NOV 13 READ 2 CHRONICLES 29-33

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

NOV 8 READ 2 CHRONICLES 4-8

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2 Chronicles 4: Temple furnishings.

2 Chronicles 5 The ark is brought from the special tent David made for it (called the “tabernacle of David”) to the Holy of Holies in the temple. The glory is so great that the priest can’t enter.

2 Chronicles 6 Solomon’s prayer of dedication.

King Solomon’s prayer of dedication (found in 1 Kings 8:22–53 and 2 Chronicles 6:12–42) marks the completion of the Jerusalem Temple.

  • Praise and Transcendence: Solomon kneels and praises God for His unmatched faithfulness to David’s lineage. He acknowledges that no physical building—not even the highest heaven—can truly contain God.
  • The Temple as a House of Prayer: Instead of a literal dwelling place for God on earth, the Temple serves as a focal point where people turn to direct their prayers to God in heaven.

Solomon outlines several future distress scenarios, asking God to listen, forgive, and restore His people whenever they turn toward the Temple in repentance:

  1. Oaths and Disputes: When people are brought before the altar to take an oath and seek justice.
  2. Military Defeat: When Israel is defeated by an enemy because of sin.
  3. Drought and Famine: When the skies are locked and rain is withheld due to drought or crop failure.
  4. Disease and Plagues: When pestilence, blight, mildew, or locusts strike the land.
  5. Captivity and Exile: When the people are carried off to a foreign land and pray toward Jerusalem with a repentant heart.
  6. Foreigners and Outreach: When a foreigner hears of God’s great name and comes to pray at the Temple, so that all nations of the earth may know and fear Him.

2 Chronicles 7 Solomon and the people offered many animals to dedicate the temple. God gave him a promise 7:14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.” And then He gave Solomon a warning: 7:19 “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, 20 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. 21 This temple will become a heap of rubble.”

2 Chronicles 8 The temple is completed. It took Solomon 20 years total to build his palace and the temple. So things are going well for Solomon so far, but they will change drastically in the last 20 years of his 40 year reign.

Life Lesson: We need to remember that there is no physical building temple in the new covenant. Christians are the temple of God where God dwells. We can worship as spiritual priests anytime and anywhere we desire. The main Hebrew word for “worship” means to bow down in reverence. The main Greek word for “worship” means to kiss toward, to show reverence to. We gather in church buildings for edification and group worship, but our individual worship should not be restricted to that building. Under the old covenant, worship was restricted to the temple with priests, animal sacrifices, etc. Not so under the new covenant. All Christians are spiritual priests. We offer our bodies as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2) and we offer spiritual sacrifices like thanksgiving, prayer, sharing with others, serving, etc.

NOV 7 READ 1 CHRONICLES 28-29; 2 CHRONICLES 1-3

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1 Chronicles 28 David’s address to the people and to Solomon about building the temple. Especially his charge to Solomon: 28:9 “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever. 10 Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be courageous and act.” Life Lesson: The Lord knows your heart, your thoughts, and your motives. That’s a little scary. We can fool people but we can’t fool God! If you seek Him He will let you find Him. He is always present, waiting for you to decide to seek Him. That doesn’t sound like Calvinism, does it? In Calvinism, a sinner doesn’t have the ability to choose to seek God. God has to send His Spirit to basically force him to seek God. That totally contradicts “if you seek Him, He will let you find Him.” David gave Solomon all the plans for building the temple. 28:19 “All this,” said David, “the Lord made me understand in writing by His hand upon me, all the details of this pattern.”

1 Chronicles 29 David gave much gold, silver, iron, and timbers to Solomon for building the temple, as well as the Israelites in the 12 tribes. 29:9 Then the people rejoiced because they had offered so willingly, for they made their offering to the Lord with a whole heart, and King David also rejoiced greatly.” David gave an humble prayer of thanks and praise to God. They offered 1000 bullls, 1000 rams and 1000 lambs. 22 So they ate and drank that day before the Lord with great gladness.” They anointed Solomon as king. A fitting desciption of the reign and death of David: 29:26 Now David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. 27 The period which he reigned over Israel was forty years; he reigned in Hebron seven years and in Jerusalem thirty-three years.28 Then he died in a ripe old age, full of days, riches and honor; and his son Solomon reigned in his place. 29 Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are written in the chronicles of Samuel the seer, in the chronicles of Nathan the prophet and in the chronicles of Gad the seer, 30 with all his reign, his power, and the circumstances which came on him, on Israel, and on all the kingdoms of the lands.”

