Ecclesiastes 5 - Having a realistic view of life.

5:1-7

The writer urges us to go to the house of God in order to listen. Likewise we should read the Bible in order to learn from God, rather than to tell God what He should think. There is a call for humility here. We need to learn from God, not the other way around. “Many words mark the speech of a fool”, how true! We need to recognise our position relative to the Lord.

We should also be careful about making vows, and if we do make a vow, we should be quick to fulfil it. An empty vow does not endear us to God. We should fear the Lord.

5:8-12

Injustice should not surprise us. There is a tendency for all officials to look after their own well-being. This is why revolutions usually make things worse. The new rulers are just another bunch of sinners and soon use their new found power for their own ends. In the words of the Who song, "meet the new boss, same as the old boss.” health can be a snare, and the fear of losing it and “permit no sleep”, true peace comes from trusting in the Lord.. “as goods increase, so do those who consume them”. This is a rather pessimistic view of economics, but we see it playing out. Health can increase without an increase in happiness.

5:13-17

Hoarding wealth does not always benefit you, for it can easily be lost. We come into the world with nothing, and leave it with nothing. We need to have a proper view of wealth. Wealth is not eternal.

5:18-20

We should enjoy life knowing that it is for a season only. If we can enjoy our possession, we should accept that as a gift from God.

Ecclesiastes chapter 4 - Better this than that

4:1-3

The world can look a very grim and unjust place, and this is what the writer draws our attention to now. The oppressed are in a very bad place and power seems to be on the side of the oppressor. The TEacher’s conclusion is that the dead are better off than the living, for  they will see no more suffering, better still are those not born, for they will experience no suffering. This is as bleak a view as you can get, but is where life without God leads to.

4:4-6

What about the things we do achieve, much of this is the product of envy. It is said that the financial markets are run by greed and fear. Booms are fuelled by greed, and busts by fear. However, idleness (folding of the hands) is no answer, it leads only to ruin. “Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil.” It is good to work hard, but we should be careful. To chase after something at all costs is foolishness.

4:7-12

It is better to be in partnership than to be alone. Work can be used as a substitute, but never brings contentment. We need to be with others. Life alone is meaningless. Two are better than one” Our rewards are then more satisfying and we can help each other and defend one another. We need each other. As it says in Genesis 2 It is not good for man to be alone.

4:13-16

The old may be wiser  than the young, but not always. Despite his cynicism, the teacher is consistent in believing that wisdom is better than folly. 

Ecclesiastes 3:15-22 - Make the best of life

3:15-21

In a sense there is nothing new under the sun, it can also seem that there is no justice in the world. Without God there is no ultimate justice, but one day He will judge all. In one sense we are like the animals, we are made of the same stuff and we all die, but there is a fundamental difference, we were made in the image of God. Life shows that we are different. But we cannot make sense of that difference without God. We cannot properly understand who we are without bringing God into the picture.

3:22

This verse gives the Teacher’s latest conclusion, we should enjoy our work, we should make the best of things.

Ecclesiastes Chapter 2 (video)

Ecclesiastes Chapter 2

Ecclesiastes 3:1-14 : A time for this

3:1-8

We now come to perhaps the most famous passage in Ecclesiastes, “There is a time for everything ...”. Ecclesiastes can be viewed as being very pessimistic, but I think it is better to view it as being realistic, life without God, a worldview without God is futile. We need to recognise the time we are in. “There is a time for war and a time for peace”. There are some who will never support going to war, but sometimes it is necessary in order to prevent a greater evil. Conversely there are some who seem to delight in war, but war is terrible causing much suffering and destruction, and there is a time for peace.

3:9-14 

“He has set eternity in the human heart”. Man longs for something eternal, something that truly lasts. At heart we all recognise that there is something wrong with the world, that things could be so much better. At the same time there is something beautiful about the world and life,  things are not all bad. Yet without God we cannot make sense of the world. We should appreciate the good things that God gives us, and appreciate them as a gift from God. God has ordered the world so that men will seek Him (Acts 17:27).

Ecclesiastes Chapter 2

2:1-15

“Let us eat and drink,” you say, “for tomorrow we die!” (Is 22:13; 1 Cor 15:32) is presented as a resigned response of a person without faith, the teacher now looks at the approach to life of enjoying it as much as possible, but this too he found to be “meaningless”, or futile. He made a determined effort to cheer himself with wine and embraced folly. I.e. temporal enjoyment was all he concerned himself with.

