Year 3, Day 314: 2 Chronicles 14

Asa

Asa follows Abijah in the kingly line.  He reigns for 41 years.  There can be no doubt that part of the reason that Asa reigns for so long is because his father reigned for such a short time.  Asa easily became king at quite a younger age than Abijah did.

However, I believe there is a more important reason that we can give for Asa’s extended reign.  Simply put, Asa followed the ways of the Lord.  Asa sought peace.  Asa focused on fortifying the defenses of Judah.  Asa tore down all of the places that God found despicable.  As he focused on God, life went on under God’s protection.

There is a lesson beyond the obvious one.  How easy would it have been for Asa to take those easy years of rest and do nothing?  How easy would it have been for Asa to be complacent?  How easy would it have been for Asa to learn bad habits and fall into a life of sinfulness that could have come when life was easy?  Isn’t that a pattern that most of us have felt at least some time in our life?

Not so with Asa.  When Asa reigns and there is peace in the land, Asa is proactive.  He is leading people into reclaiming their life of faith.  When there is external peace, Asa is actively tearing down the internal turmoil and rebuilding the religious infrastructure so that it is strong once again.  What we learn from Asa is that when we are in a time for external peace we are automatically in a great time for internal challenge and reconstruction.

Can you imagine the inner turmoil that happened as Asa went about that work?  Remember that it was Solomon who allowed those places to be built.  Solomon was regarded as one of the wisest kings of the Herbew people.  Rehoboam had allowed them to remain.  Abijah had allowed them to remain.  Then this young upstart king comes into power and begins to tear down all the places that were not of God and that had existed for somewhere between 20 and 60 years.  I can only imagine the grumbling and the pain that Asa endured as he went through that process.

Yet, how is it that Solomon is remembered?  He was a wise king who fell away into the worship of false gods at the end.  Rehoboam walked in ways of evil.  Asa walked in the same evil ways as his father.  All of those people had a great reputation among the people in spite of how they are remembered in God’s Word.  So how is Asa, the one who sought internal reform, remembered?  He was a king who did good in the eyes of the Lord and walked in the ways of David.

It is difficult to lead.  It is even more difficult to lead when internal reform needs to be accomplished.  But if the reform is of God, the difficulty is worth the pain and the struggle.  Internal reform that is at the hand of God will eventually bear great fruit.

After reading Asa’s account, I have a simple request and a prayer from God.  I hope any of you who are in a time of reform in your life can join me in this prayer.  Lord, as I lead, may Your hand guide me and may my work be about your will.  In the end, may it be said of me that I walked in the ways of the Lord regardless of the depth of the struggle.

The Ethiopians

Of course, not all of Asa’s reign is at peace.  Eventually, there comes a time when peace is taken away from Asa.  The internal reforms are completed.  The difficult change has been accomplished.  It took ten years, but Asa manages to purge the public false worship of other gods from the land.  Then it becomes time to bear fruit.

The Ethiopians come to challenge Asa and the people of Judah.  They come with an impressive force of a million warriors.  They have come to conquer and plunder this land that has been rebuilt under Asa.  So Asa takes his forces out to battle and meets them.  Numerically speaking, we are talking about Asa going out to battle with a force of roughly half of what was sent against him.  It’s one thing to fight a battle of 1-on-2 or even 2-on-4.  But there seems to be something horrifically disturbing in realizing you are outflanked by roughly 500,000 people.

What does Asa do?  He relies upon the Lord.  He doesn’t brag about his faith in the Lord and he doesn’t use his faith as a way to demoralize the opponent.  Rather, he prays to the Lord and lets the outcome rest in God’s hand.  Asa submits to God on the battlefield and asks for God’s strength.

God grants Asa his prayer.  God goes before Asa and defeats the Ethiopian army.  The Ethiopians flee until there is nobody left to run before the army of Judah.  The battle is a rout.  The people who had come to plunder the land of Judah were instead plundered by the land of Judah.  Asa submitted to God and trusted God to fight His battle for him.

As with the stories of Asa’s reforms, I think that I am again inspired to prayer by the account of Asa.  Lord, as I go through life and fight battles, remind me to submit to you.  Remind me to let you fight my battles for me and to go forth only at your call once you have prepared the way.  Teach me, Lord, to submit to Your victories rather than causing me to seek my own.

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Year 3, Day 313: 2 Chronicles 13

Abijah

Abijah reigned for only three years after Rehoboam’s death.  He did not last long as king, although he left quite a few tell-tale markers upon the kingly line of David.  Let’s look at a few of the things that Abijah leaves behind as clues to his reign.

Civil Warfare

There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.  Regardless of who started it, remember that by definition war between Judah and Israel is civil war.  God brought up the descendants of Israel – the children of Abraham – as a single nation.  Though they were of different tribes they were of one God.  Now politics and economics and human jealousy have driven a wedge between the people.  Civil war ensues because the people are more concerned about their human demarcations and their human investments than their relationship with God.  When our relationship with stuff grows larger than our relationship with God we will usually have trouble and conflict in our life – especially those of us who are supposed to be humbly submitted to God.

However, the people do choose to go to war with one another.  The people of Judah come out against the people of Israel.  There shouldn’t be any doubt that the people of Judah are smaller than the people of Israel.  Remember that only a few years prior Rehoboam had just fought a conflict with Pharoah Shishak of Egypt.  It makes sense that Judah can only muster the smaller force.

Before the battle begins, Abijah addresses the gathered Hebrew people.  He reminds the Israelites especially that God had given the whole of the people to the line of David.  Remember that God did not want a king in Israel, but the people did.  Therefore, God gave the people over to their will and established a kingly line.  This is the covenant of salt to which Abijah supposedly refers.

However, let’s look at the covenant of salt.  We do see that in Leviticus 2:13 the Hebrew people were to season their grain offerings with salt as a testimony to the lasting nature of God and the relationship between God and mankind.  But even more specifically in Numbers 18:19 we hear that the covenant of salt is actually a covenant made between God and the Aaronic priests.  The covenant of salt is that the priests receive the sacrifices as provision for their lives since they will not be receiving land upon which they could provide for themselves.

Abijah is beginning to show his true colors.  He has taken the true covenant of salt and misappropriated its meaning.  Originally it was reassurance to the priests that they would be cared for by the people.  Now Abijah changes the terms and makes it refer to the Davidic line of kings and how the people were to be under the kingship of the line of David.  What had been for the support of God’s agenda was now being twisted and misconstrued by Abijah to imply his own greatness and the sustaining of his rule.

