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

Josiah became king when he was eight years old.  His father was a wicked king who was assassinated by some of his court officials.  The people rose up and killed those who plotted against King Amon and made Josiah king (which suggests that those who killed Amon were attempting to usurp the throne in much the same way that Queen Athaliah had done some years earlier).  When Josiah was sixteen he began to seek God.  As part of his efforts to serve God, Josiah destroyed the altars to Baal and the Asherah poles erected throughout the land.  He went so far as to desecrate the places where offerings had been made to these idols.  He did not limit himself to the areas which we consider part of the Kingdom of Judah, but extended his cleansing to all of the land of Israel.  When he was twenty-six, he gave orders to repair the temple.  He used money which had been collected from all of Israel (the passage specifically mentions Ephraim and Manasseh in addition to Judah), which suggests that his religious reforms enjoyed support from people throughout the entire land of Israel.  So, while Josiah used his power as king of Judah to destroy idolatry throughout all of Israel, he enjoyed the support of the people outside of his domain in doing so.  By taking a strong stand for God, Josiah inspired many to also seek 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 31-33.

When Hezekiah’s son, Manasseh took the throne, he turned his back on his father’s faith and embraced all sorts of wickedness.  He set up shrines to false gods and erected idols throughout the land, going so far as to offer sacrifices to false gods in God’s temple.  He even sacrificed his own children to other gods.  The people followed him in his wickedness and evil practices.  God sent prophets to warn the people against their sin, but they refused to listen to them.  Finally, God allowed the Assyrians to take Manasseh captive.  While he was captive they humiliated and tormented him.  Finally, in his darkest hour, Manasseh turned to God and begged for His forgiveness.  God rescued Manasseh from his captivity.  When he returned to Jerusalem, Manasseh got rid of the idols and destroyed the shrines he had built.  He purified the temple and worshiped God there.  He told the people to serve the Lord and only the Lord, but many of them continued in the idol worship Manasseh had introduced.

There are really two lessons for us in the story of Manasseh.  First, no matter how depraved we may have become, God will listen and forgive us if we humble ourselves, turn from our wickedness and seek to serve Him.  Second, those we influenced away from God while we practiced our depravity may not follow us when we turn back to God.  So, our depravity will not be without consequences.  As I typed that I realized there is a third lesson.  One closely related to the second.    We cannot force others to embrace God.  They must choose to turn to Him for themselves.

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.

Hezekiah’s father, King Ahaz, had desecrated and then shut up the temple, forbidding worship there.  When Hezekiah became king one of his first acts was to reopen the temple and order the priests and Levites to consecrate both themselves and the temple.  The priests and Levites took sixteen days to fully clean and consecrate the temple and its furnishings such that Hezekiah was able to assemble the city officials and offer sacrifices to God on the seventeenth day.  While the passage tells us that Hezekiah assembled the city officials of Jerusalem for this, it implies that the general populace of Jerusalem joined them.  And that all of the people rejoiced and sang as they worshiped the Lord.  Hezekiah then decided that they should celebrate the Passover.  However, there was not time to have everything ready to celebrate the Passover at its appointed time.  So, they decided to do so in a month later than prescribed by the Law of Moses.  They also decided to send word throughout all of the land of Israel, even those portions which were not under Hezekiah’s control, inviting people to come and celebrate Passover. This decision was made, according to the passage, by “the whole assembly”.  The passage tells us that the messengers announcing this Passover were scorned and ridiculed, but nonetheless many people came from outside of Judah.  Many of those who had come from outside of Judah had not properly purified themselves before partaking in the Passover meal.  Hezekiah prayed that God would forgive those who had set their hearts on seeking God but had not properly prepared themselves.

