A Secure Country (2 Chronicles 11)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.840 --> 00:00:08.669 Let's turn to second chronicles, Chapter Eleven, and here the second of three 2 00:00:08.710 --> 00:00:21.269 episodes given to us about king rayabalm. So, Second Chronicles Chapter Eleven, 3 00:00:21.309 --> 00:00:29.420 let's give our attention to God's word. When rayebalm came to Jerusalem, he 4 00:00:29.539 --> 00:00:34.460 assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin. A hundred and eighty thousand chosen warriors 5 00:00:34.979 --> 00:00:40.450 to fight against Israel, to restore the Kingdom of Rayebalm. But the word 6 00:00:40.530 --> 00:00:46.210 of the Lord came to Shemah, Shemiam, the man of God, say 7 00:00:46.329 --> 00:00:50.320 to Reyebalm, the son of Solomon, King of Judah, and to Israel 8 00:00:50.439 --> 00:00:55.759 in Judah and Benjamin. Thus says the Lord, you shall not go up 9 00:00:55.799 --> 00:01:00.759 or fight against your relatives. Return every man to his home, for this 10 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:03.510 thing is from me. So they listen to the word of the Lord and 11 00:01:04.430 --> 00:01:11.109 returned and did not go up against Jerobalm rayebalm lived in Jerusalem and he built 12 00:01:11.390 --> 00:01:18.150 cities for defense in Judah. He built Bethlem, Bethlehem, eatum, Tacoa, 13 00:01:18.579 --> 00:01:26.579 Beth Tsursoko, Oudulam, gaff Morsha, zippa or Zif Odryam, Lakish 14 00:01:26.219 --> 00:01:33.530 Ozka, Zora Ajalon, and Hebron fortified cities that are in Judah and in 15 00:01:33.650 --> 00:01:38.170 Benjamin, he made the fortress strong and put commanders in them and stores of 16 00:01:38.409 --> 00:01:44.250 food, oil and wine, and he put shields and spears in all the 17 00:01:44.329 --> 00:01:51.319 cities and made them very strong. So he held Judah and Benjamin, and 18 00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:55.920 the priests of the Levites, who were in all Israel, presented themselves to 19 00:01:56.000 --> 00:02:00.430 him from all places where they lived. For the Levites left their common lands 20 00:02:00.549 --> 00:02:07.150 and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem because Jerobalm and his sons cast 21 00:02:07.269 --> 00:02:10.789 them out from serving as priests of the Lord and he appointed his own priests 22 00:02:10.909 --> 00:02:15.259 for the high places and for the goat idols and for the calves that he 23 00:02:15.300 --> 00:02:20.180 had made. And those who had set their hearts to seek the Lord, 24 00:02:20.219 --> 00:02:24.099 God of Israel, came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem 25 00:02:24.620 --> 00:02:30.569 to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their fathers. They strengthened the 26 00:02:30.610 --> 00:02:35.210 Kingdom of Judah and for three years they made Yubalm, the son of Solomon, 27 00:02:35.330 --> 00:02:39.250 secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and 28 00:02:39.449 --> 00:02:46.159 Solomon. Rayabalm took as his wife Mahalaf, the daughter of Jeremath, the 29 00:02:46.240 --> 00:02:52.039 son of David and of Abihail, the daughter of Eliab, the son of 30 00:02:52.039 --> 00:03:00.150 Jesse, and she or him sons Jush Shamaiah and Zaham. After he took 31 00:03:00.389 --> 00:03:04.789 Maka, the daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abijah, a tie, 32 00:03:05.150 --> 00:03:10.990 Zizza and Shell O. Myth Rayabalm loved maca, the daughter of Absalem, 33 00:03:12.509 --> 00:03:19.539 from above all his wives and concubines. He took eighteen wives and sixty concubines 34 00:03:20.099 --> 00:03:27.250 and fathered twenty eight sons and sixty daughters, and rayabalm appointed Abijah King. 35 00:03:28.889 --> 00:03:32.169 Sorry, the rayabalm appointed Abijah, the son of Mah Cod, as chief 36 00:03:32.289 --> 00:03:38.330 prince among his brothers, for he intended to make him king, and he 37 00:03:38.449 --> 00:03:43.599 dealt wisely and distributed some of his sons through all the districts of Judah and 38 00:03:43.719 --> 00:03:47.080 Benjamin, in all the fortified cities, and he gave them abundant provisions and 39 00:03:47.400 --> 00:03:53.240 procured wives for them. This ends the reading of God's word. May