A Call from God with Lessons from Israel’s History
Everything in our society today reminds me of my 7th and 8th grade Middle School orchestra room. Just before attempting to quiet the various instruments - all of them blasting, clanging, strumming, or banging their noises as loud and long as possible- the director would then make several attempts by raising his voice.
Is “Quiet” Even Possible?
That said, today we must not let go of the absolute reality that there is a quietness in God that He designed and desires for each of us and - believe it or not - for our surroundings. Since the latter may seem not only unlikely but virtually impossible, it often causes the former - a personal quietness in God - to either be skeptically regarded or surrendered outright. But the absolute reality is, there is a quietness in God that He has designed and desires for each of us- one that not only quiets the spirit but restores the soul and will even bring wholeness to the body. If we receive that truthful revelation of the Lord, the question then becomes ‘how can that be experienced and established?’
Israel’s Turbulent Trek
Israel has always been a place of contention. Without over-theologizing, any ‘place’ of blessing and increase in God- whether natural or spiritual - will either be resisted at every step to prevent possession, or continually be contended for after securing. Why? (I’m still speaking about quietness in God). It is the nature of man to put the Lord aside when feeling powerful, in fear or battling the throe of strong desires. The Bible clearly witnesses to this; an honest look at our own lives must admit to it as well. But there are parallels from Israel’s history that apply to us and our surroundings for rectifying this.
As Israel begins to become a monarchy, we first move from Saul to David to Solomon, then to what becomes a split: Jeroboam taking the Northern 10 tribes, with Rehoboam holding Jerusalem/Judea and Benjamin. God’s nation split? Yes. Why do things like this happen? Disagreements always arise in the midst of human considerations- not to mention character weaknesses, relational undermining’s and demonic ‘suggestions.’ To be succinct about it: Solomon’s son Rehoboam became unduly harsh in the midst of an initial conflict following his father’s passing, then he ignored wise counsel (2 Chr.10:1-15). The end was- regardless of every military or diplomatic consideration - the split of the Northern 10 Tribes away from the Southern 2: Judah and Benjamin (2 Chr.10:16).
“At the height of his power, after he consolidated his rule, Rehoboam abandoned the LORD’s law, along with all of Israel with them. Because he had been unfaithful to the LORD, during the 5th year of King Rehoboam’s reign, King Shisak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem” (2 Chr.12:1-2 ISV). This is what happens: lack of internal unity and agreement always encourages and eventually invites attack from outside. (It’s all interesting to note that the northern tribes “Israel” were impacted when “Rehoboam abandoned the LORD’s law”)
Although this is not specifically a message about Israel, as taken from the Word of God we see natural analogies of eternal spiritual (& also natural) reality. There are parallels from Israel’s history that apply to us personally in spirit, soul, and body. A parallel to our natural surroundings & nation can be said to be seen as well.
Ebb & Flow of Life: Human Terms vs. God’s Word
What we see with Rehoboam is an actual historical example of God’s revelation: “there is a pathway that seems right to a man, but in the end it’s a road to death” (Pro.14:12 ISV). In other words: life lived on our own terms always fails. Even when we are called by God, given the Name of Jesus, spiritually refashioned to know the Father, and given a rightful place to walk accordingly - life always fails when we trust our own soul’s resources of knowledge, ability, experience, wisdom, etc. That’s a clear lesson for us from Rehoboam.
After the kingship of Rehoboam we have Abijah, who only needed a 3-year reign to fulfill his purpose but what an ‘accelerated’ 3-year period it was! (2Chr.13:2). Renewing the civil war against the Northern Tribes, Abijah found himself outnumbered 2 to 1. In the midst of that he adamantly rose to remind all that “the LORD God of Israel assigned the kingship over Israel to David and his descendants forever by a salt covenant” (2 Chr.13:1-5 ISV). He stood and contended for the legitimacy of what God originally set in place for the nation. As a result, God then gave him a most unlikely victory! (2 Chr.13:6-19)
At Abijah’s death, we read that his son Asa “reigned in his place, and during his lifetime the land enjoyed quiet for 10 years” (2 Chr.14:1). That’s what I’ve been trying to get to with this message. It is what we’re after isn’t it, some “quiet” down here on the planet? It’s just too ‘noisy:’ everywhere, all the time, and about seemingly everything. Again: there is a quietness in God that He designed and desires for each of us and for our surroundings, that not only quiets the spirit, but restores the soul and brings wholeness to the body. I want this, hopefully you want it. Regardless: we were all redesigned by God in Christ to possess and further spread it (Ro. 8:29; 2 Cor. 5:15-21).
Looking at what happened with Asa, I saw something important. Think about this: the Hebrew word for “quiet” (transliterated shawkat) is just as correctly translated “rest” (Strong’s H8252). Now that’s the ticket: some “rest.” “Rest:” as in David with the 23rd Psalm. “Rest”- as in what was later to be and now fully promised as yours: the Jesus-Himself made assurance that you can find “rest for your souls,” the God-powered and presence defined as both “easy” and a “light”-ness in living (Mt.11:28-30).
Responding to Revelation Releases Relentless Restoring
We read that with Asa it was “quiet for 10 years.” Remember: it’s not just “quiet,” it’s also “rest.” You could call it a ‘restful quiet’ or a ‘quiet rest.’ 10 years! Some reading this would be happy for perhaps 10 days or hours or even just 10 minutes of such “quiet,” which, in the case with Asa, is an actual historical example of what Proverbs says: “when a man’s ways are pleasing to the LORD, He makes even his enemies be at peace with him” (Pro.16:7).
So, let’s get this straight; let’s put it in order: first Abijah reveals and stands on the revelation of the Lord to stand for, pursue and bring about God’s plan, then he is followed by Asa who not only continues to stand, but builds on it and then expands it.
Again: by proclaiming God’s revelation and going after it while outnumbered 2 to 1 by refusing to settle for less than (or different from) God’s plan, Abijah determined to reestablish God’s foundation for unity among the people as well as begin to restore the original divine order (2Chr.13:4-5). Refusing to settle and contending according to God’s truth. That’s how we go about breaking through into God’s ‘restful quiet,’ His ‘quiet rest’ in every dimension of life, in every setting and every place.
Asa then found himself to be the inheritor of the risks Abijah took, along with his persevering efforts. Asa built on top of that, he didn’t have to make that happen (foundation before building - always!) He then further labored to secure God’s plan, removing obstacles and snares in order to advance their status with God (2 Chr.14:2-8). That’s how we go about taking that ‘restful quiet,’ that ‘quiet rest’ as our continual strength for restoring every dimension of life, in every setting and every place. We must be those who refuse to compromise God’s revelation by standing on it, walking according to it and contending for it whenever necessary because it is clearly the plan of the Lord.
An Eternal-Powered ‘Inside’ Prevails Against ‘Outside’ Attack
As a result of Asa’s obedience to establish God’s priority and pathway for Israel, God was with them when Zerah the Ethiopian later came and literally dwarfed Israel by their overwhelming presence. The LORD showed Himself strong to such a degree that this enemy was not only destroyed, but their possessions fully lost to Israel (2 Chr.14:9-13). Then? They advanced even further to fully occupy God’s promise (2 Chr.14:14-15).
Bill Click
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