Meddling

O.T . #873  "Meddling"
2 Kings 23-Part 2

LET IT GLOW

A phrase I recall as a teacher by a student was, "She's meddling with me." Then I had to settle a dispute. Today, Josiah is meddling with God. Shall we see why and what happened?

Josiah was a good king in Judah, number 16 to be exact. Although he reformed Judah, destroying the idols and reestablishing the worship of God, judgment from God was still coming due to Manasseh's sin. However, there was no king like Josiah, according to verse 25.

MacArthur described him as: Of all the kings in David's line, including David himself, no king more closely approximated the royal ideal of Deuteronomy 17:14-2 than Josiah. Yet, even Josiah fell short of complete obedience because he had multiple wives (verses 31 and 36). Even this righteous man could not turn away the Lord's wrath because of Manasseh's sin (verses 26 and 27).

Hezekiah was described as the greatest king which trusted God by faith while his great grandson, Josiah, was described as being the greatest king in following the Law of God in obedience.

Are we following their examples by our trust in God and obedient actions? Faith and obedience is what pleases God. He looks upon the heart.

LET IT GROW

Meantime, what was going on around Judah?

• The Pharaoh of Egypt, Neco, was marching through Judah to Assyria. Egypt and Assyria had formed an alliance to battle against Babylon, who threatened to become the dominant world power.
• In 612 B.C. the Assyrian capital of Nineveh fell to the Babylonians. It was for their advantage for Egypt and Assyria to join forces against Babylon.
• Did Josiah consider both nations turning on Judah after they battled with Babylon? Did he see Egypt as a potential power to his newly gained independence?
• Looking at 2  Chronicles 35, we read where Josiah went out to fight against Neco. Neco asked Josiah, "What quarrel is there between you and me, O king of Judah? It is not you that I am attacking at this time, but the house with which I am at war. God has told me to hurry; so stop opposing God, who is with me, or He will destroy you." (verse 21 NIV)
• KJV puts it this way, forebear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that He destroy thee not.
• Webster's Dictionary defines meddling as to interest someone in what is not one's concern.
• Why was Josiah meddling in Egypt's business of attacking them when they did not mean them any harm? Their army was only passing through their land to get to Assyria to aid in battling Babylon. He was opposing God's plan, kicking against the prick, so to speak.

Di you catch this-God was moving upon a king and nation to accomplish His purpose of Babylon ruling the world? What transpired? King Josiah did not listen to King Neco, did not turn his army away from Egypt, and disguised himself as he joined them.
Archers shot King Josiah; his servants took him to his chariot, then Jerusalem to die.

Ugh! How sad of an ending for a great king, wouldn't you agree? Needless, warned of the outcome. Was it pride that caused him to not turn away?
Do we find our self meddling where we have no business doing so? Do we have the tendency to interfere?
Are we interfering in anther's life where we should not, so God can accomplish His plan?
Something to consider?

LET IT GO

Pray before meddling into another's business.

Don't rush in to save the day when God may not have that in His plan.

Seek His will and obey it.

Small and Great

O.T. #872  "Small and Great"
Nov. 21, 2016
2 Kings 2


LET IT GLOW

Josiah was a godly king of Judah. He sent 5 men to inquire of a prophetess what was in store for him and his nation. The message was one of them being conquered, but not during Josiah's lifetime. (Babylon did later.) When the king received the word, he called together the elders of Jerusalem and Judah and they went into the Temple, the house of the LORD.

Who gathered with Josiah?
All the elders and men of Judah, all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and prophets, and all the people both great and small met with the king in the Temple.

Who is going to be in the New Jerusalem, of which Revelation 20-21 speaks?
The dead, small and great, those whose name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life, those who were overcomers, nations of the saved, kings, the bride of Christ, saints who kept the faith, and worshipers of Jesus Christ will be  upon the new heaven and new earth forever and ever.

Dear one, will you be there, too? I do so much want to meet you and hear your life story. Are we sure that our loved ones will be there, too?

