Staying the course despite opposition and distractions

Nehemiah

Nehemiah received a vision from God to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem.

Before the work began, three enemies – Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem – mocked the Jews for “rebelling against the king.”

Nehemiah, the governor of Jerusalem, told them that God would grant the Jews success.

As the Jews built, Sanballat mocked them again.

The Jews prayed to God.

When the wall was half finished, Sanballat and Tobiah planned to fight against Jerusalem. At Nehemiah’s command, the Jews set up a defense.

Then Nehemiah discovered that wealthy Jews were over-taxing their kin, and ordered that practice to be stopped.

Next, Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem tried to seduce Nehemiah to stop building the wall with slick words. He wouldn’t bite.

Shemaiah, a prophet, then tried to convince Nehemiah to shut himself in the temple to protect himself against the Jews’ enemies. The governor saw through the ruse.

Despite all the opposition, the Jews built the wall in only 52 days.

Nehemiah had a plan and a purpose. He kept his eyes on the goal, and finished the job.

Moses

Moses, at about 80 years old, received a new commission from God: Return to Egypt and lead God’s people out of there. Once he realized God wasn’t changing his mind, he did as instructed.

Pharoah was not pleased. He made the Jewish slaves work even harder. The Jews got upset at Moses for interfering.

Moses, with encouragement from God, returned to Pharoah.

Ten plagues followed. Moses did not waver.

Eventually, Pharoah allowed the Jews to leave, then chased after them – and his army got drowned in the Red Sea.

Moses kept at it. God’s will was done.

So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being.

Deuteronomy 10:12-13

Noah

God told Noah to build an ark on dry land. Even though that made no sense, he did it anyway.

The ark saved Noah’s life, and the lives of his family.

Joseph

Joseph kept his eyes on God, even when his master’s wife tried to seduce him – and produced what she said was proof that he tried to seduce her. Without a trial, Joseph’s master tossed him in jail and left him there.

While in jail, Joseph interpreted the dreams of two other inmates. When they got out – one was killed, the other lived, as Joseph predicted – Joseph was forgotten.

Two years later, Joseph was released when Pharoah needed a dream interpreted – and no one could do it. Except Joseph.

During his years of down time in jail, Joseph talked with God and was ready when the time came for him to become a leader.

David

David’s son Absalom tried to kill him, as did King Saul – both of them knowing that David was God’s anointed successor to the throne. David had two chances to kill Saul. The people close to him urged him to do it. He would not.

David waited for God’s timing. He would not force the issue.

Eventually, David did become king.

Job

Job had everything of value taken from him – his wealth, family and his health.

Job’s response?

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

And then, this:

“Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Jeremiah

Jeremiah, one of many Old Testament prophets, had a singular message: Repent and turn to God, or he will punish you.

The Jews of his day didn’t want to hear that. No one likes their sins pointed out to them.

But Jeremiah offered hope. Repent, and God will forgive. If not, he will punish.

Truth is truth, whether anyone listens or not.

Jeremiah was imprisoned and tortured for preaching an unpopular message. He never stopped, even though very few people listened to him.

Daniel

Daniel was thrown into a lion’s den. His friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were tossed into a blazing hot furnace because none of them would worship the king. Instead, they worshiped God alone.

John the Baptist

John the Baptist angered King Herod and his wife for criticizing an adulterous marriage (Herod married his brother’s wife). John was imprisoned for that but would not soften his message. He knew truth.

John paid for that with his life.

Stephen

Ten of the 12 apostles were martyred for following Jesus. (Judas Iscariot hung himself, and John was exiled and likely died there.)

Stephen, a helper in the daily distribution of food for the apostles, was the first Christian martyr.

His last words as he died?

The same as Jesus’ response on the cross: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”

Paul

The apostle Paul, after his conversion, was shipwrecked, stoned, beaten, kicked out of many towns, starved, imprisoned … yet his faith never wavered.

Why?

“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Saints

Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to the faith of Jesus.

And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.”

Revelation 14:12-13

History teaches future lessons

Asa got off to a great start as king of Judah in Israel’s Old Testament days.

Earlier, Solomon had built an amazing, awe-inspiring temple to Israel’s God, but after he died, the kingdom split apart – Israel to the north, Judah to the south. Israel had no “good” kings who followed the living God. Judah did have some, but Asa’s father and grandfather were not among them.

For though it was just 20 years after the death of Solomon that Asa began to reign, yet very gross corruption had spread far and taken deep root.

Respect for leaders (or not)

The United States, while not specifically set apart and chosen by God the way Israel was, split apart from England in the 1700s. The U.S. has had presidents, not kings, most of whom have done good things for this country over the years.

The kings of Israel had more influence over their people than U.S. presidents do. The point of the U.S. system of government is to share power – among the executive, legislative and judicial branches, and between political parties (including independents and third parties at local levels).

