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JULY
24
2
Chronicles 11-13
Ezra is writing this not just to
record history, but to encourage, humble, strengthen and warn the new
generation of Israelites returning to the land. There are important lessons
here for these people. And of course, these things are also written down for our instruction, on whom
the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands
take heed lest he fall. So we'll look for those lessons.
2 Chronicles 11
What lessons do you think Ezra
wanted to get across in this chapter? And what do you think the Lord is saying
to us/you in terms of discipleship?
Vs. 1-4 Rehoboam listened this
time.
Vs. 5-12 In a way, all of this
fortress building was unnecessary. He could have asked the Lord if this was
necessary and the Lord would have told him. What was beginning to happen was
people were reverting back to the old motto, Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Vs. 13-17 The natural reaction
of the godly was to migrate toward Jerusalem and Judah. Jeroboam was so ungodly
that this became the first test of those people who truly loved the Lord. At
first I’m sure they kept going to Jerusalem to the feasts, but as time went on
and the idolatry spread, people probably gave up their land inheritances and
went to live in Judah. By and large, the people who migrated south were the
people who could trace their tribal lineages under Ezra.
V. 17 seems to have an eeriness
about it. What happened after three years?
Vs. 18-23 As a result of the
people coming to Judah, Rehoboam was strengthened and blessed and actually
became a decent king, for three years.
V. 21 I read this and think,
"He wasn't like his dad. He showed some restraint."
2 Chronicles 12
This is a chapter of contrast.
What would Ezra's point be here?
Vs. 1-4 Note these words. We'll
find Ezra making similar comments on almost all of the kings. Notice that when
Rehoboam was strong and established, he abandoned the Lord. Note how many
Egyptians came against Judah and Jerusalem. Back in 2 Chronicles 11:1, it says
that Rehoboam had gathered 180,000 men just from Benjamin. But now, because of
Rehoboam’s ungodliness, the blessing of God was gone and they were weak.
Vs. 5-8 They humbled themselves, but still, God punished them severely. I’m
sure Ezra wanted to make the people see the connection between obedience and
blessing, and disobedience and punishment. At the time Ezra was writing this,
that was exactly what was happening to the first wave of those who returned
from Babylon to Jerusalem. They had begun to rebuild the temple, but gave up
because of persecution. Then they took care of their own lives and forgot the
Lord, and it still wasn’t the life they wanted. Read the first chapter of
Haggai. God sent the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to motivate the people to
obey. Meanwhile Ezra was writing this history. When Ezra finally arrived in
Jerusalem, the temple was completed, but the lives of some of the people were
in shambles. This now is a history lesson on why a nation gets a case of the
“shambles.”
Vs. 9-12 All that Solomon had
gathered was taken. This is what happens if a people abandon the Lord, but in
love, God didn’t abandon the people.
Vs. 13-16 Rehoboam reigned a
good long time and didn’t love the Lord at all. Times were good, so why bother?
V. 14 What is it that God seeks?
This would be one of those lessons for Ezra's generation, and for each of us.
2 Chronicles 13
Now if you want to get a taste
for how Ezra is trying to make a point about the importance of following the
Lord and of God's promise to David, you need to read 1 Kings 15:1-7. Those
seven vague verses is all the space Abijah gets there. It is enough to say that
he really wasn't a godly king, but putting that account together with this one,
we can see that Ezra is showing God’s faithfulness to the line of David, while
showing that God punishes disobedience.
Vs. 1-20 Abijah began godly, and
his short reign was a terrible judgment of God on Jeroboam. Look at v. 17. Can
you imagine a battle in which Israel, the northern kingdom, would lose 500,000
men, in one battle? A half a million men. The lesson was that not following the
Lord bites, and God will honor His promise to David.
A
covenant of salt apparently meant that the covenant was enduring.
Read these verses (4-12) and
look at the words the Lord puts in Abijah's mouth.
Vs. 21-22 So, when did Abijah go
bad? I read an article once that said we are at our weakest after a victory.
That happened to David; and once Solomon had no more "mission," the
life of the wisest man on earth went to heck.
God has given us a mission to
keep us strong, but our strength is seen in humbly following Christ as people
who have been brought from death to life because of the sacrifice of our
Savior. As we've seen in Romans, if not for the grace of God and the help of
the Spirit, sin would ravage us too.
Romans
8:22-39
Vs. 23-25 All of creation is
suffering, waiting for the close of the age, which has to do with our
redemption. Do we really groan inwardly? We only do that if we understand the
weight we are still under because of sin, and the deliverance that is coming
our way, thanks to Christ and the love of God. We are closest to living in this
realization when we are working in the harvest, seeking to reach the lost, who
are under the wrath of God because of sin. It is in the harvest that we are
seeking to make disciples who will go beyond us, making disciples, who make
disciples.
V. 24 How does the hope of the resurrection save us? Again,
living in a good-time society where everything is pretty easy doesn’t help us
here. The resurrection is our hope.
Look back to those early verses of chapter 6. If we don't sense the weight of
sin still in us, and if we don't bear this weight as we follow Christ in the
harvest, then we will never emotionally experience the hope and joy of sharing
His resurrection. The resurrection will only be this nice thing we're told of
that seems somehow unnecessary. Just beam me up, Scotty! The proper perspective
is expressed by Paul in Philippians 3:7-15.
Vs. 26-27 Likewise seems to mean, "just as He helped us there, the
Spirit also helps us here." So, in what other way has the Spirit been
helping us? Go back to the beginning of this chapter. There is at least one
thing mentioned that the Spirit does for us and there is at least one other
that is implied. You might find a bunch.
