"Are You Giving Them Away Too?" (Rick Lovall)
I don’t believe I’ve read another verse in the Bible that has challenged, shaken and burdened me more than 2 Kings 12:18 has this week.
2 Kings 12:18 And Jehoash king of Judah took all the hallowed things that Jehoshaphat, and Jehoram, and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own hallowed things, and all the gold that was found in the treasures of the house of the LORD, and in the king's house, and sent it to Hazael king of Syria: and he went away from Jerusalem.
In case you didn’t hear the clarion call within that verse, please allow me to make it clear.
Jehoash GAVE AWAY everything his great-grandfather, grandfather and daddy had dedicated to God. And then, as if that wasn’t enough, he threw in “HIS OWN hallowed things”. Why? Because of pressure from outside the kingdom! His final step of tragedy was that “he went away from Jerusalem”. After giving away everything that was special, he left the mother church.
Want a wake-up call? This is the same Jehoash that repaired the breaches in the temple. The very one who worked hard to repair the weaknesses in the church.
His name means “God’s Fire”. At one point in his life, he truly lived his name. He was fired up to do what was right in the eyes of God. But he wasn’t able to defend his heritage…or even his own commitments when the world started pressing in on him.
It takes more than just being fired up for God to live right. It takes the character to stand behind your own promises to God.
Giving away great-grandpa’s stuff is easy. You don’t have emotional ties to it. Even giving away grandpa and daddy’s stuff isn’t too hard, especially if you’ve never take time to truly understand why it was important to them. Furthermore, I can’t get over how easy it seemed to be for him to give away “his own hallowed things”. He had obviously spent time in the temple…time in prayer making commitments to God. But one case of worldly pressure and he gave it all away.
This is no time to give ANYTHING away! Not great-grandpa’s burden for the lost! Not grandpa’s passion for truth! Not daddy’s commitment to holiness! Not even your own promises to God to do whatever He calls you to do!
Don’t get so focused on fixing what you think is wrong with the church that you let your commitments to God go!
One more thing… Hazael, King of Syria’s name means “god sees” (in reference to the god of Syria). The god of this world is watching us. He sees the treasures in the house of the Lord and wants them. Notice how he didn’t have to steal them. The breaches had been repaired so he knew he couldn’t break in and steal them. All he had to do was put enough pressure on the younger generation and he got them given to him.
Dear God in heaven, please help us to protect EVERYTHING that our heritage has committed to you and also have the strength to hold on to the very promises we have made to You!
So I have to ask… what are you doing to protect the treasures of the Kingdom? Or are you giving them away too?
Just something to think about….