II Kings 3
Jehoram followed his father’s example: evilverses 1-3
Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria
in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah – and reigned twelve years
and he wrought evil in the sight of the LORD
BUT not like his father and like his mother
for he put away the image of Baal that his father had made
nevertheless, he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam the
son of Nebat – which made Israel to sin
he departed not there from
Johoram asks for Jehoshaphat’s helpverses 4-8
And Mesha king of Moab was a sheepmaster
and rendered unto the king of Israel an hundred thousand lambs
an hundred thousand rams – with the wool
BUT it came to pass – when Ahab was dead
that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel
And king Jehoram went out of Samaria the same time – and numbered all Israel
and he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah – saying
The king of Moab hath rebelled against me
Will you go with me against Moab to battle?
And he said
I will go up – I am as you are – my people as your people
and my horses as your horses
And he said
Which way shall we go up?
And he answered
The way through the wilderness of Edom
King of Edom joined Israel & Judahverse 9
So the king of Israel went – and the king of Judah – and the king of Edom
and they fetched a compass of seven days’ journey
and there was no water for the host
and for the cattle that followed them
Three kings go to consult Elishaverses 10-12
And the king of Israel said
Alas that the LORD hath called these three kings together
to deliver them into the hand of Moab
But Jehoshaphat said
Is there not here a prophet of the LORD
that we may inquire of the LORD by him?
And one of the king of Israel’s servants answered and said
Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat
which poured water on the hands of Elijah
And Jehoshaphat said
The word of the LORD is with him
So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom
went down to him
Elisha asked why they were coming to himverses 13
And Elisha said unto the king of Israel
What have I to do with you?
Get you to the prophets of your father
and to the prophets of your mother
And the king of Israel said unto him
Nay – for the LORD hath called these three kings together
to deliver them into the hand of Moab
Elisha will deal with king of Judahverses 14-19
And Elisha said
As the LORD of hosts lives – before WHOM I stand – surely
were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat
the king of Judah
I would not look toward you – nor see you
but now bring me a minstrel
And it came to pass – when the minstrel played
that the hand of the LORD came upon him
and he said -Thus said the LORD
Make this valley full of ditches
For thus says the LORD
You shall not see wind – neither shall ye see rain
yet that valley shall be filled with water
that ye may drink – both you and your cattle – beasts
And this is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD
HE will deliver the Moabites also into your hand
And you shall smite every fenced city and every choice city
and shall fell every good tree and stop all wells of water
and mar every good piece of land with stones
Water comes as Elisha statedverse 20
And it came to pass in the morning – when the meat offering was offered – that
BEHOLD – there came water by the way of Edom
and the country was filled with water
Army of Moab deceivedverses 21-23
And when all the Moabites heard that the kings were come up to fight
against them – they gathered all that were able to put on armor
and upward – and stood in the border
And they rose up early in the morning – and the sun shone upon the water
and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood
and they said – This is blood – the kings are surely slain
and they have smitten one another
now therefore – Moab – to the spoil
Israelites attack Moabitesverses 24-25
And when they came to the camp of Israel
the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites
so that they fled before them
but they went forward smiting the Moabites
even in their country
And they beat down the cities
and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone
and filled it – and they stopped all the wells of water
and felled all the good trees
only in Kirharaseth left they the stones thereof
howbeit the slingers went about it
and smote it
King of Moab sacrifices his sonverses 26-27
And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him
he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords
to break through even unto the king of Edom
but they could not
then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead
and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall
And there was great indignation against Israel – and they departed from
him and returned to their own land
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 3 Nevertheless he cleaved to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom. (1692 “cleaved” [dabaq] means stick, to cling, hold, to remain emotionally or intellectually attached, keep close, to be glued, or stay with)
DEVOTION: We can cause other people to sin by our actions. Here we have a king who was part of the nation of Israel who wasn’t worshiping the LORD. He caused the tribes under his rule to not worship the LORD.
He allowed them to worship whoever and whatever they wanted except to go to Jerusalem to worship the LORD in HIS Temple. So the nation was moving further and further away from the LORD. This would lead to captivity but in this chapter, we find that it led their enemies to do drastic things to save their nation.
