“But this I say, brethren, the time has been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none; and those who weep, as though they did not weep; and those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice; and those who buy, as though they did not possess; and those who use the world, as though they did not make full use of […]
“He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years; and he departed with no one’s regret, and they buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings” (2 Chron 21.20). Imagine strolling through a common cemetery when an ancient tombstone catches your eye. You brush off the weeds and dirt to read: King Jehoram Son of Jehoshaphat […]
“…if My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chron 7.14). It is not uncommon to see 2 Chronicles 7.14 boldly displayed on billboards and church marquees. It is the clarion call to all citizens to pray for political, moral and […]
For many of us reading through Kings-Chronicles is a slog. The text volleys back and forth between Israel (Northern Kingdom or Samaria) and Judah (Southern Kingdom or Jerusalem). What precipitated the soap opera that was old covenant Israel? King David’s murderous tryst with “the wife of Uriah the Hittite” had far-reaching consequences. God took the life of their first (and illegitimate son). As adulterers both David and Bathsheba were subject […]
In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa became diseased in his feet. His disease was severe, yet even in his disease he did not seek Yahweh, but the physicians (2 Chron 16.12). Despite King Asa’s successes (2 Chron 15) his eulogy could not be more sad: “His disease was severe, but he still did not seek God.” So after two fist-shaking years he died in the shadow of his […]