he 40 00:03:53.319 --> 00:04:03.669 bless it to us. Last time, when we considered King Rayabalm, newly 41 00:04:03.789 --> 00:04:10.500 minted King Rayobalm, we saw what a fool he was. Crazy fool, 42 00:04:10.699 --> 00:04:15.780 a stupid fool, a fool who made some decisions which had very, very 43 00:04:15.860 --> 00:04:20.459 terrible consequences. You remember what happened newly meant. It is king. He 44 00:04:20.660 --> 00:04:29.009 goes to the older advisors, probably as a formality, previous men who had 45 00:04:29.089 --> 00:04:32.970 reigned with Solomon, and he says to them, what should I do with 46 00:04:33.129 --> 00:04:36.529 these people? They're asking me, the people of Israel are asking me, 47 00:04:36.610 --> 00:04:43.439 to lighten their load, to reduce their labor, and the older men say, 48 00:04:44.040 --> 00:04:46.519 go for it, it's a good idea. If you do it, 49 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:50.759 you'll have their loyalty forever. He disregards their advice and then he goes to 50 00:04:50.920 --> 00:04:57.189 younger men, men his own age, men he'd probably already determined he was 51 00:04:57.310 --> 00:04:59.509 going to listen to, and he says, what do you say I do? 52 00:04:59.790 --> 00:05:04.790 And they say, well, tell them that your little think del or 53 00:05:04.870 --> 00:05:10.540 little finger, is thicker than your father's thigh and that you're going to come 54 00:05:10.579 --> 00:05:14.899 down on them harder than they had ever had before. My father disciplined you 55 00:05:15.019 --> 00:05:21.050 with whips, I will discipline you with Scorpions. That's right. This is 56 00:05:21.129 --> 00:05:27.329 the ray of the advice ray of Balem takes and as a result, the 57 00:05:27.449 --> 00:05:31.649 people, rebel Israel under Jarre Boehm, says, we're out of here, 58 00:05:32.290 --> 00:05:34.290 we're not going to listen to you. We're not going to beay you. 59 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:39.240 Go each to his own country, to his own city. We're done with 60 00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:45.079 you. Judah, the southern portion of what if we've been calling in chronicles, 61 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:51.629 all Israel is now divide. Did Judah and Benjamin in the south Israel, 62 00:05:53.350 --> 00:05:59.629 in the north? Raya Balm ruling over the South Israel, and Jeremont 63 00:06:00.389 --> 00:06:05.860 Jarabalm a ruling over Israel in the north. Raya Balm's on the run. 64 00:06:06.740 --> 00:06:15.339 They kill one of his chief men, assassinate him and he is struggling to 65 00:06:15.540 --> 00:06:20.970 survive. This was chapter ten. In that chapter we see it various ways 66 00:06:21.290 --> 00:06:27.930 in which Raya Balm exercised a great foolishness and suffered the consequences for it. 67 00:06:28.889 --> 00:06:30.810 But we also see in that chapter, and in this one as well, 68 00:06:31.209 --> 00:06:35.959 that these things were not just accidents outside the control of God, but they 69 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:41.600 were coming about because of God's will. They were coming out, they were 70 00:06:41.720 --> 00:06:46.750 happening because of God's sovereignty over the earth and everything that is in it. 71 00:06:47.750 --> 00:06:53.389 That's a point that's emphasized again here at the very beginning of this chapter. 72 00:06:53.430 --> 00:06:57.550 Raya Balm, you read the first three roads. When Ya Balm came to 73 00:06:57.589 --> 00:07:02.300 Jerusalem, he assembled the House of Judah and Benjamin, a hundred eightyzero chosen 74 00:07:02.379 --> 00:07:12.300 warriors. This number, by the way, is we're not exactly sure what 75 00:07:12.459 --> 00:07:15.850 is meant by this, whether it's a hundred eighty thousand to a man or 76 00:07:16.089 --> 00:07:20.610 collections of people. Nevertheless, it the main point is that he gets this 77 00:07:21.170 --> 00:07:26.490 group of men together, these chosen warriors, to go and fight Israel. 