2 Chronicles 25 – Amaziah  is 25 when his reign starts, and he reigns for 29 years. He does what is right, but “not with a true heart” (25:3). He executes the people involved in his father’s death, but not their children. This is praised, for he follows here the dictate of Moses. “Parents must not be put to death for the sins of their children, nor children for the sins of their parents. Those deserving to die must be put to death for their own crimes” (25:4).

He…

2 Chronicles 24 – Joash of Judah is seven when he is crowned king. It says that his mother was Zibiah of Beer-sheba. He is a good king, does what is right in the sight of the Lord throughout the lifetime of Jehoida, the priest (24:2). Jehoiada gets him two wives, and with them he has sons and daughters.

One of the good things he does is restore the Temple. The Levites are supposed to see to the raising of the money, but they neglect it. So the king demands that…

2 Chronicles 22 – The citizens of Jerusalem make Jehoram’s youngest son the next king of Judah; here the name given for that son is Ahaziah. He was 22 when he began his reign, but reigned only one year. He also was bad—his mother was Athaliah, granddaughter of Omri and she encouraged him to do bad things.

Ahaziah joins with the Isareli king, Joram, son of Ahab, in his war against King Hazael of Aram at Ramoth-gilead. When Joram is wounded in the battle, Ahaziah…

2 Chronicles 21 – Jehoshaphat is succeeded by his son Jehoram (also called Joram). Jehoram, age 32, has many brothers—Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael, and Shephatiah—and they are given many gifts “of silver, gold, and costly items, and also some of Judah’s fortified towns” (21:3); Jehoram is the oldest, howver, so he becomes the next king. “But when Jehoram had become solidly established as king, he killed all his brothers and some of the other leaders of Judah”…

2 Chronicles 20 – The Moabites, Ammonites and some Meunites [in Edom near Petra] come against them at Edom, near the Dead Sea. Jehoshaphat is afraid and proclaims a fast throughout all Judah. They assemble to seek the help of the Lord. The king calls upon God to remember that the people attacking are descendants of people the Israelites spared in taking over the Holy Land. “[W]e are powerless against this great multitude that is coming against us.  We do not know what to do, but our…

2 Chronicles 19 – When Jehoshaphat returns to his house, Jehu, son of Hanani, the seer, meets him and criticizes him for helping Ahab. “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord?” (19:2)

He nevertheless tells him that some good is found in him for his having destroyed the sacred poles and set his heart on seeking God. He went out among the people and “brought them back to the Lord” (19:4). He appointed judges and told them, “let the fear…

2 Chronicles 18 – Jehosphaphat had great riches. He made a marriage alliance with Ahab – had his son Joram marry Ahab’s daughter, Athaliah. A few years later, he goes to visit Ahab. Ahab offers sacrifice for him and asks for Jehoshaphat’s help in fighting to recover Ramoth-gilead.  The Jerusalem Bible note says the unlawful sacrifice—not at the authorized sanctuary, will prove disastrous.  

Jehosphaphat asks Ahab to consult…

2 Chronicles 16 - In Asa’s 36^th year, King Baasha of Israel comes against him, building Ramah (just north of Jerusalem) to prevent anyone from going in or coming out of Judah.

Asa sends treasure to Ben-had of Damascus (Aram) so he will break his alliance with Baasha and help him. This works—the Aramaeans attack cities in Israel and Baasha stops building Ramah. Asa takes the lumber Baasha was using there to build Geba and Mizpah (north of…

2 Chronicles 14 – Abijah is buried in the city of David, and his Asa becomes king. The “land had rest for ten years” (14:1) He did “what was good and right in the sight of the Lord his God. He took away the foreign altars and the high places, broke down the pillars, hewed down the sacred poles, and commanded Judah to seek the Lord . . .” (14:2-3).

During these peaceful years, he built fortified cities and had a large army (300,000 from Judah and 280,000 of Benjamin).…

2 Chronicles 12 – After Rehoboam becomes secure, however, he abandons “the law of the Lord,” he and all Israel (12:1). The Lords brings King Shishak of Egypt against them with 1200 chariots and 60,000 cavalry. This threat must have been there from the beginning because most of the fortified cities he built up were in mid to lower Judah—defending against Egypt, not Israel.

