Year 6, Day 323: 2 Chronicles 24

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Imitation

• Imitation: This is the second over-arching step of the discipleship process.  First we gain information, then we imitate our spiritual mentor.  Imitation leads to innovation of spirituality in our own life.

The idea behind imitation is really discipleship.  The imitation step is all about finding people in your life who are applying God’s truth and learning to imitate their efforts.  Imitation isn’t about making carbon-copies, however.  Imitation is not about duplication.  It is about mentoring and developing good habits that bring us closer to the Lord.

This is what we see in the beginning of Joash’s life.  The young king is under the tutelage of Jehoiada.  Jehoiada brings him up in the ways of the Lord.  Jehoida helps protect him from the world while he is developing.  Jehoiada helps give guidance to the young king.  Joash learns to imitate.

However, Jehoiada eventually dies.  Joash loses his mentor.  Things start to go downhill quite quickly.  Before too long, even Jehoiada’s son is persecuted and killed.  When Joash loses his mentor, he falls away from God.

Now, I’m not blaming Joash’s fall on the lack of a mentor.  The idea of mentoring is that eventually the person being mentored becomes mature and capable of mentoring others while making mature decisions.  That being said, though, we should never lose sight of the power of having people in our lives that we can look up to and imitate.  We all have room to grow, always.

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Year 6, Day 322: 2 Chronicles 23

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Appetite

• Appetite: We all have needs that need to be filled.  When we allow ourselves to be filled with the people and things that God brings into our life, we will be satisfied because our In will be in proper focus.  But when we try to fill ourselves with our own desires we end up frustrated by an insatiable hunger.

Human lust always amazes me.  When I use the word lust, there, I’m not talking about just in a sexuality sense.  Lust is an uncontrollable urge for anything about which we are passionate.  Usually we use it in terms of sexuality because that is one of our most uncontrollable urges.  But it can apply to anything, especially when we are focusing on human appetite.

As we read through this chapter, we hear about how Athaliah is deposed.  It’s a pretty good coup.  The priests respect the temple and its purity.  They people get behind the coup.  All in all, it’s really well done.

However, notice what the people do once the coup is over.  In fact, the Bible gives us the idea that this is done immediately after the coup is over.  They go to the temple of Ba’al and tear it down.  Oh yeah.  The temple of Ba’al was in Jerusalem - in God’s holy city!

Kudos to the people for tearing it down.  I can only imagine how offensive that must have been to God.  He hand-picked that city to be His domain on the earth.  Then someone, probably the leaders in the city, think it is a good idea to put up a false temple to an illegitimate god in God’s holy city.  Only human appetite – uncontrollable lust – could lead to a decision of that magnitude.

The problem is that this actually hits home quite well.  Am I not a priest in God’s kingdom under Christ?  Is not my body God’s temple?  How often do my sinful lusts, my sinful human passions and my sinful human appetite, corrupt God’s temple within me?

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Year 6, Day 321: 2 Chronicles 22

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Protection

• Protection: In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray that God might deliver us from evil – even the Evil One.  Sometimes we need God’s protection from the sin around us.  Sometimes we need protection from the sinful people around us.  Other times we need protection from the sin that lies within ourselves. In any case, Jesus’ point is clear.  We need protection from the Father to make it through each and every day.

Ahaziah comes into power.  He rules for a single year.  You know a king just didn’t get along well with God when he only reigned for a single year.  Ahaziah goes out to meet the king of Israel.  God takes advantage of the opportunity.  As Jehu was sent out to deal with the house of Ahab, he takes care of Ahaziah, too.

What is really neat, though, is the story that follows.  We know that God promised to have a descendant of David upon the throne.  When Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, sees that her son is dead, she sets out to kill the rest of the royal family.  She nearly succeeds, too.  A faithful servant of God, Athaliah’s own sister, finds her actions despicable and plans against it.  She takes Joash and hides him from Athaliah so that she can’t kill him.  She hides him in the temple.  God’s house literally protects Joash from Athaliah!

God’s protection is really amazing, and often unexpected.  Who would have thought to care about a small child?  Who would have thought to care about him for a number of years?  Who would have been devoted to hide him in the temple?  God’s faithful servants, people who care about God’s will being done, make sure that God is heard.  God’s protection starts with God and is planned by Him.  But we are the hands and feet of His plan of protection, reaching out into the world to help in unsuspecting ways.

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Year 6, Day 320: 2 Chronicles 21

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Obedience

• Obedience: Genuine and satisfying obedience comes out of our identity.  Our true identity comes only from our Father.

Jehoram comes into power after Jehoshaphat dies.  As is the custom of the Chronicler, we are told about his reign upfront.  Jehoram was an evil man.  He was not obedient to God.  In fact, he was instead obedient to the was of the kings of Israel.

