January 27th, 2013
2 Chronicles 25
“Duh?!?”
Bible Memory Verse for the Week: “Amaziah asked the prophet, “But what about all I stand to lose if I follow God?”
The prophet said, “The LORD can give you much more than that.” — 2 Chronicles 25:9 (Porter Paraphrase)
Background Information:
- We recall from the last chapter how Hazael, king of Aram, had served as the Lord’s instrument in punishing Joash and the people of Judah for their apostasy (24:23-25). Not only had Aram (sometimes called Syria in older texts and commentaries) been able to turn Judah into a client state, it had also stripped Israel of much of its strength. It was during those dark days that the prophet Elisha had stood out as a pillar of strength, bolstering the courage of the faithful in Israel and throwing terror into the hearts of God’s enemies (see 2 Kgs 5-9).
By the time of Amaziah of Judah and Jehoash of Israel, however, a shift in power had occurred in the region. In 803 B.C. King Adadnirari III of Assyria raided the Arameans and succeeded in turning them into a tributary state. Jehoash and Amaziah were then able to move into the vacuum created by Aram’s weakness. Jehoash further checked the power of the Arameans by defeating them several times in battle (2 Kgs 13:22-25), while Amaziah was able to begin the process of reasserting Judah’s control over Edom, a process later completed by Uzziah, his son. This would reestablish Judah’s economic power as the country in charge of the port of Elath on the Red Sea, a vital link in the ancient trading network of the Near East (26:2). (Paul O. Wendland, The People’s Bible, 2 Chr, 291)
- Second Chronicles 25 concerns the reign of Joash’s son Amaziah (796-767 B.C.). Except for an introduction on Amaziah’s succession (vv.1-4) and a conclusion on his death (vv. 25-28), the chapter concentrates on two wars that he undertook and on the lessons that are to be learned from them: (1) his reconquest of Edom, through obedience to the Lord (vv. 5-16); and (2) his ensuing defeat by Israel, in punishment for engaging in a form of idolatry to which he succumbed after his earlier victory (vv. 17-24). His demise repeats a theme quite familiar by now: Rejecting God’s prophetic word results in divine judgment, military defeat, downfall, and ultimately death. (Frank E. Gæbelein, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 4, 517-518)
- Heart motivation is a chief concern in Chronicles. The history often focused on the need for obedience to rise out of a sincere heart. Amaziah, however, was only mediocre in his devotion to God. (Richard L. Pratt, 1 & 2 Chr, A Mentor Commentary, 381)
- (v. 5) The actual size of Amaziah’s army is dependent on whether the word for “thousand” is taken in a literal sense or as a military unit of a specified number of soldiers. Regardless of how the figures are assessed, Amaziah’s army of 300,000 militia is smaller than the armies of Asa (580,000; see 14:8) and Jehoshaphat (1,160,000; see 17:14-18). This probably explains his felt need to hire 100,000 Israelite mercenaries (25:6). (Andrew E. Hill, The NIV Application Commentary: 1 & 2 Chr, 544)
- (v. 6) The fee paid for the mercenaries would have been one talent per thousand: with three thousand shekels in each talent, the fee would have been three shekels for each man, a sum slightly more than an ounce. (Raymond B. Dillard, Word Biblical Commentary, Vol. 15, 199)
- (v. 10) The Israelites stormed off in a rage. They were not deprived of their wages, perhaps, but they had lost out on whatever spoils of war might have come their way had they been allowed to take part in a successful campaign. For most soldiers in the ancient world, this was always the fattest part of their paycheck. Even more than that, they had been humiliated. The king of little Judah had summoned them, but the mighty men of Israel weren’t good enough for him. (Paul O. Wendland, The People’s Bible, 2 Chr, 290)
- (v. 11) “Seir” (v. 11), or Edom, had now continued independent from Judah for half a century (21:8); and it was ruthlessly subjugated (v. 12). The decisive battle occurred at “the Valley of Salt,” which has been the scene of David’s victory two hundred years before (1 Chr 18:12). (Frank E. Gæbelein, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 4, 518)
- (v. 12) Amaziah eventually occupied the Edomite capital of Sela (2 Kgs 14:7), the later, famed city of Petra. (Frank E. Gæbelein, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 4, 518)
- (v. 13) Their fury against Amaziah and the kingdom of Judah is vented in a raid staged from Samaria that targets villages along the coastal route to Beth Horon (a border town between Ephraim and Benjamin some twelve miles northwest of Jerusalem, 25:13). The attack yields much booty for the mercenaries but leaves 3,000 citizens of Judah dead. No doubt, the mercenaries feel justified in plundering these villages as compensation for their “lost revenue” in terms of the victory spoils they are denied in the campaign against Edom. The savage killing of civilians is presumably retaliation for their “wounded pride” as professional soldiers. This event prompt Amaziah to “challenge” King Jehoash of Israel (25:17). (Andrew E. Hill, The NIV Application Commentary: 1 & 2 Chr, 546)
- (v. 14) The plundering of an enemy’s temples and the carrying off of their idols as trophies of war were common to the practice of warfare in the ancient Near East (25:14a). Note, for example, the display of the ark of the covenant in the temple of Dagon by the Philistines after the fall of Shiloh (1 Sm 5:1-2). The act symbolized the deity’s abandonment of the vanquished people and the supremacy of the victor’s deity in the war of “local deities.” Worship of these subjugated deities by the conquering nation is attested in the biblical world, but rather infrequently (25:14b). Perhaps Amaziah assumes that Judah’s defeat of Edom is due in part to a shift in loyalty of the Edomite deities to the cause of Judah. This would explain his need to placate these gods in some way. (Andrew E. Hill, The NIV Application Commentary: 1 & 2 Chr, 546)
- (v. 14) In the ancient world, the idols of a conquered people were often carried off into captivity, to symbolize their defeat by the conqueror’s gods (see, for example, the narrative of the ark’s capture by the Philistines in 1 Sm 4:1-7:2). Sometimes, however, the gods of a vanquished people became incorporated into the religion of the victors: as, for example, when the mythology of the conquered Greeks displaced and transformed the traditional religion of the victorious Romans. Perhaps for this reason, the Torah commands that divine images taken in battle are to be destroyed, not taken as trophies (Dt 7:5; 12:3; for David’s obedience to this command, see 1 Chr 14:12). (Steven S. Tuell, Interpretation: 1 & 2 Chr, 199)