Having decided that this approach was useless, he went to the opposite extreme, embarking on great projects. (This does sound like Solomon) building houses and gardens for himself. He also got many slaves. So humanly speaking his life was very important, and he did significant things, he acquired many riches, and he even delighted in his work. But at the end of it what had he actually achieved? Wisdom is indeed better than folly, but in the end death meets us all, both the wise and the foolish. For all his hard and wise work will be passed on to another, and that person may take good care of it, or may prove to be a complete fool, and ruin everything, not appreciating the great work.

This section comes to a conclusion,that “a person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?”. So we should make the best of life, but not making an idol out of it.

Ecclesiastes Chapter 1(video) - Everything is meaningless

Ecclesiastes Chapter 1 https://youtu.be/RW8nV0LYTiQ

Ecclesiastes - Introdution (video)

https://youtu.be/1mwIx6Z8iw8`

Ecclesiastes 1:4-18 - Meaningless, life just goes on

1:4-11

 His first observation is that things go on regardless, “Generations come and go”, "the sun rises and the sun sets”, nothing we do affects any of this. The wind keeps blowing, and the rivers flow into the sea, but the sea never fills up ( this is the hydrological cycle). The eye keeps seeing, but never has enough of seeing. Likewise          the ear never has enough of hearing., “there is nothing new under the sun”, “under the sun”, a phrase that recurs, essentially means “this life”. There is never anything genuinely new (except that God does a new thing). People live and die and are then forgotten.

1:12-18

`The Teacher applied his mind to wisdom to see if this could provide an answer, but this proved to be fruitless, yet we have this inbuilt urge to seek to understand.Solomon, or the teachers was a clever and wise man, but his wisdom got him nowhere, it only wore him out.

Ecclesiastes 1:1-3 - The teacher

1:1

Verse 1 is the internal evidence for the book having been written by Solomon, for he was the son of David and was a king. Ortlund is not forgotten. Reasons include that the style of Hebrew indicates a later date, also Solomon is never actually named. However he is not overly dogmatic about the issue.

1:2,3

Verse 2 gives us the famous statement “Meaningless!, Meaningless!” or “vanity of vanities; all is vanity.”. See comments in the Introduction. Verse 3 gives us the issue that the writer grapples with, the apparent pointlessness of it all. Indeed part of his purpose seems to be to prove that making this life the be all and end all of life is not a sensible way to go.

Ecclesiastes - Introduction

Ecclesiastes is an odd book, indeed we may sometimes even wonder why it is in the Bible. For it seems rather negative at times. One approach is to try and treat it as  entirely positive, another is the opposite of this, i.e. to treat it as entirely negative. Neither of these seems right. Perhaps it is better to treat it as how to live in a fallen world, or a warning against finding perfect contentment purely within this world. This world is fallen and things will never be perfect here. The book is sometimes attributed to Solomon,  and there are verses that suggest this is the case, however, we have the character of “the teacher2, Qoheleth in Hebrew who is introduced in the text as the writer. A couple of phrases that recur in the text are “under the sun” and “meaningless” or “vanity”. Perhaps the book warns against making an idol out of things that are good, but become pointless or even dangerous if we make them the ultimate things, e.g. wisdom, pleasure etc. The NIV translates the Hebrew word Hebel as “meaningless”, older translations translate it as “vanity”, the commentary I am using (see below) reckons that the NIV has got it wrong here. The word elsewhere in the OT means “fleeting” or “breath”, implying a fleeting nature.

I am greatly indebted to the following commentary:

The Hodder Bible Commentary: Ecclesiastes - Eric Ortlund (2024).

Ezra 10 - The matter is dealt with

10:1-4

Ezra made quite a show of his repentance, and a large crowd gathered. They too wept bitterly. Shekinah led the people and suggested that they send their foreign wives away and make a promise to the Lord. He encouraged Ezra to lead the people in this way.