We see even more misconstruing of the facts as Abijah recounts Jeroboam’s rebellion.  Remember that Jeroboam and the people in the northern kingdom came to Rehoboam and asked for the yoke to be made lighter after the intense period of Solomon’s building.  Rehoboam had the good counsel of the elders to ease the burden on the people.  But it was Rehoboam who chose to not listen to the people and drove them to rebellion.  Yes, the people rebelled.  But it was Rehoboam who drove the people into rebellion.

Caught in the Trappings

Abijah takes this point and makes it even more egregious.  He reminds the Israelites that Judah has all the priests of God and the Levites and Israel has none.  Remember that Jeroboam kicked all of the priests of God out and established new places to worship and erected idols at those places.  In this point, Abijah is correct in his facts.  Israel doesn’t have any priests of the Lord remaining in its land.

However, what Abijah seems to forget is that at the end of Rehoboam’s career the whole system became corrupt.  Remember that God’s Word taught us that Rehoboam and all the priests coming from Israel were only faithful for a measly three years.  They may have the people and the official building, but that doesn’t mean that they have true relationship with God.  Here we see that Abijah is caught in the human trappings of the worship of God, not in a relationship with God.  Abijah is about the stuff and the process, not God.

Abijah also makes the declaration that The Lord is with Judah.  That may be true, but he goes on to add that the Lord is their God and they have not forsaken Him.  In this Abijah does go too far.  We know about the end of Rehoboam’s ways.  We know Abijah only reigns for three years and 1 Kings 15 tells us that he walked in all the sins of his father.  In fact, 1 Kings 15 tells us that the only reason that his son was allowed to rule was for David’s sake, not anything that Abjiah did. 

In Abijah we see a man who clearly believes that his circumstances indicate that he is right.  Since he is successful and king, then God must love him and he must be right in his choices.  What a dangerous philosophy to have.

Judah may win the battle.  God might even fight against Israel.  But let’s remember this point.  Just because God fights against a nation does not mean that God is for the opponent.  God uses Assyria to judge Israel and drag them into captivity.  But that does not imply that God loved Assyria and that Assyria was better than Israel.  It simply meant that God had a lesson to teach Assyria.  I believe the same is true here.  Judah may win because of God’s hand.  But I believe that has more to do with God trying to humble Israel than it has to do with God supporting the ways of Abijah.

Harem

In the end, we know that Abijah has 14 wives.  1 Kings 15 has told us that Abijah walked in the evil was of Rehoboam, so this isn’t really a surprise.  The sins of the people – and especially the sins of the kings of Judah – are perpetuated to the next generation.

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Year 3, Day 312: 2 Chronicles 12

Shishak

Today we learn that Rehoboam’s attempt to fortify the cities of Jerusalem just wasn’t enough.  The Pharaoh Shishak comes forth out of Egypt and attacks Judah.  Not only does he attack, he wreaks havoc against them.  We know that this happens in only the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign.

Here’s some neat information about this story.  Pharaoh Shishak (called a king in the Bible) was the founder of Egypt’s 22^nd dynasty.  He ruled from 935 – 914 BC.  While Solomon ruled the Hebrew people, Shishak had given asylum to Jeroboam, the rival king of Israel who rose to power during Rehoboam’s reign in Judah. But perhaps the most interesting historical fact is that in a temple to Amon at Karnak, Shishak inscribed a list of the Hebrew cities that he conquered in the land of Canaan.  Isn’t it neat to know that there are actual stone temple walls that we can still see to this day that were carved as a result of this story!

So what exactly is happening here in this story?  Shishak had harbored Jeroboam in Egypt.  When the kingdom split and much of the Hebrew might was divided, Shishak no doubt saw his opportunity.  Shishak also likely knew that he could count of Jeroboam to not come to Rehoboam’s aid.  This is absolutely a calculated political move on Shishak’s part in order for him to increase his fame and reputation.

However, this is also a very much a spiritual effort on behalf of God.  The Hebrew people begin to rebel. In fact, we are told that it was when Rehoboam stood up and was strong that he fell from the Lord.  Rehoboam had strengthened his borders and began to lean upon his own might.  God would make a point early in the rebellion of the Hebrew people.  When we learn to lean upon our own might things will go poorly.  There is always a bigger fish out there that is waiting for the opportunity to bring us down.  When we lean upon our own strength and not the strength of the Lord, then we have little protection from those who have stronger might than we have.

Rehoboam’s Repentance

Rehoboam repents.  The hand of the Lord’s wrath is stayed.  Shishak is not allowed to conquer all of the land of Judah.  Instead, Shishak is allowed to march up to Jerusalem and pillage the city.  The temple has much of its wealth stripped from it.  A good portion of the wealth of Solomon was taken out of Jerusalem merely five years after Solomon’s death.  Wealth is fleeting indeed.

In all of this, we see the Rehoboam’s repentance is not actually genuine.  Rehoboam’s epithet says that he did evil in the sight of the Lord.  Rehoboam was allowed to reign for another 12 years after Shishak’s invasion, but we are told that he did not seek the Lord.  God may have spared him, but he is not spared because his repentance was true.

So why would God spare Rehoboam?  I think God is teaching a lesson to the Hebrew people of Rehoboam’s day and all those who would follow him.  I think the chronicler is attempting to convey this same lesson as he writes this story.  God wants to demonstrate the power of repentance.  God had every right to let the Hebrew people fall.  God had every just reason to let the Hebrew people of Judah fall into the hands of Egypt.  They had forsaken him and their pride was swelling.  God could have let them go into captivity and it would have been just.

However, God has mercy upon them.  Rehoboam has a brief moment of sorrow and that is all it takes to stay God’s hand of wrath.  Rehoboam has a slight moment of humbleness and God responds.  Repentance and humbleness are powerful tools in the life of a human being.  Repentance and humbleness before God are powerful dynamics in our relationship with God.

I think God is also making another point.  God is trying to demonstrate how harsh human beings are to one another.  He is trying to demonstrate to Rehoboam how difficult life would be should he become a vassal state of Egypt.  God is trying to teach Rehoboam and the other Hebrew people that life is easier in submission to Him than in submission to anyone else.  This lesson seems to go unlearned.

