28/06/2017 - CAREFUL BUT CARELESS FATHER

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Their father gave them great gifts of silver and gold and precious things, with fortified cities in Judah; but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn. 2 Chronicles 21:3

I could not close out the messages that God allowed me to write concerning Jehoshaphat, without speaking about this mindful father.  He took care of the material side but was careless on the spiritual end.  So being, he created a despot and made him to be king as his successor.  If he had made all his descendants to be servants of God, their future would have been very beautiful. Jehoshaphat’s errors have been recurring.

All his children must have been happy to receive an inheritance, because he offered each of them treasures of silver, gold and items of great value, giving even cities to them!  However – the most important – the fear of the Lord, was not even considered! This enabled the devil to use Jehoram, who succeeded his father in the most cowardly way as king of the house of David, giving proof that the uncircumcised heart is in submission to the devil.

The greatest and best inheritance we can leave to our loved ones is an unbeatable faith in the Lord.  This way they will dodge every time from the influence of the enemy.   Those that live in the presence of God never lift their hand to harm anyone’s life.  But those that hate the love of the Father set their minds to do the will of Satan, as longs as it is their objective because they only see people as objects.

Those that only think in material terms are not righteous, because the Kingdom of God and its righteousness sound dull and uninteresting to them.  The wicked only wants to remove whoever gets in their way.  Maybe young Jehoram was not so evil, but on marrying Athaliah, a viper like her mother, he became infatuated with her, who this way controlled him in her hands.  Let this be an example to those who are blinded by passion.  The desires of the flesh blind us from common sense.

As soon as Jehoshaphat died, Jehoram, his first born, assumed the kingdom and consolidated his strength.  Then, out of pure evil and spite, he had all his brothers killed.  Who could expect that the son of a good and peaceful man would become so despotic and authoritarian?   Whoever is not taught to respect the Word can be led by the devil to commit atrocities. Nothing else of any good could be expected from this person. Mercy!

The father who was careful about material riches was not so in spiritual matters. He himself arranged his son’s marriage to Athaliah.  Later on this woman caused great damage in Judah, when they assumed the kingdom with an evil plan.  What happened in Judah showed how it is impossible to trust someone who does not have God in their heart. Check and see if your family fears the Almighty; if not, there may be submission to the devil.

Allying his family to Ahab’s, Jehoshaphat made a terrible decision, because he disobeyed the Law of the Lord.  Ahab and Jezebel were into idolatry and witchcraft.  Reason enough for Jehoshaphat not to join in family relations.  However he decided to abandon the Word and go after other interests.  The result was terrible.

In Christ, with Love, 

R. R. Soares