Chronicles - Introduction

Introduction

`Chronicles was originally just one book, it was divided into two when the Greek version of the Old Testament was produced (the Septuagint). It covers much of the material in Samuel and Kings. It adds some further details. Kings was essentially explaining why Israel had ended up in exile, namely because of their persistent disobedience. Chronicles was written for the return. The people may well have asked how shall we now live, is there any point in worshipping God to which the answer is a resounding yes! Indeed Chronicles puts more emphasis on the temple and worship. God lives among his people.  In the exodus God dwelt among them  in the tabernacle and the ark of the covenant. Then once in the Promised Land he lived among them in the temple. In Christ He was Immanuel (God with us) (Matt 1:23). Through the Holy Spirit He lives within us, and in Rev 21:3 it declares that God’s dwelling place is now among the people.

It is not known who wrote Chronicles, though Jewish tradition ascribes authorship to Ezra. The end of 2 Chronicles leads into the book of Ezra.

2 Kings 25:8-30 - Violent times

25:8-26

The Babylonian commander then went to Jerusalem, he set fire to the temple, the royal palace and many houses. So every important building was burnt down. The walls were also broken down. Many people were carried off into exiles, leaving only the poorest behind. Various items from the temple were taken. Many priests were also taken into exile. They were then executed by the Babylonian king. Gedaliah tried to reassure the people, telling them to serve the Babylonians, and if they did do it would go well with them. However this led to Gedaliah being assassinated. The remaining people then fled to Egypt out of fear.

25:27-30

The next king of Babylon seemed to be less violent and he released Jehoiachin, who then lived quite well even eating at the king’s table. He was also given a regular allowance.

2 Kings 25:1-7 - Jerusalem besieged

25:1-7

Nebuchadnezzar marched against Jerusalem and besieged it. Conditions within the city would become progressively more and more terrible during this time. So much so that there would be no food. Even the army fled, apparently including the king. However, this provided no escape for the Babylonian army pursued them, especially the king. The king was captured and the army scattered. Zedekiah’s sons were killed before his own eyes, then they gouged out his eyes, these were brutal times.

2 Kings 24:10-20 - The endi is near

24:10-17

The siege of Jerusalem now begins. Israel did not put up a fight, Jehoiachin, his mother and his attendants all surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar. Jehoiachin was taken prisoner, while Nebuchadnezzar removed the gold articles from the temple, he also carried all the officers, skilled men and fighting men off to Babylon. Only the poorest people were left behind.Jehoiachin’s uncle was made king, and had his name changed to Zedkiah.

24:18-20

Zedekiah reigned for eleven years, he also did evil in the eyes of the Lord. In the end he rebelled against the king of Babylon, but to no avail.

2 Kings 24:1-9 - Babylon attacks

24:1-9

Babylon, under Nebuchadnezzar, now invades Judah,Jehoiakim was a puppet king, but he rebelled against Babylon. However, Babylon, with help from Aram, Moab and Ammon,attacked Judah. All this was in accordance with the word of the Lord, His judgement against JUdah for her persistent disobedience. This is the key message of 1 & 2 Kings. It was not just the idolatry, but also the “shedding of innocent blood”, this was at least partly a result of the idolatry. Jehoiakim died and was succeeded by his som Jehoiachin.:No help was available from Egypt. Jehoiachin reigned for a mere three months, “He did evil in the eyes of the Lord”.

2 Kings 23:21-30 - Celebrate the Passover

23:21-25

As well as the negative steps, Josiah did not neglect the positive. He reinstituted the celebration of the Passover. Despite being required by the Law, it seems that it had never actually taken place (23:22). It is like the atoning aspects of the cross being forgotten.

23:26-30

Despite Josiah’s devotion and commitment, the judgement on the land remained. King Josiah died, killed by the king of Egypt. (23:29).\we should beware the deep effects of sin. He was succeeded by his son ehoahaz.

2 Kings 22:1-20 - He read the Book of the Covenant

23:1-3

The word from the prophet was apparently bad news, but Josiah did not despair. Instead he went up to the temple of the Lord, gathered all the people of Jerusalem and the priests and prophets, and read the word of the Lord to them. He then renewed the covenant committing them to keeping the commands of God. Unlike most previous kings he directed the people towards the Lord, not to idols.

