01/13/2019
Are things not going well in your life? Do you go to work and do the same things as those around you and yet they prosper and you do not? Do you ask yourself how those around you can do so well, and yet you, who are a righteous person, fails? Well perhaps it is your association with those who are unbelievers, and not doing all that God desires of you.
“Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they did not go, for the ships were wrecked at Ezion-geber.”
1 Kings 22:48 ESV
Others succeeded in going to Ophir for Gold, but here was king Jehoshaphat who should have been able to do this easily, and His ships are destroyed, wrecked, before they can carry out their mission. Why is this, and does this disaster have implications for us and our lives today? Let’s explore this event a bit further by looking first in 2 Chronicles for an answer...
“Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, "Because you have joined with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have made." And the ships were wrecked and were not able to go to Tarshish.”
2 Chronicles 20:37 ESV
Interesting, Jehoshaphat, was not completely pure Himself because he didn’t finish the tasks that God laid out for his father, but he lost his fleet because he made an alliance with Ahaziah, who was the son of Ahab and Jezebel. It was also noted in 1 Kings that these two patents were rampant sinners...
“(There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited.”
1 Kings 21:25 ESV
And their son Ahaziah followed in their footsteps leading Israel in sin too...
“He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. He served Baal and worshiped him and provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger in every way that his father had done.”
1 Kings 22:52-53 ESV
So this calamity that Jehoshaphat experienced is a lesson to us regarding our unholy alliances. We might lead godly lives, and be righteous in most of our ways, but if we associate ourselves with unbelievers then their sins and our disrespect for the temple of God... our bodies... could lead us to disaster.
“Do not be deceived: "Bad company ruins good morals."”
1 Corinthians 15:33 ESV
We need to look closely at those we associate with, to include our business partners, our spouses, our children, and all those around us who influence our lives. In war there is a term used that is equally true in faith... “collateral damage.” This is unintended damage to the things around an actual target. Homes that are destroyed because they were too close to a military target, or someone inadvertently killed because they were in close proximity to an enemy. Sometimes we can become collateral damage when the wrath of God falls... we are warned, and yet we ignore the danger for sake of personal gain or profit.
You might be a true Christian who obeys God in the way you live your life, but one day you meet a man who convinces you that he has a business opportunity which will make you rich, so you become partners with him. You know this man is not a believer like you are, but the lure of wealth overcomes your good senses. It appears that all is well until one morning you wake up to read the headlines in the newspaper, and find that your partner is a swindler, and that all your money is gone. You might laugh at this example, but there was just such a man and his name was Bernie Madoff, and he took the fortunes of many in a Ponzi scheme in 2008. Something like this happens every day... good people damaged by poor choices in their relationships.
“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?”
2 Corinthians 6:14-15 ESV
Take a close look at your life, and those you have allowed into it. Reach out with the gospel message to unbelievers, but Associate closely with those of like faith. How is your life ordered? Is your faith being eroded by being in close proximity with those who do not believe, are you being made collateral damage as God deals with them, or is God allowing you to learn a lesson regarding your own righteousness as He shows you the error of your ways? Perhaps there are changes you need to make.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for those of like faith who surround me. Thank you Holy Father for my ability to discern the spirits of those who I will call my friends, partners, and associates. Keep me safe in your city of believers Lord, where the walls of your protection secure me. Teach me to deal with those who are not believers as I tell them of you, and deliver the gospel of your Son Jesus, but protect me from the worldly influence that comes as an unwanted consequence of this mission into the territory of the dark one. Let my strength of character and faith demonstrate to others that you are my God, and what a life filled with you looks like... bright as day in your light. Keep me safe in the company of your redeemed, and let your hand rest upon me always. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God, who separates me to Himself, and blesses me in His house and at His Table. Praised be your name Merciful Father, not for the wealth I accumulate in this world, but for the treasure I amass in heaven. Let my meager physical successes here on earth bring you greater spiritual glory in heaven, and I pray that you will always be pleased with my choices to follow your will.
“Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty."”
2 Corinthians 6:17-18 ESV
Rich Forbes