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God’s message to me: God will tolerate wrong for only as long as necessary. He promise Jehu that his sons would sit on the throne to the 4th generation. Jehu and each generation after him, continued to lead the people in idolatry and Jehu’s great -great-grandson(the fourth generation) held the throne 6 months be fore being killed in a coup.
Promises: God’s covenant stands through all time. His blood covenant to keep Israel forever has never been taken back. Despite the sins of the Israelites, God never allowed the oppression they suffered as punishment to destroy them. God always preserved a remnant to keep his promise.
Commands: Follow God or suffer the consequences. Continued idolatry led to the nation of Israel losing more cities and territories to neighboring Syria and Assyria. Eventually, the failure to fully remove false worship in Judah led to similar attacks against them by neighbors including Israel.
Timeless principles: It’s hard to overcome momentum. While Judah, routinely, went through purges of false religion, the “high places” remained from the time of Solomon to the time of this passage and beyond. Many of the false religions sought to gain a closer relation ship with the gods by sacrificing, burning incense and worshiping at the highest point available. Natural high points, like hills and mountains were enhanced by building mounds to reach higher, places that lacked high points would add towers to large structures. The idea went back to the tower of Babel which was meant to be the ultimate high place.
People had a tendency to adapt these places to worshiping God. Tradition told them to go to a high place in order to be close to god so they felt that the high place brought them closer to God, the Father. Of course, it also left an opening for those who continued to practice false religions as well. After so many years of doing it momentum carried them along the same path even when they were trying to do right.
Christians today are no different. A large part of the mistakes made in modern churches come from momentum and adapting “good parts” of false worship to true worship. This has led to political correctness, acceptance of things the bible calls sin, protests against practices the bible endorses, and even the idea of biblical evolution. They are wrong but, they creep in and get accepted because people do not want to stand up for the word of God. They think if they attack what is wrong and preach what is right they will offend someone and cause them to leave the church.
Here’s a basic principle. If the truth causes someone to lose faith and leave God then they never had Him in the first place. The truth can be a jarring thing. Consider how many new Christians you know that would be offended by the passages we have been reading if they heard them and believed them. This is the reason they are so eager to see the bible as allegorical and inaccurate. It allows them to dismiss the parts they find offensive. If they cannot reconcile with God over the parts they don’t like then they are not His servants. You need to begin again to teach them the truth until God can help them accept it.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: When God gives you a task do it thoroughly. Even if it is silly, symbolic or hard to understand. Jeroboam was told to strike the ground with a bundle of arrows when he was told to strike Syria and destroy them. He struck the ground 3 times and Elisha told him that he would only strike Syria 3 times and not destroy them. I can’t say I would have done differently under the circumstances but, given what I learned here, I wouldn’t stop hitting the ground until I was told to. The order came from God and so the task was from God.
more to learn for in-depth study: Here is a quick rundown of several kings. The passage just touches on some highlights from each administration with emphasis on the kings relationship to God and the results of that relationship. They say “the good die young”. I have to say that the bible shows they get long lives and long administrations while the evil ones get proportionally shorter amounts of time to cause damage. Having studied the gunfighters of the Old West the same seemed to hold true there. Without wasting to much time on details, the ones who sold their skill for a fast buck and personal gratification at the expense of the innocent never lasted 20 years. From the day of their first gunfight to their death was always under the 20 year mark and often much less. A few, who served others and made their reputations as peace officers or helped peace officers, not only lived much longer but died peacefully.
Jehoash and the high priest establish the offering box in this portion. The priests had been ordered to bring all the offerings, that the law did not specifically grant to them, to the temple to be used for construction and repair. When they didn’t do it the box was established so that all offerings brought to the temple that were not, by law, dedicated to the priests, would be collected and used to fund the repair of the neglected Temple of God.
The year count seems to get more out of sync the farther we get from David and Solomon but that was not unexpected. These accounts were pieced together after the fact from multiple sources and dates could be a bit mangles since years are measured but not months. In these circumstances, 23 months would count as 2 years but so would 14, since portions of 2 years were involved. Worse yet, if a six month period included the new year it might be marked as 2 years or compare to 2 years in the other kingdom.(king 1 rules six months king 2 rules 12 years. King 2 took the throne at the same time as king 1 and king one died in the second year that he was on the throne. You see how, after several generation, this gets the time line skewed over 2 kingdoms) This lines are repeated elsewhere with more details so, for those keeping track of the time line like I am, you will find details later to make them more accurate. The coup of Shallum over Zachariah in Israel is a perfect example. Zechariah took the throne in the 38th year of Azariah’s reign and was replaced in the 39th year of his reign but he only held the throne for 6 months.