Our actions should never cause others to sin. If we are a leader, we should make sure that we train those under us to know the difference between right and wrong. We should set an example of what is right.
If our actions are wrong, we need to confess them to the LORD and the people who are hurt by our actions, so that, they know that we know that it is sin. The LORD will forgive us if there is confession. The people will see that we know that it was wrong and not follow that example in the future.
A whole nation was affected by a king that didn’t honor the LORD properly. A whole community can be affected by a leader who is living in such a way that is displeasing to the LORD.
Taking this to the local level the people around a church need to see the people of the church set an example that is pleasing to the LORD. This can only happen if the church wants to reach them with the message of salvation. Those outside of Christ look at the leadership of the church for help in some given situation if they are confident the church is honoring the LORD by their actions.
Israel was not setting a good example for the nations around them at this time. God was going to have to judge them for their actions and lack of proper worship of HIM.
CHALLENGE: Is HE going to have to judge us for our lack of proper worship of HIM in our local church?
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 11 But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD, that we may inquire of the LORD by him? And one of the king of Israel’s servants answered and said, Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, which poured water on the hands of Elijah. (1875 “inquire” [darash] means to seek with care, investigate, resort to, seek, to address a question to and expect an answer from, or consult)
DEVOTION: Too often we are asking the wrong people for advice. This is true today and it was true throughout history. Here we find the king of Judah asking if there was any other prophets that could be consulted regarding whether to go to battle or not. He wanted to be sure that the LORD was involved in the decision.
The king of Israel was consulting false prophets and worshipers of false gods to answer his questions the way he wanted them answered. He didn’t have a relationship with the one TRUE GOD of creation.
Today we have many people who want to consult something or someone who is not the real God of the Bible. They will go to many sources for information that says what they want to hear. They think that if they say that they have consulted someone others will follow them.
We have to make sure that we know the source of the information we are given by others and especially that we receive our information for a Biblical source rather than any other source of information.
If it is not found in the Bible, we need to be sure that we consult someone who has a reputation of being close to the LORD and is willing to seek HIS wisdom regarding any decision we will make.
There are good man and women who have a close relationship with the LORD. We need to find these individuals and ask them to help us make wise major and minor decisions in our lives.
Once we learn from these individuals, we can have more confidence when we go to the LORD for HIS advice in our decisions regarding our life and our daily walk with HIM. Our closeness to HIM and HIS Word helps us make wise decisions that please HIM and are good for us.
CHALLENGE: Should we ask the LORD daily for HIS wisdom regarding choices we make for ourselves and our family? If yes is the answer, then we need to make sure we are doing it regularly.
: 14 And Elisha said, As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward you, nor see you. (5375 “regard” [nacah] means to lift, accept, help, honorable, receive, or respect)
DEVOTION: The three kings come together to fight against Moab. One is the king of Israel who is the son of Ahab. He does things that are EVIL in the sight of the LORD. The second is the king of the Edomites who were not to be given a place with the people of God. They were the descendants of Lot. The third king was the king of Judah. He was a good king.
The Bible warns throughout the Old Testament and New Testament that believers are not to make covenant with those who are not followers of the God of the Bible. Here was Jehoshaphat working with an evil king of Israel and a foreign king of Edom. Elisha doesn’t recognize the king of Israel or the king of Edom because of their relationship with the LORD. One of the interesting facts is that the king of Israel mentions the LORD was the one who got them together. He credits the LORD with the idea that they will have a victory.
They gather their armies together and go to battle. They find out they don’t have enough water to drink or give to the cattle with them. They want to find a way to get water. They think of a prophet. The prophet of the day is Elisha. They go to Elisha to ask him to ask the LORD for water. Elisha didn’t pull any punches. He told Jehoram what he thought of him. Remember that Jehoram is a descendant of Ahab.
God had judged the sons of Ahab because of the evil his father had brought to Israel. Elisha didn’t have any respect for him. The only reason he even talked to him was because of Jehoshaphat.