- (v. 14) It may at first glance seem absurd or improbable that a conquering king would worship the deities of a defeated nation. However, in the religious apologetics of the ancient Near East, not only did the royal deity assist the king in his battles, but also the deities of the opposing nation were often described as abandoning their people and coming to the aid of the attacking force. (Raymond B. Dillard, Word Biblical Commentary, Vol. 15, 201)
- (vss. 16-17) From his repetition of the word advise in vv. 16 and 17 (the root occurs 4 times in that brief space), we can easily detect the chief point the Chronicler wants to make in retelling the story of Amaziah. Amaziah’s was a case in which all the good he had accomplished came about from listening to good and godly advice. Similarly all the evil he suffered resulted from his closing his ears to God’s Word. (Paul O. Wendland, The People’s Bible, 2 Chr, 297)
- (v. 23) According to the biblical data, Amaziah seems to share a lengthy coregency with his son Uzziah (24 years of his 29-year reign, cf. 2 Kgs 14:23; 15:1). The capture of Amaziah by Jehoash of Israel may have necessitated the extended period of coregency (cf. 2 Chr 25:23). Amaziah rules the kingdom of Judah from approximately 796 to 767 B.C. (Andrew E. Hill, The NIV Application Commentary: 1 & 2 Chr, 543)
- (v. 23) Uzziah must have been coregent with his father for 24 years of his 52-year reign, i.e., he came to regency in the fifth year of Amaziah (Thiele, Numbers, 63-64). This long coregency may have been the result of the capture of Amaziah by Jehoash of Israel (25:23). (Raymond B. Dillard, Word Biblical Commentary, Vol. 15, 198)
- (v. 27) His life under threat from conspiracy, the king of Judah was hunted down like a dog and killed by the conspirators’ agents in Lachish, a town about 26 miles to the southwest of Jerusalem (v. 27). The Chronicler clarifies for his readers the reason for this pathetic end to a once-proud king. The league against him began to form itself “from the time that Amaziah turned away from following the LORD” (v. 27). (Paul O. Wendland, The People’s Bible, 2 Chr, 297)
- (v. 28) His body is brought back to Jerusalem and “buried with his ancestors” (25:28). Note, however, that while the NRSV reads “city of David” for the place of Amaziah’s burial (following the LXX and 2 Kgs 14:20), the MT has “city of Judah”: an old name for Jerusalem (found, for example, in the Babylonian Chronicle from the eighth century B.C.). This suggests that, in the Chronicler’s view, Amaziah was buried in Jerusalem, but not in the royal cemetery. Like every king of Judah since Jehoram, Amaziah is denied burial among Judah’s faithful kings. (Steven S. Tuell, Interpretation: 1 & 2 Chr, 200)
The questions to be answered are . . . What powerful message does the Chronicler communicate to us and his post-exilic audience here in 2 Chronicles 25?
Answer: God is sovereign. God is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient. And to top it all, God is love. And because He cares so much for you and wants to have an intimate relationship with you(because God knows that He is the best thing that could ever happen to you) God is jealous of your affections and trust. Let nothing come between you and God. If you are ever tempted to allow anything to come between you and God . . . LET IT GO! You might be tempted to ask yourself . . , “Will it be worth it?” Duh?!? You must have been sleeping or on drugs when I began my answer.
Imagine a world in which you could chose to live where nothing happened to you that would not ultimately work out for your good. Imagine if in this same world in which you could chose to live God never left you hanging without providing you with everything you needed to be all that God wanted you to be. Also imagine in this same world that you were never pushed beyond what you were capable of handling and you were pushed so you could be molded and shaped so you might become much more mature, capable, strong and stable than you ever dreamed or imagined you could be. Finally, also imagine in this same world you knew that eventually life would get better and better and your hope and encouragement stronger and stronger to the point where you feel as though you were about ready to explode in pure sensory and spiritual overload because of all the goodness and magnificence in that world. And on top of that, God gave you the promise that it would be even better the next day. What would it be like to know that someday you would live in that world . . . If we chose to live in that world. Would you want to choose to live there? Duh?!?
The word for the day is . . . Duh ?!?
What questions should we ask Amaziah that will help us to learn the Chronicler’s lessons from 2 Chronicles 25?:
I. Amaziah, didn’t you understand that all of God’s promises are true? And that just as God was able to protect you and keep you from your father’s murderer’s family members, He is also big enough to protect you from your enemies? God is Master of the Universe. Duh?!? (2 Chr 25:1-8; see also: Num 23:19; 1 Sm 15:29; 2 Chr 13:18; Ti 1:2; Heb 10:23, 36; 2 Pt 3:9, 13; 1 Jn 2:25)
Even though their motive had been to avenge Zechariah’s murder, they were still assassins who had taken up arms against the legitimate ruler of God’s people. So they deserved to die. The Chronicler, however, commends Amaziah for his restraint in carrying out the death sentence. Instead of wiping out their entire families, as many an ancient monarch might have done, the new king simply punished the ones who actually had blood on their hands. In doing so, he obeyed that particular law of Moses which had set a limit on those whom the state could hold accountable for a crime. (Paul O. Wendland, The People’s Bible, 2 Chr, 288)
II. Amaziah, don’t you know that God is able to provide you with so much more than the little sacrifice you made to follow Him wholeheartedly? God owns the universe. Duh?!? (2 Chr 25:9 see also: Dt 11:13-15; 30:8-10; 1 Sm 12:24; 1 Chr 29:12; Ps 73:1;Isa 64:4; Jer 2:13; Mt 19:29; Mk 10:29-30; 1 Cor 2:9; Eph 3:20-21 )
Why do Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego choose fire over idolatry? They know where the real danger lies. They understand that God brooks no rivals. It is better to die than to bow down before anyone or anything but Yahweh. (Mark Labberton, The Dangerous Act of Worship, 61)
“The Lord is able to give you much more than this.” The words are more than a statement; they are a commonplace one within biblical spirituality (e.g. Lk 9:57-62). But it is not made because to possess nothing has any value in itself. Much of the OT (including the books of Chronicles) shows that the reverse is the case. The call to self-denial is really a call to rely on nothing except the resources of the Lord, as the present passage makes clear. It is impossible to make real sacrifices in the cause of Christian discipleship, or, having made them, to retain one’s peace of mind, unless there is implicit faith in the capacity of God to provide. (J. G. McConville, The Daily Study Bible Series, 1 & 2 Chr, 215)
