THE LORD SPOKE (July 1)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: II Chronicles 21-22

"He passed away to no one's regret." (II Chron. 21:20)

What a sad epitaph! It's often quite instructive to visit a cemetery just to read the gravestones. Besides the general reminder that the death rate is still one-to-one, you can frequently find some pearls of wisdom carved in the stone. How much more important that we be carving wisdom into our daily lives - wisdom that will outlast our life on this earth and have a continuing effect on others. Our children, for example.

How often in these pages of Chronicles do we read that a son did not follow the Lord as his father had done but walked in the way of some bad example. Here for instance, Jehoram rejected the good example of his father Jehoshaphat. Instead, "he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel" (II Chron. 21:6). Actually, if you go back and look, there were some cracks in the dike back then. Though Jehoshaphat did reasonably well and amazingly better than some of his predecessors, there were some growing errors in his life that served as a poor example to his son Jehoram.

II Chron. 18:1 - "he allied himself with Ahab by marriage"

• II Chron. 21:6 - Jehoram "married a daughter of Ahab"

II Chron. 18:28 - "so the king of Israel [Ahab] and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead" (this, in spite of the prophet Micaiah's clear word from the Lord against this move - 18:16-24)

• II Chron. 21:10 - Jehoram also lost battles because he "had forsaken the Lord, the God of his fathers"

II Chron. 19:2,35 - God sent a prophet, Jehu-ben Hanani, to ask Jehoshaphat "should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord?" yet he went ahead and "made an alliance with Ahaziah king of Israel who was guilty of wickedness".

• II Chron. 21:12-13 - Jehoram received a letter from the prophet Elijah warning him to mend his ways and yet he "led Judah and the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves, just as the house of Ahab did".

So Jehoram, by God's decree (II Chron. 21:14-15), ended up seeing nearly his entire family killed, his palace and possessions ransacked, and was himself struck "with an incurable disease of the bowels...[until] his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great pain" (21:17-18).

How much better to pursue "a life well-lived"!


New Testament: Colossians 4

Paul had lots of friends. In nearly all his books he closes with words of commendation and/or counsel, naming various individuals. Sometimes names are repeated from book to book (e.g. Timothy) but frequently we run into a dozen or more new names. Sometimes that one reference is all we know about that person. Won’t it be great to meet all these people in heaven and hear the rest of the story?

Some of those mentioned spent time traveling with Paul and ministering in other places. Of these, some were native to the place Paul is writing (e.g. Onesimus and Epaphras; Col. 4:9,12). Others may have spent some time working in that place (e.g. Tychicus; Col. 4:7). Still others passed through with Paul on one or more of his journeys and must have grown close to the recipients of the letter during those visits (e.g. Mark and Luke; Col. 4:10,14). Some even spent time in jail with him (e.g. Aristarchus; Col. 4:10).

Who was Archippus (Col. 4:17)? Was he a local pastor at Colossee? Laodicea? Hierapolis? Was he doing a good job and needed some encouragement? Or was he falling down on the job and needed a slight rebuke?

Some of Paul’s companions are better known to us through other Scriptures (some were even contributors to Holy Writ!). For example:

• Onesimus (Col. 4:9) - the slave that ran away from Philemon and prompted Paul’s letter; now he’s a “faithful and dear brother”
• Mark (Col. 4:10) - mentioned as “the cousin of Barnabas” and known from Acts as part of the household where the early believers in Jerusalem met; a companion and disappointment to Paul on his first missionary journey but later with Paul in Rome and recognized as very helpful to him in his ministry; author of the second Gospel (which was according to Peter)
• Luke (Col. 4:14) - “the beloved physician” and author of the third Gospel; a frequent companion of Paul on his missionary journeys (witness the “we passages” of Acts)
• Demas (Col. 4:14) - also mentioned in Philemon 24 but, sadly, deserted Paul in his last imprisonment (II Tim. 4:10)

Often words of commendation are directed to local believers. For example, we learn here that Nympha had opened up her home in Laodicea (for Bible studies?) which had developed into a domus ecclesia (house church).

What a gallery of interesting portraits. You can find many more at the end of Romans, I Corinthians, II Timothy, Titus, and scattered elsewhere. What a great day it will be to meet them all and hear their stories. In the meantime, better get out your map and learn what you can about where they lived and traveled. You wouldn’t want to miss out on details because you hadn’t done your homework!