What is it that brings about this change from the perspective of Jehoram?  After all, Jehoshaphat was a pretty good guy, with only a few flaws for which he seemed genuinely repentant?  What does Jehoram in is his marriage to a foreign princess.  In fact, he marries into the house of the kings of Israel!  When he brings down a wife from Israel, he opens the door for taint to come into his life.  Clearly, this is disobedience in its best.

Furthermore, do you see how he tries to manipulate God’s hand?  Jehoram has all of his brothers killed.  Some might think this is shrewd.  After all, if God has promised that there will always be a descendant of David on the throne, what better way to ensure that your line stays strong than to kill all of the other eligible men!  However, what some may think of as shrewd I find despicable.  In this act we don’t see a humble trust in God.  We don’t see relationship with God.  What we see is a human being trying to manipulate the hand of God.  This is sinfulness at its worst.

However, take a look at how God deals with Jehoram’s disobedience.  As Jehoram had all of his brothers killed, God killed all but one of his sons.  God brings up oppression because of his disobedience in the form of the Philistines.  They plunder the land.

I find it sad to see how the disobedience of one person can cause so much hardship in the lives of the people around him. Jehoram’s disobedience resulted in the death of nearly everyone that was meaningful to him.  It resulted in his people having to fend of rebellions and war.

Of course, I am not much different.  I may not have a nation underneath me, but that doesn’t mean that my places of sin and disobedience don’t mar the community around me.  It certainly does.

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Year 6, Day 319: 2 Chronicles 20

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Provision

• Provision: God gives us what we truly need.  God knows our needs better than we can know them.  We learn to trust God to provide for us.

One of the greatest challenges that I face as a human being is walking that lime between following God and following my own desires.  Paul speaks it really well when he writes Romans.  The good that I want to do I do not do; yet the evil that I do not want to do it what I find myself doing.  I genuinely believe that my heart is in the right place.  But my actions do not always follow.

As we’ve looked at the past few kings in 2 Chronicles, I think this is really the underlying issue that we see.  Asa and Jehoshaphat are remembered as genuinely decent guys who tried to follow the Lord.  Yet in both cases we’ve seen them make mistakes.  Spend a little bit of time analyzing those mistakes, however.  Their mistakes are flagrant rebellion against God.  They are subtle encroachments of sin through well-intentioned but ultimately self-centered decisions.

As a good example, take a look at what we have in this chapter.  Many nations come to war against Jehoshaphat.  The nation begins to panic around him.  However, he has the foresight to gather the people and go before God.  God answers him; He even takes care of the battle so that the people of Judah don’t even have to lift a sword in their own defense!  How amazing is this story when it comes to God’s provision!  All Jehoshaphat has to do is remember to take the counsel of the Lord before acting and God does indeed prove that He can provide – and is willing, even more importantly!

We turn to the next story, however.  In peacetime, when things are easy, Jehoshaphat sees an opportunity to provide for himself.  He makes a trade agreement with the nation of Israel.  Initially, this doesn’t sound like a bad thing.  After all, who can really get hurt by a few nations collaborating together to make some money?  However, Jehoshaphat has made a fatal flaw.  As he looks to provide for himself and his country, he forgets to go to God.  He forgets to take God’s counsel.  In doing this, he shows the failing of his own heart.  Jehoshaphat starts to provide for himself rather than consulting God for His provision.

I truly think this is one of my biggest struggles.  I desire to rest in the hands of the Lord.  I know that He can provide for me.  I know that His ways are better than anything I can do for myself.  However, I often forget to check with Him when I see an opportunity.  I forget to pause and ask if something before me is His provision or if it is myself trying to provide for my own needs.

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Year 6, Day 318: 2 Chronicles 19

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.

Jehoshaphat returns from battle and he is greeting by a prophet.  The prophet tells him that he has done some things well, but he has also neglected some of his duties among the people.  In other words, the prophet is reminding that he is an example before the people.  People are going to look to him and imitate him because of the position he has in their life.  This is going to happen whether or not he wants them to.  This is going to happen whether he knows them or not.  In a sense, this is going to happen to him well beyond the scope of his control.

Jehoshaphat realizes this and once more heeds the words of the prophet.  He goes out and appoints leaders to help him manage the people.  This largely parallels what Moses did when Jethro, his father-in-law, came to him and spoke to him about managing the people.  Jehoshaphat appoint leaders who will be able to know the people and oversee them far more personally than he can.

However, in the midst of this process he receives another warning.  He is reminded that he has an incredible amount of authority upon him.  He isn’t just judging over people.  He is judge over God’s people and exercising God’s authority over them.  He needs to be exceedingly careful, because people will see his authority as an extension of God’s authority. 

