God Was Down with Egypt Too?

But he sent messengers to him, saying, “What have I to do with you, king of Judah? I have not come against you this day, but against the house with which I have war; for God commanded me to make haste. Refrain from meddling with God, who is with me, lest He destroy you.” Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself so that he might fight with him, and did not heed the words of Necho from the mouth of God. - 2 Chronicles 35: 21-22

Today’s Reading: 2 Chronicles 34-36; John 19: 1-22

This story is fascinating to me because it does a smooth job of making an important fact crystal clear.

God didn’t just speak to the people of Israel.

The story here is that the king of Egypt came up to fight against one of Judah’s neighbors. Josiah, the king of Judah went to fight against the Egyptians. Then before getting there the Egyptian king sent the above message to Josiah essentially saying the following:

“Say brotha… My beef ain’t with you… it’s with them other fools that God told me to fight. Now, if you want to roll with them and get smashed out by all means… do what you do playa… But tread lightly son… tread lightly…” – New King Clarence the Third Version

So what happened you might be wondering? Yep.. Josiah jumped in the battle and took one too many arrows.

Game over.

The fact that the Bible speaks of other folks having an intimate enough relationship with God to refer to him by name and actually speak to him is a big deal. For me this doesn’t challenge the notion of Israel being the chosen people. The promise to Abraham was that through him the promise of God would be revealed to the world.

Seeing that our Jewish brothers and sisters are still here after enduring millennia of targeted hatred and assault speaks volumes. And not just still here… but still here as gatekeepers of the Word…

Super powerful and impressive… also the whole Jesus thing works for me. Last I checked he was Jewish.

But yo… God was not only with other nations, but was speaking to them directly and guiding their paths if they chose to listen!

It makes me wonder… what role did God have in some of the other ancient faiths that predate Jesus…

Food for thought… I’m just sayin…

David Pays Dues

David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armor-bearers. Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, "Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him." – 1 Samuel 16: 21-22

This must have been interesting for David.

Saul just screwed up and now is out of favor with God. As a result God chose David to be king. But there are a few problems with this…

Problem #1: Saul is still king.

Problem #2: David is a youngster

Problem #3: Sure God anointed David king, but the people still view Saul as King.

So just like anyone with a purpose, David had to pay his dues. His paying of dues presented itself in the form of being Saul’s servant!

Not the safest occupation for the man who would take power from the king...

It is an interesting lesson though. Just like Joseph, David has to take the path that seems to be of most resistance to get where he is supposed to be.

Now, I’m not the biggest fan of this notion of taking your lumps or that we have to go through bad things in order to get to the good places that we want to be. There is something about when people say that hard times are God’s version of getting you ready for your blessing that makes me cringe.

To be honest, I don’t know how all of that works nor does anyone else. Maybe I’ll ask God about that one day…

But what is clear to me is that God really does use the trials in our life to our benefit. He is great at turning lemons into lemonade.

So from this perspective I try to remain positive when times are tough. Instead of saying “woe is me” or complaining. I do my best to say ok God… what can I learn from this? How can this season make me a better person?

Some days are better than others I must admit.

David did end up becoming king just like Joseph ended up as the right hand man of Pharaoh. But, another thing that they had in common is that they made the best of every situation they were in whether that was in the service of a dangerously manic king or locked up in jail.

How can you make the best of the situations that you are in now?

Food for thought…

Today’s Reading: 1 Samuel 15-16; Luke 10:25-42