Episode Transcript
WEBVTT
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Let's try our attention this evening to
second chronicles, chapter seventeen. Second chronicles,
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chapter seventeen, Jehoshah Fat, his
son, reigned in his place and
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strengthened himself against Israel. He placed
forces in all the fortified cities of Judah
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and set garrisons in the land of
Judah and in the cities of Ephraim that
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Asa, his father, had captured. The Lord was with Jehosaphat because he
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walked in the earlier ways of his
father, David. He did not seek
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the bales, but sought the god
of his father and walked in his commandments
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and not according to the practices of
Israel. Therefore, the Lord established the
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kingdom in his hand, and all
Judah brought tribute to Jehoshah Fhat, and
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he had great riches and honor.
His heart was courageous in the ways of
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the Lord and furthermore, he took
the high places and the Ashureine out of
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Judah. In the third year of
his reign, he sent officials Ben Hale
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Obadiah, Zachariah, the FANEL and
macaiah to teach in the cities of Judah,
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and with them the Levites Shamaiah of
Thethanaiah Zebadiah, Asahel, shamiramoth,
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Jehonahthan Adonaisia, Tobijah and Tobana Jaya, and with these levites the priests Elishama
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and Jehoram, and they taught in
Judah, having the book of the Law
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of the Lord with them. They
went about through all the cities of Judah
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and taught among the people, and
the fear of the Lord fell upon all
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the kingdoms of the lands that were
around Judah, and they made no war
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against Jehosaphat. Some of the Philistines
brought Jehoshah fat presence and Silver for tribute,
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and the Arabians also brought him seven
thousand seven hundred rams and seven thousand
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seven hundred goats, and Jehoshah fat
grew steadily greater. He built in Judah
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fortresses and store cities and he had
a large supplot and had large supplies in
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the cities of Judah. He had
soldiers, mighty men of Valor, in
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Jerusalem. This was the muster of
them by the father's houses of Judah,
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the commanders of thousands Oddna, the
commander with three hundred thousand mighty men of
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Valor, and next to him Jehoah
Hoanon, the commander, with twenty two
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hundred and eighty thousand, and next
to him amy say Yah, the son
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of Zick agree, a volunteer for
the service of the Lord, with two
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hundred thousand mighty men of Valor,
of Benjamin Eliada, a mighty man of
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valor, with two hundred thousand men
armed with bow and shield, and next
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to him Jehosah Jehosah bad, with
a hundred and eighty thousand armed for war.
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These were in the service of the
king, besides those whom the king
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had placed in the forty five cities
throughout all Judah. May God indeed bless
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his word to us. Well.
Now in the chronicles we come to King
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Jehoshah fat. This king is the
son of Aza Asa, the son of
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Abijah, the son of Solomon,
the son of David. He is the
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third king now in what's called the
divided kingdom. I'm you might, if
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you forget a little bit or aren't
familiar with the history, a wonder how
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it's a good thing that he set
himself against Israel. I'm usually that's not
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a good thing in the Bible,
and this is coming from verse one,
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that he strengthened himself against Israel.
But you remember that after Solomon, the
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Kingdom of Israel, God's great kingdom
in the land of Canaan, that had
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been united under day AAVID and united
under Solomon, divided into the Israel aposticized
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from the Lord, the King.
They're kicked out, the priests and Levites,
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a set up false gods and and
other terrible practices. Meanwhile the Kingdom
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of God continued on in the southern
kingdom, in in Judah, where King
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Jehoshah fat is ruling. And so
when he sets himself against Israel, on
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the one hand he is setting himself
for strengthening himself against his brothers, and
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until the kingdom is united again,
that will always remain a sore point and
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a sad a tragedy. But he's
also uniting himself and in some ways against
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the enemies of the Lord. A
difficult situation, no doubt. But here
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the chronicler begins to teach us about
Jehoshah fat's reign in Judah. It's going
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to cover the next four chapters and
we see that Jehosha fat, like those
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who had come before him, was
something of a mixed bag, to use
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a cliche. He was good in
many ways. We see him ruling so
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well in this chapter, but then
in other places we will see where he
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failed, where he falls, and
in that I think that Jehoshah fat is
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very relatable, because he's a lot
like you and me. We have our
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strengths, we have our moments of
success, times where we think that we
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are doing very well, and perhaps
we are. We're encouraged, were courageous,
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we're following after the things of the
Lord, walking according to his paths
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and his commandments, and then other
times in our lives, perhaps even on
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the same day, we find ourselves
falling so terribly into sin and evils that
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perhaps just that morning would have been
unspeakable to us. And so Jehoshah fhat
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is imperfect, but as the king
of the Lord and as one who is
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ruling in Judah, he does teach
us about king Jesus. He prepares the
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way by chronicling these kings, and
Jehoshah fat in particulars we think about him
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this evening, the chronicler is telling
us about our king and our Lord,
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the final king who would come to
see it set on the throne that had
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been promised to David. And as
we go and continue to go through chronicles,
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we always have to remind ourselves that
this is ultimately the point, not
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just to learn the great history of
God's amazing acts, but they point forward
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to future history, history which tells
us about Jesus, the ways where Jehoshaphat
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is successful. We see how Jesus
is successful, where Jehoshah fat fails.