That’s just how it is when we are in relationship with God.  When we are in relationship with Him, He desires us to go out into the world and spread not only His grace and love but also His wisdom, truth, and righteousness.  We are to be His representatives.  We do go out with His calling.  We go out with His approval.  But we also go with His authority.  That is an incredible blessing.  It is also an incredible burden to remember as we go forth to be His representative to the world.

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Year 6, Day 317: 2 Chronicles 18

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Prophet

• Prophet: A prophet is one of the fivefold ministry categories that is used throughout the Bible. The prophet is primarily concerned with whether or not the people are hearing the voice of God.  The prophet is also concerned about whether or not the people are responding to God’s voice.

This is a great chapter to look deeply at the life of the prophet and how they relate to the world.  It’s also a great chapter to have a challenging look at the Lord, too, if you are willing.  But each of these looks are not without their challenge.

What does it mean to be a true prophet?  Well, the true prophet is usually an unpopular sort.  Do you hear the king of Israel’s reaction to Micaiah?  The king doesn’t want to hear Micaiah.  Micaiah doesn’t tell him what he wants to hear!

This is such an incredibly honest perspective.  As a prophet, you can either give people what they want to hear or you can give them the truth.  If you give people what they want to hear, then you will have their favor.  However, it also means that you will have to lie, speak only shallow things, or avoid the truth.  If you decide to speak the truth, then you are going to have to accept that you will be telling people things they don’t want to hear.  The truth usually hurts.  When we look in the mirror honestly, we usually see the things we don’t enjoy seeing.  The king of Israel hates Micaiah because Micaiah forces him to see the things he doesn’t want to see.

Welcome to the life of the prophet.  It’s what prophets do.  They are usually wise because they care more about truth than making people happy.  They care more about obediently presenting the ways of God than having loads of friends and being all kinds of popular.

In a weird way, let’s look at the perspective of God that Micaiah gives, too.  Micaiah speaks about a vision he had of the Lord.  The Lord decides to entice the king.  Is the Lord being deceptive?  No.  The Lord isn’t actually deceiving the king.  The Lord knows that the king will not listen to truth.  Therefore, the Lord decides to encourage the king to go into a situation where he will be confronted with the truth since he will not listen to it.  The king decides to go up into battle in spite of Micaiah’s warning that he will die.  The king tries to out-think God and fails.  The king takes an arrow in a vulnerable spot and has to come face to face with truth.  Micaiah, and more importantly the Lord, was right.

Prophets are about as popular as the truth.  Humanity likes to parade around that we are all about the truth.  We are about some truth.  We want scientific truth.  We want political truth.  But we don’t usually want personal truth.  We don’t want truth that pertains to us.  We don’t want the truth that challenges us to grow and change.  That’s what makes Micaiah unpopular in the worldly kingdom of Israel.

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Year 6, Day 316: 2 Chronicles 16-17

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Obedience

• Obedience: Genuine and satisfying obedience comes out of our identity.  Our true identity comes only from our Father.

Today we read about the end of Asa’s reign and the beginning of Jehoshaphat’s reign.  Both kings have a good relationship with the Lord and walk in the Lord’s favor.  We saw yesterday how Asa walked.  We hear today that Jehoshaphat continued to walk in the style of relationship with God that reflects the humble repentance that David had.

However, we will notice that even the good kings struggled with obedience.  This is not really a surprise.  David was not perfect, yet he was called a man after God’s own heart.  It shouldn’t surprise us that we can see kings who are good at heart but who are not perfect.  In fact, these stories should inspire us and fill us with hope.

In the chapters for today, we hear about one of Asa’s stumbles.  He sees that the king of Israel has begun fortifying his position against Judah.  The king of Israel can do this because he has a treaty with Aram that allows him to focus on his other borders.  Asa sees this and becomes worried.  Asa goes to the king of Aram and invites him to break his treaty so that the king of Israel will have to divide his focus back onto all of his borders.  The tactic works.  The king of Israel backs off from fortifying his border with Israel.  Asa can then relax and fortify his own position.

All of this sounds very astute.  It feels like Asa was wise and shrewd in this passage.  However, he makes a subtle flaw.  In going to a foreign king, he shows us that he isn’t fully relying upon God.  He isn’t fully obedient.  He is putting his confidence in his ability to manipulate mankind rather than trusting in God’s ability to protect him.  Asa doesn’t consult with the prophets before making his decision.  Asa simply goes out and does what he believes is necessary.

Asa shows us that often the break in obedience comes not in our blatant disobedience but in our subtle forgetfulness.  Asa’s actions weren’t flagrantly against the ways of God.  Asa simply forgot to pause and ask God where God is leading him.  As a result, he shows that he is relying upon his own wisdom rather than instinctually coming before God.

