Year 9, Day 334: 2 Chronicles 36

Theological Commentary: Click Here

The last chapter in the book of Chronicles is the final chapter in the saga of the kings of Judah.  After the events of this chapter, it would be several thousand years before the Hebrew people are their own nation again.  In this respect, it is a sad chapter.

What is the point of this chapter?  The kings are rebellious.  They rebel against the Lord and He punished them.  They rebelled against other human leaders and they punished the Hebrew people.  Rebellion, when it is not ordained as proper by the hand of the Lord, ends in punishment.

The sad thing is that there isn’t any need for the rebellion.  The king of Egypt is content to have them as a vassal.  The Lord seems to be content to have them in that position.  The people, though, don’t want to be underneath someone else’s authority.  They rebel.  The same is true under the Babylonian king.  The people rebel because they are underneath a ruler that they don’t want.

What does their rebellion ultimately grant?  The people are deported.  The people are sent into captivity.  Rebellion can only be tolerated for so long before it must be crushed.  God sends His own people into exile because rebellion lives in their heart.

The Chronicler doesn’t end his story on a poor note, however.  After 70 years, the people are allowed to go back and rebuild.  Like the generation after the rebellious generation of the exodus, a new generation arises and is allowed to come back to the Promised Land.  With God, there is always hope.  God is a God of forgiveness.  He is always willing to forgive and try again. 

We’ve seen it time and time again in this book.  Evil king follows evil king until there is a resurgence of faith.  Then the spiral of decline comes again until there is a resurgence of faith.  God is always open to trying again when our rebellion sinks us low enough that we are able to repent and try again in earnest.

<><

Year 9, Day 333: 2 Chronicles 35

Theological Commentary: Click Here

This chapter contains a simple lesson within two stories.  The truth is that there are likely a myriad of lessons.  Today, though, I found 1 lesson readily available in both stories.  I love the way that God’s Word teaches the same lesson through both a positive and a negative example.

The story of the Passover initiates the lesson.  The Bible says that there has been no Passover like it since the time of Daniel.  Note that this includes the reigns of David, Solomon, Hezekiah, and any other notable good kings.  This was no simple Passover festival.  It was a great one.

What is the lesson in the story?  Just do your job.  Do what is expected of you.  What is the message that Josiah says to those in charge?  Put the ark in the temple, don’t make a show of it.  Focus on your cleanliness.  Slaughter the lamb the way you are supposed to.  Guard the doors like you should.  In other words, if everyone just does their job, it’ll work out great.

On the other hand, there is the story of Josiah’s death.  What is the one thing Josiah doesn’t do?  He doesn’t do what he is supposed to do.  Instead of listening to God, he forces his own will in opposition to what God is doing through Neco.  Because he gets in the way, he dies in battle.  Well, he dies shortly after battle from wounds taken in battle.  The point is that he doesn’t do his job and he dies.

The message is clear.  All we need to do is our job.  God can take our normal obedience and turn it into something great.  God can also take our disobedience and turn it into our unravelling.  If we just do our job, though, we will be in God’s will.  That is an ideal place to be, so long as we just do what is expected of us.

<><

Year 9, Day 332: 2 Chronicles 34

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Josiah is listed among the greatest Davidic kings, up on the list with David and Hezekiah.  He is a great reformer.  He is faithful.  He is a good role model.  He is the kind of leader a country can have under which it can prosper.

When looking at the passage today, there was something that popped out at me that I’ve not focused on in the past.  He was eight when he started to reign.  At the age of sixteen, eight years in, he was introduced to the Lord.  Four years later, he started to make reforms.  People read this and wonder what on earth is taking so long.  How can he take four years to start to reform the country from when he is introduced to God?

Remember that this is a story of things gone exceptionally well.  That right there should cause us to not question the methodology.  Something Josiah does really works.  Other kings made reforms but couldn’t get the people to buy in.  Josiah’s reform sticks.  Rather than ask what took him so long, it is better to ask what worked.

