II Chronicles 22
Ahaziah new kingverse 1
And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his youngest son king
in his stead – for the band of men that came with the Arabians
to the camp had slain all the eldest
So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned
Athaliah his mother counseled Ahaziahverses 2-4
Forty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign
and he reigned ONE YEAR in Jerusalem
his mother’s name also was Athaliah
the daughter of Omri
He also WALKED in the ways of the house of Ahab
for his mother was his counselor to do wickedly
Wherefore he did EVIL in the sight of the LORD
like the house of Ahab for they were his counselors
after the death of his father to his destruction
Ahaziah visits wounded king of Israelverses 5-6
He WALKED also after their counsel
and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel
to war against Hazael king of Syria
at Ramoth- gilead
and the Syrians smote Joram
And he returned to be healed in Jezreel
because of the wounds which were given him at Ramah
when he fought with Hazael king of Syria
And Azariah the son of Jehoram king of Judah
went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab
at Jezreel – because he was sick
Jehu was appointed to kills those of Ahab’s familyverse 7
And the destruction of Ahaziah was of God by coming to Joram
for when he was come – he went out with Jehoram against
Jehu the son of Nimshi
whom the LORD had ANOINTED
to cut off the house of Ahab
Jehu kills Ahaziah and other of his relativesverses 8-9
And it came to pass – that – when Jehu was executing judgment
on the house of Ahab and found the princes of Judah
and the sons of the brethren of Ahaziah
that ministered to Ahaziah – he slew them
and he sought Ahaziah – and they caught him
(for he was hid in Samaria)
and brought him to Jehu
and when they had slain him
they buried him because said they
He is the son of Jehoshaphat
who sought the LORD with all his heart
So the house of Ahaziah had no power to keep still the kingdom
Joash spared from killing spree of Athaliahverses 10-12
But when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead
she arose and destroyed all the seed royal of the house of Judah
But Jehoshabeath – the daughter of the king
took Joash the son of Ahaziah
and stole him from among the king’s sons
that were slain
and put him and his nurse in the bedchamber
So Jehoshabeath – the daughter of king Jehoram
the wife of Jehoiada the priest
(for she was the sister of Ahaziah)
hid him from Athaliah
so that she slew him not
and he was with them hid in the
house of God six years
And Athaliah reigned over the land
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 3 He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab; for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly. (3289 “counsellor” [ya’ats] means someone who gives advice about problems, to consult for anyone, plan, adviser, or one who speaks and urges certain directions of actions or thought, implying the advice given is considered wise and valuable)
DEVOTION: Mothers are a great influence on their children for good or evil. Here we have a mother who encouraged her son to do wrong rather than what was right in the eyes of the LORD.
This was part of the family of Ahab who was married to Jezebel who brought the worship of Baal to the forefront in the nation of Judah. This nation was moving further and further away from the LORD because of the influence of this evil family.
The LORD was allowing this for a time period to show just how far those who claim to love the LORD will go in just one generation. Each generation will make a choice but if the previous generation teaches only the worship of a false god the next generation will worship the false god.
It came to the point where the LORD did judge the family. But again, HE is a God who is longsuffering with HIS people. HE gives every opportunity for repentance but sometimes it never comes and HE must judge.
When they stand before HIM in the final judgment, they will not be able to claim that they never had a chance to repent. HE will show them all the chances they had and chose to turn their backs on HIM. They will have no excuse.
We have many families that think that they can live in a land that preaches Jesus Christ and yet think that they can reject the Gospel and there are no consequences. This is not true. Everyone will stand before the LORD one day and answer for their choices.
We will not be able to blame our family upbringing as an excuse because the LORD will show how HE put other people into our life that have had a witness for Jesus Christ and they have rejected their message as well.
Blaming family can only slow us down in our relationship with the LORD. It will not hold up at the Great White Throne Judgment.