Plunder

I’ve already mentioned that Shishak took much of the wealth of Solomon with him and carted it back to Egypt.  So what is it that Rehoboam does?  Rehoboam makes bronze shields to replace all of the gold ones that Solomon had constructed.  Don’t get me wrong.  Bronze can be just as pretty as gold.  But bronze is a poor imitation of gold.  Instead of truly repenting and accepting what God would bring into his life, Rehoboam attempts to replace what was lost through his own might.  Instead of settling for what God brought into his life, through his own power Rehoboam tries to recreate what was lost.

No, there is little humbleness within Rehoboam.  There is little repentance.  Even after an act of humbling such that a foreign king could bring upon him, Rehoboam is still focused on his greatness and his reign and his reputation.  Can there be any wonder that the chronicler tells us that he did evil and did not seek the ways of the Lord?

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Year 3, Day 311: 2 Chronicles 11

Rehoboam Listens

 Of course Rehoboam is angered by the reaction of the people.  I don’t think anyone in leadership would take well the reality that 5/6 of their kingdom has gone into rebellion.  I completely understand why Rehoboam would want to lash out in reaction.  Add to this natural tendency that Rehoboam clearly had a controlling personality since he had the gall to tell people that he was going to make their yoke even more unbearable when they had come to him to ask for a easing of their burden.  It should be no surprise to any of us that Rehoboam tries to rally the nation under his leadership.

However, to his credit he actually listens to a prophet of God.  Shemaiah comes to Rehoboam and tells him that the rupture of the land was actually God’s plan.  I’d like to stop and look at this from two perspectives.

First, imagine hearing this message as Rehoboam.  Not only does this message immediately cause him to change his plans – not something that is easy for a controlling personality to do – but it also immediately tells him that the will of God is not with him.  It immediately should bring the truth into his mind that his father must not have been obedient to God.  He would know with certainly that the promise that God gave to David was already made void by the sinfulness of the kingly line.  The only two kings on record after David at this point are Solomon and Rehoboam!  The kingdom is already split after two kings!  I can’t imagine the amount of conviction that must have been necessarily laid upon Rehoboam’s heart as he heard this message.

Let’s give Rehoboam some credit here, though.  As difficult as the message must have been for him to hear, he does at least listen to the message.  He calls off the assault onto the northern kingdom.  He lets it go.  Instead of focusing upon vengeance, he turns and focuses on building up the defenses of Judah.  In this moment we see Rehoboam grow up a good bit.  He goes from being a brash young king listening to bad advisors and becomes a king capable of being humbled by God and at least temporarily setting himself on a decent path afterwards.

Second, imagine hearing this message from God as Shemaiah.  Imagine being the one who is asked to bring this message to the brash young king.  Imagine being the one that God picks to tell the king that he has messed up and his father had messed up before him.  Talk about potentially putting your neck out for God!  But this is exactly what Sehmaiah does.  He takes the message given to him by God and goes to Rehoboam with it.  He acts courageously as he goes forth with God’s message.

To Jerusalem

The priests and the Levites who were living in the northern kingdom now come south to Judah and present themselves for service.  We hear in Chronicles that this is because Jeroboam and his sons had thrown them out of the land.  Jeroboam and his sons stop the worship of God in Israel and instead erect statues of goats and calves for them to worship.  Now we see the extent of the sin among the people.  In one bold and swift move the northern kingdom has not only abandoned the Davidic line of kings but they have also abandoned the official worship of God.

I give much credit to the priests and the Levites who were living in the northern kingdom as these religious changes were being made.  They were not afraid to abandon ship.  They were not afraid to give up life and home to stay with God.  Many of them likely left the land and cities that had been in their family for generations, probably since the Hebrew people first took the Promised Land.  These priests and Levites give up all that they have in this world so that they can stay in relationship with God.

Unfortunately, there is a dark end to this story.  The Bible tells us that they only made a difference as a large scale movement in Judah for three years.  For three years they help Rehoboam make the land secure.  I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but we’ll talk about this point more tomorrow.  In the first verse of 2 Chronicles 12 we hear that once Rehoboam’s borders were secure and his authority was established, then he and the people of Judah also turn from the ways of the Lord.

Solomon’s Sin Continued

In the last third of this chapter, we hear about Rehoboam’s marriages.  Yes, that’s right.  We hear that Rehoboam continues in the practice of David and especially Solomon.  Rehoboam is said to have a total of 18 wives and 60 concubines.  This is more than David but far less than Solomon.  Of course, Rehoboam’s kingdom was greatly reduced in scope and he would have fewer countries seeking to establish peace with him through marriage.  This would explain the greatly diminished harem as compared to Solomon.

Remember that God had told the Hebrew people to not accumulate wives.  In fact, it is clear that God’s design is that a man should have one wife.  We’ve already seen that Solomon’s policy of having a large harem and ignoring God’s ways has led the country into religious strife.  It shouldn’t be any surprise that this is the last topic about which the chronicler speaks before telling us about his rebellion in other areas.  Blatant disobedience to God in one area of our life commonly leads to blatant disobedience to God in other areas of life as well.

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Year 3, Day 310: 2 Chronicles 10

Jeroboam

Solomon is dead.  His son, Rehoboam, desires to have an official coronation as king.  He goes to Shechem, and while in Shechem he meets up with people who are led by Jeroboam.  If you’d like more information on the back story between Solomon and Jeroboam, see 1 Kings 11:26-40.  Either way, by popular demand Jeroboam is sought out by the people to come and confront Rehoboam in the early days of his leadership.

When Jeroboam comes forth, we can hear something in their complaint.  Solomon had pressed the people hard.  He had worked them, pressed hard for resources through taxation, and demanded much of the people in general.  Apparently all was not well with Solomon’s time and place as king over the land. 

Advice

Rehoboam tells the people to come back to him in three days after he has been able to seek out the advice of some counselors.  The people agree, and Rehoboam goes first to seek after the counselors of his father.  They give him some sage, wise advice.  They tell him that if he speaks softly to them and grants them a few places in their life where their burdens might be eased, then there is no reason that the people wouldn’t be willing to serve him forever. 

The elders in their wisdom know what people need in a leader.  It isn’t that they are any smarter; they just have more experience through which they can see life.  They know in the end what is really important and what truly brings satisfaction.  They know what it is like to make a few critical mistakes and have to recover from them.  They desire to pass along what they have learned to others so that they don’t have to make the same mistakes.  Solomon’s advisors tell Rehoboam to give the people a break.  Solomon had worked them hard in his building campaign.  It was time to give them rest.