A central theme in the Chronicler’s theology is the necessity of trusting God; all foreign alliances are repudiated as an implicit failure to rely on Yahweh alone (16:2-9; 19:1-3; 20:15-17; 20:35-37; 32:7-8). Commonly associated with this rejection of alliances and reliance on Yahweh is the holy war theme of Yahweh’s fighting for the few against the many (13:3-18; 14:8-15; 1 Kgs 20:27; 1 Sm 14:6; Jdg 7); Amaziah need not fear losing a fourth of his army in sending the Ephraimite mercenaries home, for Yahweh “has the power to help.” (Raymond B. Dillard, Word Biblical Commentary, Vol. 15, 199)
I do not think that a man will be allowed to enter upon a course inimical to God’s will who starts out by committing his way entirely to Divine guidance. God looks out for such a man, and orders his ways so that his interests and the Divine will conform. But a great many start out in the pursuit of business without any consideration of God. With the majority of men, when the time comes to meet the question, “What should I do?” the answer is prompted more by expediency than by duty. One man argues, “I can make more money in whisky, so I think I’ll open a saloon.” He looks at trade from his own standpoint. I believe that some men really think that they are justified in such a course; they think that a man ought to look after his own interest; that that is the first thing to be consulted; and there never was a greater mistake made in this selfish world! The truth is, that when a man deliberately marks out a course in life, and determines to pursue it, without any consideration of God or his fellow–men, he is engaged in a very dangerous business. There are some other things to consider besides making money. Soul-culture, helpfulness of his fellows, influence for Christ, the increasing light of a pious life; these things are to be taken into the account, or he may look for some period of his life when the alternative will be between obedience and self-denial, or disobedience and defeat. (Joseph S. Exell, The Biblical Illustrator, 2 Chronicles, 113-14)
God looks upon temporal matters as if they were subordinate to a higher good. Men look upon them as if they were the highest good attainable. God puts His service and the duties of religion above everything else. Men regard religion as a secondary consideration. Do you never hear men say, “I would engage in religious matters if I had time”? You mark a man’s absence from the holy Sabbath worship; he complains, “I feel so tired when Sunday comes, I must rest.” So you see men think more of their hundred talents of silver than of obedience to God. But they have Amaziah’s protest: “What shall we do for the hundred talents of silver?” The answer is plain enough. Let them go. “What!” cries the overworked business man, “leave my store full of customers just because it is the hour of prayer?” “What!” cries the professional man, “suspend my important studies for unprofitable religious occupation?” (Joseph S. Exell, The Biblical Illustrator, 2 Chronicles, 114)
If your business stands between you and God, let it go! (Joseph S. Exell, The Biblical Illustrator, 2 Chronicles, 114)
Men may discard the commands of God, but not with impunity. Obedience to the Divine will is the only safeguard against temporal and spiritual disaster. It is a matter that enters into a man’s private life. It does not concern those employments alone which are confessedly unrighteous. It is a law affecting the man who persists in a course when God has called him in another direction, as well as he who persists in iniquitous practices. In either case the safest thing to do is give up the silver, without one hesitating thought. (Joseph S. Exell, The Biblical Illustrator, 2 Chronicles, 114)
He was not wrong in naming the money loss to the prophet. He was wrong in regarding this difficulty as a fatal objection to his obeying God’s command. (Joseph S. Exell, The Biblical Illustrator, 2 Chronicles, 114)
Amaziah responded to the prophetic warning with a trifling objection which revealed the priorities of his heart. He wondered what to do about the hundred talents he paid for the soldiers from Israel (25:9a). His concern over his monetary investment revealed that Amaziah was more worried about his money than the word of his God. (Richard L. Pratt, 1 & 2 Chr, A Mentor Commentary, 384)
God could give much more to Amaziah than the money he might lose if he were obedient to God (25:9b). Time and again the Chronicler had already illustrated how fidelity to God resulted in riches and prosperity for Judah. In this way, the Chronicler portrayed Amaziah as lacking a wholehearted devotion to God. (Richard L. Pratt, 1 & 2 Chr, A Mentor Commentary, 385)
A firm belief of God’s all-sufficiency to bear us out in our duty, and to make up all the loss and damage we sustain in his service abundantly to our advantage, will make his yoke very easy and his burden very light. What is it to trust in God, but to be willing to venture the loss of any thing for him, in confidence of the goodness of the security he gives us that we shall not lose by him, but that whatever we part with for his sake shall be made up to us in kind or kindness. When we grudge to part with any thing for God and our religion, this should satisfy us, that God is able to give us much more than this. (Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, Vol. 2, 984)
The church has been compromised because it has been guilty of elevating human expediency over divine principle – Alister Begg
We strengthen our unhypocritical love by not letting it be spoiled by any involvement in evil. If we compromise our principles in any way, our love is made impure. We are to stand firm against even the appearance of evil and not let love be weakened by any contamination. (Marva J. Dawn, Truly the Community: Romans 12, 150)
We must realize that whenever we dabble with evil in the slightest way, our love is spoiled. If we fudge truth just a little in talking to a friend, the relationship is marred. The community is made unclean by the slightest bit of gossip. The smallest trace of games, pretensions, or manipulations in our care for others makes our love less than whole or holy. We want to hate with a perfect hatred all those little jabs that puncture our love. (Marva J. Dawn, Truly the Community: Romans 12, 151)
III. Amaziah, how could you be so foolish as to think that your victory over Edom was on account of your military superiority of strategic prowess? God is Sovereign and He is the One who determines victory or defeat. Duh?!? (2 Chr 25:10-12, 14-24 see also: 2 Chr 14:11; Ps 127:1; Prv 21:31; Zech 4:6)
