Second Kings 12-15

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

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

First Samuel 22-24

God’s message to me: God’s will is knowable. Use good sense, search the scriptures, listen for His voice, test the spirits, lay a fleece before the Lord... If nothing else, and done prayerfully and honestly, flip a coin. God will give you the right answer if you seek it.

Promises: God will not steer you wrong. When the last of the priests family came to David and reported Saul’s murder of the rest, he came with an Ephod. The Ephod was the ceremonial breastplate and pouch worn by the priest and contained the Urim and Thummin. This was a way of learning God’s answer to questions. A look at the answers gained in this seems to imply it was a simple yes or know type of system like flipping a coin or picking one of 2 different colored stones. David took advantage of this to inquire of the Lord when he made big decisions that could get him and his men hurt or killed.

By seeking God’s will in these decisions David was successful in his choices and protected his men.

Commands: Always seek God’s will in your decisions. The decision to stop at a red light or to eat dinner, lock your door on the way out, etc. is simply a matter of good sense. God gave you a mind and common sense and rules to follow so that you would know what to do in everyday matters. When a matter goes outside the everyday he gave instruction and example of how to seek his will so that you remain within it.

Timeless principles: Even when the world seems to be against you, it is good to look out for others. The city of Keilah was under attack by the Philistines. David and his men had no reason to interfere and every reason to remain in hiding but, David saw the opportunity to help people in distress and, after making sure God approved, he went to fight in the city’s defense. Not only did he win but he grew his army by 50%.

How can I apply what I’ve learned: Learn to seek God’s guidance in all things and trust Him to provide the best route.

more to learn for in-depth study: By this point Saul has completely lost his mind. Convinced that there is a conspiracy with everyone against him he threatens his own men and kills the priests and all who live in their city for helping David. David, has never been anything but loyal to the king and has done everything to help Saul. The priests knew this and assumed he was continuing to do so when the met him.

Saul’s men knew not to turn against God’s priests but Doeg, who had been there when David was at the tabernacle, killed the priests on command. Whether it was loyalty, willing murder or fear that he would be the next target for not mentioning seeing David earlier, Doeg was now conspiring with the lunatic king in homicide.

In the meantime, David was attracting an army. 400 disaffected, endangered and indebted men had gathered with him in hiding and he became their commander. When the city of Keilah was under attack by the Philistines, David took his men to battle to protect the city. The men were afraid but trusted David who had inquired of God before moving to fight. The won the fight and when it was over and the men set out for new hiding David’s army was up to 600 men.

Saul continued to pursue David but the Lord would not let the king catch him. Jonathan encouraged David, the Lord guided him, spies and friends warned him of danger and God distracted the king when he got to close. Finally, David got the big chance. Saul went, alone, into the cave where David and his men were hiding. While Saul attended to (ahem) personal business, David had the chance to kill him. David cut the corner of Saul’s robe off without Saul noticing.

I can’t say I would have been so restrained. In my mind, if someone tries to kill you every time you meet, it’s a good idea to eliminate them the first chance you get. Saul had been anointed by God to be king and, while the Lord had taken that blessing and the right to be king away from him, David would not act against the one God had appointed as his ruler. God had appointed him and God would have to remove him. That was David’s view of the matter.

tomorrow: First Samuel 25-28