Esther 9-10 The Fear Of The Lord

“The Lord had given them a greater weapon than their swords, because ‘the fear of the Jews fell upon them’.  This was a fear that God had sent into the hearts of the Gentiles to keep them from fighting His people,” my commentary said.  It also cited Genesis 35:5, Deut 2:25, and Joshua 2:8-11 as other times when God had done this.  “The fear of God protects those who fear God and believe His promises.  Because the Jews believed Mordecai’s decree, they had new courage and were not afraid of the enemy, and their courage put fear into the hearts of the enemy … 2 Chronicles 20:20 says:  ‘Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper…’  The church today resembles Revelation 3:17, which is the description of prisoners of war.  Instead of being conquerors, we’re the prisoners!  No wonder the world has no fear of the Lord.”

Father, twelve and ten years ago, I watched as You put the fear of the Lord into the Ukrainian bureaucrats as I went to adopt my sons.  Everyone asked how in the world I was able to get it done, and done so quickly.  I gave and still give all of the credit to You.  I know that the fear of God works!  Please use it again as we travel next month to a foreign land to spread the news about You.  Open doors that only You can open.  Open hearts in the same way!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Esther 8 -- Intercession As A Weapon

Mordecai was promoted to Haman’s job, and Esther was given all of Haman’s estate.  My commentary said, “God doesn’t always give this kind of a happy ending to everybody’s story … God hasn’t promised that we will be promoted and made rich, but He has assured us that He’s in control of all circumstances and that He will write the last chapter of the story.  If God doesn’t promote us here on earth, He certainly will when we get to glory.”

Esther approached the throne again, asking the king to reverse Haman’s deadly edict against the Jews.  No law of the Medes and Persians could be reversed, so another approach was needed.  Mordecai and the king drafted a new decree that allowed the Jews to assemble and defend themselves, but they could not be the aggressors.  And they were allowed to do this only on the same day that Haman’s decree took place.

Esther’s intercession at the throne saved her people.  Likewise, our own intercession in prayer is very important.  My commentary said, “It was a master stroke of the devil when he got the church and the ministry so generally to lay aside the mighty weapon of prayer.  The devil is perfectly willing that the church should multiply its organizations and its deftly-contrived machinery for the conquering of the world for Christ, if it will only give up praying … One concerned person devoted to prayer can make a great difference in this world, for prayer is the key that releases the power of God…. One plus God is a majority.  James 4:2 says, ‘Yet you do not have because you do not ask.”

Father God, please help me to stoke up my prayer life.  Remind me daily of what a potent weapon it is.  Make me a better prayer warrior by showing me how important it is.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Esther 7 -- Enough Warnings And Longsuffering By God

My commentary said, “God had warned Haman through circumstances, through his advisers, and through his wife, but the prime minister would not heed the warnings … God’s longsuffering led Haman into thinking he was safe … God’s longsuffering today is an opportunity for people to repent, but our sinful world thinks it means God won’t judge sinners at all.”

Esther was diplomatic in her plea for her own life and her people.  She said she wouldn’t have troubled the king if they’d only been sold as slaves (reminding him of Haman’s payment).  “But to sell them into death and total destruction was something for which nobody had enough money.”  She followed Proverbs 16:3-4, which says, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.  The Lord works out everything for his own ends – even the wicked for the day of destruction.”

The king’s rage led him outside to cool off, and Haman used the time to try to sway the queen to save him, pleading on the very couch where she reclined.  Upon returning, the king saw this as an attack on the queen and ordered Haman hanged on the very gallows he’d prepared for Mordecai!

Father, help me to continue to commit to You every area of my life.  I’ve learned well that You do work out everything for Your own ends.  I trust You with my life and with the lives of those I love.  Draw them to You, Father.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Esther 6 -- God's Warnings To Haman

I love the way my commentary fleshed out God’s sovereign actions in this chapter and the warnings God gave to Haman.  Despite his role as villain, Haman was being pursued by God and warned to stop his evil plans.

