Bible Chapter: II Kings 23 & 24

Because the Bible is practical, here are some statements to get you thinking.

1.  Write one or two key thoughts that come from today’s reading.
    Reading these chapters gives me a feeling of whiplash.  There are such extremes.  Chapter 23 is exciting to read as Josiah cleaned house.  He went throughout the land destroying all vestige of the evil worship the nation had been doing. He burned and destroyed the evil altars and those who promoted it.  He called on the nation to serve God.  He made a covenant with God that he would worship only the true Creator God.  He brought the nation to a place of obedience.
    Then, when Josiah died, a series of kings took over who did much evil.  The Bible says of each of these, they did evil in the sight of the Lord. They brought down God’s judgement on the nation.  People were taken captive.  Very expensive tribute was demanded of the nation.  If anything possibly could go wrong, it did.  All of these horrible things were the culmination of generations of people who rejected God and did things their own way.

2.  What can I apply in my life from the reading?
    Josiah was a reformer.  He cleaned house by burning, by destroying the evil places.  He gives us a good lesson for true revival.  He was repentant of the sins the nation committed.  Repentance is turning from sin and not doing it any more.  He exposed and destroyed the false teachers.  The worldly practices were abandoned.  God’s standards were followed. They changed what needed to be changed and lived according to God’s ways.  Josiah’s heart was towards God.  He used his position as king to call the nation to living for God.
    This is the example to follow.  Read the Word of God and apply it.  Call people to follow HIM as well.

3.  How can I help someone?
Learn from this amazing verse.
II Kings 23:25 NKJV
25 Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him.
    After you learn from this amazing verse, then apply it.  Turn to the Lord with all your heart, soul and might.

Bible Chapter: II Kings 21 & 22

Because the Bible is practical, here are some statements to get you thinking.

1.  Write one or two key thoughts that come from today’s reading.
    After Hezekiah’s death, his twelve year old son, Manasseh, took over as king.  He was amazingly evil.  This became the darkest era of Judah’s idolatry.  His wickedness was expressed as scorn for God.  He was even more evil than the nations Israel had driven out of the land previously.  He brought God’s judgement on the nation.
    Somehow this wicked king had a godly son.  Manasseh reigned fifty five years and then died.  His eight year old son, Josiah, took over.  Josiah had a tender heart for God.  He was the last righteous king of Judah.  He passionately pursued a genuine relationship with God and guided the nation to do so as well.  He repaired the Temple.  As they did that they discovered the book of The Law of Moses.  This brought on real spiritual reform in the nation.  As the law was being read to the king, he sought God for His directions.  Because the king had a humble heart, God spared him from seeing the judgement that would come.

2.  What can I apply in my life from the reading?
    We have the perfect example of polar opposites here.  A wicked father and a righteous son.  Manasseh followed the detestable practices of the heathen nations.  Josiah submitted to God’s law and promoted it.  They both influenced many people and left a legacy.  This causes one to think about the legacy that will be left.  As I attend or officiate at funerals, I always think about the person who is gone and the impact they had.  Some cause me to think that I have not done anything for eternity because they have done so much for God.  The time to provide a legacy is now, while I am living.  Obedience to God is always the hightest way of living.

3.  How can I help someone?
    We are all influenced and have influence.  Who are we going to listen to?  Who are we going to impact to bring them to a life worth living? We have to think about these important questions and answer them in such a way that we have no regrets.  To obey God is always better than any other choice we can make.  Serving God never leaves us with regrets.

Bible Chapter: II Kings 19 & 20

Because the Bible is practical, here are some statements to get you thinking.

