June 17
2 Chronicles 21:8-20; 2 Kings 8:23-29; 2 Chronicles 22:1-7; 2 Kings 9:1-10:17; 2 Chronicles 22:8-9; 2 Kings 10:18-31
We must be careful when ranking sin or grading degrees of evil. In Nazi Germany, there were those Nazis who actively worked in the concentration camps, there were those formally friendly neighbors who turned their Jewish neighbors in to the authorities, and those who simply pretended that nothing was going on, though they were aware of it all. Though some certainly had more blood on their hands than others, do you believe that any of these individuals' actions would not constitute evil? In our nation, in the current transgender movement, there are those who have pushed the laws, those who actually perform the procedures, those in the school system who push the indoctrination, and those who simply teach it or facilitate it because they “have to” for the sake of their jobs, or to appear open minded in the eyes of others. Though some are certainly guilty of more, would any consider any of these individuals innocent, or their actions less than evil? God gets to call sin, sin. God gets to call things good or evil. Sin is missing the mark (an archery term). Which means that sin is sin, whether you completely miss the target, or come close to it.
We read of Jehoram, King of Israel in 2 Kings 3:2-3, "And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not like his father and mother; for he put away the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made. Nevertheless he persisted in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin; he did not depart from them." He was not as bad as Ahab, but he was still deemed evil, not being for the Lord. We read of Jehu, King of Israel, who in many ways served as God's instrument of judgment against the house of Ahab, in 10:28-29, "Thus Jehu destroyed Baal from Israel. However Jehu did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin, that is, from the golden calves that were at Bethel and Dan." It speaks further of him in 10:31, "But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart; for he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin."
We must be careful of applying human standards, with comments such as, "He is not so bad", "She is certainly better than...". This is humanity, we are all innately bad and miss the mark. We do not set the standards, God does. We are only righteous when covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. We are only covered after we repent, or change our minds concerning sin. So many who don't know Jesus Christ struggle with this concept. They can't understand how a murderer and someone lifted up in pride both miss the mark, and are both deserving judgment. May we read all of God's counsel in His Word, the Bible, so that our thoughts and comments reflect God, and not worldly standards.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: