King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34
Date: Monday, July 15, 2019
Chapters: II Chronicles 28, II Kings 16-17
Message: God Removed Them From His Sight
Hello My Friend,
We can count it a blessing in America or any nation that does not have one religion as its rule, which is what the First Amendment of separating church and state is all about. It is not to keep God out of the government, it is to keep our government from choosing which religion we are to worship as a nation. Take a look at all the countries where their religion is a man made religion, and the state that it is in, and you will see that all of them are in desperate need to turn away from their evil and to God. God is a jealous God, He will not be mocked, shared with another god, or shrunk down to the level of some man made religion who worships Him their own way. God is angry, and has removed His protections upon these nations, and if America does not wise up right now and return to God, it too will be removed from His sight. “At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.” – Jeremiah 18:7-10.
“If that nation, against whom I have pronounced,” God has pronounced judgment to all nations, if we are to learn anything about the importance of having God over this nation, it is of the fall of Israel. And if He removed Israel out of His sight, He will remove any nation out of His sight that will not turn away from its evil. We have been reading about king Ahaz, of Judah from the prophets Micah and Isaiah, now, we are getting a sense of what was going on, and why God sent them. After Jothom died, Ahaz, his son reigned, and he was nothing like his father, he not only rejected God, he sacrificed his own children to idols and false gods.
“Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD, like David his father: For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim. Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree. Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.” – II Chronicles 28:1-5.
“Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria;” The world does not want to admit it, but God is God of all, and just because He gives us the freewill to choose Him that does not mean He will not use all of us to His advantage. Sure, we who are faithful to Him are used to proclaim Christ, and keep bringing people to Him, but He will not hesitate to use the unfaithful to bring judgment upon His own, and others to Him. “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,” – Romans 9:21-23.
“endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:” You see, God uses the wicked to not only keep His faithful faithful, He uses them to bring others to Him, and to avenge the unfaithful who bring evil to his nations. I always say that if God is going to use me I rather it be to show His mercies than His wrath. Ahaz was about to take things a step further, instead of heeding the warning and turning to God, he rebelled and went to the Assyrians for help, not only that, he found out what gods they worshiped, shut up the temple, and forced Urijah, the priest to build an altar to worship these false gods, using items from the altar in the temple.
“And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the LORD: this is that king Ahaz. 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. And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God, and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and shut up the doors of the house of the LORD, and he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem. And in every several city of Judah he made high places to burn incense unto other gods, and provoked to anger the LORD God of his fathers.” – II Chronicles 28:22-25.
“But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.” Again, take a look at all the nations under a religion that worship a false god Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, North Korea, they are all under attack, and in constant war. And you think this is just evil people? This is God, and He will avenge His nations. Now, while Judah was at war with the Syrians, Samaria (Israel) was being taken over by the Assyrians.
“In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him. Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents. And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison. Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made.” – II Kings 17:1-8.
“and brought no present to the king of Assyria,” Do you see why our nations cannot buy peace with the enemy? America is under a lot of distress right now because the previous administration gave gifts to Egypt and Iran to keep the peace, and now this administration is not buying them off, and it is causing problems. We cannot buy peace, that only comes when we as a nation return to God. Three years after all this took place, Israel was taken over completely by the Assyrians, God removed His protections completely, and walked away from Israel.
“Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets. Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the LORD their God. And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them, that they should not do like them. And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.” – II Kings 17:13-18.
“and made them molten images,” God does not forget what people do to take His people away from Him, and there will be vengeance. Those who started all these things, religion, false gods, idol worship, including statue worship, are in hell right now, and likewise, all who chose these things over God. God does forget what we have done if we repent, meaning turn away from believing that our good works are going to get us to heaven, and turn to Him. And the only way we can turn to God is by believing in, and receiving Jesus Christ as our Saviour. There was a time when ignorance could have given someone a chance to live, but no more, ignorance saves no one from the judgment of God. “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” – Acts 17:30-31.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “And he brought also the brasen altar, which was before the LORD, from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the north side of the altar.” – II Kings 16:14.
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for sending Jesus to give me a way to be one of Yours, I do not need to be perfect, I just need the perfect one in me. The second I accepted Christ as my Saviour, You accepted me as one of yours, and that is something I never want to take for granted. I know we all have flesh and are capable of falling into sin, but I do not want to be led by my flesh, I want to be led by You. Lord, help me prepare my ways before You. Give me Your power, wisdom, and guidance to live in Your will. Give me the strength to stand by Your Word at all times, let me not let the actions of a bad leader change my perception of You. In fact, let me be the vessel of honor that You need me to be so that others would want to choose Your Son. In ask this in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
Are You 100% Sure You Are Going To Heaven?: http://readytofollow.com/
Receive The KJB Daily Devotions In Your Email: http://eepurl.com/2WMzT
Missed A Message: http://imfollowingjesus.com/Biblestudy/
Visit I’m Following Jesus Missions: http://imfollowingjesus.com/index.html
I’m Following Jesus On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/byhisstrength
Copyright © 2019 I’m Following Jesus, All rights reserved.