Blinded by conceit, Amaziah, now was open to listen to some bad advice. His counselors encouraged their conquering hero to try his luck with Jehoash, the king of Israel. As already mentioned, Jehoash was himself a conquering hero and mighty warrior, with plenty of victories chalked up against Aram, a far more impressive foe than Amaziah had ever faced. Full of himself, Amaziah issued Jehoash with what amounted to a summons to flight. (Paul O. Wendland, The People’s Bible, 2 Chr, 295-96)
Amaziah didn’t listen. More than that–the Chronicler tells us he couldn’t listen. “For God so worked that he might hand [Judah] over to Jehoash, because they sought the gods of Edom” (v. 20). Judah suffered a crushing defeat, and Amaziah was captured. We notice how our writer identifies the captured king with the royal title “the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah” (v. 23). But Amaziah is clearly not a worthy claimant to the title “son of David.” He sought honor for himself in victory, but he wound up distinguished only by the completeness of his defeat. (Paul O. Wendland, The People’s Bible, 2 Chr, 296)
It is a warning that numerical superiority must give way to the more powerful will of God, who can grant victory or defeat, irrespective of numbers. Paradoxically this ill-conceived augmenting of Amaziah’s troops was a sure way to guarantee defeat. (Leslie Allen, Mastering the OT, 1, 2 Chr, 340)
Amaziah’s primary aim was no doubt to avenge the looting and murder which his northern territories had suffered at the hands of the dismissed Ephraimite mercenaries (with 25:13, cf. 17:2). The cause of their anger, in turn, was presumably their being baulked of a share in the spoils of the previous war (25:10). Behind that again was Amaziah’s folly in hiring them in the first place. That was one chain of causes and effects. (Michael Wilcock, The Message of Chr, 216-17)
Not surprisingly, Amaziah’s aggressive posturing is not discouraged by this humiliating parable; instead, he is stung into entering a war for which he is ill prepared. The Chronicler, however, asserts that this “was God’s doing, in order to hand them over, because they had sought the gods of Edom” (25:20). (Steven S. Tuell, Interpretation: 1 & 2 Chr, 200)
IV. Amaziah, what were you thinking when you hired those God rejected because of their evil hearts and ways? God is Holy and cannot be in any way associated with evil. All that could result from your alliance with Israel was nasty consequences. Duh?!?(2 Chr 25:7-8, 13 see also: Dt 7:1-8; 1 Cor 5:6-9; 2 Cor 6:14; 1 Thes 5:5; 1 Pt 2:9; 1 Jn 1:5; 2:8-9; )
One would think–after all the grief the kingdom had suffered because of Jehoshaphat’s disastrous alliance with Ahab–that Amaziah would have known enough to steer clear of making any connections with the North. A lukewarm faith, however, is bound to result in a listless love, and the visible advantage of larger numbers is bound to seem more important than the invisible (yet far more real) advantage of a faithful and powerful God, who makes your battles his own. Perhaps Amaziah was able to justify his actions by telling himself that it was purely a financial arrangement and not an alliance. (Paul O. Wendland, The People’s Bible, 2 Chr, 289)
Once again we hear the truth expressed by a prophet of God that even though Israel was still part of God’s covenant people, they were a people who had cut themselves off from God’s true king and God’s true worship. That is why God was not with them, nor with any who made common cause with them. Any joint venture would go down in defeat. But we also understand the prophet as meaning something more basic: for the people of God the real issue in any battle was not the size of their army, nor the courage with which they fought, but whether God was with them. If he was, God’s people would prevail. If he was not, God’s people would fall flat on their faces. (Paul O. Wendland, The People’s Bible, 2 Chr, 289)
As Israel was currently in rebellion against God, to appeal to her was tantamount to an act of rebellion also. (This theme will come to a head in relation to Ahaz, chapter 28.) (J. G. McConville, The Daily Study Bible Series, 1 & 2 Chr, 215)
The irony of a king who rejects God’s counsel, and then takes human counsel (v. 17) to his own undoing is underlined by a word-play that is quite typical of the Chronicler (cf. 13:7-8). (H.G.M. Williamson, The New Century Bible Commentary, 1 & 2 Chr, 330)
As in Rehoboam’s reign (see 12:7,8), the Chronicler’s message here was plain enough. Infidelity often had enduring consequences despite repentance. (Richard L. Pratt, 1 & 2 Chr, A Mentor Commentary, 385)
V. Amaziah, what were you thinking in demonstrating your worship and honor to the gods of Edom when they are nothing? God loves you and is jealous of your affections for Him alone. Duh?!? (2 Chr 25: 14-16, 20ff see also: Ex 20:3; Dt 5:7; Mt 10:37)
If God truly loves us, if God is faithful and true, if God loves us so much that He wants the best for us, and God is the best thing that we could possibly have; then God has no choice but to be jealous of your affections and devotion being directed towards anything other than Himself. — Pastor Keith
Idolatry struck at the very heart of the relationship between God and His people. The basis of the covenant was the personal fellowship between man and his Creator. The God of the covenant is a personal God. Therefore, the covenant meant a personal fellowship with God. Idolatry meant that an object, an idol, was put in the place of the personal God, and nothing was more of an afront to God than that. As He Himself instructed the people, “I the LORD your God, am a jealous God” (Ex 20:5). (John Sailhamer, Everyman’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Chr, 103)
It is possible that we have a play on words in v. 24. Obed-Edom was a well-known Levitical name. It also happens to mean “servant of Edom.” Perhaps the Chronicler uses the fact that the temple treasures were in the charge of a man with such a name to make a point. Amaziah had made Edom his servant but had become enslaved to their gods. Thus he lost everything he had gained. (Paul O. Wendland, The People’s Bible, 2 Chr, 297)
The prophet is silenced, in spite of his testimony to the truth and his implicit call to the king to see the error of his ways. In the Chronicler’s mind this was the greater crime. It meant that a second chance had been spurned. The king’s fate is sealed not so much by his espousal of a spurious faith as by his refusal to heed the prophet’s counsel. (Leslie Allen, Mastering the OT, 1, 2 Chr, 342)
The prophet asked, ‘Why do you consult…’ the Edomite gods (25:15). The Hebrew word translated consult in this passage is one of the Chronicler’s favorite terms often translated ‘inquire’ or ‘seek’. By expressing the prophet’s message in this manner, the Chronicler revealed that Amaziah’s worship of the Edomite gods was earnest and a serious act of infidelity. (Richard L. Pratt, 1 & 2 Chr, A Mentor Commentary, 386)
