How to Respond to God's Grace (2 Chronicles 25)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:04.480 Let's turn our attention now to God's word in the Old Testament, second chronicles, 2 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:11.349 Chapter Twenty Five. Second Chronicles Twenty Five, tonight we hear about the 3 00:00:11.470 --> 00:00:19.989 life and death of Amaziah and how he points us to Jesus. Amaziah was 4 00:00:20.070 --> 00:00:24.059 twenty five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty nine 5 00:00:24.059 --> 00:00:29.859 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Johoy Don of Jerusalem, and he 6 00:00:29.940 --> 00:00:34.740 did what was, I right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not 7 00:00:34.939 --> 00:00:39.409 with a whole heart. And as soon as the royal power was firmly his, 8 00:00:39.689 --> 00:00:44.090 he killed his servants who had struck down the king, his father, 9 00:00:45.250 --> 00:00:49.850 but he did not put their children to death, according to what is written 10 00:00:49.890 --> 00:00:54.399 in the law, in the book of Moses, where the Lord commanded fathers 11 00:00:54.479 --> 00:00:59.240 shall not die because of their children, nor children die because of their fathers, 12 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:04.469 but each one shall die for his own sin. Then amaziah assembled the 13 00:01:04.510 --> 00:01:10.629 men of Judah and set them by father's houses, under commanders of thousands and 14 00:01:10.750 --> 00:01:15.549 of hundreds. For All Judah and Benjamin, he mustered those twenty years old 15 00:01:15.590 --> 00:01:19.939 and upward and found that they were three hundred thousand choice men, fit for 16 00:01:21.060 --> 00:01:25.980 war, able to handle spear and shield. He hired also a hundred thousand 17 00:01:26.099 --> 00:01:30.819 mighty men of val or from Israel for a hundred hundred talents of silver. 18 00:01:30.939 --> 00:01:34.569 But a man of God came to him and said, O King, do 19 00:01:34.730 --> 00:01:38.090 not let the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not 20 00:01:38.290 --> 00:01:44.810 with Israel, with all these ephramites. But go act, be strong for 21 00:01:44.890 --> 00:01:49.159 the battle. Why should you suppose that God will cast you down before the 22 00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:55.719 enemy? For God has power to help or to cast down. And Amaziah 23 00:01:55.840 --> 00:01:59.519 said to the man of God, but what shall we do about the hundred 24 00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:02.629 talents that I have given to the Army of Israel? The man of God 25 00:02:02.750 --> 00:02:07.709 answered him, the Lord is able to give you much more than this. 26 00:02:08.310 --> 00:02:13.430 Then Amaziah discharged the army that had come to him from Ephraim to go home 27 00:02:13.469 --> 00:02:19.740 again, and they became very angry with Judah and returned home in fierce anger. 28 00:02:20.979 --> 00:02:24.699 But amaziah took courage and led his people, let out his people and 29 00:02:24.819 --> 00:02:30.930 went to the Valley of salt and struck down tenzero men of seer. The 30 00:02:30.050 --> 00:02:35.689 men of Judah captured another tenzero alive and took them to the top of a 31 00:02:35.770 --> 00:02:38.729 rock and threw them down from the top of the Rock and they were all 32 00:02:38.810 --> 00:02:44.479 dashed to pieces. But the man of the army whom Amaziah sent back, 33 00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:50.680 not letting them go with him to battle, raided the cities of Judah, 34 00:02:51.240 --> 00:02:57.759 from Samaria to Beth harn and struck down three thou people in them and took 35 00:02:57.919 --> 00:03:04.310 much spoil. After Amasaiah came from striking down the Edomites, he brought the 36 00:03:04.430 --> 00:03:08.590 gods of the men of seer and set them up as his gods and worshiped 37 00:03:08.710 --> 00:03:15.099 them, making offerings to them. Therefore, the Lord was angry with Amaziah 38 00:03:15.139 --> 00:03:17.699 and sent to him a prophet who said to him, why have you sought 39 00:03:17.819 --> 00:03:22.659 the gods of a people who did not deliver their own people from your hand? 40 00:03:23.900 --> 00:03:25.740 But as he was speaking, the king said to him, have we 41 00:03:25.860 --> 00:03:30.849 made you a royal counselor stop? Why should you be struck down? So 42 00:03:31.090 --> 00:03:37.530 the prophet stopped, but said I know that God has determined to destroy you 43 00:03:38.250 --> 00:03:44.439 because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel. Then Amaziah, 44 00:03:44.479 --> 00:03:47.400 King of Judah, took counsel and sent to Joe Ash, the son 45 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:53.159 of Jehoiah has son of Jehu, King of Israel, saying come, let 46 00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:58.389 us look one another in the face and Joe Ash, the King of Israel, 47 00:03:58.830 --> 00:04:03.030 send word to Amaziah, King of Judah. A thistle on Lebanon sent 48 00:04:03.189 --> 00:04:09.349 to a Cedar on Lebanon saying give your daughter to my son for a wife. 49 00:04:10.099 --> 00:04:13.620 And a while beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle. 