Kingdom Divided Lesson 11 – Amos 3:7; 2 Chronicles 36:15; Romans 15:4

 

There are 12 minor prophets in the Bible:  Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.  This week we are focusing on Amos.

Prophets were people called by God and were filled with God’s Spirit.  These prophets revealed God’s plan for mankind.  “Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.” – Amos 3:7.  God gave them authority to speak for Him.  These prophets were not professionals, but ordinary people.  They spoke God’s Word to people who had turned away from God.  In a sense a prophet is a preacher.  In Israel’s history the priests often became corrupt and turned away from God.  Prophets arose to teach God’s law to people and kings who worshipped many gods.  God calls these false gods, idols. 

The prophet Amos didn’t come from a family of prophets and didn’t consider himself one.  He was a shepherd and farmer the southern kingdom of Judah.  He was an ordinary person just like you.  In Amos 7:14-1 God called him into service.  God used ordinary people such as shepherds, carpenters, and fisherman throughout the Bible.  Whatever you are in this life, God can use you.

Amos prophesied judgment on the southern kingdom of Judah, the northern kingdom of Israel and the surrounding nations.  He specifically condemned Israel for rejecting God and refusing to repent.  They worshiped false gods, they refused to live by God’s standards, and they abused their wealth and power.  He prophesied about imminent judgment and the day of the Lord (the final judgment at the second coming of Jesus).  He ended his prophecies with the restoration of Israel and people from all nations.  His message was:  “Seek the Lord and live.” – Amos 5:6.  He declared, “Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts.  Perhaps the Lord God almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.” – Amos 5:15.

God actively reveals Himself to us.

In the past God spoke through the prophets and in various ways.  God also speaks to us today.  All we have to do is to look around at His creation.  The heavens declare His glory (Psalm 19:1-6).  He speaks to us through His Word (Psalm 119:105).  He speaks to us through His Son, Jesus (John 14:27, 17:17).  He spoke to us through His servants the prophets (Amos 3:7; 2 Peter 1:20-21).  He spoke to us through the prophets and also through Jesus (Hebrews 1:1-2; Isaiah 30:21).  Since the creation of the world He has made it plain to us through His invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature so men are without excuse (Romans 1:18-20).

When Israel rejected God, He sent prophets calling them to return to a life He had chosen for them. The prophets often spoke difficult messages in troubling times.  Kings of that time were supposed to guide their nations to live in obedience to God.  Many of them did not.  So God sent prophets.  “The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place.” – 2 Chronicles 36:15.

Some prophets spoke to the kingdom of Judah, some to the kingdom of Israel, and some to foreign nations.  They spoke about current events as well as prophesied about future events.  The entire Bible points to Jesus.  It tells us all He is, all he has done, and all He will do.

God called His prophets in different ways.

Isaiah was called by giving him a vision.  Isaiah found himself in the awesome presence of a holy God and became aware of his own imperfections.  Then a seraph touched his lips with a live coal and took away his guilt.  After being purified a voice said, “Who shall I send and who will go for Us?”  Isaiah said, “Here am I.  Send me!” His answer was immediate and without hesitation.  He realized that God’s judgment would fall upon His people and he wanted to warn them before it was too late.  God gave him a message of warning and also a message of hope. (Isaiah 6:1-8). 

Jeremiah was called by God speaking to him.  He told Jeremiah that He was the Lord of life.  God formed him in the womb.  Jeremiah had biological parents, but God fashioned him and knit him together in his mother’s womb.  “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” – Jeremiah 1:5.  God uses the natural processes He designed to plant human life in the womb.  A fetus is a person and a person is a human being, created in the image of God.  Our birth is not our beginning.  Conception is not our beginning.  We began before the foundation of the world.  “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” – Ephesians 1:4.                                            

Through these OT prophets we learn the truth about God, we learn the truth about people, and we learn principles to live by today.  Nothing has changed.  People are still rebellious and sinful.  They ignore God, think they know more than God, think they don’t need God, think they have more time to live for God, or think there is no God. 

We learn a lot about God, too.  He is holy and has standards that we are to live by.  When we don’t live by His standards, we will be judged and punished.  But there is hope.  He is merciful and has love for all people.  He cares for us and gives us chance after chance to turn away from sin and turn to Him.  He is sovereign and has divine power over our enemies.  God continues to reach out to us with His love and grace.

