Evil Rulers

“And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as his fathers had done; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin” (NKJV).

After the death of Solomon, Israel a nation was divided into two kingdoms - The Northern Kingdom of Israel, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. The Northern Kingdom had 19 kings, and not one of them was godly. In today’s Bible reading, five of those kings are mentioned. Our verse summarizes the rule of Zechariah, one of these five kings. It tells of the pronouncement of evil, the parents of evil, and the pattern of evil.

Pronouncement of evil – “He did evil in the sight of the Lord.” It is the Lord who decides whether something is good or evil. The actions of this king, although not evil in the sight of man, were evil in the sight of God. We make a grave mistake if we make a determination about evil based on man’s thinking. God has given rules for the determination of evil. Today, there are many behaviors that are not considered evil by many people but are seen as evil by God ex. abortion, gambling, immorality, and lying, to name a few. On top of this, Governments make laws that permit evil. Nevertheless, what is legal in man’s eyes may not necessarily be lawful in God’s eyes.

Parents of evil – “As his fathers had done.” Parents have a lot of influence over their children. Parents like to blame everyone else when their child behaves badly in society. Yet, much of the blame lies at the feet of the parent. Parents have a great responsibility to teach their children right from wrong and good from evil. One of the best teaching methods is to live a godly life before the children. Not many parents are doing that today, and this does nothing to help the coming generation.

Pattern of evil – “He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.” Jeroboam the son of Nebat was the first king of the divided kingdom. He was a wicked man and became a pattern of evil conduct for succeeding kings. On a number of occasions in Scripture, we read that Jeroboam “made Israel to sin.” The curse on people of wicked men is extremely great. And evil rulers are a curse to a nation long after their deaths.

(Adapted from Butler Daily Bible Reading)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“Unholy living follows unbelieving thinking!”

Anonymous

Word Study

Desire (wishes)

In Jam. 4:4 we read, “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God!” (NASB)

Desire (wishes) is the Greek word boulomai (βουλομαι). The word refers to a settled desire, one born of or springing from reason and not from emotion. Thus the word means to will, to wish, to will deliberately, to intend, to have a purpose, to be minded.

In Classical Greek boulomai indicates a rational, planned desire as opposed to thelo (θελω - Matt.1:19) which suggests a more impulsive wish. In the NT boulomai is used primarily of men, but was also used of God and carried the idea of to will, to purpose, to wish as in (Lk 22:42). Boulomai expresses the idea of the deliberate and specific exercise of volition (an act of making a choice or decision). Stated another way boulomai conveys the sense of more than simply wanting a desire or wish to be fulfilled. It conveys the stronger sense of choosing one thing over another or of preference of one thing before another. The word is also aorist tense which indicates that the individual made a definite decision of their heart at a given time.

Bible Facts

Abraham had two brothers: Nahor and Haran (Gen. 11:27). Both played a significant part in Abraham’s life. Haran died prematurely in Ur (Gen. 11:28).When Abraham’s father Terah also dies, Abraham took over the care of Lot, his brother’s son (Gen. 12:5). Nahor’s granddaughter Rebekah became the bride of Abraham’s son Isaac (Gen. 24).

Bible Quiz

What was Jonah doing in the ship during the storm?

**Answer to last week’s trivia: Who was killed by the Lord because he touched the ark as David was bringing it to Jerusalem? Uzzah (2 Sam. 6:7).

That’s in the Bible

“Take it easy”

“And I’ll sit back and say to myself, my friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!” (Luke 12:19 NLT).

Almost as popular as “goodbye,” was the expression “take it easy” as uttered by the rich man in this parable recorded in Luke. The rich man thought he could slack off and “take it easy” because of his accumulated wealth. He also said he wanted to “eat, drink, and be merry;” these phrases have a lot in common. This expression was further popularized in the 1970s by The Eagles with their song “Take It Easy.” The philosophy of the world is to “take it easy,” but God never told anyone to take it easy. Every time this expression is used in Scripture, it is used in the negative light of slothfulness. The prophet Amos, for example, speaks of the wicked and describes them as “at ease in Zion” (Amos 6:1). From God’s perspective, then, we may want to be careful when it comes to “taking it easy.”

Did You Know – Christian History

Samuel Davies was born on November 3, 1723 in New Castle County, Delaware. He was an evangelical Presbyterian pastor and educator who lived and worked in Hanover County. A child of deeply religious parents, his mother named him after the prophet Samuel. The Davieses could not afford to send their son to college, so instead they sent him to receive his early education under the tutelage of Rev. Samuel Blair at the academy he conducted in Faggs Manor, PA. Davies was ordained in 1747 and became one of the first non-Anglican preachers in Virginia. He was a strong advocate for religious freedom, and helped to institute significant religious reforms in the colony. Davies was also a prolific writer, authoring several hymns and publishing a book of poetry. His sermons were printed in some 20 editions. Some of his poems were also used as a means of spreading God’s word.

Davies advocated educating slaves. He believed that no one, regardless of race or social status, can have true religion without both hearing and reading the Word of God. During the Great Awakening, Davies became the chief Defender of Presbyterians in Virginia who were being persecuted as Nonconformists. Soon after a preaching trip to in England and Scotland with evangelist Gilbert Tennent. Davies became the first moderator of the first presbytery of Virginia, Hanover, in 1755. On that same trip Davies raised funds in England for the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) and was its fourth president from 1759 until his death.

A Little Humor

The elderly pastor was searching his closet for his collar before church one Sunday morning. In the back of the closet, he found a small box containing 3 eggs and 100 $1 bills. He called his wife into the closet to ask her about the box and its contents. Embarrassed, she admitted having hidden the box there for their entire 30 years of marriage. Disappointed and hurt, the pastor asked her, “Why?” The wife replied that she hadn’t wanted to hurt his feelings. He asked her how the box could have hurt his feelings. She told him that every time he delivered a poor sermon, she would place an egg in the box. The pastor felt that 3 poor sermons in 30 years was certainly nothing to feel bad about, so he asked her what the $100 was for. She replied, “Each time I got a dozen eggs, I sold them to the neighbors for $1.”

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“Heaven and hell are in opposite directions, and no man can go both ways at the same time!’”