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: Saturday, July 06, 2019
Chapters: II Kings 14, II Chronicles 25
Message: Lack Of Faith From Unbelief
Hello My Friend,
As I was praying this morning, while I did not actually say it directly to God, I was thinking that my faith in Him is just about as comparable to that of the Israelites. What I mean by that is, they had great faith in God after He did something miraculous for them, but as soon as the next challenge arose they had no faith at all. Then Jesus just pointed out something to me, “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” (Matthew 25:23). What Jesus pointed with this verse is that while I may not always have perfect faith, I still have faith, and am faithful to Him, and that is why my faith cannot be compared to that of those who just hang around His people because they get fed. Jesus never said that our faith had to be enormous, as long as it is the size of a mustard seed He can move mountains. It is not really roller coaster faith that angers God, it the a lack of faith from unbelief. “Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.” – Mark 16:14.
“and upbraided them with their unbelief” Belief means; A persuasion of the truth, or an assent of mind to the truth of a declaration. Faith means; the assent of the mind or understanding to the truth of what God has revealed. Okay, so what is the difference? Belief is talking yourself into declaring that something is true. Faith is believing the truths of God without any thought behind it. And this is why our faith does have its high and low points, it is easy to talk yourself into believing that something is true when we see it, not so much when we do not. You see, God does place challenges before us so we can keep our faith in check, while true believers will turn to their dependence of Him, those who are just faithful while everything is going well do not. In Judah, after Joash was killed, Amaziah reigned, and in the beginning he did very well as king. However, when facing a battle with Edom he panicked, and literally paid Israel to bring their army to assist him in the battle.
“Amaziah was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart. Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah together, and made them captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, according to the houses of their fathers, throughout all Judah and Benjamin: and he numbered them from twenty years old and above, and found them three hundred thousand choice men, able to go forth to war, that could handle spear and shield. He hired also an hundred thousand mighty men of valour out of Israel for an hundred talents of silver. But there came a man of God to him, saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee; for the LORD is not with Israel, to wit, with all the children of Ephraim. But if thou wilt go, do it, be strong for the battle: God shall make thee fall before the enemy: for God hath power to help, and to cast down. And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, The LORD is able to give thee much more than this.” – II Chronicles 25:1-2,5-9.
“for God hath power to help, and to cast down.” You see, our belief in God is what enables His power to help us in the first place, but it is our faith in Him, even when things look hopeless, that releases that power. If He can lift us up through our faith, He can certainly take us down through our unbelief. We think we have to fight our battles on our own, but Jesus is with us, and He will help us, but the key has to do with our being faithful to Him. While Amaziah did obey God, and sent Israel’s army away, and have a great victory, he did something foolish.
“Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned incense unto them. Wherefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Amaziah, and he sent unto him a prophet, which said unto him, Why hast thou sought after the gods of the people, which could not deliver their own people out of thine hand? And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said unto him, Art thou made of the king’s counsel? forbear; why shouldest thou be smitten? Then the prophet forbare, and said, I know that God hath determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my counsel.” – II Chronicles 25:14-16.
“forbear; why shouldest thou be smitten?” Forbear; To abstain from; to omit; to avoid doing. Amaziah did not want to hear what the prophet had to say, and forsook God as well. And this is what happens when people do not turn to Jesus with a perfect heart. I have seen people on fire for God, but the second adversity comes they run to the religion that fed them rather than trust the one who can feed them with what they really need. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” – John 6:47,51.
“which I will give for the life of the world.” Jesus gave His life for all, but He will not save all, He will only save those who believe in Him, and have faith that He is the only one who can save them. People sway from believing that God is to a complete disbelief because they never gave their heart completely to Him in the first place. What possessed Amaziah to even looked at those idols and grab them is beyond question, but since his heart was not perfect with God it was easy for him to be enticed with these false gods. Not only did Amaziah lose sight of God, he got filled with so much pride that he thought he could take on any nation, including Israel.
“Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in the face. And Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle. Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thine heart hath lifted thee up: glory of this, and tarry at home: for why shouldest thou meddle to thy hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee? But Amaziah would not hear. Therefore Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked one another in the face at Bethshemesh, which belongeth to Judah. And Judah was put to the worse before Israel; and they fled every man to their tents. And Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Bethshemesh, and came to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim unto the corner gate, four hundred cubits.” – II Kings 14:8-13.
“But Amaziah would not hear.” You see, God even gave him a chance to repent, and because he did not Judah lost horribly. God truly does everything He can to get us to give our entire heart to Him, the trials, the afflictions, the joys, and even the tears are placed before us so that we can be the best that we can be through His power, not our own. You see, the problem with believing in and having faith in false gods is that they feed off of the power of the pride of the flesh. Creating a false god is the work of Satan, who tries to compare himself to God, there is no comparison, Satan is full of lies and deceit that sends people directly to hell, where as God is full of righteous judgment and truth, that sends His believers directly to His Kingdom. Now, although most of Israel revolted from God, He tried time and time again to get the current king to listen to Him, and turn the people back to Him, and once in a while He was able to do that, such as the case with them being able to defeat Amaziah.
“In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, and reigned forty and one years. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gathhepher. For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter: for there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel. And the LORD said not that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven: but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.” – II Kings 14:23-27.
“nor any helper for Israel.” The reason Israel was in such a mess and did not know God was that Elisha died, and since he had no successor like he had with Elijah, the people only saw the false gods as their hope. God saw the affliction of Israel, it grieved His heart to see their state and how they ignored Him. As much as we like to believe that God picks and chooses who He wants to be saved, the truth is He wants all to be saved. Does He save all? No. Does He know who will get saved? Yes, of course He does, but He never messes with freewill, we all must make that choice. Sadly, many will reject Him, their hearts will be turned away, and when the do finally believe, it will be too late. You see, there is no comparison, you either believe and accept Christ as your Saviour and live, or you believe in a false god or religion and die. No one will ever stand before Jesus and not be able to say they did not have the opportunity to be saved. “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” – Philippians 2:9-11.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter: for there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel.” – II Kings 14:26.
Today’s Prayer: God, As much as I love You, I know that my flesh is weak and has a way of desiring things that could give me a less than perfect heart for You. I want to live all my days here on earth with You in it, following You through every challenge, trusting You to lead me through every battle, and listening for everything You have to say to me. Lord, give me Your power, wisdom, mercy, and grace, strengthen my heart, and make it perfect for You. Let me not become too boastful or forget to acknowledge that You are the source to every victory I receive, and let me not get caught up in the cares of the world, only looking forward to the amazing life I will have when I see Jesus. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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