Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. (1 Peter 2.13 – 17, ESV)
We’re going through the Historical books one chapter per day, and that pace has allowed me to see someone I’d previously breezed past: Jotham, king of Judah, 2 Chronicles 27. It’s a short chapter and a short reign (only 16 years), but he’s one of the good guys:
Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king; he reigned sixteen years at Jerusalem. His mother was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. In GOD’s eyes he lived a good life, following the path marked out by his father Uzziah. Unlike his father, though, he didn’t desecrate The Temple of GOD. But the people pushed right on in their lives of corruption. (2 Chronicles 27.1 – 2, MSG)
And here is one case where the people don’t follow their leader: good king, corrupt people.
Jotham had success in building projects and in battle, but here’s the verse that grabbed my attention:
Jotham’s strength was rooted in his steady and determined life of obedience to God. (2 Chronicles 27.6, MSG)
I’ve added that to my set of memory verses on Strength! Courage! beginning with Joshua 1.6 and 9. “Jotham’s strength was rooted in his steady and determined life of obedience…” That’s The Message, and it’s just as good in the English Standard Version:
So Jotham became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the LORD his God. (2 Chronicles 27.6, ESV)
That’s a good word. I’d like to be known as a man who “ordered his ways before the LORD his God.”
We were treated to two spectacular light shows in October. First was a view of the Northern Lights much further south than usual. I didn’t see them, but some neighbors did:
The other once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was the comet, discovered in 2023. Some folks got some spectacular pictures of that, also.
I went out several times to see the comet without success. But I told myself, “That’s OK. Don’t forget the spectacular you can see almost anytime.”
I told myself I didn’t need my own picture of the comet, but I lied. We have a new dog, remember? On October 23 at 9:00p, I took him for his last walk of the day. I pointed my phone in the general direction of the comet…and voila! I couldn’t see it, but my camera could, left side of picture. It’s not as spectacular as the other pictures (the comet was much farther away), but it’s mine!
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. (Psalm 19.1, ESV)
After our break for All Saints Day, let’s return to Joash and the kings. We left Joash after a successful renovation of the Temple. A good thing. But we’ve already had this teaser:
Taught and trained by Jehoiada the priest, Joash did what pleased GOD throughout Jehoiada’s lifetime. (2 Chronicles 24.2, MSG)
Sure enough, Jehoiada dies…
But after the death of Jehoiada things fell apart. The leaders of Judah made a formal presentation to the king and he went along with them. Things went from bad to worse; they deserted The Temple of GOD and took up with the cult of sex goddesses. An angry cloud hovered over Judah and Jerusalem because of this sin. GOD sent prophets to straighten them out, warning of judgment. But nobody paid attention. Then the Spirit of God moved Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest to speak up: “God’s word: Why have you deliberately walked away from GOD’s commandments? You can’t live this way! If you walk out on GOD, he’ll walk out on you.”
Joash immediately walks out on God, and when Jehoiada’s son Zechariah attempts to rebuke him, Joash has him murdered.
We get the same story a couple of kings later:
Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king and reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jecoliah from Jerusalem. He behaved well in the eyes of GOD, following in the footsteps of his father Amaziah. He was a loyal seeker of God. He was well trained by his pastor and teacher Zechariah to live in reverent obedience before God, and for as long as Zechariah lived, Uzziah lived a godly life. And God prospered him. (2 Chronicles 26.3 – 5, MSG)
Uzziah was very successful: he won battles, constructed defense towers, raised cattle and planted vineyards. He also equipped the army well. (2 Chronicles 26.9 – 15) I was going to tell you that the famous Israeli weapon, the Uzi, was named for King Uzziah, but I would have been wrong!