When Josiah takes four years, it allows him to do several things.  First, it gives him time to understand the lay of the land.  He can get to know the powerful figures in the temple.  In other words, he learns who the power players really are.

Second, in taking some time he can really ground himself in God’s ways.  He can truly start living according to God’s ways and reform out of personal experience.  He can start to see the endgame before instituting any kind of national change.

Third, it gives the people time to adjust.  No living being does well under change.  In fact, most extinctions occur because an organism cannot adapt fast enough.  Josiah allows the changes to happen gradually and thus become much more palatable.  The people can embrace the change because the reforms are slower in coming.

Josiah is a very smart reformer.  He knows that he’s got time.  Rather than get the job done now, he values the effort involved and paces himself.  He has the endgame in mind rather than the glory or the power involved.

<><

Year 9, Day 331: 2 Chronicles 33

Theological Commentary: Click Here

2 Chronicles 33 diverges from the companion account in the book of 2 Kings.  In Kings, Manasseh is an evil king who does evil things.  In 2 Chronicles, Manasseh starts out as an evil king who has a moment of repentance after being dragged to Assyria in captivity.  For the record, the Assyrian history doesn’t speak of Manasseh as ever having been brought to Assyria, so it cannot help to determine if he had a moment of repentance as the 2 Chronicles 33 account indicates.

What can be gleaned from this chapter?  For all the good that Hezekiah brought to the land, it didn’t do Manasseh much good.  Manasseh was an evil king.  He killed his own children in child sacrifice.  He worshipped foreign gods.  He built all the high places that Hezekiah ripped down.  Hezekiah’s own kid undoes all the good Hezekiah brought to the land through his obedience to God.

This teaches that human beings truly do have free will.  Of all the people in the world, it would seem like Manasseh had a great chance of being raised in a faithful manner.  Hezekiah was a great role model.  Manasseh would have nothing to do with it, though.  Manasseh rule was about him, not God.

Proximity doesn’t equate to faithfulness.  We cannot assume that children of faithful parents will be faithful to God.  We also cannot assume that children of faithless parents will likewise be faithless.  Once more, it can be seen that each person is responsible for their own relationship with the Lord.

<><

Year 9, Day 330: 2 Chronicles 32

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Chronicles 32 tells us an incredible amount of information about God and our relationship with Him.  He is all powerful.  Nothing can stand in His way.  Yet, He gives us free will.  He allows us to make our own decisions and then modifies His omniscient will to accommodate.

For example, take the Assyrians.  He raised them up.  He empowered them.  He exalted them into a position of supremacy.  What does He get in return?  The Assyrians blaspheme against Him.  They think God is unable to save the Hebrews, just like the gods of other nations have been unable to save them.  His omnipotence brought the Assyrians up into the position they were in; God’s desire to give them free will gave them the space to choose to turn their back upon Him.

On the other hand, look at Hezekiah.  Here is a man who finds himself besieged by an enemy of God’s own making.  What does Hezekiah do?  He takes some logical steps such as blocking up the water reserves and making sure the city is armed and defensible.  More importantly, though, Hezekiah turns to God and leads the people into an appeal to His greatness.  Hezekiah sees that the horde with Sennacherib is nothing compared to the power of God that is with the people of Jerusalem.

God gives us all free will to respond to Him.  Some of us turn against God in our free will because we don’t think we need Him.  Others of us turn in our free will to the only one who can make sense of life.  Granted, none of us are perfect.  But the reality is that God moves among the nations and gives us the ability to see Him at work or deny His influence in our life.

<><

Year 9, Day 329: 2 Chronicles 31

Theological Commentary: Click Here

There is an important fact that should shine through this text, but unfortunately people who aren’t experts on their Hebrew history don’t see.  Remember that Hezekiah was the king when Tiglath-pileser III came through from Assyria and conquered the land, stopping at the gates of Jerusalem before a plague assaulted his army and forced him back to Assyria.  Hezekiah called for the Passover in response of the action of the hand of God.  It is out of this incredible feeling of relief that the people gather.