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We see the ways in which Jesus
is successful. Tonight, in particular,
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we are reminded of what it means
to be king and to ruled by the
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word of God, what it means
to rule by the word of God,
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as King under God. I want
you to notice three ways in which Jehoshah
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fat is very obedient in this particular
way which he really succeeds, ways in
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which he's a model and you should
be inspired by his example. First,
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he rules by the word of God. In being obedient to the word of
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God, you see this in verse
three. The Lord was with Jehoshah fat
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because he walked in the earlier ways
of his father, David. He did
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not seek the seek the bales,
but sought the god of his father and
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walked in his commandments and not according
to the practices of Israel. Excuse me.
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So the first thing we're told is
that he walked. He walked in
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the earlier ways of his father David. This is a reminder that some of
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David's later times were not as wonderful
as his earlier times, a little bit
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of foreshadowing, even of Jehosha fat. Nevertheless, I Joshah fad is is
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praised here, and a reason for
God's giving him success is that he was
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doing this. He was walking in
the good and positive, biblical, Godly
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ways of his father David. This
metaphor of walking is a common one to
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describe obedience to the Lord. When
you think about your own obedience. That's
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good one to call to mind.
Walking, for a couple reasons. Is
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Important this as a metaphor one.
It's a kind of continuing action. Obedience
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to the Lord isn't a sort of
series of discreet events or points on a
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on a graph or something like that. Okay, here and here and here.
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Obedience to the Lord is described here
as a pathway. There's this continual
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staying on it, whether you're stopping
or going or resting, your moving along
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this, this way and here he's
described as doing that in accordance with the
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commandments of God. The opposite is
the ways of Israel, the ways of
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the Baal's. Now, bail was
the name of one of the great cannonite
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deities. You remember that when Israel
came into the the land of Canaan,
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there were people, they're already and
they were worshiping God's, bail being one
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of them, the Asteroth and Ashra
being another. So when we read in
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verse seven that he took out the
high places of the Ashuream, and this
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is another God, a related God
to bail, that is being referred to,
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bail is sometimes distinguishable from other bails
and sometimes not. The history of
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it's a little bit confusing. We
don't have a lot of information, but
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what we do know is that bail
was nothing like Yahwey. Bail was nothing
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like the God who ruled over the
heavens and the Earth, who made the
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seas and the dry land, who
created these things and rescued Israel. He
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was nothing like that. He was
called the son of Dagon. You remember
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that Dagon was this great idol that
fell before the altar of the Lord,
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fell before the Ark of the Lord, rather when it was placed by the
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Philistines before him. They wake up
what morning and the idol is down on
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the ground, decapitated and and and
worse. The Lord God is supreme and
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neither Dagon nor his son bail and
do anything to Yahweh. You remember Elijah
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on Mount Carmel and the Prophets of
bail, I'm screaming and yelling and whipping
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themselves all to get bail to do
something to light this this meet, the
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sacrifice on fire. Couldn't do it
all day long, weeping, wailing,
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whipping and all the rest. The
profit of the Lord. Praise and fire
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reigns down on heaven and consumes the
whole thing. This is the great distinction
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between the Canaanite Gods, the false
gods, the pretend gods, and the
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real God, the true God of
Israel. And yet, despite these obvious
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distinctions, true and false, living
and not living or fake, the people
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were constantly tempted to go after the
bail's, to go after the false gods.
