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.
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.
