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  It is our pleasure to now introduce Mr. Mark Groman. Enjoy!

Introduction to the Restoration Books

INTRODUCTION TO THE RESTORATION BOOKS

            As we come to the last section in the Old Testament history books, I want to remind you that they are not just history.  These books are redemptive in nature - that is, they tell us the story of salvation in Jesus.  Theologians call this section the Restoration Books - as in, the restoration of God’s people from Babylon to Canaan.  There are actually six restoration books - three history books and three minor prophets.  As we study the history books we will look at the prophets as they help us understand the history.  For the record, these six books are Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther (as history), and Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi (as prophets).  Ezra is first in the group, therefore it is foundational and sets the tone for all the rest of the Restoration books.

            How do these books fit into the Old Testament?  I like to view the Bible in the light of Genesis 1 - light, separation and fruit.  I believe the whole Bible is structured around that pattern, including the Restoration books.  If we put it in a chart, some of the Old Testament would look like this:

            Obviously, this is not a complete breakdown of the Old Testament.  It’s only a partial view to zero in on the Restoration books. 

            OBSERVATIONS

            The first thing to note is that these books are not chronological.  Nehemiah is actually the last history book of the Old Testament.  Esther actually occurred between Ezra chapters 6 & 7, but its message fits at the end, so that’s where it was placed.

            The next thing I want to talk about is restoration “from” and restoration “unto.”  In Egypt, the children of Israel were born into their situation (though Joseph himself didn’t sin to get there).  In Babylon, the children of Israel were sent there because of their sin.  In Egypt, everyone got out.  In Babylon, not all left, yet all were invited.

            In relative numbers, only a handful left Babylon to return to the Promised Land.  While there were probably millions of Jews by then, only about 50,000 actually returned.  In Old Testament terminology they were called the “remnant;” in the New Testament they would be called the “overcomers” of I John 4.

            How long were they in Babylon?  Seventy years as prophesied by Jeremiah in Jeremiah 25:11 and 29:10.  Why were they sent there?  According to II Chronicles 36:21, they had skipped seventy years worth of sabbath rests in 490 years.  Thus failure to rest in the Lord brings captivity and bondage to God’s people, both physically and spiritually speaking.

            If we have restoration from captivity and bondage, what is restoration unto?  At least three things: the land, the temple and the wall - all destroyed and devastated.  The temple was a barometer of the relationship of the people with God; as the temple went, so went God’s people.  If the king was okay in the sight of God, he either planned, built or repaired the temple.  If he was not okay, he would at least neglect the temple and in some cases even abuse it.  Broadly, the land speaks of our position in Christ, the temple speaks of our relationship with Christ, and the wall speaks of the knowledge of Christ.

            So what’s the big message of this section?  From Ezra, God desires to restore His people to a right relationship with Him, illustrated by the land and the temple.  From Nehemiah, God desires for us to be surrounded by the knowledge of God, represented by the wall.  Finally, Esther illustrates how His bride is to live by faith as He displays His providential power.

            We need revival.  We need to be restored to a right relationship with God.  We need to know God and to walk by faith in Him.  Lamentations 5:21 tells us “Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned.  And renew our days as old.”  As the song says, everything old is new again!

                                                  Patterns

For years I have seen parallels between some of the books of the New Testament and some of the books of the Old Testament - parallels that no one seemed to talk about. I have pondered long and hard over making these links and establishing the themes of the books in question. For instance, I could see parallels between the major prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel) and the pastoral books (I Timothy, II Timothy, Titus, Philemon), but I had trouble defining the precise way they paralleled each other.

Some time ago I was listening to a teaching tape by Ed Miller on Genesis 1. I have known Ed since my days in Rhode Island, and his ministry and life have greatly blessed me and my family over the years. His teaching on Genesis 1 intrigued me and started the wheels turning in my mind.

To summarize briefly, Ed states from Genesis 1 that there are three big things that are happening during the first week of creation, summed up by the words "light," "separation" and "fruit." He also makes the statement - and this is the part that got my wheels turning - that the whole Bible could be understood as an extension of these three elements. God keeps saying essentially the same things over and over, only using new and better illustrations at each new cycle of the pattern.

So what comes to mind when you think about "light" in Biblical terms? There are several possible responses: faith, salvation, justification, understanding, etc. Genesis 1:16, where light is associated with authority, also suggests kingship, lordship, government, etc.

Okay, what does the word "separation" suggest? Possible responses are sin, sanctification, servanthood, surrender, etc. And how about "fruit"? Food, fullness, strength, reproduction, evangelism, missions, even priesthood. Those three words suggest quite a bit, and you can see how those themes might play out all through Scripture.

What things in Scripture (anywhere in Scripture) are always associated in groups of three? I made a column with light, separation and fruit on the left, and began filling in more columns as I could:

Table 1.

As you can see from Table 1 there were several possible combinations, and more that aren’t included. But there was one response that was not in the proper order. "Prophet, priest and king" roles off the tongue quite well, and there’s a Fanny Crosby hymn that uses that order (Praise Him, Praise Him), but the proper order - the Genesis 1 order, if you will - should be first King, then Prophet, then Priest. Such combinations such as "Huey, Dewey and Louie," "Kookla, Fran and Ollie," "Larry, Curly and Moe," and "Peter, Paul and Mary" aren’t really appropriate.

The idea here, in case that isn’t already clear to you, is that the items in the first row (left to right) are all associated with each other, the items in the second row are all associated with each other, and so on with the third row, just as the items in each column (up and down) are related to each other.

Sometimes - quite often, in fact - we see this cycle in groups of three, and sometimes we see the cycle in groups of four. For instance, there are four major prophets and four gospels, etc. So how does this fit into this scheme? Good question! There’s one more significant event during the creation week: Rest! "And on the seventh day, God rested from all his labor." So sometimes we see the pattern "played out" in cycles of three, and sometimes in cycles of four. Going back to our chart, let’s fill out the cycles that do or might have four items in them:

Table 2.

Now, I could put others in, but let’s stop here for the moment and discuss some of the implications of what we have here. Some cycles have four items to complete them, some obviously only need three. Why? Well, one answer is that the cycle of three is complete in and of itself. For instance, God is called the "God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" because they are a complete cycle; Joseph could be added, but he would have been redundant. Now, in Joseph you have all three elements combined into one - he is your complete package of light, separation and fruit in one person; thus, he is a "rest" kind of guy. By extension, that goes for John and Daniel as well - their books represent the summary and completion of the three previous books. Of Joseph and Daniel there is nothing negative recorded in scripture. Of course they were not sinless, it’s just that none were recorded. John was the disciple that "Jesus loved best." So you see in these men a special relationship with the Lord pictured that few others had.

Now I want to give a more complete answer to this question, so let me tip my hand and map out how I see some of the books of the Old and New Testament falling into place in this scheme.

* - these are one book in the Hebrew

Table 3.

Some things jump out right away - why are there no "rest" books between Deuteronomy and Daniel? Because there was no rest! That is, the sabbatical year was not observed in all that time. According to II Chronicles 36:24, that’s why Judah was carried into captivity - they refused to rest! Why are there no "rest" books after II Corinthians? Well, because there are too many to fit into the table. I believe (until someone can show me differently) that Galatians through II Thessalonians are all books on rest, that is, what the believer who is resting in the Lord will look like.

There are books missing from the list, for instance Genesis, Acts and Revelation. I believe these books in particular are stand-alone books, which is to say, they have the cycles internally (either 3 of 7 or 4 of 7). For instance in Genesis you have the creation week, and Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, etc. Obviously Revelation is full of "sevens."

One note of reality and caution: I haven’t mapped the whole Bible yet, at least not to my own satisfaction. For instance, I don’t know how the 12 minor prophets fit in yet, as cycles of 3 or 4 (though I suspect 3 because there are three post-exilic prophets). I don’t know how exactly all the sevens of Revelation fit into the cycle. This brings up way more interesting questions than I have time to answer! I haven’t done enough study, and I’m hesitant to crow bar all of scripture into a box just to fit my little thesis. Take all this as a general observation, not as the last word, and as an observation in progress!

Also, please do not think that this is now the only way to look at the Bible. Every means, method and system - within the light of the Holy Spirit - has value. Nor do I think that everything that’s been stated on various books of the Bible that might not be in line with this should be tossed. Maybe refined a bit, but we all stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us - I hope someday to walk where these dear old saints have walked! In other words, don’t pitch what you already think or know just because of little ol’ me.

So what’s the point of all this? Well, I see this as a tool to point us in the right direction for some books that are difficult to understand the themes - Kings, Chronicles, Jeremiah, the Pastoral epistles, etc. My hope is that if we can see the Big Picture, and see the patterns and recurring cycles, we will be pointed in the right direction toward the theme of each book we don’t understand yet. Maybe, also, having seen the Big Picture, we might even gain new insight into the books we thought we already knew! For instance, this has realigned my understanding of I Timothy. I see the emphasis on salvation and evangelism that I largely ignored before.

Matthew obviously fits as the Gospel of the Kingdom, and Mark fits as the Gospel of the Amazing Servant, and John certainly is a fitting summary as the non-synoptic Gospel. But how does Luke fit into this? Luke presents Christ as the "perfect man" - a priest! Note how much of the action takes place in and around the temple, which obviously speaks of priesthood.

I and II Samuel focus on Christ the King and what His Kingdom looks like illustrated by the life of David. I and II Kings then, while in the context of the history of Judah and Israel and their respective kings, focus on His servants the prophets and the men of God. The most obvious examples are Elijah and Elisha, and there are many others in the text as well. Thus, I give the theme to be "Christ, The Servant of God, illustrated by His servants, the prophets and the men of God."

And Chronicles? They were written by a priest (Ezra); the first nine chapters are genealogies (definitely a priest thing, which by the way Luke has too); and as Dana Congdon has asserted, the temple (and one’s attitude toward it) plays prominently in the rest of the narration. Thus, the theme I have given to it is "Christ, our Great High Priest, illustrated by the those with a priestly heart."

What about the major prophets? The name of Isaiah means "Jehovah is salvation." That fits. Ezekiel is the priestly, spiritual book in the sequence. I’ve already mentioned Daniel as the "rest" book of this cycle. So what about Jeremiah? If Ezekiel speaks to the "heart priest," then I see Jeremiah speaking to the "heart servant." There are multiple references in the book to the heart, and it is a parallel book to the Kings (also written by Jeremiah I believe).

Okay, what about the "what abouts"? Lamentations? Doesn’t that make a fifth book in the Major Prophet cycle? Since Jeremiah wrote it, I include it as a part of his message. I believe the book of Jeremiah can be taken singly, Lamentations can be taken singly, and Jeremiah and Lamentations can be taken in combination as well. This would be like taking David as a picture of Christ, Solomon as a picture of Christ, and David and Solomon together as a picture of Christ.

What about the poetical books? I suspect Job is a stand-alone book with internal cycles (of his friends, Huey, Dewey and Louie); there’s no way of shoe-horning a hundred and fifty psalms into this pattern, though I suspect there will be some internal cycles as well as external groupings; but then there are the next three - Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song - all written by Solomon, and I think I see something there. How about "wise unto salvation, separation from folly, and the fruit of relationship with Christ"? Does that work? I’ll have to think about it.

So what’s the conclusion of the matter? Christ is being revealed through all of scripture in a repeating pattern that begins in Genesis 1 and continues right to the end of the Bible. Each cycle reveals him more fully and more wonderfully each time. But you already knew that, didn’t you?

                                                      Bible Chart

Genesis 1           Salvation           Trinity           Man           I Corinthians13           Kingdom 

Light               Justification          Father           Body                Faith                          King 

Separation      Sanctification        Son              Soul                 Hope                       Prophet 

Fruit                Glorification       Holy Spirit      Spirit                 Love                         Priest 

Rest     

Genesis 1                      Noah                            Theme                           Key Verse(s) 

Light                          In the Ark            Salvation from Judgment          Gen. 7:7 

Separation              Flood  Waters   Rising Above Circumstances       Gen. 7:17 

Fruit                         Raven & Dove             Finding Fruit                        Gen. 8:6-17 

Rest   

Genesis 1             Patriarchs                 Theme                    Key Verse(s) 

Light                     Abraham             Father of Faith               Gen. 15:6 

Separation             Isaac                 Living Sacrifice              Gen. 22:9 

Fruit                      Jacob                  God-Sufficiency            Gen. 35:1-14 

Rest                      Joseph           Complete Man of God       Gen. 45:8 

Genesis 1                   Mosaic Books                   Theme                                 Key Verse(s) 

Light                               Exodus              Salvation by Power and Blood        Ex. 12:13 

Separation                  Leviticus                    Sacrifice for Sin 

                                                                 (Holiness through Redemption)            Lev. 9 

Fruit                            Numbers                          Pilgrim Life                              Num. 9:15-23 

Rest                             Deuteronomy               Summary of the Law:           Deuteronomy 30:1- 

Genesis 1                          Canaan Books                             Theme                       Key Verse(s) 

Light                                    Joshua                         Life in the Land (Christ           )Joshua 6:2 

Separation                         Judges                              Overcoming by Faith           Judges 3:1-4 

Fruit                                     Ruth                            Channel of Redemption           Ruth 4:13-22 

Genesis 1                     Kingdom Books                                  Theme                     Key Verse(s) 

Light                             I & II Samuel                         The Kingdom of Heaven         II Sam. 5:1-3 

Separation                    I & II Kings                       Kingdom of Servanthood          Rev. 21:19;

                                                                                                                                     Amos 3:7 

Fruit                            I & II Chronicles                       Kingdom of Priests                Ex. 19:6;

                                                                                                                                    II Peter 2:5,9 

Genesis 1                    Restoration Books                     Theme                                Key Verse(s) 

Ligh                                     Ezra                              Revival - Living Again                Ezra 1:2,3 

Separation                     Nehemiah                    Surrounded by the Knowledge 

                                                                             of God                                           Zechariah 2:5 

Fruit                              Esther                       Walking by Faith (Providence)            Esther 9:1 

Genesis 1                          Poetry                            Theme                              Key Verse(s) 

Light                                  Job                           God is Enough                      Job 1:1 - 2:10 

Separation.                                                     For Job & Friends                    Job 2:11 - 42:6 

Fruit                                                           To Restore Double Blessings          Job 42:7-17 

Pentateuch                        Poetry:                       Psalms                  Theme           Key Verse(s) 

Genesis  It has been noted that the Psalms parallel the Pentateuch in their order

                               Foundational Psalms Ps. 1-41 

                              Exodus  Salvation Psalms Ps. 42-72 

                               Leviticus  Temple Psalms Ps. 73-89 

                             Numbers Pilgrim Psalms Ps. 90-106 

                            Deuteronomy Psalms of Rest  Ps. 107-150 

Genesis 1        Poetry:                     Theme                       Key Verse(s) 

Light              Proverbs                Wise unto Salvation       Proverbs 1:7 

Separation   Ecclesiastes         Separation from Folly      Eccl. 12:1 

Fruit            Song of Songs        Fruit of [Knowing] the 

                                                       Groom                           SoS 2:16; 6:3; 7:10 

Genesis 1             Major Prophets                   Theme                        Key Verse(s) 

Light                        Isaiah                   The King on the Throne,

                                                              the King on the Altar              Isaiah 9:2, 6; 53:4-7 

Separation            Jeremiah/

                             Lamentations         The Heart Servant and

                                                            the Faithfulness of God              Jer. 9:25,26; 

                                                                                                                 16:12; 17:10;

                                                                                                                29:13; Lam. 3:22,23 

Fruit                       Ezekiel                The Heart Priest and the

                                                            Glory of God                                 Ezekiel 1:1 

Rest                        Daniel                God’s Summary of History          Daniel 2:19-23 

Genesis 1                       Minor Prophets                  Them                            Key Verse(s)

                                      (God’s First Call)) 

Light                               Hosea                        God’s Call to the Unfaithful

                                                                              for Union                             Hosea 1:7 

Separation                      Joel                             Set Apart ... For the Day 

                                                                              of the Lord                        Joel 1:14, 15;

                                                                                                                              2:12, 13 

Fruit                                 Amos                Summer Fruit and the

                                                                  Righteousness of Go                      Amos 5:24;

                                                                                                                               8:1-3 

Genesis 1                          Minor Prophets II                  Theme                    Key Verse(s)

                                      (God’s Persistent Call) 

Light                                  Obadiah                           Deliverance (of the

                                                                                      Humble                       Obadiah 12, 17 

Separation                        Jonah                         Repentance (of Jonah,

                                                                             of Nineveh, but not God)      Jonah 3:1; 

                                                                                                                                4:10, 11 

Fruit                                   Micah                        Progressive Mercy and

                                                                             Unchanging Love                   Micah 7:18 

Genesis 1                         Minor Prophets III                 Theme                        Key Verse(s)

                                         (God’s Last Call) 

Light                                   Nahum                               Salvation by

                                                                                       Destruction                    Nahum 1:15 

Separation                          Habbakuk                        Righteous Judgment

                                                                                     / Struggling Faith            Habbakuk 1:13;

                                                                                                                                  2:30 

Fruit                                    Zephaniah                      The Lord My Hiding Place 

                                                                                  Who Rejoices in Me             Zephaniah 2:2;

                                                                                                                                 3:17 

Genesis 1                        Minor Prophets IV                     Theme                          Key Verse(s)

                                          (Restoration) 

Light                                   Haggai                                Restoring the Remnant

                                                                                        and the Temple                 Haggai 1:4-8;

                                                                                                                                     2:7 

Separation                        Zechariah                               Encouraging the

                                                                                         Restored Remnant       Zechariah 4:6,7 

Fruit                                    Malachi                               Reality of a Fruitful

                                                                                          Heart                                 Malachi 3:1 

I Kings

. 

