Year 8, Day 31: Romans 8

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As we turn to Romans 8, we are primed to hear Paul’s exhortation to live in the Spirit instead of living in the flesh.  Paul begins by reminding us that in Christ we are called to live outside of the desires of the flesh.  Those who live in the flesh are bound to die.  But those who live in the Spirit live in God’s ways and live in His ways because we have Christ in us.

Paul then goes on to remind us that those who are in Christ groan in anticipation with all of creation when we look at the world.  That doesn’t mean we despise the world around us. Far be it from that!  God created this world for us to live in and enjoy.  When we groan, it is because we see the reality in comparison to the way god created us to be.  We groan because we see a world that isn’t living up to its created potential.  We see a world that chases its own sinful desires instead of chasing after godliness.  We groan because we cannot wait for God’s reality to be life.

While we may groan because we see a broken world around us, we also live in confidence.  We live as conquerors because we know that God has already won.  When Christ died on the cross, God sealed the future.  His reality will win out.  We may deal with a sinful world around us.  We may live in a world that doesn’t live up to God’s desire for us.  But we know that in the end God will conquer and He will bring us with Him.  God justifies us; He can bring us into salvation.

Where does that leave us?  It leaves us in a mix of states.  We are in the world, groaning for it to live better than it does.  We are immensely hopeful because we know what is coming.  We live free, because God has freed us from the bondage of sin.  Yet we live in suffering because the world does not all share our perspective.  But above all else we know that we live in an inseparable relationship with our Creator.

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Year 8, Day 30: Romans 7

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Romans 7 is often cited as the most confusing chapters of all of Paul’s writing.  It certainly is cited by Biblical scholars as one of the more difficult to translate.  Romans 7:15-20 is typically quoted in passing when a person wants to lift up an example of how difficult Paul is to understand.  In light of this, we’ll try and make sense of this chapter and see if we can learn something along the way.

First, we need to be careful to not overstretch Paul’s words.  Many people read Paul’s writing here and think that Paul is giving us permission to abandon the Law.  This is especially true if we focus too much on Romans 7:4-6.  I believe that what Paul is saying in this portion of scripture is that when we are in Christ, we live beyond the Law.  In other words, when we are living obediently to God’s will and His ways then we have no need of the Law.  That should make sense.  If I am living in true righteousness, then I have no need for the judgment of the Law!  I’m not discarding the Law, I am living beyond its grasp.

When we look at the rest of the chapter, we see the balance of this chapter. After Paul sets up the reality that when we are living in God’s will we are living beyond the Law, he talks about the rest of reality.  The truth, unfortunately, is that we don’t always live up to God’s will or His ways.  In those moments, we need the Law to remind us about what we are doing and the difference between that and His will.  In those moments when we are walking away from God, we need the Law to point that reality out to us!

Ultimately, it is God who saves us.  It is God who paves the way into relationship with Him.  When I follow Him, I have no need of the Law to show me the way back to Him.  But when I stray from His ways, the Law is there to guide me back.  This is the inherent balance between Law and Gospel, judgment and grace.  Until such a time that sin has been removed from us, we need both grace and the Law.

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Year 8, Day 29: Romans 6

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I’ve always thought that America was uniquely prone to missing the point of Romans 6.  Notice that in Romans 6 Paul doesn’t give us the option that we think he does.  We hear Paul say that we should no longer be slaves to sin.  We assume that Paul therefore says that we are free.  In one sense of the word, we are.  We are freed from bondage to sin.

However, look at the conclusion that Paul reaches.  If we are no longer slaves to sin, then we are slaves to righteousness.  We are slaves to God’s ways.  We voluntarily put ourselves in a position to see God’s ways as worth pursuing and we submit to them.  Christ frees us from sin, but He does it so that we can follow Him.

I think that this is a very important point.  If I consider myself free from sin and the seek to pursue what I desire, I am really just putting myself back into being a slave to sin.  My nature is sin; my flesh corrupt.  Where true freedom is found is recognizing that I need to follow something other than the sinfulness within.  I need to follow Him and His ways.  I need to listen to the calling that He has set for me and my life and find my identity in Him.  True freedom comes in embracing the identity that God has set before me and living into that.

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Year 8, Day 28: Romans 5

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I think that there are at least two main points in this chapter, and with Paul I am betting that there are far more than 2!  Paul speaks to us about the nature of God and our relationship with Him.  He also speaks about the means through which God works.

Let’s talk about God and our relationship with Him.  I love how Paul phrases his case.  While we were enemies, God reached out and offered salvation to us.  God loves us even when we are His enemies.  Therefore, if we find ourselves wrapped up in His salvation, then how much more we shall know His love!  For me, this is an amazing reality.  God loves His enemies enough to extend salvation to them.  How much He must love us, especially when we receive His grace.

