There are kings and There Are Kings
(Read 2 Chronicles 31:20-21, Matthew 2:3, Luke 12:27-31)
My run this morning took me on a sandy trail that skirts along a mile of beautiful shoreline. This stretch comes with different turns and views offering tall pines on one side and a blue lake on the other. At the start of my run, the wind was in my face so by the time I reached the lake, it should have been at my back. It wasn’t. It was in my face. A few hundred yards along the lake trail I had turned enough so that the wind was diminished. Then, unexpectedly, it was in my face again. Some people believe that God can speak to us in the wind. Our life has lots of turns and twists and God will speak to us at different times and different ways.
In a discussion in our small group meeting the other night we talked about our need to create kings. When the Jewish people saw kings from their pagan neighbors, they wanted to have them too. We always seem to want someone to look to for protection and control over our lives. Why do we still look to our leaders for answers they’re incapable of having and qualities they’re incapable of having?
Hezekiah, Naaman, and David were the kind of Kings God was proud of. They put Him first, trusted Him, and they modeled their earthly kingdoms after God’s Kingdom. These Kings were appointed leaders who achieved their position based on family lineage, opportunity, slaying giants, and of course, God’s ordained plan.
Ahaz and Herod the Great were kings who served purposes for God, but who history would want to forget. They were horrible, self-centered men who barely squeezed God into their kingdoms when it suited them for their own gain.
This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful before the Lord his God. In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered.
2 Chronicles 31:20-21
Hezekiah had a close relationship with God. He was the son of a vile, wicked king named Ahaz and reigned over Judah from 715 to 686 BC. A God-fearing leader, he undid everything his evil father put in place. Hezekiah cleaned house. God was pleased with his actions and Hezekiah’s obedience. Hezekiah is commonly known as the King who trusted in God. “And the LORD was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered.” 2 Kings 18:7
King Ahaz on the other hand, worshipped other gods. He was defeated in battle after battle, which was a sign of God’s disfavor. When it comes to worshipping things other than God, Ahaz was truly king. Instead of revering sacred items in the temple he set up idols and images of foreign gods and worshipped them as gods. He gave allegiance to Molech by sacrificing his children to this false god.
After losing in a decisive battle to the king of Assyria, Ahaz became infatuated with his pagan practices. He destroyed many temple furnishings, shut the doors to the temple, and placed idols celebrating false gods throughout Judah. When a leader does things to please themself, they create a fragile throne and a smokescreen as a legacy. Ahaz died and was not permitted to rest in the tomb with the other Jewish Kings. If Ahaz did anything noteworthy in his reign as king, we will never know. Biblical legacies are based on what stands out most and what God wants us to remember.
King Herod the Great powered his way to the throne of Israel on a bloody path endorsed by political support from Rome. He was so paranoid and insecure of his position as “King of the Jews,” that he murdered his sons when they posed a threat to assume the throne. Caesar Augustus said of Herod, “I’d rather be Herod’s pig than Herod’s son!”
On top of his gruesome track record, Herod also murdered his wife Mariamne and pretty much her whole family. Herod couldn’t control what would happen next in his life. With God, the story never ends with evil. The image of Jesus crushing the snake in “Passion of the Christ” comes to mind. With Christ, there is hope and a future.
Late in his life, Herod caught news about the coming of a Messiah in the form of a baby. Someone would be a king and Lord over all.
“When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.”
Matthew 2:3
Naaman was one of those leaders who came to power from his military success. He had great wealth, prestige, and fame but his leprosy isolated him. In order to be healed, God, through the prophet Elisha, told Naaman he must dip in the muddy Jordan. Naaman was expecting something majestic, healing from the wisest men, or a mighty cure of strength. But God showed Naaman that we are not healed through the works of any man, we are saved by grace through faith. Naaman obeyed and was cured.
David is the most famous of the Jewish Kings. Twice in the Bible, God refers to David as “a man after God’s own heart.” David had a heart pointed toward God. David made many mistakes, committing huge sins, but when he sinned he mourned over it. Every time, he asked God for forgiveness. Other Kings and other leaders don’t do this.
David unified the kingdoms of Judea and Israel into one and established Jerusalem as his capital. He brought the Ark of the Covenant there too. David made Jerusalem a religious and political capital. More than any other king, David made his relationship with God part of his people’s lives too.
Unfortunately, there are too many leaders like Ahaz and Herod today. Their plans are based upon personal insecurities and their own dreams. Anything that interferes with them is a threat. Our world is witnessing the clash of two leaders entangled in a brutal struggle right now. Thousands of people, including soldiers, have lost their lives. More than 1,000,000 people have been displaced because of this war and this is changing daily. One leader views himself as a king. His plans are based on his own desires and worldview. The other is doing a job, filling a role. His plans are to save his nation from destruction. One wants to be a hero and the other is one.
Throughout time, we keep looking for kings and yet for more than 2,000 years, we’ve had one. A perfect one. Christ the King is a title we use to describe Jesus’ place seated at the right hand of God in God’s Kingdom. As a prophet, Jesus told us things that would point us to eternal life. As a priest, He preached God’s wisdom and ordained people to follow Him. As a King he humbled himself in human form, and he laid down his own life for all of us.
Life is full of twists and turns. The winds will continue to blow in many directions. Good leaders and bad leaders will reign on Earth until Jesus returns. It’s wonderful to be inspired from examples of other people, but we have to look deeper, to look through them. Are they our true King? Can they take away our need for absolute forgiveness?
We can never be saved through the strength of men, through battle, education, or achievements. We can only be saved by grace through faith in a King who we once humiliated and crucified. We are saved by a King who offers free access to anyone who wants in.
Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
Luke 12:27-31
Key Application:
Read Luke 12. Think about where you go for protection. Who do you go to for answers? What makes you feel secure?
- Pray for the people involved in the conflict in Ukraine.
- Pray for the soldiers.
- Pray that God’s peace will reach them and fill their hearts.
- What can you do this week to share God’s peace?
- How can you point friends and family to our one true King?
Where else in your life can you live out the teachings of Christ? Look for next week’s Devotion.