 INDEX
I Kings 1
I Kings 5
I Kings 9
I Kings 12
I Kings 13
I Kings 15
I Kings 17
I Kings 19
I Kings 20
INTRODUCTION TO KINGS
Having given you a somewhat lengthy pre-introduction, I now want to
begin to introduce the books of I and II Kings. I will attempt to
accomplish this in the following order:
first, give a rough outline of the books;, second, give the
characteristics of the books; and third, establish the
theme of the books. Though these are two books in our Bible, I will
treat them as one book with one theme - in the Hebrew, they are one
book. The book was split for convenience sake when the Greek Septuagint
was translated. So while our Bible follows that tradition in making
Kings into two books, I will treat them as a unit (the same argument
could be made for I and II Samuel, and I and II Chronicles as well).
POLITICAL OUTLINE
Here, then, is a political outline of the Kings, so called because it
only deals with the facts and not any particular meanings or
interpretations, etc.:
I Kings 1-10 The death of David and the
glory of Solomon
I Kings 11-II Kings 16 The division and decline of the
kingdom.
II Kings 17-25 The decline and destruction of the
kingdom.
These divisions are roughly what J. Vernon McGee has.
Key figures we will see in the books are, of course, men like Solomon,
Elijah, Elisha and Isaiah. There will be other prophets as well –
Ahijah and Iddo, for example. We will also see several (but not many)
good kings - Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah and Josiah. When the kingdom
splits, it will split into Northern and Southern kingdoms, Israel and
Judah respectively.
All the good kings come from Judah (though not all of her kings are
good.) All of the northern kingdom’s kings are considered bad to the
very last man.
CHARACTERISTICS
What are the important characteristics of I and II Kings? This is an
important question to ask because it will eventually point us toward
what will become our theme.
The first characteristic to consider is the context of the books. The
context, simply put, is the history of the kings of Judah and Israel,
for as long as these kingdoms last after David dies. However, this is
by no means the complete history of the events of the kingdoms of Judah
and Israel. Jewish history is by nature redemptive, that is, it only
gives us what is really important. The writers only give us what points
us to Christ, and very little else. We get just enough information to
piece together some time-lines and genealogies and such, but the
stories key in on God’s plan of redemption. If you want the nittygritty
details of the events of the kings, you have to consult the
court records which were kept in that day. Of course, you could do that
back when the books were written, but all those records are long since
gone (good riddance!)Frankly, we have only the important stuff left.
The second characteristic can be stated in terms of recurring phrases -
what gets repeated often is very likely to be important! If you read I
Kings 14:21, 29-31, you will see what is typically said for each king
in some fashion or other. We always get a short summary of whether they
were good (godly) or bad, and just how good or bad they might have
been. We often find out who their mother was, but not always - only if
it’s significant! Then we find out how they measured up to the
standard, namely, David! Is that a good standard to judge by? Some say
this is only a human standard, which would obviously be a flawed
standard. But I reckon that David was a good standard - when he looked
like Christ. David was not sinless, but his heart was right with the
Lord. Whatever the outward appearances might have been, God is always
looking at the heart.
The second set of recurring phrases for each king is the "then he
kicked the bucket" phrase. Only, Scripture puts it "he slept with his
fathers."
It also cites the daily court chronicles as in "as to the other events
of the reign of king so-and-so, are they not written in the chronicles
of the kings of Judah (or Israel)?" These chronicles probably served as
source texts for the writer of the book, but the Lord spared us the
boring details!
The third set of recurring phrases in the kings are these: "prophet,"
"man of God," and "servant." The term "prophet," for the sake of
comparison, shows up 14 times in I and II Samuel, 28 times in I and II
Chronicles, and 73 times in the Kings. Obviously, the word is all
through the Bible, but in this section of Scripture there is a big
emphasis. So also with the term "man of God." It appears 3 times in the
Samuels, 6 times in the Chronicles, and 58 times in the Kings. Again, a
huge emphasis relative to the surrounding books.
Now as to the term "servant," that’s used dozens of times through
almost every large book of the Bible (according to the Book of
Concordance), but in Kings there’s a special way that it’s used, as in
"thy servant David," etc. When used in this kind of phrase, I count 15
times in the Samuels, 12 times in the Chronicles, and 37 times in the
Kings.
Let me state here that I believe these terms and phrases to be used as
synonyms - different words, same general meaning. They obviously speak
to the different aspects of the office and ministry for whom they are
applied, but in my book, "prophet," "man of God" and "servant" amount
to the same kind of person God is using. Obviously, not everyone is a
prophet (depending on your persuasion), but everyone is called to be a
man or woman of God; not everyone is a prophet, but everyone is to be a
servant of the Lord. If you are not, then you need to stop right now
and get right with the Lord, otherwise all of this discussion will be
meaningless to you. The rest of you may proceed...
So, if we put all the numbers into a nice pretty chart there is an
emphasis on the prophets in the Kings that is not seen in the Samuels
or the Chronicles, as we would suspect from the discussion in the
lesson on Patterns.
SamuelKingsChronicles "prophet"147328; "man of God"3586;
"servant"153712.
Now, with all that being said, what is the ministry of prophecy? To
tell us the future so we know how to invest in the stock market and
which horse to bet on? Not hardly!
Let’s look at some scriptures to get the big picture - whatever a
prophet is in the Kings will be the same kind of prophet all through
the Bible, and visa versa. Deuteronomy 18:15 and 18 tells us that the
Lord would send a Prophet, one that looks like Moses. This is a
messianic prophecy that influenced the children of Israel for
centuries, causing them to look for "the prophet" in Jesus’ day. When
Jesus asked in Matthew 16 "who do men say that I am?" they responded
with "John the Baptist, or Elijah, or Jeremiah, or one of the other
prophets." So they were looking for a prophet as their messiah, one who
would look like Moses, Elijah and Jeremiah. Amos 3:7 says that God
does nothing without first telling His servants, the prophets. And so,
when you see a prophet show up, you know the Lord is doing something -
speaking His word, telling it like it is – and something else as well.
Revelation 19:10b gives us the final summation of the ministry of the
prophet: "for the spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus." Of all
the things a prophet is or does, he (like all true ministers of the
Lord, regardless of title) points us to Jesus! He may point to Christ
by his words, or he may point to Him by his life (actions, miracles,
etc.). But the prophet, the man of God, the servant of the Lord is
always pointing us to Christ.
THEME
So, all things considered, I will state the theme of the Kings in this
manner: Christ, the Prophet of the Lord, illustrated by the prophets;
Christ, the Servant of the Lord, illustrated by God’s servants; Christ,
the God-man, illustrated by the man of God. And, as we see Christ
revealed in the books of the Kings, we will also learn about the nature
of true servanthood. Are we all prophets? No. Are we all called to be
prophets? According to I Corinthians 12, emphatically no again!
However, we are all called to be servants of God, and we are all called
to be men and women of God. Lord willing, as we see Him, we will be
conformed to His image. One of the New Testament parallels to the Kings
is the Gospel of Mark, which presents Christ as the Amazing Servant.
And one of the New Testament accounts that best illustrates the servant
heart of Christ is His washing the feet of the disciples in John 13.
Peter, being Peter, refused to let Jesus wash his feet. And Jesus’
response was "unless I wash your feet, you can have no part with me."
Of course Peter, being Peter, says "hose me down, Lord, hose me down!"
(Groman’s Reversed Version) Thus, if we want to become servants of the
Lord, we must first let the Lord serve us. And if we want to continue
to serve the Lord, then we must continue to let the Lord serve us.
Maybe you’ve heard the saying "saved to serve." Sounds spiritual,
doesn’t it? Well, it’s not complete in the context of John 13. It ought
to be "saved, to be served, to serve." Only as the Lord works in our
hearts are we conformed to His image, and made into a vessel of honor
unto His holy name. May God grace us to see Him in the books of the
Kings.
I KINGS 1-4
SOLOMON ESTABLISHED
Our theme for the books of the Kings is "Christ, the Servant of God,
illustrated by His servants, the prophets and the men of God." God will
always have a testimony. When a king is that testimony, God is
glorified in him. When a king turns his heart away from the Lord, then
a man of God, a prophet, a servant of the Lord, will show up on the
scene in order to turn that king back to the Lord or warn of the
consequences of not turning back.
David was a servant of the Lord, and we will see in these chapters how
Solomon also started out as a servant of the Lord. In the books of
Samuel, David was the definitive picture of the King with the heart
after God. In the book of I Kings, David also becomes a servant.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
In chapter 1, we find David still alive but on his death bed, unable to
keep warm. So a young virgin, a Shunamite "babe in Christ" if you will,
is brought in to serve him, though there is no intimate contact. This
girl Abishag becomes important later. Now Adonijah, who apparently was
the next oldest and the next in line after Amnon and Absolam, decided
he would be king and starts acting like it. Nathan the prophet tells
Bathsheba about Adonijah, knowing David’s desire that her son Solomon
become king after him. David concurs that this is indeed his will, and
decrees that Solomon is King. Adonijah and company made a big noise,
but Solomon and company made a bigger noise, with the blessing of
David. Adonijah suddenly loses all his friends, and he clings to the
altar pleading for mercy. Solomon spares him conditionally, that as
long as he flies straight, he’s fine. But if he does something stupid,
it’ll be the end of him. Hold onto that thought!
In chapter 2, David charges Solomon to live a godly life, to deal with
Abner, and not consider Shimei innocent. After David dies, the Lord
firmly establishes Solomon. Adonijah tries to get Bathsheba to help him
snag Abishag for himself, but by right she belongs to the ruling king.
So Solomon had Adonijah put to death for not flying straight! His was
the sin of presumption, for trying to take for himself what belonged to
the King. Joab, who conspired with Adonijah, is also put to death for
not choosing the right King. Shimei, who was given boundaries - stay
within this territory and live - crossed them. And so he also was put
to death for the sin of transgression.
In chapter 3, God meets Solomon in a dream and offers him anything.
Solomon asks for wisdom, which pleases God who gives him that and
everything else as well. His wisdom is displayed in the case of the two
women. I believe this story foreshadows the coming split of the
kingdom. (two prostitutes arguing over who’s "baby" it is...)
Chapter 4 details the princes of Solomon and the provisions it took to
feed Solomon and his court. Here we see Samuel’s words of warning
concerning the cost of having a king fulfilled in Solomon. Among all
the kings, Solomon set the example and exacted a heavy toll for the
privilege of Israel having a king. In 1960, just before he left office,
President Eisenhower warned the nation about the "military-industrial
complex," that is, the marriage of business and the military to
maintain a war-fighting capability at any cost - usually a big one! It
has produced some amazing weapons, and it has also caused us to trust
in those weapons instead of in God.
PICTURE OF CHRIST
So then, how does Solomon picture Christ? I see at least three ways.
First, he is established by the will of his father - "this is my son,
in whom I am well pleased."
Second, he is full of wisdom - wisdom from God.
Third, in the case of the two women, he makes a decree of death so that
there might be life - "Don’t you know the Son of Man must suffer and
die?"
David also pictures God the Father, giving his kingdom to his beloved
son.
Solomon also pictures the millenial kingdom of Christ: he reigns in
Jerusalem from the throne of his father David; sin, while not
eliminated, is controlled and in boundaries; justice is swift; he is
established by the death of enemies (Adonijah, Joab, Shimei); and from
v.4:20, the people are happy.
PICTURE OF A SERVANT
How does Solomon picture a servant of the Lord? He is a servant of his
father; he received the kingdom from his father (see John 3:27); he is
full of wisdom from God (I Kings 4:29); from I Kings 4:1-19, he needs
others - a servant is willing to be served by others. That is, all the
body needs all the body. As stated in I Corinthians 12, no one can say
to another "I don’t need you." Also in chapter 3, he heard - and
listened to - the voice of God. And finally, from I Kings 4:34, he is a
testimony to the whole world. We will see more of this in chapter 10.
The story of the two women also illustrates living by the letter of the
law versus living by the Spirit. The king said "kill the baby!" So how
many of us would be quick to obey such a command? But the king’s intent
was not death, but life; to reveal the hearts of the women, and to
reveal God’s heart toward us. It was a command of death, as all the Law
is, to drive us to Jesus. The legalist woman said "go ahead, kill the
baby." The woman with the servant’s heart knew she could not obey the
letter of the law, so she chose life - the real intent of the king! The
Law can only condemn, but the Law is our schoolmaster, bringing us to
and pointing us to Christ, who is our Life!
We tend to remember Solomon for messing up, but God remembers all the
ways Solomon responded to Himself. We are given one chapter on
Solomon’s sin, and eleven chapters of how he behaved himself wisely -
more or less. Though that one chapter of sin is not unimportant, as we
will see in the rest of the book, it’s still not where God puts the
emphasis.
I KINGS 5-8
SOLOMON’S TEMPLE
It was David’s heart to build a temple for the
Lord, but the Lord would not let him. But while
David was not allowed to build it, the Lord
allowed him to make preparations for it. The job
of building the temple would fall to Solomon. When
Christ is Lord of my life, then I will begin to be
a servant - I can serve Him because He first
serves me, just as I love Him because He first
loved me. And just so, David was allowed to begin,
but it is Solomon who finishes the work of
building the temple.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
Chapter 5 details the preparation for the temple.
Solomon works with Hiram king of Tyre to supply
the necessary materials - timber, stones,
etc.
Chapter 6 details the construction of the temple.
Stone was used on the outside. Wood (cedar/fir)
was used on the inside, and then the wood was
covered with gold. The dimensions of the temple
were twice the size of the tabernacle - this was a
big temple. How long did it take? According
to the Scripture, 7 years and 6 months.
Chapter 7 details the construction of Solomon’s
palace in verses 1-12. This took 13 years - why?
Most likely because the manpower for building
the temple was easier to mobilize than the
manpower for building a palace - you would get a
lot more help on the first one, and demand more
help as well. In verses 13-51, the temple is
furnished.
Chapter 8:1-21 discusses the Ark of the Covenant
being brought to the temple. Do you notice how
many sacrifices were made? Do you know why? If you
look at the trouble David had in moving the Ark
back in II Samuel 6, then you can see that Solomon
learned that lesson well and left nothing to
chance. While it’s good to learn from your
mistakes, it’s always easier to learn from other’s
mistakes. Verses 22-66 give us Solomon’s prayer of
dedication for the temple. This is obviously a
lengthy prayer, and in it Solomon foreshadows
Israel’s sin and captivity. As the human author of
the book, Jeremiah would be someone to pick up on
something like that since he was living with the
consequences of Israel’s sin and captivity. Verses
46-51 speak of not "if" the people sin but rather
"when" the people sin, and they are taken away
into captivity by the Lord’s anger. The prayer
also speaks of their repentance, God’s mercy, and
their conqueror’s mercy; all of which came to
pass. Solomon’s prayer also speaks of drought
(v.35), of famine and plague (v.37), such that
this prayer isn’t just supplication, though it is
all of that; this prayer is also prophetic.
Someone like Jeremiah would go down the list of
items in the prayer and tick off at least one if
not several examples of each item happening in the
history of the kingdom.
PICTURES OF A SERVANT
So, with all that said, what is a picture of a
servant? Solomon is, but so is the temple, and
we’ll deal with that first. I believe there are at
least eight ways the temple pictures the servant
of the Lord - there are probably more, but this is
what I see.
First, the temple had a foundation of stone, just
as Christ is our Chief Cornerstone (I Peter 2:7)
The wise man builds his house upon the rock, and
so does the Lord!
Second, according to I Corinthians 3:16, we are
the temple of the Holy Ghost - "Know ye not?" We
are the place where God physically dwells.
Third, the walls are made of stone - that is, the
Body of Christ, according to I Peter 2:5. This
speaks of the corporate indwelling of God in His
people.
Fourth, no tools were used at the work site of the
temple. The principle here is that every step
necessary was prepared long in advance - in this
case, at least 480 years (since Abraham came out
of Ur of the Chaldees.)
Fifth, the temple was built with stone outside,
and wood overlaid with gold on the inside. This
speaks of a tough skin with a soft heart. Jesus
tells us in Matthew 10:16 to be as wise as
serpents and as harmless as doves. If we’re merely
wise as serpents, we would be jerks. If we are
merely harmless as doves, then we become gullible.
We need to be both -living and surviving among
God’s people is no easy task - we need His armor
and His heart, if only to contact with each other!
Sixth, two cherubim were woven into the fabric of
the veil that separated the Holy of Holies from
the Holy Place. Cherubim are types of angels, that
is, servants of the Lord, and their appearance and
ministry is detailed in Ezekiel 1 where they
follow the throne of the Lord in lock step.
Seventh, the furnishings of the temple speak to
service and ministry, and are also a repetition of
the Genesis 1 pattern: the altar speaks to
salvation by blood (light), the implements in the
Holy Place speak to service and worship
(separation), and the Holy of Holies speaks of God
dwelling in His people, with the Ark of the
Presence (fruit). Each set of furnishings builds
on the previous, and pictures a new step in
walking closer to the Lord. Eighth, the servant of
the Lord is filled with the Holy Spirit! Notice
8:10,11: when the glory of the Lord filled the
temple, the priests could not minister - human
effort ceases when God reveals His glory! Mature
ministry does not mean I work more; mature
ministry means God does His work, and I get out of
the way!
Finally, the location of the temple pictures a
servant. The last time we saw this spot it was the
threshing floor of Aruanah in II Samuel 24 where
wheat is separated from chaff. We also believe
this spot is Mt. Mariah of Genesis 22 where Isaac
became a "living sacrifice," spoken of in Romans
12.
How is Solomon a picture of a servant? As before,
he is doing the will of his father. He was given
the privilege to build what his father was not
allowed to build. To those of us who are second
and third eneration believers in our families, do
not look down on your parents and grandparents for
what they did or did not do. They did the best
they could with what they had, just as you are
doing. And if you are farther along in the Lord
than they are, it is because you are standing on
their shoulders; it is because you are bathed in
their prayers.
PICTURE OF CHRIST
How does Solomon picture Christ? In the same way -
he does the will of his heavenly Father. Secondly,
he is the Master Builder - "I will build my
church..." (Matthew 16:18) And according to Act
2:47, the Lord added daily those who would be
saved. The job of building the church is not
ours, it’s the Lord’s. We are responsible to live
and walk in right relationship with Him, and when
He reveals His glory in us, our labor
will cease and His church will bear fruit!
I KINGS 9-11
SOLOMON’S GLORY
Thus far, we have seen Solomon as a picture of the
servant of the God in the following ways: the kingdom was
given to him by his father, wisdom was given to him by the
Lord, and he did the will of his father. The temple is also a
picture of a servant of the Lord: its foundation is Christ, the
Chief Cornerstone, and it is filled with the Holy Spirit of
God, among other things. According to verses 8:10,11, the
end of man is the beginning of God. When god reveals His
glory our labor ceases, for we can add nothing to the work
of God by mere human effort.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
Now then, let’s look at the text and see what else Solomon
pictures, beginning in Chapter 9. What kind of promises
did the Lord give Solomon? He gave Solomon conditional
promises. From verse 9:4 we see "if you walk . . . as David
did . . .," then verse 5 "then I will establish your throne
forever." Verses 8 and 9 speak of loss of testimony
because of sin. Why? Because God knew what was
coming, both in Solomon and in future kings.
Verses 20-23 detail how Solomon forced the Canaanites
still in the land to become slaves - thus making his
enemies his footstools if you will. Verses 26-28 speaks of
Solomon’s navy bringing gold back from Ophir. Where
was Ophir? According to the commentators, maybe India,
or Bangladesh or Vietnam. Maybe Milwaukee. We don’t
know for sure, and it doesn’t really matter. I see the
principle of Solomon’s glory returning to him just as he
sent it out.
Chapter 10:1-13 introduces us to the Queen of Sheba. No
one seems quite certain where Sheba was either, maybe
Ethiopia or Yemen, or maybe Pittsburgh. Again, it doesn’t
really matter, except to archeologists, because this
account is representative of all the people who came to
Jerusalem to see the glory of Solomon. The rest of the
chapter details the splendor of Solomon and his court,
summed up by verses 23 and 24. Solomon is a witness to
the whole world. And the whole world comes to his
doorstep for wisdom.
Chapter 11, however, is the big "but" in Solomon’s story.
Solomon’s downfall was all the women he had. That might
not have been bad or wrong necessarily in the context of
the times, but Solomon went too far. While David had
several wives, he kept his heart and his eyes on the Lord
(most of the time). The wives he had were mostly Jewish
women. As my mathematician wife points out, Solomon
multiplied, David only added. Solomon on the other hand
had multiple wives from several nationalities that did not
fear the Lord, but lead Solomon astray and convinced him
to set up pagan worship according to their customs.
The consequences of Solomon’s sin are recorded in
verses 9-13, in the splitting of the kingdom, and in verses
14-40, where the Lord raises up adversaries - both Jewish
and Gentile - as chastisement for wandering away from
the Lord. Up to this point, Solomon’s reign lived up to his
name - he reigned in the peace David had established for
him. Verses 14-22 tell us about Hadad the Edomite,
verses 23-25 concern Rezon from Syria, and verses 26-40
introduce us to Jeroboam, who would eventually become
the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel. Verses 29-
40 then tell us that the prophet Ahijah shows up - Amos
3:7, God’s doing something - and announces to Jeroboam
that the kingdom will be divided, and that Jeroboam will be
given the bigger half.
A big question always comes up - was Solomon really
saved? Some say not because though he seemed good at
the beginning, he did not persevere to the end; we have
no record of his repentance. Well, that’s a pile of baloney.
We have the book of Ecclesiastes as a testimony forever
of the repentance of Solomon. Maybe the book of Kings
doesn’t record Solomon’s repentance per se, but certainly
there’s no way he could have written Ecclesiastes without
repenting. And his three books - Proverbs, Ecclesiastes
and Song of Solomon - would not have been entered into
Jewish canon unless they thought that he turned back to
the Lord.
So how is it that the same man can be such a shining light
for the Lord and yet fall so far? Have you looked in the
mirror lately?! Romans 7 is what I call the "wretched man