The second major theme in this chapter is the way that God works.  I have met many people who ask, “How can Jesus’ death on the cross mean anything to me?”  Another way of asking this is how God can take away my sin through the death of someone who lived two thousand years prior.

This chapter speaks to that question.  This chapter gives us insight to the greater picture.  Sin entered the world in the Garden of Eden, when one man and one woman violate what God created in perfection.  The result of that action, though, is that sin and death became a reality for them and for all of us who followed.  That sets up a pattern.  One great act can affect the person and those who come after them!  In the same way, Jesus’ death can affect us, too!  Just as sin stained us, Jesus’ death can remove that stain.  This chapter speaks to the grand movements of God’s hand over all of His creation.

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Year 8, Day 27: Romans 4

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In Romans 4, Paul sets straight a very old argument.  What is it that makes God’s people?  For centuries, Jews have believed that what made them God’s people was that they received the Law.  We in the church think similar things.  Some say that we have baptism.  Others talk about special gifts from Godlike miracles or speaking in tongues.  The truth is that we like to put our faith into the evidences of our salvation.

However, let’s go back to the example that Paul lifts up in this passage.  Abraham was one of God’s people, given the promise of God centuries prior to God giving the Law through Moses.  Abraham wasn’t loved by God because of his ability to keep the Law perfectly.  Abraham was one of God’s people because his heart was with God.  It was the condition of Abraham’s heart, not his perfection, that caught God’s eye.

The same is true for us.  Does God love us because we perform miracles in His name, speak in tongues through His power, or even because we are baptized in His name?  Of course not!  He loved us before we did any of those things!

The truth is that God gave His people the Law because of His love for them.  The same thing is true about us.  He gives us His promise of baptism because of His love.  He gives us His gifts because of His love.  He works miracles through us because He already loves us.  All of these things come to us as a response in love, not things we must do or have in order to obtain His love.

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Year 8, Day 26: Romans 3

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When I read Romans 3, it is easy to focus on the end of this passage.  That makes it a great place to start.  When it comes t righteousness, there is no difference between Jew or Greek.  In other words, regardless of where we come from, we can be made righteous.  Christ’s death can bring righteousness upon any of us.  We are saved by God’s act, not by our own.

That’s a good thing.  After all, look at the perspective of Paul in the section that immediately precedes the last passage.  Nobody is righteous.  There isn’t even one righteous person.  Our mouths are aced with venom.  Our throats are open graves.  Wee don’t know peace.  We are quick to do evil.  In case you are curious, Jesus Himself teaches us that there is no one who is good except God alone.  The reality is that we are not good.  We cannot be righteous apart from Christ; therefore it is a good thing that we have Christ so that we can be righteous!  That’s an important perspective to have.

That leads us up to the initial point of this chapter.  If righteousness comes through Christ and not through us, what is the point of being a Jew?  In the modern age, we might say: “If I am forgiven and made righteous in Christ, why worry about whether I sin or not?”  This is an important question to answer, and Paul gives us a great answer.  The answer is that while our righteousness does not come through our works, when we live in a righteous manner we put God’s ways on display and show what living in His inheritance looks like.

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Year 8, Day 25: Romans 2

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As I read through Romans 2, there is a really important message that often gets overlooked.  Who am I to judge?  This message is so important that Jesus Himself teaches it when He says, “Let him who is without sin throw the first stone.”  The reality is that I have no right to look upon another in the light of condemnation while I myself sit in the light of grace.  If grace has been extended to me, then it has been extended to anyone who is willing to receive it.  Human beings have no right to look upon one another in condemnation.  That’s is God’s job, not mine.

That being said, we often take that message too far.  Just because I shouldn’t look upon another person in condemnation doesn’t mean I don’t preach the truth.  Right is right.  Wrong is wrong.  Righteousness is righteousness.

That leads me to the real trick in this passage.  How does one teach right from wrong but do it in a way that doesn’t assume condemnation?  I think there are several important principles, and I’ll admit that I’m going to probably miss a few.  The most important part is that it comes from God’s Word as that is truth.  It is also important that we teach through relationship so that when people hear us teach they already know our character and will be able to hear the spirit of our words should we say something in human error.  We also need to remember to be transparent; people are more receptive to hearing about their imperfections when they realize that we acknowledge our own imperfections.

These things set us up for an understanding of where this passage ends.  Can we prove to be God’s people by outward appearances?  No, of course not!  We are God’s people by what is on the inside.  It is a penitent heart that evidences the salvation that comes from God.  That’s why I have to be careful not to judge!  Can I see the heart within, or can I only see the outward appearances of another through my own jaded perspective of what I see?

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Year 8, Day 24: Romans 1

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Roman 1 is such a great introductory chapter to faith.  In it, Paul gives us a great perspective on faith.  First, it is wisdom that comes from God.  Genuine relationship begins with Him and it is rooted in His Word.  Then, it spreads outward to others.  We encourage and edify one another with the faith that comes from God.  We teach one another and build one another up with our shared faith.  This is what faith looks like.

