Hello, my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
I imagine when you and I were small children, we received many warnings from adults who cared about us. Our parents, teachers, relatives, perhaps school principals or maybe even police. These older adults had learned important lessons in their lives and wanted to help us, so they challenged us to learn important things. Here’s four that I remember from my childhood:
* Put things away where they belong, even if you didn’t find them in their proper place, then you’ll know where to find them next time you need them. Did your parents ever tell you that? Here’s another:
* Leave things cleaner than you found them. Here’s another one:
* Always be early, you won’t live in the anxiety of rushing, and you’ll always be prepared. And here’s a fourth one:
* Words can leave a deeper wound than physical injury. Be very careful with your words.
Oh my, just reciting them raises up many more in my memory. I hope you have some of these wisdom tidbits that you can pass along to your children and grandchildren.
Yesterday I left you pondering the significance of the smoldering rubble which had been the ancient, wicked, city of Jericho. Joshua chapter 6 gives us the dramatic story of God Himself breaking down the protective walls of the city as the Israelites simply walked around the city and then gave a great shout. That remarkable chapter concludes with Joshua making a bold warning over the rubble: “Cursed before the LORD is the person who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: At the cost of his firstborn son, he will lay the city’s foundations; at the cost of his youngest he will set up its gates.” (Joshua 6:26) From that warning I conclude it was God’s intention that this pile of rubble would be a lasting monument to judgment upon decadent wickedness as was the rubble of Sodom and Gomorrah.
However, about 520 years later a wicked king and queen came to power in Israel named Ahab and Jezebel. This phrase summarizes God’s perspective of their lives and their leadership: “Ahab…did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of the Kings of Israel before him. He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve the idol Baal and worship it. Ahab set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal which he built in Samaria… Ahab did more to arouse the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, than all the kings of Israel before him.” (1 Kings 16:29-33)
Yes, sadly it’s true. Even Israel had some very wicked Kings! Can you imagine, my friends, living in Israel during those days and trying to live a God honoring life with that depth of evil in the leadership of Israel? Wickedness in leadership tends to create an environment in which foolhardy evil flourishes, and so sure enough, someone started rebuilding the ancient city of Jericho, despite Joshua’s warning.
The record of I Kings continues with this sad statement: “In King Ahab’s time Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest Son Segub, in accordance with the word of the LORD spoken by Joshua son of Nun.” (1 Kings 16:34) Did you notice the hometown of Mr. Hiel? Bethel!!
You’ll remember that’s a very special place for Jacob TWICE had life changing encounters with God there, recorded for us in Genesis 28 & 35. Jacob’s name was changed by God to Israel in that place Bethel! I have to believe Mr. Hiel knew all about the story of his ancestor Jacob and what happened there, yet somehow the wickedness in Hiel’s heart simply disregarded or maybe even rejected the sacred history of his town and he left Bethel to move a few miles away, to the ruins of Jericho, and start rebuilding that wicked city!!
Now, we have no details of how Hiel’s sons died while Hiel was leading the rebuild of wicked Jericho, but it’s clear his choice to disregard Joshua’s warning cost him severely. It’s also clear Jericho’s rebirth was during one of Israel’s darkest times in history, for you may recall God sent a three-year drought on Israel because they had turned away from God to idolatry. (1 Kings 17:1) And raised up the prophet Elijah to challenge wicked King Ahab and his Queen Jezebel and their 450 prophets of Baal to a showdown on the top of Mount Carmel.
That account is found in 1 Kings 18 and it’s a very significant moment in Israel’s history. In fact, if you visit Israel today, this place on the top of Mount Carmel is included in every Holy Land Tour! That day God did rain down fire from heaven upon the altar and sacrifice Elijah had built, in response to Elijah’s prayer that God would show Himself that day to be the only true, living and all-powerful God in Israel! (1 Kings 18:36-39)
While Baal worship was soundly defeated that day on Mount Carmel, nothing changed in the heart of Ahab or Jezebel, or it appears Mr. Hiel, and construction on the rebuild of Jericho continued, and wickedness, including idolatry, rose up once again in Jericho!
Now friends, may I give you one other very important thing to consider about this rebuilding of Jericho? You’ll recall Jericho is located in the south of Israel, not far from the Dead Sea and only 17 miles from Jerusalem. At the time Hiel was rebuilding Jericho Israel was a divided Kingdom and thus Jerusalem, Jericho, Bethlehem, Hebron, Bethel were only a few of the many cities all in the southern kingdom known as Judah.
King Ahab was king of the northern kingdom Israel and reigned in Samaria it’s capital. The King of Judah was King Jehoshaphat and he reigned in Jerusalem and these words give us God’s perspective: “The LORD was with King Jehoshaphat because in his early years he followed in the ways of King David. He did not consult the Baals but sought the God of his ancestors and followed God’s commands rather than the practices of the kingdom of Israel. Jehoshaphat’s heart was devoted to the ways of the LORD, furthermore he removed the idol worshiping high places and Asherah poles from Judah. In the third year of his reign King Jehoshaphat sent teachers to all the towns in Judah taking with them the Book of the Law of the LORD. They went throughout Judah and taught the people the law of the LORD. The fear of the LORD fell on all the kingdoms of the land surrounding Judah.” (2 Chronicles 17:1-10)
Now, do you see the contrast my friends? The wickedness of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel in the northern kingdom of Israel, contrasted with the God honoring ambition of King Jehoshaphat of the southern kingdom of Judah? And yet Jericho is in the southern kingdom Judah and Mr. Hiel of Bethel, it appears, aligned himself with the wickedness of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel and in his hard-hearted rebellion against God, and against God honoring King Jehoshaphat, Hiel rejected Joshua’s warning, and started rebuilding wicked Jericho.
His heart was so hard it appears even the death of two of his sons did not deter Hiel in completing his wicked mission of restoring this ruined city of Jericho as an outpost of wickedness near the great cities of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron and Bethel where God had done so many great things for the people of Israel down through the centuries.
Now let’s pause and ponder this my friends! We need to look first at ourselves and our hearts, then at our families and then at our cities and our part of the world. Do we see that type of wicked rebellion rejecting God and God’s truth and even great historical things God has done in the past? I invite us all to take some important time of reflection here… what does God want to say to each of us about the danger of disregarding God’s warnings? And I’ll meet you right back here tomorrow with a surprise?
Did you know Jesus visited that wicked city Jericho? Why? We’ll take a close look tomorrow…
Today’s Scriptures are Joshua 6:26; 1 Kings 18; 2 Chron. 17.
Choose below to read or listen.
Joshua 6:26
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1 Kings 18
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2 Chron. 17
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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