that I am" passage of scripture, and while there are many
opinions on this portion, I believe it is Paul being honest
about his ability - in the flesh - to obey God and obey His
commandments. But Paul didn’t stay in Romans 7, he
moved on to Romans 8:1, "There is therefore now no
condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus..." In
Romans 7, Paul is looking at himself, his own sin, his
circumstances, etc. In Romans 8, when Paul looks to
Christ, he is victorious and in right relationship with God.
That doesn’t mean he’s now bullet-proof and will never fall
again, but he’s pointed and heading in the right direction.
PICTURE OF A SERVANT
So then, how is Solomon a picture of a servant of God?
When his eyes are on the Lord, he is a testimony to the
nations. When he takes his eyes off the Lord, he is
capable of the worst sin, and so are you and I!
How is Solomon a picture of Christ? We see in picture
form the glory and majesty that will be the Millennial reign
of Christ - only, there will be no "buts." Verse 9:22 says
Solomon did not make slaves out of the Israelites, but
made them rulers and officials in the kingdom over those
who were slaves. And so it is with us, according to
Romans 6. We are no longer slaves to sin, but servants of
righteousness. We are joint-heirs with Christ, made more
than conquerors. We are the reflection of His glory that
shines out to a wicked and faithless generation that needs
the salvation of the Lord.
I KINGS 12
SPLITSBURGH
When I first laid out a plan to study and
teach the books of the Kings, I had
intended to go zippity through both books
as quickly as possible.
There are so many details and so many
potential rabbits to chase, but I
wanted to stick to the big picture. That
being said, there are some
chapters and some events that must be
given their due, and chapter 12 is one of
them.
Chapter 12 describes what scholars call
"the disruption," that is, the
splitting of the kingdom into northern
(Israel) and southern (Judah)
parts. What really caused the split of
the kingdom? Well, it was not
Rehoboam’s stubbornness, though it looks
like it on the surface. The real
underlying cause for the split was
Solomon’s sin. We know from chapter 11
that the Lord intended to tear all but
Judah away from Solomon’s sons. So what
was Rehoboam’s role? His stubbornness was
only the occasion for the split. I think
that Jeroboam and Israel would have found
a reason one way or another to split
anyway - Rehoboam just made it easy for
them. It almost appears that they were
daring Rehoboam in verse 4 so they could
have a reason. Much of the animosity
between Israel and Judah was over the
events of Absalom, who stole the hearts
of all Israel. And much goes back to the
envy of Joseph versus Judah, Judah being
the royal tribe from which Messiah would
come, even though Joseph had up and saved
the world, or so the thinking might have
gone.
Have you ever been through a church
split? Either on the leaving end or
the staying end? If you’re a pastor, you
might even have been the reason for a
split. Have you ever left a church for a
reason other than moving or dying?! (I
have been on both sides on more than one
occasion.) If you can say yes to any of
these questions, then you can understand
what might be going on here. What are
some reasons for church splits?
The first and most obvious reasons are of
the theological or doctrinal nature.
Obviously, if a pastor or a church were
to reject Christ as Savior, or reject the
Bible as the inspired word of God, we
would all be gone very quickly. And those
are fighting issues. The problem is,
there are lots of less important issues
that many consider to be fighting
issues... For instance, the mode of
baptism, the mode of communion, how often
you have communion, what version of the
Bible is used, etc. Now, I was raised
Baptist and teethed on the King James
version, but I realize there is a small
possibility God loves Methodists too...
Then there are the moral or behavioral
issues, such as a pastor who is a tyrant
("my way or the highway!"), leadership or
membership living in
obvious sin that is undealt with, or
children of such who are out of
control. Believing all the right things
is great, but applying them is a
different story.
Then there are what I call the petty or
trivial issues - what color the
carpeting or toilet seats are, who gets
asked to be on what committee,
and who picked the wallpaper in the
ladies room anyway?! You may laugh,
but churches split over the silliest of
issues. The same churches that
should be up in arms over doctrinal and
moral issues just seem to coast
along. There are denominations that fight
over head covering for women. Those who
say women should cover their heads fight
over the method of covering; some fight
over which way the seam down the middle
should run - left and right, or side to
side. Hey, pay attention! These things
are important you know! Your eternal
destiny hangs in the balance depending
how you answer! But I digress.
Do you know how the first denomination
started? According to my pastor in
college, some disciples were arguing over
how Jesus healed the blind man by
spitting on the ground, making mud and
applying it to the man’s eyes. Some said
is was the mud that did the healing, and
others said no, it was the spit that made
the difference. So you have your first
two denominations: the Mudites and the
Spitites. Of course, both are off center
- Jesus healed the blind man, and may He
heal our spiritual
blindness as well! Let me step back for a
moment and make a point: these are not
reasons for a church split, they are
merely the occasions of the split. Like
Jeroboam and Israel, if it hadn’t been
one thing, it would have been another.
The real reason, down at the root of the
matter, is sin and pride, at least on one
side of the issue if not on both sides
(except for me - my motives are as pure
as the driven snow, of course!) There are
reasons to split - when the Lord makes it
clear it’s time to go, then it’s time to
go. And maybe you are wrong somewhat as
well, but staying where the Lord doesn’t
want you is going to be divisive.
Ephesians 4:3 and 13, if you zip past
what’s in between as parenthetical, tell
us "keep the unity of the spirit... until
we all reach the unity of the faith."
It’s not a big surprise that not
everybody believes the same things -
expect it! It’s only in the conduct of
Body life that we are either convinced
one way or the other on issues. And it’s
not a matter of black and white on many
things - "your highway or my highway." We
are all to be conformed to the image of
Christ - it’s the King’s highway!
Look again at I Kings 12:25-33. The
nation of Israel still claimed to
worship the Lord. They changed the
object, location and timing, but
claimed it was "just the same." They
adopted the Frank Sinatra Doctrine: they
did it "my way." This is indicative of
counterfeit religion - going through the
motions but without the spiritual
reality. We must worship God in God’s
way, which at that time was in Jerusalem
at the temple, the place and means of
God’s method, just as we worship today in
Spirit and truth - according to God’s
word as illumined by the Holy Spirit.
When we substitute anything else, however
innocuous it may seem, it’s no longer
God’s pattern but man’s ideas. How can
division be good? Here are at least four
ways. First, it gets rid of the chaff (or
leaves it behind, depending on who’s
coming or going.)
Second, it reduces or eliminates strife,
such as the conflict between
Abraham and Lot.
Third, it’s a wake-up call - it forces
you to focus on what’s really important,
and may help you realize what’s not
important. You never know; you might
conclude that those who left were right.
Finally, it can be the occasion to
multiply ministry and spread the Gospel
even farther than before, as with the
split between Paul and Barnabas. So
division can be a good thing; it’s
divisiveness that’s a sin. Having an acid
attitude can corrode the unity and spirit
of a fellowship. Sometimes, like the
Prodigal Son, it’s better to let that
attitude walk away.
PICTURE OF A SERVANT
What is the picture of a servant? From
verse 20, the tribe of Judah -
they remained faithful to the house of
David. And since David is a
picture of Christ, you can say they
remained faithful to Him as well. God
always has a remnant. From verse 22,
Shemaiah was faithful to deliver God’s
word. And who is the picture of Christ?
From verses 6-8, the old men who had
walked with the King and gave good
counsel to lighten the burden of the
people. This reminds me of Matthew 11:28-
30: "Come unto me, all ye who are weary
and heavy laden, and I will give you
rest..." The Lord seeks to relieve our
burden by bringing us into rest - whether
we want it or not!
I KINGS 15-16
CHAOS VERSUS RIGHTEOUSNESS
When Christ is Lord and Master of my
life, I will have the same heart
attitude as a faithful servant of
God. When I am the master of my life,
I will cause dissension and discord
among God’s people because I will be
looking out for myself and not for
God or His people.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
Chapter 15:1-8 introduces us to
Abijah, king of Judah. He was not a
good king, nor did he have any
notable achievements. And yet in
verse 4 we are told that no judgment
occurred during his reign for David’s
sake. This is an important verse,
because it explains God’s patience
not only with Abijah but with all the
other bad kings that Judah and Israel
will have.
Verses 9-24 tell us of Asa, King of
Judah. Asa was considered a good king
- not great, but good enough. Verses
11-15 detail his achievements: his
heart was perfect before the Lord, he
removed the sodomites and idols, he
deposed his grandmother for idolatry,
and he restocked the temple.
Verses 16-22 tell how he pays Ben-
Hadad of Syria to attack King Baasha
in Israel, and takes supplies from
Ramah and builds his own cities.
From 15:25 to 16:34 we get a parade
of Kings of Israel during Asa’s
reign. Chapter 15:25-31 tell how
Nadab reigned for two years, and then
he and his house were destroyed by
Baasha according to the word of the
Lord through Ahijah. Chapter 15:33 -
16:7 relate Baasha’s reign of 24
years. The significant event recorded
here is the word of the Lord through
the prophet Jehu announcing how
Baasha’s family will be wiped out.
Then 16:8-14 records Elah’s reign of
two years before being killed by
Zimri, one of his officials, who
takes over as king in verses 16:15-
20. He reigns for all of seven days,
with the Israelites apparently
preferring Omri. Zimri realizes
what’s happening and sets his palace
on fire with himself in it. Verses
16:21-27 describe Omri’s reign,
telling us of his overcoming the
challenge of Tibni and reigning in
Israel for twelve years. His
accomplishments were building the
city of Samaria and
producing the worst king yet - his
son, Ahab. Ahab is introduced to us
in verses 16:29-34. All the kings of
Israel were (and will remain) bad,
but Ahab was the worst so far; he
considered the previous sins to be
trivial. Jeroboam had introduced - or
reintroduced - calf worship to
Israel. Ahab started Baal worship by
marrying Jezebel, the daughter of a
pagan king. Verse 34 is the
fulfillment of Joshua’s curse upon
Jericho being rebuilt (Joshua 6:26).
Jericho was the first Canaanite city
destroyed by the children of Israel,
and its being rebuilt
symbolized the turning of Israel to
the sins of the land and
institutionalizing them.
PICTURE OF A SERVANT
So then, who are the servants of the
Lord? First, Asa, for his heart for
the Lord and his hatred of idolatry -
he did the will of God.
Second, we have the prophet Jehu, who
spoke the word of the Lord
faithfully.
Who is the Lord?
He is the one who keeps His promises
- He is the Great Promise Keeper -
both short-term and long. Verse 16:3
Jehu prophesies, and verse 16:12
records the fulfillment. And verse
16:34 records the fulfillment of a
prophecy made some 500 years before
that. Who is Christ? According to
Psalm 132:17, He is the lamp of
Israel that will not go out. Our sins
will affect us, and we will have to
deal with consequences, but no matter
how bad these sins are, they will
never upset God’s plan of
redemption. While sinners (Israel)
are in a state of turmoil and chaos,
the righteous (Judah under Asa) stay
calm and steady with a perfect heart
toward the Lord.
I KINGS 17
THE HIDDEN PLACE
In chapter 16 we saw the worst king
of Israel yet to appear - Ahab. He
considered the sins of his fathers
to be light things - trivial. He
would introduce and
institutionalize the sin of Baal
worship - the kind of sin the
Canaanites were guilty of, and what
was expressly forbidden by the
Lord. Into this atmosphere of sin
and rebellion, God introduces one
of His greatest prophets - Elijah.
It took till the sixteenth chapter
of I Samuel to get to David, and it
has taken till the seventeenth
chapter of I Kings to get to
Elijah. Now, do the times make the
man, or does the man make the
times? I think the Lord prepares us
for whatever challenges we will
meet, and Elijah is no exception.
The darker the times, the greater
the light of God’s glory. Elijah
certainly left his mark on the
nation of Israel. Malachi
prophesied (Malachi 4:5,6) of the
"Elijah to come," so Israel is
still looking for him. Some thought
Jesus was Elijah, according to
Matthew 16:13,14. To this day, at
the traditional Passover meal, the
Jews leave an empty chair at the
table in case Elijah shows up.
Before we look at the text, please
consider another New Testament
reference to Elijah, James 5:17.
What does "like passion" (in the
King
James version) mean? It means
simply that Elijah was a man just
like us - not a super saint. Elijah
was a servant of the Lord, and so
are we!
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
Please consider 17:1,2. We know
very little about Elijah.
Apparently he
was from the trans-Jordan area, and
he probably had a godly family. But
whatever background he did have,
the Lord is going to continue to
complete the work in him. He
announces to Ahab a drought that
will last
as long as he says it will, and
then leaves immediately. Elijah is
to
have a public ministry, but first
he must have a private preparation.
The Lord said "hide thyself" -
there is a hidden life with the
Lord. Without it we are not ready
for ministry. Before God can reveal
Himself through us, He must
manifest Himself to us.
The first stage of Elijah’s
preparation was at the brook
Cherith, which
means to "wittle down." How did God
provide for Elijah? Through unclean
birds - ravens! God can and will
use any instrument. I believe the
major point about unclean birds was
to not eat them; touching something
they touched would not necessarily
be prohibited, but it might be
deemed questionable. On the
practical level, as an engineer, I
might add that ravens also have a
long range, good load capacity and
an excellent thrust-to-weight
ratio. Never more!
Verses 8-16 bring us to the second
stage - the widow of Zarephath.
What’s the issue here? Obviously
God provided abundantly to meet the
needs here. But look at the means -
a woman who was a pagan idolater
and a poor widow who didn’t have
two ticks to rub together so she
could die properly. It was taboo in
the culture to deal with a woman or
a pagan, never mind both.
The third stage of Elijah’s
preparation is detailed in verses
17-24, with Elijah being used of
the Lord to restore life to the
widow’s son. This is the first
mention in scripture of someone
actually rising from the dead. The
problem here? That would be contact
with a dead body, expressly
forbidden in Numbers 6:6 for one
who is a Nazarite (which Elijah
probably was) and making one
ceremonially unclean.
PICTURE OF A SERVANT
So then, Elijah is our picture of a
servant, and a servant of the Lord
must learn that first, God is
enough, providing by what is there
(the
brook, the ravens, etc.); second,
that God is more than enough,
providing what isn’t there (the
oil, the grain, etc.); and third,
that God is more than enough
through me for someone else (the
widow’s son.) God didn’t prevent
death, He overcame it, just as
described in John 11 when Christ
raised Lazarus from the dead. And
just so, God will bring us to the
point where He no longer prevents
trials in our lives, but helps us
to overcome those trials.
So how do we overcome? I John 5:4,5
tells us by faith - as the hymn
writer put it "faith is the victory
that overcomes the world!" But
don’t put the emphasis on faith in
that passage or in your faith; put
the emphasis in the God in whom you
trust.
KINGS 19
THE HOLY PLACE
Thus fare we have seen Elijah in the hidden place
(chapter 17) and the public place (chapter 18), and now
we’re going to see him in the holy place. God revealed
Himself in a mighty way to Elijah in the hidden place and
in the public place, but in chapter 19 God is not done with
him yet. God is still dealing with Elijah in terms of both his
personal relationship and his ministry.
There are at least three things a servant of the Lord can
expect when God uses him in a public way. First, that
sinners will remain unmoved and unchanged. Now
according to verse 39, some were moved. It was hard for
eyewitnesses at Mt. Carmel to deny the revelation of the
Lord, but that didn’t move Ahab and it certainly didn’t
move Jezebel.
Second, it ends like if begins - in simple faith. Elijah
prayed for rain just like he had prayed that it would not rain
- in simple faith. He also ran down the mountain in simple
faith. Third, why does Elijah run? He is the fore-runner.
Like John the Baptist, all true ministry is a fore-runner
ministry. That is, preparing the way for the Lord, preparing
our hearts to receive the Lord when the Lord reveals
Himself.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
Please consider 19:1-6. Why did Elijah run away? This is
not like when he ran down the mountain ahead of Ahab.
Here he took his eyes off the Lord. If he hadn’t taken his
eyes off the Lord, he would have seen that the God who
triumphed over the prophets of Baal would easily have
dealt with Jezebel.
Verses 7 & 8 tell us that he ran to Mt. Horeb, otherwise
known as Mt. Sinai - he ran back to the Law, if you will.
Isn’t it interesting that the Angel of the Lord sustained him
because he was "too weak for the journey." Even in our
foolishness God is taking care of us! When we take our
eyes off the Lord, our hearts default back to the Law, back
to a legalistic attitude. We don’t have to work at it, it just
comes naturally! It takes the supernatural work of God in
our lives to look to Him by faith - we have to trust Him to
even begin to trust Him!
By way of comparison it’s interesting to note that John the
Baptist was discouraged too, especially as he sat in
prison. What did Jesus say to him in response in Luke
7:18-23? Essentially that God’s ministry was going great,
that everything prophesied concerning Messiah was in
progress and going just fine. Thus, as a fore-runner
ministry, the end of our ministry is where the ministry of
the Lord really begins. John the Baptist also reminds us of
an important lesson - real Christians sometimes doubt!
In verses 9-18, we see the incident of the "earth, wind and
fire," but the Lord was not in any of these. So why did they
occur? These were all preparation for the still small voice.
Notice that the preparer needs to be prepared; the forerunner
needs someone to run before him. The Lord
Himself must prepare us even to hear His voice before
we’re ready to speak and act on His behalf.
PICTURE OF A SERVANT
So how does God restore His servant? Notice how He
doesn’t restore - a pep talk, or scolding. First, He restores
with food and sleep because there is some kind of
connection between the physical and the spiritual. Have
you ever had the flu? Did you feel like standing up, much
less reading your Bible? You probably felt like crawling
under a rock and dying, or even that you already had.
Whatever the connection, the spirit can have trouble
operating in a dysfunctional body. Second, God restores
by His touch - the Angel of the Lord was the Lord Himself.
Third, by revelation - we need Him to see Him. Fourth, the
Lord gave Elijah fresh responsibility. There is no shelf,
only greater responsibility, not less. Fifth, God gave Elijah
a special friend.
What’s the difference between verse 10 and verse 14?
The words are identical, but in verse 14, the mantle is over
his face. Romans 13:14 tells us "put ye on the Lord Jesus
Christ..." The difference was Elijah’s heart attitude - he
was clothed in the Lord’s righteousness, and walking by
faith instead of sight.
Finally, who is Christ? He is the faithful Restorer of my
soul, as described in Psalm 23:3.
I KINGS 20-22
A VINEYARD, A PAIR OF KINGS AND A
LIMITLESS GOD
In the previous three chapters, we
saw Elijah in the hidden place, the
public place and the holy place. Now
we will see him "no place"! Elijah
just seems to fade into the
background and the focus of scripture
shifts to Ahab.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
In chapter 20 we have Bed-Hadad, king
of Syria, preparing to attack
Israel because they won’t pay
tribute. Verse 13 tells us a prophet
of the Lord shows up and tells Ahab
that the Lord will deliver the enemy
into his hands. Why will he do this?
To show Ahab who is God. In His mercy
the Lord is giving Ahab every chance
to repent, to acknowledge that the
Lord Jehovah is real and worthy to be
worshiped.
Verse 23 highlights the Syrian’s sin
which was a common attitude of that
day that deities were local and not
powerful in other places. Today we
see the same attitude expressed even
among Christians when we try to limit
God. The attitude is expressed by
statements such as "God doesn’t care
about little things, only the big
things," or "God used to do that in
Bible times, but not any more."
According to verse 28, the Lord is
delivering the Arameans into Ahab’s
hands in order to witness to Ahab.
Ben-Hadad will also find out who God
is too. In due time, Ben-Hadad is
captured but Ahab lets him live. Then
a man of God comes to him with a
story, much like Nathan approaching
David about Bathsheba, that Ahab will
be judged for letting Ben-Hadad go.
Chapter 21 recounts the story of
Naboth’s vineyard. Ahab desires the
vineyard since it’s adjacent to the
royal palace, but Naboth won’t sell
since the land belonged to his
fathers. While Ahab went home and
sulked, his wife Jezebel hatched a
plan to have Naboth set up and killed
for blasphemy, a charge of which he
was of course innocent.
According to verses 17-29, the Lord
tells Elijah of Ahab’s doings and
that he and his wife will be severely
judged for their sin. What is
Ahab’s response? Verse 27 makes it
appear that he repented, at least at
some level. Was it true repentance?
Maybe, but it was certainly not
complete. It is noted by the Lord in
verses 28 and 29, but we will see
how long Ahab stays this way.
In chapter 22, Ahab and Jehoshaphat
join forces to take Ramoth Gilead
back from Aram (that is, Syria). Up
until this time, Judah and Israel had
been in a state of constant civil
war. Now they are acting as allies.
Was this a good thing? Was this
progress? Were things getting better?
My opinion is, compromise usually
leads to decline, whether in terms of
a kingdom or in a body of believers.
We know where the kingdoms of Judah
and Israel are heading, and we also
observe what happens to church
denominations when "anything goes."
The pair of kings consult the local
yokel prophets who all say "go ahead"
to attacking Aram. Jehoshaphat asks
for a real prophet of the Lord, and
Micaiah is found. Ahab doesn’t like
him because "he never says anything
good about me!" Get the hint, Ahab?
Well, the upshot of verses 15-28 is
Micaiah tells them they’re gonna have
their hats handed to them. But of
course they go anyway, and Ahab gets
killed by a randomly launched arrow.
When his body is take back to
Samaria, his blood is licked up by
the dogs according to the word of the
Lord.
Verses 41-50 formally introduce us to
Jehoshaphat, even though we’ve
already seen him in action. He is
considered a good king, walking with
the Lord as his father Asa did - but
no mention of David here. There
seems to be an element of compromise
and the attending frustration it
brings. The high places are not cut
down, and he was at peace with the
king of Israel (as we just saw). He
did, to his credit, remove the
sodomites from the land that his
father didn’t. In terms of
frustrations, his fleet of sailing
vessels never made it out of port
(they were wrecked somehow), so he
was never quite able to attain the
riches of previous kings which seems
to be metaphoric for Jehoshaphat in
general.
PICTURE OF A SERVANT
The first general principle of
servanthood is, the Lord will use
whomever He wants, and Elijah was
okay with that. There was no
competition between Elijah and
Micaiah, or Elijah and Elisha for
that matter. Mature ministry does not
always grow larger - "he must
increase and I must decrease."
Second, my ministry prepares the way
for others. D. L. Moody’s ministry
set the stage for Billy Sunday;
Sunday’s ministry set the stage for
Billy Graham; and of course someone
somewhere prepared D. L. Moody...
Third, a servant of the Lord does not
limit God. A servant of the Lord
will never say "God can’t work in
these tough times," or "God can’t do
anything in this part of town," or
"God can’t use a nobody like me."
And fourth, the servant of the Lord
tells it like God says it, as Micaiah
confesses in verse 22:14, and that
applies to Elijah as well.
Who then is Christ? He is the
limitless, patient, sovereign God who
does not wish that any should perish
but that all come to the knowledge of
the truth.

