Archives For rajesh

Did King Josiah Die Out of the Will of God?

October 26, 2014

King Josiah was one of the best kings ever to rule over God’s people (2 Kings 23:25). A comparison of the two accounts of his death, however, raises the question of whether he may have died out of the will of God.

God’s Gracious Promise to Josiah

Because king Josiah had responded properly upon his hearing the Word of God (2 Kings 22:19; 2 Chron. 34:27), God graciously made the following promise to him:

2Ki 22:20 Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.

2Ch 34:28 Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought the king word again.

According to these statements, God promised to Josiah that he would be gathered to his grave in peace. This revelation from God very likely would seem to have led him to believe that he would die in a peaceful manner that would not involve great pain or suffering.

Did Josiah Reject Later Divine Revelation Because He Misunderstood This Promise?

Perhaps this promise of his going to the grave in peace even led Josiah to conclude that it would not be possible for him to die in a battle setting at the hands of an opponent. If so, this understanding (or something like it) that he would have had would explain why he did not heed the warning that Necho king of Egypt gave him not to fight against him:

2Ch 35:20 After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates: and Josiah went out against him.

21 But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war: for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not.

22 Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.

In a striking statement, the inspired writer of 2 Chronicles makes known that Josiah rejected “the words of Necho from the mouth of God” (2 Chron. 35:22), which indicates that Josiah went against divine revelation that God chose to warn him with from the mouth of this Egyptian king!

Because Josiah did not heed that warning, he was fatally wounded and died a painful death:

2Ch 35:23 And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded.

24 His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

His dying such a death hardly seems to be a fulfillment of the promise that he would be gathered to his grave in peace. On this reading, Josiah died out of the will of God because he did not heed the warning that God gave him through the mouth of Necho.

If this is in fact what happened, God intended that Josiah would die later in some peaceful manner, but Josiah died out of the will of God. Alternatively, the promise that God gave to Josiah may have meant all along that Josiah would receive a proper burial regardless of how he would die. In that case, God’s promise was fulfilled to Josiah, and he did not die out of the will of God.

What do you think?

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Interpretation, Theology
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Presidential Commendation of the Bible!

October 23, 2014

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Ron Hamilton’s father kept a New Testament in his pocket every day of World War II. This Bible is full of his hand-written notes and is now very worn. In the front, it has a striking commendation by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt of the value of reading the Bible!

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Bible reading
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Lessons from an Examination of How the Grace of God Abounded to Jephthah

October 19, 2014

Jephthah was a judge in Israel who made a problematic vow that may have led him to offer his only daughter as a human sacrifice (Judges 11). An examination of how the grace of God abounded to him in spite of the consequences of his vow provides us with some valuable lessons.

Jephthah as a Spiritually Minded Judge in Israel

During a dark period in Israel’s history, “Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor” (Judges 11:1). Because he was the son of a harlot, his brethren prevented him from inheriting a share of his father’s estate (Judges 11:1-2). Fleeing from them, Jephthah lived in the land of Tob and became the leader over a band of “vain men” who joined up with him (Judges 11:3).

When the Ammonites warred against Israel, the elders of Gilead sought him out to lead Israel in fighting against them (Judges 11:4-10). In spite of his being the son of a harlot and drawing to himself a group of worthless men, Jephthah manifested at this time both to the Israelites and to their enemies that he was a spiritually minded man.

He testified to his understanding that if he would have success in fighting with their enemies, it would be from God’s working on his behalf: “The Lord deliver them before me” (Judges 11:9). He showed that he believed in the importance of communicating publicly with God on the important occasion of his being made the head and captain over God’s people: “Jephthah uttered all his words before the Lord in Mizpeh” (Judges 11:11).

He knew correctly the spiritual nature of Israel’s prior conquests (Judges 11:15-22) and testified faithfully to it in appealing to the king of the Ammonites not to war against Israel without just cause (Judges 11:21, 23). He also had a right awareness of and appreciation for what constituted wrongful human actions against other humans: “Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me” (Judges 11:27a).

