Joy From Common Definition

“So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel [there was] not the like in Jerusalem.” (2Ch 30:26 AV)

A little background first.  Since the time of David and Solomon, Judah has had ups and downs concerning the kings who led them.  Some did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD.  Some did not.  Those who did never completely undid the sins of their predecessors.  There may have been compliance for most things, but not all things.  As a result, the ministry of the Temple went neglected.  The Passover, Israel’s most sacred of all feast days, went unobserved.  When Hezekiah took the throne, he managed the most thorough revival to ever hit Judah.  He cleaned everything out, repaired the temple, sanctified the priests, and reestablished the Passover.  The above verse was the reaction of the people of Israel upon their first Passover celebration in many decades.  All the people rejoiced.  It was a unified and nation celebration marked by great joy and appreciation.  The question might arise as to the possibility for our nation.  Is it possible?  The key factor that Israel possessed was a unified cultural definition.  They may not have agreed on every point, but they agreed that Israel was a nation called out by God to live according to His laws and that any culture that would harm their national definition would not be accepted.  Cultural unity made this national celebration possible.

What we are seeing is a struggle for definition.  We are approaching our 250th anniversary.  Our nation, much to the chagrin of the secularists, did begin as a concept honoring Judeo-Christian ideals.  We did not begin as a theocrasy, as Israel did.  Rather, the common principles of the right to life, liberty, and property (it was changed to ‘happiness’) found in Jewish and Christian doctrines were the foundation of our national definition.  Our founding fathers understood that to ensure all three, moral laws had to be the structure upon which our nation was to be built.  In no fashion did they ever have in mind the modern-day idea of freedom.  Today’s definition of freedom is hedonism.  This will not work.  One person's pursuit of unfettered or unprincipled freedom is an infringement on another’s right to liberty.  Our nation is tearing itself apart because we cannot agree upon a common culture.  There is the Judeo-Christian culture that is still prevalent.  But equally strong is the anti-Judeo-Christian culture that opposes everything.  What they do not realize is that once they perceive the Judeo-Christian culture is no longer relevant, or that it is destroyed, they will turn on each other.  The unity they now share in trying to defeat God will become dis-unified in the end.

I appreciate all that our nation is doing to try to get back to our nation’s founding, but it cannot be legislated from the halls of an assembly or from the edicts of people in robes.  Laws and court decisions are a good place to start.  But they are not the answer.  Israel rejoiced because they had a law which was the definition of who they were and needed to be.  Their definition was unified because of a strong faith in their divinely appointed purpose.  The United States has much in common with God’s people.  We had a common calling that reached around the globe.  That common calling was based on Biblical principles and was generally beneficial to all of mankind.  Those who wished to exist in opposition to it did not feel particularly advantaged.  But all who chose to live in accord with God’s perfect law had a generally improved nation.  Israel rejoiced because they had a common culture.  As we celebrate 250 years as a nation, let us seek to solve this disunity.  Let us agree we are a divinely established nation for the benefit of individual liberty and the right of conscience.  Until we agree on a common culture, rejoice as one nation will be a challenge at best.

Strength Through Obedience

“So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the LORD his God.” (2Ch 27:6 AV)

There is a direct correlation between obedience and strength.  There is a direct relationship between faith and strength.  Perhaps not physical, but there is strength.  Jotham, king of Judah, was not perfect.  He did the right thing, but not with a right heart.  He prepared his ways before the LORD but never prepared his heart to seek the LORD.  He knew his Bible and followed it to the letter.  Yet, Jotham never had a vibrant relationship with the LORD.  This is important to understand.  We must see the relationship of obedience and faith to strength.  Not that we can be as strong as we need to be if we obey and trust the LORD.  One can only imagine if Jotham added to his character the desire to walk with God in intimacy and with a humble heart.  Regardless, what we do see is that strength comes by obedience and faith.  Partially, yes.  It can be suggested that without faith and obedience, the saint is not mighty.  He is weak.  He lives in fear and in the consequences of disobedience.