II Kings

II Kings 2
II Kings 4
II Kings 5
II Kings 6
II Kings 8
II Kings 11
II Kings 14
II Kings 17
II Kings 18
II Kings 21
II Kings 23
II KINGS 2
CHARIOT OF FIRE
Now we come to the last days of Elijah. It has been 10-12 years since Mt.
Carmel (according to theologians) and it’s time for his home-going, as so
stated in verse 1. It’s as if the writer is saying here "okay, now we’re going
to set the record straight."
What has Elijah been doing all this time that he hasn’t been under
scrutiny? He’s been pouring his life into Elisha, preparing him for ministry.
That may not seem very exciting - that sort of thing doesn’t get a lot of
publicity. But you, you just grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord,
and He will use you however He wishes in ways that you don’t even know.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
Let’s look at verses 1-8. Who are "the sons of the prophets"? We’ve seen
them mentioned before, but haven’t discussed them. They are members of
a school, a kind of Old Testament seminary supposedly founded by
Samuel. How do they know Elijah is leaving? The Lord has told them, but
they don’t know how he’s leaving because the Lord didn’t tell them that.
Why does Elijah tell Elisha not to follow him? I believe Elijah is "throwing
water" on Elisha - he’s testing his heart. Why does Elisha follow anyway?
Because he passed the test. Do you want to be spiritual, or just look like it?
Elijah knew where he was headed - don’t follow unless you really mean it!
In verses 9 & 10, what does the term "double portion" mean? Twice as
much? No - it’s a reference to the first born. It is talking about a spiritual
blessing and is referred to in Deuteronomy 21:17. Now it’s true that Elisha
did twice as many miracles as Elijah - at least as recorded - but the term is
meant spiritually. How do you top three and a half years of drought - with
seven years? That didn’t happen. Besides, God did all the miracles anyway.
How can He out-do Himself?!
Please look at verses 11-18. What did Elisha mean in verse 12 by the
"chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof"? This refers to spiritual
warfare. A nation is not protected by armies and weapons, a nation is
protected by having Godly people in it. As Isaiah 3 prophesies, when the
"staff and stay" are gone, then judgment has come.
What should we make of the sons of the prophets here? They are clueless,
kind of like the disciples of Jesus were. They missed Elijah and only saw
the whirlwind. They went searching for Elijah for three days because they
didn’t believe Elisha’s account of what had happened. They represent
looking with the eyes of the flesh rather than with spiritual eyesight.
PICTURE OF A SERVANT
Here then are at least three principles of a mature servant of God. First, as
a person gets closer to the end of his life, he will have an increasing desire
to be alone with God. There will be less dependence on others and
increasing dependence on the Lord. We will see down the road how some
kings were good until the person encouraging them died, and then they
turned bad. But the true servant of the Lord is not like that. They, like David
learn to "encourage themselves in the Lord."
Second, the mature servant will have a growing concern for the welfare of
God’s people - prayer for those left behind. The New Testament version of
this is Paul’s prison epistles and the prison prayers. It certainly can be hard
on those left behind, especially when they’ve come to depend on your
ministry. They need to be encouraged to depend on the Lord directly for
their daily bread - they need the ravens of God!
Third, the mature servant of the Lord has a glorious departure - so glorious
that those who hear of it will wonder how can this be? So then we see why
the human writer - Jeremiah, I believe - has to "set the record straight."
Who then is Christ? He is the mantle, which is symbolic of His presence,
power and righteousness. Thus Elisha wasn’t just picking up a garment or
a piece of cloth, he was putting on Jesus Christ, as we are admonished in
Romans 13:14. Verse 15 might be paraphrased to say "I can see Jesus in
you" because I see Elijah’s cloak on you. As the hymn writer put it
"dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne."
Walking with Jesus will have a visible effect on those who look at us.
II KINGS 2 (Continued)
THE MAN WHO LOOKS LIKE JESUS
As I become more like Christ, my heart will take on a
servant’s attitude.I want to talk about such a man today.
There are at least seven important things to know about
this man. We’ve already mentioned his name, but now we’re
going to discuss him in some detail.
First, his name means "God is salvation." Second, he was
called "the holy man of God." Third, he was rejected and
ridiculed by his own people. Fourth, he ministered unto
Gentiles. Fifth, he was a mighty prophet of God. Sixth, his
ministry was prepared by a fore-runner who was also a
mighty prophet of God. Seventh, he was known for doing
miracles: he read into the hearts of men; he cleansed the
leper; he multiplied loaves of bread; he raised the dead;
and through his death others came to life.
Who is this man? Well, if you’ve been paying attention,
this is Elisha, the man who looks like Jesus. According to
Luke 1:17, John the Baptist ministered in the spirit and
power of Elijah, and was the fore-runner of Jesus,
preparing the way for His ministry. In the same kind of
way, Elijah was the fore-runner of Elisha - one ministry
preparing the way for the next.
This makes me stop and consider for a moment - who is or
was the "Elijah" in your life? If you’ve walked with the
Lord for a long time, there may be several who the Lord has
used to influence you. Whether one or many, they were all
preparing you to walk with the Lord. One other note here as
a side line: what does it mean to minister in "the spirit
and power of Elijah"? Well, apparently it doesn’t
necessarily mean perform miracles, because none are
recorded in the Gospels.
I believe the phrase is used in the same way that a king
lived (or didn’t live) according to the ways of his father
David. If Elijah was a man of like passion - in other
words, just like us - then "the spirit and power of
Elijah" was simply the same spirit and power available to
live the Christian life as the Lord has called you to. Now,
not everyone is called to pray for drought, raise the dead
and out run horses. I’m sure the Lord has bigger things
planned for you. But whatever the Lord does call you
to, the power and grace to live and do according to His
will is freely available.
So how was Elisha called? According to I Kings 19:19-21 (a
passage I deliberately have not discussed in detail until
now), his call began with the grace of God. So then, there
are at least three principles about Elisha’s call. First,
Elisha responded. That may seem a bit obvious, but how many
ignore God’s call? He was doing what he did every day - he
was working. That’s a given for a farm boy. His response
was the only possible response - total surrender to the
will of God. He set his old life on fire (literally) and
spent ten years washing the hands of Elijah - he had to be
a servant first.
Second, he had to want it, according to II Kings 2:9,10. He
was given the opportunity to walk away but stuck by
Elijah’s side regardless. Here, the "double portion" speaks
of the blessing of the first born, not just "twice as
much." It was a spiritual blessing, as the first born of a
household in those days automatically became the spiritual
leader of the family. The first born is an object lesson of
how God wants to bless everyone, just as the first fruits
and the tithe are representative of how all our means
belong to the Lord.
Third principle of Elisha’s calling is the vision and focus
of the heart. "If you see me go" - Elisha had to focus on
Elijah despite the whirlwind. This was a hard thing -
probably impossible in the flesh. The sons of the
prophets standing afar off missed Elijah for the whirlwind,
representing the distracted believer. Now with all that
said, none of the principles of Elisha’s calling are
the goal of the Christian life. Being filled with the
Spirit is not the goal, though some make it out to be.
Being surrendered is not the goal, though some make it out
to be. Being super-surrendered is not the goal,
though some make it out to be. Being super-duper-totallyand-
completely-surrendered-and- this-time-I-really-mean-it
is not the goal, though some try with all their might,
hoping that will make them spiritual. All of this is merely
the starting point of the Christian life.
Warning: do not make the starting point into a goal! If you
are surrendered to the Lord, then you are ready to begin to
live the Christian life. If you’re waiting to be
surrendered till you’re more spiritual, then you’re a
"stuck in the mud."
So then, what is the goal? Consider Jeremiah 9:23-24 - know
the Lord! Consider also Philippians 3:7-10, which echos
Jeremiah - that I may know Him! This is all part of
relationship with Christ, of union with Christ, of
fellowship with Christ, of communion with Christ.
Servanthood is presented then as the out-working of the
knowledge of the Lord. Just as Elisha walked with and
learned from Elijah, so we walk with and learn from the
Lord Jesus. And when we see Him, we shall be like Him, for
we shall see Him as He is.
II KINGS 4
LIFE MORE ABUNDANTLY
.Our theme again for Kings is Christ, the Servant of the
Lord, illustrated by His servants the prophets and the men
of God. Every book in the Bible is about Christ, and every
book has a unique contribution to the unfolding story of
redemption. In I and II Kings, the prophets are the main
pictures of the servant of the Lord and ultimately picture
and foreshadow Christ Himself.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
Please consider I Kings 4:1-7. The principle behind this
passage is God provides to the extent that we can receive.
The widow didn’t even know what she had in her house -
"nothing, just some oil." What does oil represent in
Scripture? The Holy Spirit. In Christ we have the
inexhaustible supply for all our needs for eternity because
He has given us His Spirit. As the hymn writer puts it:
"little is much when God is in it."
Now please observe that God’s provision was in proportion
to the widow’s neighbor’s empty vessels. If you’re not open
to receive other’s vessels, you’re not open to receive
God’s supply. That is, the Lord wants to use us in each
other’s lives - I need your empty vessel! As we are
reminded in I Corinthians 12, all the body needs all the
body.
The next principle is found in I Kings 4:8-17. This is the
principle of supernatural birth. God had his hand in
bringing a child to a barren woman, just as He had a hand
in the birth of John the Baptist, and in the birth of
Christ. And He even had a hand in your birth as well, both
physically and spiritually.
Okay, so we’ve seen God’s supernatural provision and
supernatural birth. Now what? Verses 18-37 discuss
supernatural life - that is, resurrection life. It’s not
enough to have life, especially just physical life. We
also need resurrection life - we need to be brought back
from the dead! So now we’ve seen in chapter 4 the
principles of supernatural provision, supernatural birth
and resurrection life. Is there anything else? Verses
38-41 tell us about the killer stew, the "death in the
pot." The principle here is simply we need the preserving
work of God in our lives. The Lord brings us to life, meets
our needs and keeps us from all that might harm us. Now
that’s not to say that nothing bad will ever happen to
us, though God can do that. This merely states that God can
keep us through harm as well. God will keep your boat
afloat through the storm - just don’t expect a smooth ride
in the meantime.
Verses 42-44 speak of the multiplied loaves, and bring us
back where we started - the principle of God filling empty
vessels! Which reminds me of the words of Jesus in the
sermon on the mount from Matthew 5:6, "blessed are they
which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they
shall be filled."
So then, who is Christ?
This echoes Ephesians 3:8 - He is the God of unsearchable
riches. If I give Him an empty ditch, He will fill it. If I
give Him and empty vessel, He will fill it. If I give Him
an empty stomach, He will fill it. This also echoes John
11:25-26 - He is the Resurrection and the Life. We need
life from God - abundant spiritual life, as Jesus said in
John 10:10, "I have come to give you life - and that more
abundantly." Every believer has life, abundant life,
resurrection life - do you see it? Do you enjoy it? I pray
that God will grant all of us eyes to see Him and all that
is in Christ Jesus.
II KINGS 5
NAAMAN
Our present illustration of the servant of the Lord is the prophet Elisha, the
man who looks like Jesus. Here in chapter 5 we will see how the Lord uses
Elisha in the life of a gentile named Naaman.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
What do we know about Naaman? From verse 5:1 we find that he was an
army commander, that he was a great man, that he was honorable, that the
Lord gave deliverance to Syria by him (that is, victory over God’s people),
and that he was a mighty man of valor. Oh, and we also find that he was
also a leper. Of all these things, the leprosy was the most important detail.
In verse 2 we meet a Jewish girl, unnamed, the servant of Naaman’s wife,
who was a prisoner of war. Her family, though not referred to, is probably
dead. All of this chapter began as a result of this little girl.
Verses 3-7 represent a comedy of errors. The king of Syria gets involved to
send Naaman along to the king of Israel, assuming he is the one to handle
the situation. The king of Israel has no idea what the king of Syria is talking
about. He even thinks the king of Syria is trying to instigate a fight. In the
meantime, Elisha hears about the dilemma and comes down to deal with
Naaman and defuse the situation.
In verses 8-12, Elisha tells Naaman to go wash seven times in the Jordan
river. Naaman is not happy - his rivers back home in Damascus are much
better (and they still are to this day) and the Jordan is just a mud puddle.
But all this doesn’t matter - the Lord uses imperfect vessels to do His will.
Besides, it’s not the river that’s going to do the healing.
Verses 13-15 detail how Naaman had to deal with and/or swallow his own
pride. His servants are the ones who convince him to do the "simple" thing,
and he obviously relents. And when he is healed, then he knows that the
God is Israel is the only true God. There was more faith in this Syrian than
in Israel itself - at least when he saw a miracle he knew how to respond.
Verses 16-27 are the interesting account of the sin of Elisha’s servant
Gehazi. And what sin is that? To put it simply, greed. Imagine being the
servant to the greatest man of God in your day. Imagine that he himself
was servant to someone who was the greatest man of God in his day.
Imagine all the things of the Lord that you are exposed to, and trading it for
money and clothes. Now it is difficult to see past the temporary to the
eternal, but Gehazi received his reward in full here - leprosy. He wanted to
be a prophet for profit; he put a price tag on the grace of God. Why did
Elisha refuse to be paid? He didn’t want any association with the miracle
and money. That’s not why he did it - or rather, that’s not why he passed on
the Lord’s instructions on how to be healed. "Freely, freely you have
received, freely, freely give."
PICTURE OF A SERVANT
So what do we learn about servanthood? From Elisha, we learn to be
content with what the Lord has provided. II Peter 2:15 talks about the way
of Balaam - "loving the wages of unrighteousness." That attitude stands in
sharp contrast to Elisha. Naaman is also a picture of a servant - willingness
to be done unto, in that he eventually allowed himself to be humbled.
And who is Christ? He is the one with the missionary heart for gentiles and
a love for lepers - sinners! Consider Luke 4:25-27. The only New Testament
reference to Elisha shows God’s love for "whosoever will." Notice that the
gentile was healed of leprosy and the Jew was turned out with it.
Consider also Matthew 18:1-4 that speaks of our need for child-like faith in
God, as well as Hebrews 11:6 that reminds us that we cannot please God
without faith. We come as lepers - as sinners - and leave as children of
God.
II KINGS 6-8
FLOATERS AND SINKERS
At the moment our primary illustration of the servant of the Lord is
Elisha, the man who looks like Jesus. We will see him heal the leper,
multiply loaves, bring the dead back to life, and be a light to the
Gentiles.
We will begin with the account of the ax head in chapter 6 and the
Shunammite woman in verses 8:1-16. We will look at them both first
because they illustrate the same principle and then we will look at what
happens in between.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
Please look at verses 6:1-7. The sons of the prophets wanted to build a
dormitory for their seminary so they set to chopping down some trees. So
many of us go out to serve the Lord in a sincere and well meaning manner.
We're hard working, conscientious, and then what happens? Things just
seem to fall apart! We lose our head in the water hazard. This looks like
my golf game, which is why I don't play golf! What's the principle? The
Lord restores, and He restores even so-called trivial things because He
care for us.
Now look at verses 8:1-16. Apparently this account is out of chronological
order. We can tell this because Gehazi is named here. But it's been put here
because it fits in the context. So what does the Lord do for the Shunammite
woman? He restores her land, her property and her income. Why does He
do this? Because of her obedience to God. Again we see the principle of
restoration. You might say that the ax head was "simple" restoration and
the Shunammite woman's case was "complex" restoration, but the Lord
delights to do both. He can find your car keys and your TV remote, and He
can bring you back from the dead. He can handle both with ease and
everything in between!
Okay, let's go back to verse 6:8-23. The king of Syria realizes someone's
doing a number on him, and Elisha is named - correctly - as the probable
culprit. They come and surround him, ready to attack. Is Elisha scared?
Of course not. According to verses 16 and 17, "there are more with us
than with them." God blinds the enemy, and Elisha leads them right to the
king of Israel. He does not allow them to be killed but has the troops
fed.
This reminds me of an obscure passage in Matthew 5:7-9: "Blessed are the
merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart for
they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called
the sons of God."
So what are the principles here? We have supernatural deliverance, we
have victory without a fight, and we have testimony. Think of the story
those soldiers could tell when they got home!
The next story is found in verses 6:24 - 7:20. The king of Syria decides
to lay siege to Samaria which causes a famine and hyper-inflation. Even
worthless items are selling for premium prices - or more. Things get so
bad that people are eating their own children. These are not happy times,
but living in rebellion to God doesn't deal you any other kind of hand.
The king, needing someone else to blame, singles out Elisha as the cause
of all this calamity. Of course that's ridiculous, but that's how sinners
think. Elisha in response prophesies relief and restoration overnight. So
how does the Lord defeat the Syrians? They thought they heard an
approaching army and ran! Four lepers desperate for food find all this
out, and they go tell the city.
In short, the siege is lifted and the economy is restored just as Elisha
said it would be. The principle here is supernatural deliverance without
a fight.
PICTURE OF A SERVANT
First, who is Christ? From verses 6:6, He is the Righteous Branch. He
restores, He delivers against impossible circumstances, and He fights my
battles and gives me victory.
In regards to servanthood, we need our eyes opened to the spiritual
reality of everything we have in Christ. And like the lepers, we need to
tell others where to find bread.
II KINGS 8-10
GOD'S WILL, GOD'S TIME
In chapters 6-8 that we discussed last time, we saw both principles of
deliverance and restoration together. The goal of deliverance is never
just deliverance; the goal of deliverance is restoration. Yes, we have
been delivered from sin - thank God for that - but we have been delivered
from sin unto a restored relationship with our Deliverer. Our salvation
isn't just a ticket to heaven, though there's nothing wrong with that.
But Heaven is Heaven because of the God who is there, and Heaven can
begin on earth because we have a living relationship with the God of
Heaven.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
For background, we need to glance again at I Kings 19:15-17. There we
were introduced to Hazael and Jehu, bloody men who would do God's will.
Hazael would be king over Syria and Jehu would be king over Israel.
Chapter 8:7-15 relates how Ben-Hadad, king of Syria, is sick and asks
Elisha through Hazael if he'll recover. Elisha says to tell him yes, but
really he won't. That is, he won't die of his disease. How does he die?
Hazael murders Ben-Hadad by suffocating him with a wet clothe. I wonder
if he got him behind the ears?!
Verses 16-24 introduce us to Jehoram, king of Judah. He is considered a
bad king because he walked as the kings of Israel and married into Ahab's
family - certainly the latter would pull you into the former.
Nevertheless, God displays His patience. We also see Edom and Libnah in
revolt, with Jehoram too weak to stop it.
Verses 25-29 briefly discuss Ahaziah, king of Judah. His mother is
Athaliah - we'll see more on her later. She is the daughter of Ahab and
Jezebel, and the apple doesn't rot far from the tree... Ahaziah is
wounded in battle with Hazael, so you can see who the Lord is fighting
for.
In chapter 9:1-13, Jehu is anointed king of Israel. Why didn't Elisha do
this? Apparently he was too well known and too conspicuous to pull it
off, but someone unknown could. Why were they anointing Jehu anyway?
Didn't Elijah already do this? Well, back in I Kings 19 we know that he
was told to, but there may have been no occasion to do so. Maybe part of
Elisha's training was preparing him to fulfill what Elijah was to do but
couldn't. At that point in I Kings 19, we don't even know for sure that
Hazael and Jehu are alive yet, much less old enough to find and anoint.
Verses 9:14-29 tell us how Jehu kills Joram, king of Israel, and finishes
off Ahaziah, king of Judah. Verses 9:30-37 describe how Jehu has Jezebel
killed according to the word of the Lord through Elijah. In chapter 10:1-7,
Jehu continues the purge of Ahab's family, both direct and indirect
relations. This included seventy sons of Ahab and forty-two of Ahaziah,
since he had married into the family.
Verses 10:18-36 describe how Jehu kills the prophets of Baal by cunning
and intrigue. He calls a big party under the pretense of worshiping Baal,
then surrounds all the prophets and has them slaughtered. Talk about
hospitality! Here we also see the consequences of sin: defeat; rebellion,
and the inability to stop it; the land was "cut short," that is their territory
was reduced; and finally, judgment and death.
PICTURE OF A SERVANT
I see at least two principles of servanthood in this passage.
First of all, obedience sometimes looks like disobedience. Elijah was told
to anoint Hazael and Jehu, but did he? There is no record of him doing
such. But he passed on the task to Elisha. Are there any other examples in
Scripture of what looks like disobedience? I would say the early church
had a problem. Jesus said "go ye into al the world..." So what did the
church do? They just sat there in Jerusalem. It would take years for them
to be scattered. Then there is Paul. He was told on the Damascus road
that he was to be the disciple to the Gentiles, but that didn't happen right
away. In both cases, there can be a big difference between knowing what
God wants you to do and when God allows you to do it. Apparently they
both understood this. The sense of the Greek in the phrase "go ye" can
mean "wherever you are going," giving the sense that God will bring about
His will in His own time for you and me.
Second, disobedience sometimes looks like obedience. Jehu did what he
was supposed to do by eradicating the house of Ahab, but he still did not
turn his heart to the Lord as he should have. Jehu gave only outward
obedience, not inward. We see New Testament examples of this in the
parable of the sheep and the goats - "many will say Lord, Lord, didn't we
prophesy in your name and cast out demons? And he will say to them, Get
out of my sight, I never knew you..." Judas outwardly walked with the
disciples, but his heart was not with the Lord. As the scripture says in
Isaiah 29:13, "They honor me with their lips but their hearts are far
from me."
Consider for a moment Jeremiah 1:11,12. This essentially says that God is
watching over His word to perform it. Think about all the prophecy fulfilled
here - Ben-Hadad killed, Jehu anointed king, Jezebel killed, Ahab's family
wiped out, the prophets of Baal killed, etc. God is certainly involved in the
affairs of men, not only bringing them to judgment, but bringing the
righteous to Himself.
Who then is Christ?
Well, if we combine Jeremiah 1:11,12 with II Kings 8:11 (the last two words),
we see Christ as the One who watches and weeps. I believe He weeps for
what might have been if only we would come to repentance and turn our
hearts toward Him. This echos John 11:35 where Jesus weeps with Mary
over the death of Lazarus. Our God cares for us, and is not pleased over
the death of the wicked, such as Ahab and Jezebel. They were given plenty
of chances to truly repent, but they never did.
II KINGS 11-13
SHOOT THE ARROW, STRIKE THE GROUND
In these chapters we will say goodbye to Elisha. We should not be sad
about his death - he's going to be with the Lord. Israel should be very
sad however, because he was the best thing going for them whether they
liked it or not. Scholars estimate by the time we see him in chapter 13
that it's been 45 years since we last saw him, so he is definitely an old
man. First however, we're going to look in on Judah.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
In chapter 11 we see Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel and the
mother of the king, watch her son die. She sees this as her golden
opportunity to take over, so she has the royal household killed and
declares herself queen. Unknown to her, the youngest child is saved by
his aunt who happens to be the daughter of Jehoiada, the high priest.
When the boy, Joash, is of sufficient age, Jehoiada crowns him king and
has Athaliah deposed. It's almost funny how Athaliah screams out
"treason!" in verse 14. Sinners often like to accuse you of what they're
doing. Some long for the days of the Cold War because the Russians were
so predictable in that manner. We always knew what they were up to by
whatever they accused us of doing!
Do we have any "Athaliah's" today? You bet we do. We call them
"feminists." They believe in the rule of women, both in society and in
the church, and that a woman isn't fulfilled unless she's working outside
the home, among other things. To put it plainly, it's another form of rebellion
against the Lord. It's not a question of what a woman can do, it's what a woman