50 00:04:14.580 --> 00:04:17.740 You say, see, I have struck down Edom and your heart has lifted 51 00:04:17.779 --> 00:04:23.420 you up in boastfulness, but now stay at home. Why should you provoke 52 00:04:23.579 --> 00:04:29.649 trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you? But AMASAI would 53 00:04:29.689 --> 00:04:32.649 not listen, for it was of God in order that he mightn't give them 54 00:04:32.889 --> 00:04:36.889 into the hand of their enemies because they had sought the gods of Edom. 55 00:04:38.800 --> 00:04:42.600 So Joe Ash, King of Israel, went up and he said he and 56 00:04:42.879 --> 00:04:46.720 Almasiah, King of Judah, faced one another in battle at Beth Shemesh, 57 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:51.639 which belongs to Judah, and Judah was defeated by Israel and every man fled 58 00:04:51.720 --> 00:04:56.949 to his home. and Joe Ash, King of Israel, captured Amasiah King 59 00:04:57.029 --> 00:05:00.230 of Judah, the son of Joe Ash, the son of a Hasaiah, 60 00:05:00.430 --> 00:05:05.470 at Beth Shemesh and brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem 61 00:05:05.589 --> 00:05:10.740 for four hundred cubits, from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate, and 62 00:05:11.019 --> 00:05:14.259 he seized all the gold and silver and all the vessels that were found in 63 00:05:14.300 --> 00:05:17.660 the House of God in the care of Obd Edem. He seized also the 64 00:05:17.740 --> 00:05:23.970 treasuries of the king's house, also hostages, and he returned to Samaria. 65 00:05:25.009 --> 00:05:29.649 Amasai, the king of Joe Ash, King of Judah, lived fifteen years 66 00:05:29.689 --> 00:05:32.050 after the death of Joe Ash, the son of Jehoahaz, King of Israel. 67 00:05:33.209 --> 00:05:36.000 Now the rest of the deeds of Amasiah, from first to last, 68 00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:40.360 are they not written in the book of the Kings of Judah and Israel? 69 00:05:41.480 --> 00:05:45.720 From the time when he turned away from the Lord, they made a conspiracy 70 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:49.709 against him in Jerusalem and he fled to Lakish, but they sent after him 71 00:05:49.750 --> 00:05:55.110 to lackish and put him to death there, and they brought him upon horses 72 00:05:55.550 --> 00:06:04.660 and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David. God has 73 00:06:04.740 --> 00:06:13.139 the power, this prophet says. God has the power to cast down and 74 00:06:13.300 --> 00:06:17.139 he has the power to help. This is verse eight, for God has 75 00:06:17.220 --> 00:06:25.850 power to help or to cast down. It's an important verse to remember. 76 00:06:26.009 --> 00:06:30.089 It's a way of remembering the story as a whole and indeed many things that 77 00:06:30.209 --> 00:06:34.959 we read in second chronicles, many things that we experience in our own lives. 78 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:40.399 There's a reminder here that the Lord is, as we read earlier in 79 00:06:40.480 --> 00:06:46.959 the Psalms, King above all kings. He is Lord of everything and everyone. 80 00:06:47.350 --> 00:06:53.509 This is something that amasaiah understood, or at least seemed to understand in 81 00:06:53.589 --> 00:06:58.350 a way, at the beginning of the chapter. But he didn't serve God 82 00:06:58.509 --> 00:07:03.220 with his whole heart and eventually whatever was there seems to have disovered, whatever 83 00:07:03.379 --> 00:07:09.740 was good that was there seems to have disappeared and he turned away from the 84 00:07:09.899 --> 00:07:15.649 Lord. The Prophet who speaks to Amasai and says in verse, for God 85 00:07:15.730 --> 00:07:20.810 has power to help or to cast down. He speaks to him in a 86 00:07:20.889 --> 00:07:26.170 way of encouragement. He seems to speak to him as a way to tell 87 00:07:26.170 --> 00:07:29.930 him, Hey, you don't have to worry because you are going out to 88 00:07:30.079 --> 00:07:33.600 battle in the Lord, who is strong in both of these ways, but 89 00:07:33.720 --> 00:07:39.879 to a man whose heart is wavering, man who is still making a decision 90 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:44.389 about who he will serve, whether he will serve Yah way that with his 91 00:07:44.470 --> 00:07:48.110 whole heart, or go after other gods. Perhaps it also wrung and his 92 00:07:48.230 --> 00:07:51.990 conscience is a bit of a warning and if, of course, it rings 93 00:07:53.110 --> 00:07:58.110 that way to all of us who read this passage in retrospect. It's a 94 00:07:58.230 --> 00:08:01.420 history, right, it's the chronicles, and as people go back and read 95 00:08:01.540 --> 00:08:05.779 their histories, is the Jews read, and as we read as well, 96 00:08:07.899 --> 00:08:11.540 it is a reminder to us. It's a call to us to pay attention 97 00:08:11.660 --> 00:08:16.689 and remember who God is. I want to review the story with you, 98 00:08:18.569 --> 00:08:24.329 this history here of Amasiah, and then think about just a few of the 99 00:08:24.449 --> 00:08:28.600 things that God teaches us here. The first thing to note, as I've 100 00:08:28.680 --> 00:08:35.240 mentioned already, is that almasia is not serving the Lord with a whole heart. 