3/6/21 Battle Revives

Revival: Stronger Than Ever

The War in Heaven

2 Chronicles 21-23

Good morning everybody!

I have some good news and some bad news for you today.

The bad news… is that our world is full of bad news these days.

The good news is, our world has always been full of bad news… and bad news never prevails!

One of the worst moments in our nation’s history happened on December 7, 1941. The Japanese Navy attacked the U.S. Fleet at Pearl Harbor, killing 2400 Americans and disabling almost all of our battleships. That was bad news.

The good news was, our 3 aircraft carriers were out on maneuvers at the time. So our Carrier Fleet was intact. 6 months later, that Carrier group destroyed 4 Japanese Carriers in the Battle of Midway. And ultimately, we won the war.

History is like that. - Wait long enough, and good news always triumphs over bad.

- On Good Friday, our Savior died. It was the worst news in history.

- Three days later, He rose again. It was the best news in history. On top of that,

- He ascended to the right hand of the Father.

- He sent the Holy Spirit to live inside of us.

- And He launched the church.

PRINCIPLE

Bad news is always followed by good news, because the forces of good in this universe are stronger than the forces of evil.

EZRA

A scribe by the name of Ezra knew that. He and his people were emerging from a national crisis.

● They needed some good news.

● They needed some hope.

● They needed some inspiration.

● They needed some reminders that their great God works all things together for the good of those who love Him.

So Ezra writes stories. Real-life stories, with real-life lessons.

FORECAST

One of those stories was a really bad-news-to-good-news story that involved mayhem and murder over three generations.

During its worst moment, for seven years, the people had no hope.

NEED

We’ve been wrestling with hope for months now. Ezra’s people wrestled with it for decades. How did they cope? And how did God rescue?

Well, that’s the story I want to tell you today.

Are you ready to do some learning today?

Pray this prayer with me:

Lord Jesus, speak to me. Amen.

Open a Bible to 1 Chronicles 17:10.

SETTING

1 Chronicles 17 takes place during the reign of King David. One day God says to David,

“I declare to you that the Lord himself will build a house for you. 11 When your time comes to be with your ancestors, I will raise up after you your descendant, who is one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. 12 He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. 13 I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will not remove my faithful love from him as I removed it from the one who was before you. 14 I will appoint him over my house and my kingdom forever, and his throne will be established forever.’” 1 Chronicles 17:10-14

There are two promises in this passage: One is that there would always be a descendent of David ruling over the nation of Israel. The second was that one of those descendants would rule “God’s kingdom” forever. In other words, that the Messiah, the Forever-Ruler, would be a descendant of David.

Throughout the Old Testament there were prophecies that one day the Messiah would come. From this day in 1 Chronicles 17 onward, everybody knew that when the Messiah came, He would be a descendent of King David.

The Israelites knew, and Satan knew. Satan is not all-knowing, but he is exceedingly crafty and creative. And when this prophecy is given, he is clued in that the Messiah must come from the lineage of David.

Satan knows that God must be true to His word. He knows that if he can extinguish the line of David, he can prevent the Messiah from coming and saving mankind from our sins.

CONTEXT/FORECAST

[Pause] In 841 B.C. Satan sees and seizes a strategic opportunity to eliminate the line of the David. Here’s how it happened.

Write this down: #1… in 1 Chron. 17,

A Little History:

God promises that David will never lack an heir on the throne of Israel.

1 Chron. 17:10-14

And #2…

God promises that an heir of David will rule God’s kingdom forever. 1 Chron. 17:14b

Now fast-forward from there 150 years, to the time of King Jehoshaphat. We studied him last week.

During the course of his reign, Jehoshaphat made what seemed to him an expedient decision to secure an alliance with his greatest threat, which was the Kingdom of Northern Israel.

Back in those days, a common way to seal alliances was for two kings to marry their children to each other. In this case, Jehoshaphat married his son, Jehoram to the king of Israel’s daughter who was named Athaliah.

NEED

Follow me carefully for the next few minutes and we’ll learn an important lesson that could save you and your family a lot of heartache over the next 30 or 40 or even 50 years.

Turn to the back of your Bible to a map of the Old Testament, or, if you don’t have one, imagine a map of the Mediterranean in your mind. The nation of Israel sits at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea.