ought to do which is expressly detailed in Titus 2. And by the way, you don't have
to be female to be a feminist! Men can be in rebellion to Titus 2 as well. Chapter
12 brings us to Joash. He sets about repairing the temple - he knows how run
down it is since he lived in it for so long. The temple does get fixed, but not as
quickly as it should have because the work wasn't funded properly. That's fixed
by putting out a special box for donations, and work proceeds quickly from there.
In verse 17 we see the growing weakness of the kingdom. Joash stripped
the temple of its wealth to buy off Hazael king of Aram. This is not unlike what
Rehoboam did. The latter portion of Joash's reign did not go well, and that will be
detailed in Chronicles. For now, suffice it to say that Joash became unpopular
enough that his own officials murdered him. Their rebellion was as bad as
Athaliah's, even if Joash did deserve it. They did not have David's attitude of "not
raising a hand against the Lord's anointed." In chapter 13:1-9, we meet
Jehoahaz, King of Israel. In verse 3 we see the Lord's anger with Israel allow
Aram to control Israel. Jehoahaz cries out to the Lord in verse 4, and verse 5
says the Lord provided a deliverer. However, verse 6 says the people did not
repent of the sins of Jeroboam even then. In verses 10-25 we meet Jehoash,
king of Israel, and there isn't much to say about him. In verse 14 we see the
incident where Jehoash goes to visit Elisha who is on his death bed. Upon the
sight of Elisha, Jehoash weeps - he's losing his lucky rabbit's foot! Elisha has him
do two things: shoot an arrow, and the strike the ground. Jehoash shot the
arrow, unto which the Lord promised victory, but he only struck the ground three
times - Elisha tells him he should have done it more, so his victories will be
limited to his actual strike count. What does the arrow represent? Victory belongs
to the Lord. And what about striking the ground? The ground represents the
world and men - as in, don't trust the flesh, look to the Lord and trust Him instead.
PICTURE OF A SERVANT
So what do we learn about servanthood? From chapter 11, the servant of
the Lord exalts the only begotten son. The other thing to learn is found
in verses 13:20,21. Elisha here is: dead to the flesh, alive in the Spirit, and in the
presence of the Lord. These verses illustrate the life-giving influence of the man
of God. It has nothing whatsoever to do with what Elisha is doing - the Lord is
doing it. And Elisha doesn't know he's being used!
Who then is Christ?
From chapter 11, He is our great high priest who sets up the kingdom in the
seventh year. From chapter 13, He is the One who makes dead men live! As
someone has noted, He didn't come to make bad people good or good people
better. Jesus came to make dead men live!
II KINGS 14-16
GREASED SKIDS
In these chapters we’re going to see a string of kings, and we’re going to see the continued downward death
spiral fo Israel and Judah. Just as in the Winter Olympic games (which were in progress when I first taught
this) we see the luge, the bobsled, the ski jump, etc., all heading down hill, so also we see the kingdoms of
Israel and Judah on greased skids. They are steeped in idolatry and heading for an inevitable fate - the
agony of disobedience!
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
In verses 14:1-22 we meet Amaziah, king of Judah. His reign lasts 29 years. He was a good king, but not
like David. He does not get a ringing endorsement from the Lord. Verse 7 tells us that he defeated the
Edomites. Apparently full of himself fresh from victory, Amaziah then picks a fight with Jehoash, king of
Israel, but gets beaten badly with hostages from Judah being carried off and the wall of Jerusalem being
knocked down. Chronicles goes into more detail on this matter, but this is all we get for now.
Verses 23-29 introduce Jeroboam II, king of Israel. He was a stinker like the rest, but God showed him
goodness anyway. He restored the borders of Israel according to the word of the Lord to Jonah son of
Amittai - the same Jonah of the book.
In verses 15:1-7 we meet Azariah king of Judah, also known as Uzziah, and he reigns 52 years - the longest
reign so far. We are told he’s like his father Amaziah, so we can conclude that he wasn’t bad, but not quite
like David either. Verse 5 simply tells us he was afflicted with leprosy, but doesn’t tell us any circumstances.
Again, we will learn why in Chronicles, but it’s not important to the context right now.
Notice that during Azariah’s reign all sorts of prophets show up - the Lord must really be doing something
big! If you check Isaiah 1:1, Hosea 1:1 and Amos 1:1, they all prophesied during the time of Azariah
(Uzziah) and onward.
During Azariah’s reign we see a string of kings of Israel. We meet Zechariah in verses 15:8-12. He was the
fourth king of Jehu’s house, reigned all of 6 months, and was the end of that line. In verses 13-16 we meet
Shallum who conspired to kill Zechariah, and he reigned all of 1 month. Verses 17-22 tells of Menahem, who
took out Shallum and reigned 10 years. Verses 23-26 tell of his son Pekahiah, who took his place and
reigned 2 years. He was assassinated by one of his officials, Pekah, who then replaced him. Pekah’s reign
is described in verses 27-31. Hoshea assassinates Pekah to become the last king of Israel, but he won’t be
discussed until chapter 17.
Jotham king of Judah is introduced in verses 32-28. The scripture says he was like his father Uzziah, but not
quite like David. While he’s generally considered a good king, he did not stop the worship at the high places.
Jotham gets one of the shortest mentions in the Kings for a king of Judah. Sometimes short is sweeter than
long because there’s less to drag through the mud.
Chapter 16 recounts Ahaz king of Judah. He is the worst king Judah has had so far, and one of the worst
they will ever have because of his idolatry and pagan practices. The big moments of his reign are paying
Assyria to attack Syria for him and copying the pagan altar in Syria to set up in the temple in Jerusalem.
Let’s stop for a moment and consider the signs of judgment we have seen here: Amaziah losing to
Jeroboam II, Uzziah’s leprosy, Aram and Israel come against Judah (from 15:37), Menahem pays off
Assyria, the first Assyrian deportation under Pekah, none of the kings stopped the worship on the high
places though it was forbidden, and none of these kings had a perfect heart "like David."
PICTURE OF A SERVANT
So after all this mess, who’s a picture of a servant? Jonah, would (eventually, grudgingly) go to Nineveh, the
capital of Assyria, and preach repentance - to whosoever will.
Who then is Christ? From 14:26-27, He is the God who does not desire judgment, but will only use it when
all else fails. Romans 11 speaks of the "wild olive branches" (the gentile church) ingrafted into a regular olive
tree (Israel) to shock it back to repentance. And so here we see God’s judgment in measure, trying to bring
them back to Himself.
II KINGS 17
END OF THE LINE
We now come to a very sad chapter in the book of Kings. This is the
last
chapter that mentions the northern kingdom of Israel. God has been very
patient and gracious toward them. He has sent some of His greatest
prophets to them to lead them back to repentance and relationship with
Himself, yet for the most part they have refused Him - especially the
kings. And now the time has come for the northern kingdom to receive
their wages...
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
In verses 17:1-6, we meet Hoshea who is the last king of Israel.
Apparently he’s not quite as bad as previous kings, but sin is still
sin. Just because I don’t do everything my neighbor does doesn’t make
me any better - certainly not in God’s eyes anyway.
Here we see Hoshea paying tribute to Assyria, then scheming to get
Egypt to help him escape from Assyrian rule. That’s a good one -
running to "sin" to escape the consequences of sin. That’s kind of like
throwing kerosene on a fire to put it out. Assyria finds out this
scheme and lays siege to Samaria for three years. After the city is
taken the people are deported.
In verses 7-23 the writer, Jeremiah, steps out of history mode and goes
into commentary mode, detailing the sin of Israel. This passage reads
much like an indictment handed down by a district attorney. There are
many ways to slice and dice this passage, but I think Jeremiah
himself has the best summary of what’s going on here. In Jeremiah 2:13
he boils the issue down to two points: they forsook the Lord, and they
pursued false gods. To state this in slightly different terms, they
took their eyes off the Lord and put their trust in anything and
everything to Jeremiah 9:24, God is the God of loving kindness,
righteousness and justice. When we reject His love, we reject verything
God is, and He must righteously judge us for it.
Verses 17:24-41 record how Samaria was resettled with a mixture of Jews
and foreigners. Thus we have the hatred in Jesus’ day of Samaritans who
were considered "half breed" and not pure.
Verses 24-26 speak of the new residents being harassed by lions. This
was correctly viewed as judgment, so in verses 27-28 some priests were
brought back to teach the worship of the Lord.
In verses 29-33 the people do worship the Lord, but they also worship
their old gods - the sin of synchrotism. Then finally in verses
34-41 the people are persistently rebellious toward the Lord.
Here I must ask a question: was the captivity of Israel a big surprise
to anyone other than the Israelites themselves? Should they have seen
this coming? Well, yes and no. Anyone with a heart for the Lord and a
knowledge of the scriptures would have seen it coming, but those were
obviously few and far between in Israel at that time. Deuteronomy
chapters 28 and 30 detail the curses of disobedience, right down to the
land being given to others. For specific references I would point you
to Deuteronomy 28:20, 25, 29, 33, 36, 45-52 and 63-64, as well as
29:15-20. Everything Moses prophesied came true - both the blessings of
obedience as well as the curses of disobedience. When was prayer taken
out of public schools? In the early 1960's, just about the time we were
sticking our foot in Vietnam, and getting it stuck there. More
importantly than even that, when was Bible reading taken out of public
schools? In the late 1940's. Apparently we were the strongest nation on
earth - we’d just proved it in World War II - and we didn’t need God
anymore. The seeds of decay don’t grow up over night, but when they do
grow up, they choke a nation to death.
PICTURE OF A SERVANT
What does all this say about servanthood? From verses 13 and 23, the
faithful servant preaches against sin, and points us back to the Lord.
The two must go together. It’s not enough to just be against
everything. And likewise, it’s not enough to merely be "for the Lord."
God’s holiness and righteousness demand that we call a spade a spade
and call out sin for what it is - rebellion against God. Otherwise we
invite people to worship the Lord and their "old gods." Who then is
Christ? Please look at verses 35-39 again. In verse 35, "fear no other
gods." In verse 36, "him shall ye fear, ... worship." In verse
37, "fear no other gods." In verse 39, "the Lord your God shall ye
fear." This echos Exodus 20:5 - "ye shall have no other gods before
me." Our God is a jealous God. Jesus is all we need!
II KINGS 18-20
HEZEKIAH
We are now approaching the end of the book of Kings and the end of the
kingdom. It’s still a way off in the future - about one hundred years
in the future. But it’s coming and the clock is ticking. The northern
kingdom is gone now, and the only thing keeping Judah from suffering
the same fate is the grace of God.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
In verses 18:1-12 we meet Hezekiah, who is not only a good king but
arguably the best king since David and Solomon. The scripture gives him
high praise, but why? His heart was totally given to the Lord. He not
only cleaned up the idolatry of the day but also broke down the high
places which were usually ignored by other kings. He also broke up the
bronze snake that Moses had lifted up in the wilderness (see Numbers
21:4-9). This reminds us that even something good can become an idol,
and that it needs to be dealt with as such.
Verses 18:13-16 describe how Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked
Judah. Hezekiah’s response was to pay him tribute, done partially by
stripping the gold from the temple. This does not speak well of
Hezekiah or the strength of Judah at the time. Verses 17-37 describe
how Sennacherib threatens Jerusalem. Apparently the only thing the
tribute did was make Sennacherib hungry for more. His officials made a
big show by saying they were sent by the Lord to "go up against the
land and destroy it" (verse 25). But then in verse 35 they mock the
Lord Himself after they’ve claimed to be doing His will.
In verses 19:1-13 we see Hezekiah seek the Lord through Isaiah the
prophet, and the Lord responded in verses 6 and 7 that He would deal
with Assyria. Verses 14-19 describe how Hezekiah prays for deliverance.
In verses 20-34 Isaiah prophesies deliverance from the Lord without
firing a shot, and as verse 34 says, He will do it for His name’s sake.
Verses 35-37 describe how the death angel from the Lord wipes out the
Assyrian army, and Sennacherib goes home in disgrace only to be killed
by his own sons.
Chapter 20 verses 1-11 relate the account of Hezekiah on his death bed,
and how he pleads to the Lord to spare his life. The Lord does indeed
spare his life, and gives him a sign - the sun would move ten steps
backward.
Verses 12-21 describe how Babylon comes for a visit. They heard
of Hezekiah’s healing and stopped by the local Wal-Mart on the way to
pick up a card and flowers for Hezekiah. Hezekiah responds to their
seeming kindness by showing them everything in the store. Now, Babylon
was not a power at this time, but Isaiah prophesied that they would be
someday. Isaiah takes Hezekiah to task for what he’s shown them in
verses 17 and 18. I don’t think this is the reason everything got
carted off, I think this was merely the occasion to announce that
everything would be carted off. It was still not a wise thing to do -
it was a proud, boastful thing to do. But this incident is never
mentioned again, and certainly not mentioned as the cause for Judah’s
eventual demise.
Hezekiah knew enough to seek the Lord when attacked head-on; but the
devil also knows how to smile and make nice too! We need to be on guard
against all the wiles of the devil. Like Joshua and the Gibeonites, we
need to seek the Lord for guidance in all situations, big and small,
and not just the crises.
PICTURE OF A SERVANT
Hezekiah is our main picture of a servant in these chapters. First, he
obeyed the Lord by destroying idolatry. Second, he sought the Lord with
all his heart. Third, he laid his burden before the Lord. Fourth, he
sought God’s counsel from God’s man. Isaiah also displays a servant’s
heart by pronouncing a life sentence - fifteen years to life, to be
precise. Who then is Christ? He is the Angel of the Lord who fights for
His people for His own name’s sake. God’s reputation was at stake here,
and God made it happen. Now, I don’t think the angel mentioned here was
necessarily Christ Himself, but he was certainly doing God’s will
regardless. Our God is the Angel of Death to sinners and the Angel of
Life to believers. Finally, He is the One who orders my steps, both
forwards and backwards. Why would Isaiah ask about which direction
Hezekiah wanted to see the sun move? Because all of life is a miracle,
and all our ways are ordered by the Lord. It’s just as much a mighty
work of God to wake up each morning as it is to see the sun go
backwards.
II KINGS 21-23
REJECTION AND REVIVAL
We are now in the last days of the kingdom of Judah. From the time
Manasseh becomes king it will be about 100 years to the final
deportation of the people and the destruction of Jerusalem. One might
surmise that this would be an interesting age in which to live.
Actually, every age is a challenge in which to live for the Lord. No
one can say, "oh, it was easy back then, but today it’s so much worse."
Every day is dark without the Lord.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
Chapter 21, verses 1-8 bring us to Manasseh, who reigned 55 years - the
longest reign of any Jewish king. He was by far the worst king Judah or
Israel ever had, which is saying a lot since the bar was set so low. He
apparently did every evil known at the time and seems to have done
things even the pagans didn’t do for good measure. Before we continue,
I must ask a question: how old was Manasseh when he began to reign? The
scripture says 12 years, so he was born after Hezekiah’s recovery. So
here’s a twist on Hezekiah’s desire to live - he had no heir of which
we are aware. Perhaps Hezekiah’s request to live wasn’t just a selfish
"I’m afraid to die" - it’s quite possible he was concerned about the
Messianic line. So we see Hezekiah’s heart, and also get a glimpse of
the Lord as well in testing us to reveal our hearts.
Verses 10-16 describe the general mayhem going on during Manasseh’s
reign. The text tells us that innocent blood flowed in the streets.
Tradition tells us that Isaiah was killed during this time - that we
was sawed in half. Hebrews 11 makes a reference to this type of death
without naming Isaiah directly. Whatever the circumstances, evil
certainly ruled the day and righteousness had to hide. Jeremiah 15:1-4
tell us that it’s too late for Judah now. Even if Samuel and Moses were
to show up and plead for the kingdom, it’s too far gone to save it now.
No matter what, the kingdom is now on the way out. Now as an aside,
Chronicles indicates that Manasseh did repent at some point, but
Kings makes no mention of that so we will deal with that in Chronicles.
Regardless, even if he did repent, he set the people on a course that
they would not turn from and thus doomed any chance they had.
Verses 19-26 tell us of Amon who reigned all of two years. The record
says he was just like his father and that he was murdered. Apparently
no one wanted more of the same kind of leadership. Of course, murder is
not the solution to that, but considering the example set at the time
it’s not surprising.
Chapter 22 introduces us to Josiah, the last good king of Judah. We’ve
met him before - in prophecy! If you recall I Kings 13:1-2, a man of
God called out Josiah by name. This would lead you to believe he’s
pretty special, and he is. During the eighteenth year of his reign the
book of the Law is found in the temple and read aloud. Why was it
hidden? Most likely to protect it from Manasseh and whoever else might
do harm to God’s word. Upon hearing the Law, and probably the curses in
Deuteronomy, Josiah tears his clothes and consults the Lord through
Huldah, the prophetess, as recorded in verses 22:15-20. God’s message
to Josiah? His righteousness will only delay the coming judgment; it
cannot stop it.
In 23:1-28, Josiah renews the covenant with the Lord and destroys
everything that Manasseh and Amon had done - not just by decree but by
personally doing it himself. Did this do any good? Maybe for some. But
if you add up all the years since Hezekiah’s reign (55 + 2 + 18 = 75),
sin had been the rule for 75 years - three full generations (this
assumes the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign, not his age). Josiah did
right by the Lord regardless of circumstances, as we ought to do as
well. But consider this: Jeremiah, who was a prophet during this time,
is known as the "weeping prophet." Why? Because Josiah held a revival
and no one came! The people as a whole were too far gone and judgment
was imminent.
Verses 21-23 describe the Passover that was held and how there hadn’t
ever been one like it before - it was the biggest celebration in
Israel’s history. However, despite all this, we read in verses 26 and
27 that God is still angry, and that He had to act because "there shall
My Name be." God has to destroy the kingdom to save and restore His own
reputation because Judah (and Israel) no longer represented Him.
Finally, verses 29 and 30 describe Josiah’s death in battle in a fight
that wasn’t his. Here is an observation on revival: it starts with the
word of God, unto the conviction of sin, unto the celebration of the
Passover. Who is our "Passover?" According to I Corinthians 5:7, Christ
is our Passover. Revival begins with God’s word, convicts of sin, and
points us to Christ! This is echoed in I Corinthians 1:17 and 23: "we
preach Christ and Him crucified... lest the cross be made of no
effect."
PICTURE OF A SERVANT
Who then is a picture of a servant? Huldah, because she is a faithful
servant to speak on the Lord’s behalf. Certainly Josiah is because his
heart was tender toward the Lord. And Jeremiah as well, as the weeping
prophet whose message broke his own heart: "surrender to the King of
Babylon." Who then is Christ? According to verse 22:17, He is the God
of burning anger and wrath - to the nation of Judah. Yet to ndividuals,
He is the Passover Lamb, slain for our sins, for "whosoever will" come
to Him.
II KINGS 23-25
HOPE IN THE MIDST OF DESTRUCTION
We come now to the last days of the kingdom of Judah. Judgment is knocking on the door - literally. The
earthly kingdom is about to disappear, but not hope. The instrument of God’s plan may change, but God’s
plan doesn’t change. Everything that is happening is according to God’s word. His plan of redemption is right
on schedule, and even our sin cannot change that. God’s people are about to become separated from the
land and from the temple, but not from God Himself. Even when we are faithless, God remains faithful, for
He cannot deny Himself. Yet for all of this, the Lord doesn’t just destroy everything and say "that’s all folks!"
He ends this book in a very special way by answering the question "what is the goal of servanthood?"
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
We now come to the last four kings of Judah who are, by the way, all bad. Verses 23:31-35 speak of
Jehoahaz, who reigned all of 3 months and was removed by Pharaoh Neco. He replaced Jehoahaz with his
brother Jehoiakim in verses 23:26-24:7, and he reigns for 11 years. Verses 24:1-4 are an interesting
commentary on Jehoiakim specifically and Judah in general. When judgment and servitude came, the
people rebelled against it - but then they rebelled against everything, mostly the Lord. So He sent a parade
of raiders against Judah. Manasseh’s sins are mentioned again, and I believe the Lord was unwilling to
forgive simply because the people were unwilling to repent. If they had, it might have slowed the process of
judgment down a bit, or softened the blow. At this point however, the people were too far down the garden
path to turn back to the Lord.
Verses 24:8-17 tell us of Jehoiachin, who lasted all of 3 months and was removed by Nebuchadnezzar king
of Babylon. According to verses 10-16, the first wave of exiles were taken to Babylon. This would have
included people such as Ezekiel and Daniel. All the good guys were taken and only the dregs were left
behind.
Verses 24:18-25:7 discuss Zedekiah, the last king of Judah. He was Jehoiachin’s uncle. He reigned 11
years, but rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar in his ninth year. According to Jeremiah, he believed the report
of the false prophets who said that Jerusalem would be spared. It was "spared" in a sense -
Nebuchadnezzar came back and took out the "head pin" for the last time.
Verses 25:8-21 describe how Jerusalem is sacked, pillaged, burned and destroyed according to the word of
the Lord. In verses 25:22-26 Gedaliah is appointed governor of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar, but is then
assassinated by Jews who continue to rebel and who then run to Egypt with Jeremiah in tow despite his
repeated warnings. This is all detailed in Jeremiah 40-43.
Let me stop for a moment and make a simple observation. The last chapter of Kings and that of Jeremiah
(chapter 52) are nearly identical, except that in Jeremiah there’s no mention of Gedaliah since there’s a
lengthy prior discussion. Otherwise, the chapters are nearly word for word the same. This indicates to me
that both books came from Jeremiah, and that they both deal with some aspect of servanthood.
The book of Kings ends with verses 27-30 in what appears to be an odd little paragraph that fast forwards
37 years into the future. What in the world, you might ask, is this doing here? And what does it mean? This,
friends, is the perfect ending to the book of Kings. Even in exile and bondage we see the grace of God, even
when it doesn’t seem to "make sense." Some might ask the question, does this belong in the record?
Jeremiah was probably dead by this time, and it was likely added. There are a couple of reasonable
explanations I’ll offer, but I submit that whatever the source of this paragraph, it definitely belongs in the
record. First, Jeremiah may have actually prophesied this event, though it is not in a prophetic style. Second,
Jeremiah’s scribe was a man named Baruch, who definitely could have lived long enough to put this in the
record. Jeremiah could have told him to look for such an incident, or Baruch may have recognized it on his
own. To me it does not matter - the passage belongs.
PICTURE OF A SERVANT
Who in all this mess is a picture of a servant? That would be Nebuchadnezzar, of course! Please look at
Jeremiah 25:8-11 as well as 27:6. In both places God calls Nebuchadnezzar "my servant." Also consider
Jeremiah 27:17 where Jeremiah tells the people to surrender to the king of Babylon and live. Thus, a true
servant of the Lord finds life in surrendering to His will.
Jehoiachin is also a picture of a servant, one who finally finds grace. God didn’t change, it was Jehoiachin
who wasn’t ready. It was captivity and bondage in a foreign land that would make him ready for the Lord.
Jehoiachin would represent all who would have their hard hearts softened in captivity.
Who then is Christ? First of all, He is the Sovereign God who sets up kingdoms and knocks them down in
order to bring you to Himself. God does not want to destroy for the sake of destruction; he destroys for the
sake of restoration. He had to destroy the kingdom to restore His own reputation and also to restore His
people unto Himself.
Second, from verses 25:27-30, He is the One who speaks kindly to us ("come unto me all ye..."(Matthew
10:28)). He is the One who honors us ("be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life"
(Revelation 2:10)). He is the One who takes off our prison clothes - and clothes us in His own righteousness
(Romans 13:14). He is the One who allows us to eat at His table ("in the presence of mine enemies thou
prepare a table for me" (Psalm 23:5)). He gives us a daily allowance - He is the All-Sufficient One who
meets all our needs and gives us our daily bread (Matthew 6:11). This passage is an Old Testament version
of the Prodigal Son.
I and II Kings are books on servanthood, but I must ask the question again, what is the goal of servanthood?
The goal of servanthood is not servanthood! Considering John 15:15, the goal of servanthood is friendship,
that is, fellowship, relationship, union with Christ. True servanthood leads us to Christ. Servanthood is not an
end unto itself, it is the path we must take to prepare us for the Lord Himself.

