II Chronicles

Chapter 3

God's Solution to All Problems

 

            The focus of this book is to look at the kingdom at its height and learn the lessons of how not to lose the blessings of God on an organization, a country, a church, or even a family. Everything depends on the blessings of God. Any endeavor you try will only be successful if God blesses it. It is extremely important to obtain the blessings of God!

Notice carefully Psalm 127:1

"Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."

            Even the home is built and established on God. It is extremely important to get God involved early and often in any endeavor!

There is a verse in the Bible that contains the solution to every problem that men and women may face. As it turns out, it is the first time God speaks to Adam and Eve. Amazingly the first thing God tells mankind is the solution to every situation, every circumstance, and every problem that are being faced today! Do you understand? If you apply these things given in this verse, you will be successful and satisfied. Here is the verse and its meaning:

Genesis 1:28 "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."

This is not the first time God speaks. As you read the first chapter of Genesis, you notice that God creates it all by speaking. He speaks things into existence and then He uses His Hands to move them into place. Look at what God says in Isaiah 45:12

"I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded."

All that exist is because God spoke it into existence and stretched it out with His hands!

Besides creating, God speaks to the fish and fowl giving them a commandment:

Genesis 1:20-21 "And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth."

This is basically what God told mankind to do. Except He uses the word "fill" here instead of "replenish"! More on that later.

"And God blessed them…"

Notice carefully how God works. Before God gives the solution, He does two things for them. First it says that "…God blessed them…" Any solution man puts into practice will fail if it doesn't have the blessing of God! Everything depends on God's intervention in a way that blesses the effort put forth!

It is difficult sometimes to define the blessing of God. Some think that it is material wealth. Others may think it is good health, or a successful marriage and family. While these things are good, sometimes these things end up ruining a person instead of making them successful. I know several multi-millionaires. As I watch them waste their money and raise their children wrong, I am reminded that many times poverty can be a blessing when a person relies on God instead of wealth. As far as good health is concerned, how many professional athletes do you know that use their talents to bless and glorify God? Very few. In my experience, people that are healthy, wealthy, and wise many times are too busy to think about and to glorify God!

The more I think about the blessing of God, I am reminded of what the Bible says in

1 Timothy 6:6 "But godliness with contentment is great gain."

I think the blessing of God is not so much about what God gives you but how you receive it! If you look at what you have and it makes you godly and content, you have the blessing of God. Godly means that you look and act according to what God thinks. Pleasing God and being content with what God is doing with you, is a great gain! Don't confuse contentment with satisfaction. I am content with God's treatment of me, but I am not satisfied with my treatment of Him! I need and want to walk closer with Him!

A good way to understand the blessing of God is to look at what it is not, or what is the opposite of the blessing. There are three very instructive Biblical answers that show the opposite of God's blessing.

In Deuteronomy 27 and 28, Moses is retelling what happened when they came into the land. In this passage of Scripture, blessings are contrasted with cursings. A curse is something bad that happens and is predicted. Any individual or country should want the blessing and not the cursing! The problem with experiencing the cursing is that many times the curses are a gradual downhill path that people don't turn from. They get used to them and keep going in the wrong direction. America today is experiencing the curses because they have squandered the blessings and rejected the God of the Bible!

The second phrase that describes the opposite of the blessing of God is the judgement of God. The judgement of God is when things get so bad that God must intervene in a negative way to stop the terrible behavior and get people's attention. This is described in II Chronicles 7:13, 14.

"If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;"

Carefully notice that God takes credit for the conditions that the nation is undergoing. According to this, the climate problems and disease are the results of God's judgement. So, God gives the solution to these problems. Again, carefully notice God gives the proper solutions to fix the problems:

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

          The third thing that is the opposite of the Blessing of God is without a doubt the most disastrous of all. It is the absence of God. It is described horrifyingly in Romans 1.

The worst thing that can happen to a person or organization is for God to just back off and not be there for them! Men and women need God. We can't survive long without Him! Twice it says, "God gave them up". Look at Romans 1:24

"Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:"

And again, at Romans 1:26

"For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:"

Finally, it says in Romans 1:28that He "…gave them over…"

"And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;"

Kicking God out of the education system ("knowledge") results in catastrophe!

