The Books of Chronicles deal with the Kings of
A) The nation
of
B) They were a THEOCRACY..... They were ruled and
governed by God THROUGH His prophets and judges
C) During the
time of the prophet Samuel the people of
D Said to
Samuel – We want to be like the other nations and have a King
1) Basically saying to Samuel – we no longer want
you to be our Judge
E) Samuel was bummed – God put things into
perspective saying: : for they have not
rejected you,
but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.
1) That was
the bigger issue – God in grace granted their wish
The first king of
A) He was a
man with great potential.
B) He had
tremendous NATURAL advantages.
1) He was good looking, strong, intelligent, from a
good family.
C)) He had
tremendous spiritual advantages.
1) Godly men around him / Holy Spirit came upon him
– Saul even prophesied
Saul had tremendous
opportunities.
A) He got to be the first king over
B) But Saul
did NOT have a heart for God
1) He hid from the call of God on his life.
C) He allowed
jealousy to take control of his life. He intruded into areas that God had not
called him.
1) He sought to find truth from the “Father of
lies”.
D) His reign
ended in disaster.
Saul was followed by a young man named David.
A) David had
his shortcomings and failures. But he had a heart for God. But He LOVED the
Lord.
B) Walked
before ONE GOD worshipped / served / fought for and loved ONE GOD
1) David goes
down as the man that God measured every other king against.
C) David was
followed by his son Solomon.
Solomon started well, but faltered. Amazing 1st
half
A) Solomon’s problem: He had half a heart for the Lord.
B) He loved the Lord yet he found himself falling
into worshipping the gods of his wives.
1) In the first three kings of
2) Solomon
had a half heart for God.
Solomon’s son, Rehoboam came to the throne after the death
of Solomon.
A) Upon
Rehoboam becoming king their was a REVOLT in
B) They formed the Northern kingdom, referred to as
C) From this
time on you have TWO nations.
1)
D)
Three
were EXCEPTIONAL
1) Focus on those 3 beginning this Sunday am – Asa /
Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah
2 Chronicles deals almost exclusively with the revival in
A) So we pick up with Solomon gone and Rehoboam
having just died.
B) This brings us to the rule of Rehoboam’s son,
Abijah
2 Chron 13:1
In
the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over
Now 1Kings 15
sums up his reign in this way:
“And he walked in all the sins of his father,
which he had done before him; his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, as
was the heart of his father David.”
Abijah is a guy who is not walking in the ways of the Lord –
like He should
A) But we will
see that He is a man who is very aware of the Covenant that God made with
David.
B) In other
words He knows his theology but his head knowledge doesn’t produce a heart
response.
C) That
describes many in
1) They know the Stories – the Principles – basic
theology – but too often it doesn’t translate into life application
D) That is
the problem: Head knowledge is of no value if it doesn’t translate into life
application
1)1000’s Books on Christian living – We don’t need
another book – just need to do what we know
E) 1,000’s of
books on marriage – again - Knowledge is not the problem for us – It is the
doing
Abijah as we will see Knows His stuff – but unfortunately it
doesn’t produce a godly life.
His mother's name was Michaiah the
daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.
And there was war between Abijah and
Jeroboam. 3 Abijah set the battle in order with an army of valiant warriors,
four hundred thousand choice men. Jeroboam also drew up in battle formation
against him with eight hundred thousand choice men, mighty men of valor.
So here we see that as soon as Abijah assumes the throne –
Civil war breaks out – North vs South
A) Not sure
why this happened – Perhaps Jeroboam saw it as an opportunity to attack – time
of transition
B) Recall
Rehoboam was going to go to
C) Maybe
Abijah was doing what he knew his dad always wanted to do but didn’t
D) The
Chronicler doesn’t tell us why the War broke out but he does tell us the odds
1)
400,000 to
800,000 that is a big # 400,000
E) Talking a
total of 1.2 million men drawn into the battle field
Before Any
fighting takes place Abijah gives a speech -
RD V.4-12
Notice several things here:
First v.5 Covenant with David – Covenant of Salt?
A) Salt was a
preserving agent – It was a way of saying that the covenant that God made with
David was an Enduring covenant.
B) 2nd V.8 You are a great multitude 800,000 men
and two golden calves
C) Remember Jeroboam had led the Northern Kingdoms into the
worship of golden calves
1) He brought
from his time down in
D) Problem of
misplaced affections – You have 800,000 men and two golden calves
1) All that
matters is that we have one living God on our side. HE IS OUR HEAD!
2) What are those two golden calves going to do for
you.
We need to remember this as we live in this world – we have
THE LIVING God on our side.
A) He is behind
us / He is before us / He is on our side
B) Jesus is
the same yesterday today and forever.
C) Duet Our Rock is not like their Rock –
Psalm 3:1-4
“LORD,
how they have increased who trouble me!
Many
are they who rise up against me .
2
Many are they who say of me,
"There
is no help for him in God."
3
But You, O LORD, are a shield for me,
My
glory and the One who lifts up my head.
4
I cried to the LORD with my voice,
And
He heard me from His holy hill.”
3rd V.9 You have alienated the wrong People.
A) All the
true priest of the Lord were replaced by false priest hand picked by Jeroboam.
