2 Chronicles 32 - Siege Defeated

The attack on Jerusalem  now takes place, which is also recorded in some depth in 2 Kings and Isaiah. Now it might seem unfair that Hezekiah has done so much good and then gets "rewarded" by this onslaught from the nation of Assyria. However, there is another way to look at it. All the reforms that Hezekiah had made meant that Jerusalem was able to withstand the attack, and the most important reason they were able to see off the Assyrians was that God was for them. If they had continued in their idolatrous ways they would undoubtedly have been defeated. The same applies to our lives. When we walk in faith and obedience we prepare ourselves to withstand anything.

Hezekiah reacted at first by blocking off the supply of water that the besieging army could use. He also built up the defences of Jerusalem. He also encouraged the people to put their trust in the Lord. 

We then get a rather condensed account of the siege and defeat of Assyria. The writer of Chronicles is focusing on the how Hezekiah's dedication to the Lord was the determining factor. So Hezekiah was and Jerusalem were saved and the nation was highly regarded by all the nations. There is a clear message here to those who had returned to Jerusalem.

The chapter closes with Hezekiah's downfall. Pride again took hold of a godly man. All of us need to beware of pride, especially when we have enjoyed success. Even so, Hezekiah gets quite a favourable write-up.

2 Chronicles 31 - Tithing, the joy of giving

After this the people went into the towns and villages destroying all the idols and high places.

The priests were then organised with three main functions: to make offerings and serve, to give thanks and to sing praises. Hezekiah did not just issue orders but made his own contributions to the worship.  He also ensured that the money that was due to the Levites was given to them. Churches should ensure that their ministers and pastors are properly looked after. They should  not be stinking rich, but it is a disgrace that so often they are not properly remunerated (just to add that I am not a minister or pastor, so this is not self-interest!).

The people freely gave a tithe of everything and there was great rejoicing. This is an example of Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 9:7 about cheerful givers. There is sometimes a lot of debate about whether or not tithing applies today. No it doesn't, we are to give even more! Tithing is a good place to start. Everything in the Old Testament is a shadow of what is found in the New, and in the New it is greater. We have a better sacrifice in Christ, a better High Priest in Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us etc. Likewise, giving should be multiplied. Our God is a giving God and we are to be like Him. It is probably not being too harsh to say that many of those who argue against tithing are arguing for giving less than a tenth.

All the gifts were looked after properly. The church has a solemn responsibility to ensure that it handles money correctly. So the land prospered and Hezekiah prospered.

2 Chronicles 30 - Passover

We now get details on Hezekiah celebrating the Passover. Why does the writer focus so much on the religious aspects of Hezekiah's reign? It is to make the point that the returning nation of Israel needed to get their worship of God right. When faced with such a situation as they were it is so easy to think that we have to get all the practical things sorted out. The truth was that while these things do matter, the most important thing is to get our relationship with the Lord sorted out. We can all apply this to our lives. We need to be right with God.

Hezekiah set in train the plans for a celebration of the Passover, this previously having been impossible due to the shortage of consecrated priests. 

A proclamation was sent throughout the land, and it made clear the reasons for the Passover, and in interpretation of past events. They needed to return to the Lord so that He would return to them. The nation was nothing if it did not live under God's blessing. This would even lead to further captives being set free. When we turn to God all sorts of things start happening.

The hand of the Lord was on the messengers to give them a favourable reception. The remnants of idol worship were cast away. Remember in the account of the Assyrian siege the army commander berates them for getting rid of the altars. 

Verses 18, 19 also set the emphasis on the attitude of heart. So the celebration ensued and there was great rejoicing.

2 Chronicles 29 - Good leadership

Ahaz was replaced by one of the best kings, Hezekiah. Hezekiah receives most attention of the post-Solomon kings in Chronicles, whereas Josiah is the favourite in Kings. Kings does devote a significant amount of space to Hezekiah, but the emphasis is on the Assyrian conflict. There is very little direct overlap between the material in Chronicles and Kings. In Chronicles the emphasis is on his religious reforms, this being the primary concern of the writer of Chronicles. Note how David is called his father. Now David is many generations back, so this teaches us something about the way the term "father" is used in the Old Testament. 

Right from the start Hezekiah set about repairing the temple. He did this by setting the Levites to work, ie he followed the teaching of the Law, giving the task to those who had been appointed by God to that task. They had to clean out the defilement, and to replace it with the good stuff. Note also that although the Levites were appointed and anointed, it needed leadership to set them in the right direction. In our churches we need to recognise the gifts and ministries that God has given to various people, and we need to set them off in the right direction. 

Hezekiah understood the true reasons why the nation and the people had suffered. People will have many explanations, but most of them will miss the real issue. So Hezekiah sought to put things right by making a covenant with the Lord. He knew the source of the problem, their sin, and the only One who could provide the answer.

