The Path of Peace
Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, praises God and speaks of the Christ coming to lead us into the path of peace. We're not led through a doorway to peace, but onto a pathway upon which we're supposed to walk. Peace is not merely an emotion we're to enjoy or a state of existence with God. It defines a lifestyle we're called to live. David and his royal descendants illustrate with their lives the right ways that belong to the path of peace, and the wrong ways that can derail us. From Matthew 1:6-11.
Introduction
As we look forward to the Advent of Jesus, we need to remember that we’re not simply looking forward to the birth of a cute little baby. We’re looking forward to the arrival of God’s instrument to bring blessing on all peoples, as promised to Abraham. That blessing wasn’t just peace with God through the forgiveness of our sins, but to remake us into people who walk His Path of Peace. That has always been his goal and intention from the time man first fell.
Jesus’ genealogy from David to the exile teaches us much about the way we are supposed to live as recipients of God’s declaration of Peace, as well as potholes—sinkholes!—to avoid along the way. Like Abraham, David was given a promise that points us to the birth of Jesus. That promise brought expectations on David’s sons to honor the gift they’d been given by walking at peace with God.
That, my friends, is a picture of the Gospel: As I mentioned last week, how we live after receiving a knowledge of the truth determines our eternal destination. God is kind to all men, even those who do not believe in Him, but He expects those who claim to believe in His Son to walk in a way worthy of the Lord (Colossians 1:10). Otherwise, we insult the Spirit of grace and find ourselves once again at enmity with God, possibly even cut off from eternal life (Hebrews 10:26-31).
David and his sons have lessons to teach us, as we seek to understand how to walk at peace with God expects after “inheriting” His promise of peace.
David, the Standard
David was not the first king of Israel. That was Saul. Saul thought little of himself at first, which seemed like a good thing. But he didn’t learn to find his value in the love of God and submission to him. He was more concerned about what people thought. So he developed an annoying habit of adjusting or reinterpreting God’s instructions to suit himself and his followers—a dangerous practice any of us can fall into. Eventually, God rejected Saul and sought out “a man after His own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14).
This is a theme of God’s Word, and certainly a theme of the line of kings. God’s eternal blessing is for those who will do as He asks, in faith that the Lord knows what is good and right.
David was that man after God’s own heart. In his youth watching sheep or fleeing from Saul, David grew deeply in his love for and trust in the Lord.
At thirty years of age, David finally became king and began to enjoy rest once more. Settled in Jerusalem, his thoughts turned to providing God a place to rest. The ark of God had never been returned to the tabernacle since it was nearly lost in the days of Samuel. So he prepared a tent for the ark and brought it to him at Jerusalem, so that he could seek the Lord’s favor and enjoy His blessing. But he was ashamed that the ark rested in a tent, while he lived in a palace of cedar. His love of the Lord compelled him to build the Lord a glorious house, but the Lord refused.
Yet God was delighted by David’s devotion. 2 Samuel 7:11b-16 (NIV84) records His response to David:
"The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever." (emphasis added)
This is the promise and thesis of this second section of Jesus’ genealogy, “from David to the exile” as Matthew 1:17 defines. Did you hear the “forevers” and the “never”? David was promised that his throne and his kingdom would last forever. If his sons did wrong, God would punish them “with the rod of men,” but God would never take his love away from him.
Not unlike the Gospel! We’re offered a “forever” place with God, and a “never” taking away of His love. But did you catch the promise of discipline? Does that fit into the Gospel? There is a pathway of peace. Having entered onto it through the Gospel, we need to walk as it directs. We who believe in Jesus Christ are made perfect in Him, but we’re also called to live as He lived. Will God really discipline us for failing to walk in His ways? If He loves us, yes (Revelation 3:19).
We know that the kingdom was lost and to this day has not been recovered. Yet we as Christians are waiting expectantly for the King who will fulfill this promise and reign forever, not just over Israel, but over all the nations.
Did God break His promise then? Or is there something more for us to learn, regarding God’s promises?
What happens to someone who claims to believe in Jesus, yet doesn’t submit to the sanctifying work of the Spirit? What happens to someone who trusts in the promise to us through Jesus but refuses to be corrected by God through the “rod of men”?