I Chronicles

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I Chronicles
Chapters 1-9
Chapters 10-12
Chapters 13-15
Chapters 16-17
Chapters 18- 21
Chapters 22-27
Chapters 28-29
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INTRODUCTION TO CHRONICLES
As we come to the study of God’s word, we need to take a moment to remind
ourselves of a principle that we cannot live without. That principle is rightly
named the "indispensable principle." And what is this principle? Total reliance on
God’s Holy Spirit to open the eyes of our heart to see and receive Christ. God
has blessed men down through the ages with insight recorded in commentaries
and sermons and has given men the ability to produce study helps of many kinds
such as concordances and dictionaries and the like. But in the final analysis, this
book - the Bible - is God’s inspired word, and only He can show it to us in all His
glory. So please, as you read my thoughts on the book of Chronicles, consider
but do not trust my opinion. Rather, trust the Lord to make the book real to you,
for that is a prayer that He delights to answer for those whose heart delights in
Him.
By way of background I must first to ask the question "what is the emphasis of
Chronicles?" In order to answer this question I need to go back to and revisit
some material I have presented before. This will help us zero in on the place that
Chronicles holds in the Biblical order. If you will recall, the books of Samuel,
Kings and Chronicles were not split in two parts in the Hebrew, they were just
single books. Each book was split for convenience sake when the Septuagint
was translated, and while we will refer to them for specific references as "first"
Chronicles or "second" Chronicles, I will refer to them generally as "Chronicles."
So then, let me again present the following chart.
Genesis
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Salvation Book Christ Author Gospel
light justification Samuel King
Hezekiah
(?)
Matthew
separation sanctification Kings Prophet Jeremiah Mark
fruit glorification Chronicles Priest Ezra Luke
The first three columns follow the form that we’ve seen and discussed before.
The three big things going on during the week of creation - light, separation and
fruit - set the pattern for the way God reveals Himself throughout the rest of
scripture. The second column compares the "three tenses" of salvation, which
dovetail nicely. The fourth column, which speaks of Christ, is completed by filling
in "priest" in the third row. Tradition holds that Ezra wrote the book of Chronicles,
or at least compiled it. The textual evidence seems very strong for this, and the
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same style is carried through the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. The Gospel
parallel to Chronicles, assuming it’s placed in the proper order, would then be
Luke as it’s in the third position. Remember, this is only a limited table - it could
be greatly expanded to show how the rest of the Bible fits into this pattern, but
that’s for another discussion.
Who was Ezra? He was a priest that led one of the returns from Babylon.
Because Ezra was a priest, this book was definitely written from a priestly point
of view. Chronicles is chock full of things that priests are interested in, as
illustrated briefly by the following chart.
Priest Thing New Testament Equivalent
The Temple The Believer / The Church
Sacrifices Salvation by blood
Disease Inspection / Leprosy Sin
Genealogies / Lists People
Incense Prayer
Feasts Fellowship
Music / Singer Worship
Holiness Separation from Sin
The Law The Word of God
The Sabbath Rest
Inheritance The Lord!
As you can see, priests were interested in many things that revolved around the
spiritual and ceremonial aspects of the life of God’s people. I have also included
New Testament parallels, lest you think that priestly things have passed away.
Could just anybody be an Old Testament priest? No, of course not. Only Levites
could be priests, those who were born into the tribe of Levi. And of the Levites,
only the direct descendants of Aaron could be temple priests. Even then only
certain branches could make the sacrifices, while other branches performed
differing functions, such as music and worship, security, care of implements, etc.
Now, while the emphasis in Chronicles is on the priesthood, most of the people
highlighted in Chronicles are not priests. The kingdom remains the general
context of the book, just as it is in Samuel and Kings. Chronicles also covers
much of the same ground as Samuel and Kings - from Saul to the final
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deportation. However, while most of those who are emphasized are not priests,
they do have a priestly attitude, a priestly heart. They are concerned about the
same things a priest would be concerned about - the temple, the word of God,
etc.
So what are some of the characteristics of Chronicles? First, there is no mention
of the sins of David and Solomon. Their sin was dealt with and forgotten.
Second, very little mention is made of the northern kingdom of Israel. Why? They
rejected temple worship at Jerusalem and charted a course of perpetual idolatry
for their entire existence. Northern kings are only mentioned in the context of
their interaction with the southern kingdom. Third, in light of points one and two,
Chronicles assumes a knowledge of all the previous books - Samuel and Kings
included. No attempt is made to introduce anyone other than the main characters
- the kings of Judah. Fourth, the most "press" is generally given to those who
prepared, built or repaired the temple. Short shrift is given those who allow the
temple to fall into disrepair or even allow it to be abused and profaned.
Why is this emphasis on the priesthood important? Please look at Exodus 19:5,6.
Did you see that phrase? "You shall be a kingdom of priests." The Old Testament
priesthood was technically reserved for descendants of Levi, but God’s desire
was that everyone in the kingdom be a priest - a priest at heart. The priesthood
was the ultimate expression of what God wanted His people to be.
Now let’s consider I Peter 2:4-10. While there’s a month of sermons in this brief
passage - maybe even a sermon in every word - let’s concentrate on verses 5
and 9. There we see phrases "holy priesthood" and "royal priesthood." In New
Testament terms, everybody who is a believer is a priest. It is no longer an
exclusive club meant only for those born into a particular family. Priesthood is
meant for all those who have been born again by the Spirit of God. If we combine
verses 5 and 9, we find a summary of the kingdom books: "a royal, holy
priesthood." That is, Samuel (royal), Kings (separated, servant-like) and
Chronicles (priest-like).
Furthermore, the Old Testament priesthood was to be to Israel what Israel was to
be to the world - a light and the glory of God’s presence. They were to be a
people out of a people out of all people. The idea of the priesthood was just like
the tithe - a portion of income given back to the Lord reminding us that all came
from Him and belongs to Him. The first fruits reminds us that the whole harvest
belongs to the Lord. The first born reminds us that all our children belong to the
Lord. The Sabbath day reminds us that all our days belong to the Lord. And in
the same way, the Old Testament priesthood was a reminder of how everyone is
to be before the Lord - a royal, holy people for His very own possession -
"peculiar" as the King James puts it in Titus 2.
Our theme for the book of Chronicles then is this: Christ, our Great High Priest,
illustrated by those with a priestly heart, a priestly attitude.
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At the end of the book of Kings, I asked the question "what is the goal of
servanthood?" Servanthood is to Kings what priesthood is to Chronicles. The
answer I gave then was tied to John 15:15 - the goal of servanthood is friendship
with God. But as we come to the last book of the kingdom, I’d like to answer that
question in the context of Chronicles - the goal of servanthood is the priesthood!
When Christ is Lord and King of my life (Samuel in a nut shell), I will be His
servant (Kings), and ultimately He will conform me to His image - into the image
of Christ, who is our Great High Priest.
I CHRONICLES 1-9
THE GENEALOGIES
The Lord’s desire for His people, whether Old Testament or New
Testament, is that we become a kingdom of priests, a royal, holy
priesthood that serves Him and glorifies Him. Chronicles is a priestly book,
written by a priest, that pays special attention to the things that a priest is
concerned about, much of which we detailed in the introduction.
If you glance at chapter 1 of I Chronicles, you’ll notice that the first
thing that priests cared about were genealogies. So my first observation
is, if I have a priestly heart, I will care about the genealogies too! Are you
convinced yet? If not, I’ll keep trying. There is a purpose to all of this,
something much more than a form of general anesthesia or a cure for
insomnia.
OUTLINE OF THE TEXT
So now, for the record, let’s lay out the contents of these chapters.
Chapter 1:1-4 deals with Adam through Noah. Verses 5-7 deal with the
Japhethites, verses 8-13 the Hamites and verses 17-27 the Semites. Verses
28-54 deal with Abraham’s descendants, with verses 38-54 specifically
dealing with the Edomites, descendants of Esau.
Chapter 2:1,2 names Israel’s sons, and verses 3-54 name Judah and his
descendants. Chapter 3 names David and his descendants, both pre- and
post-exile. Chapter 4:1-23 names more of Judah, and verses 24-43 give us
the tribe of Simeon.
Chapter 5:1-10 detail Reuben, verses 11-22 detail Gad, and verses 23-26
discuss the half tribe of Manasseh. Chapter 6 is devoted to the tribe of
Levi, the priestly tribe.
Chapter 7:1-5 give us Issachar, verses 6-12 speak of Benjamin, verse 13
is Naphtali, verses 14-19 speak of Manasseh, verses 20-29 deal with the
half tribe of Ephraim, and verses 30-40 give us Asher.
Chapter 8 discusses Saul the Benjamite who was the first king of Israel,
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chapter 9:1-34 concerns the post-exile residents of Jerusalem, and verses
35-44 recap Saul.
Of all the tribes, who is left out? Two - Dan and Zebulun. May I suggest
why? The tribe of Dan was the smallest in number; Zebulun didn’t drive
out the Canaanites because they did business with them. Suffice it to say
that priests don’t care for fruitlessness, and priests don’t like
compromise and disobedience.
PURPOSE OF THE GENEALOGIES
So what is the purpose of the genealogies? Or rather, what are the
purposes? First, let’s back up and consider II Timothy 3:16,17, which
clearly states that "some scripture is inspired by God..." No, you say?
Well how about "most scripture is inspired by God..." No? Okay, how about
"all scripture that I understand is inspired by God..." You say, that’s
not in your translation? Or how about "all the fun scripture, like Proverbs
and Psalms, is inspired by God..." No? No. All means all - every single
word, and that includes all the genealogies.
Let me suggest at least seven ways God reveals Himself in the
genealogies.
First, they are a record of relationship to Abraham. There’s an old joke that
goes something like "he’s so old, his social security number is 3." Well,
Abraham is Hebrew serial number 1. To be a Jew, you had to prove your
blood line back to Abraham. How are we related to Abraham? According to
Romans 4:11, by faith. "He is the father of all who believe." That goes for
both Jews and Gentiles. In fact Paul asserts that only by faith can anyone
be called a child of Abraham, much less God.
Second, the genealogies provide proof of citizenship. Ephesians 2:19 says
that we are "fellow citizens with the saints." Philippians 3:20 says "our
citizenship is in heaven." We belong to God.
Third, the genealogies offer proof of sonship. John 1:12 says "but as many
as received him, to them gave he the power to become sons of God." I
John 3:1 is a familiar chorus - "Behold what manner of love the Father has
given unto us that we should be called the sons of God." This is implied in
the greatest book of them all - the Lamb’s Book of Life, spoken of in
Revelation 21:27. If you find genealogies dull and uninteresting, you
haven’t searched for you name in the only book that counts!
Fourth, the genealogies detail God’s faithfulness to all generations,
according to Psalm 100:5.
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Fifth, the genealogies demonstrate that people matter more than anything
else to God. As someone has noted, only two things will last forever in this
present world - the word of God and people.
Sixth, the genealogies demonstrate unity in three ways. They speak of the
unity of God, as in Deuteronomy 6:4: "Hear oh Israel, the Lord our God is
one Lord." Also in Ephesians 4:5: "For there is one Lord..." There are not
many gods, there is not "no God." There is one Lord and God who is Maker
of all. In terms of unity they also speak of the unity of mankind, in that there
are not many races of man, but only one race. There are many different
cultures and ethnic subsets yes, but we all go back to Noah and Adam. In
terms of unity they also speak of the unity of God’s dealing with mankind.
Hebrews 13:8 reminds us that "Jesus is the same yesterday, today,
forever." There is no such things as an "Old Testament God" and a "New
Testament God" - we have one God who is progressively revealing Himself
all down through the ages.
Finally - I saved the best for last - the genealogies document the Seed
of the Woman, that is, Messiah! Since Genesis 3 God’s people had been
waiting for a Savior to bruise the serpent’s head, and they found Him in
Jesus. According to Matthew 1:1, "The book of the generation of Jesus
Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." Here and in Luke 3 we have
the final two genealogies recorded, and they lead us to Christ. When
Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D., all the records and genealogies were
destroyed with the temple. That’s okay, because we didn’t need them
anymore anyway. Their purpose was fulfilled - they proved that Jesus was
Messiah. So the genealogies are just a boring list of dead people? They’re
not dead - they’re alive!
I CHRONICLES 10-12
The ultimate expression of what God wants us to be as Christians is expressed,
illustrated and pictured in the Old Testament priesthood. The Lord desires us to
be a kingdom of priests - a royal, holy priesthood. The first nine chapters of
genealogies have laid the foundation for the narrative that we begin to see in
chapter 10.
The narrative doesn’t begin at the beginning of Saul or David. It begins at the
beginning of mankind - Adam, Seth, etc., and picks up the story where the Lord
wants to illustrate the priesthood. The books of I and II Samuel gave us all the
details we need to know about Saul and David. Chronicles simply gives us that
which is relevant to the priesthood.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
Chapter 10 recounts the death of Saul. We’ve seen this account before in
Samuel, but this passage answers a burning question: who killed Saul? Did
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Saul kill himself as in suicide, or did the Philistines kill him, or did the Amalekite
boy who claimed to kill him really do it? Maybe it was the CIA or some shadowy
underworld figure on the grassy knoll! The answer is none of the above!
According to verses 13 and 14, the Lord killed Saul. Now humanly speaking, God
did not reach down and squish Saul; I still believe the record from I Samuel 29
that Saul committed suicide knowing he would be killed by the Philistines
anyway, and that the Amalekite boy was only trying to gain favor with David by
claiming he did, which didn’t work. But here I see that Saul willingly chose to
disobey the Lord, and the Lord let the circumstances of Saul’s disobedience
catch up with him. The Lord is often gracious to us, not allowing the
consequences of our at is not always the case, is it? What were the counts
against Saul? According to the record, he "did not obey the word of the Lord."
There are at least three incidents where this occurred. Saul did not completely
destroy the Amalekites when he was told to, he performed a sacrifice even when
told to wait for Samuel to do it, and he slaughtered the priests who helped David.
Any of these three incidents would be enough to get him on the bad side of
someone like Ezra. He also inquired of a "familiar spirit" instead of seeking the
Lord, unlike the men mentioned in I Chronicles 5:38-43. So to me it’s no wonder
that the only narrative of Saul in Chronicles is how he died. The record does
honor the men of Jabesh-gilead for honoring Saul by rescuing his body and
giving it a decent burial. Saul may have been disobedient, but he was still the
"Lord’s anointed." That reminds us today to respect the office of authority even
when we cannot respect the man who holds it. Chapter 11:1-3 describes how
David is anointed king of Israel. Verse 2 indicates everyone knew that Saul’s
success was really David’s success. Verses 4-9 speak of David taking
Jerusalem, which is important to the temple. You can’t have a temple if you don’t
have a place to put it! Verses 10-47 recount David’s mighty men (the list runs
from verses 26-47). They were all fearless warriors, even ministering to David’s
whim because they loved him so. Chapter 12 takes a step back chronologically
to David at Ziklag and the men who joined him there. Verses 1-7 speak of the
Benjamites, the kinsmen of Saul; verses 8-15 detail the Gadites, and verses 16-
22 give more Benjamites plus Judah and Manasseh. It’s interesting that
Benjamin did not hold a grudge with David for replacing one of their own as king.
In fact, Benjamin was the only tribe as a whole that stuck with Judah after the
kingdom split in two. Finally, verses 23-40 detail those for David at Hebron to
make him king (the list is from verses 24-37).
PICTURE OF THE PRIESTHOOD
Who is Christ? Simply put, He is the anointed king, illustrated by David. How is
the priesthood illustrated? According to verse 12:38, a priest is someone who
makes Christ king of their life. Secondly, according to verses 12:16-18, a priest is
someone who identifies with Christ. Third, someone with a priestly heart is
conformed to the image of Christ. The "mighty men" were mighty because they
behaved and acted like David - they were men of great character. Verse 12:40
tells us what the result of all this was: there was joy in Israel. The kingship of
Christ will bring fruit in your life - all the fruit of the Spirit, including joy.
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I CHRONICLES 13-15
HOW SHALL WE THEN LIVE?
When Christ is king of my life, I will become His servant, and the ultimate
expression of that servanthood is the priesthood. That is, God wants all His
people to be a kingdom of priests, a royal, holy priesthood. As we see the
priestly things illustrated throughout Chronicles, we will see the things that
Christ care about, He who is our Great High Priest. God wants us to have a
servant heart, to be His servants, but that’s not His goal. He wants us to be
ushered into His presence in the Holy of Holies. Only the high priest could
do that in the Old Testament, but in Christ we can be in His presence now
and continually because we enter into Christ who is our Great High Priest,
and He ever intercedes on our behalf before the Father.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
Now let’s look at the text together. Chapter 13 deals with the first
attempt to bring the Ark up to Jerusalem. Note here that all Israel is
involved and assented to this move. It is also notable that this was
David’s first act as king in stark contrast to Chronicle’s record of
Saul, which only speaks of his last act. There is obviously a different
tone set immediately with David. Verse 10 speaks of Uzza being struck
down for touching the Ark - something forbidden by the Lord in Numbers 4.
When all this occurs, the operation to get the Ark to Jerusalem come to a
grinding halt, and the Ark gets left at the house of a guy name Obed-Edom,
who gets greatly blessed during this time. I’m sure whatever "blessed"
meant offset whatever inconvenience having the Ark in his garage caused.
In chapter 14, verses 1-7 describe God’s blessings on David’s house in the
way of wives and children. This may yield some insight into what kind of
blessing Obed-Edom received.
Verses 8-17 tells of two defeats of the Philistines. Both times David asked
God what to do - something Saul never learned. The first time the word of
the Lord was to go straight at them. The second time, they were to wait for
the "sound of going in the trees." What did David hear in verses 14 and 15?
The sound of God going before him. Finally, verse 17 tells us that all the
nations feared David - and well they should!
Chapter 15 is part 2 on bringing the Ark up to Jerusalem. Verses 1, 2 and 13
describe how they got it right this time - when all else fails, read the
instructions! According to Numbers 4, the Ark was to be carried by Levites
with staves, that is, poles. Where did they get the idea of the ox-cart? From
the Philistines, those notable pagan theologians... The Lord would cut them
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some slack since they were ignorant and clueless, but the Israelites should
have known better.
When we look at verse 29, we see Michel, Saul’s daughter, despise David
for his celebration of the Ark’s return. This indicates to me that neither Saul
nor his daughter had a priest-like heart.
PICTURE OF THE PRIESTHOOD
