06/12 Compass Guide Comments By Dr. Daniel Daves

12-Jun 2 Kings 23-25, Luke 11-12, Psalms 61-65, Proverbs 12

2 Kings 23:12-16 (NIV) 12 He pulled down the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts of the temple of the Lord. He removed them from there, smashed them to pieces and threw the rubble into the Kidron Valley. 13 The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption--the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the people of Ammon. 14 Josiah smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones.  15 Even the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin--even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also. 16 Then Josiah looked around, and when he saw the tombs that were there on the hillside, he had the bones removed from them and burned on the altar to defile it, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by the man of God who foretold these things.

God had issued a final decree of judgment against Judah and Jerusalem because of his fierce anger against Mannasseh who had carried on his grand father's evil ways.  By this time the false gods, high places, and gods, gods, gods, everywhere - had piled up so high that God promised in His wrath that He would not relent and He would not forgive!

In the midst of God's prophetic word against Judah and Jerusalem, Josiah is given rulership over the kingdom.  He tears his robes, weeps for his people, and intercedes in all repentance.  He renews the covenant with God in the temple and vows to walk and live for God.  He then goes throughout the entire land, kills any wicked priest, defiles and desecrates every false altar, and he destroys any place that could possibly abort children.  Josiah was an awesome man of God who used his capacity to cleanse the land.  There was no other king like him, who tried to right the wrongs of ALL of the wicked kings before him.  He was like the RESET BUTTON for all the slow cooked wickedness that had built throughout the generations.

BUT GOD!   Amazingly enough, God refused to relent from His judgment.  He swore an oath and stuck to it, that he would totally destroy Jerusalem and Judah, period!  He gave mercy towards Josiah so that Josiah would not see the destruction with his own eyes.  BUT the destruction was still coming!

If there was ever a generation to be alive in those days, it would be anyone who lived during Josiah's period.  Standing with King Josiah and his covenant with God would cause judgment to be postponed off of your generation.  But it would indeed get ugly for the upcoming generations.  For anyone who knew what was coming, there was time given to make movements, move away from the place of judgement, get to safety, etc.  But I'm sure that those preppers were far and few between - though I have no doubt that certain people were able to make movements and arrangements to get to safety before the destruction came.

After Josiah's reign, which ended in death on the battlefield against Pharaoh, things got bad.  The kings returned to wickedness and the hell on earth began for them.  Bands of raiders, kings and armies began to attack, pillage, and drag away the kings, gold, and the people.  By the end of chapter 25, Israel had been cast from God's presence and the story was over.  So much for "the kings".  God had set up judges, but the people demanded a king.  Their trial and error ended in total dismantling of all that God had given them.

I thought I'd comment today on the FINALITY OF GOD'S JUDGMENT.  People today think that God is like a man who will change His mind because of compassion and sympathy.  But we must know that God is JUST.  He is not sympathetic and not led by His emotions.  He rules in righteousness and justice.  Yes, His mercies are new every morning, but He does not misuse mercy.  Rather, it is built in to who He is, and can be defined and predicted as He IS IS IS the God of mercy and justice.

When God issues a judgment, that's it. Case settled, decision final. I want to make an absolute case for JESUS CHRIST, SON OF GOD, THE ONLY WAY, TRUTH, LIFE, AND DOOR TO HEAVEN.  The lines of demarkation are getting very fuzzy in this day and age as men are moving ancient boundary stones, men are mis-representing God and His Word, and they are trying to reason within themselves how God may have mercy on poor sinners who have no plans of honestly coming before Him in repentance, or giving their lives to His Son Jesus.

The world is demanding "multiple ways" to Heaven outside of God's way, and they want diversity, and the erasing of all lines that make "the way" clear.  We will probably come to a day where it will be illegal and a "hate crime" to tell the truth, to stand with God's lines of demarkation, etc.  There is a famine for truth these days, and it seems that those who tell the truth are considered terrorists rather than people of greatness.  When tellers of truth become terrorists, you know that the devil is running the show.  Because truth is the devil's most terroristic nightmare, ripping his fraud, lies, and evil schemes to shreds as he is dragged into the light for all to see.

Some of God's judgments that cannot be revoked:

1.  God's judgment upon Adam, to remove him from the garden forever, dust to dust, it's the end of the line for the adamic race (mankind).  Only in Christ, and in death of adam, can a man live again, born again, fresh and new in the Kingdom of God, fully restored.  The mind of man, flesh, old adam is emnity against God.  Adam cannot be saved. He must die.  There is no way out of this judgment, though man would like to figure a way to live forever without God.  This non revokable judgment gives power and strength to the need for Jesus.  He is the only way, truth, and life and no man comes to the Father or to eternal life except THROUGH HIM!  Death, burial, resurrection.  Until that happens, the only future a man has to face is judgment, dust to dust, and death.

2.  The law of sowing and reaping.  What a man sows is what he will reap, period.  We are spiritual farmers, sowing seed every day from the moment we wake up until we go to sleep at night.  God is not mocked.  You and I are going to reap what we've sown.  This law is non revokable, and should scare the tarnation out of us!  The FEAR/RESPECT of God is a good thing, and is a constant reminder of why we should sow righteousness and life every step of the way.

People these days are trying to fuzz and change the lines of demarkation.  Don't give in to them.  You may be the only fish swimming upstream against all the others headed down stream.  But you also know that the road to life is narrow.  Why is it narrow? Because the lines are drawn for the edges of the road, and it takes attention to stay inside the lines.  The world's idea of a road/path to life is a wide road, really wide.  But a road that's as wide as the world wants ends up being like the El Paso, OK tornado in 2013 that registered 2.6 miles wide and an F6 category - the strongest and largest tornado in recorded history.  Now that's a wide path of destruction!

God is sovereign, and His laws cannot be revoked.  The best way to stay within His framework for your life is to read His Word every day and be changed by it.  Submit to His Word, meaning that you respect and understand that His way is the only way.  His righteous decrees are solid, and His promises are as good as gold.  He can be trusted - period!  COMPASS GUIDE will help you in your daily quest to submit under God's mighty hand.  Join us every day in reading 2 Old Testament, 2 New Testament, 5 Psalms and 1 Proverbs chapter in the bible.  You will read the entire bible through in one year, and you will jam pack your soul with the thoughts and patterns of King David and King Solomon - 12 times per year!  

The Word of God will change you, just as fire changes gold, silver, and precious stones! And don't worry about houses built out of wood, hay and stubble.  With the fire of God's Word in your life, you will effectively burn anything down made of those materials, by simply standing close to them.  While this may make some people uncomfortable, it will keep you walking in God's eternal pathway of righteousness and blessing!  

Tomorrow's Reading:
13-Jun 1 Chronicles 1-2, Luke 13-14, Psalms 66-70, Proverbs 13