You Can Beat Them If You Don’t Join Them
Today’s Passage – 2 Chronicles 27 – 29
But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded: and he went out before the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold, because the LORD God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, he hath delivered them into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage that reacheth up unto heaven. (2Chronicles 28:9)
For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel. (2Chronicles 28:23)
In the three chapters that we are reading today, we have the account of three kings of Judah: Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Two of these kings were good men; and under their reign the nation of Judah was blessed and prosperous. However, during the reign of Ahaz, who was not a good king, the nation suffered. I thought it interesting that Ahaz misinterpreted the reason for the condition of his nation. He believed that the reason why his nation was suffering was somehow because of the blessing of some other god on those nations. In actuality, the reason why other nations were defeating Judah in battle, and oppressing them was because of the wickedness of the king and the nation, which caused the judgment of GOD on the nation. However, because he misunderstood the cause, he could not correct the situation. He figured that if he starting acting more like the other nations, worshipping their gods, that he too would be blessed. But the result of his thinking brought about more destruction to Judah.
I find that God’s people today will often use this same kind of logic. The Christians in America today have almost completely forsaken the God of the Bible. We have “a form of godliness, but [deny] the power thereof”. We have heaped to ourselves teachers having itching ears. We truly are living in perilous times. However, instead of recognizing the judgment of God upon our nation and turning back to Him, we go farther away from Him. We see what appears to be the blessing and prosperity upon the lost people around us and figure that God must not really care about all of the wickedness. after all, he is allowing it to happen. People reason, “if you can’t beat ’em, you might as well join ’em.” All of this logic results in the further deterioration of our families, churches, and our nation.
As God’s people, we need to wholly follow the Lord our God, regardless of the spiritual atmosphere of the world around us. According to 2 Chronicles 7:14, it will be God’s people who will turn this nation around; but that will not happen unless we forsake the evil around as and turn back to old-fashioned, separated, and godly living.
Posted in Devotions by Phil Erickson with 1 comment.
Sad to say but this applies to christians who are living lives apart from the Lords clear teaching. We have a greater responsibility to live right and be an example to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Often we follow each other instead of the Lord. I have been guilty of justifing sin in my life because a fellow brother or sister” Does it too”. I’m learning to obey God and God alone. I’m learning to trust His still small voice. May the Lord help us to love and encourage one another unto Good works not what we think are good works but what the Word of God clearly teaches us are good works.