78 00:07:27.329 --> 00:07:31.560 The specific reason given to restore the kingdom to Raya Balm. But God sends 79 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:35.839 his Prophet. We read in verse to this Man of God, say to 80 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:40.399 Yabalm, the son of Solomon, King of Judah, and to all Israel 81 00:07:40.920 --> 00:07:46.110 in Judah and Benjamin. That's an interesting phrase, isn't it? All Israel 82 00:07:46.269 --> 00:07:50.430 in Judah and Benjamin. It reflects the reality that Israel, which once encompass 83 00:07:50.550 --> 00:07:56.870 this large territory under Solomon in some ways, and primarily in a spiritual way, 84 00:07:57.310 --> 00:08:03.740 is now being concentrated in the southern kingdom. Say to these people, 85 00:08:05.500 --> 00:08:09.860 don't go verse four. Thus says the Lord. You shall not go up 86 00:08:09.899 --> 00:08:15.610 or fight against your relatives. Return to your houses. This thing is from 87 00:08:15.769 --> 00:08:20.689 me, God tells them. This thing, that this is happening, is 88 00:08:20.129 --> 00:08:28.759 from me, and this is where things change. Before Ya, Balm took 89 00:08:28.920 --> 00:08:33.960 terrible counsel failed to recognize what it would recognize it for what it was. 90 00:08:33.960 --> 00:08:41.190 Here he listens and it changes. He listens to wisdom them, the wisdom 91 00:08:41.230 --> 00:08:46.230 of the Lord himself, and it says this in verse. For so they 92 00:08:46.429 --> 00:08:52.269 listened to the word of the Lord and returned and did not go up against 93 00:08:52.269 --> 00:08:56.620 Jeroboam. Why is this significant? Well, aside from just telling us a 94 00:08:56.659 --> 00:09:01.419 little bit about history, this happened and this didn't happen, which is important 95 00:09:01.460 --> 00:09:07.379 and interesting. What it's doing is it's setting up a pattern, a pattern 96 00:09:07.460 --> 00:09:18.169 of obedience brings about blessing, disobedience brings about curse. Obedience brings about blessing 97 00:09:18.210 --> 00:09:24.840 from the Lord, disobedience brings about his breath. This is a pattern that 98 00:09:24.919 --> 00:09:28.480 we're going to see played out throughout kings and it's based on the Covenant that 99 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:33.840 God made with David. Remember, he said to David I want I will 100 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:37.480 raise up a son after you and if he follows after me, I will 101 00:09:37.480 --> 00:09:39.590 be there for him, I will bless him, I will protect him, 102 00:09:39.590 --> 00:09:45.110 I will keep him. This is the promise that he made to Solomon and 103 00:09:45.230 --> 00:09:48.230 as we look at Solomon's I'm sorry, the promise that he made David, 104 00:09:48.870 --> 00:09:52.139 and as we look at Solomon and each son after him, we're asking this 105 00:09:52.220 --> 00:09:56.500 question. Does he obey the Lord? Does he stay with the Lord, 106 00:09:56.779 --> 00:10:01.419 does he follow after David and Solomon, or does he go another way? 107 00:10:01.460 --> 00:10:11.490 Another way that is going to be typified by Jeroboam Jarobalm becomes the antithesis of 108 00:10:11.610 --> 00:10:15.929 how things are supposed to work. If with Rayabalm in the southern kingdom, 109 00:10:15.970 --> 00:10:20.330 we see that obedience to the Lord, listening to his council, brings about 110 00:10:20.330 --> 00:10:24.960 blessing and security and honor, in the a northern kingdom, we're going to 111 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:28.960 see the opposite with Jerobom and does not bring about these things, but it 112 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:41.110 brings about ruin and destruction and idolatry. Rayabalm listened to God and his blessed. 113 00:10:41.269 --> 00:10:45.269 He is at this moment anyway, being a very good king, a 114 00:10:45.389 --> 00:10:48.870 godly king, not a perfect king, as we perhaps came to your mind 115 00:10:48.909 --> 00:10:54.299 when we're reading about all those wives and concubines, but a king who, 116 00:10:54.340 --> 00:11:00.899 in many ways is following after the Lord. I want you to consider some 117 00:11:00.940 --> 00:11:05.730 of the blessings that God pours out on Rayebalm. Notice how he's able to 118 00:11:05.809 --> 00:11:11.289 strengthen and secure what God gives to him. We read this particularly in verses 119 00:11:11.690 --> 00:11:16.370 five through twelve. Rayubalm lives in Jerusalem and he built cities for a defense 120 00:11:16.529 --> 00:11:22.960 in Judah. Read a very large list of them. Calls them fortified cities. 