23-2 Chronicles 10 – 33

2 Chronicles 10 – 33 May 30, 2009

This week we will continue looking through the Book of 2 Chronicles. So far in both of the books we have covered through the death of King Solomon. During the reigns of David and Solomon Israel was at the peak of its power. David had conquered the land and expanded his kingdom through war. Solomon also expanded the kingdom through diplomacy and alliances. Solomon’s wealth and wisdom had made Israel the envy of the world. It was not brought out in the Books of Chronicles that the days of Israel’s strength were nearing an end. Even though Solomon was blessed by God with more than all he could ever need, he still desired more. He was not satisfied obeying God’s law and turned away from the Lord by idolatrous women from foreign lands. His lust for these women caused Solomon to worship their gods and forsake the Lord. Because of this sin God had the prophet Ahijah to tell Jeroboam that he would be given ten of the twelve tribes of Israel to rule. Israel’s downfall began, and the mighty kingdom of David and Solomon was divided. In Chapter 10 Solomon’s son Rehoboam had taken over the throne of Israel after his father’s death. When Jeroboam heard that Rehoboam had been made king he remembered the words of Ahijah and returned from Egypt where he had fled from Solomon. Jeroboam and the elders of Israel came before Rehoboam and asked him to lessen the burden of labor on the people of Israel. Rehoboam consulted with his advisors who convinced him not to grant the peoples request. God planned this turn of events and ten of the twelve tribes Israel turned away from following the descendants of David. The word of the Lord was fulfilled and only the people from Judah and Benjamin would follow the house of David from then on. The man Rehoboam sent to Israel to be over the forced labor was stoned to death by the people. They refused to follow Rehoboam and made Jeroboam their king. Rehoboam then fled in fear back to Jerusalem. Rehoboam’s attempt to gather an army to restore the kingdom of Israel was stopped by God. He instead stayed in Jerusalem and built up the cities in the territories of Judah and Benjamin. The Levites came to Jerusalem from Israel because Jeroboam refused to allow them to continue being priests before the Lord. He had assigned other men to the priesthood who were not from the tribe of Levi in direct opposition to God’s law. Israel also served false gods which were made by Jeroboam and worshipped by his false priests. The displaced Levites served in Jerusalem and supported Rehoboam for three years. The text then says that Rehoboam like his fathers before him had many wives and concubines. The first verse in Chapter 12 says that when Rehoboam’s kingdom in Judah was established and strong, both the people of Judah and Israel turned against the Lord. In the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign the Lord allowed Shishak the King of Egypt to come up against Judah with his army. The people of Judah humbled themselves before the Lord and God granted them some measure of deliverance from the Egyptians. Even though God did not permit Shishak to defeat Judah He did allow them to impoverish the people by plundering the land. Rehoboam then died and was succeeded by his son Abijah. The acts of Abijah’s reign were recorded in Chapter 13. Abijah started a civil war with King Jeroboam of Israel in an attempt to restore rule to the house of David. He did achieve victory over Israel in spite of the fact his army was half the number of Israel. The Lord fought for him, but the kingdom was not restored. Jeroboam never recovered from the defeat and the Lord struck him dead. Abijah became very powerful, and like those before him, had many wives and children. Asa then became king over Judah after Abijah died. Asa did what was right before the Lord and the land had peace for ten years. He removed the false gods and high places from Judah. After the years of peace Zerah, the Ethiopian came against Judah with his army of one million men and three hundred chariots. Asa had built up an army of five hundred eighty thousand during the time of peace. Asa did not need his army. He called to the Lord in Chapter 14:11 “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.” God heard Asa and routed the Ethiopians and chased them as far as Gerar. They killed many more Ethiopians in the pursuit and plundered the cities around Gerar of livestock and goods. The army then returned to Jerusalem. In Chapter 15 the prophet Azariah came to Asa and warned him with these words from God in Chapter 15:2-7 “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.“For many days Israel was without the true God and without a teaching priest and without law.“But in their distress they turned to the Lord God of Israel, and they sought Him, and He let them find Him.