April 14, 2010 in blog |
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Jehoiakim was King of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian King, marched on Jerusalem and laid siege to the capital of the Southern Kingdom. Jehoiakim died during the siege and Jehoiachin replaced him as king for a brief 3 months before the city is taken over by Babylon. Jehoiachin was exiled along with most of the aristocracy of Judah.
Nebuchadnezzar placed Mattaniah as King of Judah and in the process he changed Mattaniah’s name to Zedekiah.
Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, was a leader who wasn’t given much to work with. He was stripped of his name, of the elite of his country including the craftsman, the social, political, and military leaders….. the country’s morale was low… and on top of all that, a prophet named Jeremiah traveled his kingdom pronouncing that all of this was the result of God’s judgment…… and that they should prepare for Judah to be in exile for 70 years and gladly accept the Babylonian rule over them…..
Zedekiah was a puppet king….. many of the Israelites who remained in the country still looked to the exiled King Jehoiachin as the rightful king…… many who remained in the country had an agenda to try to gain independence for their own personal gain…. He was surrounded by political and spiritual advisors who were self-serving and not very savvy….. he was set up for a recipe of disaster as a leader….. Even with all of these factors considered, he had an opportunity to show true courage and leadership and rise to the occasion…..
Unfortunately he’s an example of a leader who turned a bad situation into something much worse.
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March 21, 2010 in blog |
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We all have seasons in our life where we feel like we’re on top of the world. The struggles of life are there… the bills, the job, the tough relationships….but life seems to be on the optimistic side. Mountain top experiences are often extremely spiritual experiences where God really reveals who He is to us in clearer ways than we have seen before.
When I think of mountain top experiences in the Bible, I’m reminded of Moses’ experience on the mountain alone and Jesus experience on the mountain when he was with Peter, James and John.
In Exodus 32, Moses had led the people into the wilderness and God tells Moses to leave the people and go on the mountain to meet with Him. God spoke deep truths to Moses and even provided the original tablets for the 10 commandments while he was there. Yet, while he was on the mountain, his brother and the mass of people drifted spiritually and created and worshipped a golden calf.
Moses stepped down from the mountain into chaos. It’s often that way in our lives. We go from a high point to a period of chaos and it can leave you wondering what happened to the mountain top experience.
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February 12, 2010 in blog |
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Valentine’s Day…. a day that strikes fear in the heart of men everywhere as they try to not be “the guy” who forgets or who buys “that gift”.
The Japanese have a tradition on February 14 that is much different than our American tradition. On Valentines in Japan, the women buy the men chocolate and the men don’t have to buy anything.
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January 21, 2010 in blog |
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Abraham was dead, Sarah had passed away years before… and Isaac was the new patriarch. It’s interesting in reading the story of Abraham and Isaac that just following the burial account of Abraham, we see into the life of Isaac and what he does next. Look at the verses in Genesis 26:18-25.
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18 Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them.
19 Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there.20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they disputed with him.
21 Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah.22 He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, “Now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the land.”
23 From there he went up to Beersheba.24 That night the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”
25 Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord.
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January 6, 2010 in blog |
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Job 12:5 Those who are comfortable don’t care that others have trouble;
they think it right that those people should have troubles.
It struck me this morning just how much like Job’s friends I have been over the years… There’s a deep seeded belief system in so many of us that wants to explain suffering and pain in the most simple and complete way and often in the process, we blatantly yet unconsciously exhibit the very same condescending feelings to suffering people around us just as Job’s “friends” did.
The reality is that if we live long enough… pain and suffering will be part of our life journey… Is pain or suffering often a result of sinful choices? Sometimes… but to categorically place suffering in this limited perspective leaves us with a simple answer… but not an answer that can be applied in all situations. Bad things happen to good people… people who haven’t blatantly sinned or rejected God… people like you and me…
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