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In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his predecessors had done. Pharaoh Necho put him in chains at Riblah in the land of Hamath so that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and he imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt, and there he died. Jehoiakim paid Pharaoh Necho the silver and gold he demanded. In order to do so, he taxed the land and exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land according to their assessments.
Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah; she was from Rumah. And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his predecessors had done.
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.
As for the other events of Jehoiakim’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? Jehoiakim rested with his ancestors. And Jehoiachin his son succeeded him as king.
The king of Egypt did not march out from his own country again, because the king of Babylon had taken all his territory, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Euphrates River.
2 Kings 23:31-37, 24:1-7
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
In the 23rd Chapter of 2nd Kings, we read of the hard work invested by King Josiah to try and get Judah right with God. You’ll recall he went about destroying all places and items used to worship false gods. But despite his best interests, the Lord was still committed to correcting Judah by sending its people into exile with the Babylonians (2 Kings 23:26-27)
We read of Josiah’s passing in Chapter 23 and his place on the throne was assumed by his son Jehoahaz who proceeded to not follow in his father’s footsteps. No, we read where Jehoahaz “did evil in the eyes of the Lord” and this earned him a very short reign. For scriptures tell us that he fell into the hands of the Egyptians as “Pharaoh Necho put him in chains at Riblah in the land of Hamath so that he might not reign in Jerusalem”. The Egyptian pharaoh then “imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold” and “made Eliakim…king…and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim”. Judah’s newest appointed leader complied with the pharaoh’s desires and “taxed the land”, exacting the “silver and gold from the people of the land according to their assessments”. In other words, Jehoiakim was nothing more than a puppet king for the Egyptians.
Of no surprise, we read where “Jehoiakim…did evil in the eyes of the Lord” over his 11 year reign, “just as his predecessors had done”. One of those predecessors, Manasseh, had already sealed Judah’s fate through the evil he promoted which included “the shedding of innocent blood”. His defiant attitude against the Lord and His commands brought on the Lord’s consternation which included sending “Babylonian, Aramean, Moabite and Ammonite raiders…to destroy Judah”. Indeed Judah’s days were numbered.
Of interest in our passage today are these words from Chapter 24, verse 4:
“…and the Lord was not willing to forgive.”
These words do and should strike us to the core. Is there any place worse to be than in a place where the Lord is unwilling to forgive us? I can’t think of any.
Now, you might say, “I don’t believe this passage because we serve a God who forgives everything…right? Our God is merciful and loving. Certainly, He would never turn from us, would He?
The answer is yes.
In fact, we need only go to the Gospel of Matthew and these words of Jesus:
“And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.” Matthew 12:31
So what exactly is blasphemy of the Spirit? We probably should know if it will result in God not forgiving us.
Are you prepared for the definition?
Blasphemy on its own is defined as defiant irreverence or blatantly disrespecting or disregarding. When we commit blasphemy against the Spirit, we are defiantly disregarding the lead of the Spirit in our lives. This includes willingly sinning when we’re being convicted otherwise. This is what got Judah in trouble…and puts us in a position of trouble as well.
So how can we get out of this mess? How can we atone for the many times we have blatantly disregarded the Spirit through our behavior that followed sinful desires?
There’s only one remedy and His name is Jesus.
We can’t save ourselves and this is why we need and have a Savior. Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for our sinfulness…to mediate the problem between us and God. He is the only One who can because He is the only One through which we can come to the Father (John 14:6). Jesus, the Way and the Truth and the Life, intercedes for us and prepares us for life eternal by washing us clean of our sins with the blood He shed on Calvary.
Do you stand forgiven today?
If you know Jesus as your personal Savior, then you are forgiven. You have an eternal hope already sealed through His life, death and resurrection.
If you don’t know Him, I plead for you to make that commitment right now. For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). Don’t wait to claim your heavenly inheritance. Set your eyes, your heart, your mind, your soul on Jesus. He’s waiting to set you right with God this very minute.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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