The 31st--Issue #6

Welcome to this sixth issue of The 31st! As you may recall, The 31st is a semi-regular column that I run on my blog, making an appearance on every 31st day of the months that do have a 31st day! :D Anyway, here's your dose of trivia:

Did you know...

• that a gyroscope is an instrument that uses rotation to create stable direction in space?
• that Guyana is a country in northern South America?
• that Johannes Gutenberg invented type mold, which made the modern printing press possible?
• that gulls are a type of bird often seen around large bodies of water?
• that Guinea is a country in western Africa?
• that the guanaco is an animal that lives in South America, and looks like a camel without a hump?
• that Grenada is an island country in the West Indies?
• that Civil War General U.S. Grant was President when the Suez Canal, connecting the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, was opened?
• that California is nicknamed, "The Golden State"?
• that the Gobi Desert, located in Mongolia and China, is the second-largest desert in the world? Only the Sahara is bigger.
• that Mercury astronaut John H. Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth? 
• that Georgia became the fourth state on January 2, 1788?
• that Gatun Lake is a man-made body of water on the Panama Canal?

That's all for this time! See you in July!

~Photobug

Jehoshaphat, Part 4

What's happening: While he does make some mistakes, Jehoshaphat king of Judah is a good king. He tries to follow God and please Him. For example, in times of peace Jehoshaphat is not lazy but stores up food and other essentials for when Jerusalem and Judah are attacked. He establishes a fair judicial system, rids his country of idolatry, and teaches his people about the one true God. God blesses Jehoshaphat for doing these things. 

It always seems that way, doesn't it? When we do something good for God--standing up for Him, boldly proclaim the message, etc.--Satan tries to discourage us by throwing a problem in our path. And so was the case with Jehoshaphat. He just recently set up a very fair and godly judicial system in Judah when messengers brought bad news:

"A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Dead Sea. It is already in Hazezon Tamar" ~2 Chronicles 20:2

Why don't you get out your Bibles right now? While I will be posting the important passages in this article, it's always nice to have the whole chapter in your hand, so you can look ahead, look at the context, and discover things that you wouldn't otherwise discover.

From what I can gather, this army--comprised of Moabites, Ammonites, and people from Mount Seir--were nations which the Lord did not allow Israel to invade as they made their way from Egypt to the Promised Land. From the above verse I conclude that these people resided on the eastern side of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. I did a tiny bit of research on where in the world Hazezon Tamar was, and found that some scholars think that this place was about 20 miles west-southwest of the Dead Sea. In any case however, when Jehoshaphat heard the news of the invading army, there was not much time at all. They were close.

Jehoshaphat responds in exactly the right way: he calls all his people together, and prays to God. Let's read Jehoshaphat's prayer, found in 2 Chronicles 20:6-12:

 “LORD, the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. Our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, ‘If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’

“But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them. See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance. Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

Truly, their eyes were on God. In this case it wasn't just one godly ruler praying to God; the entire nation had fasted for three days and now was waiting expectantly to see what God would do.

God didn't make them wait long. Soon, the spirit of the Lord came upon a  Levite named Jahaziel, and he said to all Israel:

“Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.’” ~2 Chron. 20:15-17

Wow. Wow! So God's saying, "Don't worry about fighting this battle. I'll take care of that. You just go out there and hold your positions. Watch Me at work!" Isn't that amazing? The battle truly belonged to the Lord.  You can imagine the excitement and high morale among the troops the next morning as Jehoshaphat gave them a few last words of cheer. Then they were off, with previously appointed singers going out in front of the soldiers, and singing at the top of their lungs:

"Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever" ~2 Chron. 20:21

Jehoshaphat and his army marched to the place where God has told them to go. When they finally came to the overlook from which their could see their enemy's camp, not a soul was alive. Before the soldiers had gotten there, God had set an ambush for their enemies. God made the men from Ammon and Moab start killing the men from Mount Seir, and when they finished off the Mount Seir folk, they started killing each other! So when Jehoshaphat and his army reached the camp of the Ammonites, the Moabites, and the Mount Seir-ites, they didn't have to fight at all. God had come through on His promise. He had won.