I see at least three ways this passage describes the priesthood of the
believer. First, someone with a priest-like heart desires God’s presence.
First of all. This is illustrated by David’s desire to bring up the Ark
to Jerusalem - that is, the Ark of the presence of God, one of the names for
the Ark.
Second, having a priest-like heart doesn’t mean you won’t make mistakes,
but you will fess up and make it right when you do mess up. David was a
picture of Christ, not Christ Himself. Remember, the person who never
makes mistakes is the one who usually doesn’t do anything!
Third, someone with a priest-like heart does God’s will, and does God’s
will God’s way, and does God’s will God’s way by God’s help, that is to
say, His grace. This is illustrated by David in verse 14:15 and by the
Levites in verse 15:26. Saul was the poster child for someone who did not
do God’s will - the end thereof was death. David bringing the Ark up to
Jerusalem the first time illustrates doing God’s will man’s way - and Uzza
paid the price for it. The end thereof is still death. So what if we do God’s
will God’s way. Is that enough? Will God be pleased with such an effort? I
submit to you that He will not be pleased. Merely doing God’s will God’s
way can lead to dead orthodoxy. "This is the way we’ve done it for 300
years and this is the way we’ll always do it!" We need to do God’s will
God’s way by God’s help - by His grace!
Without the moving of God, without the Holy Spirit leading and guiding,
without the "sound of going," we are doomed!
Who then is Christ?
According to verse 13:6, He is the Holy One enthroned between the
cherubim. God is a holy God, and we must approach Him in reverence and
respect - anything less is death! We must do God’s will, because He is
holy. We must do God’s will God’s way, because He is holy. We must do
God’s will God’s way by His help, because He is holy. This all leads me to
some interesting conclusions about the modern means of presenting the
Gospel. We all know the command from Matthew 28: "go and preach the
gospel." And so we do. But how does the church today do it? I’m afraid
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many of man’s ways have crept into the presentation. The idea is that
merely preaching the Gospel is boring and can’t hold the attention of the
younger generation, so we need to grab their attention with big name
celebrities to sing or give their testimonies - however lame they may be,
regardless of how many minutes they’ve been saved. Or maybe we need
some other draw, like Christian body builders or Christian skateboarders or
the like. Brothers and sisters, in the context of this passage, such
approaches are what I call "ox-cart evangelism." They are man’s attempt to
obey God by human means. Paul says in I Corinthians that he preached
Christ and Him crucified, lest the Gospel be make of "none effect."
Preaching the Gospel is not boring - if you do if by God’s help. Preaching
the Gospel is a stumbling block to the Jews (i.e., the religious folk), and
foolishness to the Greeks (i.e., the intelligentsia). But according to Romans
1, the preaching of the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Accept
no substitutes!
I CHRONICLES 16-17
DAVID’S RESPONSE
In chapters 13 through 15 we discussed how David learned to do God’s will
in God’s way. To not do God’s will is death, illustrated by Saul. To do God’s will
in your own way is death, illustrated in the text by carrying the Ark on the ox-cart,
with the resulting death of Uzza. Moses learned this lesson the hard way when
the Lord commanded him to speak to the rock and he struck it instead. This
resulted in Moses dying within sight of the Promised Land, not being allowed to
enter in. To merely do God’s will in God’s way is also death if it’s done in our
own strength and not God’s strength - this leads to dead orthodoxy but does not
lead us to the Lord. We must do God’s will God’s way by God’s help, by His
grace. Anything less gets us in a heap of trouble! Chapter 16 and 17 then give us
David’s response to the working of God in his life.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
In chapter 16 verses 1-3, David blesses the people. In verses 4-6 he appoints
Levites to minister before the Ark. Verses 7-36 recount David’s psalm of
thanksgiving. Verses 8-22 parallel Psalm 105:1-15; verses 23-33 parallel Psalm
96; and verses 34-36 parallel Psalm 106:1, 47, 48. What is the summary of this
psalm of thanksgiving? David is saying in essence "God did all this." In verses
37-43, the chapter ends by detailing the responsibilities of the Levites who
minister before the Lord. Chapter 17 verses 1-5 describe David’s desire to build a
temple and God’s response through the prophet Nathan. The desire is expressed
in verses 1-3; verses 4-15 detail God’s response to David. Verse 4 tells us that
God said "no, you can’t build the temple." In verse 10, the Lord tells David that
He will build him a house. Then in verses 12 and 13, God says that David’s son
will build the temple, and we know this will be Solomon. There is obviously more
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to say on this, but I will leave it till later. In verses 16-27, David responds in a
prayer of praise to the Lord for His
PICTURE OF THE PRIESTHOOD
I see at least four principles of the priesthood in these two chapters.
First, from 16:1-3, a priest ministers in God’s presence, which is represented by
the Ark.
Second, from David’s psalm of praise, a priest is thankful for everything that God
has done.
Third, a priest has praise for God for everything that He will do.
Four, from verse 16:11, a priest seeks God’s face continually.
Who then is Christ?
He is the Great Giver in at least five ways. From verse 16:3, He is the giver of
gifts - both physical and spiritual. He is the giver of ministry, illustrated by the
Levites. He is the giver of victory over enemies. He is also the giver of legacy - "I
will build you a house..." We are so wrapped up in what we are doing for God,
but God is much more interested in what He is doing for us! Finally and most
importantly, God is the giver of Himself. Solomon is only a partial fulfillment of
verses 17:11-14; Christ is the ultimate fulfillment. This passage echoes Psalm
2:7 - "I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this
day have I begotten thee." The Lord would build the Messianic line through
David, and that’s nothing to overlook. But the Lord was also doing a work in
David’s life, and that’s the part that we can relate to on a personal level.
Whatever He is doing in our lives it, revolves around the revelation of Himself. He
is conforming us to His image, and He is accomplishing that by allowing us to
see Him just as He is. In David we see illustrated the heart that pleases the Lord,
the heart that yearns for the Lord, the kind of heart attitude that the Lord desires
to bless with His own presence. May we all have such a heart for the Lord!
I CHRONICLES 18-21
YOUR ARMS ARE TOO SHORT
As I previously stated, our theme for Chronicles is Christ, our Great
High Priest, illustrated by those with a priestly heart. In this portion of
Chronicles our prime example of someone with a priestly heart is David.
Now, from the book of Samuel we have seen David picture Christ as king.
David was also a prophet, writing several Messianic psalms. Now in
Chronicles we see David illustrate the heart of a priest. He obviously
couldn’t be an Old Testament priest because he wasn’t a Levite. It was a
closed-shop union thing you see. But David could be a New Testament
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priest, as in fact all of us are, if we are believers in the Lord. And if you are
a believer, then you’re part of God’s kingdom of priests.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
Chapter 18 gives us a list of David’s victories. Verse 1 mentions the
Philistines, verse 2 the Moabites, verses 3 & 4 mention Zobah (which was
part of Syria), and verses 5-8 discuss the Arameans (which is Syria).
Verses 9-11 talk about the tribute from Hamath and others, and verses 12
and 13 mention the Edomites. In short, David dominates the old
neighborhood. Verses 14-17 give us a list of David’s officials. Even a
man like David couldn’t successfully operate alone. Chapter 19 recounts
the war with the Ammonites. They distrusted David’s attempt at kindness
after the death of their king and humiliated his envoys. When they realized
they messed up big time, they hired the Arameans to help them fight
instead of apologizing, which apparently just wasn’t done in those days.
David’s troops destroy both the Ammonites and the Arameans, and they
become subject to David. Remember, having a soft heart toward the Lord
does not mean we have to have a soft head. Expect sinners to sin, and be
pleasantly surprised when they don’t. Chapter 20 verses 1-3 discuss the
capture of Rabbah. If you will remember from Samuel, this is the same time
period as David’s sin with Bathsheba. Yet there is no mention of that here.
David’s sin was dealt with and forgotten, just as ours is. Verses 4-8 deal
with the Philistines - again! This tells me that no matter how many victories
you have over a certain sin, that sin and the old sin nature never really go
away. We need fresh victory over it every day! Chapter 21 recounts David’s
sin of numbering his army. Verse 1 says that "Satan stood up." What does
that mean? Most likely that he stood before the Lord as our accuser, as in
the book of Job. Now, Satan was allowed to instigate, but he couldn’t make
David do what he didn’t want to do. The sin was still David’s. And what was
that sin? The sin of statistics, as McGee likes to put it. The sin of trusting in
numbers rather than trusting in the Lord. Taking a census in and of itself
wasn’t necessarily wrong - Moses had done it without a problem. But
taking a census to see how strong you are? The Lord was David’s strength,
not how many soldiers he had. How many pastors and churches measure
success by full pews and full offering plates? Yet they don’t see that their
ministry may be on the brink of disaster. They may not see that they are
few in number but effective in ministry. Now David is given a choice of
three judgments. Door number one is three years of famine, door number
two is three months of enemies running rough-shod, and door number
three is the sword of the Lord. Why does David chose what he did?
Because he would rather throw himself at the mercy of the Lord than trust
men. Where does the Angel of the Lord stop? At the threshing floor of
Ornan the Jebusite - Samuel calls him Aruanah (same guy, different
language.) Again, David sees the angel coming, buys the threshing floor
and builds an altar unto the Lord, satisfying His anger. This then becomes
the temple site. Now we see why a priest would overlook the sin with
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Bathsheba and recount all the details of this sin. It leads directly to the
temple. You can’t have a temple without a place to put it! So, we see
God turn a curse into a blessing.
PICTURE OF THE PRIESTHOOD
I see at least three pictures of the priesthood that summarize these four
chapters.
First, you can’t fight the Lord and win. Even David couldn’t. To put it
another way as someone has said, your arms are too short to box
with God!
Second, David had a warrior’s heart but was still at his best only when he
was trusting the Lord to fight his battles. That’s why he never lost
in combat. It was only when he was home that he became his own worst
enemy.
Third, we have three whole chapters of David’s victories when he was
seeking God’s face continually, referring to verse 16:11. But when David
took his eyes off the Lord, it was a massacre. Seventy thousand dead is an
awful price to pay when you are the one responsible. As the hymn writer
reminds us, "Lest I forget... lead me to Calvary."
Who then is Christ?
He is the Warrior, the One with the sword in His hand, the One to whom the
battle belongs. Verse 21:17 gives us a second answer as well: Christ is the
One who longs to take my place, to become my Substitute, to make
sacrifice for my sin that I might not perish... A true Warrior takes no joy in
killing for killing’s sake; a true Warrior seeks to defend and protect His own
from their own sin.
I CHRONICLES 22-27
PREPARE ME A SANCTUARY
In the last section we looked at the circumstances of how the temple
location came to be, how David’s sin led to judgment from God, and how
the angel carrying out the judgment stopped at the threshing floor of
Ornan. Thus we saw the Lord with the sword in His hand - when He fights
for us, we never lose. When He fights against us, we never win. We also
saw the Lord as the One who longs to take our place - Christ our
Substitute, who bore our punishment on the cross. In this section, now
that we have some real estate, we will see the preparations that were
made for the temple.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
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In chapter 22 verse 1, David says in effect "the temple will be here." God
had led him here providentially, and it seemed as good a place as any.
Verses 2-19 detail the preparations David made for the temple, including
verses 2-5 which list the contractor supplies. Verses 6-16 are David’s
charge to Solomon, in which he says in effect "I’m helping you because
you’re clueless." In verse 8 we learn why God wouldn’t let David build the
temple. Up till now we’ve only known that he wasn’t allowed, but now and
only now do we learn why - he had shed much blood. Was this because
shedding blood was a sin? No, I don’t think so. In fact, it would have been
sin for David not to shed blood. Shedding blood was not a sin, it was just
the circumstance. While David wasn’t allowed to build the temple, all that
Solomon did would have been impossible humanly speaking without
David’s preparations. Not only were the physical preparations critical, but
the political atmosphere as well - David’s domination of the neighborhood
so "Solomon" could build in "peace," pardon the pun. In type, the cross
has to come before the throne. In chapter 23 verses 1-5, David makes
Solomon king and sets up the supporting cast of officials. Verses 6-32 deal
with David’s division of Levites. They will need to transition from the
tabernacle to the temple in due time. Chapter 24 details the division of
priests. Chapter 25 deals with the singing Levites, who according to verse
2 prophesy according to the order of the king. We see the sons of Asaph
mentioned, who were authors of several of the psalms. Chapter 26:1-19
deals with the gatekeeping Levites, and verses 20-32 talk about the
treasurers and other officials. Chapter 27 verses 1-15 detail the army
divisions of the month - a rotating system so no one gets over burdened in
serving the king (not a bad idea for any organization). Verses 16-24
mention other officials and verses 25-34 talk about the royal overseers who
run all the supporting functions such as farms and
vineyards, camels and flocks and such.
PICTURE OF THE PRIESTHOOD
I see at least three things that picture the priesthood.
The first, echoing II Timothy 4:5, is whatever your calling, fulfill your
ministry to the Lord. David prepared the Levites in advance to minister
unto the Lord in the temple. Just so, the Lord is preparing His people in
advance to minister among His people, that is, the church. Of all the jobs in
the temple which was most important? No distinction is made - each and
all had something to do. Which job is most important in the church? In
God’s eyes there is no distinction. We give greatest honor to preaching, to
those who stand up and wave their arms, but the preacher wouldn’t be able
to do much if the treasurer didn’t pay the light bill, and the ushers didn’t
get everyone to their seats, or if someone didn’t plow the snow out of the
parking lot.
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Second, according to verse 22:5, the temple was where God would have
His name, that is, His testimony, His reputation. That was true of the temple
and that is also true of us. We are God’s testimony on earth. If God has
a black eye it’s because we gave it to Him.
The third picture comes from Solomon’s name, which means "peace" -
peace cannot reign in our hearts till we have been prepared by wood, nails
and blood (from 22:3, 4, 8). Just so the cross has made it possible for us to
draw near to God.
Who then is Christ?
He is our Great Preparer. David had to do his thing so that Solomon could
do his thing. Ephesians 1:4 says "He hath chosen us in Him before the
foundation of the world." Revelation 13:8 calls Christ "the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world." Our salvation was no accident - God has been
planning all along. It has always been the "A" plan, not the "Oops! Adam
sinned. What do we do now?!" plan. Just so, we have been prepared from
day one to meet the Lord and follow Him. The path we took was no
accident - it was exactly what we needed to come to Him, and exactly what
we needed to worship and serve Him among His people.
I CHRONICLES 28-29
STAND UP FOR JESUS
It has been my observation as I have been studying and teaching in the
kingdom books that while everyone is generally familiar with the content
of the books, few if any have ever considered the spiritual meaning behind
the events beyond maybe "See that sin? Don’t do that!" The Pentateuch
usually gets everyone’s attention, and for good reason - it’s foundational.
At least Genesis is taught at some level, and Exodus and Deuteronomy
both get considerable attention. But as you start going "east" from there,
the knowledge level tends to drop off. Joshua still gets a lot of press, but
no one likes the dark side of Judges. Few if any know what to make of
Ruth, and the kingdom books are just dull history with a few lessons
thrown in, right? We must remember that God is unfolding His plan of
redemption one step at a time, and every book of the Bible has its place in
that plan. There are no "mistake" books, or "artificial filler" books just to
make the index look impressive. So as we make our way through
Chronicles or any other book, we must be mindful to keep our eyes not
only on the events and circumstances, but on the Lord who gave us all
these things in order to reveal Himself.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
Now let’s look at the text. Chapter 28 verses 1-21 record David’s charge
to Solomon and the officers of the land. Please look closely at verse 2:
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"David stood on his feet." Don’t skip over that phrase tra-la-la. Think back
to I Kings 1 where we saw David on his death bed, barely above room
temperature - this is supposedly the same time period. So how in the
world did he stand up? The human answer is the ministry of Abishag, the
"babe in Christ." The Lord used her to revive David enough to take care
of Solomon. She isn’t mentioned much beyond that point, but on the level
of earth without her we wouldn’t have these two chapters. Do not discount
"small" ministry. Every ministry is big in the Lord’s eyes when He is behind
it. It may not make the headlines in man’s newspapers, but every act of
love for the Lord will make His "book of remembrance." Verses 11-19 give
detailed plans of the temple and the articles of worship. Chapter 29 verses
1-9 speak of gifts toward the temple: verses 1-5 are David’s gifts, and
verses 6-9 are the officers’ gifts. Verses 10-20 are David’s prayer of praise
to the Lord. In verses 21-25 David re-acknowledges Solomon as king. And
finally, verses 26-30 record David’s death.
PICTURES OF THE PRIESTHOOD
I see at least seven ways that the priesthood is illustrated in these two
chapter.
From verse 28:9, a priest is a seeker of God, and a finder of God. These
points are echoed in Hebrews 11:6 in that "he that cometh to God must
believe that he is,
and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." God rewards
those who diligently seek Him, and the reward is God Himself!
Third, from verse 28:10, a priest is strong in the Lord. This is echoed
by Ephesians 6:10 where it says "be strong in the Lord and in the power
of his might." Our strength is never to be relied upon; we are only every
truly strong "in the Lord."
Fourth, also from verse 28:10, a priest is a doer, echoed by James 1:22-25,
where we are admonished to be doers of the word and not hearers only lest
we deceive ourselves. Where I work there are people who are "doers" and
then there are people who watch the doers." These people usually fall into
the management category and are as useful as a sparrow in a hurricane.
The fifth picture is given in verse 28:11, that is, a priest is a pattern. David
gave the pattern of the temple to Solomon so he would know what it was
supposed to look like. A priest is a pattern of what God’s person is
supposed to look like. This is echoed in I Timothy 1:15 and 16 where Paul
calls himself a pattern of salvation. What God did for Paul He can and will
do for you.
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The sixth picture of a priest is taken from 29:1-9 - a priest is a giver, in that
he gives back to the Lord. Everything David had came from God’s hand
anyway, so it was no big deal to send it back. Finally, from the same
verses, a priest leads by example. He doesn’t expect others to do what he
himself is unwilling to do.
Finally, who is Christ?
He is the Great Architect of the church. God is certainly in the details, and
He Himself will build His church. Hebrews 12:2 reminds us that He is the
Author and Finisher of our faith. That is, He who starts the building project
in our lives is faithful to complete the job "until the day of Jesus Christ," as
we are reminded in Philippians 1.