*
Watch when you start alienating the wrong pp
B) People are
still doing this today: Have it your way religion:
1) Heep of
teachers who are going to tell them what they want to hear
2) Seeker
Friendly { Distort message
3) Seeker
Sensitive – Bible light – but OK
C) Abijah’s
confidence: V.10-12 God is with us – His priest are with us
D) That was
true because of the Covenant God made with David – Abijah was related to David
E) Question
for Abijah was not is God with us – But for him personally Abijah are you with
God.
Notice the end of v.12 – Don’t not fight against the Lord
because you will not prosper
A) This is a
message that we need to boldly share with pp who are ruining their lives
pursuing sin – not prosper
B) Need to
share with every backslidden friend –
1) Why are you
running from God – why are you fighting against God –
C) It doesn’t
work – You will not prosper!
D) God draws the
1) Wrote in
his word about the battle lines
2) Gives us
the HS to convict us when we are getting close to crossing one of those lines
E) It is
futile – It will not prosper {Hard to kick ..goads
Promise to us
who share:
Brethren, if anyone among you wanders
from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a
sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a
multitude of sins.
So Abijah
brought his speech to a dramatic finish by challenging the king and people of
the northern tribes to recognize that they were really fighting
against the Lord God of their
fathers.
Jeroboam’s
response: Rd V.13-14
Now this is the worst possible Scenario for
A) Not wrong
to be afraid – Wait you say: “ Not given a spirit of fear……”
B) True but
fear is a normal emotion – it is not wrong to be afraid – living in fear is
what is wrong
C)
Misconceptions: Fear is a sin – No fear is a
normal emotion
D) Grief is a sin – No grief is normal –
“In
this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been
grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith,
being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire,
may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
Grief is
normal – but don’t stay there – see the bigger
picture – God is working thru the trial – to create a genuine faith in us –
like gold purified in the fire.
Abijah and the soldiers of
A) Note: When
the enemy is in front of you – Enemy is behind you – there is still one place
you can look.
B) Look up
because the enemy is not over you!
35
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or
persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ……..
37
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
38
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,
neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor
depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the
love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. NIV
I have found that
in my life, and in the lives of so
many others, that
the enemy usually follows this
same tactic.....
the IN FRONT and BEHIND attack
A) He comes and condemns you for your PAST.... the
mistakes you made yesterday or last week or last year.
Rev. 12:10 calls Satan the accuser
of the brethren who accuses us day and night
B) He attacks you from in front by getting you to
worry by being anxious about tomorrow.
1) “What if
the check doesn’t come?”
2) What if I get sick
Anxiety does not
empty tomorrow of its sorrows but only empties today of its strength.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)
C) When he
does that the best defense is to look back at the faithfulness of God and look forward
to the promises of God
D) We can
NOT afford to look back at failures. But we MUST look back at the faithfulness
of God.
I can honestly
say that when I took those actions: In those moments I have felt closer to God
than at any other time in my life
A) The secret is to NOT live in the past and NOT
worry about tomorrow, but instead
rejoice in where you are right now.
B) You are a child of God. He
HAS and He WILL take care of you.
1) Remember - Don’t look
back.... Don’t look ahead, instead look up!!
- Keep your eyes on Jesus.
So they cried
out to the Lord and the priest sounded their trumpets{ Outward expression of
faith
RD V.15-19
Notice: When they cried out – then it happened
A) They Cried
out and God responded!
B) This is a
theme of 2 Chronicles – The writer especially in this final section is going to
point out over and over – God’s pp faced with insurmountable odds – Cry out to Him – HE RESPONDS
C) The remnant
he was writing to were faced with insurmountable odds - Overwhelming
1) Rebuild
city and temple
D) He wants
their hearts to be filled with Faith that when they cry out then it will happen
1) So simple –
and yet so easy to forget!
Now here is the thing:
A) Left with
300,000 but that was a major blow –
B) Humbling
blow – now he was the minority
C) But this is
what we need to understand – is the “then it happened” – doesn’t always
translate – deliverance
D) Then it
happened for you- might mean: Strength to endure the trial
1) Might mean
grace and help to get you thru the next challenge
E) It might
mean: Understanding as to why you are going thru
this thing
1) Might mean
greater insight into God that you didn’t possess
It was said of CHS – Read 2-3 books a day: A man of major
intellect –
A) He learned
more in one hour about God when on his back – afflicted than in all his yrs of
studying
B) Listen
there is a “THEN IT HAPPENED” for you
1) Only option
– only response – Cry out to God
C) Something
is going to happen!
RD v.20-21
The last thing I want to point out is that Jeroboam’s
kingdom would never be the same after this.
A) All of this
could have been avoided had he heeded the words of Abijah been heeded
B) Jeroboam
repented – Abijah’s speech was an opportunity for Jeroboam to repent to turn
C) Maybe this
story is that for you tonight - Been
against the Lord – Folly – not profiting
1) Tonight say
– Lord forgive me – I’m an idiot
The 2nd
thing that I want us to note is that the Chapter ends on a positive note about
Abijah
A) Purpose is
to affirm the faith of the Remnant
B) But
reminded - NT – other side of
1)
2) Abe
patiently endures