God’s sovereignty showed up in the king’s insomnia, in his decision to have court records read to him to help him sleep, in the servant’s choice of which book he’d read and what page in that book he’d open to.  God had also been sovereign in preventing the king from originally rewarding Mordecai – saving it for just this day.

All of this was for Haman’s benefit and God had even directed his arrival to coincide with the king’s query about how to reward a man.  Haman’s pride caused him to believe that he was the one being rewarded, and he never dreamed that he’d be having to walk the streets of the city rewarding Mordecai!  After all, he’d gone to the king to ask permission to execute Mordecai!  After a day of humiliation, Haman also was warned by his wife and counselors not to try to harm Mordecai, but he wouldn’t heed the warning.

As the chapter closed, the king’s eunuchs arrived to deliver Haman to the banquet Esther had prepared.  He never suspected that it would be his last meal.

My commentary summarized:  “When God sounds the alarm, it pays to stop, look, and listen – and obey.”

Father, please speak loudly when You warn me.  With Your certain knowledge of everything, why would I ever want to ignore Your warnings?

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Esther 5 -- Four Forces Working To Destroy Haman

My commentary said, “Haman didn’t realize it, but four forces had already begun to work together to destroy him:  divine sovereignty, false confidence, pride, and malice.”

Esther had asked for prayers and fasting by her fellow Jews, because she needed God to intervene when she appeared unbidden before the king.  Faith requires action and she was about to step out in faith.  We don’t have to worry about appearing before our King unbidden, for He loves us and welcomes us into His presence.  We can never ask too much.

Haman’s false confidence was stoked by Esther’s invitation to a private banquet with just the king and her, not once but twice!  It would keep him off guard.  After the first banquet, Haman launched himself on an ego trip in front of his friends and family, swelling with pride, but the sight of Mordecai not acknowledging him and trembling with fear ruined his celebration, and his malice was stoked by his wife’s suggestion of building a gallows on which to hang Mordecai.

God was sovereignly guiding events to a stunning conclusion, yet He built in a delay so that one additional factor could be presented, and Esther had wisely followed what He had placed on her heart in order that His plans would play out perfectly.

Father, I continue to be amazed at Your wisdom and knowledge and at Your ability to sway the hearts of individuals to accomplish Your will.  Help me to prepare for prayer as Esther did and to step out in action in Your timing.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Esther 4 -- The Ocean Liner Illustration

Esther was insulated from all news in the king’s harem.  Her people had begun to fast and pray for God’s intervention, and Mordecai showed up at the king’s gate in the rough cloth of mourning so Esther would be told and inquire.  Through her eunuch Hathach, she received the news of the upcoming annihilation of the Jews.

Her problem, though, was that she didn’t know palace protocol and Mordecai did.  He was also a man and he was in touch with what was going on, my commentary said.  She needed his wisdom.

He reminded her of three solemn facts:  First, being in the palace didn’t guarantee she would live.  Second, God would bring deliverance from so other source if she failed to act.  Mordecai knew the Abrahamic covenant protected the Jews from annihilation.  “To know to do good and not do it is sin (James 4:17),” my commentary said.  Thirdly, he told her that her presence in the palace wasn’t an accident.  She had “come to royal position for such a time as this.”

My commentary also gave several truths about God’s providence:  First, God has divine purposes to accomplish in the world.  Second, He accomplishes His purposes through people.  Third, God will accomplish His purposes even if His servants refuse to obey His will.  Fourth, God isn’t in a hurry but will fulfill His plans in due time.

I loved the illustration A.W. Tozer used:  He compared God’s sovereign purposes to an ocean liner leaving New York City for Liverpool, England,  “The people on board the ship are free to do as they please, but they aren’t free to change the course of the ship … Only a sovereign God is great enough to decree freedom of choice for men and women, and only a sovereign God could fulfill His wise and loving purposes in this world and even make evil cooperate in producing good.  The question is not, ‘Is God in control of this world?’ but, ‘Is God in control of my life?’  Are we cooperating with Him so that we are part of the answer and not part of the problem?”