Then Rehoboam goes to his friends.  He goes to the people that grew up with him.  He goes to the people that he’s known most of his life.  He goes to people who think just like he thinks.  They tell Rehoboam to press them even harder.  They tell Rehoboam to stand up for what he desires and to stand firm against the people.  Essentially, they are telling Rehoboam that if he gives an inch now, he’ll be giving a mile throughout the rest of his reign.  They tell Rehoboam to stand strong in the beginning.

Isn’t this an interesting conundrum that Rehoboam has gotten himself into?  The elder sages advise Rehoboam to lighten the load.  Sure, his reign might not be as glorious as his father’s reign with respect to a legacy of building left behind.  But they tell Rehoboam that his reign would be long and that the people would serve him the whole time.  The elders try and get Rehoboam to see the full length of the course ahead of him.

Yet the younger advisors do the opposite.  They try to get Rehoboam to think about the present.  They put Rehoboam into the now, not the long haul.  They convince Rehoboam that in order to have a long and memorable rule he must go through might, not peace.

We know how it ends, don’t we?  Rehoboam chooses the counsel of the people who thinks as he thinks.  How often do we get burned by bad advice because we listen to people who tell us what we really want to hear?  How often do things go poorly in life because we ignore the sage advice of truth and instead listen to the advice that sounds good for the short term?  Yes, Rehoboam chooses to follow the counsel of the younger advisors that he had grown up with.  As we read further, we see that it does indeed go poorly for him.

The Country is Torn

“To your tents, Oh Israel!”  This is the cry that goes up around the Hebrew people when Rehoboam follows the advice given by the younger advisors.  The country is split in two.  Judah (and the smaller Simeon contained within Judah) fall to David’s line.  The rest become Israel and are led by a separate genealogical lineage.

What is really interesting is the reason why this happens.  Verse 15 of this chapter tells us that this moment was done to fulfill what God had said earlier to Jeroboam.  We’re not told about this event in Chronicles, but if we turn to 1 Kings 11:29-39 we can see the answer.

You see, Solomon had let in the worship of foreign gods through his many wives and his political treaties – but primarily through his many wives.  God is pretty clear about it, actually.  God says of Solomon that he did not walk in the statutes of the Lord as David had done.  Thus, he was going to take the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand.  One generation after David and things have already gone awry.

Of course, we know that the northern kingdom has their sinful behavior.  None of their kings turn back to God once the split occurs.  Their idolatry grows by leaps and bounds until they are taken into captivity under Assyria.  The kingdom of Judah is better.  Most of their kings rebel, but there are a few who repent and turn back to God.  They remain a nation for almost 150 years longer than the northern kingdom.  But they too go into captivity.  All of them eventually turn from God and follow the ways of the false gods and the selfish desires of the human heart.

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Year 3, Day 309: 2 Chronicles 9

The Visit of Sheba

As Solomon’s fame spreads, we hear a report that the Queen of Sheba came to visit Solomon.  We don’t know for certain where Sheba was, but it is commonly assumed that Sheba relates to the Sabeans, who were a people who lived in southern Arabia (modern day Yemen) and had colonies on the eastern coast of the horn of Africa (modern day Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somolia and Djibouti).  It was from this area that Israel had most of its access to gold, frankincense, and sweet cane.

The Queen of Sheba comes with three agendas.  First, she comes with questions for him to answer because she had heard of his wisdom.  Second, she comes with a host of goods so that she can convince Solomon to demonstrate his wealth to her.  Third, we can assume that she came to establish a trading route with the Hebrew people as Solomon gave to her what she asked.  The Queen’s visit was personal, political, and economical.  How often do these circles relate with one another!

We know that the visit is successful.  Solomon’s overall wealth increases – he is given about 4 ½ tons of gold among other things.  Solomon is able to answer all of her questions.  The Queen of Sheba is taken with all that Solomon has created within Jerusalem.  She tells Solomon that her visit has surpassed what she had been told.

Of all the success, though, I think that there are hints of coming trouble on the horizon.  We can read the Queen’s praise of God.  However, the queen’s praise reads much like Hiram’s praise in 2 Chronicles 2.  Certainly each of these leaders takes the time to praise God and talk about how great God is for having blessed the Hebrew people so greatly.  But that is about the extent of what happens.  The Queen of Sheba is impressed by God, but we have no indication that this state of being impressed translated into any sort of life alteration.

I think that this is a point that shouldn’t be overlooked.  So often we want to impress other people with “God stuff.”  We build ornate structures.  We get the highest quality web-sites and buy the most up-to-date church programs.  We get flashy and think that our bling will impress.  But the reality is that when this is where we put our attention, we get results like we see here.  We hear people talk about how great God must be but don’t actually see any life transformation.

Instead, we need to learn how to allow God to use our lives – not our stuff – to transform those around us.  It is not our trappings that bring people into relationship with God.  Rather, it is our relationship with God that brings others into relationship with Him.  The things of this world are fleeting.  What people truly want is that which cannot be lost once it is gained.

Trappings

We hear that in one year Solomon made 666 talents – or about 25 tons – of gold.  Now, I can’t help but pause at the number that is listed here.  Most people who are familiar with God also know that the number 666 is a number that is usually associated with Satan and his antichrists.  It is a number that is used to reference the imperfection next to God, whose number is 777.  Could the chronicler be saying here that Solomon’s great wealth was part of why the downfall of the kingdom occurred? Could the chronicler be indicating here that while Solomon’s prosperity may have been from God that he did not use it in a godly means?

Furthermore, look at how Solomon uses the wealth.  He adorns his own homes.  He makes himself a golden throne.  He makes it so that the process of eating and drinking is done upon gold.  In fact, gold is so common in Solomon’s kingdom that silver became as though it was worthless.  This is how splendid Solomon’s wealth happened to be.

We also hear about all of the horses, horsemen, and chariots that Solomon acquired.  I’ve been vocal about this point since we started to talk about Solomon.  It isn’t that there isn’t anything wrong with horses – many of God’s messengers in many Old and New Testament visions come riding horses.  What God is saying here through the chronicler is that Solomon began to depend upon his own strength and lean upon his own power.  As Solomon prospered, his life became more and more about him and his possessions than it was about his relationship with God.

