June 12

2 Corinthians 10:5

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

2 Kings 10:25-28

As soon as Jehu had finished making the burnt offering, he ordered the guards and officers: "Go in and kill them; let no one escape." So they cut them down with the sword. The guards and officers threw the bodies out and then entered the inner shrine of the temple of Baal. They brought the sacred stone out of the temple of Baal and burned it. They demolished the sacred stone of Baal and tore down the temple of Baal, and people have used it for a latrine to this day. So Jehu destroyed Baal worship in Israel.

2 Kings 12:2-3

Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years Jehoiada the priest instructed him. The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.

In Israel, Jehu decided that he was going to destroy Baal worship in the land. He deceived all the prophets, ministers, and priests by telling them he was going to offer a great sacrifice in Baal's honor. They all gathered to the temple and after the sacrifice, Jehu ordered the guards to kill all of Baal's followers. They also burned, demolished, and tore down the temple. This definitely paints a violent and brutal picture. As I was reading, I couldn't help but feel sad that so much death had occurred. 

The second half of today's reading tells of how Joash came to be king of Judah. Joash's heart was faithful to the Lord and he did right in His eyes. He listened to the Godly instructions given by Jehoiada the priest. But, he did not remove traces of idolatry from the land. The people continued to offer sacrifices to pagan gods at the high places. 

In Judah, we see what happens when idols are allowed to infect the land. They will inevitably cause sin to infect the people's lives (despite having a righteous king). I realized that Jehu's approach was necessary when it comes to getting rid of the idols that stand in the way of worshiping the one true God. Every trace of it needs to be destroyed, or else people will continue to fall back to it. 

Baal worship may not be a problem for any of us today, but we have plenty of other idols that get in the way of our relationship with God. Just like Jehu, we need to be vicious when it comes to eliminating those idols from our lives. During prayer on Sunday morning, someone prayed 2 Corinthians 10:5, how we need to demolish that which stands against God and take captive our thoughts and make them obedient to Christ. The words in this verse are not passive words. Demolishing and taking captive is not something that will just happen on it's own. We need to be actively and aggressively involved in the destruction of idols in our lives so that we can experience the full blessings of a relationship with God.