The results of God not being there are listed in Romans 1:29-32

"Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,

Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them."

That pretty much describes society today.

So, if the absence of God's blessings are these three things. And the blessing of God can be described as godliness with contentment. How does one go about obtaining the blessings of God?

That is the second thing God did for Adam and Eve before He gave them the solution to all their problems!

"…And God said to them…"

 

The way to receive the blessing is to believe God's words. We must have God speaking to us! God speaks to us through His words and through preaching. If you will believe that the King James Bible is God's words given directly to you, God can tell you things and show you the solutions!

Look at Psalms 1.

Psalms 1 gives the way to obtain the blessing of God! Notice how Psalms 1 dovetails into Genesis 1:28showing the same solutions!

The way to obtain the blessings of God is made up of avoiding three things and embracing two things:

Psalms 1:1,2 "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night."

The first thing to avoid is the "…the counsel of the ungodly…" It is not about what they say but about their testimony. The counsel might be right, but since it comes from ungodly people it is wrong! When I shop for a used car, I usually try to shop the owner. I try to buy from an individual. I want to know if they have changed the oil and kept up with preventative maintenance. It is the same thing when I am looking for a partner to work with. I don't care a lot about what they know. I am looking for someone that is honest and teachable! Ungodly people can only give advice on what they know. Their motive is not to please God, and as such, their advice cannot be trusted.

The second thing to avoid is "… the way of sinners…" The way to obtain God's blessing is to learn from history, not repeat the mistakes! Don't do it because everyone else is doing it! Don't imitate their ways just because they see some results. Their results are temporary and usually cause greater, future problems!

The third thing to avoid, if you are seeking God's blessing, is "… the seat of the scornful." This is the result of embracing the first two things. There are few things worse than a Christian that is just sitting and doing nothing but criticizing those that are experiencing the blessings!

So, avoid these three things and embrace these two things. The first thing to do is to make the Bible your delight by believing that God is speaking to you out of it.

The second thing is to spend time in the Bible thinking (meditating) about what God is saying: Day and night.

"But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night."

"…be fruitful…"

 

Notice again in Psalms 1:3 "And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."

This matches the admonition and solution given in Genesis 1:28 "…be fruitful and multiply…"!

Notice how both passages emphasize the two prerequisites before giving the solutions. First recognize the blessings of God and then listen to Him when He speaks to you!

It would be profitable here to recognize the order given. God's blessing, then God speaking, then be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth, subdue, and have dominion. It is vitally important to do things in God's order. Salvation before baptism is the correct order. Salvation, baptism, church membership is God's order. For Bible study you need the milk, then the meat, and then the more! It is important to get married before you start having children! According to Proverbs 24:27, it is important to find out what it is God wants you to do before you build your house.

"Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house."

Putting things in God's order answers a lot of questions. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? God created the chicken before the egg came along so that He could put the young ones in a family. God adds before He multiplies. God puts a man and woman together and then He solves the world's problems by multiplying people.

            Be fruitful! How does one become fruitful? By comparing Psalms 1:3with John 15:1-17, the formula is simple: Abiding in Christ is the way to be fruitful. Before God can give you the solutions, He wants to have a relationship with you!

After obeying Psalms 1:1 & 2, the next thing to do is to slow down to a stop and plant yourself by the rivers of water. For the Christian, the local church are the rivers of water. Let God be your husbandman. The meaning of husbandman in the Bible is the one that takes care of the garden. Place yourself in God's hands! Let Him do the pruning!

Psalms 36:8 "They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures."

Notice what Jesus is teaching in John 15. In order to be fruitful, you must abide in Him. He is the vine, and we are just the branches that bear the fruit.

You abide in Him first by trusting Him as savior. Then you put Him first in everything you do. I used to think that He is at the top of the list. My list looked something like this: Jesus, Others, Yourself. This is not right according to Colossians 1:18.

"And he is head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence."

The list should look like this: At church, Jesus is the reason. In my marriage, Jesus is first. At work, He gets first place. In my free time, He is there guiding it all.

He is not just at the top of the list. He is at the top of every list!

