CURSE OF EVIL RULERS

“For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had encouraged moral decline in Judah and had been continually unfaithful to the LORD" (2 Chron. 28:19 NKJV).

Evil rulers are a curse to any nation. Their evil influence can destroy a country. In our text, the wicked life of Ahaz king of Judah was a curse to the nation of Israel. Our verse speaks of the result of judgment and the reason for judgment in regards to Ahaz’s rule.

Result of judgment – “The Lord brought Judah low.” Divine judgment came upon the nation of Judah because of its wicked king. This judgment is described as the nation being brought “low.” The result was that Judah lost peace and power and peace. A number of neighboring nations began to war against Judah. Pekah, the king of northern Israel, warred against Judah. Syria, Edom and Philistia also warred against Judah. And when Ahaz tried to get Assyria to help, they “distressed" Judah instead (2 Chron. 28:20). The nation of Judah was beset on every hand with enemies, and things went from bad to worse.

Reason for judgment – “Because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had encouraged moral decline in Judah and had been continually unfaithful to the Lord.” Two things are said here regarding Ahaz’s evil influence. First, he defiled the people. “He had encouraged moral decline in Judah.” Instead of raising the moral standards, Ahab lowered it. Many of today’s leaders are like that. By their evil lifestyles and legislation they cause morals to decline. Our nation has been cursed by evil rulers who have lived low moral lives and have passed laws to sanction low morals. Second, he disobeyed God. Ahaz “had been continually unfaithful to the Lord.” He frequently and defiantly disobeyed the Lord’s commands. He would not worship correctly but continued in his life of wickedness. All of this had an evil influence on the nation and resulted in Divine judgment. This should cause our nation to tremble!

(Adapted from Butler Daily Bible Reading)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“A little sin will add to your trouble, subtract from your energy, and multiply your difficulties!”

Anonymous

Word Study

Hostility (dispute)

In Heb. 12:3 we read, “For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls” (NKJV).

Hostility (dispute) is the Greek word antilogia (ἀντιλογία = an-tee-log-ee'-ah). It is made up of two words: “anti” which means against and “lego” which means to speak. Literally, antilogia means a word spoken against or speaking against and so talking back, in opposition against. Thus the word means quarrel, contradiction, rebellion, contention. It describes contradiction or controversy with the added sense that strife is involved. In Classical Greek antilogia refer to opposing arguments or answering speeches. In the Septuagint, antilogia denotes an argument, but had a strong implications of opposition to what is right. It also carries the legal sense of a court dispute. In the NT antilogia also means argument or opposition. The word hostility therefore pictures enmity, a deep-seated dislike or ill will or antagonism

Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus

Old Testament Prophecy – Messiah would bring light to Zebulon, Naphtali and Galilee of the Gentiles (Isa. 9:1-2).

New Testament Fulfillment – Matt. 4:15.

Bible Facts

Hydrological cycle described (Eccl. 1:7; Jer. 10:13; Amos 9:6). Four thousand years ago the Bible declared that God “draws up drops of water, which distill as rain from the mist, which the clouds drop down and pour abundantly on man” (Job 36:27-28). People of old observed mighty rivers flowing into the ocean, but they could not conceive why the sea level never rose. Though they observed rainfall, they had only quaint theories as to its origin. Meteorologists now understand that the hydrological cycle consists of evaporation, atmospheric transportation, distillation, and precipitation.

Bible Quiz

What did God require before capital punishment could be carried out by the Israelites?

**Answer to last week’s trivia: What is the name of the first priest mentioned in the Bible? Melchizedek (Gen. 14:18).

That’s in the Bible

"Cloud of witnesses”

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Heb. 12:1 NKJV).

“Cloud of witnesses” - The expression “cloud of witnesses” refers to a multitude of eyewitnesses. This “great a cloud of witnesses” was introduced to us in Chapter 11. It is not suggested here that these men and women now in heaven are watching us as we run the race, like people seated in a stadium. The word “witnesses” does not mean spectators. It comes from the Greek word that gives us our English word ‘martyr.’ These people are not witnessing what we are doing; rather, they are bearing witness to us that God can see us through. God bore witness to them (Heb. 11:2, 4-5, 39) and they are bearing witness now to us. Their lives and examples are encouragement to us about faithfulness in God. They are speaking to us about the rewards of staying in “the race.”

Did You Know – Christian History

Granville Sharp was born November 10, 1735 in Durham, England. He was a Biblical scholar, classicist, talented musician and was one of the first English campaigners for the abolition of the slave trade.

Having turned down the Church of England as a career, he became a linen draper. He made a study of law, but never completed the course, accepting instead to work in the government’s ordnance office. Because he to debate, Sharp taught himself Greek and learned Hebrew in order to be able to discuss theological matters with his colleagues.

In 1765, while living in London, Sharp met Jonathan Strong, a black man from Barbados. He was severely beaten and abandoned by his master. Sharp took him to the hospital and after his recovery, found him a job. He then took the slave’s case to court. In 1768 the court ruled in favor of the slave. But Sharp wanted more. He took other cases to court for blacks and eventually he won a ruling that ‘as soon as any slave sets foot upon English territory, he becomes free.’ These cases drew a good deal of attention to the cause of the abolition of slavery.

In 1777, Sharp published a book defending the Trinity. A decade later, he published another little volume which has been useful to Bible scholarship ever since: Remarks on the Uses of the Definitive Article in the Greek Text of the New Testament: Containing many New Proofs of the Divinity of Christ, from Passages which are wrongly Translated in the Common English Version. This book proposed a rule now known as “Sharp’s rule.” He applied this rule to eight passages which have a direct bearing on the divinity of Christ. Granville Sharp died on July 6, 1813. He left behind a legacy as a key player in the struggle to abolish slavery and as a careful scholar of Biblical Greek. He showed that the divinity of Christ would follow from any sound interpretation of scripture.

A Little Humor

Rev. Billy Graham tells of a time early in his ministry when he arrived in a small town to preach a revival meeting. Wanting to mail a letter, he asked a young boy where the post office was. When the boy told him, Dr. Graham thanked him and said, if you will come to the church this evening, you can hear me give directions on how to get to heaven.” “I don’t think I’ll be there,” the boy replied. “You don’t even know how to get to the post office.”

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“Sin puts hell into the soul and the soul into hell!”