Jephthah’s testifying this truth to his enemies in the face of the impending conflict with them shows that he desired rightfully to prevent them from waging an unjust war. He also faithfully testified to his proper understanding of the Lord as the Judge who rightly judges among people who sinfully war against one another: “The Lord the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon” (Judges 11:27b).

Taken at face value, these many statements point to Jephthah’s being a spiritually minded judge in at least a number of ways. When, therefore, we consider the problematic vow that he made, we must take care not to allow it to so color our perspectives about him as to prevent us from forming a right overall perspective about him.

Jephthah’s Problematic Vow and Subsequent Life

After the Ammonites refused to heed Jephthah’s efforts to dissuade them from attacking the Israelites (Judges 11:28), the Holy Spirit came upon him (Judges 11:29a). He then traveled to meet the Ammonites in battle (Judges 11:29b).

At this point, Jephthah made a problematic vow that if God would give him victory over the Ammonites, he would offer up as a burnt offering to the Lord whatever would come forth out of his house to meet him (Judges 11:30-31). This vow has occasioned considerable difference of opinion among interpreters about what he actually did and why.

Since God did for him what he had spoken of in his vow, Jephthah believed that he was constrained to keep his vow (Judges 11:35-40). His doing so further testifies to his being a spiritually minded man who believed that he had to keep a vow that he made regardless of how costly it might prove to him (cf. Ps. 15:4).

Because Scripture states that Jephthah “did with her according to his vow which he had vowed” (Judges 11:39), we must hold that either he actually sacrificed his only daughter as a burnt offering to the Lord or he did something else that somehow yet fulfilled his vow. Whatever he chose to do in fulfilling his vow became the basis for a new custom of lamenting in Israel, which points to the sorrowful nature of whatever he did to fulfill his vow (Judges 11:39c).

Following the account of his fulfilling his vow and its aftermath, Scripture recounts how Jephthah handled a pressing conflict with the Ephraimites (Judges 12:1-6). The Old Testament account of his life ends with information about the length of his judging Israel and about his death and burial (Judges 12:7).

Jephthah Mentioned in Hebrews 11

If Jephthah did in fact sacrifice his only daughter, he certainly committed a heinous act. Especially in that case, were Judges 11:1-12:7 the only revelation that we had about him, we might even be justified in doubting whether he truly ever was a believer in the first place.

New Testament mention of him in Hebrews 11:32, however, indisputably shows that he was a true believer in Jehovah regardless of how he kept his problematic vow. If he did keep it by sacrificing his daughter, Hebrews 11 magnifies God’s grace to Jephthah all the more because it shows that God chose to provide us with revelation many centuries after he had already died that shows that he was a true believer in spite of his having made a problematic vow and having committed a heinous act!

Especially because of Hebrews 11:32, we must take care not to make the account of his problematic vow the sum total of our viewpoint about him. Rather, we must allow both the evidence of his being an otherwise spiritually minded judge and the mention of him in Hebrews 11 to shape aright how we regard him as a believer.

Conclusion

Regardless of whether he sacrificed his daughter as a burnt offering to the Lord or not, Jephthah was a true believer. We certainly will see him in heaven one day.

God’s choosing to mention Jephthah in Hebrews 11:32 magnifies His grace and instructs us that we must keep in mind that there may be people in our day whose salvation we may strongly doubt who may yet be true believers in spite of the overt wickedness of some aspects of their lives. The account of Jephthah’s vow also instructs us to be very careful in making any promises to people without thoroughly considering every possibility for how unforeseen developments might cause us to regret greatly that we made those promises.

I look forward to meeting Jephthah one day and having him provide us with a fuller account of what he actually did to keep his problematic vow.

 

 

[1] For a helpful discussion of some pros and cons for holding the view that he did sacrifice his daughter, see this post by my friend Mark Ward.