It took three whole days for Jehoshaphat and his soldiers to carry off all the plunder from their enemies' camp. Many items of great value were acquired, and through it all, these people praised God even more.

The battle truly belonged to the Lord. All they had to do was wait and watch Him at work.

~     ~     ~

This story has always been near and dear to my heart, especially because I can relate to it. There have been times in my own life when people, situations, or other problems loom larger than life, and seem bigger than I could deal with myself. I've turned these monsters over to God, and it's been absolutely amazing to watch Him at work. He slays these monsters, He wins these battles, and all I've had to do is wait, watch, and praise. God is awesome! 

What about you? Have you ever had a problem that's too big to handle alone? Maybe you have one right now. Tell God about that problem. Give it to Him, and listen closely for what He wants you to do. Perhaps all you may have to do is wait and watch, and see God's power in action! Remember, after all, the battle is the Lord's. All you gotta do is follow His marching instructions!

Jehoshaphat, Part 3

What's happening: Last week we talked about how bad the kings of Israel (the northern kingdom) were. Jehoshaphat, king of Judah (the southern kingdom) usually follows God very well, but he is still human.

When Jehoshaphat followed God, God blessed him beyond measure. God gave Judah's king power, glory, riches, honor, fighting men, and much, much more. From what I've deducted, Judah (only 2 tribes) had many more fighting men than Israel (10 tribes). I don't know that for sure, but I do know that when Ahab king of Israel contemplated going to war with the king of Aram, he didn't want to go alone.

Oh that's right...do you still have your Bibles with you? If not, you might want to go grab one. I'll be posting the key passages in this article, but it's really a whole different experience to actually read the complete chapter or passage for yourself in an actual book. You might gain insights that you normally might not get!

So let's check out 2 Chronicles 18:1-3:

Now Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honor, and he allied himself with Ahab by marriage. Some years later he went down to see Ahab in Samaria. Ahab slaughtered many sheep and cattle for him and the people with him and urged him to attack Ramoth Gilead. Ahab king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “Will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead?”

I must admit, when I first read this passage, I was quite surprised. Why in the world would Jehoshaphat ally himself with Ahab, and especially by marriage? I did some research on the subject, and found out how it all worked: Jehoram (Jehoshaphat's prince son) married wicked Athaliah, daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. Do I need to explain any more....?!! No wonder Jehoram was such a rotten king (see 2 Chronicles 21:4-20). I'm contemplating writing a devotional on this sad story someday. Jehoram came to quite an unpleasant end...but at the same time, is quite comical too!

OK, but back to Ahab and Jehoshaphat! So these guys are already allianced by marriage, and one day Ahab calls Jehoshaphat to a grand feast. Ahab, charistically, slaughtered many animals and made everything as cozy as he could for Jehoshaphat. When Jehoshaphat's brain wasn't exactly working the best, when Judah's king was perhaps a bit deluded, Ahab slyly popped the question: "Will you help me go fight my enemies?"

Jehoshaphat answered, in essence, "Oh sure, Ahab! Consider my men your men. Let's go fight together!" Jehoshaphat still had some rationale, however, and so he asked Ahab to ask of God what they should do.

So the king of Israel brought together the prophets—four hundred men—and asked them, “Shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I not?” ~ 2 Chron. 18:5

The (false) prophets (naturally) replied positively, but Jehoshaphat insisted on asking the advice of a prophet of God. What was Ahab's response? Let's check out v. 7:

"The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.”

!!!!!!!!! "Yeah, Jeho, there's still one true prophet. But I hate 'em because he never says anything good about me!" !!!!!!!!!!!! Even though he didn't like it, Ahab did summon Micaiah. What did Micaiah say? Read v. 16:

"Then Micaiah answered, “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the LORD said, ‘These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.’”

