Week #25 | "Decisions and Perspectives"

 LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read 1 Kings 18-22; 2 Kings 1-8; 2 Chronicles 17:1-22; Psalms 92-94

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Troubler of Israel (1 Kings 18). In 1 Kings 18, Ahab accuses Elijah of being the "troubler of Israel." Elijah replies that Ahab and his idolatry is the source of trouble, but it's worth looking at this exchange to ask--what does it mean to seek peace and unity? Those who have strong visions of the future and the power to enact their visions will, like Ahab, always view interruptions to those plans as the work of troublesome people. But do their plans align with God's plans? Do their policies, and goals, align with the Word of God? If not, then like Ahab they may be told in return that they are the troublesome ones. As God's people our goal for peace does not simply require us to get on board with the latest policy or to align ourselves with the fashionable causes of they day: instead we are supposed to seek peace by aligning ourselves with God's kingdom, to call others to the vision of the kingdom, and to pray that it will come on earth as it is in heaven. Then as God's kingdom approaches, we will be found to be at peace with it.

The Cautionary Tale of Faithful King Jehoshaphat (1 Kings 22; 2 Chronicles 17-22). The Biblical record indicates that Jehoshaphat was a faithful king. We see him seeking the Lord for wisdom, promoting godly values in his kingdom, and in general just being a very good king. But then, we see an absolute unraveling of his family and kingdom in subsequent generations. What happened? The answer comes down to this: "Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel" (1 Kings 22:44) who we know was the idolatrous, cunning, and wicked King Ahab. More specifically, 2 Chronicles 18:1 says that this was "a marriage alliance with Ahab," which 2 Chronicles 21 specifies was the marriage of his son Jehoram to the daughter of Ahab (we find out in the next chapter that her name is Athaliah, and she goes on to be the only sole Queen to ever reign over David's throne in Judah). This is crazy! This means that while Jehoshaphat was working to instill godliness in his kingdom, he was allowing ungodliness to have an influence over his children and grandchildren in his own household. This undid his entire lineage, and his legacy. Because of his error in partnering to readily with ungodly influencers, all of his children are killed in 2 Chronicles 21, and then his remaining family are killed in 2 Chronicles 22. His kingdom, Judah, then imports the same spiritual darkness that the northern kingdom of Israel has adopted. This error allows ungodliness to become so "baked in" to Judah that it even endures through a few good kings that come in later on. In a real way Jehoshaphat, the good king, and his folly in allowing ungodly influences into his family, becomes the point at which Judah is set on an irreversible path towards rebellion against God and exile to the surrounding nations.

The Spiritual World is All Around Us (2 Kings 6). There is a thought experiment carried out in a famous story called Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions which imagines what would happen if two-dimensional people living in a flat world were to suddenly become aware of a third dimension. The famous astronomer Carl Sagan used the imagery in that book to theorize how people like us might interact with other, higher physical dimensions in the universe--like a fourth dimension and so on. In 2 Kings 6, the people in this chapter are similarly suddenly made aware of another reality all around them--their eyes are opened to an entire army of the Lord, full of angels, as far as the eye can see, that they weren't aware of before. They are given the insight to see that just outside of their usual ability to perceive, there is an entire world all around them, full of battles and influences of which they are only ever just slightly aware. This is a good word to us that the same is true for us too. The spiritual is real; this world that we see is not all that there is; and if we were suddenly made aware of it, our perspective on many of the situations we find ourselves in would be fantastically changed.

Archaeology: Hazael (2 Kings 8). There is extensive evidence for, and information about, King Hazael of Syria in the archaeological record. For more, you can check out this "archaeological biography" that has been put together by the Biblical Archaeological report. Many of the archaeological finds that detail bits of Hazael's reign also shed light on aspects of Israel's history, so he is an important king to know about.

DO | HOW DO WE RESPOND?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? I won't lay out exact responses in this space because the possibilities are often endless. But it is worth it to think about application in the categories of worship, attitude, and actions. Does this reading direct me to God in worship and thanksgiving and praise, or does it direct me towards a change that I need to make here and now? If it's about a change that I need to make, is this something inward in my attitude, or outward in my actions? This helps to rescue application from just being a series of how-to tips, or one-size-fits-all instructions that go beyond what the Bible actually states. Sometimes, the most helpful application we can make is to get a different perspective on what's the most important thing, or about how we should respond inwardly to the things going on around us.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US TO GOD?

Whether in response to anything pointed out here, or to something else in your Bible reading time, take a few moments before you close up your Bible to pray in response to God. If you need a format for prayer, both the ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication), CALL (Confess, Ask, Love, Listen), and PRAY (Praise, Repent, Ask, Yield) methods are helpful ways to stay consistent.

-Sean