23:4-20

Josiah ordered the removal of everything associated with idol worship. He also dealt with the high places. Every vestige of idol worship was removed., Torpeth, where child sacrifice was carried out, was desecrated. Josiah was very thorough in what he did. He killed many of the priests. The effects of idolatry had spread into many areas of the land, and so determined steps were necessary. However, Josiah also displayed respect for the faithful prophets.

2 Kings 22:1-20 - Another good king

22:1-11

\we now get another rarity, Josiah was a king who did what “was right in the eyes of the Lord”.He was just like his father David. He reigned for thirty one years. In his eighteenth year he took steps to restart the work on the temple. Hilkiah told him that he had found the book of the Law. We might find it odd that they did not already have this, but things can easily be forgotten. In recent years our own society seems to have had great difficulty in knowing the difference between men and women! The king was informed of this finding, and the book was read to him. Josiah heard and understood realising how far they had strayed from God’s Law, and the ensuing consequences.

22:12-20

Josiah got the priests and officials to inquire of the Lord what needed to be done to put things right. It was a female prophet who pointed them in the right direction. She tells them that judgement is coming, and why it is coming. However, the Lord also respects Josiah and his piety, because of this  he will die in peace. He would not see the disaster.

2 Kings 1`:19-25 - Like father, like son

21:19-25

Amon only reigned for two years, like his father he did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He too worshipped idols, forsaking the ways of the Lord. His officials conspired against him and assassinated him. His son, Josiah succeeded him, and was to prove to be a much better king.

2 Kings 21:7-18 - Manasseh the idiot

21:7-9

The idiot  even took an Asherah pole that he had made and placed it in the temple. The whole saga reminds me of Jesus' teaching in Matt 12:43-45 about the impure spirit, which went to find seven more, making the situation worse than it was before. The problem for Israel was that there was no change of heart. Manasseh led the nation astray, making them worse than the previous occupants of the land. The purpose of a leader is to lead the people in the ways of the Lord. 

21:10-18

God spoke to the nation through the prophets, telling them that judgement was coming. They had seen what had happened to Samaria, but had learnt nothing., so they would suffer a similar fate. It was not just idolatry, but blood shed came with it. Manasseh evenTUlly died and was succeeded by his son Amon.

2 Kings 21:1-6 Manaseh becomes king

21:1-6

Having had a good king we now come to another in the line of evil kings. Manasseh reigned for 55 years, so a long reign does not necessarily indicate favour with God. Manasseh continued with idol worship, undoing much of the good work of Hezekiah. He rebuilt the high places. He even built altars to idols in the temple of God. His sin aroused the anger of the Lord.

2 Kings 20:12-21 - Envoys from Babylon

20:12-21

Hezekiah then makes a big mistake. Envoys are sent from Babylon, and it is Hezekiah’s illness that led to them coming. Hezekiah showed them everything that he had. Why did he do this, we are not told, perhaps it was pride, or wanting to impress the Babylonians. Isaiah appears on the scene and warns Hezekiah that the Babylonians will carry everything off to Babylon, as well as some of his descendents.

Hezekiah seems pleased, believing that there will be peace in his time. There is nothing in Isaiah’s word as to when things will happen. Hezekiah’s reaction can be seen as selfish, but it is also understandable.

Hezekiah died and was succeeded by his son Manasseh.

2 Kings 20:1-11 - Hezekiah became ill

20:1-6

We now read of two interesting incidents in Hezekiah’s life. First he becomes ill and is close to death. Initially Isaiah is rather pessimistic, saying that the Lord says he will not recover. We are often told that prayer is not about trying to change God’s mind. I have a lot of sympathy with that view, but what happens next shows there is more to it. Hezekiah does not like the word and pleads with the Lord, weeping bitterly. In response the Lord speaks again to Isaiah. He is to tell Hezekiah that he has changed his mind and will add fifteen years to Hezekiah's life. He will also deliver the city from Assyria. God was moved by Hezekiah’s prayer and his tears, also by His promise to David. A lot of things are done because of God’s covenant with David. In the same way, God does many things in our lives because of Jesus.