Having said that, Paul also gives us a perspective of what faith doesn’t look like.  God allows us to chase after the desires of our own heart as well.  He allows us to walk away from Him if we so choose.  He allows us to exchange truth for a lie and to pursue that instead.

This brings us to what I think is another great moment in this chapter.  Paul looks forward to come to the Jews and the Gentiles.  He wants to preach to anyone who will listen.  Relationship with God is based upon His righteousness, not upon our worthiness!  There are Jews who are faithful; there are Jews who walk away from God.  There are Gentiles who are faithful; there are Gentiles who walk away from God.  Relationship with God is for all people, anyone who wants it.  We are fortunate to have it!

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Year 8, Day 23: 2 Kings 25

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In this chapter we bring the plight of the kings of Judah to an end.  It’s a whimper of a story.  Siege is laid to Jerusalem.  The people are starving.  The king makes a move to run away, but he is caught.  As punishment, the king’s sons are killed in his presence.  All in all, it’s a pretty bad chapter in the history of Judah.

As I read through this, I couldn’t help notice something mentions as Babylon takes over the city.  The temple is stripped of its valuables and then burned.  I truly find this fascinating.

Sometimes we as human beings wonder why God allows some things to happen.  I’m not arguing that God makes some things happen; I’m arguing that God stands by and allows things to happen.  I honestly think that the reason we find ourselves in such turmoil is because we don’t have the perspective of God.

It’s easy from a human perspective to think that God would be upset about some of the things we care about.  For example, the temple.  Couldn’t God have worked within Nebuchadnezzar to have His temple spared?  He’s God, of course He could!  But He doesn’t.  He doesn’t flinch when His temple is stripped and burned.  After all, what is a temple made of earthly things to God?  In fact, if you remember, it was David’s idea to build the temple, not God’s idea!  God was happy dwelling in the tabernacle that He had ordered constructed.

I think this chapter can teach us much about perspective.  God’s people go captive.  God’s temple is destroyed.  Yet God continues to still be God.  Nothing substantial has really changed.

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Year 8, Day 22: 2 Kings 24

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In 2 Kings 24 we finally see the long-promised downfall of Judah.  I don’t say that with anticipation.  In truth, I say it with sadness.  The kingdom that God establishes through David lasts a bit more than four hundred years.  Most of those years were lived in rebellion against God.  Knowing that only more rebellion is to come, God sends Nebuchadnezzar to finish the task.

What I find interesting is how Judah becomes captive to Babylon.  It comes bit by bit.  Judah is slowly dismantled through its desire to buy off the Babylonian invasion.  Judah voluntarily becomes a vassal to Babylon, slowly selling off its national treasures to alleviate the threat.  Before too long, the wealth and splendor of Judah is transferred to Babylon without much fighting.  Only a small siege is necessary to defeat God’s people.  Most of the pride of Judah goes willingly, no resistance necessary.

This really is tragic.  It teaches us a lesson that our pride and our self-centeredness is really blinding.  We’ve watched the people of Judah chase after their own desires, chase after other gods, and chase after the things of this world that are not sustaining.  They never saw the end truly coming.  When it came, they didn’t have the strength of character to recognize the danger.  If we are as blind, we are equally as susceptible.

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Year 8, Day 21: 2 Kings 23

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When I read the chapter for today, I am glad that I read the chapter from a few days ago.  He we go, reading a whole chapter on how great Josiah is and how seriously he took the reforms of the Lord.  We even hear God’s Word tell us that there was no other king like him before or after [excepting David, no doubt].  Yet, we hear the Bible say that in spite of all of this, God would not forget the wrath that he planned against His people.

Originally, it is easy to sit back and ask how God could be unforgiving!  After all, how can His people undergo all of this reform and yet God won’t relent?  How can Josiah and the people be so faithful as to go back and unroot the worship of foreign gods dating the whole way back to Solomon and God is unrelenting?  How is this possible, when we profess to believe in a God who forgives with every one of our repentance moments?

The answer is in the end of the chapter.  Listen to what the Bible has to say about what happens after Josiah.  The people rebel once more.  The kings are evil once more.  Everything that Josiah fights for is gone as soon as he is.

Why does God not relent?  God doesn’t relent because He knows what the future holds.  God stays His hand because Josiah is faithful.  But God knows the repentance is only temporary.  God knows that it won’t last and it won’t stick.  It’s not that God is unforgiving at all!  It is that God is all-knowing.  He will happily forgive us in our repentance.  In our disobedience, He will hold us accountable.

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Year 8, Day 20: 2 Kings 22

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Quite often when I read this chapter, I love to focus on the character of Huldah the prophetess.  Here is a woman of faith, who isn’t afraid to tell the truth.  Here is a woman to whom the spiritual and political leaders of the nation turn when they want to know truth!