Tiglath-pileser III plundered Judah and utterly conquered Israel.  He stripped the land of resources.  He took people into exile.  He stole their valuables.  He left little behind when he and his army moved through.

Hezekiah calls for the Passover.  The people are so moved that they come to the Passover and leave changed.  They go home and rip down the false gods and their places of worship.  The nation is moved by the worship and God’s salvation.

When Hezekiah calls for sacrifices, an amazing thing happens.  This is the part that is easy to miss.  The sacrifices come in great abundance.  There are so many sacrifices that they begin to heap up.  This is important.  Remember, Tiglath-pileser III stripped the land of whatever wealth and resources his army could find.  Where are these people getting abundant sacrifices?  The answer is easy.  God has blessed the people.  God’s blessing can take a poor and defeated land and make it prosperous.

Don’t lose sight of the fact that Hezekiah leads the way.  When he calls for sacrifices, he sets the expectation.  He knows the abundance of God’s provision personally.  He gives out of what God has provided.  Hezekiah doesn’t simply make reforms; Hezekiah makes reforms that start in his own household.  That is a spiritual leader.

<><

Year 9, Day 328: 2 Chronicles 30

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Four neat points rise up out of the Passover text that is shared in 2 Chronicles 30.  First, there is a reminder to a thought from yesterday.  The nation reforms, but each individual is still responsible for their relationship with the Lord.  Hezekiah sends out an invitation to gather for Passover.  Some people respond.  Other people scoff.  It truly goes back to the old saying.  You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink.  Every individual chooses each day how they will approach their relationship with the Lord.  We are responsible for our own hearts.

Second, notice that those who do respond are ashamed.  The Levites and priests recognize how things had gone poorly.  They repent.  They acknowledge their sin before the Lord and embrace their need to be forgiven and cleansed.  True reform brings about honesty and truth regarding our relationship with God.  True worship embraces the goodness of God and our own desperation for repentance.

Along with this point, notice how the message goes out against the works of the forefathers of the people.  While the prior point asserts that individual reform begins with individual acknowledgment of sin, this point asserts that national reform begins with national acknowledgment of sin.  Hezekiah and the people need to say that the behavior of the generations before them was egregious.  Their parents had awful habits that need to be broken.  What a powerful statement for a generation to rise up and boldly proclaim that the generation before them was wrong!

Lastly, look at what this chapter has to say about the impact of our faith on others.  We hear that part of the reason that the reform happens is because there are Hebrew people in exile to Assyria!  The reformers hope that as they draw closer to God that God will draw closer not just to them but to all Hebrew people!  They also hope that word of their reform might encourage people in exile to likewise reform ad draw closer to God.  The reform that happens in our lives and our communities isn’t just about ourselves.  It is about starting a fire within ourselves that can spread to others.

<><

Year 9, Day 327: 2 Chronicles 29

Theological Commentary: Click Here

2 Chronicles 29 tells us of the beginning of the reign of Hezekiah.  It focuses on the reform and rebuilding of the temple.  It speaks about the cleansing of the temple and the reinstitution of the sacrificial systems.  In general, it tells us that Hezekiah brings the nation back into proper relationship with God.

There are a couple of grand points to be associated with this general theme.  First, notice that the Bible speaks on a national scale.  Hezekiah made reforms.  Certainly, the people grew closer to God.  However, there can be no assurances that everyone had a great relationship with the Lord.  I’m sure many did.  I’m also sure the vast majority of people drew closer to the Lord than they had been.  However, b under no allusions about the heart of the people.  The nation moved closer to God.  Individuals are still responsible for their own walk with the Lord.

The second point is a point of hope.  Things went badly under Ahab, and they went badly quickly.  Under Ahab, child sacrifice is occurring.  The temple falls into disuse and misuse.  People are worshipping gods of other nations.  The picture looks exceptionally leak.  Under Hezekiah’s strong leadership, however, the picture is reinvigorated.  Hezekiah reforms the nation.  Hezekiah rights the ship.  Hezekiah sets a bar and people rise to it.