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Exposition, Interpretation, Theology
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Guitar Music for “Ode to Joy”

October 17, 2014

“Ode to Joy” is a beautiful tune that is easy to play. I often use it early on when I teach people to play the guitar.

This PDF provides the fret numbers and solfeggio notes (in my number format) to play the melody of this song on any string of the guitar. By practicing this classic tune on each string, you will become much better acquainted with many of the notes on the finger board!

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Guitar Music
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Spanish Bible Reading Report 10.14.14

October 14, 2014

With 80 days left in 2014, I have now finished reading 889 chapters in the Reina Valera this year! To finish the remaining 300 chapters, I will have to read 3.75 chapters on average daily for the rest of the year.

10.14.14j

I am eagerly anticipating making it through the whole Bible in Spanish this year, Lord willing!

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Bible reading, Spanish
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The Salvation Testimony of Homer Chinn

October 12, 2014

With permission from Mr. Homer Chinn, a faithful member of my church, I am posting this testimony with the hope that God will use it to bring many people to Himself. May the Lord also greatly encourage many of His own through this message of His great goodness to this man whom He has saved for His glory.

My name is Homer Chinn. I’m a machinist for a company called Honeywell Aerospace where we repair and overhaul turbine engines. About 23 years ago, God saw fit to begin a work in my family.

It all began one Saturday morning when I was working on an old lawnmower. I began to get hot and frustrated so my daughter Amanda, who was only 5, was playing in the yard nearby so I sent her in the house to get me a beer and she said, “No, daddy.”

I didn’t think she heard me so I told her again, “I said Amanda go in the house and get your daddy a beer.” And she just bowed up on me and she said, “No, daddy.”

I knew then that she heard me and I got mad so I said, “Amanda, do you want a spanking”? She said, “No, sir.” Well, I said, “Go in the house, and get your daddy a beer!”

She said, “Daddy, I can’t.” I said, “Well, why not?” She said, “Because they are bad for you.”

I said, “Where did you learn that at?” She said, “At church.” When she said that, God spoke to me through that, and the weight of that just convicted me severely of my sin. I’d never felt that shame like that before.

So needless to say, I didn’t say anything else to her the rest of the day but that bothered me the rest of the day and for a couple of weeks after that. And it had gotten to where I wanted to go to church with my family but I knew if I went to church, God would require me to give up my sin, and I just didn’t want to.

But about 2 weeks later, I was sitting at the kitchen table on a Sunday morning. I started drinking again already then, and I heard my family come in from church. I heard the car door slam, and I heard one of the children skipping up the steps and come through the back door.

It was my daughter Amanda again. She crawled right up in my lap, looked me dead in the eyes. She said, “Daddy said, ‘Jesus died for me and you,’ didn’t He?”

And when she said that, the shame laid heavy on me and I never felt so ashamed in all my life. I was reared in church but had gotten out of it and when I got to be a teenager.

So I knew the truth that Christ had died for our sin but it was God speaking to me clearly through my daughter that day that really got my attention and made it hit home that He had died for me. The shame of her—a 5-year old, 40-pound little girl— telling me the truth, and here I was a grown man supposed to be teaching her weighed heavily on me.

So for another two weeks I resisted and fought it, but one Sunday morning I got up when they got up to get ready to go to church. I got up and went with them.

I thought that I had to go to church to get saved but by the grace of God that Sunday morning I went with them. I was tired of carrying that weight of sin. God had dealt with me and it grew heavy.

So I went to a little country church there in Traveler’s Rest that Sunday morning, and I don’t remember the Sunday school class. I don’t remember the sermon, but they sang the perfect hymnal invitation song for me, and that was “Just As I Am,” and I listened to that song real close, and I knew I had nothing to bring to the Lord but sin.

I had heard before some people thought you had to get cleaned up before God saved you but that’s not right. You just submit yourself, humble yourself before God, and He’ll do the saving.

So that day I walked forward on the last verse of the hymn and gave my life to Christ. Pastor knelt there at the altar and led me to Christ, and immediately my life began to change.

We were in a ministry like that for a couple of years and a couple of years into that ministry God began to show me some looseness and sin in that church that even I knew wasn’t right. I had no family here, I had nowhere to go for counsel, but I would lock myself in the bathroom and commit that to prayer.

And God in His mercy a year or two after I committed that to prayer one day led us to Mount Calvary. It was in the providence of God He allowed me to work with a godly young man named Lenny Bundy who has become a dear friend of mine. It was through his testimony and his walk with the Lord that I came to visit the church here.

My children and I just really plugged into the ministry here and began to grow. But as we began to grow, the trials and opposition came from some dear loved ones too. But I thank God through those trials He crowded us closer to Him. He taught us to take sin and living for Him much more serious than we ever knew how to before.

I saw God do some tremendous work in my girls’ lives which was I’ll forever be thankful. It was here God began to teach me how to pray, a little bit about prayer, the privilege of prayer, the power there is in prayer.

So I began to pray for my children and through prayer God opened many doors for them. He gave them access to people and things that could teach them things I couldn’t. It was through prayer God provided them some godly husbands and gave me some godly son-in-laws Tyler and Wesley for which I’ll always be thankful. And, now I’m going to get the privilege of being a grandfather!

So if you are here today, dear friend, and you don’t know the Lord Jesus as your Savior. Yes, you may know His name, you may know some facts about Him, but until you know Him as your personal Savior from sin, you’ll never get to go to heaven.

It was here I learned what God had called me to do. So I ask you the same question today, “What has God called you to do? Why are you here today? Do you know your purpose?”

Listen closely to the messages today. If God speaks to your heart, be willing to surrender and yield to that—don’t resist. And obey whatever He lead you to do so God can save you so you can come to know the peace which passeth all understanding so you can come to know what your will is in your life and live your life for the Lord.

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Evangelism, Testimony
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Another Lengthy Online Discussion about CCM

October 11, 2014

This evening, I read all 437 posts in another lengthy online discussion about CCM: “The Sacred Cow” of CCM! 2-Part Discussion Question.” I did so because I want to understand as much as I can about how people who support CCM think and argue for its propriety.

Although there are many things that I read that I would like to interact with, I just do not have the time or inclination at present to become part of this discussion. If you are interested in this subject, you might consider browsing through the posts here.

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In CCM
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How You Should Prepare to Face Possible Exposure to Ebola

October 8, 2014

Possible exposure to the deadly Ebola virus is a sobering reality for which we all must prepare ourselves. Careful attention to a striking truth in Ezekiel 14 reveals a vital aspect of how we should prepare to face the possibility of contracting this potentially life-threatening disease.

Divine Revelation concerning Surviving Pestilence Sent by God

In Ezekiel’s day, many of the house of Israel were profoundly unrighteous people (Ezek. 14:1-11). God sent a stern message to Ezekiel that made known profound truth about who would be able to survive His fierce judgments that He would send on an evil land that had sinned against Him “by trespassing grievously” (Ezek. 14:12-20).

God declared that He would judge the sinful land through “four sore judgments” (Ezek. 14:21), including pestilence (Ezek. 14:19-20) that would “cut off from it man and beast” (Ezek. 14:19). In the midst of this grim message, God specified a remarkable truth about what would be the case if three stellar biblical personages (Noah, Daniel, and Job) dwelled in that land in the midst of such a pestilence:

Eze 14:19 Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast:

20 Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.

Although these godly men would not be able to deliver anyone else, even their own children, by their righteousness, we should not overlook that this statement directly affirms that they would be able to deliver themselves individually from this pestilence “by their righteousness”! In Ezekiel’s day, therefore, God affirmed that some people, if those people were exceptionally righteous people, would be delivered from a pestilence that He would send upon a wicked land.

Moreover, Scripture explicitly reveals that neither Noah (cf. Gen. 9:21) nor Job (Job 42:1-6) was a sinless person and yet they would have survived this pestilence “by their righteousness” had they been in a land that God would judge in that manner. Being a perfect sinless person, therefore, was not a requirement for surviving such a pestilence through one’s own righteousness.

