God has Power to Help and to Overthrow

Amaziah, king of Judah, spent $2,722,800 (100 talents of silver) to hire soldiers from the northern tribes of Israel. A man of God advised him, saying, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel.” He told him, “God has power to help and to overthrow.” The king asked about the spent funds. God’s man replied, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this.” Thanks to God’s grace, the king heeded the Lord's Word and the battle was won. [1]

Whether a king or not, it is good to heed God’s Word. God is always urging people to turn to Him via His messengers.

“Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood above the people, and said to them, ‘Thus says God: why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, He also has forsaken you.’” [2]

“Amen, brother Zechariah” should have been their response, but... “they conspired against him, and at the command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord.” [3]

King Joash forsook the Lord, AND he executed the son of the man who previously saved his life. “Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but killed his son; and as he died, he [the son] said, ‘The Lord look on it, and repay!’” [4]

King Uzziah “did what was right in the sight of the Lord. He sought God... and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.” [5]

God has commanded fathers to make His Word known to their children that they may “set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments.” [6]

Some fathers failed to do this. Their children “spoke against God.” “The Lord heard this and was furious,” “because they did not believe in God, and did not trust in His salvation.” [7]

“He cast on them the fierceness of His anger, wrath, indignation, and trouble, by sending angels of destruction among them.” [8]

One angel of God can destroy more than one hundred thousand of people in a moment. [9]

Drifting away from the Lord and forsaking Him is deadly serious matter.

The Lord “delivered His strength into captivity, and His glory into the enemy’s hand. He also gave His people over to the sword and was furious with His inheritance. The fire consumed their young men, and their maidens were not given in marriage. Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation.” [10] Thus, God can shut down a thriving nation in a moment depending on how they treat Him.

But when the people returned to Him: “The Lord awoke as from sleep, like a mighty man who shouts because of wine. And He beat back His enemies.” [11] He restored the land back to His people and made them to prosper once again.

This just didn’t happen before Christ came to earth. It also happened after He resurrected from the dead and ascended to heaven. In first century Thessalonia, a city in Greece...

“For from you [Thessalonians] the Word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything. For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” [12]

The key point of the prophets is to turn God. Only faith in His Son Jesus Christ saves souls from the greatest calamity – God’s wrath against sin. God keeps His promises. Jesus said, “A time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.” [13]

May the Lord grant us all the grace to believe His Word, turn to Him, and serve Him by calling those around us to believe in Him as well.

[1] 2 Chronicles 25:6-12
[2] 2 Chronicles 24:20
[3] 2 Chronicles 24:21
[4] 2 Chronicles 24:22
[5] 2 Chronicles 26:3-5
[6] Psalm 78:5-7
[7] Psalm 78:19, 21-22
[8] Psalm 78:49
[9] 2 Kings 19:35; 1 Chronicles 21:15; see also Revelation
[10] Psalm 78:61-64
[11] Psalm 78:65-66
[12] 1 Thessalonians 1:8-10
[13] John 5:28-29