THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

The Books Of The Chronicles: God's Preservation Of His Davidic And Levitical Covenants

XLIX. Heeding God's Clear, Upright Precedents

(2 Chronicles 36:1-3; 2 Kings 23:31-33)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

A great need exists today for people to heed clear, upright precedents:

(1) It exists in our government: (a) George Will's column, "Constitutional etiquette breached" (Republican-American, September 23, 2020, p. 10A) fretted that if "Biden wins" the election "and Democrats have a net gain of at least three Senate seats," and "enabled by their quick abolition of the filibuster, enlarge the Supreme Court by at least four members," it would "be a grievous injury to the court," for "(p)ublic confidence in the court's disinterestedness is the source of its power to defend the Constitution from willful and imprudent majorities . . ." The Court would then look like "just another scuffed and soiled plaything in the nation's increasingly tawdry political game," Ibid.

(b) However, the Supreme Court already "scuffed and soiled" itself with Roe vs. Wade. "Justice Harry Blackman, author of the . . . document that came from the Roe vs. Wade decision, said that objection to abortion came mainly from two sources: the oath of Hippocrates and Christianity." (The Rebirth of America, The Arthur DeMoss Foundation, 1986, p. 86) Hippocrates "was the outstanding physician of ancient Greece" whose oath included the statement, "' . . . Nor will I give a woman a pessary to procure abortion . . .'" (Compton's Ency., 1973, vol. 13, p. 215, 215a; Ibid., vol. 10, Fact Index, s. v. "Hippocrates") However, the Hippocratic Oath was rejected and "Christianity . . . was apparently dismissed by the court because of the separation of church and state." The court then ruled that "in the context of general opinion, 'ancient religions did not bar abortion,'" so neither would the court. (Ibid. The Rebirth of America) The Supreme Court then set aside the precedents of Western Civilization to rely on ancient paganism.

(c) Nevertheless, such willfully wrong bias has infected our courts for decades: "Robert Bork asked 50 years ago whether Americans understood enough of what was happening to the courts to be able to say they had consented to it. The left's use of [activist judges in] the judiciary as a parallel legislature has rarely been put clearly before Americans . . ." (Daniel Henninger, "Biden Can't Duck Trump's Court," The Wall Street Journal, September 24, 2020 as cited in "Quotable," Ibid., Republican-American, September 25, 2020, p. 10A)

(2) People also overlook clear, upright precedents on the institution of marriage, what we have historically held to be the union of a man and a woman in their traditional roles "'til death do us part:" (a) A recent "Dear Annie" column (Ibid., September 25, 2020, p. 4B) posted a letter illustrating this fact, It stated: "I am dating this guy who's married but separated. We've been doing this almost three years. I am just not feeling the love from him."

(b) Another letter in the September 26, 2020 "Dear Annie" column (Ibid., p. 8B) asked: "I have a dear male friend . . . He suffered a lot of abuse at the hands of his mother when he was a child . . . (H)e is in a loveless marriage. I could even see a possible relationship with him . . . Should I help . . .?"

(c) This issue affects many evangelicals, too: we often hear of marital problems, infidelity, feminism, divorce and remarriage following divorce in believers even though secular columnist Tony Snow as far back as 1997 wrote: " . . . (Y)ou can add years to your life by marrying, staying married and getting right with God." ("Prayer, monogamy part of recipe for health life," Sunday Republican, April 6, 1997, p. 3A)

Need: So, we ask, "With the great need for people in society to heed clear, upright precedents, what can we do?!"

I. Jehoahaz ignored multiple, clear, upright precedents from his immediate predecessor to turn to idols:

A. Jehoahaz was provided multiple, clear, upright precedents from his immediate predecessor, godly Josiah:

1. His immediate predecessor and father Josiah had repented upon first hearing from Scripture of Judah's sins, so God promised to postpone His punishment of Judah until after Josiah's time, 2 Chronicles 34:1-28.

2. Josiah had then led Judah's people to turn from pagan idols to serve the Lord, 2 Chronicles 34:29-35:19.

3. The people of Judah so appreciated God's resulting blessing on them under Josiah's oversight that at his untimely death in battle against Pharaoh, they grieved extensively over losing Josiah, 2 Chron. 34:24c-25.

B. In spite of these great precedents from his immediate predecessor, Jehoahaz turned to idols, 2 Kings 23:31-32.

II. God thus severely punish Jehoahaz for ignoring these precedents, 2 Chronicles 36:2-3; 2 Kings 23:32-33:

A. In accord with God's promise in the Davidic Covenant to punish sinful kings with the rod of men, God let Pharaoh take Jehoahaz captive to Egypt and impose tribute on Judah, 2 Chronicles 36:2-3; 2 Kings 23:32-33.

B. Jehoahaz reigned only 3 months (2 Chronicles 36:2) and he died in Egyptian captivity, never to see his homeland of Judah again. (Jeremiah 22:10-12; Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to Jeremiah 22:10)

C. The Lord's punishment on Jehoahaz was swift and strong, for as Luke 12:48 teaches, God held him highly accountable for the wealth of precedents he received from his immediate predecessor, his godly father Josiah.