Jehoshaphat was trying to honor the LORD in his reign as king of Judah. Elisha gave them the word of the LORD. The LORD was going to provide water and give them the victory over the Moabites. We need to be sure that we don’t flatter people just because of their position.
We have to be honest in our dealings with people. Sometimes it is better to say nothing at all than to say something wrong. Our speech is important to our testimony. Elisha didn’t spice up his language. Too often pastors and leaders try to lead people to be followers of Christ without telling them the cost. Also there are many who profess believe in the LORD but are teaching false doctrine.
Jehoram was an Israelite who had done some things well but was not faithful to the LORD. There are believers who think that they can marry someone who doesn’t love the LORD and everything will be good. It usually doesn’t happen. God still performs miracles today, in that, HE will give victory to some couples who intermarry.
CHALLENGE: Watch who you make agreements with whether in marriage or a partnership in a business or with a church that is not faithful to the Word of God. Bad relationships can hinder outcomes.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 20 And it came to pass in the morning, when the meat offering was offered, that behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water. (4325 “water” [mayim] means a clear, colorless, odorless, tasteless liquid that freezes at low temperatures and boils at high temperatures, rain, flood, tears, or pool)
DEVOTION: The LORD gave them water which was part of HIS battle plan for their defeating the nation of Moab. They had come to battle with not enough water to give their animals water to drink. They thought they would lose the war because of the lack of water so they turned to the prophet Elisha for answers from the LORD.
The LORD gave him an answer. They were to dig holes in the ground and wait on the LORD to provide the water. This happened just as Elisha stated it would happen. They offered the grain offering to the LORD in the morning and HE sent them water that filled the holes they had dug which gave them enough water for their animals and themselves.
The second use of the water was that the morning sun shone on the water holes and the Moabites thought it looked like blood and thought that the three kings had fought with one another and they could just come into the camp and collect the spoils of war.
They were wrong. The camp was not dead but very much alive and they rose up and defeated the army of Moab that thought there was not going to be a battle at all. They were totally surprise.
We need to realize that the LORD can give us victory in a way that doesn’t seem right to us but to HIM as we depend on HIM will give us victory. We are promised victory if we act according to the will of the LORD.
CHALLENGE: Listen to HIS counsel as we seek it even when it seems like HE doesn’t know what HE is talking about from our perspective. HE is always right. We need to listen.
: 27 Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall. And there was great indignation against Israel and they departed from him, and returned to their own land. (7110 “indignation” [qetseph] means wrath, anger, rage, strife, or judgment of anger)
DEVOTION: An act of human sacrifice to a false god stirred up the wrath of God against Israel. God was angry with Jehoram for his actions against Moab over sheep. He had caused the king of Moab to offer his oldest son as a sacrifice to the false god, Chemosh. The king of Israel had backed the king of Moab into a corner. He had put a siege on the city in which the king of Moab was trapped and caused him to offer his son which was against the law of God. Also the LORD had not wanted Israel to hurt Moab as it was related to Lot. They were not to take the land that belonged to Moab.
With this sacrifice the LORD was angry and the armies against Moab were so enraged at such a repulsive act. Judah and Edom left the battlefield without taking the children of Moab captive.
The LORD was not pleased with the actions of Jehoram and showed it by HIS reaction to the human sacrifice which in turn caused the army to stop fighting and go home.
Our actions should not cause those who are outside of Christ to do something as drastic as this action today. We can win a battle but lose the war that we are fighting against our enemy the devil by causing his servants to turn to such wickedness as human sacrifice.
We know that there are worshippers of Satan today who offer animals as sacrifices and those who in extreme circumstances offer human sacrifices to win their battle against any foe.
This anger was God’s actions against the ten tribes for their worship of false gods which caused them to cause the nation of Moab to worship their false god in such a manner. God blamed Israel.
CHALLENGE: We need to be sure that our actions in the world don’t cause those outside of Christ to feel cornered and have no other alternative but to commit a gross act.
