Giving Credit to Others

O. T. #854  "Giving Credit to Others"
Oct. 20, 2016
2 Kings 14-Part 2


LET IT GLOW

Give credit where credit is due. Have you heard that? I couldn't have pulled off a successful Vacation Bible School the past 3 years without so many teachers, aides, and other helpers. I let them know how much they are appreciated for all they do. I could not do it alone. Especially God lead and gave strength through those 3 weeks of intense work.
Today's king achieved many good things and for a while he served the Lord. Then he did a forbidden and that was that. Do we give others the credit for their help in our success?

We are still reading about Judah. King Amaziah attacked Israel and lost. Also, he was taken captive for a time. During the time of his absence, his 16 year old son, Azariah (Uzzah), probably began to reign in Judah. Then upon his father's return, the youth co-reigned with his father about 15 years. Azariah took complete rule when a conspiracy ended  his father's life.

Not much is told about this king in this chapter. Yet, in 2 Chronicles 26, we can read more:

• One thing Azariah accomplished was to restore the seaport city of Elath. It had been Solomon's important Red Sea naval base. (1 Kings 9:26; 22:48) 
• He reigned 52 years n Judah.
• As long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper. (2 Chronicles 26:5b)
• He had a good beginning, like Asa, Joash, and Amaziah, but became preoccupied with their successes and prosperity, instead of giving God the glory, they sinned against Him.

Who wouldn't like to be prosperous and successful? However, so many times we read of those who strayed from God. One has to keep it all in the right perspective-serving God with our all, rich or poor.


LET IT GROW

Other things King Azariah is noted to have achieved was:

•  providing for his cattle by building towers to defend them from raiding Bedouins;
• digging many wells for collecting and storing rain;
• Carmel became a fruitful mountain;
• his army became 307,500 warriors;
• he developed war machines used for launching arrows and stones;
• Azariah was marvelously helped by God;
• After all of that, he was filled with pride and burnt incense upon  the altar of incense in the Temple, which was reserved exclusively for the priests, so he was sent out of the sanctuary;
• While Azariah was standing there in the midst of the priests, leprosy came upon the king. He was quarantined according to the Law and cut off from the House of the Lord until his death. Jothan carried on the royal duties during Azarih's last 11 years.(Liberty Bible Commentary)

This king took on a role which was God did not intend for him to have-a priest. His strength led to arrogance, and eventually his own destruction. He had been successful in war and peace, in planning and executing, in building and planting.
What are we going to be remembered for when we are gone? Will we remain a faithful servant? Do we realize the power of God, who could snap His fingers and poof we cease?
Our accomplishments may not compare with this king, but we owe God our very life. Is He given credit for our successes?


LET IT GO

Keep walking by faith in Jesus.

Give God the credit for my achievements.

If Only

O. T. #853  "If Only"
October 19, 2016
2 Kings 14


LET IT GLOW

Chapters 14 and 15 focus on the kings of Judah. You will recall the woman who ruled Judah and her step son Joash pleased the Lord and restored the Temple. Priest Johoiada advised him most of his 40 year reign. We skipped over to Israel and now that brings us back to Judah. With so many kings mentioned, 20 in each nation of Judah and Israel, I have a chart to help me keep everything straight.

The new king is 25 year old Amaziah, who reigned 29 years. He served the Lord but not like his ancestor David. This king did not destroy the pagan shrines so the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.
What were some of Amaziah's deeds as king of Judah?

• He killed his father's assassins, except for the children. The book of Moses instructed the children to not be killed for the crimes of their fathers. (Deut. 24:16)
• He regained control of Edom, killing 10,000 in battle at the Valley of Salt, which was below the Dead Sea.
• He also conquered Selah, which may have been the Nabatean capital Petra, a city carved out of the rocky cliffs. (Falwell)
• These victories must have made Amaziah cocky, for he sent a message to the king of Israel, Jehoash, challenging him in battle.

Did Amaziah give God the credit for those two victories? I do not find it so.
Do we get the same attitude when we have a victory in our life? Or do we give God the glory for it?

LET IT GROW

I describe King Amaziah as a cocky young king.
Webster's Dictionary describes cocky as being bold, brashly self confident.
Amaziah defeated two armies. Bring it on Israel and I'll defeat you, too. That may have been his cocky attitude. This young king did not stop to consider that Israel's king was just as successful in battle as he was.

What was King Jehoash of Israel's response?

• He sent a "thistle fable" in response.
• Amaziah was the thistle and Jehoash was the cedar. The thistle requested the cedar to allow his daughter to marry the thistle's son. A wild animal came and stepped on the thistle, crushing it.
• Jehoash was telling Amaziah t be content with his victory and stay home. Why stir up trouble that would only bring disaster upon him and Judah? 

