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

Joash was an infant when his father died and his grandmother seized power by killing of all of the rest of the males of the royal family.  He only survived because his aunt secreted him away to her husband the high priest, Jehoiada.  There he was raised by Jehoiada and Jehosheba alongside their other children (well, maybe not exactly alongside, as their other children appear to be significantly older than Joash).  Jehoiada’s sons played a key role in protecting Joash and placing him on the throne.  I wrote all of that to set the stage for what struck me in today’s passage.  As long as Joash’s stepfather Jehoiada lived, Joash strove to earnestly serve the Lord, even going beyond Jehoiada in his devotion.  However, once Jehoiada died, the officials of Judah buttered him up and convinced Joash to worship Asherah poles and other idols.  When Zedekiah, his stepbrother, Jehoiada’s son, confronted Joash for abandoning the worship of the Lord for idol worship, Joash ordered him stoned to death.  When Zedekiah saw the king he must have thought of as a brother turn from the Lord, he tried to do what his father would have wanted.  He tried to turn him back to God.  But Joash forgot how Jehoiada had saved him from being killed as a child and killed his son.  The passage says that Joash forgot Jehoiada’s kindness, but I think it would be more accurate to say that he disregarded what Jehoiada had done for him.  I have never written much about it, but Zedekiah son of Jehoiada must have died in great sadness; partly because his “kid brother” ordered his death, but to a greater extent because he was unable to turn him back to serving God.  Joash allowed himself to be flattered and thus betrayed what his younger self valued most.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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

The passage speaks highly of Jehoshaphat, although it condemns him for his alliance with King Ahab of Israel.  However I was struck by what it said about his son and successor, Jehoram.  After describing the evil he did and its consequences it says this about Jehoram, “He passed away, to no one’s regret,…”  That is perhaps the saddest thing which can be said about someone.  No one mourned his death, not his wife, not his children, not any friends.  So, why did Jehoram cut such a sad figure?  Well, he started his rein by having all of his brothers killed along with some of his father’s officials.  During his rein, Edom and Libnah rebelled and threw off loyalty to the throne in Jerusalem.  Instead of following in his father’s footsteps and seeking the Lord, Jehoram followed in the footsteps of his father-in-law, Ahab.  So, when he died there was no one to mourn his passing.  I pray that when I die they will not say of me, “He passed away to no one’s regret.”

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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

Today’s passage begins as King Asa returns with his army from success against an overwhelming army from Cush.  A prophet came out to meet him and told him, and the army, “The Lord is with you when you are with Him.”  Asa repaired the altar in front of Solomon’s temple and the people gathered and made offerings to God.  The passage tells us that the people sought God eagerly, and that He was found by them.  If we wish to succeed we must seek God’s will and chose His side of any conflict.  If you choose to forsake what God desires He will forsake you.  It is not hard to know God’s side, if you truly seek Him, you will find Him and will know His desire.  We even have an illustration of this later in the passage when Ahab invited Asa’s son Jehoshaphat to join him as he went t war.  Jehoshaphat said that he would do so, but first they needed to seek counsel with the Lord.  Ahab summoned four hundred prophets, who told him what he wanted to hear.  At several other places the Bible references Ahab having four hundred prophets of Baal.  Jehoshaphat recognized that when he asked Ahab to seek the counsel of the Lord, Ahab sought the counsel of Baal.  So, Jehoshaphat asked if there were not at least one prophet of God of whom they could inquire.  Jehoshaphat sought God and thus he recognized when Ahab tried to pass off Baal as God.  In the same way, if we seek God, we will recognize when people seek to pass off lies as the word of God.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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

After the army of Judah stood down from attempting to prevent the northern tribes from seceding, the passage tells us that the priests and Levites left their lands and property among the northern tribes and resettled in Jerusalem and Judah.  They did so because Jeroboam and his sons, contrary to the Law of Moses, replaced them as the priests and worship leaders.  Further, the passage tells us that all of those who set their hearts on seeking God followed the lead of the priests and Levites.  I mention all of this because the passage tells us that these people (the priests, Levites, and others from the northern tribes) strengthened the kingdom of Judah for three years.  Once Rehoboam fully consolidated his power, he turned from following God’s Law and much of Judah followed his lead.  Then, when Shishak, king of Egypt, attacked Judah, Rehoboam and the other leaders humbled themselves before God.  Because Rehoboam humbled himself, God did totally destroy him.  I was going somewhere else until I typed that last sentence and realized that provided a great practical example of what God promised in response to Solomon’s prayer dedicating the temple: “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. ”  So, let us humble ourselves and pray, while seeking God’s face.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Chronicles 8-10.

