Artwork Credit: marcohara.blogspot.com
Editor’s Note: We continue our series of blogs for those who are reading the Bible with us cover-to-cover this year. Interspersed with our thoughts on our daily reading, we want to provide some tips about reading the Bible in general.
2 Chronicles: The Spiritual Evaluation of Judah’s Kings
The old adage, “What goes up, must come down” is verified in this book. In the book of 2 Chronicles we see the glory days of Solomon’s early years and the political disasters brought about by his moral failures. This book confirms the truth; “Everything rises and falls on leadership.” Again we divide the book into two parts. Today we look at the last part of the book.
The Temple Is Destroyed By the Wickedness of the Kings of Judah (2 Chronicles 10-36)
In this section we can see:
- Israel is torn apart under the foolishness of King Rehoboam and the rebellion of Jeroboam. (2 Chronicles 10-12)
- Judah is strengthened under the faith of King Abijah and the victory of the Lord. (2 Chronicles 13)
- Judah is victorious under the leadership of King Asa and the victory over the Ethiopians and the Syrians. (2 Chronicles 14-16)
- Judah is prosperous under the godliness of King Jehoshaphat and the teaching of God’s Word throughout the land. (2 Chronicles 17-20)
- Judah is weakened under the idolatry of King Jehoram and the alliance he made with Israel. (2 Chronicles 21)
- Judah is humbled under the wickedness of King Ahaziah and his ultimate assassination by Jehu within the first year of his reign. (2 Chronicles 22)
- Judah is confused under the double standards of King Joash and his later apostasy before the nation. (2 Chronicles 23-24)
- Judah is defeated under the half-hearted loyalty of King Amaziah and his later idolatry and death. (2 Chronicles 25)
- Judah is strengthened under the early return of King Uzziah to the Lord, however his pride led to his downfall and judgment from God. (2 Chronicles 26)
- Judah is guided under the godliness of King Jotham, but the nation refuses to return to the Lord despite his guidance. (2 Chronicles 27)
- Judah is desecrated under the wickedness of King Ahaz, leading to his dishonorable burial at the end of his reign. (2 Chronicles 28)
- Judah is revived under the spirituality of King Hezekiah, despite his later selfishness, which ultimately leads to the destruction of Judah. (2 Chronicles 29-32)
- Judah is seduced into destruction under the leadership of King Manasseh, despite his later repentance and the kindness of God shown to him. (2 Chronicles 33)
- Judah is returned to idolatry under the failure of King Amon, which leads to his murder by his own servants. (2 Chronicles 33)
- Judah is purified for true worship under the direction of King Josiah, who is then killed in a battle he should not have been in. (2 Chronicles 34-35)
- Judah is conquered by the Babylonians under the reigns of Kings Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin. (2 Chronicles 36)
There is a key lesson from this section of God’s Word: You can be God’s “beloved” but you still have to walk in close fellowship with him in order to avoid the harvest of a sinful life.
It is our hope that this background information helps a bit as you read on in the Bible.
For daily insights into the passage we are reading together each day, you can follow Dr. Smith on Twitter and on Facebook.
You can obtain more help from the FREE Bible reading schedule on our resource page. In His Image is a daily devotional that also follows our reading schedule and expresses the Biblical truth: “God Created You to Love You.” You can find this resource on the side bar of our website.
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