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JULY
29
2
Chronicles 24-25
2 Chronicles 24
Vs. 1-3 Jehoiada was Joash's
uncle and really looked out for him. Joash only lived to be 47. That will make
sense later. Verse 2 doesn't mean much now, but it will in a few verses.
Vs. 4-7 So far, so good. Joash
looks like a model king. He got the Levites and priests working to repair the
temple.
Vs. 8-14 This is all very cool.
V. 14 Twice in this section
there is a curious phrase, all the days
of Jehoiada. This points to another of those "weaknesses" that we
are all prone to and have seen in the church. There are believers who look good
as long as there are others around them. They are kind of like the seed sown on
rocky ground. They pop up and look good, but when the godly influence leaves
them alone, they have no "root in themselves," no genuine
relationship with God. Church activities and even working in the harvest
provided them with a purpose that was no deeper than the activity, and they
never had "their own" relationship with Christ.
Vs. 15-16 This was a great
honor. Not only did God grant Jehoiada a long life and influence, but he was
buried among the kings. Jehoiada was used by God to save the Davidic line. Now
there were surely other people roaming around who could trace their lineage
back to David. You see this in the genealogies of Joseph and Mary in the NT,
showing that Jesus' lineage went back to David two different ways. Still,
Jehoiada showed great courage and faith in the promise of God to do what he
did. Also, you realize that Jehoiada was no spring chicken. Humanly speaking, his
goose should have already been cooked before this all began. He was at least in
his 90s when the Lord moved him to save Judah and the line of David. As a
result of God's use and purpose for him, he lived to be 130. That's older than
Moses was when he died.
Vs. 17-19 Just the mention of
the Asherim gives you an idea of how theses princes enticed Joash. This was
very sexual worship. How could you resist? It was immediately more fun than
worshipping Yahweh. The Levites and the Sons of Korah were no match to the wild
women of Borneo who served at the Asherim (“groves” or places of worship) in
the worship of Astarte, the sensual Canaanite goddess. And being king, who
could tell him to stop? Notice that there were many whom God sent to try to
break through to Joash. The Lord gave him many opportunities.
Vs. 20-22 This is kind of cool
that the Spirit clothed Zechariah.
The reason why this rebuke went deeper is that it looks like it was public.
Growing up, Zechariah would have been like a big brother to Joash.
Jesus refers to this murder
twice, the last time being the Wednesday before He died. The fact that they
waited until Zechariah came out of the holy place and was walking toward the
altar adds a deeper irony to the ambush of these murderers. In the holy place Zechariah
was standing before the Lord, interceding for the people. Verse 22 is Ezra's
commentary on King Joash, the "fake" believer. This murder would be a
foreshadowing of the murder of Jesus.
Vs. 23-24 Notice that this
judgment didn't come the next day. God waited. The more you read the Bible, the
more you see that "waiting" is almost an attribute of God. His
waiting causes His people to grow in faith, and it causes the rebellious to
think everything's cool so they keep on sinning. The result is that God's
people get stronger and write psalms of praise, and the other guys get a rude
awakening. Here, Jerusalem was taken, the army was defeated and all these
princes were killed by a small force. It was a very obvious judgment on
Jerusalem.
Vs. 25-27 Notice that Joash
wasn't buried in the tombs of the kings. It is interesting, and probably just
trivia, that the two assassins were both descendants of Lot, children from a
forbidden relationship and an awful heritage.
2 Chronicles 25
This is a very strange story and
you only hear half of it in Kings. This is now the great-great grandson of
Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat's sin had now seeped into the 4th generation. Read
this and try to figure out what could possibly have been going on in Amaziah's
mind. It blows me away, but actually we saw this with some of the kings of the
north who lived with Elijah and Elisha. God helped them, but they didn't grow
in faith or follow God.
Vs. 1-4 As you read this, except
for Ezra's note in v. 2, this guy looks pretty kosher and shows some genuine
faith and obedience.
Vs. 5-13 This entire story will
make you scratch your head. He obeyed God in not facing Edom with a large army
of mercenaries. God gave him the victory, but he showed incredible cruelty to
his prisoners. And then…
Vs. 14-16 What was going on? How
did Amaziah view spirituality? Was it that he had this victory and thought that
he had done this himself? Were the idols made out of diamond and incredibly
valuable?