CHALLENGE: We have to listen to the testimony of those who do love the LORD and chose a life in Christ before it is too late no matter what our parents taught that was wrong.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 7 And the destruction of Ahaziah was of God by coming to Joram: for when he was come, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab (8395 “destruction” [tebuwcah] means a treading down, ruin, downfall, or downtreading)
DEVOTION: Can you imagine a mother teaching her son to do wickedly? Here we have an example of a heathen family ruling over both Judah and Israel. The family of Ahab was evil in the sight of the LORD. The LORD had appointed a man named Jehu to kill of the descendants of Ahab because they were so wicked. The LORD can only allow wickedness for a time period. HE then sends judgment.
God was in control. The LORD had judged all the descendants of Ahab. The descendants of Ahab had married into the family of David. The offspring were part of Ahab’s descendants. They did evil in the sight of the LORD. Even the young ones didn’t serve the LORD because they had their MOTHER to give them counsel to do EVIL.
It is a sad day when a mother is the one who leads her children to do EVIL. The family was set on not following the LORD.
The LORD knows those who are followers of HIM. When the evil of a family reaches a certain point the LORD turns them over to destruction. HE takes HIS time. We would like things to happen overnight.
We find that Ananias and Sapphira died right after they told their lie to Peter. God sometimes works that way, but most of the time HE works slowly. HE gives plenty of opportunities for people to repent. There can be no one that stands before the LORD on judgment day and say that he or she didn’t have a chance to repent.
Many of our family and friends don’t know the LORD. We need to share the truth of the Word of God with them every chance we get. Are we sharing with our family and friends?
CHALLENGE: Train children to follow the instructions found in the Bible. Our conscience should be clear when we stand before the LORD. Many parents are going to have to answer to the LORD for their lack of proper training of their children.
: 9 And he sought Ahaziah: and they caught him (for he was hid in in Samaria) and brought him to Jehu: and when they had slain him, they buried him: Because, said they, he is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart. So the house of Ahaziah had no power to keep still the kingdom. (1875 “darash] means to seek with care, to enquire about, investigate, to try to get or reach something one desires, or account for)
DEVOTION: The LORD had given a commission to Jehu to kill the family of Ahab. This meant that every relative was to be killed because of their worship of the false god Baal. They had caused both nations to drift further and further from the LORD. The LORD’S longsuffering was over and judgment had to given to the family. One man was given the assignment and he knew what the LORD wanted and did it.
However, he did honor the grandfather who loved the LORD even though his future generations did not. There was one who was only one years old that would come to the throne and would allow the worship of the LORD to be practiced in the future for part of his life.
It is so easy for one generation to cause problems for the next generation if there is not the proper worship of the LORD in the family. This false belief moves from generation with too much ease.
It is hard to follow the LORD when we live in a society that thinks very little of those who do. Christians need to stand together instead of fighting with one another over minor things that cause division.
How did your family raise you? How are you raising the next generation in their relationship with the LORD? Within one generation a family can turn from the LORD.
CHALLENGE: Watch out for the little foxes!!!
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 11 But Jehoshabeath,, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king’s sons that were slain, and put him and his nurse in a bedchamber. So Jehoshabeath,, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest, (for she was he sister of Ahaziah,) hid him from Athaliah, so that she slew him not. (1589 “stole” [ganab] means carry away, purloin, to deceive, to remove from a certain place, environment, or mental or emotional state, kidnap, do secretly, or kidnap)
DEVOTION: One thing that a parent is supposed to do is protect their children from any harm. Here we have a grandmother who wanted to kill all those who could challenge her to the throne of Judah.
Judah was supposed to be the better of the two tribes but we find that even in this tribe there was problems. When there is a power change there seems to be the idea that the one who wins in Judah is the one who can get rid of anyone else that can challenge for the position. Murder is not out of the question.
So we have a grandmother killing all the children of her son to take over the kingdom for her own personal benefit.
The problem here was that one of the grandchildren was hidden from her and she didn’t get a chance to kill him. It is a sad state of affairs for this to be happening in what is supposed to be the chosen seed of David.
Today, we have the children of men of God who want to raise their children to honor the LORD finding out that someone in the family doesn’t want to honor the LORD even when the family has a good reputation of loving the LORD.
This can even happen in the families of great preachers of the Word of God. They can try to raise their families to love the LORD but when these children become adults they go the way of the world.
Now in this instead we have one good grandson and his mother hiding from a grandmother that doesn’t care about her son’s family but wants to run the kingdom for her own pleasure.
