This is
another “red letter,” “go-out-and-get-yourself-a-Frappuccino” day. You are
finishing 2 Chronicles and beginning 1 Corinthians.
2
Chronicles 35-36
Believe it
or not, Ezra is wrapping up 2 Chronicles. You look at the amount of space he is
giving Josiah and how little he will give the kings after Josiah and realize
that Ezra is trying to make an important point to the people reading this
history. The revival under Josiah came by God’s grace. As spectacular as it
was, it only took one generation to reverse all of the positive influence that
the Lord had brought in under Josiah. Hope is always found in following the
Lord, not in following men.
2
Chronicles 35
Vs. 1-6 In
putting the worship of Israel in order, notice that Josiah had given the
Levites the task of teaching all of Israel, as God had meant them to do. All of
the priests and Levites were ready to serve the people at the Passover. Josiah
followed all that David and Solomon had set in order, and now he had Exodus
through Deuteronomy to guide him in the preparation. Notice the reference to
the ark of the covenant. This will be the last time we will hear of it.
Apparently it had been moved out of the Holy of Holies. It was put back by the
Levites, and they were told not to carry it in the procession that was part of
the Passover feast. Sometime after this the ark was taken or destroyed.
Vs. 7-9
Josiah led by example and others willingly followed. Not only that, but Josiah
gave of himself and his resources, not just to be an example, but to enable the
people to come to the Lord in worship and devotion. Judah was in decline, and
the chaos caused by the Assyrians brought enough instability and lawlessness,
that the people began migrating to Jerusalem and no longer were supporting
themselves from their lands. By this time most of the people would have been
pretty poor. Josiah’s generosity was infectious.
Vs. 10-14 The
Book of Moses was Genesis-Deuteronomy. Josiah had this and they followed it.
Notice the references to the sons of
Aaron. They considered those books to be precious and they respected and
obeyed what was written in them. We need to have that same wonder for the Word,
and particularly for the Gospels and Acts, our first five books.
Vs. 15-19
Just as David had designed it, Josiah had the singers and gatekeepers
participating in worship. The sincerity and power of this Passover is expressed
here. Imagine this, no other king, not even David or Solomon or Hezekiah, had honored
God this way.
Vs. 20-27
Ezra is skipping ahead now 13 years after this Passover to continue the story
and get Josiah killed. Ezra's point in the book has now been made regarding
leadership and regarding God's grace to this nation. Now it's time to end the
story. This morning I was reading about John the Baptist, and it made me think
the same thing about Josiah. God just wanted him out of the way so He could
continue His plan.
V. 21 In a
way this was unnecessary. Josiah was not a fighting king. As the Egyptian army
went through his land they would have looted and pillaged the towns along the
way. It must have been that Josiah had seen God blessing so much of his work
that he thought he would be blessed by God in fighting Egypt. I wonder if he asked
God about this.
V. 22 How
would Josiah have known Pharaoh’s words were from God? I guess he should have
asked a prophet. He had Jeremiah standing there and could have asked him. Also,
it wasn't a good idea to imitate Ahab's trick, especially since it didn't work
for Ahab. Actually, it was probably a common ploy among kings. But if God is
with you, why bother?
V. 25 This
was a huge loss and major event for Israel. We never hear of them singing of
the loss of David or anyone else. Not only that, Jeremiah was inspired by the
Spirit to write a lament and sing it. Not only that, to this day means it was sung all the way through the 70-year exile
and up to the time Ezra was writing this, 100 years after the first return of
the people. That is a great honor to Josiah.
Vs. 26-27
Josiah doesn't have anything said negatively about him. In reading this, I
think his time was over. He had done what God put him on the earth to do, and
now it was time for God to retire Josiah and bring judgment on Judah. As an act
of grace, although the kings who follow Josiah are bad kings, during Josiah's
revival of Israel, God was making a way to save Israel during their exile in
Babylon. The national revival seems to have ended, but it just went underground
and was deported. God would fan it to life again through the hearts of four
teenage boys and a very unusual prophet named Ezekiel. And too, Jeremiah was
also a product of Josiah’s revival.
2
Chronicles 36
Vs. 1-4
We’ve seen this before in 2 Kings. To show that he was in charge, the Pharaoh
removed the king appointed by the people and appointed Jehoiakim to be king.
Vs. 5-8
This began the Babylonian exile when Daniel and his friends were taken. This is
the first deportation. Thankfully Jehoiakim was obedient to Neb for three
years (2 Kings 24:1), giving the Lord time to establish Dan & Co. in Babylon. We get some
new information here. Somehow Jehoiakim was captured, without Jerusalem being
approached by the Babylonian army. Maybe he was on vacation. Jehoiakim was
either released or escaped and returned to Jerusalem where he died and was
given the burial of a donkey. Nebuchadnezzar was mad and came to Jerusalem
again, but even Neb knew the fear of God by this time.