101 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:39.600 That comes in verse to sort of a summary of his life. It 102 00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:43.309 says that he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet 103 00:08:43.669 --> 00:08:48.230 not with his whole heart. Two examples are given of Amasia doing what was 104 00:08:48.309 --> 00:08:54.870 right. The first is that when he prosecutes on those who did this evil 105 00:08:54.629 --> 00:09:00.179 in the among the king's household, these servants who struck down his father, 106 00:09:01.139 --> 00:09:05.980 he is just and that he did not put to death their children. The 107 00:09:07.059 --> 00:09:11.690 chronicler makes explicit that this is right, in line with the law. The 108 00:09:11.809 --> 00:09:16.330 book of Moses. This is important because throughout the chronicles, each king is 109 00:09:16.450 --> 00:09:22.370 being evaluated again and again and again. Are they in line with God's will? 110 00:09:22.409 --> 00:09:26.679 Are they doing as God had commanded? The over and over we are 111 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:33.240 reminded that the kings are not powerful in and of themselves. They are reminded 112 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:37.679 of that fact. The people are reminded of that fact. They are rule 113 00:09:37.960 --> 00:09:41.629 on God's behalf. They stand on his covenant and on his law, and 114 00:09:41.789 --> 00:09:48.190 when they're doing well well, it's because they're following God's law. They're they're 115 00:09:48.230 --> 00:09:54.259 following after him. The next scene that we read of is when Amaziah decides 116 00:09:54.340 --> 00:09:58.779 to go out to battle. It's not clear why he does this, but 117 00:09:58.940 --> 00:10:03.100 it is, I'm clear, that the Lord is with him. The initial 118 00:10:03.179 --> 00:10:07.049 plan, however, is not a good one. He musters three hundred thousand 119 00:10:07.129 --> 00:10:13.889 men from Judah, but then decides that's not enough. He thinks it's necessary 120 00:10:13.049 --> 00:10:18.889 to go and conscript men from Israel, and he does this. He pays 121 00:10:18.250 --> 00:10:24.360 money, I believe it said a hundred talents, a hundred talents of silver, 122 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:28.039 for this, and he hires a hundred, yes, a hundred talents 123 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:31.639 of silver. In verse six, he hires a hundred thousand mighty men of 124 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:37.070 Valor. So now he adds another hundred thousand to his army to go and 125 00:10:37.149 --> 00:10:43.509 fight this battle. This, however, is against God's desires and I believe, 126 00:10:43.590 --> 00:10:50.179 if you, if we've been reading chronicles in context, that Amaziah should 127 00:10:50.179 --> 00:10:54.259 have known this ahead of time. Why? Well, I won't go through 128 00:10:54.299 --> 00:10:58.019 all the details, but if you go back and read even some of the 129 00:10:58.139 --> 00:11:01.659 most recent chapters, but many of them will, you will see that ever 130 00:11:01.779 --> 00:11:07.370 since Judah and Israel Split, Israel has been a problem. Israel has been 131 00:11:07.409 --> 00:11:11.730 serving false God, setting up false prophets, doing everything it can to destroy 132 00:11:11.929 --> 00:11:16.610 God and as people, even though technically they are tribes that belong to God, 133 00:11:16.730 --> 00:11:22.159 Israel is Judah's enemy. They are acting as people of the world, 134 00:11:22.240 --> 00:11:26.720 they are acting as those that are outside of of the covenant, and so 135 00:11:26.840 --> 00:11:31.909 anytime we see Judah making alliances with his reel, marriages with Israel, going 136 00:11:33.070 --> 00:11:37.309 to war with Israel, it's always a problem, it's always dangerous us and 137 00:11:37.389 --> 00:11:41.549 God's always saying no. And every time a king goes into an alliance, 138 00:11:41.710 --> 00:11:46.419 creates some kind of treaty with them, it all falls apart. This is, 139 00:11:46.500 --> 00:11:50.299 of course, the advantage of history right we go and we read so 140 00:11:50.379 --> 00:11:54.100 we don't make the same mistakes over and over and over again. But of 141 00:11:54.179 --> 00:12:00.139 course you all know that we do. We do. So we can't stand 142 00:12:00.379 --> 00:12:05.529 over Almaziah too much and be too proud. He makes the same mistakes we 143 00:12:05.610 --> 00:12:11.409 do. He doesn't remember these lessons and he decides to conscript these men from 144 00:12:11.490 --> 00:12:16.840 Israel. Praise be to God, though, God sends a man verse seven 145 00:12:16.440 --> 00:12:20.480 to come to him and he warns him. He says, don't do this, 146 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:26.159 I don't do this. The Lord is not with Israel. He explicitly 147 00:12:26.279 --> 00:12:28.240 tells him this. So even if, let's say, he didn't know or 148 00:12:28.279 --> 00:12:33.389 there was some reason he wouldn't have been expected to know, now he knows. 