Skip to content 2 Chronicles 17-18: Delighting in the Ways of the Lord Oct 12 · 15 min ...more
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Jehoshaphat Seeks God and Experiences Blessing 0:10 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word. Today, we have have 1 of those mountaintop views as we read 2nd Chronicles chapter 17 and 18. Verse 6 of chapter 17, and0:22 his heart took delight in the ways of the Lord. Moreover, he removed the high places and wooden images from Judah. Now the next 4 chapters that we're gonna be reading cover the 25 year reign of0:33 Jehoshaphat, a rare and refreshing king who did what was right in the sight of the lord. These are the high points. We we we really enjoy these, good0:45 narratives of what happens when you follow god. Verse 1, chapter 17. Then Jehoshaphat, his son, reigned in his place and strengthened himself against Israel. And he placed troops in0:57 all the fortified cities of Judah and set garrisons in the land of Judah and in the land... In the cities of Ephraim at which Asa, his father, had taken. Now the lord was with Jehoshaphat because1:09 he walked in the former ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals, but sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments and not according to the acts of1:21 Israel. Notice he sought God and walked in God's ways, not those of Israel. Now out of the 19 kings of the northern kingdom... Now Jehoshaphat was in the southern1:33 kingdom. But when we look to the northern kingdom, of those 19 kings, only 1 was marginally good, Jehu. So on our journey1:44 through the bible, what we're looking for are the spiritual principles in the applications of scripture. What Paul, says the word of god is to us in 2nd Timothy chapter 3 verse 16. We are not1:56 simply looking at this as history. Alright? It is history, but it is so much more if our spiritual eyes are open. So in many ways, I see the the northern kingdom of Israel as2:08 kind of a parallel in the New Testament to the world. Those outside the faith act. Those outside of a relationship with God that the southern kingdom had. Now Israel, the northern2:20 kingdom, could have had a relationship with God, but they chose idols instead. Now Judah, the southern kingdom, represents the the remnant, just 2 of the 12 tribes.2:31 But most of, plus most of the Levites who left the the northern kingdom of Israel and came to Judah. As we see in the opening verses, there was a strong, even2:43 the the... Even a natural pull to follow in the ways that Israel went away from God. That's the normal flow. It is the fallen nature of man, and we see it here. Verse 5.2:56 Therefore, the Lord established the kingdom in his hand, that is Jehoshaphat. And all Judah gave presents to Jehoshaphat, and he had riches and honor and abundance. That... That's an3:07 encouraging verse showing God is not passive toward those who seek him. Here's what the Lord did for Jehoshaphat. Established the kingdom in his hand. Presents or gifts were given to him by the3:19 people. Notice that the lord uses people to bless us, and as a result, they are blessed. We we are blessed in blessing others.3:31 Riches and honor were given to him all because he sought the lord. Look at verse 6. And his heart took delight in the ways of the lord. Moreover, he removed the high places and wooden images from3:43 Judah. Now this is important. His heart took delight in the ways of the Lord. This was not religious. You know, it was not just an obligation. I gotta go to church. I gotta do this. It was a3:55 desire to follow the Lord and have fellowship with him. Also, we're gonna read this in chapter 19. Removing these high places, this meant, removing the idols4:07 that violated God's command to worship him and him alone. This was commandment number 1. And it's hard to get the others right if you get this 1 wrong. And so God4:18 blessed him in large part because of his focus on not only personally following God, but leading the nation to do the same. Alright. Verse 7. Also in the4:30 3rd year of his reign, he sent his leaders, Ben Hale, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nathaniel, Micaiah to teach in the cities of Judah. And with him, he sent Levites, Shemaiah,4:42 Nithiah, Zabadiah, Ashahel, Shemerimath, and Jonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah,4:55 and Tobaniah. Love those names, don't you? The Levites, and with them, Elishama and Jehoram, the priest. Now the spiritual5:07 revival began with a teaching of the word of God and how to live by it. So it's not just a head knowledge of the word of God, but it is an application to our lives. In in other words, it's a5:19 biblical worldview. And I believe that if we're to experience revival in our time, it's going to come with a renewed passion for the word of God, which is 1 of the key reasons that I'm5:31 doing this journey through the Bible. The Bible the Bible... Hear me on this. The Bible must be central to the life of a believer. What does it mean to follow Christ? It means that we5:43 abide in him. How do we abide in him? We abide in the word. He is the word. As we abide in the word, in him, we do so through the word of God. And5:55 and it's not just it's not just something we add to our lives. It is central to who we are. Jesus, I've I've said this before, but in in John chapter 17,6:08 where he prays for his followers, including us, he says, you know, father, I don't I don't pray that you take them out of the world. And he goes on to say, but keep them from the evil 1. And how6:20 does that happen? Sanctify them by your word. Your word is truth. And so we're sanctified. We're set apart from the evil 1, and we're able to accomplish our mission as we6:32 are sanctified by the word of God. So it's so important that we are in the word of God. Now look what happens when the leadership prioritizes the thing... The things of God.6:44 Supernatural fear falls on the surrounding nations. This is God's hand of protection over a nation that puts... This hand of protection puts fear6:56 in the hearts of those who would do harm to a nation that has aligned itself with God. And this is 1 of the concerns I have for America as we depart from God's truth and and and, in fact, in some7:08 ways become hostile to that truth. We remove... God removes his hand of protection upon us. Verse 10. And the fear of the Lord fell on all the kingdoms of the land that were around7:20 Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat. But Jehoshaphat did not neglect his