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, the Life; no one comes unto the Father but by Him. (John 14:6)


LET IT GROW

What did King Josiah do in the House of God?

• He read all the words of the book of the covenant which had been found there. (verse 2)
• He stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD:
• to walk after the LORD, to keep His commandments, testimonies, and statutes with all their heart and all their soul; to perform the words of the covenant written in the book.
• The people stood in conformation and agreement of the new covenant.
• The king ordered the high priest and the second ranking priests to take all the vessels made for Baal worship, the groves of Asherah, and idols for heavenly objects worship removed from the Temple and burned in the Kidron fields, with ashes taken to Bethel.
• He did away with the idolatrous priests who burned incense to Baal and deities, the Sodomites that were Baal-cult prostitutes, the pole used in luid worship.
• Josiah did away with the altar at Bethel where Jeroboam caused Israel to sin in idolatry; the bones of the ungodly priests of Jeroboam were burnt on the altar there. (It as prophesied some 300 years earlier in 1 Kings 13.)The bones of the prophet of Samaria who foretold this was spared.
• Josiah's reform was spread to the cities of Samaria, also.
• He put away the mediums and wizards, and household gods.

There was no king like Josiah, not even Hezekiah, that was more dedicated to the Lord and the Law than Josiah. (Falwell)

Josiah was 8 years old when he became king of Judah, and reigned 31 years in Jerusalem.
Some say this valley is where Josiah was killed by the Pharoah Necho, the valley of Jezereel, the valley of Jehoshaphat, and where Armagaddon will take place-the place of judgment.

LET IT GO

Worship only God.

Remove any idols or gods in my household.

Share that Jesus is the only way, truth, and life.

Asking for Help

O. T. #871  "Asking for Help"
Nov. 18, 2016
2 Kings 22-Part 2
He is the God who keeps every promise.  (Psalm 146:6)

LET IT GLOW

Do you ever get so desperate that you ask others to inquire of the Lord for you? I think we ask others to pray for us as we go through trials or are making an important decision. Friends, we are there now. As we wait for test results on my husband, will you pray for us? Devastating news is so heard to hear, yet this has not caught our God by surprise. He has a right answer and direction for us. It is all for His glory and our good. Today's king asks others for help, too.

When Judah was repairing the Temple in Jerusalem, the high priest discovered a copy of the Law of Moses, which had been discarded in this idolatrous nation. When King Josiah heard the Law read, , he knew Judah was in great danger of God's wrath because of the sins of Manasseh.
King Josiah not only restored the Temple for worship and the Law being read, but he also restored the Passover Feast.
During his reign, Josiah's nation experienced peace and blessings of the Lord. His faithfulness stayed the hand of God for a few more years, but captivity was coming and nothing could prevent it.
[Resource: Wiersbe's Expository Outlines on the Old Testament]

LET IT GROW

What did King Josiah do?
He commanded Hilkiah the priest, Shaphan the scribe, Asahiah the king's servant, and Ahikam and Achbor to Go ye, inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us. (verse 13)

What transpired?

• The 5 men went to Huldah the prophetess, keeper of the wardrobe, who dwelt in the college of Jerusalem.
• She was held in high regard for her prophetic gift, but otherwise unknown in the OT. We do not understand why she was consulted and not the prophets Jeremiah or Zephaniah. Rarely did God speak through a woman to a nation and never did a woman have an ongoing prophetic ministry. (MacArthur)
• Except for Miriam in Exodus 15, Deborah in Judges 5, and Queen Easter, women were silent when it came to spiritual matters in that time. However, in the NT, women ministered unto Jesus.
• Huldah spoke from the LORD to King Josiah: God was going to bring judgment upon Jerusalem and Judah because of idolatry; he would not live to see Jerusalem destroyed. (verses 16-17)
• It is because Josiah's heart was tender and he was humbled before God when he heard what God had said desolation and a curse was coming, then he tore his clothes and wept before God. He heard Josiah. (verse 19)
• The men took the words to the king.