Today, though, I plan on going a different route.  Towards the end of the reading we get to a major point in Huldah’s speak.  Huldah tells us in plain words about the power of repentance.  God plans to come and lay siege to Judah.  God plans to take His own people into captivity.  But because Josiah repented when He heard the Word of God, God stays His hand of wrath for the time being.

There are many neat places of learning that we can explore.  What a testimony to God’s forgiveness!  Here is a God who plans to destroy the whole culture because of their rebellion.  Yet, because one person, their leader, is willing to display humbleness God is willing to forgive and postpone judgment.

Of course, this leads us to the power of humbleness!  Josiah’s willingness to hear and let his heart be touched is one of the most powerful reactions that he can have in the eyes of God.  We are flawed human beings.  What God looks for is whether or not we can admit our failings and then go forward in repentance.

Finally, we can see that God does indeed care for all of His people.  The promise that God gives to Josiah through Huldah is that Josiah will be gathered to His ancestors.  God cares not just for the living, but for the dead.  We can trust that God will not be our God in life, but that He will be our God in all time.

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Year 8, Day 19: 2 Kings 21

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I’ve always been curious as to why God would punish Hezekiah so harsh just for showing the Babylonians the temple and the wealth of the kingdom.  I get that Hezekiah was prideful.  I get that Hezekiah may have been more interested in financial security and not interested in sharing the greatness of God to the Babylonians.  But I have often felt that those things aren’t as big and significant as all the other things that God has put up with over the centuries since David was king!

In reading this chapter something important comes out.  The perspective that I have is incredibly human.  When I hear God list out punishments, I make the human assumption that the punishments match the crime as recorded.  With God, though, that doesn’t need to be true.  God’s perspective is not linear as is mine!  God knows what is going to happen when Hezekiah dies and his son takes over.  God knows what will happen when Hezekiah’s grandson takes over.

When God tells Hezekiah that the Babylonians will conquer them, but it won’t take effect until after Hezekiah’s reign, it is actually a demonstration of God’s wisdom!  It is a demonstration of God’s foresight!  God knows of all of the awful practices that Manasseh and Amon are going to initiate.  He knows about the defacing of His temple.  He knows about the child sacrifice.  He knows about the worship of the starry host.

On the surface, this chapter is all about the sins of Manasseh and Amon.  Under the surface, though, this chapter is about the magnificence of God.  God knows what is to come well before it happens.  God can set and execute judgment well before it is even required.  From my human perspective, it may seem unfair or unreasonable.  The problem is with me, though, not God.  The Babylonian advance that we heard about yesterday is perfectly fair and perfectly righteous when we have the ability to see the whole story as God does.

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Year 8, Day 18: 2 Kings 20

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Today we get a story that fills in a bit of the bigger picture of the story of Hezekiah.  We get an opportunity to see the real Hezekiah, much like we got an opportunity to see the real David.  We see him in his glory, we see him in his faults.

In his glory, Hezekiah is a bastion of faith.  Sick, he prays to God.  He believes God can heal him.  When Isaiah comes to tell Hezekiah that God is going to heal him, Hezekiah is willing to believe it.  Here is a man who understands the power of God and understands the preeminence of God.  He gets it in a very real and personal way.

A neat part of this is that God knows that he gets it.  God heals him.  In fact, it seems to please God to heal Hezekiah.  This is a man who has a positive relationship with God and it shows all around.

That being said, Hezekiah is no perfect man, either.  He makes mistakes.  When some emissaries from Babylon come to see him, he is taken by their concern for his health.  He shows them around.  Like a proud man, he puts on a demonstration of what makes him great.  He never thinks about the idea that these emissaries could go back to Babylon and brag about the wealth the see.  Hezekiah never thinks about the possibility that his pride could lead to the king of Babylon coming to Judah to take that wealth from him.  In Hezekiah, we see a fault of blind pride.

Furthermore, we also see a man who is a bit self-centered.  When he is told about the judgment to come, Hezekiah’s reaction is really interesting.  Hezekiah is okay with the judgment because it will happen after he dies.  I hope the self-centeredness of this reaction is obvious.

Hezekiah is a great man.  He has a great relationship with God.  But he isn’t perfect.  He is short-sighted.  He suffers from pride.  He has flaws.  But in the end, God still loves him.

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Year 8, Day 17: 2 Kings 19

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This is a great chapter of the Bible.  Remember what the chapter from yesterday said about Hezekiah?  Hezekiah walked in the ways of the Lord according to David.  That is an epitaph that hasn’t been said since David; it’s very high praise.  It’s worth focusing on.

I think we see something in today’s chapter that should remind us of David.  Hezekiah is full of what looks like doubt.  He goes to the temple and seeks guidance.  He seeks out the prophets.  Hezekiah doesn’t know what is going to happen, but he knows that he doesn’t have the answers and he needs help.  He goes to God especially in the midst of his worry!

