Living Water Community Church

We worked our way through chapter 16 dealing with the rulership of king Ahaz of Judah. There is a lot of detail about his life especially when we consider how he is described as a king who did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord. This is the first time this kind of description is applied to a king of Judah. It is a sad commentary an a life spent turning away from God at every point. He was even said to have sacrificed his son to an idol. Yet we see in the book of Isaiah how God reached out to Ahaz in his time of need as Jerusalem was being attacked by both Israel and Syria. But Ahaz refused to trust God and accept His help. Instead he sent money to Tiglath-pileser the king of Assyria and asked him for help. The Assyrian king came down and conquered the Syrians killing their king. This of course aided the kingdom of Judah but the Assyrian king demanded Ahaz submit to him and even came down and executed his own attack against Jerusalem. Ahaz also lost soldiers and cities to the Philistines and the Edomites. Overall his time as king was one of continual decline. The one thing which stands out is God’s patience with him and the kingdom of Judah. Ahaz led the people into idolatry of all kinds and yet God did not destroy them. This ongoing patience of God had to be an encouragement to the people in exile who were reading this account. They were living among a people who were idol worshippers. They were probably under the kind of pressure Christians face today to just be quiet and not say anything about their faith. In the meantime the false faith of the pagan is declared loudly and without consequence in the public square. The fact God was there constantly showing mercy in the midst of an unfaithful kings rule had to be a comfort to those who were afraid and felt like they were failing in their pursuit of God. This same kind of comfort is available to us today. God is faithful in the midst of our unfaithfulness. This does not give us license to just ignore God’s call for us to be faithful. On the contrary it should call us to abandon hope in man and put our hope in God alone. To live lives of uncompromising faith in the midst of a pagan and fallen world.

We are looking at many different ways in which people in the Bible prayed. The examples of prayer are very rich and it will take a few weeks to go through these examples of prayer we find in the Bible. Different words are used for "prayer" depending on the way the person was seeking to approach God. Join us as we look through the ways we see prayer done in the Bible.

We worked through a section which showed us one of the longest reigns of any king in Judah. King Uzziah also known as Ahaziah reigned 52 years. Here was a king which in many ways honored God and yet as he entered the end of his reign he became proud and entered the temple to offer incense to God. This angered God and he struck Uzziah with leprosy in front of the 80 priest which assembled to stand against what Uzziah was doing. He lived the rest of his life in a different house as a leper. His son Jotham reigned after him. While his reign was said to be like his fathers he too fell short of doing all God wanted. While this was happening in Judah there were 5 reigns of different kings of Israel laid out for us. They did not seek to honor God and one after another they died often at the hands of people close to them. The writer of kings takes us through all of these kings in this short space showing us how time after time after time no matter how the king intended to go they all fell short. None of them was the real king Israel and Judah needed. The real king they needed and we all need is Jesus.

We explored the time when the kings of both Israel and Judah demonstrated halfway commitments to God. They either started out strong for the Lord and ended worshipping idols or they simply seemed to want God and idols too. It is a sad time in Israel of halfway commitments. People seem to be seeking for the Lord because of their oppression and God hears them and gives them relief but they continue to worship idols. God watching over them and watching out for them seems to have little or no impact on how they live or worship. And yet there is a warning here. A warning to honor God as God. Judah thought they could simply worship at the high places it would be fine. It was more convenient then going up to Jerusalem. Who cares that other idols are worshipped there. But God had established the temple and He had come to dwell there and establish His presence between the cherubim. He called on the people to come to Him and worship Him there. This was God’s plan. The worship of God is established by God and matters to God. These ideas or very relevant to us today. The worship of God still matters to God. He cares about how He is worshipped. He cares about the hearts of His people. He knows if our hearts have divided loyalties. The reason He wants His people to be fully committed to Him is because we were created for fellowship with God and being in that place of worship and fellowship is the best thing for us.