2 Chronicles 1:1 Now Solomon the son of David established himself securely over his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him and exalted him greatly.” The ark was still in the tent David made for it in Jerusalem and Solomon still went to the tabernacle in Gibeon to offer animal sacrifices. God offered to give Solomon whatever he asked for, and he asked for wisdom, not wealth. God gave him both widom and wealth. 1:14 Solomon amassed chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, and he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem. 15 The king made silver and gold as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamores in the lowland.”

2 Chronicles 2 Solomon makes preparations to build the temple with the help of Huram king of Tyre who sent Solomon skilled craftsmen. The work force is massive: 2:2 So Solomon assigned 70,000 men to carry loads and 80,000 men to quarry stone in the mountains and 3,600 to supervise them.”

2 Chronicles 3 Solomon starts building the temple. 3:1 Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2 He began to build on the second day in the second month of the fourth year of his reign.” The dimensions and materials are given for the temple.”

Only 1 and 2 Chronicles tells about how much David contributed to the building of the temple. He seems to take great delight in Solomon building the temple even though he wanted to build it himself. David made a lot of mistake, but he had a good heart and wanted to please God. His prayers of thanks and praise are humbling. It’s too bad that his legacy is so marred by his sin with Bathsheeba and the troubles in his household with his 3 sons.

NOV 6. READ 1 CHRONICLES 23-27

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This is going to be a very brief summary. 1 Chronicles 23:23 Now when David reached old age, he made his son Solomon king over Israel. 2 And he gathered together all the leaders of Israel with the priests and the Levites. 3 The Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward, and their number by census of men was 38,000. 4 Of these, 24,000 were to oversee the work of the house of the Lord; and 6,000 were officers and judges, 5 and 4,000 were gatekeepers, and 4,000 were praising the Lord with the instruments which David made for giving praise. 6 David divided them into divisions according to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

1 Chronicles 24:1 Now the divisions of the descendants of Aaron were these: the sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 2 But Nadab and Abihu died before their father and had no sons. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests. 3 David, with Zadok of the sons of Eleazar and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, divided them according to their offices for their ministry. The divisions of the musicians, gatekeepers, and keepers of the temple treasures are given. There were 12 divisions of the commanders of the army with 24,000 men each taking one month to serve. There were chief officeers for each of the 12 tribes. There were overseers of David’s property and animals.

1 Chronicles 27:32 Also Jonathan, David’s uncle, was a counselor, a man of understanding, and a scribe; and Jehiel the son of Hachmoni tutored the king’s sons. 33 Ahithophel was counselor to the king; and Hushai the Archite was the king’s friend. 34 Jehoiada the son of Benaiah, and Abiathar succeeded Ahithophel; and Joab was the commander of the king’s army.” These verses introduce us to Ahithophel who became Absalom’s counselor when he rebelled against David and Hushai whom David sent to be a spy and counselor to Absalom. Later we learn how Absalom rejected Ahithophel’s counsel and he committed suicide.

That’s it. Wade through this stuff. The death of David and anointing of Solomon is in 1 Chronicles 28-29.The reign of Solomon is in 2 Chronicles 1-10 and then we have the divided kingdom in the rest of 2 Chronicles.

NOV 5 READ 1 CHRONICLES 18-22

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1 Chronicles 18:1-17 David’s kingdom strengthened. You can see why God said that David was a man of bloodshed. For example, in one battle he killed 22,000 Arameans (Syrians). One of his commanders, Abishai, killed 18,000 Edomites. 18:14 So David reigned over all Israel; and he administered justice and righteousness for all his people.”

19:1-9 David’s messengers abused. David sent messengers to console Hanun the Ammonite king whose father died, but he thought they were spies and humiliated them and sent them back. The Ammonites then hired a large mercenary army to attack David.

19:10-19 Ammon and Aram defeated. Joab and his brother Abshai defeated the Arameans who had come to help the Ammonites attack David. So the Arameans got more Arameans but David defeated them also, killing 7,000 charioteers and 40,000 foot soldiers. David was a man of bloodshed!

20:1-8 War with Philistine giants. Joab and David defeated the Ammonites in Rabba and cut them with saws and with sharp instruments and with axes (NASB): Note, the NIV says it should read in Hebrew “put them to forced labor with saws and axes” so I don’t know which is the preferred translation. I would like to think that David was not cruel enough to saw people and chop them into pieces! Then there was the war with the Philistine giants and several giants were killed including the brother of Goliath whom David killed as a youth. One giant had 24 toes and fingers!

