NOV 18. READ NEHEMIAH 8-13

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

I suggest that you read 6 chapters today and finish the book of Nehemiah.

Nehemiah 6:15 So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 When all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations surrounding us saw it, they lost their confidence; for they recognized that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.” Amazing work under the leadership of Nehemiah. So his mission of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem is finished by chapter 6, but there is more.

Nehemiah 8 Ezra reads from the Law. I love chapter 8. Day 1: 1st day of the 7th month: Picture the scene: Ezra, who led the 2nd return 20 years earlier, is still a respected scribe. He stands at an elevated wooden podium. Is that the prototype for the podiums preachers use in pulpits in churches? As he starts to read, the people stand out of reverence for the Word of God. The people listen attentively as he reads from the Law from daybreak till noon (about 6 hours). You are probably thinking, “That’s a long time to listen to a reading!” Did Ezra read the entire Pentateuch (Genesis through Deuteronomy) or portions (it takes about 11-14 hours to read the entire Pentateuch)? AI: “The purpose of the second return from Babylon under Ezra in 458/457 BCE was to restore the spiritual and religious life of the Jewish community in Jerusalem by teaching and enforcing the Law of Moses (the Torah).” (BibleHub) So Ezra is still working on his mission. After the reading the people bow down and worship the Lord. The people were weeping as they listened to reading of the Law, recognizing that they had not been keeping the Law like they should. The people went away to celebrate the day, eating and drinking from the sacrifices that they were allowed to eat and share with the Levites and priests.

8:7 The Levites instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. 8 They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.” So maybe Ezra wasn’t the only one reading and explaining the Law to the people. My goal as a Bible teacher and preacher has aways been to simply try to “make the original meaning of the Scriptures clear so people can understand the Word of God.” I am not an inspired teacher which was one of the miraculously gifted offices in the early church, so I just do the best I can. Then, of course, try to find any application of the Scriptures that might apply to us. Day 2: 2nd day of the 7th month. They are still reading from the Law and read where they should be celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths in the 7th month, so they build their booths and celebrate the feast for 7 days. There had not been a celebration of this feast so great since the days of Joshua.

Nehemiah 9 The people confess their sins. 9:1 On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads. 3 They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day (3 hours), and spent another quarter (3 hours) in confession and in worshiping the Lord their God. Then the priests and the Levites apparently lead in this confession. Here is a good AI summary:

The Levites led a sprawling historical prayer that contrasts God’s constant goodness with Israel’s recurring rebellion:

A summary of the history of Israel.

  • Creation and Abraham (vv. 6–8): Acknowledging God as the unique Creator and the one who chose Abraham, made a covenant with him, and proved faithful.
  • The Exodus and Sinai (vv. 9–21): Remembering the rescue from Egyptian slavery, the parting of the Red Sea, guidance by pillar of cloud and fire, the giving of the law at Mount Sinai, and miraculous provision of manna and water in the wilderness. Even they rebelled and were not allowed to enter the Promised Land, God still did not abandon them but provided for them during the 40 years in the wilderness.
  • The Promised Land (vv. 22–25): Recalling how God gave them military victories, settled them in Canaan, and blessed them with prosperous homes, wells, and orchards.
  • The Cycle of Rebellion and Mercy (vv. 26–31): Admitting that once settled, the people grew arrogant, forgot God, murdered His prophets, and rebelled. Whenever they were oppressed by foreign enemies and cried out, God repeatedly raised up deliverers (like the judges) out of His immense grace.

Acknowledging Current Hardship (Verses 32–37)

  • The Present Distress: The people recognize that despite being back in the land, they are still essentially in bondage—servants to the Persian Empire because of their past and present sins.
  • Just Judgment: They confess that God has acted righteously by bringing hardship upon them, as they, their kings, and their ancestors broke His commands.

4. The Covenant Renewal (Verse 38)

  • The Written Pledge: Moved by genuine contrition, the leaders, Levites, and priests put their confession into action by sealing a written agreement/covenant to obey God’s law faithfully moving forward.

We skip over to chapter 12 and the dedication of the wall ceremony. It must have been quite impressive.

The celebration ceremony dedicating the rebuilt walls of Jerusalem is recorded in Nehemiah 12:27–47. [1]

Key Elements of the Ceremony

  • Ceremonial Purification: The priests, Levites, people, city gates, and the newly rebuilt walls underwent ritual cleansing before the celebration began.
  • Two Processions on the Wall: Nehemiah organized two large choirs and groups of leaders. They walked in opposite directions along the top of the wall, accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, harps, and lyres, and met at the Temple area.
  • Massive Sacrifices and Worship: Large-scale offerings and sacrifices were presented to God, expressing thanksgiving for protection, physical restoration, and covenant renewal.
  • Far-Reaching Joy: The public rejoicing of men, women, and children was so loud that the sound could be heard from far away.
  • Ongoing Support for Worship: Officials were appointed over the temple storerooms to manage tithes, firstfruits, and contributions to support the priests, Levites, musicians, and gatekeepers.

Nehemiah 13 Nehemiah’s final reforms. He returned to Babylon to the king and then later made a 2nd trip to Jerusalem where he found several violations of the Law and corrupt practices. He did his final reforms.

In Nehemiah 13, Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem for a second term as governor after an absence and enacts four major reforms to restore spiritual and social order to the community.

Key Reforms in Nehemiah 13

  • Cleansing the Temple & Restoring Tithes: Nehemiah discovered that Eliashib the high priest had given Tobiah the Ammonite a large storeroom inside the temple courts. Nehemiah threw Tobiah’s household goods out, purified the rooms, and reinstated the tithes and financial support for neglected Levites and temple musicians.
  • Enforcing Sabbath Observance: The people were working, harvesting, and trading goods on the Sabbath. Nehemiah locked the Jerusalem city gates before sunset on Friday, posted his own guards to block merchants, and threatened physical action against any traders who camped outside the walls.
  • Rebouncing Intermarriage with Pagan Nations: Jewish men had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab, and their children could not speak the Hebrew language. Nehemiah sharply rebuked the offenders, made them take an oath of separation, and enforced obedience to the Law of Moses.
  • Disciplining the Priesthood: Nehemiah chased away a grandson of Eliashib the high priest because he had married the daughter of Sanballat the Horonite. He then reorganized the duties of the priests and Levites and arranged a formal system for wood offerings and firstfruits.

Main Themes

  • Zeal for Holiness: Nehemiah acts with intense, zero-tolerance zeal to purge foreign and commercial corruption from worship.
  • Persistent Prayer: The chapter repeatedly highlights Nehemiah’s prayerful refrain—“Remember me, O my God, for good”—reflecting his reliance on God’s ultimate judgment rather than human approval.

NOV 17. READ NEHEMIAH 3-7

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

As mentioned in the last blog, we are focusing on the leadership qualities of Nehemiah. The first 5 were covered in chapters 1 and 2. The rest will be covered in the next two blogs.

Nehemiah’s leadership—most notably demonstrated by rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem in 52 days—was defined by a mix of spiritual devotion, strategic planning, and hands-on courage.

