Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” (Judges 6:14)

In the days of the Judges, God called an unexpected man named Gideon to deliver Israel. Gideon was a man who didn’t want the job and didn’t think he was worthy of the job. Gideon wrestled back and forth with God, seeking more and more confirmation that he was the one to do this great work of leading the resistance against the Midianites. At some point in it all, the Angel of the LORD spoke to Gideon and told him, Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites.

Given the circumstances, it was strange thing to say: Go in this might of yours. Though it didn’t look like it to many, Gideon was already mighty in many ways.

Gideon had the might of the humble. When the LORD came to Gideon, he was threshing wheat on the winepress floor. This was both difficult and humiliating. Wheat was threshed in open spaces, typically on a hill-top so the breeze could blow away the chaff. Wheat was not normally threshed in a sunken place like a winepress. In this humble place, Gideon was mighty.

Gideon had the might of the caring, because he cared about the low place of Israel. When the LORD came to Gideon, he wanted to know why Israel was in a low place. Gideon cared about the low place of Israel and was interested in doing something about it. In this caring place, Gideon was mighty.

Gideon had the might of the spiritually hungry because he wanted to see God to great works again. Gideon asked the LORD, “We heard of these great things in the past, but we want to see God’s greatness among us now.” This hunger for more of what God could do was a trigger for future action. In this hungry place, Gideon was mighty.

Gideon had the might of the teachable, because he listened to what the LORD said. After this conversation, Gideon set about doing the will of God. This showed he really was teachable. In this teachable place, Gideon was mighty.

More than anything, Gideon had the might of the weak, and God’s strength is perfected in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). He knew he was weak, and this made him wise enough to trust the strength of God. In this weak place, Gideon was mighty.

Looking at it with the eye of man, Gideon was weak and God’s message was sarcastic. But looking at it through God’s wisdom, we see that Gideon really could go forth in might – because it was the might of the weak relying on the strength of God.

This week, go forth in this might of yours – just make certain that it is really the strength of your mighty God.

Click here for David’s commentary on Judges 6

Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem…. He also did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. For because of the anger of the LORD this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, that He finally cast them out from His presence. (2 Kings 24:18-20)

When a kingdom falls into chaos and disaster, it is never a simple story. The last kings of Judah show this. The last good king of Judah was named Josiah, and there was a significant revival in his day – but it was not enough to overcome the deeply-rooted patterns of sin present among the people from the days of previous kings.

After Josiah’s death, his third-born son Jehoahaz took the throne but his evil reign was brief. He was followed by the wicked Jehoakim, another son of Josiah. When Jehoakim died, his son Jehoachin became the next king – but he lasted only three months before King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon removed him from the throne of Judah and put the crown on the head of Jehoachin’s uncle Zedekiah.

Does that sound confusing? It is. Again, when God’s people turn away from Him, confusion and chaos mark the times. One reason God wants us to obey and honor Him is that it usually just makes life simpler!

Zedekiah was an evil king; we read that he also did evil in the sight of the LORD. 2 Chronicles 36:11-20 tells us more of the evil of Zedekiah, that he did not listen to Jeremiah or other messengers of God. Zedekiah and those around him mocked and disregarded God’s message.

Zedekiah so rejected the word of the LORD that he rebelled against the king of Babylon. Faithful prophets like Jeremiah warned of the great judgement of God that was soon to come through the armies of Babylon, but Zedekiah didn’t listen. Instead, he listened to the many false prophets in those days who preached a message of victory and triumph. They said, “Don’t’ worry! God has delivered us from enemies before, and He will deliver us from the Babylonians.”

It wasn’t true. Judgement was coming against Judah and Jerusalem, but Zedekiah was so convinced by the false prophets that he even rebelled against the king of Babylon, thinking God was with him.

Zedekiah was tragically wrong. We read that concerning Judah and Jerusalem, God finally cast them out from His presence. God’s patience and longsuffering had finally run out and He allowed – even directed – the conquest of the kingdom of Judah.

Many people today make the same mistake King Zedekiah made. Instead of seriously listening to God’s warnings, they trust in false promises presented by pretended prophets. The truth is, God’s will and word willbe done and there is nothing we can do to stop it. What we can do is repent and believe on Jesus Christ, setting ourselves on the right side of His word and will.

Click here for David’s commentary on 2 Kings 24

Because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the LORD…. Surely, therefore, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place. (2 Kings 22:19, 20)

The young king Josiah led a significant revival in the latter days of Kingdom of Judah. He had the zeal to repair and restore the temple, and as they did that work they discovered the forgotten book of the law – God’s word through Moses and other early books of the Old Testament.

When Josiah heard the message of those books he was immediately convicted of sin. It was plain how far they had gone from God’s path, and he tore his clothes and mourned as if someone dear to him had died. To his credit, Josiah didn’t stop at a feeling of sorrow, but went on to see what God’s word would say to him. They sought the prophetess Huldah, and she told him judgment was indeed coming on Judah for all their great sins against God and the covenant Israel made with Him.

That was bad news; yet there was good news in the midst of it. God made some comforting promises to Josiah, because his heart was tender. Josiah’s heart was tender in two ways. First, it was tender to the word of God and was able to receive the convicting voice of the Holy Spirit. Second, it was tender to the message of judgment from Huldah described in the previous verses.

