21:1-22:14 - We read of human sin and divine judgment
(21:1-4,15-16,20-24). There is also something else here: the mercy of
God - ‘Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the
evil in his days…’(29). The judgment of God will come - but not yet. It
is held back by the mercy of God. We live in confusing times. There is
much evidence of sin. There are some signs of repentance. What are the
servants of the Lord to say? Is there a single message, a Word of
judgment, a Word of mercy? Here is what we must say: ‘What the Lord says
to me, that I will speak’(22:14). Let us not settle for a one-sided
message - preaching judgment without a glimmer of hope, promising mercy
without issuing the Gospel warning. May God help us to be like Paul: ‘I
did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God’ (Acts
20:27).
22:15-53 - Ahab’s repentance (21:27) didn’t last
long! He continued to live in sin (22:8). He died in shame (37-38).
Ahab’s son - Ahaziah - was just like his father - ‘a chip off the old
block’: ‘He … provoked the Lord, the God of Israel to anger in every way
that his father had done’ (51-53). Jehoshaphat was a different type of
king - ‘he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord’ (43). Here, we
catch a glimpse of our Lord Jesus Christ - ‘I do as the Father commanded
Me’ (John 14:31). Don’t be like Ahaziah -‘he walked in the ways of his
father… the ways of sin’ (52). Let’s be like Jesus - Walking in the ways of our Heavenly Father.
God says to us, ‘This is the way; walk in it’ (Isaiah 30:21). Let us
say, ‘As for God, His way is perfect’ (2 Samuel 22:31). Let us pray,
‘Our Father in heaven… Your will be done (Matthew 6:9-10).
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