The Uzi is a family of Iraeli open-bolt, blowback-operated submachine guns and pistols first designed by Major Uziel “Uzi” Gal in the late 1940s, shortly after the establishment of the State of Israel. – Wikipedia
Anyway, as forecast, Uzziah doesn’t finish well:
But then the strength and success went to his head. Arrogant and proud, he fell. One day, contemptuous of GOD, he walked into The Temple of GOD like he owned it and took over, burning incense on the Incense Altar. The priest Azariah, backed up by eighty brave priests of GOD, tried to prevent him. They confronted Uzziah: “You must not, you cannot do this, Uzziah—only the Aaronite priests, especially consecrated for the work, are permitted to burn incense. Get out of God’s Temple; you are unfaithful and a disgrace!” But Uzziah, censer in hand, was already in the middle of doing it and angrily rebuffed the priests. He lost his temper; angry words were exchanged—and then, even as they quarreled, a skin disease appeared on his forehead. As soon as they saw it, the chief priest Azariah and the other priests got him out of there as fast as they could. He hurried out—he knew that GOD then and there had given him the disease. Uzziah had his skin disease for the rest of his life and had to live in quarantine; he was not permitted to set foot in The Temple of GOD. (2 Chronicles 26.16 – 20, MSG)
“Arrogant and proud, he fell.” That’s two kings, mentored well, but the lessons didn’t stick. I mentored a man in Alabama in the early 2000s, and when I reconnected with him a few years after we had returned to Colorado, he wrote something like, “I wish you hadn’t left. I’ve lost my way.”
Happens. Jesus had twelve men and lost Judas. Paul had Demas who had a good start…
Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas. (Colossians 4.14, ESV)
…but a bad finish:
Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. (2 Timothy 4.10, ESV)
So what’s the solution? These texts don’t say, but I think we just keep sowing seed.
And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold. (Mark 4.18 – 20, ESV)
I’m reprising what I posted last year on this day, the day we remember and give thanks for those who have gone before. Last year, my friend Jean Alix from Haiti asked this question:
Dear Dr. Bob,
I read this “All Saints Day to remember and give thanks.” Is there in the Bible a verse which let us to remember and give thanks for all the saints? Or Is the early church that did that? And what verse? I know this is from the Roman Catholic Church, right?
I responded:
It’s a good question, Jean Alix. First observation is that just because the Roman Catholic Church does something doesn’t mean it’s wrong! Second, I think Hebrews 12.1, 2 that I cited (see below) suggest that we remember those who have gone before. And we have 1 Thessalonians 5.18 reminding us to give thanks “in all circumstances.” Being a thankful people is not a bad thing, and being thankful for those who have gone before, setting us an example, maybe translating the scriptures for us, etc. is a good thing, too.
We have this great song, sung by many churches when they remember those of their number who passed during the previous year. Sometimes churches have this remembrance the Sunday after Easter and others on the Sunday near All Saints Day. For example, here is an announcement from a Free Methodist Church (ironically, one which strongly supported missions to Haiti that my friend Jean Alix was involved with):
Here’s the song:
– William W. How, 1864
For All the Saints: listen and sing along!
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12.1 – 2, ESV)
We keep moving through the kings of Judah as recorded in 2 Chronicles. It’s a miracle that Joash becomes king since his grandmother Athaliah tried kill the entire royal family. I wrote about that as told in 2 Kings 11. The story is repeated in 2 Chronicles 23. And we have this positive opening to Joash’s reign:
Joash was seven years old when he became king; he was king for forty years in Jerusalem… Taught and trained by Jehoiada the priest, Joash did what pleased GOD throughout Jehoiada’s lifetime. (2 Chronicles 24.1, 2, MSG)
Joash decides to renovate the temple, which had fallen into disrepair. For reasons not clear, it took two tries:
The time came when Joash determined to renovate The Temple of GOD. He got the priests and Levites together and said, “Circulate through the towns of Judah every year and collect money from the people to repair The Temple of your God. You are in charge of carrying this out.” But the Levites dragged their feet and didn’t do anything.
Then the king called in Jehoiada the chief priest and said, “Why haven’t you made the Levites bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax Moses, servant of GOD and the congregation, set for the upkeep of the place of worship? You can see how bad things are—wicked Queen Athaliah and her sons let The Temple of God go to ruin and took all its sacred artifacts for use in Baal worship.” Following the king’s orders, they made a chest and placed it at the entrance to The Temple of GOD. Then they sent out a tax notice throughout Judah and Jerusalem: “Pay the tax that Moses the servant of GOD set when Israel was in the wilderness.” The people and their leaders were glad to do it and cheerfully brought their money until the chest was full. (2 Chronicles 24.4 – 10, MSG)
A bit weird, but as an Air Force officer, I’ve had to give orders more than once. “Sgt Robinson, I really do want you to time stamp the messages when they come in, not wait until you get ready to work on them! Just like I told you before.” “Yes, sir.”