149 00:12:33.909 --> 00:12:35.269 Be On a shadow of a doubt, a man of God, a 150 00:12:35.470 --> 00:12:41.590 prophet, has come to him and is spoken God's word and he encourages him 151 00:12:41.590 --> 00:12:43.029 with this. He says, I'm not telling you not to go go, 152 00:12:43.740 --> 00:12:48.299 just not with these men. Why should you suppose that God will cast you 153 00:12:48.379 --> 00:12:54.139 down before the enemy? For God has power to help or to cast down 154 00:12:56.700 --> 00:13:03.129 throughout the history of God's people. This is a reoccurring motif you know, 155 00:13:03.370 --> 00:13:07.250 to use literally term a reoccurring event, to use a term of history. 156 00:13:09.730 --> 00:13:15.519 People think that they need resources outside of what God has given them to accomplish 157 00:13:15.600 --> 00:13:22.240 God's will, constantly clamoring for other kinds of things, something extra, a 158 00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:26.830 bonus, a plus. But God is always telling them that he is perfectly 159 00:13:28.029 --> 00:13:33.269 capable of doing what he needs to do without all of their added stuff. 160 00:13:33.870 --> 00:13:37.669 Over and over again he makes this point, and he makes it here as 161 00:13:37.710 --> 00:13:43.820 well. You don't need Israel because God is with you. Oh King of 162 00:13:43.860 --> 00:13:48.139 Judah, Alma's eyes concerned. What about the money? He says, I've 163 00:13:48.179 --> 00:13:52.259 already spent this hundred thousand or hundred, sorry, hundred talents of silver. 164 00:13:52.659 --> 00:13:54.929 How am I going to get it back? What do I do? He 165 00:13:56.009 --> 00:13:58.970 says, don't worry about it. God can more than pay you back. 166 00:14:00.690 --> 00:14:05.330 You don't need to worry about the money. In these these details, you 167 00:14:05.450 --> 00:14:09.559 get the sense of what I'm where Alma's eyes heart is at. He's worried 168 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:15.639 about his safety. He's worried about his security. Thinks money and power is 169 00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:22.039 what is going to keep him safe. But he does hear God's word, 170 00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:28.870 he listens to it. Doesn't say why it's possible that it was because of 171 00:14:28.950 --> 00:14:33.470 the money. He's afterwealth. Verse Nine says, the Lord is able to 172 00:14:33.549 --> 00:14:37.700 give you much more than this. Perhaps it was a kind of ungodly calculus 173 00:14:37.820 --> 00:14:41.379 that he's doing here, rather than trust in the Lord, but whether his 174 00:14:41.980 --> 00:14:46.580 motivation was holy or not, he does the right thing. He discharges the 175 00:14:46.700 --> 00:14:52.649 army that had come from him and he sends them home. Verse Ten tells 176 00:14:52.690 --> 00:14:58.490 us that they were not happy about this, these conscripts, these mercenaries. 177 00:14:58.610 --> 00:15:05.889 They became very angry with Judah and returned home in fierce anger. Later on 178 00:15:07.009 --> 00:15:11.279 in the chapter it tells us what they did further on, later on down 179 00:15:11.320 --> 00:15:15.480 the road, they it seems that they go home and then they make an 180 00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:18.639 extra special trip to come back. There's a little detail in the geography that 181 00:15:18.759 --> 00:15:24.950 indicates this, that they came back about ten miles to plunder Judah. They 182 00:15:26.070 --> 00:15:28.629 killed a bunch of men, took a bunch of things. They and and 183 00:15:31.590 --> 00:15:35.860 and and and harm the very people that had initially hired them. You won't 184 00:15:35.860 --> 00:15:39.419 let us to go to war with you, fine, we'll take your stuff. 185 00:15:39.220 --> 00:15:43.539 Having a hundred thou or why do I keep saying that having a hundred 186 00:15:43.659 --> 00:15:48.700 talents of silver for free and being able to go home wasn't enough? These 187 00:15:48.740 --> 00:15:52.769 men were filled with blood lust. They wanted to fight, they wanted war. 188 00:15:52.769 --> 00:15:58.730 You sense their heart of Israel in these actions. Now, this, 189 00:15:58.929 --> 00:16:04.799 of course, was a tragic thing for these families that lost their and people 190 00:16:04.919 --> 00:16:11.440 that lost their lives, communities that were ravaged and tellaged, but in a 191 00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:17.559 way it was also a blessing, at least in the form of a reminder 192 00:16:17.720 --> 00:16:22.750 to Amasiah. He wanted to bring these men who would do this thing to 193 00:16:22.789 --> 00:16:27.029 him with battle to battle, these very men who are willing to plunder him, 194 00:16:27.230 --> 00:16:33.259 even after receiving a wage that they didn't even work for. These are 195 00:16:33.299 --> 00:16:37.580 the men that he wanted to unite with, to join with, to go 196 00:16:37.740 --> 00:16:41.940 into battle with in a holy exercise. You can see why God said No. 197 00:16:45.419 --> 00:16:48.009 I wonder if you've been in situations like this where you've been tempted to 198 00:16:48.490 --> 00:16:56.889 conscript certain other things, to trust things other than God's will, and then 199 00:16:56.970 --> 00:17:00.759 found yourself later really glad that you didn't. I dodge a