Joash the King of Judah

I finished reading the story of Joash this Sabbath morning. It is an interesting story. You can find it in 2 Chronicles 22-24. Joash is hidden because an evil lady killed "all the royal heirs of the house of Judah." (2 Chronicles 22:10). In verse 11, Joash is hidden by Jehoshaeath, the wife of Jehoida the priest. They kept him hidden "in the house of God for six years, while Athaliah reigned over the land." (2 Chronicles 22:12).

Then Jehoiada and the people made a plan and made Joash king. Of course this made Athaliah very unhappy and so she yelled, "Treason! Treason!" (2 Chronicles 23:13). But she was taken and killed. "Then Jehoiada made a covenant between himself, the people, and the king, that they should be the Lord’s people." (2 Chronicles 23:16).

And as long as Jehoiada was alive, Joash did well. It was when he died that Joash strayed. In 2 Chronicles 24:15, Jehoiada died. In verse 17-18, "the leaders of Judah came and bowed down to the king. And the king listened to them. Therefore they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and served wooden images and idols; and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem because of their trespass." (2 Chronicles 24:17-18).

They left the true God to serve idols. I don't get it. Joash was doing good. But when Jehoiada died, and the leaders of Judah came to him, he abandoned his faith. I find it interesting that it was the LEADERS of Judah that encouraged Joash to go astray.

But God was merciful. He allowed things to come their way to bring them back to Him. When we stray, God allows things to come our way to get our attention back on Him. He loves us and wants nothing more than for us to be in Heaven with Him. But we can't do that if we are not following Him.

But God not only allowed things to happen to Judah, "He sent prophets to them, to bring them back to the Lord; and they testified against them, but they would not listen." (2 Chronicles 24:19). God spoke through Zechariah the son of Jehoiada saying, “Thus says God: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, He also has forsaken you.’”(2 Chronicles 24:20). But Joash the king commanded him to be put to death.  

It's interesting how it was the leaders of the kingdom who lead the people astray. It was the king who commanded Zechariah to be killed. People who refuse to give up their sins don't like the people of God. The people of God point out things that are sinful (in a loving but firm way) and those who don't want to give up those sins don't like to hear it.

This story is in the Bible as a lesson for us all. God does not want us to abandon Him but He does not force our will. He allowed the people to make their own choices. He tried to bring them back to Him, but again, He allowed them to choose what they wanted. He does not force people to follow Him. 

I know I've gone astray several times in my life. But God is always there to welcome me back.

 But one day God's people will no longer have to worry about being persecuted. One day, earth will be purified from sin. Jesus is coming soon folks. :-)

Come Unto Me

Come Unto Me…

Matthew 11:28-30 – “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Jesus speaks these words to us all. He desires to give us rest. Rest from temptations. Rest from trials. Rest from heartache. The list goes on. Whatever it is, Jesus wants to give us rest.

This is a promise that offers multiple blessings. We may find deliverance from temptations. We may find strength for trials. And we may find healing for heartache.

Everyone who is a son or daughter of Adam is burdened. For instance, we are all burdened with sin. But we are not left to bare this burden alone. These are a few of the promises we may find in the Bible where Jesus is offering to save us from sin.

John 6:37 – “the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.”

Exodus 14:14 – “The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”

Ephesians 1:7 – “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace”

Psalm 103:2-5 – “Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”

Isaiah 1:18 – “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.”

And finally,

Isaiah 43:25 – “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.”

There are many more than this. Jesus wants to save us from our sins. He died to save us. He paid the highest price possible. Because of His death, we can be saved. Will we let Him save us?

By resting in Jesus, we may also find rest from temptations. Sure, they will still come. But by resting in Jesus, we can resist them. By resting in Jesus, temptations lose their power. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

Jesus resisted temptation the very way we are to resist it. He rested in God. In Matthew 4, to every temptation the devil threw at Jesus, Jesus responded with an “It is written.” When tempted to turn the stones into bread, Jesus said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Even Job said, in Job 23:12, “I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.”) When tempted to throw Himself off the pinnacle of the temple, Jesus responded with, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.” When tempted to worship the devil in order to receive the riches and kingdoms of the world, Jesus said, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.”

