There is much to learn from the examples of the Kings in Israelite history.  Though 2 Chronicles is not often the book of choice when it comes to our personal devotions, it does offer much to ponder for the life of God’s people today.  Here is something God has been teaching me recently, through the life and example of Jehoshaphat, King of Judah.  We see his reign as King in 2 Chronicles 17-20.  Overall, his tenure as King was a positive one.  He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, though not all the false worship was taken out of the region (2 Chronicles 20:32-33).  Though generally a good King, he did have flaws.  One flaw that God chose to reveal about him was his alliance with Ahab, King of the northern kingdom of Israel.  Ahab was a wicked King, married to the equally ruthless Jezebel.

The text tells us that Jehoshaphat made a marriage alliance with Ahab (2 Chronicles 18:1).  What was this alliance?  It involved the marriage of Jehoshaphat’s son, Jehoram, with Ahab’s daughter, Athaliah (see 2 Chronicles 21).  This choice to make this alliance was not wise.  While that alliance did not seem to have much of an effect upon Jehoshaphat’s reign as king, the ongoing ramifications were staggering, and nearly cataclysmic.

After Jehoshaphat dies, his son Jehoram takes the throne.  Jehoram is not a good King and follows the ways of Ahab, his father-in-law, rather than the ways of his own father.  No doubt influenced by his wife, Athaliah, and her religious influence, Jehoram leads Judah into religious whoredom (2 Chronicles 21:13).  Jehoram died and his son Ahaziah took the throne.  He continued in the wickedness of his father, for his mother, Athaliah, was his counselor in doing wickedly (2 Chronicles 22:3).  Ahaziah died after only one year in office.  None of his children were old enough to take the throne, and Athaliah took the opportunity and became queen herself.  She destroyed all the royal family of the house of Judah (2 Chronicles 22:10), at least she believed so.  She wanted to wipe out all rightful heirs to the throne of Judah and establish herself in authority, perhaps with the intention of uniting the two kingdoms once again.  However, God allowed the young son Joash to be hidden until he was old enough to take the throne.  God would not allow His covenant with David to be broken, but kept the remnant alive.  God’s sovereignty and grace are clearly seen, but that is for another discussion.  When Joash became king, his wicked grandmother was put to death (2 Chronicles 23:15), thus ending her reign of terror in Judah.

What I want to point out here is how one seemingly innocuous decision by parents had ramifications in the family that lasted for years.    This was a seemingly harmless marriage alliance involving Jehoram and Athaliah.  Yet, the influence of Athaliah upon Jehoram, and upon their son Ahaziah was devastating to the people of God in their worship of God.  Beyond that, her intentions for the entire family line of Judah were diabolical.  She nearly wiped out the Davidic line to the throne.  All this took place because of a choice to do something that seemed advantageous at the time to Jehosphaphat.  The alliance was not right in the sight of God.  Jehoshaphat’s decision to make this alliance was not wise, and it had long-lasting and nearly catastrophic effects on his own descendents.

All of us make decisions every day.  Whether you are a parent, a church leader, or in some other place of authority, those decisions always have some kind of consequence to them.  The consequences may not become apparent for many years, but they will come.  The decisions you make today have potential ramifications for future generations.

As parents, though, it is imperative that we make choices today for ourselves and our families that are not merely expedient for the moment.  We must look ahead at what the ramifications of those choices could be for the future of our children and grandchildren even after we are dead.  The direction of our home is viewed by the decisions that we make.  Are your choices today those which are pleasing to God, or those which are simply expedient for your children?

Jehoshaphat was not a wicked King.  Though he had his flaws, there are many positive things we can learn from his life as well.  However, take the New Testament seriously when it says that all scripture is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).  Let the lesson from Jehoshaphat teach you what is right. Believe what God’s Word teaches, and let it correct any faulty thinking in your mind and heart.  Allow it to lead you in righteous paths.  Make decisions that will please the Lord today and not jeopardize the moral and spiritual welfare of your children in years to come.

2 Chronicles 29 gives us the beginning of King Hezekiah’s reign.  He was the son of Ahaz, a King who walked in the ways of the Kings of Israel, which included idolatry and false worship.  Hezekiah, however, did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and followed the ways of David.  David, though not a perfect King, was in fact a man after God’s own heart, who stood as the example of a godly King.

Hezekiah’s first priority as King, as described in chapter 29, is the restoration of proper worship in the temple, which his father had desecrated.  He immediately begins the process of cleansing and consecrating the temple.  Then after this is completed, he takes the lead in the offering of sacrifices to the Lord.  The people follow his example and offer many sacrifices to the Lord as well.  They rejoiced in this restoration of true worship to God.  All of this took place within the first month of his reign.

