THRU THE BIBLE
EXPOSITION
The Books Of
Kings: The Kings Of Israel And Judah From Solomon To The Babylonian Captivity
III. The Latter
Era Of The Divided Kingdom, 2 Kings 2:1-27:41
N. Avoiding Unbiblical
Compromise For Our Children's Sake
(2 Kings 8:16-24)
Introduction: (To show the need . . . )
Our Church has long sought to heed
Scripture and avoid all unbiblical compromises with sin and error.
However, someone may ask if we hurt and
not help God's people by this practice, for many evangelicals claim that "'doctrine
separates, love unites.'" (Robert D. Culver, A Wake Up Call, 1993,
p. 73) Indeed, many of them have
compromised their once strict adherence to theological fundamentalism to enhance
their evangelistic outreach.
On the other hand, such a compromise
has led to a destructive "theological pluralism [tolerance for error] that
was precisely what many of the founders of modern evangelicalism had rejected
in mainline Protestantism." (R. A. Mohler, Jr, "'Evangelical': What's
In A Name?" in J. H. Armstrong, gen. ed., The Coming Evang. Crisis,
1996, p. 33; brackets ours) David French
in the secular realm expressed the same concern, writing: "(O)ne of the
most important stories of modern times is the precipitous decline of so-called
mainline Protestant denominations" for compromising "on core tenants
of biblical Christianity . . . by conforming to (mainly) secular progressive
norms . . . (so) I'm haunted . . . when I think of Evangelicals . . .
conforming to the wishes of their secular political and cultural allies."
("Could The Trump Compromise Cause Evangelicals To Follow The Path Of The
Mainlines?" 8/1/2018, nationalreview.com)
Need: So, we ask, "Are we or are we not being
divisive and unloving to avoid all unbiblical compromise?!"
I.
Though king Jehoram reigned as coregent with his
godly father Jehoshaphat for five years, once Jehoshaphat died, Jehoram turned
to follow pagan Baalism, 2 Kings 8:16-18a:
A.
2 Kings
8:16 reveals that Judah's king Jehoram began to reign as coregent with his
father Jehoshaphat since Jehoshaphat likely thought he would be involved in war
outside of Judah for an extended period of time, and he needed to have his son
keep order in Judah, Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 553.
B.
This coregency
lasted for five years until Jehoshaphat died, at which time Jehoram ruled for
another eight years before his own untimely death, 2 Kings 8:17; Ibid., p.
553-554.
C.
However,
the spiritual contrast between
Jehoshaphat and Jehoram ended up being great, 2 Kings 8:18a:
1.
Jehoshaphat heeded the example of his father
good king Asa in doing what was right before God, 1 Kings 22:43a. Jehoshaphat was so committed to the Lord that
God established his kingdom, causing "all the kingdoms of the lands that
were round about Judah" to fear him so that "they made no war
against" him, and they even brought Jehoshaphat many gifts, 2 Chronicles
17:1-11.
2.
Conversely,
Jehoram did not follow his godly father's example nor that of his godly grandfather
Asa, but he practiced pagan Baalism, walking in the way of Israel's wicked king
Ahab, 2 Kings 8:18a.
II.
This contrast between Jehoshaphat and Jehoram arose
from Jehoshaphat's unbiblical compromise:
A.
Jehoshaphat
had allied himself with Israel's king Ahab by arranging for his son Jehoram to
marry Ahab's daughter Athaliah, 2 Chronicles 18:1 NIV, ESV with 2 Kings 8:18b.
B.
Jehoshaphat
rationalized that this marriage was acceptable before God, for it was not entirely
unbiblical:
1.
The Mosaic
Law forbade marriages between the people of Israel and pagan Gentiles of the
land, Deut. 7:3.
2.
However,
Athaliah was the daughter of Ahab, a Hebrew, and Jezebel, daughter of king Eth-baal
of Sidon (1 Kings 16:31), so since Athaliah was partly Jewish, Jehoshaphat
did not fully violate Deuteronomy 7:3!
C.
Nevertheless,
the intent of the Deuteronomy 7:3 prohibition
against marriage to pagan Gentiles as clarified in Deuteronomy 7:4 was to avoid being corrupted by pagan beliefs
through marriage. However, Ahab had
been influenced by his Sidonian wife Jezebel to worship Baal (1 Kings
16:30-33), so their daughter Athaliah had been raised in Baalism with no
spiritual difference between her and any other full-blooded Sidonian bride!
D.
Thus,
Jehoshaphat violated Scripture's
INTENT by compromise, arranging
for his son to wed Athaliah, so as Deuteronomy 7:4 warned, Athaliah who followed
Baal influenced Jehoram to follow Baal, 2 Kings 8:18b!
III.
When Jehoram then influenced Judah to worship
Baal, the author of 2 Kings explained that God would not destroy Judah since He
had pledged to give David a perpetual posterity in Jerusalem, 2 Kings 8:19.
IV.
However, in fulfillment of the Mosaic Covenant, God
severely punished king Jehoram, 2 Kings 8:20-22:
A.
Deuteronomy
28:15, 25 predicted defeat in battle for disobedience to God's Word, so Edom
became emboldened to revolt against Jehoram's rule and thus set up their own ruler,
2 Kings 8:20.
B.