Let’s see what answers David’s descendants give teach us.
David, Model of Repentance
Matthew brings up a painful but important reminder: Solomon’s mother was Bathsheba, the woman with whom David committed adultery. This was David’s most significant sin, and it brought many consequences. David at first worked to conceal the sin, eventually having her husband Uriah killed in battle and pretending nothing was out of the ordinary. But when confronted, he teaches us a valuable lesson: Confess the sin and renounce it, and you will find mercy (Proverbs 28:13). God forgave David and Bathsheba, but He took the life of the child conceived in their sin. He also promised that David would suffer many more consequences from within his own family. All told, he would lose three more sons and endure a civil war because of it.
But he would never grow bitter toward the Lord. He owned up to his sin and accepted God’s discipline. To the day of his death, he honored the Lord, justified Him and worshiped Him.
How do we do when confronted with our sin? Are we as quick to confess—and as thorough in our renunciation—as David was? Are we as completely humble as David so as to accept any and all consequences God chooses to bring into our lives, no matter how disastrous? This is the path that keeps us at peace with God.
Or do we resist and reject discipline? Do we think that forgiveness means there should be no consequences for our sin? Do we grow bitter against the “rod of men” He intends for our retraining? Do we grow bitter against God Himself? This is a dangerous sinkhole in our path.
Accepting Jesus as Savior means you admit you were guilty of sin, that there are significant things in your life that are wrong. But do you agree that you need to root them out? We quickly find that some come out more easily than others. But some require a much more effort, even the help of the “rod of men:” circumstances and people who bring trouble and grief into our lives so as to correct, rebuke, teach and train us in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16-17). How are you doing with the discipline God has brought into your life? Are you learning from it, growing in humility, accepting it as from God and as right for Him to bring into your life? Or are you chafing under it? Are you bitter against it? One response allows it to complete the work in you God intended; the other only brings further ruin.
Solomon, Flesh over Faith
Solomon was not the child of David’s sin with Bathsheba. He was their second child, and God sent a message to David that he should be called Jedidiah, because the Lord had a special love for him (2 Samuel 12:24-25). David appointed him as successor to the throne, rather than any of his older brothers.
Solomon was the son who built the Temple of the Lord, as God promised David.
Solomon was humble and wise enough to recognize that he was not qualified to lead Israel, so when the Lord offered him whatever he asked, he asked for wisdom. And because of that, God also promised him everything he didn’t ask for: riches, honor and long life—if he walked in God’s ways! (1Ki 3:4-14; 2Chr 1)
Unfortunately, Solomon also had a weakness for foreign women, to put it mildly. Unlike the foreign women we discussed last week, Solomon did not require his wives and concubines to give up their gods when he brought them into his land and house. Instead, he accommodated their ancestral worship and made shrines for them to serve their gods. This was in direct violation of God’s commands (1Ki 11:1-13), and it became a stumbling block not just to him, but to all the people of Israel. See the danger?
As a consequence, God promised to tear the kingdom from him—but not all of it, in honor of His promise to David. The sons of David would retain Judah, which included Simeon and parts of Benjamin, while the ten northern tribes would rebel and establish their own kingdom of Israel. And he would delay the judgment until the reign of Solomon’s son.
God did bring direct discipline into Solomon’s life, but Solomon didn’t receive it. Unlike his father David, Solomon tried to destroy those God sent to rebuke him.
Solomon began wonderfully, led his kingdom into incredible blessedness, then faltered into unrepentance. Will we see him in eternity? I cannot say for sure. It is not how we begin that matters, but how we finish. And Solomon seems to have finished badly.
His life, sadly, highlights a huge pothole in our path. We have been told not to bind ourselves together with unbelievers—whether in marriage or business partnership or any other relationship that gives unbelievers undo influence over us (2 Corinthians 6:14-18). Have we invited godless influences into our lives, contrary to God’s clear instruction? Do we enjoy things that God speaks against? How do we respond to God’s correction? Do we admit that the Lord is right and we are wrong, and make changes to conform to His will? Or do we resist, even attack those whom God uses to warn us?