121 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:28.200 And Benjamin. He makes the fortresses verse eleven strong, puts commanders in 122 00:11:28.279 --> 00:11:33.029 them, stores of food, oil and wine. They were gonna be set 123 00:11:33.750 --> 00:11:39.870 these fortresses, these cities were not going to run out of food or oil 124 00:11:39.950 --> 00:11:46.429 or wine. They were ready and they were strong. To Verse Twelve, 125 00:11:46.549 --> 00:11:48.539 not only do they have all these supplies, they had shields and spears. 126 00:11:48.580 --> 00:11:56.899 He made them very strong, and so he held Judah and Benjamin. So 127 00:11:56.419 --> 00:12:01.929 God gives to him security and strength because he listened to him. What would 128 00:12:01.929 --> 00:12:05.049 have happened if he had done the opposite? Oh, we can't say for 129 00:12:05.169 --> 00:12:07.169 sure. We don't know, we're not God, but we do know that 130 00:12:07.330 --> 00:12:13.330 similar things happen to other people and happened to Saul. When kings are told 131 00:12:13.409 --> 00:12:18.039 to stay and they go, they get spread too thin, their armies get 132 00:12:18.120 --> 00:12:22.919 depleted, they lose ground. The opposite happens here with Raya Balm, but 133 00:12:22.039 --> 00:12:30.149 in his obedience the Kingdom is made secure. But it's not just a physical 134 00:12:30.309 --> 00:12:35.750 strength, it's not just the supplies and the commanders and the weapons, but 135 00:12:35.870 --> 00:12:41.350 there's spiritual strength that happens in Judah as well, and this is important because 136 00:12:41.629 --> 00:12:46.220 ultimately this is what God is most concerned about. In a sense, the 137 00:12:46.379 --> 00:12:52.220 northern kingdom under Jeroboam will have a measure of strength as well, armies and 138 00:12:52.340 --> 00:12:56.899 power and fortified cities, but they will not have this, the spiritual strength 139 00:12:58.019 --> 00:13:03.889 that God blesses Raya Balm and Judah with. What do I mean? We 140 00:13:05.009 --> 00:13:11.370 get this from verses three, I'm sorry, thirteen through seventeen, we're told 141 00:13:11.570 --> 00:13:20.879 this. This terrible situation happens when Jerobalm and rheabalm divide, when the northern 142 00:13:20.960 --> 00:13:24.360 part of the kingdom divides from the southern part of the kingdom. It's not 143 00:13:24.559 --> 00:13:33.470 merely a physical divide, but it's a spiritual one. Because what happens in 144 00:13:33.509 --> 00:13:39.149 verse fourteen? The Levites left their common lands and their holdings in the northern 145 00:13:39.190 --> 00:13:45.460 part of the Kingdom and came to Judah and Jerusalem. Why? Because JEROBOAM 146 00:13:45.539 --> 00:13:50.100 and his sons cast them out from serving as priests of the Lord and he 147 00:13:50.179 --> 00:13:54.179 appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat idols and for 148 00:13:54.340 --> 00:14:01.129 the calves that he had made. I want you to imagine yourself for a 149 00:14:01.250 --> 00:14:07.210 moment as a levite from the northern Kingdom of Israel. When he says here, 150 00:14:07.490 --> 00:14:09.559 when the chroniclers says, that they left their common lands, in their 151 00:14:09.639 --> 00:14:16.480 holdings, were talking about the inheritances that God had given them since the time 152 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:22.759 of Moses. People had been living here for generations. You remember, the 153 00:14:22.840 --> 00:14:28.190 Levites didn't have a particular land, a particular region in Israel like all the 154 00:14:28.230 --> 00:14:33.590 other tribes. They were dispersed. They were dispersed throughout the tribes and and 155 00:14:33.789 --> 00:14:39.659 were dispersed for the reason of ministering to the tribes. They were there as 156 00:14:39.740 --> 00:14:46.259 God's priests and servants to care and teach and and and and instruct the people 157 00:14:46.340 --> 00:14:48.539 in the ways of the Lord and in turn, the people were to supply 158 00:14:48.740 --> 00:14:54.850 them with their