Father, thank You for allowing me to have a part in Your divine sovereignty.  Guide and direct me to that which You would have me do.  Let me always be part of the answer and not part of the problem.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Esther 3 -- A Look At The Enemy

My commentary gave five reasons why Haman was a dangerous man:

First, his ancestry – He was descended from the Amalekites.  God had declared war on them and Saul had failed to destroy them all when God had given him the chance.

Second, his authority – Xerxes had made him chief officer in the empire.  “Xerxes was a weak and gullible man, susceptible to flattery and anxious to please people.”

Third, his vanity – “The king had to issue a special edict concerning Haman, or the people would not have bowed down to him.”

Fourth, his subtlety – “To begin with, he didn’t even give the king the name of the people who were supposed to be subverting the kingdom.”  He offered what amounted to 2/3 of the kingdom’s annual income at the time to get the law signed.  The kingdom’s treasury had been impoverished by the Greek wars, so that was an incredibly tempting offer.

Fifth, his apathy – After sending out the new law that effectively pronounced a death sentence on thousands of innocent people, Haman sat down for a banquet with the king!

“The situation was not hopeless, however, for God had two people prepared and in place – Mordecai and Queen Esther – and He was ready to act.”

Father, I’ve watched over and over as You have had me in place for times of Your choosing, as You’ve also had others in place to help me.  Let me never fail to place myself where You want me so that I, too, will be ready and available for Your use.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Esther 2 -- Hurry Up And Wait

It seems the theme of this chapter should be, “Hurry up and wait.”  My commentary said, “God is preparing His heroes, and when the opportunity comes, He can fit them into their places in a moment, and the world will wonder where they came from … God is never surprised by circumstances or at a loss for prepared servants.”  Regarding the plan to build a new harem and hopefully find a new queen, it said, “Without being the author of their sin, God so directed the people in this situation that decisions were made that accomplished God’s purposes … It’s good to know that God is on His throne and that no decision is made that can thwart His purposes … There is no attribute of God more comforting to His children than the doctrine of divine sovereignty … Even in the affairs of a pagan empire, God is in control.”

My commentary questioned why no one knew that Mordecai and Esther were Jewish.  Had they openly practiced their religion, everyone should have known.  Matthew Henry said, “All truths are not to be spoken at all times, though an untruth is not to be spoken at any time.”

Regarding Esther’s special treatment in the harem, it said, “God is so great that He can work even in the heart and mind of the keeper of a harem! … Even today, God is working in places where you and I might think He is absent!”

My commentary suggested that Mordecai and Esther could be classified with Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea – “Secret disciples used by God to protect and bury the body of Jesus.  Like these two men, Mordecai and Esther were hidden in the Persian capital because God had a very special work for them to do.”  And that included Mordecai’s hearing about an assassination plot against Xerxes, for which report he received no reward.  But God made sure it was permanently recorded and He would make good use of this later.

Father, I love how You prepare us “for such a time as this.”  It thrills me when situations occur and I can look back and see the way You easily engineered events to put everything perfectly in place.  Thank You for Your sovereignty over not just my life, but over everything in this universe and beyond!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Esther 1 -- A Look At The King First

My commentary did an amazing job of analyzing King Xerxes, filling in a lot of information from secular history.  Pride was his primary fault, and it shows up here in his boastfulness, his drunkenness, and his vindictiveness.  The six-month banquet, it said, was likely a rotating affair, bringing in regional rulers over time, since having all rulers away from their posts for such a long period would weaken the nation.

Xerxes’ pride caused him to want to impress all of these regional rulers, for he was wanting to drum up support for an invasion of Greece to avenge his father’s death while he was also invading them.

My commentary said, “This mighty monarch could control everything but himself … he was master of his empire, but not master of himself … The king could control neither his temper nor his thirst.”  Had he  been sober, he would never have asked his wife to display her beauties before his drunken leaders.  She was right.  He was wrong.  “His anger was only further proof that he was wrong … When the ego is pricked, it releases a powerful poison that makes people do all sorts of things they’d never do if they were humble and submitted to the Lord.”

