We read this story already in 2nd Kings 18-20; this is just a condensed version of it. Hezekiah again was a good king who loved the Lord and wanted to do what is right before him. This chapter is a good chapter to read about how God is control even when the enemy is pressing against us and we do not know what to do.

Assyrians invade and God Saves

We see that life was going good for Hezekiah and the Lord was allowing Judah to be prosperous. The land was doing good. All of a sudden we see that king Sennacherib king of the Assyrians came to attack the land. As this would have stirred up anyone because the Assyrians were the ones that took over Israel and conquered the northern kingdom.

Instead of Hezekiah being frightened we see that he the nation by telling them to not be afraid because they outnumber the Assyrians. In verse 8 he said, “With his is an army of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God, to help us fight our battles.” And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah king of Judah. This reminds me of Elisha. In 2nd Kings 6 we see the Syrians wanting to go to war against Israel. It was the army of the Lord that fought that battle that day and we need to know that we do have an army of the Lord that fights our spiritual battles as well as the physical ones too.

The king of the Assyrians just kept trying to frighten the people of Judah by mocking God. He kept on saying, “God will not deliver you from us. Did he deliver any of the other nations especially your brothers in Israel?” We see that Hezekiah kept his faith in the Lord. The people trusted their king and Heavenly King as we see the outcome that God went before Judah and fought the battle. In verse 22 we see that the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria amd from the hand of all hi enemies and he provided for them on every side.”

God is so good as he provided before and after. When the battle was getting ready to go, God went before his people. We see that the people followed after God and trusted in him. God fights for us and is in the battles with us. Remember Jesus was tempted but never gave in. He endured the physical pain of the cross for us. He knows what it is like and he did it for you. You are never alone in battles, we need to seek God all the time, good or bad, rain or shine.

I like reading about this king Hezekiah because he knew he had to do something about the spiritual state of not only of Judah but all of Israel.

As of now, the northern kingdom, Israel had been taken captive by the Assyrians and they were in bondage to the Assyrians. Judah is still kicking as now they have a new king, Hezekiah. He makes temple worship a daily thing, he reinstitutes the jobs of the priests and the sacrifices start going. He made sure that the priests and Levites consecrated themselves before God.

All Across the Land

We see that Hezekiah sent word all across the land of Israel and to Manasseh and Ephraim to have them start practicing passover again as it was neglected for some time. He knew that they were fallen but he reached out to them and gave them a chance to get back into that relationship with God. In verse 10 it says that many laughed them to scorn and mocked them. They were laughed at and mocked but in verse 11 it says some men from Asher came to Jerusalem. 

This reminds me of today. We can proclaim Jesus Christ from the rooftops, invite others to go to church but people will still laugh and mock. This is something that has been going on for years and will continue to go on, but we still need to go to the world (Matthew 28:19 and Acts 1:8). People will laugh but keep going. People will mock and hate but it is not you, it is against the Lord. The sad thing is that all the people who laughed and mocked missed out on something amazing.

God Responded

Hezekiah prayed to God for the people to be forgiven of their sin as many came to Jerusalem to celebrate the passover. God heard his prayer and healed the people. Not only did this thing last 7 days but they wanted it to keep going so it went another 7 days. Have you ever been in such great worship and communion with God that you do not want it to end? This was one of those things- the people did not want to leave the presence of God. When you are in the presence of God you will never want to leave.

The results was what it says in verse 26, “So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem.” This was truly a Great Awakening of the the soul. The people long after God and did not want it to end. Who or what is crowned in your life right now? You can never have this desire for the Lord if he is not crowned king over and in your life. We need to let go of what is taking that high place and let God be ordained in that place. He is worthy of all praise. I pray that his glory is shown to all of us. Keep going and getting closer. Whenever we seek after God He will respond!

Sometimes I will see someone that I have not seen in a while. I will say, “Hi!” Then I will ask where have you been? Usually I get the response that they have been really busy or stuff has come up. It is true that we all get busy but honestly what they tell is just a excuse because they have stopped having fellowship and worshiping with other believers. It is so important that we go to church. A saying that Pastor Forrest would always say is, “The more you go the more you Grow.” 

