1 Against 400

2nd Chronicles 18

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!

Courageous in the Lord

2nd Chronicles 17

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!

Listening to God

2nd Chronicles 11

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?

Old People Know What they Are Talking About, Most of the Time

2nd Chronicles 10

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.

Hear our Needs

2nd Chronicles 6

I know that if I had a need or a request to ask of my family that they would be there for me. They have always wanted to be there and help in any way they can. When Alyssa and I first got married we needed a refrigerator and my grandparents got us one. When we are in need a family member is there for us. Even more than my blood family we have a Christian family that is big and they have always been there to meet our needs. 

We serve an amazing God will hears our requests and is there for his children. He listens and then acts to what is best for us. In this chapter after the Ark of the Covenant has been brought to the Temple we see Solomon addressing all of Israel and then he prays to God.

Solomon’s Prayer (12-42)

The start of Solomon’s prayer was with appreciation and praise to God. He said, “O Lord, God if Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart…” He started with appreciation of who God is. When you pray to start with appreciation? It is easy to skip this because we want our request to be heard or we want to not forget about what we ask. But part of praying is worshiping God and appreciating who he is. Solomon was humble as he knelt down before all of Israel and prayed.

Then Solomon just asked for God to hear his prayer. He says, “that even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built,” Then he says, “Yet you have regard for your servant to hear his plea.” How amazing to know the infinite God cares about us finite creation. When we pray we need to have the proper perspective, knowing who God is and who we are, his creation.

Solomon then list certain requests, whether it is for justice to take place against the sinner or for the foreigner that comes to praise God he will act according to his purpose and will. When you pray for your request, are they about forgiveness? Are they for your friends? Are they for family? What about your enemies? What about your leaders? What about the salvation of people? What about being convicted of sin that you are not aware of? These are questions we need to ask ourselves because we probably do not always do it.

Solomon then closes with a praise of, “Now, O my God, let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayer of this place.” Not just now but always and then he shares some praise of wisdom.

When you read this section what do you learn about prayer? What about how you pray? Do you pray? These are some good thoughts when we think about spending time with our Creator, the full of mercy and grace, saving God.  My family is dependent with hearing and being their for things I need but my God is even more dependable as he has never let me down. I pray we learn to trust in Him more and more everyday.

A Decorated Temple

2nd Chronicles 4

One of the funniest memories that I have with my wife before we were married was at the beach. We went with some friends and as we were just hanging out my friend Dirk and I noticed Alyssa’s feet had some black stuff on it. We looked at each other and thought that obviously is not normal but then again maybe it was some dark birthmark or skin condition. As we tried not to embarrass Alyssa about we still did or normal hanging out stuff and then Alicia who is Dirk’s wife said, “Alyssa, you have some tar at the bottom of your feet.” Once we found out that is was tar and not some foot disease we laughed and told Alyssa what we thought. Then we all helped in trying to get the tar of her feet. That was a task in itself because it did not want to come off. We had to scrub and scrub and scrub. Alyssa rinsed, she soaked, she did what ever she could to get it off. Finally it came off and her feet were like feet minus the black tar. 

In this chapter we read about all the gold furnishings that Hiram made for Solomon to put in the temple. We even read that so much bronze was used that it goes beyond weight. At the end of this chapter we read about the bread of Presence and the lamp stands being made out of pure gold.

Pure is What God requires

As you read about all the awesome cool stuff in the Temple we need to also know that the gold had to be pure. That means that it could not have any other substance in it. When you read about how metals are purified it is called refined. This is what they do to make a metal pure and not have any impurities in it. What they would do is heat the gold so hot that it would become liquid and all of the impurities would come to the top. They would scrape off the top and do this process a couple of times until no impurities would rise up. This would show that the non-gold parts would be gone and away from the gold. 

Not only does this process take time but it needs to take place for the gold and precious metal to become pure. If not then the gold would be less in value less in strength, less in pure gold. 

As anything that needed to be in the presence of God is pure, God requires that of us. The problem is, we are not pure. We are sinful and impure (Romans 3:23). The only way we can become pure is by being refined by the fire which is through Jesus Christ.  In Zechariah 13:9 we see that the good shepherd is cut off and God’s people will scatter but he will put them in the fire and refine them as one refines silver, test them as gold is tested. We need to be put through the heat so the impurities of the world and ourselves can be scraped off. We need to be emptied of ourselves so we can be tested and last through the fire.