The aim of the Books of Kings is to demonstrate that the covenant relationship with God is not just in the physical realm, it has to be in harmony with the mental, emotional, and spiritual realms.
The writer sets out to demonstrate that although Israel stood in covenant relationship with God, most of her Kings had rejected and outraged the covenant obligations.
The Kings of both Judah and Israel are reviewed while they were passing, and as far as possible, they were treated contemporaneously. The spiritual worth of each King is determined by comparison with two Kings of former years. These two Kings were: King David who held closely to the covenant, and King Jeroboam of Israel who forsook the covenant. Comparison in this way shows whether a given king "walked in the ways of Davis his father" or "in the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat."
The writer, evidently, found that on this basis very few of the Kings of Israel or Judah kept the covenant with God. Notable exceptions were the King Asa (1Kings 15), King Jehoshaphat (1Kings 22), Hezekiah (2Kings 18-20) and Josiah (2Kings 22-23), and even these had some defects.
David was the ideal example, he was the more closely role model than any. His parting advice to his son Solomon was that he should keep God's commandments (1Kings 2). In that loyalty to the covenant relationship lay the only hope of prosperity and peace. To depart from that way was to risk divine judgment.
Loyalty to God's covenant stemmed from Abraham, but found national expression at the time of Exodus, when Israel, recently delivered from Egypt, meaning the forces of the flesh, stood at Mount Sinai and entered into a solemn spiritual covenant with God (Exodus 19; 24). Thereafter Israel was to be God's own people, set apart from the nations, obedient to His commandments and loyal to him.
They were forbidden to enter into covenants with other entities or other gods. Adherence to the covenant with God would result in blessings; departure from it would result in cursing and judgment.
These principles are clearly worked out in 2 Kings 17-23.
The writer traces the story of Israel's Kings from Solomon to the last king of Judah. In a sincere and honest manner he records the sad story of the rejection of the covenant by most of the rulers. The final collapse of Israel before Assyria (2Kings 17) and of Judah before Babylon (2Kings 25) was a demonstration of the Truth of the Principle underlying the Book and came as no surprise to men of spiritual discernment.
In later days the two Books of Kings remained as a warning to the remnant of God's people, and thus provided a practical lesson in the Truth that rejection of God's covenant, being a sinful and rebellious act, can only result in divine judgment.
Sunday, 27 September 2015
Saturday, 12 September 2015
ABRAHAM, ISAIAH, JESUS, ALL MEN OF FAITH CALLED FROM THE WOM OF THE EARTH.
Isaiah (God's salvation), the son of Amoz (not the prophet Amos) served Judah and Jerusalem as a prophet in the days of Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah in the Kingdom of Judah, and Kings Pekah, and Hosea, ruling in the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Contemporary prophets were Micah, Hosea and Oded.
Isaiah writes in his book in chapter 49 about his birth: "Listen to me, O coast lands; Hearken you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother He named my name. He made my mouth like a sharp sword (Word of God), He hid me in the shadow of his hand;
He made me a polished arrow, He hid me away in his quiver." 49:1-2
Isaiah was commissioning by God in a vision to do the work of speaking to the people of Judah and Jerusalem about God's coming judgments. He was told in advance that the nation will refuse to take heed. God said that this situation would continue until the nation would come to ruin, and that only a "Tenth," a "Holy Seed," would be left like the stump of a massive tree.
The first occurrence of the word "prophet" in the Scriptures refers to Abraham. The first identified as a "Hebrew." Like Abel, Enoch, and Noah, he was a man of faith. But the first to be mentioned with the expression "put faith in God" is Abraham, that is the reason why he is called "the father of all those having faith." This man of unusual faith walked with God and was in constant communication with him by means of visions and dreams.
When the Son of God, Jesus, and his disciples referred to Abraham, they did it more than 70 times in their conversations and writings. In Jesus' illustration of the rich man and Lazarus, he referred to the prophet Abraham, the father of all those having faith, in a symbolic sense. When his opponents, the people who refused to take heed, boasted that they were the offspring of Abraham, Jesus was quick to point out their hypocrisy saying: "If you are Abraham's children, do the works of Abraham."