After the temple had been sorted out a great celebration, involving sacrifice, took place.

They celebrated with gladness. Note also that it is God who brought all this about (v36) and things were turned around quickly. When a people repent and believe situations can be turned around remarkably quickly. 

2 Chronicles 28 - Turning away from God

After a series of reasonable or good kings we come to a bad one, Ahaz. Now this following of other religions is not some quaint thing, but something that is utterly evil. He worshipped idols and this involved the sacrifice of children. We should also note that God had driven these people out of the land. Many people object to the instructions in Joshua to drive out all the inhabitants of the Promised Land, killing them as well. Some of these things are difficult to come to terms with, but we need to be aware that at least part of the reason was to rid the land of detestable practices, practices which harmed and destroyed peoples' lives. Choosing to worship another god is not a matter of personal choice but a matter of rebellion against the Lord and an act that will lead to all sorts of evil consequences. We may think this idol worship, and especially child sacrifice, has nothing to do with us any more, but consider this, close to 200 000 children are aborted each year in the UK, and this is just one country. Millions of children have been aborted, and for the vast majority it has not been because of foetal abnormalities. Should this not at least make us think?

So Judah was delivered into the hands of the Arameans. Israel too was given victories over Judah. The most important thing we can do is worship the Lord and obey Him. 

Israel committed some atrocities as well. In any act part of it can be the will of God, part of it can be our disobedience. God sent a prophet to the returning army telling them not make slaves of the people of Judah and they followed the prophets command.

Instead of repenting, Ahaz sought help from Assyria. When we get in trouble we should always seek the Lord. Instead, Ahaz just increased his idol worship, and all that went with it. As our society turns away from God and encounters all sorts of problems it just rushed with even greater haste into godlessness. The consequences do not bear thinking about.

2 Chronicles 27 - On whose terms?

Jotham came next and he was another reasonable king, and avoided the sin of Uzziah of thinking he could enter the temple of the Lord how he likes. In fact Uzziah's sin is repeated many times today. Listen to the arguments of atheists. They will often object that it is unfair that Christ is the only way to God, or to some other requirement of the Lord. What they are doing is saying that we should be free to choose how we approach God. We have got things the wrong way round here, it is God who decides how we approach Him, not the other way. Imagine if you wanted to see the Queen or the President. First the Queen would decide whether or not she wanted to see you, and if she did, she would set the terms. So it is with God.

While Jotham was reasonable, the people were not, continuing in their corrupt ways. Nevertheless, the rebuilding work continued. 

Jotham also had some success against the Ammonites. Chronicles explicitly puts Jotham's increase in power down to his commitment to the Lord. Jotham died and was succeeded by Ahaz.

2 Chronicles 26 - We need character to handle success

Uzziah was the next king. His father was Amaziah and the people made him king. He had a very long reign, fifty two years. The fact that his mother was from Jerusalem, rather than Israel, is noted and is significant, pointing to less influence from the Northern kingdom. He was generally a good king and as long as he sought the Lord God granted him success. We need to realise that there is a very close relationship between seeking the Lord and success. 

His successes included defeating the Philistines and extending the territory. He was a man of soil and developed the agriculture of Judah. He also had a substantial army and developed the weapons that they had at their disposal. 

However, all this success was his downfall for as his power grew so did his pride. You see, we think that we need is success, but this is not true. For if we have success without character then success will lead to pride, and pride will lead to destruction. What we need is character. Then we can handle success. Like Saul, Uzziah took up priestly duties that he was not qualified to carry out, going into the temple to offer incense. The priests went and warned him. Instead of repenting Uzziah acted with anger. If we do not have a humble character we start thinking we have the right to do anything. The Lord then afflicted Uzziah with leprosy, this made him unclean and was probably sent by the Lord to demonstrate to him beyond all doubt that he had no right to be in the inner temple. 

The priests ushered him out of the temple and he lived in seclusion for the rest of his days, not now allowed into any parts of the temple. Jotham, his son, governed on his behalf and eventually succeeded him as king.

2 Chronicles 25 - Amaziah

Amaziah came next and he was quite a good king, but not great (v 2). He took control of the kingdom and executed (literally) judgement on those who had killed his father, but he did so within the limits of the Law (Deut 24:16), he did not seek vengeance for its own sake.

He then assembled together an army and equipped them. He had also hired men from Israel, but a prophet warned him not to do so, for Israel was living in complete disobedience to God. The key point is that it is the Lord who gives victory. This is not to say that planning and skill do not matter, we should plan, we should work hard, but in all things we need to be always aware that it is the Lord who gives victory.