In this chapter we look at the life of Jotham who was king over Judah for 16 years.

But He did not enter into the Temple

We read that Jotham who took over after Uzziah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and according to all that his father Uzziah did but he did not enter into the temple of the Lord. Out of his 16 years as king he never entered into the temple of the Lord! Some commentators would suggest that this was that he did not enter into the temple place that only the Levites and priests could enter so he was being obedient. But I take it as he was not going to the temple because of his dad, Uzziah and his criticism of the temple worship. He did not want to worship God in his temple.

Jotham did good in the eyes of the Lord but he did not worship with the others in the temple. The result of this in his leadership was that the people still did corrupt worship or they still worshiped the idols on the high places of Judah. Because of his lack of importance with worshiping God only and in the temple the people felt they had the liberty to worship idols wherever and however. Jotham needed to be the good example of a faithful follower of God by worshiping him. Jotham did right still as before every battle and every thing he went to the Lord for guidance but it did not set a good example to his followers.

It is important for us to go to church on a continual basis. We need to be filled daily by us seeking the Lord through his Word and prayer but we also need to be around other Christians so we can serve the Lord and the lost together. We go to church to worship publicly and corporately as it is encouraging to be with other believers. We sit under the teaching of the pastor so we can be fed corporately as well as individually. Hebrews 10:25 tells us that we need not to forsake the meeting together and that is why we have church, to grow and serve together. We need accountability and we are members of the body as we serve, each with different gifts to accomplish the great goal of meeting the lost.

There are many books and many passages of Scripture that we have at our fingertips that can guide us so we can finish strong in the Christian race. Even though there are so much help and accountability out there, people still will fall. They will not only fall but they will not end that well. 

In this chapter of 2nd Chronicles we have a great opportunity to look at the lives of these kings who God allowed to lead his people and see how they finished. We have a new king in charge, king Amaziah who was son of Joash who did right in the eyes of the Lord yet his whole heart was not in it.

Yesterday we read about Joash who started strong but when his spiritual leader died, he went off the godly path onto a wild side of life. His son maybe did a little better but was not committed.

What Happened?

We see that Amaziah began to reign over Judah when he was 25 and he did right in the eyes of the Lord yet his not with his whole heart (1-2). As we see that his reign started out good. He had some enemies come and he listened to the prophet who told him not to team up with Israel and because of that, they won the battle. The only bad thing is, he took the idols of their enemy and began worshiping to it. Instead of destroying or leaving the idols, he takes them and makes them his god. He must have had short term memory or something because it was the True God who allowed them to win over their enemies. It was the True God that warned them not to team up with Israel. 

Not only did Amaziah start worshiping idols, he became very prideful and wanted to team up with Israel. Israel warned small Judah to not be prideful and if they persist they will come against them. Amaziah did not take the warning and they went to fight each other. Israel defeated Judah, Amaziah was captured and Jerusalem was taken by storm and the gold and silver was taken from the treasury. 

Warning:

We can look at this section as steps to not fall. We may think we are walking with the Lord but if our heart is not completely devoted to God we will fall. Amaziah did not fall when the enemy came, it was just when he won. His downfall was pride as it is for many Christians. One test is when trials come (James 1:2), we can see who is wholly devoted to Jesus and those who are not, but another true test of devotion is victories. 

Romans 10:13~ Says, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” This verse is not talking about just saying Jesus, but it is when one whole hearted turns from their sin and become a slave to Christ, they will be saved. This calling on the name of the Lord is Old Testament language of someone calling on a king with whole hearted devotion to their king. They are stating they will be obedient and follow after their king as long as they live. Many people may say they called on Jesus to be saved except they have not given all of themselves to him. There are areas that they are still holding on. There are areas that they are not willing to stop or deny themselves. Just like Amaziah who won became prideful and that was his problem we need to guard ourselves over Christian victory and see if we are whole hearted to God or not. Trials will come but also the pride so be careful and devote your whole heart to God and not half.

