Hello my “Walking with Jesus” friends on this Wednesday,
Normally in America this is a wonderful time of the year with College graduations, weddings, new graduates launching careers and very soon High School graduations and summer vacations etc. But this year, these early days of May have been heartbreaking across America with College campus demonstrations and riots which have locked down campuses, cancelled classes and final exams, and even closed down graduation ceremonies.
This May as many College age young people look for summer jobs, I think some may find employers cautious about hiring them. When we add to that the American election year realities of the two normally scheduled party conventions and the anticipated demonstrations and violence, this will be a summer of deep reflection about their core values for many people.
For those of us in the ‘boomer’ generation, these days remind us of the turbulent 1960’s when it was our generation leading demonstrations around the country. So I wonder… what have we learned in the past 60 years and how do we look at our world differently today than we did in 1964?
Once again I invite you to 900bc for they too were learning important lessons in Israel which speak directly to the challenges facing Israel and our world today.
Yesterday we witnessed the remarkable battlefield victory of King Asa and the fighting men of the ‘southern kingdom’ of Judah, as King Asa prayed and God Himself intervened against a bully, Zerah the Cushite, who had come with his vast army aggressively against the people of Jerusalem who were living in quiet peace at that time.
As they returned from this victory, King Asa was suddenly and unexpectedly met along the road by a prophet of God. I don’t know if these two men had ever met before, but the prophet Azariah son of Oded boldly approached Asa with a message from God! The King stopped his procession and evidently he invited Azariah to speak: “Listen to me, King Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with Him. If you see Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, the LORD will forsake you. For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law of God. But in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel and sought Him, and He was found by them.” (2 Chronicles 15:1-4)
I wonder if Mr. Azariah paused there, giving King Asa and his leaders time to process what they were hearing. It was true and they knew it! During the latter part of King Solomon’s reign, the people of Israel had actually been encouraged to embrace the idol gods of foreign nations, few priests were teaching God’s truth and few people were making much effort to follow God’s laws.
That spiritual and moral decline continued after Solomon’s death during the 17 years of his son King Rehoboam’s reign. And while there had been a minimal turn around after Rehoboam’s time with his son King Abijah, it was brief.
Now with King Asa things had turned around in a major way and for the first time in perhaps 35 years, the Temple was busy with worshipers, the priests were teaching God’s truth, King Asa and the people had destroyed many of the idols and places of idol worship, the land was enjoying peace and prosperity!
The God of Israel was again being honored in Israel and Asa’s victory on the battlefield and Jerusalem’s safety from Zerah the Cushite and his vast army was tangible proof, evidence of God returning His favor, His protection and His blessing on Jerusalem!
The prophet took a deep breath and continued with his message from God, a sad commentary on what life had been like for those many years without God in Israel! “In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress.” (2 Chronicles 15:5,6)
Oh Asa and all his men knew this to be true, they had lived in the fearfulness of those dark days! They had raised their kids to keep one eye looking over their shoulder at all times and never stray far from home. But in these recent years everything had changed as Israel had turned back to honoring God rather than rejecting or ignoring or mocking God! Azariah’s closing words pierced like a sword.
God had actually been troubling the people of Israel! How could that be? How could holy God be the source of problems and WHY? Oh it’s simple my friends, God simply removes His hand of protection and blessing, allowing in all the problems He had been blocking and protecting us from! And why would God do that?
Because it is in the pain that most people seek help from God! Now pause and give that some deep reflection. What problems may be in your life, your family, your city, your nation, because God has removed His protecting hand in response to people turning their backs on God!? Is God waiting for you and me and many other people to turn to Him?
Azariah wasn’t finished, so he took one more breath and with some enthusiasm said: “But as for you King Asa, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded!” (2 Chron. 15:7) I think at that moment all the soldiers cheered! Yes, God was rewarding their King Asa for his efforts in leading the nation back to God. God was rewarding these soldiers for their trust in God on the battlefield. And now as they returned home to their families, God was rewarding them as men for the honorable way in which they were leading their families in moral integrity and spiritual pursuit of God!
With great courage these men continued their victory march home, ready to embrace their families and continue rebuilding a future for them and their children much, much different from what the past had been in Jerusalem or what might have happened if God had not defended them against Zerah the bully and his Cushite army!
With what attitudes are you and I facing this summer of ’24? What can we learn from King Asa and his men? Has God been allowing trouble where you live? Are you and I and leaders turning our face to God or our backs?
Oh friends, here’s a great worship song, based on Psalm 121, to help us consider these great truths about our God and I’ll meet you right back here tomorrow…
Today’s Scripture: 2 Chronicles 15:1-7.
Choose below to read or listen.
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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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