Micaiah then delves into a hard-to-believe-yet-I'm-sure-true story about how God tried to get Ahab killed...it's very fascinating, be sure to read it in v. 18-22.

Now let me just share with you, straight from the Bible, how this interaction between Ahab and Micaiah turns out:

"The king of Israel then ordered, “Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the king’s son, and say, ‘This is what the king says: Put this fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safely.’” 

Micaiah declared, “If you ever return safely, the LORD has not spoken through me.” Then he added, “Mark my words, all you people!”" ~ v. 25-27

Now them's fightin' words! Long story short; Ahab and Jehoshaphat didn't take Micaiah's advice (Why??). The two kings did go to battle with the king of Aram at Ramoth Gilead, but in very different clothing. Jehoshaphat wore his royal robes, but Ahab went disguised as a common soldier. All the king of Aram wanted was Ahab; so naturally the soldiers went after Jehoshaphat first. The good king cried out to God, however, and the enemy soon realized their mistake. They stopped pursuing Jehoshaphat. Ahab died in this manner:

"But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor. The king told the chariot driver, “Wheel around and get me out of the fighting. I’ve been wounded.” All day long the battle raged, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening. Then at sunset he died."

Why did Jehoshaphat unite with evil King Ahab? Why, why, why? I honestly don't know. I know that God wasn't pleased; when Jehoshaphat safely returned to Jerusalem a prophet gave him this message:

“Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Because of this, the wrath of the LORD is on you. There is, however, some good in you, for you have rid the land of the Asherah poles and have set your heart on seeking God.” ~ 2 Chron. 19:2-3

Jehoshaphat was human. He made mistakes. But the big difference between him and his father Asa is this: he was willing to accept reproof. He honestly tried to change his ways, to follow God even closer. Because of this, God was able to work through Jehoshaphat and Judah in a mighty way--learn about that next week!

I think that's the lesson we can learn from this story, too. Even if we do make mistakes (we do!), if we repent God is still willing to help us and work through us. Isn't that amazing?

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

~ Jeremiah 29:11

Jehoshaphat, Part 2

What's happening: Jehoshaphat becomes king of Judah once his father Asa dies. Jehoshaphat follows God. He disposes of all the false worship in the land, instead sending teachers throughout the land to teach the people of the one true God. God blesses Jehoshaphat, and gives him peace and riches on all sides.

Most of the time, Jehoshaphat really was a very good and godly king. But he was human too, and at times he did not do what God wanted him to do. That's going to be the focus of this article, and hopefully we all can learn some good lessons from the life of this king.

You still have your Bibles with you? If not, go and grab them! We'll be using them a lot today. Got them? Good. First turn to 1 Kings 16:29-31. Before we dive into Jehoshaphat today, we need to get a little background.

"In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him."

You got that? Yes, this passage is talking about Ahab, not Jehoshaphat. But as I said, we need a little background! First of all, let's remember who Jeroboam son of Nebat was. Remember Rehoboam? Well, when the kingdom split Rehoboam took two tribes and the new king Jeroboam took the other ten. Rehoboam's kingdom became known as Judah, while Jeroboam's kingdom was known as Israel. Jeroboam was a very godly man when he served under Solomon. It's a bit of a long passage, but below is a nice introduction on how Jeroboam became king. It's taken from 1 Kings 11:26-33, 37-38:

"Also, Jeroboam son of Nebat rebelled against the king. He was one of Solomon’s officials, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, and his mother was a widow named Zeruah.

Here is the account of how he rebelled against the king: Solomon had built the terraces and had filled in the gap in the wall of the city of David his father. Now Jeroboam was a man of standing, and when Solomon saw how well the young man did his work, he put him in charge of the whole labor force of the tribes of Joseph.

About that time Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem, and Ahijah the prophet of Shiloh met him on the way, wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone out in the country, and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘See, I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand and give you ten tribes. But for the sake of my servant David and the city of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, he will have one tribe. I will do this because they have forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Molek the god of the Ammonites, and have not walked in obedience to me, nor done what is right in my eyes, nor kept my decrees and laws as David, Solomon’s father, did...