Doesn’t this sound just like David?  Hezekiah doesn’t have any more answers than David did!  Hezekiah’s no more perfect than David was.  But he does believe in God.  He does seek God.  He does wish to follow God’s directive.

Unlike many of the kings between David and Hezekiah, Hezekiah doesn’t try to buy help.  He doesn’t place his faith in anything except God.  He goes to the temple and prays for help.

This is the cool part of the story; it’s my favorite part.  Isaiah consoles Hezekiah.  Isaiah tells him that God is on His side and God will force Sennacherib to go home.  Later that night, hundreds of thousands of Assyrians are found dead outside of Jerusalem.  Sennacherib tucks his tail and goes home.  His military failure gets him killed by his own sons, who rise to power.

God lives up to His promise to protect those who truly trust in Him.  He can make our path through the darkness of life.  Hezekiah gives us a great look at what this kind of faith looks like.

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Year 8, Day 16: 2 Kings 18

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Today we begin one of my favorite teaching stories on the topic of faith.  We meet Hezekiah the king, who is one of the elite among the faithful kings of Judah.  We hear about Sennacherib, who is one of the great kings of Assyria.  We hear about a great defiance, a lie, and the faithful response of the people.

Before we get to all of this, make sure that we understand the context of what is going on.  The Assyrians have been chosen by God to be His punishment upon Israel.  The Assyrians take possession of the land and pull the Hebrew people of the northern kingdom away from their inheritance.  There has been no nation that has stopped the Assyrians.  Whatever the Assyrians have wanted, they have taken by force.

Now, however, the Assyrians come to Judah and plan to take Jerusalem.  They have even taken many of the fortified cities of Judah.  It looks bleak, especially when no help arrives from Egypt.  The Assyrian army encircles Jerusalem and begins to lay siege against it.

In this context the mouthpiece of Sennacherib comes to the wall around Jerusalem.  He announces their impending doom.  He tells the people of the city, especially the guards upon the wall, that their city will fall and there is no hope on the horizon.  He even indicates that they shouldn’t rely upon God.  After all, what god has any nation believed in that has saved them from the hand of the Assyrian onslaught?

Here’s the thing that Hezekiah understands, though.  He knows that God will deliver them.  He tells the people to not even acknowledge the Assyrians.  He knows that God may have brought Assyria upon Israel, but God has not brought Assyria upon Judah.  Hezekiah holds fast.

I praise Hezekiah for this bold stance.  Here is a faithful response in the face of an overwhelming enemy.  Here is a response where Hezekiah draws a line in the sand and says, “Here I stand, I can do no other.”  He then turns and invites the people around him to stand upon the same line in the stand.  This is what leadership looks like.  This is why the story of Hezekiah is one of my favorite faith teaching stories form among the kings.

Tomorrow we’ll see how the story ends.

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Year 8, Day 15: 2 Kings 17

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In 2 Kings 17 we have the fall of Israel.  Israel falls because they followed other gods and sacrificed to them.  Let’s be clear about that.  Yes, Israel was disobedient.  But honestly, how many among us are not disobedient to God.  Even among those who claim to love Him, how many of us are free from the effects of sin? 

What the people of Israel did that was wrong and that God didn’t forgive was that they worshipped other gods and sacrificed to them.  That isn’t permission to be disobedient, but the reality is that God will forgive our disobedience if we are in relationship with Him and acknowledge our wrong.  What God has an issue with Israel’s actions is that they worshipped foreign gods and sacrificed to them.  That should be a lesson to us all.  Disobedience is forgiven with repentance.  Worship of other things besides God is not.

That leads us around to another neat understanding that I honestly don’t remember reading in years past, although I am sure that I did.  Do you hear that the king of Assyria resettles the land?  That’s not the new part.  Do you hear that God sends lions to devour the people because they don’t know Him?  That’s not the new part, either.

What is new is that the priest of God that the king of Assyria sends among the settlers offers them a deal.  The priest becomes an envoy from God and offers them protection.  He offers to rescue them from dangers if they will worship Him.  He basically gives them the same offer that He has given to the Hebrew people!  Of course, they don’t listen.  But that doesn’t change the point!

What’s neat about this is that it shows us the nature of God’s love.  God is willing to make His offer to anyone.  All we have to do is fear and worship Him and not fear or worship other gods.  As we see in this passage, it doesn’t matter who we are or where we’ve come from.  God is willing to embrace us if we simply choose to fear and worship Him.  It’s really that simple.

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Year 8, Day 14: 2 Kings 16

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In 2 Kings 16 we meet Ahaz, the next king in the line of Judah.  Unlike the two kings that came before him, Ahaz does not do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.  In fact, he even offers his son as a sacrifice.  He brings back the old religion that was being worshipped by the Canaanites.  The Bible even hints at the fact that such acts were the reason that the Canaanites were kicked out in the first place!

