Category: 2 Chronicles

For the Majestic God

Old Testament: 2 Chronicles 5 & 6

Poetry: Psalm 93 (and/or 92)

New Testament: 1 Thessalonians 3

“The LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty” Psalm 93:1a

We have a great and majestic God. The Psalm from today’s reading is short and straight to the point: God reigns forever. He reigns over the world and our lives. Chaos may seem to have a tight hold on the world today, but ultimately God still reigns and His plan for the future Kingdom will unfold. What is the attitude that we have as we await the kingdom?

Do you recognize the work of God in your own life? It’s easy to fall into a mundane routine of our lives, living each day the same and simply going with the flow of life. In these moments of routine, we are likely to miss God’s mighty hand working within our lives. When life is peaceful and easy, we tend to forget to lift our eyes to God in praise and thanksgiving. 

A family favorite film in my household growing up was the movie Miracle. This movie tells the true story of the U.S. hockey team that participated in the 1980 winter Olympics. It was a ragtag team of college students who didn’t always get along with one another and some of them weren’t the most talented hockey players that the coach could have chosen for his team. The movie recounts the events of Team USA being demolished by the Russia hockey team, who were known as the best hockey team in the world, before the Olympic games even began. The Russia team was confident in their own individual skill and didn’t see Team USA as a threat. However, with training and dedication, this team of college students was able to miraculously have victory over the Russia team during the Olympic games because they relied not on their own skills but on the skills of the team and the guidance of the coach. When we have a lot of success in our life or our life is simply going peacefully, we tend to become confident in our own abilities like Team Russia. We think that by sheer skill we can conquer anything on our own. This is not the case. Our success in life is from God and the peace we feel in good times is a precious gift not to be wasted by relaxing into the good times. King Solomon was seeing a lot of success as king. In the Old Testament passage from today, he had finally completed the temple and instead of praising his own ability and focusing on his own skill like Team Russia, he praised God. He recognized the building of the temple was not something done by himself alone. It was accomplished through the work of man following the instructions and will of God much like Team USA following the instructions of their coach. 

“He said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, there is no god like You in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart; who has kept with Your servant David, my father, that which You have promised him; indeed You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day.’” – 2 Chronicles 6:14-15

King Solomon recognized the goodness and provision of God in the work of the temple. Take a moment to note the different descriptive terms Solomon uses to describe God and what He has done for the people. How have you seen these things in your own life?

-Makenna Landry

Reflection Questions

  1. What is the attitude that we have as we await the kingdom?
  2. Do you recognize the work of God in your own life?
  3. Take a moment to note the different descriptive terms Solomon uses to describe God and what He has done for the people. How have you seen these things in your own life?
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Living Godly Lives in a Godless Age

Old Testament: 2 Chronicles 34-36

Poetry: Psalm 12

New Testament: 2 Timothy 3-4

            During this week’s readings we’ve seen examples of many ways and reasons that people turn away from God.  We’ve also seen how people can be a complicated mixture of both faithful and obedient to God but also can lose their grip on faith and obedience through pride or greed and lose their intimate connection to God.

            Throughout scripture, God shows himself to be merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in love and forgiveness.  He is a God of second chances (and 3rd, 4th, and 5th chances).  Yet he is also a holy and just God and brings down the rod of discipline upon the people he loves to correct their corrupt ways when they refuse to repent.

            On this final day of the week, these Scriptures show us some pretty remarkable things about God’s patience and mercy, and also the dangers to neglecting the Word of God.

            Josiah began to reign as King of Judah at the tender age of 8.  When he was a young lad of 16 he began seeking God.  He decisively began to rid Judah of idols.  He arranged to have the temple repaired.  As the workers were working in the temple, cleaning out the relics in the back halls and storage units they came across a dusty old book.  It looked old and probably hadn’t been read for centuries.  It turns out that the dusty old book was the Bible, as it was constituted at the time of Moses.  It contained the teaching and laws that Moses recorded based on what he received from God along with the history of God’s people going back to creation.  King Josiah asked that it be read aloud to him.  As he listened to God’s word being read, he was overcome with horror.  He tore his robes.  As he heard God’s word being read he realized how far astray they had gone from doing God’s will. 

            Josiah called for a prophet of God to come and tell them what God was going to do.  He was going to bring his judgment against the people of Judah, there would be a disaster that was unprecedented.  However, King Josiah would be spared because of his love and faithful obedience to God.  God said: “Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard:  Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before God when you heard what he spoke against this place and its people, and because you humbled yourself before me and tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard you, declares the Lord.  Now I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place and on those who live here.’” (2 Chronicles 34:26-28)

            Josiah led the people to renew the Covenant.  He led them in celebrating the Feast of Passover which had not been celebrated since the time of Samuel.  He continued to purge the nation of its idols.  Josiah was rewarded for his humility and faithful obedience to God’s covenant. He was permitted to live out his life with the nation in peace.  In this instance, God is both gracious to Josiah for his humble and repentant heart, but he is also just and requires that Judah suffer the consequences for their disobedience.

            After Josiah died, there was a rapid succession of kings, who each “did evil in the eyes of the Lord.”  God continued to send prophets to warn his people to repent, but they would not listen. “Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful, following all the detestable practices of the nations and defiling the temple of the Lord, which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.  The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.” (2 Chronicles 36:14-16)

            God gave second and third and fourth and fifth chances, but finally they were so hardened and disobedient that he had no choice but to let them be taken away into exile.