responsibility. Alright? He did not grow soft or complacent. He pursued peace through7:32 strength. Look at verse 12. So Jehoshaphat became increasingly powerful, and he built fortresses and storage cities in Judah. He had much property in the cities of Judah, and the men of war, mighty menThe Centrality of God's Word for Revival and Sanctification 7:44 of valor, were in Jerusalem. These are the numbers according to their their fathers' houses. We get a tally of the men of war, 1160000. Now this was not a standing7:56 army, but men able and available and trained for battle. And here's an interesting note in this list. Look at verse 16. And next to him was8:08 Amaziah, the son of Zikri, who willingly offered himself to the Lord and with him 200000 mighty men of valor. Now I find this description8:20 of Amaziah fascinating. He willingly offered himself to the Lord. Now he served the king just like the other leaders, but he did his work as8:32 unto the Lord. Charles Spurgeon actually preached an entire message on this 1 verse, pointing out that Amaziah made serving the Lord his life's8:44 work as a soldier. Right? He wasn't in the full time ministry. He wasn't a pastor. He he was a soldier. Spurgeon said this. He said, there is no lawful occupation in which a man8:55 cannot thoroughly serve the lord. So the takeaway here, no matter our calling, no matter what god has called you to do, we should be like a messiah, willingly9:07 offering ourselves in service to the lord. Not just our service, but ourselves unto the lord. Alright. Chapter 18. Unfortunately, this is the the 19:19 blemish, the 1 tarnish on the reign of Jehoshaphat. He makes alliances with the kings of Israel. Now in this case, he went into battle with the wicked king Ahab, and there was not a more wicked king. This guy9:31 was bad news. And and he joins him in battle. From a spiritual perspective that I mentioned earlier, this shows the, inexplicable9:42 attraction to the world that will cost us greatly. You know, we're we're... We wanna be we wanna be a part of it. There's this desire, this, what they call a FOMO, a fear of missing out. We wanna be apart.9:55 No. No. That's a part of being sanctified, being set apart. Look at verse 1. Jehoshaphat had riches and honor and abundance, and by marriage,10:07 he allied himself with Ahab. Mistake. After some years, he went down to visit Ahab in Samaria, and Ahab killed sheep and oxen in abundance for him10:19 and the people who were with him and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth Gilead. So Ahab, king of Israel, said Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead?10:32 And he answered him, I am as you are, and my people as your people. We will be with you in the war. Big mistake. This chapter is a good illustration of why Paul says we're not to be unequally10:43 yoked. It is dangerous. In fact, it can cost us our lives. Now we're gonna see where this leads again with, king Ahaz in chapter 20. But I'm gonna10:55 say the bulk of this account, when we actually read it in 1st Kings chapter 22, next next week or actually later. So I'll just hold that. I I I I wanna point out that11:07 this alliance almost cost him his life. So we're gonna look at that later. Verse 29, and the king of Israel said, Jehoshaphat, I will disguise disguise myself and go into the battle, but you put on your robes. So the11:18 king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle. Verse 31. So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said, it is the king of Israel. Therefore, they surrounded him to attack11:30 him, but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the lord helped him, and god diverted them from him. So even in his compromise, he cried out to god and god heard him because his heart was for11:42 god. But, you know, I have... I was reading this, and, again, we're gonna look at this more in 1st Kings. But what was Jehoshaphat thinking? Or was11:53 he? What would motivate him to align himself with those who had rejected god and his word? Let me read from chapter 19. I'm gonna jump ahead just for the 1st few verses of chapter 19 so that12:05 we can see what this alliance with evil cost him. Verse 2 of chapter 19. And Jehu, the son of Hanani... Hanani, the seer, went12:17 out to meet him and said to king Jehoshaphat, should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Therefore, the wrath of the Lord is upon you. Nevertheless,12:29 good things are found in you in that you have removed the wooden images from the land and have prepared your heart to seek God. Aligning ourselves with those who have aligned themselves12:41 against God dishonors God and brings his wrath upon us. This is... There's so much to learn. This is, really, really good stuff. We'll continue next12:53 time, with, chapter 19. Father, thank you for, for your word. And and, lord, we, we thank you, lord, as we come to these mountaintopWillingly Offering Ourselves to the Lord 13:05 views of those who who honored you, who did what was right. But we see that they weren't perfect, but yet, lord, you were merciful and gracious to them. I pray, father, that our spiritual eyes13:17 would be open, that we would see the truths that are contained here in in your word, that we might apply them to our lives in this world in which we live. Continue to guide us on your journey, on this13:29 journey through your word. We thank you for your word. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright. Thanks for joining me this morning. Just a reminder, we have opened up our trip to Israel.13:41 Now it's limited, so, it's filling up quickly. But if you would like to join us in March, this coming March, we're gonna be there, I think, March the 24th through, I think, through April theThe Danger of Unequal Alliances with the World 13:52 2nd. I don't have the dates in front of me, but around that time. If you'd like more information, text the word Israel to 6 7 7 4 2. That's Israel to 6 7 7 4 2.14:04 Love to have you on that trip. Until next time, keep standing on the word.14:11 Today's study comes from the Stand on the Word Bible reading plan available for free at frc dot org slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you14:23 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 Jehoshaphat Seeks God and Experiences Blessing7:40 The Centrality of God's Word for Revival and Sanctification13:00 Willingly Offering Ourselves to the Lord13:47 The Danger of Unequal Alliances with the World
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