25:2 - By living in hypocrisy...living a dual-life spiritually, Amaziah was setting himself up for later failure in life. Things never go well when we don't attempt to give ourselves wholly to God.
25:12 - This seems strange to me - why not just kill them? Why march them up to the top of a cliff and push them off? Is it so they can keep the blood off their own hands? Although either way, they are bringing about the death of their enemies. I don't know - what do you think?
25:14 - This is absolutely absurd! They destroy the people of Seir and then bring idols of the false gods of the people they just destroyed back to worship? What in the world was he thinking? The prophet asks the same question in verse 15 - "Seriously, you're worshipping the gods of the people you just destroyed?" What would be a modern equivalent to this? The first thing that came to mind was religious leaders or politicians that say they have strong feelings on things like - family values, homosexuality, porn, etc...and then end up falling into those sins. What do you think?
25:17 - He probably wants to fight the Israelites because of what happened in verse 13, but unfortunately he started worshipping idols in between and gets his butt kicked.
26:15/16 - It ends verse 15 with, "he was strong." This is actually a dangerous term by which to be described. This means that Uzziah and his people are starting to see Uzziah himself as a source of strength...not God. He built up so much human wealth and power that he starts to believe that he is the reason for the success of the kingdom. Oops. We see in verse 16 that his pride ends up leading to his destruction as he arrogantly walks into the temple to perform the duties only priests could do and gets leprosy.
28:9/13-ff - The people of Israel, who are usually described as the truly idolatrous group in the split between God's people actually choose to listen to a prophet from God. They see that they have dishonored God through their idolatry and do not want to bring any more shame on their heads by enslaving their own Hebrew brothers and sisters. In fact they treat them very generously - they feed them, clothe them, fix their wounds and escort them back to Jericho. On an interesting side note - where do the people return after they have helped their enemies? Samaria. Jesus may have been drawing some on this story when he speaks of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25ff. The real question is - who are your enemies...and what are you doing to treat them with honor?
2 comments:
25:2- this is a problem in my life also. Sometimes I feel like I'm trying to just appease God to have a clean conscious.
25:12- was there a town at the bottom of the cliff? the only thing that comes to mind is they used it as a way to send a message to their enemies.
25:14- The whole deal about apathy describes this pattern quite nicely. We think we have defeated our sin at a retreat or a CIY, but we go back to our old lives in a matter of weeks or months. Its not like an instantaneous process though, it sort of gradually coaxes us back in as the spiritual high wears off. Its a nasty thing, but it sort of helps us relate to the israelites. We're just like them in different ways.
26:3-4: 16 years old and he becomes a king?? Normally I'd say thats a recipe for disaster... was that a regular occurrence back then?
25:12 - Good thought - could be.
26:3-4 - It was pretty common. You have to remember, kids weren't treated by then like they are today. Most kids were already full-time workers in the family trade by 16. And when your average life span is 40, 16 is like being a 40 year old today.
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