20:7-11

Isaiah gives practical advice “prepare a poultice of figs”, and Hezekiah recovers. Surprisingly Hezekiah wants a sign that he will actually be healed, and God gives him a sign. God is more accommodating than we often think.

2 kings 19:20-37 - Jerusalem delivered

19:1-7

Hezekiah is full of fear, but he does pray to the Lord, rather than running after idols, which was what other kings had done. More comments can be found here.Isaiah remains calm and foretells Jerusalem’s deliverance.

19:8-13 

Isaiah’s words come true.However Sennacherib sees this as only a temporary setback, and tries to keep Hezekiah in a state of fear.

19:14-19

This time Hezekiah reacts differently, and takes sennacherib’s letter directly to the Lord, and prays with faith. More can be found here.

19:20-37

Isaiah still sends a message to Hezekiah, encouraging him. More can be found here, Sennacherib was duly assasinated. .

2 Kings 18:1-37 - A good king, at last!

18:1-8

At last we get a good king of Judah, king Hezekiah. He reigned for twenty nine years, and the text makes clear that it is his obedience to the Lord that makes the difference. He takes after his father David. He even removed the high places, as well as cutting down the Asherah pole. The bronze snake that Moses had made had become a source of idol worship. We will make idols out of anything. Hezekiah was aware of the dangers of idol worship, note that later he would be criticised for this.

Hezekiah trusted the Lord, so he was successful, and he rebelled against Assyria, and defeated the Philistines.

18:9-37

Assyria, under Shalmaneser, laid siege to Samaria and captured it . Israel’s defeat is put down to their disobedience to the Lord.Then Assyria turned their attention to Judah, but failed. The difference in outcomes  is put down to trusting the Lord by Hezekiah. Even so Hezekiah had sought to buy off Assyria with temple treasures. We then get a telling of the way the battle went with fear tactics used by Assyria, I have written about this in my notes on Isaiah.

2 Kings 17:18-41 - They worshipped idols

17:18-23

“The Lord was very angry”. Initially Judah was not affected, but she too followed the ways of Israel, so the Lord rejected all of Israel, and they too were “thrust from His presence. When Israel was torn away from the house of David, Jeroboam was made king, but he enticed Israel from following the Lord., and they continued along that road. The writer is making clear why Israel suffered as she did. The people of Israel went into exile in Assyria.

17:24-28

As well as dispersing Israelites, the king of Assyria brought in various people as well. This was part of the reason why Samaritans were regarded with some suspicion by the rest of Israel, they were considered to be “polluted”, and not “pure Jews”. The Assyrian king wanted the enforced “settlers” to assimilate. One could see this as a form of multiculturalism. So he sent a captured priest to teach the new settlers how to worship the Lord.

17:29-41

This experiment was not totally successful, and various groups persisted in worshipping their own gods. Children were still offered as sacrifices. So they “worshipped” the Lord, and their own gods.So they didn’t really worship the Lord. The text makes it clear that the people were not really worshipping the Lord at all, hence the antagonism towards the Samaritans.

2 Kings 17:1-17 - Syncretism

17:1-6

Hoshea, the son of Elah, became king of Israel. He was to be the last king of Israel, and like most of his predecessors “did evil in the eyes of the Lord”, but apparently wasn’t as bad as his immediate predecessor. He had paid tribute to Assyria, even so Assyria then attacked Hoshea. Hoshea had been seeking help from Egypt and stopped paying tribute to Assyria. Shalmaneser seized Hoshea and imprisoned him. In the ninth and last year of Hoshea's reign the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to \ssytis, settling them in Halah.

17:7-17

The text then states quite clearly that all this happened because Israel had sinned against the Lord. The same Lord who had rescued them from Egypt. We get a litany of the sins of Israel, relating mostly to their idol worship. They committed the very sins that the nations God had enabled them to drive out had committed, so they too would be driven out. They had been warned about this, but had not heeded the warnings. They did not trust in the Lord, instead they followed worthless idols, and so became worthless themselves. They followed the ways of the nations, churches today are foolish if they follow the ways of the world. This included sacrificing children in the fire.