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)
Elisha inquired of the LORDverse 11
Elisha had a minstrel play musicverse 15
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
Meat offeringverse 20
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Word of the LORD with prophetverse 12
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD – Jehovah (covenant keeping, Personal)verses 2, 10-18
Sight of the LORDverses 2, 18
Prophet of the LORDverse 11
Word of the LORDverse 12
LORD of hostsverse 14
Hand of the LORDverse 15
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)
Mesha – king of Moabverses 4, 5, 7, 10, 13, 18, 21-27
King of Edomverses 8, 9, 12, 20-27
Thought water was blood
Offered son as a burnt offering
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Evilverse 2
Image of Baalverse 2
Sins of Jeroboamverse 3
Cause God’s people to sinverse 3
Rebelverses 5, 7
Human sacrificeverse 27
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Inquire of the LORD: waterverse 9
Deliveranceverse 10
Prophet: Elishaverse 11
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Jehoram – son of Ahab reigns in Israelverses 1-13, 22-27
Evil
Cleave to sins of father
Numbered Israel
Defeated Moabites
Jehoshaphat – king of Judahverses 1, 7-14
Ahab died – Mesha rebelledverse 5
Elishaverses 11-20
Poured water for Elijah
Asked king of Israel – What have I to do with you?
Hand of the LORD came upon him
Make a valley full of ditches
LORD going to send rain
LORD going to deliver Moabites
Elijahverse 11
Minstrelverse 15
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
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QUOTES regarding passage
To win the battle Mesha sacrifices his firstborn son, a practice that was common in other places at this time. Jones states that this offering “was intended to pacify Chemosh, the Moabite deity, because the disasters that befell Moab were attributed to his anger, ‘for chemosh was angry with his land’ (Mesha Inscription 1–5).” After the sacrifice is made, “great fury” forces Israel to withdraw. Grays thinks the “fury” is that of Chemosh, which means the text preserves remnants of polytheistic theology.36 Given the nature of the author’s theology however, it is much more likely either that the action inspired Moab’s army to fight more fiercely or that it caused Israel such indignation and sickness of heart that they lifted the siege.38 Though the exact meaning is unclear, the result is the same: Israel withdraws without further disaster yet also without control of a former vassal. (House, P. R. (1995). 1, 2 Kings (Vol. 8, p. 264). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
3:26–27. The city of Kir Hareseth (v. 25) was King Mesha’s refuge. Courageously he assembled 700 swordsmen, broke out of the city, and attacked the king of Edom, whom he apparently concluded was the weakest link in the three-nation alliance. He was not successful, however, and was forced back behind the walls. Defeat in battle was regarded by pagan Near Eastern warriors as a sign that their gods were angry with them. To propitiate his god, Chemosh (1 Kings 11:7, 33; 2 Kings 23:13), Mesha offered his firstborn son, the heir to his throne, as a human sacrifice on top of the city wall. He was fighting with all his might. It was not Israel’s intent to annihilate the Moabites; they only wanted to keep their neighbors from rebelling against their sovereignty to keep them under their control. So offensive to the allies was Mesha’s act of sacrificing his son that they withdrew and returned home. Israel had won the battle even though they had not destroyed Kir Hareseth or captured Mesha.
Some say the fury against Israel, which was great, may refer to God’s anger. More likely it refers to Judah’s anger against Israel for invading Moab in a battle that resulted in their seeing such a repulsive act.
A remarkable archeological discovery, the Moabite Stone, contains Mesha’s own record of this battle and other battles with Israel. On this stone the Moabite king claimed to have been delivered from the Israelites by his god Chemosh on this day. Though it is true that he was not captured at Kir Hareseth and the Israelites withdrew, Israel and her allies were the real victors in this campaign.
The account of this battle provides further proof of the sovereignty of Yahweh and of the complete vanity of idols and idolatry. But even with so many proofs Israel continued to spurn the Lord and foolishly worshiped pagan deities. (Constable, T. L. (1985). 2 Kings. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, pp. 543–544). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
27. took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering, &c.—By this deed of horror, to which the allied army drove the king of Moab, a divine judgment came upon Israel; that is, the besiegers feared the anger of God, which they had incurred by giving occasion to the human sacrifice forbidden in the law (Le 18:21; 20:3), and hastily raised the siege. (Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (2 Ki 3:27). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.)