Josiah's heart was at peace with God and he never lived to see Jerusalem destroyed, but he did die in battle against Necho of Egypt, a potential threat as Egypt was aiding Assyria against Babylon's domination. (2 Chronicles 35:23)


LET IT GO

Keep a humble and tender heart toward God.

Inquire of the Lord during times of uncertainty.

*I ask for prayer for my husband as he goes through tests to find what is wrong. We have seen the doctors the last two days, and testing, so I did not post yesterday. We are holding onto Jesus as He holds us.

Who is Doing Right?

O. T. #870  "Who is Doing Right?
Nov. 16, 2016
2 Kings 22

LET IT GLOW

Who is doing right? What is right? It seems in our society that people are doing what seems right in their own eyes, not what the Bible says is right. When God's Word is removed from public places and no longer read, sin abounds. We saw the results in our schools with killings and now in our streets and public gatherings. Without a foundation of right and wrong,  guideline for our lives, we go the way of sin. Haven't we read it throughout the book of 2 Kings? Worshiping of idols verses worshiping God. Today's new king in Judah confronted the same issues as we do.

Shall we review this family of kings in Judah? There is such a contrast between the best king of Judah (Hezekiah) and the worst king (Manasseh), which was his son. Here we read about the worst and best kings found in the same family. During his reign as king, Manasseh killed God's prophets, including Isaiah, having sawn him into two. If that wasn't bad enough, he led Judah back to idolatry.That is how wicked he was during the 55 years as king in Judah, beginning at age . (He was the longest reigning king.) Had we not jumped over to 2 Chronicles 33, we would not have known of the repentance of the latter.

Then along came Amon, Manasseh's son, who became the next king. He was 22 when he reigned for two years in Judah. The worst ways of Manasseh was emulated by Amon in that he served and worshiped idols. He was killed by his servants. That was another bad king. Now in chapter 22 we read of a better king-Josiah. (Aren't we ready for him?)

Who was Josiah and what did he accomplish while reigning in Judah as king?

• Josiah began reigning at age 8 and continued for 31 years.
• At age 16, Josiah began to seek the Lord. He must have been under the godly influence of a mother, priests, and prophets who taught him during his young years.
• He was the last good king of the Davidic line prior to the Babylonian exile.
• It was during Josiah's righteous reign that the world power in the ancient Near East passed from Assyria to Babylon. Nineveh, Assyria's capital, was destroyed in 612 B.C., causing this empire to fall three years later.
• During Josiah's reign, the prophets Habakkuk, Jeremiah, and Zephaniah were possibly present in Judah.
• He used military force to purge his nation of idols.
• It was during his twelfth year that he began religious reformation in Judah.
• And he did right in the sight of the LORD and walked in all the way of David his father, turned not aside to the right hand or to the left. (verse 2)

That is the setting for us to consider surrounding Josiah's time.  Josiah was like his great grandfather, Hezekiah. Will our great grandchildren be like us, strong in faith and serving the Lord Jesus?


LET IT GROW

When Josiah was 26, he called for repair of the Temple of God. Deterioration and valuables taken previously by the evil kings Ahaz and Manesseh, plus Hezekiah paid tribute to the Assyrian king using the expensive items in the Temple left it lacking.

He sent the high priest Hilkiah to access the silver in the Lord's house. Workers were repairing the Temple. Can you hear the sounds of the repair work?
Guess what Hilkiah found in the midst of he mess-The Book of the Law. He gave it to Shaphan the scribe, who read it to the king, (verse 10)
This scroll was the Torah, the revelation of God through Moses to Israel and called the Pentateuch. It is the first 5 books of the Bible.
Some say the Scribe read from Deuteronomy 28-30 that records the national covenant renewal and lists terrible threats and curses for those who violate the Law of God.
Josiah realized Judah' guilt of sin and God's judgment coming, resulting in his reaction of grief.