I find it interesting that among the record of Solomon’s deeds we don’t hear about the care of orphans and widows.  We don’t hear about generosity.  We don’t hear hospitality, compassion, or any of the other attributes that God desires.  The more the story of Solomon continues, the more the story becomes about him, his reputation, his wealth, and his achievements.  The more we read the story of Solomon, the more Solomon is pushed to be the central figure of the story.  I think that is worth noting.

Solomon’s Death

After forty years of reign, Solomon died.  Like his father before him, who also reigned for forty years, Solomon was laid to rest with his father.  His son takes over in Solomon’s place.  All that had been built under David and Solomon is now primed to be broken piece by piece as the people fall away from God.

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Year 3, Day 308: 2 Chronicles 8

Peacetime Acquisitions

There was a substantial amount of peace during Solomon’s reign.  As such, Solomon was able to use the time to secure the boarders of his kingdom and to do what he could to help trade and commerce among his people.  Solomon rebuilds several wilderness towns and oasis points to enable people to increase within the confines of safety and security.

Because of the increase in prosperity and making the borders of the land more secure, Solomon also has greater influence over the non-Hebrew inhabitants of the land.  The foreigners are made into forced laborers for the sake of Solomon’s building campaign.  This spares the Hebrew people from having to be laborers and instead allows them the serve in the military and as foremen over the laborers.  There can be no doubt that having your own tribesmen serve in your military is better than having foreigners who have no particular allegiance.

However, I cannot help but wonder what God’s opinion of this reality is.  God did originally tell the Hebrew people to kick out all of the foreigners.  However, God also established hospitality codes for god-fearing foreigners among them.  We know from other places of scripture that God was not pleased that they allowed Canaanites to live among them.  I cannot imagine that God was equally pleased by then turning around and treating those same people in a less than hospitable means.

Solomon’s Wife

Not only do we hear about foreigners living in the land, we also hear about Solomon’s attempt to build a home for his wife – the daughter of Pharaoh.  Certainly this marriage was a political marriage to help guarantee peace between Egypt and the Hebrew nation.  But we see once more that Solomon is inviting foreigners to come into the land without being in relationship with God.

Furthermore, while Solomon does move her out of David’s palace, he also moves her to a new palace on the temple mount.  {See 1 Kings 7:8, 9:24}  Thus, while Solomon seems to be acting in order to please the Lord we can really see that Solomon has invited foreigners into the palace in Jerusalem in close proximity to the temple.  Here we see the beginning of the downfall of Solomon.  Foreign influences are beginning to be welcomed into his midst – into the midst of God’s influence.

You may be wondering why it is that I’m coming down hard on this particular point, especially when the text seems to present it as a positive thing.  God warned the Hebrew people about intermarriage, especially for the sake of political reasons.  God warned them that the practice of marrying people who did not follow God would lead them astray into idolatry.  {See Exodus 34:16, Deuteronomy 7:3, and for references around the time of the chronicler see Nehemiah 10:30 and almost all of Ezra 10.}  Furthermore, there was a special warning against dealing with Egypt for fear of the Hebrew people returning to the ways of Egypt.  {See Deuteronomy 17:16-17.}  As Solomon prospers, we can begin to see him leaning upon his own strength, prosperity, and growing political power rather than relying upon God.  It is a trend that will eventually sink his reign and the Hebrew people.  {See 1 Kings 11:1-13 for an account regarding this point which the chronicler does not mention in his version of Solomon’s story.}

Solomon’s Success

All of that being said, we can give some credit to Solomon.  He did start and complete the temple.  He did assign the priests according to David’s plan.  He did follow through with what needed to be done.  He did continue with the sacrifices and festivals as the Lord desired.  While he certainly had his flaws, as do we all, he did also spend time adhering to what the Lord required.

Solomon also had much economic success.  In fact, this may be that for which Solomon is most known.  As we can see here in this passage, much of Solomon’s economic success was maritime success with the help of Hiram of the Phoenicians.  Solomon builds up Ezion-geber, which is a town on the Red Sea.  With the help of Hiram, Solomon built a fleet of ships so that he could trade with the eastern parts of Africa and the southern portions of Asia.  This route of trade was previously unavailable for Mediterranean nations, thus Solomon was able to bring goods to people who had no prior exposure to what they could offer.  Solomon astutely takes advantage of the opportunity to partner with Hiram.

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Year 3, Day 307: 2 Chronicles 7

Recapping

At the beginning of this chapter we hear a recapping of some details that we already know and heard at the end of chapter 5.  The glory of the Lord fills the temple.  The priests and Levites bow down in worship and declare that the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever.  God is pleased with how Solomon and the workmen were able to bring the temple together.

The chronicler is wise to reiterate this point.  Note that he brings up the steadfast love of the Lord again in verse 6.  The chronicler is driving home the point that God’s love endures even in the midst of our sinfulness.  God’s love endures in spite of our circumstances.  God’s love endures so much that all we need to do is wait for it to go before us and then follow where it leads.  For a people returning from exile, it will be important for this point to be made so that they can be reassured that God’s love is with them.

Solomon’s Sacrificing

After the glory of the Lord fills the temple, Solomon begins a week of tremendous sacrificing.  Solomon offers up 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep.  This might seem like a huge number, and it is.  If the sacrificing went on around the clock of a week, that would be equivalent to a little more than 2 oxen and 11 sheep per minute.  That’s a lot of sacrificing.  No wonder the altar needed to be so big!

What is the point of all of this sacrificing?  It shows just how much the Lord has increased the wealth, prosperity, and reputation of the Hebrew people.  Not too long ago these people were wanderers in the wilderness without a home.  Then, they had to claim land and drive out the current residents.  That would be no easy task and wouldn’t exactly be the prime time for herds to increase.  However, through it all the wealth of the Hebrew people did increase.  It increased so much that Solomon could extravagantly offer up sacrifices to God.  The vast amount of sacrifice is a testimony to God’s protection and provision through a difficult time of nation forging.

After the end of the celebrating – a total of 14 days, 7 for the dedication of the altar and 7 for the feast – Solomon sends the people to their homes.  The priests and the Levites would return home and prepare to begin their regular rotation of duties that we heard David establish at the end of 1 Chronicles.  However, as the priests and the Levites returned home, they would carry with them the account of the proceedings within Jerusalem.  The greatness of the festival would spread throughout the whole of the Promised Land.

Terms of the Covenant

After all the sacrificing was over and the people had returned home, the Lord appeared to Solomon and declared that all that Solomon had done was pleasing to Him.  God affirms Solomon.  God says that He has chosen this place for His dwelling.