At this time in history, Israel is divided into two kingdoms. The Northern Kingdom is simply called, “Israel.” And the Southern Kingdom is called “Judah.”

The Northern Kingdom was ruled by a king named “Ahab.”

The Southern Kingdom was ruled by Jehoshaphat.

Ahab, in order to secure his northern border, had married the daughter of the king to his north. That kingdom was called “Sidon.” It’s king was named “Ethbaal.” – The word, “eth” means, “with.” Anybody want to guess what the word “Baal” means? The word “Baal,” means “Baal.” Baal was the fertility God of the Canaanites.

Ethbaal was “with Baal.” He was a worshiper of Baal.

Ethbaal’s daughter was named “Jezebel.” (You may have heard of her before. She is infamous for worshiping Baal and corrupting pretty much all of Northern Israel during the time she was its queen.)

Ahab married Jezebel.

Together, they had a daughter they named Athaliah.

Meanwhile, Jehoshaphat and his wife had a son they named Jehoram.

To cement their alliance, Ahab and Jehoshaphat married their children to each other.

This meant that the wife of the Crown Prince of Judah was not a follower of Jehovah, but a Baal-worshiper.

Everything went along fine, until the day that Jehoshaphat died. On that day, Jehoram became king, and Athaliah became queen.

You’d like to hope that the story goes, “And they all lived happily ever after.” But we know that the world is full of bad news and that happily-ever-afters only follow not-so-happy disasters.

Jehoram’s first act as king was to do what no Israelite king had ever done, but what most pagan kings from places like Sidon usually did, and that was, he killed all his brothers so that none of them could threaten his right to the throne.

If you’re taking notes, #3…

To form an alliance, Ahab, king of Israel, married Jezebel, princess of Sidon.

This happens about 40 years before our story begins. During the next generation…

To form an alliance, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, married his son Jehoram to Jezebel’s daughter, Athaliah. 2 Chron. 18:1

2 Chronicles 18:1 says, Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance, and he made an alliance with Ahab through marriage. 2 Chronicles 18:1

That seems innocent enough, doesn’t it? It might even be smart. – Make an alliance with your enemy and he becomes your ally.

This happens about 20 years before our story.

COMMENT

Call this, “The Law of Unforeseen Consequences.” If you marry someone who is potentially dangerous, you might not foresee that something dangerous is going to happen.

Here’s the introduction to our story:

1 Chronicles 21:1…

Jehoshaphat rested with his ancestors and was buried with his ancestors in the city of David. His son Jehoram became king in his place. 2 He had brothers, sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of King Jehoshaphat of Judah….. 4 When Jehoram had established himself over his father’s kingdom, he strengthened his position by killing with the sword all his brothers as well as some of the princes of Israel. 2 Chronicles 21:1-4

Your 5th point…

When Jehoram became king, he killed all his brothers. 2 Chron. 21:4

He eliminated all the competition.

RESULT

Suddenly, of all the descendants of David, there is only one direct descendant. That’s Jehoram, along with all the sons that he will give birth to over time.

Well, later on that same year, 841 B.C., Jehoram died in battle. Ezra’s comment in verse 20 was, He died to no one’s regret and was buried in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings. 2 Chronicles 21:20b

Because his life did not merit a kingly tomb.

Often, when a king dies, his kingdom is vulnerable, because the neighboring nations know that the new king will be young and inexperienced, so that’s when they attack.

The attack happens. Judah is invaded by her neighbors: They carried off all the possessions found in the king’s palace and also his sons and wives; not a son was left to him except Ahaziah, his youngest son. 2 Chron. 21:17

And your next fill-in:

The Philistines kill all but one of Jehoram’s sons (Ahaziah). 2 Chron. 21:17

And then there was one.

SEGUE

Here’s where our story officially begins. The kingdom and the Messianic line are hanging by a single thread.

2 Chronicles 22 opens with...

Then the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, because the troops that had come with the Arabs to the camp had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah. 2 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah… 2 Chron. 22:1-2

If you know what’s coming, you can almost hear the downbeats of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony: dun, dun, dun, dun…

A few months after his coronation, Ahaziah is killed in battle.

No problem, Ahaziah had sons and nephews all over the palace. But they are all young and powerless. The person closest to power was the dowager queen, Athaliah.

● She is not Jewish.

● She’s the daughter of Jezebel.