Amaziah is concerned about the money he has paid. Nothing changes! The prophet reminds him that the Lord can return much more than that. Sometimes admitting a mistake and correcting it will involve cost, in financial or some other form. We should not let this deter us from putting things right. Money, in particular, is not as important as we think it is. So Amaziah fired the Israelites, much to their anger. We should not needlessly offend people, but sometimes our following the Lord will offend people. 

Amaziah then duly won the victory. However, the disaffected Israelites exacted some revenge on Judah. While the Lord will forgive our sins and mistakes it is better not to make the mistakes or commit the sins in the first place. 

Amaziah's failings then really came to the fore. He brought back some of the idols of the people he had conquered and set them up as his own gods. How stupid can we be? He had just defeated this people, and it was clear that the Lord had given them the victory, so why did he want to worship their useless gods? Our capacity for stupidity knows few limits.

God sent a prophet to Amaziah, but Amaziah's heart was now hardened and he threatened the prophet. He then sought to start a war with Israel. Quite what this was supposed to achieve is not clear, and Jehoash was not that keen on the idea. However, war ensued and Amaziah was defeated. 

Eventually Amaziah was killed  by conspirators.

2 Chronicles 24 - Joash the good and the bad

Joash was one of the best kings that Judah had. His reign was associated with Jehoiada the priest. Today civil government disdains religious advice and seeks to distance the church. This is a serious mistake and society will suffer for it. Joash went about restoring the temple, collecting money from the people to enable it to happen. Arrangements were made to collect the money. The church tends to be rather poor at dealing with money, with all sorts of errors. Some of the bigger established churches have some rather doubtful investments and practices. There are scandals associated with some types of prosperity teaching, along with all sorts of individual sins. We tend to fight shy of dealing with money. This is not the answer, the answer is to handle money properly. We need to have the right attitude towards money, and this needs to go together with sensible financial arrangements. 

Skilled workers who served diligently progressed the work. We need the right attitude and good organisation.

After the priest Jehoiada died things started to go awry. It seems from verse 17 that Joash was flattered and led astray to worship idols, this brought the judgement of God upon the nation. 

God spoke through Jehoiada's son, but the people did not listen. Joash even killed Jehoiada's son. It is tragic to see the downfall. So Judah suffered at the hands of Aram and Joash died. 

2 Chronicles 22,23 - Overthrow of bad rulers

Ahaziah, the youngest son of Jehoram, became king, all of his brothers having been killed. He did not have good parentage, his mother being a granddaughter of Omri (and also the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel). Encouraged by his mother, Ahaziah followed in the ways of Ahab. He joined with Joram, king of Israel, in fighting against Hazael king of Aram. The text makes it clear that God brought about Ahaziah's downfall. He was killed by Jehu who was executing judgement on God's behalf.

Athaliah, Ahaziah's mother went on a murderous spree, but  Jehosheba managed to keep Joash safe. Joash was kept in the temple while Athaliah reigned.

Jehoida was a priest and the husband of Jehosheba. He engineered the downfall of Athaliah. He gathered priests and family leaders to come before the Lord. First he organised them to protect Joash, who was to be king. Then they proclaimed Joash as king. There was nothing Athaliah could do about it and she was put to death. 

Next the people went and tore down the temple of Baal. The removal of Athaliah and the introduction of Godly rule brought peace to the city. The writer is making the point that there are times when godless rule needs to be overturned, and that things can change.

2 Chronicles 21 - Jehoram

Jehoram, the first born son of Jehoshaphat, was the next king of Judah. Jehoram put all his brothers to death, a detail not reported in Kings. He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, so this spelt disaster for Judah. He also married into Ahab's family. However, because of God's covenant with David the kingdom was allowed to stand for a while. 

Edom rebelled against Judah. When a people desert the Lord they will find that enemies who were previously subdued become active again. Libnah also revolted, and Jehoram had reconstituted the high places, leading the nation astray. It is sad how little the people learnt. Jehoram should have learnt the positive lessons from his father's reign, but had failed to do so.

A letter from Elijah pronounces judgement on Jehoram for deserting the ways of his fathers, following the ways of Israel, and killing his brothers. So his whole household would suffer and he himself would die a lingering death. 

There were more revolts against Judah and the prophecies were fulfilled. Jehoram died and he was not missed.

2 Chronicles 19,20 - Good leadership and repeated human failings

Jehoshaphat returns and is rebuked by a prophet, Jehu. He should not have gone to war with Ahab for Ahab was a wicked king. As a result judgement would come upon him.

Notice how Jehoshaphat reacts. He organises things so that people were instructed in how to follow the Lord. He also appointed judges. Now there is a very important point about the judges here and something that we as leaders, whether in churches of civic life, need to get a hold of. They were exercising judgement on behalf of the Lord. Now this can be so easily be taken wrongly, thinking it bestows some privilege upon them. This is precisely the wrong thing to do, it bestowed a responsibility upon them. They were not judging on their own behalf, or even on behalf of the people, but on the Lord's behalf. In the same way if we have a position of leadership we have a responsibility first of all to the Lord and are servants of the people. 