Next time we will pick up there. What actions will the king take?
I wonder, does our spirit grieve over the sins of abortion, homosexuality, and immorality in our nation? Are we praying for America's repentance and reformation, along with God's grace and mercy? Our children need to be taught the ways of God from His Word. Will it begin with us


LET IT GO

Pray.

Hold onto the hope that Christ brings in His Word.

Teach His Word and apply it to my life.

The Damage Had Already Been Done

O. T. #869  "The Damage Had Already Been Done"
Nov. 14, 2016
2 Kings 21-Part 2

LET IT GLOW

Manasseh was the longest reigning Hebrew king, some 55 years.  He was also known as their most evil king. Towards the end of his life, after this man had been captured by the Assyrians, he repented of his sinful ways, and found God's grace. He was allowed to return to his throne in Judah for a while.
Although he was converted, Manasseh's damage had been done concerning his influence of idolatry on his son, Amon and is nation later.

We once knew a man who was saved in his later years. He regretted having not experienced it soon, or his influence upon his son was not one of faith in Jesus. He was burdened for his son, yet he did not want anything to do with his father's new found faith. I don't know if the son every came to Christ, since we moved away from the area. I pray he did.
I was reminded of this true story as I read about Manasseh and Amon.

Are we burdened over the spiritual state of our family members? Do we pray and witness to them?

LET IT GROW

As it turned out, King Amon was not affected by his father's late conversion. He continued in the idolatry of his father's previous teachings. Amon, like Joash in chapter 12, was killed by his servants, after only reigning 2 years in Judah. Apparently, It was a conspiracy of the people.

Some things we can undo and some things we can't. It is best for us to watch our words and actions, making sure they coincide with God's Word. But, God's Grace is always available when we flub up.


LET IT GO

Encourage others to remain faith to God.

Lift the cross of Jesus high.

Surrender all to Him, my past, present, and future.

Cleaning a Dish by Turning it Upside Down

O. T. #869  "Cleaning a Dish by Turning it Upside Down"
November 14, 2016
2 Kings 21


LET IT GLOW

Just this morning I washed up a few dishes after having chili for supper last night. I had to turn them upside down and make sure all of the dishes were clean. Chili can leave a mess, as you will know. I didn't want any residue left. God was judging Jerusalem in a similar manner. He was going to turn it upside down.

There will be 5 kings of Judah mentioned in the next three chapters, but two main ones are Manasseh and Josiah. We will pick up on the spiritual lives of these two kings being the opposite of each other. Just when we thought we had read of the worse kings, then a good king, Hezekiah, here comes the most evil king of all.

Wiesbe describes Manasseh as beginning his reign in sin but ending it in humble repentance, while Josiah sought the Lord early in his life but ended his reign (and his life) in disobedience. Manasseh built up what Hezekiah had torn down, and tore down what Hezekiah had built up. Tradition tells us that Isaiah was sawn in two by Manasseh (Hebrews 11:37).

Liberty Bible Commentary describes who this ruthless king of Judah was:

• Manasseh was King Hezekiah's son, who began his 55 year reign as king of Judah at age 12, which was the longest reign of any Jewish king.
• He was probably co-regent with his father for about 10 years, some say.
• Manasseh sponsored a movement to undo his father's reformation.
• In open defiance of Jehovah, Manasseh restored the worship of Baal, Asherah, and asteral deities.
• He sacrificed his own son to the Ammonite god Molech. (Psalm 106:36-37 connects Molech worship to demonism.) [No wonder he is described as the most evil king.]
• This king put a graven image in the Temple.
• Thanks to Manasseh, Judah became more heathen than the peoples the Israelites had destroyed under the leadership of Moses and Joshua.
• God was judging Jerusalem as He had Samaria of Israel. (The Lord used a metaphor of  a measuring line, plumb line, and cleaning a dish by turning it upside down to describe this.)
• Judah was God's remaining people, tribe, yet He would deliver them into the hand of their enemy, becoming a prey and spoil.

What kind of legacy will we leave? Will we be described as a person of faith, faithfully serving God?

