They moved the ark of God from Abinadab’s house on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding it. David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, cymbals and trumpets.
When they came to the threshing floor of Kidon, Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark, because the oxen stumbled. The LORD’s anger burned against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he had put his hand on the ark. So he died there before God.- 1 Chronicles 13:7-10 NIV
Even David, who was a man after God's own heart had to learn the lesson about that which belongs to God; the things of God are not to be taken or treated lightly. God is real, his power is strong. His power is greater than anything we can imagine. The Bible is littered with stories of those who did not take God at his word or who did not give him the honor that was due.
Korath and his followers rebelled against Moses and they and all their families were swallowed up by the earth. Eli sons treated the Lord's sacrifice with contempt and lost their lives as a result. Ananias and Sapphira, lied about proceeds from the sale of their land, and were slain on the spot. God's possessions, whether they be human or material are not to be messed with. He is that holy and therefore the things of God are holy as well.
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
1 Chronicles 1-9: God is Faithful
As I read the chronicler's list of the generations of each tribe of Israel, that old hymn, Great is Thy Faithfulness comes to mind.
“Great is Thy faithfulness,” O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.
Through the ages, through all of the years of the lives listed in 1 Chronicles, God was there. God was present in the lives of his people whether they realized it or not. He was leading them, protecting them, delivering them. God could not change his mind about his chosen people. They were and have been forever his. Even in the darkest times, even during the holocaust, even when Christians were burned at the stake or slaughtered by ISIS, God is there. His compassion has not changed. Just because we cannot see from an eternal perspective does not mean God is not there. Even in the direst circumstances, God is faithful.
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.
Through the ages, through all of the years of the lives listed in 1 Chronicles, God was there. God was present in the lives of his people whether they realized it or not. He was leading them, protecting them, delivering them. God could not change his mind about his chosen people. They were and have been forever his. Even in the darkest times, even during the holocaust, even when Christians were burned at the stake or slaughtered by ISIS, God is there. His compassion has not changed. Just because we cannot see from an eternal perspective does not mean God is not there. Even in the direst circumstances, God is faithful.
Monday, April 6, 2015
2 Kings 21-25: Great is the Lord's Anger
“Go and inquire of the LORD for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the LORD ’s anger that burns against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.” - 2 Kings 22:13 NIV
When did the people of Judah start ignoring the words of the Lord? Was it when they looked around and saw the prosperity of the other nations who followed other gods? Was it when Manasseh, the evil son of Hezekiah became king. Was it when Manasseh built all of the shrines to other gods? Did they become fearful when they saw children being sacrificed to Molech and decided that it would be best to keep their mouth shut? Did they observe all of the people visiting the male prostitutes at the temple and decide that God just didn't care what they did? Or, did they just get lazy? Did it become too difficult to go to the temple on a regular basis? Was it because all of their friends stopped going to make sacrifice and seemed to prosper anyway.
It really doesn't matter why they stopped paying attention to God's requirements. The bottom line was their safety net was removed, their covenant with the God of their fathers was broken. Josiah accurately saw that the consequence of their actions was dreadful. The Lord wasn't just dismissive of their insult, he was angry. As the writer of Hebrews states, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Heb. 10:31 KJV
The citizens and rulers of Judah would pay for their disobedience. Everything they owned would be confiscated. All but the very poorest would be driven into exile. Their adopted gods would not protect them from the Lord's anger.
When did the people of Judah start ignoring the words of the Lord? Was it when they looked around and saw the prosperity of the other nations who followed other gods? Was it when Manasseh, the evil son of Hezekiah became king. Was it when Manasseh built all of the shrines to other gods? Did they become fearful when they saw children being sacrificed to Molech and decided that it would be best to keep their mouth shut? Did they observe all of the people visiting the male prostitutes at the temple and decide that God just didn't care what they did? Or, did they just get lazy? Did it become too difficult to go to the temple on a regular basis? Was it because all of their friends stopped going to make sacrifice and seemed to prosper anyway.
