5/22/2011 7:06:55 AM
SPIRITUAL DIAIRY
My Worship Time Focus: Jeroboam, a
prosperous king
Bible Reading
& Meditation Reference: 2Kings 14:23-29
Message of the verses: “23 ¶
In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah,
Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel became king in Samaria, and reigned
forty-one years. 24 He did evil in the
sight of the LORD; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of
Nebat, which he made Israel sin. 25 He
restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath as far as the Sea of
the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which He
spoke through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of
Gath-hepher. 26 For the LORD saw the
affliction of Israel, which was very bitter; for there was neither bond nor
free, nor was there any helper for Israel. 27
The LORD did not say that He would blot out the name of Israel from
under heaven, but He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.
28 Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam
and all that he did and his might, how he fought and how he recovered for
Israel, Damascus and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah, are they not written
in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 29 And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even
with the kings of Israel, and Zechariah his son became king in his place.”
In verses
fifteen through twenty-three they repeat what was said at the beginning of the
chapter and that is why they are not covered in Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on
2Kings. It speaks of the death of both
kings of Israel and of Judah which have already been covered, so now I move
onto the verses about the new king of Israel who was Jeroboam II, but he is not actually called
that in the Scriptures. Jeroboam II
ruled Israel for forty-one years and even though he was not a great spiritual
king he brought prosperity to the nation of Israel and this was satisfying to
the people of Israel just as it is satisfying to most people of any era, for as
long as they have food on their tables and money to spend on what they want
most people care little about spiritual things.
The prophets
Amos and also Hosea ministered during this time and they wrote of the
unfaithfulness of the children of Israel to the Lord at this time. The prophet Jonah also ministered during this
time and Dr. Wiersbe writes an interesting note about Johan: “Note that the Prophet Jonah ministered in
Israel at that time (14:25), and this fact helps us better understand his
refusal to preach to the city of Nineveh.
During Jeroboam’s reign, the kingdom of Israel was proud, complacent,
and very nationalistic. They were God’s
chosen people and they didn’t want any other nation to interfere. Jonah would rather see the Assyrians
destroyed by the Lord and refused at first to take God’s message to them.”
In the books of
both Hosea and also Amos one can see the sins that the nation of Israel was
committing and it was not much past the reign of Jeroboam II that Israel would
be destroyed by the Assyrians. After
their destruction a mixed breed of Israelites would return in which those who
returned from Babylonian captivity would have nothing to do with them, and this
would last all the way until when Jesus was born. John chapter four illustrates how much hatred
there was between the Jews and the Samaritans.
Dr. Wiersbe
quotes a British playwright Oliver Goldsmith in his commentary on this section:
“Ill fares the land, to hast’ning ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates, and men decay…”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Dr. Wiersbe writes the following, “Even back
in those ancient days, the average citizen didn’t care about the character of
the nation’s leaders so long as the people had food on their tables, money in
their purses, and no fear of being invaded by their enemies.” This sums up what is going on in the United
States of America in this day that I live in.
I am reading a book by Dr. David Jeremiah about the coming economic
Armageddon that will take place during the reign of antichrist and many of
these things that must take place then are already in place at this time making
one believe that the end of the Church age is about to happen. In light of all of this I want to make wise
choices with the funds that we have at this time, choices that will glorify the
Lord.
It seems that in
the last few weeks that there have been some unwise choices made, actually that
at the time seemed like wise choices.
This does not involve a lot of money, but what bothers me is the
principles that were we have were broken and take into account that I have not
had a paycheck for the last six weeks does not make matters better. I truly believe that the Lord has made it
possible for us to be here on Kauai at this time in our lives, and I believe
that He has a purpose for us being here other than to work, and as of yet I
have not actually figured out what that purpose is, but I trust that He will
reveal it to us when the time is right, and in the mean time I will wait upon
the Lord.
My Steps of
Faith for Today:
1.
Give myself to the Lord for worship and for service
this day.
2.
See the Holy Spirit to search my heart that I may
confess any unconfessed sin to the Lord, that I may have sweet fellowship with
my Lord.
3.
Continue to learn contentment.
4.
Not put any worthless thing before my eyes.
5.
Remember the great battle that I am in and the need
for the Spiritual Armor to be on and in place so that I may stand.
5/22/2011 7:55:58 AM
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