2 Chronicles 19

2 Chronicles 19:9

Then he charged them saying, "Thus you shall do in the fear of the LORD, faithfully and wholeheartedly.

This is what Jehoshaphat said to those he had appointed as judges in Jerusalem.  Personally, I think this would be a good thing to add to the charge given to public officials today.  The first thing that any official or leader should be concerned with is the will of God.  He should be careful that what he is doing is within God's will, and should fear straying from it.

He also should be faithful in the responsibility that God has given him.  He is but an appointee, with no true authority of his own.  The authority comes from God, and in God's service it must be used.  But once he is certain of the path being proper, he should pursue it with all he is.  There should be no hesitation in the pursuit of God's will.

2 Chronicles 18

2 Chronicles 18:15

Then the king said to him, "How many times must I adjure you to speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?"

If I'm reading context here correctly, the king is Ahab, not Jehoshaphat.  This makes it interesting to me that Ahab, first, knows that the prophet is lying/mocking with his previous good report.  He's complaining that the man never brings good news to him, but always bad.  So here he gets good news, but knows it's not true.  Did the prophet deliver it in a condescending voice or something?  Or was that just Ahab's fatalism showing through?

Also, it's interesting that he commands the prophet to always speak the truth.  He never hears what he wants to, but he knows the man still speaks the truth.  So when the prophet speaks, he wants to hear the truth, even if it's bad.  Better to know the bad news and it be true, than the good news and it's a lie.

2 Chronicles 17

2 Chronicles 17:10

Now the dread of the LORD was on all the kingdoms of the lands which were around Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat.

Jehoshaphat has honored God, and followed His commands.  He has finished what his father Asa started, and cleansed the land of false gods.  As God promised in the previous couple chapters to Asa, He has now honored Jehoshaphat for his obedience, and strengthened Judah.

All the surrounding nations have at one time or another faced Israel/Judah when the nation was faithful to God.  They know how God can make the impossible happen, and know that Judah is with God again.  They therefore all choose not to fight Judah, and risk incurring the wrath of God against them.  Fear of God truly is the beginning of wisdom.

2 Chrnoicles 16

2 Chronicles 16:9

For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.  You have acted foolishly in this.  Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars."

For as much as twenty-five years, Asa did it all right.  He followed God, and God allowed him to prosper  But somewhere along the line, Asa got complacent.  He stopped remembering how God had enriched him.  When a crisis occurred, he turned to another king for help, instead of seeking God again.  This was the end of peace in his time.

I wonder, where did he make that turn from God to men?  I doubt it was when Israel prepared to attack.  Rather, I think it was probably some time before.  Asa had turned from God, and therefore God used Israel to try and remind him of who was in control.  However, Asa did not make the right choice, and therefore had to pay the price for his pride.

2 Chronicles 15

2 Chronicles 15:2

and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, "Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin:  the LORD is with you when you are with Him.  And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.

An important truth is contained in this verse, but it's one that most people miss.  Many people think God is with them.  They think that they are doing God's will, and therefore He is assisting them in their work.  However, that's not what this verse says.  It says that God is with us when we are with Him.  That doesn't mean He is supporting our work.  It means we must support His.  We must look to what He would have us do, and do it.

We cannot shape God's will to ours.  We must instead allow God to shape our wills to His.  There is no promise of prosperity implied in this, either.  God didn't say He would make us rich or famous.  In fact, those things can easily interfere with God's plans, and therefore take us away from Him.

2 Chronicles 14

2 Chronicles 14:11

Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, "LORD, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us O LORD our God, for we trust in You, and in Your name have come against this multitude.  O LORD, You are our God; let not man prevail against You."

Asa has an interesting prayer here.  First, he proclaims God's power.  He says God is all that can help the powerless against the powerful.  The powerless can't do anything to help themselves.  He then implies that Judah is powerless, for he calls upon God to help them.

He then gives the "reasons" why God should help them.  He states how faithful Judah has been to God, and that they are here to fight in His name.  He then affirms that they are loyal and obedient to God, but again states how they will be defeated without His help.  He entreats God not to let these men beat them, and by implication beat Him.

2 Chronicles 13

2 Chronicles 13:15

Then the men of Judah raised a war cry, and when the men of Judah raised the war cry, then it was that God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.

What was this war cry?  Was it the coordinated shout that happened when the walls fell at Jericho?  Was is something more like today's war cry you see in movies, when the soldiers leave the trenches for a charge?  Or was it at actual, specific cry out to God for relief?

Also, why did God wait for the war cry before helping Judah?  Abijah had just given a passionate speech to both sides or the battle line, proclaiming how God was with them, even though they were outnumbered 2:1.  Yet God waited to "show up" until they were losing and cried out.  Why not simply give them the victory from the beginning?  Maybe it was because while Abijah believed, not everyone on his side did?  Maybe God was proving that Abijah's words were true, and victory can only come through God.

2 Chronicles 12

2 Chronicles 12:8

But they will become his slaves so that they may learn the difference between My service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries."

God has delivered Judah from destruction, but there is still a lesson to be learned.  God isn't going to protect them from all their past sins, even though they came back to Him.  Instead, they will suffer the loss of all they have, to remind them what the cost of not following God can be.

In the same way, God does not promise to spare us from the consequences of our actions.  He will save us in the end, but we must still reap the result of our actions.  Those who believe that God will always reward good behavior, and preserve them from anything bad happening are still wrong, but God does still hold to the reverse (at least to an extent).