It really doesn't matter why they stopped paying attention to God's requirements. The bottom line was their safety net was removed, their covenant with the God of their fathers was broken. Josiah accurately saw that the consequence of their actions was dreadful. The Lord wasn't just dismissive of their insult, he was angry. As the writer of Hebrews states, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Heb. 10:31 KJV
The citizens and rulers of Judah would pay for their disobedience. Everything they owned would be confiscated. All but the very poorest would be driven into exile. Their adopted gods would not protect them from the Lord's anger.
Sunday, April 5, 2015
2 Kings 18-20: How Can He Not Deliver
Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?” - 2 Kings 18:35 NIV
Things had been crumbling for a while when Hezekiah became king. Israel was on the brink of being carried away to Babylon and Judah had been under the influence of ungodly kings as well. Hezekiah knew that deliverance would not come from any other gods even though they appeared to be leading the enemy to victory. Hezekiah had to endure the taunts of the enemy..."How can the LORD deliver?"
How can the Lord God deliver? How can he not deliver? He is a covenant keeping God. With those who keep his covenant he remains constant. With the faithful in Judah in the fading days of the kings, with the Christians in Iraq, with the Christians in Kenya, with the Christians in Egypt. All over the world, when God's people keep their covenant, God upholds his side of the covenant as well. It may not appear that way to the enemy,. They may think they are winning, but those who are being persecuted know that God's covenant is firm. They are at peace. They rest in the shelter of His wing. They know that following Christ may mean they have to pick up their cross, but the same God that carried that heavy cross up Calvary's hill is alive and living in their heart. There is nothing any enemy can do to change that reality. How can he not deliver?
Things had been crumbling for a while when Hezekiah became king. Israel was on the brink of being carried away to Babylon and Judah had been under the influence of ungodly kings as well. Hezekiah knew that deliverance would not come from any other gods even though they appeared to be leading the enemy to victory. Hezekiah had to endure the taunts of the enemy..."How can the LORD deliver?"
How can the Lord God deliver? How can he not deliver? He is a covenant keeping God. With those who keep his covenant he remains constant. With the faithful in Judah in the fading days of the kings, with the Christians in Iraq, with the Christians in Kenya, with the Christians in Egypt. All over the world, when God's people keep their covenant, God upholds his side of the covenant as well. It may not appear that way to the enemy,. They may think they are winning, but those who are being persecuted know that God's covenant is firm. They are at peace. They rest in the shelter of His wing. They know that following Christ may mean they have to pick up their cross, but the same God that carried that heavy cross up Calvary's hill is alive and living in their heart. There is nothing any enemy can do to change that reality. How can he not deliver?
Friday, April 3, 2015
2 Kings 13-17: No Other Gods
When the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites, he commanded them: “Do not worship any other gods or bow down to them, serve them or sacrifice to them. But the LORD, who brought you up out of Egypt with mighty power and outstretched arm, is the one you must worship. To him you shall bow down and to him offer sacrifices. You must always be careful to keep the decrees and ordinances, the laws and commands he wrote for you. Do not worship other gods. Do not forget the covenant I have made with you, and do not worship other gods. Rather, worship the LORD your God; it is he who will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.”
They would not listen, however, but persisted in their former practices. Even while these people were worshiping the LORD, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did. - 2 Kings 17:35-41 NIV
What other gods do we idolize? Do we even realize that Jehovah God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of the Universe, the Creator of all, is a jealous God. Do we understand that when he says we are to have no other gods, that includes our possessions, our status, our entertainment? Does he have to strip everything away from us as he did to Israel and later Judah in order to prove that he was serious when he said we should have no other gods. Unfortunately, history shows that most of the time the only way God can get our attention and loyalty is to take everything away and send us into exile. He did it to Israel, he did it to Judah. We should not be surprised if that is our fate as well. We have a choice. We can come back to him, we can divorce ourselves from all that maintains our attention and loyalty. We can tear down all of our idols and high places. We can give him back the rightful place, the throne in our hearts. Can we do it? I don't know. I'm working on it, but I still have a lot of things to let go of before my heart is solely and completely His.