Case Study: Meneham was a strong king whose government was quite effective in it’s goals. He executed the king and took over. Then he attacked a revolting city and brutally murdered all pregnant women. He continued to lead the Israelites in Idolatry. When the king of Assyria came to attack Israel, Meneham hired taxed the rich and gave the money to the Assyrians as a bribe so that they would work with him to force the Israelites to serve him then leave. This evil ruler held the country in an iron grip through his reign and his son’s reign until the coup that killed his son.
tomorrow: Second Kings 16-17
Showing posts with label Idolatry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Idolatry. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Second Kings 7-8
God’s message to me: Be careful who you associate yourself with. Even if you are strong enough to continue doing what is right your example and the influence of bad people on your associates and family could be detrimental. Jehoshaphat was a good king following God but his son married Ahab’s daughter and his son and grandson both followed Ahab’s ways when they were king.
Promises: Our God is a God of the Impossible. The waste and garbage was fetching premium prices and the Israelites had resorted to cannibalism in the city of Samaria. Famine in the land coupled with a siege they had no power to break made the people hopeless. The king had ordered the execution of Elisha but Elisha predicted fine foods would be selling for bargain basement prices within 24 hours. The guard sent to get him didn’t believe such a thing could happen unless the gates of heaven opened and food rained from the sky.
That night God sent the sound of chariots and marching into the enemy camp so that they believed Israel had hired mercenaries against them. They Syrians ran away leaving all they had brought in an intact camp. The animals, the food, the weapons, clothes and supplies were left to the Israelites and the sudden influx of so much caused the price of food to drop to prices normally unheard of in times of plenty.
Commands: Do not forsake God and do not serve false Gods. Jehoshaphat had been an obedient servant of God but made himself to close to Ahab. His son married Ahab’s daughter and, when he became king, he followed Ahab’s sinful ways so that he only reigned 8 years. It was in this time that Edom and Libnah revolted against Judah’s authority.
His son was just as bad and ruled only one year. Wounded in battle while fighting alongside the Samarians, he went to Jezreel to recover.
Timeless principles: God does not seek the suffering of His servants. Like the warnings given to others in the past God sent word through Elisha that there would be famine in the land. Elisha gave the message to the woman whose son had been raised from the dead so that she could escape the famine and live elsewhere for those seven years. You will remember that Joseph was set up to protect his family and all of Egypt from a famine and that others had also been told to go to safe places when famine was coming.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: Be careful of my associations and how they influence those around me.
more to learn for in-depth study: We are developing a bit of a time line here. Ahaziah reigned until about 105 years after Solomon. Solomon and David each ruled 40 years and Solomon began work on the temple around 3148 years after creation. That means Ahaziah would have ended his reign around 3191 to 3193 years after creation. The times of the kings are slightly less precise with information we have now because we haven’t seen a specific point in Solomon’s reign that he began work on the temple. We just know it happened early. In any case we can get a rough idea of the times of each rule by comparing the time in office and the point at which the person took the throne compared to the other kingdom. It’s roughly accurate and will become more accurate as further books will give more precision to the times.
tomorrow: Second Kings 9-11
Promises: Our God is a God of the Impossible. The waste and garbage was fetching premium prices and the Israelites had resorted to cannibalism in the city of Samaria. Famine in the land coupled with a siege they had no power to break made the people hopeless. The king had ordered the execution of Elisha but Elisha predicted fine foods would be selling for bargain basement prices within 24 hours. The guard sent to get him didn’t believe such a thing could happen unless the gates of heaven opened and food rained from the sky.
That night God sent the sound of chariots and marching into the enemy camp so that they believed Israel had hired mercenaries against them. They Syrians ran away leaving all they had brought in an intact camp. The animals, the food, the weapons, clothes and supplies were left to the Israelites and the sudden influx of so much caused the price of food to drop to prices normally unheard of in times of plenty.
Commands: Do not forsake God and do not serve false Gods. Jehoshaphat had been an obedient servant of God but made himself to close to Ahab. His son married Ahab’s daughter and, when he became king, he followed Ahab’s sinful ways so that he only reigned 8 years. It was in this time that Edom and Libnah revolted against Judah’s authority.
His son was just as bad and ruled only one year. Wounded in battle while fighting alongside the Samarians, he went to Jezreel to recover.