10:5-44

Ezra agreed to this and led the people accordingly. Ezra continued fasting. A proclamation was sent out through all Israel calling them to assemble in Jerusalem. There were quite severe penalties for not obeying this call. All the people of Benjamin and Judah gathered. It was raining and all the people were distressed, perhaps having some idea of why they had been summoned.Ezra told the people how they had sinned.The people agreed, except for a few people. We then get a list of all those who had intermarried.

ezra 9:1-15 - wrong relationships

9:1-15

The leaders became aware that the people, even including the priest and the Levites  had taken foreign women as their wives. This was against the Law of Moses, we also see why. The foreign nations followed detestable practices, and would tend to lead the Israelites astray. In response they told Ezra. Ezra was distraught. He was appalled and was supported by other Israelites who feared the Lord. Ezra then prayed to the Lord. Note that he does not go with an attitude of self-righteousness, and refers to “our sins” rather than “their sins”. He repented on behalf of the nation.

Ezra 8 - protection on the return

8:1-36

We now get a list of the family heads who came up with Ezra from Babylon. Ezra organised people so that the temple duties could be carried out properly. Ezra proclaimed a fast for protection on part of the journey, He had told the king that God would protect them, and wanted the name of the Lord to be honoured.

They were indeed protected on their journey

Ezra 7 - The king supports the Law of God

7:1-10

We now get the first mention of Ezra, and various details about him.. The key thing is that he was well versed in the Law of Moses. The journey from Babylon took about four months. We are told that the Lord was with him, and that this was because  he had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord. So he was qualified to be a teacher of the Law.

7:11-28

Ezra had a letter from Artaxerxes. The king was concerned that Ezra should ensure that the people are following the Law properly. He was also to take silver and gold artefacts, and to make proper sacrifices. It is interesting that the pagan king was so keen that the Law of God be properly implemented. The king's attitude encouraged Ezra. We are used to our governments being anti-God, or at best lukewarm.  We should not be afraid to pray for a change of heart in our leaders.

Ezra 6:1-22 - Building work completed

6:1-7

Darius issued an order for the archives to be searched, and it was discovered that Darius had indeed issued a decree. So Tattenai and Shethar-Bozenai and other officials were told to stay away  and not to interfere with the work.The Jews were to be allowed to get on with the work.

6:8-22

Moreover they were to ensure that the JEws were supplied with all that they needed. There were to be severe consequences for disobeying the order. This was a decree of King Darius. The decree was carried out with diligence, So the work carried on, the ministry of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah continued to be important,and the work was completed.The Passover was then completed, and there was great celebration.

Ezra 5:1-17 - The work continues and a letter is sent to King Darius

5:1-17

Haggai and Zechariah are now mentioned. Their prophetic ministries played an important role in the rebuilding work. Zerubbabel and Joshua seem to have led the rebuilding work, and the two prophets supported them. Tattenai and Shethar-Bozenai went to see what was happening, but the work was not stopped. They wrote to King Darius and suggested that a search be made of the archivist to see if indeed Cyrus had decreed the rebuilding work. The Jews had told them that they were doing the work of God, and that Cyrus had decreed it, and had ordered the return of various artefacts.

Ezra Chapter 4 - Opposition and the work comes to a halt

4:1,2

There was opposition to the rebuilding, as Nehemaih also found when he set about rebuilding the walls. So there was opposition to their setting up a place of worship, and to their setting up defences. The enemies adopted subterfuge, pretending to be wanting to help worship the Lord. As Jesus said in Matt 7:21, “not everyone who says Lord, Lord....” We need to beware of those who claim to follow the Lord, but in reality do not.

4:3-8

Zerubbabel and Joshua were wise, and knew that these people were not really followers of the Lord. However, the enemies bribed officials  to frustrate the work. We can expect opposition, and of a harassing nature. When Xerxes succeeded Cyrus they took a more direct approach, lodging an accusation against Judah and Jerusalem.. In the days of Artazerxes they sent him a letter, written in Aramaic.

4:9-16

The letter claimed that the rebuild was part of a rebellious act. Israel has always suffered false accusations, as we have today in the October 7th war. The enemies claimed there would be no more taxes for the king. They urged the king to search the records to see how rebellious Judah was.

4:17-24

The king made a search and seemed to agree that Judah had a troublesome history, so he ordered the work to stop. So the rebuilding work came to a standstill.