All leaders will have to answer to God for what they do. The priests were further organised to administer the Lord's justice.

An attack was then imminent from the Moabites and Ammonites. Jehoshaphat reacted in the right way, he turned to the Lord and led the people in a fast. Remember that he is doing all this after having been rebuked by the Lord, he does not respond by going in a huff. 

So Jehoshaphat led all the people in turning to the Lord for help.

The Lord uses a prophet to speak to Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat urged the people to have faith and made a praise a key part of the battle plan. So victory ensued.

Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah, yet right at the end he repeated his Ahab mistake, making an alliance with Azariah of Israel. Accordingly he received another rebuke from a prophet. We see the weakness of human nature here. Even such a good king as Jehoshaphat had repeated human failings.

2 Chronicles 17,18 - Good rule, and the downfall of a bad king

Asa was followed by another good king, Jehoshaphat. He strengthened the fortified cities but more importantly, he sought the Lord rather than seeking after false gods, such as the Baals. Note that he also followed the Lord's commands. As the old hymn says, we need to trust and obey. The result of this was that the Lord established the kingdom in Jehoshaphat's hands. We need to keep in mind the Lord's active involvement in the world.

After this he sent out teachers into all the land to instruct the people in the Book of the Law. Despite what the secularists say, it is good to teach a nation how to obey the ways of the Lord. This will bring favour on a nation.

This then had an effect on the nations around them. The fear of the Lord fell upon them and they even brought gifts to Judah. Even so, Jehoshaphat still built up the army.

Jehoshaphat then went to see Ahab and Ahab succeeded in getting Jehoshaphat involved in one of his battles. Now Ahab was the worst king that Israel ever had. He wanted to go to war and Jehoshaphat urged him to consult the Lord. So first of all Ahab consulted his tame prophets who told him what he wanted to hear. Then, after Jehoshaphat's urging, he sought Micaiah, whom he didn't like because he told the truth. Note that one of the false prophets, Zedekiah, makes a big show of his false prophecy (18:10). We need to be careful today with "showy prophets". The Bible is the guide we are to use to test the veracity of any prophecies.

Micaiah, after an initial couldn't care less attitude, gives Ahab the truth. Now see that even though he heard the truth Ahab went to war anyway. He believed he could get round the word of God by his trickery. It also says that God caused Ahab to be deceived. So we at work the will of God, evil spirits, and the heart of man. All three are involved. We so often want to take a one dimensional view of things. Is it God? Is it man? Is it the devil? Sometimes the answer is yes to all three! God's will was being done, namely judgement upon Ahab. So Ahab died.

Note also that people often say "what about those who have not heard?". Well Ahab did hear and it did him no good. He tried to get round the word of God. 

2 Chronicles 14-16 - Asa, the need to be born again

Asa was the next king and he was a very good one, destroying many of the high places in Judah. Because of this the kingdom had rest. The message is that peace comes when we get right with God. Asa acknowledged that it was their turning to God that was the key to the peace they were enjoying. At the same time he fortified various parts of the land.

This was just as well for Judah as they were about to face an attack from Zerah and a million man army. Asa put his trust in the Lord, and so the Lord defeated Zerah. The Judean army completely defeated Zerah and plundered the towns around Gerar.

The emphasis of the writer of Chronicles is on the religious aspect and this is brought out most clearly in Chapter 15 where he focuses on Asa's religious reforms. Azariah, a prophet, came to Asa and gave him God's word, reminding him that victory came only because he had trusted in the Lord.

Asa took these words to heart and it encouraged him to engage in even more reforms of the land, ridding the place of as many idols as possible.

Then he led the whole nation in making a commitment to follow the Lord. He even deposed his mother! However, the clearance was not perfect for there were still some high places left.

Then Israel, under Baasha, attacked and Asa made a deal with Syria. Syria did help, but then Asa received a rebuke from a prophet. He should have learnt from the victories that the Lord was enough and turned to Him, not to the king of Syria. Asa reacted badly, imprisoning the prophet and inflicting suffering on the people. When rulers turn from God the people will suffer. 

In fact it is a very sad end to Asa's life. He became ill but even then did not seek the Lord. The lesson of all this is the utter corruption of the human heart. We need to be born again!

2 Chronicles 12,13 - Rehoboam and Abijah

We now read of an attack on Jerusalem from Shishak of Egypt. The writer makes it abundantly clear that the reason for the attack is that the nation had been unfaithful to the Lord, abandoning the Law. This was despite having strengthened his kingdom, both militarily and politically. The clear message is that if we do not honour the Lord it does not matter what else we do, we will not succeed. 