1.  Write one or two key thoughts that come from today’s reading.
    What a person does when there are problems shows the heart of the person.  King Hezekiah was facing utter destruction.  He faced a very powerful foe who threatened their destruction.  He went to the Temple to pray.  He laid it all out before God that they faced ruin.  God stepped in and miraculously delivered them.  The important lesson here is that the king turned to God.  This is encouraging in the light of so many other kings who turned away from God.  God spoke through the prophet Isaiah that the enemy would fall.  God sent an angel in the night and 185,000 of the enemy died.  When King Sennacherib saw all his dead soldiers, he went home.
    Isaiah came to Hezekiah and told him to get things in order, for he would die.  He prayed and God gave him fifteen more years of life.  We see that Hezekiah made some mistakes that eventually cost him and his descendants.  One thought that comes to me is that, while no one wants to die, he and the nation would have been better off if he had not prayed that prayer.  That is just my opinion.

2.  What can I apply in my life from the reading?
    Be open and honest before God when problems come.  Go to God and rely on Him.  The situation that Hezekiah faced was impossible.  He had no human hope.  He was outnumbered by a more powerful kingdom.  He was in trouble.  It was no problem for God.  The most powerful political kingdom wilted in the face of an angel acting on God’s orders.

3.  How can I help someone?
    Trust God. The enemy cannot stand before God’s almighty power.  God really knows what He is doing and can intervene in any situation.

Bible Chapter: II Kings 17 & 18

Because the Bible is practical, here are some statements to get you thinking.

1.  Write one or two key thoughts that come from today’s reading.
    How long can people openly go against God before He judges them for their sin?  There is no simple answer to that question.  But, here we see that people who know better and openly rebel against God will reach a point where His judgement comes.  In these two chapters we see polar opposites.  We see Hoshea, the last king of Israel (the northern kingdom) as well as Hezekiah, king of Judah (the southern kingdom).  Hoshea was the last king of Israel.  They had forsaken the commands of God and followed many heathen practices.  God finally turned them over to the enemy and the majority were taken captive.  When Hezekiah was make king of Judah he cleared out all the evil places and restored the Temple.  He was very active in promoting obedience to God.
    Israel accepted the lifestyles and standards of the other nations.  We read of king after king who promoted that.  These hundreds of years of sinning finally reached a conclusion and the northern kingdom disappeared.

2.  What can I apply in my life from the reading?
    My thoughts are going towards the life many live that looks for what is popular or appears fun.  That is what we see so often in these history books.  God had given a covenant to Abraham.  God had shown miracle after miracle to provide and protect.  They had seen so many supernatural interventions that showed God’s supreme power over all the other gods the nations served.  And yet, they insisted on doing what they wanted.  So many of the heathen practices were repulsive, and yet they did them anyway.
    What we are seeing today among many churches and people who say they are Christians is a similar pattern.  They are practicing and promoting many things that are contradictory to the Bible.  They are following the lifestyles and standards of the world around them.  They think that they can continue to do these things and that God will never do anything about it.  They have forgotten the last chapters of Old Testament history and the prophecies of end times.  God will judge.  This says that we must stay close to the Lord and do what HE says.

3.  How can I help someone?
    Learn from God’s Word.  Learn from history.  Learn that God is pure and holy and will not allow evil to flourish forever.  In His perfect timing He will reward faithfulness and judge evil.

Bible Chapter: II Kings 15 & 16

Because the Bible is practical, here are some statements to get you thinking.

1.  Write one or two key thoughts that come from today’s reading.
    Even a king will be judged by God when he disobeys.  This list of kings is the list that continues to grow as I read through this book.  Azariah was afflicted with leprosy because of his disobedience.  I have to admit some confusion in reading about several of the kings who, it was said, did right in the sight of God, and yet they didn’t remove the places where people worshiped idols.  If they were seeking to obey God, why didn’t they tear down the idol temples?  These high places made it convenient for the people to make their evil sacrifices.  The existence of these high places continued to be a downfall of the nation.
    Because their hearts were not right towards God, many of the kings participated in barbarous atrocities, such as ripping babies out of the wombs of pregnant women.  Ahaz reigned in Jerusalem for sixteen years and even sacrificed his son in the fire.  The Bible is clear that those in positions of leadership are held to a higher accountability and are expected to set a good example.  Many of the kings completely failed in this regard.