Xerxes’ advisors didn’t help.  Their sole mission was to placate the king in order to keep their positions of power.  They exaggerated the importance of the event.  Had he humbled himself and agreed with his wife, my commentary said, the other rulers would likely have thought that the king’s marriage was just like their own.  “Still motivated by anger and revenge, and seeking to heal his wounded pride, the king agreed to their advice and had Vashti deposed … He didn’t always stop to think about what he was doing.  It was another evidence of his pride.”

Father God, thank You for removing my desire for alcohol, for that has helped me not to find myself in similar situations as Xerxes’.  Please warn me anytime my pride threatens to overrule my judgment.  Help me to ask if what I’m about to consider doing is honoring of You.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

2 Chronicles 35-36 The End?

Josiah was doing everything God told him to do and things were going great.  But then Egypt’s King Neco marched along Judah’s western border on his way to help Assyria fight off Babylon.  Josiah didn’t like this and led his army out to Megiddo to fight Neco, who sent him a message that said, “There should not be war between us.  I did not come to fight you, but my enemies.  God told me to hurry, and He is on my side.  So don’t fight God or He will destroy you.”  Josiah didn’t listen, and there’s no record that he consulted God about this.  He went into the battle dressed like a commoner and was wounded and lost his life.

The people then chose Josiah’s second son to rule, but 3 months later, Neco had him replaced by his older brother and took him as a prisoner of war to Egypt.  This older brother ruled for 11 years, snubbing the Lord and when Babylon attacked, he was led in chains to Babylon, also as a prisoner of war.  His son became king and also ruled only three months as the nation spiraled into apostasy.  He too was taken to Babylon and his uncle, who was 21, became king.  He stubbornly refused to obey the Lord, as did the leaders at the time.  “The lord had made the Temple holy, but the leaders made it unholy.”

Eleven years of that were enough, and God intervened for the glory of His name.  Babylon burned the Temple, destroyed Jerusalem, and took the people of Judah as slaves to Babylon.  “The country was an empty wasteland for 70 years to make up for the years of Sabbath rest that the people had not kept.”  Yet God safe-kept a faithful remnant in Babylon to reseed the nation once they’d sworn off idolatry.

Father, our nation is quickly following down this path.  We need Your intervention, and we need godly leaders and godly people to obey You and bring us back from the precipice.  Help us to learn from history and not repeat it. 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

2 Chronicles 34 -- A Great King, But Too Late

Imagine the last king, Amon, being 16 and having a child!  And he died at age 24.  His son Josiah became king than at age 8.  Nothing about Josiah’s father honored the Lord, and in those 8 years there is no describing what Josiah must have seen going on in the palace and in the land!

Josiah dedicated himself to the Lord at age 16 – vastly different from what his father had been doing at that age.  He didn’t even have a copy of the Scriptures to guide him!  And by age 20, he’d begun to cleanse the land of idolatry.  It wasn’t enough simply to tear down what was there.  He also defiled those places with human bones so that no one would ever use them again for worship!  His crusade even extended into the northern kingdom of Israel!

At age 26, he set to work restoring the Temple, which was in ruins.  Hilkiah the priest discovered the Temple copy of the Scriptures and handed it to Shaphan to be delivered to the king.  Shaphan presented it, almost as an afterthought, to Josiah during a progress meeting on Temple work, reading it to him.  “When the king heard the words of the Teachings, he tore his clothes to show how upset he was.”  He then commanded Hilkiah to go and ask the Lord about the words he’d heard.  A committee found Huldah, a prophetess, who told them that trouble was coming from the Lord for the nation’s disobedience, but that Josiah wouldn’t have to deal with it because of his faithfulness and humility before the Lord.

Josiah himself gathered the people at the Temple and read to them all the words he’d found.  He made an agreement with the Lord to follow Him with his whole being.  He led the people to promise the same thing.  “He led everyone in Israel to serve the Lord their God.  While Josiah lived, the people obeyed the Lord, the God of their ancestors.”