They would not listen, however, but persisted in their former practices. Even while these people were worshiping the LORD, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did. - 2 Kings 17:35-41 NIV
What other gods do we idolize? Do we even realize that Jehovah God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of the Universe, the Creator of all, is a jealous God. Do we understand that when he says we are to have no other gods, that includes our possessions, our status, our entertainment? Does he have to strip everything away from us as he did to Israel and later Judah in order to prove that he was serious when he said we should have no other gods. Unfortunately, history shows that most of the time the only way God can get our attention and loyalty is to take everything away and send us into exile. He did it to Israel, he did it to Judah. We should not be surprised if that is our fate as well. We have a choice. We can come back to him, we can divorce ourselves from all that maintains our attention and loyalty. We can tear down all of our idols and high places. We can give him back the rightful place, the throne in our hearts. Can we do it? I don't know. I'm working on it, but I still have a lot of things to let go of before my heart is solely and completely His.
Thursday, April 2, 2015
2 Kings 6-12: Changing the Course of History
When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to destroy the whole royal family. But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram and sister of Ahaziah, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the royal princes, who were about to be murdered. She put him and his nurse in a bedroom to hide him from Athaliah; so he was not killed. He remained hidden with his nurse at the temple of the LORD for six years while Athaliah ruled the land. - 2 Kings 11:1-3 NIV
Thank God for the brave ones who are willing to risk their own lives for righteousness. Athaliah was evil with evil self serving intent. We're it not for Jehosheba, Joash would never have become king and turned the nation of Judah back to God. Jehosheba could not have foreseen the impact of her actions, but she was not afraid to act. We need brave women and men like her today. We need people who will recognize the evil going on and take corrective action. Jehosheba could have told people what they were doing wrong. She could have started a blog or written letters to the editor. She could have taken to the airwaves, but she didn't. Instead, she acted and it changed the course of history for Judah at that point in time.
Thank God for the brave ones who are willing to risk their own lives for righteousness. Athaliah was evil with evil self serving intent. We're it not for Jehosheba, Joash would never have become king and turned the nation of Judah back to God. Jehosheba could not have foreseen the impact of her actions, but she was not afraid to act. We need brave women and men like her today. We need people who will recognize the evil going on and take corrective action. Jehosheba could have told people what they were doing wrong. She could have started a blog or written letters to the editor. She could have taken to the airwaves, but she didn't. Instead, she acted and it changed the course of history for Judah at that point in time.
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
2 Kings 1-5: The Workings of God
When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.
“You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise not.” - 2 Kings 2:9-10 NIV
If you look at the miracles performed by Elisha, you will notice one thing; they were all performed for impoverished people. They were not all in dire financial straits. Some of they were wealthy, but could not have children, or were ravaged by leprosy. If we wonder why God does not work today, perhaps it is because we don't need him that badly. We have financial advisors, fertility clinics, doctors and hospitals that make sure we want for nothing. There is no need for God to intervene in our lives. Would we give up all we have, would we lead lives of poverty if it meant we could see the working of God in our lives?
“You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise not.” - 2 Kings 2:9-10 NIV
If you look at the miracles performed by Elisha, you will notice one thing; they were all performed for impoverished people. They were not all in dire financial straits. Some of they were wealthy, but could not have children, or were ravaged by leprosy. If we wonder why God does not work today, perhaps it is because we don't need him that badly. We have financial advisors, fertility clinics, doctors and hospitals that make sure we want for nothing. There is no need for God to intervene in our lives. Would we give up all we have, would we lead lives of poverty if it meant we could see the working of God in our lives?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)