August 3, 2020
HOW CAN OUR PEOPLE FIND THE WORD AGAIN? Under the direction of King Josiah, the Levites were repairing the Temple when they found the Book of the Law. Hilkiah the priest was the one who found it. Apparently, it had been hidden in the Temple to avoid destruction by some of the wicked kings that
July 27, 2019
DO NOT BE UNEQUALLY YOKED The KJV renders “some time later” as “after this.” The phrase begs the question, “After what?” No doubt it refers to the earlier warning from the prophet Jehu who warned that God’s “wrath had gone out against” Jehoshaphat because of his alliance with the wicked Israelite king, Ahab. For Jehoshaphat
July 25, 2019
WILL THE LORD FIND YOU FULLY COMMITTED TO HIM? King Asa started well but finished poorly. He trusted God early in his reign and overcame a million man army. Later, he trusted his accumulated wealth and bribed a foreign king to help him. God rebuked him for this, but he was unrepentant, ending his life
July 23, 2019
WHO WILL BOW THE KNEE TO THE SON OF DAVID? Thus began the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The writer of 2 Chronicles must have been living during the time of the two Jewish kingdoms, so his words had a historic meaning. Yet, they also have a prophetic meaning because Israel is still in
July 24, 2017
King Abijah of Judah, the great grandson of David, urged Jeroboam and his Northern tribes not to fight against them because they would be fighting against the Lord Himself. But Israel’s armies outnumbered Judah’s 2-to-1, so Jeroboam was over-confident and surrounded Judah to attack. Yet, God fought for Judah and Israel was soundly defeated. Abijah tried to reason with Jeroboam to avoid bloodshed, but he depended on the Lord to defend him and his army when conflict came.
Sometimes conflict is inevitable in this fallen world. On whom do you depend in such times?
July 22, 2017
In Solomon’s prayer of dedication for the Temple, he wondered whether the God who filled the heavens could “dwell with men on the earth.” His prayer was that God would keep His eye on the Temple where He had agreed to put His name. The Lord heard Solomon’s prayer and chose the Temple for Himself as a house of sacrifice.
Yet, Solomon’s question went unanswered until Jesus, the Living Word of God came: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
July 20, 2017
Solomon built the Temple on “Mount Moriah” where his father, David, had instructed. This was the place that the Lord had relented from His judgment for David’s sin in taking a census of Israel (2 Sam. 24:16). The Lord had told David to erect an altar on that very place where the Lord had heard David’s prayer and relented, which was the threshing floor of Ornan (Also spelled “Araunah”). So, David purchased the place and built an altar there.
This was also the area where the Lord instructed Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac: “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you” (Gen. 22:2).
The “land of Moriah,” which became known as Jerusalem, was also the place where Jesus, Son of David, Son of God was offered as the Lamb of God for our sins. The Lord was merciful on Abraham and on David, yet He poured out the judgment that belonged to us upon His only Son, Jesus.
August 4, 2016
The Lord continually sent prophets to warn Judah of their disobedience and of the coming judgment on their nation if they didn’t repent. Yet, they not only didn’t heed His word, they mocked and despised it. It was God’s love and compassion that moved Him to warn them, but they would not listen. So, judgment fell. And the king of Babylon conquered them, destroying Solomon’s Temple and carrying off both the people and the riches of Jerusalem. It was their rejection of God’s Word, that caused them to receive His wrath. A people who mock and despise God’s Word, and scoff at His preachers, will not long prosper.
July 21, 2016
Solomon’s prayer of dedication for the Temple opened with an acknowledgement that God was already present. For as the Lord had manifested His presence in the form of a cloud to Moses and the Israelites in the wilderness (Lev.16:2), so had His glorious presence filled the Temple at its dedication. Solomon’s detailed attention to the building of the Temple, its furnishings and implements, showed his intimate knowledge of the Scriptures concerning these things. The acknowledgment of the cloud as the manifest presence of the Lord in his prayer further proved his Bible knowledge. The cloud was God’s way of showing His approval of Solomon’s Temple by indwelling it with His glory. Today, the Lord indwells those whose body has become His temple through faith in Christ (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
August 3, 2015
Josiah became king when he was eight years old. His father and his grandfather before him were wicked and idolatrous kings, but he decided to seek the Lord. He made his decision to follow God while “he was still young,” and the Lord blessed him and the Kingdom of Judah all the days of his life. Like Josiah, my father died when I was eight. In my grief and despair I sought the Lord and He saved me. I walked the aisle in a church in Wayne, Michigan that we attended while staying for a time with my mother’s sister. I went forward at the church’s special children’s service and received Christ as Savior and Lord. Some might think that a child aged eight is too young. But like Josiah, I have also known God’s blessing on my life and that of my family. Seek the Lord while you are still young and encourage your children and grandchildren to do the same.