Ezra Chapter 3 - rebuilding begins

3:1:1-6

The people first got settled in their towns, then they assembled in Jerusalem. Joshua and Zerubbabel began to build the altar of God. Sacrifices would be offered here in accordance with the Law of Moses. They lived in fear of the surrounding people, but continued to offer the sacrifices. Then they celebrated the festival of Tabernacles. Everything was done in accordance with the Law of Moses. We can perhaps appreciate why, in Jesus’ time, so much importance was attached to the Law of Moses. The temple had not been rebuilt at this stage, indeed work had not even started on it.

3:7-13

After the sacrifices had been put in order, work began on rebuilding the temple. Money was given to the masons and carpenters. Levites were appointed to manage the work. Praise was given to the Lord. All the people gave a great shout when the foundation stone was laid. There were some who remembered the original temple, and the situation was particularly emotional for them, and they wept aloud. There was a lot of noise.

Ezra chapter 2 0 Lists!

2:1-70

We now get back to my favourite lists, in this case lists of returnees, this list parallels that in Neh 7:6-73. There are differences, particularly in the numbers, probably due to copying errors. The “province” is probably Judah. Joshua is the same Joshua as in Hag 1:1. The Nehemiah is  probably not the Nehemiah of the book. “Parosh” in 2:3 means “flea”, it was common for Israelites to be named after insects and animals. From 2:36 onwards the names are grouped by temple function.

Ezra - Chapter 1 - The return

 1:1-4

The beginning of Ezra is almost identical to 2 Chron 36:22,23. The emphasis is that Cyrus’ decree was to fulfil the word of the Lord, the Lord is sovereign over the nations. The decree of Cyrus fulfilled the word given through Jeremiah.  So the Jews were to be allowed to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple, and they were to be provided with silver, gold, goods and livestock for the temple. Cyrus acknowledges who the Lord is.

1:5-7

Not everyone returned, but only those whose hearts God had moved. Their neighbours assisted them in providing them  with various goods. In the time before the exile, and after the defeat, various temple artefacts had been sent to, or taken to, Babylon. Cyrus arranged for these items to be sent back to Jerusalem.

1:8-11

It was common practice for Assyrian and Babylononian conquerors carried off plunder that kept a careful inventory. The list in v9,10 adds up to 2499. V11 refers to 5400 articles, it may be that the list given just includes the larger items.

Ezra - Introduction

Ezra - Introduction

2 Chronicles ends with Cyrus conquering Babylon, Ezra and Nehemiah deal with the return.The two books, Ezra and Nehemiah, were combined into one at an early stage. Indeed the Septuagint treats them as a single book.Origen (AD 185-253) is the first writer to consider them as separate books.. Many consider that the author of Ezra and Nehemiah was also the author of 1 & 2 Chronicles. Indeed the end of 2 Chronicles and the start of Ezra are very similar. Nehemiah is focused on the rebuilding work, while Ezra is more concerned with the religious rebuilding.

The TNIV study Bible lists the major  themes as:

• The restoration of Israel from exile. Sending  them into exile was a sovereign act of God, Babylon could not have defeated Judah unless God was against them. The restoration was also a sovereign act of God.

• The restoration was complete, although there was much work to be done in terms of rebuilding and restoring proper covenant worship.

• The restoration evoked opposition.

• The people needed to be taught, rebuked and corrected.

We can see parallels with Christian salvation. The work of Christ is complete (justification, sending of the Spirit) but there is much corrective work to be done (sanctification). There will be opposition, we need to be  taught rebuked and corrected.

2 Chronicles 36:9-23 - Downfall and return

36:9-14

Jehoiachin reigned for three months, he also did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He was also taken to Babylon and his uncle, Zedekiah was made king. He reigned for eleven years. And did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He ignored the prophet Jeremiah and rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, but he did not turn to the Lord. The priests and people became increasingly unfaithful following the detestable practices of the nations. God’s people are not meant to be like the world.

36:15-23

God gave them plenty of warnings, but they were ignored and ill-treated. So the wrath of God was roused against them. So Babylon attacked and succeeded. The temple was destroyed, and goods and people were carried off to Babylon. The land enjoyed its sabbath rest. In the seventieth year Cyrus defeated Babylon, and the Jews were allowed to return.

2 Chronicles 36:1-8 - Downfall comes closer

36:1-4

Jehoahaz, son of Josiah, was the next king, though he didn’t last long, only three months. The king of Egypt dethroned him and imposed heavy payments on Judah. The brother of Jehoahaz, Eliakim was made king, and Jehoahaz was carried off to Egypt..