The apostle Paul said that it is not fleshy descents that counts, but rather, having the faith like that of Abraham that enables one to be declared righteous. Paul also identified the true seed of Abraham as Christ, along with those who belong to Christ as "heirs with reference to a promise."Abraham's two women, Sarah and Hagar, were actually making a symbolic drama illustrating God's two covenants, the one with Abraham and the one with Jesus.
In Galatians 4 we find the reason: ...So with us; when we were children, we were slaves to "elemental spirits of the universe." But when the time had fully come, God sent forth His Son, born of a womb of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. ... So through God you are not longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir. Formerly, when you did not know God, you were in bondage to "beings that by nature are no gods;" but now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the 'weak and beggarly elemental spirits, whose slaves you want to be once more? ....
When Sarah died at Hebron at the age of 127, it was necessary for Abraham to purchase a burial plot, for indeed he was only a temporary resident owning no land in Canaan, so he bought a field with its cave at Machpelah near Mamre from the sons of Heth. The second covenant was an expectation and God instructed Abraham to so.
When 4 allied kings, headed by Mesopotamian King Chedorlaomer (chief of the elemental spirits of the universe), were successful in crushing a revolt if five Canaanites (slaves to them) kings, Sodom and Gomorrah were sacked and Lot was taken captive together with all his property. Abraham, upon learning of this, quickly mustered 318 of "his trained (universal) household servants," made a force march in hot pursuit Northward to beyond the spiritual Damascus, and with God's help, defeated a far superior force. As Abraham was returning from this great "victory" a "priest of the "Most High God,"
Melchizedek, who was also the king of Salem, came out and blessed him, and Abraham, in turn, "gave him a Tenth of everything."
We now understand that God's plan about the salvation of His People is true. We are requested to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His Might. We need to wear the whole armor of God, that we might be able to stand against the wiles of the devil (elemental spirits of the universe). For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Isaiah writes in his book in chapter 49 about his birth: "Listen to me, O coast lands; Hearken you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother He named my name. He made my mouth like a sharp sword (Word of God), He hid me in the shadow of his hand;
He made me a polished arrow, He hid me away in his quiver." 49:1-2
Isaiah was commissioning by God in a vision to do the work of speaking to the people of Judah and Jerusalem about God's coming judgments. He was told in advance that the nation will refuse to take heed. God said that this situation would continue until the nation would come to ruin, and that only a "Tenth," a "Holy Seed," would be left like the stump of a massive tree.
The first occurrence of the word "prophet" in the Scriptures refers to Abraham. The first identified as a "Hebrew." Like Abel, Enoch, and Noah, he was a man of faith. But the first to be mentioned with the expression "put faith in God" is Abraham, that is the reason why he is called "the father of all those having faith." This man of unusual faith walked with God and was in constant communication with him by means of visions and dreams.
When the Son of God, Jesus, and his disciples referred to Abraham, they did it more than 70 times in their conversations and writings. In Jesus' illustration of the rich man and Lazarus, he referred to the prophet Abraham, the father of all those having faith, in a symbolic sense. When his opponents, the people who refused to take heed, boasted that they were the offspring of Abraham, Jesus was quick to point out their hypocrisy saying: "If you are Abraham's children, do the works of Abraham."
The apostle Paul said that it is not fleshy descents that counts, but rather, having the faith like that of Abraham that enables one to be declared righteous. Paul also identified the true seed of Abraham as Christ, along with those who belong to Christ as "heirs with reference to a promise."Abraham's two women, Sarah and Hagar, were actually making a symbolic drama illustrating God's two covenants, the one with Abraham and the one with Jesus.
In Galatians 4 we find the reason: ...So with us; when we were children, we were slaves to "elemental spirits of the universe." But when the time had fully come, God sent forth His Son, born of a womb of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. ... So through God you are not longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir. Formerly, when you did not know God, you were in bondage to "beings that by nature are no gods;" but now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the 'weak and beggarly elemental spirits, whose slaves you want to be once more? ....
