The Lord’s Work – Part 33

 

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The Lord’s Work – Part 33

The Lord’s Work – Part 33

2 Chronicles 24:16  And they buried him [Jehoiada the Priest] in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God, and toward his house.

For the priest Jehoiada, he had “done good”…  IN ISRAEL. Not in truth. But in Israel.

And so thus did he receive eternal life? Did he get raptured? Did he get taken to heaven in a chariot of fire?

No, he didn’t live at all. He died. But.. he received a good burial. He did good in the flesh and he received honour in the flesh. Nothing is said of an eternal reward. He didn’t ascend to heaven nor was he translated that he should not die.

But… What an honor, to be said of him and him alone in the Bible that he “had done good”… in Israel, toward God and His house, in the flesh.

What did he do specifically?

1 Kings 21:21  Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel,

But Ahab, the King of Israel had joined himself with Jehosaphat, the King of Judah. King Ahaziah was Ahab’s grandson. So when God appointed Jehu to destroy Ahab’s house, he also killed Ahaziah.

2 Chronicles 22:10-12  But when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal of the house of Judah.  11  But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king’s sons that were slain, and put him and his nurse in a bedchamber. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest, (for she was the sister of Ahaziah,) hid him from Athaliah, so that she slew him not.  12  And he was with them hid in the house of God six years: and Athaliah reigned over the land.

Ahab + Jehosaphat – (Jehu + Athaliah) = almost 0 + Jehoiada = 1

Jehoiada preserved the Lord’s HOUSE. He saved the lineage of David, and of Jesus… and of US!! It was almost wiped out!!

So what did Jehoiada do? He preserved the royal seed of the house of David. Then, 7 years later, he brought out and anointed Joash as the rightful King of Judah.

But can you say that this was true good, which makes him deserving of everlasting life? Was this really better than all other recorded works in the Bible that NO ONE else is said to have “done good”.?

I maintain it is still just a shadow, a figure, a pattern. A very important one. Purposefully, the ONLY one that is given.

What is this all important pattern of having “done good”? Jehoiada preserved the Lord’s seed when Satan attempted to both defile it and destroy it. He hid the seed (the lineage of David) and when the time came, lifted up and confessed the true King. That is a pattern, that is a precedent. That is a figure of what each of us must do spiritually, to get saved to be counted among the children of the resurrection. Receive the seed (Jesus Christ – the Word of God), keep it in your heart so that Satan cannot take it away… and then, bring it forth as fruit!

Mark 4:15  And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.

Luke 8:15  But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

This is what Jehoiada did (in pattern, in shadow, after the flesh): He kept the word of God in his heart, and brought forth fruit.

Jehoiada is not an exception to the rule. There is none that doeth good. That stands true.

But what he did, was the pattern of what every man that attains the resurrection of the dead must have done. Jehoiada was the figure of a true man that has “done good”. And he alone is given this honor/title.

And its very important to understand that pattern. Why? Because what you have done, whether good or evil, TRUE good or evil, according to the pattern of Jehoiada’s deeds, will determine your resurrection.

Because, remember, here is the only other instance of “done good”:

John 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Jehoiada possesses the only claim in the whole Bible to have “done good”. So you better figure out what Jehoiada did, and do the same thing. You better have “done good”, after Jehoiada’s pattern.

They that have done good, even once, one true good work, will receive everlasting life.

There are only 2 kinds of people. There are only two sorts of works. And you can’t do both sorts.

If we don’t divide the flesh from the Spirit, the true from the figure of the true, then God is an unrighteous judge.

Jehoiada did not do good in truth. He did good in Israel. He did good in the Earth, toward God and His house. He did good in the flesh, in the figure of the true. But “the judgment of God is according to truth.” We need to do good toward God and His house after Jehoiada’s pattern, in the Spirit, that is, in the true.

If Jehoiada did true good, instead of just carnal worldly good, he wouldn’t have ever died. He would not need a Saviour, and neither would any of mankind.

