Established in the Strength ~ 2 Kings 25

“The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars in front of the Lord’s Temple, the bronze water carts, and the great bronze basin called the Sea, and they carried all the bronze away to Babylon.” 2 Kings 25:13 NLT

              As the grand temple of the Lord in Jerusalem was planned by the mind of king David and then built at the hands of king Solomon, the Lord carefully placed two interesting focal points at its entrance.  Two soaring symbolic messages to call its worshippers into the proper state of mind and heart. Two grand columns.  These two great bronze columns towered 27 feet into the air and were a robust 6 feet in diameter.  And not to exist as mere columnal support, they excelled in their beauty.  The design of the Lord for the temple called for them to have ornate capitals as their crowns, an opulent offering of 200 hand cast pomegranates and lilies circling their heads.  In fact, these columns were such an important part of the temple of God that they were given names.  The southern column was named Jachin (He shall establish) and the other to the north, Boaz (in His strength).  So as worshippers would approach the mighty temple of God to offer either sacrifices to atone for their sin or offerings of gratitude and devotion, they would approach and say, “Look! There is He Shall Establish and there is In Him Is Strength.”  What a thought to imagine these hearts that faithfully believed that only in the strength of the Lord was a life truly established and founded.  But if you fast forward to 2 Kings chapter 25, you will not find these 2 magnificent columns standing guard over the Lord’s temple but being broken up into pieces and carried off by the nearby conquering kingdom of Babylon.  The symbolic message of Almighty God that promised to establish anyone that rested in His strength was now gone.  What happened?

              The very crux of being established in the strength of the Lord lies in 2 valuable facets.  First, you cannot rest in two strengths at the same time.  And second, it is a daily process of surrender to realize that it is not your own strength that establishes your life.

              First, in whose strength are you truly resting today?  This could also be phrased in several more direct ways.  Who is running the show that is your life today?  Who makes all the decisions?  Do you ever consult the Lord in any of those decisions?  You see, at the point a sinner falls to their knees under the weight of their sin and cries out to God to forgive that sin, a heart change happens.  And within that heart change a power shift also happens.  A shift that says I am no longer willing to live with the lie that I can control any part of this life.  I am now going to live in the truth that God created me, God wants a relationship with me, and within that relationship He has a plan for my life.  And in that, He will see me discover His perfect plan, His perfect peace, and His perfect purpose.  But only through honest admittance deep within your being of who is truly in control, can you assuredly discover those three p’s.  Examine your life today and truly ask yourself…in whose strength am I operating?

              Second, what does your daily routine with the Lord look like?  You see, you can’t operate and be established in the strength of the Lord if you never encounter His Words, talk to Him, or ask Him in which direction He desires you to walk.  It never ceases to amaze me the people that tell me they never hear from the Lord when they are never talking to Him.  Folks, don’t buy into the Looney Toons cartoon idea that God is simply floating around on a cloud, inaccessible and unavailable to His creation.  God’s Word is crystal clear in that God created every life on this planet, loves them so much He sacrificed His only Son for them, and as a result desires that all love Him, seek Him, talk to Him, and worship Him as the good heavenly Father that He is. Yes, you are reading that right, the God of every universe that created and hung every star wants to have a personal relationship with you.  And relationships take two things to nurture, time and intentionality.  Go to God each and every day and spend time being still with Him in His Word, through prayer, through fellowship with other believers, and in service to Him and His kingdom.  Go to God and grow the relationship.

              As we ponder these two points above, we need only look back at the history of the Israelite nation in the Old Testament for a more than accurate case study of what happens when the relationship is grossly neglected.  As the Israelites made haste to flee Egypt in the mournful cries of that night, they left completely knowing in whose strength they did so.  As every firstborn in the land of Egypt had now perished and Pharaoh commanded them to leave, it was beyond clear the Lord, in His unlimited strength, had orchestrated what could not be done by human hands.  Yet 424 years later, we arrive at 2 Kings chapter 25 which tells us of gross, flagrant idolatry culminating in the siege and pillaging of the once mighty Jerusalem.  A gross idolatry that even stretched to the point of seeing God’s people sacrificing their own children, children God created, to foreign, powerless idols.  This slow slide into reckless disobedience finds them completely losing sight of the 2 columns that stood in front of them in plain sight, each and every day.

              Today, the truths of Jachin and Boaz stand in plain sight right in front of you.  The only question that posits is what will you do with them?  Will you readily admit that the Lord is all powerful and you are not?  And within that will you recklessly chase after Him, His goodness, and His wisdom each and every day?  Or will you instead choose your own way, your own strength, and your own idols?  Folks, your answers to these questions will determine the fate of your pillars.  Only the Lord can establish you and only in His strength.  Every other way will see your pillars ravaged by a world that has already claimed countless other pillars. 

I pray today you establish yourself well in the strength of the Lord.  For it is the only way.

Blessings to you, pray for each other ~ Dan

“Each time He (Jesus Christ) said, “My grace is all you need. My power (strength) works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT (additions mine)

"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26

Bahía San Agustín, Oaxaca, Mexico