Shishak got as far as Jerusalem. Then God sent a prophet to Rehoboam. Note that kings are subject to prophets. In our human structures we establish hierarchies. Things go wrong when those at the top of these hierarchies forget that all of us are subject to God's word. 

The king reacted by repenting and so God decided to deliver the nation, though we are not given details here of the deliverance. However, though there was some good in Judah (v12), Rehoboam was, overall, a bad king (v14).

Rehoboam was succeeded by Abijah. War with Jeroboam continued. Abijah sought to claim the promises that the Lord had made to Israel about David always having a descendant upon the throne. Abijah also claimed to be relying upon the Lord and that God was on his side. God did indeed intervene on Judah's behalf and Israel was defeated. So Jerboam was struck down by the Lord and died. Abijah grew in strength and had several wives.

2 Chronicles 11:5-23 - Judah

Rehoboam fortifies various towns in Judah. Interestingly these were on south, west and eastern borders, but not the north, perhaps reflecting a hope of unity with the northern kingdom. Also, this is not recorded in Kings. The writer is stressing the need to strengthen the whole nation.

Verses 13-17 are also unique to Chronicles, stressing the dedication of the Levites to the work of the temple. The idol worship of Jeroboam is also mentioned.

So the building of the kingdom had the temple at its centre and from that a building and strengthening of the rest of the nation. In the day of Chronicles there may have been some who asked why they needed to bother with the temple. It is vital that we focus on building the temple in our own lives.

Rehoboam's family details is perhaps presented as a reward for his faithfulness. However, having many wives and concubines never worked out well in the Old Testament. It was not part of God's original plan in Genesis, and the ideal of one wife had been returned to by New Testament times.

Rehoboam used his family to establish his reign throughout the nation.

2 Chronicles 11:1-4 - A word from a prophet

Rehoboam's initial reaction was to try and regain the kingdom. He was left with the tribes of Judah and Benjamin and gathered together a large fighting force. However, the Lord sent word by a prophet to him telling him that the division of the kingdom was God's doing and that he should not fight against Israel, so they desisted.

There are several important lessons to be learnt here. The first is that God's plans do not work out in the way we expect. Splitting the kingdom is not how you would guess God's plans would be fulfilled, but it was God's doing. At the same time, God's goal, as is made clear in later prophecies (e.g. Ezekiel) is a united kingdom. We need to distinguish between believing what God's destination is, and thinking we know how He will get us there. 

Then there is the cessationists' seeming assumption that all prophecy is canonical. This was a word from a prophet, but clearly only had direct relevance for this specific situation. Throughout the Bible, from beginning to end, God has spoken to individuals and to nations about specific circumstances. There is no reason to believe that He has changed His ways.

Finally, we look at our circumstances very much in the now. We do need to live now, not forever looking back at the past, nor fearing the future, but we also need to recognise that our now is part of a much bigger picture.

2 Chronicles 10 - Choosing foolish advice

We now read of how the kingdom came to be divided. The reasons for the division of the kingdom can be looked at on two levels. The immediate reason is the events described here. Rehoboam was given two conflicting bits of advice. One was to go easy on the people. They had endured much in building the temple and palace, now they needed a break. The other was to be even tougher on the people. The elders suggested the "go easy" advice, and were much wiser. This would have won the hearts of the people and enabled Rehoboam to rule over the whole kingdom. The young men gave the foolish advice. Rehoboam chose the foolish advice and the nation rebelled against him.

The other reason is the culmination of the sins of Solomon. When we encounter a difficult situation of some sort the matter can often be looked at from two angles, the immediate cause and the underlying cause. We need to be aware of both.

The writer of Chronicles has said little about Solomon's failings, so his emphasis can be taken to be on the immediate cause. So perhaps his purpose was to say that while much rebuilding needed to be done it was important not to place too heavy a burden on the people.

We may think the advice of the young companions of the king was ridiculously stupid, but look around you. Organisation after organisation, company after company, seeks to impose ever harsher conditions on its workers. This is actually foolish, not macho. In fact it is a Biblical principle that we should not seek to squeeze the last drop of efficiency out of people or natural resources.

2 Chronicles 9 - the wealth of the nations

The Queen of Sheba came to test Solomon. When Jesus was on the earth all sorts of people came to test Him with questions, today the world is always trying to test the church. 

She also brought much wealth to Solomon. Isaiah, in particular, speaks of the world bringing its wealth to the kingdom, eg Isaiah 60:5. Solomon and the Queen of Sheba is a partial fulfilment of this. The word partial is vital here, for we know that the wealth, and his many wives, were part of Solomon's downfall, but it demonstrates that the prophecies in Isaiah and elsewhere really will be fulfilled.

