365 Reflections

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...

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 ...

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 Hulda...

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...

Let me speak candidly. Sometimes I wonder if it's more dangerous to start off on the right foot in life and experience God's gracious blessing in the beginning but then always be tempted to leave it behind for the vain things of this world and die in shame. I wonder if it might be preferable to front-load your life with the emptiness of sin and then come around to the Lord's ways having understood both mentally and historically the emptiness and destructive nature of evil.  I think about this as we move from King Hezekiah to his son, King Manasseh - a Father and son with opposite trajectories of faith in God.  The downfall of Hezekiah is eclipsed very quickly toward the end of 2 Chronciles by the rise of his completely immoral and pagan son, Manasseh.  2 Chronicles 33:1–3 (ESV) Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations...

The kings of Israel's final years seem to resemble in their own spiritual life the reality of the Nation's spiritual life. That is, the older they get, the more tempted they are to develop a proud heart and neglect the worship and purposes of God. This theme repeats in even the great Kings of Judah - such as in the latter part of Hezekiah's life.  2 Chronicles 32:24–25 (ESV) In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death, and he prayed to the LORD, and he answered him and gave him a sign. 2 5 But Hezekiah did not make return according to the benefit done to him , for his heart was proud . Therefore wrath came upon him and Judah and Jerusalem. Hezekiah had been tremendously helped and saved by God. He was also wonderfully used of Him. He reestablished proper worship and the celebration of Passover. He had called out to God for deliverance from Assyria and God answered him miraculously. He literally brought Israel back from certain doom. He fulfilled God...

Hey readers! My book is finally 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! If you’re going to be serious about matters of faith, get ready to experience times of frustration. For faith will be tested in many diverse ways if it is to be proved. Hezekiah is a righteous king in Judah, leading the people back to God from the pagan ways of the foreign nations. He led them back to unity and back to the Passover celebration. He also caused the nation to prosper and grow strong. And you would think that those efforts would be rewarded with peaceful prosperity in perpetuity. Nope.  Look at the very next chapter: 2 Chronicles 32:1 (ESV) After these things and these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and encamped against the fortified cities, thinking to win them for himself. Sometimes great renewals of...

Hey readers! My book is finally 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! Dieting seems to be an American obsession. Someone is always inventing a new and improved way to help people lose weight without losing the opportunity to eat. Or someone is inventing a crazy extreme form of dieting that makes for serious discomfort and pain. We long to eat in a way that most benefits our lives. Where does this desire come from? The Lord.  Remember that the Lord put the man in a garden - a place for food to be grown and enjoyed. We are made to eat and enjoy the blessing of God in our world. But sin has distorted that pleasure in our hearts and lives and made us turn to food for things it was never meant to provide - comfort, fulfillment and escape. Food is for nourishment and enjoyment in the presence of God.  Israel was given a meal ...

Hey readers! My book is finally 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! 2 Chronicles 30:1–4 (ESV) Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem to keep the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel. 2 For the king and his princes and all the assembly in Jerusalem had taken counsel to keep the Passover in the second month— 3 for they could not keep it at that time because the priests had not consecrated themselves in sufficient number, nor had the people assembled in Jerusalem— 4 and the plan seemed right to the king and all the assembly. Hezekiah turns from cleansing the temple and priests to celebrating the Passover. Way back when we began looking at 1 Chronicles we talked about how these two books were instruction manuals for retur...

Hey readers! My book is finally 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! In case you think it is a necessary requirement for godly parents to produce godly children, I'd like to turn your attention to the life of Hezekiah. While his father Ahaz was perhaps one of the worst kings in Judah's history, ending his reign by shutting down the temple after giving it's gold to foreign nations for protection, Hezekiah was unlike his father in every single way.  2 Chronicles 29:3–5 (ESV) In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them. 4 He brought in the priests and the Levites and assembled them in the square on the east 5 and said to them, “Hear me, Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, and consecrate the house of the LORD, the God of your fathers, and carry out th...

God has no grandchildren. That's a common refrain of preachers. The idea is that every person is accountable to God for themselves. And that no person can bank on the righteousness of their parents to enter the kingdom of heaven. Consider the lineage of kings from Jotham through Hezekiah in 2 Chronicles. Jotham was a righteous king with a wicked son named Ahaz. Ahaz was a wicked king who had a righteous son named Hezekiah. The reality is, faith is as righteousness is, a personal issue.  And so we turn the page to Ahaz's story. A story that shows the love of God at work in His judgment and discipline of those who are His. 2 Chronicles 28:1–4 (ESV) Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as his father David had done, 2 but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He even made metal images for the Baals, 3 and he made offerings in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom and...