One of the great points about Hezekiah is that all is not lost.  Nations rise and fall.  Communities rise and fall.  The only difference between a moment of bleak hopelessness and a mountaintop experience of faith is who is setting the tone for the experience.  Under strong leadership, bleak things can turn into moments of hopefulness!  This is the importance of faithful leadership.

<><

Year 9, Day 326: 2 Chronicles 27-28

Theological Commentary: Click Here

God’s Word seems to always answer questions.  A few days ago, I was reminded to not associate the brevity of a king’s reign with the level of evil.  Today is a great case and point.  Jotham reigns sixteen years and is praised for his walk in the ways of the Lord.  Ahaz, Jotham’s son, also reigns for sixteen years and did not walk in the ways of the Lord at all.  God’s blessing falls upon the righteous and the unrighteous indeed.  One’s station in life, the length of one’s reign, one’s popularity among the community are not necessarily indicators of God’s assessment of our righteousness.

On the other hand, God’s evaluation of our righteousness does impact the fruit of our efforts.  Jotham has military success.  He becomes wealthy because he is able to make the nations around him his vassals.  Jotham’s efforts are protected by the Lord.  

Ahaz practices child sacrifice and other detestable things.  Because of these practices, His military campaigns are defeated.  His soldiers are taken captive.  Ahaz loses wealth to the nations around him.  Without the protection of the Lord, his human efforts meet human ends.

I also love the story here about the soldier of Judah who are captured by the soldiers of Israel.  While God did not want to protect Ahaz’s military expeditions, neither does he want the Hebrew people enslaving their own kin.  God sends a prophet to warn the people of Israel to not make slaves of their kin.  The captured soldiers are protected by God, even if the king is not.  They are sent home, clothed and cared for.

<><

Year 9, Day 325: 2 Chronicles 26

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Consequences are a very real thing.  When we make mistakes, there are consequences.  Sometimes the consequences are mitigated or reduced.  The reality is, though, that every action brings about a reaction.  Every action brings about consequences.

Uzziah becomes king at a very young age.  He walks in the ways of the Lord.  He loves God and abides by His desires.  God prospers him in battle.  He makes the nations around Judah into vassal states.  His reputation grows.  There are indeed consequences to every action.  Uzziah is faithful to God and he prospers.  It’s that simple.

On the other hand, Uzziah isn’t perfect.  In the midst of all of this prosperity and victory, he gets a bit of a big ego.  He goes into the temple to perform a sacrifice.  When he is told it isn’t his place because he isn’t a priest, Uzziah gets angry.  Uzziah displays his anger in the presence of the Lord.  Again, there are consequences for his action.  In retribution against his anger, God curses Uzziah with leprosy.  Uzziah suffers from the leprosy until he dies.  In fact, his leprosy becomes what he is known for after his death.

We are a people of free will.  We are given the ability to act as we desire.  There are consequences, though.  Choose God and He walks with us.  Walk away from God and He is willing to give us the space we likewise desire.  Anger God in His presence and we can expect a reaction in spite of how much we pursue His heart.  There are always consequences.

<><

Year 9, Day 324: 2 Chronicles 25

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Here we see yet another human king.  Amaziah does what is right in the eyes of the Lord, but not with his whole heart.  In other words, he acted the way he should, but his heart wasn’t always in it.  He talked a good talk and maybe even walked a good walk, but his walk wasn’t really evidence of the heart within.

Reading through the rest of the passage, there is more evidence of this dynamic at play.  Amaziah listens to the Lord before attacking the Edomites, but examine why.  Amaziah is worried about the money.  He is headed out for war.  He buys mercenaries from Israel to make sure he wins.  God sends a prophet to tell him to send the Israelites home.  Amaziah asks about the money he’s already spent.  This decision isn’t a faith-based decision, it is an economic one.  Amaziah only appears obedient after the Lord promises that he will recoup more than he’s spent on the mercenaries.  He obeys, but his heart isn’t really in it.