bullet, you 200 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:06.440 might say, I didn't realize how bad that decision was going to be. 201 00:17:06.599 --> 00:17:10.559 And then you, when the certain things happen, you go oh, now 202 00:17:10.640 --> 00:17:15.599 I see. It's one of the ways in which God reminds us of his 203 00:17:15.750 --> 00:17:18.869 power, of his authority, of his care for us, of his wisdom, 204 00:17:18.190 --> 00:17:23.430 even when we don't understand why the an additional hundred thousand men won't help. 205 00:17:25.190 --> 00:17:29.630 You'd think, of course that would help. God knows what is best. 206 00:17:30.859 --> 00:17:33.059 That's one of the messages we have, one of the lessons that we 207 00:17:33.140 --> 00:17:42.740 learn throughout these histories. Well, he goes to battle and he is successful, 208 00:17:44.180 --> 00:17:48.650 very successful, just as he just as God promised. They win the 209 00:17:48.730 --> 00:17:57.880 victory and they come home. But what happens next? Well, we read 210 00:17:57.960 --> 00:18:03.920 in verse fourteen of turn for the worse. After striking down the Edomites, 211 00:18:04.440 --> 00:18:08.000 he, that is Amaziah, brought the gods of the men of seer and 212 00:18:08.119 --> 00:18:12.990 set them up, as he is God's, and worshiped them, making offerings 213 00:18:14.750 --> 00:18:18.990 to them. Now, the ancient Nereus, this was a rather common thing, 214 00:18:19.029 --> 00:18:25.589 or at least it happened occasionally. There's various possible reasons why this is 215 00:18:26.309 --> 00:18:30.619 one possible reason is that the ideas that you could weaken the enemies by taking 216 00:18:30.660 --> 00:18:34.140 their gods. Right, if the gods are what's supplying the power to the 217 00:18:34.259 --> 00:18:38.259 winning side. Well, you just like you might take their chariots or horses 218 00:18:38.380 --> 00:18:42.089 or kill their men, you take their gods right and weaken them. That's 219 00:18:42.130 --> 00:18:48.369 one possibility for why he he took them. Another possibility that seems to be 220 00:18:48.490 --> 00:18:52.809 the case in these nations surrounding is sometimes in victories, people would take the 221 00:18:52.849 --> 00:18:59.599 opposed using sides God's as a way to kind of placate those gods for the 222 00:18:59.680 --> 00:19:03.319 defeat, a sort of I'm sorry, I did this bad thing to your 223 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:07.920 people, so I'm going to worship you so you don't harm me now. 224 00:19:07.079 --> 00:19:11.910 Both of these things. One other possibility. It could be a kind of 225 00:19:12.109 --> 00:19:15.750 thanks for the help, you know, the sort of thank you for letting 226 00:19:15.829 --> 00:19:19.910 me win, so now I will take you and bring you into my life 227 00:19:21.029 --> 00:19:26.980 and and worship you now. All of these things seem reasonable enough. If, 228 00:19:27.019 --> 00:19:33.579 if the gods are real gods, if these gods are actually powerful, 229 00:19:33.619 --> 00:19:38.410 if these gods actually do supply support and help to either one side of the 230 00:19:38.529 --> 00:19:44.210 other, well then these actions makes sense. But of course they don't make 231 00:19:44.329 --> 00:19:52.250 sense. He worships them and and this prophet makes this stunning argument. He 232 00:19:52.369 --> 00:19:56.759 says in Verse Fifteen, why have you sought the gods of a people who 233 00:19:56.759 --> 00:20:00.759 did not deliver their own people from your hand? He says, why are 234 00:20:00.759 --> 00:20:07.750 you going in worshiping something that was incapable of saving it, saving the people 235 00:20:07.750 --> 00:20:12.069 even from you. You are worshiping something in a way that's even lesser than 236 00:20:12.109 --> 00:20:21.349 yourself. You remember the former prophets words. It is God who saves, 237 00:20:22.019 --> 00:20:27.140 God who casts down. This people was cast down by the very promise of 238 00:20:27.299 --> 00:20:32.740 God. Does it make any sense to then go and take the idols of 239 00:20:32.819 --> 00:20:37.730 that other country and begin to worship them? Of course it doesn't, but 240 00:20:37.890 --> 00:20:41.650 this is, of course, the sin of idolatry, the deception of it, 241 00:20:42.009 --> 00:20:47.170 the always hoping for something else, whether it's in a stone or a 242 00:20:47.650 --> 00:20:53.440 tree or a dollar bill or talent. Why have you sought the gods of 243 00:20:53.480 --> 00:21:00.920 a people who did not deliver their own people from your hand? ALMASIAH SHUTS 244 00:21:00.920 --> 00:21:07.710 HIM UP. Have we made you a royal counselor stop? Why should you 245 00:21:07.789 --> 00:21:11.990 be struck down? It's a threat right, he's threatening him. You better 246 00:21:12.069 --> 00:21:17.549 shut up or I'm going to take you out. Get Out of my presence. 247 00:21:17.589 --> 00:21:21.420 Be Gone. I don't want to listen to you. And this, 248 00:21:22.539 --> 00:21:26.660 whereas before he heard the word of God and he found success, here he 249 00:21:26.740 --> 00:21:30.819 hears the word of God and he or he doesn't listen, he doesn't heed 250 00:21:30.859 --> 00:21:37.769 it and he falls. He makes the same mistake again in verse seventeen. 