needs, animals and land and money and various things. But 159 00:14:56.009 --> 00:15:01.250 what did Jared Bom do? He takes away the inheritance of God from an 160 00:15:01.289 --> 00:15:07.159 entire tribe within his region and he kicks them out, not because of some 161 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:11.639 disobedience, not because they were doing a bad job, not because they had 162 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:18.879 aposticized from the Lord, but because he wanted goat idols and he didn't want 163 00:15:18.919 --> 00:15:24.909 these servants of Yahweh mucking that up. He had built golden calves, just 164 00:15:26.149 --> 00:15:31.149 like Aaron, and Israel had built down on the ballot base of Mount Sinai, 165 00:15:33.509 --> 00:15:37.820 committing these great and terrible sins that would plague the kingdom of Israel, 166 00:15:39.820 --> 00:15:43.980 the northern Kingdom of Israel, for quite a long time and would eventually be 167 00:15:45.179 --> 00:15:54.330 exiled for it. He kicked out the priests and they went to Jerusalem. 168 00:15:56.730 --> 00:16:00.529 They're going to Jerusalem. was obviously a bad thing for the northern kingdom, 169 00:16:00.649 --> 00:16:07.519 but oh that was a good thing for the southern kingdom. This great influx 170 00:16:07.720 --> 00:16:14.279 of ministers, of people that had been dedicated by God himself to serve the 171 00:16:14.399 --> 00:16:25.269 people. Verse Seventeen they strengthened the Kingdom of Judah for for three years they 172 00:16:25.309 --> 00:16:29.110 made Yobalm, the son of Solomon, secure, for they walked for three 173 00:16:29.110 --> 00:16:33.139 years in the way of David and Solomon. You see, that's the archetype, 174 00:16:33.179 --> 00:16:37.379 that's the model, that's the pattern that people that these kings are supposed 175 00:16:37.379 --> 00:16:41.899 to follow the way of David and Solomon, and that's what the Levites did 176 00:16:41.980 --> 00:16:48.889 and as a result they strengthened the Kingdom of Judah. So all this to 177 00:16:48.970 --> 00:16:53.769 say, in Rayobalm's obedience and Rayobalm's listening to the word of God, we 178 00:16:53.889 --> 00:17:00.210 see that his kingdom is strengthened, blessed not only with physical power and strength, 179 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:06.920 but spiritually they are strengthened as well. Instead of falling in and giving 180 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:11.240 over to the idolatry of Jerobalm, they are giving themselves over to the Lord, 181 00:17:11.720 --> 00:17:17.710 to his temple, to his sacrifices. They set their hearts to seek 182 00:17:17.829 --> 00:17:22.150 the Lord God of Israel and they came from all the tribes of is real 183 00:17:22.190 --> 00:17:27.549 to Jerusalem to sacrifice to him, the God of their fathers, not a 184 00:17:27.710 --> 00:17:34.900 goat idol, but God himself. The last way, and just to mention 185 00:17:34.980 --> 00:17:40.099 this briefly, we see God blessing ray of Balm is in his family. 186 00:17:41.900 --> 00:17:47.970 Barrenness is and and the end of a line is often the sign, or 187 00:17:48.690 --> 00:17:52.730 is one of the many signs, of curse under the old covenant, and 188 00:17:52.890 --> 00:18:00.599 this is particularly true of the Kings. You remember that David's kingdom began with 189 00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:06.799 the finishing out of Saul and his sons. But what do we see happening 190 00:18:06.920 --> 00:18:15.230 here, Raya Balm's family flourishes. Now the DISCUSSI. Discussion about polygamy will 191 00:18:15.269 --> 00:18:18.910 have to wait until another time. I will say, though, that, 192 00:18:18.269 --> 00:18:25.950 though, though chronicled here, it doesn't necessarily make it a good thing or 193 00:18:26.029 --> 00:18:32.460 an okay thing. God design marriage to be between one man and one woman, 194 00:18:33.019 --> 00:18:37.019 and Solomon, after taking these wives, his own many wives, is 195 00:18:37.099 --> 00:18:41.569 one of the great reasons that the southern kingdom would eventually fall, and Jarobalm, 196 00:18:41.730 --> 00:18:45.769 or, I'm sorry, Raya Balm, will see problems there as well. 197 00:18:45.930 --> 00:18:52.529 Nevertheless, we do see a fruitful family and we also see that these 198 00:18:52.730 --> 00:18:59.079 various names that are listed are connected in particular to the Line of David. 