Day 175 – 2 Chronicles 10-12

Talking Points

• Jeroboam dismisses the service of the Levitical priests, replacing them with false priests that he appoints. Even today, we can find false priests to confirm our agendas and approve our plans. We can find false priests to make us feel comfortable in our sin. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.” – 2 Timothy 4:3-4
• When his kingdom was “established and strong,” Rehoboam and all of Israel, “forsook the law of the LORD” (12:1). The Hebrew word for forsook means to leave, abandon, or leave behind. Simply, they walked away from the Word of God. The sad question is, “Why?” Why leave the God who loves you? Why abandon His care and guidance?
• God sends an Egyptian ruler to capture the people and their cities as His judgment for turning against Him. When confronted with the truth of their rebellion, Rehoboam and the nation repent. God relents and does not destroy them. God’s patience is truly remarkable! His mercy surely has no end! Once again, He has never rejected a repentant heart.

Thoughts

Sometimes, we say things like, “I fell into sin,” or “I was led astray.” Maybe we put it like, “I backslid,” or “I drifted away.” Those things do happen, but there is a much bolder truth: We sin because we want to. We sin because we choose to. It’s that plain. And, yes, it’s that ugly.

In 2 Chronicles 11:16, it says, “Those from all the tribes of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the LORD God of Israel followed them to Jerusalem.” The reality is that we choose what we worship. We choose who we follow. We choose what we set our hearts on. If we worship God, it is because we esteem Him worthy and, to His glory, we choose to. And, when we sin, likewise, it is because we esteem something else greater, and, denying His glory, we choose to.

When we come to terms with that ugly reality, our eyes are opened to how incredibly gracious our God truly is! We worship Him, and He is pleased. And, when we sin against Him, marring His glory to a watching world, He is patient, kind, desiring that all would come to repentance. What grace!

“O to grace how great a debtor
  Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
  Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
  Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
  Seal it for Thy courts above.”