● She is not a worshiper of Jehovah.

● She worships Baal.

This is when Satan launches his strategic initiative.

When Athaliah, Ahaziah’s mother, saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to annihilate all the royal heirs of the house of Judah. 2 Chron. 22:10

You’re seventh point:

When Ahaziah died, Athaliah killed all the royal heirs. 2 Chron. 22:10

● The king is dead.

● His descendants are dead.

● The Davidic line is dead, and with it, all hopes for a Messiah.

This is the Good Friday of the Old Testament.

Baal has triumphed. Satan has won.

This, friends, is the bad news.

● All was dark.

● All hope was lost.

For seven years, Judah lived under the rulership of a foreign queen, worshiping a foreign god.

She was the Covid-19 of her day.

If you’ve lost your job, you know how they felt.

● If you’re depressed,

● or frustrated

● or irritated

● or angry,

you know how they felt.

The person in charge of their state, their nation, has driven a stake through the heart of all their hopes.

SEGUE

…Do you know that God is really good at situations like this?

Let’s watch the story unfold:

When Athaliah, Ahaziah’s mother, saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to annihilate all the royal heirs of the house of Judah. 11 Jehoshabeath, the king’s daughter, rescued Joash son of Ahaziah from the king’s sons who were being killed and put him and the one who nursed him in a bedroom. Now Jehoshabeath was the daughter of King Jehoram and the wife of the priest Jehoiada. Since she was Ahaziah’s sister, she hid Joash from Athaliah so that she did not kill him. 12 He was hiding with them in God’s temple for six years while Athaliah reigned over the land.

23 Then, in the seventh year, Jehoiada summoned his courage and took the commanders of hundreds into a covenant with him… 2 They made a circuit throughout Judah. They gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah and the family heads of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. 3 Then the whole assembly made a covenant with the king in God’s temple. Jehoiada said to them, “Here is the king’s son!...

(Drop down to v. 12)

12 When Athaliah heard the noise from the troops, the guards, and those praising the king, she sent to the troops in the Lord’s temple. 13 …The commanders and the trumpeters were by the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets while the singers with musical instruments were leading the praise. Athaliah tore her clothes and screamed, “Treason! Treason!” 14 Then the priest Jehoiada sent out the commanders of hundreds, those in charge of the army, saying, “Take her out…” 15 So they arrested her, and she went by the entrance of the Horse Gate to the king’s palace, where they put her to death. 2 Chron. 22:10-23:15

TRIUMPH!

● The forces of darkness seemed to be in control.

● Satan had won.

● Good was defeated.

● Evil had overcome!

But what seems and what is aren’t always the same.

Friends, the God of the Bible

● is the God of good news.

● He’s the God of the rescue.

● The God of the living hope.

● The God of the second chance.

● The God of the comeback.

With Him, there is always a way out of darkness.

Dreams of Messiah were dead, and then there was a resurrection!

Sorrow may remain for a night, but joy comes in the morning!

Athaliah annihilated all the royal heirs, but…

Seven years later, it was discovered that one heir survived. 2 Chron. 23:3

Talk about rejoicing!

16 Then Jehoiada made a covenant between himself, the king, and the people that they would be the Lord’s people. 17 So all the people went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed its altars and images and killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, at the altars.

18 Then Jehoiada put the oversight of the Lord’s temple into the hands of the Levitical priests, whom David had appointed over the Lord’s temple, to offer burnt offerings to the Lord as it is written in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and song ordained by David. 19 He stationed gatekeepers at the gates of the Lord’s temple so that nothing unclean could enter for any reason. 20 Then he took with him the commanders of hundreds, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land and brought the king down from the Lord’s temple. They entered the king’s palace through the Upper Gate and seated the king on the throne of the kingdom. 21 All the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet, for they had put Athaliah to death by the sword. 2 Chron. 23:16-21

CONCLUSION/APPLICATION

Ezra is recounting Israel’s history so that we can learn lessons during our time in history.

Ezra is letting us know that…

Ezra’s Lessons:

There is a war in heaven that is playing out on earth. 2 Chronicles 18-24

That war is more real than the Iraqi War or the War in Kuwait, or Vietnam or Korea.

Ephesians 6:12 says… Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.