As I’ve written before, telling is not teaching, listening is not learning, sending is not receiving, and now we add, “Giving orders is not the same as having the orders executed!” A good leader follows up. A success for Joash and his mentor, Jehoiada, whom Joash had to light a fire under:
The king and Jehoiada gave the money to the managers of The Temple project; they in turn paid the masons and carpenters for the repair work on The Temple of GOD. The construction workers kept at their jobs steadily until the restoration was complete—the house of GOD as good as new! (2 Chronicles 24.12, 13, MSG)
Unfortunately, Joash doesn’t finish well. Stay tuned.
Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder… (2 Peter 1.12, 13, ESV)
Back to 2 Chronicles, I observed before that Judah had three good kings in a row (if you count Asa, who had a good start and a bad finish). But, in the spirit of “you’re only as good as your last play,” Jehoshaphat gets four chapters, starts and ends well, and then his son Jehoram:
Jehoram’s brothers were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael, and Shephatiah—the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. Their father had lavished them with gifts—silver, gold, and other valuables, plus the fortress cities in Judah. But Jehoram was his firstborn son and he gave him the kingdom of Judah. But when Jehoram had taken over his father’s kingdom and had secured his position, he killed all his brothers along with some of the government officials.
Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king and ruled in Jerusalem for eight years. He imitated Israel’s kings and married into the Ahab dynasty. GOD considered him an evil man. (2 Chronicles 21.2 – 5, MSG)
Not a good guy, he starts by killing his brothers and then marries into the Ahab dynasty. He was so bad that his story ends:
He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed with no one’s regret. They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings. (2 Chronicles 21.20, ESV)
Then Jehoram’s son Ahaziah, another bad king:
The people of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, Jehoram’s youngest son, king. Raiders from the desert, who had come with the Arabs against the settlement, had killed all the older sons. That’s how Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah became king. Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, but reigned only one year in Jerusalem. His mother was Athaliah, granddaughter of Omri. He lived and ruled just like the Ahab family had done, his mother training him in evil ways. GOD also considered him evil, related by both marriage and sin to the Ahab clan. After the death of his father, he attended the sin school of Ahab, and graduated with a degree in doom. (2 Chronicles 22.1 – 4, MSG)
All this got me thinking about good and bad kings…father to son to grandson, etc. Beginning with David (good), we have Solomon (good start, bad finish), Rheoboam (bad), Abijah (good), Asa (good start, bad finish), Jehoshaphat (good), Jehoram (bad), Ahaziah (bad). If we abbreviate G = good, B = bad, H = half good/half bad, we have:
GHBGHGBB – see the pattern?
No? Maybe you don’t see the pattern because there is no pattern!
As parents, some of us work hard to do the best we can to raise godly offspring. Some parents aren’t godly themselves and try to raise good people. Some parents don’t much care about their kids at all. Etc., etc. And some kids turn out good and some not so good.
And in my experience, there’s no apparent relationship. I know A LOT of godly people with one or more kids off the rails. And I know a few fathers who made no pretense of being Christ followers whose kids turned out beautifully.
I’m proud of all four of my kids who range in age from 51 to 44 as of this writing, and when I’m in a situation where someone tries to give me credit, I say, “I can’t take credit for any good that they’re doing, and I sure don’t want to take any blame when they mess up!”
It goes back to Genesis 3: Adam and Eve were in a perfect environment with a perfect God as their father, and then went off the rails (it’s called original sin). If we learn anything from our reading about the kings, it’s that “past performance is no guarantee of future results.”
When the son has done what is just and right, and has been careful to observe all my statutes, he shall surely live. The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. (Ezekiel 18.19, ESV)
It’s late October, but the temperatures are still running in the 60s and 70s, most unusual for a place where we could have had feet of snow by now. My large aspen is a bit confused. As of October 23 (left photo), most of its leaves are autumn yellow, but some are still green. The photo on the right, shot on October 28, highlights the yellow against the evergreens. Pretty cool.
My tree is spectacular, as is the large cottonwood not far from us. It’s slow to turn this year, also, but it’s managing a good show, too:
For as long as Earth lasts, planting and harvest, cold and heat, Summer and winter, day and night will never stop. (Genesis 8.22, MSG)
Did you see the replay of the spectacular “Hail Mary” touchdown pass by which the Washington Commanders beat the Chicago Bears Sunday? The Bears had just scored to go ahead 15 – 12 with 23 seconds left in the game. With two seconds left on the clock and the ball on the Commanders’ 48 yard line, quarterback Jayden Daniels scrambled around for nearly 13 seconds before launching a pass that went 65 yards in the air, coming down just shy of the goal line. A Bear defender tipped the ball back(?) into the end zone where only one player was waiting for it – a Commander. Oops. You can see the play here.