Like Rehoboam, who “did evil, for he did not set his heart to seek the LORD” (2 Chr 12:14), Amaziah was not committed to the Lord’s service, and so succumbed to the temptations of arrogance and the worship of alien gods. (Steven S. Tuell, Interpretation: 1 & 2 Chr, 198)
His worship of the Edomite gods is utter folly on two counts. (1) These gods have failed to deliver their own people in a time of crisis–the essential test of any deity. (2) The Mosaic injunction against idolatry has been firmly in place for centuries (Ex 20:4-5). The expression “the anger of the LORD burned” (2 Chr 25:15a) is typically found in contexts where God’s jealousy has been provoked by idolatry on the part of the Israelites (e.g., Dt 7:4; Jgs 3:8, 2 Kgs 13:3). According to the sanctions of the Davidic covenant, idolatry by the royal family puts the whole nation at risk of being exiled from the land (cf. 2 Chr 7:19-22). (Andrew E. Hill, The NIV Application Commentary: 1 & 2 Chr, 546-47)
“This is why a continual desire for worldly pleasures often signifies that all is not well. Some of this world’s pleasures, even in moderation, will undermine a Christian’s spiritual life. If a married man wants to flirt with other girls, even in moderation, one assumes that there is something wrong with his marriage—or if not, that there soon will be! So it is when a Christian flirts with worldliness. The command is clear and uncompromising:
Come out from them,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch not nothing unclean;
then I will welcome you. (2 Cor. 6:17)
We are to abstain from every form of evil (2 Thes 5:22).” ( Kenneth Prior; The Way of Holiness, 144)
CONCLUSION/APPLICATION: What have you failed to understand so you might serve and follow Christ wholeheartedly?:
We begin by noting that God’s knowledge is intuitive, not discursive. Our knowledge is discursive in that it comes by way of observation, reasoning, comparison, induction, deduction, and so on. In other words, we learn. But God’s knowledge is intuitive, by which is meant that it is innate and immediate. God does not learn; He knows, and that in one simple, all-comprehensive act. (C. Samuel Storms, The Grandeur of God, 62)
The Bible clearly teaches God’s providential control (1) over the universe at large, Ps 103:19; Dn 4:35; Eph 1:11; (2) over the physical world, Job 37; Ps 104:14; 135:6; Mt 5:45; (3) over the brute creation, Ps 104:21, 28; Mt 6:26; 10:29; (4) over the affairs of nations, Job 12:23; Ps 22:28; 66:7; Acts 17:26; (5) over man’s birth and lot in life, 1 Sm 16:1; Ps 139:16; Is 45:5; Gal 1:15, 16; (6) over the outward successes and failures of men’s lives, Ps 75:6, 7; Lk 1:52; (7) over things seemingly accidental or insignificant, Pv 16:33; Mt 10:30; (8) in the protection of the righteous, Ps 4:8; 5:12; 63:8; 121:3; Rom 8:28; (9) in supplying the wants of God’s people, Gn 22:8, 14; Dt 8:3; Phil 4:19; (10) in giving answers to prayer, 1 Sm 1:19; Is 20:5, 6; 2 Chr 33:13; Ps 65:2; Mt 7:7; Lk 18:7, 8; and (11) in the exposure and punishment of the wicked, Ps 7:12, 13; 11:6. (Louis Berkhof; Systematic Theology, 168)
Chapter V – Of Providence
I. God, the great Creator of all things, doth uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by his most wise and holy providence, according to his infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of his own will, to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.
II. Although, in relation to the foreknowledge and decree of God, the first cause, all things come to pass immutably and infallibly; yet, by the same providence, he ordereth them to fall out according to the nature of second causes, either necessarily, freely, or contingently.
III. God in his ordinary providence maketh use of means, yet is free to work without, above, and against them, at his pleasure.
IV. The almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and infinite goodness of God, so far manifest themselves in his providence, that it extendeth itself even to the first fall, and all other sins of angels and men, and that not by a bare permission, but such as hath joined with it a most wise and powerful bounding, and otherwise ordering and governing of them, in a manifold dispensation, to his own holy ends; yet so as the sinfulness thereof proceedeth only from the creature, and not from God; who being most holy and righteous, neither is nor can be the author or approver of sin.
V. The most wise, righteous, and gracious God, doth oftentimes leave for a season his own children to manifold temptations, and the corruption of their own hearts, to chastise them for their former sins, or to discover unto them the hidden strength of corruption, and deceitfulness of their hearts, that they may be humbled; and to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their support upon himself, and to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin, and for sundry other just and holy ends.
VI. As for those wicked and ungodly men, whom God as a righteous judge, for former sins, doth blind and harden, from them he not only withholdeth his grace, whereby they might have been enlightened in their understandings, and wrought upon in their hearts; but sometimes also withdraweth the gifts which they had, and exposeth them to such objects as their corruption makes occasion of sin; and withal, gives them over to their own lusts, the temptations of the world, and the power of Satan: whereby it comes to pass, that they harden themselves, even under those means which God useth for the softening of others.
VII. As the providence of God doth, in general, reach to all creatures; so, after a most special manner, it taketh care of his church, and disposeth all things to the good thereof. (Westminster Confession of Faith, 33-38)
A- God is able to love you and care for you as was demonstrated in Christ. (Jn 3:16; Rom 5:5-10; 8:39; Eph 2:4; 5:1-2; 1 Jn 3:1; 4:7-21)
We ought to conform to God’s will in poverty and all the inconveniences poverty brings in its train. It is not too hard to do so if we fully realize that God watches over us as a father over his children and puts us in that condition because it is of most value to us. Poverty then takes on a different aspect in our eyes, for by looking on the privations it imposes as salutary remedies we even cease to think of ourselves as poor.
If a rich man has a son in bad health and prescribes a strict diet for him, does the son think he has to eat small amounts of plain or tasteless food because his father cannot afford better? Does he begin to worry about how he will exist in the future? Will other people think that because of his diet he has become poor? Everybody knows how well off his father is and that he shares in his father’s wealth and he will again have what is now forbidden him as soon as his health is restored.
