Stay Faithful Knowing The Judgment

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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: Friday, August 08, 2022
Chapters: II KINGS 22-23
Study: Stay Faithful Knowing The Judgment

Hello My Friend,

When you stop to think about the mercies of God, (which I do not know about you, but they are pretty much daily), you do come to understand just how reasonable God really is. We are sinners by nature, but somewhere down the line as we grow up, those who aided in raising us, and this includes parents, relatives, mentors, and teachers, we start to learn right from wrong, even before we come to understand who Jesus is. Well, there truly is a generation that has no respect for their parents, teachers, or anyone in authority, and we are in it. And it is also this generation that is going to suffer the most.

[Romans 1:29-32  Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,  30  Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,  31  Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:  32  Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.]

I tell you what, every nation has its ups and downs concerning their faithfulness to God, as God truly does bless the nation that chooses Him, and we are no exception here. As we return to the reading of 2 Kings, it also gives the account of Josiah, he was only eight years old when he became king, and talk about the mess he inherited from his father, Amon, it was nothing, but idol worship and his own father sacrificed his own children. As I said earlier this week, it is often the mother that is the biggest influence on training the child in the way that they would go. Josiah, was not like his father at all, in fact, he determined from his youth that he was going to follow God, and started to clean up the mess that he inherited from his father.

[2 Kings 22:1-5  Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath.  2  And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.  3  And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of the LORD, saying,  4  Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the silver which is brought into the house of the LORD, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people:  5  And let them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work, that have the oversight of the house of the LORD: and let them give it to the doers of the work which is in the house of the LORD, to repair the breaches of the house,]

[And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Josiah,] Josiah, was just twenty-six years old at this point, and even though he had no clue what was written in God’s Law, he still lived his life through his faith in God. As we grow in our faith it is imperative that we get in the Word of God so that we can continue to grow. Well, the reason Josiah did not know the Law had to do with the fact that it was hidden in the temple, but as they were cleaning it up they discovered it and quickly brought it to Josiah’s attention.

[2 Kings 22:11-13  And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.  12  And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king’s, saying,  13  Go ye, enquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.]

[Go ye, enquire of the LORD for me,] He did not just send one person, He sent several, so there would be no discrepancies. And well, these people went up to the college of prophets and found a woman named, Huldah a prophetess, who brought some good and bad news to the king.

[2 Kings 22:17-20  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 kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.  18  But to the king of Judah which sent you to enquire of the LORD, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard;  19  Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the LORD.  20  Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.]

[and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace;] Knowing the judgments of God to come, are we supposed to just sit there and be relieved that we who are saved are not going to have to be here when that does happen? No. We have a generation to reach. Now is not the time to say, “Too bad, so sad.”, we need to get back to doing things God’s way, and the only way that is possible is by getting in His Word.

[2 Kings 23:2-4  And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.  3  And the king stood by a pillar, 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 their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant. 4  And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.]

[and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant] They all, not just a few, but all ranks of people came together to hear the Word of God, and actually dedicated their lives to following it. It bugs the fire out of me when people tell me that they do not need to read the Bible because they go to church or get it from some preacher or teacher of it. It actually breaks my heart and makes me want to cry because they are missing out on so much. We wonder why our nations are falling so quickly into the abyss of Satan, but the fact is we have bunch of people who have just enough of God’s Word in them to accept Christ as their Saviour, but nothing more. We cannot expect God to move mountains if we not willing to do anything for Him.

[James 1:21-24  Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.  22  But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.  23  For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:  24  For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.]

I for one can give an account to the fact that sin can take you down to level that you wake up one day, look in the mirror and wonder who you are. And that is where Jesus comes in, He is the one who removes all that garbage that changed you, and He literally turns you into a reflection of Himself, even better than the best you ever were on your own. However, being transformed into a reflection of Christ does not come just by our faith in Him alone, it takes an effort and willingness to remove all that garbage. Josiah, did not waste any time, he literally cleaned up the entire nation from everything that was wicked and anything that would even bring temptation. And he did not stop in Judah, he took down all of the idols, groves, and altars throughout Israel.

[2 Kings 23:7,10,13,15  And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove. 10  And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech. 13  And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile. 15  Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove.]

[the houses of the sodomites,] Some of the most wicked acts are done right before the eyes of God from the so called people who proclaim His name. And this goes beyond people living in sin under their own roof, this is bringing the sin out into the public and into the church and promoting it. And in case you wondered what these were, they were whorehouses, built right next to the temple. We can wonder how any person can even think that worshiping idols and giving yourself to whomever your lusts desire is acceptable, but God knows exactly how they can, and is the one who gave them up.

[Romans 1:21-24  Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.  22  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,  23  And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.  24  Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:]

I can only imagine how much it grieves God to see countless lives turning into someone who resembles Satan rather than His Son, not to mention the souls that are in hell because of this. It is quite sad really, and makes a lot of sense why they have no respect for anyone, they have no respect for themselves. It really only takes one person to turn things around, but imagine what can happen when an entire congregation stands to the covenant that they made with Jesus when they accepted Him as their Saviour. Now. after Josiah and the entire congregation removed all the things that brought the evil into the entire country, they held the first Passover in decades, and it literally was the first one since Samuel that followed it as the Law had commanded.

[2 Kings 23:21,24-26  And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the LORD your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant.  24  Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.  25  And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.  26  Notwithstanding the LORD turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal.]

[Notwithstanding the LORD turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath,] Let me tell you, if more people heard the truth instead of all the lies being preached at pulpits, there would actually be more saved. Even though God’s judgment still stands, that is not a reason to live a life of sin, we still have to bring as many to Christ before He returns. Ignorance does not save anyone, only Christ will save us, [Acts 17:30-31  And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:  31  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.]

Today’s Prayer: Jesus, Thank You, for paying the debt that I could never pay to get my soul out of hell. By my faith and acceptance of Your sinless death, burial, and resurrection, You have paid my debt forever. I know that the Bible is not some ordinary book, it is Your Word, it contains life and gives life to all who want You in their lives. There are so many people in the world starving for the spiritual food that only You can give them, but their hearts are proud, filled with the lusts that will never satisfy. We do not need the Bible to lead anyone to You, we just need to know You, and show them who You are through our own testimony. Nevertheless, reading Your Word, studying it, and following it will never return void as we allow the Holy Spirit in us to guide us in our walk with You. Lord, lead me and guide me, give me Your power, mercy, and grace to follow Your Word with all my might, heart and soul. Keep my heart tender and me humble so that I can be a faithful witness to all of what You have done in my life. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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