We worked our way through the lives of some of Jehu’s descendants as they ruled over Israel. We also witnessed the last acts of Elisha as he wrapped up his ministry and died. The descendants of Jehu were very much like their father. They seemed to have a certain type of zeal and regard for Yahweh but they continued to worship the golden calves and other false gods. It is a tragic act of disobedience as they show only a half way commitment to God. But the reality is a halfway commitment is not an act of faith. We saw in the story of Joash a real sorrow at the sickness of Elisha. He weeps when he goes to visit him. But his compassion does not translate into a greater commitment to God. Elisha gives him a prophecy about his future conflicts with Syria. He uses a bow and arrows to speak of the victories which will come. We also see a brief story about how a man’s body is quickly tossed into the tomb where Elisha’s body lay. The dead man came into contact with Elisha’s dead body and God brought him back to life. This combined with the victories Joash received after Elisha died was a testimony to the people of how God was working even though Elisha and Elijah were gone. This resurrection foreshadows the greater and better resurrection which happened when Jesus died. His death was different in that He was perfect and did not deserve death. Jesus died to bear God’s wrath against our sin so that we could be set free from the eternal damnation which we rightfully deserve. When Jesus died He broke the power of death over saints who had died around Jerusalem. The Bible tells us many came forth from the grave. It is a testimony to the completeness of the work Jesus did on our behalf. Death could no longer keep men and women who were righteous in Jesus. Jesus Himself rose again the third day according to the scripture. We are the recipients of a clear and better understanding of the work of Jesus which was being foreshadowed in the events we see around Elisha’s life and death.

We explored the chapter in kings dedicated to the reign of Joash. He started out intent of bringing glory to God. He called the priest to account about the state of disrepair in the temple and he followed through with working to bring about the repairs which needed to happen. The tragedy is how as he aged he drifted away from his fervency for God and the temple. He actually gets to the point where he has Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest killed for calling them to repent and return to the true worship of God. This is really shocking because Jehoiada was really the only one he would have known as a father and it was Jehoiada and his wife Jehosheba who saved Joash from being killed by Athaliah when she tried to wipe out the royal descendants of king David. Zechariah would have been the only person in his life who was essentially like a brother. This shows us how far Joash had moved away from God. He preferred his idolatry over the family which had saved him and raised him. In doing this Joash led all of Judah into idolatry. Joash started really well but ended terribly. The writer of Kings is covering both the kingdoms of Judah and Israel so those in exile might see how they both are under judgment and they both need to seek the Lord with all their hearts.

There is a document which goes along with this live study. You can access it at https://www.livingwatercommunitychurch.info/depth-charge/ You will find a link to download the document there.

The Bible begins with the earth covered in water and darkness and it ends with no more night and no more sea. This is an in depth cover to cover overview of a major aspect of God's glory on display in the Bible in the person and work of Jesus. We will be grappling with questions like. Why did God allow evil to exist? Is the existence of evil a problem for God? Why doesn't God wipe away pain if He is all good and loving? How did Satan fall? Why did Jesus have to become a man? What does all of this mean for today and the future? If God is sovereign, how could this have happened? Does all of this really bring Him glory? You might be surprised by what you discover as we explore these major themes together. Come join an interactive discussion of these topics as we seek to see the glory of God on display.

we explored the story of how Joash (also called Jehoash in todays passage) was saved from the slaughter of Ahaziah’s descendants by Athaliah the queen mother. Athaliah attempted to wipe out the descendants of David and set herself up as the ruler over Judah. Jehosheba a daughter of the former king and sister to Ahaziah, who had been killed, took Joash and his nurse and hid them from Athaliah so he was not put to death. Athaliah reigned over Judah for 7 years. She was a wicked queen and she promoted the worship of Baal in Judah. During her reign Jehosheba and her husband Jehoiada the priest kept Joash hidden in the temple. When Joash was 7 years old Jehoiada gathered the captains of the Carites and the guards together and made a covenant with them and made them swear an oath and after this he showed them how he had beer raising Joash in secret. These commander along with Jehoiada the priest made plans to overthrow the wicked queen Athaliah and install Joash as king in her place. On the sabbath they gathered all the guardsmen and anointed Joash as king and killed Athaliah. The people of the land showed their support for this by going to the temple of Baal and tearing it down and destroying the altars and images and killing the priest who served there. The people of the land rejoiced over Athaliah being put to death, and Joash began to reign. This is a critically important story for the people in exile to be reminded of. It is significant because the attempt by Athaliah to cut off the descendants of David was an attempt to destroy the promise of God that He would establish the throne of David forever. But God ensured a royal descendant was saved from destruction. Joash went on to father other sons who took the throne after him. His line of descendants continued all the way to Joseph who became the adoptive father of Jesus. This story is a reminder of how God is always faithful to do all He has promised He will do. To the people in exile this had to be a great reminder of how they could trust God in the midst of their captivity.

