December 19, 2010

2 Chronicles 22-23
Almost every month we read of a country where there is civil unrest. Regimes are constantly being challenged and often over thrown. The single greatest contributor to poverty worldwide is the greed of men which leads to civil unrest, which leads to the destruction of economic systems. The struggle is to become the most comfortable. Even the Crusades with their religious verbage were really more a result of greed than truly acting upon spiritual principle. But these coups first led by Athaliah and then against her by Jehoiadah were not merely civil coups. They were also a struggle of religion, a struggle of gods.
Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, had strong connections with Baal worship. She had seen her mother’s prophets defeated by Elijah. She had seen how Elijah had commanded the execution of the 450. She had been pushed into an arranged marriage with Jehoshaphat, a Yahweh worshipper. Now with the lineage of her brothers destroyed and her husband destroyed, she had opportunity to lay claim to the throne of the kingdom of Israel and reunite it with the throne of Judah. But while any Judean Yahweh descendants of Jehoshaphat remained, her claim would not be valid in Judah, and she would be held suspect in Israel. Jehoshaphat had other wives and she may not have issued any children yet. The solution? Kill the offspring of Jehoshaphat claim the throne of Judah and eventually marry back into Israel to re-unite the countries into one strong country under her Baal god.
There was a catch. She was not just manipulating people. She was in a real sense trying to manipulate Yahweh. He will not permit such bold manipulation. By divine providence one child escaped. He came under the watch care of Jehoiadah, the high priest. Jehoiadah planned his coup carefully and well. It was successful. The boy king began to reign. Athaliah was executed. The temple of Baal was torn down by the people. Yahweh prevailed! Ultimately, He will prevail in every coup! It may be generations before the coup is put down, but He will prevail. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

Revelation 10
Have you ever eaten anything that was sweet in your mouth but bitter in your stomach? I have. It seems that as I get older, my digestive system does not work as well as it used to work. I love homemade bread. I love things made with cheese (pizza, lasagna, etc.). I am finding that if I eat those things till I am full that I always get bad indigestion. It seems also that the combination of bread and cheese is particularly effective at producing indigestion. The things of this earth are sweet in our mouths. But they eventually sour. The bitterness is a result of the sin of mankind.
Jesus is the One who created all the beauty that we see. He is the author of the things we enjoy. Our sin has polluted it. It causes His once good creation to bring bitterness to our lives. BUT He is the one who will bring it to an end. It is a mystery how He created it good, we ruined it, but He will restore it. He will bring it to an end. He will finish it. That is His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John