“In those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for many disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands.“Nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every kind of distress.“But you, be strong and do not lose courage, for there is reward for your work.” Asa heeded the Lord and brought about many reforms in Judah. He did what was right for most of his reign. He turned from God when he asked for help from Aram in his conflict with Baasha the king of Israel instead of relying on the Lord. He imprisoned the prophet Hanani when he came to tell the king of God’s anger at his decision to enlist the Arameans. In the thirty ninth year of his reign Asa became ill with a disease in his feet. He consulted physicians instead of the Lord on his condition and died after reigning for forty one years. Jehoshaphat then became king over Judah. It was recorded in Chapter 17 that the beginning his reign was good. He followed the example of David and obeyed the Lord. God was with him and he became strong. We find out here in Chapter 18:1 that Jehoshaphat went wrong and allied himself with wicked King Ahab of Israel through marriage. Ahab was the king of Israel that was married to Jezebel. Jehoshaphat went to Ahab to ask him to be his ally against Aram. Ahab’s false prophets assured victory. Micaiah, the only true prophet in the land told Jehoshaphat these words in Chapter 18:16 “I saw all Israel Scattered on the mountains, Like sheep which have no shepherd; And the Lord said, ‘These have no master. Let each of them return to his house in peace.’” Israel was defeated and Ahab was killed by an Aramean archer. Jehoshaphat was rebuked by Jehu for helping the wicked men of Israel. God did see some good in him because Jehoshaphat had removed the Asheroth from the land and set his heart to seek God. He reformed Judah and was ready when they were invaded by Moab. He prayed to the Lord in Chapter 20 for Him to go against his enemies, and was answered by Jahaziel the Levite with these words from God in Chapter 20:15-17 “Listen, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s.‘Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley in front of the wilderness of Jeruel.‘You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, for the Lord is with you.” The people then worshipped the Lord and the next morning their enemies destroyed themselves in the wilderness of Tekoa. The people plundered the cities of their enemies and triumphantly returned to Jerusalem. Even with this victory the end of Jehoshaphat’s reign did not go well. He allied himself with Ahaziah, another wicked king of Israel, and turned against the Lord. He died and was succeeded by his son Jehoram. Jehoram was also wicked. When he had become strong and secured the throne of Judah, he killed off all his brothers along with some of the heads of Judah. This was to rid the land of his rivals. He married the daughter of Ahab and was evil like all of the kings of Israel. Even though Jehoram was wicked the Lord still would not destroy Judah for David’s sake. He did cause Jehoram to suffer from an incurable disease in his bowels that caused him great pain and resulted in his death. Jehoram’s youngest son Ahaziah was made king by the people. The new king’s older brothers were killed by the men who came up against his father Jehoram. Ahaziah was also wicked like the kings of Israel. His mother was the daughter of Omri, one of the evil kings of Israel. The text blames Ahaziah’s councilors for his wicked ways because they came from the kingdom of Israel. This is an example of how the Books of Chronicles attempt to show even the evil kings of Judah in a good light. Ahaziah was killed by Jehu when he removed the house of Ahab from the land. The king was killed along with the princes of Judah. When Ahaziah’s mother Athaliah found out he was dead she killed the entire line of royal succession in Judah. She wanted to rule over the people as queen. A rightful male descendent of Ahaziah was hidden by his mother in the temple from Athaliah the queen. The boy was hidden for six years until Jehoiada became strengthened and gathered up enough support to put the rightful king on the throne. The boy Joash was installed as king by Jehoiada and the people recognized him as king. Athaliah cried “Treason! Treason!” and tore her clothes. She was put to death by Judah’s army at the Horse Gate of the king’s house. Joash was made king when he was seven years old. The priest Jehoiada influenced the boy very much during his reign. Joash followed the Lord and Jehoiada helped institute reforms in Judah. The temple was repaired, but the people did not change their evil ways. After Jehoiada died the king was persuaded by the officials of Judah to abandon the house of God and return to