Journey Thru The Bible! (1 Kings 13 - 15)

Click on the above Scripture to read today's Bible text!

As we read today's chronology of kings that appear on the throne after King David and King Solomon, we begin to see a series of events known as "The Chaotic Kingdom Stage." And, the reason it's called this is obvious - there is a TON OF CHAOS that goes on between both Judah & Israel. Everything has become corrupt. Israel goes through a total, spiritual meltdown. Their walk with God has become virtually non-existent. And, as you'll read in the following chapters, Israel never gets any better! They literally blow-up spiritually. Israel's king are continually evil before the Lord. Judah, however, has a few bright spots that pop up here and there, yet it, like Israel, suffers from a long line of wicked kings as well. Therefore, God's judgment is cast on both Judah and Israel!

Here are a few thoughts...

1) Ever wondered why so many nations HATE Israel? Isn't it amazing that many people all over the world hate the tiny nation of Israel? The Muslim countries absolutely despise them! Germany's Adolf Hitler wanted them exterminated off the face of the planet. Russia will one day send its army against Israel. Why is it that Israel is the center of so much attention and so much hatred?

Well...all of the hatred you see is the fulfillment of what God said would happen to Israel if they ever fell away from Him in Deuteronomy 28:25, "The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth." In fact, as you come to the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem after its destruction and exile into Babylonian captivity in 2 Chronicles 29:8, Hezekiah offers an explanation to the Jews as to why they're hated so much all over the world - "That is why the Lord's anger has fallen upon Judah and Jerusalem. He has made them an object of dread, horror, and ridicule, as you can see with your own eyes."

2) Chapter 13 tells the bazaar story of a man of God who failed to comply fully with God's command. Here's a story that seems very strange in nature. It tells of a man who is obviously close to God and one of God's prophets, and how another prophet of God tricks him into disobeying the Lord's command and is killed for it. Weird! However, it does provide us some insight for today!

This story depicts a lot of Christians who serve the Lord, but fail to comply fully with God's commands. As to why the other prophet lied, who knows. The bottom line is this...if God tells you to do something - do it, and don't change anything until He tells you to change it! Don't let other people tell you God's will for your life - that's between you and God!

3) How will your life influence others? Only time will tell...but what will time tell us? When it comes to the life of Jeroboam, his life will be forever known as the instigator of Israel's downfall. As you continued to read the pages of God's Word, you see Jeroboam's name continueing to pop up as the person to blame for Israel's downfall and spiritual pervertedness.

4) People usually never rise above the integrity of their leaders! As we follow the list of the succession of Judah's and Israel's kings, we see that the king becomes the focal point of spiritual quality in the life of each nation. Their leaders subliminally and publically set the standard. In business, it's the same way! Look around you. It's a common fact that each manager, supervisor, or leader sets the standard for the team. As leadership expert John Maxwell put it in his book "Developing The Leaders Around You," "People never rise above the level of leadership within their leader."

Well, that's all for now. Have a wonderful day in the Lord!