What I find interesting is that Ahaz’s contempt for God is obvious in so many other dynamics.  When Israel and Syria come against Judah, Ahaz turns to Assyria for help instead of God.  Note that he doesn’t turn to his own gods, either.  Ahaz doesn’t have an eye for spirituality; Ahaz has an eye for the natural world and what is best for him.

In fact, when Assyria comes and saves Judah, Ahaz goes to meet the king of Assyria.  Along the way, he sees the altar in Damascus.  These are the altars that initially led to Israel’s fall away from God back when the kingdom split apart.  Ahaz sends the designs back to Jerusalem and orders the priest to duplicate them.  Then, Ahaz goes into the temple of God and begins to repurpose the temple furnishings for his own purposes!

As if this isn’t bad enough, one of the true places of sorrow in this chapter comes here.  The priest goes through with the king’s plan.  Naturally, the priest was probably in a position of listening to the king or losing his position (and perhaps his life).  The priest chooses to keep his position and follow the king’s wishes instead of standing up for the Lord.  It is sad when people choose their own material security instead of spiritual righteousness, but I find it especially troubling when a priest makes that choice.  If anyone should have been able to say no to the king, it should have been Uriah the priest.

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Year 8, Day 13: 2 Kings 15

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2 Kings 15 is more of the same.  We have a pair of kings of Judah who do what is right in the sight of the Lord, even if they do let the high places of Ba’al worship remain.  We have more kings in Israel who do not do what is right in the sight of the Lord.  We have leadership changes in Judah passed on by generation in the line of David.  We have leadership changes passed on by treachery and scheming in Israel.  Not much changes.

We do, however, see the end on the horizon for Israel.  Tiglath-pileser comes onto the scene for Assyria and starts making demands.  He starts by conquering a large chunk of Israel and drags the people in the land he captures back to Assyria.  The Hebrew people start to become enslaved in captivity.  We shouldn’t be surprised by this at all.  None of the kings of Israel have tried to uphold God and His ways.  God has given them time to repent and they haven’t.  Judgment comes.

Even in the midst of judgment, though, I think that it is very interesting to look at the human interaction.  When Pekahiah cannot prevent portions of Israel from being carved up by Tiglath-pileser, his captain conspires against him to take over power.  Even in the midst of its decline, people gather like vultures to take their share of what’s left.  Pekahiah is assassinated and Pekah steps up to don the mantle of king over Israel.

There is another thought that I get out of this.  Not only will people grab at any power – even power of a downward spiraling organization – people will also believe what they want reality to be instead of what actual reality is.  The kingdom of Israel is doomed.  It is to be judged.  It is in selfish rebellion against God.  Nobody seems to step up and acknowledge this.  People grab at power and think that they can hold back the tide of God’s judgment.  Pekah thinks that he can do more against Assyria than Pekahiah could do.  He believes in his own version of reality instead of God’s version of true reality.

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Year 8, Day 12: 2 Kings 14

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Amaziah reigns after Joash has died.  I find the Biblical account of Amaziah intriguing.  The Bible begins this passage by saying that he was a good king.  He walked in the ways of Joash, whom the Bible also calls a good king.

However, Amaziah has some issues.  First of all, Amaziah, like his father before him, allows the high places to continue to exist.  He doesn’t take on the Ba’al worship at its core.  He doesn’t encourage it to grow, but he doesn’t take it on, either.

Second, Amaziah foolishly challenges Israel to a fight and loses badly.  In fact, it ultimately leads to his death.  He is impulsive in this and doesn’t show much wisdom.  He certainly seems to be following his own desires instead of God.

However, there is a neat lesson here in spite of the fact that after saying Amaziah is a good king the Bible doesn’t have much good to report.  The neat lesson is that it does remind us a bit of David.  Yes, David walked closer to God and his story is laced with faithfulness and momentary lapses of sin.  But the greater point is that God overlooks our sin and our weakness.  Amaziah doesn’t look good on paper after the initial statement.  But that’s not how God remembers him.  God remembers him as a good king.  That’s great news for us.  We don’t need to be perfect.  We simply need to pursue God.  We can have our faults like Amaziah’s impulsiveness and God can still love us and us.

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Year 8, Day 11: 2 Kings 13

Theological Commentary: Click Here

2 Kings 13 feels like much the same.  A few kings in Israel die.  A few kings in Israel replace them.  The new kings aren’t any better than the old kings.  The new kings continue in the sins of the old kings and they continue to walk further and further away from God.

What’s neat about this chapter is what we can learn about God.  In spite of the rebellion and in spite of the poor political leadership, God is still merciful.  God delivers the from Syria.  God has every right to abandon them and hold them accountable for their rebellion.  Instead, God gives them yet more time to repent and come back to Him.

God is insanely patient, far more patient than we deserve.  He is forgiving when He doesn’t need to be.  He is gracious when we are undeserving.  It is in His nature to continue to give chance after chance in the hopes that we will repent and return.  He simply wants relationship with us.

