Week 24 Devotions

June 11 - - “Destruction is certain for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark; that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter. Destruction is certain for those who think they are wise and consider themselves to be clever” (Isaiah 5:20&21). God pronounced this warning through the prophet, Isaiah. It’s amazing how these words are applicable to any time and any place in history. The apostle Paul would write several centuries later, “In him (Jesus Christ), all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17). Jesus had himself said, “apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). And the Psalmist added, “Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is useless. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good” (127:1). Evil is never content simply to wallow in it’s own filth. Evil is always evangelistic and tries to convince others to wallow in it’s filth also (Romans 1:32). And one method evil uses in persuading people, is to completely turn around the definition of what is good and what is evil. Satan blinds the minds of unbelievers (II Corinthians 4:4) to the truth. When he does, those who are evil, masquerade as “angels of light” (II Cor.11:3&4,13-15) and try to convince the populace that they are enlightened, that they have the best interests of people in mind, and that it is the godly people who pose the biggest threat to society. Elijah was a great man of God. Unlike the rest of us, Elijah was taken up to heaven before he physically died (II Kings 2:1-12). But, when he confronted the wicked King Ahab, Ahab’s greeting to this godly man was, “So it’s you, is it - - Israel’s troublemaker?” (I Kings 18:17). Elijah responded to King Ahab by stating the truth, “I have made no trouble for Israel. You and your family are the troublemakers.” Why was Ahab and his family the troublemakers? Elijah said, “You have refused to obey the commands of the Lord and have worshipped the images of Baal instead” (18:18). Unfortunately, many of the Israelite people felt the same way that King Ahab did and it took an unbelievable miracle from God to convince them otherwise (18:19-40). So long as we follow God with our whole heart, there will be those who accuse us of causing trouble for our increasingly pagan society. We may be tempted, like Elijah, to run and hide (19:1-4) while keeping our beliefs to ourselves, but God is still on His throne. Not only will the truth ultimately be revealed, but those who find the truth, believe the truth, accept the truth, and live by the truth, will find their lives free to be all God created them to be (John 8:32). So, don’t be discouraged when evil redefines what is good and what is bad. God will prevail! June 14 - - Few of us realize how much we influence others, for good or for evil. During the period of the divided kingdom, we often read a commentary about a king at the end of his life, with words that he was either good or bad like his ancestors. What is amazing is the number of times we see the name of Jeroboam, son of Nebat recorded in Israel’s history, long after he was dead. We first met Jeroboam during King Solomon’s reign. Solomon had been disobedient to God by marrying foreign women and allowing his wives to worship their pagan gods. Even worse, Solomon actually worshipped these pagan gods with his many wives. God pronounced judgment upon him (I Kings 11:1-8) and God told Solomon that He would tear the kingdom away from Solomon and give it to one of his servants (11:9-13). One of Solomon’s officials, Nebat, had a son named, Jeroboam (11:26). After Solomon’s death, Jeroboam was made king over ten of Israel’s tribes, which would be known as the northern kingdom of Israel (12:20). Jeroboam was an evil ruler who immediately established alternate places for the Israelites to worship God (Dan and Bethel), complete with calf idols. Jeroboam led the Israelites away from God through his worship of pagan gods (12:25-33). When Jeroboam was rebuked by a prophet of God for his evil, Jeroboam became angry with the prophet (13:1-5). Later, God spoke to Jeroboam through another prophet, “you have done more evil than all who lived before you” (14:1-11), and God pronounced judgment upon Jeroboam. Nadab, Jeroboam’s son, ruled over Israel for two years and the Bible says, “he did what was evil in the Lord’s sight and followed the example of his father, continuing the sins of idolatry that Jeroboam had led Israel to commit” (15:25&26). Baasha killed Nadab and Baasha ruled over Israel 24 years. He killed all the descendants of Jeroboam (15:28-30). Baasha is also described as evil, following “the example of Jeroboam, continuing the sins of idolatry that Jeroboam had led Israel to commit” (15:32-34; 16:2&3,7). And from that time on, every evil king was compared to the wicked Jeroboam, continuing the evil that Jeroboam had committed long before (16:19,26,31; 21:22; 22:52; II Kings 3:3). For generations, the name of Jeroboam was synonymous with evil and idolatry. I wonder if that is how Jeroboam wanted to be remembered? I wonder if that is how you want to be remembered? Seize the time left in your life to leave a good and godly legacy and not an evil and idolatrous one.