2 Chronicles 25-28: A Tale of Two Kings

But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, - 2 Chron. 26:16 NIV

Jotham grew powerful because he walked steadfastly before the LORD his God.  - 2 Chron 27:6 NIV

Power is either a tremendous blessing or a curse.  In the case of Jotham, he learned from watching his father, Uzziah, that if you swell with pride as a result of your power, it will bring your downfall.  Uzziah, who started out as a godly king, ended his reign in isolation, covered with leprosy.

Those of us who seek power from God need to consider what we are really asking for.  God's power is his, when we appropriate that power for our own purposes it ultimately corrupts.  Walking steadfastly with God will always result in more power in our lives, the power of overcomers.  But once we forget what the source of the power is and begin to think it is something that we own or responsible for, we've started down a slippery slope.

2010 Post - 2 Chronicles 25-28:  Ever Hearing but Never Understanding

2 Chronicles 21-24: Godly Influence

Sometimes all it takes is one or two godly persons to change the course of events.   Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram and her husband, the priest Jehoiada, were such a couple.  Jehosheba took it upon herself to hide Joash when she saw that all of her brother Ahaziah's children were going to be murdered thus preserving the throne. 

Jehoiada her husband the priest, was responsible for reinstating the line of David by having Joash crowned king.  Jehoiada then made a covenant that he and the people and the king would be the LORD’s people. All the people went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars and idols and killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars.
   Then Jehoiada placed the oversight of the temple of the LORD in the hands of the priests, who were Levites, to whom David had made assignments in the temple, to present the burnt offerings of the LORD as written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and singing, as David had ordered.  He also stationed doorkeepers at the gates of the LORD’s temple so that no one who was in any way unclean might enter.
   He took with him the commanders of hundreds, the nobles, the rulers of the people and all the people of the land and brought the king down from the temple of the LORD. They went into the palace through the Upper Gate and seated the king on the royal throne, and all the people of the land rejoiced. 2 Chronicles 23:16-20 NIV

Unfortunately, for Joash and all of Judah, their turning towards God was only because of the godly influence of Jehoiada.  Once Jehoiada died, it was business as usual and Joash and all of Judah would pay the consequences.  The godly influence of Jehoiada was short lived and so was their prosperity.

2010 Post - 2 Chronicles 21-24:  Power, Intrigue and Violence

2 Chronicles 17-20: The Voice They Wanted to Hear

   Ahab king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “Will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead?”
   Jehoshaphat replied, “I am as you are, and my people as your people; we will join you in the war.”  But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “First seek the counsel of the LORD.”
   So the king of Israel brought together the prophets—four hundred men—and asked them, “Shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?”
   “Go,” they answered, “for God will give it into the king’s hand.”
   But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not a prophet of the LORD here whom we can inquire of?”
  The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” - 2 Chronicles 18:3-7 NIV

There was a marked difference between Israel and Judah.  The kings of Israel led the people astray, to seek after any god but the one true God.  Israel was filled with prophets who would tell the king exactly what he wanted to hear whether it was true or not.  Judah, on the other hand, was ruled by somewhat godly kings who still sought the Lord. Ultimately, it didn't matter what the prophets told Ahab.  God was going to do what he was going to do.  Ahab was not a godly king and no good was going to come to him regardless of what his four hundred men prophesied.  Micaiah, the one who heard the voice of the Lord, the voice of the God of creation, the voice that called Abraham, the voice that led Moses, was the lone prophet who spoke the truth.  Ahab would have done well to listen to him instead of to the multitude of his false prophets.  If he had just once listened to the voice of God, history might have been written differently, but as it was he rode confidently into what was to be his final battle.