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Year 6, Day 315: 2 Chronicles 15

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Bear Fruit

• Bear Fruit: We bear fruit after we grow.  Bearing fruit is ultimately the goal of abiding and the goal of being called into the Kingdom of God.  However, while bearing fruit is our calling, it is not the end.  We bear fruit so that we can then prune, abide, grow, and bear more fruit in another season.  Bearing fruit is not the end, but rather only a portion of the whole rhythm of life into which God has called us.

Asa is a great hidden gem in the Old Testament.  We don’t hear much about him.  Truth is, besides David and Solomon, we don’t hear much about most of the kings of Israel.  We may hear a bit about Hezekiah from time to time.  People who know what they are talking about will occasionally bring up Josiah and his reforms.  I believe that Asa is one of the best least-talked-about people in the Old Testament.

Look at what happens in this chapter.  A prophet comes to Asa and puts challenge in front of him.  He invites Asa to seek the Lord.  He challenges Asa to bear fruit after finding the Lord.  Asa hears.  He listens.  He absorbs the message that the Lord has for him.  Then he goes forth and acts!

It starts with Asa taking courage.  He goes out and removes the false places of worship.  He repairs the temple of the Lord.  He brings the people together and worships.  Life in the country changes as Asa rises to the challenge and bears fruit!  The fruit of Asa spreads throughout the people!

However, look closely at the scope of Asa’s fruit.  Asa deposes his own grandmother from power.  Imagine telling your grandmother that she is no longer capable of having a place of authority among the people!  Imagine the family pressure that Asa must have felt.  Yet Asa chose God’s ways over the family.  Asa bears true fruit, even if it meant bearing fruit that was difficult and unpopular.

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Year 6, Day 314: 2 Chronicles 14

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Protection

• Protection: In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray that God might deliver us from evil – even the Evil One.  Sometimes we need God’s protection from the sin around us.  Sometimes we need protection from the sinful people around us.  Other times we need protection from the sin that lies within ourselves. In any case, Jesus’ point is clear.  We need protection from the Father to make it through each and every day.

Asa comes to reign in Judah.  The Bible is clear on two points.  First of all, Asa had peace in His reign.  Note, though, that Asa was not without conflict with the world.  Kings rose up against Asa, but because God was at peace with Asa they had His protection.  The peace that they endured was an internal peace between the nation and God.  Second, Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.

What I really want to focus upon is why these two things occur.  Asa is able to have peace for the same reason that Asa is able to do what is right in the Lord’s eyes.  Asa himself gives us the reason why is 2 Chronicles 14:7.  These things can happen because they have sought out the Lord.  Because they have sought out the Lord, they have God’s protection.  They have peace with God.

Peace comes when we seek the Lord.

Just remember, though.  When we say that peace comes when we seek the Lord, that doesn’t necessarily mean peace with the world.  This chapter itself contains an example where Asa was not at peace with the world around him.  Many of God’s prophets were not at peace.  Jesus Himself was crucified by the world.  Jesus’ disciples were persecuted heavily.  Peace, an internal peace and a spiritual peace, comes when we seek the Lord.  But when we don’t have peace with the world, we know that we will have God’s eternal protection.

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Year 6, Day 313: 2 Chronicles 13

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Identity

• Identity: Our true identity comes from the Father.  Only when our identity comes from God can we be obedient in ways that satisfy our person to our core.

On the surface of this passage, Abijah comes off as a really spiritual leader.  He goes out to battle and reminds Jeroboam’s army that God is on their side.  He reminds them that they have the Levitical priests.  He reminds them that he is the leader in the line of David.  He reminds the people that they are the ones who rebelled against Rehoboam.  When you look at this, it’s easy to see Abijah in the right.

So, then, why does the account in 1 Kings 15 tell us that he was evil and walked evilly in the ways of his father Rehoboam?

When we look more deeply, we can get a glimpse of Abijah’s identity.  He seems like he gets the stories right, but he tells the story in a way that doesn’t tell the whole story.  Yes, the kingdom of Judah has the Levites.  But remember that the Chronicler told us a few chapters back that the Levites only remained faithful for about 3 years.  When it comes to the rebellion of Jeroboam, what Abijah fails to say is that the people came to serve Rehoboam and it was Rehoboam’s arrogant ambition that drove the people away into rebellion.  Don’t forget that Abijah is said to have a number of wives as his fathers did who came before him.

What we see in Abijah is an identity that is self-serving.  Abijah tells parts of the truth, but he creatively tells the truth to paint an image that serves him in its lack of honesty.  He uses God when the idea of God serves him and his agenda, but he doesn’t truly live up to God’s ways.  This identity is really what leads us to understand that Abijah is an evil king who walks in the evil ways of his father.

