December 19

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 Jehoram, Jehoshaphat’s son. Now with her husband’s death, she had opportunity to manipulate the kingdom through her son Ahaziah (named for Athaliah’s brother Ahaziah, king of Israel). Unfortunately for her, Ahaziah, her son died only a year into his reign. His death followed the prophecy of Elisha, prophet of Yahweh. Under the instruction of Elisha, one of the sons of the prophets anointed Jehu king of Israel. Jehu killed Jezebel, Athaliah’s mother, Joram, Athaliah’s brother and Ahaziah, Athaliah’s son. She was none too happy with Yahweh! She couldn’t stand the thought of any of her grandchildren becoming influenced by this Judean God, Yahweh. She was driven to destroy any worship of Yahweh. She lay claim to the throne of Judah, perhaps with the thought of reuniting it with the throne of Israel. But while any Judean Yahweh descendants remained, her claim would be invalid in Judah, and she would be held suspect in Israel. The solution? Kill the offspring of Jehoshaphat, claim the throne of Judah and raise an army to destroy Jehu 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 * Proverbs 19 When I married my wife, my father-in-law was unemployed. I paid for the wedding. I never really expected any great inheritance. To my surprise, when he passed away, we received an inheritance that more than enabled us to pay off our house. Indeed in our situation, the Scripture is true when it says, “Houses and riches are an inheritance from fathers.” Thank you, Bill. On the other hand, I have a wife who is understanding and wise, or in other words, prudent. “But a prudent wife is from the LORD.” Yes, she is a gift from the Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Because of You, I have found her; I have found a good thing and obtained favor from You! Indeed you are glorious! 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