Bible In One Year-Day 171 (Friday, June 20, 2014)

Commentary: 2Chronicles22-24. Jehoshaphat was a good king. He made another blunder towards the end of his reign; he allied with the king of Israel because he was his in law. God destroyed the ally but spared his life, 2Chron20:35-37. His son, Jehoram (who died of intestinal cancer) and grandson, Ahaziah, were kings after him but lived horrible lives because of the influence of their in-law’s house;

2 Chronicles 22:3-4 “He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab: for his mother was his counselor to do wickedly. Wherefore he did evil in the sight of the LORD like the house of Ahab: for they were his counselors after the death of his father to his destruction.”

Jehu was anointed to wipe off the house of Ahab for his atrocities. The time Jehu was supposed to carry out the assignment was when Ahaziah, Jehoshaphat’s grandson, travelled to Joram. Little did he know that death was prepared for him there in Joram. Ahaziah had no body to succeed him because after he was killed, the mother, Athaliah, killed all other royal heirs of the house of Judah except Joash who was stolen away by Jehoshabeath. Athaliah was Jezebel’s daughter; exercising evil influence on men in power was something she inherited from her mother. Athaliah reigned in Judah for six years even though she was not eligible to do that but had her way because of the spirit of Jezebel, her mother, which was in her. Such spirit forcefully acquired what belongs to another.

Jehoiada the priest and the husband of the woman who hid Joash in the house of the Lord, raised a priestly coup against Athaliah and entered into political agreement with the elders and military generals of Judah that the king’s son must be the one to reign. This was to overturn Athaliah’s reign. Joahs was hidden in the house of the Lord and military men were made to run shift protecting him;

2 Chronicles 23:8 “So the Levites and all Judah did according to all things that Jehoiada the priest had commanded, and took every man his men that were to come in on the sabbath, with them that were to go out on the sabbath: for Jehoiada the priest dismissed not the courses.”

Joash was made king under heavenly security;

2 Chronicles 23:11 “Then they brought out the king’s son, and put upon him the crown, and gave him the testimony, and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, God save the king.”

Jehoiada and his wife, Jehoshabeath, were very kind to Joash. He grew up to regard them as his parents and that is why the Bible recorded that he did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada (2Chron24:2); this means that they gave him good training in the way of the Lord. Jehoiada used the grace God had given him to make Israel enjoy God;

2 Chronicles 24:15-16 “But Jehoiada waxed old, and was full of days when he died; an hundred and thirty years old was he when he died.And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God, and toward his house.”

What he did made Israel to bury him among the kings, even though he was not one. Unfortunately, Joash and his grandfather Jehoram never enjoyed this grace. Joashed died the death of vengeance because he killed the son of the man who brought him up;

2 Chronicles 24:22 “Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The LORD look upon it, and require it.”

The curse of this dying man came to pass;

2 Chronicles 24:25 “And when they were departed from him, (for they left him in great diseases,) his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died: and they buried him in the city of David, but they buried him not in the sepulchres of the kings.”

Many are under the curse of one dying man or the order. The “dying” might be termed as laboring under undeserved oppression. Ancestors might be guilty of this, only Jesus can safe and deliver one from this curse. The blood of Abel cried and so many bloods are still crying today. The cry of innocent blood in the hand of David, as we discussed earlier, could not make him to build a house for God. Until the voice of the blood of a dying man is silenced by the Blood of Jesus, breakthrough might be difficult. When you deny a poor man of his right, his curse could be regarded as the curse of the dying man. Lying against innocent person, cheating or malicious and evil conspiracy could amount to this type of curse. This curse makes the ground to be barren and the heaven become brass. The curse could be as old as 100 years. But thank God for Jesus Christ, who shed His blood on the cross of Calvary to blot out the stains of such curses;

Colossians 2:14 “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;”

You don’t have to suffer for nothing, since the prevailing Blood of Jesus is available for your deliverance. For that Blood to work for you, you must change your ways and embrace the way of the cross of Jesus;

Romans 6:6 “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”

Matthew 10:38 “And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth me, is not worthy of me.”

Let us seek for the old path where we could find rest. Let us listen to the trumpet’s sound, wherewith we could escape the calamity to come. Our reading for today is 2Chronicles25-27. Keep the fire burning and alive.

Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

Galatians 5:24 “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.”

Bible In One Year-Day 170 (Thursday, June 19, 2014)

Commentary: 2Chronicles19-21. It is quite unfortunate the manner King Asa ended his life. This was somebody who sacked his own grandmother from being the king’s mother just because she worshipped idols, 2Chron15:16.