Key Leadership Qualities

  • 1 Deep Compassion and Empathy: Chapter 1 He mourned, fasted, and wept when he heard of his people’s suffering and vulnerability in Jerusalem. He had a comfortable position as cupbearer to the king. Many of those exiled in Babylon would have been slaves but somehow Nehemiah got a very good position.
  • 2 Active Prayer and Reliance on God: Chapter 1,2 He turned to prayer and fasting immediately upon facing distress and sought divine guidance in every step. He then prayed again before telling the king his request to be allowed to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls. This took a lot of courage. The king could have been displeased with him and removed him from being cupbearer.
  • 3 He trusted in the providence of God and gave God the glory. Chapter 2:8 And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me.” He saw the hand of God in this whole project.
  • 4 Prudent Planning and Foresight: Chapter 2 He quietly surveyed the damage at night to keep the enemies Sanballat and Tobiah from knowing his plans, organized workers into logical teams, and secured letters and permits from King Artaxerxes before starting. 2:18 I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me.”
  • 5 Clear Vision and Communication: Chapter 2 He concisely framed the goal to the people (“rebuild the wall”) and united a diverse community behind a shared purpose. He inspired them to commit to the task. 2:Then they said, “Let us arise and build.” So they put their hands to the good work.”
  • 6 He knew how to organize workers and delegate responsibilities. Chapter 3 How do you go about building a wall that is 2.5 miles long around the entire city of Jerusalem, and it must be done quickly b/c of the enemies? The key was to organize and delegate small sections of the wall to responsible men. Nehemiah chapter 3 records 42 specific work sections or divisions assigned to various individuals, family heads, trade guilds (such as goldsmiths and perfumers), and community groups rather than a single counted tally of individual men. That’s about 300 feet of the walls that each was in charge of building and each man had several workers. That is a lot but can be done in 52 days time. The walls were probably at least 15-26 feet high and 6-8 feet thick.
  • 7 Courage and Adaptability: Chapter 4 He confronted hostile naysayers who mocked the builders, armed the builders with spears and swords, and adjusted strategies (such as stationing guards) to protect workers from threats. He continued to pray asking God for safety for the workers. Nehemiah was a very prayerful leader.
  • 8 Integrity and Ethical Justice: Chapter 5 As governor, he refused to exploit his position, cancelled heavy debts, and stopped the rich from oppressing the poor. Some were charging interest to fellow Jews during the famine which was forbidden in the Law. Nehemiah refused to take the daily “governor’s food allowance”. Instead he fed 150 officials daily at his own expense. When is the last time you heard of a leader, maybe a paid preacher, refusing to take money from the church. My wife’s father had a full time job. He was the preacher for a church and never took a penny for preaching for many years. He could have easily gotten a nice part time salary from the church.
  • 9 He wisely detected the plots of the enemies and refused to compromise his mission. Chapter 6 The enemies tried to get him to come meet, plotting to kill him. They made false accusations that he was trying to make himself a king and rebel against the Persians who helped him with his mission They hired a man to try to get him to come to the temple so they could kill him. Nehemiah continued to pray and trust God. Church leaders today face all kinds of attempts to get us to compromise the Word of God. The LGBTQ issue has caused many church leaders to compromise. The split in the Methodist church shows that. Liberalism has atttacked many seminaries who no longer stand for the truth.
  • 10 Role Modeling and Delegation: He worked right alongside the builders and delegated tasks across families and districts rather than trying to do everything himself.

Nehemiah 6:15 So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 When all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations surrounding us saw it, they lost their confidence; for they recognized that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.” Nehemiah gave God the glory for completion of the wall.

Here is a slide showing how Nehemiah organized the builders of the wall. Notice all the gates.

The church in the US has so much money and resources. We need leadership like Nehemiah with vision for doing various missions of the Lord’s work Think of what could be accomplished in 52 days if the congregations were challenged like Nehemiah challenged the Jews in Jerusalem. We need leaders who weep over the needs of the poor worldwide, over children in Africa drinking dirty water every day, over people begging for Bibles in their own language, over the cries of the widows and orphans worldwide, etc. We need leaders who will challenge us to come out of our apathy and indifference. We need leaders who challenge the use of church money mainly for staff and buildings. We need leaders like Nehemiah who will sacrifice their preacher pay and get a vocational job so the money could be used to do the Lord’s work mentioned above. We need leaders like Nehemiah who pray constantly for wisdom in leading the church. God is working all over the world. He is using many charitable organizations to do great works, like building the wall. Church members can go on some missions, like our church sends 30 people to Baja, Mexico each year. We can’t go to most of the foreign projects like drilling wells, but we can get churches excited about giving money to those projects. You might hear of a church raising money for a building expansion or improvements, but when is the last time you heard of a church beginning a campaisn to raise extra money for printing Bibles? We need leadership who will not accept the status quo.

NOV 16 READ EZRA 7-10; NEHEMIAH 1-2

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

It is very important to get the chronology right. Look at the chart above. The 2nd return from Babylonian captivity in about 458 BC occurred after the events in Esther. The events in Esther occurred between Ezra 6 and Ezra 7. Yesterday’s reading included Ezra 7 but it really should be read today with the full 2nd return from Ezra 7-10. It is important to know the kings of the Medo Persians as we read. Notice that the 2nd return was granted to Ezra by Artaxerxes I (464-423 BC).

As with the 1st return, it is best to have a good AI outline of the 2nd return from Ezra 7-10

Chapters 7–10 of the Book of Ezrashift the focus from the rebuilding of the temple (chapters 1–6) to the spiritual and social reform of the people through the Law of Moses. [1]

Ezra 7: Ezra’s Arrival and Commission

  • Ezra’s Genealogy and Background (7:1–10):
    • Ezra is introduced as a priest and a skilled scribe in the Law of Moses, tracing his lineage back to Aaron.
    • Highlights his personal commitment in Ezra 7:10: to study the Law of the Lord, to practice it, and to teach its statutes and rules in Israel.
  • The Decree of King Artaxerxes (7:11–26):
    • King Artaxerxes of Persia grants Ezra royal authorization to lead a second wave of exiles back to Jerusalem.
    • The decree provides silver, gold, and supplies for temple sacrifices, exempts temple personnel from taxation, and empowers Ezra to appoint magistrates and judges to enforce God’s Law.
  • Ezra’s Praise to God (7:27–28):
    • Ezra praises God for moving the heart of the king and recognizes that the gracious hand of God is upon him.

Ezra 8: The Journey to Jerusalem

  • The List of Returning Exiles (8:1–14):
    • A census of the family heads and approximately 1,500 men (along with women and children) who journey with Ezra from Babylon.
  • Recruiting Levites at the Ahava Canal (8:15–20):
    • Realizing no Levites or temple servants are yet in the company, Ezra dispatches messengers to recruit them, adding key ministers to the group.
  • Fasting and Prayer for Safe Passage (8:21–23):
    • Ezra proclaims a fast by the Ahava Canal to humble themselves before God and ask for a safe journey, refusing to request a military escort from the king to prove their reliance on God.
  • Weighing and Caring for the Temple Treasures (8:24–30):
    • The silver, gold, and sacred vessels are weighed and entrusted to leading priests and Levites for safe transport.
  • Arrival and Offerings in Jerusalem (8:31–36):
    • The group departs on the first day of the first month and arrives safely in Jerusalem four months later.
    • They rest, offer burnt offerings to God, and deliver the king’s commissions to the local satraps and governors.

Ezra 9: Discovery of Sin and Ezra’s Confession

  • The Report of Intermarriage (9:1–4):
    • Jewish leaders inform Ezra that the returned exiles—including priests and Levites—have intermarried with the surrounding pagan peoples, violating covenant commands.
  • Ezra’s Mourning and Shock (9:3–4):
    • Overwhelmed by grief, Ezra tears his tunic and cloak, pulls hair from his head and beard, and sits in deep distress until the evening sacrifice.
  • Ezra’s Prayer of Corporate Confession (9:5–15):
    • Ezra falls on his knees, spreads his hands to God, and confesses the collective guilt of Israel, acknowledging that despite God’s grace in allowing a remnant to return, the people have rebelled again.

Ezra 10: The Covenant Renewal and Reform

  • The Proposal for Repentance (10:1–4):
    • A large crowd of weeping Israelites gathers around Ezra.
    • Shecaniah speaks up on behalf of the people, proposing a covenant to put away the foreign wives and children in accordance with the law.
  • The Assembly Summoned (10:5–12):
    • Ezra makes the leaders and all the exiles take an oath to follow this plan, calling a mandatory assembly in Jerusalem with a threat of property confiscation and excommunication for non-attendance.
  • Investigation of Unlawful Marriages (10:13–44):
    • The people agree to the plan, and a commission is formed to investigate every household involved.
  • Conclusion of the Matter (10:16–44):
    • The process takes about three months to examine all the cases, concluding with a documented list of priests, Levites, and laymen who had married foreign women.

Couple of notes. Ezra was a scribe. Ezra 7:10 For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.” A good scribe would study it, practice it, and teach it. A good Bible teacher will do the same.

Life Lesson: The phrase “the hand of God was upon Him” is used in 7:6,9,28; 8:18,22,31. It is apparent how much Ezra trusted in God’s hand and providence to provide for the 2nd return and to keep them safe on the journey. Ezra 8:21 Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a safe journey for us, our little ones, and all our possessions. 22 For I was ashamed to request from the king troops and horsemen to protect us from the enemy on the way, because we had said to the king, “The hand of our God is favorably disposed to all those who seek Him, but His power and His anger are against all those who forsake Him.” 23 So we fasted and sought our God concerning this matter, and He listened to our entreaty.” That’s faith. The journey to Jerusalem was dangerous. The king had been so kind in providing for Ezra, I’m sure he would have provided troops to protect him on the journey to Jerusalem but Ezra trusted in the Lord to protect him. I wish I had that kind of faith. When I face dangerous situations, who or what do I put my trust in? In God or in my own resources or ingenuity?

Life Lesson: Ezra 9 and 10 is a national confession and repentance. Ezra 10:1 Now while Ezra was praying and making confession, weeping and prostrating himself before the house of God, a very large assembly, men, women and children, gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept bitterly. 3 So now let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.” I know that the US is not a theocracy. It is not a “Christian nation”. God’s only nation is a spiritual nation, i.e. the church. But our country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles and belief that the Bible was the Word of God. We were not a Muslim nation like Iran or Iraq. We were not a Hindu nation like India. We were not an atheistic nation like North Korea or China. We were not a Communist nation like Russia or Cuba. People in the US considered the Bible to be the Word of God and the authority for moral standards. That’s why in many states homosexuality was a crime. The 2nd Great Awakening was based on people acknowledging that their actions like adultery and drunkenness were sins. Those who “trembled” at the commandments of God repented and their was a grass roots revival. Things have changed. The majority in our country no longer consider the Bible to be the final authority on what is sin. The LGBTQ movement has shaken our churches to the core. If people do not respect the Bible as the Word of God, I don’t know how we can have a national grass roots revival, but we sorely need one. Pray for our country that we will do what Ezra and the returnees did and weep b/c of our sins, repent, and make a covenant with God to obey His commands.

Again, we are going straight through, not chronologically, so we go from the 2nd return in Ezra 7-10 to the 3rd return in Nehemiah, about 20 years between the 2nd and 3rd returns. Here is a great slide repeated showing the benefits of the 70 year Babylonian captivity.

Here is a good summary of what we will be reading in the book of Nehemiah.

Nehemiah was cupbearer to King Artaxerxes I of Persia.

The story of Nehemiah is pretty straightforward so no need to tell it in the blog. I want to focus on the leadership qualities of Nehemiah. Here is a good AI summary: Qualities 1-5 will be covered in chapters 1 and 2 in today’s reading.

Nehemiah’s leadership—most notably demonstrated by rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem in 52 days—was defined by a mix of spiritual devotion, strategic planning, and hands-on courage.

Key Leadership Qualities

  • 1 Deep Compassion and Empathy: Chapter 1 He mourned, fasted, and wept when he heard of his people’s suffering and vulnerability in Jerusalem. He had a comfortable position as cupbearer to the king. Many of those exiled in Babylon would have been slaves but somehow Nehemiah got a very good position.
  • 2 Active Prayer and Reliance on God: Chapter 1,2 He turned to prayer and fasting immediately upon facing distress and sought divine guidance in every step. He then prayed again before telling the king his request to be allowed to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls. This took a lot of courage. The king could have been displeased with him and removed him from being cupbearer.
  • 3 He trusted in the providence of God and gave God the glory. Chapter 2:8 And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me.” He saw the hand of God in this whole project.
  • 4 Prudent Planning and Foresight: Chapter 2 He quietly surveyed the damage at night to keep the enemies Sanballat and Tobiah from knowing his plans, organized workers into logical teams, and secured letters and permits from King Artaxerxes before starting. 2:18 I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me.”
  • 5 Clear Vision and Communication: Chapter 2 He concisely framed the goal to the people (“rebuild the wall”) and united a diverse community behind a shared purpose. He inspired them to commit to the task. 2:Then they said, “Let us arise and build.” So they put their hands to the good work.”

For the next blogs.

  • 6 He knew how to organize workers and delegate responsibilities. Chapter 3 How do you go about building a wall that is 2.5 miles long around the entire city of Jerusalem, and it must be done quickly b/c of the enemies? The key was to organize and delegate small sections of the wall to responsible men. Nehemiah chapter 3 records 42 specific work sections or divisions assigned to various individuals, family heads, trade guilds (such as goldsmiths and perfumers), and community groups rather than a single counted tally of individual men. That’s about 300 feet of the walls that each was in charge of building and each man had several workers. That is a lot but can be done in 52 days time.
  • 7 Courage and Adaptability: Chapter 4 He confronted hostile naysayers who mocked the builders, armed the builders with spears and swords, and adjusted strategies (such as stationing guards) to protect workers from threats. He continued to pray asking God for safety for the workers. Nehemiah was a very prayerful leader.
  • 8 Integrity and Ethical Justice: Chapter 5 As governor, he refused to exploit his position, cancelled heavy debts, and stopped the rich from oppressing the poor. Some were charging interest to fellow Jews during the famine which was forbidden in the Law. Nehemiah refused to take the daily “governor’s food allowance”. Instead he fed 150 officials daily at his own expense. When is the last time you heard of a leader, maybe a paid preacher, refusing to take money from the church. My wife’s father had a full time job. He was the preacher for a church and never took a penny for preaching for many years. He could have easily gotten a nice part time salary from the church.
  • 9 He wisely detected the plots of the enemies and refused to compromise his mission. Chapter 6 The enemies tried to get him to come meet, plotting to kill him. They made false accusations that he was trying to make himself a king and rebel against the Persians who helped him with his mission They hired a man to try to get him to come to the temple so they could kill him. Nehemiah continued to pray and trust God. Church leaders today face all kinds of attempts to get us to compromise the Word of God. The LGBTQ issue has caused many church leaders to compromise. The split in the Methodist church shows that. Liberalism has atttacked many seminaries who no longer stand for the truth.
  • 10 Role Modeling and Delegation: He worked right alongside the builders and delegated tasks across families and districts rather than trying to do everything himself.

More on leadership in the next blog.

NOV 15 READ EZRA 3-7

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

We pick up where we left off. The Medes and Persians defeated the Babylonians in 540 BC. The Jews were in Babylonian captivity for 70 years. Cyrus the king of Persia allowed the 1st return of Jews from Babylon under Zerubbabel to rebuild the temple just as Isaiah and Jeremiah predicted. It is critical that we understand the sequence of events in Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther b/c they are not in chronological order. This chart really helps:

Here are the Medo Persian kings and the reign of Cyrus king of Persia.

Here is a great slide showing the benefits of the 70 year captivity of Judah.

The best way to study Ezra 1-6 and the 1st return under Zerubbabel to rebuild the temple is an outline:

Ezra chapters 1 through 6 describe the return of Jewish exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the Lord’s temple.

Key Events in Ezra 1–6

  • Cyrus’s Decree (Ezra 1): King Cyrus of Persia issues a royal proclamation allowing the Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. He restores 5,400 gold and silver temple vessels looted by Nebuchadnezzar.
  • The Return and Spirit-Stirred Response (Ezra 1–2): God stirs the hearts of family heads, priests, and Levites (led by Zerubbabel and Jeshua) to make the journey, while neighbors and those staying behind supply them with silver, gold, goods, and animals. A remnant of roughly 42,360 people returns.
  • Rebuilding the Altar and Foundation (Ezra 3): The returnees set up the altar of the God of Israel in Jerusalem, restart daily burnt offerings, and lay the foundation of the new temple amid mixed reactions of weeping and shouting for joy. Many were joyful b/c the 2nd temple would be built but others were sad b/c the 2nd temple of Zerubbabel was so inferior to Solomon’s temple.
  • Opposition and Work Stoppage (Ezra 4): Local Samaritan adversaries and regional officials oppose the project, sending letters to Persian authorities that force the construction to halt for about 16 years around 520 BC.
  • Resumption of Work (Ezra 5): Propelled by the encouragement of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, the Jewish leaders restart building the temple. The local governor, Tattenai, challenges their authority and writes to King Darius for clarification.
  • Darius’s Search and Temple Completion (Ezra 6): King Darius searches the royal archives, finds Cyrus’s original decree at Ecbatana, confirms its validity, and orders local officials to fund the construction from royal taxes. The temple is finished in 516 BC (Darius’s sixth year) and dedicated with great joy and a celebration of the Passover. Ezra 6:14 And the elders of the Jews were successful in building through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.”

We will not cover Ezra 7 even though it is in today’s reading b/c it happened in 456 BC (see the chart above) which was about 50 years after Ezra 6. As you can see on the chart above, the whole story of Esther occurs between Ezra 6 and Ezra 7.

The main thing about the 1st return is fulfilled prophecy. It is amazing to see how God had his prophets predict the rise and fall of major world empires in the Old Testament and the captivity and return of Judah from Babylon. Fulfilled prophecy is one of the main proofs the Bible is the Word of God.

King Nebuchadnezzar’s statue in Daniel 2: Daniel predicted the 4 kingdoms: Babylon, Media/Persian, Greece and Rome. That was right after Daniel was carried into Babylonian captivity in about 606 BC. So he predicted the Medo/Persian conquest of Babylon about 60 years before it happened.

Isaiah predicted that Judah would be in Babylonian captivity but allowed by Cyrus king of Persia to return to the Promised Land to rebuild the temple. This prediction was made 150-175 years before Medo/Persia conquered Babylon in 540 AD.

Jeremiah 25:11 This whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.12 ‘Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares the Lord, ‘for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation. Jeremiah 29:10: Jeremiah wrote a letter to the exiles in Babylon stating, “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.”

I thought this was really good from Ligonier Ministries:

The 70-year Babylonian captivity served a dual purpose of divine judgment for sin and restitution for the land’s unobserved Sabbath-rest.

1. Judgment for Idolatry and Rebellion

  • Covenant Violation: Judah repeatedly turned away from God, ignored the warnings of prophets like Jeremiah, and practiced idolatry and social injustice.
  • Discipline: God used the Babylonian Empire under King Nebuchadnezzar II as an instrument of judgment to punish the nation and destroy Jerusalem and the Temple.

2. Granting the Land Its Sabbath-Rest

  • Neglected Commandments: According to 2 Chronicles 36:21 and Leviticus 25:2–7, God commanded that every seventh year the land of Israel must rest and lie fallow.
  • Recompense: For hundreds of years, the people disobeyed this law and overworked the land. The 70 years of exile allowed the land to finally enjoy the Sabbath-rests that the people had denied it. This 2nd purpose of the 70 years might not seem like much to us but it shows God’s respect for the land that He created. We should be concerned with protecting the environment. The infamous “Dust Bowl” shows what happens when we overwork the land.

3. Purification and Restoration

  • Cure for Idolatry: The trauma of losing the land, the monarchy, and the Temple permanently cured the Jewish people of their tendency toward gross national idolatry.
  • Fulfillment of Prophecy: The fixed 70-year timeline—prophesied by Jeremiah—demonstrated God’s sovereignty over history and culminated in King Cyrus of Persia issuing a decree in 538/536 BC allowing the Jews to return and rebuild Jerusalem.

Here is a great slide summarizing the benefits of the 70 year captivity.

We have archaeological confirmation of Cyrus king of Persia.

The book of Esther will happen between Ezra 6 and Ezra 7 but for the daily reading we will pick up with Ezra7-12 next time and the 2nd return from captivity even though that would occur after the events in the book of Esther. Confusing, right?

NOV 14. READ 2 CHRONICLES 34-36; EZRA 1-2

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

Judah #16 Josiah. 2 Chronicles 34-35 Reigned 31 years. Good


He began reigning at 8, began to remove all the idols in Judah at age 12. At age 26, he repaired the temple (imagine how it looked after 55 years of the evil reign of Manasseh and 2 years of Amon). In the process, Hilkiah the priest found the book of the Law (the Pentateuch) and gave it to Shaphan the scribe to take to Josiah. As Shaphan read it to the king, Josiah tore his clothes and inquired of Huldah the prophetess what to do. She said that b/c “your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God” that the captivity of Judah would not be in his lifetime. Josiah had the book read in all Judah. He celebrated the Passover like had not been celebrated in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet nor any of the kings of Israel. Unfortunately, in 609 BC when Neco king of Egypt was coming to Carchemish on the Euphrates to help what was left of the Assyrians (Ninevah had fallen to Babylon in 612 BC) to battle the rising Babylonians (Neco and the Assyrians would be defeated at Carchemish, the new Assyrian capital, in 605 BC, rendering Egypt and Assyria powerless for the future), Josiah felt for some reason that he just had to fight and stop Neco even though Neco told him that God did not want Josiah to interfere with Neco’s mission. Josiah disguised himself in the battle with Neco but was fatally wounded and died. Josiah reigned 31 years.

It is very exciting to see young people commit to knowing God and Jesus, studying the Word of God, and trying to convert others to Jesus.

Jeremiah was a prominent prophet during this time from Josiah to the last king Zedekiah. Nahum, Zephaniah, and Habakkuk also prophesied during the reigns of the last 5 kings. We will study them later in the minor prophets.

Judah #17 Jehoahaz. 2 Chronicles 36:1-4 Reigned 3 months. Bad

The king of Egypt deposed him to Egypt and made Eliakim his brother king and changed his name to Jehoiakim.

Judah #18 Jehoiakim. 2 Chronicles 36:5-7 Reigned 11 years. Bad


Jehoiakim killed Uriah the prophet who was predicting the fall of Jerusalem just like Jeremiah was, 2 Chronicles 26:20-23. He also cut up the scroll dictated to Baruch by Jeremiah and burned it. In his 4th year of reigning Daniel was carried captive to Babylon in the 1st deportation in 607 BC. Jeremiah told him that the Rechabites were more faithful to their vow to their father to not drink wine than Judah was to her father God. Jehoiakim ruled 11 years. 2 Kings has a lot more info on Jehoiakim in 2 Kings 23-24 and the book of Jeremiah has a lot info not covered in 2 Chronicles.

Judah #19 Jehoiachin. 2 Chronicles 36:8-10 Reigned 3 months. Bad

Jehoiachin reigned 3 months and was carried into Babylon during the 2nd deportation in 597 BC along with Ezekiel and made Zedekiah his uncle king. In his 37th year of exile the Babylonians released him from prison and took care of him the rest of his life ( Jeremiah 52:31ff). Babylon considered him to be the last legitimate king of Judah since Zedekiah, the next and last king of Judah, was his uncle, not his son.