the worship of the Asherim and idols. Joash murdered the son of Jehoiada when the man rebuked him for transgressing the Lords commandments. Aram then invaded Judah, and because of the people’s disobedience the Arameans were victorious. Joash was killed in his own bed by his servants. Josash’s son Amaziah became king after his death and did what was right before the Lord, but the text says he did it without a whole heart. Amaziah killed the servants that killed his father and gathered together an army to go up against the men of Edom. He listened to a prophet and dismissed the mercenaries from Israel he had hired and routed the Edomites in battle. The Lord was with him in this fight. After the victory Amaziah took his enemies gods and set them up in Judah and worshipped them instead of the Lord. God was angry and brought about Amaziah’s destruction for what he had done. He was defeated by Joash of Israel and killed. Amaziah’s son Uzziah was then made king of Judah by the people. Uzziah did what was right like his father and prospered as long as he sought the Lord. He was successful in war and his fame spread far and wide. Pride was his undoing. He decided to go into the temple and offer incense to the Lord which was not for him to do. This was only to be offered by the Levites. This angered the Lord and He struck Uzziah with leprosy in his forehead. He lived until his death separated from the people and excluded from the house of the Lord. His son Jotham judged the people in his place. Jotham was made king after Uzziah’s death. Jotham did what was right before the Lord and became a builder in the land. He added to the wall of Ophel and built cities in the territory of Judah. He was also successful in war. After he died his son Ahaz became king. Ahaz was evil and worshipped Baal. He made molten images and even burned his sons in the fire as the earlier people in the land did before the Lord drove them out. Judah was invaded by Aram and many of the people were killed. Israel carried away two hundred thousand people from Judah to place them in slavery. The Lord was angry with Israel and forced them to treat the captives well and return them to Judah. Ahaz compromised himself with the Assyrians and gave some of the treasures of the temple to Tiglath-pileser the king. Ahaz then died and his son Hezekiah took over the throne. Hezekiah did what was right before the Lord and repaired the temple. He also brought about many reforms in Judah. Hezekiah restored the worship of the Lord in the temple. The Levites ministered to the Lord and sacrifice was reinstated. Hezekiah then sent a letter through all of Judah, and even Israel, to invite the people to celebrate the Passover. The Passover feast was celebrated by the people, and even though all the proper rules were not followed Hezekiah prayed that the people would be forgiven. The Lord was pleased and their voices were heard even to heaven. After the celebration the people went out and removed the idols and high places. The reforms continued and Hezekiah and the people prospered. After this time Sennacherib the king of Assyria invaded Judah. Hezekiah cut off the water supply outside of Jerusalem and repaired the city walls. Sennacherib did not attack the city but sent his servants to turn the people away from Hezekiah for taking away their false gods. Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah prayed about this threat and the Lord sent an angel who destroyed the warriors of Assyria. Hezekiah’s illness and his mistake in showing the Babylonians the treasures of the Lord were not mentioned in the Book of 2 Chronicles. Hezekiah died and his son Manasseh was made king in his place. Manasseh was evil and rebuilt all his father had torn down. He worshipped all the false gods of the land. He even placed altars to Baal in the house of the Lord. The text says that he misled the people more than any king that came before him. The Lord spoke to Manasseh and the people to change their evil ways. They refused and the Lord, in His anger, allowed the Assyrians to capture Manasseh and take him away to Babylon in chains. In his distress Manasseh humbled himself before God and prayed for deliverance from the Assyrians. God heard Manasseh’s prayer and restored him to Jerusalem. Manasseh had changed but the people still had not. He tried to undo his sins, but the people only replaced their false gods with the Lord and worshipped Him the same way. Manasseh died and was succeeded by his son Amon on the throne of Judah. Amon was also evil like his father, but he would not humble himself before the Lord as Manasseh did. His own servants conspired against him and killed him in his house. This ends our study for this week. Next week we will finish up the Book of 2 Chronicles, cover the Book of Ezra, and begin the Book of Nehemiah.