Joash was only 7 years old when he began to reign and as a young boy he starts out pretty good. In verse 2 we read that he did was good in the eyes of the Lord. He was surrounded by a godly leader, the priest Jehoiada. The truth is he started out good but took a turn for the worst when he became older. It is sad when you read the story, think of his potential, and then a weak finish. When you read this chapter please take notes.

Joash Starts out Good

We see Joash not only doing what is good in the eyes of the Lord but he also wanted to repair the temple, the place of the Lord. He was reinstating worship of the Lord. It seems as if this king of Judah was doing good. The last one, Ahaziah, did not do so good. He did evil in the sight of the Lord and walked as king Ahab walked. We do not know how many years may have passed but we do know things changed for Joash.

In verse 2 we see somewhat of a hint to what will happen. Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of priest Jehoiada. In was not in all the days of his life but in the days of another. Jehoiada did good and lived a long time but after he died, Joash stopped serving the Lord. He actually had Jehoiada’s son, Zechariah killed. He went completely the opposite of how he lived before. In verse 17 we see that the king listened to the words of his fellow princes and abandoned the Lord and stopped following after him.

What Happened?

It is sad when I would see young men and women praise the Lord and follow after him when they are younger but somewhere down the road whether they start college or their sphere of influence, they stop and abandon following after the Lord. Many times if they leave their house, they start living for themselves and the world and we see a prodigal son or daughter.

This section shows us that people base their relationship with God because someone else may be saved. Some base it on their parents, or friends; but there it is not individual. Paul told the Philippian church to work out their salvation with fear and trembling. In Philippians 2:12-13- work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. It does not matter who in your family asked God for forgiveness and believes in Jesus for you to get to heaven. You can not grab on to them and follow them into heaven. When you die, you alone will be faced with either you know Jesus as Lord and Savior or you do not! Joash only served God as Jehoiada was alive but when he left he followed after other things. God needs to be out pillar, our rock, and our salvation not someone. When a godly person leaves it should cause us to fan the flame of our salvation (2nd Timothy 1:6) and not turn away.

Today we had the opportunity to see an ultrasound of our baby girl. This time we got to see her in 4D, which is awesome because you get to see certain features that you could not in a 3D ultrasound. I had my nephew, Noah with us and it was interesting to see how focused his eyes were on the machine and on Alyssa. Nothing seemed to break him of his concentration on figuring out what in the world was going on. I could say, “Noah, Noah, and maybe even a little louder, Noah!” but no, he was not fazed. 

In this chapter we see Jehoshaphat asking God for deliverance from his enemies because they were going to be surrounding him and attacking him.

Our Eyes are on You!

When you read the prayer of Jehoshaphat you see that he knew how Great God is and how He is in control of everything and even in battle. As the king was honest with God, he said, “I do not know what to do” he knew where to turn. He said in verse 12, “But our eyes are on you.” 

What a great place to be in when you can say that your eyes are on the Lord. It is a scary thing when our eyes are not. In Matthew 14:22-33 we see that Peter walks on water, briefly. He had his eyes on the Lord when he was walking but when he saw the wind, he started to sink. Peter took his eyes off the Lord! When we take our eyes of the Lord we will sink in sin. We will wallow away in the misery of guilt. What a safe place to be in and say, “I do not know what to do, but my eyes are on Jesus.”

I am in a state where I say, “I do not know what to do.” I can try to figure out what to do as this is my nature but the answer is not in myself but in my Lord. Be strong in the Lord. He is our Rock and Fortress. 

End Result

Jehoshaphat encouraged the troops to have faith and trust the Lord as he will show himself to them. God promised them they would not even have to fight. They did not instead God allowed these different armies to fight each other. We don’t know if there was a dispute and then lead to war but all we know is that none were left. The spoil was so much that it took 3 days for them to take all the things of war for their own. God delivered Judah in a way that is miraculous but that was also a way for God to show Jehoshaphat who he is. 