2 Chronicles 15:16 “And also concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove: and Asa cut down her idol, and stamped it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.”

All his zeal and efforts in the path of righteousness went down the drain in the last five years of his life. After him came Jehoshaphat, his son. Jehoshaphat was an evangelical King whose reign won souls for the Lord, 2Chron17: 16/ 19:4. He restored teaching priests to teach the people in the way of the Lord. This was not so before him;

2 Chronicles 15:3 “Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.”

Jehoshaphat made the difference.

2 Chronicles 17:8-10 “And with them he sent Levites, even Shemaiah, and Nethaniah, and Zebadiah, and Asahel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehonathan, and Adonijah, and Tobijah, and Tobadonijah, Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, priests.And they taught in Judah, and had the book of the law of the LORD with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people.And the fear of the LORD fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Judah, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat.”

Jehoshaphat picked good attributes of King David and it was remarked of him according to 2 Chronicles17:3.

2 Chronicles 17:3 “And the LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim;”

He had a repentant heart, fear of the Lord and knew the power of praise.

The difference between David and the Kings after him was always back to God after realizing his shortcomings while others did not. If anyone wants to enjoy God, then let such be like David. Enjoying God is in repenting from all our sinful ways and running back to Him for restoration; this is how we appreciate His grace. Jesus came to reconcile us fully to God;

2 Corinthians 5:18 “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them; and hath committed to us the word of reconciliation.”

Going to hell will not be because of our sin but because we have rejected Jesus, the panacea of our condemnation;

Mark 16:16 “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

This is true in that we have all sinned and come short of His glory and if God should mark iniquity, no one can stand. Salvation is only in Christ Jesus. Have you sinned, DON’T run away from Him but run to Him. He can repair your corrupted nature, wash away your sins and restore and reconcile you to God;

Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

Anger, pride, promiscuity, adultery, fornication, lying, worldliness etc should not be found with you as a child of God.

Jehoshaphat once sinned against the Lord but was re-considered for the good work he did in the past which he continued after he heard the word of God from the prophet (2Chron19:1-4). The reward was that he increased greatly in the land;

2 Chronicles 17:12 “And Jehoshaphat waxed great exceedingly; and he built in Judah castles, and cities of store.”

When God sends any man of God to you concerning an issue that could lead into problems with eternity, He did that because He loves you. Embracing that word with humility of the heart is embracing the love of God. Jesus is the love of God sent to us;

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Hell and heaven are respective rewards of your choice of rejecting or accepting Jesus Christ with the righteousness attached to Him.

Let us seek for the old path where we could find rest. Let us listen to the trumpet’s sound, wherewith we could escape the calamity to come. Our reading for today is 2Chronicles22-24. Keep the fire burning and alive.

Hebrews 2:17 “Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like to his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.”

Bible In One Year-Day 169 (Wednesday, June 18, 2014)

Commentary: 2Chronicles16-18. King Asa happened to be the great grandson of King Solomon. Since the reigns of Solomon, the evil trend has been for them to start well but end badly. Asa was not exempted. He had rest in the first 36 years of his reign because his heart was loyal to the Lord and he trusted Him for victory on different occasions;

2 Chronicles 14:6 “And he built fenced cities in Judah: for the land had rest, and he had no war in those years; because the LORD had given him rest.”

A particular scenario was his battle with the Ethiopians. His men of war were just one third of the Ethiopians’ yet he defeated them because God was with him. God made reference to this when Asa erred in his decision (2Chronicles16:8). Prior to this, God had sent His prophet, Azariah, to him to inform him that he should let his heart remain steadfast in Him. The Test of his faith came when Baasha, king of Israel, came against him. Unfortunately, Asa forgot the goodness of the Lord to him which he was enjoying and he sought for help from a wrong place. This brought problem into his life which lingered for five years until he died;

2 Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.”

Unfortunately, with all he went through in the last days of his life he did not seek the Lord.

2 Chronicles 16:12 “And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians.”

Ordinarily we would say he was right for seeking the physicians, but the truth is that the sickness was not what a physician could take care of because it was a spiritual issue. What he needed was to repent and be healed. Since the Bible referred to him not seeking the Lord, it means the solution to his malady was in seeking the mercy of God. Where you seek for help matters, however difficult it is; battles that defy medical assistance could spring up from there. The people we associate with also matters. If God is not happy with such and you enter into agreement with them, it can withdraw the hand of God. The chapter Satan opened in the last days of Asa’s life was not a good one. When we sin against God, we should not run away from Him but run back to Him;

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Through repentance, Satan’s hold is destroyed. David knew the secret; the devil was defeated in the last days of his life

Let us seek for the old path where we could find rest. Let us listen to the trumpet’s sound, wherewith we could escape the calamity to come. Our reading for today is 2Chronicles19-21. Keep the fire burning and alive.