Timeless principles: God does not seek the suffering of His servants. Like the warnings given to others in the past God sent word through Elisha that there would be famine in the land. Elisha gave the message to the woman whose son had been raised from the dead so that she could escape the famine and live elsewhere for those seven years. You will remember that Joseph was set up to protect his family and all of Egypt from a famine and that others had also been told to go to safe places when famine was coming.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: Be careful of my associations and how they influence those around me.
more to learn for in-depth study: We are developing a bit of a time line here. Ahaziah reigned until about 105 years after Solomon. Solomon and David each ruled 40 years and Solomon began work on the temple around 3148 years after creation. That means Ahaziah would have ended his reign around 3191 to 3193 years after creation. The times of the kings are slightly less precise with information we have now because we haven’t seen a specific point in Solomon’s reign that he began work on the temple. We just know it happened early. In any case we can get a rough idea of the times of each rule by comparing the time in office and the point at which the person took the throne compared to the other kingdom. It’s roughly accurate and will become more accurate as further books will give more precision to the times.
tomorrow: Second Kings 9-11
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
First Kings 14-16
God’s message to me: Prophecies are fulfilled literally even if it takes a long time. It was over 650 years after Joshua made the prophecy about Jericho that someone tried to rebuild the city and the prophecy was fulfilled exactly as it had been given.
Promises: God keeps his promises. He promised David that his family would keep the throne and they did because he had followed God throughout his life. Due to the sins of these ruler some had exceptionally short careers as king but the family did continue to rule. King Asa was one who had a long career. Because he walked in the ways of the Lord and even removed his Grandmother from being queen mother because of her Idolatry, God allowed him to rule 41 years in Jerusalem and lead his people in the ways of the Lord.
Commands: Do not turn from God and do not lead others away from Him. How many kings of Israel and Judah do you need to see destroyed for this sin before you know the consequence. Asa led the people back to God and reigned 41 years. David and Solomon ruled 40 years each so at this point Asa was setting a record for time on the throne.
Timeless principles: OK, this one should be obvious. Don’t make God angry. You won’t like Him much when He is angry at you.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: When reading prophecy, take it literally. When God speaks figuratively he always provides a literal translation or explains that the things described could not be understood in earthly terms. There are no exceptions to this rule in the bible. The Bible is filled with prophecies and over 2/3 of the are already fulfilled. Each one was fulfilled literally as it was written. Those who claim the prophecies are open to interpretation are LYING TO YOU.
more to learn for in-depth study: The books of the chronicles of the kings of Israel and the chronicles of the kings of Judah are more books that are not found in the bible. The books of first and second Chronicles cover a lot of that history as well but the history books referred to here are just that, history books. They aren’t scripture so they aren’t found in the bible.
Jeroboam reigned 22 years. Because he led Israel into worshiping idols and false gods, god promised to remove his family like trash and send the Israelites out of the land. God had given him most of Israel to rule because of Solomon’s idolatry and he didn’t learn from the previous king’s mistake. As predicted, his son Nadab was murdered by Baasha and Baasha took over the throne of Israel. Then he killed everyone in the house of Jeroboam.
God also promised that all these things would only be for a time. Other prophecies found elsewhere in the bible predict the reuniting of Israel, the birth and ruler ship of Jesus from the house of David, and the perpetual kingdom of Israel which will never be removed.
Jeroboam’s son Nadab took the throne after him. In the meantime Rehoboam is doing an equally bad job of leading Judah by setting up worship of false Gods. He rules only 17 years and is replaced by his son Abijam who reigned only 3 years and was replaced by his son Asa.
Baasha would only last 24 years and continue the sins of the house of Jeroboam. God made the same promise of destruction to him and after he died his son Elah took over and was murdered and replaced 2 years later by the commander of his Chariots, Zimri. Zimri then killed off all his family and friends.
The army wasn’t to happy with Zimri killing the king so they appointe Omri king and began another civil war within a civil war. Israel and Judah had been at war since Solomon’s death and now Israel was fighting amongst itself as well. The fight began only a week after Zimri took over and he burned the kings house down with himself in it when he lost the fight. Half the people wanted to make Tibni king and the other half were following Omri. Omri prevailed and Tibni died so that Omri became king of Israel. Omri built the city of Samaria and was followed by his son Ahab who ruled from that city and each was worse than the previous in continuing to provoke God.
