RETURN TO THE LORD

PROCLAMATION

“And they entered into a covenant to seek The Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul.”  2 Chronicles 15:12 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

The words of First and Second Chronicles were written as one book under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by Ezra the scribe and priest and historical Bible scholar according to Jewish tradition.  After Asa and Judah had defeated the Cushite army, and destroyed and looted all of the cities around Gerar, (2 Chronicles 14:8-15) The Spirit of The Lord God came upon Azariah the prophet and son of Obed.  Azariah went out to meet Asa and spoke to him and Judah.  He said, “The Lord is with you when you are with Him.  Seek Him and you will find Him.  If you forsake Him, He will forsake you.” (2 Chronicles 15:1-2)  For a long time Israel was without The True God and without a teaching priest.  But when they were in trouble they turned to The Lord God.  They sought Him, and they found Him. (2 Chronicles 15:3-4)  Azariah said, “Be strong and let not your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.”  When Asa heard the words of Azariah, he gathered his courage and put away all of the abominable idol out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin.  He renewed the altar of The Lord. (2 Chronicles 15:7-8)  Asa gathered all of Judah and Benjamin together and they offered a sacrifice unto The Lord.  Then they entered into a covenant to seek The Lord, the God of their fathers, with all of their heart and soul.  They agreed that whosoever did not seek The Lord God of Israel should be put to death. (2 Chronicles 15:9-15)  Asa removed his grandmother from her position as queen mother because she had made an idol in the courtyard.  He cut down her idol and burnt it.  Although he did not remove all of the high places from Israel, Asa’s heart was fully committed to The Lord.  He brought back into the temple the gold and silver articles which he and his father had dedicated. (2 Chronicles 15:16-19)

 

APPLICATION

It does not matter how long we have been away from The Lord; if we ask to come back He will accept us back into His sheepfold.  Regardless of whatever we have done while we were away from Him, if we want to come back He will accept us with open arms as the father did with the prodigal son. (Luke15:17-24)  “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)  We can return to The Lord.

 

CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD

PROCLAMATION

“And Asa cried unto The Lord his God, and said, Lord, it is nothing with Thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power; help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on Thee, and in Thy name we go against this multitude.  O Lord, Thou are our God; let not man prevail against Thee.”  2 Chronicles 14:11 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

The words of First and Second Chronicles were written as one book under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by Ezra the scribe and priest and historical Bible scholar according to Jewish tradition.  After Abijah son of Rehoboam died his son Asa reigned in his stead.  Asa did that which was right in the eyes of The Lord and there was peace in the land for ten years.  He took down the altars to strange gods, the high places and incense altars, the idol images, and the Asherah poles. (2 Chronicles 14:1-3)  Asa commanded that Judah worship The Lord God of their fathers, and obey His laws and commandments.  He also built up and fortified the cities of Judah and put walls around them. (2 Chronicles 14:4-7)  He built up a large army with three hundred thousand men from Judah and two hundred and eighty thousand men from Benjamin.  Zerah the Cushite marched out against Asa with an army of thousands upon thousands of men.  Asa called upon The Lord and The Lord struck down the Cushite army before Asa and Judah.   They lost such a large number of men that they never recovered.  Asa and Judah destroyed and looted all of the cities around Gerar.  They took all of the cattle, sheep, and camels and then returned home to Jerusalem. (2 Chronicles 14:8-15)

 

APPLICATION

We should call upon the name of The Lord. (Romans 10:13)  We should call Him whenever we face opposition, be it large or small.  He will fight our battles. (2 Chronicles 32:8)  We ought to always be in prayer. (Luke 18:1)  We always need God’s help.  It is in Him that we live, move, and have our very being. (Acts 17:28)  Nothing is too hard for The Lord God. (Jeremiah 32:17)  So in every situation, for the big and the small things, call upon the name of The Lord.

 

WIN WITH THE HELP OF THE LORD

PROCLAMATION

“Then the men of Judah gave a shout; and as the men of Judah shouted, it happened that God struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.  And the children of Israel fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hand.”  2 Chronicles 13:15 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