36:5-8

Eliakim’s name was changed to Jehoiakim and he reigned for eleven years. “He did evil in the eyes of the Lord”, so Babylon attacked and carried him off to Babylon. The end is nearing. He was succeeded by his son Jehoiachin.

2 Chronicles 35:1-27 Celebration of the Passover and the death of Josiah

35:1-7

The Passover was the most important festival in the Jewish Calendar,and so Josiah celebrated the Passover, sacrificing the Passover Lamb. He appointed the priests, and the Levites were instructed to put the sacred ark into the temple.The Levites were to represent the families of Israel.They were to follow the instructions of David and Moses. The king provided all the Passover lambs from his own possessions.

35:8-19

His officials also contributed voluntarily to the priests and Levites. So the Passover was celebrated in accordance with the Law.There was also worship. All this happened in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign.

35:20-27

Necho, king of Egypt attacked Judah. Josiah marched out to meet him. Josiah was shot by an arrow in the battle and later died. He was buried in the tomb of his ancestors and was greatly  mourned.

2 Chronicles 34 - Josiah the good

34:1-8

Josiah became king at the age of 8 and reigned for thirty one years. Unlike his father “he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord”, not turning to the right or left.In the eighth year of his reign he began to seek the Lord, and in the twelfth year began to purge the country of the high places and idols. He scattered the pieces of the idols over the graves of those who had worshipped the. In the eighteenth year he began to repair the temple.

34:9-22

Money was given to people to carry out the repair work. There was proper management of the work. During the course of the work Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law. He gave the book to Shaphan who in turn took it to the king and read it to him. Josiah tore his clothes on hearing the words, probably because he realised how far the nation had fallen, and the promise of what the Lord would do if this happened. Josiah instructed the priests to inquire of the Lord. Hilkiah went to speak to the female prophet Huldah.

34:23-33

Huldah gave them a word, but not a comforting one.The curses (God’s judgement on man’s sin) would come upon Israel. Sin is very serious. However, because Josiah had humbled himself and sought the Lord, he would die in peace. Josiah then read the Book of the Law to all the people, they needed to know the word and learn to obey them.  They then all recommitted themselves to the Law of God. Perhaps Josiah hoped there was some way for them to avoid the judgement. Josiah continued to seek the Lord and to follow His ways.

2 Chronicles 33:10-25 - Manasseh repents, Amon doesn't

33:10-20

The Lord spoke to Manasseh and the people, but they paid no attention,Assyria came and took Manasseh prisoner. And he was led to Babylon. He then humbled himself and the Lord heard him, and brought him back to Jerusalem. He then knew that the Lord was God. He did some rebuilding work and got rid of the foreign gods, and undid much of the idol building he had done. However, the people continued to make sacrifices at the high places. He died and was succeeded by his son Amon.

33:21-25

Amon became king at the age of twenty two, but only reigned for two years. Sadly “he did evil in the eyes of the Lord”, indulging in idol worship like his father, but without eventually humbling himself. He was assassinated by his officials. The plotters were all killed by the people of the land, and his son Josiah was made king.

2 Chronicles 33:1-8 - Maasseh the bad

33:1-6

Manasseh was only twelve when he became king and he reigned for fifty five years. However, he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, even rebuilding the high places that his father had demolished and erecting other places of idol worship. He bowed down to idols. He also sacrificed his children, His evil aroused the anger of the Lord.

33:7-9

He even put an image in the temple of the Lord. He led the people of Judah astray, so they did more evil than the nations that the Lord had expelled. In Hezekiah’s time the Assyrian attack on Jerusalem failed, but Manasseh was preparing the way for Babylon’s success.

2 Chronicles 32:1-33 - Assyrian attack repulsed.

32:1-12

Following the Lord does not mean absence from difficulty, for Assyria invaded Judah. Hezekiah took action and blocked off the water from outside the city, thus depriving Assyria of this supply.. He also worked on building up the defences., and built up the armaments. He organised the army and addressed the troops. He encouraged them to trust in God. The king of Assyria tried to counter this by telling the people not to believe Hezekiah’s words, there was a propaganda war.