Are we not the children of God of riches, the co-heirs of Christ? Being so, is there anything we can lack? Let it be said boldly: whoever responds to his divine adoption with the feelings of love and trust that the position of being children of God demands has a right, here and now, to all that God Himself possesses. Everything then is ours. But it is not expedient we should enjoy everything. It is often necessary we should be deprived of many things. Let us be careful not to conclude from the privations imposed on us only as remedies that we may ever be in want of anything that is to our advantage. Let us firmly believe that if anything is necessary or really useful for us, our all-powerful Father will give it to us without fail. To those gathered round to him our Savior said: If you evil as you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father. . .? (Father Jean Baptiste; Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence, 58-59)
Now, it is this acquaintance with God that brings us into the knowledge of his character as a holy, loving, and faithful God; and it is this knowledge of his character that begets love and confidence in the soul towards him. The more we know of God, the more we love him; the more we try him, the more we confide in him. (Octavius Winslow, Personal Declension and Revival of Religion in the Soul, 98)
One of the dangers of having a lot of money is that you may be quite satisfied with the kinds of happiness money can give and so fail to realize your need for God. If everything seems to come simply by signing checks, you may forget that you are at every moment totally dependent upon God. — C. S. Lewis
The love of God, however, is not merely an attribute which He displays: love is something God is. The apostle John concludes that lovelessness on the part of the individual is an indication that one does not know God, “because God is love” (1 Jn 4:8). Love, therefore, according the Carl Henry, “is not accidental or incidental to God; it is an essential revelation of the divine nature, a fundamental and eternal perfection.” (Carl F. H. Henry, God, Revelation and Authority, VI:341)
Fenelon pointed out that sin is self-defeating. “We refuse ourselves to God, who only wants to save us. We give ourselves up to the world, which only wants to tyrannize over us and destroy us.” (Gary L. Thomas, Seeking the Face of God, 65)
Do with me whatever it shall please thee. For it can not be anything but good, whatever thou shalt do with me. If it be thy will I should be in darkness, be thou blessed; and if it be thy will I should be in light, be thou again blessed. If thou grant me comfort, be thou blessed; and if thou will have me afflicted, be thou still equally blessed. My son, such as this ought to be thy state, if thou desire to walk with Me. Thou must be as ready to suffer as to rejoice. Thou must cheerfully be as destitute and poor, as full and rich. (Thomas A Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, III:17:1-2)
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace.
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face. -William Cowper
B- God has the integrity, or power, and knowledge to keep what He has promised to those who give themselves to Him and the biggest proof of this is what God accomplished in Christ. (See point I. This message)
Do not let ourselves be troubled when we are sometimes beset by adversity, for we know that it is meant for our spiritual welfare and carefully proportioned to our needs, and that a limit has been set to it by the wisdom of the same God who has set a bound to the ocean. Sometimes it might seem as if the sea in its fury would overflow and flood the land, but it respects the limits of its shore and its waves break upon the yielding sand. There is no tribulation or temptation whose limits God has not appointed so as to serve not for our destruction but for our salvation. God is faithful says the Apostle, and will not permit you to be tempted (or afflicted) beyond your strength, but it is necessary for you to be so, since through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God in the steps of our Redeemer who said of Himself, Did not the Christ have to suffer all these things before entering into his glory? If you refused to accept these tribulations you would be acting against your best interests. You are like a block of marble in the hands of the sculptor. The sculptor must chip, hew and smooth it to make it into a statue that is a work of art. God wishes to make us the living image of Himself. All we need to think of is to keep still in His hands while He works on us, and we can rest assured that the chisel will never strike the slightest blow that is not needed for His purposes and our sanctification; for, as St. Paul says, the will of God is your sanctification. (Father Jean Baptiste; Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence, 31-33)
On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of the conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake some day and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return. (Donald W. McCullough, The Trivialization of God, 14)
Therefore what Paul is teaching us here is that the proper use of physical pleasures in sex and food is that they send our hearts Godward with the joy of gratitude that finds its firmest ground in the goodness of God himself, not in his gifts. This means that if, in the providence of God, these gifts are ever taken away–perhaps by the death of a spouse or the demand for a feeding tube–the deepest joy that we had through them will not be taken away, because God is still good (see Hab 3:17-18). (John Piper, When I Don’t Desire God, 187)
We forget that both the biggest human contribution and the greatest human weakness are irrelevant in the face of God’s infinity. God’s unlimited power is neither strengthened by our contribution nor lessened by our weakness. (Gary L. Thomas, Seeking the Face of God, 142)
C- It may be your pride preventing you from committing your life to God in Christ. (Prv 16:18; Mt 18:4; 23:12; Lk 14:11; 18:14; Phil 2:1-11; Col 3:12; Jas 1:9-10, 21; 4:6, 10; 1 Pt 5:5-6; 2 Pt 2:10)
All this [the message of 2 Chronicles] is said not to discourage those believers who are already troubled by their own failure, who daily struggle with their flesh, who pray daily for the strength to become better, and who hunger and thirst for the sweet consolation that only the gospel message can give. It is rather aimed at those believers who have become puffed up by their own knowledge and spiritual successes, those who began with the Spirit–beggars like all the rest of us–but who now suppose that they can become perfect through their own efforts. It is to complacent Christians such as these that the Chronicler would say, “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! (1 Cor 10:12). (Paul O. Wendland, The People’s Bible, 2 Chr, 299)
The record of 2 Kgs 14:10 simply says that Amaziah was ‘arrogant’. The Chronicler expanded the description by adding that Amaziah was arrogant and proud (25:19). Similar language indicating pride and arrogance appears a number of times in the OT as a course of disloyalty to God (see 1 Sm 2:3; 2 Kgs 19:28; Prv 8:13; 11:2; 16:18; 21:24; 29:23; Is 2:17; 37:29; Hos 5:5; Am 6:8; Zep 2:10). The Chronicler mentioned the subject three other times (see 26:16; 32:25, 26). Like the thistle who would dare to ask for the daughter of a cedar, Amaziah had ventured arrogantly into matters too great for him. (Richard L. Pratt, 1 & 2 Chr, A Mentor Commentary, 388)
By this expansion, the Chronicler made it explicit that the misfortune soon to come on Judah was the direct result of divine judgment. His message to the original post-exilic readers was evident. Pride resulting from ill-gotten successes would be avenged by God. Only success in context of humble service to God would lead to further blessing. (Richard L. Pratt, 1 & 2 Chr, A Mentor Commentary, 389)
God will inevitably appear to disappoint the man who is attempting to use Him as a convenience, a prop, or a comfort, for his own plans. God has never been known to disappoint the man who is sincerely wanting to co-operate with His own purposes. (J. B. Phillips, Your God is Too Small, 49)
We have been made for relationship with God. Therefore it is not surprising that we long to meet and know God. But the God we seek is the God we want, not the God who is. We fashion a god who blesses without obligation, who lets us feel his presence without living his life, who stands with us and never against us, who gives us what we want, when we want it. We worship a god of consumer satisfaction, hoping the talismans of guitars and candles or organs and liturgy will put us in touch with God as we want him to be. (Mark Labberton, The Dangerous Act of Worship, 65-66)
Our conformity to the will of God should extend to our natural defects, mental ones, included. We should not, for example, complain or feel grieved at not being so clever or so witty or not having such a good memory as other people. Why should we complain of the little that has fallen to our lot when we have deserved nothing of what God has given us? Is not all a free gift of His generosity for which we are greatly indebted to him? What services has He received from us that He should have made us a human being rather than some lower animal? Have we done anything to oblige him to give us existence itself?