            Josiah was a man of God living in a broken and sinful world.  He did his best to lead others toward faithfulness and trust in God, but ultimately they rejected God and faced the consequences.  God showed mercy to Josiah for the sake of his humility and faithfulness.

            Like Josiah, we can be men and woman of God living faithfully in a broken and sinful world.  We can take heart, God sees our faithfulness and humility as we repent of our sins and turn to Jesus Christ and walk in obedience to Christ.  We have no guarantee that life will be easy as we live godly lives in a godless age.  In fact, we are warned that it will be hard.

            “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,  and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” -2 Timothy 3:12-17.

            Sadly, in Josiah’s day, the Bible was lost for hundreds of years in the back of the temple.  We are blessed, we have access to God’s word to read and study and obey…. But do we?

-Jeff Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1.  How do you suppose God’s people completely lost God’s word for hundreds of years?  Could that happen again in our age?
  2. Josiah humbled himself and repented. In what areas of your life do you need to humble yourself and repent?
  3.  As a result of this week’s devotions, what one change are you committed to making in your life?
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The Power of Pride

Old Testament: 2 Chronicles 26-28

Poetry: Psalm 9

New Testament: 1 Timothy 5

            I just realized something today.  I’m getting kind of old.  I know this comes as a shock to most of you who know how young I look (wink wink, nudge nudge).  Seriously, I’ve been alive during all or part of the presidencies of 12 different US Presidents, from JFK to Joe Biden- and several of them served 2 terms. Yikes!  To borrow from an old Clint Eastwood western, some of those presidents have been good, some have been bad and some have been ugly.  As we read through Chronicles and see the history of the kings of Judah, we could make the same observations, some were good, some were bad and some were down right ugly when it comes to their faithfulness to God

            Amaziah was one of the ugly ones. After defeating his enemies in battle he took their idols as plunder and brought them back and worshipped them.  A major no-no.  God really, really hates idolatry and gets very jealous when his people start worshipping other things as god or the ultimate in their lives.  In fact, in 2 Chronicles 25 (see yesterday’s reading) God punished Amaziah by having him routed in war against Israel, and then his own people assassinated him.  He was decisively rejected by both God and his kingdom.

            In today’s reading from 2 Chronicles we see that Amaziah’s son Uzziah followed him as King.  Uzziah was young, only 16 when he began to reign.  He got a great start because he sought God.  He found a godly teacher, Zechariah, to show him the way of God and he intentionally tried to do things God’s way as he ruled over Judah.  Because of his faithfulness, God blessed Uzziah with a prosperous reign: “as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.” 2 Chronicles 26:5 

            Today’s reading shows how successful Uzziah was while he followed God.  His army grew more powerful, he defeated their enemies. He fortified his territory. His fame spread and other nations brought him gifts acknowledging his power and success.  His country did well agriculturally as their herds and flocks grew and their vineyards were productive. 

            The blessings were really flowing for King Uzziah and he was on top of the world and felt really good about his accomplishments.  He had not made the same terrible mistakes that his father Amaziah made, there was no hint of the worship of idols under Uzziah’s rule.  But…unfortunately, as often happens in times of prosperity, Uzziah grew proud.  He started thinking that he was “all that and a bag of chips.” (do they still say that or is that from 20 years ago… I’ve lost track).  Anyway, he was FULL of himself.

            Let me back up a minute.  Going back to the time of Moses as leader of Israel there was a strict division of labor among God’s people.  You had judges and later Kings, who did the political leading, and you had the priests who oversaw the religious rituals.  Sometimes the lines got a little blurry and there was some overlap as with Samuel who was both a priest and a judge.  But by the time Kings were instituted it was clear that the Priests were the only ones allowed to go into the temple and offer sacrifices.  Offering sacrifices was a no go for the King.  King Saul had previously gotten himself in hot water for offering sacrifices (See 1 Samuel 13 for more details).  In short, Uzziah should have known better.

            Unfortunately, King Uzziah let his success lead to pride which led to his downfall.  “But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.” 2 Chronicles 26:16  Uzziah was doing what was forbidden for a king, to usurp the priestly role of  burning incense on the altar of the temple.

            The priests were horrified at what King Uzziah was doing and they stopped him (it took 80 of them).  Uzziah became enraged that they challenged him.  He was unwilling to stand down even with 80 priests telling him “no”.  So then God intervened and instantly struck him down with leprosy.  Leprosy was a skin disease that rendered the leper ceremonially unclean.  Uzziah was instantly cut off from temple worship and was made an outcast.  He had to leave his palace and remained an outcast until his death.

            What a sad and tragic end to the reign of a king that had begun so well.  Uzziah, as a young man had seen how bad his father had been as he pursued idols.  Uzziah sought the Lord, was faithful, God blessed and prospered him and all was well, until he gave in to the deadly sin of pride. 

            Why is pride a sin?  In the US June was just celebrated as Pride Month.  I was reminded of this literally everywhere I went.  When I turned on my computer at the hospital where I serve I was reminded that it was pride month.  I watched a baseball game featuring the Baltimore Orioles hosting the Seattle Mariners and there were rainbows and pride flags on the field, in the stands and surrounding all of the player stats.  Pride is celebrated in the world today as a wonderful and glorious thing.  But the Bible hasn’t changed- Proverbs 16:18 still says: “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”Proverbs 16:8.  Whether it’s being proud to tell everyone that you are gay, or being proud of your accomplishments as king, pride is destructive. 