LET IT GROW

King Manasseh was born within the 15 years of  Hezekiah's extended life. What a sad thing, too, for this son of a great, faithful king became known as the most evil in Judah and Israel. He tore down what his father had built up and replaced worship of God with idol worship.

The Lord sent prophets to this evil king for warning of judgment but he would not heed. We read the rest of his story in 2 Chronicles 33:11-19. The captains of the king of Assyria's army captured Manasseh and made him their servant. 

Verses 12 and 13 reveal a good ending of Manasseh's life:
And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,
And prayed unto Him: and He was intreated of him and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manassah knew that the LORD He was God.

Manasseh went on to build a wall around Jerusalem, remove the idols which he had previously worshiped, and made offerings unto God.

This king had an opportunity to live a godly life and serve the Lord and his people with faithfulness, yet he did not at the beginning of his reign. Then at the latter end, he repented and reformed.

So many people life their life without God, then as their end draws closer, they repent and serve Him. It seems like such a waste, but coming to God in the end is better than not coming at all.
It shows us that we should not give up on folks. Keep praying for our loved ones and witnessing to them. 

LET IT GO

Draw near to God and He will draw near to me.

Humble myself before a Holy God.

Repent of my sins.

Keep praying for others to come to Jesus as their Savior.

Turn my world upside down for Jesus.

Getting Carried Away

O. T. #868  "Getting Carried Away"
Nov. 11, 2016
2 Kings 20-Part 4


LET IT GLOW

Have you ever gotten caught up in the moment and said too much, did things you shouldn't have done, or gone too far in a situation? The king in our chapter got carried away, all right. Because he showed too much, his family would pay for it later as they got carried away into captivity by Babylon.

King Hezeiah received a sign from God that what he was told by Isaiah would come to pass-he would live 15 more years and Jerusalem would be protected from Assyria.
This chapter may have taken place earlier that where it appears in the Scriptures.
What happened?

• The Babylonian king sent letters and a present to the ill king of Judah.
• The Babylonian ambassadors were supposedly sent to congratulate Hezekiah on his recovery and to inquire of the miracle (2 Chronicles 32:31); but most historians believe his real purpose was to induce him to rebel against the Assyrians. (Falwell)
• Hezekiah showed the messengers all that was in his storehouses-silver, gold, spice, fine oil, armory and all among his treasury.
• There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them. (verse 13)

What a mistake! The king showed all his treasures to an enemy. He should have known better than that. Was it his self-confidence, pride, too much trust, or caught up in the moment that provoked the king to do such a thing?

(Let me throw this in: if Hezekiah had died from that illness, there would have been no King Manasseh (Judah's most evil king), thus there would there have been King Josiah. Would Babylon taken Judah captive anyway? Well, it all happened so there is no need for speculation, is there?

Do we realize what an influence our life has for future generations of our family?

LET IT GROW

Isaiah asked Hezekiah who those visiting men were, and he answered the truth, they were from Babylon. Isaiah asked what they had seen in his house, he answered all.
What did the Lord say would happen as a result of the king's actions? All things would be carried into Babylon.
Since Hezekiah had exposed everything to the Babylonians, they would return someday to claim for themselves Judah's possessions and people, including the king's sons. It happened about a century later. King Hezekiah got carried away and his generations to come would get carried away as slaves.
Manasseh, Hezekiah's son and next king, was taken to Babylon and imprisoned, but he humbled himself and God delivered him (2 Chron. 33:11-19).

Hezekiah went down in Jewish history as a great king. He accomplished many things. He fortified the city, improved its water system, cleansed the land of idols, and sought to lead the people back to the Lord. He was a man of prayer who knew how to "spread it out before the Lord." (Wiersbe)

We are no greater than this king in Judah, except David and Jesus, of course. We make mistakes, have our weak moments, and pride. Do we maintain a relationship with God that is strong? Do we ask for self control, which is a fruit of the Spirit?

LET IT GO

Pride to humility, lack of self control to self control, words and actions are thought out.