I am using 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 disastrous decision which Rehoboam made at what was supposed to be his coronation, he made a wise decision of listening to the prophet Shemaiah and not making war on the rest of Israel in an attempt to assert his authority over them.  He followed that up by continuing to promote faithfully worshiping God while he consolidated his authority as king.  This led the priests and Levites, and others who wished to faithfully worship God, to  migrate from the Northern Kingdom to the territory controlled by Rehoboam.  Unfortunately, once he had fully consolidated his authority, he no longer felt it necessary to remain faithful.  However, when once again he was confronted by the prophet Shemaiah, he repented.

When war broke out between Abijah, Rehoboam’s son, and Jeroboam, Abijah used the fact that the priests and Levites had moved to his territory to break the moral of the Northern Army.  Abijah’s son, Asa, learned a lesson from what happened in this battle and started his reign dedicated to eliminating idol worship in his kingdom.  The result being that he was able to completely defeat a much larger army when it invaded.  It seems likely that in the process of removing pagan shrines from all of the towns and villages where his writ ran, Asa and his generals learned the layout of the land in detail.  Which allowed them to pick the right location to face their enemy.  The above is not to downplay the significance God played in delivering a victory to Asa’s army. Rather, I am pointing out how faithfully following God often gives us the tools to face unforeseen challenges which arise later.

I am using 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.

The story about Rehoboam’s reaction to the challenge to his rule from the Northern Tribes contains multiple examples in what not to do when seeking power.  He did one thing right when he sought the advice of his father’s experienced counselors.  However, he completely defeated the point of such a wise act by ignoring their advice and taking that of his friends who told him what he wanted to hear.  The advice given to Rehoboam by his father’s advisers was good advice and that given by his friends was bad advice.  The elder advisers advised him to show humility while the younger ones advised arrogance.  So, we really have two mistakes in one.  He rejected advice from his elders in favor of that from his peers.  And he rejected advice to be humble in favor of advice to be arrogant.  Rarely is it a good idea to favor the advice of youth over that of experience, but it is never wise to choose arrogance over humility.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Chronicles 5-7.

At two separate points in today’s passage it tells us that the Lord’s presence filled the Temple.  The way the passage is written one might conclude that these were two different events.  However, it looks to me that the first time it mentions God’s presence entering the Temple was the end of an abbreviated description of the dedication of the Temple which described the priestly activity connected with bringing the Ark into the Temple while the second time was the end of a longer description of the event from the perspective of the general populace.  The other interpretation of these two clouds of God’s presence filling the Temple is that the first time it filled the parts of the Temple where only the priests went and the second time God’s presence spread out and filled the entire Temple including the Temple courtyard. I tend towards the first interpretation, but see valid understandings of God that can come from the second.

I like looking at Solomon’s prayer asking God to watch over the Temple and God’s answer at the same time. Solomon asks God to put His name on the Temple and to watch over it.  He also asks that God answer prayers directed towards the Temple and to God.  There is one specific request Solomon makes to which I think we should pay special attention.  Solomon asks God to hear and answer the prayers of those who are not part of His people so that all people may have the opportunity to become God’s people (my simplification of Solomon’s request).  God’s answer to Solomon was that He had chosen the Temple to be set apart as holy.  However, God rejected Solomon’s request to put the condition of praying towards the Temple on people’s prayer.  God’s answer to that part of Solomon’s prayer was, “if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. ”  God promised it to the people of Israel in Solomon’s time and He promises it to us today.  Let us humble ourselves, pray, seek God’s face, and turn from our wicked ways.  That is what it will take for God to restore our land.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Chronicles 27-29.

This passage lays out how David laid out his government of the Kingdom of Israel.  It lists those who commanded the forces he kept prepared against an unexpected attack (and probably sent out to deal with bandits who raided caravans on the trade routes) and those who he appointed to administer the various aspects of his government.  Perhaps the most interesting thing is how he included the leaders of each of the tribes into his government.  Certainly, that contributed to the division of the Kingdom when his grandson took the throne, but it also helped to make the people think of themselves as part of the Kingdom rather than just as part of the various tribes.

However, I want to spend a little time about something it relays from David’s instructions to Solomon.  Up until this point, most of what was written in this book was there to show how the Returned Exiles were connected to the Kingdom of David.  This was included as instruction on how they, and we, should live.  It includes a series of points which we should meditate on frequently:

• Learn to know God intimately
• Worship and serve Him with your whole heart and a willing mind
• God sees every heart and knows every thought and plan
• If you seek Him, you will find Him
• If you forsake Him, He will reject you.

Part of me wants to expound on that, but everything I think to write seems to dilute the above.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Chronicles 24-26.

I have written previously that I find passages containing genealogies difficult to read and make a blog entry about.  Today’s passage is one such passage as it is a combination of genealogies and who was assigned what task in rituals we no longer follow.  However, there is one element of this passage that is worth taking careful note of.  When priests and Levites were assigned tasks in the Temple, great care was taken to make sure that not only was no preference shown, but that everyone could see that no preference was shown.  We should make an effort to follow this example when selecting leaders today.  There are tasks where it is appropriate to select people based on their relationship with the decision-makers.  There are others where it is important that those chosen not be selected on that basis.  In those latter circumstances, we need to make sure that everyone can see that no one received preferential treatment.  In those circumstances avoiding the appearance of impropriety is almost as important as avoiding impropriety.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Chronicles 17-19.

The message which God gave to David through the prophet Nathan contains some prophecies which clearly apply to the Messiah and not to Solomon.  In fact, in many ways it more closely tracks as a Messianic prophecy than one fulfilled by Solomon.  While Solomon did indeed build a temple to God, he did not truly keep God’s favor his entire life, as God chose Jeroboam to take the Northern Tribes away from Solomon’s son while Solomon yet ruled.  On the other hand, the Church is indeed God’s Temple, built by Jesus.  Jesus suffered death at God’s command and has His favor for all of eternity.  Speaking of eternity, Jesus will reign over God’s people for all of eternity.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Chronicles 13-16.

I am not sure that the order in which the account of David moving the Ark, Hiram sending him messengers, and the Philistine attempt to defeat him is the order in which these events occurred.  I suspect that the compiler of this book was also unsure.  Nevertheless, I find the difference between Hiram’s response to David taking the throne and that of the Philistines interesting.  Hiram sent messengers and offered to help David build palaces and otherwise fortify Jerusalem into a true capital.  The Philistines sent an army and tried to defeat David before he became too powerful for them.  Hiram established a long-term relationship with Israel which benefited both nations.  The Philistines provoked David to war and he completely defeated them.  They were never again a power in the region (although there is evidence that they maintained a separate identity until around the time Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians).

I love the psalm included in today’s passage.  It gives us some instructions which we should follow today, especially now.  Let us give thanks to God and proclaim to the whole world how great he is.  Sing to Him and exult Him and continually seek Him.  Give thanks to God and remember that He is in charge.  If we do these things and truly believe them, we will not be afraid, not even of disease and disaster.  Then when people ask us why we are not afraid, we should tell them that we are not afraid because God is in control; He is good and He loves us.