The Queen of Sheba was mightily impressed. She also recognised (or at least said) that it was because of the Lord's that this blessing had come. There will come a day when the world will see who Christ really is and what He has done for His people. This may be the millennial kingdom, but that is speculation. Solomon blessed the Queen of Sheba as well.

We then get a record of all Solomon's wealth and resources. We then read of Solomon's death. There is no note here of his sins. This is not because the writer is trying to pull the wool over our eyes, but because he is painting a picture. Solomon most definitely was not the fulfilment of God's promises, but he was a "type". In Solomon God demonstrated some aspects of His kingdom, and shows that His kingdom is real. The prophecies are not just nice words, but are what will actually happen.

2 Chronicles 8 - More of Solomon's activities

As well as building the temple and palace, Solomon also rebuilt various villages and settled Israelites there (resettlement is nothing new!). This would be relevant to the people of the time of the writing of Chronicles. Some may have thought that it was all well and good sorting out the temple, but ordinary people needed homes too.

In Solomon's time there were still various other people in the land. Again at the time of Chronicles Israel would probably have an even greater mix as a result of the various invasions and settlements. Solomon conscripted these people, but not the Israelites themselves.

It seems that Solomon had built a separate palace for Pharaoh's daughter one of his (many) wives. There is a curious mix here. He does not want her to live in the places the ark has been to, yet is still happy to have married a non-Jew. This mix is a very human trait, we will be fastidious over things that are of minor importance and use this as some way of salving our conscience over some much bigger sin.

Sacrifices and festivals were held in accordance with the Law.

2 Chronicles 7 -The Lord responds

After he had finished praying fire came down from heaven. Fire is often a sign of God's presence. Elijah brought down fire. John the Baptist said that Jesus would baptise with fire. Not surprisingly the people all found this very dramatic and bowed down to the Lord. They worshipped and gave thanks. While it is true that there should be order in worship, we also need to be open to the unexpected. Sometimes God will make His presence known in a deeper way than normal. 

Many sacrifices were offered to the Lord. There was also great worship of the Lord.

The whole festival went on for seven days. After that the people went home "joyful and glad of heart". Sometimes there are special worship services or prayer meetings, or some other event, and we feel especially close to God. But afterwards we go home, we are to take the joy and peace to our homes, to our everyday lives.

After Solomon had completed the temple and his palace the Lord appeared to him. For all of us there is the public office, and there is the private times. God will meet with us in the private times. The message from God is both gloomy and hopeful. There is a recognition that the people will sin and suffer the consequences, but there is also the promise that if they repent and turn to the Lord He will heal them. 

It is noteworthy that God says that "this is a temple for sacrifices". It is the sacrifice of Jesus that opens the way to the Father for us. It is because of His blood that we can be confident that our prayers will be answered.

Finally there is a warning of what will happen if Solomon and his successors turn away from God and to idols. Disaster would come upon the nation, and this is indeed what happened.

2 Chronicles 6 - Dedication

Solomon now makes a declaration to the people and a prayer of dedication to the Lord.

The temple was a place for God to "dwell for ever", though later it becomes apparent that Solomon realised that this temple of stone could not contain God. Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, and God will dwell with us forever. The Old Testament gives lots of details on keeping the temple holy, and maybe we get rather bored reading all about these things. However, it should teach us to take good care of our bodies (above all spiritually, but also physically) for we are temples of the Holy Spirit.

Solomon then reminds the people of David's desire to build a temple and God's response to him. Now that promise has been fulfilled.

Solomon then prays to the Lord. There are two key features of the prayer. The first is the recognition that God cannot dwell in a temple built by human hands (v18). The temple is only a shadow. The second is the problem of sin and the need for mercy. In a sense this is the great theme running throughout the Bible. God wants to bless mankind beyond measure, but our sin gets in the way. It is in Christ that this dilemma is dealt with. 

The prayer is both practical and forward looking. People will sin, and for society to work at all there needs to be proper judgement on sin. When a society stops judging sin it is heading for collapse. Then he calls on God to be merciful when the people repent of their sin.

Solomon also calls on the Lord to hear the prayer of the foreigner who turns to the Lord (32, 33).

Note the recognition that sin is serious and deserved God's wrath. Any concept of God or presentation of the Bible that ignores this is seriously in error.

2 Chronicles 3-5 - Temple building

Verse 1 is the only place in the Bible where Mount Moriah is identified with Mount Zion, Mount Moriah is where Abraham was to go to sacrifice Isaac. 

We then get some of details of the temple and a description of the gold used.

Cherubs were used to decorate the Most Holy Place. There is an interesting article on cherubs here. They were guardians of paradise and protective bearer's of the throne of God. The use of "decorative cherubim" is a further indication that the physical temple was but a shadow of the real thing. Cherubs are most definitely not "sweet" creatures!

