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

When we think of King Hezekiah we generally think of the Assyrian threats against Jerusalem during his reign, but today’s passage sets the stage for that event.  Hezekiah ordered the consecration and reopening of the Temple as his first act as king.  In doing this Hezekiah had the full support of the priests and Levites.  Less than two months after Hezekiah took the throne after his father’s death, the Temple was ready once again for sacrifices, offerings, and worship of the Lord.  The part I like the most out of this is the special Passover celebration which Hezekiah promoted.  Since there was not enough time from beginning to cleanse the Temple and the normal date for the Passover for enough priests to be consecrated, someone among the initial assembly suggested that they hold it a month later than usual (the inspiration for this would have come from the instructions given to those who were unclean through no fault of their own at the time of the second Passover).

All of Israel was to be invited, not just those living in the Kingdom of Judah.  So, Hezekiah sent messengers throughout both Judah and the Northern Kingdom.  Those messengers sent to the Northern Kingdom were met with scorn and ridicule.  Yet even so, a number of people from the Northern Kingdom chose to come to this Passover celebration in order to resume worshiping God.  This whole episode tells us a lot about how we should worship God.  The people of Judah sought to celebrate the worship of God with all of those to whom His promise had been given.  Those from the Northern Kingdom were willing to be ridiculed in order to worship God.  On whichever side of such a divide we find ourselves, let us emulate the people of Hezekiah’s time.  If we are within the group celebrating the worship of God, let us invite those outside who wish to worship Him to join us.  If we are among those who ridicule the worship of God, let us stand up to worship God and be ridiculed.

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.

Uzziah and his son Jotham had great success as kings of Judah because they did what was right in God’s eyes.  However, Uzziah’s pride led him to attempt to usurp the authority of the priests.  The passage is pretty straight forward, but it seems to me that there was a little more going on than stated.  It seems to me that the incident with Uzziah attempting to burn incense before God was not the first time he rejected counsel to not do that which he desired to do.  However, his son Jotham reigned as a good king. As a result of their faithfulness, Judah was strong under both of these kings.  Unfortunately, Jotham’s son, Ahaz, did not follow in his father’s footsteps.  Instead, he followed the example of the kings of Israel (the Northern Kingdom).  In fact, he went so far as to sacrifice his own children to the idols he worshiped.  This led to Judah becoming weak and suffering at the hands of other nations.  Ahaz did not learn from his defeats and turn to God, rather he committed even greater idolatry.

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.

Both Joash and his son Amaziah started out their reigns honoring God, but both turned away from God in their later years.  Joash, in particular, started out enthusiastically serving God.  He went beyond the efforts of his stepfather, Jehoiada the priest, in repairing the Temple and refurnishing it, but once Jehoiada died he fell under the influence of advisors who encouraged him to commit idolatry.  Joash’s son, Amaziah, started out faithfully following the words of God’s prophets, but once he had success he turned to worshiping the idols of those he had defeated.  In both cases, these kings began to think they need not listen to God’s prophets as they got older.  Let us not follow their example and turn from following 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 19-22.

In yesterday’s passage we were told that Jehoshaphat sent people throughout his land to teach people from the Book of the Law.  Then in today’s passage, the writer tells us that he set up judges throughout the land and instructed them to judge fairly and impartially before God.  As a result of the way in which Jehoshaphat, and his father before him, ruled, when Judah was attacked by an army larger than their army could face, the people responded to Jehoshaphat’s call to prayer by turning to God.  Then, in response to the word of God given to them by a prophet, the men of Judah marched forth praising God to face the invaders.  And, as prophesied, the invaders turned on each other and completely destroyed themselves before they ever faced the army of Judah.  Yet for all of the good which Jehoshaphat did during his reign, his alliance with King Ahaz of Israel by marrying his son to Ahab’s daughter led to the death of all of his sons and grandsons, with only his great grandson surviving to eventually take the throne.

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.

We generally overlook Asa because the Bible tells us much more about his son Jehoshaphat.  Yet, here we learn that King Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord for all of his life.  His religious reforms encouraged more people to migrate from the Northern Kingdom into Judah.  King Asa called the people to assemble for a festival to worship God and rededicate themselves to Him.  For all of the great things which he did in the service of God, late in his reign when Baasha, King of Israel, attacked him, rather than trusting in God to deliver victory, King Asa sent a bribe to the king of Aram.  At the same time he became intolerant of those who criticized him.  So, we learn that even one whose heart is fully committed to the Lord can make mistakes.

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.