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Year 6, Day 312: 2 Chronicles 12

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Father, King

• Father: This is the pinnacle of the Covenant Triangle.  God is the Father.  He is the creator.  He is love.  Our relationship with the Father is rooted in His love for us.  We get our identity through Him.  When the Father is in our life, obedience becomes clear.
• King: This is the pinnacle of the Kingdom Triangle.  When we look towards God’s position in the universe, we acknowledge that He is an omnipotent king.  Authority comes from Him.  Power comes through His authority.  He is looking for representatives for His kingdom.

This is an incredibly interesting chapter in the Bible.  Let me summarize for a second.  Rehoboam uses the influx of Levitical priests to fortify his position and make all of the cities strong.  Once they are strong, Rehoboam begins to lean a little too much on his own might.  God brings Shishak out of Egypt to humble Rehoboam.  Rehoboam and the people see the error of their ways and repent.  God sends Shishak back home, having plundered the Hebrew people but not enslaved them.

Naturally, we can see the repentance cycle in this story.  Humanity gets the wrong perspective, gets itself into trouble, repents, and God gets them out of trouble.  It’s the story of humanity, right?

The story is far more deep than this, though.  Do you hear the signs that Rehoboam’s repentance may not have been all that sincere?  Look at his epithet.  The Bibe clearly says that he did evil in the sight of the Lord.  David, who did many things wrong but genuinely repented, is remembered well.  Rehoboam, who did things wrong and repented, is remembered as being evil.  We can only conclude that this repentance wasn’t really genuine.  Furthermore, do you notice what he does?  He doesn’t humbly accept the place that God has for him.  When the shields of Solomon get carted off, Rehoboam replaces them with bronze.  This is not a man interested in repentance and change!  This is a man interested in covering up the failings and faults and making the surface look like everything is okay.  This points us to why he is remembered as evil and his repentance isn’t genuine.

But, look at God’s reaction.  He forgives anyways.  He turns Shishak back home and sends him on his way.  He provides for His people.  He accepts their repentance, sincere or not.  This is a Father.  This is a King.  Parents and leaders know what it is like to have children or citizens underneath them who say what it takes to get them out of trouble only to go back to their own ways when trouble has passed.  Parents and leaders extend grace even when grace isn’t fully warranted.  That’s why God is truly Father and King.

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Year 6, Day 311: 2 Chronicles 11

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Character

• Character: Having the interior life that is necessary to support the work that God sets before a person.  It is hearing from God and obeying.  It is doing the right thing when nobody is looking.

The great thing about the books of Chronicles (1 & 2 Samuel and 1&2 Chronicles, too) is that you can turn to almost any chapter and discover a great opportunity to talk about character.  Sometimes the lesson is a great inspirational lesson.  Sometimes the lesson is a sad lesson where we see a poor example.  Human beings are prone to mistakes, our leaders are no different than the commoners.

In this chapter, we have three great examples.  We’ll probably carry this into tomorrow, too.  But for starters today, let’s talk about Rehoboam.  Rehoboam is angry that the northern kingdom has broken away from him.  Of course he goes home to raise up the troops.  Of course he plans to make war and reclaim the territory that he believes is his to govern.  But then the prophet comes and tells Rehoboam to let it go.  Give some credit to the prophet for having the courage to do so!  But also give credit to Rehoboam for being willing to listen.  He hears the logic of God and humbles himself to it.  Yesterday we saw a young brash Rehoboam.  Today we see him take a step towards growing up.

The next picture of character that we see are the Levites from the northern kingdom.  When the kingdom in the north is set up, they are rejected.  Therefore, they choose to give up homeland and pastureland to come and support the worship of God being done in the kingdom of Judah.  Their character is one that chooses God over their own livelihood.  They believe that God can give them livelihood wherever they go.

The third picture of character that we see here is back to Rehoboam.  Do you hear how this chapter ends?  He has a plethora of wives and dozens of concubines.  Earlier, we saw that Rehoboam does have some humbleness within him.  Here we see that the sinfulness of his fathers continues.  His character, like all of ours, has chinks in the armor.  There are flaws preventing the perfection of God from coming forth.

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Year 6, Day 310: 2 Chronicles 10

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Guidance

• Guidance: God grants us His guidance.  Sometimes this guidance is God leading us away from temptation.  Sometimes this guidance is helping us to follow in a direction for which He has chosen.  Our default position should be to wait for God’s guidance and then follow when it comes.

It is David’s grandson that becomes king when the wheels come off of the Hebrew nation.  Do you hear that?  David’s grandson!  We’re on the third generation from David and the country is already split into two separate nations!  It’s hard to think about how it happened so quickly.