Bible In One Year-Day 168 (Tuesday, June 17, 2014)

Commentary: 2Chronicles13-15. Abijah, the great grandson of Solomon, became king after the death of his father, Rehoboam. He inherited two battles; foundational battle and the battle with Israel (Political feud). He was victorious in the latter but lost the battle in the former. Uncontrollable sexual demon was in his foundation;

2 Chronicles 13:21 “But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives, and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters.”

He invested God’s blessing into sin. His strength was linked with promiscuity.

The account of Abijah’s battle with Jeroboam was a miraculous victory in his favor, though Jeroboam still outlived him. Only chapter13 talked about him in this book. His speech showed that he trusted in the Lord God of Israel but there was no record of worship or any form of dedicated devotion to Him. He probably used religion to fight a political battle. Many are using religion to fight foundational battle which cannot work. The wisdom in his victory was in allowing the right weapon to be in the hand of the right people; the TRUMPET of deliverance and victory was in the hand of the priests, 1Chron16:42/23:30/25:1&3. When the trumpet was sounded, it was a cry of mercy unto the Lord and execution of prophetic judgment upon the adversary.

Psalms 149:5-9 “Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds.Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand;To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people;To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD.”

Sounding a trumpet of praise is a form of executing the “written judgment”. There is power in praises. Abijah had half the number of Jeroboam’s men of war. We could recall that Jeroboam was an army general during the reign of Solomon (1Kings11:28). Though Jeroboam was older and more experienced, but Abijah used the right weapon and people. The experience of Jeroboam was in good order; battle in the front and at the back;

2 Chronicles 13:13 “But Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind them: so they were before Judah, and the ambushment was behind them.”

Abijah’s victory was of the Lord’s mercy;

2 Chronicles 13:14 “And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind: and they cried unto the LORD, and the priests sounded with the trumpets.”

This is war between the experience of man (or skill) and God’s mercy. Peter found himself in this situation. Jesus gave him instruction on how to catch fish, he argued with Jesus that he had experience in catching fish. But when he submitted to God’s way, his life took a total turn around. It is not about age, education, experience, etc but about total yielding to the way of the Lord. The Psalmist asked God to teach him His way and lead him in His path.

Psalms 27:11 “Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.”

Are you facing an all round battle? Remember the weapon of praises. I adopt this song for your consideration;

CHORUS
Bigger than all my problems, Bigger than all my fears
God is bigger than any mountain that I can or cannot see
Bigger than all my questions, Bigger than anything
God is bigger than any mountain that I can or cannot see

Verse 1
Bigger than all the shadows that fall across my back
God is bigger than any mountain that I can or cannot see
Bigger than all the confusion, Bigger than anything
God is bigger than any mountain that I can or cannot see

Verse 2
Bigger than all the giants, fear and unbelief
God is bigger than any mountain I can or cannot see
Bigger than all my hang-ups, Bigger than anything
God is bigger than any mountain that I can or cannot see

Anyone who fights someone who praises God with the heart is fighting God. Abijah knew the written judgment and he declared it to Jeroboam.

2 Chronicles 13:12 “And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against the LORD God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.”

What Abijah did was what Joshua did to pull down the wall of Jericho; the power of praise and trust in the Lord.

2 Chronicles 13:15 “Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.”

The use of the Trumpet of deliverance is like the barking of a toothless and clawless dog letting the landlord know of the impending danger at the corner. When you pray, you are in battle with the enemy on the ground level, but when you praise the Lord, you are lifted to higher level of honor as the psalmist made us to know. Abijah TRUSTED and PRAISED the Lord in a life threatening battle. These two are part of God’s armor which we could use against invading enemy. However, the enemy that was already seated at Abijah’s foundation was an issue that needed to be dealt with. This is the type of enemy that prays with us, fasts and breaks fast with us; inherited disease. This enemy is not outside but within. Such enemy supervises evil pattern of the family in terms of sicknesses, errors, marital woes and tragedies. Deliverance is needed in such cases. I want us know a truth about bondage before the issue of deliverance;

2 Peter 2:19 “… for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.”

When one is in bondage, it means the person has been overcome and therefore powerless; otherwise, such wouldn’t have gone into bondage in the first place. To break free from this bondage, such needs help from a stronger power, not to appease to the binding power but to break the yoke and set the captive free. This is the teaching of Jesus Christ.