199 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:03.839 This is the way the chronicler is once more further connecting a ray of balm 200 00:19:04.359 --> 00:19:11.269 to the DIVIDIC Kingdom. So why does all this matter? Why does it 201 00:19:11.390 --> 00:19:15.710 matter to see ray of balm listening to this good counsel, paying attention to 202 00:19:15.789 --> 00:19:19.589 the word of God and being blessed for it, while on the other hand, 203 00:19:19.950 --> 00:19:25.539 seeing rayabalm throw off the Lord God, the God of their fathers, 204 00:19:25.980 --> 00:19:30.420 the God of a covenant, and giving himself and his kingdom over to idolatry? 205 00:19:33.700 --> 00:19:37.019 One reason we this is important is because in this we see God's keeping 206 00:19:37.140 --> 00:19:42.210 his promise to David. Rayabalm was the Chosen One of Solomon, and God 207 00:19:42.289 --> 00:19:47.809 is keeping that promise. We it's also important to us because it's through this 208 00:19:48.009 --> 00:19:52.960 line that Jesus will come. The son of David is not extinguished, the 209 00:19:52.039 --> 00:19:59.359 son of David is not trampled Jereboam doesn't eventually win the day here, crushing 210 00:19:59.400 --> 00:20:03.720 out by his idolatry and military power, the Kingdom of God. We see 211 00:20:04.119 --> 00:20:07.589 God working in all of these things, these things coming from his hand and 212 00:20:08.069 --> 00:20:14.990 ultimately being fulfilled in Jesus. But the last reason I want to mention to 213 00:20:15.109 --> 00:20:22.380 you is that in the seeing these two kingdoms, a split of two kingdoms 214 00:20:22.500 --> 00:20:27.380 diametrically opposed to one another, we learn a pattern and we come to see 215 00:20:27.380 --> 00:20:34.339 the Kingdom of God clearly, particularly as it relates to the king. There 216 00:20:34.380 --> 00:20:41.849 are two kingdoms here, an evil one and a good one. The evil 217 00:20:41.970 --> 00:20:47.769 one that is captive to ambition, idolatry and blindness, that is without grace 218 00:20:47.809 --> 00:20:51.839 or the means to it. The Levites left, the worship of God left, 219 00:20:53.160 --> 00:20:57.119 but the Kingdom of God in the southern kingdom was a good one and 220 00:20:59.440 --> 00:21:03.680 where do we see it's goodness? In its worship, in its refuge, 221 00:21:03.349 --> 00:21:10.029 in its strength and its protection, in its food for body and soul. 222 00:21:10.309 --> 00:21:15.190 The people of God were being taken care of because the king was following the 223 00:21:15.269 --> 00:21:22.619 word of the Lord. This pattern of not following the word of the Lord 224 00:21:22.660 --> 00:21:27.700 and rushing headlong toward hell, and following the word of the Lord and finding 225 00:21:27.779 --> 00:21:34.970 oneself closer and closer to heaven, this pattern never changes and in fact it 226 00:21:36.170 --> 00:21:41.450 only widens, because when Jesus comes, and he comes as the perfect king, 227 00:21:42.170 --> 00:21:48.200 as of one who doesn't make any fault or fail in every way or 228 00:21:48.279 --> 00:21:52.240 an end in any way, he takes all the safety and security of Raya 229 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:59.960 Balm that was sort of flying spiritually high above the northern kingdom and he just 230 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:06.710 soars up into the highest places, even heaven itself, when King Jesus reigns 231 00:22:06.829 --> 00:22:10.750 and rules over his kingdom. And we ask, was he obedient to the 232 00:22:10.829 --> 00:22:17.059 word of God? Did the king follow the counsel of the Lord? Did 233 00:22:17.259 --> 00:22:22.180 he do so in a way that would provide us safety and provision for both 234 00:22:22.259 --> 00:22:26.140 our body and our soul? The answer is yes, yes, yes, 235 00:22:26.180 --> 00:22:30.450 yes. At every point where we can see and see see and recognize ray 236 00:22:30.529 --> 00:22:36.289 of Balm's success and the blessing that's poured out on him. We see in 237 00:22:36.369 --> 00:22:41.490 