Shishak takes these cities and approaches Jerusalem. The…

2 Chronicles 10 – Rehoboam goes to Shechem to be installed as king. When Jeroboam hears of it - he is down in Egypt - he returns and with him “all Israel came.” Jeroboam in an Ephraimite who was made overseer of the labor force of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh – Joseph’s descendants - under Solomon. According to 1 Kings 11:29-39, the words of the prophet Ahijah prophecies that he will one day rule over the ten tribes. He does and when his plot…

2 Chronicles 9 – The Queen of Sheba hears of Solomon’s fame and comes to Jerusalem “test him with hard questions” (9:1), to test the wisdom he was reputed to possess. She brings a great retinue carrying spices, gold and precious stones. He answers all her questions and impresses her so with the plenty of his court that she is overwhelmed. She recognizes the greatness of Israel’s Lord and gives Solomon many gifts: “9,000 pounds of god, great quantities of spices and precious…

2 Chronicles 7 – Fire comes down and consumes the burnt offering. Even the priests cannot enter the Temple “because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house” (7:2). The people’s prayer in response to the coming down of fire is to say, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever” (7:3). The offerings are made in the court before the Temple, for the altar could not hold all that Solomon offered. “For the next seven days Solomon and all Israel celebrated the Festival of…

2 Chronicles 6 – Solomon prays, “O Lord, you have said that you would live in a thick cloud of darkness. Now I have built a glorious Temple for you, a place where you can live forever” (6:1-2).

Solomon recounts the word the Lord spoke to his father David promising him that even though he had not chosen a city heretofore nor a ruler to rule over his people, he now has chosen Jerusalem as his city and David to be ruler over his people Israel.

The Lord…

2 Chronicles 5 – The work is finished. Solomon brings in the things his father had dedicated—the stores of silver and gold, etc. The elders, and heads of the tribes, ancestral houses come to bring up the Ark out of the city of David to the new Temple. The number of sheep and oxen sacrifices cannot be numbered. The Ark is placed “underneath the wings of the cherubim” (5:7).

“There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets that Moses put there at Horeb, where the…

2 Chronicles 3 – The building is located at the place David designated, “on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite” (3:1) on Mt. Moriah. It is started on the 2^nd day of the 2^nd month [mid-spring] of the 4^th year of his reign. The measurements are all given in “cubits of the old standard”—60 by 20 [90 feet long and 30 feet wide]. The vestibule 20 cubits long and 120 cubits high.

It is overlaid with pure gold. The nave [main room] is…

So yesterday, we finished with the July readings I added to the last month of posts so that we could catch up to the readings we are on for the rest of the year. We are back on the scheduled readings.

2 Chronicles 1 – Solomon summons the people or at least the leaders—commanders, judges, heads of families (1:2), and takes them to the “high place” at Gibeon. On the bronze altar that Bezalel had made there for it,…

1 Chronicles 27 – A list of the people, heads of families, commanders of thousands, hundreds and officers—divisions numbered 24,000. Each one is assigned a month. Names that pop out are Banaiah, son of priest Jehoiada, commander of the third month’s division. He was commander of the Thirty. Asahel, Joab’s brother was in charge of the 4^th.

Leaders of the tribes are named: Eliezer—Reubenites; Shephatiah—Simeonites; Hashabiah—Levites; Zadok for Aaron; Elihu (a…

1 Chronicles 23 – David makes Solomon king over Israel. He assembles all the leaders, priests and Levites.  There were 38,000 Levites over 30 years old of whom 24,000 are given charge over the work in the house of the Lord, 6,000 are made officers and judges, 4,000 gatekeepers and 4,000 musicians to offer praise to God with instruments.  They are organized by division corresponding to the sons of Levi—Gershon, Kohath and Merari.  They are named. Moses and Aaron are descendent from Kohath…

1 Chronicles 21 – Satan, it says, inspires David to take a census. Joab tries to warn him that it will bring guilt on Israel, but the king insists. Joab comes back with a number of 1,100,000 of military age and readiness in Israel and 470,000 in Judah. Even in David’s reign they were conceived of as separate segments; either this or the writing of Chronicles comes after the division of the two kingdoms. But Joab does not complete the count in Levi…