Who is in Control

Looking out my office window, I wonder what’s going on “out there?” I’m not talking about the squirrels running all over the place or the birds flitting around the bird feeders. I’m talking about the whole wide world out there.

I do not understand the intricacies of the way the world works. I know I am not an eyewitness to all that is happening. But, things – miracles even – are happening. Everyday the sun comes up. The rain or the sunshine blesses us. And doctors and scientists discover new treatments, cures and preventatives. I have to remember that all this is happening under the influence of a Mighty God.

I was impressed by these thoughts as I read and studied 2 Kings 2, and looked back on the things Elijah, the prophet of God, was able to do because of God’s empowerment. In 1 Kings, I read that he withheld the rain and created a drought in the lands of the 10 northern tribes of Israel. Then God told him to end the drought and a deluge fell upon the area. Elijah challenged the false prophets by making a sacrifice for their gods to consume, which never happened. Then Elijah prepared his sacrifice for God including drenching it all with buckets and buckets and buckets of water. God consumed the soggy mess right down to the ground, which was dry at the end. God protected Israel, in spite of their lack of faithfulness, from invading armies. Now in 2 Kings, Elijah is able to confront an evil and angry king with God’s full protection. He divided the water of the Jordan River with his cloak (reminding me of the Red Sea being parted by Moses’ staff). And he trained up a successor, Elisha. And finally, Elijah was taken into the heavens on a wind being escorted by a blazing chariot, to be seen no more.

What does all that have to do with what I see (and don’t see) out my window? I need to sit in amazement at the wonderful things God has done, is doing, and will do. He’s a powerful God whose plans are not yet fulfilled on this earth or in the heavens. As Habakkuk encouraged the people during his time as prophet:

“Look among the nations! Observe!
Be astonished! Wonder!
Because I am doing something in your days—
You would not believe if you were told.” (Habakkuk 1:5)

So, I will look out my window expecting to see God’s handiwork, but I will also be looking for what God is doing on a much bigger scale. Just as He has always done, He is doing things we cannot imagine, and we should be amazed.

Choices

I’ve heard it said, “You can’t serve two masters.” That’s the basic message I found in 1 Kings 18.

The people in the northern tribes comprising Israel during the time of Elijah the prophet thought they could serve both the idol god, Ba’al, and the true God, Jehoveh. While we can’t be too critical of the average person in Israel, we can evaluate the religious leaders – the teachers of religion for the people. King Ahab had built false altars and had encouraged worship at those altars of the idols that Jezebel, his non-Hebrew wife, worshiped.

The false priests Ahab appointed were primarily worshipers of Ba’al, but they tried to appease the people by implying they were worshiping the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel) as well. The people followed blindly along, but the leaders and teachers are the ones God penalized.

The chapter tells a story about Elijah calling the people together after a three-year drought in order to have them decide which god they were going to follow. He had the prophets of Ba’al build an altar, put their choice bull on the wood on the altar, and call upon Ba’al. These prophets begged and pleaded with their “god,” with all kinds of shenanigans, to consume the offering. The prophets of Ba’al danced, shouted, and cut themselves from morning until late in the afternoon. Nothing happened. At one point, Elijah mocked them and said that perhaps their god was occupied in the bathroom. They feverishly picked up their attempts to get Ba’al to perform.

Late in the day, Elijah told them that that was enough and called to the people. He called out to the people, “How long are you going to jump back and forth between two positions? If ADONAI is God, follow him; but if it’s Ba’al, follow him!” (Verse 21). So Elijah told the people to look to the altar he had built. He had them pour buckets and buckets full of water all over the offering (the bull the Ba’al worshipers had given him), all over the wood, filling a trench around the altar.

At the time of the evening offering, Elijah simply prayed to God.

“ADONAI, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Hear me, ADONAI, hear me, so that this people may know that you, ADONAI, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back to you” (1 Kings 18:36-37, CJB).

God was calling them to repentance. When God’s fire fell upon the offering, it consumed everything, even the stones on which the offering had been laid. There was not a drop of water left anywhere. The people responded by falling on their faces and crying out, “ADONAI is God! ADONAI is God!” (Verse 39).

It’s the same for us today. We can’t worship idols and God at the same time. We have to choose. We can’t have our earthly desires and lusts and self-righteousness and be true worshipers of God. Many times people in Christian circles choose what parts of Scripture they are going to apply to their worship. Many times people in Christian circles listen to the leaders and teachers who construe Scripture to their own agendas. God will hold the leaders accountable, but He will also hold each person accountable to choose what it actually says in His Torah. We have to choose. We can’t say we follow Christ and then stretch Scripture to say what we think it should say or what we want it to say.

What Is Wholeheartedness?

I’m starting with a review of the kings of Judah after the division of the nation following Solomon’s reign. Solomon’s son, Rehoboam reigned (poorly) for a few years. Then Rehoboam’s son, Abijam, “ruled three years in Jerusalem and he committed all the sins his father had committed before him; he was not wholehearted with Adonai his God, as David his forefather had been” (1 Kings 15:2-3, CJB). After Abijam, his son, Asa, ruled in Judah (verses 8-24). It is said of Asa: “But the high places were not removed. Nevertheless, Asa was wholehearted with Adonai throughout his life” (verse 14).

So, if you haven’t guessed by the italicized word, my focus today is on what made Asa wholehearted, while Abijam was not. They both were not perfect. They both behaved poorly and different than God had instructed in His Torah. What was the difference? Why was one deemed wholehearted and one was not?

The answer, I found out from my study, is really quite simple, yet so hard to determine in our culture today. Humans will sin. Abijam sinned by keeping the idol worship in place as his father, Rehoboam, had instituted it in Judah. He encouraged the people to worship gods other than Adonai. He did whatever he could to build himself up, even if that meant worshiping other gods at “high places” other than the Temple in Jerusalem.

Asa also sinned. He failed to remove the “high places” scattered all over Judah. He also failed to turn to Adonai at a time when they were under attack from a neighboring nation. Early in his reign, he did turn to God and God provided a miraculous victory. He, however, failed to recall that incident, and therefore failed to trust God again.

Human failings. Sins. Not going all the way in pursuing God. Yet Scripture says one was wholehearted as David was, and the other was not. Again, what makes a person wholehearted in God’s perspective? Remember, David is also called wholehearted, and yet he committed sexual immorality and murder. I focused on four aspects of what it means to be wholehearted to God.

·      We must refrain from ever worshiping other gods.

·      We must have a fierce and exclusive loyalty to the one true God.

·      We must never be an idolater or give approval of idolatry.

·      We must remain Torah compliant in regards to our worship of God.

Some of those overlap a bit and the last one, remaining Torah compliant, can be a large task. Fortunately, since the day of Christ, we can exercise our wholeheartedness in having a fierce and faithful loyalty to Christ. Trusting Jesus and believing in His humanity and His deity is being wholehearted.

This does present a series of problems with many mainline Christian communities (and even to those who say they are compliant with Scripture to some degree). Are we, like Judah in Asa’s time, mixing pagan worship or manmade traditions with our attempts to worship Adonai? Do we construct our own ideas of who God is and what He’s like? I’m not going to answer those questions. I’m not even going to point out times and places we do behave in that manner. Each of us needs to educate ourselves about what activities we have adapted that began as pagan rituals. We need to study the Scriptures as thoroughly as possible to determine exactly what God has ordained. I want to be seen as wholehearted before the Lord so I will examine my beliefs and actions carefully.