a small picture, our Lord and our Savior. We see the strength and 238 00:22:42.329 --> 00:22:52.039 protection and glory and grace that Jesus provides us. Now I mention this because 239 00:22:52.119 --> 00:22:59.630 this is sometimes hard to see. The Kingdom of Heaven under Jesus is not 240 00:22:59.670 --> 00:23:04.190 always so obvious. For Raya Balm, you could go to a map, 241 00:23:06.069 --> 00:23:08.109 draw it out, say, okay, there's this border and here's this city, 242 00:23:08.190 --> 00:23:11.549 in this city, in this city. You could map it all out. 243 00:23:11.829 --> 00:23:15.220 You can't do that with the Kingdom of Heaven as it is today. 244 00:23:15.259 --> 00:23:22.900 Jesus is he rules, rules over all of us in all kinds of different 245 00:23:22.940 --> 00:23:27.329 places. The Gospel has gone out into the world and we find ourselves not 246 00:23:27.529 --> 00:23:33.089 bound in a geographic area. In some ways that makes it more glorious. 247 00:23:33.650 --> 00:23:37.450 It's everywhere, it's over the whole world, but sometimes it makes it harder 248 00:23:38.210 --> 00:23:47.640 to see. To paraphrase one of the earliest ridings after the New Testament. 249 00:23:47.759 --> 00:23:52.640 Early is Christian writings after the New Testament in the epistle to diagnosis. We 250 00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:57.349 read there that, speaking of Christians, they everyone has a fatherland, but 251 00:23:57.470 --> 00:24:02.829 every fatherland is foreign. Don't know if I have that exactly right. It's 252 00:24:02.869 --> 00:24:10.019 from memory, but you get the idea. Christians don't reside in this one 253 00:24:10.099 --> 00:24:15.859 particular place in this one particular time. They're everywhere. They have fatherlands, 254 00:24:15.900 --> 00:24:19.740 they have home countries all over the place, all over the world. They 255 00:24:19.859 --> 00:24:23.410 exist everywhere. The kingdom is found everywhere, and yet at the same time 256 00:24:25.410 --> 00:24:30.970 every fatherland is foreign. They're living as so journals and exiles all over the 257 00:24:30.049 --> 00:24:33.690 world, and that makes it hard to see. With ray of Balm you 258 00:24:33.809 --> 00:24:40.799 could go to the giant st more room of wine, let's say that's upon 259 00:24:40.920 --> 00:24:44.640 VAT's drums, upon drums, and say wow, okay, we're set. 260 00:24:45.920 --> 00:24:51.319 We don't have that here at Covenant Well, have vast store houses filled with 261 00:24:51.720 --> 00:24:56.430 shields and weapons and food and oil and wine. That's just not here, 262 00:24:57.950 --> 00:25:03.750 and so can be hard to see. The Kingdom of God under Jesus, 263 00:25:03.950 --> 00:25:10.220 though it's infinitely more secure, infinitely more stable, it's hard to see. 264 00:25:10.220 --> 00:25:15.460 The Kingdom of God is also mixed up in the world and it's mixed up 265 00:25:15.460 --> 00:25:19.220 even in the church. Jesus, our king, says that the wheat and 266 00:25:19.299 --> 00:25:26.210 the tears are growing up together. And even in ourselves. The goalliness that 267 00:25:26.289 --> 00:25:32.130 we see in these levites is a wonderful thing, but we also know our 268 00:25:32.170 --> 00:25:36.880 own weaknesses. We know that we often fall into, I cut, various 269 00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:42.319 kinds of idolatry. Nevertheless, though, the kingdom is hard to see and 270 00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:48.240 it's mixed even in our own hearts. You know it's there and I submit 271 00:25:48.319 --> 00:25:52.990 to you that you can see it in some ways. You see it in 272 00:25:53.150 --> 00:25:59.789 the love of one brother for another. You see His grace and the way 273 00:25:59.910 --> 00:26:04.220 that our lives are encouraged and strengthened in the midst of our weakness and our 274 00:26:04.259 --> 00:26:11.420 brokenness. He remains there. He's steadfast. Love endures forever. You hear 275 00:26:11.619 --> 00:26:15.259 the Kingdom of God in the preaching. You see it in his servants, 276 00:26:15.740 --> 00:26:21.769 you see it in the administration of the sacraments and baptism and communion. You 277 00:26:21.890 --> 00:26:25.609 see the Kingdom of God, and