In fact, the Bible is very clear about this.  We’re not told about this event in Chronicles, but if we turn to 1 Kings 11:29-39 we can see the answer.  Solomon let in the foreign gods.  Solomon made treaty after treaty with foreign nations.  Solomon brought the daughters of foreign kings to his homeland as a sign of the pacts between them.  With those daughters come the foreign gods.  With those foreign gods comes rebellion.  It’s actually quite simple.  Because the foreign gods have become popular in God’s nation, God tells His prophets that the split will occur after Solomon’s death.

The worship of God is about humbleness and coming before Him to serve Him.  It is about acknowledging that our ways are not as good as His ways.  But with the introduction of foreign gods, the people are faced with an opportunity to pick gods that match their own personal needs, desires, goals, and ideology.   Instead of a nation rooted in humbleness before God, we have a nation seeking to justify their own desires.

We can see the effect of the foreign gods in Rehoboam.  Rehoboam seeks the advice of the elders.  They tell him to ease the burden of the people so that the people will serve him for his whole life.  But that’s not what Rehoboam wants.  He doesn’t want to live less posh than his father.  Rehoboam wants more luxury!  So Rehoboam listens to the people who think like him – the people he grew up with.  Rehoboam isn’t looking to be humble; he is looking to justify what he wants!

Rehoboam isn’t willing to listen to good sound advice because he has been brought up in a culture that allows him to find a belief system that justifies his thinking.  The only guidance that Rehoboam will listen to is his own.  His mind is not open; it is closed.

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Year 6, Day 309: 2 Chronicles 9

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Appetite

• Appetite: We all have needs that need to be filled.  When we allow ourselves to be filled with the people and things that God brings into our life, we will be satisfied because our In will be in proper focus.  But when we try to fill ourselves with our own desires we end up frustrated by an insatiable hunger.

The Queen of Sheba comes to visit Solomon.  She sees all of the splendor.  She visits all of the grandeur.  She is impressed by his wisdom.  She gives him gifts and Solomon gives her what she asks.  In other words, it sounds like a trade agreement is established.  Solomon gets several tons of gold.  His wealth increases.  His wealth increases so much that silver is thought of as nothing in Jerusalem.

But here’s the problem.  Look what Solomon does with his wealth.  He beats the gold into useless decorations for his own houses.  Anyone who has even used gold knows that it isn’t suitable for weapons if your enemy has bronze or even iron.  Solomon makes an incredible throne for himself to sit upon.  Solomon makes drinking vessels and other implements so that when he eats the kings portion he can eat in all kind of style.  He imported horses from Egypt – once more, the key phrase that shows that Solomon is relying upon himself and straying from relying upon God.

You see, I believe that this chapter is more about Solomon’s appetite than God’s provision.  This chapter is about the amassing of wealth under Solomon’s reign.  But here’s the problem.  Do you know what we fail to hear?  We do not hear about the care of orphans and widows.  We don’t care about the generosity into the people.  We don’t hear about the care of the poor.  We don’t hear about making God’s name great.  What we hear about is Solomon’s appetite for wealth.

This appetite is the small footstool upon which the rebellion of the kings to follow is built.

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Year 6, Day 308: 2 Chronicles 8

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Ambition

• Ambition: We all need a goal to which we can strive.  When our ambition comes from God, we find fulfillment in our obedience into that for which we have been equipped because our Out is in proper focus.  But when our ambition comes from ourselves, we find ourselves chasing after our own dreams and trying to find fulfillment in accomplishments of our own making.

Solomon’s reign usually saddens me.  Here is a man whose reign was established for him before he ever took the throne.  He had a great model in his father, who was not perfect in any sense but who was absolutely repentant in every sense of the word.  But we see Solomon beginning to chase the wrong things so quickly after he becomes king.

Look at the clues in the text before us.  First, we see Solomon beginning to draft the non-Hebrew people into forced labor.  Do you wonder what God thinks about this?  Didn’t God say to get rid of the native people in the land because they would lead the Hebrew people astray?  The exception to this would be any native person who desires to become a God-fearing person.  But Solomon doesn’t seem to care about this.  As Solomon acquires more influence and more land for the kingdom, he allows the people to stay and drafts them into forced labor.  Because of his ambition, Solomon opens the door for the religious subversion of himself and his own people.

Then we hear about Solomon’s wife.  Solomon brings up a wife from Egypt.  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.}  What we see here is that Solomon sees to extend his influence and make alliances.  He is trusting more on his own political prowess than upon God’s protection.  His ambition is slowly pulling him away from God.

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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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Year 6, Day 306: 2 Chronicles 6

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Obedience

• Obedience: Genuine and satisfying obedience comes out of our identity.  Our true identity comes only from our Father.

Sometimes prayer is genuine communication with God.  Okay, in truth, all of prayer should be communication with God.  But sometimes prayer serves multiple purposes.  In fact, often when I am teaching a class and I pray, my prayers have multiple purposes.  The prayer is about talking with God.  But the prayer is often setting the tone and mood of the classroom.  The prayer is sometimes about teaching people or reminding them about something.  Sometimes the prayer is about giving caution.  My point is that prayer often serves multiple purposes, especially communal prayer.

