“The Relief Factor” – FBC Morning Light (6/14/2023)

The Consequences of Jeroboam’s False Worship

Good Wednesday morning to you. We are in the middle of yet another week, and really approaching the middle of the month of June, which is the middle of the year. Today we're reading in 2 Kings 13 and 14, Romans chapter 1, so starting a new book in the New Testament today, and then Psalm 118.

I want to focus on the opening verses of 2 Kings 13. It seems like we've been hanging out in 2 Kings this week, but that's okay. There's an awful lot that we can learn from those Old Testament narrative passages, especially in the ups and downs and mostly downs of the kings of Israel and Judah.

But in this particular case, we want to focus on this king of Israel, the northern tribes, this king by the name of Jehoahaz. He was one of the sons of Jehu. We heard about Jehu the other day, who executed all those prophets of Baal, and even though he got rid of Baal worship to a large extent in the northern tribes of Israel, the false worship of Jeroboam persisted.

Jehoahaz, Jehu's son, is now on the throne, and we read in verse 2 that he did evil in the sight of the Lord and followed the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin. He did not depart from them.

Jehoahaz and the rest of the people are, by and large...again, there's a minority, there's a remnant in Israel who's faithful to worshiping Yahweh, but by and large the nation has gone after this false worship of Jeroboam.

Jehoahaz is leading the charge. He's not departing at all from this false worship of Jeroboam. As a punishment for that false worship, we read in verse 3 that the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael, king of Syria, and into the hand of Ben-Hadad, the son of Hazael, all their days.

So these northern tribes, the tribe Israel, is being oppressed now by Syria, and that oppression and the suffering that it causes, it causes Jehoahaz to plead with the Lord for mercy. We read this in verse 4.

So Jehoahaz pleaded with the Lord, and the Lord listened to him, for he saw, the Lord saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them. Then the Lord gave Israel a deliverer, so that they escaped from under the hand of the Syrians, and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents as before.

You get what's happening here? So you've got this sinful worship of Jeroboam established, it's all widespread, the Lord sends punishment for chastening for that false worship, the Syrians come and oppress, the oppression is devastating, it's grievous, Jehoahaz cries out to the Lord for mercy, deliver us from this oppression, please get us out from under this burden, and the Lord sends a deliverer, and there's like, ah, we can breathe again, and so then what do they do?

What do you think they did? If you didn't read that passage yet, what do you think they did? You think they eradicated those golden calves in Dan and Bethel, and turned holy to worship the Lord Yahweh again?

Well, verse 6 says, nevertheless, they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who had made Israel to sin, but walked in them, and the wooden image also remained in Samaria. In other words, when the crisis was passed, they went right back to the sins that brought the crisis in the first place.

Returning to Sin After God’s Deliverance

Now, how often do you see people doing that very thing? I suppose we could get really personal about this, couldn't we? How often have you or I done this very thing? We're straying from the Lord in some way, and the Lord brings some kind of crisis into our lives.

Maybe it's a health crisis, maybe it's a job crisis, or something. It's something that is really weighing down upon us, and it is distressing, and the weight of it is grievous. We cry out to the Lord, we plead with the Lord, please take this away, please don't let this happen, please let that doctor's report come back negative, or whatever.

We plead with the Lord for mercy, and the Lord mercifully delivers. That which was oppressing us, that which was distressing us, that which was filling us with anxiety, it's removed, and it's like tremendous relief.

Then what do we do? Do we go right back to that way of life that brought about the distress in the first place? Often, that's the way things go. Let this be a warning to us, let this be a challenge to us, not to allow the gracious deliverance and relief that the Lord brings.

Let's not allow that to get us to develop a mindset that says, now I can go back to living any old way I want to live, and committing the sin that I want to commit. Let's not go there. Instead, let's be grateful to the Lord's gracious deliverance, love him all the more, and want to live for him all the more faithfully.

A Prayer for Gratitude and Faithfulness After Relief

So Father, I pray, deliver us from that mindset of Jehoahaz, and instead, O Lord, when you are so gracious to us to bring deliverance, may we love you more and live for you more faithfully, and this we pray in Jesus' name, amen.

All right, well, listen, have a good rest of your Wednesday. I trust the Lord will bless you in it. Good day.