We may also find rest from heartache. Jesus wants to heal us from our heartaches. Has your heart ever been wounded? I know mine has. And it doesn’t matter how deep the wound is. Jesus will heal us if we will let Him. All we have to do is ask in faith. The centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant. The nobleman asked Jesus to heal his son. Jesus healed paralytics, lepers, those who were possessed, and many others.

In the book Desire of Ages, page 329, author Ellen White says,

“The Elder Brother of our race is by the eternal throne. He looks upon every soul who is turning his face toward Him as the Saviour. He knows by experience what are the weaknesses of humanity, what are our wants, and where lies the strength of our temptations; for He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. He is watching over you, trembling child of God. Are you tempted? He will deliver. Are you weak? He will strengthen. Are you ignorant? He will enlighten. Are you wounded? He will heal. The Lord “telleth the number of the stars;” and yet “He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.” Psalm 147:4, 3. “Come unto Me,” is His invitation. Whatever your anxieties and trials, spread out your case before the Lord. Your spirit will be braced for endurance. The way will be opened for you to disentangle yourself from embarrassment and difficulty. The weaker and more helpless you know yourself to be, the stronger will you become in His strength. The heavier your burdens, the more blessed the rest in casting them upon the Burden Bearer. The rest that Christ offers depends upon conditions, but these conditions are plainly specified. They are those with which all can comply. He tells us just how His rest is to be found.”

In 2 Kings 19 King Hezekiah faced an attack from Sennacherib. When he received the letter from his enemy, he was distressed. But He did the right thing. He took this letter and spread it "before the LORD." He placed his troubles in God's hands. And God delivered. An angel came down and destroyed Sennacherib’s army.

In 2 Chronicles 20, King Jehoshaphat faced a similar issue. He faced annihilation from an army composed of three different nations. These armies were bent on destroying Judah. But Jehoshaphat, like Hezekiah, did the right thing. He placed his troubles in God’s hand. I like how he said it. In verse 12 of 2 Chronicles 20, he said, “O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”

We may not know what to do in times of trouble. And we don’t have to know. We just need to keep our eyes on Jesus and rest in Him. And He will tell us what to do. With Jehoshaphat and Judah, God told His people to sing and He would take care of their enemies. And that’s exactly what happened. Judah sang, and God conquered their enemy.

We are powerless to defend ourselves from sin and all that comes with sin. We were born sinful and thus have no power of our own against it. That is why we need to rest in Jesus. He is our way out of temptation. He is our way to healing. He is our salvation from sin. Only through Jesus can we get out of this life alive. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the Gentle Healer.

To borrow another quote from the book, The Desire of Ages, page 528:

“To all who are reaching out to feel the guiding hand of God, the moment of greatest discouragement is the time when divine help is nearest. They will look back with thankfulness upon the darkest part of their way. “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly,” 2 Peter 2:9. From every temptation and every trial He will bring them forth with firmer faith and a richer experience.”

            We may face discouragement, temptation, heartache, and a million other things. But by resting in Jesus, by claiming the promise in Matthew 11:28-30, we may know by faith that Jesus is near to us.

            This is a promise I struggle all the time with accepting. It’s hard for me to accept that Jesus is here, that He wants to offer me all of these blessings. It’s a daily battle for me. And it may be the same way for many of you. And that is all the more reason for us to claim this promise. We need that rest in Jesus. We need His power. We need His forgiveness. We need to be totaltly and completely dependent upon our Savior and Redeemer.

            Just in closing, I want to tell you these words to the chorus of the song Unredeemed by the group Selah. Speaking of all of the situations in life that have caused us pain or other trials, all of the reasons why we need to rest in Jesus…the chorus goes like this:

Places where grace is soon to be so amazing

It may be unfulfilled, it may be unrestored

But when anything that's shattered

Is laid before the Lord

Just watch and see, it will not be unredeemed

            Let us all rest in Jesus.

The Three Angels Message Series with Pastor Stephen Bohr

The Battle is Not Ours

My friend reminded me of this chapter this morning. Such a wonderful story. 2 Chronicles 20 is the story of when 3 kingdoms were planning to attack and destroy Judah. Jehoshaphat heard about this and his immediate reaction was to seek God. He proclaimed a fast through all of Judah.

"And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord." (vs 3-4).

When Jehoshaphat began to pray, right away he starts off with focusing on who God is. He does tell God what his worries are, but not until after He focuses on who God is.

