Rev. Don Campbell
1 Kings 15:1-14; 2 Chronicles 13-16
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, June 25, 2019
“SHOOTING THE MESSENGER”
Rehoboam reigned in Jerusalem for 41 years, but he did not seek God. His son Abijah came to the throne, walking in the sins of his father, he ruled for only three years. His son Asa came to power. God could see goodness in him and sent Azariah with an exhortation and promise: “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you…But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded” (2 Chronicles 15:2, 7).
He took courage and purged the land of idols and restored the worship of God, even removing his grandmother from being queen mother because she had made a detestable image for Asherah (2 Chronicles 15:8-19).
God rewarded the work of Asa’s hand as promised, but in the 36th year of his reign, Baasha, king of Israel moved against Asa and the southern kingdom. Instead of trusting God, Asa sent gold and silver to Ben-hadad king of Syria to form a military alliance. He received a word from the Lord: “Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you. Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the Lord, he gave them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars” (2 Chronicles 16:7-9).
Rather than repent and ask for God’s mercy, he “shot the messenger.” The record says, “Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in the stocks in prison, for he was in a rage with him because of this. And Asa inflicted cruelties upon some of the people at the same time” (2 Chronicles 16:10).
CONNECTIONS
1. Would you agree that it is better to make an enemy by telling another the truth than to become their friend by telling them a lie—or simply withholding the truth? (Galatians 4:16)
2. We sometimes think of troublemakers in the church only as those people who create disturbances. How do some cause divisions and offenses? (Romans 16:17-19)