In Chapter 4 we move onto the temple furnishings. The sea that surrounded the temple signifies cleansing. In Ezekiel's vision a river of life flowed from the temple (Ez 47:1-12).

Finally the ark is brought to the temple. David had brought the ark back to Jerusalem, now it was to be placed in the temple. This was done with great care, the key tasks assigned to the Levites, and many sacrifices were made. Why so many sacrifices? Because of the holiness of the ark and inherent unworthiness of the people. The only way we can approach the Lord is through the blood of Jesus. 

Earlier the ark had contained Aaron's rod and a jar of manna, it seems from verse 10 that these had been lost, maybe during the time it was captured by the Philistines.

The priests sang "He is good, His love endures for ever". The glory of the Lord then visibly filled the temple, and the priests could no longer perform their duties. 

2 Chronicles 2 - Outside help to build the temple

The temple was built for the name of the Lord,  at the same time Solomon built a palace for himself. We need to be very careful when we "construct" something for ourselves alongside doing work for the Lord. We will very easily slip into devoting ever more time and resources to ourselves and less and less to the Lord, and we will convince ourselves we are doing it all for the Lord.

Solomon sent a message to Hiram of Tyre "inviting" him to donate cedar for the building of the temple. He also asked Hiram to send skilled workers. Solomon had great plans for the temple and needed help from outside Israel.

Now remember the situation at the time Chronicles was written, they had returned from exile and needed to rebuild. They also needed help from outside nations, indeed Nehemiah had been sent with a decree. Now some may have felt uneasy about accepting help from other nations. Here the writer is showing that the first temple was built with outside help.

Hiram gladly agrees to help out. The labourers who built the temple and palace were predominantly foreign labour.

2 Chronicles 1 - Solomon becomes king

The writer of Chronicles focuses on the temple building aspects of Solomon's reign. Solomon's kingdom was established and it was the Lord who made him great.

Chronicles stresses that Solomon spoke to all the people and had the support of all the people. The plans for building the temple started from the tent of meeting that Moses had set up, ie it was building on the plans that God had. Many offerings were made to the Lord as well. High places generally have a bad press in the Bible, so the writer is seeking to justify Solomon going to the high place.

Then the Lord appears to Solomon and tells him to ask for whatever he wants. As we know, Solomon asks for wisdom. God is pleased with this and promises him wealth and possessions as well. The church has long had problems with wealth, it swings from a poverty mentality to the errors of much prosperity teaching. There are many excesses in history, both in established churches, like the Roman Catholic church, and many individuals. However, God did grant Solomon great wealth. The wealth is not the problem, the problem is the human heart. If Solomon had maintained the right heart attitude the wealth would not have been the snare to him that it became.

Solomon's throne was established and he built up a powerful army.

Habakkuk 3 - Triumphing in the midst of difficulties

Now we get a prayer of Habakkuk and it is a prayer of faith. How did he get to this position of faith? By communicating with God, by being open and honest with God about his feelings, and his willingness to learn from God. There are two key mistakes we can make in the area of feelings and opinions. One is to ignore and reject our feelings, pretend we don't have them, or consider them of no importance. The other is to make them into a god, demanding that God, and everyone else, bow down to our feelings and opinions. Habakkuk shows us the godly way. 
Habakkuk starts by praising God and then calling on Him to do great deeds in his day. He acknowledges God's wrath, but also calls on Him to remember mercy. Then he recalls earlier actions of God in very vivid and poetic language. Verses 3-15 are largely alluding to what God did in bringing Israel out of Egypt.
Then we come to some verses that well-known in verses 16-19. Sometimes we seem to misapply these verses. We interpret them as if Habakkuk is saying, "life is rotten, but I will praise God anyway". This is not what he is saying. It is more the case that he is saying, "I cannot see the deliverance of God around me, but I know that it will come, therefore in the midst of this situation I will rejoice in the Lord". 
Note also in verse 19 his declaration that God is his strength and makes his feet like those of a deer. In the midst of this situation Habakkuk will still triumph, he will live a Spirit filled life in the midst of the difficulties. Let us adopt the same approach. Even if we are living in the midst of difficulties right now, may we live a Christ centred, Spirit filled life.

Habakkuk 2:2-20 - The righteous will live by faith

The Lord replies to Habakkuk's second complaint and tells him to write it down. What God is about to say would not happen immediately, but it would happen. And it is to be made plain, and it is to be declared. Though it would take some time to come about, the revelation would come to pass, it would happen, and it would happen at just the right time. One of the hardest things about being a Christian is getting used to God's timing! From our perspective He often does things too soon or too late, in reality it is always at just the right time.

