I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Chronicles 34-36.

    Josiah was the last good king of Judah. He recognized that the people of Judah had ignored God’s commands too often and for too long. He understood that it was too late to avoid the coming judgment. Nevertheless, he chose to faithfully follow God’s instructions to the best of his ability. He did not follow God’s instructions in order to avoid suffering. He followed God’s instructions because it was the right thing to do. We should strive to follow his example.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Chronicles 31-33.

    The Passover which Hezekiah called the people to assemble and celebrate inspired them to go out and destroy the shrines and altars dedicated to other gods. They did this not only in the lands ruled over by Hezekiah, but also in the lands of the Northern Tribes. The people were further inspired to make offerings and donations so that priests and Levites throughout the entire land could focus on teaching the people to worship God and follow His commands. In Hezekiah we see the two aspects of following God. First, we must do so sincerely and with a whole heart. Second, we must do what God desires for us to do. It is not enough to be sincere in our worship if our actions are wrong. We find an example of this in how Hezekiah faced the king of Assyria. He did not attempt to lead his forces into battle against the invading forces. Instead, he cried out in prayer to God. It is worth noting that Hezekiah did not wait until the Assyrians were at the gates to do something about them. When the Assyrians first began to march towards Jerusalem, Hezekiah covered over the water supplies around the city so that they would not be available to the Assyrian army. In the same way, we should prepare for difficult times, then cry out to God for direction and aid when those troubles come upon us.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

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

    I have always admired Hezekiah. When He became king, he reopened the Temple which his father had closed. He called together the priests and Levites and inspired them to cleanse the Temple. Once the Temple had been cleansed, Hezekiah ordered bulls, rams, and lambs offered as a burnt offering and a sin offering to consecrate the Temple, and the people, to God once more. His actions inspired the people to bring so many sacrifices to God that the priests were unable to keep up. God used Hezekiah to draw the people of Judah to Himself. But Hezekiah did not limit himself to the people of Judah. He invited the people remaining in the lands of the Northern Kingdom to come to Jerusalem to worship God and celebrate the Passover. While most of the people in the lands of the Northern Kingdom laughed at Hezekiah’s messengers, some were inspired to dedicate themselves to God. Hezekiah’s success was a result of the fact that first he dedicated himself and his resources to serving God. Only then did he call others to do the same.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Chronicles 26-28.

    I find the contrast between Uzziah and his grandson Ahaz instructive. For much of his reign Uzziah sought God’s guidance. As a result he was successful in what he did. He had a carefully disciplined army which defeated his enemies. His grandson Ahaz, on the other hand, turned away from God and sought out other gods. Ahaz began his reign by sacrificing to pagan gods, going so far as to offer his own sons as sacrifices. When he suffered terrible defeat, he did not turn to God. Instead he turned to yet other pagan gods. Like so many others, Ahaz took the suffering he received for his sins as evidence of God’s lack of power. He did not look at his grandfather and father to see that they had success where he had failure and notice that their success was the result of their obedience to God, while his failures were the result of his rebellion against God.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Chronicles 23-25.

    The story here about what happened when Joash first attempted to have the Temple repaired is clearer than the account in 2 Kings. Joash first told the priests and Levites to go to the towns throughout Judah to collect the offering required by the Law and use it to repair the Temple. When they did not do so, Joash ordered that a chest be placed at the entrance to the Temple. He then sent a proclamation out reminding people that they were required by the Law of Moses to make the offering. The people received this proclamation joyously and proceeded to bring their offerings to the Temple. The passage does not say so, but I suspect that the reason the Levites did not go out and collect the offerings was because the people would have disliked such an action. However, when the proclamation went out, those who were offended by donating to the Temple just ignored it, while those who wanted to support the Temple were happy to do so. Additionally, since it was up to the people to bring their offerings to the Temple they were able to do so when it best suited their finances rather than being pressured to do so when the Levites arrived in their town.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Chronicles 19-22.

    Jehoshaphat is possibly my favorite king from the Old Testament. He sent teachers throughout his kingdom to teach his people. In particular, he sent his officials to do the teaching. However, he not only sent his officials out among the people, he himself went out among the people encouraging them to worship and obey God. There are two sides to this, by doing so, Jehoshaphat and his officials gained an understanding of what the people they ruled over were experiencing. Having learned what was going on throughout the land he ruled over, Jehoshaphat appointed judges to dispense justice. When he spoke to the judges he appointed he emphasized that they would answer to God for their judgments. He, also, emphasized that they remind the people that, whether they answered to human authority or not, they would answer to God for their crimes.

    Unfortunately, for as good of a ruler Jehoshaphat was, he was not a good father, nor did he choose his friends well. As a result his son failed to follow in his footsteps. Instead his son was influenced by the wife Jehoshaphat chose for him (or, at the very least, arranged for him to marry) and followed the lead of Jehoshaphat’s friend, King Ahab of Israel (the Northern Kingdom). Jehoshaphat’s son, Jehoram, killed his brothers, and some of the other leaders of the kingdom, as soon as he was established as king. Rather than follow his father’s example and worship and serve God, Jehoram followed Ahab’s example and encouraged the worship of the various gods of the region.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Chronicles 15-18.

    When Asa returned victorious from his battle against an overwhelming army from Cush (Ethiopia) he was met by a prophet. Inspired by that prophet, Asa removed the idols from shrines in the land he controlled. He called an assembly of the people, which included many who had moved to Judah from the Northern Kingdom because Asa was serving God, to renew the Covenant with God. As a result of Asa’s, and the people’s, faithfulness to God the Kingdom of Judah had peace for over thirty years. However, in the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, King Baasha of Israel invaded. Rather than trust God, who had given him victory over an even more powerful Ethiopian army at the beginning of his reign, Asa sent a bribe to the King of Aram for the King of Aram to attack Israel and draw Baasha’s attention elsewhere. Asa made a mistake that many of us make. When we have few resources and no way to deal with the overwhelming problems we face, we turn to God and rely on Him to deal with our problems. Later, when we have more resources and more ability we rely on ourselves rather than turning to God. Let us always seek the path which God wishes us to follow when we face problems, even when we think we can handle the problems ourselves.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Chronicles 11-14.

    When Rehoboam returned to Jerusalem from learning that the Northern Tribes had rejected him as king, he immediately gathered the army to put down the rebellion. However, God sent a prophet to tell him not to do so. I do not believe that Rehoboam listened to the prophet on his own. I believe that his army refused to march out against the Northern Tribes because of what the prophet said to them. We are also told that the priests and Levites living among the Northern Tribes moved to the territory controlled By Rehoboam, as well as those other Israelites who truly wanted to worship God (I am sure that this is slight hyperbole; there were certainly some Israelites who wanted to continue worshiping God for whom relocating to Judah was impractical). Those who moved to Judah from among he Northern Tribes fully supported Rehoboam for three years. Unfortunately, Rehoboam’s “faith” was politically motivated. As soon as he had consolidated power, he abandoned his dedication to God and led the people into sinfulness. We need to be careful about leaders who behave like Rehoboam; leaders who start out apparently worshiping God, who abandon doing so as soon as their power is established.

    In this passage there are three accounts of where the Southern Kingdom was in a bad situation militarily. In each of these cases, they called out to God for deliverance and he delivered them. It is worth noting that in the first case, they first acknowledged that they deserved the suffering they were experiencing because of their failure to be faithful to God. In all three cases they were facing an enemy whose army was vastly superior to their own. The lesson for us is that God is able to see us through whatever troubles we face, no matter how overwhelming they are, if we put our faith in Him.