Disobedience and fear take a great toll.  We can all testify to the truth of that statement.  There are things in our past that still come back to bite us now and again.  There are fears of consequences yet to mature.  They probably never will.  But the fear is still there.  There are consequences for choices made in the past that still cost today.  Some excess baggage we carry with us.  Others are more durable in nature.  Perhaps a financial impact still haunts us.  Or maybe we have physical scars from poor choices in the past.  Whatever the consequences are, we deal with them for the rest of our lives.  There is the fear of the unknown.  We are not afraid of eternity.  We know all pain will cease there.  It is the journey along the way that concerns us.  We live in an uncertain world.  At any moment, the bottom could drop out.  Survival becomes the only motive each day.  We live in fear, anxiety, regret, etc. because we did not prepare ourselves to follow the LORD.  We are weak because the LORD is not our Rock.  We are frail because God is not our strength.  This is our human experience.

The only way to regain strength is to recommit to obedience and trust.  In these two comes the might of the LORD!  Jotham was mighty because he decided the law of God was worthy to be followed and the call of God on him and Judah was worthy to be pursued.  He may not have been intimately involved with the person of God, but the ways of God got him through much.  Again, this is not to give a shortcut to the might of God.  Being intimate with God can only increase the might one can have through obedience and faith.  But we have to start somewhere.  Obedience and intimacy are to be pursued equally.  We cannot have one without the other.  Our modern idea of worship is intimacy without obedience.  Legalism is the opposite.  Obedience without intimacy.  This is why our churches are not effective.  There must be both.  The same is true with the individual.  We will face troubles and trials too hard for any human to endure.  Just like it would have been foolish for Jotham to wage war against the Ammonites while living in disobedience with the LORD, it is equally foolish for us to do the same.  Do we want strength and might to face our troubles?  Then it starts with obedience and faith.

Motivation

“And he gathered together the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out unto the cities of Judah, and gather of all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that ye hasten the matter. Howbeit the Levites hastened [it] not…And at the king’s commandment they made a chest, and set it without at the gate of the house of the LORD.” (2Ch 24:5, 8 AV)

This young man was remarkable.  His mother killed all his siblings, and he alone was left.  At seven years old, he ascended to the throne.  He executed his own mother.  He cleansed Judah of all idol worship.  Now, he has set in motion the repairing of the temple after his mother had destroyed it.  He read the law and discovered an offering once called for by Moses for the construction of the tabernacle.  This young man calls for the same to repair the temple.  He instructs the Levites to oversee and collect this mandatory offering, and they dragged their feet.  They hastened not.  Why, we don’t know.  But the job was not done.  So, the king rebukes them and comes up with the solution to collect the offerings.  He bores a hole in a box laid outside the temple and the money comes it.  Sometimes, a leader has to light a fire under the feet of those who are supposed to be doing the work.  This is annoying, but necessary.

We need motivation.  That is our nature.  All one has to do is pay a bit of attention to all the ads for weight-loss products.  There are drugs.  There are gym memberships.  There are weight-loss groups.  And there are services available.  Then there are the motivators for better fitness.  Smartwatches measure your heart rate, oxygen levels, and steps.  They act as a fitness tracker to motivate the user to better habits.  Of course, who can forget the original fitness tracker, the Fitbit?  We have alarms and reminders for all sorts of things.  When I was on more medication than I am now, I had a pill reminder.  When I had my shoulder surgery, the PT gave me homework.  She gave me a schedule of exercises with reps and a checklist.  Just this morning, I thought the machines were taking over.  The coffee pot was chiming, and the microwave beeped at the same time.  If the door of the refrigerator were open, it would have sounded off, too.  My car has all sorts of assistants just waiting to tell me what to do.  I have collision warnings, turn signal warnings, proximity sensors, and a backup camera.  It is now yelling at me to have the oil changed in exactly three days, or it will get very angry!  We need motivation!