we explored the last events recorded for us in the life of Jehu the king of Israel. His last recorded act is in his words to show his zeal for the Lord. He meets Jehonadab and invites him to come along as he sets out to demonstrate his zeal. On arriving in Samaria he kills the rest of those who were still connected to Ahab. Then he announces to the people he wants to have a solemn assembly for Baal. Word is sent out to gather all the worshippers and priests of Baal. Anyone who was committed to Baal and failed to come would be put to death. They were all given special garments and brought into the temple of Baal where Jehu begins a sacrifice. After the sacrifice was finished he left and 80 soldiers slaughtered all the assembled worshippers and priests of Baal. They them destroyed the temple and turned it into a toilet. This desecrated the area ensuring no one would ever try to rebuild that temple. While Jehu does all these things which God wanted such as the destruction of the family of Ahab and the wiping out of Baal worship, he failed to destroy the golden calves. God granted Jehu a promise of four generations of his descendants on the throne of Israel because of his acts which were in keeping with what God wanted. But his continued support of the golden calf worship was a sin which hampered him and continued to hamper Israel. In his time God used Hazael of Syria to begin to take land away from Israel. Hazael ended up conquering 25%-30% of the land during Jehu’s reign. This was God’s judgement on Jehu and Israel for their continuing to worship false gods. We wrapped things up by considering how the true church today in America has come to be similar to Jehu in that we are good at many of the things which are pleasing to God but we are much like the church in Ephesus in that we need to return to a passionate love for God. It very much could be the decline we are seeing in the church in America has much to do with our failure to love God with all our hearts. The church really needs to repent and return to its first love.

we explored the story of Jehu going to Jezreel to challenge Joram for the kingship of Israel. When Joram thought it was Jehu he rode out to meet him in his chariot. He asked Jehu if it was a message of peace he brought since he had been at the front lines of their battle in Ramoth-gilead. Jehu’s response was, “What peace can there be, so long as the whorings and the sorceries of your mother Jezebel are so many?” Joram and Ahaziah who was with him reigned in their chariots and headed toward Jezreel because they realized Jehu was intent on opposing them. Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram through the heart. He died in his chariot and Jehu had him tossed onto the land of Naboth’s vineyard. Remembering Elijah’s prophecy about the coming death of Ahab’s heirs Jehu pronounced how prophecy was being fulfilled. He then pursued Ahaziah and shot him with an arrow in his chariot as well. Ahaziah fled to Megiddo and died there and his servants came and took his body to the city of David and buried it there. Jehu entered Jezreel and Jezebel called down to him from a balcony at the palace. Jehu asked if any of the servants were with him to cast her down. 3 of the eunuchs cast her down and she died and was eaten by dogs. This again was called out by Jehu as a fulfillment of prophecy. He sent word to Samaria about the 70 sons of Ahab who were living there. He told them to make one of them king and prepare for battle. The leaders of Samaria sent word back to Jehu that they would do whatever he asked them to. He told them to bring the heads of all of Ahab’s sons to him in Jezreel the next day. They did as he asked and killed all of Ahab’s sons. He then pointed out how the eradication of Ahab’s family was a fulfillment of another prophecy from Elijah. The house of Ahab was brought to a complete end under the rulership of Jehu. It is a brutal story but a story which reminds us how God is in control and accomplishes what He sets out to accomplish. In this case we see God raise up the man who has the determination to do the things which must be done to eradicate the line of Ahab.