The meaning is: this act of abomination, to which the king of the Moabites had been impelled by the extremity of his distress, brought a severe judgment from God upon Israel. The besiegers, that is to say, felt the wrath of God, which they had brought upon themselves by occasioning human sacrifice, which is strictly forbidden in the law (Lev. 18:21; 20:3), either inwardly in their conscience or in some outwardly visible signs, so that they gave up the further prosecution of the siege and the conquest of the city, without having attained the object of the expedition, namely, to renew the subjugation of Moab under the power of Israel. (Keil, C. F., & Delitzsch, F. (1996). Commentary on the Old Testament (Vol. 3, p. 217). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson.)
The subject of the wrath of God has been discussed by the Church throughout the ages. The consensus of opinion has been, and that correctly, that wrath in and of itself is not necessarily evil. Lactantius, who does not clearly distinguish between the various synonyms, spoke of “anger as the mind arousing itself for the restraining of evil”; “wrath” is the expression of this anger in various ways to restrain evil, to correct the sinner and to punish the hardened and stiff-necked rebel. However, wrath is not merely an energy of divine justice which is concerned basically with the preservation of the divine order. Rather, wrath (from which retributive justice cannot be separated) is concerned with the protection of God’s holy interests; ie. his holy nature, his love and the objects of his love. Hence, wrath is inseparably related to God’s love, holiness and jealousy. Indeed, the wrath of God speaks directly of God maintaining himself completely and absolutely as a holy God who loves his covenant people with an infinite passion and therefore is very jealous over them. When either people from without, or the covenant people themselves, profane, thwart or reject this love of the covenant God, God expresses his vexation, agitation, displeasure, anger and/or hatred: he pours out his wrath.
The wrath of God, then, must not be considered a permanent attribute of God; it is an ever-present divine potential because of the ever-present divine qualities of love, holiness, and jealousy. So, whenever God reveals his wrath, he always manifests his own “unsearchable greatness.” It must be that his wrath is expressed in harmony with his justice. The guilt due to lawbreaking must be dealt with according to the just demands of the law (Deut 29:13). However, the working out of God’s wrath is tempered by his grace and mercy. In fact, it is in the midst of wrath that God may reveal his mercy (Hab 3:2), manifesting and bestowing his grace upon guilty sinners (Gen 3:15). There is no question of “despotic rage” and there is nothing of “the demonic in God’s nature” (contra Eichrodt, ETOT, I, p. 262), which leads him to pour out his wrath or to determine the object, method and occasion for it apart from considerations of condign justice. (1999). 2058 קָצַף. (R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke, Eds.)Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Chicago: Moody Press.)
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!!)
THE FULLNESS OF BLESSING
Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. 1 John 4:13
How does this blessing come? Well, I do not see any evidence in the New Testament to support what used to be called a “tarrying meeting.” Some people had that idea. God had certain blessings to give, and they thought they had to wait until they received them. But the gift is given by God in His own way and time; this gift does not come of necessity at once. It is God’s gift, and He knows when to give it and when to withhold it.
Do you remember the case of Moody? This was his story. He became conscious of his lack and need, and he began to pray to God about it. He gave obedience to the Word of God as well as he could, and he went on praying for months. Nothing happened to him, but still he went on praying. Yes, he waited for it, but it did not come, and the story is that one day, walking down a street in New York, not in a tarrying meeting, not even in a prayer meeting, suddenly God overwhelmed him with this mighty blessing. It was so mighty that Moody felt he would be killed by it, and he held up his hand and said, “Stop, God!”
God has His own time. God knows when to give the gift, and we must never imagine that by going to a meeting or following a certain procedure it is bound to come. No; the Holy Spirit is sovereign, and He gives in His own way. It may be dramatically or suddenly or quietly; that is irrelevant, because what really matters is that we receive the gift. The essence of it all, I think, can be put very simply: “Trust and obey.”
A Thought to Ponder: God has His own time. God knows when to give the gift.