When you go through tough things are your eyes on the Lord? Who do you run to? Who do you go to hear your cries? Who do you go to when it seems like life is closing in on you and you feel like you are going to be squeezed to death? We know we are going to be going through things as the Bible gives us the heads up, but we also know that we are not alone. We are to persevere under these trials and what God is refining in us is for his glory. Our strength is in an awesome, powerful God. As my nephew, Noah had his eyes so focused on what was going on the elements around him could not take away from the focus, may we lean on the Lord with all our attention and focus that nothing in this world can phase us.

Have you ever felt like the odd person out. Maybe it is with your friends and you have refused to do something that everyone else is doing? Maybe it is that you pray for your food before you eat it and everyone looks at you with their heads crooked. 

In this chapter we read about Micaiah who was a prophet of the Lord and he was in a harder place to not compromise than we have ever been in.

The Call

Jehoshapht of the southern kingdom made an alliance with Ahab the king of the northern kingdom. Ahab wanted to go to battle against the Syrians and Jehoshaphat was like cool but let’s also ask the Lord if we should do that. Ahab grabs all the prophets that he likes and has them prophecy about going to balle. All 400 of these men were telling them it was ok to go to battle, it looks good, God is on their side. 

Jehoshaphat gets that something is not quite right so he asked king Ahab if there were any other prophets. Ahab said, “Yeah, but it is one I do not like.” Why do you not like him,” Jehoshaphat asked? Ahab responded with, “He never says anything good about me.” It was Micaiah, he was a prophet who said whatever God told him to say. He never compromised on those things but he spoke truth about Ahab and all of it was bad for Ahab. 

The king calls for Micaiah to come and they ask this prophet what does God say about us going to battle against the Syrians? Micaiah responds with, “Go to battle, it will be fine.” I wonder if he had a smirk on his face or said it while laughing, but either way the king knew he was lying. In verse 15, Ahab said, “Why are you lying to me, speak the truth.” So Micaiah does and tells them that it will not be good for Israel and it will not be good for the king. Ahab will die in this battle. 

When you think about this chapter, the king does not listen to Micaiah advice nor does Jehoshaphat. They both do it anyway. There were 400 so called prophets who told them to go and 1 that said no. The truth is that God wanted Ahab to go because of his hard heart, God knew Ahab would not listen to Micaiah. In verse 13 Micaiah answered and said, “Whatever God says, I will say.” Could you say that? God you stand strong even if 400 people said something was ok to do and you said no it is wrong because the Bible says it is wrong? Would you be able to stand up against everyone even if they started to call you names and laugh at you? We are called to be a light to this world and there are more than 400 people that would laugh or make fun of what the Bible says. God gave us the Bible to communicate who He is to this world. We are called to show that. May we be able to finish strong like Paul said in 2nd Timothy 4:7, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” Stand strong for your strength is in the Lord!

In this chapter we see Jehoshaphat the son of Asa becomes king. We see that the first thing that is written about him is that he strengthened himself against Israel. Remember there are now two kingdoms; the northern, Israel and the southern, Judah. In this section of Chronicles the author is focusing on the kings of Judah. To get more of the big picture read, 1st Kings 12 through 14. 

Courageous in the Ways of the Lord (6)

After reading a little about Jehoshaphat we see that he loved God. He followed after the Lord like his father did and like David did. He got rid of the idols of the land and had reform take place throughout the kingdom. Reform is like getting things to the place they need too. In verse 6 we see that his heart was courageous in the ways of the Lord. What a statement to say about someone, it is one thing to think one is courageous in battle but it says he was courageous in the ways of the Lord. How awesome, his strength was in the Lord! 

Is your strength in the Lord? David wrote in Psalm 18:1-2, I love you Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. To know this, it means that we put all our trust and hope in the Lord and not in man or ourselves. There are things that we still hold onto, whether it is sin our self or pride but that means our strength is not in the Lord. Paul said to the Corinthians in 1st Corinthians 1:27-28, “But GOd chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing thins that are. He uses those who may be nothing in this world but their strength is in the Lord. Paul even said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me in Philippians 4:!3.

We need to not only say our strength is in the Lord but we show it by living it. That is where we will be a light to the world. Do you have strength in the Lord in order for you to not be conformed to this world? Do you have strength in the Lord to live for him on a daily basis? Do you have strength in the Lord to share what Jesus did for you and me to those around you? The answer should be yes! What are you waiting for, make the most of every opportunity and as Paul said to the Romans 12:11, Do not be slothful in zeal, fervent in Spirit and serve the Lord. GO and do!