Do not kid yourself into thinking that you can live in sin as a believer in Jesus and still be saved. The Apostle John says otherwise (John 3:4-10, NIV84):
Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he (Jesus) appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
Rehoboam and his Buddies
Solomon put his pleasures first and brought trouble on the kingdom, dumping the consequences on his own son.
Rehoboam’s father was the wisest man on earth, but did he train his own son to walk in Wisdom? More likely, as was the custom in those days—and today!—Rehoboam was handed over to others to train and ended up imprinting on his peers rather than the older, wiser men in his life. Another car-swallowing pothole in our way.
So how did Rehoboam fulfill God’s promise to split the nation in two? When the people of Israel who had been building all of Solomon’s projects came and asked him for some reprieve, Rehoboam ignored the advice of the elders and listened to the “young men” he grew up with. Their advice? Threaten them with how much more powerful you are than your father!
That did it! So the northern tribes rebelled and established their own kingdom.
Rehoboam’s son put it this way: “Some worthless scoundrels gathered around him and opposed Rehoboam son of Solomon when he was young and indecisive and not strong enough to resist them” (2 Chronicles 13:7, NIV84). “Young and indecisive and not strong enough to resist them.” He was 41 years old! According to 2 Chronicles 10:8, those “worthless scoundrels” were “the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him”!
Rehoboam learned something of a lesson from the experience, because Scripture testifies that he and the people of Judah walked in David and Solomon’s (good) ways for three years. Until he had confidence to lead the kingdom according to his own wisdom.
Then he patterned his rule after the bad years of his father Solomon. He allowed, even encouraged, all kinds of idolatry and immorality, worse than his fathers before him. Faithful to His promise to discipline David’s sons with the “rod of men,” God brought Pharaoh against him. Pharaoh looted the city and the temple (maybe this is when the ark went to Egypt, where Indiana Jones found it!).
2 Chronicles 12:12 (NIV84) says, “Because Rehoboam humbled himself, the LORD's anger turned from him, and he was not totally destroyed. Indeed, there was some good in Judah.”
Rehoboam humbled himself, though the damage was done. The Lord didn’t completely destroy him. He gained a reprieve, like his father Solomon, but it doesn’t sound like he really got it. Two verses later, the chronicler adds: “He did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the LORD” (2 Chronicles 12:14, NIV84). And that’s a warning to us.
Are we just in this Christian-thing for some far-off benefits or because we recognize through and through that the Lord is God and worthy of all our heart and all our life? Are we set on seeking the Lord or just trying to keep Him happy and off our back?
If the latter, then we’re probably making the same mistakes as Rehoboam. We consider the advice of the “scoundrels” we grew up with as better than the elders who honor God. We get humbled and make some attempts at honoring and obeying God, but the truth is that we find more pleasure in the ways of the world than in the ways of God. We’re closer to suffering complete destruction than we realize.
Will you be saved? Perhaps. By the skin of your teeth. Jesus didn’t die for you to save you like a branch plucked from the fire. He died and rose again to give you an entirely new life of righteousness and the ability to live it! Be whole-hearted in gratitude and determination to know Him and walk in His ways; this makes for peace.
Abijah was There
Rehoboam had a son, Abijah, who like his father was a mixed bag. According to 1 Kings 15, he was not fully devoted to the Lord, but committed all the sins of his father. There is reason to believe that his mother, Maacah, daughter of Absalom, was a source of stumbling to Rehoboam and to their son, Abijah.
Mom, Dad, your influence on your children is greater than you realize. Are you half-hearted toward the Lord? They will likely be quarter-hearted at best. Do you value the advice of unbelievers, of younger, less-wise people over the advice of older, wiser, God-fearing people? They will more. Is your spouse an unbeliever? Your children will be sorely tempted to follow in those funner ways of God-less-ness.
There is a way that leads to life, and a way that leads to death (Matthew 7:24-27; Proverbs 14:12).
Yet somewhere along in his reign, he had the courage when attacked by the northern kingdom of Israel to trust in the Lord. He even rebuked the Israelites for turning away from the Lord and reminded them that Judah still served the Lord in accordance with His Law.