Applying Ezekiel 14:20 to the Present Ebola Threat

Although Ezekiel 14:20 does affirm that Noah, Daniel, and Job would have survived a pestilence that God would send to judge a sinful land, it does not thereby affirm that people who were less righteous than they were would also survive under such circumstances. This observation suggests that a vital aspect of our properly facing the present Ebola threat is that we should strive by God’s grace to be as righteous as possible in each of our own lives individually.1

For those of us who are believers in Jesus Christ as Lord, let us all immediately turn from all unrighteousness in our lives and seek with all our might to please God in all things at all times. Striving wholeheartedly to obey and please God out of love for Him is not “legalism” (cf. Col. 1:10; Heb. 13:21), and doing so will put us in the best position humanly possible in the will of God to survive exposure to Ebola. (Of course, doing so does not negate the importance of our also making every effort possible to prepare for this threat by following proper guidelines for healthy living, etc.)

If you are not a believer in Jesus Christ as Lord, I urge you to repent toward God and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21). To learn more about how you as a sinner (like all the rest of us) can yet be declared righteous by God (after which you would then seek to live righteously before God, even as Noah, Daniel, and Job did), please see my post The Gospel of God and His Christ.

1Although there is no way for any of us to know whether God is using (or will use) Ebola to judge our countries for their evil, as He spoke of doing in Ezekiel 14:19-21, our inability to know this information does not seem to change the applicability of this passage to our circumstances. Even if this passage understood correctly should turn out not to be applicable directly to our situation, seeking to be as righteous as possible before God in our lives would still be a valid and vital way to prepare for this threat, as the account of Hezekiah’s pleading his righteousness before God (Isa. 38:3) shows when he was faced with terminal illness and then received healing in answer to his prayer (Isa. 38; cf. 2 Kings 20:1-11).

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Exhortation, Health, Interpretation
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You Can Be Pleasing to God in the Midst of Terrible Circumstances!

October 4, 2014

First Kings 14 provides a glorious account that has great relevance to the very difficult life circumstances that a vast number of people in the world are facing today. A close look at this passage shows that you can be pleasing to God in the midst of terrible circumstances!

The Great Wickedness of Israel under the Rule of King Jeroboam I

As His judgment upon Solomon for his wickedness, God brought about the division of His people into the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah (1 Kings 11-12). God raised up Jeroboam the son of Nebat to be king over the Northern Kingdom (1 Kings 11:31, 35).

Jeroboam was a horrifically wicked king (1 Kings 11:26-33; 13:33-34). He sinned greatly in spite of God’s great goodness to him (1 Kings 14:7-9; see this post for an explanation of this important point).

Under his evil rule, Israel became very wicked (1 Kings 12:30; 13:33; 15:30). False worship abounded in Israel far more than it ever had prior to the reign of Jeroboam (cf. 1 Kings 14:9).

One Who Was Pleasing to God in This Evil King’s Own Household

Scripture implicitly highlights the great wickedness of Jeroboam’s household in a noteworthy way by revealing that there was only one person in it who was pleasing to God (in some unspecified manner):

1Ki 14:13 And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.

This statement, however, does much more than implicitly highlight the wickedness of Jeroboam’s household—it magnifies the reality that Abijah the son of Jeroboam (I Kings 14:1) was a person in the royal household in whom was “found some good thing toward the Lord” (1 Kings 14:13)!

The Glorious Significance of Abijah’s Uniqueness

In a manner that Scripture does not explain, Abijah was somehow still pleasing to God even though all the rest of his family was wicked, especially his father. Moreover, God found something good in him in spite of the great wickedness of all the people around him and of the country in which he lived.

Despite his terrible circumstances, especially the horrifically false worship that permeated Israel at this time, Abijah was yet pleasing to God to an extent that God deemed it worthy to record in His eternal Word how He would uniquely favor him in contrast to the fate that the rest of his family would experience! This record about God’s strikingly taking notice of Abijah provides us all with a glorious account of how someone was pleasing to God in spite of his terrible circumstances!