Here was God’s comfort to Josiah: you shall be gathered to your grave in peace. It is true that Josiah later died in battle (2 Kings 23:28-30), there are at least three ways that this was true.

– Josiah died before the greater spiritual disaster and exile came to Judah.
– Josiah was gathered to the spirits of his fathers, who were in peace.
– Josiah died in God’s favor, even though it was by the hand of an enemy.

God’s comfort was added to Josiah when He said, your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place. This was God’s mercy to Josiah. His own godliness and tender heart could not stop the eventual judgment of God, but it could delay it. Inevitable judgment is sometimes delayed because of the tender hearts of the people of God.

I suppose someone could say, “What comfort was all this? Josiah died anyway, and judgment still came upon the Kingdom of Judah.” That objection forgets that it is our common destiny to die – no one can escape that. Yet, God may show mercy and kindness in both the timing and circumstances of our passing.

Josiah shows us that our humble repentance is never for nothing. God always finds a way to draw near to those who draw near to Him, and to bless those who seek Him.

Click here for David’s commentary on 2 Kings 22

Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, that he tore his clothes. (2 Kings 22:11)

Young King Josiah came to throne when the leaders and people of Judah were spiritually compromised and corrupt. As he took an interest in God’s temple, they found the Book of the Law – what we would call many of the books of the Old Testament – in the temple.

When they read God’s word to the king, it did a spiritual work in King Josiah. It was not merely the transmission of information; the hearing of God’s word impacted Josiah with spiritual power.

When Josiah heard it, he tore his clothes. This was a traditional expression of horror and astonishment. In the strongest possible way, Josiah showed his grief on his own account and on account of the nation. This was an expression of deep conviction of sin, and a good thing.

Revival and spiritual awakening are marked by such expressions of the conviction of sin. Dr. J. Edwin Orr, in The Second Evangelical Awakening in Britain, recounted some examples from the great movement that impacted Britain and the world in 1859-1861.

In the town of Coleraine, Northern Ireland, a schoolboy was under so much conviction of sin that he couldn’t continue on in class. From the ministry of another boy in the class, he found peace and returned to the classroom immediately to tell the teacher: “I am so happy: I have the Lord Jesus in my heart!” His testimony had a striking effect on the class, the teacher peeked out the window and saw boys kneeling in prayer all around the schoolyard. The teacher was so convicted that he asked the first converted boy to minister to him. Finally, the whole school was in such a state that pastors came and ministered to the students, teachers, and parents, and people received ministry at the school until 11:00 that night.

A high-ranking army officer described the conviction of sin in his Scottish town: “Those of you who are at ease have little idea of how terrifying a sight it is when the Holy Spirit is pleased to open a man’s eyes to see the real state of his heart… Men who were thought to be, and who thought themselves to be good, religious people… have been led to search into the foundation upon which they were resting, and have found all rotten, that they were self-satisfied, resting on their own goodness, and not upon Christ. Many turned from open sin to lives of holiness, some weeping for joy for sins forgiven.”

This conviction of sin is the special work of the Holy Spirit, even as Jesus said in John 16:8: “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin.”

The conviction of sin never feels good, but it leads to something good: forgiveness of sin and getting the life right with Jesus Christ. Don’t despise the conviction of sin.

Click here for David’s commentary on 2 Kings 22

Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh— all that he did, and the sin that he committed— are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? So Manasseh rested with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza. Then his son Amon reigned in his place. (2 Kings 21:17-18)

Clearly, Manasseh was one of the worst rulers over the kingdom of Judah. In the verses in front of us, it mentions all that he did, and the sin that he committed. These great sins were the terrible legacy of Manasseh, who was the son of one of the better kings of Judah (Hezekiah).

Yet, there is an interesting clue to the rest of Manasseh’s story in the words, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 2 Chronicles 33:11-19 describes a remarkable repentance on the part of this sinful king.

Because Manasseh and the people of Judah would not listen to the warnings of God, the LORD allowed the Babylonians to bind the king and take him as a captive to Babylon. That is where the story takes an unexpected turn.

In Babylon, when he was in affliction, he implored the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers (2 Chronicles 33:12) and God answered his prayer and restored him to the throne. In a way he had never before known, Manasseh came to know the Lord.

Manasseh went on to prove that his repentance was genuine by taking away the idols and the foreign gods from Jerusalem, and he commanded Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel (2 Chronicles 33:16).

This is a wonderful example of the principle, train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6). Manasseh was raised by a godly father, yet he lived in defiance of his father’s faith for most of his life. Nevertheless, at the end of his days he truly repented and served God. In this way, we can say that it was very true that Manasseh rested with his fathers.

Yet, his repentance was too late to change the nation. It seems that the people were hardened in their ways, and as a whole they did not follow Manasseh’s example of repentance. As far the effect on the people was concerned, the evil Manasseh did had more of an impact than his late-in-life repentance.

What was worse, Manasseh’s repentance was too late to change the destiny of the kingdom. Years later, when Jerusalem finally fell to the Babylonians, 2 Kings 24:34 puts the blame on Manasseh and his sins.

It’s wonderful when people are moved to repentance late in life. Yet, the longer we live in disobedience, the more consequences for sin we are likely to face. It’s another reason to repent sooner rather than later.

Click here for David’s commentary on 2 Kings 21