Recap

So far in 1-2 Chronicles we’ve read through the introductory genealogies, king David and Solomon’s reigns and started reigns of Judah's kings from Rehoboam to the exile. While separate books in our Bible 1-2 Chronicles tell one story, giving a recap of the Old Testament from Adam to the Jews' return from exile.

We read through the opening chapters of the book dedicated to the genealogies of God's people. These covered from Adam to David, focusing on Judah, the tribe of the royal family, Levi, the tribe of the priests, and Benjamin, the tribe of the first king Saul. There were also genealogies of the people who returned from exile.

As we moved into the section of the book focused on David, we saw the author use David as a model for what an ideal future king will look like. He was a shepherd, a ruler, a priest. He united the tribes, defeated their enemies, established peace. He served as a second Moses, designing the temple, gathering its resources, and organising the Levites and priests. David did everything he could to set Solomon up well. He then stepped back to allow Solomon to be king. 

Starting 2 Chronicles, Solomon immediately set himself apart from other kings, asking God not for wealth or power, but wisdom. Because of this, God granted Solomon the wisdom that he asked for, and the wealth and success that he hadn't. Solomon gathered the remaining resources for the temple and then had it built. He brought in the Ark of the Covenant and all the gold dedicated to God. Solomon prayed over the temple and the people and God's presence fell. God then warned Solomon that as long as his people remained humble and repented of their sin, God would forgive and rescue them. But if they don't, God will cast them from their land and destroy this temple.

Solomon went on to build more cities and establishing trade routes before passing on reign to his son Rehoboam. Rehoboam sort to oppress and subdue the people which lead to the ten northern tribes seceding and setting up Jeroboam as king of the new Israel in the north. The two southern tribes became known as just Judah. Rehoboam started off poorly but turned to God when Egypt came to sack Jerusalem.

After him came Abijah, who trusted in God when Israel attacked. Then there was Asa who spent his early reign wiping out foreign worship, but when Israel attacked again, he turned to Syria for help, not God. Jehoshaphat made some poor alliances but trusted in God and led the people right.

Then came a bloody era of kings. Jehoram murdered his family to secure his throne and led the people in foreign worship. God struck him down with disease and he was replaced with Ahaziah. Ahaziah was just as bad and was assassinated. He was replaced by his mother, Athaliah, who also killed all her family to secure the throne. Only little Joash survived, and many years later, he was restored to the throne and Athaliah was executed. But after Joash's advisors died, Joash started leading the people in foreign worship. He was then assassinated.

Then came Amaziah who was lukewarm as a king, Uzziah who started off strong but sinned against God in his pride, and Jotham who was consistently faithful to God..

2 Chronicles 28-31

After Jotham came Ahaz, but he didn’t have Jotham’s faithfulness. Instead, he may have been Judah’s worst king to date. Not only did he lead the people to worship foreign gods, but he even sacrificed his own children to them.

God raised up the armies of Syria and Israel to come and attack Judah. Over 120,000 men died in one day, and 200,000 women and children were taken into captivity.

The Israelites sought to take their new slaves back home to Israel, but many of the people in Israel protested. They realised that, if they did this, they would anger God. Instead, used the riches they had claimed from Judah to cleanse and clothe their captives and send them back home. But Ahaz still didn’t learn and turned to the king of Assyria for help rather than God. So God caused the king of Assyria to attack Judah rather than strengthen it.

And still Ahaz refused to learn. He chose to worship the gods of the Syria, thinking they would save him. He took all the holy items out of the temple, cut them up and used them to make altars to foreign gods. He also shut the doors of the temple so no one could come and worship God. Eventually, Ahaz passed away, but the people refused to bury him with the rest of the kings because he had been so wicked.

After such a wicked king as Ahaz, Judah really needs to turn itself around, and fortunately it does. Next up is Hezekiah, and his radical reform is so important to the writer of Chronicles that he gets four chapters dedicated to his reign. This is more than any other king since David and Solomon. This is perhaps because, for the writer, one of the key messages of Chronicles is the important of repentance.