Amaziah refused to listen to this advice and warning. The two armies met in battle and guess who won-Israel. I'm not surprised, are you?
So Amaziah was temporarily taken captive; Jerusalem's wall was broken; the palace and Temple had their valuable cleared out; hostages were taken to Samaria.

Amaziah was the second king of Judah to die by a conspiracy (2 Chron.25). He had fled and was killed in a city called Lachish. His son became a new king of Judah-Azariah (Uzziah).

Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18)

If only Amaziah had stayed home, given God the glory for his victories, he would not have been captured by Israel.

Do we have some "if only's" in our life? We can look back and see a decision or action or word was not the best for us. Do we consider advice when we receive it?

LET IT GO

Watch out for pride.

Listen to advice.

Seek the Lord for His will.

Give Him the glory for victories experienced.

*How merciful and powerful is our God! He has sustained my sil. she was able to return home last Friday and doing fairly well considering her condition. Thank you for your prayers.

An Arrow of Victory in a Vote

O. T. #852  "An Arrow of Victory in a Vote"
Oct. 18, 2016
2 Kings 13-Part 2


LET IT GLOW

For a little overview, King Jehoahaz's son, Jehoash who is called Joash, becomes king in Israel and rigned 17 years. (Joash is not to be confused with the Joash who was Judah's king at the same time.) Joash did what was evil in the Lord's sight, like his father and grandfather, yet he did visit Prophet Elisha.

Jumping ahead, we read of an encouraging event when the Lord was gracious and merciful to the people of Israel. They were not totally destroyed by the Syrians. God pitied them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And to this day He still has not completely destroyed them or banished them from His presence. (verse 22)

Dear ones, let us pray for God's grace, mercy, and pity upon America as our future is at stake with the votes of its people on November 8. Our religious freedom, protecting our family with firearms, our Constitutional freedoms, and women's freedoms are all at stake.


LET IT GLOW

Prophet Elisa became sick, which eventually led to his death. He had faithfully served the Lord for 45-55 years and known a lot of kings.

What happened next?

• King Joash went to visit Elisha on his deathbed. Elisha had been only point of contact with Jehovah in time of emergency for the kings.
• Elisha gave Joash a golden opportunity to defeat Syria once and for all, but he failed to use his opportunity.
• Elisha instructed Joash to put his hand on his bow, which was a means of defense. Then Elisha put his hands on Joash's hands. This was symbolic of Joash exerting power against the Syrians that came from the Lord through His prophet. (McArthur)
• Next, Elisha told the king to open the window and shoot his arrow. An arrow was a symbol of God's deliverance over Syria, called an arrow of victory.
• Joash shot the arrows only 3 times instead of 5 or 6 times. A partial victory was symbolized here.
• Elisha was angry at what Joash had done, rather neglected to do. This indicated that Joash knew what he was doing. He deliberately chose not to comply with God's plans. With Assyria gaining in strength, Joash did not want Syria destroyed altogether.

Folks, I have not been political here, but this story has shown me the seriousness of our nation's situation and future being decided. Could we be in a similar situation in our nation at the present? If one candidate becomes our president, they  said there would be no closed boundaries for our nation. That would result in the enemies of Christians to be allowed to come in here. Eventually, we would loose our freedom of worship and Islam could become a national religion. (Allah is not our God nor the God of Israel.) It could be another Holocaust, only on our soil.
I had to share this. So please pray about who you vote for on November 8.  Let our arrow of victory be shot in the form of a vote. What will we do?

Getting back to our story now, Elisha died and was buried in a sepulchre. Then an unnamed man died and before he could be buried, the men doing so spotted a band of Moabites approaching. In desperation the men placed the dead man in the same sepulcher with Elisha. When he was let down and came in contact with Prophet Elisha's bones, the man came alive. Wow!

In his life and death, Elisha had 14 miracles attributed to him, which was twice as many as Elijah.
Later on, Judah and Israel will become a united nation.

Are we living in the last days that Revelation speaks of? Is the Antichrist preparing a one world government?

LET IT GO

Pray and vote.

Who Do We Call For Help?

O. T. #851  "Who Do We Call For Help?"
Oct. 17, 2016
2 Kings 13


LET IT GLOW


In this chapter we  read of two kings ruling in Israel and Elisha's death. When we jump back to Israel, what do we find?

• Jehoahaz was Jehu's son who reigned as king of Israel for 17 years. Unfortunately, his religious policies supported Jeroboam's calf-cult like his father. This was evil in the Lord's sight, idolatry.
• The Lord subjected Israel to invasions and harassment by 2 Syrian kings, Hazael and his son Ben-hadad, because of Israel's sin. The Lord was angry.
• Look at verses 4-5: Then Jehoahaz prayed for the LORD's help, and the LORD heard his prayer, for he could see how severely the king of Aram (Syria) was oppressing Israel.