The words of First and Second Chronicles were written as one book under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by Ezra the scribe and priest and historical Bible scholar according to Jewish tradition.  After Abijah son of Rehoboam became king of Judah there was a war with Jeroboam king of Israel. (2 Chronicles 13:1-3)  Abijah stood on Mount Zemariam, which is in the mountains of Ephraim, and told Jeroboam and Israel that The Lord God gave Israel to David and his sons forever.  He also said that Jeroboam was the son of a servant and he rebelled against The Lord.  He attacked Judah when Rehoboam was young and inexperienced and could not defend himself. (2 Chronicles 13:4-7)  Jeroboam made you golden calves as your gods, cast out the Levites and appointed his own priests.  The Lord God is our God and we have not forsaken Him.  God is with us; do not fight against us and the God of your fathers, you will not prosper (2 Chronicles 13:8-12)  Jeroboam attacked Judah from the front and then sent troops behind Judah to ambush them from the rear.  When Judah realized that they were being attacked from the front and the rear, they cried out unto The Lord and He struck Israel, and they fled before Judah. (2 Chronicles 13:13-15)  With the help of The Lord God, Abijah and Judah defeated Jeroboam and Israel.  Jeroboam did not ever recover from the defeat; The Lord struck him down and he died.  However, Abijah grew mighty in strength.  He married fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. (2 Chronicles 13:16-21)

 

APPLICATION

In times of trouble The Lord God is our strength. (Psalm 37:39)  His strength is manifested during our weakness. (2 Corinthians 1:25)  The question is, are you with Him or against Him?  As Moses said, “Who is on The Lord’s side?” (Exodus 32:26)  When we stand with The Lord God we win.  If God is for us, who can stand against us? (Romans 8:31)  God is all powerful. (Matthew 28:18)  With God all things are possible.  Even when we are grossly outnumbered, as Abijah was against Jeroboam, (2 Chronicles 13:3) we still win when we are with God.  As the saying goes, “It’s a fixed fight.”  Believers will win and overcome the world because we are with Him, and He has already overcome the world. (John 16:33 and 1 John 5:4)

 

BAD THINGS HAPPEN WHEN WE ABANDON GOD

PROCLAMATION

“And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of The Lord, and all Israel with him.”  2 Chronicles 12:1 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

The words of First and Second Chronicles were written as one book under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by Ezra the scribe and priest and historical Bible scholar according to Jewish tradition.  After Rehoboam had secured his position as king of Israel, and had fortified his high-walled cities, he abandoned the law of The Lord. (2 Chronicles 12:1)  In his fifth year as king, he was attacked by Shishak king of Egypt who captured the fortified cities of Judah.  Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and told him that The Lord said that because you have abandoned Me, I have now abandoned you and left you in the hand of the king of Egypt. (2 Chronicles 12:2-5)  Israel and the king humbled themselves and admitted that The Lord was just in what He did.  Because they humbled themselves, The Lord did not totally destroy them.  He let them be subject to Shishak basically to teach them a lesson.  Shishak attacked Jerusalem and defeated them and took all of the treasures from the house of The Lord and from the king’s house including the gold shields which Solomon had made. (2 Chronicles 12:6-9)  After he humbled himself, Rehoboam reigned in Jerusalem for seventeen years.  When Rehoboam died, his son Abijah succeeded him as king. (2 Chronicles 12:10-16)

 

APPLICATION

When we abandon The Lord God and choose not to follow His ways, generally bad things happen to us.  We cannot continue to enjoy the benefits of all of His blessings when we do not keep His commandments or follow His Holy Word.  While all of us are blessed, the sun shines on the good and the evil, and it rains on the just and the unjust. (Matthew 5:45)  However, there are a number of conditional blessings which we only receive when we obey His Holy Word.  These blessings usually begin with words like “If My people will …” and are followed by words like “Then will I …” (2 Chronicles 7:14)  If we keep His commandments we will abide in His love and be blessed. (John 15:10)  If we abandon Him, then we can expect that there will be negative consequences, including blessings that we will miss out on.

 

OBEY THE WORD OF GOD

PROCLAMATION

“Thus saith The Lord, ‘Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren, return every man to his house … And they obeyed the words of The Lord, and returned from going against Jeroboam.”  2 Chronicles 11:4 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

The words of First and Second Chronicles were written as one book under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by Ezra the scribe and priest and historical Bible scholar according to Jewish tradition.  After all of Israel saw that King Rehoboam did not listen to the counsel of the elders of Israel, they wanted nothing to do with Rehoboam and they rebelled against the house of David. (2 Chronicles 10:16-19)  Rehoboam left Jerusalem and gathered the men from Judah and Benjamin to go to war against Israel.  But The word of The Lord came unto Shemaiah, the man of God, telling him to speak to Rehoboam say to him that he should not go to war against his brothers in Israel. (2 Chronicles 11:1-4)  He obeyed the words of The Lord and did not go to war against Israel, but he built a number of fortified, high-walled, strong-hold cities throughout Judah for his defense.  The priests and the Levites supported Rehoboam because Jeroboam had cast them out and replaced them with his own appointees who would worship the calves he made.  Whereas Rehoboam walked in the way of The Lord as David and Solomon had done, and he did so for three years. (2 Chronicles 11:5-17)  Rehoboam took Mahalath, the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David to be his wife.  He also took Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse, and Maachah the daughter of Absalom the son of David to be his wives.  He took a total of eighteen wives and he had sixty concubines, and together they bore him twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.  In order to secure his future, Rehoboam placed his sons in each of the fortified cities throughout Judah. (2 Chronicles 11:18-23)