God put you where you are so you can speak for Him in your own specific way.  Whether you go out into the work place each day or not, you influence the people around you.  They see your actions and hear your words.  You are a witness for God whether you know it or not.

God made promises to His people and called them to live holy lives just as He calls us to live holy.  In Jeremiah 30:22, “So you will be my people and I will be your God.”

God's involvement throughout history.

It is important to study God’s involvement in Old Testament history.  First the Old Testament is part of God’s Word.  It is the foundation for the New Testament.  To understand the NT we need to know the OT prophecies and Israel’s history.  We learn from the lives of the people in the OT.  God was involved in their lives and He is involved in our lives.  He actively revealed Himself throughout history and does so today.  The OT shows us just who God is and what He expects from us.  It shows us He means business!  He is our Creator and we are to worship Him and only Him.

We should wholeheartedly give our devotion to God, because He will teach us His ways and give us a new spirit.  “Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” – Psalm 86:11.  “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.  Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” – Ezekiel 11:19-20.

What is keeping you from wholehearted devotion to God?

Romans 15:4 is encouraging because the Bible both Old and New Testament was written to teach us that there is hope.  “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

Principles: 

God actively reveals Himself to us.

The entire Bible points to Jesus – all He is, all He has done, and all He will do.

Every part of God’s word has value for our lives.

God has positioned and prepared you to speak for Him.

God condemns evil and judges sin, but He also provides a way of salvation.

This week’s attribute of God is He is Merciful.  When Israel rejected God, He sent prophets to remind them that God calls people to worship and obey Him alone.  Because He is merciful, He even sent prophets to the enemies to warn them.  This message is for us today – repent and turn to God.  “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” – Acts 3:19

Key verses:

“Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.” – Amos 3:7

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” - Romans 15:4

“The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again,, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place.” – 2 Chronicles 36:15.

Next time we will continue our study of Kingdom Divided in the book of Jonah.  Until then I encourage you to trust in Jesus.

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Kingdom Divided Lesson 10 – 2 Kings 6:8 – 14:1-29; 2 Chronicles 21-25

 

Note:  For clarity the Kings of Israel are coded in Orange and Kings of Judah are coded in Blue.

2 Kings 6:8-23 – Blinded

The king of Aram was at war with Israel.  Elisha didn’t support the corrupt kings of Israel, but he knew that it was worse for Israel to be conquered by Aram.  So he gave the king of Israel information of Aram’s plans.  The king of Aram was mystified as to how the king of Israel knew all his plans beforehand.  He thought there was a traitor among his officers until his servant revealed that Elisha knew and had revealed these things.  So he sent soldiers to capture Elisha.

Elisha’s servant saw that Aramean forces were surrounding them and became afraid.  Elisha told him, “Don’t be afraid... those who are with us are more than those who are with them”. – 2 Kings 6:16.  Elisha prayed that God would open his servant’s eyes to see the angel army that protected them.  God answered his prayer and his servant saw the spiritual army of horses and fiery chariots that filled the hills.  Then Elisha prayed that the eyes of the Aramean forces be blinded.  God used Elisha to protect Israel and reveal his unseen power by answering his prayer and blinding the soldiers – not with total blindness or they wouldn’t be able to follow him.  The soldiers were led into the capital city of Samaria to stand before the king of Israel.  The king wanted to kill them, but Elisha advised him to feed them and send them home.  The king did as Elisha advised.  The raiding of Israel’s territory stopped.

When a person is blind to spiritual truth, only God can open his eyes.  God may do it through the words someone speaks, but the work done belongs to God alone.  We may not see God’s angel army around us, but His army is certainly there protecting all believers from the fiery darts of the enemy.  There is NOTHING to fear when you are on the side of God’s Angel Armies! 

You may not be under attack from a foreign king, but you may be fighting depression, temptation, a difficult relationship, or struggles at school, work or home.  But there is nothing to fear when you are on the side of God and His Angel Armies.  Your sight may be limited, but pray that your eyes will be opened and your ears unstopped so you can see and hear God at work.  You might see His army of angels or maybe He will show you a wise Biblical counselor, neighbor, or friend to help you through a crisis.  May our eyes be opened to see all the ways God guides and provides!

Principle:  There is nothing to fear when you are on the side of God and His angel Armies.