When Sarah died at Hebron at the age of 127, it was necessary for Abraham to purchase a burial plot, for indeed he was only a temporary resident owning no land in Canaan, so he bought a field with its cave at Machpelah near Mamre from the sons of Heth. The second covenant was an expectation and God instructed Abraham to so.
When 4 allied kings, headed by Mesopotamian King Chedorlaomer (chief of the elemental spirits of the universe), were successful in crushing a revolt if five Canaanites (slaves to them) kings, Sodom and Gomorrah were sacked and Lot was taken captive together with all his property. Abraham, upon learning of this, quickly mustered 318 of "his trained (universal) household servants," made a force march in hot pursuit Northward to beyond the spiritual Damascus, and with God's help, defeated a far superior force. As Abraham was returning from this great "victory" a "priest of the "Most High God,"
Melchizedek, who was also the king of Salem, came out and blessed him, and Abraham, in turn, "gave him a Tenth of everything."
We now understand that God's plan about the salvation of His People is true. We are requested to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His Might. We need to wear the whole armor of God, that we might be able to stand against the wiles of the devil (elemental spirits of the universe). For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Thursday, 10 September 2015
WE WERE CREATED, FORMED AND CALLED BY NAME INSIDE THE EARTH WOMB.
ENOCH (Initiated, dedicated), the son born to Jared (descent), a pre-Flood ancestor of Jesus Christ, fathered Enoch at the age of 162. The length of time that Enoch lived on earth match perfectly with the number of days in a solar year. Jared, his father, lived 962 years and was second in longevity only to his grandson Methuselah.
Enoch, being the seventh man in the genealogical line from Adam, was one of the "so great a cloud of witnesses" who were outstanding examples of faith during his time. "Enoch kept walking with the true God,"and was taken by God without facing death. He foretold God's coming with His holy myriad to execute judgment against the unholy.
The fact that Cain, the first son of Adam, built a city in the Land of Fugitiveness to the East of Eden, calling it by the name of his son Enoch, give us enough reason why God took his faithful prophet to act as a cloud of witnesses toward the true justice of the only true God, creator of heavens and earth.
Isaiah tells us in chapter 41 how God did what he declared in times of old: "Listen to me in silence, ... let the peoples renew their strength; let them approach, then let them speak; let us together draw near for judgment... the ends of the earth tremble, they have drawn near and come. ... But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, "You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off."... "Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I will help you," says the Lord, "Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel."
Chapter 42 "Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him, he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed (symbol of the flesh) he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench (power in the flesh); he will faithful bring forth justice in the earth; ... Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it ... .
Chapter 43 But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for i have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine..." ... "You are my witnesses," says the Lord, "and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am He. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no saviour. I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses," says the Lord.
Enoch, being the seventh man in the genealogical line from Adam, was one of the "so great a cloud of witnesses" who were outstanding examples of faith during his time. "Enoch kept walking with the true God,"and was taken by God without facing death. He foretold God's coming with His holy myriad to execute judgment against the unholy.
The fact that Cain, the first son of Adam, built a city in the Land of Fugitiveness to the East of Eden, calling it by the name of his son Enoch, give us enough reason why God took his faithful prophet to act as a cloud of witnesses toward the true justice of the only true God, creator of heavens and earth.
Isaiah tells us in chapter 41 how God did what he declared in times of old: "Listen to me in silence, ... let the peoples renew their strength; let them approach, then let them speak; let us together draw near for judgment... the ends of the earth tremble, they have drawn near and come. ... But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, "You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off."... "Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I will help you," says the Lord, "Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel."
Chapter 42 "Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him, he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed (symbol of the flesh) he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench (power in the flesh); he will faithful bring forth justice in the earth; ... Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it ... .
Chapter 43 But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for i have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine..." ... "You are my witnesses," says the Lord, "and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am He. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no saviour. I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses," says the Lord.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)