Jehoram
took his chariot army with him to Zair to try to reestablish Judah's
sovereignty over Edom, but the Edomites surrounded his army, and Jehoram had to
break through the Edomite line by a surprise attack at night just to flee back home,
2 Kings 8:21 NIV. Edom thus retained its
independence, 2 Kings 8:22a.
C.
In
addition, the city of Libnah that was next to Philistia on the southwestern
border of Judah also rebelled against Jehoram's reign, the Philistines
apparently influencing this rebellion, 2 Kings 8:22b; Ibid., p. 554.
D.
Jehoram's
brief reign of eight years (2 Kings 8:17) resulted in divine judgment: as
specified in Deuteronomy 28:22, 27, for the sins of murder and idolatry, God
struck him with an incurable disease so that after two years of suffering, Jehoram's
bowels fell out of his body and he died in great agony, 2 Chronicles 21:12-19a.
E.
No one
regretted Jehoram's passing, either: the people made no honorable bonfire for
him as they did for other kings, and they buried him in the city of David but
not in the tombs of the kings, 2 Chronicles 21:20 ESV.
Lesson: When otherwise godly Jehoshaphat violated
Scripture's intent by compromising it through giving his son in marriage to a
partly Jewish girl who nevertheless followed Baal, Jehoshaphat exposed his son
to a spouse who influenced him to follow Baal just like Deuteronomy 7:4 warned,
resulting in Jehoram's sin and punishment.
Application: (1) May we trust in Christ for
salvation, John 3:16. (2) May we not
compromise strict obedience to Scripture or its intent, for doing so is itself disobedience
that leads to God's discipline and harms our children.
Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . . )
In trying to apply
this sermon as a pastor whom God requires to be always immersed in Scripture (1
Timothy 4:13-16), I find that I lack the capacity to keep informed on all of
even the relevant compromises and errors that arise today. For example, just some of the
compromises we have noted from the pulpit in recent months are (a) Pastor Rick
Warren calling for Protestants to return to the fold of the Roman Catholic
Church though that Church holds to a false gospel (R. Hobbus, J. D.,
"Protestant Leaders Declare Reunification of Churches Under the Holy
See," July 9, 2015; realnewsrightnow.com); (b) Ken Ham of Answers in
Genesis in his new book, Gospel Reset, 2018, p. 41-42 implying the
gospel's power, which is the power of God ( Romans 1:16), cannot save unless
the lost are taught scientific facts to combat evolution; (c) conservative
Pastor John MacArthur partnering in ministry with leaders of The Gospel
Coalition that promotes Cultural Marxism that violates Exodus 20:15, 17 (Joshua
Chavez, "Pulpit & Pen Covers Up John MacArthur's Deception," 4/8/2018;
beginningofsorrows.org; Brannon Howse with guest writer Thomas Littleton,
"The Trojan Horse; More Evangelical Deep State," 3/29/2018;
thirtypiecesofsilver.org); (d) some
Evangelicals calling for "social justice," a masking term for
"the redistribution of income" in Marxism claim that white Americans
owe financial reparations to black Americans for the sin of their forefathers'
ownership of black slaves, what violates Ezekiel 18:20 (John MacArthur,
"Social Injstice and the Gospel," August 13, 2018; gty.org/blog;
Brannon Howse, Rel. Trojan Horse, 2012, p. 483-484) and (e) my alma
mater Dallas Theological Seminary's recent statement on "Unity, Diversity,
Community," terms that are themselves "masking terms" used by
promoters of unbiblical ecumenism ("unity"), LGBTQUI orientations
("diversity") and Marxism ("community").
(https://www.dts.edu/about/policies/university-diversity-and-community; Ibid.,
Howse, p. 476-485)
We thus need a
concise, timeless antidote for error and compromise that equips both pastor and
congregation to discern compromise and error as soon each one of us faces it,
and God has given it to us in 2 Timothy 3:13-4:5:
(1) Paul in 2 Timothy
4:3-4 predicted that the day would come when many would not tolerate healthy Bible
truth, but instead turn from the truth to teachers who teach what they want to
hear. This now occurs in many realms.
(2) In light of this
challenge, Paul directed Timothy always to be clear-minded, to endure suffering
for the truth and to give out the gospel, fulfilling his ministry, 2 Timothy
4:5 ESV.
(3) That ministry was
to arise out of a full confidence in written Scripture as equipping us to
counter all spiritual error and to be our sole and sufficient authority on all
matters of faith and practice, 2 Timothy 3:13-17.
(4) That ministry would
also involve believing that these confidences in written Scripture are applicable
throughout Church History and until Christ's return and the establishment of His
earthly Kingdom, 2 Timothy 4:1.
(5) So, in view of our
accountability to Christ Who will judge the living and the dead at His
appearing, every local church pastor must arm himself with these confidences about
written Scripture and so faithfully preach it throughout Church History, applying
it in his ministry with all patience and careful teaching, 2 Timothy 4:1-2.
Thus, God calls
each of us to have full confidence in written Scripture's sufficiency in all
matters of faith and practice throughout our era that we uncompromisingly heed
and proclaim it not only for our blessing from God, but also for the blessing
of our posterity.
May we trust in Christ for
salvation. May we uncompromisingly heed
written Scripture.