 

APPLICATION

As believers we love The Lord and obey His Holy Word, but occasionally mess up and sin.  All of us have sinned at times and fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)  Being obedient to His word can spare us from a lot of negative consequences.  Here, Rehoboam was stopped from going up against a stronger army and fighting his brothers.  He was also allowed to strengthen his position by fortifying his cities.  When we follow God’s word, things may not always go the way that we want them to go but they work out for our good. (Romans 8:28) 

 

REJECTION OF GOOD COUNSEL

PROCLAMATION

“And King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men that has stood before Solomon his father … and they spoke unto him, saying, be kind to this people … But he forsook the counsel which the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men that were brought up with him …” 2 Chronicles 10:6-8 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

The words of First and Second Chronicles were written as one book under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by Ezra the scribe and priest and historical Bible scholar according to Jewish tradition.  After King Solomon died, his son Rehoboam reigned in his stead.  It came to pass that Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard that Rehoboam was king of Israel.  Jeroboam had fled to Egypt, running from Solomon, and now returned to Israel.  Jeroboam met with King Rehoboam and told him that his father Solomon had made them suffer a grievous servitude, and he asked him if he would ease the burden on his people and they would serve him. (2 Chronicles 10:1-4)  Rehoboam told them to go and return in three days and give him time to consider their request.  Then he consulted with the old men that had been advisors to Solomon.  They advised him to be kind to them.  He rejected their advice and consulted the young men that he grew up with.  The young men advised him to make their task even harder. (2 Chronicles 10:5-11)  When Jeroboam and his people returned after the three days, Rehoboam told them that he was going to increase the load that his father had put upon them. When all of Israel learned that Rehoboam had not harkened to the counsel of the old wise men that had advised Solomon, they rebelled against Rehoboam and the house of David. (2 Chronicles 10:12-19)  

 

APPLICATION

From time to time we all need advice and the counsel of others.  However, we need to be very careful with regard to whom we seek as a source of advice.  The Bible is our guide to Christian living.  It can help us to live a more Christ-like life and it tells us how we should treat others.  In addition to praying and reading The Bible, we should also seek the counsel of our Christian elders.  Listening to our non-Christian, worldly friends and family can often lead us down the wrong path.  Whatever we hear from others we should make sure that it is in agreement with The Bible.

 

THE QUEEN OF SHEBA WAS IMPRESSED

PROCLAMATION

“And she said to the king, it was a true report which I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom;  Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it; and, behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me; for thou exceedest the fame that I heard.’ ”  2 Chronicles 9:5-6 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

The words of First and Second Chronicles were written as one book under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by Ezra the scribe and priest and historical Bible scholar according to Jewish tradition.  When the queen of Sheba heard about King Solomon, she came to see and to test him for herself.  Solomon answered all of her questions.  She saw all of his wealth and possessions.  She was impressed and said that she had heard of his wisdom and wealth, but that what he had far exceeded what she heard. (2 Chronicles 9:1-6)  She gave Solomon a hundred and twenty talents of gold in addition to spices and precious stones.  However, when she left to return to her own land, Solomon gave her more gold than she had given him. (2 Chronicles 9:12)  Solomon received more than six hundred talents of gold each year.  He had shields made of gold and used them for decoration. (2 Chronicles 9:13-16)  He had a great throne made of ivory and had it overlaid with gold.  There were six steps leading up to the throne and a footstool of gold.  There were twelve loins, one on each side of the six steps.  On both sides of the throne there were massive armrests with a lion beside each one.  All of his drinking vessels were solid gold. (2 Chronicles 9:17-20)  King Solomon surpassed all of the kings of the earth in both riches and wisdom. (2 Chronicles 9:22-24)  Solomon reigned over all of Israel for forty years.

 

APPLICATION

When we are working for The Lord performing kingdom building efforts and helping His people, He can bless us beyond our wildest dreams.  Solomon wanted to be a blessing to God’s people, and he was blessed to be that.  However, The Lord also bless him with more personal wealth than most people can even imagine.  The Bible says, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)  We want all of the benefits and blessings, but we do not want to obey His word and give Him all the praise, honor, and glory.  We want Him to open up the windows of heaven and pour down blessings upon us, but we will not obey His Holy Word.  Jesus The Christ said, “If ye love Me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15)  Remember, he that blesses other shall himself be blessed. (Proverbs 11:25)