If a man can do true good in the flesh, then every man can do and does true good. Every man does good in the flesh sometimes. Every man shows mercy in the flesh sometimes.

If Jehoiada did true good, he would be able to open the seven seals of the book of the ending. But no man will be found worthy to open and to read that book.

So why is this here? Why is this ONLY said of Jehoiada and no one else in the Bible? Why is this said only once, and not multiple times?

Some would say that the exception proves the rule. I don’t know where that comes from. Is that Biblical?

But this is not an exception to the rule. This is not here as an exception. “No one has done good, except for Jehoiada.”

Out of all the good things ever done in all of recorded history of mankind, why would this one be the only exception recorded in the Bible?

Its not an exception. So then, why is it said only once, and why only of this one man’s work? Because it’s a very important figure of the true. It’s the shadow, the pattern of how to have “done good”!

The Lord doesn’t use these phrases dozens of times all over the Bible. They are rare, and when they are used, they are very pointed. They are there to show us the pattern! The Lord could have used this phrase for SO many others who also had done good things in Israel and in the Earth. But Jehoiada’s work was the one that the Lord chose to label as “did good”. The Lord chose Jehoida’s work alone to identify for us as the pattern of having done true good. The figure of the true good, which the Lord chose to reveal to man, in a figure. So in the entire Bible, Jehoiada is the only man to be credited with having “done good”. What an honour! Jehoiada “done good”. He received a good burial. He was buried with the Kings. He will be resurrected with the Kings. With King David. Hmm.. that’s a pattern there too. When we die, we a buried WITH CHRIST, and when we rise, we will rise with Christ to reign as Kings and Priests on the Earth.

But still.. the rule is, there is none that doeth good. Jehoiada’s “done good” is not the rule. Neither is it “the exception to the rule”. It is not “the exception that proves the rule”. Jehoiada’s work is simply the figure of the true!

Those that have “done good”, done TRUE good, will have the resurrection of eternal life. Those that have “done good” are the righteous, who are as righteous and as sinless and as perfect as Jesus Christ. They are the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. In truth. They are children of God, not according to the flesh by the works the law (born of the flesh – the bondwoman), but according to the promise by faith of Jesus Christ (born of the Spirit – the free woman).

“Done right*” – again, 2 times

Nehemiah 9:33  Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly:

That is the Lord that has “done right”. Not man! And we have done wickedly. Who shall do wickedly?

The wicked. The wicked shall do wickedly!

Daniel 12:10  Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.

Those are some big fat BUTs. If you are not washed and made white by understanding, then you are the wicked.

Isaiah 53:11  He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

The Lord has “done right”, but man has done wickedly. Here is the only other instance of “done right”.

Jeremiah 34:15  And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:

This is the only time any men ever are said to have “done right”. The only time!

Is this a contradiction? An exception? Or.. another very important and very pointedly chosen pattern? Yes, a pattern. A very important one.

This is the only instance of men having “done right” in the Bible. And… WOW!

Wow… here is the pattern under the law of having “done right” in His sight: proclaim liberty every man to his neighbour. Set him free from bondage. That was the shadow. The OT Jews under the law did the pattern. We Christians do the true, in the Spirit!

Not just soul-winners. But EVERY man that BELIEVES the gospel.

Matthew 18:32-35  Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:  33  Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?  34  And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.  35  So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

Luke 6:37  Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:

Matthew 6:14-15  For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:  15  But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

To believe the gospel of Jesus Christ is to forgive men their debts. To SHOW MERCY.

To believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, the record of Jesus Christ is to set your brother/neighbor FREE.

If all men are not forgiven for ALL sins, then neither will you be.

Salvation is liberty. To believe the gospel is to set men free. To proclaim liberty in Christ.

Galatians 5:1  Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

If you believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, you have made men free.

But a false gospel, a gospel of works brings men into bondage.

Acts 15:1  And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. … 5  But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.

Acts 15:10  Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

This is the true. With what you believe, you either make men completely free, or you put them in bondage.