Vs. 9-10
This was the second deportation when Ezekiel was taken along with 12,000 skilled
workers. Now there was no tech support in Israel. This left the country
destitute. Neb also took more out of the temple. It could be that he took the
ark. As we saw in Kings, Jehoiachin’s surrender of the city was in obedience to
Jeremiah’s preaching. His obedience would be rewarded later.
Vs. 11-14
Zedekiah was the final king of Judah; and because of this rebellion, the city
and temple were destroyed. He was not only ungodly, but he was also a coward.
His nobles led the kingdom. Notice that in spite of all the bad things that
were happening, Zedekiah would not humble himself before the Lord. In Jeremiah
we will see the personal conversation that Jeremiah had with this wimpy king.
Vs. 15-16
This is Ezra's commentary. The returnees needed to watch their hearts too.
Vs. 17-21
This is a summary of Nebuchadnezzar’s final visit to Jerusalem. The destruction
was total and the violence done to the people was shocking. Yet God had warned
them that this would happen. The fact that Neb found and released Jeremiah shows
that he understood that God was using him to bring judgment to Israel. It is
likely that Neb had Daniel advising him.
V. 21
Apparently no king of Israel ever gave the land its Sabbatical seventh year
when there would be no sowing or reaping. The 70 years of the exile were
designated by God for every Sabbath year that was missed. This means that
Israel had gone 490 years without giving the land its Sabbath. They had never
obeyed God in this. That ought to be shocking and make us think about what we
might be neglecting. It is probably something very simple, something we might
think we’re actually doing and something totally indispensible in our devotion
to Jesus.
Vs. 22-23
Years before this, while Hezekiah was king, Isaiah had predicted that a king
named Cyrus would send the people back to Israel out of exile. (Isaiah 45:1)
This is great grace on God's part to preserve His people during their exile.
Even in Deuteronomy, the Lord already knew the people would rebel; and He knew
how He would save and preserve them in exile.
After 2
Chronicles the Hebrew Bible has the books that naturally follow the end of the
exile: Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther. All three of these people lived after the
return of the people and during the Persian Empire. But what Ezra doesn't mention
here is the event that happened just before Cyrus told the Jews they could go
home. It's the purrrrfect kid's story (Daniel 6) and it is much deeper than
anyone realizes.
1
Corinthians 1:1-17
Back in my
first year of marriage with Beth, sometime before Easter, she came up with the
idea to memorize 1 Corinthians 15:51-58, so that by Easter of 1979 we would
have it memorized and could say it to each other. You do lots of crazy things
your first year of marriage. During that time, I was driving from Waukegan to
Kenosha every day for school, 45 minutes there and 45 minutes back. This was in
the days before smart phones and texting. So I memorized. I really enjoyed
those few verses, and so I set a goal to memorize all of 1 Corinthians 15 by
Easter. And I did it. Now, I was becoming a memorizing junkie; and I still had
that long drive every day, so by the time I graduated from Parkside in May
1981, I had memorized all of 1 Corinthians. What a blessing that has been in my
ministry and personal life. That was over 30 years ago, and Beth has been with
the Lord since 2002. Yet every couple of weeks when I go over 1 Corinthians, I
think that this was all because of the suggestion and encouragement of the girl
God gave me who was my dearest friend on earth. Thanks, Beth.
V. 1
Notice Sosthenes. Last time we saw him was in Acts 18:17 as an unbeliever
getting beaten up. Now he is a brother, and it is important that Paul is
mentioning his name here because he was a respected person and could validate
the issues mentioned in this letter. Probably, when some of the Corinthians
heard his name being mentioned by Paul in this letter, they said, "oh,
oh."
Vs. 2-3 All those who in every place call upon the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ is an important message and connection for this
very "elite" church. Paul will use words like this to bring them back
to earth several times. Paul will show them that “they” are out of step in
their pride and arrogance. Behind their criticism of Paul might be the
suspicion that he gave this church harder instructions than he had given other
churches. This church certainly thought they were better than other churches
because of the spiritual gifts they had received. Paul will address all of
these things.
Vs. 4-9
This church burst into life with all sorts of manifestations of the Spirit. In
chapters 12-14 Paul will "minister" to them to give the right
perspective on these gifts, especially tongues. The main church in Corinth was
directly next door to the synagogue, and I think this accounts for the outpouring
of tongues and the other sign gifts.
Vs. 10-16
The problem Paul begins to address here will continue until the end of chapter
4.