David said in Psalm 18:3, I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

In verses 6, he said, In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: He heard my voice out of His Temple, and my cry came before Him, even unto His ears.

Psalm 33:20 say, Our soul waiteth for the LORD, He is our help and our shield.

David was delivered from his enemy Saul. God worked it all out for him and Jehoahaz. He can work it all out for us. Are we learning to call on God for help?



LET IT GROW

So the Lord provided someone to rescue the Israelites from the tyranny of the Arameans (Syrians).
Then Israel lived in safety again as they had informer days. (NLT)

Because Jehoahaz sought the Lord in his oppression, an unidentified savior was sent. King James uses the word savior instead of someone
In the Hebrew language, the word savior means deliver, save, get victory, defend.

Some say it could have been an Assyrian king who diverted Syria's attention from Israel; or a military force who won a victory against Syria; or Jehoahaz's son, Joash, who was successful against the Syrans; or Jeroboam II. (Falwell)

Some historians say the deliverer was a new king of Assyria, Adad Nirari III, who attacked the west in 805 BC and diverted the Aramean power from Israel. Holman Illustrated Bible Commentary)

Although Israel had periodic breaks in their idol worship, they rarely showed genuine faith. It is not enough to say no to sin; we must also say yes to a life committed to God. An occasional call for help is not a substitute for a daily life of trust in God. (Life Application Study Bible)

I suppose it was not intended for us to know for sure who the deliverer was. It could have been Jesus Himself, although He was probably directing the situation. His merciful hand was working back then and is still now. Do we call upon Him for mercy?

LET IT GO

Call upon Jesus for help.

Ask for His mercy.

Bribes

O. T. #850  "Bribes"
Oct. 14, 2016
2 Kings 12-Part 2


LET IT GLOW

So many down through the ages have resorted to bribing officials to get what they want, get their way, or get out of something. Sometimes it is money that buys special favors. We see it in today's lesson. It was a king who did the bribing.

Hazael, the energetic Syrian king (10:32-33), invaded Philistia, took the city of Gath, and then set his sights on Jerusalem. After first suffering defeat (2 Chronicles 24:24), Joash followed the precedent of Asa (1 Kings 15:18) and paid tribute to Hazael. (Falwell)

Gath was one of the 5 major Philistine cities (1 Sam. 5:8), located about 25 miles southwest of Jerusalem. Gath had previously belonged to Judah.  (MacArthur)

Being spiritually backslidden, Joash was unable to cope with the Syrian invasion, so he tried to bribe Hazael by giving him the wealth of God's house. How often God's people rob the Lord, in trying to solve their problems, instead of turning to the Lord in confession. (Wiersbe)

In verse 18, King Joash collected all the sacred objects and gold which he and his previous kings had dedicated in the Lord's Temple and sent them to Hazael. It was a bribe. Haael called off his attack on Jerusalem.

That turkey! Here he had been so committed to serving the Lord and rid Judah of idol worship and he turns away from God. Of course, his mentor, Jehoiada, was gone by this time. That's no excuse. He knew better. He did it anyway.

So many people I know fall away from the Lord and turn to a life of sin, even when they know better.
Do we help their family pick up he pieces and carry on?


LET IT GROW

How does Priest Zechariah's death by stoning, which was ordered by King Joash, get avenged?

• Joash's officers plotted against him and assassinated him on the road to Silla.
• His assassins are named in verse 21. They were both trusted advisers of Joash.
• The king was buried in Jerusalem, the city of David, but not in the sepulcher of the kings (2 Chron. 24:25).
• Joash's son Amaziah became the next king.
• The people of Judah had abandoned the LORD, the God of their ancestors, so judgment was carried out against Joash. (2 Chronicles 24:24)

What a promising future Joash had under the tutorship of Jehoiada. He fell short of the expectations of his people, and us who read the story.

LET IT GO

Watch out for those who try to bribe others to get their way.

Don't be like them.

Is Anyone Listening?

O. T. #849  "Is Anyone Listening?"
Oct. 13, 2016
2 Kings 12


LET IT GLOW

So many times people grow up attending church services, then they drop out as they get older, and God is no longer an important part of their life. They receive warnings, but is anyone listening? Our faithful young king, Joash, does not listen to the warnings in today's lesson.

*Thank you dear ones for  faithfully joining me in studying God's Word. What an encouragement to know you are there with me and we can listen to God's instructions together.