Ahab married Jezebel the daughter of the king of Sidonia. He worshiped Baal and Ashorah. In his time the prophecy spoken through Joshua was fulfilled when Hiel of Bethel built Jericho laying its foundations with the life of his first born and setting up it’s gates with the life of his youngest.
tomorrow: First Kings 17-18
Promises: God keeps his promises. He promised David that his family would keep the throne and they did because he had followed God throughout his life. Due to the sins of these ruler some had exceptionally short careers as king but the family did continue to rule. King Asa was one who had a long career. Because he walked in the ways of the Lord and even removed his Grandmother from being queen mother because of her Idolatry, God allowed him to rule 41 years in Jerusalem and lead his people in the ways of the Lord.
Commands: Do not turn from God and do not lead others away from Him. How many kings of Israel and Judah do you need to see destroyed for this sin before you know the consequence. Asa led the people back to God and reigned 41 years. David and Solomon ruled 40 years each so at this point Asa was setting a record for time on the throne.
Timeless principles: OK, this one should be obvious. Don’t make God angry. You won’t like Him much when He is angry at you.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: When reading prophecy, take it literally. When God speaks figuratively he always provides a literal translation or explains that the things described could not be understood in earthly terms. There are no exceptions to this rule in the bible. The Bible is filled with prophecies and over 2/3 of the are already fulfilled. Each one was fulfilled literally as it was written. Those who claim the prophecies are open to interpretation are LYING TO YOU.
more to learn for in-depth study: The books of the chronicles of the kings of Israel and the chronicles of the kings of Judah are more books that are not found in the bible. The books of first and second Chronicles cover a lot of that history as well but the history books referred to here are just that, history books. They aren’t scripture so they aren’t found in the bible.
Jeroboam reigned 22 years. Because he led Israel into worshiping idols and false gods, god promised to remove his family like trash and send the Israelites out of the land. God had given him most of Israel to rule because of Solomon’s idolatry and he didn’t learn from the previous king’s mistake. As predicted, his son Nadab was murdered by Baasha and Baasha took over the throne of Israel. Then he killed everyone in the house of Jeroboam.
God also promised that all these things would only be for a time. Other prophecies found elsewhere in the bible predict the reuniting of Israel, the birth and ruler ship of Jesus from the house of David, and the perpetual kingdom of Israel which will never be removed.
Jeroboam’s son Nadab took the throne after him. In the meantime Rehoboam is doing an equally bad job of leading Judah by setting up worship of false Gods. He rules only 17 years and is replaced by his son Abijam who reigned only 3 years and was replaced by his son Asa.
Baasha would only last 24 years and continue the sins of the house of Jeroboam. God made the same promise of destruction to him and after he died his son Elah took over and was murdered and replaced 2 years later by the commander of his Chariots, Zimri. Zimri then killed off all his family and friends.
The army wasn’t to happy with Zimri killing the king so they appointe Omri king and began another civil war within a civil war. Israel and Judah had been at war since Solomon’s death and now Israel was fighting amongst itself as well. The fight began only a week after Zimri took over and he burned the kings house down with himself in it when he lost the fight. Half the people wanted to make Tibni king and the other half were following Omri. Omri prevailed and Tibni died so that Omri became king of Israel. Omri built the city of Samaria and was followed by his son Ahab who ruled from that city and each was worse than the previous in continuing to provoke God.
Ahab married Jezebel the daughter of the king of Sidonia. He worshiped Baal and Ashorah. In his time the prophecy spoken through Joshua was fulfilled when Hiel of Bethel built Jericho laying its foundations with the life of his first born and setting up it’s gates with the life of his youngest.
tomorrow: First Kings 17-18
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Numbers 25-26
God’s message to me: Political correctness would tell us that we should be tolerant. It even claims to be a biblical principle. The fact is, that you can not tolerate sin. It’s one thing to be a witness and to even be friends with unbelievers. It is something entirely different to tolerate what you know to be wrong.
Promises: Obedience to God and a willingness to stand up for His principles will lead to His grace, mercy and blessing.
Commands: Do not tolerate sin and do not remain with those who promote it. People often think that, because Christ had dinner with sinners, they can be friends with and hang around unrepentant sinners. This is not the case. Christ came among sinners in order to witness to them and bring them out. Those he kept company with for extended periods were the people who abandoned their old ways and followed Him. Remaining among sin places undo temptation on you and makes it easier to fall into sin.