2 Chronicles 11

2 Chronicles 11:4

'Thus says the LORD, "You shall not go up or fight against your relatives; return every man to his house, for this thing is from Me."'"  So they listened to the words of the LORD and returned from going against Jeroboam.

God's counsel here came unbidden.  Rehoboam and the people of Judah didn't ask God if they should go, they were just going to go.  However, God has set these events in motion, due to the failures of Solomon and Rehoboam, and He will not permit them to be overturned.  So he sends a prophet to the people, and tells them to go home and forget the whole idea.

What is somewhat surprising is that the people listen.  They don't go off half-cocked anyhow, and get pounded by Israel.  They listen to God, realize they are in the wrong, and quietly slink home.  Even Rehoboam doesn't seem to dispute God in this pronouncement, despite him being the one who's been affronted.  He takes the hit to his pride, and carries on.

2 Chronicles 10

2 Chronicles 10:8

But he forsook the counsel of the elders which they had given him, and consulted with the young men who grew up with him and served him.

This verse shows the true folly of Rehoboam.  His error was made long before he decided to follow the young men's advice over that of Solomon's counselors.  Here, we see that his mistake was made before he even asked the young men's advice.  Instead, it was made when he spurned the counselors before he'd even heard the alternative.

If he had been wiser, he would have at least heard both groups' advice before deciding on one or the other.  But he didn't even get that far.  Instead, he did what the king should do, and talked to the king's counselors.  However, he immediately decided that he didn't like their answer, and so he went looking for an answer he did like.  He didn't weigh both sides, or even hear both sides out.  Instead, he already truly knew what his answer was going to be, and only was looking for someone to support it.

2 Chronicles 9

2 Chronicles 9:8

Blessed be the LORD your God who delighted in you, setting you on His throne as king for the LORD your God; because your God loved Israel establishing them forever, therefore He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness."

Here, the queen of Sheba is honoring God for His gifting Solomon with the wisdom to rule his people well.  She acknowledges that God made him king of Israel because He wanted the nation to last long and strong, and gave them the leader necessary to make that happen.

However, while she honors God, she does not follow God herself.  She refers to Him as "your God", not "the God" or "our God."  There's nothing here to suggest that she agrees with monotheism, much less that God is the only god.  She appears to think that He is indeed powerful, but doesn't change her opinion of there being other options.

2 Chronicles 8

2 Chronicles 8:3

Then Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and captured it.

This short verse changes my picture of Solomon.  When David wanted to build the Temple, God said no, because David was a warrior and had spilled blood.  Therefore, his son Solomon would (and now has) build the Temple instead.  I always assumed that meant that Solomon did not fight, and that the nation had peace during his reign.

It appears from this verse that I was mistaken in that assumption, at least somewhat.  Solomon did at least once take (or send) the nation to fight.  We don't know the reason for the fight, whether it was aggressive or a counter-attack.  We don't know if Solomon went with them to battle, or whether he just sent the army and stayed home himself.  But it appears that God's prohibition on David did not mean that Solomon would be entirely peaceful.

2 Chronicles 7

2 Chronicles 7:13

If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people,

This verse precedes another verse, which has become very popular.  Many modern-day Christians use it as a justification for the belief that God is going to restore America to its previous, more reverent state.  They think that if Christians pray, God will then fix everything that's wrong with the country, and bring Americans back to Him.

However, these people are completely ignoring the context of this verse.  It has nothing to do with America being restored, or the trials of today's world being eased.  It is speaking only to the Israelites.  It says that if they mess up, and God calls down famine or disease upon them because of their turning from Him, then if they come back and ask forgiveness, he will forgive them and heal the land.  It has nothing to do with modern times, and nothing to do with America (or any other place in the modern world).  This promise died, at best, with the nation of Judah.

2 Chronicles 6

2 Chronicles 6:32

"Also concerning the foreigner who is not from Your people Israel, when he comes from a far country for Your great name's sake and Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm, when they come and pray toward this house,

As one who would be considered a foreigner, I find it very heartening that Solomon included "us" in his supplication to God.  He's just created the Temple for God's glory to dwell in.  He could have kept it all to the Israelites.  They were God's chosen people, after all, to the exclusion of all other nations.

Yet here Solomon recognizes that some outsiders would see the truth, and come to worship God.  He therefore makes provision for them, and includes them in his request for God's blessing.  He wants all to be blessed by God, who recognize him as the only true God.

2 Chronicles 5

2 Chronicles 5:14

so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God.

I'm not quite sure what caused the priests to be unable to work.  Is it because the cloud was so thick that they couldn't see anything?  Might there have been some kind of physical reaction to the cloud (like they started coughing)?  Or was it just that God's presence was so amazing that they couldn't concentrate on their duties?

No matter what the answer to my question, how amazing would it be to see God's glory filling the place where you were?  We talk about feeling God's presence, but what would it be like to see it, for it to be something tangible?  For God to come in any sort of physical form, no matter how unapproachable, would be amazing to me.

2 Chronicles 4

2 Chronicles 4:6

He also made ten basins in which to wash, and he set five on the right side and five on the left to rinse things for the burnt offering; but the sea was for the priests to wash in.

I can understand the need for ceremonial washing stations at the Temple.  They're servicing a whole nation, so that makes sense.  Ten doesn't seem like a very high number, given the volume of sacrifice that will come through the place.

However, why such a large washing item for the priests?  The previous verse says it's 3,000 baths.  I looked it up, and that's over 17,000 gallons.  For that size, are the priests taking actual baths in it?  Or is this the place they must go to purify themselves between each sacrifice, and therefore it much cleanse a huge amount of bodies?