The passage tells us that once the temple was purified, Hezekiah invited the city officials to an opening worship service.  It also seems to tell us that more people showed up for that service than had been invited.  They were all made welcome.  In response to the joy they felt, they chose to invite people from all of Israel to their planned celebration of Passover.  The messengers did not allow the scorn and ridicule with which they were greeted stop them from spreading the word about this coming celebration, and that was a good thing because, despite the ridicule and scorn, many chose to listen to their message.  The passage mentions that foreigners joined in this celebration.  It could be that it meant Israelites who dwelt outside of Judah, but I think it refers to people who were not born of Israelite parents who sought the Lord.  I want to highlight two things about this.  First, the messengers did not allow scorn and ridicule to dampen their enthusiasm, thus many chose to seek God.  Second, all who sought God were made welcome, even those who had not properly prepared themselves for this holy celebration.  I also want to point out that there was precedent in Numbers 9 for celebrating Passover a month late and, I believe, for welcoming those who had not properly prepared themselves, whether Israelite or foreigner.  Let us follow their example.

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.

We have three kings of Judah discussed in today’s passage.  The first of these was Uzziah, the son of Amaziah.  Amaziah had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but after conquering Edom he turned to worshiping the gods of Edom.  Uzziah followed in the footsteps his father laid out in his early life, not those towards the end.  Also, Uzziah apparently had someone who encouraged him in his walk with the Lord and as long as his role model and guide lived Uzziah did what pleased the Lord.  However, after Zechariah, Uzziah’s mentor in the Lord, died, Uzziah became arrogant and usurped the role of priest.  Uzziah’s son Jotham followed in his father’s footsteps without the arrogance of his later years.  Uzziah and Jotham became powerful kings because of their faithfulness to God, but failed to lead the people to abandon their idolatry.  Unfortunately, Jotham’s son, Ahaz, did not follow the example given by his father and grandfather.  The result was that Judah was invaded repeatedly during his reign, suffering terrible losses as a result.  None of these losses caused Ahaz to turn to God, instead he turned ever further from righteousness.  So, despite the efforts of Uzziah and Jotham to do what was right in God’s eyes, Ahaz chose to do what was wicked in God’s sight, which led to hardship and troubles for Judah as the people followed him in his wicked ways.

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.

I never really noticed before today how Jehoiada pulled off the coup which overthrew the usurper Queen Athaliah.  I had always read that his co-conspirators went throughout Judah and gathered the Levites, but I never noticed that they also gathered the heads of families.  That implies that Jehoiada had strong popular support for overthrowing Athaliah’s rule.  Joash, the king whom Jehoiada installed, ordered the repair of the temple and did what was right in God’s eyes for as long as Jehoiada. the priest, his stepfather, was alive.  However, after Jehoiada’s death he allowed himself to be corrupted by corrupt government officials. When Jehoiada’s son, Joash’s step brother, confronted Joash over his sin, Joash ordered the people to stone him.  Later, after Joash was wounded by an invading army, his officials killed him and put his son on the throne.

Joash’s son, Amaziah began his reign doing what was right in the eyes of God, but later turned from God to idols.  When Amaziah mustered Judah’s army to attack Edom, he hired mercenaries from Israel, the Northern Kingdom.  Then, when a prophet of God told him to dismiss them, Amaziah was faithful and did so.  However, after conquering Edom, Amaziah brought their gods back with him to Jerusalem and set them up in order to worship them.  So, we have two kings in a row who started their reigns serving God, but later turned away from His worship.  An important lesson to not let our youthful enthusiasm for the Lord fade as we get older.

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.

When Jehoshaphat returned from his ill-fated alliance with Ahab (the one which led to Ahab’s death), he was confronted by a prophet.  The prophet condemned him for allying with Ahab, but also praised him for removing the Asherah poles from Judah.  Jehoshaphat then appointed judges throughout his kingdom and encouraged them to judge honestly and without bias.  He reminded them that they should serve faithfully and with fear of God.  Further when an army of Moabites and Ammonites was raised to wage war against Judah, Jehoshaphat called on the people to fast.  They gathered in Jerusalem and called upon the Lord. Another prophet prophesied that the army of Judah should go forth to face the invading army, but that they would not need to fight them.  So, the army of Judah set up from Jerusalem singing and praising God.  When they came to a place where they could oversee where the invading army would be staged for the invasion, they saw that the Moabites and Ammonites had turned on each other, wiping out the invading army.  Yet despite these good things, Jehoshaphat once more allied with an evil king of Israel, Ahab’s son.  The result of Jehoshaphat’s alliances with the wicked kings of Israel was that almost all of his descendants were killed by his son and later by his son’s widow.

