2 Chronicles

Protect the promise

/ EllieJ

If you’ve made a commitment to someone, how far will you go to see that it happens? If someone has made a commitment to you, how far will you go to see that it happens? And what about what God has promised to you? How far will you go to hold on to the promises that you have from the Lord? Only until it gets a little uncomfortable? Only until it’s inconvenient and doesn’t really fit into your plans?

What if we could see the end at the beginning? Would it change our response to God’s promises? It certainly made a difference in Judah. God had promised that David’s line would never end. David would have an heir on the throne forever. But as we read in 2 Chronicles, that line was in serious jeopardy. Upon the death of King Ahaziah, his mother took it upon herself to destroy every possible heir. But one got away. Just a child, but an heir nonetheless.

Jehoiada said to them, “The king’s son shall reign, as the Lord promised concerning the descendants of David. Now this is what you are to do: A third of you priests and Levites who are going on duty on the Sabbath are to keep watch at the doors, a third of you at the royal palace and a third at the Foundation Gate, and all the other men are to be in the courtyards of the temple of the Lord. No on is to enter the temple of the Lord except the priests and Levites on duty; they may enter because they are consecrated, but all the other men are to guard what the Lord has assigned to them. The Levites are to station themselves around the king, each man with weapons in his hand. Anyone who enters the temple must be put to death. Stay close to the king wherever he goes.

2 Chronicles 23:3b-7 (NIV)

That is an awful lot of fuss for a kid just barely out of kindergarten. Yet Jehoiada knew that this boy was heir to far more than just the nation of Judah. He was the heir of a promise that would extend throughout eternity and they would protect that promise with their lives.

We have a book full of promises from God. How far will you go to see those promises come to pass?

The thing is, just because a promise has been made, doesn’t mean that we aren’t required to do anything. It doesn’t mean that we just get to sit around and let it happen around us. Had Jehoiada decided to leave matters be—it’ll all work out in the end, won’t it?—Joash would have been killed along with the rest of his siblings. The last of David’s line gone. And then what? It’s not as though God couldn’t have come up with another plan for salvation. But that’s not what God does. He’s not a God of plan B. He doesn’t even have a plan B. It’s plan A. Period.

So how do we know that God will keep His promises?

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

2 Corinthians 1:20-22 (NIV)

If God has made a promise to us, we can be assured that He will keep it. But we also have a responsibility to protect that promise. We must arm ourselves as Jehoiada armed the priests and Levites to protect Joash. God has given us His Spirit so that we can stand firm in the face of our enemy and declare the Amen—let it be so—with confidence that if God has promised it, He will perform it.

Do you have a promise from God? Protect it. With your life.

Read: 2 Chronicles 23-25, John 16:16-33

He was found

/ EllieJ

They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul. All who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. They took an oath to the Lord with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns. All Juda rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the Lord gave them rest on every side.

2 Chronicles 15:12-15 (NIV)

I am amazed at the intensity with which Judah swore their oath to seek God. We’re not used to such excitement when it comes to commitment. Most people are consider themselves committed if they’re only five minutes late for church instead of fifteen and then are upset if someone happens to mention their perpetual tardiness. Be glad you weren’t in Judah at the time this covenant was made. You’d have been put to death.

A little much, you think? Perhaps. Or perhaps not. While the penalty for not taking the oath was great, the reward for taking it was even greater. And he was found by them. So the Lord gave them rest on every side.

We have a bad habit of looking at our faith as deeply personal. It is, don’t get me wrong, but it is not just for us as individuals. Our faith and our commitment to the the Lord is also for the entire body and the entire body is to reach a lost and dying world. When Jesus sacrificed himself on the cross, it was for you and it was for me. But it was also for the church—his bride. His death was meant to bind us all together like Judah’s covenant united them.

While death may not be a bit of an extreme punishment for a lack of commitment these days, we have somehow lost our connection to each other and forgotten the great importance of community and sharing a common covenant. We can all take an oath as individuals and experience a certain amount of peace, but look at the effects Judah’s nationwide oath had on the people—rest on every side. And that rest lasted as long as they kept the oath.

If the church—not just a church, but The Church—would stand up and make a serious covenant not only to seek God with all their heart and soul, but to keep each other accountable to it, imagine the effect it would have on our nation. If God is not found where we are, maybe we’re not seeking Him as eagerly as we thought. But if we would all join together as Judah did in that time of rejoicing over a renewed covenant, perhaps we’d find God along with our rest.

