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Speaker 1: I'm John Stanghy, and today we're in Second Chronicles, chapter fifteen,
Speaker 1: and we'll be reading from the contemporary English version. Sometime later,
Speaker 1: God spoke to Azariah, son of Odead. At Once. Azariah
Speaker 1: went to Asa and said, listen to me, King Asa,
Speaker 1: and you people of Judah and Benjamin. The Lord will
Speaker 1: be with you and help you as long as you
Speaker 1: obey and worship him, but if you disobey him, he
Speaker 1: will desert you. For a long time, the people of
Speaker 1: Israel did not worship the true God or listen to
Speaker 1: priests who could teach them about God. They refuse to
Speaker 1: obey God's law. Whenever trouble came, Israel turned back to
Speaker 1: the Lord their God and worshiped him. There was so
Speaker 1: much confusion in those days that it wasn't safe to
Speaker 1: go anywhere in Israel. Nations were destroying each other, and
Speaker 1: cities were wiping out other cities because God was causing
Speaker 1: trouble and unrest everywhere. So you must be brave, don't
Speaker 1: give up. God will honor you for obeying him. As
Speaker 1: soon as Asa heard what Azariah the prophet said, he
Speaker 1: gave orders for all the idols in Judah and Benjamin
Speaker 1: to be destroyed, including those in the towns he had
Speaker 1: captured in the territory of Ephrium. He also repaired the
Speaker 1: Lord's altar that was in front of the temple porch.
Speaker 1: Asa called together the people from Judah and Benjamin, as
Speaker 1: well as the people from the territories of Ephrium, West Manassa,
Speaker 1: and Simeon who were living in Judah. Many of these
Speaker 1: people were now loyal to Asa because they had that
Speaker 1: the Lord was with him. In the third month of
Speaker 1: the fifteenth year of Ace's rule, they all met in Jerusalem.
Speaker 1: That same day. They took seven hundred bulls and seven
Speaker 1: thousand sheep and goats from what they had brought back
Speaker 1: from Gharar and sacrificed them as offerings to the Lord.
Speaker 1: They made a solemn promise to faithfully worship the Lord
Speaker 1: God their ancestors had worshiped, and to put to death
Speaker 1: anyone who refused to obey him. The crowd solemnly agreed
Speaker 1: to keep their promise to the Lord. Then they celebrated
Speaker 1: by shouting and blowing trumpets and horns. Everyone was happy
Speaker 1: because they had made this solemn promise, and in return,
Speaker 1: the Lord blessed them with peace from all their enemies.
Speaker 1: Ace's grandmother, Mikah, had made a disgusting idol of the
Speaker 1: goddess a Shira, so he cut it down, crushed it,
Speaker 1: and burned it in kidrinv Then he removed Makaw from
Speaker 1: her position as queen mother. As long as Asa lived,
Speaker 1: he was faithful to the Lord. Even though he did
Speaker 1: not destroy the local shrines in Israel. He placed in
Speaker 1: the temple all the silver and gold objects that he
Speaker 1: and his father had dedicated to God. There was peace
Speaker 1: in Judah until the thirty fifth year of ASA's rule.
Speaker 1: Let's pray, Lord, we thank you for your word, and
Speaker 1: we thank you for the privilege of being able to
Speaker 1: look at this portion of scripture and to be able
Speaker 1: to observe the faithfulness that Asa displayed toward you, and
Speaker 1: the fact that as the prophet spoke to him, and
Speaker 1: as the prophet revealed your will, that he and the
Speaker 1: people were willing to obey. Lord. Their hearts were tenderized
Speaker 1: to your will. They were made sensitive to your will.
Speaker 1: During that particular generation, and we pray Lord that you
Speaker 1: would do the same in our lives. And just as
Speaker 1: we see them getting rid of the ice that we're
Speaker 1: corrupting their idea of what true worship was, we pray
Speaker 1: Lord that we would take a good close examination of
Speaker 1: our lives, that we would look and see if there
Speaker 1: be anything that we're convinced will bring our hearts comfort
Speaker 1: apart from our faith in Jesus Christ, in the sense
Speaker 1: we start relying on those things more so than Christ,
Speaker 1: and start valuing those things more so than Christ. We
Speaker 1: know Lord that where you show us that we have idols,
Speaker 1: you call us to repent of them, to cast them aside,
Speaker 1: and to worship You truly and to worship you sincerely.
Speaker 1: And we're grateful Lord that you make that possible. So Lord,
Speaker 1: we pray that that would be the case in our
Speaker 1: life today. We pray that that would be true for
Speaker 1: us each and every day. And we thank you, Lord
Speaker 1: for your promises and for your presence with us, and
Speaker 1: for your love. We commit this day to your care,
Speaker 1: and we pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen.