Year 6, Day 307: 2 Chronicles 7

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Authority

• Authority: Our calling.  This comes from God as king.  Because He calls us as His representatives, He gives us authority to go and do His will.

 Much of this chapter has to deal with what I spoke about in the last chapter.  God responds to Solomon’s prayer.  If the people obey, they will have God’s protection.  If the people abandon God, they also forfeit His protection.  It is about obedience as I spoke of yesterday.

Rather than repeat myself more than I have already done, I am going to take the opportunity to talk deeply about a seemingly insignificant detail in this chapter.  Do you remember who did the offerings?  Solomon did!  Now, this should initially strike you as unusual.  After all, aren’t the priests supposed to do the sacrifices?  What on earth is Solomon doing here?  He’s not a part of the line of Levi.  Being David’s Son, he’s of the line of Judah!

This is why I wanted to talk about this point.  This detail is inserted into the Chronicler’s account to show that the Chronicler has an eye for the Messiah.  More importantly, the Chronicler has an eye for the authority of the Messiah.

Think back to the chapter where David took Jerusalem and established his kingdom there.  Do you remember that in those chapters we have a reminder that David is a priest in the order of Melchizedek?  If you don’t, remember in Genesis that the king of Salem (the town that becomes know as Jerusalem) is called Melchizedek and he was a priest of God.  Therefore, the tradition is that the king of Jerusalem is a priest of God, even though they might not be in the line of Levi.  Therefore, David and those of his lineage who are kings of Jerusalem are both priests and kings!  They are priests and kings under the direct authority of God.

Why is this important?  Fast forward a thousand years.  Jesus comes on the scene.  Jesus is heralded as the “King of the Jews.”  Jesus is also in the lineage of David.  Therefore, we can claim that Jesus likewise shares the authority from God as being both priest and king.  David had the authority and lived it out.  Solomon had the authority and lived it out.  In the same way, Jesus has the authority and He absolutely lived it out.

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