My commentary says, “In spite of all the good that Josiah did, he couldn’t stop the Lord from sending judgment to Judah.  The sins of Manasseh (Josiah’s grandfather) had been so great that nothing could prevent the Lord from pouring out His wrath on His people.”  (And Manasseh had even repented and tried to undo the evil he’d done!)

Father God, help me to obey You.  Keep me from evil and disobedience.  Help me to lead others to a life of obedience to Your commands, not out of duty, but out of love for what Your Son did for them on the cross.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

2 Chronicles 33 -- Hard To Imagine

“That godly King Hezekiah should have such a wicked son is another one of those puzzles in biblical history … Manasseh become the most wicked king in Judah’s history … He lived a most ungodly life and yet had the longest reign of any king in Jewish history.  It was as though the Lord took His hand off the nation and allowed all the filth to pour out of people’s hearts,” my commentary said.

Yet God didn’t give up on Manasseh.  It took a lot to do the job, but God took him through it.  “He was treated like a steer being led to the slaughter … to Babylon … where they imprisoned him … The Lord used it to chasten him, break his pride, and bring him to his knees.  He prayed to the Lord for forgiveness, and the Lord kept His promise and forgave him.  Even more, the Lord moved the Assyrians to set him free and allow him to return to Jerusalem to rule over the people.  What a trophy of the grace of God! … True repentance is a work of God in the heart and a willing response of the heart to the Lord.  When he returned home, Manasseh proved the reality of his conversion by seeking to undo all the evil he had done … but there was one place where he could make no changes – in the heart of his son Amon.  The young man had been too influenced by his father’s sins to take notice of his new life of obedience … Whereas Manasseh humbled himself before the Lord, his son Amon refused to do so, and the longer he sinned, the harder his heart became,” my commentary added.  His own officers assassinated him.

Father God, I know that since You could turn around the disobedient heart of Manasseh, You can also turn around the disobedient hearts of those I love.  Though Your chastening is humbling, it is definitely worth experiencing if we are to get back to You.  Do it please, Father.  Bring them back to You, as You once did for me.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

2 Chronicles 31-32 Becoming Lost In Worship As God Handles The Trials Of Life

After the Passover celebration, the people spread out from Jerusalem, ridding the countryside of anything used to worship idols.  My commentary said, “It’s one thing to have an exciting time praising God in a two-week meeting, but it’s quite something else to return home afterward and live like people who have met the Lord … Hezekiah sought the Lord and did everything for Him from his heart … Hezekiah also admonished the people to bring their tithes and offerings to the temple … the tithes and offerings brought to the newly consecrated temple were far more than the king expected.  A worshipping people will always be a generous people, especially when their leaders set the example …”

Hezekiah did suffer from pride and more than once it caused problems.  God sent a sickness that humbled Hezekiah.  My commentary said, “God disciplines us because He loves us and wants to prevent us from disobeying Him and losing His blessing.  Chastening isn’t the work of a stern judge as he punishes a criminal.  It’s the ministry of a loving father as he seeks to bring out the very best in his children, for the Father wants us to be conformed to the image of His Son.”

Hezekiah also faced an Assyrian invasion.  He prayed to God for deliverance rather than running to Egypt for help.  According to my commentary, “When we allow God to have His way, the trials of life work for us and not against us, and they bring great glory to the Lord.”  That’s what Hezekiah discovered … “Hezekiah was lost in worship as he realized the greatness of the Lord, the only true God.  This is a good example to follow when we pray about life’s problems.  When we focus of the Lord and see how great He is, it helps to put our own problems in perspective.”

Father, please help me to spread my problems before You and to ask You to solve them rather than simply attacking them myself.  I want You to get the glory.  Help me to be lost in worship and to realize the greatness of You, my Lord and God, as You handle easily the trials of my life.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

2 Chronicles 29-30 Similarities to Today

Hezekiah knew the right thing to do.  He had to dismantle everything that his dad had done wrong and make things right.  Each time I read these chapters, I see a correspondence with what we read in the New Testament about our bodies being a temple:

29:3 – Hezekiah opened the doors of the Temple and repaired them.  We must open the doors we have shut in our hearts, oil the hinges, and make sure our hearts are accessible to God.

