Have a Little Whine With That
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| Sometimes the squeaky wheel does get the grease! |
Judah's king, Ahaz, was not one of that kingdom's bright stars of righteousness. Judah had many good kings, men who followed the Lord, but Ahaz wasn't one of them. So God punished Ahaz and put him, and Judah, under the iron hands of Judah's enemies, including her northern sister, Israel.
But the soldiers of Israel overstepped their bounds and went beyond the mandate that God had given them by merciless slaughter and by taking two hundred thousand captives (28:9, 10). The Lord was not pleased. The prophet's instruction was: "Now listen to me! Send back your fellow Israelites you have taken prisoner, for the Lord's fierce anger rests on you" (28:11, NIV).
Now Pekah, king of Israel, was not a righteous man (2 Kings 15:27, 28) but some of his officials still had sufficient respect for God, and for the word of the prophet, to do as they had been told and release the prisoners, provide for them, and send them back to Judah (2 Chronicles 28:14, 15).
We grouse a lot about our "pagan" government. Though they may give lip service to some kind of belief in the Almighty, their actions overwhelm their words. But I wonder if we, as believers, pushed a iittle harder, were a little more aggressive in our deliverance of the message of Truth, if those who still have a semi-healthy respect for God wouldn't respond positively?
Jesus once told a parable about a judge who, because of her "whining," finally gave in to a persistent widow woman (Luke 18:1-8).
Perhaps we should do a little more "whining" where those who don't acknowledge God can hear, a little more delivering of the message of Truth to those who have abandoned it. It seems that buried deep in the recesses of even the pagan heart, there is a spark of God-consciousness that demands a response.
The response might even surprise us by its goodness.
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