Tag: God Stirs Up the Wicked - 2 Chronicles 21-24

2 Chronicles 21:16-17

And the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the anger of the Philistines and of the Arabians who are near the Ethiopians. And they came up against Judah and invaded it and carried away all the possessions they found that belonged to the king's house, and also his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except Jehoahaz, his youngest son.

Tag:  God Stirs Up the Wicked

Before we can understand the above verse and the tag for this devotional, we ought to read a verse from the prophet Isaiah:

Isaiah 45:7

I form light and create darkness,

I make well-being and create calamity,

I am the Lord, who does all these things.

Or, these verses from the story of Job:

Job 1:12-15

And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.  Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and there came a messenger to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

God created calamity on Jehoram because, as the king of Israel, he acted in evil.  God used the evilness that was in the hearts of Philistines and the Arabians to cause them to act agains Jehoram and Judah.   Just like God allowed the Sabeans to attack Job’s family at the bequest of Satan, God will allow evil in this world to accomplish His purpose.   For this to happen God simply has to remove His common grace to all mankind.  When God removes His common grace the evilness in man’s life takes over and seeks to murder, kills and destroy.   God allows this wickedness to take place to discipline His children and to bring them back to himself ... as in the above text.   God allows sin to work for Him.  He does not create sin, but He does use sin to created the calamity necessary to accomplish His will.   He does this by simply removing His protective grace and allowing sin to do what it does: Kill!!