32:13-23

Assyria also boasted about her past successes. But theGod of Israel is not like the gods of the nations.Hezekiah and Isaiah called out to the Lord. And the Lord sent an angel to wipe out the Assyrian army. Sennacherib retreated and was killed. So the \lord saved Judah and many brought offerings to the Lord. Hezekiah was highly regarded.

32:24-33

Hezekiah became ill, he prayed and was healed. He also became proud. He eventually died and was succeeded by his son Manasseh.

2 Chronicles 31:1-21 - Hezekiah leads the nation in following the Lord

31:1-4

The  people enthusiastically followed the lead of Hezekiah, and went about smashing the Asherah poles and other idol worship items.Hezekiah assigned Levites and priests to do the Lord’s work. The king made contributions from his own wealth, and he ordered the people to ensure that the priests were properly supported.

31:5-7

The Israelites gave generously of the first fruits, a tithe of everything. There was a lot of tithing going on.Hezekiah and his officials praised the Lord when they saw the obedience of the people. When leaders follow their own way the people follow, there is a vicious circle. Conversely when the leaders follow the Lord, the people also follow and there is a virtuous circle.Hezekiah blessed the people.

31:8-21

There was plenty of supplies for the priests, so storerooms were prepared for the surplus. Various people were appointed to look after the temple. Care was taken over administering the priesthood. Hezekiah assiduously sought to obey the Lord, and so he prospered. The returnees needed to take this lesson to heart.

2 Chronicles 30:1-27 - The nation celebrates the Passover

30:1-9

All Israel was invited to worship at the temple and to celebrate the Passover. THis mirrors in some way everyone being invited to worship the Lord Jesus Christ. Letters were sent out to all of Israel calling the people to return to the Lord, this is the gospel declaration. It was the only way for things to improve.

30:10-27

However, the people scorned the message and ridiculed the messengers. However, some did respond favourably, and the hand of God was on them. So a large crowd assembled at the temple, and artefacts of idol worship were removed. The priests were not proud, but ashamed, presumably of their siN. Hezekiah prayed for those who sought the Lord. The Passover was celebrated for seven days with great rejoicing. “The Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people”. Hezekiah, the priests and the people sought the Lord, and the Lord heard them.

1 Chronicles 29:1-36 - Hezekiah

29:1-9

Hezekiah was the next king, taking the throne of twenty five years old and reigned for twenty nine years. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He repaired the temple\he organised the priests and Levites. Getting worship of the Lord right is important. The sanctuary was to be undefiled and sanctified. He knew that the disobedience of previous generations was the root of the problem.

29:10-17

Hezekiah intended to make a covenant with the Lord. The people were to devote themselves to the Lord. So the Levites set about purifying the temple. All unclean things were ejected from the temple. The work was soon completed.

29:18-36

After the work was completed sacrifices were made to atone for Israel’s sins. There was also worship. It seems that at least some of the worship used the psalms. A vast number of animals were sacrificed. So proper worship was established. Atonement for sin (i.e. sacrifices) were a vital part of putting things right. Today recognition of Christ’s sacrifice is essential.

2 Chronicles 28:9-27 - Ahaz the foolish

28:9-15

God sent a prophet to the army of Israel warning them of mistreating Israel, adding to their own guilt. We should always be concerned first about our own guilt, before we start to worry about the guilt of others. In particular the guilt of others is never an excuse for our own sin. The leaders of Israel seemed to take the warning seriously, and the army acted upon it.

28:16-27

Ahaz was not a wise or good man, and he went to Assyria for help. Judah had suffered much at the hands of others. Assyria did not help, but only brought trouble. Ahaz even used the riches of the temple to try and placate Assyria, but this was not successful.Ahaz the fool then tried worshipping foreign gods. In fact he became increasingly desperate. He eventually died and was succeeded by his son Hezekiah, who would prove to be a somewhat wiser king.

2 Chronicles 28:1-8 - Ahaz

28:1-4

The next king was Ahaz who came to the throne at the age of twenty and reigned for sixteen years. He was not faithful to the Lord, so we cannot expect things to have gone well. Instead he followed the ways of the kings of Israel and was into Baal worship, even sacrificing children and worshipping at the high places.

28:5-8

So God delivered him into the hands of the king of Aram, and the hands of the king of Israel. When we follow the Lord we have freedom, when we do not we are prone to being subject to all sorts of things.