But it is not enough just not to complain. We ought to be content with what we have been given and desire nothing more. What we have is sufficient because God has judged it so. Just as a workman uses the shape and size of a tool best suited to the job in hand, so God gives us those qualities which are in accordance with the designs He has for us. The important thing is to use well what He has given us. It may be added that it is very fortunate for some people to have only mediocre qualities or limited talents. The measure of them that God has given will save them, while they might be ruined if they had more. Superiority of talent very often only serves to engender pride and vanity and so become a means of perdition. (Father Jean Baptiste; Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence, pgs. 65-66)
Similarly, “Humble yourselves…casting your anxieties on God.” One way to be humble is to cast your anxieties on God. Which means that one hindrance to casting your anxieties on God is pride. Which means that undue worry is a form of pride. Now why is casting our anxieties on the Lord the opposite of pride? Because pride does not like to admit that it has any anxieties. And if pride has to admit it, it still does not like to admit that the remedy might be trusting someone else who is wiser and stronger. In other words, pride is a form of unbelief and does not like to trust in future grace. Faith admits the need for help. Pride won’t. Faith banks on God to give help. Pride won’t. Faith casts anxieties on God. Pride won’t. Therefore the way to battle the unbelief of pride is to admit freely that you have anxieties, and to cherish the promise of future grace in the words, “He cares for you.” (John Piper, Future Grace, 96)
James says that not believing in the sovereign rights of God to manage the details of your future is arrogance. The way to battle this arrogance is to yield to the sovereignty of God in all the details of life, and rest in his infallible promises to show himself mighty on our behalf (2 Chr 16:9), to pursue us with goodness and mercy every day (Ps 23:6), to work for those who wait for him (Is 64:4), and to supply us with all we need to live for his glory (Heb 13:21). In other words, the remedy for pride is unwavering faith is future grace. (John Piper, Future Grace, 93)
Anyone who takes it upon himself to enter the arena of God-talk in a meaningful and substantive way had better be prepared to joust with humility, for there is no subject which exposes the finitude of man quite like the infinitude of God. (C. Samuel Storms, The Grandeur of God, 33)
God can never entrust His kingdom to anyone who has not been broken of pride, for pride is the armor of darkness itself. (Francis Frangipane, The Three Battlegrounds, 17)
D- It may be you are simply too lazy, too busy, too tired, too self-confident to even consider God’s unbelievable grace in light of your mediocre, pathetic and half-hearted love and obedience. Just look at what Christ was willing to do for you while you were still an enemy of God. (Dt 30:6; Jer 31:31-34; Mt 13:1-23; 19:23; Mk 10:23; Lk 18:24; 1 Tm 6:9; Jas 4:8-10)
One of the best wedding gifts God gave you was a full-length mirror called your spouse. Had there been a card attached, it would have said, “Here’s to helping you discover what you’re really like!” -Gary and Betsy Ricucci
Kathleen and Thomas Hart write, “Sometimes what is hard to take in the first years of marriage is not what we find out about our partner, but what we find out about ourselves. (Gary Thomas, Sacred Marriage, 93)
Blaise Pascal wrote, “We have not sufficiently plumbed the wretchedness of man in general, nor our own in particular, when we are still surprised at the weakness and corruption of man.” (Gary Thomas, Sacred Marriage, 95)
It can so easily be argued that since God is Perfection, and since He asks the complete loyalty of His creatures, then the best way of serving, pleasing, and worshiping Him is to set up absolute 100% standards and see to it that we obey them. After all, did not Christ say, “Be ye perfect”? (J. B. Phillips, Your God is Too Small, 30)
The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master’s crib (Isa 1:3); the most dull and stupid creatures know their benefactors. O look to the hand of God in all; and know that neither your comforts nor afflictions do arise out of the dust, or spring up out of the ground. (John Flavel; The Mystery of Providence, 181)
A divided house cannot stand. But if so, how can civilized, let alone noble, life proceed? After all, surely everyone suffers from dividedness. Nobody loves God with a wholly pure and undivided heart. Nobody loves neighbors perfectly. Nobody’s marriage is quite free of contaminants. If dividedness tends to break us down, how do we manage to hold up and go on?
Ideally, by repentance and renewal of mind and heart–that is, by the grace of God working through spiritual disciplines and the support of others. (Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be, 46)
It was when we were still “powerless” that “Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom 5:6). Again, Paul stresses that “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8; cf. Dt 7:6-8). Consequently, the sole cause of God’s saving love for sinners is God Himself! (C. Samuel Storms, The Grandeur of God, 131)
John Newton, a minister, once wrote a letter to a man who was very depressed. Take note of what he said:
You say you feel overwhelmed with guilt and a sense of unworthiness? Well, indeed you cannot be too aware of the evils inside of yourself, but you may be, indeed you are, improperly controlled and affected by them. You say it is hard to understand how a holy God could accept such an awful person as yourself. You then express not only a low opinion of yourself, which is right, but also too low an opinion of the person, work, and promises of the Redeemer, which is wrong. You complain about sin, but when I look at your complaints, they are so full of self-righteousness, unbelief, pride, and impatience that they are little better than the worst evils you complain of. (John Newton, The Works of the Rev. John Newton, Vol. VI, 185) (Timothy Keller, King’s Cross, 90)
Yes, it is difficult to love your spouse. But if you truly want to love God, look right now at the ring on your left hand, commit yourself to exploring anew what that ring represents, and love passionately, crazily, enduringly the fleshly person who put it there.