It gets worse.  After Amaziah conquers the Edomites, he brings their gods home with him.  He isn’t looking to follow God in his heart, he is looking for any avenue to power.  If Amaziah was in it for the right reasons, he would have realized that the gods of the Edomites couldn’t save them and wouldn’t do anything for him.  He doesn’t take this conclusion, though.  He brings them home and adds them to his worship.  His heart just isn’t in it.

God finally judges him.  Amaziah is killed by a coup.  A good bit of the wealth of Judah is plundered by Israel.  A possible good story ends much like we would expect from a person following the world with their heart.

Before becoming too judgmental, remember that stories like this are told for a reason.  It is far too easy to have the world at the heart of our passion than God, who should be there.  This is why Jesus teaches time and time again that God desires a heart after Him.  We hear over and over that God desires repentance, not perfection.  We all have it within us to pursue other gods.  Rather than taking a high seat of judgment, understand the lesson and live in humble repentance for the ways we are all like Amaziah.

<><

Year 9, Day 323: 2 Chronicles 24

Theological Commentary: Click Here

This is an interesting chapter.  Joash follows the ways of the Lord for as long as Jehoiada is with him as an advisor.  Joash seeks to restore the temple and its wealth back to what it was before it had been ravaged by foreign armies and the worship of Ba’al.  So long as Jehoiada is there to encourage him, Joash does a great job at walking in the ways of the Lord.

The question at hand, though, is what is truly in Joash’s heart.  It’s one thing to be faithful when it is easy and someone is looking over your shoulder.  On the other hand, it says something far more when you choose to do the right thing when you are fully in charge.  It is when we are in control that we are able to see glimpses of who we really are.

When Jehoiada dies, the princes of Judah come to Joash to speak to him.  Joash hears them and listens to them.  Before too long, the Asherim are being worshipped once more.  When Zechariah, Jehoiada’s son, comes to him and tries to warn him, they kill him.

Joash was a mighty king with a great example under Jehoiada.  Without Jehoiada, though, Joash follows the crowd.  He takes the path of least resistance.  Rather than stand up for God against the princes of Judah, he capitulates.  Joash is not a leader; Joash is a follower.

In the beginning, Joash had such promise.  In the end, he fell away.  God allows Joash to fall to the hand of the Syrians because of his unfaithfulness.  We get a glimpse of Joash’s true character, though, in this passage.  True character truly is what we do when nobody is looking (or when we’re truly in charge).

<><

Year 9, Day 322: 2 Chronicles 23

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Jehoiada brings about a coup in order to get Athaliah off the throne and to put the rightful king on the throne. Jehoiada’s coup involves the priest, the Levites, and the military commanders.  Everyone who has power and command in the city are in on the coup in order to make sure that it went smoothly.  Everything goes precisely as planed.

This chapter answers a very important question.  Can a follower of God be a part of a coup?  Can a follower of God take place in overthrowing a government?  Can a follower of God take part in the disrespect of authority?

The answer to all of those questions is yes.  Jehoiada is not only part of a coup, but he leads it.  Jehoiada takes charge and devises a plan to get the current authority out of the picture.

There is a very important fact that puts this in perspective.  The authority in question is not legitimate.  In fact, the authority in question has built an altar to Ba’al in Jerusalem itself!  Jehoiada’s coup isn’t about getting rid of Athaliah.  Jehoiada’s coup is about getting rid of the authority that is putting Ba’al into the presence of the people.

As a part of Jehoiada’s coup, he puts Joash in power.  Joash has been living with him for 6 years.  Joash has been taught by Jehoiada.  Jehoiada knows that when Joash is made king, Ba’al will be gone.  Things may not be perfect under Joash, but at the very least there won’t be a king who is encouraging people to walk away from the Lord.

<><

Year 9, Day 321: 2 Chronicles 22

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Ahaziah reigns for one year.  He was evil.  It is really easy to connect those two facts.  It is tempting to say that he was so evil that God got rid of him after a year.

Resist that urge.  First of all, there are several of the Judean kings who were plenty evil and who reigned for decades, not just years.  Second, remember that God’s perspective is not based on our timeline.  God can outlast the unrighteous until they die if needed.

