Today's Scripture
Today’s Scripture 2 Chronicles 15:8 As soon as Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded, he took courage and put away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah. 2 Chronicles16:10 Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in the stocks in prison…
TODAY’S READING SCHEDULE:
2 Chronicles 15:1-2, 8, 15 The Spirit of God came[a] upon Azariah the son of Oded, 2 and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The Lord is with you while you are with him…8 As soon as Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded, he took courage and put away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities that he had taken in the hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the altar of the Lord…15 And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around.
2 Chronicles 16:7-10 At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you. 8 Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the Lord, he gave them into your hand. 9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars.” 10 Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in the stocks in prison, for he was in a rage with him because of this. And Asa inflicted cruelties upon some of the people at the same time.
What does this passage mean to me/us
In his sermon yesterday, Rev. David Tanner posed the question to us, “What kind of a God do you really want?” The actions of King Asa in 2 Chronicles 15 & 16 demonstrate that our God speaks to us in truth at all times, when we want it and when we don’t.
In chapter 14 of 2 Chronicles, King Asa is described as a king who did good and right in the eyes of the Lord. With enemies on all sides of Judah, King Asa proclaimed to the people that, “The land is still ours because we have sought the Lord our God…and He has given us peace on every side”.
Chapter 15 of 2 Chronicles describes the great religious reforms King Asa enacted across the land of Judah following God’s encouragement given through the prophet Azariah. However, Chapter 16 of 2 Chronicles recounts a time later in King Asa’s reign where God sent a hard message of warning to him through the prophet Hanani. The message was that because King Asa had relied on a Syrian alliance to defend against threatening enemies, Judah would have ongoing wars, not peace. King Asa’s reaction to this message is very different; in a rage, he jails the prophet, then inflicts unnecessary cruelties on some of his own people.
As I consider the actions of King Asa on these two occasions, I must confess that he seems a lot like me. One moment, I am able to hear God speaking to me directly or through others making me bold to speak or act for God’s way. The next moment God reveals to me that I am not following His way, causing me to rage or strike out against others because of my anger at not receiving God’s approval for my way.
In all those moments, once I stop patting myself on the back for discerning God’s will or stop raging at the ugly truth that I have missed the mark, I am able to thank God for his constant and loving truth-telling and fall back on the grace of Jesus to keep me going. That is the kind of God that I want!!
– contributed by Larry Dickenson
Prayer
Dear Lord,
Thank you for the Bible, the faith-story of Your people finding their way to live before You. It is comforting to know that they kept seeking You and You kept seeking and protecting them, even when they missed the mark. So I can live out today knowing that while I am not constant in Your ways, You are always constant, the light for our new morning and the guiding star for our nights.
In the name and grace of Jesus, Amen.
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