29:5-8 – He said, “Remove from the Temple everything that makes it impure.  Our ancestors were unfaithful to God … They left the Lord … They rejected him … They shut the doors … the let the fire go out…”  We have to remove from our lives everything that makes them impure.  We have to open the doors to our hearts.  If the fire has gone out, we’ve got to strike a match and set it alight again.

29:9-11 – Hezekiah decided to make an agreement with the Lord.  He said, “My sons, don’t waste any more time.  The Lord chose you to stand before Him, to serve Him, to be His servants…”  Often we forget, because of sin, that God chose us and opened our hearts.  When we willfully shut our hearts, we often fail to remember how much He love us in the beginning, when we were His enemies, choosing us anyway.  If we have become His enemies again, there is already precedent for coming back to Him.  It’s our move. 

29:15-20 – They took out the unclean things they found in the Temple and we must do the same, with no regret for their loss.  For 16 days they celebrated their new cleanness.  They also put back the tools used for cleansing the temple.  We too have tools for our own cleansing – Bible study, accountability partners, internet filters, etc.

29:29-31 – “When the sacrifices were completed King Hezekiah and everyone with him bowed down and worshiped.”  For us today, we can’t worship properly while still being influenced by our old lifestyles.  We too must sacrifice our old ways and then worship God with thankfulness for giving us the strength to do so.

30:1-5 – They’d missed the Passover Day, but they celebrated it a month later once everything was properly in place.  We too don’t have to meet deadlines and try to force worship when we aren’t yet ready.  God will honor our worship when our hearts are directed to Him.

30: 6-9  “Return to the Lord … don’t be like your ancestors… don’t be stubborn … obey the Lord willingly … serve the Lord your God … come back to the Lord … The Lord your God is kind and merciful.  He will not turn away from you if you return to Him.”  In other words, break the chain.  Don’t do what you’ve always done or what your family has always done.  Stubbornness needs to go.  Willingness to let God work needs to replace it.

30:10-15 – “The messengers went to every town … but the people laughed at them and made fun of them.  But some men … were sorry for what they had done and went to Jerusalem.”  Yes, those around us who delight in sin will try to make fun of the changes we want to make.  They are acting like boys.  But men examine their hearts and make the changes needed.

Father, I see in this a desire by many guys to not want to leave the kings of boyhood and take on the responsibilities of manhood.  They don’t want to do the hard things.  Where would our nation be if our soldiers and sailors failed to do this?  God, please help my sons and others I love to see this happening in their own lives and to do the hard things that will let them remove from their bodily temples the idols of boyhood.  Produce in them what they need to become men of God.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

2 Chronicles 28 -- He LEFT The Lord

Ahaz was just about the worst king Judah ever had.  He seemed set on breaking the record of the number of rules God had set that he would break.  He made metal idols, burned incense to idols, and made his children walk through fire.  He left the Lord.

God sent the armies of Aram and Israel to invade.  Israel’s army killed 120,000 soldiers from Judah in one day.  They captured 200,000 prisoners and headed back to Israel, but God sent a prophet to stop the Israelites from taking their cousins as slaves and they listened.  They treated the prisoners’ wounds, fed them, and returned them with the spoils of war to Judah.  Israel was at least partially listening to God.

When the Edomite army attacked, Ahaz ran to Assyria for help instead of to God.  Ahaz removed valuables from the Temple and his palace to bribe Assyria, but it didn’t work.  Ahaz even sacrificed to the idols of the people of Damascus!  Then he broke apart the things from the Temple and locked the doors!  He set up altars on every street corner so incense could be burned to idols.  God finally had enough and took his life at age 36.