Then we move into a portion of text that is very common among Middle Eastern covenants.  We arrive at the section for blessings and curses.  Here is the list of what God expects of the people in order for them to live in blessing as well as what will happen to them if they do not do these things and therefore live in the curse.

As we enter into this section of blessings and curses, though, note that God is operating from a foregone conclusion.  Even in the section of blessings, verses 13-18, God acknowledges that the people will rebel.  God acknowledges that there will be a reason to stop the rain from falling, or send locust among them, or even send a pestilence among the people.  In other words, God knows that sinfulness is just a part of the people.  Like it or not, they won’t be able to keep God’s ways.  To receive blessing from God it isn’t a case of being perfect.  Rather, to live in a state of blessing it is about understanding our sinfulness and being repentant.  God expects that sin will come; thus His blessings are established upon repentance and returning to the Lord.

This is an incredible point to hear for both the chronicler’s time as well as our own time.  In the chronicler’s day the people were coming off of exile.  They had just undergone the need to repent.  The chronicler is telling the people that such a condition is actually a very good place to be.  The same is true for us in our modern perspective.  We cannot be sin-free.  We shall not be sin-free.  It is good for us to see that with respect to blessing, God seeks repentance rather than perfection.

That being said, the section of curses is precisely what we expect them to be.  The section of curses is based on the perpetration of sinfulness.  As the people turn away, they will fall out of God’s blessing and into God’s curse.  As the focus of the people no longer rests upon the Lord, the Lord’s protection will no longer rest upon them.

Again, this section is important for us to hear.  Sinfulness will be a part of our culture and society.  In order to stay in the side of blessing, we must lift up the need for humble repentance before God.  However, we can also use our current situation as a gauge of our repentance.  If we find ourselves living in a time of cursing, captivity, or general strife then it is likely that we have fallen from God’s grace and are instead living in a time of cursing.  We know the cure for such a condition.

What is important to realize is that this doesn’t need to be a permanent condition.  This is why the chronicler is writing these things.  His current generation is proof of the power of repentance.  They had been living in such a great time of curse that they were in captivity.  However, eventually they repented.  Eventually they were able to come back into a season of blessing.  They find themselves forging once again the culture that God had desired to create all along.  They have a communal second chance.  With God, so long as we draw breadth enough to be able to repent there is always the possibility of a second chance.

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Year 3, Day 306: 2 Chronicles 6

Solomon’s Blessing

As the presence of the Lord fills the temple, Solomon remembers how it was that the Lord made Himself known among the Israelites when they left Egypt.  Solomon remembers that the Lord filled the tabernacle as a smoky cloud once it was built.  {See Numbers 9:15-23}  During the exodus, the Lord demonstrated His will for the people by filling or vacating the tabernacle.  Solomon now takes the fact that the Lord has filled the temple as a sign of God’s pleasure with what has been built.

As we continue through the blessing, notice to whom Solomon gives the credit.  In verse 4 and again in verse 10, Solomon tells us that it was through the hand of the Lord that the temple was built.  Furthermore, Solomon reminds us that the Lord had promised this reality to David.  The Lord has fulfilled His own promise with His own hand.  Yes, the Lord used human laborers to bring about His promise, but Solomon is quick to give the Lord the credit.

I think that this is significant as we put this text in the context of the chronicler.  The chronicler has a people who have just returned from exile.  Most if not all of the other nations that went into exile with them have been destroyed and will not reappear.  However, the Hebrew people have managed to emerge for one reason or another.  Certainly the chronicler would make the case that the return of the exiles was also at the hand of the Lord and fulfilling a promise that the Lord made before the people went into exile.  As we saw yesterday in the chapter on worship, the circumstances of the Hebrew people could not be any more different than between the people of Solomon’s day and the people of the chronicler’s day.  But that doesn’t mean the steadfast love of the Lord is any less potent or real in both circumstances.

Solomon’s Entreaty Towards God

Solomon constructs a large bronze platform and goes up upon it before all the gathered people.  Here he begins a great prayer.  Notice that the prayer largely begins with humbleness.  Solomon knows that no construction of human hands can contain the Lord’s presence; however God still looks upon the Hebrew people.

Note also that Solomon declares in this first statement that there is a condition upon which God will continue to look favorably upon His people.  That condition is simple.  The people – specifically the sons of David in this case – must pay attention to their life.  They must walk in the ways of the Lord.

Look at these two conditions.  I believe these words speak powerfully into modern culture.  God desires that people be aware of their actions.  He desires that we pay attention to what we do.  He desires that we understand the consequences of our actions and our behaviors and our thoughts.  God desires that we see ourselves not as living in a vacuum but rather as living in a world with cause and effect, action and reaction, initiation and consequence.  God desires that we live in accountability and responsibility.  We do not have permission to live in a world where everyone else is at fault and where we are simply “products of our culture.”

Having come that far, we also realize that God desires us not just to pay attention to our life but to live in such a way as to reflect Him.  We are to live according to His patterns and His standards.  We are to be subject to His ways.  We are to take our awareness of our life rhythms and bring them into a reflection of Him.

Why do we do this?  There are many reasons disclosed in Solomon’s prayer.  First, we do this so that we might be able to recognize sin.  We all sin; being able to recognize sin, repent of it, atone for it, and change who we are is a powerful tool indeed.  Second, we do it for the sake of the foreigners in our midst.  Solomon knows that as we attune ourselves to God that foreigners will be attracted to God and desire relationship with Him.  Third, we do this so that by aligning ourselves with God we might know His will and go forward with His blessing.  Being in relationship with God is not just reactionary towards life but proactive.

Rest, Oh Lord

At the close of his prayer, Solomon invites the Lord to rest.  What an intriguing idea!  Can the Lord rest?  What does it look like for the Lord to rest?  For the record, we do know that the Lord rests as He Himself tells us in the creation account in Genesis.  Of course the Lord rests.

From Solomon’s perspective, the Lord has been mightily at work.  The Lord has pulled His people out of Egypt.  He has defended them through the time of the judges.  He has led them through the process of turning from being a loose confederacy of tribes into a people underneath a king.  {Even if it wasn’t God’s desire to do so.}  God had been at work over many centuries.  Solomon now invited God to come into His temple and rest.

