Start Time:	06:12 AM
End Time:	06:40 AM
Date:	July 09, 2014

 

TITLE: Jehoahaz King of Israel

Scripture: 2 Kings 12:1 – 25

God’s Message / God’s Commands / God’s Promises:

→ In the twenty-third year of Joash son of Ahaziah king of Judah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord by following the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit, and he did not turn away from them.  So the Lord’s angerburned against Israel, and for a long time he kept them under the power of Hazael king of Aram and Ben-Hadad his son. Then Jehoahaz sought the Lord’s favor, and the Lord listened to him, for he saw how severely the king of Aram was oppressing Israel.  The Lord provided a deliverer for Israel, and they escaped from the power of Aram. So the Israelites lived in their own homes as they had before. But they did not turn away from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit; they continued in them. Also, the Asherah pole^[a] remained standing in Samaria.  Nothing had been left of the army of Jehoahaz except fifty horsemen, ten chariots and ten thousand foot soldiers, for the king of Aram had destroyed the rest and made them like the dust at threshing time.  As for the other events of the reign of Jehoahaz, all he did and his achievements, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? Jehoahaz rested with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria. And Jehoash^[b] his son succeeded him as king.

NOTES:

Ø  God is our deliverer and He will hear our cry when we seek Him!  Jehoahaz was doing evil in the eyes of God and so the whole Israel was under the power of Hazael but thank God Jehoahaz came into his sense and realized what he needed to do, so he sought the Lord’s favor and God listened.  All we need to do is seek the Lord.

Ø  God’s power and strength are not based on our own resources!  God will win and deliver us from our enemy no matter how little our resources are.  Jehoahaz had only 50 horsemen, 10 chariots and 10,000 foot soldiers, yet God delivered His people from the hands of Hazael, the king of Aram!  Hallelujah!  Thank God that our deliverance is not based on our own strength or on what resources we have but it is based in the powerful and mighty hand of God!  Amen!

→In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned sixteen years. He did evil in the eyes of theLord and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he continued in them.  As for the other events of the reign of Jehoash, all he did and his achievements, including his war against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? Jehoash rested with his ancestors, and Jeroboamsucceeded him on the throne. Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.  Now Elisha had been suffering from the illness from which he died. Jehoash king of Israel went down to see him and wept over him. “My father! My father!” he cried. “The chariots and horsemen of Israel!”  Elisha said, “Get a bow and some arrows,” and he did so. “Take the bow in your hands,” he said to the king of Israel. When he had taken it, Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands.  “Open the east window,” he said, and he opened it. “Shoot!” Elisha said, and he shot. “The Lord’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram!” Elisha declared. “You will completely destroy the Arameans at Aphek.”  Then he said, “Take the arrows,” and the king took them. Elisha told him, “Strike the ground.” He struck it three times and stopped. The man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times.”  Elisha died and was buried.  Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring. Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet. Hazael king of Aram oppressed Israel throughout the reign of Jehoahaz. But theLord was gracious to them and had compassion and showed concern for them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To this day he has been unwilling to destroy them or banish them from his presence. Hazael king of Aram died, and Ben-Hadad his son succeeded him as king.  Then Jehoash son of Jehoahaz recaptured from Ben-Hadad son of Hazael the towns he had taken in battle from his father Jehoahaz. Three times Jehoash defeated him, and so he recovered the Israelite towns.

NOTES:

Ø  God’s grace and love for Israel is greater than the evil that His people did against Him.  The last passages speak of King Jehoash as the next king of Israel who did evil and continued in evil.  But when the king came to Elisha for help, the Lord’s hand is always willing to help and God always speaks victory and blessings for them despite of their actions toward Him.  Amazing love is what God has for all of us!  Thank You!

Ø  God gave us the power to take control of the process we take when we fulfill His plans.  God’s ultimate plan is for the Israelites to defeat the Arameans, but the number of times they will be defeated was given to the king of Israel’s hands by the number of arrows he shoot.  The same way in our lives.  God has an ultimate plan or destination for us but how to get there is really dependent in our hands.  The number of victories and the journey is how we make it to be.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, gracious and merciful Lord.  Thank You because Your love for us is so amazing and no one can ever fathom of the depths of Your love for us.  I am grateful that Your grace and love extends to us based on Your word and not our actions.  Thank You because Your love is greater than the things we did against You and even to the things that we are about to do.  Thank You because You give us the control on how we want our journey to be or what the process will be towards our main destination, which is in accordance to Your Will.  Thank You because You hear our cry and all it takes is for us to seek You, for You to embrace and take charge of our lives again.  Thank You because Your power, strength and ability is never based on what we have but based on You.  So we can be assured that we have the victory even if we have less resources and people for whatever battle we face.  Hallelujah!  In Jesus’ Name, Amen!