Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Chronicles 34-36.

When Josiah was sixteen, he began seeking the Lord.  As part of that process, he began to destroy the altars to other gods, and the idols which the people of Israel worshipped when he was twenty years old.  Six years later he ordered the repair and consecration of the temple.  While they were cleaning and repairing the temple, the priests found a copy of the Book of the Law, which they brought to Josiah and read to him.  Josiah then implemented the practices described in the Book of the Law.  As I read this I thought about a video where a nonbeliever was pushing a Christian saying, “What about those people who never heard of Christ?  Are they condemned to Hell?”  This passage here gives us a way to understand God’s answer to that question.  Josiah did not know God’s Law when he was sixteen, but he knew that he wanted to seek God.  So, he began doing so.  After four years of seeking God and seeking to understand what God wanted of him, Josiah realized that he was being called by God to get rid of the idolatry in the land.  So, he acted upon that knowledge.  Josiah still did not know exactly what God’s Law said.  He just knew part of what God wanted from His people, so he acted on what he knew.  When Josiah completed removing the idols from the land he felt led to clean and repair the temple.  So, he ordered that done.  It was only while re repairing the temple that they found the Book of the Law.  Josiah sought the Lord and did the next thing he understood God asked of him.  It was only after following several steps, that God revealed the Law to Josiah.  In the same way, God will reveal Himself to those who seek Him, even those who have never heard of Jesus.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Chronicles 31-33.

While Hezekiah was not perfect, he was a good king who did what was right in the eyes of the Lord most of the time.  However, his son Manasseh was a mostly evil king.  He rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah had destroyed, he built altars to Baal and erected Asherah poles, he bowed down and worshipped “the starry hosts”*.  He even built altars to other gods in the temple and put an idol there as well.  Not only did he worship these other gods, he sacrificed his own children to them.  All of this led to him being taken captive as a prisoner of the Assyrians.  While captive to the Assyrians, Manasseh cried out to God and God delivered him.  When he returned to Jerusalem, he removed the altars and idols he had erected in Jerusalem and consecrated the temple once more.  For the rest of his life he worshiped only the Lord, and called upon the people of Judah to do likewise.  And, while the people continued to sacrifice and worship at the high places Manasseh had built before he turned to the Lord, they worshiped only the Lord at those places after Manasseh’s reform.  Manasseh had been as evil as one could imagine, but after he turned to God, he led others to do likewise.  Let us remember that people today can do the same.  If those suffering the consequences of their sin turn to the Lord and cry out to Him, He will deliver them, and they (and we should consider whether or not we have failed to serve Him and need to turn back to Him) can become great witnesses to others.

**the way that “the starry hosts” is used in the Old Testament suggests to me that it was a group of gods that were always worshipped collectively and associated with the stars.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Chronicles 29-30.

When I think of Hezekiah, I normally think of Sennacherib’s invasion of Judah, or of Hezekiah’s sickness and healing, and sometimes I think about the visit from the emissaries from Babylon.  I am not sure I have ever thought about how he cleansed the temple after his father’s death.  He started by bringing the priests and Levites together to rededicate themselves.  Once they had consecrated the temple, he gathered the city officials of Jerusalem, and then the people of Jerusalem and got them involved with worshiping the Lord once more.  As soon as the enthusiasm for the Lord had caught on with the people of Jerusalem, Hezekiah planned a Passover celebration, even though it was too late to do it at its assigned time.  By doing so, Hezekiah maintained the enthusiasm and momentum he had gained by acting as soon as he became king.  This is an important lesson for us when we are acting for the Lord, we must keep things moving forward, not rest on our laurels.  Actually, the example of the way in which Hezekiah, and those working with him, kept things moving forward started sooner.  When Hezekiah called on the people to start offering sacrifices there were not enough consecrated priests to skin all of the offering being brought.  So, the Levites pitched in and helped with that task.  There is one other important lesson in this passage.  When the messengers Hezekiah sent out to invite people from the northern tribes, which were not technically under Hezekiah’s rule, to announce the Passover celebration, they were laughed at and mocked.  Nevertheless they carried the message, and some people responded.  Likewise, we need to continue to carry God’s message, even when we are laughed at and mocked.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Chronicles 26-28.

So the first thing I thought about when I read this was that in this passage we have the third and fourth king of Judah in a row who were faithful to God for most of their reigns.  Joash served God enthusiastically, until his stepfather, the priest, died, when he turned to idolatry.  His son Amaziah served God enthusiastically, until he became jaded in his later years.  Today’s passage tells us that Uzziah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and served the Lord until he became powerful.  When he became powerful, he also became powerful and usurped the role of the priests, for which God punished him.  Uzziah’s son Jotham followed in his father’s footsteps, except that he continued to walk steadfastly before God his entire life and became powerful.  Unfortunately Jotham’s son Ahaz did not follow in the footsteps of his father.  Instead, he followed the example of the kings of Israel and made idols to worship the Baals.  As a result, God allowed him to be defeated by the Arameans, and by the king of Israel.  Instead of turning to God for deliverance, Ahaz chose to adopt the worship of the gods of Damascus.  Reading this I was struck that many people are like Ahaz, they fail to faithfully follow God, they may even indulge in behaviors they know God has commanded against, then when they suffer the consequences, they blame God for not saving them.  Ahaz failed to see how his idolatry and failure to obey God led to his hard times.  Many people today make the same mistake and blame God because He allowed them to suffer the consequences of their actions.  When bad times come upon them, rather than seek God, they turn even further from Him.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Chronicles 23-25.

Joash was an infant when his father died and his grandmother seized power by killing of all of the rest of the males of the royal family.  He only survived because his aunt secreted him away to her husband the high priest, Jehoiada.  There he was raised by Jehoiada and Jehosheba alongside their other children (well, maybe not exactly alongside, as their other children appear to be significantly older than Joash).  Jehoiada’s sons played a key role in protecting Joash and placing him on the throne.  I wrote all of that to set the stage for what struck me in today’s passage.  As long as Joash’s stepfather Jehoiada lived, Joash strove to earnestly serve the Lord, even going beyond Jehoiada in his devotion.  However, once Jehoiada died, the officials of Judah buttered him up and convinced Joash to worship Asherah poles and other idols.  When Zedekiah, his stepbrother, Jehoiada’s son, confronted Joash for abandoning the worship of the Lord for idol worship, Joash ordered him stoned to death.  When Zedekiah saw the king he must have thought of as a brother turn from the Lord, he tried to do what his father would have wanted.  He tried to turn him back to God.  But Joash forgot how Jehoiada had saved him from being killed as a child and killed his son.  The passage says that Joash forgot Jehoiada’s kindness, but I think it would be more accurate to say that he disregarded what Jehoiada had done for him.  I have never written much about it, but Zedekiah son of Jehoiada must have died in great sadness; partly because his “kid brother” ordered his death, but to a greater extent because he was unable to turn him back to serving God.  Joash allowed himself to be flattered and thus betrayed what his younger self valued most.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Chronicles 19-22.

The passage speaks highly of Jehoshaphat, although it condemns him for his alliance with King Ahab of Israel.  However I was struck by what it said about his son and successor, Jehoram.  After describing the evil he did and its consequences it says this about Jehoram, “He passed away, to no one’s regret,…”  That is perhaps the saddest thing which can be said about someone.  No one mourned his death, not his wife, not his children, not any friends.  So, why did Jehoram cut such a sad figure?  Well, he started his rein by having all of his brothers killed along with some of his father’s officials.  During his rein, Edom and Libnah rebelled and threw off loyalty to the throne in Jerusalem.  Instead of following in his father’s footsteps and seeking the Lord, Jehoram followed in the footsteps of his father-in-law, Ahab.  So, when he died there was no one to mourn his passing.  I pray that when I die they will not say of me, “He passed away to no one’s regret.”

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Chronicles 15-18.

Today’s passage begins as King Asa returns with his army from success against an overwhelming army from Cush.  A prophet came out to meet him and told him, and the army, “The Lord is with you when you are with Him.”  Asa repaired the altar in front of Solomon’s temple and the people gathered and made offerings to God.  The passage tells us that the people sought God eagerly, and that He was found by them.  If we wish to succeed we must seek God’s will and chose His side of any conflict.  If you choose to forsake what God desires He will forsake you.  It is not hard to know God’s side, if you truly seek Him, you will find Him and will know His desire.  We even have an illustration of this later in the passage when Ahab invited Asa’s son Jehoshaphat to join him as he went t war.  Jehoshaphat said that he would do so, but first they needed to seek counsel with the Lord.  Ahab summoned four hundred prophets, who told him what he wanted to hear.  At several other places the Bible references Ahab having four hundred prophets of Baal.  Jehoshaphat recognized that when he asked Ahab to seek the counsel of the Lord, Ahab sought the counsel of Baal.  So, Jehoshaphat asked if there were not at least one prophet of God of whom they could inquire.  Jehoshaphat sought God and thus he recognized when Ahab tried to pass off Baal as God.  In the same way, if we seek God, we will recognize when people seek to pass off lies as the word of God.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Chronicles 11-14.

After the army of Judah stood down from attempting to prevent the northern tribes from seceding, the passage tells us that the priests and Levites left their lands and property among the northern tribes and resettled in Jerusalem and Judah.  They did so because Jeroboam and his sons, contrary to the Law of Moses, replaced them as the priests and worship leaders.  Further, the passage tells us that all of those who set their hearts on seeking God followed the lead of the priests and Levites.  I mention all of this because the passage tells us that these people (the priests, Levites, and others from the northern tribes) strengthened the kingdom of Judah for three years.  Once Rehoboam fully consolidated his power, he turned from following God’s Law and much of Judah followed his lead.  Then, when Shishak, king of Egypt, attacked Judah, Rehoboam and the other leaders humbled themselves before God.  Because Rehoboam humbled himself, God did totally destroy him.  I was going somewhere else until I typed that last sentence and realized that provided a great practical example of what God promised in response to Solomon’s prayer dedicating the temple: “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. ”  So, let us humble ourselves and pray, while seeking God’s face.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Chronicles 8-10.

Today’s passage summarizes King Solomon’s wealth.  The idea has been presented that Mansa Musa, ruler of the Mali Empire in the Fourteenth Century A.D., was the richest man to ever live.  The claim is made that his wealth is better documented than Solomon’s, but that is not actually the case.  Much of what we know about Mansa Musa is from Arabic writings written after his pilgrimage to Mecca and is based on what he told the men who later wrote it down.  He is also mentioned in some histories written in Timbuktu (part of the Mali Empire at the time) in the Seventeenth Century.  These sources are, at best,  no more reliable than the account in this passage. The point I am making with of all of this is that King Solomon’s wealth as recorded here exceeds that which is recorded for Mansa Musa, and that the biblical record is at least as reliable as the records which report Musa’s wealth (Mansa is actually a title).  If indeed the wealth ascribed to King Solomon in today’s passage is correct, then he was wealthier than Mansa Musa.  And yet, for all of King Solomon’s wealth, his people were discontented such that they rebelled against his son, Rehoboam, and split the kingdom.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.