When we read through 2 Chronicles 6, there is a clear sense that Solomon’s prayer to God is a prayer of multiple purpose.  Naturally, Solomon is praying to God and communicating with God.  But do you hear that Solomon’s prayer has more to do with the actions of the people and God’s response?  Does God need to be lectured about how humans react and how He should respond to us?  Of course not!  God is God.  He knows how to handle us and He knows what to expect from us.

So what is going on here?  Solomon is praying while reminding the people how to behave.  Solomon is reminding them that if they are unfaithful they need to turn and repent.  Solomon is reminding the people that God will hear them if they repent.  But Solomon is also reminding them that if they go against God’s way, then they shouldn’t be surprised if God pulls His protection and provision over them.  God’s not doing this to be mean-spirited or vengeful; God is doing this to get their attention!

Why would the Chronicler make sure to include this in his work?  The people have just returned from exile.  He wants them to see that God does listen when we repent.  He can restore us.  But he also wants the people to remember to be obedient as it was their fathers’ disobedience that led them into exile in the first place.

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Year 6, Day 305: 2 Chronicles 5

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Provision

• Provision: God gives us what we truly need.  God knows our needs better than we can know them.  We learn to trust God to provide for us.

“For He is good; His steadfast love endured forever.”  Quite an important saying!  It is completely true, of course.  But what can really shed some light onto this conversation is a discussion about perspective.

Of course, we can read this through the lens of the priests who are saying these words.  Solomon has just completed the temple.  The Hebrew people have come crashing onto the scene and through David’s leadership have become the dominant presence in Canaan.  Their wealth has increased exponentially.  Their military prowess will know no greater height.  God’s provision is indeed great.  God’s provision has been with them.  God’s provision endures forever.

Yet, it is easy to say those words in the good times.  But what about the bad times?  Think about the time of the Chronicler as he writes these words.  The people have been in exile for 70 years.  They are returning to Jerusalem and need to rebuild the entire city.  The nations around them are seeking ways for them to fail.  The times of the Chronicler are hard.

From this perspective, these words are even more vital.  In bleak times, it is important to remember the provision of the Lord.  In the bleak times, when losing faith may be easier than keeping it, we need to put even more trust in God and remember that He does not forget us.

This truly is the testimony of the Chronicler.  God did not abandon His people to exile forever.  He brought them back.  He made them a nation once, He can do it again.  This is why the Chronicler can pen these words and tell this story.

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Year 6, Day 304: 2 Chronicles 4

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Provision

• Provision: God gives us what we truly need.  God knows our needs better than we can know them.  We learn to trust God to provide for us.

I am always impressed when I read this passage at the sheer size of the construction.  Do you realize that the sea could hold more than 10,000 gallons of water?  Do you even know how large that is?  Or that the altar was 15 feet tall!  And all of these things was covered in bronze – and that bronze wasn’t even measured!

In other words, God’s provision is impressive.  God made bronze so plentiful in the days of Solomon that they didn’t even need to measure it.  This is how incredible God’s provision is.  His abundance outdoes even our greatest need.

Of course, then it is important to realize that from a New Testament perspective, we are the temple of God.  We are the ones into whom God pours His provision.  We are the ones who bear the abundance of God.  So I have to ask myself if I live a life that reflects this abundance.  Do I live a life that pours out God’s love, grace, and mercy that He pours into me?

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Year 6, Day 303: 2 Chronicles 2-3

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Father

• Father: This is the pinnacle of the Covenant Triangle.  God is the Father.  He is the creator.  He is love.  Our relationship with the Father is rooted in His love for us.  We get our identity through Him.  When the Father is in our life, obedience becomes clear.

In the next two chapters of 2 Chronicles, we see Solomon fulfilling the request of David.  Solomon sets out to build the temple.  As he does, we get the impression of a very humble Solomon.  Solomon is merely completing the plans that David set in motion.  He humbly acknowledges that there are more skilled craftsmen in other nations and he asks for their help.  Solomon acknowledges that even with all of these things, who is he to build a temple for a God that not even the heavens can contain?

It is this last thought that has inspired me today.  The heavens cannot contain God.  Nothing can contain God.  God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and ever-present.  What are we next to such a being?

Yet, this very being desires relationship.  He wants to know us.  He doesn’t just want to observe us.  He certainly doesn’t want to just judge us.  He wants to know us and be with us.  He is our Father.