The fault of failing to quickly take an offering by the command of the king was something to confess and get right.  I wonder if they felt bad that the king had to do something they were tasked to do.  I wonder if a seven-year-old boy doing the work of grown men was lost on them.  It should have been an embarrassment.  There is no shame in admitting that we need motivation.  Our human nature is lazy and forgetful.  There is no shame is asking the LORD to give us something that will keep us focused and going.  In fact, it is very prudent.  We may think that relying on outward motivators is admitting we are weak.  But we are.  Our minds, bodies, and souls can only accomplish so much on their own.  They must be motivated to go beyond what is naturally possible.  The Levites needed a lad to light a fire under their feet.  Maybe we need a reminder.  Maybe we need a good friend to read us the riot act.  Maybe we need the Holy Spirit to convict and give guidance.  We need something or someone because we are frail, weak, and forgetful.

Being Clueless Could Be A Good Thing

“O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes [are] upon thee.” (2Ch 20:12 AV)

Jehoshaphat is an eternal optimist.  He thinks only positive thoughts.  He tried to assist Ahab on several occasions even though the LORD was against it.  This above passage regards the second time Jehoshaphat attempted to assist Ahab and Jezebel.  Through His prophet, God rebuked Jehoshaphat.  The king was not to assist the God-haters anymore.  To ensure that didn’t happen, God sent Gentile enemies against Judah to keep this good-hearted king occupied with his own problems.  The extent of the challenge was so overwhelming that the Bible tells us the king didn’t know what to do.  He speaks this prayer in the presence of his nation.  He lays at the feet of the LORD the situation and asks for guidance from Him.  This is where Jehoshaphat should have been regarding helping Ahab.  It took an overwhelming situation to drive the king to his knees. Being helpless and clueless can be a good thing.  God becomes very real in times like these.

Having been raised in Scouting, there are certain skills one learns.  Some of those skills concern wilderness survival.  In fact, there is a merit badge one could earn with that name: Wilderness Survival.  Earning this badge required that we learn of different edible and naturally occurring vegetation.  We learned how to make a dandelion salad and sumac tea.  The badge required that we learn how to make shelters and build fires in both good and inclement weather.  We had to learn how to triage and treat emergency medical situations.  Reading a compass was an absolute must.  But one area that was most important was being lost without the immediate means to find one’s way.  The first thing the instructors teach the students is to stop.  Rather than rush off in a panic where injury or further confusion can ensue, the stranded soul is to stop.  He or she is to sit and relax.  Assessment is to be made.  Can I realistically get out before nightfall?  If not, at what time am I going to stop trying and prepare for a night in the woods?  What naturally occurring resources are there to help me find my way out?  Where is the sun?  How is it moving?  Do I need to erect a stationary sundial to discern time of day and direction of movement?  Not knowing what to do causes us to stop and evaluate.  It causes us to inventory only that which can help.  It does not prioritize cause, but rather, focuses on solutions.

Jehoshaphat didn’t know what to do.  This was new for him.  When he sided with Ahab, he had a plan.  When he assisted those whom he was supposed to avoid, there were not too many questions.  Now, the LORD sent him circumstances where he would not survive if he ignored the LORD.  Not knowing what to do is scary.  No doubt!  Not knowing which direction to go home is not comfortable.  I’ve been there once or twice.  Having to ponder the possibilities is frightful.  Will I make it through ok?  Will I make it out alive?  What pain or danger lies ahead?  Will I make it worse or better?  The questions posed while ignorant of solutions can border on the paranoid.  But not knowing what to do is exactly where we need to be sometimes.  When we do not know what to do, we are forced into doing something.  That ‘something’ which we should do first is confess our sin of self-reliance to a God who can do all things.  It was rude not to consult Him in the first place.  Next, we are to relax and involve God in our situation.  It is astounding the change of demeanor that follows this prayer.  Before the victory is even given, Judah is going onto the battlefield with an air of celebration.  They are singing and praising God before God delivers.  The funny thing about being lost.  Once the hiker realizes the plan is working and will eventually deliver him, his spirit revives as he works it out.  Jehoshaphat didn’t have the complete answer.  But he did have the God who had the complete answer.