Today’s passage summarizes King Solomon’s wealth.  The idea has been presented that Mansa Musa, ruler of the Mali Empire in the Fourteenth Century A.D., was the richest man to ever live.  The claim is made that his wealth is better documented than Solomon’s, but that is not actually the case.  Much of what we know about Mansa Musa is from Arabic writings written after his pilgrimage to Mecca and is based on what he told the men who later wrote it down.  He is also mentioned in some histories written in Timbuktu (part of the Mali Empire at the time) in the Seventeenth Century.  These sources are, at best,  no more reliable than the account in this passage. The point I am making with of all of this is that King Solomon’s wealth as recorded here exceeds that which is recorded for Mansa Musa, and that the biblical record is at least as reliable as the records which report Musa’s wealth (Mansa is actually a title).  If indeed the wealth ascribed to King Solomon in today’s passage is correct, then he was wealthier than Mansa Musa.  And yet, for all of King Solomon’s wealth, his people were discontented such that they rebelled against his son, Rehoboam, and split the kingdom.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Chronicles 5-7.

I love the prayer of dedication which Solomon prayed for the temple when it was completed.  I also love God’s response to Solomon’s prayer as recorded here.  Early in his prayer Solomon says, “Hear the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive.”  Most of the rest of the prayer is about circumstances where God’s people have sinned and turn to God in prayer.  The one exception is when Solomon prays that God will also hear, and answer, the prayers of foreigners who seek Him.  God responds by telling Solomon that He has indeed chosen the place of the temple as the place for sacrifices.  In this way, God addressed the command He had given Israel to gather to one place to worship Him (which I mentioned yesterday).  God also says that His eyes will always be open and His ears attentive to prayers offered at the temple.

In my opinion, the most important part of God’s response to Solomon’s prayer is, “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. ”  I want to take that apart to examine it a little more closely.  First, it is a promise to God’s people, and it tells us who God’s people are: all who are called by His name are His people.  So, if we accept being called by His name we can become one of God’s people.  However, if we wish to gain any benefit from being one of God’s people we must humble ourselves, pray, and seek God’s face.  Furthermore, if we have sinned, and Solomon told us in his prayer that there is no one who does not sin, we must turn from our wickedness.  Then, God will forgive our sins and heal our land.  We often overlook something this passage tells us about prayer: being humble is a precondition to prayer.  No matter what we think we are doing, we cannot pray unless we are humble.  Until we seek to be fully dependent on God, our attempts at prayer are worthless.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Chronicles 1-4.

We do not normally think about the fact that when David decided to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem it was in Kiriath Jearim while the tabernacle and its furnishings, including the altar, were in Gibeon.  The tabernacle and altar remained in Gibeon even after David brought the Ark to Jerusalem.  As a result of the tabernacle being at Gibeon for such a long period of time, Gibeon became a place of significance for the worship of God.  It is actually kind of interesting that this happened, considering that Gibeon was a Canaanite city which used subterfuge to enter into a treaty with the Israelites shortly after the Israelites destroyed Jericho.  I find it instructive Solomon went to Gibeon to sacrifice and worship God, despite his father setting up the Ark in Jerusalem as a place of worship.  So, before Solomon built the temple there were two places where people went to worship God, Gibeon, where the tabernacle and the altar built during the Israelites journey was, and wherever the Ark of the Covenant was.  This happened despite the fact that God had commanded the Israelites to worship Him in just one place.  This reminds me of the many denominations in the Church today.  Solomon built the temple in order to unify the people of Israel.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Chronicles 27-29.

