Psalms 8:1, add 31:1-3a, and 123:1-4

My Shepherd met me in His green pastures and laid me down in 2 Chronicles 21, the story of Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, a tragedy of biblical proportions.*

The Mind of the Spirit engaged the spirit of my mind in the whole story of Athaliah. She was the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, and also the daughter of Omri (2 Chronicles 22:2; 2 Kings 8:18 (daughter of Ahab), 26 (daughter of Omri).

The Spirit tells us the reason Jehoshaphat’s son, Jehoram, walked after the example of Ahab was that he married Athaliah (2 Chronicles 21:6). Like her mother Jezebel brought Baalism to Israel, Athaliah brought the corruptions of the house of Omri into the succession of kings in Judah, until God destroyed this final remnant of that evil house in the execution of “Queen” Athaliah (2 Kings 11:14). Ahaziah of Judah represents the final fruit of the usurpation of Omri in Israel that began 42 years before Ahaziah, son of Athaliah, occupied David’s throne.

Along the still waters, I reflected on how Satan works to destroy the “royal seed.” The great Red Dragon is depicted in Revelation 12, waiting to devour the “seed of the woman” (Revelation 12:1-6). In the story of Athaliah, he came very close to removing the seed of David—Ahaziah killed all of Jehoram’s sons, his mother killed all of his, but one escaped Athaliah’s monstrous purge, and so the line of David was preserved.

I thought of how close obliteration can get, and how our GOD, Who never panics, patiently works His plan around and through every machination of the great Red Dragon to destroy the purpose of GOD to complete His hope, and finish His great work to secure His image and likeness in man (Genesis 1:26-27; 1 John 3:2; Romans 8:20-25).

Presently, the Father desires His Son, our Saviour, Jesus, to manifest into this world through our mortal flesh (2 Corinthians 4:11). Like the great Red Dragon is depicted as watching for the entry of God’s Son, who is the express image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15; see Hebrews 1:3), to devour Him (Revelation 12:3-5) for envy of what that Serpent coveted (Isaiah 14:12-14). He came to restore and complete the grant of His image and likeness to man. So that with David we may pray: “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness” (Psalms 17:15; see Job 19:26 – Selah!).

In the valley, kneeling in the shadow of His Cross, He drew near and spoke: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23).

At the table, we discussed many things; the royal priesthood to which we are appointed in Him (1 Peter 2:9 — royal = kingly, the priesthood of Christ, after the order of Melchizedek, who was king of Salem (Jerusalem) and priest of the Most High God – Genesis 14:218; Hebrews 7:1).

He anointed my head with His oil and stirred His grace into the mixture that filled my cup. But it came time to walk together into the harvest, so He called goodness and mercy to step forward, bid me rise, and “follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21).

Praying for revival! 🙏

Going live asap:

https://rumble.com/v7djd34-shepherds-pasture.html

[*A note on the apparent and obvious discrepancy in the age of Ahaziah’s ascendancy to the throne: 2 Kings 8:26 says 22 years, and 2 Chronicles 22:2 says 42 years. This observation raises questions. The original translators of the KJV were profoundly astute Hebraists, and extraordinarily careful to be true to the Masoretic text of the Old Testament, and Stephens of the New. They strictly adhered to their policy of not “doctoring” the text to reconcile apparent problems. This supports our assumption that the translations in both places are genuine reflections of the texts they used. Furthermore, the KJV passed through the hands of biblically astute men in seven major revisions, addressing mostly minor issues, the majority of which were acknowledged in the margin notes of the original translators. Why would such an obvious issue not be addressed, unless it was not considered to be an obvious issue?   And this raises another question: what does this apparent, and, at least on the surface, obvious discrepancy signify?

One thing the presence of this seeming anomaly tells us is that those handling the translation of our venerable KJV were honest brokers, not willing to put their “tools” upon this altar (Exodus 20:25). That’s extraordinary. Many today chisel away arrogantly presuming to “fix” God’s perfectly preserved words (Psalm 12:7). They have no fear of God, and will take the knife of Jehudi to rid the Scripture of what disquiets their souls (Jeremiah 36:23). The thrice-declared curse against all who would add or subtract from His words (Deuteronomy 29:19; Proverbs 30:6; Revelation 22:18) rests upon them like the “wrath” of God abideth upon the wicked (John 3:36; Psalm 7:11).

Probably, the best answer reckons the ascendancy of Ahaziah by the interpolation of the Omri dynasty into the kings of Israel. Omri was not the son of any prior king of Israel. We don’t know anything about which of the ten tribes he was from. His insertion into the succession of kings in Israel is anomalous in itself and introduces the question of whether he was, in fact, an Israelite. There are other subtle hints that this dynasty was not only abhorrent but also aberrant, for the Spirit reckoned the Omri dynasty as being peculiar in its contribution to the fall of Israel (Micah 6:2, 16). The point is, it would make sense that God would reckon the ascendancy of Ahaziah, the last male king of this dynasty, record the record of his death, followed by the usurpation of the throne by his mother, Athaliah, who is called the daughter of Omri in the same verse that reckons Ahaziah’s ascendancy to be in the 42nd year (2 Chronicles 22:2). The record of Athaliah’s destruction brings an end to the “house of Omri.” It is worthy of notice that Athaliah is also called daughter to Ahab by Jezebel (2 Kings 8:18). Athaliah, daughter of Omri/Ahab, is the key. She began the intrusion of the house of Omri from Israel into Judah by her marriage to Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, and this dynasty was ended with her execution. It makes sense to me that God would mark Ahaziah’s ascendancy to the throne in the 42nd year of that evil dynasty. It works out like this:

The dynasty that brought ruin into Israel and that Satan used to bring the seeds of ruin into Judah began with Omri, grandfather of Ahaziah. The lengths of the reigns of all the kings in this family are as follows:

Omri — 6 years (in Tirzah)

Ahab — 22 years

Ahaziah (of Israel) — 2 years

Joram (or Jehoram, of Israel) — 12 years: Total — 42 years at the time Ahaziah of Judah began to reign.]