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.

We often overlook Asa, Rehoboam’s grandson.  The passage tells us that “Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God.”  Most of the time for good kings it will tell us that he what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but here it seems to speak more highly of Asa than that.  The passage even tells us why it gives him this high praise.  He destroyed all idol worship in Judah and the places where people practiced non-sanctioned worship of God.  Some might think that last bit a bad thing, but God commanded in the laws He gave to Israel through Moses that they practice their sacrifices at a central location (with certain very specific exceptions).  I will not claim to know all of the reasons God gave that command, but a few seem obvious to me.  First, by practicing their primary worship at one central location, the Israelites would remain unified, seeing themselves as one people.  Second, and closely related to the first, if they practiced their worship at various places, those who worshiped at different locations might develop different, conflicting, understandings of what God asked of His people.  Finally, if they practiced their worship at different locations, they might begin to see the God worshiped in Jerusalem as being different from the God worshiped in Gibeah, and perhaps view those different gods as being limited by geography.  Asa prevented these things from happening during his reign.  So, when Zerah the Cushite marched against Judah with an overwhelmingly large army, the army of Judah was united in its faith in 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 8-10.

I find it interesting that the leaders of Israel gathered at Shechem to make Rehoboam king after the death of Solomon.  I also find it interesting that they sent for Jeroboam, who had fled to Egypt to avoid Solomon’s wrath.  The passages do not give us a clear idea about how Jeroboam incurred Solomon’s anger, but the fact that Solomon had put Jeroboam in charge of his forced labor and that Jeroboam was the one who led the Israelites to request Rehoboam lower the taxes Solomon had imposed suggests that Jeroboam had previously campaigned for Solomon to lower taxes.  Which brings me to Rehoboam’s response to the people’s demand.  The different advice he received from his father’s advisers versus what he received from his companions indicates the two different approaches a government can take.  The first recognizes that a government’s job is to serve the needs of the people.  The second believes that people are to serve the government.  If Rehoboam had chosen to use his kingship to serve his people, the Northern Tribes would not have split off from the Southern Tribes.  Instead he chose to believe that his people existed to serve him.  By taking that approach Rehoboam attempted to put himself in the place of God.  Those of us who are called to positions of leadership need to remember that the job of a leader is to serve those whom he leads by showing them how they can better serve 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 5-7.

My title today is a paraphrase of what God said to Solomon about what would happen when God sent disasters upon the land in response to the people’s sin.  The full quote is, “ 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.”  When God says, “my people”, He clarifies who He means by that by telling us that His people are those who are called by His name.  So, God’s people can be interpreted as either those who serve Jesus Christ and are called by His name, or those who identify as descendants of Abraham.  I believe that any of those who are part of the second group who truly follow what God says here, they will become part of the first group.

So, I am going to write the rest of this blog to the first group (and if you are reading this blog I suspect that you are part of that group).  If you look at our land, at our world, it sure looks to me like most of it is experiencing some form of judgement from God (wars, extreme civil disorder, severe weather, plague).  Therefore, we, who are called by God’s name, must humble ourselves and pray.    We must seek God’s face, and root out the wickedness which inhabits our hearts.   Notice that God does not say that we need to turn others from their wicked ways; we must turn from our wicked ways.  If we humbly admit that we have failed to faithfully follow all of God’s commands, God promises that He will heal the land.  And at this point I want to go back to Solomon’s prayer of dedication in chapter six verse thirty-six where he reminds us, “for there is no one who does not sin.”   I want to emphasize that God makes this promise based on those who are called by His name doing as He commands here.  Healing the land does not depend on those who deny His existence, or rebel against Him, turning to Him.  No, if we want our land to be healed than we, who are called by His name, must humble ourselves and pray.  That is all it will take.  So, what are we waiting for?

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