Solomon also invites the priests of the Lord to be clothed in salvation.  His desire is for those who are closest to the Lord to be carriers of that which is most important to the Lord.  This just makes sense.  If the priests of the Lord are rooted in salvation, then they should be able to convey such a state into the people as well.  Through this, the saints of the Lord should be able to rejoice.

At the close of his prayer, Solomon has given us a blueprint.  The more we focus on God’s ways and pay attention to our life, the more in tune we will be with the redemptive and salvific work that He desires to do within us.  The more our religious leaders are clothed in salvation the more that God’s ways should be able to be transmitted to us.  The more we are in tune with God’s ways, the more His people should be able to go into the world and bring others (foreigners) into relationship with God.

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Year 3, Day 305: 2 Chronicles 5

The Ark Comes Forth

When the temple is complete, Solomon brings forth the Ark of the Covenant from where it had been kept during the construction.  Note that not only was the Ark brought up but so were the tabernacle and all the instruments that went with the tabernacle.  Solomon is merging the tabernacle into the temple so that there will still only be one place of worship.

As Solomon and the priests move the Ark, you will note the extravagance of the situation.  There are more sacrifices than can possibly be counted.  The priests and Levites are all there, essentially as one collective rather than each paying attention to their prescribed duties.  There is great singing and great fanfare.  What a scene that must have been!

It is important to know that communities occasionally need days in which to just let loose.  Communities need special, unique, once-in-a-lifetime days of celebration where all the normal routines are cast off.  These aren’t days where we forget our relationship with God with reckless abandon.  These are days where because of our relationship with God we step into celebration unlike normal.

Blessing Upon the Lord

As the Ark arrives in the temple and is put into place, there is a great moment of worship.  The priests all call out, “He is good, and His steadfast love endures forever.”  I’d like to look at this comment from three different perspectives.

First, we look at the context of the story.  The Hebrew people have become the dominant influence in the Promised Land.  David was king.  He is now dead.  Solomon is king, and the splendor of the Hebrew people is increasing.  It was clear to the people at the time of Solomon that the Lord was with them.  From their vantage point, they had every reason to assert that the love of the Lord would be steadfast.

Next, I’d like to look at this saying from the historical context of the chronicler, who is writing this story down.  The people in his day and age are returning from exile.  They have just spent anywhere between 70-200 years in exile.  Life has been difficult for the vast majority of the communal memory.  How different these words must be.  Whereas the priests of Solomon’s day declare the Lord’s steadfast love out of their splendor, the chronicler pens these words out of humbleness before God.  God’s love has not changed, but the context of the Hebrew people sure had!

The third perspective that I’d like to bring to this passage is the lens of the current reader.  We are far removed from the chronicler and even further removed from Solomon.  Yet, the steadfast love of the Lord remains.  We now see just how much the Lord loves us through the life, death, and resurrection of His only Son.  We can know the cycle of repentance bought through the blood and brought through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  Not that we aren’t without our own faults and our own communal struggles.  But the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever, does it not?

The Presence of the Lord

After the Lord is blessed, the Lord fills the temple.  No doubt the Lord fills the temple as a response to the people.  There can be no doubt that God fills the temple to let His people know that what they have done is pleasing to Him.

However, look at the effect of the presence of the Lord.  The glory of the Lord fills the temple so much that the priests have to leave.  No human work can get done.  I love this description.

The reason that I love this is because it is ultimately quite humbling.  We think we are the be-all and end-all.  We think our great works and sacrifices for the Lord are something.  But in the end, when the Lord truly moves we see that He doesn’t need us.  He doesn’t need our sacrifices to be God.  He doesn’t need our worship to be God.  When He fills a space, He fills it.  It is complete without us.

This makes it really cool that we are in a relationship with God in the first place.  We aren’t in the relationship because God needs us; we are in it because He desires us to be there.  He wants us!  God is complete without us; but He wants us there anyway.  How great is our God!

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Year 3, Day 304: 2 Chronicles 4

Solomon Furnishes the Temple

As we open to 2 Chronicles 4, we can hear about how Solomon furnishes the temple.  The very first thing that we come to is the altar.  I think it is significant that we hear about the altar immediately after talking about the places in which God dwells.  In order to come into the presence of the Lord, a sacrifice must take place.  Sin must be atoned.  In Christianity we believe that Jesus was the ultimate and final sacrifice, but the point is still the same.  In order to approach God, sin must be atoned.

Furthermore, let’s look at the impressive size of the altar.  It is 20 cubits long by 20 cubits wide.  The altar is square in its base.  Furthermore, a cubit is roughly 18 inches.  Thus, 20 cubits measures 360 inches, or about 30 feet.  The altar is 30 feet long and 30 feet wide.  This is no insignificant altar!  In fact, the altar was so large that the vast majority of the altar would be unreachable from the edges.

Of course, we haven’t even looked at the height of the altar.  10 cubits would be about 180 inches, or roughly 15 feet tall.  Not only is the middle of the altar unreachable from the edges, all of it is unreachable from the ground without the aid of stairs or ladders!

What can we glean from this?  You need a large altar when you plan on doing a great amount of sacrificing.  You need a great amount of sacrificing when there is a great amount of sin.  The size of the altar that Solomon builds is a symbol to us about the vast nature of sin that lies within humanity.  We’re not simply talking about a sacrifice every so often when it comes to the need for repentance.  With respect to Solomon’s temple, we are talking about large amounts of daily sacrifices happening.  I’m willing to bet that just as the temple altar is larger than most of us would have ever imagined, the amount of repentance that we need to do before God is larger than we all ever imagined, too.  If my body is a temple of God as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:16 or 6:19, then what is the size of my altar upon which I take my sin before God?  Do I take seriously enough my need for repentance?

We move from the altar to the sea.  The sea – a strange name – got its name because it was essentially a large washbasin for the priests to use.  It was so large that it had a radius and depth of about 7.5 feet.  As such, 2 Chronicles reports that it had a capacity of 17,000 gallons.  {Assuming a cylindrical structure, the formula for volume would suggest the real number is about 10,000.  Either way, it is indeed much water!}

The sea was a washbasin for the priests to use to wash prior to coming before the altar.  The size of the sea was not to indicate that the priests would wash their whole selves but rather so that there would be a vast quantity of fresh clean water in which they could wash their hands.  The small amount of impurity brought to the basin was nothing compared to the amount of cleanliness afforded by the sea.