Character Beats Might

“And the fear of the LORD fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that [were] round about Judah, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat.” (2Ch 17:10 AV)

One would think that Jehoshaphat was a man of war.  If all they had to go on was the above verse, they would assume Jehoshaphat was a mighty man who commanded a great and fierce army.  Even if he did, that was not the cause of fear.  There is no record of Jehoshaphat waging any war.  To this point, there is no indication he had gained a great victory of any temporal nature.  Rather, what Jehoshaphat did was to revive Judah and Benjamin back to their one true God.  His father had begun the process.  Jehoshaphat finished it.  A man of character will be feared more than an man of mere might.  A man of mere might with no character can be defeated.  His wickedness will do half the work.  But a man of consistent and resolute character is not easily broken.  This is what the nations around Judah understood.  They knew that Jehovah fought for the people of God.  Especially when they walked with Him.  There was no messing with a king who walked with his God.

There are no guarantees that a world at odds with God would respect and fear a saint who is completely right with God.  In fact, Peter tells us that if we live godly, then persecution is to be expected.  Persecution is the payment for holy living.  Few are willing to pay that price.  The observation above must be understood in the context of national governments and not individual applications.  In other words, we cannot expect the world to leave us alone if we live holy and separated.  Jehoshaphat was a king of a godly nation.  They feared him because he has an army to back him up.  He has God who would defend them to all extents.  So, we cannot expect the same results.  However, there is one area in which this perfectly applies.  “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (Jas 4:7 AV) The devil has only as much power over us as we allow him to have.  No more.  No less.  Peter does not say that God will cause him to flee.  The power resides with us.  Resist is an instruction to us.  Not to the LORD.

As of late, I have been reminded how true this can be.  The devil is out to discourage and to destroy.  He, or his minions, are extremely active in the lives of the saints.  They want us defeated.  They want us to give up.  They want us to tarnish the good name of our great God in the presence of those who do not know Jehovah as yet.  They want God’s influence neutralized so that none can testify to His greatness.  Whether they are successful or not depends on the saints.  If the saints will walk with God in character and faith, the forces of hell have no option but the flee.  There is no foothold the forces of evil have in the heart that loves God.  None.  It is time we resist!  It is time we show the evil forces of Lucifer that we may not be perfect as yet, but we are forgiven.  We may have made our mistakes and fallen from time to time, but none of that can separate us from the love of God.  We are victors through the blood of Christ, and because we are, we can live for His glory.  We won’t make every righteous decision we should make.  Until we die, sin will always be a battle.  But because we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and are sealed unto the day of redemption, Satan has no claim!  None!  No power!  He is to fear the testimony of God that resides within us.  Resist!

A special kind of rejection

“And, behold, God himself [is] with us for [our] captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against the LORD God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.” (2Ch 13:12 AV)

These words are spoken by Abijah, king of Judah upon the siege laid against Jerusalem by the ten northern tribes of Israel.  Abijah, although severely outnumbered, reminds Israel that God is with those who are with Him.  Jeroboam, the king of Israel, led his nation down the path of idolatry.  They turned their backs on God.  The priests of Jehovah fled the north and came to Judah.  Jeroboam rejected the temple Solomon built for all Hebrew people and built two temples to golden calves.  The last severe reaction of rebellion against Jehovah God was to invade Jerusalem and destroy the temple.  As long as the temple stood, it would be a draw from those in the north who wished to follow Jehovah.  As stated before, Israel severely outnumbered Judah.  They had completely surrounded the city, and there was no expectation of a positive outcome for Judah.  Unless God fought for them, that is.  And that He did.  The Bible isn’t specific because the initial attack is not declared.  What we do know is that after the first attack, Judah could kill 500,000 northern Israelis and Abijah could capture several border cities.  What strikes me is how far from God the people of God can become.