V. 11 Chloe's people probably signifies a
church that met at this person's house. Chloe's people were
"snitches." Sosthenes might have been a part of that group or he was
the messenger telling of issues in the church. He also brought with him a list
of questions the leaders/people had for Paul.
Vs. 12-13
The Corinthians were focusing on names and purity of teaching. We’ll see in 2
Corinthians that they had self-appointed “super-apostles,” who were causing
people to focus inward. We’ll see that they had not only lost sight of the
harvest, but some of their groups were a horrible testimony for Christ in
Corinth.
Vs. 14-17
It is hard to read these verses and think, as some people do, that baptism is
necessary for salvation. Paul didn't think it was. It is the preaching of the gospel
that is vital for salvation. Baptism is a sign of devotion to Christ and is
important, but not vital to salvation.
What we’ll
see from Paul is that our message and walk in the harvest always remain simple
and focused, if we are following our Lord and living only for Him, doing His
work and reaching out to the lost.
Psalm
27:1-6
Laura
already had the last verse of Psalm 27 memorized, so she encouraged me to
memorize the whole thing with her and we did. Surprisingly, this has been a
major blessing and a help during a very crucial time of our lives. Once again,
I’ve been blessed by the suggestion and encouragement of the girl God has given
me to be my dearest friend on earth. Thanks, Laura.
If you're
going to memorize this, look at a couple of different translations. We
memorized it in the KJV; and I like the sense of the psalm better there,
particularly the last verse, than in the ESV. It's too bad they split the psalm
over today and tomorrow because David is driving toward the proclamation at the
end...Wait on the Lord. I'd suggest
reading the entire psalm today and tomorrow.
V. 1 This
is the statement of what God had become to David in all of his years of
trouble.
V. 2 This
is something David had seen over and over again during these years of running.
V. 3
Imagine what it would be like to have this kind of strength of heart and
confidence. This is peace that knowing and abiding in our Lord can give us.
V. 4 This
became the great passion of David’s heart. This is why David had to have the
ark of the covenant in Jerusalem, why he wanted to build a temple for the Lord,
and why even when he was told he couldn’t build the temple, he still sought the
Lord for the temple plans and amassed materials for its building.
V. 5 This
is the first indication that David is still experiencing troubles. He knows the
Lord will save him.
V. 6
Another passion of David was to give testimony to God’s deliverance and mercy.
Proverbs
20:20-21
V. 20 I'm
sure there are different ways to understand what lamp means, but if it is "understanding," then I think I
get this. Jesus said, “The eye is the
lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of
light, 23but if your eye
is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is
darkness, how great is the darkness!” (Matt. 6:22-23) Jesus was talking
about our ability to understand.
So many
people are taught to blame and curse their parents, without ever
noticing that we are on a dying planet where every one of us is diseased and
dying. I recently had to go back through some photos of my grandparents and
great grandparents and even beyond. It is all so sad. One lost generation
behaved like lost people influencing the next lost generation. Someone who was
dear to me in all of that mess began cursing those around her early in life,
and you could say that her light went out a long time ago. Understanding God's
Word and his compassion for a dying world gives us compassion and understanding
and keeps our lamp seeing clearly.
V. 21 This
is another one of those "understanding" kinds of proverbs. Just like
those who curse their parents, these people don't have enough understanding to
know that what comes to us too easily won't be appreciated.
If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year
Bible, click on this link http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/. If that doesn't
work, go to http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/
and click on “Every
Day in the Word.”
I'm writing these comments to and for those who are
following a One Year Bible and interested in growing deeper as a disciple,
following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see the growth of a discipleship
culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples, meeting weekly, encouraging
each other to follow Christ and work to reach out and make disciples who make
disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal manual we have and key to our
growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused on why we are here
or what we are to be doing. My comments are only meant to provide some
explanation of the events or to show the flow of God's plan of redemption. My
comments are in no way exhaustive, but are designed to keep us focused on
Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is that the people in these groups
will grow in Christ and be willing, after a year, to find 3 others to meet with
and encourage in their growth as disciples, disciples making disciples in the
harvest.
If you would like a complete description of this model
of being and making disciples you can find it in my book: Simply
Disciples*Making Disciples. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011WJIDQA?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
If you would like a more descriptive commentary that is
still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's
keyed to the NIV, so the result is the commentators are constantly telling you
what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.
I am not endorsing any particular One Year Bible; in
fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte Lutherbibel 1984.
Anyone reading along with us is welcome to do so and is
encouraged to take their own notes and make their own observations. If the
comments made do not agree with your particular tradition or understanding,
that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any point of view, but
only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as I understand it.
Send comments or feedback to dgkachikis@gmail.com.
If you would like documents containing an entire month
of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes. You can download
these to use on your computer or to print.
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