...However, as for you, I will take you, and you will rule over all that your heart desires; you will be king over Israel. If you do whatever I command you and walk in obedience to me and do what is right in my eyes by obeying my decrees and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you."

Really, think of the bright future and possibilities Jeroboam had in front of him! Rehoboam had not followed in either David or Solomon's footsteps, and here God is promising Jeroboam a dynasty as big as David's! Unfortunately, Jeroboam did not choose to go with God in his kingdom. Scared that the Israelites would revolt when they worshiped at Jerusalem, Jeroboam set up a false capital of worship in his territory. And of course that means that there was much false worship and idols...just what God hadn't planned. So that's a brief synopsis of Jeroboam--read the full version in 1 Kings 12:20-14:20.

Now back to Ahab. What was so wrong with marrying Jezebel? Let's check out the Biblical text again:

"Ahab...married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him." ~1 Kings 16:30-31


So who were the Sidonians? From the little research that I've done, I've figured out the Sidonians were a very evil and supposed-to-be-abhorred group of people, who blatantly practiced false worship. In the passage on Jeroboam you read about how Judah--Rehoboam, and his two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, plus their fathers--had incorporated the Sidonian worship into their own lives, and had set up Ashtoreth poles everywhere in Judah. (Remember, that's what Jehoshaphat tore down in last week's article). 


So Ahab--who's supposed to be following God--not only thinks nothing of committing the hideous sins of Jeroboam, but also takes to him a wife from an idolatrous nation...and now you're starting to get a picture of Israel's royal couple at the time of Jehoshaphat. 


I've come to the point where I can almost predict what the Bible will say about the succession of kings, and so here's my general blueprint and plan:


"In the _______ year of __________________ king of ________, __________ succeeded his father __________ to the throne of ________. ___________ did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any king before him, and after he reigned ______________ years he laid with his fathers. __________ his son succeeded him to the throne."


In that above paragraph, insert a number (as in years). For the third blank (we'll get back to #2 in a second), decide which kingdom (Israel or Judah) you're talking about. Then put the opposite kingdom in that blank. For the second blank, put the name of the king who was currently ruling the other kingdom (your choices are  either Israel or Judah). For the fourth & seventh blanks, put the name of the new king. For blank #5, insert the new king's father. For blank #6, put the kingdom that this new king is ruling. For blank #8, write in the number of years that this new king ruled (it could be anywhere from one year to fifty-some odd years). For the final (ninth) blank, put the name of the new king's son, the son who succeeded him as king. 


So there you go, you've just played Biblical Mad-Libs! Really, though, it's quite sad. While Judah occasionally had a good, godly king (Jehoshaphat was one of them), Israel never had such good fortune. Every king was recorded as doing more evil than the king before him--but the records stop at Ahab! Ahab was absolutely the worst king that Israel ever had, and committed the most evil. (Oh and did I mention that Jezebel had Ahab initiate Baal worship throughout the land, too??)


That's as far as I'm going to go in this story for this week. No, we didn't get to Jehoshaphat, but we have covered some good background material needed to understand next weeks' story, which is on Jehoshaphat's interactions with Ahab. And through these stories on Jeroboam and Ahab we can learn some very good lessons--most definitely on how not to go about things! God loves us dearly, and only ever wants the best for us. It's clear from the stories on Ahab and Jeroboam how they weren't happy, and things didn't go as planned when they didn't follow God. Resolve today to follow God!


To be continued...

Jehoshaphat, Part 1

I must confess, I'm getting quite addicted to studying about the kings of Judah and Israel! As I've studied the different Sabbath School lessons (which right now are all about the kings) there are just so many good stories! So yes, here I go again. A few weeks ago our lesson was on good king Jehoshaphat (Jay HOE sha FAT) of  Israel. Clue: Jehoshaphat was Asa's son. There are just so many good lessons that we can learn from this king that I just felt like I had to write about him! So here goes...