When we read about Jotham yesterday, he was a good king, but he didn’t lead the people to repentance and so only got a small passage dedicated to his reign. Repentance isn’t just on a personal level, it’s on a corporate level. A whole body of people turning back to God. This kind of repentance is dependent on good, strong, godly leadership. 

Hezekiah starts his reform in the temple, the place of God’s presence. He invites the Levites to make themselves and the temple holy again. He points out how their ancestors had failed in this and were torn apart by wars. If the people are to recommit themselves to God, they need to get this part right.

So the Levites went away and made themselves holy. Then they came to the temple and began to cleanse it, but literally and metaphorically. They would have removed any symbols of foreign worship, any idols. They gathered and purified all the utensils that Ahaz and removed. Everything was ready for worship to begin again.

Hezekiah gathered his key officials, and they began to make offerings in the renewed temple, both burnt offerings and sin offerings. What’s noteworthy is that Hezekiah insisted that these offerings were made not just for Judah but for all of Israel, both northern and southern kingdoms. True worship cannot happen where there isn’t a spirit of unity.

The people began to sing and dance in worship, and Hezekiah invited them to come bring offerings to. So many offerings were brought that the Levites were allowed to help the priests sacrifice them all. This was in part because the Levites had actually been more thorough in purifying themselves than the priest. 

Next up is the Passover. If the people were to recommit themselves to God, they need to root themselves again in all that God had done for them. Again, Hezekiah didn’t just send messengers throughout Judah to encourage the people to take the Passover. He sent them to the northern kingdom of Israel. Most of the people of the northern kingdom scoffed at the messengers, but a few humbled themselves and came south to join in with the Passover.

As so many people came down to the temple to prepare it for the Passover, the Levites and the priests who hadn’t yet purified themselves were ashamed. They quickly made sure they were holy before God so they could help purify all those that were coming to eat the Passover. 

Because there were so many wanting to take part, the Levites and priests didn’t have time to purify everyone in time, and some took the Passover while still being unclean. Hezekiah prayed this prayer over everyone, “May the good LORD pardon everyone who sets his heart to seek God, the LORD, the God of his fathers, even though not according to the sanctuary’s rules of cleanness.” (2 Chronicles 30:18-19).

God was happy with this and healed all the people of their sins. From this we see the heart of God isn’t for rules and regulations, but for people who seek him. He was willing to allow the Levites to offer sacrifices, even though that was normally just for the priests, and was willing to let the people enjoy the Passover unclean.

In both these cases, the hearts of the people weren’t to be disobedient, but were to pursue God. To celebrate God’s goodness, the people feasted for the next fourteen days. They then went out and tore down all the pagan shrines, all the pillars, sacred poles, and altars throughout the land.

Hezekiah’s final step was to reorder the Levites and the priests and to reintroduce the tithe. Both of these things allowed for proper worship to continue going forward, rather than this being just a one of celebration. The Levites and priests were now properly organised, and the systems were in place for the people to bring their tithes to the temple. 

Psalm 76

This psalm is attributed to Asaph, one of king David’s musicians, and falls into the category of praise psalms. The focus of the psalm is to lift up and praise God using military language.

Psalm 76:1-3 - God dwells with power in Zion

Psalm 76:4-6 - Armies are powerless before God

Psalm 76:7-9 - The earth is subject to God’s judgement

Psalm 76:10-12 The Lord should be feared over everything

The psalmist starts off with declaring that God dwells in Jerusalem in Judah. Salem and Zion are both names for Jerusalem. It’s there he dwells and from there he defeats Israel’s enemies.

From his place in Jerusalem, God stands glorious and majestic. Those that came against Jerusalem failed. He stunned them with just a word. While they are weak, God is to be feared for his strength. None can stand against him.

The whole earth belongs to him, and he will establish justice across it. The wicked will be punished, but the humble will be saved. So God stands, overcoming the wrath of humans and gathering up the remnant that has survived his judgement.

In response, all are to make vows to God and honour them. They are to bring him gifts and fear him, for he defeats the leaders of other nations who rise up against him.

This psalm seeks to praise God for his power, and show that God will use that power to protect and defend his people from their enemies.