Breaking The Cycle In/Of A Misled Land-1[2022]

BREAKING The CYCLE In/Of A MISLED LAND-I—2Kings 16:1-4(1-20)

[2Kings 16:1-4; 18:1-7(16:1-18; 18:1-07, 13-16, 17-18; 19:1-7, 14-20, 35-37)]

Overcoming Political Compliance/Acquiescence

Overcoming The Politics of Spiritual Acquiescence.

Attention:

1787—Benjamin Franklin addressed the U.S. Constitutional Convention—"I've lived, sir, a long time, & the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: That God governs in the affairs of men. If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We've been assured in the sacred writings that unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it. I firmly believe this, & I also believe that without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel."

Benjamin Franklin championed America’s need for God’s favor.

•King Ahaz was marked/defined by political expediency, acquiescence, & compliance.

•A land defined by those things is misled & to be pitied.

•Why is a misled land to be pitied?

OR-•Why should the cycle of misleading be broken??

*Because in a misled land there is much that is Wasted.

•Today, we’ll examine some reasons for breaking the cycle of misleading in your land.

1—The cycle must be broken in a misled land, due to it’s WASTED...

PRIVILEGE(16:1)

Explanation:(16:1)

16:1—“In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, began to reign.”

King “Pekah” ruled the Northern Kingdom of Israel for 20yrs(752-732BC). In Pekah’s 17th year reigning as king of Israel, a prince named “Ahaz”—began to reign as the “king of Judah”(735BC).—John H. Walton in ’Chronological & Background Charts of the Old Testament’(1978)[JHWChronCharts] / ISBE(1979) / Edwin R. Thiele in ‘The Mysterious Numbers Of The Hebrew Kings.’(1983)[ERTMystNumb].

Ahaz was the 12th king of Judah(735-715BC).—ISBE(1979)

•It had been ~200 yrs. since the 1st king of Judah(Rehoboam) reigned.

•During Ahaz’ reign the Northern Kingdom of Israel would fall to Assyria(722BC).

Ahaz was “the son of Jotham.” Jotham was the former king of Judah who had reigned 16 yrs., beginning in the 2nd year of the Northern Kingdom’s Pekah(2Kgs. 15:27, 32-33).—NAC

*What did Ahaz do with his privilege as king?...

•Ahaz “leaves a legacy of appeasement & syncretism unmatched to this time.”[syncretism = combining different religions, cultures, &/or schools of thought] “The enemy nation of Assyria can count on Ahaz for money, loyalty, & zealous acceptance of their gods.”—NAC •And in that same vein...

?Aren’t ‘appeasement & syncretism’ present in American politics & civil workings?—Of course they are!(political correctness)

?Aren’t ‘appeasement & syncretism’ substantial guiding forces in America’s politics?—Of course they are!(political correctness)

•In fact, the political divide that exists in America did not happen overnight. It has been brewing ever since our country’s birth!

*Trust in any-thing, any-person, or any-group, other than the Lord Jesus, is a trust in the ‘wisdom’ of ‘the world’ or in Satan’s lie!

Argumentation:

*1Kgs. 10:4-9—“And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters & their apparel, his cupbearers, & his entryway by which he went up to the house of the LORD, there was no more spirit in her. Then she said to the king: “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words & your wisdom. “However I did not believe the words until I came & saw with my own eyes; & indeed the half was not told me. Your wisdom & prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard. Happy are your men & happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you & hear your wisdom! Blessed be the LORD your God, who delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel! Because the LORD has loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, to do justice & righteousness.”

*Mk. 4:9-12—regarding the parable of the Sower, Seed, & Soils—“And He[Jesus] said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, “so that ‘Seeing they may see & not perceive, And hearing they may hear & not understand; Lest they should turn, And their sins be forgiven them.’”[Deut. 29:4; Isa.6:9-10; Jer. 5:21]

*Rev. 22:14—“Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, & may enter through the gates into the city.”

Illustration:

*I am a person of great PRIVILEGE...

My father became a newly established dentist in our small town shortly before I was born/•I had a ‘stay-at-home’Mom(AKA—housewife)/•When I was five years old, my parents had a house built in the suburbs/•My parents paid for my entire undergraduate education!/•My parents bought my second car as a reward for graduating(with a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology)/IF I had run from all that was made possible for me, it would have been a Wasted PRIVILEGE