Daily Devotionals

Mornings and Evenings with Jesus

Devotional: January 27th

But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war: for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not. - 2 Chronicles 35:21.

THESE words refer to war-one of the most fertile topics of all history. Ever since man became an apostate from his God, he has been an enemy to his brother; and from the death of Abel to this hour, our earth has been an “Aceldama, the field of blood.” But the sword shall not devour always. An hour cometh when Christ “shall judge among the nations, and rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more,” at least so far as to pursue it as a profession. The words were spoken by the king of Egypt. He is called Necho; that is, the club-footed. Many sovereigns have derived their principal and best distinction from some bodily quality. Thus, one has been called the Fair, another, Longimanus, or the Long-handed, and so of the rest. Necho was now waging war with Nebuchadnezzar, who had subdued Assyria, and was now glorying much in the title of the king of Assyria. He designed to attack him at Carchemish, on the borders of the river Euphrates; but on his way hither, he was assaulted by Josiah, king of Judah, who went forth and fought him at Megiddo, forty-five miles from Jerusalem.

No reason is assigned for this action. All is not wise that wise men do; all is not good that good men do. There are seasons in which, in even wise and good men, both grace and sense are asleep. Josiah’s action was rash; he intermeddled with strife not belonging to him. His best apology, perhaps, would be that Necho was marching through a part of Judea. But then, first, this part did not belong to him; and, secondly, if Necho had passed through, he might have done so, as Israel formerly desired to pass through the borders of Moab, engaging to commit no injury, and to pay for all they used.

But alas! Josiah consulted his feelings rather than his convictions; and passion is always a sad counsellor. It is obvious that he did not ask counsel of the Lord,-“Shall I go up, or shall I forbear?” And yet he had with him not only that famous prophet Jeremiah, but Zephaniah and Urijah, and a whole college of seers. Whenever we decline asking counsel, it betrays a secret consciousness that we are not doing right; and it is miserable to engage in any enterprise, especially an important one, without inward satisfaction. Whenever, therefore, we err, we should err conscientiously, in order that we may maintain peace within; and we should never think of prospering in any undertaking, unless we acknowledge God in all our ways.

Yea, Josiah not only refuses to ask counsel, but he rejects the fairest warnings and remonstrances; for Necho even sent ambassadors to him, saying, “What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah?” He reasons with him, first, from a principle of equity:-“I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have warred.” And, secondly, he reasons with him from a principle of religion:-“For God commanded me to make haste” in this affair-from some dream, or some impulse which he had, and which he believed to be from God; and which probably was really from him, for we read in the words following that it was “from the mouth of God.” And, thirdly, he reasons with him from a principle of interest:- “Forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not.”

What was the result of all this? “Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo. And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away, for I am sore wounded. His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem; and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers.”

God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. - 1 Corinthians 1:27.

HERE we see the weakness of human instrumentality and the efficiency of divine agency. If we go back to the beginning of Christianity, we shall find the greatest work accomplished with means and instrumentality the most inadequate to the purpose. What a work, to set up the kingdom of God in a world lying in wickedness, to establish the gospel dispensation, and to extend it in the face of a world in arms against it. Its doctrines seemed unaccountable to human reason; its motives being Spiritual were opposed to the carnal mind; its duties required the destruction of every evil passion, and the profession of it was sure to expose a man to reproaches, losses, exile, imprisonment and death. It had to overcome the edicts of emperors, the persecution of magistrates, the subtlety of philosophers, the craftiness and covetousness of priests, and the profligacy of the common people. His design has ever been to subdue all nations to the obedience of the faith. He therefore commanded his Apostles to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

And who were they? They were not fetched from the schools of Greece or Rome, but from the lake of Galilee, without power to compel, or riches to bribe, or learning to perplex, or eloquence to persuade, yet “the word of the Lord grew and multiplied” so that the gospel soon reached the boundaries of the unwieldy Roman empire. “The faith of the gospel has come unto you,” says the Apostle to the Colossians, “as it is in all the world, and bringeth forth fruit as it doth also in you.” It is the Lord’s doing and is marvellous in our eyes. Other agents would gain admiration by the excellency and competency of the means and instruments they employ. His praise springs from their weakness and unfitness.

The barley cake of Gideon, the blowing of the priest’s ram’s-horns at the destruction of Jericho, the sling and stone of David, all teach the same truth, as the Apostle states, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power might be of God, and not of us.” So, when the nations of Europe were to be reformed from popery, Luther, a poor monk, and not the head of the catholic church, was to be converted and employed for the purpose. And if the Scriptures are to be translated into the various languages of the East, God does not call for a first-rate scholar from the university, but takes a Carey from the humble craft of shoe-making. So it is often found now as to personal experience.

One man goes into a place of worship from mere curiosity and is converted; another takes up a tract and reads it and is pricked in his heart. An accident befalls another and he reflects; a dream terrifies another, and he prays. The most likely means are nothing, unaccompanied by the energy of God, and the most unlikely means are available when he is pleased to employ them.

Thus ministers shall not labour in vain, nor shall the humblest effort be in vain, but shall produce “all the good pleasure of his goodness.”