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These gods in the stories were promised
to be those who are victorious over
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death, over chaos. Bail was
a champion, a master, a husband,
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a leader one who is in charge
of fertility and production in the land.
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But over and over again, what
do we see? Who is really
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in charge of these things? Where
does success happen? Where does failure happen?
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Over and over again, it's not
bail, but it's y'all way.
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And JEHOSHA FAT got this. He
understood this and, unlike the northern kingdom
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and unlike people in his own kingdom, he did not pursue and seek after
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the ways of the Baial's but after
the God of Israel. He walked in
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his ways, he followed after his
commandments, not the commandments of a false
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god. The second thing we see
about Jehosha fat. First, he followed
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the way of the Lord and being
obedient. Second, he was obedient really
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in his heart. Sometimes there are
people who are very moral, even very
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religious, do all kinds of good
things, but it's something of a show,
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for of going through the motions.
This is true and something that we
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see. Perhaps you've even felt it
in your own lives, where from day
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to day you're kind of doing the
things you ought to do, but it's
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not from the heart. Jehosha fat, we read, was convicted in his
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heart. Am about these things.
He wasn't merely going through the motions,
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but in verse six we read that
his heart was courageous in the ways of
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the Lord, and that's really where
true obedience comes from. When you the
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surrounding culture or the pressures of politics
or whatever else is is pushing in on
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you to say follow after something else, how do you stay strong? You
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have to be courageous from the heart. It's really the only way. It
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has to start deep down inside,
and that's what Jehosha Fett did. He
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was courageous in the ways of the
Lord, in his heart, in his
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inmost being. So he was obedient
first, but he was it was heartfelt
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obedience. Number two and the third
way we see and we see this great
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king ruling and being a king according
to the word of the Lord, and
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that he did not do this just
for himself, but he sought this same
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kind of life for all his people. How do we see this? Well,
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his diligence and commitment to the word
of the Lord, the commandments of
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the Lord, the ways of the
Lord. We see that in verses one
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through six, but then in verses
seven through nine we see him sending out
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officials, leavites, and priests and
he gives them the book of the law,
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which is Deuteronomy. Make sure everyone's
got a copy of Deuteronomy in their
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hands. and He sends them out. He sends them out into Israel to
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teach. Jehosha fat as king wanted
these things not just for himself. Wanted
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the ways of the Lord and the
blessings of the Lord not just for him,
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but he had a responsibility as a
leader over this great household out of
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this great kingdom of God. He
had a responsibility to see that they were
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following in those ways as well.
That's why he takes down the high places
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and Ashreem, it's why he sends
out these officials and priests and Levites and
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says teach, teach the book of
the law. And that's exactly what they
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did. They went about through all
the cities of Judah and taught among the
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people. So here is a good
king with his authority and with his might
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and strength. Instead of abusing his
power and saying I'm going to do what
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I want, when I want,
in the ways that I want, he
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follows the ways of the Lord.
Additionally, instead of using that power just
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for himself, he accepts the responsibilities
of watching over his people, of guarding
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them and protecting them, and so
he sends out officials and priests and Levites
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to go through all the cities of
Judah and to teach the word of the
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Lord. So this is King Jehosha
fat ruling according to God's word. What
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does this teach us about the final
king, even our king, now,
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King Jesus. Well, Jesus of
course like this, but even more so.
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First, he is, of course
obedient. He is obedient to God's
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word. He never blinks an eye, he never strays from the path of
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the Lord, not once, not
even slightly. A lot of us,
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when it comes to the path of
the paths of the Lord, sometimes like
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the kind of creep along the edge
a little bit, sort of see how
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close to the edge of the path
that we can get without quite stepping over.
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Jesus was always true because it came
from the heart. Jesus wasn't going
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through the motions, he was being
truly obedient as God's one and only and
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eternal son. We see this in
his actions. Peter Testifies to this in
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First Peter to First Peter two,
verse twenty two, he says of Jesus.
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He has left us an example.
He committed no sin, neither was
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deceit found in his mouth. When
he was reviled, he did not revile
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and return. When he suffered,
he did not threatened threatened, but continued
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in, trusting himself to him who
judges justly. This was Jesus's life.
