Are you asking God for something these days? German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote, 'God doesnt give us everything we want. Even the wicked king Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu of northern Israel, had a need to ask the Lord and God heard him. Let us also hear 'I prayed, and he heard me' as the voice that speaks to us, and may the beginning, development, and ending of your case be understood as the conclusion of my life.
First, I did evil in the sight of the Lord (the beginning).
In Southern Judah, in the 23rd year of King Joash, they began full-scale temple repairs, and then in Northern Israel, Jehu, the icon of reform who broke the 45-year reign of the Omri dynasty of Ahab in one year and fulfilled the prophecy of the prophet Elijah, died. Jehu did all kinds of reforms for one year and didnt leave the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat for the other 27 years, and Joash did all kinds of evil for one year after 39 years of honesty. Who was worse, Jehu or Joash? Jehus son Jehoahaz also did evil in the sight of the LORD, for there is not much life, and whether it is one year or twenty-seven years, it must end with Jesus. More contagious than any disease, and not leaving anyone, is the sin of serving the shiny golden calf. Most importantly, children watch and follow whether their parents choose to be redeemed or secular, and Northern Israel, without exception, follows their parents and chooses to follow and depart from evil. We have a born-again spirit in a fleshly body, but the flesh is a gathering place for sin, which is why the Bible doesnt say much about what man has done, only what God has done.
Second, because we are mistreated, God provides a deliverer (unfold).
God was angry because of Israels wickedness, which in Hebrew means, 'He was so angry that His nose burned. But Gods anger is not an outburst of emotion like ours, but a just punishment for sin that leads to judgment. God delivered Israel into the hands of the kings of Aram to judge them, which is a clear indication that God was in control. The word 'always' appears in the text, and because we always sin, it is Gods way to always deliver us into the hands of our enemies, but this 'always' is grace. In the midst of his abuse, Jehoahaz cries out to the Lord. The emphatic form of the word 'cry out' is 'hila,' which means 'to soften, to soften,' and 'the face of God, hardened with wrath for doing evil, is softened.' Jehoahaz, who has never known pain from his high place, is sick, and when he is brought low, he sees the wrathful face of God. To see the wrath of God, thats the mission. When God grants a request from a wicked king like Jehoahaz, its because Israel is a covenant people and Jehu promised to cut off the house of Ahab so that the throne would last for generations.
When you are well abused, God provides a savior. To be well nurtured is to wait well, and a well nurtured person listens well on the ranch and waits well in my case. The author doesnt identify who the savior is because the focus should be on the God who saves rather than the savior. The problem solver is God, not man. Moses or Elisha symbolize the Word of God, and the true savior they foreshadow is Jesus Christ, the Word of God. This is the Redeemer, so dont look around for a savior, but remember that in my place in life, listening to the Word given to me today, is bringing Jesus the Redeemer into my life. The answer that God hears when you cry out in your crushing pain is the blessing of 'dwelling in the tabernacle as before today' in your ordinary life.
Third, forgetting grace makes us like a speck (conclusion).
God, who sees the abuse, hears the plea, and sends a deliverer, is the best response, but Northern Israel still does not depart from the house of Jeroboam, walks in the ways of Jeroboam, and leaves the Asherah wood.So the king of Aram, the instrument of Gods wrath, wipes Jehoahaz and his people off the face of the earth, not just abusively this time, but like a speck in the threshing floor, beyond redemption. And yet God doesnt completely uproot Northern Israel, leaving them fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand infantrymen. He also writes down Jehoahazs accomplishments, buries him with his ancestors, and leaves him a son, Joash, who succeeds him on the throne. The Bible is full of stories of rebellion and treachery, but no one is hopeless because God is a God who loves to the end. The grace that keeps me dwelling in the tabernacle as before is always to cutie, worship, and go to the ranch, but to leave, divorce, die, and kill is to forget the grace that has been given to me by throwing away the opportunity to repent, and to become a speck by being exterminated. Even if it seems that I am being exterminated in a difficult environment, I must look at the remaining stump that can take seed and grow fruit.
Community confession is a shepherds sharing that he sees a pattern of sin that he thought was a secret that only he should know.
She opened up in the shepherding meeting about a woman she works with, and how she recently drove to her house after work and came right out because she thought, 'This is not right.' She said that she doesnt approach her, but when she does, its hard to cut her off because of her personality. Her oldest son went on a trip to Jeju Island and crashed into a wall with his car, her second daughter is on her cell phone all day, her youngest son plays games all day, and her wife got a speeding ticket again.In the face of these incidents of abuse, he has admitted that nothing he tries works, and that he is now unable to break the pattern of repeated sin in his own strength. And since this is the conclusion of my life, and since I realize that I have failed to stand upright as a spiritual priest, I hope that I can now be a parent who looks to the Lord for guidance.
May we know that it is a grace to be abused because He always hands us over to the enemy when we sin. May you be a life of supplication to God, seeing what is left even in the midst of difficult circumstances, and may you live your normal lives of cutie, worship, and ranch life as before. May you also be the saints who are answered, 'We prayed and were heard.