Jesus is kingship of it, as lives 278 00:26:25.650 --> 00:26:30.849 are changed, as people grow, as we hope, even in really hard 279 00:26:30.930 --> 00:26:37.880 times, even in weakness and sorrow and suffering, there is an essential hope 280 00:26:37.920 --> 00:26:45.599 that belongs to us as Christians and you can't take that away and you see 281 00:26:45.599 --> 00:26:53.150 it and you feel it. We experience it and we hear it. Jesus, 282 00:26:53.230 --> 00:26:56.109 of course, does provide for us. He provides for us everything we 283 00:26:56.230 --> 00:27:00.910 need, and he promises us not only that in this life but in the 284 00:27:00.029 --> 00:27:04.660 life to come, there comes a day when the Kingdom of God will no 285 00:27:04.819 --> 00:27:10.299 longer be hidden and veiled and growing up mixed like it is now, but 286 00:27:10.380 --> 00:27:17.410 it will be clear and evident, with perfectly definable boundaries and perfectly the citizenship 287 00:27:18.089 --> 00:27:25.329 well known and vindicated. But for now, that leaves us with a choice 288 00:27:26.369 --> 00:27:27.930 in a lot of ways. Here in this world, now we are, 289 00:27:29.009 --> 00:27:34.000 like the Levites, seeing both the Kingdom of God under Jesus and the Kingdom 290 00:27:34.039 --> 00:27:41.440 of the world under many antichrists, Satan himself, and we have this choice 291 00:27:41.480 --> 00:27:45.670 to make, like the Levites had to make. Well, I stay here, 292 00:27:45.589 --> 00:27:51.109 and will I give myself over to idolatry? Well, I give myself 293 00:27:51.230 --> 00:27:56.549 over to blindness and sin, or will I run across the border and find 294 00:27:56.670 --> 00:28:03.740 my home in the Kingdom of God? It leaves us with this this choice 295 00:28:03.859 --> 00:28:07.660 that we, each of us, have to make, and sometimes it will 296 00:28:07.660 --> 00:28:12.809 be a choice of great sacrifice. When the Levites left, they left their 297 00:28:12.930 --> 00:28:18.250 homes, their families, their cities, their houses, their vineyards, their 298 00:28:18.329 --> 00:28:25.049 flocks. They left at all, but they did so for the best reason 299 00:28:25.170 --> 00:28:32.839 of all, because they knew that ultimately, the Kingdom of God was not 300 00:28:33.119 --> 00:28:37.279 tied up in the land, though it was expressed there and though it was 301 00:28:37.400 --> 00:28:44.029 typified there, the Kingdom of God belonged to something much greater and that God, 302 00:28:44.190 --> 00:28:48.349 even in the midst of this divided kingdom, this break up, this 303 00:28:48.710 --> 00:28:52.390 idolatry and all the rest, that God would take care of them. And 304 00:28:52.549 --> 00:29:00.660 he did, and even through them he strengthened the Kingdom of Judah. As 305 00:29:00.740 --> 00:29:03.259 each of you think about your own lives and the choices that you have to 306 00:29:03.420 --> 00:29:10.529 make, I ask you to think about Jesus, to think about him in 307 00:29:10.730 --> 00:29:15.650 his kingship, in his power. Read through the New Testament and consider what 308 00:29:15.009 --> 00:29:21.930 the Bible says about the strength of Christ, the power and victory he has 309 00:29:22.009 --> 00:29:26.799 over darkness, over the healings that we mentioned earlier, over demons, over 310 00:29:26.920 --> 00:29:34.039 authorities, over everything. And when you consider Jesus is powerful and kingly strength. 311 00:29:37.160 --> 00:29:41.430 I call on you, exhort you. I say do not remain in 312 00:29:41.869 --> 00:29:45.509 the northern kingdom, do not remain in the kingdoms of this world, when 313 00:29:47.309 --> 00:29:52.029 the Kingdom of God is at hand. How do we enter into it? 314 00:29:52.900 --> 00:29:56.980 We don't have to travel anywhere. We simply give ourselves over to Jesus, 315 00:29:57.859 --> 00:30:04.740 to trusting in him and following in his ways. May God enable us to 316 00:30:04.819 --> 00:30:11.569 do these things. May God establish his kingdom here among us and in this 317 00:30:11.809 --> 00:30:18.089 world, and may we all wait with that great hope for the consummated form 318 00:30:18.130 --> 00:30:22.559 of it to come. Let's pray together and ask that God would help us 319 00:30:22.559 --> 00:30:23.160 in these things.