Could this happen even in the church today/ Is it happening when parents allow their children to not follow the teachings of the Word of God and preach a message that is not pleasing to the LORD?
CHALLENGE: We need to set an example for our children and grandchildren that is pleasing to the LORD. If we honor the LORD, HE will generally allow our children and grandchildren to be genuine followers of the LORD.
: 12 And he was with them hid in the house of the God six years; and Athaliah reigned over the land. (2244 “hid” [chaba’] means prevent from being seen or discovered, draw back, concealed, or do secretly.)
DEVOTION: Here is a grandmother wanting to kill all her grandchildren, so that, she could reign over the nation of Judah. This was a wicked woman who was part of a wicked family that brought false worship to Judah.
She had an one year old grandson that was taken by his mother, to be with her husband, in the Temple to conceal him against Athaliah his grandmother. They concealed him for six years.
Can you imagine a grandmother who thought more of herself than her grandchildren? Yet we have this happening even today when we see grandparents who are not concerned with the life of their grandchildren in relationship to the LORD.
There are individuals who claim to be believers who have very little to do with their grandchildren getting to know the LORD and growing in the LORD. The primary responsibility lies with the parents but if there are Christian grandparents involved with the family, they should also take a big interest in seeing that their grandchildren are prayed for and raised to love the LORD.
Some children will not let their parents help them raise their children to know the LORD, but those who will allow should have active grandparents working together with the parents to see the future generations love the LORD.
Our nation seems to be canceling parent involvement in the training of children in the public workings in our schools and other parts of society. We need to make sure where we have an influence that they understand the difference between the standards of the world and the standards of the LORD.
Hiding children from society doesn’t seem to be an option today but we can train whenever and wherever we are given a chance to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the LORD.
CHALLENGE: Do all you can as parents and grandparents to instruct the next generation in the worship of the LORD.
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
Jehoiada – the priestverse 11
House of Godverse 12
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal)verses 4, 7, 9
Sight of the LORDverse 4
God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign)verses 7, 12
LORD had anointedverse 7
House of Godverse 12
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead – God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Hazael – king of Syriaverses 5, 6
Jehu – son of Nimshiverse 7
LORD anointed to cut off the house of Ahab
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Walked in ways of house of Ahabverses 3, 5
Bad counselorsverses 3-5
Wickedlyverse 3
Evilverse 4
Killing of royal seed by Athaliahverse 10
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Anointedverse 7
Sought the LORD with all his heartverse 9
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Jerusalemverse 1
Ahaziah – king of Judahverses 1-9
Son of Jehoram
42 at beginning of reign
Only reigned one year
Walked in the ways of house of Ahab
wicked house
Destruction of by God
Killed
Athaliah – daughter of Omriverses 2, 10, 12
Wicked counsellor to son Ahaziah
Destroyed all the royal seed of
House of Judah
Reigned over Judah
Jehoram – son of Ahab – king of Israelverse 5
War with Hazael king of Syria
Destruction of Ahaziah was of Godverse 7
Jehu anointed to kill family of Ahabverses 7-9
Testimony of Jehoshaphatverse 9
sought the LORD
Jehoshabeath – daughter of Ahaziahverse 11
Took Joash – son of Ahaziah
Wife of Jehoiada the priest
Joashverses 11, 12
Hid from Athaliah
Hid in house of God six years
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
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QUOTES regarding passage
3–4 The way that Ahaziah’s mother “encouraged him in doing wrong” is explained by this queen’s patronizing of the Phoenician Baal worship of her step-mother Jezebel (23:17), and is a further testimony to the dominating influence of both these evil women (21:6; cf. 21:4 comment and Deut 7:3).
Ahaziah was not only encouraged to do evil by his mother, but he also followed the bad advice of “the members of the house related to him through his mother” (Keil, p. 404). This was “to his undoing” (v.4). (Payne, J. B. (1988). 1, 2 Chronicles. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 508). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
His mother, Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri, continued her pernicious influence in Judah after the death of her husband. She was her son’s chief counselor to do evil—“to his destruction.” Ahaziah had been spared (v. 1) so as to leave a son of David on the throne, but he proved himself ungrateful by repeating his father’s sins. He joined with Jehoram (Joram) to war against … Syria. Jehu and his men found Ahaziah hiding in Samaria and killed him. The king’s servants gave him a decent burial (2 Kgs. 9:28) because he was a grandson of the godly Jehoshaphat. Ahaziah left no son old enough to carry on the kingdom. (MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. (A. Farstad, Ed.) (p. 457). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.)