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Year 8, Day 10: 2 Kings 12

Theological Commentary: Click Here

2 Kings 12 is a very vanilla chapter after the last 3 or 4 chapters!  Joash takes over the throne and starts a campaign of reform.  I find it absolutely telling that the first comment that is made about the success of Joash’s reign is because he was mentored by a very faithful priest, Jehoiada.  This goes to show us the importance for all people – especially those in positions of power – to be mentored into faithfulness.

What’s interesting about this routine chapter is that although Joash seems to have a very faithful regime, the temple is not repaired as he would like.  In my blog for several years back, to which I link above, I detail some reasons for this.  It could be that the voluntary donations weren’t enough to feed the priests, much less pay for the temple repairs.  It could be that there has been so much Ba’al worship under the prior kings that there either aren’t many worshippers of God or the people are so angry at the removal of Ba’al that they aren’t willing to give.  One way or another, the repairs just don’t get done.

There is a lesson in practicality here.  We can have faithful leadership.  We can have God’s blessing.  But that doesn’t mean we will live a life where everything goes perfectly and we never experience setbacks.  We shouldn’t think that our life won’t have its little hiccoughs.  Here is Joash, who seems to be an upright king.  He is Jehoiada, who seems to be a legitimate priest.  Yet the people don’t respond all that quickly.  The repairs don’t get done as fast as they should.

It isn’t that God’s blessing failed, or the leadership was bad, or that it was time for the Hebrew people to be punished.  The reality is that life conspired against the plans of Joash.  It took more time and more effort than Joash expected.  That’s not anyone’s fault!  It’s just life.  Life has a way of conspiring against even the best of plans.

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Year 8, Day 9: 2 Kings 11

Theological Commentary: Click Here

This is such an interesting chapter.  Athaliah hears about the death of her son at the hands of Jehu.  What makes this chater so interesting is that the Queen Mother then turns and starts to kill all the other children who might become king.  She slaughters child after child while being on a rampage.  If her child won’t reign, then nobody else’s child would reign, either.

There are two really neat things about this chapter.  The first neat concept is that one child, Joash, is smuggled into safety.  News of him is kept silent from Athaliah’s ears for six years.  That alone is an amazing feat.  The lineage of David is saved when all hope appears lost.

The other neat dynamic comes out of this reality.  When we start this chapter, it looks bleak.  This chapter starts with the death of innocent people.  The chapter starts with awful news.  Yet, look at what God does in this chapter.  God brings forth a complete reset of the southern kingdom.  In the salvation of Joash comes a king who is dedicated to the God whose house he quite literally was saved and raised in.  The worship places of Ba’al are removed.  A renewal of the pact between God and His people comes into being.  A chapter that starts out so bleakly ends with a great story of success.

For the record, this is often the modus operandi of God.  The story of Moses begins with the Hebrew people enslaved and the Hebrew children being killed.  When Jesus is born it begins with no room at the inn and the slaughter of innocent children.  Paul’s story begins with the death of Stephen and the absolute persecution of the early church.  So often it is in the darkest moments that we see the light of God most brightly.

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Year 8, Day 8: 2 Kings 10

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Here is another chapter this is hard to take from a perspective that puts God in the “God is love” cliché box.  I do believe that God is love, but He is more than love.  After all, how could a God who only understands love approve of Jehu’s actions?

Jehu continues the slaughter of Ahab’s house.  He makes sure that not only Ahab and Jezreel are dead, but all of Ahab’s children from all of his wives.  Seventy of Ahab’s sons die.  Jehu then kills a delegation from Judah.  Then, he kills of all of the prophets of Ba’al. This is a significant amount of death and destruction going on.

Don’t miss 2 Kings 10:30.  We don’t need to speculate about God’s reaction.  God says, “You have done well in carrying out what is right in my eyes and have done according to the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, your sons shall sit on the throne to the fourth generation.”  In other words, Jehu is being rewarded.  What has happened to Ahab and to the prophets of Ba’al has pleased the Lord.

If we take the opinion of God that He is only love, then this chapter makes no sense.  Ths is why many people have issues with the Old Testament and they prefer to ignore it and not read it.  It is the Old Testament that forces us to acknowledge that God is bigger than the box we would care to put Him in.

God is a God of righteousness.  He is a God of divine judgment.  Yes, God would prefer that we all choose to act in love and graciousness and follow His ways.  The reality, though, is that we don’t always do so.  When we don’t, there are consequences.  When we don’t live up to His ways and we don’t feel any need to repent about it, the consequences get enforced.  When we do this as a culture, the consequences are even more severe.  When we do this as a culture for generations, the consequences grow still more dire.

