We read in Acts 17:11 that the Bereans, to whom Paul and Silas were sent to deliver the gospel message... were ‘fair-minded’...”in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.”

I would hope anyone reading this today knows that the ‘scriptures’ they were searching through was NOT the ‘new testament’ that we have today; rather it was the law and writings of the prophets of old that they studied in their synagogues. These would also be the same scriptures that Jesus ‘opened their understanding to’, as we learn in Luke 24:32,45. The four gospels and miscellaneous letters that make up our New Testament came about much later, under the oversight and leading of the Holy Spirit to give us our complete Bible today which consist of both New and Old Testaments.

I only point this out to remind you that I am not asking anyone to just believe and take to heart what I write here daily. On the contrary...I would implore you to be like the Bereans and search for yourself and look up these verses I share and at least consider what is written, while asking the Holy Spirit to ‘confirm’ to you...what is truth or not. He will do that, you know. (Mark 16:20)

I am concerned about a growing trend that is on the rise these days in numerous circles that I’m reading and hearing about. It’s the ‘Red Letter Only’ trend, where people are quick to dismiss pretty much anything from the Bible that is not printed in ‘red ink’. The words in the New Testament printed in red ink are, of course...attributed to being the words of Jesus; and people are taking it upon themselves to focus only on ‘those words’, as if anything and everything else around those words don’t matter. Friends...nothing could be further from the truth, yet I realize that we as a people tend to do what we think is best for us and I am aware that I can’t change that mindset.

God’s word cannot be likened to a buffet line where we simply go through and pick and choose the things we like...while passing on all those other portions that don’t appeal to us. To do so puts your own soul at peril.

Nearly everything we read in our Old Testaments...points to all that we learn in our New Testaments and the finished work of Christ who came to fulfill those scriptures. We read in various places how much of what was written down for ‘our example’ was a ‘shadow of things to come’ (1 Cor. 10:6,11; Col. 2:17). I like to think of the OT as a set of ‘spiritual blueprints’ that comes to life in the New Testament and continues to do so even today.

Where am I going with all this today? I mentioned yesterday how we were going to look back to the days under King Josiah’s rule and the challenges the people of God were facing then. But before we do, it is important to realize why all that happened back then has relevant meaning to us today. A common mistake many of us struggle with has to do with a huge ‘disconnect’ that we have...with the God of the OT and the God of the NT.

Let’s be honest here- if/when you read of the many accounts recorded in those sacred scriptures...it can prove to be challenging, at best...to digest and process what we read, especially when we see this ‘other side of God’ that for the most part...is unrelatable to us NT believers. And that can be a huge problem. That ‘God of the OT’ is the same God to whom Jesus refers to (in red letters) as the ‘Father’ in whom He seeks to please in all things. I mean...Jesus even said “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father”...going on to say “the Father and I are one” (John 14:9; 10:30). This would also be the same God who declares that He ‘never changes’ (Mal. 3:6)...and is “the same, yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8).

So with that laid out for your consumption...let us continue on as I ‘set the table’ for a look back to the days of King Josiah...when the law of God was ‘lost’. There was much idolatry in the land at that time, as there is today. You should know two things about idols for our study here- 1) an idol is anything we love more than God, or put before Him. When God asks of us to lay something down, or to turn away from (repent) of something, and we don’t, we are putting those things before Him. And this is never good or beneficial for us. Do you recall what quickly became an idol for the rich young ruler who chose to go ‘another way’ in Matt. 19:20-22? And 2) – you can pretty well bet that there are ‘demon spirits’ involved with, or ‘behind’ any idol we may have or possess. (I will try and address/explain that later).

So Paul touches on this in 1 Cor. 10:14-22, exhorting us to flee from idols and how we can’t partake of the Lord’s cup/table and that of demons. But it’s the question he asks in vs. 22 that will be our springboard back to 2 Kings in the OT. Paul is basically asking...”are you trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy?” Were you even aware that we can...do that? (Nahum 1:2)

Contrary to popular belief/opinions, God did not check Himself into some ‘anger management program’ during those ‘400 Silent Years’ in-between the last book of the OT (Malachi) and the gospel era when Jesus arrives on the scene. But because we have neglected so much of what is recorded for us to study in our Bibles, we have a lack of understanding when we read repeatedly as to why we should walk in the ‘fear of the Lord’; we simply are ignorant of much of God’s character and who He is (2 Cor. 7:1; Phil. 2:12; 1 Pet. 1:17; Acts 2:43; 5:5,11; 9:31). And why are God’s people ‘destroyed’? (Hosea 4:6)

So yes, we can indeed ‘provoke the Lord’ to jealousy/anger. And that is what God’s people have always had a history of doing. Again, take the time to review Paul’s warning to us from 1 Cor. 10:4-11. Now...to better understand and appreciate all that transpired back in the days of King Josiah and what happened when the law was ‘found’, we have to understand what was happening in the preceding two generations of Josiah’s lineage, and what was taking place under the rule of his predecessors, king Manasseh and Amon, his father and grandfather.

May I encourage you to read on your own, in preparation for tomorrow’s lesson...2 Kings 21. You might want to have a fresh highlighter on hand as you read through that as well.