Lesson: God greatly punished Jehoahaz for ignoring a wealth of precedents from his immediate predecessor.

Application: (1) May we trust in Christ Who died as our Atoning Sacrifice for sin that we might receive God's gift of eternal life, John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. (2) If we are granted a wealth of precedents from our immediate predecessor, may we follow them, for God will hold us highly accountable to heed them!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . . )

We heed the multiple, clear, upright precedents God gives us in Scripture on the issues in our introduction:

(1) As for the issue of abortion on demand, Psalm 51:5 KJV, ESV presents David as admitting that "in sin did my mother conceive me." The context does not deal with his mother's sin, but with David's own sin of adultery with Bathsheba (see the introductory notes to Psalm 51). If David was a sinner at conception, he had to exist as a person then to bear guilt for sin. Thus, abortion at any trimester kills a human being, and abortion on demand is murder.

(2) If the Supreme Court gets "packed" with extra justices of a certain political bias, resulting in law and order breaking down all the more, we can apply these proverbs: (a) Proverbs 28:2 ESV states: "When a land transgresses, it has many rulers, but with a man of understanding and knowledge, its stability will long endure." (i) The trouble mentioned in this verse is an increase in lawless rebellion in society that produces many rulers competing with one another for power, what could occur if the Supreme Court were ever "packed." (ii) However, significant for us at the grassroots level of society, the Hebrew word rendered "man" here is 'adam, a common man and not a nobleman or an official. (Kittel, Biblia Hebraica, p. 1189; B. D. B., A Heb. and Eng. Lex. of the O. T., p. 9) (iii) Thus, a common man at the grassroots level of society with understanding and knowledge "prolongs" ('arak, Ibid., p. 73) "right" (ken, Ibid., p. 467) ["order and justice," Ibid.]. (iv) Proverbs 2:6-12 then describes how such a common man acquires understanding and knowledge that protects him from calamities -- through God's giving him these insights along with wisdom in reward for being upright and walking in integrity. (v) Thus, if a believer fellowships with God, relying on the Holy Spirit to heed Scripture, God will give him the wisdom, understanding and knowledge needed to function at his grassroots level in ways that preserve long-term his nation's stability amid even social and political upheaval!

(b) Proverbs 28:4 ESV states: "Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law strive against them." (i) The Hebrew verb rendered "strive" here is garah in the intensive reflexive Hithpael stem, meaning "to engage in strife against another," Ibid., p. 173. (ii) Thus, those who simply obey God's Word and the laws of the land (cf. 1 Peter 2:13a) by these actions powerfully combat lawlessness in society.

(3) In view of the riots in our era, what could increase after the upcoming election, (a) Proverbs 29:8-11 ESV guides us as individual citizens, stating: "Scoffers set a city aflame, but the wise turn away wrath. If a wise man has an argument with a fool, the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet. Bloodthirsty men hate one who is blameless and seek the life of the upright. A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back."

Social unrest is fueled by scoffers who rage and laugh if confronted by other individual citizens about their wrongs, what only fuels more unrest and hatred against the upright. Wise individual citizens must then not vent their wrath on scoffers lest they inflame the scoffers even more. Rather, wise citizens must not lose their tempers, but calm the rebels. Lawless people are like wild animals, so wise citizens must deal prudently with them. (b) However, as for the government, Romans 13:1-4 calls the government to use lethal force as needed to uphold law and order in society.

(4) On the issue of marriage and the proper roles of men and women in marriage, we view Genesis 2:20-24: (a) God brought Eve to Adam after creating her from his rib that Adam might name her like he had named the animals in sovereignty over them, so God wanted the male husband to be sovereign in marriage over his female wife, Genesis 2:20-23; 1 Timothy 2:13. (b) In Genesis 2:24, the word for "man" is 'ish, a nobleman (Ibid., Kittel, p. 1-4; Robert B. Girdlestone, Synonyms of the O. T., 1973, p. 48-49), so a man must be a mature, accomplished man, financially able to support a wife to qualify to marry. (c) He must then "leave" his father and his mother before marriage, Genesis 2:24b. (d) He must then "cleave" to his wife, taking the lead in courting her, in winning her hand in marriage and in their functioning in marriage, Genesis 2:24c. (e) In so doing, the couple becomes "one flesh," a term Jesus said meant that the couple was not to be divorced, Genesis 2:24d; Matthew 19:4-6. If this model for marriage is followed by a marital couple's relying on the Holy Spirit for their behavioral control (Galatians 5:16, 22-23), God will bless their marriage and they will avoid the marital problems that plague many in society and often many evangelical believers!

May we trust in Christ Who died as our Atoning Sacrifice for sin that we might receive God's gift of eternal life. May we then follow God's multiple, clear, upright precedents for blessing.