251 00:21:37.890 --> 00:21:41.410 He goes the king of Judah, Almasiah goes to the King of Israel in 252 00:21:41.490 --> 00:21:45.170 the north and he says, Hey, let's have a meet up, let's 253 00:21:45.490 --> 00:21:48.519 look one another in the face. I want a face to face meeting. 254 00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:53.200 Is what he says. Joe Ash, the King of Israel, says, 255 00:21:53.359 --> 00:21:59.319 I don't think so, and he tells this interesting he puts it in this 256 00:21:59.359 --> 00:22:03.470 very interesting way. A thistle of Lebanon sent to a Cedar of Lebanon. 257 00:22:03.509 --> 00:22:08.430 Right, so he's already sort of making himself much more important the king of 258 00:22:08.509 --> 00:22:12.029 Israel. He says a thistle of Lebanon sent to a Cedar of Lebanon saying 259 00:22:12.069 --> 00:22:17.740 give your daughter to my son for a wife. And then a wild beast, 260 00:22:17.819 --> 00:22:21.900 this kind of random act of Lebanon, passed by and trampled down the 261 00:22:22.019 --> 00:22:26.819 thistle. The King Men Israel says to Judah. He says to Amaziah, 262 00:22:26.019 --> 00:22:30.849 you say, see, I've struck down Edom and your heart has lifted you 263 00:22:30.890 --> 00:22:34.690 up in boastfulness. Stay at home. Why should you provoke trouble so that 264 00:22:34.769 --> 00:22:41.210 you fall? You and Judah with you? Lots of interesting things in with 265 00:22:41.369 --> 00:22:45.799 this king says one is that he even, as this Pagan King, essentially 266 00:22:47.480 --> 00:22:52.519 recognize as am as. I is boastfulness, and he's like, I don't 267 00:22:52.559 --> 00:22:56.599 want to have anything to do with that. He amas I want some kind 268 00:22:56.640 --> 00:23:00.470 of treaty. It seems perhaps some marriage is involved here, and Israel, 269 00:23:00.630 --> 00:23:04.390 the Israelite King Says No, you're all proud because you took down Edom, 270 00:23:04.470 --> 00:23:11.509 but your boastfulness is going to end up hurting me along with you. So 271 00:23:11.710 --> 00:23:15.859 I will not join you, I will not be with you. Of course, 272 00:23:17.339 --> 00:23:23.339 while recognizing this lack and this failure in Amaziah, he he does not 273 00:23:23.579 --> 00:23:27.769 see all of this is coming from the Lord. He characterizes the actions that 274 00:23:27.930 --> 00:23:32.849 have happened and will happened as a wild beast of Lebanon, this kind of 275 00:23:33.130 --> 00:23:36.970 random act, this thing that's happening in their midst and in their relationship, 276 00:23:37.890 --> 00:23:41.410 when the truth is is that God is at work and both of these kings 277 00:23:41.759 --> 00:23:47.960 should be submitting to God, who is powerful in all of this verse. 278 00:23:48.079 --> 00:23:53.839 Twenty almaziah would not listen. Why? Well, his sin, obviously, 279 00:23:55.829 --> 00:23:59.990 but also a judgment for sin. We read that it was of God, 280 00:24:00.589 --> 00:24:04.029 in order that he might give them into the hands of their enemies because they 281 00:24:04.029 --> 00:24:08.549 had sought the gods of Edom. Again, another pattern we see throughout the 282 00:24:08.630 --> 00:24:15.940 history, the history of the world. When you reject God, he rejects 283 00:24:15.980 --> 00:24:18.700 you. And to be rejected by God, as not to be left to 284 00:24:19.019 --> 00:24:25.410 sort of independently establish yourself as a king or queen somewhere, to be rejected 285 00:24:25.490 --> 00:24:29.009 by God is to come under his wrath, to come under his curse. 286 00:24:30.329 --> 00:24:33.289 We like to think that we're equal with God and that somehow we can establish 287 00:24:33.369 --> 00:24:40.960 our own little ruler monarchies independent of him. Let's just something not the case. 288 00:24:41.559 --> 00:24:45.000 We are not equal with him. So when we don't listen to him, 289 00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:48.799 when we reject him, we don't find ourselves as just another parallel king 290 00:24:48.839 --> 00:24:56.509 or kingdom, we find ourselves under his wrath. And so God judges Almaziah 291 00:24:56.150 --> 00:25:03.910 and he judges them through this northern Kingdom of Israel. They come, they 292 00:25:03.029 --> 00:25:11.539 fight and they destroy. They defeat Joe, they defeat almaziah. They come 293 00:25:11.660 --> 00:25:15.259 even all the way into Jerusalem, the capital city. They destroy the wall 294 00:25:15.420 --> 00:25:26.849 for four hundred cubits, something not a huge breach, but a symbolic one, 295 00:25:26.450 --> 00:25:33.809 to reach the city, to destroy the wall, and then they take 296 00:25:33.890 --> 00:25:38.920 gold and silver and with no respect at all for Yahway all the va vessels 297 00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:42.400 that were in the House of God, he seized also the treasures in the 298 00:25:42.440 --> 00:25:49.829 king's house hostages and returned to Samaria. And then the story concludes with Amaziah's 299 00:25:51.069 --> 00:26:02.630 death. So what do we learn from this as we reflect on the history 300 00:26:02.670 --> 00:26:07.940 of this king, especially in the context of these other kings? What do 301 00:26:07.019 --> 00:26:11.819 we see now? Many, many things, and some of them I've pointed 302 00:26:11.900 --> 00:26:15.900 out already, but I want to focus just on two things as we conclude. 