Pride is a deadly sin because it causes us to focus on who we are and what we accomplish and take our eyes off  of who God is and what he accomplishes.  Pride is a subtle form of idolatry.  Instead of worshipping another god in the form of a statue or object, pride is the worship of ourselves.  Uzziah was full of pride so he thought he was above following God’s law that said only priests could go into the temple and offer sacrifices on the altar.  Pride leads one to reject God’s laws and God’s authority to tell us what we can and what we cannot do which is ultimately a rejection of God as God.  If, in my pride, I tell God that I don’t have to listen to him, he has no authority over an area of my life, then I’m turning myself into my own idol.  That’s exactly what Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden.  It’s what Uzziah did in the temple, it’s what we do whenever we say, “I know that God has said this is wrong, but I reject God’s authority to tell me what I can and cannot do with my body, my life.”   Pride has caused the deaths of untold millions of people, including unborn babies.  Pride has caused countless people to turn away from their faith in God and from following Jesus Christ in order for them to follow their own “truth” about who they are and what they think should be right.

Uzziah was punished by God with leprosy which caused him to lose his access to both worship and to his role as king.  He died miserable and alone.  That’s where pride usually leads.  We need to avoid pride like the plague.

-Jeff Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1.  Why do you think God was so harsh and immediate in striking King Uzziah with leprosy.  After all, he’d been pretty faithful up till that point in his life?
  2. What do you think of the ways that Pride has been exalted in our culture?  Can you see any ways that pride could be leading toward societal destruction?
  3. What are the danger areas of pride in your own life?  Is there an area where pride could be leading you away from God.  Are there any areas where you reject God’s teaching in  your life and you are proud of it?
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Itchy Ears and Slow Learners

Old Testament: 2 Chronicles 20-22

Poetry: Psalm 7

New Testament: 1 Timothy 3

            Ever since I was a little kid I’ve had trouble with my ears.  I had surgery on my ears several times before I was 8.  I almost completely lost the hearing in my right ear- before the surgery the doctor told my parents that the infection was so bad when he got in there he might have to completely remove the contents of my ear rendering me completely deaf in that ear.  Fortunately, he was able to save my hearing.  But I’ve still had struggles.  The most irritating thing for me these days is my ears are itchy inside.  When they start itching I pull out the q-tips and scratch away—such sweet relief.  But then the next morning they itch again.  I went to my ear, nose and throat doctor and he looked inside and asked, “How often do you use q-tips?”  “Every day,” I said.  “You need to stop!”  And he explained the reason why.  Your ears naturally produce oils to keep them lubricated so they don’t dry out.  When you use q-tips it removes the oils, your ears dry out and become irritated… and itchy.  The thing I do to relieve the itchy ears – q-tips, is the cause of them continuing to be itchy.  The solution.  Stop using q-tips for a few days, allow the oils to return and lubricate the ears, and they will stop itching.  If I could just trust him and endure a few days of itchy ears without q-tips, then they would stop itching.  Problem solved.

            The first few days were miserable.  They itched so bad.  All I wanted to do was use a q-tip to scratch, but I resisted.  After a few days, sure enough just like the doctor promised, the itching stopped.  I had learned something new that made my life better.  Until I forgot.  Old habits die hard.  I took a shower and used a q-tip to dry out my ears (he told me to use a hair dryer instead).  The scratching felt familiar and good, and pretty soon my ears dried out and got itchy again.

            Change can be hard.  I can be a slow learner about some things, like q-tips and itchy ears.  In today’s reading we see Jehoshaphat could be a slow learner about some things as well.  In yesterday’s reading we saw that he got into trouble when he violated God’s instruction and entered into an unequal alliance with the king of Israel, and how it led to some problems.  Jehoshaphat learned a lesson, repented of his actions and things became better for a while.  He learned to trust God instead of trusting in an alliance with Israel’s idol-worshipping King Ahab.

            In today’s reading, we see how fully Jehoshaphat learned that lesson and learned to trust God.

            First, Jehoshaphat receives a report that a vast army of Ammonites and Moabites and others are coming to attack.  Jehoshaphat becomes “alarmed” at the news.  Does he reach out to the Israelites to become his allies?  That’s normally what would happen. (My ear itches, I’ll do what I always do and grab a q-tip).  But Jehoshaphat learned a valuable lesson in the last story.  So instead of entering into an alliance which God has forbidden, he decides to ask God for guidance.

            Jehoshaphat calls for a fast and all the people of Judah came together to seek God’s guidance.  They prayed to God: “God, we don’t know what to do, our eyes are on you.”  Notice it says all the men, women, and children stood before God in an act of humility, reverence, and solidarity, seeking his guidance and direction.

            Then something amazing happened. God answered them.  The Spirit of God came on Jahaziel, the prophet, who then brings a word from God. The message is clear: “Don’t be afraid or discouraged for the battle belongs to God.  Trust that God will defend you against your enemies.”  God instructs them to go toward their enemies, stand firm, and then watch what God will do.  Israel responded by worshipping and praising God with singing.

            What happened next? God set an ambush against them and then, the enemies of Judah all turn on each other and destroyed each other.  The people of Judah came to the overlook as God instructed so that God could show them the destruction of their enemies.  They collected the plunder and it took them 3 days to haul the plunder back to Judah.  As a result, their other enemies were afraid of God. God gave Jehoshaphat peace. (No more itchy ears when you follow the doctor’s orders and quit using the q-tips).

