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We alluded to King Josiah, but we turn to someone who did not please the Lord and this is what he did,
["...1Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hephzibah.
2And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
3For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.
4And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.
5And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.
6And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
7And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:
8Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.
9But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.
10And the LORD spake by his servants the prophets, saying,
11Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols:
12Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle.
13And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down.
14And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies;
15Because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day.
16Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.
17Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
18And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.
19Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.
20And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh did.
21And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them:
22And he forsook the LORD God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the LORD.
23And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew the king in his own house.
24And the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.
25Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
26And he was buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in his stead...]
It seems to happed that when someone come along who pleases the Lord, there someone before him that perhaps did not. And this is a pehaps...May you be blessed. Amen.
thbg
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Posted 06/02/2009 09:32pm
Author: tohimbeglory
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Now what did King Josiah do and how is that pertinent to us? Let turn to King Josiah...2Kings 23:8-20,
["...8And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.
9Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren.
10And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.
11And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire.
12And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, did the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.
13And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.
14And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.
15Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove.
16And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.
17Then he said, What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel.
18And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.
19And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel.
20And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men's bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem...]
Now this king Josiah was a mighty character and certainly had a tough step to follow. But we can pray that our leader(s) are that way. There was not something specialy super human about king Josiah, but his heart was fast to please the Lord. And if we look intentlty at what he did, we can too break down the sacred pillars and sacred poles of misconception and error. As for our President, he is not a super human, but with our prayers he can do mighty things for us and our nation.
The point of the matter is not what he can do and focus on him? It is what God can do throught him if we put our faith in God. God is the one who has really the good answer our problems. We do not trust on our own bow to defend. But if we little by little learn to trust God more each day, who know he might just guird himself and turn to serve us. But we have to turn to the bible because the Word of God is the mirror of his holiness, righteousness and judgement. May you have a good day and evening. Amen.
thbg
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Posted 06/03/2009 03:06pm
Author: tohimbeglory
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Lastly in our tri-logy, we turn to a woman. What can a woman do? Stay tuned. We turn to Judges 9:50-57,
["...50Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it.
51But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut it to them, and gat them up to the top of the tower.
52And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire.
53And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head, and all to brake his skull.
54Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A women slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died.
55And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place.
56Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren:
57And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal...]
It seems that a woman has a handy access to what is more important in town- the millstone. The millstone is the most valuable peice in mill, other than the corn itself. Women we make it a point to take every inset of the economy issue and turn it on its head, excuse the pun, who knows perhaps intentional. Let turn to another woman and another millstone at work...
["...19And charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast made an end of telling the matters of the war unto the king,
20And if so be that the king's wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore approached ye so nigh unto the city when ye did fight? knew ye not that they would shoot from the wall?
21Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon him from the wall, that he died in Thebez? why went ye nigh the wall? then say thou, Thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.
22So the messenger went, and came and shewed David all that Joab had sent him for.
23And the messenger said unto David, Surely the men prevailed against us, and came out unto us into the field, and we were upon them even unto the entering of the gate.
24And the shooters shot from off the wall upon thy servants; and some of the king's servants be dead, and thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.
25Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devoureth one as well as another: make thy battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage thou him...]
Who know its the same woman and the same millstone or peice of it? But a woman will take the millstone or peice of it, the economy of the national house and we make it an issue and it will split many a hard skulls. Take at face value. It will come to pass that it will not be virtue, the deciding factor in a coming battle but the issue of economics. Or who knows? It says she threw the peice millstone over the fense. Perhaps this 'woman' will throw the economic issue over the wall instead of being sported by the enemy by compromising her, forcing this woman
to give up her values. But the bible tells that the head of the besieging enemy will be split open with the falling millstone, tossed by this woman. May you have a good evening and morning. Amen.
thbg
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Posted 06/03/2009 08:57pm
Author: tohimbeglory
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