The implication here is that the
Spirit is interceding for us on a spiritual level. He isn't just adding
something to our words that we're leaving out. He's completely communicating to
the Father on His own level, possibly in opposition to our lives or our
prayers. He really knows what we need.
V. 28 So, why is this verse here, in this spot? You see that
the Holy Spirit is praying for us and then you've got this verse. The way this
verse gets used on the street is that God will eventually work everything
together, including a bowling ball on the head from a twenty-story building, to
make you happy. Try to put this verse together with v. 36. That doesn't sound happy.
The RSV states v. 28 like this, We know
that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called
according to his purpose. I like the tone of this reading better and it
fits better to v. 36. It would seem that in God's love and eternal purpose, He
uses us for the purpose of His plan. It might hurt, but we trust His wisdom and
love knowing that He is using us for good. And, at the same time He is working
in us. We don't have to know how or why He uses us, or to what purpose in His
plan. We only need to know Him and His love and trust Him. The fact that we
even know Him and are saved is part of that purpose and working we don't
understand. The final verses of Romans say, to
the only wise God be glory for evermore through Christ Jesus. We trust
ourselves to a wise, loving, sovereign God.
Vs. 29-30 I think the order is important here. I don't think
foreknowledge means merit or works or takes away from the teaching of the
depravity of man.
Vs. 31-39 This is Paul finishing this section of Romans with
a flourish. These are some of the greatest verses in the NT and worth
memorizing.
V. 32 If you only memorize one verse, do this one.
V. 33 Our justification is not based on our
"doing," but on Christ's doing. So who can bring a charge against us
or condemn us even when we sin, saying we are not worthy of salvation, since we
didn't justify ourselves? Satan has been disarmed in terms of accusing us
before God. God already justified us by the sacrifice of Christ and through our
faith in Him. If Satan or anyone else has a problem, they need to take it up
with God.
For us as disciples, these
verses give us the assurance that we can give all we are for Christ. We are
saved and safe and loved, but we are saved and safe and loved to work as hard
as Paul did in the harvest, inspired by the great love and gospel of Christ.
And even if God calls us to His presence by the violence of some act of a
madman, we know it was allowed by God for the good working of His plan in the
harvest. And for us, it would introduce us to the presence of Christ. That’s
not bad.
Psalm
18:37-50
This is David's conclusion of
his "master" psalm, written after 17 years of running, hiding,
fighting and hearing every possible threat and lie against him. God worked His
purpose and worked all things for good for David and for His covenant people.
Vs. 37-42 In this very brutal,
poetic section, David isn’t boasting, but rather stating that he was able to do
all of this because of God’s help in answer to his prayers.
Vs. 43-45 This is how God
elevated David after all those long years of David crying out and enduring
hardship. Compare this to what Isaiah 55 says about what God did for David.
Vs. 46-48 And this is David
giving God all the praise and the glory for everything.
V. 49 When Paul speaks of the Gentiles being saved and
giving glory to God for their salvation, Paul quotes this verse in Romans 15:9,
and in order that the Gentiles might
glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will praise you among
the Gentiles, and sing to your name." Note that the word for
“Gentiles” and “nations” is the same word in Greek.
V. 50 Notice that David mentions
God's steadfast love. This is
something David would have arranged to have sung in all of Israel's worship
because it was really what David had learned from all he went through. I don't
know what this song would have sounded like, but it would have probably been
pretty uplifting.
Proverbs
19:27-29
Amen, amen and amen!
Please Read
the Following Disclaimer
I'm writing the Reading Notes to and
for those who are following a One Year Bible and are 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, that is, 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 and important discipleship manual we have and it is the 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, or whom we are to be following. 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, as disciples, 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, making disciples in the harvest.
If you would like a more descriptive
commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary (BKC).
I read the BKC in doing background for the Reading Notes and refer to it quite
often. I also make reference to maps or charts in the BKC, though I will only
note where those resources can be found. Often you can do a search for these
and find them in Google books. Buying both volumes of the Bible Knowledge
Commentary would be a good idea.
I am not endorsing any particular
One Year Bible translation; in fact, I read something you probably don't, Die
Revidierte Lutherbibel, 1984. Unless noted, all Scripture quotes are from the
ESV Bible.
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. Often there is a breadth of opinion on certain events, both
historical and prophetic. Many of my views come from my church background,
theological training and my personal study.
I'm
doing this with discipleship in mind, meaning, I'm writing out thoughts that
will keep discipleship and our growth as disciples applied to what we are
reading. Remember, the real focus of the Reading Notes is to be a
supplement, a disciple’s commentary, giving motivation and insight so that we
will keep following our Lord in the harvest, reaching the lost and making
disciples, who make disciples. Being in
the Word every day, sitting at Jesus’ feet, learning directly from Him, is the
essential essence of being and making disciples.
May the Lord bless you as you follow Him in the
harvest, reaching the lost and making disciples, who make disciples. Dan
If you would like documents
containing an entire month of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes.
If you would like a full
presentation of discipleship read Simply
Disciples*Making Disciples.
Or if you are struggling with
insomnia and would like a long boring dissertation on disciple making, these
can both be found on https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes.
Reading Notes ©, Dan Kachikis
2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018
The One Year Bible © by
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton Illinois 60189
The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version® (ESV®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers.
All charts/graphics/outlines
from the Bible Knowledge Commentary are used with the permission of David C.
Cook.
© 1983, 2001 John F Walvoord and Roy B Zuck.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary is published by David C Cook.
All rights reserved. Publisher permission
required to reproduce.
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