            But old habits are hard to break sometimes.  Jehoshaphat forgot to remember. Jehoshaphat made another alliance, and again there were consequences: “Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, ‘Because you have made an alliance with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have made.’ The ships were wrecked and were not able to set sail to trade.” 2 Chronicles 20:37.  Out came the q-tips again.

            Jehoshaphat isn’t the only slow learner.  This, it turns out was a pattern for generations of God’s people.  God would give people instructions, the people didn’t fully trust God and tried to do things their way, God sent consequences to discipline them, the people didn’t like the consequences so they repented and started obeying  God.  Things got better for the people…. Until they once again forgot to trust God and tried to do things their own way and the cycle repeated itself over, and over and over again.

            Fortunately, God was patient with slow-learning Jehoshaphat, and with slow-learning Judah.  Fortunately, the same God is also patient with us.  Psalm 103:8-12 reminds us:

“The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
    slow to anger, abounding in love.

He will not always accuse,
    nor will he harbor his anger forever;

he does not treat us as our sins deserve
    or repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his love for those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,
    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

            Through Jesus Christ God mercifully provides us with a saving way to turn from our faithless and disobedient ways, to learn to trust and follow God’s ways.  Learning to trust God fully is a journey that can take time.  We still are tempted to grab that q-tip and begin scratching away at those itchy ears.  But if we can learn to simply trust God’s ways, no matter how itchy the ears or scary the invading armies might seem, we can trust and know that God will show us a way to peace and joy (and unitchy ears.)

-Jeff Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1.  Why do you suppose Jehoshaphat’s “itchy ears” was his difficulty depending on God and not alliances with other kings?
  2. What are some of your “itchy ear” areas where you have difficulty trusting God’s ways and try to do things your way (which usually makes things worse?)
  3. What is one step you can take today toward trusting God in this area of your life?
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Alliances with Unbelievers

Old Testament: 2 Chronicles 17-19

Poetry: Psalm 6

New Testament: 1 Timothy 2

“Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord?”  This is a pretty challenging question that comes straight from today’s reading from 2 Chronicles 19:2 NIV.  One of the questions that comes to mind for me is “help the wicked do what?”  The second question is, “Why shouldn’t I love those who hate the LORD?”  After all,  Didn’t Jesus tell us that we are supposed to love everyone, including our enemies? (Matthew 5:44) Shouldn’t godly people treat others with love, even unbelievers, even those who have rejected God? 

One of my ministry settings is as a hospital chaplain.  Recently I visited a patient who informed me as soon as I walked into their room that they were an atheist, but that they still wanted to talk to me, they were going through an emotional crisis and they needed help.  This was a person that didn’t simply hate the LORD but actually denies the existence of God.  As a Chaplain, as a pastor, and as a Christian should I have NOT helped the patient?  Should I have NOT loved the patient since they do not love God?  I’ll tell you the rest of the story at the end. Let’s look at the context of this quote in today’s reading and see what God reveals to us about himself.

The story is about Jehoshaphat (isn’t that a great name).  It literally means YHWH has judged.  At the time of today’s reading in 2 Chronicles 17-19 Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah.  Judah and Israel were at one time one nation comprised of 12 tribes that descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Israel was a strong and united nation during the reigns of kings David and Solomon, but after Solomon died the nation of Israel was divided by a civil war.  The Northern Kingdom of Israel, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah separated with Judah’s capital in Jerusalem where the temple of God was.  Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah and ruled from Jerusalem.  He was an heir of King David and was generally a good and faithful ruler who avoided the worship of idols.  Ahab was the King of Israel and he did not remain faithful to YHWH, the God of Israel, and led his people into the worship of idols which was strictly forbidden by God.

A common practice at the time for smaller nations was to enter into alliances with other nations against their enemies.  God had made it clear to his people that he did not want them entering into political alliances with nations that practiced idol worship.  In today’s reading, it says that Jehoshaphat entered into an alliance by marriage with Ahab and Israel.  This was a violation of God’s commands and led to all kinds of trouble for Jehoshaphat and the Kingdom of Judah.  Now that they were in an alliance Ahab wanted Jehoshaphat to go to war with him against their enemies.  The problem was that God was not in favor of this because of Ahab’s unfaithfulness.  Jehoshaphat was wise enough to ask one of the prophets to seek God on the question.  Of course, Jehoshaphat should have known the answer- God did not want him to enter into an alliance with Ahab to begin with, he certainly wouldn’t want Jehoshaphat to fight in battle alongside Ahab, a battle which Ahab was destined to lose and where he would be killed.

After Ahab was indeed killed in battle as the prophet warned, Jehoshaphat returned to his palace where another prophet of God, Jehu, came to him and asked our opening question-“Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord?”  The answer here was clearly “no, you should not enter into a political alliance with a king and a nation that have rejected God and his teaching.  No, you should not give your son to be married to the idolatrous king’s daughter as the law clearly taught that God’s covenant people should not marry with idolatrous people who do not believe in God.