Was there repentance? Was there a true turning to God? Or was he just “tossing God a bone” to save his skin?
1 Kings 15:4-5 (NIV84) says this: “Nevertheless, for David's sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up a son to succeed him and by making Jerusalem strong. For David had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not failed to keep any of the LORD's commands all the days of his life--except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.”
We can be sure that Abijah received mercy because of the faithfulness of his father David, because God wanted to preserve David’s line. God needed to preserve it in order to bring the promised Messiah, as He intended. Enjoying God’s favor because of a godly ancestor or so that God can bring into existence a descendant He desires to glorify does not mean you are beloved. Or saved. Instead, you’re more like a speed bump on the highway of God’s eternal plan.
You don’t want to be a “necessary evil.” That’s of no benefit to you. You want to be the one devoted to God, whom He desires to honor, who sets a righteous example for your own children and others to follow.
Asa got Angry
And that brings us to Asa. Finally, someone who gets it! 1 Kings 15:11 says “he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as his father David had done”! That’s a first. We haven’t seen anyone like this since David himself!
He drove out the male shrine prostitutes. He got rid of all the idols his father made. He deposed his grandmother, Maacah, because she was worshiping Asherah! She was a wicked influence in her family!
A huge force of Cushites and others came against him, at least double the size of his own army. But he trusted God and God gave him victory! A word came from the Lord to encourage him: “The LORD is with you when you are with him” (2Chr 15:2). That’s a good word for us: The Lord is with us when we are with Him. He doesn’t blindly bless everything we do; He blesses the things we do in obedience to Him.
Asa didn’t hear that and kick back and coast! He redoubled his efforts to devote Judah to the Lord. Everything he touched was golden!
Then the northing kingdom of Israel threatened him, and instead of trusting in God like before, he turned to the ways of men. He used his own treasure and the treasure from the Lord’s house to buy aid from the king of Aram, and it worked! Aram attacked Israel and Israel withdrew from Judah.
We all make mistakes. We all stumble at some point. God graciously sent another prophet to correct him. This is where we get that famous line from 2 Chronicles 16:9 (NIV84): “For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” But that’s not all the verse says. It goes on: “You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.”
Praise God for correction! Right?
Sadly, no. Asa imprisoned the prophet and started oppressing some of the people. He refused to repent. He attacked those who tried to help him recognize his error and get right with God.
So God turned up the heat: A few years later, he became severely diseased in his feet. Unfortunately, he grew even more embittered against the Lord and refused to seek His help, turning only to the doctors. Two years later, he died.
He began very well, loving and trusting the Lord and lead others to walk in God’s ways. He loved hearing from God’s servants that he was doing well. But when he did wrong and God’s servants rebuked him, that he wouldn’t tolerate. He was just doing what all the other kings did all the time! How could he be wrong? God was too demanding, so he would give him nothing more!
To his own hurt, not God’s. And to the harm of his people.
In our walk with God, if you or I are called out for something that everyone else seems to get away with, how will we respond? Do we love the Lord more than anything else and will listen carefully to obey Him? Or will we justify ourselves and get angry at those who expect more from us? Will we get angry at God for asking more of us than He seems to ask of others? Is there a limit to what we’re willing to give to the Lord or give up for Him? That’d be a terrible pothole to have end our journey.
Jehoshaphat's Big Heart
Jehoshaphat was a true hero to Judah. He did all the right things that his father Asa had done, removing idols and the worship of other gods from the land. He sent judges and teachers throughout Judah to teach the people to walk in God’s ways.
Like his father before him, he trusted in God to defeat a huge army coming against him, and this time without them having to do a thing!
He had only one fault, and it was a fault: He loved those who hated God (2 Chronicles 19:1-3). He made an alliance with the wicked kings of the north, specifically Ahab, whose wife was Jezebel. A prophet warned him that the wrath of God was upon him, although there was some good in him. He was cleansing the land and had set his heart to seek the Lord. Jehoshaphat proved it by not being offended, but increasing his efforts to teach the people of Judah the ways of the Lord.
Seems like an insignificant pothole.