"He" in verse 4 is the Babylonians, they were a proud and boastful people, and unrighteous with it. For a long time he would seem to succeed. So what are the righteous to do in the meantime? Live by faith, or faithfulness. Both are true. When the outworking of God's plans are not clear to us, we need to live by faith, knowing that in the end it is His will that will prevail. At the same time, even if the world around us is living unrighteously, we are to live righteously.

Babylon was an utterly evil nation, but she would suffer judgement because of it. The final judgement is actually good news, because otherwise it would mean that evil would go unpunished.

The Babylonians had idols that they worshipped, they also carried them about. Now we might think this was just silly, but in the context of the time it would add to the terrifying effect of the nation. But Habakkuk mocks the Babylonian idol worship.

One day all the earth will be silent before the Lord.

Habakkuk 1:12-2:1 - Complaint No 2

So God's answer to Habakkuk's first complaint was that Babylon was going to destroy the place. Not surprisingly this didn't exactly set Habakkuk's mind at rest. So far all God has said is that the Babylonian's will be raised up. 

Habakkuk reminds God that He is a God of justice, asking why He tolerates sin. More than that, the righteous perish. The Bible is not afraid to face head on the issue of why there are many times when the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer. How long must the wicked prosper, worshipping false gods while they are at it?

However, these questions are not questions of doubt, but questions of faith. Many times people ask "questions" seeking to prove that God does not exist, or to somehow demean faith, seeking to catch God out. Jesus, of course, experienced this many times during His earthly ministry. But, Habakkuk is asking from a different spirit. He knows that God is just and is convinced that God must somehow have things worked out, yet he cannot see it, he cannot reconcile what he knows of God with what he sees going on around him. These are questions of faith and it is right for us to ask them, for then God can reveal more of the truth to us.

This is what was happening here, and Habakkuk waits for the answer.

Habakkuk 1:1-11 - Complaint No 1

Habakkuk was a prophet and he received this prophecy. There were many more prophets than those who have books in the Old Testament. Prophecy included more than the "canonical" prophecies.

The prophecy starts with Habakkuk making a complaint to God. The Bible actually has quite a list of complainers, Moses, David, Jeremiah and Job immediately come to mind. God can handle our complaints, and we do well to take them to Him. 

It seemed to Habakkuk that he called out to God to no effect. Moreover, these were not mere selfish prayers, but prayers about the unrighteous state of the nation. The law (or Law) seems to have no effect, justice is nowhere to be found. How can God allow such a situation to continue?

Then the Lord answers him. God's answer is for Habakkuk to observe the nations and to be utterly amazed. It is not the nations who are in charge or who determine events, but the Lord. We do well to remember that today. We see our societies abandoning the last vestiges of Christian heritage, but God will intervene. 

What God was going to do would be so amazing that Habakkuk would not believe it. God's ways are beyond our comprehension.

Why would Habakkuk not believe it? Because it would involve God raising up Babylon and conquering Israel. Assyria was on the wane at this point and Babylon in the ascendency.

However, while Babylon was God's instrument they were still responsible for their actions. Babylon trusted in her own strength and was ruthless.
So this was God's answer to Habakkuk. Not surprisingly he has a second complaint, which we will look at tomorrow.

Habbakuk - Introduction

Habakkuk was written between the Asyrian and Babylonian invasions, probably during the reign of Jehoiakim's reign (or possibly the end of Joisah's). Joisah had been a very good king, putting many things right in the nation. However, the "revival" was only skin deep, for as soon as Jehoiakim came to the throne the nation descended into apostasy again. The date of the prophecy is usually taken to be about 605 BC.

The prophecy is unique in that Habakkuk does not address the nation itself, rather it is more of a conversation between Habakkuk and the Lord. It consists of two complaints of Habakkuk against God, the Lord's response to these, and then Habakkuk seeing things in faith.

The book reveals something of how God works and how He reveals Himself to us. God uses the thoughts and emotions of our lives to lead us to seek Him, and through these He reveals Himself to us. Now this does not mean we live by our feelings, but knowing God is far more than just an intellectual matter.

In appreciating the prophecy we need to keep in mind the historical context, remembering the things that Habakkuk was seeing going on around him.

Habakkuk 2:4 is famously quoted by Paul in Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11.

Proverbs 31:10-31 - A wife of noble character

This final section is an acrostic poem, ie the verses begin with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The book of Proverbs has in many ways been in praise of wisdom and in this section wisdom is almost personified, and in the character of a woman. 

A wife of noble character is to be greatly prized (and I have found one!). Such a wife will bring great benefit to her husband.

This marvellous woman is hard working, she is a manager, and she makes astute financial decisions.

She is also a generous woman, helping the poor.

She is clothed with strength and dignity and can cope with all sorts of trials.

She speaks wisely and is greatly respected by her family.

Above all else, she fears the Lord. The world presents a superficial view of the "perfect woman", based almost solely on looks, but looks are fleeting, character lasts forever and improves with age!