The prophet was not saying that God’s people should never help a non-believer or should never act in loving ways to people outside of the faith community.  The law taught that we should love our neighbor (Leviticus 19:18).  What the prophet was saying is you should never enter into a formal alliance with one who has rejected God and the teachings of God.  The Apostle Paul would express this to followers of Jesus in 2 Corinthians 6:14 “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common?”  One obvious example of this would be marriage.  If you are a Christian you should not enter into a committed relationship with one who has denied or rejected Jesus Christ as savior or God as our Father.  Believers should not marry unbelievers.  If you’re driving down the road and you see your non-believing neighbor with a flat tire, you can stop and help her change her tire, but you can’t marry her.  You might do a favor or otherwise show kindness and love to unbelievers, but it would be potentially very spiritually dangerous to enter into a business alliance with one who has rejected God and godly values.

Jehoshaphat was basically a good man and a good king, but he got into trouble when he violated the clear teaching of God’s law by entering into a political alliance by having his son marry the idolatrous, god-rejecting king Ahab’s daughter.  It might be the savvy and politically expedient thing to do, but it was spiritually deadly.

If you are committed to following God and God’s values, you can and should show love and kindness to everyone, including believers, but don’t join them or make commitments that will compromise your values and dedication to Jesus Christ.

Now for the rest of the story.  The atheist and I talked for an hour.  When I left they said, “I think I might want you to preach at my funeral.”  A week later they came back to the hospital and asked the nurse to have me come and visit. We talked for another hour.  Before I left they said, “I’m not so convinced that God doesn’t exist, is it okay if I visit your church?”  We can and should show kindness and grace and caring love to everyone, including unbelievers, just don’t enter into committed relationships with them, until they give their lives to Jesus too.

-Jeff Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1.  Beyond dating and marriage, what are some other potentially damaging ways a Christian today might bring themself spiritual harm by entering into an alliance with one who has rejected God?  How might this impact educational or career decisions?  Investment decisions? What political candidates we support?
  2. How would Jesus want you to love your non-Christian neighbor without entering into a dangerous commitment to one who does not share your values?
  3. As Christians, we are called to pray for and obey our governments unless they demand that we violate our commitment to God, how is that different from supporting a political candidate who clearly has rejected God’s teaching either by what they profess or how they live?

Bio- This week’s devotions are written by pastor Jeff Fletcher.  Pastor Jeff has been a participant at Fuel for over 40 years.  He is a pastor and hospital chaplain in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and is a doctoral candidate for Integrative Mental Health at Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville.   He is married to Karen, father of eleven, and grandpa/papa to 15.  He likes reading, watching baseball, and making delicious pulled pork in the smoker.

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Physically Strong – but – Spiritually Weak

*Old Testament: 2 Chronicles 10-13

(my apologies, chapter 10 was supposed to be included yesterday)

Poetry: Psalm 4

New Testament: 1 & 2 Timothy Intro below

     Today we again check in on the history of the ancient kings, with 2 Chronicles 11-13. The twelve tribes of Israel were just split into two nations, confusingly known as Israel (to the north) and Judah (to the south). Civil war would have broken out but God sent a message: “You shall not go up or fight against your relatives; return every man to his house, for this thing is from Me.” (11:4). It is good that the Lord prevented bloodshed in this case, and that the people were prepared to listen, but it could almost be seen as comical: ‘don’t fight, chalk this one up to me and just draw a new border.’

     King Rehoboam of Judah didn’t assume peace would last, he began preparing fortresses and weapons. It did him no good at all because he prepared physically, and not spiritually. “When the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and strong, he and all Israel with him forsook the law of the Lord.” (12:1). Just five years into his reign he lost his grip on what really mattered – his relationship with God. He barely restored the connection in time, humbling himself before God when Shishak of Egypt and his allies attacked. Still, they took “everything” from God’s own temple treasuries, and those of the palace (9).

     Rehoboam should have spent more time reading the copy of the Law which, as the king, he was supposed to be guided by (Deuteronomy 17:14-20). That book lists a whole series of curses that God promised to bring on the nation if it abandoned Him, and He worked through them over the years. But God accepted Rehoboam’s humility, and He held back from further destruction in his lifetime (1 Chronicles 12:10-12). The books of kings show that only a quarter of the kings of Judah were viewed with favor by God, so you might consider that the nation just limped along.

      In comparison none of the northern leaders had God’s favor, though we hear less about them in the Chronicles than in the books of the kings. We do read here that the Levites left for the south when it became clear that King Jeroboam of Israel had no interest in proper worship of God. That choice was folly on his part, of course. He feared that if the people worshipped at the Jerusalem Temple they would be influenced toward loyalty to Judah’s king while they visited there, so he provided golden idols for the people to worship in his territory (1 Kings 12:26-33). But that meant severing them from true worship, their history, and any hope for righteousness.

     We do see signs for hope in these chapters. God acts to defend the people, and He guides them. Those from out of all the tribes who wanted to worship God gathered into the southern kingdom (11:16-17), where the Temple was, which provided a faithful remnant of the nation. During most of its history the city of David may have been only a shadow of what it was intended to be, but it was at least a rallying symbol for the people – the covenant with David had been made and it would be fulfilled, no matter how far from it any individual king might be.