303 00:26:18.259 --> 00:26:22.650 The first is that we see this point being drilled home over and over 304 00:26:22.809 --> 00:26:26.690 and over again, and that is that we must live in and by the 305 00:26:26.809 --> 00:26:33.599 power of God. We can't play around with this fact. Know some things 306 00:26:33.640 --> 00:26:37.119 might come in and out of your life. You decide to use social media, 307 00:26:37.200 --> 00:26:41.359 you decide not to use social media, you decide to go you like 308 00:26:41.839 --> 00:26:45.240 hamburgers at a certain restaurant, but then you decide you like them somewhere else. 309 00:26:45.920 --> 00:26:49.869 It is not the end of the world. We move from thing to 310 00:26:49.990 --> 00:26:52.950 thing, from place to place. We move cities, we you know, 311 00:26:53.150 --> 00:27:00.619 and all kinds of things, but when it comes to God, we can't 312 00:27:00.779 --> 00:27:07.579 involve him in our lives in that kind of way, the one who made 313 00:27:07.579 --> 00:27:11.579 us, the one whose law is written on our hearts, the one who 314 00:27:12.220 --> 00:27:18.329 is the authority over all the world and promise is to judge the world, 315 00:27:18.410 --> 00:27:22.210 as we see him doing over and over and over again throughout history, and 316 00:27:22.450 --> 00:27:25.849 promises to do so in a final way on the Latin the last days, 317 00:27:25.930 --> 00:27:33.279 as we read in in Matthew earlier. Matthew Thirteen Jesus talks about the angels 318 00:27:33.400 --> 00:27:40.880 coming, making separations and casting some into fire, eternal fire, weeping and 319 00:27:40.960 --> 00:27:47.230 gnashing of teeth. We can't play around with God and that sort of we 320 00:27:47.390 --> 00:27:49.589 can have him or not have him, belong to him or not belong to 321 00:27:49.630 --> 00:27:56.829 him. All of life, it should and must be lived in accordance with 322 00:27:56.029 --> 00:28:03.900 who he is. We must know him, we must serve him. Everything 323 00:28:03.940 --> 00:28:08.059 in life must be evaluated according to his will, and there is this rather 324 00:28:08.339 --> 00:28:14.930 simple formula that we see happening over and over and over again. Those who 325 00:28:15.009 --> 00:28:22.769 live according to his will are blessed and those who don't are cursed. But 326 00:28:22.849 --> 00:28:27.960 the accumulation of these stories are also teaching us something else important, and that's 327 00:28:29.039 --> 00:28:34.160 that our reliance are a God. Our faith on him does not come by 328 00:28:34.240 --> 00:28:41.119 the strength of our own will. Humanity seems to be entirely incapable of doing 329 00:28:41.160 --> 00:28:45.349 the very thing that it needs to do in order to be blessed. No 330 00:28:45.509 --> 00:28:51.150 matter how clear it is who God is, no matter how clear the prophet 331 00:28:51.309 --> 00:28:56.539 speak, no matter how terrible the consequences are or great the blessings are, 332 00:28:56.059 --> 00:29:03.859 mankind is bent on doing the wrong thing again and again and again. If 333 00:29:03.900 --> 00:29:08.859 it happens with the sons of David, who have the Law of Moses and 334 00:29:10.009 --> 00:29:17.250 have prophets coming and speaking to them directly and powerfully, makes sense that it 335 00:29:17.329 --> 00:29:26.599 happens to everyone else too, even pagans and gentiles. The Bible is teaching 336 00:29:26.680 --> 00:29:30.839 us, God is teaching us in this history, how desperately we are in 337 00:29:32.039 --> 00:29:40.910 need of God to work something graciously in our lives, to change us and 338 00:29:41.109 --> 00:29:48.230 to lift up a king not like Almasiah. We are in desperate need of 339 00:29:48.309 --> 00:29:52.980 a king that does not Willy Nilly follow after the word of God. We 340 00:29:53.220 --> 00:29:59.539 need a king who is strong, who is established, who hears the will 341 00:29:59.660 --> 00:30:04.380 of the Lord and obeys every time. We don't want a king over us 342 00:30:04.420 --> 00:30:08.450 who sometimes leads us out into battle and we all die and other times leads 343 00:30:08.450 --> 00:30:12.490 us out into battle and it's great, who sometimes follows after the will of 344 00:30:12.609 --> 00:30:17.170 God and other times follows after other gods and dooms us all the destruction. 345 00:30:18.089 --> 00:30:22.720 Now we need a king who is solid, who's strong and every single thing, 346 00:30:25.319 --> 00:30:30.119 and this is exactly what God provides for us in King Jesus, the 347 00:30:30.240 --> 00:30:36.829 son of David, who comes and for bills this long line of failure and 348 00:30:37.109 --> 00:30:41.029 perfects it and does exactly what the prophets have been promising, what we had 349 00:30:41.069 --> 00:30:49.299 been longing for and what we all really need. Almasiah in Israel. All 350 00:30:49.420 --> 00:30:53.980 of this is teaching us of our great need for God's power, in His 351 00:30:55.339 --> 00:31:02.819 grace, and it was exercised. This powerful grace was exercised when he sent 352 00:31:03.180 --> 00:31:07.690 Jesus into the world, and this king that I've described, this king that 353 00:31:07.809 --> 00:31:17.089 we need, is exactly who Jesus is. Jesus wholeheartedly served after his father. 