2 Chronicles 35: Josiah celebrates Passover and dies in this chapter. Not much else to say.
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12/11 Reading (2 Chronicles 32-34; Ephesians 2)
2 Chronicles 32: This is the final chapter to focus on Hezekiah. In this chapter Judah is invaded by Assyria’s King Sennacherib. Sennacherib sent letters to Jerusalem mocking God and telling them no gods were able to save people in the past and it wouldn’t happen this time either. Bad move on his part. God sent a messenger down who utterly destroyed Sennacherib’s army. He went home in disgrace and was murdered by his sons in his temple. The rest of the chapter focuses on the last years of Hezekiah’s rule, which was primarily good.
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12/9 Reading (2 Chronicles 29-31; Psalms 73-74)
2 Chronicles 29: This is the first of four chapters focusing on Ahaz’s son, Hezekiah. According to the CEB study bible notes this length is second to only David and Solomon, indicated the Chronicler felt Hezekiah’s reign was pretty good. This chapter focuses on his work to restore the Temple. He establishes rules again and rededicated the temple to God.
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12/8 Reading (2 Chronicles 26-28; Ephesians 1)
2 Chronicles 26: Amaziah’s son, Uzziah, takes over as king. As with the two kings before him, his reign started well in that he followed God and did what he was supposed to do. Eventually, he failed to do this just like his two predecessors. His sin was that he went into God’s sanctuary and burned incense. Only priests who were descended from Aaron were allowed to do this. God inflicted him with a skin disease and he lived alone until he died.
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12/7 Reading (2 Chronicles 23-25; Colossians 4)
2 Chronicles 23: This chapter tells of the efforts to overthrow Athaliah as Jehoash starts to grow up. A priest, Jehoiada, takes over and brings together the people to overthrow and ultimately kill the Queen so Jehoash can become king. This effort ultimately proves to be successful and he becomes king at the age of 7.
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12/6 Reading (2 Chronicles 20-22; Colossians 3)
2 Chronicles 20: This chapter focuses on Jehoshaphat’s military victory over the Moabites and Ammonites. According to the notes in the CEB study bible, this chapter “represents the longest and most detailed account of a war in the books of 1 and 2 Chronicles. The story has no parallel in the book of 1 and 2 Kings” (p. 693 OT). Pretty cool and pretty interesting. The battle actually doesn’t take place between Judah and the invaders. They pray to God for help and he tells them through a messenger that they are not to be afraid because he will fight this battle for them. Sure enough, God wipes them out without any trouble. This makes all other people fear Judah because they realize that God is on their side. The chapter ends with some explanation of the rest of his reign and then focuses on a second error that he made. He formed an alliance with Israel’s king and built many ships. This angered God and he destroyed all of the ships because of this sin by Jehoshaphat. Tsk tsk.
Continue reading “12/6 Reading (2 Chronicles 20-22; Colossians 3)”
12/5 Reading (2 Chronicles 16-19; Colossians 2)
2 Chronicles 16: Now we get to the end of Asa. This happens because instead of following the advice given to him earlier (trust in God), he makes a pact with another King when he is attacked by Israel. A seer, Hanani, told him this was a mistake to not rely on God and he will suffer for this. Asa gets angry and throws Hanani into jail. Asa is then afflicted by a disease in his feet and dies. There’s an interesting verse here: “But even in his illness he [Asa] refused to seek the Lord and consulted doctors instead” (2 Chron. 16.12). No wonder some refuse to seek medical attention when they are ill. Verses like this just strengthens the resolve of those who choose to solely rely on the power of prayer when they or a loved one are afflicted with something. Not good!
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12/4 Reading (2 Chronicles 13-15; Colossians 1)
2 Chronicles 13: Rehoboam’s son, Abijah, takes over. He goes to war with the northern kingdom and wins, even though he is vastly outnumbered. In his speech to the people of the northern kingdom, he apparently pushed the narrative that David’s line is the only true royal line and the temple is the only legitimate place to worship. As with his father, he had a bunch of wives, 14.
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12/2 Reading (2 Chronicles 10-12; Psalms 70-72)
One of the things I’ve started to notice throughout this journey is how I feel connected to things in a different way. I’ve always been a big fan of Christmas songs (just ask my lovely bride). It’s one of my favorite times of the year. However, this year feels a little different. I feel a different type of connection to the music and the discussions than I have in years past. I mentioned this to one of my F3 brothers and he said this made perfect sense because the words have a different meaning now. That’s probably it, but I want to go deeper. I need to go deeper. The only problem is that nothing is coming to mind at the moment. One thing that I need to do better is to write down these thoughts as they hit me and then compile them into one of the reflections like this.
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12/1 Reading (2 Chronicles 7-9; Romans 16)
2 Chronicles 7: After Solomon concluded his prayer in the previous chapter God sends down fire from heaven as a sign. We then learn about a big celebration amongst the people. Finally, this chapter ends with Solomon meeting God a second time. In this meeting God tells Solomon that he will work listen to the people when they pray in the temple and he will honor his vow to David as long as Solomon and his successors continue to follow God’s commands. As we learned earlier, that doesn’t happen.
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