            We can imagine a better history, one where Solomon did not allow the nation to go into idolatry, and the nation was not split in two (1 Kings 11:29-39). Or where Jeroboam remembered the terms under which God gave him the kingdom of Israel, and he did not abandon the worship of God. I could keep giving suggestions, but is there much point in reimagining the Bible with Israel ruled by people who followed God perfectly? Wouldn’t that mean it was the kingdom we are waiting for? Solomon understood better than that when he prayed at the dedication of the Temple: “When [your people] sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin) . . . if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul . . .then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, their prayer and supplications, and maintain their cause and forgive Your people who have sinned against You.” (2 Chronicles 6:36, 38, 39). We all sin, and we need to have a way back to God. That’s why God kept offering us systems that provide them.

Lord, thank you for allowing your power and your mercy to be shown to us in so many accounts of the history of your people in the Bible. I am glad to be able to learn from their experiences, though I am also glad I have not needed to wrestle with some of the choices they had to make. Please help us to view these events with wisdom, to compare passages carefully to gain from the connections that exist among them, and let our memories serve us well when it is fruitful to draw on what we have learned. And I thank you, Lord, that one day we will see the perfect version of what was hinted at in these texts, a Temple that cannot be attacked by armies, a King who will never deny you, a nation undivided and fully committed to your will. Until that day, let me serve you in the world I have. Amen.

-Daniel Smead

Reflection Questions

  1. Do you think Rehoboam replaced the golden shields of Solomon with bronze ones so it would look like he still had that great wealth, or to remind himself of the wealth he had lost, and the humility he needed to maintain (2 Chronicles 9:15-16; 12:9-11)? In what ways can we develop our humility to help ourselves have a good relationship with God?
  2. Deuteronomy 17:17 said that Hebrew kings were not to have many wives. What changes do you think it would have made if the kings had followed that rule? Why do you think they may have thought it unimportant to follow that rule? Are there things you think God wants you to do but which you have decided not to do, for now, or for reasons you think are good enough?
  3. If you intended to fight a battle, do you think the spiritual or the physical is the more important area to prepare? Do you apply that to all areas of your life?

1 & 2 Timothy Introduction

Paul wrote First and Second Timothy to Timothy, Paul’s “true son in the faith”.  

In 1 Timothy, Paul wrote to warn Timothy against false teachers in Ephesus – where Timothy was serving.  Paul gave many instructions for running a church, including rules and actions for overseers and deacons, even those who shouldn’t teach or have authority.  Paul also stressed the importance of holy living. 

Paul wrote 2 Timothy while Paul was in prison awaiting execution.  This was his farewell letter in which he also asked Timothy to come quickly to visit.  Paul tried to encourage Timothy to live a holy life and remain faithful despite persecution.  He strongly stressed living a holy life and gave warnings about godlessness in the last days.

Here are some well-known passages in 1 and 2 Timothy:

  • 1 Tim 2:5 “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”
  • 1 Tim 4:8 “For physical training has some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”
  • 1 Tim 4:12 “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.”
  • 1 Tim 4:16 “Watch your life and doctrine closely.  Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”
  • 1 Tim 5:6-7 “But godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.”
  • 1 Tim 6:10 “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and have pierced themselves with many griefs.”
  • 2 Tim 1:12 “…I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.”
  • 2 Tim 2:2 “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.”
  • 2 Tim 2:15 “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
  • 2 Tim 3:16-17 “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
  • 2 Tim 4:2-3 “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.  Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”

I hope to eventually be able to say, like Paul did in 2 Tim 4:7-8, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”  I hope you will be able to say this too.

-Steve Mattison

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The Times

Old Testament: 2 Chronicles 1 & 2

Poetry: Psalm 150

New Testament: 1 Thessalonians 5

     1 Thessalonians 5 carries on Paul’s discussion from the end of chapter 4 about death and resurrection (13-18). Paul had just said what it meant for a person to be dead (asleep, as a metaphor), awaiting resurrection. He said this instruction was intended to avoid the Thessalonians being “uninformed” and allow them to “comfort” each other (4:13, 18). But it is hard to imagine that Paul had not already told them about these things. We aren’t told that the people received conflicting teachings from another source. Perhaps after members of the congregation died confusion developed about how events were meant to work out. It may be that they asked, through Timothy, for more instruction on the topic of death, resurrection, and the future.

     In 5:1 the discussion shifts to when these things could be expected. Paul wrote “you have no need of anything to be written to you” on the subject of “the times and epochs” – a phrase used by Jesus in Acts 1:7 apparently to describe the basic idea of events for the future including his return. When Paul wrote “you have no need” it doesn’t seem like Paul meant that the believers in Thessalonica had a clear understanding of everything related to the future, but rather that they have heard about these things before and should not need to ask for more information on the topic. The essence of the situation, as Paul lays it out, is that believers know about what is coming and non-believers don’t – in the sense of being forewarned. It is not just this awareness that affects their conduct, of course, but they will behave quite differently. One group is in preparation for that time and the other is not (Luke 21:34-36). But the future issue of knowing when that time will come is beyond both groups. Jesus had earlier declared it was even unknown to himself and to the angels in heaven (Matthew 24:36, 43). It is for God to set the schedule, and to declare it.

     The events of “the times and epochs” relate to judgment, rewards, resurrection, death, joy, sorrow, renewal, and discovery. There is more tied up in that than I would try to express in one devotional, and I don’t understand it all anyway. But even with the Thessalonians clearly not having understood all that was involved in that, Paul felt that he could write: “Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.” (5:11). He felt good about them, and what they were getting done, although they didn’t have their eschatology (ideas about the future) all straightened out. That is comforting. Still, Paul figured they were about to have it cleared up, since he had written his letter. I’m not saying none of this mattered to him (he didn’t want to leave them uninformed and figured it would have made them uncomfortable). But it is nice to think there is some room for uncertainty, while we seek to build each other up.