Luke 11:22 “But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.”

Therefore, when you stand on deliverance ground, you are joining your faith with the calling of the man of God to break the yoke. In John5:5-9, Jesus asked the sick “do you want to be made well?” His eventual agreement with Jesus made him free from 38years bondage. Jesus is the greatest deliverer; He works through the anointing of His elects in whose hands are the trumpets of deliverance. That trumpet shall sound in your situation in the name of Jesus and you shall testify shortly. However, let us trust in His name and stay away from every form of iniquity; this was the defeat of Jeroboam. Sin is a defeat (1John3:8); we need to stand against it in the name of Jesus.

1 John 3:8 “He that committeth sin is of the demon; for the demon sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the demon.”

To overcome sin, you can’t do it on your own but in the light of the Holy Spirit. If one is not delivered from this foundational bondage, one cannot be a real Christian but a religious person who goes by the law. Foundational battle makes our service to the Lord so religious and pulls us back into besetting sin. It weakens our devotion to the Lord even if we declare our allegiance to Him like Abijah did. Foundational bondage prays, fasts and breaks fasts with us; the yoke must be broken in the name of Jesus, otherwise, our worship and services become religious exercises without touching the spirit.

Let us seek for the old path where we could find rest. Let us listen to the trumpet’s sound, wherewith we could escape the calamity to come. Our reading for today is 2Chronicles16-18. Keep the fire burning and alive.

Bible In One Year-Day 167 (Monday, June 16, 2014)

Commentary: 2Chronicles10-12. After Solomon’s death, his son Rehoboam reigned in his place. The first error he made was that he listened to the wrong counsel and ignored the profitable ones. This error resulted in the division of the kingdom. He did not offend God in this wise but he displeased the people of Shechem. A revolt led by Jeroboam caused secession to form the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Two tribes were left behind as Judah; Judah and Benjamin. Jeroboam was the Army commander under the reign of Solomon;

1 Kings 11:28 “And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valour: and Solomon seeing the young man that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph.”

He fled to Egypt when Solomon wanted to kill him only to return when he heard that Solomon was dead and his son reigned in his place. Rehoboam wanted to claim the Northen kingdom back from Jeroboam, but the Lord stopped him and made him to know that it was His doing. The word of God shall ever be true and fulfilled;

1 Kings 11:29-31 “And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in the field:And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces:And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:”

Jeroboam was highly favored in this wise. Unfortunately, he messed this grace up eventually. The first error was to reject the ordinance of the Lord concerning priesthood;

2 Chronicles 11:14 “For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from executing the priest’s office unto the LORD:”

Secondly, he built demonic altars and made Israel to sin against the Lord (verse 15).

These two characters teach some lessons. Though it did not augur well with Rehoboam because of the secession and the invasion by the King of Egypt, he still obeyed the voice of the Lord which was spoken by the mouth of Prophet Shemaiah on the two occasions; this was a credit to him. We could see allegiance to God’s word in him. Unfortunately, there was a problem in his root which he needed deliverance from; inherited infidelity or sexual promiscuity. This was started by Judah, his ancestor;

Genesis 38:16 “And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?”

The evil river flowed down to David, his grandfather, who killed a man to take his man’s wife. Solomon excelled in this evil trend and remained unrivaled with hundreds of wives and concubines. Now, Rehoboam was caught up with this evil spirit;

2 Chronicles 11:21 “And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines; and begat twenty and eight sons, and threescore daughters.)”

Not only did he acquire many wives and concubines for himself, he sought many wives for his children as well, 2Chronicles11:23. The problem Solomon ran into through women, he also had the same problem; this is what is known as evil inheritance.

His beginning was good but the evil flow in his root rubbished his ending;

2 Chronicles 12:14 “And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD.”

Do you notice any evil trend in your root or any evil pattern in your family? You need to stop it before it stops you; seek for deliverance. Without deliverance one cannot be a good Christian, or worship the Lord in spirit and truth. Without deliverance one cannot practice holiness, the yardstick of seeing the Lord. Without deliverance one cannot retain any testimony for a long time because the evil spirit will shake it off.

2 Corinthians 7:1 “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

One could become a slave to this if one is overcome by this evil flow;

2 Peter 2:19 “…, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.”

Let us seek for the old path where we could find rest. Let us listen to the trumpet’s sound, wherewith we could escape the calamity to come. Our reading for today is 2Chronicles13-15. Keep the fire burning and alive.

Obadiah 1:17 “But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.”