It is one thing to leave off one’s relationship with the LORD.  It is quite another to fight against those who have a relationship with the LORD.  I haven’t seen this much over the years.  But it does happen.  Nothing can explain this.  Someone who has grown up with the LORD as central to his or her identity has seen much.  He or she has seen God do some spectacular things.  Unfortunately, the people of God become a disappointment.  They fall from the pedestal upon which the rebel has placed them.  They make mistakes, sometimes serious ones, that are unforgivable.  Those who taught them absolutes are suddenly abandoning them for pragmatic reasons.  There is truth without adequate defense.  Pastors, teachers, and parents do not know their Bibles well enough to give a reason for what they say is true.  Disillusionment sets in.  Then comes scoffing.  What might be a minor flaw becomes a major one.  Questions without complete answers give cause to throw out all revealed truth.  Abandonment is understandable.  Destruction is something on a whole different level.

In the book of Revelation, Satan is given two names.  Both of which means destroyer.  It is the endgame of his existence.  He cannot win.  He does not have the illusion of beating God.  That was defeated when the LORD kicked him out of heaven.  He knows he cannot cause the saint to lose his or her salvation.  He knows the bible well enough to know that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church.  He cannot destroy the church.  So, what is his endgame?  What is his objective?  It is to do as much destruction against that which God loves as he can.  This includes mankind, the church, and the individual saints.  Jeroboam had no chance.  Judah loved Jehovah, and God would defend them.  His rebellion, jealousy, and anger against the LORD drove him to his satanic destructive impulse.  There is no other explanation.  To desire the collapse and destruction of all that God loves is not a neutral or natural impulse.  It is satanic at its core.

Coming Out to Stay In

“And after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the LORD God of their fathers.” (2Ch 11:16 AV)

After the death of Solomon, his son Rehoboam assumed the throne.  Because of his idolatry, the LORD informed Solomon that the twelve tribes of Israel would be divided into two nations.  Ten tribes coalesced around a man named Jeroboam, a servant of Solomon.  As more of a statement of being different, and the fear the ten northern tribes would reunite because of shared worship in Jerusalem, Jeroboam went all in with idol worship and the worship of devils.  As Israel (the ten northern tribes) committed to devil worship, the priests of Jehovah found no use.  Their ministry was lost among wicked worship, so they left and came to Jerusalem.  It was a pragmatic decision.  If Israel were going to abandon Jehovah, they were not going to support His priests.  They had to leave in order to live.  What might be interesting here is that the bible stipulates who it was that left.  “Such as set their hearts to seek the LORD” suggests some did not.  There may have been priests who had such a situation that returning the Jerusalem was not necessary or desirable.  Perhaps their situation was settled and ministry did not matter.  How sad.  What we do know is that those who desired to follow the LORD and serve Him went to where the LORD would be worshiped!

Someone might think this as a reverse missions devotion.  Are not the people of God supposed to go out into a lost world as share the gospel to the lost?  Yes.  But this is different.  Israel had the word of God.  They had a relationship with Jehovah.  God would send many prophets into Israel.  Isaiah, Jonah, Elijah, and Elisha to name a few.  When the priests left, this did not create a silent vacuum from God’s truth.  God still sent messengers.  Rather, when the priests left, they left because there was no ministry for them.  The people of God did not want the hear the word of God taught.  It was too bad for them that they didn’t want to hear it at all.  The prophets of God made sure that they did.  The priests of God had to leave.  They lost their purpose.  They lost any hope of a purpose.  They could always return.  If Israel would have gotten right and desired the LORD Jehovah, the priests could have returned.  What is worth noting is that those from Israel who desired to remain faithful to Jehovah either made the trip to Jerusalem or relocated there.  The congregation to whom the northern priests were sent came to them.  In relocating, they condensed their ministry and continued.

We don’t want to consider logistics as much as we want to note the character of these priests.  They had a heart for God.  They wanted to live for God and serve God.  They wanted to be among people who desired the same.  I imagine it took a lot for them to uproot and relocate.  They left their homes.  They left their friends.  I also imagine the hardest thing to do was to leave people with whom they had ministry, knowing they would never respond to God.  In a way, this was a mercy.  It is difficult to see a group of people turn their backs on God and want nothing to do with Him or His word.  Especially after they had invested their whole lives with them.  It took character to walk away from a failing ministry because God was more important than anything else in life.  They had the courage to come apart.  They had the faith to trust the LORD in spite of what it might cost them.  They loved God, and of that there was no doubt.