2010 Post - 2 Chronicles 17-20:  God Given Rest

2 Chronicles 12-16: There's Might and then There's Might

There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.  Abijah went into battle with a force of four hundred thousand able fighting men, and Jeroboam drew up a battle line against him with eight hundred thousand able troops. - 2 Chronicles 13:3 NIV

From the aspect of sheer numbers, it appears that Abijah was greatly out manned.  But, Judah had God on it's side.  The priests and Levites throughout Israel had fled to Judah because they were not wanted.  Israel had other gods they were relying on, but Judah was trusting in God. As Abijah called out to Jeroboam from Mount Zemaraim, "We are observing the requirements of the LORD our God. But you have forsaken him. God is with us; he is our leader. His priests with their trumpets will sound the battle cry against you. Men of Israel, do not fight against the LORD, the God of your fathers, for you will not succeed.” - 2 Chron. 13:11-12 NIV

Jeroboam could not win.  There was the might of all of his fighting men, two times the size of the fighting men of Judah and then there was God.  It's always wisest to be on God's side regardless of the size of the enemy.

2010 Post - 2 Chronicles 12-16:  Forsaken and Forsaken

2 Chronicles 8-11: Any King But God

In less than a hundred years, what God told the people of Israel through Samuel when they asked for a king came to pass.   He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.  He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants.  He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use.  He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.  When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day.”
    But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us.  Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles”  - 1 Sam. 8:13-20 NIV

The people got what they wanted.  They got the kings Saul and David that fought their battles and they got Solomon who built up incredible wealth on the resources of the people.  The price they paid for having someone take care of them became a millstone around their necks and when they complained, Solomon's son Rehoboam promised to extract an even heavier price.

 “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.”  - 2 Chron. 10:14 NIV

That's what governments do.  Even those which begin with God in charge eventually extract too heavy a price for the people to bear.  The United States was founded by people seeking relief from the burden placed on them by the King of England.  They tried to set up a government 'of the people' that would not rob the people of their freedom, but any government comes at a cost.  Once the trust of a nation transfers from God to the government it is inevitable that the cost will eventually become too great to bear.  Man always ends up asking for a king....any king but God.

2010 Post - 2 Chronicles 8-11:  A Kingdom Divides

2 Chronicles 6-7: Why Has the Lord Done Such a Thing?

...the LORD appeared to him at night and said: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.
 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people,  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 will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
  “As for you, if you walk before me as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws, I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a man to rule over Israel.’
 “But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them,  then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 
 And though this temple is now so imposing, all who pass by will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’  People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why he brought all this disaster on them.’”  - 2 Chron. 7:12-22 NIV

We have just returned from Israel where we once more saw the western wall and the tunnels underneath where one can stand at the site closest to where the temple once stood.  Both Solomon's temple and the temple that Herod built are gone.  Any remains are lost to layers of building on top of the rubble. The temple that was so imposing, no longer exists.  All because God's people chose other gods. 

It has always been that way.  We can build all the fancy monuments and temples we want; all the great ministries and broadcasting networks, even governments can be built in the name of God. but if we embrace them, worship and serve them instead of God, we will bring the same disaster upon ourselves.  There is only one God.  There is only one deserving of worship.  He chooses to dwell where his glory will be shown, where people are in awe of him, and only of him.

2010 Post - 2 Chronicles 6-7:  A Promise Keeping God

2 Chronicles 1-5: A Holy Place

The priests then withdrew from the Holy Place. All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves, regardless of their divisions.  All the Levites who were musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives—stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets. The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the LORD. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, they raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang:
   “He is good;
   his love endures forever.”
Then the temple of the LORD was filled with a cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God.  - 2 Chron. 5:11-14 NIV

Solomon built a magnificent temple for God, the likes of which had not been seen.  It was not an altar like those where the other inhabitants of the land worshipped their gods.  It was a temple where God, the only true God, would actually reside.  It was a holy place, full of the glory of the Lord and suddenly, all of the work that had been done, all of the magnificent works by all of the craftsmen, all of the gold, silver and finest materials that went into the structure, all of the worship and praise by all of the priests and musicians became insignificant.  Every one fell speechless. The glory of the Lord filled the temple of God.

2010 Post - 2 Chronicles 1-4:  Who Am I To Build a Temple