"O Lord God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You? 7 Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever? 8 And they dwell in it, and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name, saying, 9 ‘If disaster comes upon us—sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine—we will stand before this temple and in Your presence (for Your name is in this temple), and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.’ " (vs 6-9).

(By the way, this is one example in the Bible where God shows us that He wants to be our friend. God loves us, yes. But He also likes us.)

In verse 9, Jehoshaphat claimed God's promise that He would hear their prayer and save them from disasters that came upon them. But he didn't just claim the promise. He believed God's promise. What good would it do for you to claim a prize that you have won but yet you don't go and actually grab hold of the prize? You might claim that you won a car but until you go and grab the keys and the wheel, what good will it do you?

Another very important point to remember is found in verse 12:

"O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; NOR DO WE KNOW WHAT TO DO, BUT OUR EYES ARE UPON YOU." (vs. 12).

They didn't know what to do. There was no feasable way in their own strength that they could defeat such a large enemy. It just couldn't happen. But they knew the God who could defeat such an enemy. They even told God, "We don't know what to do. But our eyes are upon you." They didn't know what was going to happen. What they did know was that they were only going to get through this by keeping their eyes on God.

Then God tells them this: "Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s." (vs. 15).

Whatever we are going through, we need to remember that it is not our battle. It is God's battle. We need to let Him fight it.

"You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.” And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the Lord, worshiping the Lord." (vs. 17-18).

Then God tells them that they don't need to fight this battle. All they needed to do was grab a spot and "see the salvation of the Lord, WHO IS WITH YOU." And again God tells them not to fear and again He tells them that He is with them. Then the response of Jehoshaphat and of the people is to bow down and worship God. God tells us to not be afraid, that He will fight our battles. So what should be our response? We need to give Him our battles and we need to worship Him. He will not fail us. He has filled His Word with promises that He will not fail us or leave us.

"Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” (vs 20).

When they went out to the wilderness, Jehoshaphat tells the people what they must do. They must believe in God and what He has spoken through His prophets. Then "you shall be established...and you shall prosper."

Then Jehoshaphat appointed a choir. They weren't going to meet the enemy with swords. They were simply going to sing to God, praising "the beauty of holiness," singing, "Praise the Lord, For His mercy endures forever." (vs 21).

Now here is what God did, after they started to praise Him:

"Now WHEN THEY BEGAN TO SING AND TO PRAISE, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated." (vs. 22)

It was when the people began to praise God that He rescued them from their attackers. This is something many of us would do well to remember. And not only did He rescue them, but when they went to get the spoil from all their dead enemies, it took three days to gather all the spoil that their enemies had on them.

Then in vs 27, it says, "for the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies." I like that. God had made them to rejoice over their enemies. But it was not without a struggle. It was not easy. But because they followed God and obeyed what He told them to do, He "made them rejoice over their enemies."

And here's an added bonus. "And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel." (vs. 29).

When other would be enemies of Israel heard about what God did, they were afraid. They didn't want to end up as Israel's other enemies did. That said, God doesn't want people to be afraid of Him. But He will rescue His people from their enemies when they trust in Him and give Him the battle.

I love this next part. "Then the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around." (vs. 30).

After this battle, God gave rest to His people. God will one day give you and me rest. Rest from all these battles. Rest from trials. Rest from sickness. Rest from every kind of struggle. Whether it is in this life, or when Jesus comes to take us to Heaven, He will give us rest. And God wants to give us peace of mind here. We just need to trust Him.

Isaiah 26:3 - "You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You."

God is Forgiving

Proverbs 24:16 -- For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.

Philippians 4:13 -- I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Ephesians 2:10  -- For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Just What You Need

God always gives us just what we need, when we need it. The other day, I got an email from an organization that I wasn't aware I was still subscribed to. The story was about this man that was running a race, but he injured his hamstring. But he still fought to finish the race.

His dad came down to him and told him that he didn't have to finish the race. The son insisted that, yes, he had to finish the race. So the father held him up and helped him finish the race.

God does this for us. Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." And again, Philippians 4:19, "And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. "

So when you are going through a hard time, God will give you what you need, when you need it. Just don't give up. He will get you through this. Give it all to Jesus. It won't be easy, but it will be worth it.

Child Guidance by Ellen G. White (Audiobook)

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