It is interesting to note that in Chronicles, one of the clear indications of whether a King did right in God’s sight or not was their worship practices.  Were they idolaters?  Did they allow for idolatrous practices?  Did they ignore God’s Word in how He prescribed worship to take place?  In reading a commentary on 2 Chronicles by Martin Selman, he makes the following observations on page 484: “Nothing is more central to the Chronicler’s message than worshipping God.”  “This is in fact consistent with the wider message of the Bible, which is that every human being’s first priority should be to acknowledge God’s worth.”  “Indeed, for the New Testament, sacrificial worship makes a claim on the whole of one’s life (Romans 12:1).”

Kings were judged by God as doing right or evil in His sight based largely on their worship practices.  Some did right, but not with a perfect heart.  Others did right, but failed in certain aspects of their worship.  Here Hezekiah receives a completely positive review by the Chronicler, “And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.”

How would God characterize your life?  If your life were reviewed by how you worshipped God, would it be a positive or negative review?  Hezekiah had his “warts” as King, but He will forever be remembered as a great King of Judah, who sought to lead his people into right worship practices, despite what his father did before him.

Our lives are called upon to be living sacrifices that are holy and acceptable to God.  This is our worship of Him, which He alone deserves.  Our highest priority in life ought to be the true worship of the true God.   When we worship God accordingly, we will rejoice, and God will be glorified.

In 2 Chronicles 21 & 2 Kings 8, we have King Jehoram taking the throne of Judah.  At 32 years of age, he took the throne and immediately killed off all of his rivals, both in Judah and in Israel.  You see, he had married the daughter of wicked Ahab, the King of Israel.  He had rivals in his nation and in the North.

The text tells us that he walked in the ways of Israel and did evil in the sight of the Lord.  Jehoram made places of false worship in his Kingdom, had an ungodly alliance with a wicked King, and led Judah into spiritual adultery against God.  The prophet Elijah warned the King of his actions and subsequent consequences because of his wickedness, but the King failed to heed his warnings.

God allowed the Philistines and the Arabians to come and carry away all of Jehoram’s sons and wives, with the exception of one son named Jehoahaz.  Jehoram was himself struck with an incurable disease in his bowels for 2 years before dying of this terrible malady, in which he suffered greatly.  The text hauntingly says in 21:20 that “he departed with no one’s regret.”  No one regretted the death and no one seemed to particularly care.  He was not liked during his life and now he was dead.

How could a King come to that point at the end of his life?  And how does this example apply to us today?

First, He failed to follow the godly examples of his father and grandfather.  While they were not perfect and each had their flaws, they were men who generally feared the Lord.  Failure to follow the godly leadership and example of others is not wise.  God lovingly and graciously places godly men and women in our path for us to learn from and follow, even as they follow the Lord.

Second, stemming from the first, he chose to follow the example of wicked King Ahab of Israel.  Jehoram married one of Ahab’s daughters, who no doubt carried on the wicked lifestyle of her parents, complete with idolatry.  Jehoram failed to follow the right path and instead chose to follow the ways of the Kings of Israel.  When we follow the path of those who do not honor God, serve God, nor obey God, we should expect that path to lead us to a place of destruction.

Third, Jehoram introduced wicked worship practices into Judah.  This flows naturally from not having the right view of God.  Weak worship comes from a weak view of God.  Jehoram had a weak view of God and his worship demonstrated that.  He forgot the God of his fathers, the one true and living God, and substituted Him with the idols of wicked Kings.  That is foolishness!  God warned him, but he failed to listen to God, and because of these things he suffered terrible consequences.  When we fail to worship God as He desires, there will be consequences as well.

Jehoram failed to follow the teaching of his dad and grandfather.  He failed to follow the warning of God through the prophet Elijah.  Instead he chose to go against God seeking for his own power.  Because of these things, God brought great judgment and the inspired epitaph that no one regretted it when he died.  These things are written for our admonition; learn the lessons from God and the Kings of His people.  Fear God and follow His Word.

In 1Kings 12 & 2 Chronicles 10, Jeroboam approaches the newly installed King Rehoboam, the son of Solomon.  His purpose was to ask to have the heavy burdens lifted which Solomon had placed on him and his people.  Rehoboam refused, which led to the rebellion of ten tribes of Israel under the leadership of Jeroboam, who was installed as the first King of those Northern tribes of Israel.  In 1 Kings 11 Jeroboam was told by the Lord that he would in fact lead the people and promised that if he followed the Lord and His commandments, then God would be with him.  However, Jeroboam failed to do this in at least three ways, recorded in 1 Kings 12.

