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AUGUST 3
2 Chronicles 33:14-34:33
2 Chronicles 33: 14-25
Vs. 14-17 How in the world did God arrange it that Manasseh repented,
was released and returned to be king? This is a miracle all the way around. Not
only that, but God had already begun bringing punishment against Judah that
would not stop. So here comes Manasseh back to Israel, working against all hope
to make up for some of the damage that he had done. Notice that he stopped idol
worship in Judah. My theory is that he did more good than we realize or that is
mentioned in the text. Ezra’s message is, “Never, never, never give up.”
Vs. 18-20 This is a somewhat bland summary on his horrible reign. In 2
Kings it says that he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood. And regarding the
prophets, tradition says that he killed Isaiah.
Vs. 21-25 It is interesting here that Amon was evil like his father,
but Ezra mentions that he didn't humble himself as his father did. Apparently
any “father-son” talks that took place didn’t work. Both the Lord and Ezra are
putting the focus on humility. Everyone sins, but sin without repentance and
humility is fatal. The key element in repentance is humility both in heart and
in action, submitting to God.
2 Chronicles 34
V. 1 Notice that Josiah was eight when he began to reign. That's kind
of young. This would mean that when Josiah's father became king, and when
Manasseh died, Josiah was six. My theory is that the repentant and humbled
Manasseh couldn't change the heart of his son Amon, but he was able to
influence the heart of his grandson Josiah. I’ll bet there were a lot of
grandfather-grandson talks that went on. Amon was busy taking the reigns of
control, and Manasseh was basically retired. Manasseh would have had lots of
time with Josiah during all of those young years. I’ve done a lot of work with
kids and those first six years can be incredible. I think that the humbled and
godly Manasseh made an impact on the boy who would become one of Israel’s
greatest kings. Never, never, never give up.
Vs. 1-2 Notice the comparison to David and seeking after God. This will
be an amazing king with a hopeless task. Verse 2 is incredible. We will not
find anything bad in Josiah. He served the Lord and Israel with a burning
intensity until he died.
Vs. 3-7 We have a progression in Josiah’s walk with the Lord. When he
was 16 he began to seek the Lord. Actually, he sought the Lord according to the
promise to David. This would also have held the redemptive promise of the
Christ, the Son of David. He would have been trained by the priest and Levites,
but he, himself, had a thirst and passion to seek God. We’ll see that whatever
was taught to Josiah was basically all oral tradition, history and the writings
of David and Solomon. They didn’t have the first five books of the Bible, the
law.
When Josiah was 20 he began cleansing Jerusalem and Judah. This may
have been in preparation to restore the worship in Jerusalem. Notice that
Josiah took ownership for the entire country. The northern areas still had some
Jews in them but were largely vacant or populated by a mixed race of people.
Josiah went into all the land west of the Jordan and up to the Sea of Galilee.
These were a very “religious” people back then. If you burned a man’s bones on
something you made it cursed. We don’t have this sense of the spiritual at all.
We’d just get our power washer and make it “clean” again. These people may have
been superstitious, but they held a pagan awe for the spiritual. For us, if we
can’t see it, it doesn’t exist.
At this point, I think Josiah and his leaders thought they had done a
great job and had honored the Lord. They had, but they only had their
perspective on the matter. God’s perspective was about to come.
Vs. 8-13 We've seen this before. Josiah was now 26 years old. Remember,
Hezekiah was 25 when he began to lead Israel spiritually. Josiah now led in
restoring and organizing the worship of Israel. Ezra's point?
Apparently the temple was wrecked and needed tons of repair. It’s
interesting that the song leaders were also overseers of the work. I wonder if
they played during breaks.
Vs. 14-21 I am still awed by the fact that Josiah didn't have a copy of
the OT until now. Manasseh must have had them all destroyed. I'm humbled by
Josiah’s immediate understanding and emotion. They had done well in trying to
restore Israel, but when they heard the law and the curses in Deuteronomy, they
realized that God had planned for the entire removal of Israel from the land as
a punishment. Josiah understood and was humbled.
You will notice that this account is not a summary of what happened in
2 Kings. That this entire story is retold here is like God underlining it ten
times. What Josiah did is not only to be an example; it is a vital
understanding and response to God’s truth. It was vital not only for the nation
of Israel, but I think it is vital to us as disciples following in the harvest
making disciples. The storm is approaching.
Vs. 22-25 God tells Josiah his task was "hopeless." Nothing
is said here of the guilt from the innocent blood that Manasseh shed, but we
find that mentioned in other places.
Vs. 26-27 I think these are some of the greatest discipleship verses in
the Bible. I wonder what God heard from this man's heart. Notice the role of
humility.