But there is another element of Him being our Father that I want to discuss: love.  Do you notice that we are told the place where Solomon builds the temple?  It occurs at a place called Mt. Moriah.  There was another event that occurred at Mt. Moriah that was rather significant.  God once asked a man named Abraham to bring His own Son to Mt. Moriah so that a sacrifice could happen there.  Now, at the same place several hundred years later, Solomon builds a temple to God.  In several more hundred years at the same spot, God’s own Son named Jesus will be condemned to die.  God’s love is humbling.  His sacrificial nature is impressive.  He is our Father because He is willing to love us in all of His power, desire relationship with us, and send His Son for our sake.

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Year 6, Day 302: 2 Chronicles 1

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Ambition

• Ambition: We all need a goal to which we can strive.  When our ambition comes from God, we find fulfillment in our obedience into that for which we have been equipped because our Out is in proper focus.  But when our ambition comes from ourselves, we find ourselves chasing after our own dreams and trying to find fulfillment in accomplishments of our own making.

David has retired; Solomon steps into leadership.  We see very clearly where Solomon begins.  He has indeed heard the message that David set before him.  God made David great and Solomon realizes that it is God who will make him great, too.  In a deft move, once David is dead Solomon goes to God and shows humbleness before Him.

When Solomon is before God, God tells him that He will grant any request because of His love and grace.  Solomon has the opportunity to ask for anything.  What is his ambition?  At a young age, Solomon shows maturity.  Solomon asks that he should be given wisdom so that he can rule well.  He wants the ability to serve the people well so that things will go well.

While this is an awesome place to start, notice that the Chronicler doesn’t let us stay there.  Quickly, the Chronicler starts to move us to Solomon’s wealth.  Solomon focuses on gold and silver.  Soon Solomon is focusing upon horses – and remember that God prohibited the Hebrew for focusing on horses because He knew it would tie the Hebrew people back to Egypt.  Then Solomon focuses on implements of war like chariots.

I think the Chronicler’s point is pretty obvious.  We can have moments of brilliant humbleness before God in our life.  But it is hard as a sinful human being to stay there.  Soon we find ourselves being swayed by the things of the world.  We find ourselves caring about power, wealth, popularity, and other things.  We will have grand moments of humble ambition in our life.  But we must be careful.  Our hearts will also turn to the ambitious pursuit of other things.

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Year 6, Day 301: 1 Chronicles 29

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Imitation

• Imitation: This is the second over-arching step of the discipleship process.  First we gain information, then we imitate our spiritual mentor.  Imitation leads to innovation of spirituality in our own life.

The overarching point of all of the last five or six chapters in 1 Chronicles is the example that David is trying to set for his son, Solomon.  David wants his son to see what leadership looks like.  David wants Solomon to understand what the people respect and more importantly what God respects.

However, when we look at the effects of David’s attempt, we see that it impacts not just Solomon but all of the leaders of the people.  David speaks to Solomon about all that he has given out of his treasure for the temple.  The next thing he knows, the other leaders of the Hebrew people are coming forward and contributing even more to the temple effort.  David looks to set up his son to imitate his faith and he inspires imitation in more people than just Solomon.

Then something really cool happens.  After this massive collection takes place, David turns to God and reminds us what the point of imitation is all about.  Imitation isn’t about creating duplicates of me – or David, for that matter.  Imitation is about putting people into relationship with God so that God can receive the glory. Imitation is about God, not me or you.

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Year 6, Day 300: 1 Chronicles 28

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Challenge

• Challenge: God does not merely wish us to be in relationship with Him as we are.  He challenges us to grow, stretch, and transform as we take on the mantle of being His representatives to this world.

As David finishes his preparations for the shift in leadership to his son, Solomon, David gathers all the Hebrew people together.  What David is doing is making sure that before he transitions and before he offers up challenge he has some accountability.  David speaks his words before a congregation of people to make sure that everyone who is important knows the expectations.  Where this is accountability, success is more likely to follow.

Within this arena of accountability, David turns to the people.  He lifts up his challenge to the people.  Yes, Solomon is charged to build the temple.  However, Solomon cannot build it himself.  He will need the help of the people.  It is Solomon’s task, but the people will need to follow.  How will they follow?  Listen to the challenge that David gives.  They are to seek the Lord in obedience to His commandments.  David’s challenge is to live according to God’s ways, not the ways of the world.

Then we turn to Solomon.  David offers a personal challenge to his son.  Solomon is charged with leading the people.  He is charged with the specific plans of the temple complex.  How is Solomon to complete this challenge?  Look at the heart of David’s challenge to his son.  David tells Solomon to be courageous.  David reminds Solomon that God is always with him.

But I truly think that the heart of David’s challenge – and spiritual challenge for each of us – is where David begins.  David tells Solomon that if we seek God, He will always be found by us.  But if we forsake Him, He will forsake us forever.  That’s the real challenge right there.  Seek God every day.  Look for God’s ways every day.  Do that, and we have His promise to always be with us.

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