Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Disobedience (2 Kings 1:13-18)


3/31/2011 5:30:21 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus: Disobedience

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  2Kings 1:13-18

 

            Message of the verses:  “13  So he again sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. When the third captain of fifty went up, he came and bowed down on his knees before Elijah, and begged him and said to him, "O man of God, please let my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight. 14  "Behold fire came down from heaven and consumed the first two captains of fifty with their fifties; but now let my life be precious in your sight." 15  The angel of the LORD said to Elijah, "Go down with him; do not be afraid of him." So he arose and went down with him to the king. 16  Then he said to him, "Thus says the LORD, ’Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron-is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word?-therefore you shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but shall surely die.’" 17  So Ahaziah died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken. And because he had no son, Jehoram became king in his place in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. 18  Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?”

 

            First I want to make it clear that Ahaziah ruled for about two more years and because he did not have a son his brother took over as king.  His brother had the same name as Jehoshaphat’s son, but he also went by Joram, and so that there is no confusion between the two kings I will call the king of Israel Joram.

In verse fifteen there seems to me a message that it would be the guards and the fifty men who would do harm to Elijah, and not the king, so when this company came to meet Elijah the captain humbled himself before Elijah and his God, and thus was spared, and so was Elijah.  However the first two companies were not spared along with the king because they did not repent.

This is a picture of the end when Christ comes back to earth:  “when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus (2Thes. 1:7b-8).

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Humility and repentance are two keys in my walk with the Lord.  I must be humble enough to realize when I sin so that I can confess my sin and repent my sin.  I cannot be like this wicked king or like the first two captains in this first chapter of 2Kings.  There are times when I do not want to confess my sin, and be humble before the Lord and this is not a good practice to follow.  Dr. Wiersbe finishes this section with these compelling words, “The gospel isn’t only a message to believe; it’s also a mandate to obey.”

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.      Obey the gospel.

2.      Give myself to the Lord for worship and for service.

3.      Remember that the battle rages on and I am in need of the Spiritual Armor.

4.      Trust the Lord to reveal to me any unconfessed sin in order to repent of it along with confession.

5.      Continue to learn contentment.

 

3/31/2011 5:55:57 AM  

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