Judah #20 Zedekiah. 2 Chronicles 36:11-21 Reigned 11 years. Bad


Zedekiah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, was made king by Nebuchadnezzar after Jehoiachin was carried to Babylon in the 2nd deportation. The book of Jeremiah has a lot more info on King Zedekiah. He reigned 11 years and was evil. He rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah said Judah would fall to Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 21, 27). He denounced the false prophet Hananiah who said God would deliver Judah from the yoke of Babylon in 2 years. Jeremiah told him he would die in a year, and he did. Even in the 10th year of Zedekiah as Nebuchadnezzar was besieging Jerusalem, Jeremiah is told to buy a piece of land as a sign that Judah would be restored one day (Jeremiah 32). Babylon temporarily lifted the siege to go fight the Egyptians, but Jeremiah predicted that they would return to burn the city (Jeremiah 37). Irijah had him arrested and put in prison, but Zedekiah had him released and put in the court of the guardhouse and given daily bread (Jeremiah 37:21). The officials then cast Jeremiah into a cistern but Zedekiah had Ebed- melech rescue him and pull him out by ropes back to the court (Jeremiah 38) where he stayed until Jerusalem was burned in the 11th year of Zedekiah’s reign after 2 and one half years of the siege of the city (Jeremiah 39). Jeremiah 52 and 2 Chronicles 36:15-21 is a description of the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC. Nebuchadnezzar blinded Zedekiah’s eyes and took him to Babylon, and told the captain of his bodyguard to keep Jeremiah safe (Jeremiah 39). Nebuchadnezzar then freed Jeremiah, appointed Gedaliah as governor, whom Jeremiah lived with (Jeremiah 40).

2 Chronicles 36:21-23 The return from Babylonian Captivity. Jeremiah had predicted that Judah would be in Babylonian captivity for 70 years. Isaiah had predicted that the Medes and Persians would conquer the Babylonians and they did in 539 BC. Daniel 5 tells about the handwriting on the wall and how God had the Medes kill Belshazzer and take Babylon that very night. Isaiah also predicted in a couple of places that Cyrus, the King of Media/Persai would allow the Jews in captivity in Babylon to return to the Promised Land in Canaan after the 70 years and he did. An amazing prediction since it was made 100 years before Cyrus was born!

This sets the stage for the book of Ezra! We are into the 12th period of Old Testament history.

Ezra 1-2 Cyrus’ proclamation allowing the 1st return from Babylon under Zerubbabel after 70 years in Babylonian captivity. Daniel had predicted in Daniel 2 that the Medes/Persians would defeat the Babylonians and it 539 BC they did. Isaiah had predicted that Cyrus would allow them to return after the 70 years (Isaiah 44:28-45:2) which is amazing b/c that prediction was made 100 years before Cyrus was even born! Jeremiah had predicted that they would be allowed to return after the 70 years (Jeremiah 29:10-11). Ezr 1-2 if the fulfillment of those predictions and giving the numbers of people, Levites, and priests who returned.

The books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther can be a little confusing b/c they are not chronological. Here is a great chart:

We will continue with the 1st return under Zerubbabel to rebuild the temple destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.

NOV 13 READ 2 CHRONICLES 29-33

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

Judah #13 Hezekiah. 2 Chronicles 29-32. Reigned 29 years. Good. Began to reign in 716 BC.

Judah had just finished 16 years of the evil reign of King Ahaz. Hezekiah said 29:7 They have also shut the doors of the porch and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel.” Apparently the doors of the temple had been shut for a long time. So the Levites cleansed the temple of all unclean things. Hezekiah made thousands of burnt offerings for the sins of the people. 29:29 Now at the completion of the burnt offerings, the king and all who were present with him bowed down and worshiped. 30 Moreover, King Hezekiah and the officials ordered the Levites to sing praises to the Lord with the words of David and Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with joy, and bowed down and worshiped.” Quite a revival!

2 Chronicles 30 Celebration of the Passover. Hezekiah sent letters to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (and all the 10 tribes) to come celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem but they laughed and mocked the couriers. Most of the “important” people in the northern kingdom had been taken captive to Assyria already in 722 BC (Hezekiah’s letters went out after 716 BC), but there were still many left across the northern kingdom. There was a small remnant who did come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover with Hezekiah. Hezekiah was trying to restore what was left of the northern kingdom to the true worship of Yahweh. They celebrated the Passover with great joy for 7 days, and then another 7 days with thousands of burnt offerings. 30:26 So there was great joy in Jerusalem, because there was nothing like this in Jerusalem since the days of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel.” In 2 Chronicles 31 after the Passover celebration, they went throughout Judah (even Ephraim and Manasseh) destroying all the pagan idols and high places and regular worship in the temple resumed and tithe giving to support the priests and Levites resumed.

2 Chronicles 32 In 701 BC Sennacherib king of Assyria invaded Judah. Hezekiah dug his famous “tunnel” bringing water from the springs outside Jerusalem and denying access to the springs knowing Sennacherib was going to siege Jerusalem. Hezekiah’s Tunnel (also known as the Siloam Tunnel) is an ancient 1,750-foot (533-meter) water channel in the City of David in eastern Jerusalem. It connects the Gihon Spring (outside the city) to the Pool of Siloam in the City of David. It measures about 533 meters (1,750 feet) long with a gentle elevation drop of only 30 cm to 2 meters across the entire route. It was carved through solid rock by two opposing teams of stonecutters who started at each end and met in the middle.

Sennacherib siged Jerusalem but made a fatal mistake. He sent letters (Isaiah 36-39 is a parallel acount of all this and says that his general Rabshakeh read the letters in the Hebrew language to those standing on the walls) blaspheming Yahwh, saying that Yahweh could not save Judah any more than the gods of other nations had failed. Isaiah was helping Hezekiah through all this and they carried the letter to the temple and laid it out to the Lord, begging for help. That night the “death” angel of the Lord killed 185,000 of the Assyrians sieging the city and Sennacherib returned to Assyria, only to be assassinated by his own children.

Life Lesson: Have you ever had one of those letters written to you attacking and accusing you of things you don’t believe that you have done? Or maybe you get that letter threatening to sue you and you panic? Or you get that letter and someone has stolen your identity? Or you get that letter informing you that you have been fired from your job? Did you have a panic attack? I have had some of those letters that weighed on my mind for a long time and I struggled and worried over them At least in my mind, I tried to lay those letters out before the Lord and ask him to help me deal with the threatening situations in the letters. What about you? Can you lay out your concerns and worries before the Lord, trusting Him to help you? Hezekiah did and you can too.

2 Chronicles 33 Hezekiah was given 15 extra years. Let’s be clear. God didn’t say “You are sick and you might die soon.” God said, “Make out your will b/c you are going to die soon.” Hezekiah pouted and prayed and God gave him 15 extra years. He gave him a sign to confirm that with the shadow on the sun dial steps going backward 10 steps instead of going forward as normal. But, like Asa and Uzziah, Hezekiah was lifted up with pride and “gave no return for the benefit he had received” (33:25). When the Babylonians heard about the miracle, they came to Hezekiah to check it out and in his pride he showed them all his wealath and the temple gold. 33:31 Even in the matter of the envoys of the rulers of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone only to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.” God found out that his heart was filled with pride. Isaiah rebuked Hezekiah and he did humble himself after that. God said that it would be the Babylonians, not the Assyrians, who would take Judah captive and come take the temple gold, but b/c he humbled himself God would not do that in his reign. It would still be another 100 years before that would happen. BTW Isaiah 36-39 is a parallel account of Hezekiah’s reign with even more details. Do you ever wonder if God is testing you to see what is in your heart when good or bad things happen to you? Would you be ashamed for God to find out what your inner motives, desires, and thoughts are?

Life Lessons: 1) Prayer can change God’s mind and plans. If Hezekiah had not prayed, he would have died soon. His prayer changed God’s mind. We sometimes think that God’s plans are predetermined and can’t be changed. Some things that He planned and predicted won’t be changed, such as the next 4 world empires of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue in Daniel 2. Or the death of Jesus which Acts 4 said was predetermined. But most things apparently God waits to see how we respond. So don’t be afraid to ask God to change what looks like the inevitable. 2) Don’t forget who made you wealthy and healthy if that applies. Hezekiah forgot both of those. We take God for granted. I, for one, am relatively healthy and well off financially. God did both of those things for me. I hope that I will be grateful to God and share what He has given me. One of my favorite psalms is psalm 103:

Psalm 103:1 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits;
3 Who pardons all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases;
4 Who redeems your life from the pit,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
5 Who satisfies your years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

Judah #14 Manasseh. 2 Chronicles 33:1-20. Reigned 55 years. Very bad!