     Lord, thank you for those who have built me up and encouraged me. Help me to accept the strengthening they have offered me, and to not allow myself to be torn back down by the world. Let me use that strength for useful purposes. Help me to encourage and build up others. Please let me take that goal seriously and give me opportunities to do so. Let your Spirit work in your people to draw us closer together and show your love more clearly. Thank you, Amen.

-Daniel Smead

Reflection Questions

  1. We hear a lot about the day of Christ’s return being “like a thief” meaning it will catch people unawares – but it seems like that is meant to emphasize the effect on unbelievers. Do you think the real effect of the metaphor might have been to make us concerned about other people not being ready for that day?
  2. We don’t know what confusion the believers in Thessalonica had about death, we could imagine all kinds of things. Maybe they just assumed that believers weren’t supposed to die before Jesus returned, having heard of believers who were returned to life. What difficulties do you think there were for Christians as they moved into a second generation of believers?
  3. How might things have been changed if God simply told the first generation of disciples exactly when Jesus was going to return? Do you think they might have left that information out of the Bible if they had received it? What if Jesus promised to give the believers a 30-year warning alert of when he would return? Is it better to be left with each generation not aware if it is the generation that will be alive when the trumpet sounds?
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Be Like Josiah

2 Chronicles 34

March 23

The one thing I always remember about today’s story of King Josiah is his age. Verse one tells us he was eight years old when he became king. Certainly noteworthy. But, what I never stopped to think about much before was what happened in the chapter just prior. His father had not humbled himself before God, did evil, and ended up assassinated by his own officials leaving Josiah to become king. Josiah came into power under those circumstances,  after years of the reigns of his father and grandfather who did not honor or obey God.  So, young Josiah comes into kingship during difficult times, and verse 3 tells us that at the age of 16 Josiah began to “seek the God of his father David. ” Thankfully, we are never too young, too old, or in too bad of circumstances to seek God.

Four years later at the age of twenty, he begins a big clean up project in Judah. The enemies Judah fought in yesterday’s reading appear to have been infiltrating the lives of God’s chosen people over the years. Some of the sinful customs they adopted were altars to Baal, idols, sacred poles or trees  used to worship a pagan goddess Asherah, and sacrifices (including ones of children Ezekiel tells us) to idols. Basically, they just acted like the people around them, completely disregarding what God called them to do and be.

Verses 8-13 highlight King Josiah’s efforts to repair and purify the temple that had fallen into shambles during the time of the disobedient kings. During this process, a priest stumbled across something exciting in the temple which was the “Book of the Law given through Moses”.  This book is also known as the Torah or the Pentateuch and is made up of the first 5 books of our Bible. The priest’s secretary took it to the king and read it in his hearing.  What a different time where Bibles  weren’t available on hundreds of apps, online, or printed across the world. Who knows when or if Josiah had heard these words last? Regardless, once he heard them, he was affected. He tore his robes and mourned for how far they had strayed from God’s desire for them.

Josiah wanted his people to know who they were and what they were called to be. He wanted them to experience not just guilt for all the wrong, but also the blessings coming from walking alongside a loving God. Verse 30 tells us he read from the Book of the Law to “all the people from the least to the greatest”.  God’s word isn’t just for pastors, priests, and the privileged. It is for everyone and we know from Hebrews 4:12 that it is living, active, and sharper than a two edged sword!

This passage reminds me of a friend of ours who loves God’s word and clearly seeks to apply it and obey it in his life. Though he grew up attending church and in a home with parents who believed in God, he said he never internalized it or cared about it whatsoever. He could “talk the Churchese language”, and said his parents and everyone at church told him he was “saved at 6”, though he quite passionately differs with that mindset saying he was not, because it meant nothing to him. Once on his own, he pursued his own interests/gain, and what would likely be considered normal/worldly success to those around him, but without a personal relationship with God playing any role in his life. After ~20 years of this “American individualistic lifestyle”, he said one day at work a coworker set a Bible on his desk. He picked it up, thumbed through it, started to read, and said it changed him instantly lighting a fire in him wanting to know more and know God. He says this entirely changed the course of his life, later impacting the family he has now. He often references the story of Josiah, and I love to watch him talk to people with such excitement for God’s word and living a life of obedience to it. It kind of amuses me to watch “Christian” people seem almost like, “Um, yeah, that’s nice that you like God and His word….” but you can tell….they are almost mystified by him and his Josiah-like attitudes. He has been a convicting blessing in our lives and we love to do Bible study with him and fellowship with his family.   How long has it been since we’ve been excited or grateful to read it? Excited to find it sitting in the same spot we left it last . . . .? Willing to actually do what it says? Because Josiah did not stop with reading it. He followed, removed sinful practices, renewed covenants, and obeyed His word.

