Tag: 2 Chronicles 28

Getting it Twisted

One of the more surprising things in the Gospel of John is when Jesus says that He must be lifted up by God in the same way that Moses lifted up the snake in the desert. If we go back to that snake in the desert, we see that God used the instrument of destruction to bring about healing. We call that “redemption”. But here we see that King Hezekiah (the most righteous king of Judah) had to DESTROY the bronze serpent because people began to worship it. Seems like we will worship just about ANYTHING, if it doesn’t get the in way of us doing exactly what we want to do. And so the people took a thing originally designed for good and twisted it for evil. To the point where it had to be destroyed for the salvation of those very people.

Just because something was designed for good or accomplished good, doesn’t mean it will always be good for all time. We still need to evaluate those things. I know as a pastor I have done events that were a huge success the first time, but didn’t yield the same results the following year. I think it’s important that we bring everything back to God. And if that event, or job, or thing, or dream that God gave you has become twisted… it might be time to destroy it and start fresh.

Strong, Humble Leadership

Let me paint a picture: the King of Judah (not a good man) has just been attacked and ransacked by Kings Rezin & Pekah (of Aram/Syria & Israel, respectively) with many valuables and captives taken — though the people would be returned shortly afterward. And Isaiah comes to Ahaz, the aforementioned King of Judah, and tells him that the coup by Syria & Israel will be unsuccessful in their attempt to overthrow Judah and replace Ahaz with their own king. Given the sizeable losses that Judah just took, I wonder how the follow words of Isaiah were received…

[F]or Syria is no stronger than its capital, Damascus, and Damascus is no stronger than its king, Rezin. As for Israel, within sixty-five years it will be crushed and completely destroyed. Israel is no stronger than its capital, Samaria, and Samaria is no stronger than its king, Pekah son of Remaliah.

Isaiah 7:8-9a

Why is this? Because they stand against the purposes of God. He has said that He will preserve the line of David (from which Jesus will eventually come), and so anyone who tries to stand against the purposes of God will fail.

This is why I didn’t title this devotional “Strong Leadership”, but rather “Strong, Humble Leadership”. Strong to lead people in directions they sometimes do not want to go, but humble enough to be submitted to God as you lead. This is the kind of leadership exemplified by Jesus. This is the kind of leadership we should aspire to ourselves.