at our own lives we ought to see deeds of righteousness and obedience for these are the real evidence of our faith as well, not the mere words of our mouths.

 

A humble birth.

Luke 2

Luke opens the narrative of Jesus’ nativity by relating the events that caused it to happen in the town of Bethlehem in fulfillment of prophecy: a census instituted by Caesar Augustus, emperor of the Rome. While this king and all his minions and servants implemented his own agenda and plan, the Lord used him to accomplish His plan of salvation. This is how it came to pass that the King of Heaven became a man in a foul smelling manger in a small insignificant village in a remote corner of the mighty Roman Empire. The one who would change the course of history, who in fact determines and sets the course of kings and kingdoms, came in a quiet and humble way.

The ones who noticed His birth were a mixed assembly of witnesses. There was a glorious company of heavenly angels, who put on a splendid worship service glorifying and praising God who had fulfilled His promises to man. The rest of the group was composed of a rather insignificant number of people who would have lacked credibility. There was a small group of crude and smelly shepherds. They saw the heavenly spectacle and the baby Jesus but no doubt few would believe the testimony of such unreliable people. Then too there was a doddering old man and an elderly widow both of whom, though respected by the Jews, would have been dismissed as too old and senile to make sense. It was these simple, humble, downtrodden righteous people, forgotten and ignored by the world that God chose to use and to bless.

The Lord God still does the same thing today. He blesses the humble and downtrodden in many ways. And while worldly people, believers and unbelievers alike, celebrate amidst hedonistic materialism, He calls His people to honor and serve Him by reaching out in Jesus’ Name to those in our world who are in great need. Truly giving is a great blessing when there is no expectation of recompense.

 

A noble birth.

Matthew 2

Among those who acknowledged the birth of the Messiah was a group of wise men, perhaps philosophers or astrologers from a land somewhere to the East of Jerusalem possibly Persia. From their astronomical observations and their reading of the Hebrew Scriptures (Numbers 24:17) they discerned that a great Jewish king had been born. They came a long way to find Him, and when they did, they were overcome with ecstatic joy and worshipped him. These men had godly faith even though they were Gentiles, and not of the Chosen people. 

Herod was the half-Jewish, half Idumean King of the Jews. The Jewish chief priests, scribes and teachers at his court were the leaders of the Chosen people. They possessed the words of God and claimed to understand and interpret them. Yet they were ignorant of the signs and prophecies the Scriptures contained. They had no idea about the birth of the Messiah. They were deeply disturbed at the suggestion that he had been born. They did not believe what the Magi told them. If they had believed what they said, they would have accompanied them and worshipped as well. Instead Herod, afraid of the slightest threat to His power sought to do away with this “pretender” through savage cruelty. He did not know God at all for then he would have realized the futility of his efforts to subvert His plan. Even today many use violence to try to suppress the gospel and the messengers who bring it. All such efforts will never silence God because no one can in any way circumvent His will.

 

 

The perfect Savior.

Matthew 1

The men and women mentioned in this genealogy trace the birth of the Messiah through the Chosen people from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. These mentioned here never saw the promise of God fulfilled, but Hebrews 11 indicates that they looked forward to it and had faith that God would provide a Savior. Here we see that promise fulfilled through Jesus who is a human being descended from Abraham, Judah and David. And note that of the 5 women mentioned in this genealogy, only one, Mary, was an Israelite by birth. The others were all pagans even Ruth who was a Moabitess, a descendant of Abraham’s nephew Lot. While we know that she and Rahab exercised faith in the Lord, we are not sure about Tamar and Bathsheba. Nevertheless, their presence in the sacred genealogy indicates that Jesus is not only the Savior of the Jews, but of all mankind as well. 

But the passage tells us something far greater and much more significant. In the words God spoke to Joseph, we learn that the child conceived in Mary is no mere man. He is God for He was conceived miraculously, without any human interaction, by the power of the Holy Spirit! Many today would deny this, even some who call themselves Christian. They feel comfortable with this because if Jesus is only a man then they can chose to listen to or ignore him as one among many good men, religious teachers or leaders competing for our attention. But if He is God, He must be obeyed. Those who ignore or reject Him fall under His judgment. 

