2 Crônicas 15

2 Crônicas 15

Meyer - We hear but little talk in the present day of the covenant, the mention of which was dear to God’s people of olden time. There is this difference between it and the covenants which we make with God. That is permanent, these evanescent. That is founded upon the oath and promise of God; these on the resolutions and endeavors of man. That is full of promises of what God will be and do; these recount what we are prepared to sacrifice and suffer. And though we sign them with blood drawn from our veins, they will disappoint and fail. Do not think too much of entering into and keeping a covenant with God; but remember that the Lord Jesus, on our behalf, has entered into covenant relation with the Father, and the Father with us in Him. This is the new covenant. It is drawn out at length in Hebrews 8. Very little is said about our side, but it is full to overflowing of God’s. Nothing is said of our fidelity to our obligations, because man has been too often weighed in the balances and found wanting; and because the Lord Jesus Christ, as our representative, has already fulfilled all the conditions of obedience and devotion on which its provisions depend. He has also graciously undertaken to realize those conditions by the Holy Spirit in us. Every time we put to our lips the cup of the new covenant, we humbly remind God of all He has promised, and ask Him to do as He has said. At the same time we may confidently ask the great Surety of the covenant to accomplish in us such a mind as may love and keep our Father’s law. And what He did for our fathers, who were naturally just such as we are, He will certainly do for us. QUESTION - What does it mean to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength? ANSWER - “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:4–5). This is known as the Shema, taken from the first word “hear” in Hebrew. Modern Jews consider the recital of the Shema both evening and morning to be one of their most sacred duties. It was cited by Jesus as the “greatest commandment in the Law” (Matthew 22:36–37). This command seems to be impossible to obey. That’s because, in the natural state of man, it is impossible. There is no greater evidence of the inability of man to obey God’s Law than this one commandment. No human being with a fallen nature can possibly love God with all his heart, soul, and strength 24 hours a day. It’s humanly impossible. But to disobey any commandment of God is sin. Therefore, even without considering the sins we commit daily, we are all condemned by our inability to fulfill this one commandment. This is the reason Jesus continually reminded the Pharisees of their inability to keep the Law of God. He was trying to get them to see their utter spiritual bankruptcy and their need for a Savior. Without the cleansing of sin that He provides, and the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit who lives in the hearts of the redeemed, loving God to any degree is impossible. But, as Christians, we have been cleansed from sin and we do have the Spirit. So how do we begin to love God the way we should? Just as the man in Mark 9:24 asked God to help his unbelief, so too we can ask God to help us in areas where we don’t love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. It is His power that we need to do the impossible, and we begin by seeking and appropriating that power. In most cases, our love and affection for God grows more intense as time goes by. Certainly, young Christians newly saved are very much aware of the love of God and their love for Him. But it is through the witness of God’s faithfulness during times of struggle and trial that a deep love for God grows and grows. Over time, we witness His compassion, mercy, grace, and love for us, as well as His hatred for sin, His holiness, and His righteousness. We cannot love someone we don’t know, so knowing Him should be our first priority. Those who pursue God and His righteousness, who take seriously the command to love Him above all else, are those who are consumed with the things of God. They are eager to study God’s Word, eager to pray, eager to obey and honor God in all things, and eager to share Jesus Christ with others. It is through these spiritual disciplines that the love for God grows and matures to the glory of God. GotQuestions.org Related Resources: What is the heart? | GotQuestions.org What is the human soul? | GotQuestions.org Do we have two or three parts? Body, soul, and spirit? Dichotomy or trichotomy? | GotQuestions.org 2 Chronicles 15:13 and whoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. whosoever: Ex 22:20 De 13:5-15 17:2-5 1Ki 18:40 whether small: Ge 19:11 Ex 12:29 De 29:18 Job 3:19 34:19 Ps 115:13 Ac 26:22 Rev 6:15 20:12 Related Passages: Exodus 22:20+ “He who sacrifices to any god, other than to the LORD alone, shall be utterly destroyed. Deuteronomy 13:6-10+ If your brother, your mother’s son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods’ (whom neither you nor your fathers have known, 7 of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end), 8you shall not yield to him or listen to him; and your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him. 9 “But you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. 10 “So you shall stone him to death because he has sought to seduce you from the LORD your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. Deuteronomy 17:2-7+ (IDOLATRY WAS PUNISHABLE BY DEATH) “If there is found in your midst, in any of your towns, which the LORD your God is giving you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, by transgressing His covenant, 3 and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the heavenly host, which I have not commanded, 4 and if it is told you and you have heard of it, then you shall inquire thoroughly. Behold, if it is true and the thing certain that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, 5 then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil deed to your gates, that is, the man or the woman, and you shall stone them to death. 6 “On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. 7 “The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. THE PENALTY FOR NOT SEEKING JEHOVAH And whoever would not seek (darash; Lxx = ekzeteo intense seeking) the LORD God of Israel should be put to death (stoning - but no evidence this was ever carried out), whether small or great, man or woman - To not seek Him implies that they would seek other gods (idolatry) and the penalty for idolatry was death (Dt 17:2-7+). Seek the LORD God is not just physically seeking Him, coming to the Temple, etc, but implies they would obey Him. 2 Chronicles 15:14 Moreover, they made an oath to the LORD with a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets and with horns. they made an oath: Ne 5:13 10:29 trumpets: Ps 81:1-4 Related Passages: Deuteronomy 29:12; 14 that you may enter into the covenant with the LORD your God, and into His oath which the LORD your God is making with you today, 14 “Now not with you alone am I making this covenant and this oath, Nehemiah 10:29 are joining with their kinsmen, their nobles, and are taking on themselves a curse and an oath to walk in God’s law, which was given through Moses, God’s servant, and to keep and to observe all the commandments of GOD our Lord, and His ordinances and His statutes; THE PEOPLE SWORE AN OATH TO YAHWEH Moreover, they made an oath (shaba; Lxx - omnuo) to the LORD with a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets and with horns - The covenant was confirmed with an oral affirmation, an oath, as in Dt 29:12, 14 and Neh 10:29. These reactions indicate the people were sincere, but the truth is that the fallen flesh cannot keep an oath to obey the LORD, so they eventually failed. Recall that oaths to God were taken seriously and often involved consequences for breaking them (Dt 29:10-15). This oath recalls the double promise Israel made at Mount Sinai "Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of the LORD and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the LORD has spoken we will do!”...."Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!” (Ex 24:3,7+) And of course they failed even when Moses delayed on Mt Sinai, quickly resorting to idolatry (golden calf)! Bob