Josiah removed all the detestable idols from all the territory belonging to the Israelites, and he had all who were present in Israel serve the Lord their God. As long as he lived, they did not fail to follow the Lord, the God of their ancestors. (2 Chronicles v. 34)

-Jennifer Hall

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

  1. After reading the chapter describe in your own words what Josiah did. What characteristics do you see in Josiah that you admire?
  2. What pagan, anti-God practices and ideas or centers for idolatry are found in your community? While you likely lack the authority King Josiah had to tear them down physically, how can you make a godly stand against them? What has crept into your own home and family life that God would be happy to see purged? Are you willing to do a deep cleaning of your home (calendar and heart) to remove ungodly influences?
  3. How do you rate your love of God’s Scriptures? What does it convict you of? How do you share it with others? How does it affect your decisions and actions? What can you do to increase your love for God’s word?
  4. Who did Josiah work with and in what supporting roles? Who is on your team as you work for God? How do you support others who are seeking God?

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If My People

2 Chronicles 7

March 21

Today we are continuing along in Chronicles, jumping into the second book, II Chronicles 7. This one is a pretty packed-full chapter starting out with God showing up in a consuming fire, His glory filling the newly dedicated temple, and ending with a stern warning to Israel regarding rejection of Him and the resultant consequences.

Pausing, at verse 14, I’ll tell you that I have had a song stuck in my head ever since reading this one.

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land”

If you can’t guess the song, I am assuming you have not heard the song  “If My People”, and would encourage you to check it out if you are not familiar. While it stresses the old vocal cords (at least the version in the trusty brown hymnal) unless you are a canary, it is beautiful both in music and message in my opinion.  Though at times I think this verse is misused and tossed around out of context with various patriotic images, it provides such beautiful reminders taken in context. We are called by God. Called to humility, prayer, and seeking of His will and ways. Called to repentance when we fall and returning to our Father when we’ve strayed. We can always repent, call on His name, turn back to Him, and we are given Israel as an example time and time again.

This chapter also reminds us of the very important covenant God made with David. A ruler in Israel. A royal throne to be continued. And despite the years of mistakes and consequences to come after God’s reminders to Solomon, He did not forget his covenant. And this is what makes the Old Testament so essential to understand the way God works and the New Testament stories. Jesus didn’t just show up one day and claim he was God’s son.  Years of history, promises, and prophecies such as the ones in this chapter lead up to the gift of the Messiah and the promise of an eternal kingdom without pain, sin, or tears.

“As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, to do according to everything that I have commanded you, and keep My statutes and My ordinances, then I will establish your royal throne as I covenanted with your father David, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to be ruler in Israel.” (2 Chronicles 7:17-18)

-Jennifer Hall

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

  1. What four attitudes and actions are God’s people to do for God to hear, forgive and heal their land? (2 Chronicles 7:14). Why each of the four? What grade would you receive in each of the four? How can you improve in each?
  2. And on the flip side, what options are available for the people (verse 19)? If the people act in this way, what will God do (verses 20-22)? Those were rather specific consequences, which indeed came to pass centuries later. What consequences might God consider for these actions in our day?
  3. How would you describe true repentance? When have you experienced this in the past? Is there anything you currently need to repent of? If you aren’t sure, ask God to show you, then repent.
  4. How can you help the people of God remember the important lessons of this chapter?
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Detestable Practices

2 Chronicles 33-34

I have two dramatically different directions I’d like to go with today’s reading, and decided I’d share them both.

In 2 Chronicles 33:1-2, 6, we find, “Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years.  He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. … He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists.  He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, provoking him to anger.”

Did you catch that, he sacrificed his sons in the fire.  As repulsive as everything else is that he did, in my mind, nothing can compare with that.  That sounds horrible, and in my mind, he deserved a horrible punishment.

2 Kings 24: 1-4 tells the end of that story.  It goes like this, “During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded the land, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. But then he turned against Nebuchadnezzar and rebelled. The Lord sent Babylonian, Aramean, Moabite and Ammonite raiders against him to destroy Judah, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by his servants the prophets. Surely these things happened to Judah according to the Lord’s command, in order to remove them from his presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all he had done, including the shedding of innocent blood. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord was not willing to forgive.”

God annihilated the nation of Judah because of all the innocent blood Manasseh had shed.  God wasn’t willing to forgive.   As I read this, I have to agree that God was right in his judgement against Judah.  They deserved everything they got.

But this makes me wonder, how are we different from Judah?  We may not sacrifice our children in the fire, but we do have rampant abortion in our nation.  I wonder, in God’s eyes, how do those two ways of shedding innocent blood differ?  Which makes me wonder how much we are provoking God to anger, and what will be the end of our story as a nation.  I see parallels, and they concern me. 

The second thing that jumps out at me from today’s reading is that Manasseh was born during the additional 15 years that God had extended Hezekiah’s life.  If Hezekiah had died when he was originally very sick, Manasseh would not have been born, and someone else would have been king.  It may have been that Judah would have existed as a nation far longer.  In this case, I think we can agree that for the greater good, it probably would have been better if Hezekiah had died young, so Manasseh would not have been born.

I know probably more than most, how we long to have life extended, and how we may plead with God to spare life.  But I’m reminded of Isaiah 57:1-2, “The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart, devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil.  Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.”

We don’t often think that sometimes the righteous die, basically for their own good.  We view death as the enemy, and rightly so, but this life isn’t our final reward.  This life is the test to see which eternal reward we will receive, life or death.  It’s easy to say, but hard to put into practice that we should live so sold out for God, that we shouldn’t be concerned about our life or our death.  We need to seek first God’s kingdom, and God will take care of everything else.


–Steve Mattison

Today’s Bible reading passages can be read or listened to at Bible Gateway here – 2 Chronicles 33-34 and Romans 16

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