2 Kings – Chapter 15

And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. 2 Kings 15:28 – Within this short chapter we see the reign of five different kings of Israel, and each reign was plagued with treachery. One reigned for six months doing evil in God’s eyes, one killed the previous king and reigned for a month before being assassinated himself, one reigned for ten years and established his reign by terrorizing cities and slaughtering those in it. While so many different kings, different lengths of reigns, and even different avenues they became king, we see something stayed consistent throughout the years…sin. Likely if you’ve been reading along with me you seen that phrase “He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam” many times. Jeroboam was the king that made idolatry an acceptable practice within the kingdom, even something the government sponsored to make happen. That choice lead to generations of kings who fell into the trap of idolatry themselves and led the northern kingdom of Israel into generations of sin. While not a new message for these devotions, the consequences are repeated enough in scripture that we ought to repeat the teaching. Your choices with sin will impact more than just you. Maybe generations of kings won’t follow in your footsteps, but your family and your church and your community around you will feel the weight of your choice to sin. And while it’s likely not your intent, be aware that some may follow your lead into sin. Be aware of how your sin can lead not only you away from intimacy with God, but how it can even lead someone from never placing their faith in God to begin with. Choose to love those around you by hating sin. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3081

He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. 2 Kings 15:2 – Granted, what we see happening here in chapter 15 isn’t always the case when it comes to the kings in the Old Testament, but take a look at the length each of them reigned? We have one lasting 52 years and another king that’s talked about in this chapter lasting only a month. What’s the difference between these two other than their length of reign? One followed God and the other didn’t. We see God blessing the reign of the king who followed after Him and we see the turmoil in the life of the king who didn’t follow God. Of course there is more to both stories, and this isn’t always the case with these kings, but this chapter does bring out a point for us. God blesses those who follow Him while also allowing those who don’t follow Him to experience what they are chasing after. Does God still allow those who follow Him to go through pain? Of course, check out verse five for proof of that. What we see though is God giving to those who give their life to Him. Remember, those who chose to follow God never regret the end destination He leads them to. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 386

In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah the son of Amaziah, king of Judah, began to reign. He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. 2 Kings 15:1-3 – Don’t underestimate what God can do with a faithful life. While we don’t get many details on Azariah’s life, we do get some and we do see some of the effects. We see that he stayed faithful through struggles in his own life and faithful even when all the other kings around him weren’t. We see as a result of his faithfulness his own son became a faithful king after him. We don’t though read about if people followed God as a result of his faithfulness, what we do know is that due to his choice to follow God Judah had faithful leaders for a period of 68 years. That’s something God used. He also uses your faithful life to. While it may not seem like it today, don’t underestimate what God can do with your life when you day after day choose to continue following Him. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1038

Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him and struck him down at Ibleam and put him to death and reigned in his place…Then Menahem the son of Gadi came up from Tirzah and came to Samaria, and he struck down Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria and put him to death and reigned in his place. …And Pekah the son of Remaliah, his captain, conspired against him with fifty men of the people of Gilead, and struck him down in Samaria, in the citadel of the king’s house with Argob and Arieh; he put him to death and reigned in his place….Then Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah and struck him down and put him to death and reigned in his place, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah. 2 Kings 15:10, 14, 25, 30 – In the time span of a few decades of history the nation of Israel went through king and king after king. And notice the reasoning for many of the changes of leadership. Conspiracy and murder. This was how their reign began and it existed through worship of false gods. What then can you and I take away from a study of this passage? How you begin your journey and how you walk on your journey will determine how you end your journey. For them, their start was unholy, their walk was unholy, and then their end was tragic. We too have started sinful and unholy and we too have begun our walk through life following sin. If nothing were to change, our end would be tragic. Forever separated from God in Hell. But we can make a change in our steps. We can choose to follow Jesus today. Each day is an opportunity to follow Jesus and each day we must make that choice to remain committed to Him. While yes, some of these stories from 2 Kings feels so disconnected from where we are today, the choice to do evil or what is right in God’s eyes is the same for us as it was from them. Choose the path of faithfulness to God and see your story find a faithful end. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2221