2 Kings 6:24 – 7:20 – Siege and Famine

Elisha had changed the heart of the raiders, but not the heart of their king.  Sometime later Aram’s king, Ben-Hadad marched on the city of Samaria.  There was a famine in the land and the people were starving.  It led to cannibalism.  It was so terrible the mothers were so hungry that they ate their own children.  Because of the state of his nation, the king turned his anger on God’s prophet Elisha.

Elisha predicted that in 24 hours the famine would be lifted.  There would be abundance of food for all.  One of the king’s officers doubted God’s messenger and God.  He had no idea that God would bring provision especially so quickly.  Through Elisha, God pronounced a harsh judgment on the officer.  He would see this miracle happen, but he would not benefit from it.  He doubted the power and creativity of God and the messenger of God.

Principle:  Unbelief is highly offensive to God.

There were four men with leprosy who reasoned they were going to die no matter what they did so they decided to see if the Aramean soldiers had food for them.  They found that the camp had been abandoned and to their amazement they found it fully stocked with provisions.  God had caused the army to flee from the camp because of noise they heard thinking it was an invading army.   The men ate to their satisfaction and plundered the camp of food and valuables. 

They enjoyed the miracle God provided.  Then they realized what they were doing was not right.  They had a responsibility to tell others the good news.  They returned to the city to report the finding to the king.  Since they were not allowed beyond the city gates, they told the gate keepers who shouted out the message.  When the people heard the good news, they rushed to the camp and in their rush they trampled the doubting officer and he died.  This was just as Elisha had prophesied – he would not benefit from the miracle.

Are you keeping the “good news” to yourself?  Salvation of God is free.  Like the lepers, we were hopeless and starving.  Through Jesus we found food for our souls and treasures beyond compare.  Don’t keep it for yourself.  Go out and share the good news of Jesus Christ with others.

Principle:  The good news of salvation of God is free.

2 Kings 8 – More Drama

This Scripture begins with a little confusion and seems to be out of chronological order.  We learned in 2 Kings 4 about the Shunammite woman whose son Elisha raised from the dead and Elisha’s servant Gehazi who previously lied and was stricken with leprosy.  But here goes.

Elisha announced another famine that would last for seven years.  He warned the Shunammite woman to get out of Israel because of the famine to come.  The woman did as she was told and went to dwell in the land of the Philistines.  When she returned someone had taken over her house and land.  She complained to the king of Israel.  The king sought more information from the Elisha’s servant Gehazi.  The king restored her land and all she owned.

Elisha was sent to Syria to pay a visit to king Ben-Hadad who was ill.  He informed the king’s aid, Hazael that the king would recover from his illness but would later die.  Elisha cried because Hazael would become king of Syria and do vicious and terrible things towards Israel.  Hazael couldn’t believe he would do such things.  Hazael took the message to the king and told him he would recover.  The next day Hazael killed king Ben-Hadad and took his throne.  God knew that Hazael would kill the king, but God didn’t make him do it.

This chapter continues with Israel and Judah and all their drama.  We should not forget they did evil in the eyes of the Lord.

2 Kings 9-10 – King Jehu

Elisha sent one of his prophets to anoint Israel’s next king, Jehu.  Jehu was a commander in Israel’s army.  God intended to use him as a tool for judgment against the house of Ahab.  God told him to destroy the house of Ahab bringing judgment for the blood of the Lord’s servants shed by Jezebel.  So Jehu went on a killing spree and killed king Joram of Israel, Ahab, Jezebel, and all Ahab’s family.  He also killed king Ahaziah of Judah - not because God had directly commanded it, but because of his association with the wicked kings of Israel.  He was also the grandson of Ahab making him liable under the judgment against the house of Ahab. 

Jehu went even further and tricked the Baal worshippers.  He announced a big feast to Baal and invited all Baals’ priest and supporters and if they didn’t attend, they would be killed.  No one who worshipped the Lord was allowed.  He placed eighty men outside to guard against anyone who would try to escape.  Then Jehu unleashed his guards to begin killing all the worshippers. 

They killed everyone and threw their bodies outside.  They carried off the statue of Baal and burned it.  But he didn’t get rid of all pagan worship.  He failed to remove the golden calves from Bethel and Dan.  The Lord had told Jehu that he did what was right and in His eyes so his descendant would sit on the throne of Israel for four generations.  Yet Jehu didn’t continue to keep the law of the Lord with all his heart.  Jehu reigned for 28 years and then died.  His son Jehoahaz succeeded him as king.  God began to reduce the size of Israel.

Jehu served as God’s instrument of judgment.  He carried out God’s will, but he went too far and executed more people than God intended.

All people are accountable to God.  “I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel”. – Hosea 1:4. 

Principle:  All people are accountable to God.

2 Kings 11 – Athaliah

This chapter begins with devious woman Athaliah. When she learned her son Ahaziah was killed she didn’t mourn, but decided to murder the royal family and take the throne for herself.  She was even going to kill her grandson who was a baby.  Her niece took the grandson Joash and hid him for six years.  During this time Athaliah took over the land of Judah. 

The priest Jehoiada organized a coup.  He showed the leaders of the country the surviving Son.  They announced him as the new king.  The priest commanded Athaliah to be killed.  She tried to escape, but was caught and killed.  She really wasn’t an official ruler because she wasn’t authorized by the Lord, but she reigned as dictator for six years.

Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people for them to be the Lord’s people.  They broke down the house of Baal, killed the priest of Baal, and appointed officers over the house of the Lord.  The people rejoiced.  Joash became king at seven years old.

2 Kings 12 – King Joash

Joash’s rule was blessed for forty years and did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.  He wanted to repair the Temple of the Lord.  In his 23^rd year the repairs still were not done, because the priests weren’t paying the workers.  So he stopped paying the priests and put honest men in charge of paying the workers.  The temple repairs were finally done.

Hazael decided to go to war with Gath and intended to go to war with Jerusalem.  Joash paid Hazael off by giving him the treasures of the temple.  Hazael withdrew.  Some men in Joash’s cabinet decided to conspire against him and had him killed.  His son, Amaziah became king of Judah. 

2 Kings 13 – Elisha Died

King Jehoahaz of Israel ruled for seventeen years  He wasn’t righteous before the Lord.  He followed in the footsteps of Jeroboam.  Because of  his evil nature, the Lord made him and Israel subject to King Hazael of Aram and Ben-Hadad his son.  Jehoahaz prayed to God for relief and God listened.  His son King Jehoash took over as king after his death and reigned sixteen years.

Elisha fell sick and eventually died.  Jehoash went to see him.  Elisha told him he would defeat Syria.  Elisha died and was buried.  During an attack on Samaria, a Moabite man was killed and buried in the grave of Elisha.  When the man’s corpse touched Elisha’s body, the man came back to life. 

The Lord was compassionate with Israel because of the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Jehoash defeated Ben-Hadad three times and recovered the cities Syria had taken from Israel.

2 Kings 14 – King Amaziah

Amaziah king of Judah took over the throne after his father, Joash and ruled for twenty-nine years and did right in the eyes of the Lord.  He went to war against Edom and destroyed them.  He went to war with Jehoash and Judah was put to shame and fled for their lives.  He was captured and forced to give up a lot of resources to the king of Israel.

Jehoash king of Israel died and Jeroboam II took over the throne.  Amaziah lived another fifteen years, but a conspiracy was staged against him and he was murdered.  Amaziah’s son, Azariah was made king of Judah. 

The king of Israel, Jeroboam II ruled for 41 evil years.  He did all the things the Jeroboam I did, but he did do some good things.  He restored the coast of Israel.  The Lord helped him to protect the people and not blot out the name of Israel.  Jeroboam II died and his son Zachariah took over.

This week’s study has been hard and confusing by trying make sense and keeping straight all these kings.  But remember the history of Judah and Israel shows us God is faithful despite ongoing rebellion.  The only sure thing is Israel’s story and our story is God Himself.  He has a plan and nothing or no one can stop Him.  He continued to protect the royal lineage of the promised Messiah through the kingdom of Judah.

Principle:  God preserves His purposes, His promises, and His people by His power. 

This week’s attribute of God is He is Preserver.  He preserves our lives for His purpose and for our salvation.  His plans cannot be stopped – not by enemies, worry, doubt, or fear.  God preserved the line of Abraham, David, and the Israelite people to accomplish His plan to send His Son to be our Savior.  “But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.” – Psalm 33:11

Key Verses:

“Don’t be afraid... those who are with us are more than those who are with them”. – 2 Kings 6:16.

“But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.” – Psalm 33:11

Next time we will continue our study of Kingdom Divided in the book of Amos.  Hope to see you here. – I encourage you to trust in Jesus.

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