Tues.’s Devo - The Spirit of Power and Greed

Read: 2 Chron. 19-23
Jehoshaphat had a weakness of befriending the wrong kind of person. He was rebuked for aligning with Ahab, an enemy of the Lord. But he was approved of all the good things he had done for the Lord and encouraged to continue following God. When the children of Moab, Ammon and Seir came a against him, he gathered the people to praise the Lord and call out to him. God caused Moab and Ammon to fight the people of Mt. Sir until they all died. Then the people of Judah went out and plundered them and gained great treasure. It was a great victory to win a battle they didn’t even have to fight!
In the end of Jehoshaphat’s reign, he aligned himself with Ahaziah king of Israel who, like Ahab, was wicked. They were going to build ships together. God had already rebuked him for doing this very thing. The ships all broke and it was a failed venture and probably led to his death. He left his oldest son Jehoram to rule in his place. He put his other sons over cities and gave them great gifts. Once Jehoram had established his kingdom, he killed all his brothers so they wouldn’t rise up against him. Jehoram was a wicked king.
Because he rebelled against God, God sent a plague to the people and a digestive illness to him which would cause his bowels to fall out eventually. On top of that, God stirred up the Philistines and the Arabians against him. They came and took his wives, sons, and all this treasures. Only his youngest son, Ahaziah was saved. He was also evil and made friends with Jehoram, Ahab’s son and king of Israel. This led to his death by Jehu, who had come to kill all Israel.
Jehoram’s mother, Athaliah reigned in his place and killed all the king’s son except for Joash who was hid in the house of the Lord for six years. Jehoiada, the elderly priest planned a coop to make Joash king. When the people all yelled, “God save the king.” Athaliah heard it and came running. They surrounded her and took her outside and killed her.
The Kings and Chronicles are full of power-hungry, greedy kings who rebelled against God. Sometimes there would arise a king who follow the Lord. It is such a picture of our world. Power and greed have always been the downfall of mankind. It is the spirit of the anti-christ. Lord, may we, the Church, not fall under this spell of power and greed but stay humble and pure.