The Mistakes of the Past


1 Kings 22:41-47
41 Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. 42 Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. 43 He walked in all the way of Asa his father. He did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord. Yet the high places were not taken away, and the people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. 44 Jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of Israel. 47 There was no king in Edom; a deputy was king. 48 Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they did not go, for the ships were wrecked at Ezion-geber. 49 Then Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my servants go with your servants in the ships,” but Jehoshaphat was not willing. 50 And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and Jehoram his son reigned in his place. 45 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he showed, and how he warred, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 46 And from the land he exterminated the remnant of the male cult prostitutes who remained in the days of his father Asa. 

On April 20, 1970 a new national observance was created. It was the first "Earth Day". For some reason, that event sticks in my mind. Frankly, we didn't really know what it was about as I walked around my High School (yes, I remember 1970 pretty clearly as I was about 14 and a freshman in High School). There were lots of posters up and for me it meant that we were supposed to make sure we didn't litter. That shows you how in tune I was with what was going on around me. Anyway, we still remember Earth Day today. It was on of the initial attempts made to rectify the environmental mess we were creating with our garbage and poor environmental decisions. Today, things are really different because of those efforts 40 years ago.

In our reading for today from 1 Kings, we read of Jehoshaphat's efforts to correct the mistakes of prior generations. (Jehoshaphat was king of the Southern Kingdom or Judah while Ahab was king of the Northern kingdom.) He remained true to the faith (for the most part) and even attemtped to clean up the cult of male prostitutes during his reign. It's okay to look back and realize that we can make changes in attitudes that may perhaps be ungodly that seem to pervade the culture. It is sometimes difficult to make those judgments about our ancestors and their decisions. But holding everything up to the Word of God helps us see where we may have gone off course and make the necessary adjustments. Not only can we do that as a culture or as a church, we must do that as individual believers who allow their lives to be informed and transformed by His Word.

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