The people make Ahaziah king (841 b.c.), an act of loyalty to the Davidic covenant (22:1–9). His older brothers had been killed by Bedouin raiders (v. 1; 21:17). There is poetic justice in the fact that Jehoram, who murdered all but one of another man’s sons, had all but one of his sons murdered. Ahaziah follows the ways of Ahab. Particularly, he supports the worship of Baal-Melqart in Judah. He continues the political alliance with Israel.
Chronicles emphasizes God’s all-pervasive sovereignty in noting that God uses Ahaziah’s friendship with Joram of Israel to bring about his death. Jehu kills several members of the Judean royal family along with Joram of Israel; it is a great religious irony that the heir of the covenant dynasty dies in God’s judgment on the devotees of Baal-Melqart. (Bowling, A. C. (1995). 1-2 Chronicles. In Evangelical Commentary on the Bible (Vol. 3, p. 286). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.)
Ver. 4. Wherefore he did evil in the sight of the Lord, like the house of Ahab, &c.] See 2 Kings 8:27. for they were his counsellors, after the death of his father, to his destruction; both of soul and body; for they gave him bad advice, both in religious and civil things; these were some of the family or court of the king of Israel, that his mother sent for after his father’s death to be of his council. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 3, p. 73). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
A GLIMPSE INTO ETERNITY
And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. John 17:5
The Lord is looking at what is before Him, and this is His prayer. Having completed all the work, having done everything that the Father had appointed Him to do, He asks, as it were, “Has not the time now arrived when I can come back to You, exactly where I was before? I have done the work. Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” But the astonishing thing for us to remember at this point is that He goes back as God-Man! In eternity He was God the Son, pure deity, and He shared the glory; but now He goes back as God-Man. And as God-Man, and our representative, the glory that He momentarily laid aside at the request of the Father is restored to Him, and thus as God-Man and Mediator He again shares this ineffable glory of the eternal God.
And so this prayer was answered. It began to be answered at the resurrection, the event that finally convinced even the disciples that He was the Son of God. They did not quite understand it before, but, as Paul puts it in writing to the Romans, our Lord was “declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4). Who is this who has conquered death and the grave? He must be, He is the Son of God. Consider the appearances after the resurrection. You find the disciples in Jerusalem behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jews, and suddenly He came in without the door being opened. “You see who I am,” he says in effect. “I have flesh and bones, and I can eat.” See the glorious person of this risen Lord.
A Thought to Ponder: In eternity He was God the Son, but now He goes back as God-Man. (From Saved in Eternity, pp. 77-78, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
The spiritual truths, which God wanted to ensure were never forgotten, are memorialized in a ceremony-often involving a meal. The Passover meal and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are symbolic meals designed to commemorate the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, so the people of Israel would never forget what God had done for them.
The New Testament counterpart is the Lord’s Supper, in which we eat a symbolic meal to memorialize the deliverance of the church from sin. When we observe communion, we celebrate a meal which has been observed in unbroken succession for 2,000 years. (Quiet Walk)
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; and optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.
Life can either be accepted or changed. If it is not accepted, it must be changed. If it cannot be changed, then it must be accepted.
Life is fraught with opportunities to keep your mouth shut.
The main vice of capitalism is the uneven distribution of prosperity. The main vice of socialism is the even distribution of misery.
Everyone is in favor of free speech. Hardly a day passes without its being extolled, but some people’s idea of it is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone else says anything back, that is an outrage.
When you’re 20 you care what everyone thinks, when you’re 40 you stop caring what everyone thinks, when you’re 60 you realize no one was ever thinking about you in the first place. You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something sometime in your life.
If you’re not a liberal at twenty you have no heart, if you’re not a conservative at forty, you have no brain.
Winston Churchill
Vincent Mercer writes: Be careful how you treat people. What you do to others has a funny way of coming back on you.