First, Jeroboam set up two places of worship: one in Dan to the North, and one in Bethel to the South.  He made two golden calves and placed one in each city, declaring them to be the gods which brought the people out of Egypt (reminiscent of Exodus 32).  These idols were representations of the true God.

Second, he instituted temple worship in each of these two cities and appointed priests who were not Levites.

Third, he made a feast to rival the Feast of Booths, one month after it.

All of these were attempts to make worship more convenient to the people of the Northern kingdom.  Jeroboam still recognized God, but instituted false worship practices that were meant to be convenient for the people.  He was more interested in this than he was being obedient to the Word of God.  This was not worship to a false god, but attempted worship of God done in a way not prescribed by God.  It was still faulty worship, not acceptable to God.

All of these things were false worship and sinful.  Jeroboam’s desire for power and the allegiance of his people was more important to him than obeying the commands of God. Many kings after him would follow in his footsteps and lead Israel into other forms of false worship.

Worship cannot be a matter of mere convenience, no matter what the reason.  It is not always convenient to come to a worship service, or to serve someone in your community or church, or to take part in some kind of church ministry.  It requires time, effort, resources, all of which are valuable to us.  It would have taken time, energy, and resources to worship God properly in the Northern Kingdom, but Jeroboam sought a different path, one that was not according to God’s Word, and it was wicked.

Our allegiance to God and His Word must override our own fleshly desires to make worship convenient for us.  Our worship of God must be done in the proper way to the right God with the right heart.  All three components must be present in order for worship to truly be worship to God.  Jeroboam instituted worship practices to the right God, but in the wrong way and with the wrong heart.  What he did is an example of how convenient worship is viewed by God: with disdain.

May God help His people to worship Him in the ways which He desires, with the kind of heart He desires, all for His glory.

1 Kings 12 and 2 Chronicles 10 describe for us the beginning of Rehoboam’s reign as king after the death of Solomon.  It began with a conversation with Jeroboam, who represented many Israelites who were heavily burdened by Solomon.  Jeroboam said that if the burdens were lightened, then the people would serve Rehoboam.  The new king sought counsel for three days as to how to respond.  He was about 41 years old at the time.  The older, wiser counselors who served Solomon offered their wisdom, to serve the people by lightening their burden and therefore receive the service of the people forever.  However, this did not fit with the king’s desire for power.  In asking the advice of his own contemporaries, they advised him to make the burdens heavier than Solomon did, but with no mention of the consequences.  This appealed to the king.  Therefore, he forsook the advice of the older, wiser counselors, and instead followed the advice of the younger, inexperienced counselors.  The people rebelled, and the kingdom was split.

In considering this pivotal event in the kingdom of Israel, my own thoughts have led me in two directions.

First, there are older, wiser men who have great experience in life and in pastoral ministry, who deserve to be listened to and even followed.  Their knowledge of the Word of God coupled with their life experiences affords a valuable treasury from which the young person can glean.  The apostle Paul encouraged Titus to teach things that fit sound doctrine to various age groups, one of which is older men.  There, in Titus 2:2, he encourages them to be sober, respectable, and self-controlled, as well as to be healthy in their Christian faith, in their love for God and others, and in their patient hope of Christ’s return.  These elder statesmen were to set the examples in these areas.  All should strive to be so as well, but these older men were to be respected as such and looked to for guidance and stability within the church.  In my (limited) experience, I have found that older men like this thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to give sound wisdom and advice to younger men based on their biblical understanding as well as their life experiences.  However, there are many men today who do not desire to pursue those qualities, but instead bask in their immaturity, in their selfishness, and in their pride, as if those things were to be treasured.

The second thought applies more to me personally, being both a younger man by age (38), as well as a younger man in the ministry (full time ministry for 11 years, senior pastor for 4).  To whom do I look for wisdom?  Whose advice do I seek out and treasure?  While younger men can offer help, there are “seasoned” men in the ministry who can offer treasured wisdom and insight into both life and ministry.  I would do well to listen carefully.  Paul told Timothy to take what he was taught and commit the same truths to others (2 Timothy 2:2).  Paul told Titus to affirm his teaching constantly (Titus 3:8).  Each of these men Paul called his own sons in the faith.  Paul, the elder, sought to instruct these younger men and impart to them wisdom; and they listened.  To whom am I listening?