It just may be one of the most spiritual things you can do. (Gary Thomas, Sacred Marriage, 51)
When we love Christ only for what He brings us, including spiritual feelings, we are loving ourselves, not loving Him, regardless of the sacrifice we think we are offering. The dark night of the soul purifies our motivation and keeps us from becoming like the crowds in the NT who followed Jesus, not for His teaching, but for the miraculously supplied bread. (Gary L. Thomas, Seeking the Face of God, 193)
Once I was pondering why our Lord was so fond of this virtue of humility, and this thought came to me–in my opinion not as a result of reflection but suddenly: it is because God is supreme Truth; and to be humble is to walk in truth, for it is a very deep truth that of ourselves we have nothing good but only misery and nothingness. Whoever does not understand this walks in falsehood. The more anyone understands he is walking in truth. (Teresa of Avila, The Interior Castle, VI:10:6)
A peasant shut up in his village only partially knows his wretchedness, but let him see rich palaces, a superb court, and he will realize all the poverty of his village. He cannot endure its hovels after a sight of so much magnificence. It is thus that we see our ugliness and worthlessness in the beauty and infinite grandeur of God. (Fenelon, Christian Perfection, 145-46)
If you feel the call of the spirit, then be holy with all your soul, with all your heart, and with all your strength. If, however, because of human weakness, you cannot be holy, then be perfect with all your soul, with all your heart, and with all your strength.
But if you cannot be perfect because of the vanity of your life, then be good with all your soul…Yet, if you cannot be good because of the trickery of the Evil One, then be wise with all your soul…
If, in the end, you can neither be holy, nor perfect, nor good, nor wise because of the weight of your sins, then carry this weight before God and surrender your life to his divine mercy.
If you do this, without bitterness, with all humility, and with a joyous spirit due to the tenderness of a God who loves the sinful and ungrateful, then you will begin to feel what it is to be wise, you will learn what it is to be good, you will slowly aspire to be perfect, and finally you will long to be holy. (Quoted in Peter van Breeman, Let All God’s Glory Through, 134)
NIV – Exalt – to raise in rank, power or character . . KJ = to magnify to make God bigger. To make God bigger than He is? No silly, to make God bigger than you THINK He is. Because you can never make God bigger or better in your mind than the reality of what He is. (2 Sm 7:26; 1 Chr 17:24; Ps 34:3; 35:27; 40:16; 70:4; Mal 1:5; Lk 1:46; Acts 19:17; Phil 1:20)
Worship point: Until you begin to see God as He really is and as He has chosen to reveal Himself in His Word, in nature and through His Son, Jesus; you will never truly worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. If you find it difficult to worship God with all your heart, it is a clear indication that you simply don’t know Him. Duh?!?
Our problem in this world is that we trivialize God. C. S. Lewis calls this “Christianity and.” Nobody knows what Christianity is anymore, because all of the preachers are talking about “Christianity and” the war. Christianity and spelling reform, Christianity and vegetarianism. I mean it is like walking into a lot of Christian bookstores today; or a lot of sermons on an average Sunday; or a Christian radio broadcasting . Christianity and. J. Gershem Machean said, “There is all this applied Christianity. We’re going to end up with a situation in which there is no Christianity to apply.” Nobody knows what they believe and why they believe it. There are books on Christianity and dieting, books on Christian this, and Christian that. Christianity has become an adjective and not a noun. How Jesus can give you greater self-esteem; how he can make you happy, how He can put your marriages back together. Not that there is not Biblical wisdom, but to trivialize the heart of Christianity is to set the things that are central aside and to bring those things to the fore, how can we . . . where is God for me? Where is God for me on the freeway at 5:00 PM. That is what I need to know. And if you are not completely satisfied, simply return the unused portion for a full refund. (Michael Horton; “Christless Christianity: The Church Crisis” from a John MacArthur seminar)
If you don’t see the absolute holiness of God, the magnitude of your debt, the categorical necessity of God’s just punishment of your sin, and therefore the utter hopelessness of your condition, then the knowledge of your pardon and deliverance will not be amazing and electrifying! — Tim Keller
Spiritual Challenge: Look to God’s Word to discover Who God really is. Look to nature to learn first-hand of His wisdom, power, majesty, glory, knowledge, and grace. See God’s great compassion, mercy, forgiveness, love and patience as revealed in His Son Jesus; especially as revealed in light of your lack of wholehearted obedience. As you discover God and His grace, you will be more in a position to wholeheartedly give yourself to the Lord. Will it be worth it? Duh?!? To even ask that question you must either not know God or you’re not thinking!
One way to describe this problem is to say that when these people “receive Christ,” they do not receive him as supremely valuable. They receive him simply as sin-forgiver (because they love being guilt-free), and as rescuer-from-hell (because they love being pain-free), and as healer (because they love being disease-free), and as protector (because they love being wealthy), and as creator (because they want a personal universe), and as Lord of history (because they want order and purpose). But they don’t receive him as supremely and personally valuable for who he is. They don’t receive him the way Paul did when he spoke of “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” They don’t receive him as he really is–more glorious, more beautiful, more wonderful, more satisfying, than everything else in the universe. They don’t prize him or treasure him or cherish him or delight in him. (John Piper, Think, 71-72)
Quotes to Note:
Sin destroys your defenses, just as Israel destroyed 600 feet of the wall of Jerusalem (25:23). The suffering of Judah reminds us of the consequences of sin–it affects our worship of God, destroys and robs us of our witness, and eventually enslaves us completely. Amaziah has led the people astray, and their anger burns into a murderous rage. His sin has pushed them over the edge and bred their own sinfulness (25:25-28). (Dr. Tremper Longman, Quicknotes, 1 Chr Thru Job, 93)
If anything stands between you and God . . . Let it go!
Will it be worth
following Christ:
Duh?!?
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