V. 16 is a pretty awesome verse.
Notice that the prophet stopped arguing with Amaziah.
Vs. 17-24 This is the story we
have already seen in Kings. Now we understand why Amaziah lost the battle and
why he was so arrogant. In fact, his arrogance shows us what must have been
going on in his heart when he won the battle with the Edomites. He really
thought he had won the battle on his own. God made sure Amaziah was publicly
humiliated by having the city wall torn down and the treasures taken.
V. 20 This is Ezra's commentary
to the new generation returning to the land.
Vs. 25-28 It is amazing that God
punished Amaziah, but didn't take him out. Actually, his ungodliness became a
test of the godliness of the people; and they took care of him. Maybe this is
also Ezra's encouragement to the people and leaders of Israel not to tolerate
an ungodly ruler.
V. 28 He was still honored in
burial as a descendant of David, the line of promise.
Romans
12
Vs. 1-2 One of the challenges in
v. 1 is to be able to think through all the past 11 chapters and understand the
impact of I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the
mercies of God... How would you summarize what Paul and the Spirit have
said in such a way as to give you such a spiritual shot of adrenaline that you
would live a supernatural life on earth, submitted to Christ and submitted to
God's purpose of redemption in the world?
The spiritual "awe" of
what Paul has been writing is going to be used to convince these people to take
command of their lives on earth, so that they can work together as a mixed
church, proclaiming the testimony of God's glory in a lost world.
V. 3 Do you detect that Paul is
addressing a problem here? Verses 1-2, then, are to have the impact of getting
them to see their own personal issues as insignificant in comparison to God's
redemptive mercy, plan and calling.
Vs. 3-8 How do you think having
a mixed "Jew-Gentile" congregation aggravated the problem with gifts?
God assigns gifts according to His will, not our background or ethnicity. What
do you see in these verses that gave them a spiritual understanding to help
them get along together? It all began with God.
Vs. 9-13 How would you title
these verses? If Paul kept referring back to vs. 1 and 2, it would sound
something like, on the basis of the past 11 chapters, (insert vs. 1 and 2), and
so now let us….. God is expecting our maturity to rise to the level of being
able to do this in spite of what goes on around us.
Vs. 14-21 These disciples were
to have lived like Jesus commanded in the Sermon on the Mount. The impact of
chapters 1-11and the summary of 12:1-2 were supposed to put these people in the
spiritual frame of mind to serve with strength, humility and sacrifice.
What Paul is writing here is
very similar to what Jesus told His disciples in the Sermon on the Mount. If
disciples are focused on Christ and the work in the harvest, their perspective
on themselves and on life is supposed to lift them above themselves and give
them a spiritual vision of how to live in this harvest.
Psalm
22:19-31
This part of the psalm still
seems to be "messianic" in describing the aftermath of Christ's death
and resurrection. The words here seem like something reflected from Isaiah
53:10-12.
Vs. 19-21 The deliverance has
been from the irrational violence of men. Notice the "wild life." I
grew up around these kinds of people.
Vs. 22-24 This seems like David
is giving testimony to Israel of deliverance and praising God.
Vs. 25-26 This is David's praise
to God and confidence in God’s blessing on those who follow Him.
Vs. 27-31 This is the
proclamation to the earth that there is deliverance in God. This is what we, as
disciples, get to pass on in the harvest.
Proverbs
20:8-10
These all seem a little random. As I read this first one, I
think of what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:15, The spiritual person judges all
things, but is himself to be judged by no one.
V. 8 This was God's ideal for a
king or a person who ruled others. David and Solomon were men like this, and
were renowned for their judgments, until their unconfessed sin and its damage
ruined them.
V. 9 We all have sinned, but
that doesn't mean we can't judge. Verse 9 is true in that we cannot say we
have made our hearts pure, but we can say that God in His Word, through His
Spirit, is working on our hearts.
V. 10 The judgments, or the
stuff that goes into discerning one thing from another, come from true weights
and measures. The one who sets these weights and measures morally, and who sees
the hearts of men, is God. It is on the basis of God's truth that we can
determine right from wrong and make just judgments, even though we ourselves
are needy. God's Word gives us the true "weights and balances."
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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