Manasseh was the worst of all the kings of Judah IMO. He undid all the reforms of his father Hezekiah. 33:3 he also erected altars for the Baals and made Asherim, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 He built altars in the house of the Lord of which the Lord had said, “My name shall be in Jerusalem forever.” 5 For he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. 6 He made his sons pass through the fire in the valley of Ben-hinnom; and he practiced witchcraft, used divination, practiced sorcery and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger. 7 Then he put the carved image of the idol which he had made in the house of God”. God sent the Assyrians to attack Manasseh and Judah. They took him captive “with hooks” (in his nose?) and bronze chains to Babylon, but in Babylon he humbled himself and prayed to God and God restored him his kingdom after which he tried to undo all the evil he had done in Judah. There is a book in the Apocrypha called “The Prayer of Manasseh”, supposedly that prayer he prayed in Babylon. It is doubtful that really was his prayer, but you should go read it online (on simple page). Maybe that actually was his prayer, who knows. BTW Jeremiah 15:4 the Lord said, 4 I will make them (Judah) an object of horror among all the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem.”

Life Lesson: I wonder why God allowed Manasseh to reign so long, for 55 years, most of which were very evil. “The exile’s clock (eventually 605–586 BC) required Judah’s sin to mature fully (Genesis 15:16’s “full measure” principle). Manasseh’s longevity bridged the gap between righteous Hezekiah and the final generation before captivity, aligning prophetic timelines (Isaiah 39:6-7). Meanwhile, the Davidic line remained intact, safeguarding the genealogy that would culminate in Jesus (Matthew 1:10). God allowed Manasseh’s 55-year reign to display covenant faithfulness, patient mercy, the possibility of radical repentance, and the inevitability of eventual judgment, all while advancing the messianic timetable. Far from contradicting divine goodness, the long rule of an evil king amplifies the harmony of God’s justice, sovereignty, and grace—a harmony ultimately fulfilled in the risen Christ.” (Biblehub) All I can say is that God had a timeline. Have you ever wondered why God allowed Hitler to kill 6 million Jews (and other groups)? Why did He allow Stalin to kill 5-10 million people? Why did God allow numerous genocides of innocent people in different countries? Why did God not stop the Japanese from their horrifying invasions of China and other countries? Why did and does God allow evil rulers to continue to harm people for such long periods? I can’t answer those questions. I can only trust God that even though He allows evil free will choices that hurt people that eventually He will judge the wicked and rescue the godly. If not here on earth, then in heaven with eternal life.

Judah #15 Amon. 2 Chronicles 33:221-25. Reigned 2 years. Bad

33:22 He did evil in the sight of the Lord as Manasseh his father had done, and Amon sacrificed to all the carved images which his father Manasseh had made, and he served them. 23 Moreover, he did not humble himself before the Lord as his father Manasseh had done, but Amon multiplied guilt.” His servants assassinated him.

The next king of Judah will be a very good king and the last good king of Judah. We are getting ever closer to the destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem in 586 BC by the Babylonians and the deporttion of Judah to Babylonian captivity for 70 years. Keep reading.

NOV 12 READ 2 CHRONICLES 24-28

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

Judah #8 Joash 2 Chronicles 24 Reigned 40 years. Good

A little review: 22:10 Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son (Ahaziah) was dead, she rose and destroyed all the royal offspring of the house of Judah. 11 But Jehoshabeath the king’s daughter took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king’s sons who were being put to death, and placed him and his nurse in the bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah so that she would not put him to death. 12 He was hidden with them in the house of God six years while Athaliah reigned over the land.” Then Jehoiada the priest had Athaliah killed and anointed Joash, the surviving son of Ahaziah, as king. He began to regin at age 7. 1) 24:2 Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest. He began a systematic collection of money to repair the temple. 24:7 For the sons of the wicked Athaliah had broken into the house of God and even used the holy things of the house of the Lord for the Baals.” After the repairs were done, they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Jehoiada. 2) Jehoiada died at age 130. The officials persuaded Joash to worship idols and he would not listen to the prophets. Joah had Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest, killed. Many belived that this is the same Zechariah that Jesus in Matthew 23:35 referred to when he said that the Jews had killed the prophets from Abel to Zechariah. AI: “In the traditional Hebrew ordering of the Bible, Genesis (with the murder of Abel) is the first book, and Chronicles (with the murder of Zechariah son of Jehoiada) is the last book. By saying “from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah,” Jesus was using a literary inclusio to encompass all the martyrs recorded from the beginning to the end of the Hebrew Scriptures. There is a discrepancy in the names of the fathers in the two accounts.” The Lord sent the Arameans to punish Joash for his evil and for murdering Zechariah. Joash’s own servants assassinated him.

Judah #9 Amaziah. 2 Chronicles 25. Reigned 29 years. Good

Amaziah killed the servants who had murdered his father Joash. He had an army of 300,000 men from Judah and hired 100,000 men from the northern kingdom of Israel. But a prophet told him not to use the men from Israel. Amaziah replied, “But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the troops of Israel?” And the man of God answered, “The Lord has much more to give you than this.” Amaziah dismissed the men from Israel and defeated the Edomites with just men from Judah. Life Lesson: I learned a lot from my son-in-law. We helped a couple of men after they got out of prison, set them up in a nice furnished house, gave them a car, helped them find jobs. We thought things were going well. One day, they were gone. Took the car, the furniture, money, and left us owing rent. I was angry at that but my son-in-law was not upset about the “wasted money”. He said that those 2 men at least knew what the undeserved grace of God was like even if they abused it. They at least had that opportunity and the money was not wasted at all. Sometimes we feel that money is wasted on helping the poor or ex-prisoners, but even if they don’t take advantage of our compassion, it is not wasted. “The Lord has much more to give you than this.” The Lord will replace that “wasted money” with more money that we can use on some other needy person.

Unfortunately 25:14 Now after Amaziah came from slaughtering the Edomites, he brought the gods of the sons of Seir, set them up as his gods, bowed down before them and burned incense to them.” This angered the Lord greatly. Amaziah was lifted up with pride over defeating the Edomites and challenged King Joash of Israel to a battle. Joash tried to talk him out of fighting but failed. They fought and Amaziah was defeated. This was by the doing of God who was punishing Amaziah for his idolatry. Joash captured Amaziah and took gold from the temple. It does not say how long Amaziah stayed captive. It just says that he lived 15 years after the death of Joash and was assassinated by men from Jerusalem.

Judah #10 Uzziah (Azariah). 2 Chronicles 26. Reigned 52 years. Good

He was 16 when he became king. He obeyed God and God blessed him with great military strength. He had an “elite” army of 307,500 men, well equipped for fighting. 26:15 In Jerusalem he made engines of war invented by skillful men to be on the towers and on the corners for the purpose of shooting arrows and great stones (siege towers or catapults). 26:16 But when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful to the Lord his God, for he entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.” Azariah the priest and 80 priests opposed him. Azariah was enraged with Azariah, but God then immediately struck Azariah with leprosy. This was probably about the 42nd year of his 52 year reign so he was a leper living alone for bout 10 years. He died a leper. Like King Asa, he was a good king for most of his reign but had a terrible ending due to his pride. As with Asa, a warning to those of us who have served the Lord most of our lives. But now we have financial strength and begin to be proud of what we have accomplished without giving God the glory. Don’t forget who really made you well off financially.

Judah #11 Jotham. 2 Chronicles 27. Reigned 16 years. Good

Jotham was a good king and God made him strong militarily but he did not commit the same sin as his father Uzziah did.