Why don't you pause reading this for a minute and grab a Bible? We'll be using it a lot in this series, and while I will be posting various sections of Scripture in this article, it's always nice to be actually reading God's Word.

You got it? Good. Turn to 2 Chronicles 17, that's where we'll be spending a lot of time today. As I mentioned earlier, Jehoshaphat was Asa's son. Let's check out verses 1-2:

"Jehoshaphat his son succeeded him ask king and strengthened himself against Israel. He stationed troops in all of the fortified cities of Judah and put garrisons in Judah and in the towns of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured."

And God blessed the new king because,

"Jehoshaphat...followed the ways of his father David before him. He did not consult the Baals but sought the God of his father and followed his commands rather than the practices of Israel. The LORD established the kingdom under his control; and all Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so that he had great wealth and honor. His heart was devoted to the ways of the LORD; furthermore, he removed the high places and the Asherah poles from Judah." ~verses 3-6

Jehoshaphat did what God wanted him to do, and God blessed him for that. The king became very rich, and God gave Judah peace on every side. Still, what I think is interesting is that Jehoshaphat was not lazy during this time of peace. You'll have to check it out for yourself, but verses 12-19 detail all the soldiers Jehoshaphat had at his command. Now that's a lot of soldiers! Jehoshaphat wasn't the only king to initiate a revival in Judah--you know, take away the high places, idols, altars, etc. But what Jehoshaphat did after he took away all the false worship is what makes him really stand out.

Let's continue reading the Bible:

"In the third year of his reign he sent his officials Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah to teach in the towns of Judah. With them were certain Levites—Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah and Tob-Adonijah—and the priests Elishama and Jehoram. They taught throughout Judah, taking with them the Book of the Law of the LORD; they went around to all the towns of Judah and taught the people." ~verses 7-9

Don't worry about pronouncing those names--I can't do that either! But the point that I want you to get out of this is that Jehoshaphat was proactive in initiating revival. It's a simple fact that people will have some sort of god in their life. Many Judahite kings took away the idols, but do you think the people were happy with that? And how do you think they responded? You got it! They built up the idols again. But what Jehoshaphat did was after taking away the idols, he sent teachers into all of Judah and had these guys teach the law of God to the people. That way a large number of citizens became true believers in God.

This kinda reminds me of what my parents will say when we discuss thoughts and thinking: "If you try to stop thinking an unwanted thought, you must replace it with a wanted thought." In other words, if you take something bad out, you have to replace it with something good. This is exactly what Jehoshaphat did--not only did he take away the false idols, gods, etc., but he replaced it with teaching of the one true God. Perhaps I've been a bit verbose here, but I think that's really cool! Further on (see 2 Chron. 19:4-11) in his life Jehoshaphat continues this thread, by setting up godly judges throughout the land. They ruled fairly, and anyone who had a complaint or problem could come to them.

One of my favorite books is called Prophets and Kings, by Ellen White. It's a Bible commentary on much of Israel's (and Judah's) history, and I've learned some great insights from reading its' chapters. Here's what Mrs. White said about Jehoshaphat initiating the teaching of the then-Bible:

"If the teachings of God's word were made the controlling influence in the life of every man and woman, if mind and heart were brought under its restraining power, the evils that now exist in national and in social life would find no place." ~Prophets and Kings p. 192

WOW! Just think about that for a second. Actually, go back and read it again. That's powerful! And definitely gives one some serious mental food to chew on. That's amazing.

There's all sorts of ways to be proactive. The story of Jehoshaphat is just one example. Of course, most of us aren't kings! But the lessons we learn from Jehoshaphat are still very applicable for us. In what areas of our lives do we need to be proactive? Go out of our comfort zone a bit? Do something for God? It may be easy to tear down the idols, but our we in our own lives doing the equivalent of teaching the people about God? Pray to God, and spend some good time thinking this week about how you can be proactive for Him. You won't regret it!

To be continued...