When Rehoboam returned to Jerusalem after his disastrous trip to Shechem, where the Northern Tribes rebelled against his rule, we see that he initially obeyed God’s commands.  As a result, the priests, Levites, and those who wished to follow the Lord migrated from the territory controlled by Jeroboam into Judah.  This migration set the stage for Rehoboam’s grandson to rule as a faithful follower of the Lord.  Further, we have three incidents in this passage where the people of Judah turned to God when facing overwhelming odds.  In all three incidents God provided deliverance.

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.

The story of the Queen of Sheba coming to visit King Solomon has caught the imagination of people over the centuries.  Yet, it is overall a rather minor story.  Much of the legend which has risen about it suggests that King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba were lovers.  However, there is nothing in the account of her visit to suggest that was the case.  Reading the account here today makes more sense out of her visit than any to which I had previously come.  In the account here, the Queen of Sheba’s visit follows immediately after Solomon had started sending ships out in to the Red Sea and from there to the Gulf of Persia.  Up until that point most of the trade from India, and points east going to the Mediterranean would have gone overland, or through places such as Sheba and overland to the Mediterranean.  Here was Solomon capturing both sides of that sea trade with ports on both the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.  The Queen of Sheba went to Jerusalem to figure out how she could keep her country from getting completely cut out of this trade.  To me, the story suggests that Solomon had both the wisdom to set up sea trading from ports on the Red Sea and to cut a deal with the established players in that trade (as he previously had done with Hiram of Tyre on the Mediterranean side).

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.

When I read Solomon’s prayer of dedication for the Temple I am always moved.  In many ways the events described here, and those which led up to this point foreshadow the coming of the Messiah, Jesus.  Solomon built a Temple of cedar, marble, and gold.  Jesus built a Temple of those who follow His teachings.  Solomon asked God to have His eyes and ears open upon the Temple he had built day and night.  Jesus asked the same thing.  In both cases, God granted their requests.

So, God’s answer to Solomon applies as much to us today as it did to the people of Israel when He gave it to Solomon.  Right now it is especially important that we allow ourselves to be shaped by what God told Solomon: “…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. ”  In that God gives us four things which we must do.

• We must humble ourselves.
  • That means, among other things, being willing to admit to those around us that we have not lived up to what we claim to believe.
• We must pray.
• We must seek His face.
  • This means opening ourselves up for examination by the righteousness of God.  Allowing Him to reveal to us sins we did not know we were committing.
• We must turn from our wicked ways.
  • It is not enough to confess our sins and to seek to act righteously.  We must also stop committing those sins, even the ones which “don’t hurt anybody”.

Will you join me in seeking to do as God asks?

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 1-4.

Usually when I write on this passage I focus on Solomon requesting wisdom from God.  That is always a good place to start.  While you may obtain fame, wealth, and power without wisdom, they will bring you no joy, and any happiness they bring will be short-lived, if that is the case.  On the other hand, if you obtain godly wisdom, you will find joy, even if it does not provide you any of those other things.

The wisdom which Solomon asked for was displayed in his missive to Hiram, King of Tyre.  I rarely look at it very closely because it is mostly diplomatese.  However, in this letter Solomon displays an important understanding about God: God cannot be contained within any building built by man.  He cannot even be contained within Heaven, which He created.  God is greater than all others and we cannot hope to contain Him in any way.  The structures which we build to worship God can only serve to focus our minds upon Him, but we should not allow ourselves to believe that our worship can, or should, be limited to those locations.  Let us remember that wherever we are, God is there as well, and worship Him at all times and in all places.

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

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 34-36.

I love the story of Josiah.  He became king at a young age, clearly under the oversight of regents.  As he started to be allowed to make his own decisions he chose to seek God.  As soon as he was of age to rule in his own right he began to fight against idolatry in the land under his control.  Once he had cleansed the land of idolatry he turned his attention to restoring the Temple.  In the process of cleaning the Temple, the priests found a copy of the Book of the Law and brought it to Josiah.  Which raises the question of what Josiah and the others worshiping God were basing their actions on?  Perhaps they had traditions passed down to them from previous generations, or perhaps they had partial records of God’s Law.  The important thing is that when Josiah heard what was in the Book of the Law, he immediately responded to it and began implementing it.

King Josiah’s first act upon hearing what God actually required was to tear his clothes in grief over how badly the people of Israel had failed to keep God’s covenant with them.  His second act was to seek God’s guidance on what he, and the people, should do.  Then, when he was told that God’s wrath could not be averted, Josiah chose to enthusiastically worship God and follow His Law to the best of his ability.  Josiah did not serve God because he saw it as the path to wealth and power.  He served God because it gave him joy to do so.