It shouldn’t have been successful. There should have been a defender behind where the ball was coming down instead of leaving a receiver open in the end zone. Oh well. But here’s what you didn’t see on that replay. The Bear that tipped the ball was too busy taunting the crowd when the play started to pay attention to what he was supposed to be doing:
Chicago Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson apologized Sunday night after he was seen taunting the crowd seconds before he and his teammates gave up a Hail Mary touchdown with time expired to lose to the Commanders 18 – 15.
Video posted on social media showed Stevenson pointing toward the stands and raising his arms in the air with his back to the line of scrimmage when the ball snapped. He was late to get to the play, then tipped the ball up… Stevenson posted:
“To Chicago and teammates my apologies for lack of awareness and focus. The game ain’t over until zeros hit the clock. Can’t take anything for granted. Notes taken, improvement will happen.” – ESPN, posted October 27, 2024
Lesson learned…too late for yesterday’s game. It’s a lesson-story on a number of levels, not least of which is what happened on the cross.
This event is captured beautifully in the allegory The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. The wicked witch is very excited when she kills Aslan the lion, the Christ figure in the book, who has sacrificed himself to save Edmond. But her joy is short-lived. As Aslan explains after his resurrection:
“Yes!” said a great voice from behind their backs. “It is more magic.” They looked round. There, shining in the sunrise, larger than they had seen him before, shaking his mane (for it had apparently grown again) stood Aslan himself...
“It means,” said Aslan, “that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward.” – from The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
The devil wanted Jesus crucified:
Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. (Luke 22.3, ESV)
But apparently Satan was unaware of what Jesus’ death would do:
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. (Hebrews 2.14, 15, ESV)
No doubt Satan celebrated too soon.
The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3.8, ESV)
PS I mean no disrespect to Tyrique Stevenson who made a mistake and apologized. As far as I know there are no cosmic implications to the Bears’ defeat and Commanders’ victory. The story just reminded me of something that does have cosmic significance.
Yesterday’s Everyday Answer to Prayer sets up today’s everyday miracle. When I left the animal shelter and picked June up at her Music Teachers’ Conference, I texted: “Benji would like to meet you if you’re up for it.” June came to the car immediately and off we went.
After the visit, we went back to the hotel for a short rest before a 5p session at the conference. As we were leaving the hotel, June said, “I don’t have my portfolio and legal pad.” She had been using a distinctive Northwestern University legal pad holder and had left it in the room. “Do you want me to go back and get it?” “No, we’ll be late.”
Now, fast-forward to between dinner and a concert. We’re back in the room looking for the legal pad without success. June said, “I must have left it at the conference site in my excitement to see Benji.” So when we went to the concert, we looked in all the obvious places for the legal pad, again without success.
After the concert, preparing for bed, we combed the room again. No legal pad, so she was making plans for how she might track it down Saturday morning…
At 6a Saturday morning, in bed, June asks me, “Where did you find my legal pad?” I said, “What are you talking about?” She said, “Look. There’s the legal pad at the foot of the bed.”
How can that be? The bedspread was white. The legal pad’s holder was navy blue. If it had been there when we went to bed, we would have seen it. If I had found it in the middle of the night, I wouldn’t have put it there!
A quick visit from an angel is the only logical explanation.
Crazy? Rod Dreher has just come out with a new book Living in Wonder: Finding Mystery and Meaning in a Secular Age. I have it, but it just came out so I haven’t read it yet. Brad East, in his Christianity Today book review Make Christianity Spooky Again writes:
[We need to] bite the bullet and proclaim, fingers uncrossed, that God works signs and wonders in the world today, just as he did in the times and stories of Holy Scripture. In this view, angels intervene in mortal affairs; demons assault and possess unsuspecting sinners; terminal illnesses are healed by divine miracle; young men see visions; and old men dream dreams (Acts 2:17). None of these things ever ceased. Christians in the West merely lost the desire or ability to see them. – Brad East, emphasis mine
“Angles intervene in mortal affairs…” – I’ve written about this before.
Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? (Hebrews 1.14, NIV)