Corona Devo 993

One of my least favorite "arguments" or "answers" has always been: "Because I said so." 

There is no proof or validation to this phrase, just a sense of rush, and an air of impatience and arrogance.

There must be reasoning, proof, validation, and most importantly...truth in order for something to be true.  We can't just make up our own truths and validate them because we said so.

And yet, people do.

God is Truth, and His Word is the basis for our truths.

It makes me want to stand on a mountain top and shout, and I'm not the only one.  Abijah felt the same way when Jeroboam persisted in making-up his own truths and twisting God's Truth.

...Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim and shouted to Jeroboam and all Israel: “Listen to me! (5) Don’t you realize that the Lord, the God of Israel, made a lasting covenant with David, giving him and his descendants the throne of Israel forever? (6) Yet Jeroboam..., a mere servant of David’s son Solomon, rebelled against his master. (7) Then a whole gang of scoundrels joined him...

(8) “Do you really think you can stand against the kingdom of the Lord that is led by the descendants of David? You may have a vast army, and you have those gold calves that Jeroboam made as your gods. (9) But you have chased away the priests of the Lord (the descendants of Aaron) and the Levites, and you have appointed your own priests, just like the pagan nations. You let anyone become a priest these days! Whoever comes to be dedicated with a young bull and seven rams can become a priest of these so-called gods of yours!  ~II Chronicles 13:4-9

~~~

The truth was: God had already made a lasting covenant with David, saying that his family would be on the throne of Israel forever (~II Chronicles 13:5), but Jeroboam didn't care, and he wasn't going to yield.  

In his own mind, Jeroboam felt that he deserved to be king over the Israelites.  Why?  Because he said so.

But...God didn't say so.  And if God doesn't say so...then it's a no-go.

This applies to sin and our acceptance and even normalization of sin.  Just because "we say it is so"...does not make it "so".  

And Abijah let Jeroboam know that--he shouted it from a mountain top.

These verses were not written today, but they could have been.  In pursuit of vain-glory and unattainable nirvanas, we make up our own truths, create our own idols, and kick-out God's "priests" so that we might install our own (non-God) ministers-of-society.  

But you have chased away the priests of the Lord...and you have appointed your own priests, just like the pagan nations. You let anyone become a priest these days!    ~II Chronicles 13:9

Sound familiar?  Look familiar?  Playing-out-all-around-us familiar?  People call themselves "ministers" not because they are trained and well-taught in God's Word, but because by their word, they "said so".

But...God didn't say so.  And if God doesn't say so...then it's a no-go.

Jeroboam was so busy (proverbially) chanting "because I said so" that he wasn't listening to Abijah's speech to him at all...but God was!  

(10) “But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not abandoned him. Only the descendants of Aaron serve the Lord as priests, and the Levites alone may help them in their work. (11) ...We are following the instructions of the Lord our God, but you have abandoned him. (12) So you see, God is with us. He is our leader. His priests blow their trumpets and lead us into battle against you. O people of Israel, do not fight against the Lord, the God of your ancestors, for you will not succeed!”  ~II Chronicles 13:10-12

Abijah's allegiance to God was bold, and so then was God's protection and affection for Abijah.  

Meanwhile, Jeroboam was so caught up in his own self-seeking plans, that he was ignoring Abijah's speech altogether and planning a secret-attack on Abijah.  But...God didn't say so, and so it was a no-go.

(13) Meanwhile, Jeroboam had secretly sent part of his army around behind the men of Judah to ambush them. (14) When Judah realized that they were being attacked from the front and the rear, they cried out to the Lord for help. Then the priests blew the trumpets, (15) and the men of Judah began to shout. At the sound of their battle cry, God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel and routed them before Abijah and the army of Judah.  

(16) The Israelite army fled from Judah, and God handed them over to Judah in defeat. (17) Abijah and his army inflicted heavy losses on them; 500,000 of Israel’s select troops were killed that day. (18) So Judah defeated Israel on that occasion because they trusted in the Lord, the God of their ancestors.  ~II Chronicles 13:4-19

~~~

Just because Jeroboam kept (essentially) repeating to himself and others, "Because I said so"...did not mean that any of his fallacies were so!  

God is truth.  He has set truth plainly out for us to read and understand within the Bible.  Everything we do and believe is because God says so.  

If we are stuck in or under a "because I said so" person or teaching today...get out from under it.  

Because if God didn't say so...it's a no-go.

Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com

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