2 Chron. 22
Interesting…somehow one of Ahaziah’s daughters, in spite of the evil influence of her grandmother, Athaliah, and the rest of the house of Ahab, managed to end up married to the priest. It was due to this union that young Joash was saved as a remnant to continue God’s Promise. This is not the only instance in the Bible where a very young child is hidden in order to save him to carry out God’s Plan. This happened with Moses as well, and also with Jesus Himself.
Also, the “sins of the father” continue to have a negative impact on the generations that follow. Jehoshaphat was a good king and, for the most part, a Godly man. But this one decision to form a marriage alliance with the house of Ahab destroyed his legacy. Jehoshaphat likely did not see the nation slide into the depths of evil after all the work that He did to restore the nation to God. This is a great reminder that our actions and decisions don’t just impact our own lives in our own time. And it continues to be a great example of why Paul’s admonition to not be “unequally yoked” is so important.
Joel 1
Joel speaks of utter destruction – the consequences promised to God’s people if they turned away from Him. Since this seems to be a chronological reading plan, I assume that Joel spoke this word in the time period after Jehoshaphat’s death, when the nation of Judah fell prey to the evil influence of the house of Ahab of Israel. Joel also gives a call to cry out to God in humility and to give Him the offerings He is due.
This all seems so applicable to America today! We are sliding further into the clutches of Evil as we turn more and more away from God. Let’s face it, folks, life and light and love – all that is good – we find in God alone. So without God, there is nothing good. If we choose to walk away from Him, we walk straight into death and darkness and utter destruction. May those of us who love the LORD heed Joel’s warning and humbly cry out to our God!
2 Cor. 9
In this chapter, Paul continued to address giving and the gift that the Corinthian church had promised for aid to those in Jerusalem. As a prat of a previous, generalized study of the New Testament that I worked through a couple of years ago, I wrote out what I learned about giving from Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9. What I wrote follows:
“Giving is not giving if it is taken. It must be from your own heart, of your own accord – YOUR choice. By the same token, you cannot give what you do not have. Each person should give according to their means, and their gift should not be judged by what others give. Giving is not about who has more and who had less. Nor is it about depriving one so another can thrive. Rather, it is a way for us to take care of each other, each giving of their own abundance, however great or small, to help fill the other’s need, however great or small, as the circumstances dictate.
But giving does require action. The desire to give is merely the first step. The desire should follow through to the actual act of giving, so that it is done willingly, with a cheerful heart, knowing that it is God who has enabled you to give and that God is able to meet your own needs as they arise. As the saying goes, “You can’t out-give God”. For it is He who, in reaping what you sow, both provides the seed for sowing and increases the harvest of that seed, providing you with even more to give. So give gratefully, and give generously, because it is pleasing to God.”