King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 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.]
Date: Wednesday, August 03, 2022
Chapters: II CHRONICLES 33-35
Study: By Thy Words
Hello My Friend,
As I was listening to my pastor preaching Sunday morning, I kept thinking about people that have come and gone in my life, those whom I thought would be the perfect example of how they were once in the world, then dedicated their lives to Christ and turned everything around as I did. Well, I learned the hard way that not everyone has the same heart for God that I had when I dedicated my life to Christ. It is quite heartbreaking really, it seems as though we try so hard to reach them and show them just how great the Christian life can be, and not just hanging on by the thread of their salvation. I can only imagine how Jesus feels, but then again, if we are becoming a reflection of Christ, then we can get a pretty good idea of how He does feel.
[Matthew 12:33-37 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. 34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. 36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. 37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.]
The world underestimates just how powerful Jesus is, they think that they can turn a blind eye to Him or get rid of His faithful and that they would be off the hook for the judgments against them, but they are all wrong. We have one of two options, that God permits; You either choose Him, who can only be found only through Christ or you do not choose Him. I will tell you this, each and every soul that God creates is born with the knowledge of God in them before they are even born. It does not matter who we are or what family we came from, we are responsible for where our soul ends up. Remember how Godly Hezekiah was? Well, his son, Manasseh, was the complete opposite. As we continue reading 2 Chronicles, it also gives the account of Manasseh, and how quickly he turned Judah into something more wicked than the heathens that God had thrown out of Canaan.
[2 Chronicles 33:1,3-6,9 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem: 3 For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. 4 Also he built altars in the house of the LORD, whereof the LORD had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever. 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6 And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. 9 So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel.]
[made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err,] Fifty-five years may seem like a long time, but it is not that long. I am experiencing one of the worst and trying years in all my life right now, and it is half over already. Every person I know is struggling with something and it all started when our nation voted in a bunch of ungodly people, who by the way are causing America to err by passing their children through the fire. Let me tell you, people are so lost that they have no clue where to go and we as Christians keep talking about needing a revival in our nations, but fail to comprehend that revival only starts when we start a revival in our own lives, and it only takes one of us to lead the pack. In fact, this is what all these minor judgments are about right now, God, is telling us that it is time to repent before things get worse. Yes, revival of a nation can start with one person, watch the complete turnover that happened when God sent judgment on Manasseh.
[2 Chronicles 33:11-3,15-16 Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. 12 And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, 13 And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God. 15 And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the LORD, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city. 16 And he repaired the altar of the LORD, and sacrificed thereon peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel.]
[And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him,] [Intreat; to pray that a present evil may be removed, or an expected one averted.] This is proof that the most vilest sinner can be saved and why we need to continue to pray for the lost. You see, most people do believe in God, but affliction can actually produce one of two outcomes, a believer or an unbeliever. It all starts with the heart and our willingness to see that even though God allows the evil, He is the way out,
[And he took away the strange gods,] It is the devil that puts it in our heads that we are nothing and not able to stand up against the establishment and fight for all that is morally good. My goodness, when the church is condoning abortions and same sex marriages, then we have a problem because the lost need a place to turn to, and it time to take away the strange gods and repair the altar of the LORD, [Hosea 10:12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.]
No one ends up in hell because God wanted them there, He does not want one soul in hell, but those who end up there are there because of their own hard or fearful heart. Now, come to Amon, Manasseh’s son, he was fully aware of what Manasseh went through and his conversion, but he brought the nation right back where it was, but unlike his father who repented, he never did, in fact, he got worse.
[2 Chronicles 33:21-25 Amon was two and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned two years in Jerusalem. 22 But he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as did Manasseh his father: for Amon sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them; 23 And humbled not himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more. 24 And his servants conspired against him, and slew him in his own house. 25 But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.]
[But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon] You see, God’s judgments are just that, His judgments. We are not to take someones life under any circumstances, that is unless it was directed from God Himself. I tell my church kids every Sunday that they are the ones who are going to lead people to Jesus because the adults are all confused, and do you know what happened? One of my nephews who is seven years old, told his speech therapist about Jesus. You know the Bible says, [Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.]
Well, that training can go either way, if a child is trained in the ways of God, then that child will likely to be Godly. Likewise, if a child is trained in the ways of the devil, then they are likely to be quite devilish, and by the way, we all have a little bit of evil in us. I heard a man say on the radio that we are all evil until Jesus gets into our soul and shows us how to be good. Well, there is a lot of truth to that, [Romans 3:10-12,21-24 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:]
We hear a lot about kids becoming delinquents because they were brought up in single parent homes, often without a father. I do not believe that, while granted a child with both parents is ideal, that is not always ideal. I always say that the best thing that my dad did for my brothers and I was leave, and the reason I say that is because I have seen how my half-brothers turned out under his influence. Of course, their mother was a big factor as was mine in how me and my two brothers were raised. Later on in life, my dad did see the error of his ways, got saved, and now is in heaven with two of my brothers. It is only by the grace of God, through the Holy Spirit, that lives inside of every saved, born again Christian, that we are able to stand up to the evils of Satan. With the power of Christ in us, we can turn any nation around, but it takes two things for that to happen. One; a Godly leader, and two; the willing hearts of that nation. At the age of sixteen, Josiah did more to turn the nation of Israel back to God since David was king.