2 Kings 16:7-20 - setting up an altar to an idol

16:7-9

Ahaz then prostrated himself before Assyria, seeking his help to fight against Israel, Ahaz used silver and gold to pay Assyria. Assyria did intervene on Israel's behalf.

16:10-20

Ahaz went to Damascus to congratulate Tiglath-pileser. There he saw an altar and got the priest Uriah to copy it. Ahaz then presented offerings at the altar to an idol. This altar to an idol usurped the godly altar in the temple. Uriah went along with the king’s demands. This process continued. Ahaz died and was succeeded by Hezekiah, who would prove to be a much better king.

2 Kings 16:1-6 - King Ahaz

16:1-4

Ahaz was the next king of Judah, he reigned for sixteen years, but “did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord”.He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, not a good example to follow! In fact, he even sacrificed his own son in the fire, following the practices of the nations that had been driven out by the Lord. We need to recognise that some of the nations defeated were utterly evil. Maybe a similar thing applies to the likes of Hamas today, an utterly despicable group. The High Places continued to have their baleful influence.

16:5,6

Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, king of Israel marched to fight against Jerusalem. What was Israel doing allying itself with Aram. They failed, though Aram did recover Elath, and the Edomites occupied Elath.

2 Kings 15:10-31 - Kings assassinated

15:10-26

Zechariah was assassinated by Shllum, son of Jabesh. So the word of the Lord was fulfilled. Shallum son of Jabesh became king, but he only reigned for one month. He was assassinated by Menahem who became king, he reigned for ten years. When the king of Assyria invaded, Menahem tried to buy him off, taxing the people in the process. The people paid a price for poor leadership. At least the king of Assyria did withdraw.

15:27-31

Pekahaih was the next king. He was another who “did evil in the eyes of the Lord”, and he too was assassinated. Pekah was next, reigning for twenty two years. During his reign Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria attacked the land, taking Gilead and Galilee. He also deported people to Assyria. Mass movements of people was a common tactic of Assyria. Pekah was assassinated. Godless regimes are inherently unstable.

2 Kings 15:1-9 - The Lord afflicted the king with leprosy

15:1-4

Amaziah became king of Israel and reigned for a long time, fifty two years. He did “what was right in the eyes of the Lord”. However, the high places were still not removed. Idol worship had a very strong hold on the nation.

15:5-7

The king was afflicted with leprosy by the Lord. His son Jotham was the effective ruler, and succeeded him as king after he died.

15:8,9

The next king of Israel was Zechariah, son of Jeroboam, but he only reigned for six months. “He did evil in the eyes of the Lord”, following the sins of his father.

2 Kings 14:26 - The Lord saw their suffering

14:26 

The Lord saw the suffering of his people and had pity on them.  So he gave them some relief. Jeroboam died and was succeeded by his son Zechariah.

2 Kings 15:32-38

15:32-38

Remaliah became king of Judah, he reigned for sixteen years, doing “what was right in the eyes of the Lord”, like his father Uzziah. However, the high places remained and idol worship continued. He died ans was succeeded by his son, Ahaz.

2 Kings 14:15-25 - Joash rested with his ancestors

14:15-22

As usual other events were recorded in the annals of the kings of Israel,  he also waged war against Amaziah king of Judah, He died and was succeeded by his son Jeroboam. Azariah became king of Judah.

14:23-25

Jeroboam has previously coreigned with his father, he then reigned for forty one years,  “He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, He did restore the boundaries of Israel. Jonah, the prophet gets a mention.

2 Kings 14:7-14 - let us faceach other in battle

14:7

The valley of salt was where David had defeated the Edomites (2 Sam 8:13), he regained some of the territory that

had previously been lost.

14:8-14

Amaziah then challenged Jehoash to battle.  Jehoash regarded Amaziah with scorn, telling him that just because he

had defeated Edom did not make him anything special. Amaziah attacked anyway, but Judah was defeated. Amaziah

was captured by Jehoash, Jehoash also took plunder from Jerusalem.

2 Kings 14:1-6 - Amaziah began to reign

14:1-4

Amaziah became king of Israel, during the second year of Jehoash king of Israel, this would be 796 BC. He reigned for 29 years, so 796-767 BC. “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord”, but was not up to David’s standard. He failed to remove the high places, and idol worship continued in the land.