The next thing God tells them is to multiply. This is the solution to all the problems in the world. God's solution is large, Bible believing, families that are active in a good local church. God's solution is to reveal the solutions to individuals, and He wants them part of a family and a local church. The local church makes the community a better place, which makes the family better, and makes the world a better place.  God loves the local church and wants to use all the individuals in it as a group!

The advantages of large families are many. As a member of a large family, you learn how to get along with others, you learn how to respect authority, and you learn how to share with others. You realize very early that it is not all about you!

 

Replenish or fill in Genesis 1:28

 

Genesis 1:28 "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."

God many times hides things from the "wise and prudent" and reveals them to babies.

Matthew 11:25 "At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes."

Since I believe that God has preserved His word in the King James Bible and speaks to me in English, I think the word God wants me to have here is "replenish". I have learned that the supposed mistakes in the Bible are really God hiding things from smart alecks that don't believe Him. God is interested in revealing advanced revelations to those who believe what He said, where He said it!

This is a great example. Hebrew scholars say the word "replenish"should be translated as "fill" here. The argument is that there was nothing to replenish since the earth was empty and hadn't been full before. Those on the other side that assume that there is a "gap" between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2say that the earth was full, and God had to destroy it during this gap. Here He gives Adam the commandment to refill it.

Notice when God speaks to the fish and fowl, he tells them to fill the earth.

All the newer translations use the word "fill" here. Anytime I see someone messing with what God has preserved in the old English, I get suspicious and excited. I know the devil is behind getting people to disbelieve what God has written. I also know that God is hiding things from people that think there are mistakes in the Bible!

Personally, I don't know if there is a gap or not. To me it doesn't make any difference, gap of millions of years or no gap. We have this world now that He created, and we must understand it in the present.

I think both the "gappers" and the Hebrew "scholars" miss what God is trying to tell us! This happens often to those that either don't believe the Bible or are trying to force their "pea" brains to make it say something it doesn't say!

Notice that all these commands are for Adam and Eve to do something in the future. God here is giving them something to do. Their purpose was not to "fill" the earth but to take care of it. Organize it and keep it healthy by subduing it and having dominion over it. It was an organizing task! God doesn't just want the earth full of people. He destroyed the world that was full of wicked people during the flood in Noah's day! He wants it to be productive! A jobsite full of people sitting around and doing nothing is different from a jobsite full of people interacting and building something! A church full of people that are there for entertainment is different from a church full of families trying to please God!

A forest full of dead trees, with limbs and leaves all over the place is just a fire waiting to happen! A replenished forest has this debris removed. Notice how God rephrases this command again to Adam in Genesis 2:15

"And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it."

1. "…to dress it…" – Clean it up. Rake the leaves, mow the lawn…etc.
2. "…and to keep it." – Don't be making a lot of changes. Don't cut down the tree of knowledge or the tree of life. Don't replant them somewhere else!

The other hidden things in this verse are the solution to the environmental problems that are facing society today. Many people think the solution is population control. Their idea of population control is to limit the size of families. This is done through abortion and euthanasia. Also, by limiting the number and gender of children a family is allowed to have. All of these are not only opposite of God's solution of being fruitful and multiplying, but also are damaging the planet by bring the judgment of God on the earth!

Notice also how using the word "fill" makes it useless as a problem solver. We don't just need more people; we need productive people. We need moral, God-fearing people not just useless eaters taking up space! We don't eliminate people by killing them, we change them into Bible believing Christians through the new birth and active church membership!

God shows us how to multiply in the book of Acts. He adds first and then the disciples multiply.

Acts 2:41 "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: And the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls."

Acts 2:47 "Praising God, and having favour with all of the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."

Acts 6:1 "And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied…"

Acts 6:7 "And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priest were obedient to the faith."

God adds before He multiplies! God's order is to add one man and one woman making one marriage. The babies come after marriage not before!

Replenishing the earth is not the end of God's solutions to all the problems. There are two other things that are needed. God tells them to subdue and have dominion. The final steps are organizing the success of replenishing so that what is replenished is not wasted and lasts a long time. God wants men and women that love Him and will listen to Him to be in charge.

God is looking for someone to reveal His solutions to! My guess is that He is looking for someone from a large Bible believing family that is active in a local church!