One cannot be a Christian and deny the fact that Jesus is both God and man; this is one of the cornerstones of our faith. If Jesus were not really a human being, He could never properly represent us before the Father and take our punishment on Himself. If He was not God, fully divine and without sin, his death would never be acceptable to the Father, for if He would not be sinless nor would his death have the power to atone for the sins of the whole world. 

 

The Chronicles of the Kings: Obeying God's Word

2 Kings 22

Josiah found the book of the Law, God’s Word as embodied in the Torah. When he first saw it and what it contained. he repented of the evil he and the nation had done. Yet he consulted a prophet of the Lord, a woman named Huldah, to confirm what he had read. This shows us that although the word of the Lord is written in languages so that almost everyone can read it, there is always an inherent inability to understand and interpret it because those of us who live in the 21^st century are unfamiliar with the cultural context of Bible times. Thus we need the agency of the Holy Spirit working through those He has chosen, working through the church itself to correctly interpret what we read.

The amazing thing about Josiah was that he launched sweeping reforms even though he knew that whatever he did would not change the determined judgment of the Lord. He undertook reform not because it would assuage God’s wrath, but because it was the right thing to do. He acted with righteousness even though he derived no benefit from doing so. 

Many people today would not do as he did if they knew it would have no benefit to them personally. Many people today want to know what the advantages of Christianity are before they will believe. What’s in it for me? Will it heal my illness? Will it make me happy? Will it make me prosperous and rich? And many churches, preachers and individual Christians go out to their way to accommodate them to make Christianity more palatable. Yet the message of Josiah is that we should do the right thing because it honors God, no matter what the cost to us.

 

 

The Chronicles of the Kings: The Lasting effects of sin.

2 Kings 21

Manasseh was one of the most evil of all Judean Kings yet his reign was probably the longest. He completely undid all the good his father had done and led the people back into idolatry. That was not difficult because it seems that the majority of the people had never abandoned it and were simply tired of Hezekiah’s reforms. Manasseh must have had the support of all the upper class and the priests as well for he set up an Asherah pole, a fertility symbol, in the Temple of the Lord. This was quite an abomination which displeased the Lord, but not the worst thing. The worst thing Manasseh did was shed innocent blood, probably the blood of all the godly people who opposed him. 

For all his evil, Manasseh seems to have had a long and prosperous reign. He was not troubled by foreign invaders or by illness as his father had been. Manasseh did much evil and appears to have gotten away with it. Hezekiah was faithful yet he suffered. Yet the Lord is always right in what he does. Manasseh, it is said in 2 Chronicles 33, repented of his sin later in life. Unfortunately the evil he had caused the people to commit was far too great for God to overlook. 

Serving the Lord as He commands is never easy for it deprives individuals of sensual pleasures which are highly addictive. Yet we must realize our weakness and our need for the Lord. The harm we have caused by our sins prior to repentance cannot usually be undone. The emotional and physical scars may remain with us and with those we have hurt despite the fact that we have been forgiven through the blood of Jesus. The best we can do is make amends, ask forgiveness and pray for God’s mercy.

He’s listening.

 

The Chronicles of the Kings: The Prayer of faith.

2 Kings 20

Good king Hezekiah endured a lot of trouble. In the midst of a violent siege he was assaulted by a deadly illness. He became deeply troubled but remained faithful to the Lord. He thus becomes a model of covenant fidelity much like his forefather, King David. But like David, he was not perfect. Although Hezekiah knew that he could depend upon the Lord to answer prayer, that the Lord would heal his affliction, when things got better, he made a serious error in judgment. Unfortunately his error was one of the reasons for the eventual fall of Judah and her exile under the Babylonians. His trust of the Babylonians displayed a lack of trust in the Lord.

Despite his weakness, Hezekiah remains a great example of a faithful believer. Like him, we are assaulted by troubles and illness. Like him we are overwhelmed and frightened by them. Yet we should learn from him that we can take our feelings and doubts and fears and form them into a prayer to the Lord. Such a prayer prayed from the heart demonstrates our faith and trust for such a prayer acknowledges our weakness and our total reliance on God for help. It also increases our faith for we know that even if the answers we seek are not the ones the Lord provides, God has not deserted us and will provide the strength we need to endure. Do you feel God has deserted you? Tell Him about it now. He’s listening.