I encourage all young men to consider the examples of Rehoboam, Timothy & Titus, and learn to value the wisdom and advice of older, seasoned men.  Unfortunately, many times, we view them as being old fashioned, out of date, out of touch, too traditional, even Pharisaical or legalistic.  We younger men are ambitious, energetic, and eager to conquer the world for Christ.  Realize, though, that the advice of older men to slow down, think through things, or even consider different courses of action are not meant to get in the way of our service for Christ, but to help guide us into greater, more effective service for Christ.  Listen to their counsel.  You may not always agree, but you would do well to prayerfully consider what they say.

I experienced a situation like this first hand prior to seminary.  I wanted to get out and get my hands dirty in ministry, but older, wiser men, counseled me in a different direction than I initially wanted to go.  It wasn’t what I wanted to hear, but it was wise and I am grateful for God’s grace to heed their counsel and wisdom.

O for a generation of young men who would seek after and even follow the wisdom of the older, wiser generation of men before them.  They may not always be right, but they will offer an insightful perspective that shows that will be valuable to the decision-making process.  Rehoboam’s example serves as a vivid reminder of the failure to head wise counsel.  His example is written for our learning and admonition.

I have been doing some studying of the Old Testament Kings, particularly after Solomon’s reign.  Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, reigned in Judah and the kingdom was divided under his rule.

While there are no kings of the Northern Kingdom (Israel) who did what was right in God’s sight, there were plenty of kings in the Southern Kingdom (Judah) who did.  Rehoboam, however, was not one of them.  He followed the path of his father and grandfather (David) for only three years, but then things went sour.

Why did Rehoboam turn away from the Lord?  His story is found in 1 Kings 12-14 and 2 Chronicles 10-12.  I will leave you to read those passages yourself without quoting any verses here.  Let me offer three observations and concluding thoughts.

First, Rehoboam forsook wise counsel.  When Jeroboam came on behalf of Israel to ask for relief from their heavy burdens, Rehoboam sought counsel for three days before giving an answer.  He first asked the elder counselors who had served underneath his father Solomon.  They counseled him to make the load easier, and the people would serve the king.  But that is not what Rehoboam wanted to hear.  He then sought counsel from his own contemporaries who had much less experience in things like this.  They counseled him to make things even harder for the people.  Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the older men in favor of the younger, and it resulted in the splitting of the Kingdom (already a part of God’s sovereign plan).  In searching for counsel in our Christian lives, we can’t merely listen to those people who say what we want to hear.  We must listen to wise counsel.

Second, Rehoboam followed after immorality.  Solomon is well-known for his 1000 wives and concubines.  Though the amassing of wives was culturally acceptable during the lifetime of Solomon, it was still immoral and sinful in God’s eyes.  This multiplicity of wives  drove Solomon’s heart away from God.  Rehoboam followed his steps and procured 18 wives and 60 concubines.  Again, while this may have been culturally acceptable, his immorality was still sinful and wrong.  Cultural acceptability does not automatically mean biblical acceptability in God’s eyes.  Modern Christianity is saturated with culturally acceptable immorality.  Yet God’s standards of holiness remain the same.

Third, Rehoboam forsook the Word of God.  Rehoboam grew powerful and prosperous and proud, and he allowed those things to drive him away from God and God’s laws.  God’s Word was no longer held in high esteem by the King.  As a result, He built false places of worship as well as participated in the pagan worship practices of idolatry .  His sin and consequently the sin of the people brought upon them the wrath of God, as well as the warning of God through the prophet Shemaiah.  Humbly, Rehoboam showed signs of repentance, yet God did not withdraw his judgment entirely.

Rehoboam was a king who did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord.  We are told that this was so because he did not prepare his heart to seek after the Lord.  His heart was not right, and therefore his actions were not right.  He forsook the counsel of older, wiser men; he followed immoral practices, and he forsook the Word of God.  Those are warnings from God that we should pay close attention to.  May God help us to prepare our own hearts to seek the Lord, to follow His Word, to reject immorality, and to seek out wise, biblical counselors.

Much has been written and posted about being a young man in the landscape of fundamentalism.  I don’t remember anyone defining what “young” means in that context, but I would consider myself to be in that category, even though I am 38 years old.  Perhaps it is those who are in their 20’s-30’s that make up this group.  I have been in full-time ministry now for 11 years, but already I have noticed a sense of brazenness and pride amongst those who are near to me in age or younger.  This attitude is especially seen in how they relate to those men who have ministered before them, the “old guard” so to speak.  Perhaps this has been a problem as each generation succeeds the previous one, but if it has, I haven’t heard/read about it.

My concern is that my generation is cutting down the men upon whose shoulders they are standing.  Generations have gone before us, fighting battles that we may never have to fight again to the same degree, writing books that we don’t have to write, and taking stands on issues that we might not have to.  And yet, we cut those men down and seek to run from their influence, and out from their shadow, thinking that we must make a name for ourselves, and blaze our own trails (as if they are better).