Father, thank You for helping me to hear You when I was once angry with You for no good reason.  You pursued me even when I treated You like my enemy.  I am still astounded at the love You showed to me in spite of myself!  Help my boys to wake up and come back to You.  Let them see how much You’ve loved them by what You’ve already done in their lives.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

2 Chronicles 26-27 More Good Starts, But....

“Uzziah sought to do the will of God … until he foolishly attempted to become a priest and God judged him by making him a leper … From the very beginning of his reign, Uzziah showed himself to be a faithful worshipper of Jehovah … Uzziah had Zechariah as his counselor and sought to know and please the Lord … Uzziah allowed his accomplishments to swell his head …” my commentary said.

He forced his way past the priests into the Temple and was ready to offer incense on the altar when 81 priests bravely blocked his way, refusing to let him near the altar.  Uzziah raged at them, but then God stepped in and leprosy began to cover his body.  He was hurried out of the holy precincts and lived the rest of his life in forced isolation because of the disease.  “Those who violated the holy temple were supposed to be put to death, but God graciously spared the king’s life and gave him leprosy, a living death,” my commentary said.

His son Jotham ruled as co-regent until Uzziah’s death, and he was considered a good king.  “So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God (27:6).”

Father, help me not to nurture unholy ambitions to intrude into anything which You have not appointed me.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

2 Chronicles 25 -- Another Good Beginning Followed By A Bad Ending

This seems to be a repeating pattern:  “Amaziah made an excellent beginning, but he later abandoned the Lord and was also assassinated.”

My commentary pointed out some of his primary sins:

Unbelief – Despite the reassuring word of a prophet that God would help his army defeat Edom, he hired 100,000 mercenaries from apostate Israel.  “His faith was in numbers and not in the Lord … Amaziah was not wholehearted in his relationship  to the Lord and this revealed itself in the way he argued with the prophet about the will of God.”  He also worried about the money he’d already paid for the mercenaries, but the prophet told him God would give him much more.  He ended up not using those soldiers, and they looted several cities in Judah and killed 3,000 people there in their anger.

Idolatry – He defeated Edom by listening to the Lord, but stupidly took their idols with him and began to worship the idols that couldn’t protect their own people!  He also interrupted the warning of another prophet about it!  The prophet managed to get on last word in:  God would destroy the king for his sin.  “The greatest judgment God can send to people is to let them have their own way,” my commentary repeated.

Pride – “Inflated by his great success and unconcerned about his great sin, Amaziah looked for other worlds to conquer and decided to challenge Israel … Amaziah was bent on defeating Israel and becoming the ruler of a united kingdom.”  He rejected a second warning from God and was soundly defeated and imprisoned in exile.  Upon returning, he was chased and killed by his own officers!

“He was a double-minded man who didn’t wholeheartedly serve the Lord.  He had his own agenda and didn’t take time to see the mind of the Lord,” my commentary concluded.

Father, please love me enough to never let me have my own way when I’m acting in opposition to You.  I don’t want to receive Your greatest judgment.  Shake me and wake me instead!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

2 Chronicles 24 -- It Isn't Enough Simply To Know God's Truth

“What a person believes ultimately determines how a person behaves… When we believe the truth, God works for us, but when we believe a lie, the Devil works against us,” my commentary said.

Joash’s life had been saved by the high priest when he was a toddler.  All of his life the high priest had faithfully taught Joash and trained him to rule, but his faith was shallow.  “The king had never taken the truth into his heart and allowed it to take root … He had obeyed God’s law only because his mentor was watching … It isn’t enough simply to know God’s truth; we must obey His truth from the heart.  Truth in the mind can lead to obedience, but truth in the heart and obedience from the heart will produce godly character.  God’s Word and God’s will must be internalized – received into the heart – or we can never develop consistent Christian character.  Until duty and discipline become delight, we are only reluctant servants who obey God because we have to, not because we want to,” my commentary added.

Father, I know this was the case in my own heart for years, and I thank You so much for opening my heart fully to You over 20 years ago.  Please do the same for those I love.  Help them to change duty and discipline into delight.  Help them to love You as I’ve come to love You and even more.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford