BRINGING PEACE TO THE LAND
“So all the people of the land rejoiced; and the city was quiet, for they had slain Athaliah with the sword" (2 Chron. 23:21 NKJV).
At first sight, this verse seems rather cruel, but the context will teach us a good lesson in bringing about peace to the land. Thus, we will examine the cause of the slaying and the consequences of the slaying.
Cause of the slaying – “They had slain Athaliah with the sword.” Athaliah was a very wicked woman. She was a self-appointed queen of Israel who came to power after the death of her son was slain. To obtain the throne, she killed everybody who had any claim to the throne; she even killed some of her grandchildren. The cruelty meted out to her own family is shocking. She however, missed one grandson who had been hidden by an aunt. Seven years later the grandson was made king. Athaliah tried to stop the proceedings but was slain by the folks who had put the grandson on the throne. Athaliah’s death was not that of someone who was innocent. Her death was that of a bloody, cruel woman who vexed the entire land with her cruel rule.
Consequences of the slaying – “The people of the land rejoiced; and the city was quiet.” The slaying of Athaliah brought peace and tranquility to the land. This is a hard lesson for some folk to learn. The lesson is that you must deal forcefully with evil if you are going to put it down and bring peace. If we are going to stop crime, we must deal with the criminals forcefully. If we are going to stop juvenile delinquency, the home must deal with disobedience forcefully. If we are going to stop sin in our own lives, we must deal with temptation and evil habits forcefully. We will never bring peace to the nation, society, the family and our own lives if we do not deal forcefully with evil.
(Adapted from Butler Daily Bible Reading)
Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)
Quotation of the Week
“Christ as Savior brings peace with God; Christ as Lord brings the peace of God!”
Anonymous
Word Study
Display publicly
In Rom. 3:25 we read, “Whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed” (NASB).
Display publicly is the Greek word protithemai (προτίθημι = prot-ith'-em-ahee). It is made up of two words: “pro” which means before with reference to place or time, and “tithemi” which means to put or place. It means set forth, display openly, plan, purpose, design beforehand. Literally the word means to place before oneself, to set forth, to set before the eyes, to set forth so as to be looked at and to expose to public view. Thus, it carries the idea of something being made public, open.
In secular Greek this word was the technical term referring to the bodies of the dead that were to be laid in state. In the Septuagint, protithemai means the act of setting out. In the New Testament the word carries the usage of placing before the public for display. The word is in the middle voice, which lays stress upon the personal interest which God had in doing what He did, as predetermined in His eternal purpose. It is also in the aorist tense which indicates the definiteness of the act in the past. Paul used protithemai to refer to God’s having set before Himself the plan for salvation from the beginning.
Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus
Old Testament Prophecy – Messiah’s messenger crying “Prepare the way of the Lord” (Isa. 40:3)
New Testament Fulfillment – Matt. 3:3
Bible Facts
The Second Law of Thermodynamics (Entropy) explained (Psalm 102:25-26). This law states that everything in the universe is running down, deteriorating, and constantly becoming less and less orderly. Entropy (disorder) entered when mankind rebelled against God, resulting in the curse (Gen. 3:17; Rom. 8:20-22). Historically most people believed the universe was unchangeable. Yet modern science verifies that the universe is growing old like a garment (Heb. 1:11). Evolution directly contradicts this law.
Bible Quiz
What did the different parts of the statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream represent?
**Answer to last week’s trivia: In response to a lawyer’s question about “who is my neighbor,” which parable did Jesus give as an object lesson? The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37).
That’s in the Bible
"Cast into outer darkness”
“But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 8:12 NKJV).
“Cast into outer darkness” is a common Biblical description of hell, and represent an image of future punishment. Everything outside of the kingdom of God is darkness, for God is light. The picture being expressed here is that the wicked who are lost will be shut out from the light of heaven, from peace, and joy; and hope. They will be confined in gloomy darkness as they weep in hopeless grief, gnashing their teeth in indignation against God. The description of hell given here is so awful the human mind cannot fully comprehend its horror.
Did You Know – Christian History
John Hyde was born November 9, 1865 in Carrollton, IL. He was an American missionary who preached in the Punjab, India. John’s family were praying people. Consequently, as a young man, he learned to pray expecting results. “Give me Souls, O God, or I die!” became the plea of John Hyde.
John’s brother Edmund went as a student missionary to Montana. After the sudden death of his brother of a fever, John wondered if he should take his brother’s place. Believing that God was calling him to India, John departed for India in 1892 to preach in the Punjab region. On the way, he read a letter from a friend who said he would ask God to fill John with the Holy Spirit. Angry at the suggestion that he did not already have the Spirit, John threw it away. However, he later humbled himself and prayed to God for help.
Being partially deaf, John struggled to learn the native languages. In time, however, Hyde gained a certain fluency, though he never lost his zeal for Scripture. With periods of outright persecution by natives, and few, if any conversions, Hyde began leading his fellow missionaries in intercession for India. He was so sincere about his call to prayer that by 1899 he began spending entire nights face down before God.
In 1904, he began to attend a conference at Sialkot. He then formed the Punjab Prayer Union. Members would set aside half an hour a day to pray for spiritual revival. In 1908 he told the conference his dream that there would be one conversion a day, and a year later over 400 more converts had been made. He came to be called “Praying Hyde” for his passionate prayers to reach lost souls.
Hyde died on February 17, 1912. His last words were “Shout the victory of Jesus Christ!” Through his missionary work in Sialkot, Pakistan, millions of people accepted Jesus Christ, from the seeds of the Gospel which he planted.
A Little Humor
After the church service, an embarrassed Mrs. Green went to the pastor and said, “I hope you didn’t take it personally Reverend, when my husband walked out during the sermon.” “I did find it rather disconcerting,” replied the preacher. “It’s not a reflection on you sir,” insisted the churchgoer. “Ralph has been walking in his sleep ever since he was a child.”
Thought Provoking Church Sign
“No God, no peace; know God, know peace!”