Nehemiah 2
Nehemiah requests the king’s help in rebuilding Jerusalem.
INSIGHT
Nehemiah comes before the king unable to conceal his agitation over the situation in Jerusalem. When we are faced with situations that need change, preparation is vital. We may not be able to do anything about it at the moment, but we can ask ourselves this question: “If it lay within our power to do anything we wanted to do, what would we do?” If we can answer that, then we will recognize opportunity when it knocks, and we can capitalize on it as Nehemiah does. (Quiet Walk)
CLOTHES AND DURATION OF LIFE
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature Matthew 6:27
There is this matter of clothing. “What shall we put on? How shall we appear before people?” The way to be happy is to impress people with your beauty or your greatness or this or that; your elegance! And immediately everybody looks at you with admiration; so you are perfectly happy, and you put your head on your pillow at night with great contentment; you have achieved your objective
Money, food, drink, clothing–these are the things, says our Lord, for which people live. In other words, you see, He says that the tragedy of life is due to the fact that men and women are living and are thinking as if they were only bodies. The thought, the attention, the planning, the scheming, the thinking are all in the realm of the body. People conceive of themselves as if they were but animals. That is what animals do–they eat and drink and so on, and so do men and women.
These are the things they talk about; as you see a peacock preening himself, so does a man and so does a woman. What they put on, the impression they make–“they live for these things,” says our Lord, and hence all the troubles.
And, of course, there is this other priority that He mentions, and that is the extension of your life in this world. He puts it in these words: “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?” (Matthew 6:27). What that really means is, “Which of you by taking thought can add one inch, as it were, to the duration of your life?” But that is what people are interested in–to prolong life, and all the care and the thought and the attention that they put into that! I am not saying this is wrong. Certainly, thank God for medicine, for the extension of life; but, says our Lord, do you make that your priority?
A Thought to Ponder
The tragedy of life is that men and women are living and are thinking as if they were only bodies. (From The Kingdom of God, pp. 34-35, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
Nehemiah 1
Nehemiah weeps as he learns of Jerusalem’s deterioration.
INSIGHT
One of the essential characteristics of leadership is that the leader feels the full weight of the plight of certain people and assumes responsibility for their condition. Many people knew of Jerusalem’s condition, but few felt the impact and had the vision for response. Nehemiah did and God used him in a mighty way. What in life “hits” you? What situations cause you to feel the impact of the plight of others, and for what situations do you have a vision for response? It might be as large as a nation or as small as a church nursery. But if you feel it and have a vision for it, chances are God would like to use you there. (Quiet Walk)
A TOTALITARIAN DEMAND
Taste and see that the LORD is good. Psalm 34:8
Christianity is a way of life. And it is a way of life that demands a total commitment; it is, if you like, a totalitarian demand. It does not merely ask that we consider it and say, “Oh yes, I can take on that teaching; that’s a good emphasis there, I’ll add that!” No; it is not something to be applied as we think and when and where. Jesus says, “Seek ye first.” In other words, let me put it like this: Men and women will never know the truth of Christianity or the blessings that it can give until they have given themselves to it. You can examine Christianity from the outside, but you will never know it, you will never get it. “If any man will do his will,” says our Lord, “he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God” (John 7:17).
Here is a great fundamental principle about this way of life: “Taste and see that the LORD is good” (Psalm 34:8). You will never know that the Lord is good until you have tasted Him, until you have tried Him. So many of us are like a man standing in an orchard, and there he looks at an apple tree or a pear tree, and he examines it at a distance. Somebody says, “You know, that has a most wonderful flavor. If only you would try it, you would say that it is the most wonderful fruit you’ve ever tasted in your life.” But the man looks on, and he is not quite satisfied; he is not convinced, and he can argue and stay there for as long as he likes, but he will never know the fruit until he takes it and puts it in his mouth and bites it and proves it. “Taste and see that the LORD is good.”
A theoretical examination of Christianity will never bring us anywhere. Our Lord always calls for a committal.
A Thought to Ponder: Christianity is a way of life that demands a total commitment.
(From The Kingdom of God, pp. 31-32, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
Not Fatherless
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Romans 8:16
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