RECEIVING AND ACCEPTING GOD'S WILL

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered Judah and Benjamin—a hundred and eighty thousand able young men—to go to war against Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam. But this word of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God: “Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not go up to fight against your fellow Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.’” So they obeyed the words of the Lord and turned back from marching against Jeroboam.

Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built up towns for defense in Judah: Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, Beth Zur, Soko, Adullam, Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, Zorah, Aijalon and Hebron. These were fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin. He strengthened their defenses and put commanders in them, with supplies of food, olive oil and wine. He put shields and spears in all the cities, and made them very strong. So Judah and Benjamin were his.

The priests and Levites from all their districts throughout Israel sided with him. The Levites even abandoned their pasturelands and property and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the Lord when he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat and calf idols he had made. Those from every tribe of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the Lord, the God of Israel, followed the Levites to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to the Lord, the God of their ancestors. They strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam son of Solomon three years, following the ways of David and Solomon during this time.

Rehoboam married Mahalath, who was the daughter of David’s son Jerimoth and of Abihail, the daughter of Jesse’s son Eliab. She bore him sons: Jeush, Shemariah and Zaham. Then he married Maakah daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza and Shelomith. Rehoboam loved Maakah daughter of Absalom more than any of his other wives and concubines. In all, he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines, twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maakah as crown prince among his brothers, in order to make him king. He acted wisely, dispersing some of his sons throughout the districts of Judah and Benjamin, and to all the fortified cities. He gave them abundant provisions and took many wives for them.

2 Chronicles 11

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

When Jesus walked the earth, He invested a large percentage of His time teaching His followers about living righteously. He didn’t leave any aspect of life uncovered even teaching us how to pray, sharing these words for us to speak to God, our Father in heaven:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

You may recognize these words as being the Lord’s Prayer, recited in many church services every Sunday. But do we really embrace the words of this prayer, particularly when it comes to the matter of God’s will.

In other words, we say Your will be done on earth but are we really ready to accept that will in our lives? Are we ready to surrender our own desires in exchange for His? And do we fully understand that God’s will is going to be done whether we want it to or not?

As we delve a little further into the scriptures for guidance on the will of God, we find this gem within Paul’s letter to the Romans:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2

Want to have the power to discern God’s will for your life?

You can only have it when you choose to fully surrender yourself to Him, to offer yourself as a living sacrifice, allowing Him to use you in whatever way He wishes to further His kingdom here on earth. Paul tells us that this is the true and proper worship we are to bring to God. He doesn’t want what we have. He wants us and longs to have a personal relationship with us. This will ensure that we do not conform ourselves to the world’s ways. Rather, God will shape and conform us to His image through His Spirit, and we will experience a transformation and renewing of our minds as our thoughts and words become the thoughts and words ordained and instituted by God.

Want to live in God’s favor? Want to experience true peace and contentment in your life? Want to make sure you are always living in a way that honors your Creator God?

Then seek and allow His will to be done in your life and all these things will define what your life is about.

As we look at our scripture passage today, we find how receiving and accepting God’s will can have positive results.

You’ll recall that Solomon’s son Rehoboam had single-handedly managed to divide the nation of Israel into two kingdoms by choosing to listen to the counsel of his younger peers over the advice of his elder advisors. The result was ten of the twelve tribes of Israel breaking away and forming their own kingdom, the kingdom of Israel.

But as we see in the opening verses of 2 Chronicles 11, there may have been more at work in the story than a young king making an apparently errant decision. Look at these verses:

When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered Judah and Benjamin—a hundred and eighty thousand able young men—to go to war against Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam.

But this word of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God: “Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not go up to fight against your fellow Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.’” So they obeyed the words of the Lord and turned back from marching against Jeroboam.

After the rebellion of the ten tribes who rejected Rehoboam's rule and left Jerusalem to return home, Rehoboam decided to muster up the fighting men he had in his two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, and go to war against those who defied him. We read where he had 180,000 men at his disposal to use.

There was only one problem with this plan. It wasn’t God’s will.

We know this because God sent a message to Rehoboam via Shemaiah who was identified simply as a man of God. The guidance was simple: Don’t fight and go home. This was God’s will for Rehoboam and the men he had assembled for war and it would have been enough on its own without anything further. But God didn’t stop there, did He? No, He added these critical five words:

“For this is My doing.”

In other words, what was happening to the kingdom of Israel was God’s will and just the first step along the path of total exile for the Israelites. Any attempt by Rehoboam to try and forcefully regain the kingdom would prove to be a fruitless endeavor because God’s will was for things to be the way they were and no mere mortal earthly king, no matter how prominent and powerful, was going to change that.

Showing a wisdom not evident in his previous decision making, Rehoboam received and accepted the word of God from Shemaiah and returned to Jerusalem where he invested time in fortifying the cities in his two kingdoms of Judah and Benjamin. Scripture tells us Jeroboam, the established leader of the northern kingdom, had chosen to appoint his own priests for the high places and for the goat and calf idols he had made. The northern kingdom had already turned toward worshiping false gods.

This resulted in an exodus of priests and Levites from all districts throughout Israel as they abandoned their pasturelands and property and came to Judah and Jerusalem. They were joined by every tribe of Israel who set their hearts on seeking God and together they strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam for three years, following the ways of David and Solomon during this time.

During this time, we read where Rehoboam also began to flourish as the leader of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Scripture tells us that he acted wisely, dispersing some of his sons throughout the districts of Judah and Benjamin, and to all the fortified cities. God also blessed him with marriage and many children, 28 in all. One of them, Abijah was appointed crown prince, an action setting up a successor to Rehoboam after he left the throne.

Yes, life, at least for the time being, was good for Rehoboam and the people of Judah. And it all came as a result of Rehoboam receiving and accepting the will of God with obedience.

Friends, we need to learn from this word of God today. So often we have our hearts and minds set on what we want to do with life without even considering or consulting God as to what He wants? If we did, I think we would find that more times than not, our ways and desires are not His, unless we stay tuned into Him each and every day, surrendering our hearts and minds to Him while not just saying but living out the words:

“Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Today and every day, let’s commit ourselves to be living sacrifices and allow God to dictate every second of every minute of every hour of every day that He blesses us with. For there’s no better place to be than in the midst of His good, pleasing, and perfect will.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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