Young men today are running to issues of trendy Christianity in various ways, seeking thrilling ministries, a pursuit of the “new,” and a forsaking of the Christian heritage which they once espoused and loved because “traditions” are Pharisaical.  In so doing they proclaim by their actions, if not in their words, that the men who served before them were in fact Pharisaical in their stands and pastoral ministries.  How dare they!

Standards once held as being trans-generationally biblical and right are being smashed today in the name of liberty, grace, and love.  Yet, the understanding of those terms is not fully in line with biblical teaching, nor is the implementation of those truths.  We are allowing the culture of our day to dictate truth, rather than the timeless truths of Scripture.

When the Bible is explicitly silent on a particular issue, we declare freedom and liberty, yet fail to understand that the Bible is applicable to every generation on every continent.  Biblical discernment is necessary, based on biblical truth and principles through the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God to apply God’s Word to every area of life, even using extra-biblical material to help understand modern issues more fully.

I call out to the “young, restless, and reformed” to put to death the pride, brazenness, and restlessness, and be sober-minded as Paul instructs the young men to be in Titus.  Take a huge dose of humility, realizing that the church age survived for 2000 years without us, and will survive for however long the Lord tarries after we are dead.  Be clothed with humility; be better listeners; learn from the men before you; and grow in the likeness of Christ, who is meek and lowly in heart.

Imagine yourself in a nice restaurant with your sweetheart, seeking to impress him/her.  The ambiance is nice and romantic, there is soft classical music playing to soothe all customers, and you are looking forward to a wonderful meal together.  You order your food and continue your nice conversation.  After some time your food arrives and you look with excitement at what the waiter is bringing.  Then you notice that though the food is what you ordered, the plate upon which your food rests is covered with what looks like a previous customer’s leftovers.   After you inquire about this to the waiter, he says that the food is good, but they ran out of plates and had to pull one from the stack of dirty dishes in the kitchen.  I think I can safely say that no one would willingly take the plate of food.

Though the food may have been freshly cooked and plated, the way in which it was presented causes the dish to be contaminated, though the food itself was cooked fine.  The form upon which the food was resting mattered.

In the Bible, there is a similar situation in the ministry of the apostle Paul.  In Acts 16 a woman possessed with a demon loudly and repeatedly proclaims that Paul and his companions came as “servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation” (Acts 16:17).  After hearing this for many days, Paul finally commanded the evil spirit to come out of her in the name of Jesus Christ.  Her words, though correct, were not what Paul wanted.  The form of the truth was corrupt.  That was not the proper mouthpiece for that message.  The form did not help the message.

Does the form in which truth is presented matter?  Yes it does.  Truth can be told, but it must be told in a way that pleases the Lord and is untainted by the corruption of the world.  Some would say “all of us are sinful, like the dirty plate.”  This is true, but we are washed by the blood of Christ.  We are usable as we are clean and unspotted from the world.  True religion teaches this.

We can be thankful when the gospel is presented, but we must present the right gospel in the right way for the glory of the right person, God himself.  Form does matter.

This past weekend, I had the honor of officiating the funeral of one of our senior saints.  She battled the ravages of Alzheimer’s disease, and entered the glories of heaven last week.  As a minister of the gospel, funerals are a great time to preach the gospel.  Solomon wrote that it is better to go to the house of mourning than a house of feasting (Ecclesiastes 7:2).  Funerals are a time for people to reflect not only on the life of the deceased, but also on their own lives in light of death.   This is especially true, I think, when the funeral is for a person who was a believer in this life, as was the case this weekend.  What a joy to preach the gospel and point people to the life changing truth of salvation, using the deceased as an illustration.  What freedom there is when many family members themselves are believers and encourage you to preach the gospel. God’s Word went forth, and we pray for God’s Spirit to work in hearts.

Every time I go to a funeral, though, I am struck once again with the shortness of life, no matter how old the person was when he/she died.  Life is short and eternity is long.  Too often, though, we think that we have control over how long we live and what we can do with the life that we have.  My life is short and therefore I need to kill the deeds of my flesh in order to live more to the glory of God, under the influence of His Spirit, proclaiming His gospel, by His grace.

The apostle Paul wrote, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).  Our lives are too short to live for ourselves.  When we fight for control over our own lives, we are practicing idolators, worshipping ourselves rather than God.  Live for Christ; die to self.  Life is short.

This is a good article from Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary.  We can rejoice that Jesus humbled himself and became flesh to die as our substitute for sin.