When Israelites began to join in the sins of the Midianites God sent a plague and killed 24,000 of them. Some left the camp and The son of the High priest killed an Israelite who was openly taking a harlot to his tent along with the harlot. His zeal in putting a stop to this open rebellion against God convinced God to stop the plague. God ordered that they attack the Midianites and drive them off so the temptation would be gone.
Timeless principles: Tolerance leads to acceptance. Whenever the righteous spent time close to those who were not it was not long before they turned against God’s law. Being near Idolaters they began to spend time with them, they accepted invitations to dinner where meat of a sacrifice to Idols was the main course, they followed by worshiping with the idolaters and become idolaters themselves. Prostitution was common among the neighbors so they tolerated it and eventually joined in it.
The old saying says, “if you lie down with dogs you get up with fleas”. This story shows that principle and reminds us why we cannot be tolerant of sin. “hate the sin and love the sinner”. I always get a kick out of people who call me a “homophobe” and then try to accuse me of hypocrisy because I associate with some gay people. I don’t fear homosexuals I just accept that they are directly and unrepentantly violating God’s law. I make no secret of how I feel about their lifestyle. I don’t hang out with them but, inasmuch as our paths cross(one is a neighbor, others I have worked with) I act in a civil and even friendly manner. I am willing to help them when they need it. I do as God would have me do in acting out of Christian love and condemning the sinful lifestyle. This is not phobia and it is not hypocrisy. The same goes for drug addicts and alcoholics and the “dogs” that think sex is a recreational sport with no boundaries.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: Do not hang around when others are doing wrong. Don’t tolerate their sin. Call them on it. If they don’t stop walk away from the situation. If they encourage you to join their sin they are not friends they are evil and will bring you down. Get away from them.
more to learn for in-depth study: After their years in the wilderness, a new census was taken. Except for Moses, Caleb and Joshua, all of the people who had been counted in the first census were dead. Only their children remained. Their numbers had grown a little despite the plagues and disasters that had fallen as a result of their rebellions against God.
tomorrow: Numbers 27-30
Promises: Obedience to God and a willingness to stand up for His principles will lead to His grace, mercy and blessing.
Commands: Do not tolerate sin and do not remain with those who promote it. People often think that, because Christ had dinner with sinners, they can be friends with and hang around unrepentant sinners. This is not the case. Christ came among sinners in order to witness to them and bring them out. Those he kept company with for extended periods were the people who abandoned their old ways and followed Him. Remaining among sin places undo temptation on you and makes it easier to fall into sin.
When Israelites began to join in the sins of the Midianites God sent a plague and killed 24,000 of them. Some left the camp and The son of the High priest killed an Israelite who was openly taking a harlot to his tent along with the harlot. His zeal in putting a stop to this open rebellion against God convinced God to stop the plague. God ordered that they attack the Midianites and drive them off so the temptation would be gone.
Timeless principles: Tolerance leads to acceptance. Whenever the righteous spent time close to those who were not it was not long before they turned against God’s law. Being near Idolaters they began to spend time with them, they accepted invitations to dinner where meat of a sacrifice to Idols was the main course, they followed by worshiping with the idolaters and become idolaters themselves. Prostitution was common among the neighbors so they tolerated it and eventually joined in it.
The old saying says, “if you lie down with dogs you get up with fleas”. This story shows that principle and reminds us why we cannot be tolerant of sin. “hate the sin and love the sinner”. I always get a kick out of people who call me a “homophobe” and then try to accuse me of hypocrisy because I associate with some gay people. I don’t fear homosexuals I just accept that they are directly and unrepentantly violating God’s law. I make no secret of how I feel about their lifestyle. I don’t hang out with them but, inasmuch as our paths cross(one is a neighbor, others I have worked with) I act in a civil and even friendly manner. I am willing to help them when they need it. I do as God would have me do in acting out of Christian love and condemning the sinful lifestyle. This is not phobia and it is not hypocrisy. The same goes for drug addicts and alcoholics and the “dogs” that think sex is a recreational sport with no boundaries.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: Do not hang around when others are doing wrong. Don’t tolerate their sin. Call them on it. If they don’t stop walk away from the situation. If they encourage you to join their sin they are not friends they are evil and will bring you down. Get away from them.
more to learn for in-depth study: After their years in the wilderness, a new census was taken. Except for Moses, Caleb and Joshua, all of the people who had been counted in the first census were dead. Only their children remained. Their numbers had grown a little despite the plagues and disasters that had fallen as a result of their rebellions against God.
tomorrow: Numbers 27-30
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