Hey readers! My book is finally 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! So we have discussed the successive failures of Judah's kings due to their pride in the previous post. Uzziah was the arch-type of that succession living out his days as a Leper, isolated and separated from the people due to his arrogant attitude regarding the altar of incense. His son, Jotham, however, would be a definitive break in the repetition of failing kings, serving the Lord properly for the duration of his reign.  2 Chronicles 27:1–2 (ESV) Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD according to all that his father Uzziah had done, except he did not enter the temple of the LORD. But the p...

Can we have a real discussion about the most serious sin in the world? I'm talking about pride. For all the clamor about murder, hatred, racism, abortion, adultery, homosexuality, and others, it is very theologically sound to suggest that at the root of all other sins is the sin of pride. And yet pride is often the least talked about sin in the pulpits of today's church. Why is that? Could it be we have been successfully blinded by the god of this world who was cast out of heaven because this same sin was the root of his self-centered ambition? (see Isaiah 14:13-17).  We have seen two successive Kings in Judah watch their reigns start wonderfully and end despicably because of the sin of pride. Now it happens to Uzziah. All three of these men (Joash and Amaziah are the other two) initially set out to seek God and were tremendously blessed for doing so. This leads us to the simple conclusion that God longs to bless us in spite of where we came from or who raised us.  We begin lo...

2 Chronicles 25:1–2 (ESV) Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, yet not with a whole heart. The story of Amaziah would seem a mystery. He sets out to develop Judah's army. Then he goes so far as to enlist men from Israel to join and succeeds by securing 100,000 men from Ephraim to join his army. It is then the prophet speaks: 2 Chronicles 25:7–8 (ESV) But a man of God came to him and said, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the LORD is not with Israel, with all these Ephraimites. 8 But go, act, be strong for the battle. Why should you suppose that God will cast you down before the enemy? For God has power to help or to cast down.” Amaziah is concerned about the money he already paid these mercenaries. And the man of God replies with an important truth. 2 Chronicles 25:9 (ESV) And Amaziah said to t...

Church people get funny about money. But the fact is, we are made to give. How do I know? Because we are made in the image of God and He constantly gives and gives and gives. Joash is the boy king saved by Jehoiada and Jehosheba in 2 Chronicles 22-23. Now installed and grown to adulthood in 2 Chronicles 24 he begins the process of restoring the Temple by instructing the Levites to collect from the people the Temple Tax that had become a dormant practice in all Israel by this time. He tells them to quickly act and they hesitate. Then he puts a collection box outside the gate to the Temple and the people step up to give in abundance. 2 Chronicles 24:10–11 (ESV) And all the princes and all the people rejoiced and brought their tax and dropped it into the chest until they had finished. 11 And whenever the chest was brought to the king’s officers by the Levites, when they saw that there was much money in it, the king’s secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the c...

I see in 2 Chronicles 23 a wonderful picture of what it now means to serve Christ as King in a world that is both threatened by and against Him. If we pick up from where chapter 22 leaves off we remember that a woman named Jehoshebeath has hidden one royal son from the wrath of the queen mother Athaliah. And while she reigns and destroys, this son grows and grows. But in chapter 23, the time has come to take a stand and proclaim him (Joash) king.  The instrumental person in this movement is the husband of Jehoshebeath, Jehoiada, the priest. The question we should ask is how Jehoiada was able to take such steps to follow the King no one saw. For in answering this question, we find our way forward in faith today. First, it took courage .  2 Chronicles 23:1 (ESV)  But in the seventh year Jehoiada took courage and entered into a covenant with the commanders of hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, Azariah the son of Obed, Maaseiah the son of Ada...

Hey readers! My book is finally out!  Get a copy and tell me what you think! On to today's post: Please pick another sin. I'm talking to the Christians who are considering marrying a non-believer because they are convinced they can "save them" or they can "work it out" or it "won't be that bad because we love each other so much." Please, pick another sin to commit. I beg you. Why? Because every instance of a believer married to a non-believer that I've seen was met with the disastrous effects of light having no fellowship with darkness (see 2 Corinthians 6:14).  Jehoram was a forgettable king and his son Ahaziah was even worse. But what was the root of all these issues? Jehoram married the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel: 2 Chronicles 22:2–3 (ESV) Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah , the granddaughter of Omri . 3 He also walked in the ways of the hou...

Hey readers! My book is finally out!  Get a copy and tell me what you think! Remember the last act of Jehoshaphat?  2 Chronicles 20:35 (ESV) After this Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined with Ahaziah king of Israel, who acted wickedly. It's one verse that outlines a horrible moment for this once inspirational servant of God. He enters into partnership with the Northern Kingdom's heinous king Ahaziah - son of Ahab. These actions leave an indelible mark on his son.  2 Chronicles 21:1 (ESV) Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Jehoram his son reigned in his place. For as righteous and committed to God Jehoshaphat was in his early and middle-aged life, his later years proved troubling for his son who would take his place. Jehoram goes down as Judah's most uncelebrated king because of his wickedness and rage. Look at what happens. 2 Chronicles 21:2–3 (ESV) He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zecha...