The first thing I noticed in today’s passage was that Asahel, Joab’s brother, was the commander of the army division on duty during the fourth month.  Now Asahel was killed in battle by Abner while David was king of only the tribe of Judah.  Which tells us that David set this system up before he became king over all of Israel.  Asahel was also the only one of these leaders for whom a successor was named.  I do not know that I see anything of deep importance in this fact, but each time I read through the Bible I get a little better understanding about the people and events it describes.

The point I want to focus on is what David says to Solomon as he turns control of the kingdom over to him.  He tells Solomon to acknowledge God and serve Him with wholehearted devotion and a willing mind.  When I started I was going to focus on a later part, but that just struck me.  There are three parts of our relationship with God.  First, we need to acknowledge Him.  We need to recognize that He is God, Creator of the Universe and Ultimate Authority.  Then we need to serve Him with all of the devotion which our being can summon.  It is worth noting that devotion is primarily an emotional response.  When we truly devote ourselves to God with our whole being, all of our emotions become subservient to that devotion, our love becomes subject to serving God, our joy becomes subject to serving God, our sadness becomes subject to serving God, our anger becomes subject to serving God, etc..  When any of these emotions detracts from serving God, we put them aside.  The final piece of this is that we serve God with a willing mind.  This refers to using our ability to think and reason to serve God.  We apply our minds to understanding and serving God.  It is not enough to be emotionally committed to serving God.  We must apply our minds to it as well.  We apply the ability to reason and to think logically in our service to God.  God did not give us the ability to reason in order to ask us to put it aside.  No, He expects us to apply our minds to understanding what He has done in this world.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Chronicles 24-26.

Today’s account is largely a genealogy of the priesthood and Levites, but it contains some interesting things.  First, I find it interesting that the two priests who David selected to work with the group which assigned priests and Levites to their various divisions were Zadok and Ahimelek son of Abiathar, not Zadok and Abiathar.  It makes me wonder whether there was a connection between this and Abiathar supporting Adonijah’s bid for the throne.  Perhaps, Abiathar supported Adonijah because he had become caught up with those who spent all of their time in political maneuvering and left his actual duties to his son.  Which would suggest that Zadok supported Solomon over Adonijah because Solomon was involved in the details, such as this activity, while Adonijah spent his time currying favor with the courtiers.

In any case, more practically for us, I want to bring up where at the start of chapter twenty-five the passage talks about the ministry of prophesying.  It says that prophecy was accompanied by instruments.  A little later it tells us that sex men prophesied using the harp and that thanking and praising the Lord was part of doing so.  This makes me think that today we make a mistake when we separate our worship in music from prophecy.  We tend to divide out service between portions where we have music and portions where people talk.  This passage suggests to me that we make a mistake by doing so, that music and prophecy go together.  I want to note that when Elisha was called upon to prophesy for the kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom during their invasion of Moab, he called for a harp to be played before he began his prophecy.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Chronicles 20-23.

Today’s passage tells us that David relayed to Solomon what had happened when he first thought to build a temple for God.  He tells his son that God told him not to build the temple because he had shed much blood, but that Solomon would be a man of peace and so would be an appropriate person to build the temple.  Many people look at this and conclude that this was the reason God told David not to build a temple.  However, the passage does not say that God told David that.  It says that David said that God told him that.  It seems to me that the writer is being very careful in how he words this.  In fact, considering that just a couple of chapters earlier the writer had told us the message which God gave David when He told David not to build Him a temple, it is quite clear that the writer is telling us that what David said here was David’s interpretation of why he was not to build a temple.  However, the writer does draw a line from David sinning by conducting a census to finding the location to build the temple to organizing the priests and Levites to manage the temple worship.  David’s sin led to him buying Aruanah’s threshing floor and building an altar there, where the temple was later built.  And building the altar there in Jerusalem led David to organizing the priests and Levites to manage the worship at that site and later at the temple.  David took the negative consequences of his mistake and used it to bring glory to God.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.