By not specifying anything about what was good about Abijah or about how and why Abijah had something good in him toward God, the Holy Spirit has made this text applicable for people who live in all kinds of bad situations. Undoubtedly, God intends from this passage that you would learn and believe that like Abijah, you can be pleasing to God in the midst of terrible circumstances!

May He grant you repentance (as needed) and faith to please Him regardless of how difficult your life circumstances may be.

To learn how you can be pleasing to God, please read my post The Gospel of God and His Christ.

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Exhortation, Exposition, Interpretation
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A Light in the Midst of Great Darkness

September 29, 2014

King Jeroboam I was one of the worst kings ever to rule over God’s people (1 Ki. 14:9). In the midst of a horrifyingly tragic account of his life, Scripture records some glorious revelation about God’s goodness in providing a light in the midst of the great darkness of this evil ruler’s life.

Tragic Sinfulness in spite of God’s Great Goodness

Because of the evil that Solomon and Judah had committed against the Lord (1 Ki. 11:1-9), God made known through the prophet Ahijah that He would “rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and [would] give ten tribes to” Jeroboam (1 Ki. 11:31). God then offered to Jeroboam a magnificent prospect if he would be righteous before the Lord:

1Ki 11:37 And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel.

38 And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee.

Through his wickedly originating false worship among Israel, Jeroboam tragically forfeited the great favor that God had offered to him (1 Ki. 12:26-33).

God sent a prophet to Jeroboam to make known the fierce judgment that would come upon him for his wickedness (1 Ki. 13:1-3). Instead of immediately repenting and pleading with God for mercy, Jeroboam sought to persecute the prophet that God had sent to him (1 Ki. 13:4a).

Jeroboam immediately experienced divine judgment upon him, resulting in his hand drying up so that he was unable to pull it back in again to him (1 Ki. 13:4b). In an amazing display of yet more favor to Jeroboam, God even restored the king’s hand when the prophet interceded for him (1 Ki. 13:6).

Instead of allowing God’s continuing goodness to him to lead him to repentance (cf. Rom. 2:4), Jeroboam tragically continued in his wicked ways (1 Ki. 13:33-34). As a result, he experienced further judgment from God (1 Ki. 14:1-18).

Amazing Favor in the Midst of Great Wickedness

Because of Jeroboam’s great wickedness, God judged him by touching the life of his son Abijah (1 Ki. 14:1). Jeroboam deceitfully sent his wife to the prophet Abijah to find out what would happen to his son (1 Ki. 14:2-16).

Through the revelation that Abijah gave to Jeroboam’s wife, God confronted Jeroboam with how he had failed wickedly to be righteous before God in spite of God’s favor to him (1 Ki. 14:7-9). In fact, God made known to Jeroboam that he had been more wicked than all who were before him (1 Ki. 14:9).

God declared His fierce judgment that would could come upon him and his household because of his great sinfulness (1 Ki. 14:10-16). God’s judgment on Jeroboam would include the death of his son Abijah (1 Ki. 14:12).

In the midst of the record of God’s great judgment that would come on this horrifically wicked king, we read that God had favored Jeroboam in an amazing way by giving him his son Abijah, in whom alone there was “found some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam” (1 Ki. 14:13). This remarkable statement shows that even in the midst of the great darkness that permeated the life of this wicked king, God had given him light within his own home!

Jeroboam had the opportunity to see the truth of God through observing the life of his son. Jeroboam, however, failed tragically to behold the light that God had so graciously provided for him in his own household.

God had favored this wicked king in an amazing way even in the midst of how wicked he had been! Although Jeroboam did not profit from God’s provision of a light in the midst of great darkness of his life, we who have the privilege of reading this tragic account should allow the goodness of God that is abundantly seen in this passage to lead us to repent from all of our evil ways!

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Exhortation, Exposition
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