Skip to main content

1 Kings 20:38 - Who was that masked man? - Day 290

Good morning brothers and sisters,

Today's passage is another example in how God uses prophets for the correction of kings.  In ancient Israel, the highest political authority is subject to correction by an unnamed prophet.  The point is that the king is not "personally autonomous".  He is subject to the Lord in all things.  The king's authority is derived.  In our day "personal autonomy" has trickled all the way down to individual citizens.  However, it wasn't true of kings and it not true of us.

Blessings,

Jeff

God uses an unnamed prophet to pronounce judgment on Ahab for letting Ben-hadad, the king of Syria, go free after routing the Syrian army.

I think this is an example of what Jesus later taught in the Sermon on the Mount. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. Matthew 7:3-5

Ahab condemns the prophet based on the story he tells of allowing a prisoner to escape.  Ahab even uses the "you yourself have decided it" logic.  Ahab  condemns the prophet without thinking about what he himself had just done.  After the army kills 100,000 Syrians and a wall collapses and kills another 27,000, why would Ahab think releasing their king is a good idea.  Ahab sees the fault in another that he does not see in himself.

Of course, Jesus teaching is a warning to believers in how they deal with others.  Ahab was not a believer and his folly in letting Ben-hadad go free is the real issue.  

I have found it to often be the case that when I get upset with other's faults, those are the things in my life that God is working on.   

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Revelation 22:3-5 Final and eternal restoration - Day 365

Dear saints in the Lord, Congratulations!  You made it.  We have been through much turmoil in the last year ('20-'21).  But God is faithful to His promises.  I trust that you have been blessed in your reading and have drawn closer to God.   Since we didn't get the blog up and running at the beginning of the challenge, I am going to go back and post entries to cover that first month or so.   Blessings, Jeff Nothing accursed in the city of God, the new Jerusalem.  The presence of sin will be gone.  I am working on memorizing Westminster Shorter Catechism and currently on question 82.  Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God? No mere man since the fall is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God but does daily break them in thought, word and deed. I think our passage today points to the truth of this question.  Do you notice how this answer is not exactly the same as the question. "Any man" bec...
Post a Comment
Read more

Malachi 2:10-12 Here we go again!! Day 363

Good afternoon friends, As we draw to the end of the Old Testament, we see that Judah has rebuilt the temple and the walls of Jerusalem, but they are following in the footsteps of faithless fathers and not in the footsteps of Abraham and ultimately God.  The exile was a low point, but now a new low is about to happen.  The prophetic voice has once again become warning and not encouraging. Faithful reading and preaching of the word is all that keeps us from losing our way.  May we be faithful in our generation. Blessings, Jeff I am sure I have mentioned this before, but it bears repeating.  The section summary, chapter and verse are not in the original language.  They are all rather modern inventions to help us.  For example, the section title here is "Judah profaned the Covenant".  That is OK as far as it goes, but which Covenant?  So let's take a look. Observations Starts with 3 questions but who is asking the questions and to whom are they addre...
Post a Comment
Read more

2 Chronicles 35:23-26 Lament for the last good king - Day 364

Good morning fellow exiles and pilgrims, One more day of devotions.  We are indeed exiles and pilgrims in this world as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.  The 20th anniversary of 9/11 attacks can serve as a reminder that this world is not our home. Blessings, Jeff The lamentations for Josiah written by Jeremiah.  However, the book of Lamentations does not include any reference to Josiah as they are focused on the fall of Jerusalem.  While these lost lamentations were "made the rule" there are only 4 more kings and none of them were good like Josiah and none died in Jerusalem.  The phrase "to this day" generally refers to the time of the author (post exile).  Taken together, it may be that these laments were for the last good king and during the exile the people were longing for the next good king. Zerubbabel in a way was the next good king as temple and Jerusalem were rebuilt. But Jesus truly was the next king and He...
Post a Comment
Read more