Judah #12 Ahaz. 2 Chronicles 28. Reigned 16 years. Bad

Ahaz worshipped the Baals and even burned his sons in the fire to the god Molech of the Moabites. B/c of his sins God sent King Rezin of Aram (Syria) and Pekah king of Israel against Ahaz. Pekah killed 120,000 men of Judah in one day! He took 200,000 women and children of Judah captive. God intervened and told Israel to quit taking captives from Judah and they stopped. The Philistines and the Edomites also attacked Ahaz and Judah. Ahaz gave the king of Assyria gold from the temple but it didn’t help. The Assyians afflicted him also. Ahaz then offered sacrifices to the gods of the Arameans (Syria and Damascus) to get them to help him. This is the same historical event as in Isaiah 7. Isaiah 7 captures the dramatic encounter where the prophet Isaiah approaches Ahaz with a divine message not to fear, offering him a sign from God, which leads to the famous “Immanuel” prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 (the virgin birth prophecy). In Isaiah 7 he was promised by God that a child would be born to a young “maiden” and that by the time the child was weaned that Pekah and Rezin would retreat from attacking Judah. God sent the Assyrians to attack Rezin and Pekah which caused them to withdraw. Isaiah 7 adds a lot of information not in 2 Chronicles 28.

So far there have been 6 bad kings in Judah and 6 good kings (although several of the good kings ended up filled with pride and bad endings their reigns). We have covered from 930 BC (when the kingdom split) to about 716 BC, so a little more than 200 years of the kingdom of Judah. Judah will only have a little over 100 years before God sends them into Babylonian captivity and destroys the temple in 586 BC. Stay tuned and keep reading to see how this all ends.

NOV 11 READ 2 CHRONICLES 19-23

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

Judah #4 Jehoshaphat. 2 Chronicles 17-20 Reigned 25 years. Good

After returning from the foolish alliance with King Ahab of Israel (2 Chronicles 18), rejecting Micaiah’s prediction that the battle would be lost, Ahab is killed in the battle. 2 Crhonicles 19:1 Then Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned in safety to his house in Jerusalem. 2 Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord and so bring wrath on yourself from the Lord? 3 But there is some good in you, for you have removed the Asheroth from the land and you have set your heart to seek God.” Hanani the prophet (seer) summed up Jehoshaphat really well. “Your weakness is making alliance with wicked people who hate the Lord, but there is a lot of good in you and God will bless your reign.” Don’t we all have some weakenss that keeps popping up in our lives? You might be doing well spiritually but then you are out with friends and they suggest doing something that you know is sinful and you compromise your values and join them in sin. Down deep in your heart you know that your fiance is not the type of spiritual person that you want to spend your whole life with but you marry anyway for various reasons. Paul gave a warning to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? 16 Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols?” 1 Corinthians 15:33 “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals“. AI: “Human beings naturally absorb the attitudes, speech, and behaviors of the people they spend the most time with. Even strong principles can wear down over time through constant exposure to negative influences.” (Borrowdale Community Church) Christians are the salt of the earth and salt must come in contact with meat to give it flavor or preserve it, but be careful that your constact with sinners is helping influence them for good instead of them influencing you for bad. Jehoshaphat then began more reforms, espeically judicial reforms demand that judges judge fairly without prejudice or taking bribes.

2 Chronicles 20 The Moabites and Ammonites attack Judah with a very large army and Jehoshaphat is afraid. He then leads a very humble prayer trusting to Yahweh to give Judah the victory. 19:12 For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.” 3 parts to that closing of the prayer: 1) Acknowledge that we are powerless. 2) Appeal to God wisdom, to know what to do. 3) Eyes on God, trusting Him, waiting on Him to do give the victory. That’s a pretty good prayer thought isn’t it? Jahaziel the prophet then told Jehoshaphat and Judah “Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s.” The battle belongs to the Lord (a song). Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, for the Lord is with you.” I wish I could have such courage and trust to face my battles in life. Everyone fell to the ground and worshipped God even before the battle began. A strange battle ensued. The Lord intrervened to set ambuses in some way among the enemy. The Moabites and Ammonites attacked the Edomites and slaughtered them. And then the Moabites and Ammonites started fighting each other and destroyed each other. By the time Jehoshaphat got to the battle field, there was nothing but corpses and no battle to fight. Judah never had to even fight and spent 3 days collecting the spoil. Our battles are no always won so easily, but many of our battles could be won like that if we fully trust God and seek him in prayer. He might decide that we need a break from constant battle fatigue and gives us a victory with little or no effort on our part.

Unfortunately, we tend to fall back into bad habits. Toward the end of his reign in the 17th year, he made another alliance will an evil king of Israel, Azariah the son of King Ahab. They planned a shipping venture to get gold from Tarshish. Eliezar the prophet condemned the venture and the ships were destroyed by a storm before they ever set sail. When Ahaziah later asked for a second attempt with a combined crew, to his credit Jehoshaphat refused. But again, Jehoshaphat’s weakness popped up, making alliances with evil people. You would think that he would finally get it, but he didn’t. Don’t we repeat the same mistakes over and over?

Judah #5 Jehoram. 2 Chronicles 21 Reigned 8 years. Bad

The first thing Jehoram did was kill all his brothers! He married Athaliah, daughter of King Ahab and Jezebel of Israel. AI: “The marriage was arranged as a political alliance between King Jehoshaphat of Judah and King Ahab of Israel to end decades of war between the two rival kingdoms. Jehoram of Judah began his co-regency and rule in the mid-9th century BCE (approximately 853–841 BCE), meaning the marriage took place prior to or near the beginning of his rise to power as part of the diplomatic pact forged by his father Jehoshaphat and Ahab. Athaliah brought the religious influences of the northern house of Ahab and Jezebel into Judah, notably promoting the worship of Baal. Here is a great chart showing the influence of Jezebel and her daughter Athaliah even on the sourthern kingdom of Judah.



Elijah the prophet cursed him b/c of killing his brothers and all the evil he had done and told him “21:15 You yourself will be very ill with a lingering disease of the bowels, until the disease causes your bowels to come out.’”18 After all this, the Lord afflicted Jehoram with an incurable disease of the bowels. 19 In the course of time, at the end of the second year, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great pain. His people made no funeral fire in his honor, as they had for his predecessors. He passed away, to no one’s regret.” That’s a sad commentary: “he died and no one regretted it! everyone was glad he died”. I hope I don’t end like that!

Judah #6 Ahaziah. 2 Chronicles 22:1-9 Reigned 1 year. Bad

His mother’s name was Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, who encouraged him to act wickedly. Like his father Jehoram, he allied with King Joram of Israel, son of Ahab, to go into battle with Hazael King of Aram (Syria). Joram was wounded in the battle and Ahaziah went to Jezreel to check on him. The God appointed assassin Jehu tracked him down and killed him.

Judah #7 Athaliah. 2 Chronicles 2 Chronicles 22:10 – 23:21. Reigned 6 years. Bad

As soon as Ahaziah died, Athaliah killed all the royal descendants except Joash, Ahaziah’s son, who was rescued and kept hidden from Athaliah for 6 years in the temple by Jehosheba, Ahaziah’s sister, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of the priest Jehoiada. After 6 years, Jehoiada anointed Joash king as Athaliah cried “Treason”. They tracked Athaliah down and killed her. They then destroyed all the Baals. Jehoiada led the people in many reforms, tearing down Baal idols.

Good stopping place with the death of Athaliah and anointing of Joash.

