Ironworks

        He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath unto the sea of the Arabah, according to the word of Jehovah, the God of Israel, which he spake by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher.  For Jehovah saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter; for there was none shut up nor left at large, neither was there any helper for Israel. 2 Kings 14:25-26                    Jeroboam II was much like his namesake because he did evil in the sight of the Lord (cf. 2 Kings 14:24) . However, we learn something from his short story: sometimes God will bless his people in spite of their ruler. The Lord saw the affliction of the people. The citizens of the northern kingdom were subject to poor rulers, and because of their evil acts, the people suffered at the hands of foreign invaders. The Lord still saw fit not to blot out the people from the earth. He blessed them in spite of their rulers and even used Jeroboam II to recover some lan

  But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense. And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the LORD, that were valiant men: And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the LORD, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honour from the LORD God. 2 Chronicles 26:16-18             Uzziah, king of Judah, was certainly a breath of fresh air for a time, for the Scripture says that he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord (cf 2 Chron 26:4). He was a contemporary of the prophet Zechariah, and verse 5 tells us, as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper (cf. 2 Chron 26:5). The above passage gives us a prop

    And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed. And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice. 2 Kings 13:18-19             Joash the king of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. The sins of Jeroboam were ever-present in his life (cf. 2 Kings 13:11). He did have a particular care for the prophet Elisha and the king visited Elisha on his deathbed. Joash came to him and made his worries known about the threat of the Syrians. Elisha instructed him to first shoot an arrow out the window eastward. This was the message. The arrow of the Lord's deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them (cf. 2 Kings 13:17). Then he instructed him to s

  In the three and twentieth year of Joash the son of Ahaziah king of Judah Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the  Lord , and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not there from. And the anger of the  Lord  was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, all their days. 2 Kings 13:1-3             When do you thank God for all the blessings you have? When you are really successful, on the way up, or at the lowest point? Jehoahaz king of Israel was yet another in the line of evil kings. God, subsequently, did not bless Israel and allowed them to face the consequences of their sin. A great deal of the hurt is simply from the fact that a majority of the world does not honor God. God has no obligation to bless them in their rebellion and thus the w

  And it came to pass after this, that Joash was minded to repair the house of the  Lord . And he gathered together the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out unto the cities of Judah, and gather of all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that ye hasten the matter. Howbeit the Levites hastened it not. 2 Chron 24:4-5               After the wicked reign of his grandmother Athaliah, Joash was king of Judah. The beauty of this is that Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord (cf. 2 Kings 12:2).   He was influenced and cooperative with the priest Jehoiada. We see in the above passage that he had his mind set to repair the house of the Lord. Have you ever put your mind to something? Do you have something within your line of sight that you know needs repairing? For me that seems as if it is an ongoing thing. Cars need work from time to time; a mower needs repaired every once in a while. However, it takes the mind to work to get it