Which might explain why you’re feeling the way you are feeling these days. What you’re feeling isn’t just about a virus, or injustice, or quarantine, or being shut-in. Something deeper is going on in our world everyday.

Ephesians 6:12 is followed by Ephesians 6:13, which says…13 For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day… Ephesians 6:12-13

The armor of God is faith, and hope, and righteousness, and the truth of salvation, and God’s word, and the Holy Spirit. Stand firm in those friends. Trust God and believe what He says, and do what He says.

Ezra is teaching us that God always has plans…

A. God always has plans to build up. 1 Chronicles 17:10-14

And those plans are to build up and not tear down.

And that Satan always has plans…

B. Satan always has plans to tear down. 2 Chronicles 22

And those plans are always to tear down and not build up.

And Ezra is teaching us that…

C. God always wins. 2 Chronicles 23

The Athaliahs of our world may rule for a while, but never forever. Weeping may remain for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

And morning is coming.

Say that after me: The morning is coming!

Say it like you mean it: The morning is COMING!

TRANS

That’s the vertical lesson of our story. It explains the spiritual dimension of our condition and why it all seems so much worse than it actually is.

On the horizontal plane, Ezra is teaching us that…

Success is determined by the company you keep. 2 Chronicles 24

Don’t miss this lesson: Jehoshaphat endangered the generations which followed by building an alliance with a Baal-worshiper. He didn’t know he was doing it. It seemed innocent to him at the time.

This may be why God spells it out so clearly in the New Testament when He says…

14 Do not be yoked together with those who do not believe. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? 15 What agreement does Christ have with Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? 2 Corinthians 6:14-16

On a practical level, Ezra is telling us:

A. Be careful who you marry. 2 Chronicles 18:1; 2 Corinthians 6:14

You don’t marry just a body,

● You marry a mind.

● You marry their beliefs.

● You marry their value-system.

And you don’t marry just a person, you marry into their family.

When Jehoram got Athaliah, he also got Jezebel and her Baal-worshiping priests and courtiers and all the evil that went with them.

Ezra is also encouraging us to line up all our partnerships with believers.

TRANS

He is also encouraging us to…

B. Always have a mentor. 2 Chronicles 24:17

The story of young king Joash is that young king Joash did well and walked with the Lord as long as he had the priest Jehoiada at his side.

Our story ends with 2 Chronicles 24:15 saying…

15 Jehoiada died when he was old and full of days; he was 130 years old at his death. 16 He was buried in the city of David with the kings because he had done what was good in Israel with respect to God and his temple. 17 However, after Jehoiada died, the rulers of Judah came and paid homage to the king. Then the king listened to them, 18 and they abandoned the temple of the Lord… 2 Chronicles 24:15-18

RECAP

Jehoshaphat made an alliance. As a result of that alliance, the lineage of David and the promise of Messiah were almost wiped out.

Satan is always working to defeat God’s plans. He never succeeds.

The story of Joash is the story of triumph from ashes. It’s a story of revival!

It’s also the story of two unsung heroes, who were not kings. One was a rescuer named Jehoshabeath, the other a mentor, named Jehoiada. They happened to be married to each other. Everyone needs a rescuer at some time, and everyone needs a mentor at all times.

This is the story of the war in heaven, and of relationships on earth.

And the moral of the story is, God always wins, so stay close to Him, and you will too.

In Jesus’ name, Amen!

AFFIRMATION

If you’re a Christian today, I hope you’ll affirm your whole-hearted commitment to the Lord by saying, “Lord, all I am is yours and all I have is yours.”

If you’re not yet a Christian, I hope you’ll give your life to the Lord today by saying, “Lord, all I am is yours and all I have is yours.”

Pray with me:

Lord, today, we are laying down every alliance in our lives that would keep us from being fully devoted to you.

We lay down that thing, whether it’s a habit, a hurt, a hang-up, an addiction, a relationship, or a false belief that keeps us from closeness to you.

Friend, right now, would you just pray this simple prayer out loud after me:

Lord, all I am is yours. All I have is yours.

Lord, all I am is yours. All I have is yours.

If you’re a Christian, say out loud, “I belong to the Lord.”

If you’re not yet a Christian say, “Today, I give my life to the Lord.”

If you prayed that second prayer, I hope you’ll tell somebody within the next three minutes. Jesus said, “If you will acknowledge men before me, I will acknowledge you before my Father in heaven.”