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Even people that we know casually,
it's not too difficult to find some area
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and way in which they not acted
at least as best as they could,
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if not to find out right sins. We can certainly say that of ourselves
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and the people that we know closely. We have four gospels about Jesus.
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We have all kinds of prophetic testimony
before them, all kinds of teaching is
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about him after them, and in
all that material, all that we learn
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about him, there's not a single
place where we can point to and say
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that wasn't so good. All of
it is full of righteousness and honor.
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At every single moment, our Lord
followed in the paths of the Lord,
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knowing them, never confused, always
wise. He was obedient, and it
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was heartfelt too, wasn't it?
Jesus did the right thing, even it
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was when it was unpopular. Jesus
did the right thing even when he was
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under great temptation by Satan himself.
Jesus did the right thing even under the
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threat of persecution and death. He
did the right thing even when everyone else
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would have thought are he wouldn't.
Everyone else thought that doing something else would
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be the right thing. Make Yourself, King Jesus. Don't go to the
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cross, Jesus. But Jesus always
knew his mission. Jesus always knew the
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ways of the Lord, the commandments
of the Lord, and he followed them
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perfectly and from his heart. And
what about this last one? As King
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Jehosha fat are ruled not only for
himself, but made sure that those who
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were under his authority knew about the
word of God and were following in its
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ways, as much as he had
power to do. Does King Jesus do
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this? Absolutely he brings out obedience
in our lives. He takes us and
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not only preaches to US and sends
to US officials and ministers and apostles and
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prophets and all the rest, sending
them out through all the cities of the
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world, but then he actually affects
that change, something Jehosha fat could have
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never done. Jehosha fat could have
preached all day long till he was blue
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in the face. It would have
been a good thing, a holy thing.
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But JEHOSHA fat can't change a heart. Jesus, however, can do
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both. He can send people out
and he can change our hearts. He's
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if and, as he has done
with us, he's taken us, who
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were disobedient to the word of God, worshiping Baal's and money and all kinds
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of other idols, and has made
us desirous to follow his commandments, to
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call them a delight, to call
them as sweet as drippings from the honeycomb.
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Who could do that except for King
Jesus? And he has done that.
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King Jesus is much like Jehosha Fat, but in greater ways. He
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sends this sanctifying word by the power
of his spirit all throughout the world and
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affects change in people's lives in such
a way the King Jesus is establishing a
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Kingdom of holiness, of righteousness,
and one that won't last for a season
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then getting get overtaken again by another
season of bales and Canaanite worship and whatever
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else, but a kingdom that will
last forever. This is why Jesus is
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the final king. This is why
we're not hoping for someone else. This
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is why we don't just obeyed use
us, but we worship him as the
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God who can accomplish not only creation
but new creation, who can establish not
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just a temporal kingdom but an eternal
one. And this, of course,
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has lots of applications for us.
One of them is that we have to
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choose who we are going to obey. Are we going to trust and obey
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the things of this world, the
popularity contests of this world, the pressures
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and fears of this world? Are
we going to find our final hope and
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kings and presidents and rulers and bosses
and parents and other authority figures, or
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are we going to place our ultimate
hope in Jesus and his kingdom? You
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know what I think you should do, and I think that because that's what
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God says. When God delivers his
word to us, he's sending he's sending
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this word to us, even as
these people in Judah heard it. He's
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calling us to a particular kingdom and
he wants us to heed his word.
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How do we become a part of
that kingdom, he tells us, it's
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by trusting in Jesus, by relying
on him, by calling him our Savior
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and our Lord. And when we
do so, that means doing it not
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merely with our mouths, just saying
things, but but believing it in our
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hearts and following through with actions.
To belong to him means being courageous in
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our hearts. That begins with faith. It means saying that the things of
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this world are ultimately not going to
persuade you more than the things that Jesus
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brings in the Kingdom of Heaven.
And it also means following after him,
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learning his ways, learning his paths
and following the word of the Lord that
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he has taught us. King Jehosha
fat is a good example of how we
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ought to live our lives, but
King Jesus is the power by which we
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can live those kinds of lives.
He's our ultimate safety, in our security,
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he is our king and he is
so forever. Let us pray to
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him then and as that he would
accept us and bring us into his kingdom
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by His grace and that he would
keep us there forever.