[2 Chronicles 34:1-3,6-7 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years. 2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left. 3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images. 6 And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about. 7 And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.]
[while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father:] This is the key right here, if children are not taught about Jesus, and I mean the truth, then they are more likely to fall into the world and away from God all together. Again, [Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.]
Sometimes it does take some backsliding in order for us to return to God wholeheartedly. My pastor made the comment one day that every Christian backslides, and we would be liars if we said that we have not. And that does not mean that we fall away from God for a season, that just means that our fire for God kind of fizzles out for a while. I will admit that it has happened to me, and what it took was some turmoil to bring back the fire in me, [2 Corinthians 7:11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.]
[And so did he in the cities of Manasseh,] So, here is this young man, only twenty years old, removing the images, groves, and idols from not only Judah and Jerusalem, but the rest of the nation as well. At this point, none of them, even the priests, had no knowledge of the Law, but their hearts were willing and when the time was right, God would reveal the Law to them. Now, think about this, before Josiah became king, the nation went fifty-five years without the Law in their possession, add that to the eighteen years that Josiah reigned and that would be seventy-three years. That is two generations that went without the Word of God, all those who did seek God during that time did so with their heart. So, imagine what they thought when they found it.
[2 Chronicles 34:12-14,18-19 And the men did the work faithfully: and the overseers of them were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to set it forward; and other of the Levites, all that could skill of instruments of musick. 13 Also they were over the bearers of burdens, and were overseers of all that wrought the work in any manner of service: and of the Levites there were scribes, and officers, and porters. 14 And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the LORD given by Moses. 18 Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. 19 And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes.]
[when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes.] This is how we all should be after learning of the judgments that God has placed on our nations. To be honest, we learn of Judgment Day well before we read the Bible, and that scares a lot of people. I know it scared me, but what we end up hearing from the world is hearsay and not actually what God’s Word says. Then what happens to true believers is that they start going to church to understand it more, which is what Josiah did. Well, he sought a prophet, which actually ended up being a prophetess, who confirmed that what they read about God judging Israel.
[2 Chronicles 34:22,24–5,27-28 And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college:) and they spake to her to that effect. 24 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah: 25 Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched. 27 Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD. 28 Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought the king word again.]
[and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace,] Are we supposed to sit back and do nothing after hearing that we will not be apart of God’s judgments? No, we have work to do. It is our families after us that will suffer if we do not do something. And that is exactly what Josiah did.
[2 Chronicles 34:30-33 And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the LORD. 31 And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book. 32 And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. 33 And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the LORD their God. And all his days they departed not from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.]
[And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it.] While the judgment still stood, God promised that Josiah, and anyone else living who stood by Him, would not face the judgment. We who are saved and born again know that Christ will return, and judgment is coming to the entire world, God promises us the same peace to our graves as long as we are faithful to Him. And even if we are to be blessed to be raptured out of here before our grave, we would not have to see the evil either as we will be safe in the clouds while it all takes place, [1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.]
Once Josiah and all the people found out that judgment was about to come, a huge revival took place. Josiah, knowing that he would not have faced any of it could have just left things alone, but he chose to follow the Word of God. Josiah went through all of Israel and purged it from everything that encouraged idol worship. He even gathered the remnants of Israel (the northern kingdom had already been taken over and the Jews scattered or taken to Syria) for a true Passover. In fact, the first Passover in centuries.
[2 Chronicles 35:1-2,16-18 Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the LORD in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. 2 And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the service of the house of the LORD, 16 So all the service of the LORD was prepared the same day, to keep the passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of the LORD, according to the commandment of king Josiah. 17 And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days. 18 And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.]
[and encouraged them to the service of the house of the LORD,] You know, those who are faithfully serving God ought to be encouraging others who are saved to be doing the same thing, not tearing each other down. I swear, those who call themselves Christians are more judgmental than the world. Instead of fighting with each other, it is time that we fight for Jesus! Stand up for Him! We cannot stop the judgment, but the only way we can see lost souls turn their heart to Jesus is to give Him all of our heart first, [Romans 14:8,11-13 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s. 11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. 12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. 13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for sending Your Son to save me from the judgment that is about to come, and for the great sacrifice that led to my permanent salvation. I believe and know that I must fully trust Your Son as my Saviour to do be saved. I also know that I can never do anything to merit salvation as it has already been bought and paid for by Jesus. Now. I can live the rest of my life the best I can in obedience to Your Word so that I can be a testimony of who my true Lord and Saviour is. Lord, Lead me and guide me, let the Holy Spirit work in me so that I am a faithful and true witness, never let me be intimidated by those who expose me to evil spirits, give me the wisdom and discernment of Your Word so that I might be able to teach the Gospel in a way that all can understand and know Christ as well. While we cannot change Your mind to the coming judgment, we can be faithful witnesses to lead a few more to Christ before He returns. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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