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2 Chronicles 19:4-7 When God gives opportunity to repent Take it - Day 351

Good morning brothers and sisters,

We have an interesting study in how kings respond to correction.  I think we can all learn from them.

Blessings,

Jeff

Some kings go astray and then double down when their sins are unmasked.  But other kings are like Jehoshaphat. His cooperation with Ahab was almost fatal.  When he returns home, Jehu, the seer, confronts him.  In response, Jehoshaphat takes action to "bring the people back to the Lord".   He recognizes that his unfaithfulness has been a bad example to Judah.  He is responsible for the people being unfaithful. So he sends out judges throughout Judah to correct their behavior.

Of course the better course would have been not to get involved with Ahab.  But God is gracious and provides opportunity to repent.  Perhaps he learned from his father Asa who did not repent.  In both cases God graciously provided a messenger to challenge the king.  We should be thankful that God is not a "one strike and your out" God.  He is abundant in steadfast love and mercy.

The instruction to the judges is full of insight.  Reminds me of the story that a 100 year old German man is going to be tried on war crimes for his role in Nazi death camps.  There was a concern that "time is running out for justice to be done".  Al Mohler's comment was that this may be true of human justice, but not God's justice.  The instruction to these judges reminds them of their true accountability.  Their authority comes from God, not from the judicial system.  We often see the statues of Justice wearing a blindfold.  In reality, humans cannot judge perfectly because we are finite.  We should strive for a just system which can identify and fix improper convictions.  I guess the biggest surprise to me is that justice is what brings people back to the Lord.  Well at least according to this passage.  Being confident that the guilty are punished and the innocent are set free does make a society stable.

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