21:1-17 Census brings pestilence. David sinned by making Joab take a census of the people in response to the anger of the Lord against the sins of Israel The sin was trusting in his miliatry strength of 1,570,000 men b/c he probably figured that God would send the enemy to punish Israel and he wanted to be ready. He should have just asked God what the people needed to do to repent of their sins. God gave him 3 choices of punishment and he chose pestilence and 70,000 Israelites died. David felt the guilt b/c of his sin.

21:18-30 David’s altar. God told David to build an altar and make an offering to stop the plague. David bought a threshing floor from Onan at full price (he said he would not offer God that which cost him nothing), make the offering, and the death angel put his sword back in his sheath. You have to wonder in what manner the death angel killed 70,000 people. David was terrified by the sword of the angel of God.

22:1-5 David prepares to build the temple. David was not allowed to build the temple but he did “ample” preparations for building the temple with timbers, large stones, and iron for nails. 1 Chronicles is the only place that tells us this. 1 Chronicles 28 and 29 will tell us that he also gave Solomon the architectural plans for the temple. More on that later.

22:6-19 David charges Solomon to build the temple. David gave Solomon $450 billion worth of gold and many workers to build the temple. He wanted Solomon to put the ark in the temple.

NOV 4. READ 1 CHRONICLES 13-17

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1 Chronicles 13:1-14 David has the ark brought to Jersualem from the Kiriath-jearim where it has been for 20 years or more.Eli and Phinehas, the wicked sons of Eli the high priest, carried it in battle with the Philistines and it was captured. When the ark caused plagues in the Philistine cities and made Dagon fall over, they returned it to Israel, but 70 looked inside the ark and were killed so the ark ended up at Kiriath-jearim for at least 20 years or more. But they carried the ark on a cart from Kiriath-jearim instead of with poles and on the way to Jeruslem the oxen stumbled and Uzzah grabbed the ark. God killed him. David was angry and left the ark in the house of Obed-edom for 3 months but his house was blessed as a sign that David could continue.

14:1-7 David’s family enlarged. He took several wives at Hebron and now he takes more wives at Jerusalem. He ends up with 8 wives and several concubines and at least 16 named sons.

14:8-17 The Philistines attacked David’s men twice and he defeated them. Both times he “inquired of the Lord” and the Lord told him he would win and what strategy to use. David is feared by all nations around him.

15:1-29 The ark is brought correctly on to Jerusalem. David has the Levites safely carry the ark on poles as directed by Moses from the house of Obed-edom to Jerusalem. There were all kinds of instruments, trumpets, singing, and sounds of joy as it arrived in Jerusalem. David’s wife Michal, the daughter of Saul, saw David celebrating and despised him in her heart.

16:1-7 The “tabernacle of David”. David made a special tent for the ark once it arrived in Jerusalem (called the tabernacle or tent of David). The historical tent of meeting (the tabernacle of Exodus) built under Moses—along with the bronze altar and sacrificial system—remained at Gibeon (about 6 miles northwest of Jerusalem). Priests such as Zadok continued to offer regular sacrifices and burnt offerings there. The two structures remained separated throughout David’s reign and the early years of Solomon’s reign, until Solomon finished building the First Temple in Jerusalem and transferred the original tabernacle structure and its furnishings into the new temple complex.

16:8-36 David’s psalm of thanksgiving. Read and meditate on this psalm. It is full of praise, thanksgiving, worship, and history of what God did with Israel. All the people said “Amen” (“so be it, that is truth, I agree) and praised the Lord.

16:37-43 Worship before the ark in David’s tent in Jerusalem and in the tabernacle at Gibeon. The text notes that David appointed Levites (singers and musicians) to minister before the Ark in Jerusalem (they did not enter David’s tent where the ark was), while the actual sacrificial priesthood (including Zadok the priest) remained stationed at the traditional Mosaic tabernacle and bronze altar in Gibeon.

17:1-15 God’s covenant with David. David was not allowed to build the temple but his son Solomon would. Instead, God promised David that his kingly line would be established forever. That was fulfilled when Jesus ascended to sit at the right hand of God on a spiritual throne over a spiritual kingdom, the church. Luke 1:30 “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”

17:16-27 David’s prayer in response. David very humbly thanked God for His promise. He did not complain about not being allowed to build the temple.