The comparisons, therefore, aren’t perfect.

The people of Judah, for the most part, followed the words and example of their king, good or evil. We in the United States used to do that, electing new presidents every four (or eight) years if we didn’t agree with the direction he was taking our country.

Today, we don’t wait for the next election cycle to voice our opposition to our leaders. We certainly have the right to peacefully protest, but we’ve gone beyond that today to dis-respecting leaders we don’t agree with.

Such opposition proved deadly in ancient times; kings killed even their own family members if they felt competition from them.

Active peace

Asa, who became king of Judah in 910 BC and reigned for 41 years (1 Kings 15:10), did what was good and right in the sight of the Lord his God (2 Chronicles 14:2). He followed two evil kings – his father, Abijah, who ruled only three years, and his grandfather, Rehoboam, who was king when the kingdom of Israel was divided.

Asa took away the foreign altars and the high places, broke down the pillars, hewed down the sacred poles, and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and to keep the law and the commandment. He also removed from all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him.

2 Chronicles 14:3-5

While he had peace, Asa built fortified cities, preparing for future attack while he prospered. He didn’t get lazy and revel in his wealth, as some kings did, but strengthened the nation spiritually and militarily.

Asa also welcomed immigrants (from Israel and other tribes that had broken away) into his nation.

His line in the sand was this: Follow the living God, or die.

Residents and aliens faced the same law. God had blessed the nation, at this time and in many previous generations; Asa knew this, so he sought God’s protection and demanded the people’s obedience.

He gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who were residing as aliens with them, for great numbers had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. … They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and with all their soul. Whoever would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman. … for they had sworn with all their heart, and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around.

2 Chronicles 15:9-15

Asa had an army of 300,000 from Judah who carried shields and spears, and from Benjamin 280,000 men who carried shields and drew bows; all these were mighty men of valor.

Are we ready for battle?

It’s a good thing he prepared his army for future attack, because one came sooner rather than later. Ethiopia “came out against them” with an army of 1 million men.

Asa cried to the Lord his God, “O Lord, there is no difference for you between helping the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you.”

2 Chronicles 14:11

God defeated the Ethiopians.

Are we in the United States prepared to face an enemy attack?

We are militarily, but I’m not convinced we are spiritually.

We have turned COVID into a spiritual battle, even though we never should have done that. COVID is a virus, not a demon.

But COVID may have an unexpected effect on Christianity in America. As my pastor frequently bemoans, COVID has isolated us. Many Christians continue to stay home and watch Sunday services online – missing out on the blessings of fellowship and communion.

But is this nothing more than separating true believers from “social belongers,” in the words of one blogger?

Now that nonreligion, or even atheism, is more acceptable in America, social pressures against non-belief and non-attendance are relaxing. Thus, the actively religious will shrink to a core of true believers rather than those who belong without believing. As this process continues, it may become more difficult to recruit new switchers as the rump becomes increasingly composed of believers rather than social belongers. 

Eric Kaufmann
Institute for Family Studies blog

Perhaps it’s too early to make that case with Christians who continue to stay home because of COVID, since the pandemic isn’t over yet. But two years of staying home can change a lifestyle.

Meanwhile, Asa served God faithfully for most of his reign, but he did not finish well.

In the 36^th year of his reign, Asa bought an alliance with the king of Aram in a dispute with Israel, instead of trusting God to work things out. In the short run, the alliance worked, since Judah/Aram defeated Israel in battle.

Blaming the messenger

But a seer named Hanani called out King Asa for that, saying, “You have done foolishly in this; for from now on you will have wars” (2 Chronicles 16:9).

Asa got angry with the seer and punished the messenger for his message, putting him in prison. As a result, Asa got a disease in his feet, which afflicted him until he died.

In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but sought help from physicians.

2 Chronicles 16:12

We in the United States also frequently shoot the messenger – which, in our country, is the “media.” That’s all media is (are): reporters of information. We oppose certain information, so we blame the media that report it.

In Asa’s day, God was God and truth was truth. Asa didn’t like the critique he heard, so he blamed the messenger. But the message was true nonetheless.

Truth often doesn’t matter today, either. If the message doesn’t fit our narrative – whether it’s true or not – we blame the messenger.

Finishing well is hard

The life of King Asa is an example to us of how easy it is to drift away from the Lord. Asa began his reign with a strong commitment to God, but as years went by his dedication faltered, bringing unnecessary trouble.

I fear the United States is headed down the same path. We already are facing unnecessary suffering and death because we’ve drifted from truth. Our nation has turned away from God, in more ways than we realize.

Will a “king” like Asa or a prophet like Isaiah (or Hanani) come along soon to correct us? Will we listen if he/she does?

Or, like Israel did so many times, will we have to suffer the consequences of rejecting truth?