The sea rested upon twelve oxen, three facing each of the main compass directions.  This was a symbolic statement referring back to the arrangement of the tribes of Israel as they camped around the tabernacle in the wilderness as they came out of Egypt.  The point here would be to remind the priests that as they cleansed themselves they did so in preparation for acting on behalf of the whole Hebrew people.  Atonement was both an individual and a communal idea.  Individuals from all twelve tribes would need to be cleansed.  The whole community would also need to be cleansed.

Necessary Tools

In addition to the temple furnishings, we are told about the tools used by the priests.  Solomon made 10 wash basins in which the sacrifices themselves could be washed before being consumed upon the altar.  There were lamp stands so that the temple work could proceed at all times.  There were tables upon which the work of the temple could happen.  There were 100 gold basins of unknown usage, but perhaps these basins were used to transport the sacrifices from the tables to the wash basins to the altar.  There was an altar for burning incense.  There were golden tools developed for the work that needed to be done.

What is significant about the description of the temple is that there was no shortage.  There was enough gold and prosperity in the land that the altar was furnished with gold effects.  There was such prosperity in the land that the bronze used wasn’t even measured!  This is not a simple temple built in humble surroundings.  This is a building in which no expense was spared.

As a Christian, I cannot help but reflect this passage upon myself.  As I mentioned earlier, we are the temple of the Lord.  So I have to wonder.  Have I spared any expense in my life to make me a sufficient temple unto the Lord?  Would God look upon my life and see His greatness and His majesty reflected in me?

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Year 3, Day 303: 2 Chronicles 2-3

Solomon Sets Out to Build the Temple

Solomon makes good on David’s instruction.  Once he is king, Solomon sets about the process of building the temple.  David had already set up many of the provisions, Solomon simply had to enact upon David’s plans.

As Solomon begins to act, he sends a letter to Hiram, the king of Phoenicia (Tyre and Sidon).  Within this letter Solomon makes an incredible testimony.  Solomon says that the God of the Hebrew people is above all other gods.  For the record, remember that the Phoenicians had their own pantheon.  Imagine hearing a rival king telling you that their single God is greater than all of your own gods.  What an incredibly profound comment to put in a letter when Solomon is essentially asking for assistance!

Then, Solomon moves from incredibly testimony to profound humbleness.  Solomon professes that no temple constructed by human hands could ever hold God.  If God cannot be contained by all of the heavens, what chance would a temple made by human hands have at holding Him!  Solomon is incredibly humble in this instance.  He knows his place.  He cannot build a cage or even a home for God.  All he can hope to do is to build a structure that is pleasing to a God that knows our human limitations.

I’m going to pause here for a second and go even one more step deeper.  Solomon says that God cannot be contained by the heavens.  Step back and ponder this for just a second.  Our world is a big place.  Our solar system is an even bigger place.  Our galaxy is an even bigger place.  Our universe is an even more incredibly big place.  Yet, none of these things are big enough to contain God.  I find that a rather humbling thought.

Yet what I find even more humbling is that the God who cannot be contained by the universe wants to be in a relationship with us.  He wants me.  He wants you.  Now, that’s incredible!

The Plan Moves Ahead

Notice that Hiram responds favorably.  Hiram recognizes Solomon’s divine right to rule, although don’t confuse this with a personal faith on Hiram’s behalf.  Hiram could be responding out of a faith, but what is more likely is that Hiram is simply formulating a response that is crafted to uphold the relationship that had existed between Hiram and David.

Once the lumber resources had been promised, Solomon sets up the laborers.  Note that the laborers mentioned in chapter 2 are laborers who are not native among the Hebrew people.  Solomon conscripts foreigners from among them to work on the temple.

It could well be that Solomon is used forced labor here.  However, in earlier chapters we’ve already spoken about what else could be going on here.  Remember that the Hebrew people were originally from Ur (in Babylonia).  They spent a little while in the Promised Land before going to Egypt for several centuries.  Finally, they came out of Egypt and settled in the Promised Land.  What this means is that the Hebrew people did not have the natural skills for working with the resources of the Promised Land.  Foreigners living in the land would certainly have these skills as the native Canaanites had possessed the land for many generations before the Hebrew people moved in for good.  Solomon could certainly be conscripting labor here; Solomon might also have simply been looking for the best craftsmen available to him and willing to acknowledge that they aren’t among his own people.

Mount Moriah

Construction begins.  It begins on the site where the Lord appeared to David after his initiating a census that angered the Lord.  The temple is built upon the threshing floor where the angel of the Lord turned away from distributing the wrath of the Lord.

However, this is not the furthest we can go back in history between the Lord and His people.  If we turn back to Genesis 22 we can hear about the story of the sacrifice of Isaac.  God tells Abraham to go to Mount Moriah and sacrifice his only son.  It was upon this same site that God provided the sacrificial ram so that Isaac could live.  It is upon this holy mountain that God plants His own temple.

The Splendor of the Temple

As the temple is built, Solomon ensures that it is beautiful.  It is paneled in pine {perhaps cypress} and inlaid with gold.  Cherubim were carved into the walls.   Precious stones adorned the space.  There is a message being sent here.  The place of the Lord is a place of splendor.  God’s majesty is incredible.

We then come to the inner space – the Holy of Holies.  This space was reserved for the High Priest.  This space was reserved for the most holy artifacts.  Unlike the rest of the temple, which was paneled with wood, the Holy of Holies was paneled with gold.  I can only imagine what the space looked like as the gold glistened from every angle.

Then there are the cherubim within the room.  They were made of wood but plated with gold.  Their wings reached across the entire room.  The room would barely contain these representations of the agents of God.  Solomon’s point is fairly obvious.  The room can barely hold a worldly analog of the divine.  It has no chance of holding the actual cherubim and especially God.  His majesty is far too significant to be contained, even in such a splendid place.

In fact, so splendid is the Lord that a curtain is needed to separate the place of the Lord from the rest of the temple.  The Lord is so great that Solomon knows that we must be careful to not stray into the presence of the Lord simply on accident.  He is great indeed!

In fact, He is so great that Solomon erects two pillars and names them as a lasting testimony to God.  The pillars are named Jakin and Boaz.  Jakin means, “He establishes.”  Boaz means, “In Him is strength.”  Solomon tells us within the temple that the temple is established by God and will be maintained solely by the strength of the Lord.  This would be a powerful witness in the time of the chronicler as they are rebuilding their society.  It is a powerful witness to us who recognize that salvation and faith only come from God and are completely sustained by Him.

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