V. 28 While this seems to be God's response to Josiah’s sincerity, God
will now accomplish something amazing through Josiah. The promise of peace
during his time motivated Josiah. Instead of sliding for home like Hezekiah
did, Josiah burst into action. In spite of certain punishment, he sought to see
the people and country honor God.
Vs. 29-33 Not only was Josiah sincere and intense, but he also led and
modeled. Hezekiah had the people make a covenant with God. Josiah, himself,
read the law out loud to the people and made a covenant with God; and the
people followed. What a heart and what a man of God. I’m willing to bet that
Josiah made his own copy of the law and read from it daily, exactly as it says
in Deuteronomy 17:19.
V. 33 You don't read this about any other king. The people totally
followed him.
I wonder if those who survived the exile and if those who came out of
it realized how much grace God showed them through this amazing king and his
hopeless reform. It was God’s grace to save Manasseh, provide a godly king like
Josiah and energize this incredible revival before the coming storm that would
sweep Israel out of its land. We’ll see why it was grace and how it worked when
we get to the book of Daniel.
It makes me think that if our hearts are focused on following our Lord
in the harvest, our expectations and emotions do not have to be subject to the
events of our times. Our goal is making disciples as a storm approaches. Within
that coming storm God is working. Abiding in Christ means we confidently know
He is leading and therefore we are always looking for His direction. In
disasters He guides us into hand-crafted opportunities to share with the lost
and make disciples. Sometimes disasters and disappointments get the adrenaline
flowing and open up big “unopenable” doors.
Romans 16:8-27
Vs. 8-16 The only thing in particular that stands out to me here is
that Paul had another relative mentioned. It should be noted that although Paul
had never been to Rome, he sure knew a lot of people there.
Vs. 17-20 After everything that Paul wrote about unity in chapters 12,
14 and 15, he now issues a command to avoid those who destroy unity. And again,
this is a command.
V. 20 Notice that if they obeyed God and avoided these people, the God of peace would crush Satan under their
feet. There is a correlation between Satan's work and the absence of God's
peace in a church. We need to deal with those who cause problems and divisions,
although we seldom do.
Vs. 21-23 These were the people in Corinth with Paul. Paul had a great
group of workers with him.
Vs. 25-27 There's a 3-point sermon in here somewhere. Look at where the
harvest is present in this benediction. This would make a good message on being
a disciple in the harvest.
V. 25 How does this strengthen you? What was Paul’s gospel? Look at
Romans 1.
V. 26 What impact does this verse have on you? What is the obedience of faith? You’ll find this
phrase also in chapter 1.
V. 27 Of all the things Paul could have said about God’s irresistible
sovereignty, he says that God is wise. When we read Job, the only thing God
really says about Himself has to do with the infinite depth of His wisdom. He
is righteous, and He is loving, and we can absolutely trust Him and His plan.
As a disciple, what do you think about Romans and how these last verses
are meant to motivate you in the harvest?
Psalm 26
Vs. 1-3 It is interesting that the confidence David had in his
integrity was that he had kept God's steadfast
love before his eyes.
Vs. 4-5 This seems like a “no brainer,” but we are actually surrounded
by people like this, often in church. These are like the people Paul just
warned the Romans about. They appear godly and are knowledgeable, but they
bring unrest. They also keep the church from its work in the harvest.
Vs. 6-8 You almost wonder if David used to sneak into the tabernacle at
night and pray there and walk around the altar and sing to God. I know people
who do stuff like that.
Vs. 9-10 Apparently David was presently in the company of some of these
people. Joab, the commander of his army, was a man like this. When David was
married to Saul’s daughter, before he had to run for his life, he was
surrounded by people like this. Sometimes we can’t get away from them. But we
can live for the glory of God.
Vs. 11-12 Our obedience should never be an if-then proposition; that
is, "if I obey, then you are obligated to bless me." Our obedience is
the very least we can give. It is normal behavior, not something extraordinary.
And knowing God's love, whether He blesses us with life or death on earth,
still means we will live forever with Him, enjoying the kindness of Christ and
the riches of His glory. We know that what's coming next is better than this,
so we work in the harvest, leaving it all on the planet, because of who Christ
is.
Proverbs 20:19
A lot of us fall into this one. This is interesting. You have a note
that says, "simple in his lips." As in all the proverbs, we can be
wise in 47 areas in our lives, but still be a fool and simpleton in a few
areas. The point for us, from God's perspective, is that if He puts His finger
on something we need to work on, we should take it to heart, humble ourselves
and submit to His wisdom.
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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