But because of his love of those who hated God, he lost a fleet of ships because God was angry at his partnering with Ahab’s son, Ahaziah. More than that, he would lose at least two generations of his own family to the wickedness of Ahab and his family. All his amazing reforms would be undone by his own sons.
You and I may do amazing things for the Lord, but as we consider our walk with the Lord and the example we set and the influences we allow, do we love those who hate God? Do we ally ourselves with unbelievers?
Still think it’s not so bad?
God loves the world, right? So naturally we should too! But does He love the world the way we like to love the world? We think loving the world means accepting everyone as they are, in all their sin.
Yes, God loves people who are enslaved to sin. But He loves them such that He not only calls them out of their sin but provides the means by which they can turn away from their sin. He loves people, but if they will not repent and believe in His Son, He leaves them be, to their own eternal destruction. As we studied through Matthew, did you notice how often Jesus stopped to plead and cajole people into repenting? Did you notice how long He lingered with people who showed no interest in turning from their evil ways? Did you notice how harshly He rebuked those who thought they were on God’s side but by their deeds they made their disciples twice a son of hell?
Jesus loved the world, but anyone who didn’t listen to and obey Him remained in their sin, doomed to eternal destruction. He didn’t forever hang with them in hope of gradually winning them to faith in Him. He was far more cut-and-dried. He loved people, but if they didn’t respond to Him immediately, He moved on. If He lingered with anyone, it was those who believed Him. And those who believed, obeyed.
Is that how you and I love people? Nah. We want to coddle them and bless them and help them and be nice to them. We don’t want to correct or rebuke anyone. We don’t want them to feel bad about the bad things they’re doing. We want them to experience an unconditional love from us so that they realize God loves them unconditionally and they just naturally want to accept Him as their Savior. But not their God. Not someone who expects them to clean up their lives—because He took everything out of the way that hindered their obedience.
God doesn’t love people unconditionally, at least not how we understand it. He loves them in spite of themselves, yes! But He hates their sin. He hates that they refuse to honor Him as God. He has provided His only Son as payment for their rebellion and sin and called them to return to Him. He will not tolerate rejection of His Beloved Son!
So why do we? God’s wrath was on Jehoshaphat, but there was some good in him. Is that how you want to be characterized? God’s wrath is on you, but there’s some good in you.
Jehoshaphat thought it was more important to be united, because Israel and Judah were all one people! More important than keeping a distance because of Israel’s rebellion against God, more important than pleading with Ahab and his son to repent and return to the Lord.
As if flesh-and-blood relationship meant more than being of one spirit in Christ. Jesus Himself said, “Who is my mother and sister and brother? Those who do the will of my Father in Heaven” (Matthew 12:46-50).
Be careful who you love and how you love them. There is eternal tragedy ahead on that path. You may be able to keep God first, but your children and grandchildren will be confused by your example, become the best of friends with unbelievers and wonder why God would eternally torment such wonderful people, even though they care nothing about Him. A god who loves unconditionally cannot punish people with an eternal Hell, therefore, the God of the Bible can’t be real. They are now free to fashion a god after their own likeness. They are severed from Christ.
Conclusion
Sadly, that’s all we have time for today. But these kings are not done speaking to us.
Most of these kings misunderstood why they had come to the throne and what their responsibility was. They thought, as kings, they could rule in whatever way they desired. They owed their royal position to God’s commitment to David; they were expected to rule after David’s own example, in devoted obedience to God.
So many Christians make that same mistake, thinking that God’s promise through Jesus means we’re safe, no matter how we live afterward. But God’s promise to David came with a condition: David’s sons were to walk in God’s ways, just as surely as you and I were saved to walk in the likeness of Jesus Christ. God made peace with us, why would we provoke Him to wrath by how we live afterward?
Through this first set of David’s sons, we’ve seen many ways in which we can damage the peace God made with us. Who we love and admire most can either help us walk at peace with God or overthrow that peace. Are you tender-hearted toward God, such that if His Word or a faithful follower should point out something wrong, you will jump right on it and make the necessary changes? That’s the way of peace.
Is there something you heard this morning that you need to correct? Take a moment right now: Talk to God, make clear what needs to change and make a plan with Him to implement the change.