365 Reflections

Ezra 2 is a chapter you'd probably skip over as it mainly contains a list of names of the returning exiles to the land. But these kinds of lists in the ancient world were of utmost importance for Israel to maintain a connection between their past and present.  Ezra 2:1–2 (ESV) Now these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried captive to Babylonia. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town. 2 They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. In the list are men as heads of households (verse 3ff), priests (verse 36ff), Levites (verse 40), temple servants (verse 43), royal servants (verse 55), and even some undocumented Israelites (in verse 59). But the aim of all of them was the same. They were coming back to establish proper worship of Yahweh.  Ezra 2:68–69 (ESV) Some of the heads of families, when they ca

We have finally come to the other side of Israel's exile in the historical books. Ezra marks the beginning of righteous revival for the people of Israel who returned to the land of Judah 70 years after Nebuchadnezzar's brutal conquest. Just as Chronicles ended, Ezra begins, with the Lord stirring the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia to commission the rebuilding of the Jewish temple: Ezra 1:1-1 (ESV) In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: 2 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. At this decree, the heads of Israel's tribes begin the long process of heading back to the land with the instruments and utensils necessary to re-

God is in charge. That is the first and most pressing theological truth we must believe. If we are to listen, trust Him and obey, there is no other place to start than with His sovereignty. When we reject Him, we suffer, when we listen we live. God's hand is all over the destruction of Judah. The "he" below is the Lord himself, orchestrating the enemies of Israel into the exile of 70 years. 2 Chronicles 36:17–18 (ESV) Therefore He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or aged. He gave them all into his hand. 18 And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon. God is in charge. He will use the nations as He wills to accomplish His purpose in His people. This means there is NO season or stage in human

The wrath of God gets a lot of press by unbelievers and atheists. They like to claim that God is a petulant child, demanding, vengeful and sadistic. But they do so by cherry-picking ONLY the portions of the Bible that show God's wrath exhibited on unrepentant sinners. As if God in heaven just looking for someone to kill. What Bible critics fail to point out, however, is the often-repeated timeline, of God blessing and creating for mankind, mankind rejecting God's rule and law over His creation, mankind suffering the effects of ignoring that reign and law, God sending messengers to correct and rebuke them, men hardening their hearts and eventually paying the long-term costly price. Such is the case at the end of Judah's dynasty in the last chapter in 2 Chronicles: The Chronicler does not want us to forget that while Nebuchadnezzar may have indeed laid a heavy punishment on God's people, it did not come without warning. 2 Chronicles 36:15–16 (ESV) The LORD, the God of th

How does a nation decline? Look at Israel. We come to the final chapter of the second book of Chronicles having examined from 1 Samuel to now that people very rarely got it right when it came to picking leaders. It started with Saul, then David was God’s choice, and after him a series of good, not so good and evil kings (not necessarily in that order) reigned over Israel and Judah. But if we look closely at the final days of the southern kingdom, we see a wide-angle lens view of what went wrong.  2 Chronicles 36:1 (ESV) The people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and made him king in his father’s place in Jerusalem. Notice who put Jehoahaz on the throne? The people. This is how Israel got into this mess. They asked for a king and God gave them one who enslaved their sons and taxed them. Reprieve and greatness came when David was selected to replace Saul. Then there was the pinnacle of the kingdom under Solomon followed by Rehoboam and the secession of the northern tribes. Bu

Hey readers! My book is out! I believe it will give you the tools you need to get moving in the right direction. Don't let worry, fear, and comparison call the shots in your life,  Get a copy and get MOVING WITH GOD! Josiah was a wonderful king. Like Hezekiah before him he cleansed the temple, purified the nation of idolatry and reestablished the order of Temple offerings and sacrifices. He turned whole-heartedly to the Lord. And at the pinnacle of his reign he too celebrated the Passover in a way that was without equal since the days of Samuel.  2 Chronicles 35:18-19 (ESV) No Passover like it had been kept in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as was kept by Josiah, and the priests and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. [19] In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah this Passover was kept. YET, as we have seen in every king in Judah since David, there was a wea

When Josiah hears the Words of the book of the Law read out loud he immediately knew the nation was in trouble. They had broken faith and become corrupt. He could see the writing on the wall and on the pages. The sin of the nation demanded judgment according to the promises of the Law. So when Hilkiah brought Huldah the prophetess to interpret the times for the king he was most likely unsurprised by her words.  2 Chronicles 34:23–25 (ESV) And she said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, 24 Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book that was read before the king of Judah. 25 Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands, therefore my wrath will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched. There it is... an inevitable judgment to come. But Huldah qu

It had to feel like hopeless times in Israel when Amon came to the throne. The son of Manasseh set himself to wicked behavior without the repentance of his father. Hope sprung forth in 2 Chronicles 33 when the servants of Amon conspired to put him to death. Evidently, they saw the evil in him up close and knew the nation deserved better. But then more tragedy and trouble came soon after: 2 Chronicles 33:25 (ESV) But the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon. And the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place. Amon's corruption seemed to have won the day. Those valiant enough to put the wicked king to death were put to death by the "people of the land". The majority ruled and the majority loved wickedness. Does it not seem like that today? Guess what. It's always been like that.  This world is under the power of a devilish spirit now at work.  Ephesians 2:2 (ESV) in which you once walked, following the course of th