354 00:31:18.170 --> 00:31:21.680 Over and over again he says, I came not to do my will 355 00:31:22.119 --> 00:31:26.480 but the will of the father who sent me. Over and over again he 356 00:31:26.640 --> 00:31:33.869 establishes this fact that he comes because he was sent, that he is a 357 00:31:33.910 --> 00:31:38.789 king who is going to rule righteously, and he does this in a way 358 00:31:40.150 --> 00:31:45.309 that earns blessing for US earns, safety for us, protection for us, 359 00:31:45.630 --> 00:31:52.180 victory over all of our and God's enemies. This is what it means to 360 00:31:52.740 --> 00:31:59.619 be united to Christ. It means that we're not united to someone like Almas 361 00:31:59.700 --> 00:32:07.089 Ziah, someone frail and weak and idolatrous and sinful like us. We are 362 00:32:07.089 --> 00:32:16.319 united to God, God himself as he comes to us in the incarnation. 363 00:32:17.960 --> 00:32:22.440 Now many people doubt all of this. They look at Jesus and they say, 364 00:32:22.519 --> 00:32:25.599 well, sure, mighty works, Yada, Yada, Yada, but 365 00:32:25.799 --> 00:32:31.869 really these married son. We all know this. Or, as we read 366 00:32:31.910 --> 00:32:36.869 in Matthew Thirteen, he's a carpenter's kid. We we know who Jesus is. 367 00:32:37.869 --> 00:32:39.109 Well, I don't know where all these mighty works come from, but 368 00:32:39.230 --> 00:32:45.180 whatever they think he's, he's nothing. And if they think he's nothing, 369 00:32:45.220 --> 00:32:50.059 even after all the mighty works and even after all the mighty teachings, what 370 00:32:50.140 --> 00:32:54.019 do you think they thought of him after the Cross? But we know his 371 00:32:54.099 --> 00:32:58.849 own disciples deserted him. They laughed him, they scattered. They said this 372 00:32:58.890 --> 00:33:04.930 is weakness, this is dying, this is not succeeding. But of course 373 00:33:04.970 --> 00:33:08.450 they were all shown that that wasn't the case and he did succeed and we 374 00:33:08.529 --> 00:33:14.039 all know that he did, because he rose again from the dead, proving 375 00:33:14.160 --> 00:33:21.839 his victory over death, over sin, over Satan. But this reminder about 376 00:33:21.839 --> 00:33:27.150 God's working and weakness, his get rid of the hundred thousand troops and do 377 00:33:27.190 --> 00:33:30.670 it the way I said to do it. This God wanting to display him's 378 00:33:30.950 --> 00:33:38.630 power in weakness, is the message of the Cross. I'm going to read 379 00:33:38.829 --> 00:33:44.500 just a few verses from First Corinthians and Second Corinthians. First, First Corinthians, 380 00:33:44.539 --> 00:33:49.740 one hundred and twenty five, for the foolishness of God is wiser than 381 00:33:49.819 --> 00:33:57.410 men and the weakness of God is stronger than men. And then Second Corinthians, 382 00:33:57.690 --> 00:34:05.089 chapter twelve versus nine and ten. But he said to me, my 383 00:34:05.289 --> 00:34:10.639 grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, 384 00:34:10.920 --> 00:34:15.440 Paul says, I will boast all the more gladly for my weakness so 385 00:34:15.639 --> 00:34:22.800 that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, 386 00:34:22.880 --> 00:34:29.630 then I am content with weakness. Insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities. 387 00:34:30.349 --> 00:34:35.630 Bring it on, Paul says, because I am content with my weakness, 388 00:34:36.869 --> 00:34:39.820 I am strong in Christ, for when I am weak, he says, 389 00:34:40.659 --> 00:34:47.139 then I am strong. And one more. Second Corinthians Thirteen Four, 390 00:34:47.780 --> 00:34:52.739 for he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. 391 00:34:52.530 --> 00:34:57.730 For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you, we 392 00:34:57.929 --> 00:35:02.610 live by we live with him, by the power of God. This is 393 00:35:02.730 --> 00:35:07.000 Paul's testimony of what it means to live under the kingship of Christ. It 394 00:35:08.079 --> 00:35:13.519 means to suffer, it means to be weak, it means to have the 395 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:16.480 enemy attack us and raiding parties. In these kinds of things, not all 396 00:35:16.639 --> 00:35:22.070 goes well all the time in this world. But ultimately it means that we 397 00:35:22.110 --> 00:35:27.869 are secure in him and that Christ's power and authority and glory is being manifested 398 00:35:28.590 --> 00:35:36.219 in our weakness. So I call you tonight to hear about the God of 399 00:35:36.340 --> 00:35:42.059 this world. Know that he indeed is powerful to cast down, but he's 400 00:35:42.099 --> 00:35:49.539 also powerful to save, and he does it in Jesus. So worship him, 401 00:35:50.449 --> 00:35:54.730 come to him, live to him, live in him, because there 402 00:35:54.929 --> 00:36:01.690 you will find a rock of salvation, security and everlasting hope, because he's 403 00:36:01.769 --> 00:36:08.559 not like you and me. He's righteous, he's holy, he's completely devoted 404 00:36:08.639 --> 00:36:19.510 to God, he is God. Maybe worship him and him alone. Let 405 00:36:19.510 --> 00:36:19.949 us pray