Sunday 2nd February

Read Psalm 94

If you don’t have a bible at home you can find the readings on a website such as www.biblegateway.com or an app such as YouVersion

“The Lord is a God who avenges” (v1).  Who would think of God in those terms, but the Psalmist does and the Psalm is a description of God as a judge and punisher of evil people.  We so often talk of God in words of love and acceptance and such he is, but he is also a God of justice who will not let the wicked go unpunished.  “They slay the widow and the foreigner; they murder the fatherless. They say, ‘The Lord does not see’” (v6,7)  but the Psalmist adds, “Does he who formed the eye not see?” (v9). The judgement of God can be twofold, it can be described in terms of discipline as the Psalmist does in v12, but it also needs to be remembered in terms of ultimate judgment on those who will not repent.  There cannot be an eternal acceptance of ill-will and evil, “Can a corrupt throne be allied with you – a throne that brings on misery by degrees?”  Of course not.  Final judgement is real that’s why we need to seek God’s mercy in repentance.

READINGS FOR THE WEEK AHEAD

As you read the Bible Stop; Read; Ponder; and Pray.

Monday 2 Kings 12:1-16

So Joash became King although under the tutelage of Jehoiada the Priest and verse 2 says that “he did right in the eyes of the Lord all the years Jehoiada the priest instructed him”.  How good it is to hear of a King “doing right” in the eyes of the Lord but we do notice an addition, it was when he was instructed by the priest. 

As he grew older he instructed the priests to gather the varied money that came into the temple, some was personal tax or property tax along with freewill offerings, which the priests seem to have benefited from personally but Joash wanted the temple to be repaired.  It had been left unrestored after Athaliah and her sons had caused damage (“Now the sons of that wicked woman Athaliah had broken into the temple of God and had used even its sacred objects for the Baals” 2 Chron 24:7).

The priests were meant to attend to the repair work but after a lengthy time, Joash felt things were not going along as they should and so instructed a new plan of action.  The money was to be kept separate, and workmen were to be paid to do the work.  This plan worked and the supervisors were seen as worthy men whose honesty meant that they didn’t even need to require an accounting of its usage.  The chapter says a lot about how we should work.

Tuesday 2 Kings 12:17-21

From v17 we hear again about Hazael the King of Aram (roughly Syria with Damascus the Capital).  He had defeated Israel (the Northern Kingdom with capital Samaria) and he headed off down the Eastward side of Judah to Gath the well known Philistine city but which was possibly in Judah’s hands.  Having defeated it he headed in towards Jerusalem.  Chronicles tells us that there had been a battle between him and Joash’s forces which is omitted here but a potential siege was in the offing when Joash sent a bribe of treasure to him.  The bribe was accepted and Hazael departed .

The end of Joash’s life came about by assassination as two of his officials murdered him.  Chronicles tells us that he had been ill which might have made it a simpler matter for the two named officials.  He had a long reign, the early part of which showed strength and obedience, the latter weakness.  We ought always to strive to the end of our lives to be strong in the Lord if not in the body; a ready ear and obedience is the key.

Wednesday 2 Kings 13:1-9

Jehu stamped out Ahab and Jezebel’s Baal worship from the land, but the Northern Kingdom of Israel did not return to faithful worship of Jehovah and here in Chapter 13 we find Jehu’s son Jehoahaz continuing in the sins of the originator of the Northern Kingdom, Jeroboam.  Whenever ‘the sins of Jeroboam’ are mentioned in the Bible flip back to 1 Kings 12:25-31 to see what they were.

Jehoahaz found himself on the receiving end of regular incursions from Aram under Hazael and Ben-Hadad.  The writer tells us that the pressure was so great that Jehoahaz sought the Lord’s favour and the Lord listened to him, though it was mainly because of the oppression of the people.  They were given respite and people were able to return to their own homes though little remained of the army.  The respite did not come with a return to the Lord as an Asherah pole remined in the capital as well as still clinging to the gods of Jeroboam.  God may bring blessing to people who still remain stubborn.  After a reasonably long reign his son Jehoash succeeded him.

Thursday 2 Kings 13:10-25

Trying to get your head round the names of the Kings of Israel and Judah (Northern and Southern kingdoms) can be exceedingly difficult because of the similarity of them.  By the time we are half way through chapter 13 of 2 Kings we have Joash as King of Juday and then we have Jehoash as king of Israel.  Generally we should keep in mind that of the two kingdoms, Israel was the one whose decline was fastest and whose eventual dispersion came sooner.  Assyria eventually over threw them and dispersed them through the world never to return in any way akin to Judah whowere exiled to Babylon later and spent 70 years in exile until a remnant returned recounted in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.

These verses tell us of Jehoash’s reign and of his battles against Judah in the time of Judah’s king Amaziah (more of that in the next chapter) however it also tells us of his meeting with Elisha when Elisha was near death.  Elisha gave him a prophecy that he would have a victory over Aram (Syria) but it would only be limited because of his failure to strike his arrows more than three times on the ground when invited to by Elisha.

The writer takes this time to tell us of Elisha’s death and of the strange and miraculous recovery of a man, thought dead, and who was thrown into Elisha’s tomb and recovered when his body touched Elisha’s bones.

Friday 2 Kings 14:1-6

After the his father, Joash (2 Kings 12:20-21), his son Amaziah became King.  His mother was from Jerusalem, not from some foreign place, which perhaps says something about his early years and the influence of his mother.  It says that “he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord” which was a good start although it says not as David his ancestor as it mentions the high places were not removed.  The High Places are often mentioned in the Old Testament, they were local, regional places of worship which the people living in the land before they arrived sought to worship their gods.  Those gods will have been varied and to begin with the Israelites sometimes worshipped Jahweh in various places in the land but when the Temple was established in Jerusalem it was set to be the central and only place where sacrifices were made and worship offered.  If the high places remained, local ideas of God and ways to worship him would lead to abandonment of Him and syncretic practices to take place.

In the New Testament the only ‘place’ and setting for worship to take place is Jesus.  Our prayers end ‘in the Name of Jesus’ because we know, as Peter said, “there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12).  No other philosophies or ‘places’ in human cultures can offer a way of approach to God.  Faith is faith in Christ not any faith.

When Amaziah was established in his position he ordered the execution of the officials who murdered his father although commendably, he did not seek the death of the Assassins children because he knew the law that such a thing was not right (Deut 24:16).

Saturday 2 Kings 14:7-22

Amaziah of Judah was a very successful King in terms of military might.  He defeated 10,000 Edomites to the South East of the Dead Sea but then, obviously feeling in a victorious mood, he then sent messengers to the Northern Kingdom of Israel challenging them to come and face off for battle (v8).  Jehoash of Israel however met the challenge with disdain and told him he was arrogant after his victory over the Edomites and he should just stay home and not ask for trouble.

Amaziah wouldn’t listen however and Jehoash of Israel attacked him and Judah was soundly defeated.  More to his military defeat Amaziah was captured and the city of Jerusalem was sacked with gold and silver from the Temple and treasure from the Royal Palace taken.  Never was “Pride comes before a Fall” better seen than in the 4life of Amaziah. He started off well but feel away from God into trusting in himself and the idols of other nations.  Ther is much more about Amaziah that you can read about in 2 Chronicles.  All these stories of the ancient Kings are designed to teach us in the Church of how to live and avoid the pitfalls of the past. The different branches of the  Church and all their fractious divisions are well measured by the events of old Israel.

Amaziah, like his father, ended his years as the result of a conspiracy within the Kingdom and was replaced by his sixteen-year-old son Azariah.