2.  What can I apply in my life from the reading?
    These chapters tell of dark times of spiritual chaos that reigned.  These times of apostasy are very sad.  It seems that the kings were following the trends that were popular at the time instead of setting the proper pace for the nation.  That speaks to our current world.  What is needed is people to set the pace of righteousness.  Spiritual leaders must stand up and not be afraid to declare what God has said.  The Bible is still the standard for life.  The moral truths do not change.  I must apply that in my life and the things I proclaim.

3.  How can I help someone?
    When I was in drivers’ ed we were told this.  “You can break man’s laws.  You cannot break nature’s laws.”  It means that you can speed and get away with it (sometimes).  You can’t go too fast around a corner or try to stop too quickly.  You will pay the consequences.  The application here is that those who try to break God’s laws will pay the price.  They may think it doesn’t matter and that they can do anything they want.  That simply is not so.  Some day judgement will come.

Bible Chapter: II Kings 13 & 14

Because the Bible is practical, here are some statements to get you thinking.

1.  Write one or two key thoughts that come from today’s reading.
    I have heard a variety of people who think that God is mean and delights in punishing people.  They think God likes to see people suffer.  That’s not true.   We read here that the Lord listened to Jehoahaz as he sought God’s favor because of how much the people were under oppression.  God provided a deliverer for Israel.  I find it interesting that God did that for them, even though He knew they would return to their own homes and not turn away from the sins they had committed.  God gives us the opportunities needed to repent and serve Him.  The fact that so many did not follow God shows the battle and the fact that many we read about didn’t commit to fully serving the Lord.
    We see here the death of Elisha.  He was one of the great prophets of God who impacted the nations and was not afraid to “tell it like it is”.  The power of God was on his life.  And, even in his death God provided a miracle as a dead man was brought back to life when his dead body hit the bones of Elisha.

2.  What can I apply in my life from the reading?
    A firm resolve to serve God -- that is so needed.  It appears that this firm resolve was missing in so many of the kings we read about in these history books.  We read about Amaziah who started out right in doing the things God desired.  But, he didn’t remove the high places where idol worship took place.  He later fell into idolatry because he wasn’t wholeheartedly committed to the things of God.  That firm and full commitment to God is so necessary.  That is what must be continually applied in our lives.

3.  How can I help someone?
    I want to help people really see what is going on.  The deceiver tricks people and they don’t see the impact and consequences of their actions.  People need to see that God expects a full commitment to Him and the we continually live the life of serving God.  God expects that we make Him our Lord.  Lordship means control, we must give Him control of everything.

Bible Chapter: II Kings 11 & 12

Because the Bible is practical, here are some statements to get you thinking.

1.  Write one or two key thoughts that come from today’s reading.
    In the spiritual battle, there are always attempts to thwart God’s plans and prove that God is either a liar or too weak to follow through with what He promises.  Here there was an attempt to prevent the line of King David to continue.  The life of Joash was spared and he eventually became the king.  God used a high priest, Jehoiada, to see that Joash was put on the throne and helped him in his devotion to the Lord.  Joash was a good king and served God.  Unfortunately, when Jehoiada died, Joash turned away from God.  This eventually brought his death.
    Joash did oversee the repairs of the Temple.  They collected much money and hired people to repair what has been allowed to fall apart.  He did accomplish many good things.

2.  What can I apply in my life from the reading?
    What I see in the life of Joash is that he was willing to be influenced for good.  But, he was also influenced for evil.  It appears that he never really committed to God in his heart.  He never removed the high places of idol worship.  And when the high priest died, he quit doing what pleased God and began serving idols.  The application for life is that each person must make their own personal commitment to Jesus and serve Him from their heart.  If it is only going through the motions or trying to please some person, when the going gets tough the so-called commitment to Jesus will disappear.

3.  How can I help someone?
    Get serious about really serving God.  Recognize the importance of the real relationship God wants to have with each individual person.  Serve and obey God because He is worthy.  Then, when the challenges of life come, you will have something solid for your foundation.