03/10/2021 – Day 297 – 2 Chronicles 25 – 28 – Let us prepare our ways before the Lord our God daily.
As I was leaving late tonight from the office, I stopped to talk to an esteemed Christian remnant warrior female colleague, who whispered to me at the coffee bar over lunch that she was praying to the Lord not to let her righteous anger turn to just anger. She is a doting grandmother of twin infants. We share a strong warrior cross witness about 15 minutes every couple of months. It is good soup for the soul.
Ok brothers, I’m flumaxed : How is it that our first two kings Amaziah and his succeeding son Uzziah at the age of sixteen, are classified as good kings, described as “doing what was right in the sight of the Lord”. Is this because we end with Ahaz who sacrificed his own children by burning them in the fire , joining in the pagan ritual of his neighbors according to the “abominations of the nations”. Today, we sacrifice about one million infants a year and call it “choice”.
In the case of Amaziah, an unnamed prophet has to admonish him for bowing down to burning incense to the idols of the Edomites, a people that he had just recently conquered. So the prophet is left with the obvious question : “Why have you sought the gods of the people, which could not rescue their own people from your hand?” Much as we have in D.C. today, it just an unfathomable “off the charts”combination of evil and stupid working in tandem.
At least the priests and prophets during this spiritual decline still rebuke their kings. In the case of Uzziah, it was for burning incense to the Lord in the sanctuary , permitted only for priests through the Law. We have already read that during Jeremiah’s time priests were turning a blind eye to idol worship within the temple grounds.
We did have one good king out of the four, that being Jotham, just before his son Ahaz. My footnote on 27:6 explains: “He became mighty because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God. Do the same. Set aside a quiet time with the Lord. Search your heart, confess your sins, feed on the Word, and pray that God us you that day to reach the lost and glorify His name.” Wow, talk about words to live by!
By his grace, His church will never be defeated and we win in the end!
Soli Deo Gloria!