March 31 - II Kings 7-9
The story of the four lepers and the Syrian army has been an inspiration to me since I first heard it from some missionaries who spoke at my church when I was a teenager. The lepers were in a life and death situation. The Lord provided life by His grace. Then, they were tempted to keep the good news to themselves, but they realized how wrong that would be. Because they told the good news, many people lived. As Christians all of these principles apply to us today. It is a sin not to share the good news of salvation through Jesus.
The account of Ben-Hadad's death teaches us a stark reality. There is much sin in the world. God does not always work a miracle to stop sin or to keep a person from being killed. The sin is not God's will. God does not want the person to die, but He allows it within His permissive will, because He knows that we must come to hate sin and the results of sin. If He removed the results each time, we would think it was alright to sin. God hates sin, and He wants us to come to hate it, too.
The story of Jehu is very violent. God chose a furious person to inflict punishment on Ahab's family. This does not mean that God condoned everything Jehu did. Sometimes, God has to have a ruthless person to deal with a very wicked person or group of people. This is one of those instances. Sin causes chaos. God works within that chaos to bring about His will. However, in the process many people are hurt, because sin is always destructive. We cannot allow any level of sin in our lives or in our church without it bringing a bad effect. The entire story of the kings of Judah and Israel shows this truth. We can see it in our lives all of the time.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Kings 10-13.
The account of Ben-Hadad's death teaches us a stark reality. There is much sin in the world. God does not always work a miracle to stop sin or to keep a person from being killed. The sin is not God's will. God does not want the person to die, but He allows it within His permissive will, because He knows that we must come to hate sin and the results of sin. If He removed the results each time, we would think it was alright to sin. God hates sin, and He wants us to come to hate it, too.
The story of Jehu is very violent. God chose a furious person to inflict punishment on Ahab's family. This does not mean that God condoned everything Jehu did. Sometimes, God has to have a ruthless person to deal with a very wicked person or group of people. This is one of those instances. Sin causes chaos. God works within that chaos to bring about His will. However, in the process many people are hurt, because sin is always destructive. We cannot allow any level of sin in our lives or in our church without it bringing a bad effect. The entire story of the kings of Judah and Israel shows this truth. We can see it in our lives all of the time.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Kings 10-13.