Read: 2 Chronicles 13-16, John 14

Engines

/ EllieJ / Leave a comment

Let me start by saying that I am no Bible scholar. I’ve been to Bible school and I read my Bible. I love history and archaeology. I love learning. Today I learned something new.

I’ve heard it said and even said myself, that Christians should be at the forefront of science, industry, and creativity. We should be the ones paving the way with new discoveries, inventions, and art. There also seems to be a direct correlation between faithfulness and invention. What does being faithful have to do with any of that? Everything.

When God’s people are close to Him, He blesses them. It’s that simple. If you think about it, it is not difficult to imagine that the closer we are to the Creator of all things, the more creative we will be.

King Uzziah was close to God.

He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.

2 Chronicles 26:5 (ESV)

Do you think he prospered like magic? Or perhaps God gave him ideas on how to more efficiently govern? We know that Solomon was considered to be the wisest man to ever live. He was also the richest. God made him wise. His wisdom made him rich.

In the account of Uzziah in Kings, we don’t see much. He lived. He got leprosy. He died. But in 2 Chronicles, there’s one verse that leaped out at me.

In Jerusalem he made engines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and great stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong.

2 Chronicles 26:15 (ESV)

He made what? Engines. Some translations say machines. Now, of course I had to check this out. In the Hebrew, the words used to describe these devices is vague. Almost as though the writer wasn’t even sure of what he was describing. Loosely translated, they were inventions made by inventions of inventors. So we can assume that these engines were not common. But what were they? Trebuchets? Catapults? Uzziah reigned several hundred years before catapults became mentioned in history. Some theorise that there were spaces on the tower for archers and people to drop “murder rocks” on unsuspecting foes.

Take what you will from this little history lesson. I choose to believe that, in his faithfulness in serving God, God blessed him with the wisdom to reign and the ideas to reign well – including mechanisms for defence. After all, 2 Chronicles said that Uzziah was marvelously helped, till he was strong.

So what is my point exactly? My point is this: as long as Uzziah sought God, God made him prosper. What revolutionary ideas does God want to give you? How can you change the world you live in? Stop using the excuse that you’re “not a creative person”. God is The Creator and you were made in His image. You’re creative. Seek God. You never know what ideas He may supply you with.

Daily Bible reading: 2 Chronicles 26-28: John 17

Praise

/ EllieJ / Leave a comment

As a worship leader, I’m always partial toward scripture that references music. But even if I weren’t a musician, one can’t help but see a correlation between praise and victory.

When they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and the Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed.

2 Chronicles 20:22 (ESV)

Remember, too, in Joshua (6:20), that it was a shout of praise that took the city of Jericho down.

When God’s people praise, great things happen. When we recognise God for who and what He is and let the world know, He stands up for us. He fights for us.

For the battle is not yours but God’s.

2 Chronicles 20:15b (ESV)

Instead of putting on our battle gear, maybe we, as the chosen children of God, should just stand up and praise God for what He has done and what we know He can do.

The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.

Exodus 14:14 (NKJV)

Daily Bible reading: 2 Chronicles 20-22; John 16:1-15

He hears

/ EllieJ / Leave a comment

Sometimes, when I pray, I feel as though I’m praying against a wall. There are occasions where I wonder what I’m doing. Am I really talking to someone? Is someone up there or around here really listening?

But then there are moments in prayer or worship where I know the presence of God. English isn’t enough to explain it. In Spanish, there are two words for the verb “to know”. One refers to a general knowledge. Something learned. The other refers to a personal knowledge. To know someone more intimately. Not just to know of them.

God wants us to not just know of Him, but to know Him. Intimately. But how are we supposed to do that when we can’t even see Him, hear Him, touch Him? How do we even know He’s out there listening?

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14 (ESV)

Hebrews 11:6 says that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Are you going to feel the presence of God every moment of every day? Probably not. But when you enter into prayer or worship, like Hebrews says, believe that He is. God has promised us that, if we go to Him in belief and humility, He will hear. And when He hears, He answers. When He answers, we are blessed and He receives glory.

For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.

2 Corinthians 1:20 (NKJV)

Daily Bible reading: 2 Chronicles 7-9; John 13:1-17