None of this changes that Ahaziah was evil.  In his one year of rule, he makes it clear that he is going to follow in the ways of the kings of Israel.  This takes us back to a general principle in life.  When we surround ourselves with evil people, we get involved in evil.  When we surround ourselves with righteousness, we tend away from evil.  While Ahaziah’s biggest problem was certainly his own heart, it wasn’t aided at all be the company of advisors that he kept.

Speaking of advisors, Ahaziah’s mother Athaliah is one of the worst.  There can be little doubt that she is one of the primary reasons for Ahaziah’s evil during his reign.  Once she hears that Ahaziah has been killed, she sets out to destroy the rest of the royal family.  Her thought is simple.  If she cannot have an heir rule, then nobody will.

If that isn’t the wisdom of the world, I don’t know what is.  Athaliah could have followed the ways of the Lord and been protected by Him.  Instead, she follows the ways of the world to the bitter end.  She finds herself in a position committing genocide because of her choice.  Her legacy for all of history will be a woman who led her son astray and who led a regime built on genocide and fear.  This is the fruit of her pursuit of the world.

<><

Year 9, Day 320: 2 Chronicles 21

Theological Commentary: Click Here

2 Chronicles 21 is another great study in human rebellion.  Jehoshaphat, who was largely a decent king, dies.  He sets up his eldest son, Jehoram, as king.  This seems like the natural thing to do.  After all, it is what the world does.  The oldest gets the lion’s share, right?

Except for something.  Wasn’t David actually the youngest?  Or what about Joseph in Genesis.  Wasn’t he second youngest?  Wasn’t Judah himself the fourth in line?  The great Jacob was second to Esau.  The reality is that God doesn’t care about temporal things like birth order.  God cares about the heart.  God cares about things like righteousness and faithfulness.

Unfortunately, Jehoshaphat makes a decision based on the world’s ways instead of the ways of God.  What is the result?  Jehoram kills his siblings when he becomes king.  That is also often the way the world works, too.  That’s one of the major points of this chapter.  Jehoram walks in the ways of the kings of Israel.  His wife was the daughter of the king of Israel!  He built up the places of false worship.  He was established as king for worldly reasons and he lived up to every inch of that initial impetus.

What is the result?  God sends rebellion among his vassals.  Nation after nation rebels against Judah.  Jehoram starts losing control.  That also means he started losing trade and its effect on the Hebrew economy.  The kingdom gets away from him.

Jehoram also is personally cursed by God.  His bowels are literally cursed.  Every day was agony.  After several years, his bowels literally came out and he died a horrible death.  He lived a worldly lived, ruled a worldly kingdom, and died a worldly death.

The people made no celebration for him.  The economy took a hit.  The nation was sacked.  Once vassalized people ceased being vassals.  Jehoram’s worldly kingdom was a bad thing for the Hebrew people and they weren’t sorry at all to see it fade into history.

<><

Year 9, Day 319: 2 Chronicles 20

Theological Commentary: Click Here

2 Chronicles 20 is another great chapter in the normal life cycle of a nation.  There are times of spiritual feast and other times of spiritual famine.  With human beings it is typically an up and down cycle.  We get it right for a while.  Then we mess up.  We get chastised and then we get something right and score a victory.  Such is life with most of us human beings.

In this chapter, a large invading horde comes against Judah.  The horde is big enough that the people feel helpless.  Even Jehoshaphat, the king, feels fear.  He does something amazing.  Instead of trying to pay of his neighbors to join him in battle, he turns to the Lord.  The Lord responds.  The Lord causes other nations to rise up and conquer the invading horde.  Even more significantly, once the nations rise up against the horde, they turn on each other!  The problems are solved without the people needing to lift a finger of their own.  The only thing left for the people of Judah to do is to go out into the battlefield and take up the plunder.  It’s an amazing story that goes incredibly right because Jehoshaphat turned to the Lord.

All was not perfect under Jehoshaphat, though.  The truly high places of false worship were not pulled down.  Many of the altars to false gods were pulled down, but not all.  Jehoshaphat himself makes a joint economic venture with people who are not righteous.  Rather than trust solely on God’s power to prosper the nation, Jehoshaphat goes out on his own.