At age 7, Joash became king over Judah. He reigned in Jerusalem 40 years. All his life Joash did what was pleasing in the LORD's sight because Jehoiada the priest instructed him. However, he did not destroy the pagan shrines, and the people still offered sacrifices and burned incense there.

Young King Joash was willing to follow Priest Jehoiada as his spiritual mentor. The house of the Lord had deteriorated during the previous reign of Athaliah, a Baal worshiper. So the king implemented a finance program:

• The offering money was collected and the priests took some of it to pay for the repairs needed at the Temple, yet after 23 years, it was not completed.
• Evidently, that money was used to provide for the priests instead of repairs. There wasn't extra.
• Joash confronted the priest about this.
• So the priests agreed to not accept any more money from the people and agreed to let others be responsible for repairing the Temple.
• The high priest, Jehoiada,made an offering box at the bronze altar at the gate of the house of the Lord.
• With this, the people responded so well that they had enough money to complete the work. The Temple was restored.

Verse 15 tells us No accounting of this money was required from the construction supervisors, because they were honest and trustworthy men. (NLT)

Are we honest and trustworthy people? Do others trust us? Do we have a proven record?


LET IT GROW

Sounds like everything is going good in Judah. The priests were given money from the offerings (guilt and sin) for their needs, according to verse 16.

Well, Jehoiada lived to a very old age of 130. Then things changed:

• Leaders in Judah persuaded Joash to abandon the Temple of the LORD, the God of their ancestors, and they worshiped Asherah poles and idols instead! (verse 17) REALY?!
• Because of this sin, divine anger fell on Judah and Jerusalem.
• The Lord sent prophets to bring them back and warn them, but still the people would not listen.
• Zecharaiah, son of Jehoiada the priest, announced what the Spirit of God said, ...You have abandoned the LORD, and now He has abandoned you!
• Kin Joash had Zechariah stoned to death in the courtyard of the LORD's Temple. That is how Joash repaid Jehoiada for his loyalty-by killing his son. How pathetic!!
• Zechariah said, "May the LORD see what they are doing and avenge my death!" So it will be, brother.

2 Chronicles 24:25 tells us how Joash dies. Syria attacks Judah and King Joash is wounded. His servants killed Joash while on his bed.

This shows how people can be faithful to God for a while, then turn away. Folks, let us be found faithful to the end of our life. God is faithful to us.

LET IT GO

Daily study God's Word and pray.

Be trustworthy and honest.

Love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Rose Update: She was scheduled to leave the hospital Thursday, but the port was not put in, so hopefully Friday. I ask for prayer as they travel home for 2 days.

A Revolt and a Reform

O.T. #848 "A Revolt and a Reform"
Oct. 12, 2016
2 Kings 11-Part 2
And all the people of the land went over to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They demolished the altars and smashed the idols to pieces, and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars.  2 Kings 11:18 NLT

LET IT GLOW

A woman named Athaliah, the mother of King Ahaziah whom Jehu had killed earlier, ruled 7 years over Judah. She thought that she killed all the heirs who would be competition to take over her kingdom. But, God protected baby Joash using his aunt and Uncle Jehoiada, who was a priest in the Lord's Temple, to hide the baby during Athaliah's reign. When it was time, Joash was anointed and crowned as Judah's king. That's where we pick up the story, starting with verse 13.

Do you see the faithfulness and obedience of God's priest, even to the point of risking his life?

Athaliah heard a commotion made by the palace guards and others, so she went to the Lord's Temple to investigate. There she saw the newly crowned King Joash standing in his place of authority by the pillar, which was a custom at times of coronation. Joash was surrounded by the trumpeters and commanders. People from all over the land of Judah were rejoicing and blowing trumpets. What a victory!

Do we follow the Lord as faithfully as those commanders did their priest?


LET IT GROW

Then Priest Jehoiada ordered the commanders in charge of the troops to take Athaliah out to the gate where horses entered the palace grounds and away from the Lord's Temple. That is where she was killed.
The revolt was successful. Then Judah's religious system was reformed.

In verse 17, we read of Jehoiada making a covenant between the LORD and the king and the people that they would be the LORD's people. He also made a covenant between the king and the people.

Jehoiada mediated a covenant between Joash and Judah and Jehovah. He was probably the power behind the throne, while Joash was a figurehead. (Falwell)

After this, all the people demolished the altars and smashed the idols to pieces, as well s tearing down the temple of Baal. They killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars.
I can see them clapping their hands together as they rid themselves of the dirty job and idolatry.

Seven year old King Joash took his seat on the royal throne. All the people of the land of Judah rejoiced and there was peace in the city.

Let us pray for America to be a nation that worships the Lord God, not a false pagan god.


LET IT GO

Recommit myself to serving the Lord God and His Son Jesus Christ.