NOV 10 READ 2 CHRONICLES 14-18

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

Judah #3 Asa. 2 Chronicles 14:1-16:14 Reigned 41 years. Good

Asa removed a the foreign altars and cut down the Asherim. He had an army of 580,000 men but was facing Zerah the Ethiopian who had one million men. Asa prayed a very humble prayer, trusting in God, and God gave him the victory over Zerah. The prophet Azariah gave Asa a warning: 15:And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.” Jesus said, “Seek and you will find”. God is ready to help us in our battles, but we must seek Him. He will not force Himself on us and make us make moral choices (which is what Calvinism teaches). In the 15th year of his reign, Asa began more reforms, removing idols from the land and getting the people to make a covenant that whoever would not seek God would die. Asa even removed his own mother, Maacah, from being queen b/c she had a horrid image. In the 35th year of Asa’s reign he changed: Baasha the evil king of Israel (the northern kingdom of 10 tribes) attacked Asa. Instead of praying to and trusting God for victory, he bribed the king of Syria with gold and silver to attack Baasha to get Baasha to leave attacking Asa, and it worked. Baasha withdrew. Hanani the prophet rebuked Asa for not trusting in God like he did when facing Zerah, but Asa became angry with Hanani and imprisoned him. Obviously Asa had become pride-filled, trusting in his own ingenuity instead of God. Do you ever do that when facing a challenging problem? Is prayer to God the first thing you do or do you start thinking of your own strategies for dealing with the problem? Do you trust your resources or do you trust God for victory? 15:12 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa became diseased in his feet. His disease was severe, yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians. It is sad to see a king who did so much good for God end up like that after an otherwise faithful reign of 41 years. I am 76 and I hope that I don’t end up my life in pride, trusting in my money, possessions, retirement plan, and medical plans. I’m sure that I will face some major problem like Asa did with Baasha, but I hope I turn to God for wisdom before I panic and trust in my own plans.

Judah #4 Jehoshaphat. 2 Chronicles 17:1-20:37 Reigned 25 years. Good

Jehoshaphat also removed the high places and Asherim. He also sent the Levites throughout Judah teaching them the Law of Moses. He had a large army and even the Philistines and Arabians paid tribute gifts to him. Jehosphaphat’s thorn in the flesh was his alliances with some of the evil kings of the northern kingdom. He allied with the evil king of Israel Ahab at Samaria to go fight the Arabians and retake Remoth-gilead. 400 prophets of Baal said they would be victorious but Jehoshaphat asked if there was a prophet of Yahweh to consult with and Micaiah the prophet, who after sarcastically saying they would be victorious, said they would be defeated. The unbelievable thing is that Jehoshaphat went with Ahab to battle even after hearing the prediction of Micaiah. Micaiah said that deceiving spirits were in the Baal prophets. Ahab disguised himself as a regular soldier instead of the king and was fatally wounded by a random, God-guided, arrow through a tiny joint in his armor. We will continue in 1 Chronicles 19 in the next blog.

AI: “King Jehoshaphat’s political and military alliance with King Ahab was cemented—and in many ways enabled or sealed—by the marriage alliance in which Jehoshaphat’s son, Jehoram, married Ahab and Jezebel’s daughter, Athaliah. King Jehoshaphat arranged for his son Jehoram to marry Athaliah, which brought the southern kingdom of Judah and the northern kingdom of Israel into a dynastic and political relationship.” We will read much more about how this marriage affected both kingdoms.

NOV 9. READ 2 CHRONICLES 9-13

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

1 Chronicles 9 The Queen of Sheba. She came to observe the wisdom of Solomon and said that it was twice as great as she had been told. She gave him great mounts of gold and spices, and he reciprocated. The gold that Solomon received each year from countries he subjugated was about #3 billion. He had a fleet of trading ships to bring in gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons. He has thousands of horses and traded with Egypt for horses. God had warned Israel when they asked for a king that a king should not multiply horses or wives, and Solomon did both. Ethiopian tradition says that Solomon and the queen of Sheba had a son named Malik (Menelik I) who was the founder of the Ethiopian Solomonic dynasty. According to the national epic Kebra Nagast, the dynasty traced its lineage to Menelik I, the mythical son of biblical King Solomon and Makeda, the Queen of Sheba. The Ethiopian dictator Haile Selassie claiimed to be a descendant of Menelik I and cruelly ruled Ethiopia from 193-1974. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church also claims to have the ark of the covenant protected in a church there. They say Manelik I brought it back to Ethiopia after one of his trips to see his father Solomon. It is guarded by a single custodian. All this is myth with no genetic or historical proof. Surely the Bible would have recorded all this if it really happened. But we don’t know what happeened to the ark of the covenant. It was not in the temple when the Romans destroyed the temple and Jerusalem in 70 AD. The famours Arch of Titus in Rome shows them bringing back the menorah and would most certainly had a pic of the ark on that arch if they had brought it from Jerusalem. Some think that the people of Judah buried the ark somewhere under Jerusalem so the Romans couldn’t get it. So we can’t confirm or deny whether the ark is in Ethiopia. Interesting! Solomon died after reigning for 40 years.

2 Chronicles 10 Rehoboam succeeds Solomon as king. Rehoboam could have had the loyalty of all 12 tribes if he had just eased up on the “harsh labor and heavy yoke” that Solomon had put on them. But he listened to his younger counselors instead of the older wise counselors and told them that he would be more harsh than Solomon was. An interesting comment: 10:15 So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from God, to fulfill the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.” It is always puzzling how God lets people like Rehoboam make their own free will choices and yet makes it work out according to His plans. He had already told Solomon that the kingdom would split after he died so this split had to occur. The providence of God and his foreknowledge of how people will choose works together to make His will work out. Rehoboam barely escaped being killed by the rebels.

2 Chronicles 11 This almost turned into an immediate bloody civil war between the 10 tribes who rebelled and the 2 tribes (Judah and Benjamin) who stayed loyal to Rehoboam. Rehoboam was ready with 180,000 men to go fight Jereboam but God told him not to and he didn’t. Kinda like the South succeeded from the Union and the Northern states had to decide whether to just let them go or go fight to keep the Union together, I guess. So a bloody civil war was fought but at least the Union was preserved. Not a parallel ending. Many of the Levites from the 48 Levitical cities across the 12 tribes came to Jerusalem to side with Rehoboam since Jereboam rejected the Levitical priesthood and set up golden calves at Dan and Bethel. The same polygamy: 11:21 Rehoboam loved Maakah daughter of Absalom more than any of his other wives and concubines. In all, he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines, twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.” I don’t understand why God allowed that.

2 Chronicles 12 Unfortunately, Rehoboam and Judah quit following the Lord after that. In Rehoboam’s 5th year God sent Shishak king of Egypt with 12,000 chariots and 60,000 horsemen to attack and take cities in Judah and would have taken Jerusalem if Rehoboam had not repented. But Shishak carried off the treasures in the temple. Rehoboam’s mother was an Ammonite.

Here is the chart we will be using to study the kings of Judah from 2 Chronicles 9:31 through 36:21. Remember, 2 Chronicles ony discusses the kings of Judah, although at different times kings from Israel will be involved. 19 kings of Judah. Most were bad, only a few were good and most of the good ones ended up badly due to pride late in their reigns. From here on “Israel” will refer to the 10 northern kingdom tribes and “Judah” will refer to the 2 southern kingdom tribes of Judah and Benjamin.

Judah #1 Rehoboam. 2 Chronicles 9:31-12:16. Reigned 17 years. Bad.

Judah #2 Abijah. 2 Chronicles 13:1-22 Reigned 3 years. Bad Abijah took 400,000 men to fight the 800,000 men of Jereboam. Abijah gave a passionate speech to the people following Jereboam, appealing to them to return to the true Levitical priesthood (Jereboam had appointed his own non-Levitical priests) and temple worship at Jerusalem (Jereboam had set up golden calves to worship at Dan and Bethel), but it did not avert a battle. Abijah won the battle, inflicting 500,000 casualties on Jereboam and Israel. Interesting comment: 13:18 The Israelites were subdued on that occasion, and the people of Judah were victorious because they relied on the Lord, the God of their ancestors.” God did not allow Rehoboam to attack Jereboam b/c He wanted the kingdom to split. But now that the kingdom is split, He was with Abijah fighting Jereboam and gave Abijah the victory even though he was a bad king. God is going to protect Judah b/c Jesus will come from the tribe of Judah in the future.