Note that God doesn’t approve.  Jehoshaphat received a definitive divine word that the venture will fail.  The ships where wrecked and the economic venture failed.

As stated in the beginning, it’s a great chapter to realize that human existence is filled with highs and lows.  No human always gets it right.  Even well-intentioned humans have their flaws.  The eat part about this, though, is how Jehoshaphat is remembered.  In many ways, Jehoshaphat is remembered like David.  He had flaws, but the general memory is positive.  He walked in the ways of the Lord in spite of the few times in his life that he made poor choices.  God is forgiving.  God does judge us on our actions, but He judges us more on our hearts.  We are accountable, but we are also redeemed.

<><

Year 9, Day 318: 2 Chronicles 19

Theological Commentary: Click Here

This is a great chapter to study humanity.  Yesterday, the chapters spoke about Jehoshaphat and his deal with Ahab.  They went out to battle.  God protected Jehoshaphat, but that doesn’t imply God blessed the action.  In fact, God sent the prophet Micaiah to dissuade the action.  Jehoshaphat didn’t listen.

As a result, when Jehoshaphat comes home, he is greeted by Jehu the prophet.  Jehu chastises Jehoshaphat.  God’s wrath comes against Jehoshaphat.  However, God spares Jehoshaphat from the worst of the judgment because of his fight against the false worship surrounding the Asherah poles.

What is great in this chapter is what follows the pronouncement of judgment.  Jehoshaphat goes out and makes sure that the ways of the Lord are taught.  Levites are assigned.  Priests are appointed to the task.  Judges are selected to go among the people and challenge them to live according to God and not their own ideals.

Jehoshaphat could have been bitter.  He could have sulked.  He could have turned against God.  He doesn’t.  Jehoshaphat is glad for the second chance and makes the most of it.  This is what repentance is all about.  God knows that we will all make mistakes.  None of us are perfect.  What we can do, though, is respond well when we do make a mistake.

<><

Year 9, Day 317: 2 Chronicles 18

Theological Commentary: Click Here

2 Chronicles 18 contains one of my favorite descriptions of human motivation in the entire Bible.  Jehoshaphat wants to inquire of a prophet of the Lord, and Ahab, the king of Israel, wants nothing to do with Micaiah, the prophet.  What does Ahab have against Micaiah?  Micaiah never says anything good about Ahab.  If this isn’t the epitome of human self-centeredness!  This is classic “what have you done for me lately” mentality.

What doe Micaiah earn for his trouble?  He gets slapped and threatened with prison.  It also goes to show us that people are fickle.  We reward and celebrate not that which is good, but that which is good to us and pleasing to us.

I love the ending of this chapter, though.  The kings go out to battle.  Ahab convinces Jehoshaphat to stay dressed up as a king so he can go into battle disguised.  Ahab knows the target that this puts on Jehoshaphat’s chest.  God, however, has other plans.  God spares Jehoshaphat from his trouble.  God also finds a completely random arrow to pierce and kill Ahab.

In the end, human beings are fickle.  We are always at the mercy of the whims of the human beings around us.  But we are not without hope.  God can always find a way.  His plan can override the schemes of the humans around us.  God is even capable of working through the randomness of the world around us to be free from those who intend to harm us.

<><

Year 9, Day 316: 2 Chronicles 16-17

Theological Commentary: Click Here

In the two chapters for today, it is a bit of the case of the good, the bad, and the ugly.  Faithfulness is on display.  Self-preservation is on display.  Stubbornness is also on display.

Start with the bad.  While Asa had a good run, in a moment of poor decision making he uses the temple wealth to bribe a neighbor to ally with him against Israel.  The king of Syria accepts the bribe.  The next thing Asa knows, the king of Israel pulls his forces back to preserve his strength and avoid becoming entangled in a war on two fronts.  This gives Asa all of the building resources that Israel had been using.