From The Love of God, pp. 114-115 by Martyn Lloyd-Jones
A NEW NATURE
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.
2 Corinthians 5:17
The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ makes an entire change. You are “not under the law,” Paul says, “but under grace” (Romans 6:14). You who have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and His death upon the cross have been taken from that position; you are in an entirely new position. You are under grace, and grace is unmerited favor. It is kindness shown to people who deserve nothing but punishment. Grace means that God, because He is God, looks upon us with favor when we do not deserve anything at all. That is what “under grace” means. It means that God is no longer just a lawgiver to you—He is your Father. He is your Father who loves you with an everlasting love. He is your Father who looks upon you and desires to bless you. He is the one who says, “You are My child—I am your Father. I will give you My own nature. I will count the very hairs of your head. I will number them all. Nothing shall happen to you apart from Me.” That is what it means to be under grace.
Do you see the difference? It is the difference between being in a relationship of law and a relationship of love. You are in an entirely new position, and the cross puts you there. You are under grace, and you do not tremble before God with a craven fear. You know that though you are unworthy, He is your Father, and you say, “My Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come.” And you know that He looks upon you with a smile. You know that He is patient, that He is long-suffering. You know that He is determined to bring you back to the perfection in which He originally made you, and that all the forces of His love and grace and
compassion are working in your favor.
A Thought to Ponder
It is the difference between being in a relationship of law and a relationship of love.
(From The Cross, pp. 189-190, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones).
The Lord teaches the disciples about prayer through His own example.
INSIGHT
We often gain by our losses. The one who has suffered no loss is still a shallow person. It was expedient for the disciples that the Lord should leave because the Spirit’s presence was contingent upon His physical absence. Christ’s work must be complete so the Spirit can apply it to the hearts of men. Jesus must die and be resurrected. The Holy Spirit will draw men to His offer of salvation. And the best news? We’ll see Jesus again.
(Quiet Walk)
God Is Omnipotent
“Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee.” (Jeremiah 32:17)
The Genesis record of creation generates more hostility among men than any other message. Even secular atheists claim to respect the humanitarian teachings of Jesus, but they bristle irrationally when the Lord Jesus is identified as the Creator. Perhaps this is because the evidence for God’s omnipotence is displayed so openly and vividly by the “greatness of his might” (Isaiah 40:26).
The God who can speak the billions of galaxies into existence with the “breath of his mouth” (Psalm 33:6) is a God who can cast ungodly men into eternal hell for their defiance and rebellion against “the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude 1:4). Conversely, the God who “stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing” (Job 26:7) is able to “save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him” (Hebrews 7:25).
No wonder the psalmist expresses the praise that all men should declare: “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness” (Psalm 145:3-6).
When the Lord Jesus was formally invested at the great assembly around the throne, the entire throng burst into the song “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created” (Revelation 4:11). Each of us would do well to carry that song in our hearts every day. (HMM III, The Institute for Creation Research)
For $300,000, you can buy a new McLaren 720S sports car. The vehicle comes with a V8 engine pumping 710 horsepower—considerably more than you’ll need for your morning commute.
Of course, you might be tempted to use all that power. One Virginia driver learned his McLaren was so “fast” it could go from an upscale showroom to the scrap heap in just twenty-four hours! One day after buying the car, he slammed it into a tree. (Thankfully, he survived.)
Just three chapters into the story of the Bible, we learn how a different bad choice and a tree marred God’s good creation. Adam and Eve ate from the one tree they were to leave alone (Genesis 3:11). The story has barely begun, and paradise is cursed (vv. 14–19).
Another tree would play a role in undoing this curse—the cross Jesus endured on our behalf. His death purchased our future with Him (Deuteronomy 21:23; Galatians 3:13).
The story comes full circle in the Bible’s last chapter. There we read of “the tree of life” growing beside the “river of the water of life” (Revelations 22:1–2). As John describes it, this tree will be “for the healing of the nations” (v. 2). John assures us, “No longer will there be any curse” (v. 3). God’s story comes with the happily-ever-after we all long for.
(By Tim Gustafson, Our Daily Bread)
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