God is a God of love.  After all, He sent Jesus to die so that we might be able to remain in relationship with Him.  He paid the cost when we couldn’t.  That’s an act of love.  But God is so much more than a God of love.  He is a God of justice.  He is righteousness. He is authority.  He is power.  He is glory.  He is the creator.  He is the alpha and the omega.  Chapters like this force us to get out of our limited perspective and embrace all that is god. 

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Year 8, Day 7: 2 Kings 9

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Today’s passage tells us how the throne passes from the lineage of Ahab to the lineage of Jehu. I find it interesting that in Judah the kings continue to come from the line of David, even when one dies evilly.  Yet in Israel, the title of king is assed around according to who is the strongest and most treacherous.  Here is a very direct result of living under God’s blessing and living under what appears right in the eyes of humans.

Naturally, though, this passage is all about the fulfillment of God’s promise.  As gruesome as the transition is, it is about God’s promise to Ahab and his wife.  God tells Ahab that his lineage will not reign over Israel.  In this passage we see that lineage end.  In fact, we even see Jezebel’s death, forcing that lineage to end quite permanently.  God is a god of His word.

In a gruesome chapter like this, I find that thought strangely comforting – especially after a chapter like yesterday.  God keeps His promises.  God fulfills what He says.  What God mandates happens.

In a world such as we live in, it is nice to know that there is a power that is true to its word.  Human beings are fickle.  Our attitudes change like the tides.  Our loyalties rotate as often as our emotions.  But God stays true to His word.  When He promises to David that his lineage will reign, they do.  When He promises Ahab that his lineage will not escae the sword of Jehu, they don’t.  It is God who is supreme.  It is God who is able to bend existence to His will.

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Year 8, Day 6: 2 Kings 8

Theological Commentary: Click Here

For today’s post, I have an interesting moral quandary.  The issue comes out of the story of Hazael and his trip to see Elisha.  The king of Syria, Ben-hadad, gets sick and sends Hazael to seek Elisha to see if he will recover from the illness.  While Hazael is in Elisha’s company, Elisha begins to weep.  Elisha explains to Hazael that he is weeping because God has shown Elisha all of the things that Hazael will do to the Hebrew people once he becomes king over Syria.  When Hazael returns to Ben-hadad, Hazael kills him so that he can take over as king!

There are two quandaries, actually.  I believe that the first is more readily navigated than the second.  The first one is: would Hazael have had the plan to kill Ben-hadad had Elisha not told him that he would be king?  The reason that this quandary is navigated easily is because I believe the answer to be yes.  Human beings are inherently evil, so the lan to kill Ben-hadad and assume all of his power would have certainly developed in Hazael eventually.  It wasn’t God’s idea, therefore it was Hazael’s.  He would have come to that decision at some point.  In fact, one could make the case that Elisha’s word weren’t actually what spurred Hazael to commit murder but to affirm publicly what was already hidden away in Hazael’s heart.  This is actually what I think is going on in this chapter.  God isn’t inspiring Hazael to become king, God is trying to show Hazael His power by revealing knowledge of the plan that u until now has been privately festering in his heart.  Naturally, this is speculation on my behalf.

The second quandary is far more difficult to navigate.  If God knew about all of the evil that Hazael would do, why didn’t God have Hazael killed by Elisha or eaten by some wild animal on his way back home?  It isn’t like that hasn’t been a plotline in other stories surrounding Elisha, even!

The reason that this is a quandary is because it points us to a truth that we don’t like to talk about when pondering God.  God has the power to utterly destroy evil.  But for the sake of free will, He doesn’t.  God allows Hazael to live, even though he will bring much pain and suffering on other human beings.

That puts us in a tight spot emotionally speaking.  God doesn’t kill Hazael and allows him to become king.  For the record, in the future we’ll see how God brings forth the Assyrians to do bring Israel under judgment.  God brings forth the Babylonians to bring judgment upon Judah.  Both the Assyrians and the Babylonians do horrible things to the Hebrew people.  The reality is that God doesn’t vanquish true evil wherever it exists.

If we are willing to accept that – as difficult as that may be to accept – we can actually see why.  I believe there are many reasons; I’ll outline two here.  First, if God were to have a standing policy to vanquish evil, we should all die right now.  The reality is that evil lies within my heart.  I am sinful and evil.  I fight against it, but I am still evil within my heart.  I should be vanquished.  Second, God uses that evil to try and teach His people about faith.  The end result of the Assyrian and Babylonian captivity is that His people spiritually return to Him.  The end result of the evil of the crucifixion is a spiritual people devoted to the teachings of His Son.  God allows evil to continue to exist because through His greatness He can work through the evil and produce far greater outcomes than would be gained by crushing the evil outright. 

That doesn’t make the evil right, nor does it justify the evil in any way.  What it does is demonstrate to us the power of God to even work true spiritual righteousness out of even the most unspeakable evil.  That’s a learning that can only come through the study of the quandary the arises when we ask why God allows Hazael to live when He knows the evil that is about to ensue.

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