14:5,6

Once he had established his reign he took vengeance on the officials who had murdered his father. However, this vengeance was not uncontrolled, for he did not murder their children, following the Law (Dt 24:16).

2 Kings 13:21,22 - Miracles from the grave

13:21

Elisha had performed miracles while he lived, and he continued to do so even after his death. A man’s body was thrown into Elisha’s tomb, and the man came to life.

13:22-24

Israel had been oppressed by Hazael, king of Aram, but because of his covenant with Abraham, the Lord had compassion on the. Sometimes we are blessed because of the faith of others. Hazael died and was succeeded by Ben-Hadad, Jehoash defeated him three times and recovered the Israelite towns.

2 Kings 13:10-20 - Partial victory

13:10-13

Jehoash refined for sixteen years, but did “evil in the eyes of the Lord”. He fought against  Amaziah king of Judah, died and was succeeded by Jeroboam.

13:14-20

Elisha dies from an illness. Jehoash wept over Elisha, presumably because he recognised him as a man of God, and Jehoash himself sought the Lord. Elisha had a final word for Jehoash, and it concerned victory over the Arameans. However, the victory should have been final, but Jehoash was somewhat half hearted. We need to be ruthless in our battle against sin. Elisha died and was buried.

2 Kings 13:1-9 Elisha dies

13:1-3

Meanwhile Jehoahaz became king of Israel, he reigned for seventeen years, but sadly “did evil in the eyes of the Lord”. So Israel was kept under the power of Hazael, king of Ara, and then his son Ben- Hadadz, . Geopolitical events can be the result of God’s judgement on man’s sin.

13;4-9

Then came some hope for Jehoahaaz “sought the Lord’s favour”, and the Lord listened to him. God was moved by his repentance and by the suffering of the people. God sent an unnamed deliverer and Israel was free for a time. However, Israel did not turn from her sins, particularly her idolatry. There wasn’t much left of the army. Jehoahaz died and was succeeded by his son Jehoash.

2 KIngs 12:13-21 - Joash dies

12:13-18

The people who carried out the work were trustworthy and honest. Things go a lot more smoothly and efficiently when people can be trusted. The priests also received their rightful portion. We then see a darker side of Joash. Hazael eventually attacked and captured Gath, and then turned his attention to Jerusalem. Joash sought to address the situation by buying off Hazael with the sacred objects. Outwardly this tactic worked.

12:19-21

Joash’s officials conspired against him and killed him. Joash was succeeded by Amaziah. Israel did not recognise a good king when they had one. The supreme example of this is the treatment of Jesus.

2 Kings 12:1-12 - Joash became king

12:1-5

`Joash became king of Judah and reigned for forty years. Unlike Jehu, he “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord”. He was instructed by Jehoiada the priest.However, he did not remove the high places. This was a persistent filing and led to Israel continuing to worship idols.

The temple had fallen into disrepair, and Joash organised the collection of funds to repair the temple.

12:6-12

However, while the money was collected the work was not carried out, so Joash had to take charge of the situation. The priests were not to collect any more money. Joash was a wise man,taking steps to ensure the work was  actually done. Jehoiada the priest also took practical steps. Money needs to be handled wisely in the kingdom, Paul followed this principle as well. The work itself was carried out by those best able to do the work.

2 Kings 11:13-21 - Joash the king

11:13-16

Athaliah heard that something was going on, she went to the temple, saw Joash in position and the people rejoicing. She was in distress. \jehoiada took charge and ordered her arrest and the killing of anyone who was following her. However, she was not to be killed in the temple.

11:17-21

Jehoiada did what a priest was meant to do, bringing the  people back to God. Athaliah was slain and there was hope for the land, returning to God was the key factor. \joash took his place on the royal throne. He was only seven years old.

2 Kings 11:1-12 - Athaliah and Joash

11:1-3

Jude fulfilled the word of the Lord, but he was a violent man with no love for the Lord, Joash was different, he would do God’s will and genuinely worshipped Him. Athaliah was the mother of Ahaziah and was a terrible woman. She tried to destroy the whole royal family, including Joash, but Jehosheba protected Joash. There is a history of the devil seeking to destroy God’s servants, e.g. Moses, Jesus., and failing.  \joash remained hidden while Athaliah ruled the land.