While this seems like a win for Asa, it is actually a loss.  This act offends God.  Surprisingly, God doesn’t mention the fact that Asa used temple furnishings to buy of protection.  What God is offended at is that Asa felt the need to protect himself in the first place!  Cannot God protect Asa?  Had not God already proven Himself and His ability against the Egyptians?

While this is bad, it gets ugly.  Asa is chastised and gets mad about it.  Asa gets angry at the prophet who came to him.  Asa stays bitter for a good bit of the rest of his life.  It is one thing to make a mistake and have an error in judgment.  As they say, to err is human.  What God wants from us is to avoid it getting ugly by repenting of our sin.

To turn to the good, turn to Jehoshaphat, Asa’s son.  Jehoshaphat learns the ways of the Lord.  He promotes godly living.  He empowers the priests to teach God’s Word.

God makes Jehoshaphat prosper.  Fear of the Lord spreads to the surrounding lands.  God’s message is clear.  Genuine success begins with a fear of the Lord, not a self-serving attitude.

<><

Year 9, Day 315: 2 Chronicles 15

Theological Commentary: Click Here

This chapter gives a little more detail on Asa’s reign.  Asa was a good king, as attested by yesterday’s reading.  He did what was tight.  He chased away the worship of false gods.  He focused people onto the one true God.

It is interesting, though, to hear the work that Asa did.  He had to be told about the lawlessness of humanity.  He had to draw the leaders to him to explain the worship of God.  He had to repair the altar of the Lord.  He had to tear down the Asherah poles that his own mother had set up!

Remember that Asa is Solomon’s great grandson.  Solomon had Rehoboam, Rehoboam had Abijah, and Abijah had Asa.  The time span between Solomon and Asa is uncertain, but just based on human lifespans it couldn’t have been much more than 75 or 100 years!

That is not much time for the worship practices to go into absolute disrepair!  In the span of 100 years or less, it is almost as if God becomes a complete unknown in the Hebrew lands!

This speaks volumes about several things.  First of all, it speaks about how quickly the sinfulness of humanity takes over.  In less than a century a nation that is rooted deeply in God’s Word can devolve into a nation that doesn’t even know Him.  It is hard to think about in those terms, but it is absolutely possible.  If we are not diligent in teaching people about God, other things will take over.

That leads to the net topic.  The human heart desires to find its own way.  The human heart longs for things to worship.  If we are not filling the void in our heart with God, human beings will fill it with the desires of their own heart.  There are some things that never change: greed, corruption, self-preservation.  There are other things that persevere only through persistence.  Faith is at the top of that list.

<><

Year 9, Day 314: 2 Chronicles 14

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Asa comes on the scene to replace his father Abijah.  Asa is known as a good king.  He does right in the eyes of the Lord.  He tears down the false places of worship that have crept into the Land.  He commanded the people to worship the Lord.  The Bible gives us an exceptionally interesting vocabulary words to describe the land under Asa: rest.

God’s perspective is interesting.  Human beings think about rest in negative ways.  When the land is at rest, it’s not growing.  It’s not re-inventing itself.  It’s boring.  It’s not in movement.  From God’s perspective, though, rest is a reward.  Rest means there aren’t outside threats trying to conquer.  There aren’t any political coups brewing.  The economy is going well.  From a very young age, human beings resist rest; God sees it as a reward.

Unfortunately, though, we know that it doesn’t last.  The story of Judah is one of ebb and flow.  There is faithfulness, then there is much unfaithfulness.  Then there is reform followed by more unfaithfulness.  What is the issue?

There is a clue in the text.  Asa had to command people to obey the Lord.  The religion was being legislated.  The faithfulness of the people wasn’t because they wanted to be faithful, they were faithful because the king was watching.  Now we see why the story of Judah is up and down.  The heart of the people isn’t in it overall.  When the king is faithful, the nation trends well.  When the king s unfaithful, the people have free reign to obey the evil in their hearts.

Faith cannot be legislated well.  One is either in relationship with God because one wants it or not.  When obedience is present only because there are rules and consequences for breaking the rules, it isn’t true faith.

<><