It is interesting that sometimes your parents can tell you something and you do not listen to them but maybe an older, wiser friend tells you the same thing and for some reason the light comes on. You think man that is so true, why am I doing this or did that. That happens a lot as I will have parents asking me what I told their son or daughter and it turns out it will be the same exact thing. I wonder if Rehoboam had a friend who spoke in wisdom, if he would have listened?

Yesterday we looked at Rehoboam who listened to the advice of his friends than the old wise men. The result of his decision was rebellion of the nation. Jeroboam decided to take matters into his own hands and now the nation was split. 

Things are a little different though today, Rehoboam has decided to make war against all Jeroboam and the rebelling army. Instead of going on and finishing out his plan, God spoke through Shemaiah for Rehoboam to not go to war against his brothers and relatives. The interesting thing is he listened. When God speaks we need to listen.

Listen to God

We can look throughout the different parts of the Bible where people did not listen to God. We can see the regret that they may have faced as well as the warning they did not listen too. The nation of Israel did not listen to the warning that God sent through the prophets. Here the king actually listened. Sometimes God speaks to us through circumstances, allowing certain things to happen to grab our attention. Sometimes God speaks to us through other Christians. God speaks to us through his word. I believe which is the clearest of any of those. In order for us to listen from God we need to be in his word daily. We need to desire and eat up the word.

We sometimes may think that God is not telling us anything but do you read the Bible?

Persecution in the Land (13-17) 

We read that the Priests and Levites of Israel all fled from Jeroboam and went to live in Jerusalem. The reason was that Jeroboam started to worship his goat idols and calves that he made. The priests and Levites as well as all the people that served God left their lands in order to be able to worship God at the temple and not do idol worship. Right away we see Jeroboam leading the people in the wrong direction and this is just to show what will happen until the Assyrians destroy the northern kingdom. None of the kings from this point on of the northern kingdom worship God. They all serve false idols that they made.  

I asked myself, “Would I be willing to leave my homeland because of what was going on?” Would I be bold enough to speak up against the rulers of the nation?

I remember going back and forth with my parents about certain things. Mostly it was when they would not allow me to go somewhere or participate in something with my friends. They would say, “No” and I would say, “How come?” I sometimes would get the “just because” or we said, “No.” My first and second and probably more would be the why. I would always think my parents were ruining my social life or my chance to be a kid but the truth was that they wanted to protect me from certain situations because they would have been bad for me. I would always think that they did not know what they were talking about or that they were old but the truth is they were very right. 

In this chapter we see what happens after Solomon dies and the result is the kingdom being torn into two. A rebellion takes place in Israel because of Reheboam. We could say it was because of his answer and how he intended on treaty the people but truthfully it is all fulfillment of God’s word which he spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jereboam the son of Nebat (verse 15).

Listen to the Old Men

Rehoboam was king over Israel after the death of Solomon. Jeroboam came out from hiding in Egypt and went to the new king and asked, “If you lighten the load off the people we will serve you.” Rehoboam then asked for 3 days to think about his answer and he would get back to him. During those three days we see Rehoboam going to the elders and wise men of Israel. They told him to be good to the people and listen to their needs, when he will do that they will serve him forever. I guess Rehoboam did not like their answer and he went to the young men who he grew up with. Instead he told Jeroboam that his pinky finger is weighter than his father’s thigh. Solomon disciplined you with whips but I will discipline you with scorpions. He did not love the people, he just wanted to reign over them.  The result of his decision was the kingdom ended in a revolt and then split into two kingdoms.

These young guys were his friends and he took the advice of his friends. He did not take the advice of the old and wise men. Do you do this? Do you take your friends advice over your parents? Do you think your parents are old and do not know what they are talking about. The truth is your parents are wiser than your friends. They have been given the authority to be your parents by God. In their age they have wisdom, they have made their own failures and want you to learn from them and not make the same mistakes.