11:4-12

Jehoiada now comes on the scene. He organised the commanders of the units of a hundred, seeking to protect Joash. They did as Jehoiada had commanded them. Jehoiada then crowned Joash as king and gave him a copy of the covenant, the people supported the king.

2 Kings 10:15-36 - Job done, but no love for the Lord

10:15-17

Jehu meets Jehonadab, the son of Rekab, and asks which side he is on, Jehonadab says he is, so Jehu calls him up. Jehu then kills all the remnants of Ahab’s family. Jehu is very thorough in fulfilling the word of the Lord.

10:18-36

Next Jehu goes for the servants of Baal. He uses subterfuge, claiming to be keen on Baal worship, so summons all the servants of Baal to a Baal fest. Having tricked them all, he then kills them. However, while Jehu is dedicated to fulfilling the word of God, he is not dedicated to the Lord Himself, worshipping the golden calves. The Lord now set about reducing the size of Israel. In the end jehu reigned for twenty eight years.

2 Kings 10:1-14 Wiping out Ahab's family

10:1-8

Jehu was a rather murderous person. But was used by God to carry out His judgement on Ahab. Ahab had seventy sons, and they were all going to die. Initially it seems that Jehu is seeking to put one of Ahab’s sons on the throne, but he is forcing the guardians (of Ahab’s children) to choose sides. The guardians did not think they could defeat Jehu, so gave allegiance to Jehu, they would do whatever Jehu wanted.  So Jehu now enlists them to slaughter the sons of Ahab. This is what they did, so all seventy of them were killed, and brought their heads to Jezreel and the heads were put in two piles at the city gate. This would give a clear message that Ahab’s reign was over.

10:9-14

Jehu accepts full responsibility for what has happened He also declares that what has happened was according to the word of the Lord. Anyone associated with Ahab was killed. Next he took the chance to kill the relatives of Ahaziah

2 Kings 9:21-37 - How can there be peace?

9:21-26

Joram then decides to go out himself together with Ahaziah, king of Judah. He also asks Jehu if he comes in peace. Jehu tells him explicitly what the problem is, namely the idolatry and witchcraft in the land. Joram realises that he is in trouble and attempts to flee. However.Jehu draws his bow and fires an arrow which hits Joram, he slumps in the chariot. Jehu tells his chariot officer to throw joram into the field that belonged to Naboth.

9:27-29

Ahaziah  saw what had happened and he too fled. However, he too was wounded. He escaped to Megiddo,  but died there.He was buried with his ancestors in Jerusalem.

9:30-37

Next Jehu went to Jezreel, Jezebel heard about it and guessed she was in trouble. She put on eye makeup and arranged her hair, perhaps hoping to sweet talk her way out of things. However, Jehu was determined to get her, and got the help of some eunuchs.  She was thrown down and trampled underfoot by horses. Jehu gave orders for her to be given a proper burial, but her body had been utterly mutilated. The word of the Lord against her was being fulfilled.

2 Kings 9:1-20 - Do you come in peace?

9:1-13

Jehu is anointed king over Israel, and he is anointed with a purpose, it is to destroy the house of Ahab, The Lord is avenging the prophets killed by Jezebel. It is a mistake to go against the will of God. While Elisha instigated the move it was another prophet who actually carried out the deed. One of the officers wanted to know what was happening, thinking the prophet to be a madman. Jehu told him and the officers proclaimed Jehu as king. All this happened as a fulfilment of the prophecy against Ahab and Jezebel for their general godlessness and specifically for their taking of Naboth’s vineyard.

9:14-20

2 Kings can be rather confusing because it flips between Israel and Judah, and some of the Israelite kings are given the same names as Judean kings. Jehu was approaching Jezreel, where Joram was recovering from his wounds. On learning of Jehu’s approach he sent a rider to inquire as to the purpose of his visit. So the rider asks Jehu “do you come in peace?” Jehu gives him a dismissive reply, for the problem for Israel was Joram’s disobedience. Jehu also told the rider to “fall in behind me”, which he did, Joram then sent out a second rider, and the same thing happened.