II Chronicles

II CHRONICLES 1-5
THE TEMPLE OF OUR GOD
In the previous two sections we have been looking at the preparations to build
the temple. We have seen Christ as the Great Preparer of the temple as well as
the Great Architect - that is, the Great Designer - of the temple. In this section we
will watch Solomon build the temple and furnish it. Solomon now becomes the
new picture of Christ as David is with the Lord.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
In chapter 1 verses 1-6 we see Solomon seek the Lord. Verses 7-13 describe
God blessing Solomon for asking for wisdom instead of anything else. Verses 14-
17 describe Solomon’s wealth as well as his excesses. By the way - being
wealthy is not a sin. What counts is what you do with it. Someone once asked a
pastor of mine if it was wrong to own a boat. Without batting an eye he
responded "No. It just depends on where it’s parked on Sunday morning."
Apparently, Solomon parked his boat in his harem...
Chapter 2 provides us the details of the final preparation for building the temple.
Verse 1 tells us that "Solomon determined" to build the temple. The Hebrew word
for "determined" literally means "said." For all the preparation that has gone on
before, Solomon still needed to say the word to make things go. In verses 2 and
17 Solomon numbered and assigned the aliens - the documented foreigners, that
is. Verses 3-10 record Solomon’s letter to Hiram king of Tyre requesting help and
supplies, and verses 11-16 record Hiram’s reply, which was essentially "Yeah,
sure, no problem! We do somethin’ especial for U."
In chapter 3 Solomon finally begins building the temple. Obviously, Solomon
himself isn’t doing anything, but he who is in charge tends to get all the credit
(and the blame when things go wrong.) In verse 1, Mt. Moriah is named - this is
how we know the temple site is the same place as where Abraham was to
sacrifice Isaac. According to verse 2, construction actually begins in Solomon’s
fourth year. Verses 3-17 give us the details of construction. Chapter 4 describes
all the temple furnishings that were made, and chapter 5 relates how the Ark of
the Covenant is brought into the temple and the Holy of Holies.
PICTURES OF THE PRIESTHOOD
The temple is a picture of the priest! Now if you remember from our discussion in
Kings, the temple is also a picture of the servant, but can it be both? Yes!
Everything that is true of a servant is also true of a priest. You can’t begin to be a
priest until you learn to be a servant, because the priesthood is built upon
servanthood. Those in charge of our military academies know that the best
leaders are those who learn to take orders. Just so, no matter how "priestly" we
become, no matter how Christ-like, we will always be servants of the Lord.
From chapter 3 we see at least five observations that speak of the priesthood:
first, the temple was stone on the outside and gold on the inside. Just as the
stones were prepared beforehand, and gold overlaid on them, so a priest is
prepared and conformed to the image of God. Second, we see the Holy of Holies
- the very place where God’s glory dwelled in the temple. Ephesians 2:19-22
says we are God’s habitation, God’s Holy of Holies. Third, the Holy of Holies was
a cube, that is, a three-dimensional polyhedron with equal dimensions in all
directions. Ephesians 3:16-19 says that by faith we may comprehend "the
breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ" and "be
filled with all the fullness of God." Fourth, we have the two pillars at the front of
the temple, the names of which were "Jachim" and "Boaz." Their meanings
respectively are "He shall establish" and "in Him is strength." If I may put them
together, they might say "He shall establish Him in strength," that is, God shall
establish us. According to I Timothy 3:14 and 15, the church is the pillar and
ground of the truth. Fifth, from chapter 4, in terms of three-fold salvation, the altar
speaks of our justification, the bronze sea and temple implements speak of our
cleansing and sanctification, and from chapter 5, the Holy of Holies speaks of our
glorification.
One principle that stands out comes from chapter 5 verses 13 and 14: when
God’s people worship in spirit and in truth, God is glorified and human effort is
ceased by divine revelation. We are good at being "busy for the Lord," but we’re
not good at worshiping Him in reality. The real work is done when we seek Christ
with all our hearts, and God Himself shows up.
Who then is Christ? He is the Master Builder - of the church corporate and of us
as individuals. He makes everything fit together into His Body. Know ye not, ye
are the temple?!
II CHRONICLES 6-9
DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE
In the last section we saw Solomon fulfill his mission of building the
temple. The Lord provided everything he needed to do it - including the
wisdom to seek the Lord in the first place. In this section we will see
Solomon dedicate the temple to the Lord and we will also see the Lord’s
response to Solomon.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
First we will take a bird’s eye view of these four chapter, and then
we’ll back up and look more closely at chapters 6 and 7. In chapter 6
verses 1-11 Solomon acknowledges God’s promises. In verses 12-42 we find
Solomon’s prayer of dedication. Chapter 7:1-10 gives us the dedication of the
temple. In verses 11-22, the Lord appears to Solomon. Chapter 8 discusses
Solomon’s other activities. Verses 1-6 tell of the cities he had rebuilt. Verses 7-10
speak of the Canaanites subjected. In verse 11 he marries Pharaoh’s daughter
(not a good sign, folks). Verses 12-15 speak of the priestly duties being kept,
verse 16 declares mission accomplished, and verse 17 tells of gold from afar.
Chapter 9, verses 1-12 tell of the Queen of Sheba. Verses 13-28 detail
Solomon’s wealth and splendor, and finally verses 29-31 tell of Solomon’s death.
Okay, that’s the broad view of these chapters.
Now let’s look at chapters 6 and 7 in more detail for there is much to glean from
them. Chapter 6 verses 1-11 and 12-17 can all be summarized by saying "God
has kept His promises." Verses 18-21 in effect say "please pay attention to us
(even though we don’t deserve it)." So what’s the answer to the question in verse
18 - will God indeed dwell with men? Yes He will! And yes He does. Verses 22-
39 deal with six specific situations. Verses 22 & 23 speak of sinning against a
neighbor and God’s ability to forgive. Verses 24 & 25 speak of being defeated by
an enemy because of sin. What happens when God’s people confess? He
forgives them and brings them back to the land. This obviously would be
important during Ezra’s day when he’s preparing God’s people to return to the
land. Verses 26 &27 speak of drought caused by sin, and God’s ability to forgive
those who confess. Verses 28-31 speak of famine and pestilence, etc., because
of sin. Verses 32-34 talks about "strangers," that is, non-Jews, who come to the
Lord. Solomon is praying for the church! Verse 34 speaks of relying on God in
warfare. Verses 36-39 speak of captivity for sin, and God hearing and forgiving.
This reminds me of Daniel and his prayer in Daniel 9. So what kind of prayer is
this? Intercessory prayer. This is Solomon pleading for God’s people even before
they need it. It is also a prophecy, for all these issues came to pass. Chapter 7,
verses 11-22 record God’s response to Solomon’s prayer. Verse 7:14 is at least
one of the most well-known verses of Chronicles, if not indeed the best known.
What’s the context of this passage? Judgment. When we quote this verse - and
many love to quote it - we must remember that it is true in the context of God’s
righteous judgment. The four elements in the verse are humility, prayer, seeking
God and repentance. Which one is the most important element? You might argue
any one of them, or all of them, but I put the emphasis on seeking God first -
"seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness and all these things
shall be added unto you –
allelu, alleluia!" It is possible to feign humility without seeking the Lord - "I’m
humble, just ask me!" But when we seek Christ first we can’t help have true
humility because we will see first the reality of ourselves in contrast. It is possible
to pray without seeking the Lord, to filibuster Him hoping our empty words will be
heard. But when we seek Christ first, we can’t help but be in communication with
Him in prayer. It is possible to repent in unreality - "I’m sorry I got caught Lord!"
or maybe "I didn’t do it, and I’ll never do it again!" But when we seek Christ first,
we must repent in His light and know we must turn toward Him.
PICTURES OF THE PRIESTHOOD
The first principle of the priesthood from these chapters is this: God’s blessings
are conditional, God’s grace is unconditional. If we fly straight, kiss our mother,
eat our vegetables and wear blue, we will experience the blessings of obedience.
But regardless of how we live, God will always love us and be grieved because
we’re disobedient. Of course, the Lord prefers to pour out both blessings and
grace on His children, but we are never beyond His grace. Second, when the
Lord reveals His glory through us as He did here, then there is testimony,
evangelism, missions and witness, as illustrated by Who then is Christ? From
chapter 6, Christ is our Advocate, interceding before the Father on our behalf. It’s
not so much a matter of "if we sin" as "when we sin" that Christ is ready to stand
in our defense. From chapter 7, He is One who longs to reveal Himself - to
Solomon, and through Solomon, and thus to us and through us.
II CHRONICLES 10-16
LEAN ON ME
With the death of Solomon we now come to a major turning point in the
kingdom. Under David and Solomon the kingdom enjoyed its farthest extent
geographically and its greatest glory both politically and spiritually. From here on
out its all down hill. We will still see a lot of good but it will never be the same.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
In this section we will look at three kings: Rehoboam (chapters 10-12),
Abijah (chapter 13), and Asa (chapters 14-16). Chapter 10 is the account of
Israel rebelling against Rehoboam. This passage doesn’t discuss Solomon’s role
in the rebellion, that Rehoboam’s action were merely the occasion for the split of
the kingdom, not the cause. That’s because the writer assumes you already
know the book of Kings and thus know the background (that will be true in
several places). Chapter 11, verses 1-4 recount the civil war that was stopped by
God. Verses 5-12 tell of Rehoboam building up Judah. Verses 13-17 tell of the
priests and Levites coming from the northern kingdom to Judah. As we learned in
Kings, Jeroboam a) set up calf worship and b) let anything and anyone be a
priest, so godly people weren’t really welcome anymore. That’s not to say that no
godly people were left, but it came pretty close to it. Verses 18-23 recount
Rehoboam’s family. Chapter 12 tells of Shishak, king of Egypt, attacking
Jerusalem. Why? Well, in verse 1, after Rehoboam got done "strengthening
himself" (versus being strong in the Lord) he "departed from the law of the Lord
and all Israel with him." Due to the attack, the king and the leadership humbled
themselves, but was it complete? Was it seeking the Lord according to II
Chronicles 7:14? Not according to verse 12:14, where it says Rehoboam did not
seek the Lord with his whole heart. Verses 7 and 8 appear to indicate that partial
repentance leads only to partial deliverance. Chapter 13 tells us of Abijah.
According to I Kings 15:1-8, he was not a good king, maybe even one of the
worst. Yet in these verses we see a great victory over the northern kingdom. How
did that happen? Well, according to II Chronicles13:14 the priests participated in
the battle (they played the bugle charges), and in verse 18 they relied on the
Lord even when they were out-maneuvered. Verse 15 plainly indicates that God
routed Jeroboam, which is the only way someone like Abijah was going to win
this one. How can God bless a bad king? Even sinners know when it’s wise to
associate with God’s people. And God will bless the land for the sake of just one.
Chapter 14 brings us to Asa, who was generally considered a good king but not
great. Verses 1-5 describe how he removed idolatry, verses 6-8 record how he
built up the cities, and verses 9-15 tell of the victory over the Cushites after
calling on the name of the Lord. Chapter 15 speaks of Asa’s reforms. In verses 1-
7, the prophet Azariah encourages him to seek he Lord. In verse 8, the idols are
removed from the temple and the altar is repaired. No matter how many times
idolatry is removed, there always seems to be more to get rid of! That’s true in
our hearts as well... Verses 9-15 speak of the covenant that the people entered
into to seek the Lord. Note verse 9 - Judah and Benjamin are getting refugees
from the northern kingdom when it’s obvious that God is with the southern
kingdom. That’s true of churches today - unfortunately most church growth is at
the expense of other churches. Now maybe those "other" churches need a wakeup
call just as the northern kingdom did, but as usual no one’s listening. Verse 16
describes the idolatry of grandma being deposed. I have to give Asa credit - it’s
not easy going against your own family however necessary it may be. Verse 17
tells us that Asa’s heart was right with the Lord even though not all idolatry was
removed. Which do you emphasize, his actions or his heart? Both are important,
but God puts the emphasis on the heart. Chapter 16 tells us of Asa’s scheme to
pay Ben-Hadad, king of Syria, to attack Baasha, king of Israel. In verse 7 the
prophet Hanani rebukes Asa for trusting men and not God. In verse 10 Asa puts
Hanani in prison for telling him the truth, and he oppresses others as well. Verses
12 and 13 tell us of the sad ending of Asa’s reign; in one last physical malady he
still did not seek the Lord and finally died.
PICTURES OF THE PRIESTHOOD
From the record of Abijah in chapter 13 we see that a priest tells it
like it is, but gives credit where credit is due. From the record of
Rehoboam a priest uses things and trusts God, versus the example of
trusting things (i.e. walled cities) and using God. Third, a priest stays on center
by seeking the Lord with all this heart, that is, keeping his eyes on Christ. From
verse 15:13, to not seek the Lord is death - spiritually speaking. This is another
way of saying "do God’s will God’s way by God’s grace."
Who then is Christ?
First, He is the Reliable One - when we call on Him, He will answer. And from
verse 16:9, He is the Searcher of Men’s Hearts. The Lord knows those who are
His (Numbers 16:5, II Timothy 2:9) and reward those who diligently seek Him
(Hebrews 11:6).
II CHRONICLES 17-22
NO COMPROMISE
One of the interesting things about the scripture record is that we get
accounts of men with warts and all. Very few are mentioned at length
without some sin or other, and those whose sins aren’t mentioned still
aren’t sinless. With that thought in mind we will meet three more kings:
Jehoshaphat (chapters 17-20), Jehoram (chapter 21), and Ahaziah (chapter 22).
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
Chapter 17 brings us to Jehoshaphat. The parallel passage concerning him in I
Kings 22:41-50 is only ten verses long. Here in Chronicles he gets four chapters!
Does that mean he had a priestly heart but not a servant’s heart? Maybe. I would
say a priestly heart needs to be a servant first. And maybe that’s where
Jehoshaphat ultimately had his biggest difficulty - he wanted the glory without the
pain. In verses 1-6 Jehoshaphat sought the Lord and removed idolatry. Note that
the record says he walked in the "first ways" of David, that is, he started out
really good. Verses 7-9 tell how he sent out princes and Levites to teach the
people from the Law. Verses 10-19 record how the fear of the Lord fell on the
surrounding nations, and how Jehoshaphat grew strong. So here’s a thought: our
national strength does not depend so much on our military might nor on our
economic prosperity but on our spirituality - on whether we’re right with the Lord.
Chapter 18 describes how Jehoshaphat allied himself with Ahab, king of Israel, to
take Ramoth-Gilead. This passage and the resulting death of Ahab in battle are
essentially identical to the record found in I Kings 22. Apparently, whatever is
unservant-like is also unpriest-like as well.
This is where Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram married Athaliah, daughter of
Ahab and Jezebel. Talk about an unholy alliance. Genesis 6 speaks of "the sons
of God" marrying "the daughters of men." Some speculate that this means angels
or demons were marrying human women, or maybe
extraterrestrial aliens were marrying earth women (making two-headed
space babies), all of which seems rather silly to me. I would say this is a further
illustration of that passage - that the line of the Seed of the woman is marrying
into the seed of the serpent. From II Corinthians 6:14, it’s wrong to be unequally
yoked to the ungodly, and it was wrong in that day too. In many ways this chapter
also illustrates evangelism and missions by human methods - that is, joining
forces with the world and/or using worldly means to reach the lost. In the end, it
becomes difficult to tell who are the lost and who are the saved. Like
Jehoshaphat himself in battle, we wind up with sheep in wolves’ clothing.
Chapter 19:1-3 records how Jehu the prophet rebukes Jehoshaphat for his
compromise. Jehoshaphat’s response is recorded in verses 4-11 where he
personally points people back to the Lord. He also appoints judges to faithfully
administer justice. In his heart I doubt Jehoshaphat really wanted to do wrong -
he was trying to make everyone happy. When the Lord set him straight, his true
heart came out. Chapter 20:1-30 describes a great victory over Moab and
Ammon. What do they represent in this context? They are the descendants of Lot
and represent his compromise. II Peter 2:7-9 says that the Lord knows how to
rescue the righteous - and Lot is the prime illustration. If it weren’t for the New
Testament record, we might not know if Lot were really saved or not. The
conclusion of the matter for Jehoshaphat says he did right by the Lord (II
Chronicles 20:32); however, compromised ministry does not command respect or
wield much influence. Verses 35-37 tell of Jehoshaphat allying with Ahaziah, king
of Israel, with a sailing fleet which the Lord takes credit for destroying because of
his compromise. Chapter 21 tells us of Jehoram. He married Athaliah, which
pretty much tells us everything we need to know. The old saying is, the apple
doesn’t fall far from the tree, and this woman is illustration A to that point. In
verses 12-15 Jehoram receives a letter from Elijah. That’s pretty interesting
considering that Elijah had been translated several years by this time. My thought
is this - Elijah wrote this letter at the prompting of the Lord before he left, leaving
instructions that it not be delivered until a certain time. However it happened,
here’s the letter, and it speaks of judgment. Chapter 22 speaks of Ahaziah who
was led astray morally by his mother Athaliah and was killed by Jehu, king of
Israel, God’s instrument of judgment on the house of Ahab. Athaliah, taking the
death of her son as her cue to usurp power, kills off the royal line all except
Joash who we’ll meet in the next section.
PICTURES OF THE PRIESTHOOD
What do we learn about the priesthood in this section? First from verse
17:4, a priest looks to Christ by faith and hates compromise with
wickedness. Second, a priest lets the Lord fight his battles by faith
(verses 20:15, 17, 22) and stays out of fights he’s not called to fight
(Jehoshaphat being the negative example of that.) Third, a priest has a
heart to teach (verses 19:4-7) which is in obedience to the Lord’s
command in Leviticus 10:8-11 (especially 10 and 11). This is a corollary
command to the Lord’s command to parents in Deuteronomy 6:1-13 to teach
their own children.
Now, it’s easy to say "don’t compromise" and "don’t yoke yourself with
unbelievers" and pound the pulpit while saying that. It’s another thing
to engage the ungodly in an attempt to lead them to righteousness. In
that vein, we must encourage that which points to Christ, not that which enables
sin. We also need wisdom from the Lord Himself to tell the difference. For
example, we might invite an unsaved business man to come to church; we ought
not make him a member of the board to try to save him. We might invite a drug
dealer to hear the gospel; we ought not to ask him to do business in the
basement.
Who then is Christ?
From verse 21:7, He is the Lamp of Israel (as the Kings’ passage also says), and
the Keeper of the lamp of Israel. The Lord preserved Jehoshaphat despite his
compromise and preserved Joash from
Athaliah’s evil scheming. The Lord is able to preserve you and me in any and all
circumstances even when we stray from Him.
II CHRONICLES 23-26
CROWN HIM WITH MANY CROWNS
In the previous section we saw an otherwise good king by the name of
Jehoshaphat slip into a pattern of compromise - compromise in the sense
of allying himself with the enemies of God. We also saw the effects of this
compromise - almost to the point of destroying the messianic line, humanly
speaking. But God intervened to preserve that line, and today we will see how
God restores righteousness.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
In chapter 23:1-11 Jehoiada the high priest acts to put Joash on the throne. In
verses 12-15 Athaliah is executed for treason - she lived by the sword and died
by the sword. In verses 16-21 Jehoiada restores order to worship. Chapter 24,
verses 1-16 record how Joash rebuilds the temple. This was necessary because
Athaliah and company apparently trashed the place. Verses 17-27 speak of
Joash’s wickedness after the death of Jehoiada. Verses 20-22 record how
Zechariah, son of Jehoiada, prophesied against Joash for his rebellion and was
rewarded for his efforts by getting stoned. Ironically, those who did the stoning
were the ones who deserved it. In verses 23 and 24 God’s judgment arrives in
the form of the Syrian army, leaving Joash severely wounded. Verse 25 tells us
he was finished off by his own servants, so loved was he. Chapter 25 brings us
to Amaziah, who establishes himself in verses 1-4. Verse 2 says he did right but
not with a perfect heart. This speaks of obedience without trust, which is not the
kind of obedience God is looking for. The hymn writer got it right - "trust and
obey." Verses 5-13 record how Amaziah went to war with the Edomites and
attempted to hire Israelites as mercenaries. In verse 7 a man of God rebukes him
for such because "the Lord is not with Israel," which is why Chronicles speaks so
little of the northern kingdom. Verses 14-16 tell of a prophet sent by God to
rebuke Amaziah for his idolatry of verse 14. In verse 16 Amaziah "rebukes back"
only to be told he will be destroyed by the Lord. In verses 17-28 he picks a fight
with the king of Israel, who in verse 19 reads Amaziah pretty well and tells him
he’s going to get his butt kicked. But in verse 20 Amaziah is determined to get his
butt kicked - by the Lord. Judah is beaten so badly that Jerusalem is plundered
and the wall and gates are wrecked. Amaziah was so well loved that the people
tracked him down all the way to Lachish to kill him. s that he did right by the Lord
as his father Amaziah did, but notice it says nothing about David. According to
verse 5 he prospered "as long as he sought the Lord."(The Zechariah mentioned
here is different than the son of Jehoiada from chapter 24.) Uzziah also builds up
the defenses of the country. Verse 15 is the first mention of engineers - "cunning
men" who invented his engines of war. Finally, the record of Uzziah ends with
verses 16-23 where he becomes proud and burns incense in the temple. Since
this is a priest thing, and they have a strong union, Uzziah becomes leprous on
the spot (ha!) and lives the rest of his life as an outcast.
PICTURES OF THE PRIESTHOOD
So what here pictures the priesthood?
First, a priest crowns the Son of David king in his heart by faith.
Joash was already king - Jehoiada merely made it official. Jesus is already Lord,
but I have to make Him king because he has a heart for the king, represented by
Jehoiada acting as regent.
Third, a priest confronts sin and the sinner. This is represented by iada
confronting Joash; and the temple priests confronting Uzziah in the temple.
Athaliah reminds us that sin must be put to death.
Fourth, a priest stands for righteousness even when it’s not Politically Correct
(which is usually your first clue that something might be sin.) Athaliah is to
feminism as rain is to water.
Fifth, a priest influences others for good and encourages others to see and seek
the Lord, as Jehoiada did for Joash and Zechariah did for Uzziah.
Sixth, a priest remains faithful to the end (unlike Joash, how David encouraged
himself in the Lord? We need to learn to seek God on our own and not always
depend on others - "though none go with me, still I will follow." Seventh, a priest
receives his reward in heaven - Jehoiada was the only priest buried in
Jerusalem.
Finally, who is Christ?
From verse 24:22, He is the One who sees and avenges, and from verse 26:18,
He is the One who honors the faithful - "for the Lord is calling faithful men."
II CHRONICLES 27-32
I WILL PASS OVER YOU
As we continue in our study of Chronicles, I want to take a moment and remind
you all where we have been thus far in the kingdom books. The books of Samuel
present Christ as King, illustrated primarily by David. The books of the Kings
(despite the name) present Christ as Prophet, and the books of the Chronicles
finish the cycle by presenting Christ as Priest. We not only see Christ as our High
Priest, but we also see how each believer is to be a priest - a kingdom of priests
as Moses stated and Peter echoed.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
Chapter 27 brings us to Jotham. Very little is said of Jotham, either here or in
Kings. Considering the sins of most of the kings, that’s probably not a bad thing.
Verse 2 says he did right in the sight of the Lord and didn’t make the same
mistakes as his father. However, the people are still corrupt. While Jotham did
nothing overtly bad, he didn’t manage to turn his people around, which isn’t an
easy thing anyway. Verse 6 says he became mighty because he prepared his
ways before the Lord - that would be a great epitaph on your tombstone!
After three relatively good kings in a row, chapter 28 tells us of Ahaz. He was just
like the kings of Israel - rotten to the core! He was steeped in the idolatry of the
land. Verse 5 says the Lord handed him over to the Syrians; Israel also attacked
and beat him. Verse 17 says Edom attacked and the Philistines raided. Verse 19
says the Lord humbled Judah, so how did Ahaz respond? According to verse 22,
a bad king got worse! But let’s back up for a moment and consider verses 6-15
more closely. While the Lord allowed Israel to have the upper hand in dealing
with Judah at this time, He send the prophet Oded to rebuke them for brutality
and the slavery of their brothers. What does verse 15 remind you of? It reminds
me of the parable of the good Samaritan, which happens to be recorded in Luke
10:30-35, the parallel gospel to Chronicles. Ironically, in the Luke account, it’s the
priest and the Levite who look bad and the Samaritan - despised in that day for
being a half-breed - who had the priestly heart. Chapter 29 then brings us
Hezekiah. In terms of the amount written about him, Hezekiah easily ranks as the
best king since Solomon. What does he do first? He purifies the temple and
restores temple worship - he definitely has a priestly heart. If he did nothing else
the rest of his reign, that would get him in good with the priesthood. In chapter 30
Hezekiah celebrates the Passover and invites the northern kingdom to join in.
According to verses 17-20, some from Israel actually do show up, but they come
ceremonially unprepared. Hezekiah prayed for them and the Lord "healed" them
- the same word in the Hebrew used in II Chronicles 7:14 when God says "I will
heal their land." In chapter 31 Hezekiah re-established planned regular giving for
the Levites and for worship. According to verses 20 and 21, he not only did good
things but he sought God Himself wholeheartedly. That is true prosperity. Now,
here’s a statement, and see whether you agree or disagree with it: "If I walk
uprightly before the Lord, nothing bad will ever happen to me." I know from
experience that is not true, either from my life or from others, despite what those
who espouse the so-called health and wealth doctrine might say. In chapter 32
Assyria threatens Judah and the Lord turns them away. II Kings 18 and 19 give a
more detailed account of these events. II Chronicles 32:24-33 briefly tells of the
pride, success, failure and repentance of Hezekiah, which again II Kings deals
with more, as well as the delayed judgment for such sins. What does II
Chronicles 32:31 mean? That God cut down the hedges around Hezekiah. God
knew Hezekiah’s heart, but Hezekiah needed to know his own heart.
PICTURES OF THE PRIESTHOOD
What do we see here that pictures the priesthood?
From chapter 27, a priest is thankful for a quiet life.
From chapter 28, a priest at heart ministers unto the "least of these my brethren"
and sets the captives free.
From chapter 29, a priest cleanses the temple - are you washed in the blood of
the Lamb?
From chapter 30, Hezekiah celebrated the Passover, which according to I
Corinthians 5:7 is Christ. Thus, in picture form, a priest preaches Christ. A priest
also encourages others to come to Christ, and prays for those who are
unprepared to approach Him.
From chapter 31, a priest cheerfully provides for the church.
Who then is Christ?
He is the Passover Lamb and the Pardoner of my sin. He is also the Rewarder of
those who diligently seek Him, as Hebrews 11:6 puts it.
II CHRONICLES 33-35
AND DWELLED AMONG US
So far, as we’ve been going through this portion of Chronicles, we have
been looking at three kings per section, and this discussion will also look
at three kings. However, the next section, which will be our last look at
Chronicles, will cover four kings but just one chapter. Chronicles the book
and the kingdom of Judah are rapidly coming to a close. In this section we
will visit two of the worst kings of Judah - Manasseh and Amon. We’ve had
some real stinkers so far, but these two peg the stink-o-meter. We will also
see the last great revival before the curtain close on the kingdom.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
Chapter 33 brings us to Manasseh. We already know from Kings that
Manasseh is the worst king Judah ever had. Verses 1-9 even say his sins
were worse than the those of the pagans. You name it, he did it, and he
probably invented new ways to sin. Knowing that his reign was the longest
of any king of Judah - 55 years - you can’t help but think he did a lot of
damage in his day. But now in verses 10-13, we find out new information
that Kings didn’t tell us. We learn that Manasseh went into captivity and
repented with humility. Verses 14-20 tell of his return to the kingdom and
his good works, but is it enough to save the kingdom? According to
Jeremiah 15:1-4, the answer is no, it’s too late. While Manasseh himself
repented, the people by this time were too far gone. We will see Manasseh
in heaven, but we will not see many of the people of that day. This reminds
me of I Timothy 1:15 where Paul calls himself the chief of sinners, but then
goes on to say that for this reason he found mercy in Christ Jesus as a
pattern to them who would be saved. In other words, if God could save
Paul, He could save anyone. The same holds for Manasseh - he was
certainly the chief sinner in his day, but God was merciful to him too. And
by the way, the same holds for you and me - whosoever shall call on the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Verses 21-25 bring us to Amon, of whom
it is said he was as bad as his father. The difference here is, there’s no
mention of him repenting and he reigned only two years. Apparently the
palace staff had had enough of royal wickedness after all these years and
assassinated Amon. Chapter 34 brings us to Josiah, who is like David, the
highest praise you could give a Hebrew king. Remember, this is not just a
human standard; this means that Josiah was Christ-like. He came to the
throne at eight years of age. According to verses 3-7 he sought the Lord at
age sixteen and purged idolatry from the land. Verses 8-13 tell us he rebuilt
the temple which had to be in disrepair by this time. Verses 14-28 describe
how the Book of the Law was found hidden in the temple, and how Josiah
responds to God’s word. The scriptures had been tucked away for 75 years
- 55 + 2 + 18, if my math is correct. That’s 75 years of no written testimony
of God. Because of Josiah’s response, the Lord honors Josiah and tells
him that there will be no judgment in this time (verse 34:28), according to
the word of the Lord through the prophetess Huldah. Verses 29-33 record
Josiah’s covenant of obedience and his removal (again) of idolatry from the
land. Chapter 35:1-19 gives us the account of the Passover being
celebrated. There was no celebration like this one since the days of
Samuel. There were other celebrations, such as in Hezekiah’s day, but not
like this one. Verses 20-27 relate the circumstances of Josiah’s death. He
goes to war when he should have stayed home. Did he die too young? Only
in the world’s eyes. "Man knows not his time," according to Ecclesiastes
9:12. We can’t say someone died too young or too old. Whatever you get is
what you get. Verse 25 is interesting because this indicates that the book
of Lamentations, which was about the fall of Jerusalem and written by
Jeremiah, was not written after the fall but was written as prophecy before
the fall. Why would Jeremiah lament at the death of Josiah? He knew of the
prophecy that there would be no judgment while Josiah was alive; now
he’s dead... and the clock is ticking.
PICTURES OF THE PRIESTHOOD
What do we see about the priesthood in these chapters?
First, from chapter 33, a priest repents because he is a vile sinner.
Second, from chapter 34, a priest listens to and honors the Word of God,
and third, commits himself to obey the Word the God.
Fourth, from chapter 35, a priest celebrates the Word of God.
Who then is Christ?
According to John 1:14, He is the Word made flesh and dwelling among us.
So then we, as those with priestly hearts, listen to and honor Christ, we
commit ourselves to obey Christ, and celebrate and worship Christ. Christ
is the fulfillment of all these types. As we get closer to the end of the line,
the more we need to have Christ as the focus of our lives and our worship.
II CHRONICLES 36
A HIGHER CALLING
The theme we have been using for Chronicles is "Christ, our Great High
Priest." Everything in Chronicles makes sense in relation to God’s
revelation of Himself in terms of the priesthood. As we come to the last
chapter of the book, we will find out why the kingdom was destroyed - and
there’s more than one answer! But before we can stick a fork in the
kingdom (because it’s done), we have four more kings to clean up after,
so let’s consider the text.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
Chapter 36:1-4 tells us of Jehoahaz, who lasted all of three months. He
is dethroned by the king of Egypt. Obviously when you only reign three
months, there’s not much to talk about. Now consider that he got tossed
by the king of "sin," as Egypt is in type. It doesn’t say much when even
the devil doesn’t want you. Verses 5-8 tell us of Jehoiakim - "J-kim" for
you holy rappers. He is the brother of Jehoahaz and lasts eleven years.
It is during his reign that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacks and
carries away the first deportation. Guys like Ezekiel and Daniel went in
this first deportation - the cream of the crop. In verses 9 and 10, Jehoiakim
is replaced by Jehoiachin - "J-chin" - who becomes king at the age of eight,
like Joash and Josiah. That’s the only thing they have in common,
unfortunately. He lasts three months before Nebuchadnezzar removes him
and deports him to Babylon. In verses 11-14, Nebuchadnezzar puts his
brother Zedekiah on the throne. He lasts eleven more years before his
rebellion - against the Lord and Nebuchadnezzar - result in the final and
total destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. Verses 15-19 describe the
fall of Jerusalem. Verse 16 describes the people’s response to God’s call
for repentance - they mocked him - to the point where there was "no
remedy." The word in the Hebrew translated "remedy" has the same root as
the word "healing" found in verse 7:14. Here’s a question: why did God
have to destroy the temple and Jerusalem? Consider verses 33:7-9. The
temple was where the Lord put His name, that is, where He put His
reputation, His testimony. He had to destroy the temple in order to clear His
name. At this point there was no other way to salvage His reputation on the
earth. In verses 20 and 21, the remnant that survived the Babylonian attack
was carried into exile according to the word of the Lord through Jeremiah.
Jeremiah’s basic message: surrender to the king of Babylon. Of course,
this message was received with so much joy and gladness that they threw
Jeremiah into a pit and then into prison. Verse 21 says "the land enjoyed
its sabbaths." According to Leviticus 25:11 and 12, every seventh year was
to be a sabbath year - no work and live off the increase of the sixth year.
Since the time the Israelites entered the land, they never obeyed this
command. According to Jeremiah 25:11, 12 and 29:10, he prophesied
that the captivity would be seventy years - one year for every sabbath
year missed in the previous 490 years. So why did God have to destroy the
temple and Jerusalem? It was time to go - the land was tired! And more
precisely, there is judgment for those who refuse to rest in the Lord. In
verses 22 and 23, we now fast forward to Cyrus, king of Persia, the
kingdom that eventually took out Babylon. The decree of Cyrus (who was
named a hundred years before he lived in Isaiah 45) is a major event in
God’s timetable of redemption - but why now? First, there were 70 years
of exile, then the decree of Cyrus that sent the first wave back to Jerusalem
to rebuild the temple. Now consider Daniel 9:24-26. The next step in God’s
timetable was the decree of Artaxerxes in Nehemiah to rebuild the wall of
Jerusalem. From Artaxerxes to Messiah is 69 weeks of years, that is, 69
times 7, or 483 years. According to Sir Robert Anderson, this comes out
exactly to the day of April 10, 32 A.D., the day of Christ’s triumphal entry
into Jerusalem. The last week - the last seven years - is still to come. This
is the tribulation period described in great detail in the book of Revelation.
So why now? Because God’s timetable of redemption is right on schedule!
You can set your watch by it! Do not mourn the end of man’s kingdom - it
was only a picture anyway. The end of man’s kingdom is the beginning of
God’s kingdom. "Thy kingdom come" means "my kingdom go!"
PICTURES OF THE PRIESTHOOD
What do we see here about the priesthood? First, the priest hopes in the
Lord. Hope is long-range faith - even when the walls are falling down,
the priest knows God is in control of history. Second, the priest rests
in the Lord - that is, he believes, trusts, depends and fellowships with
the Lord. The sabbath was a picture of our ultimate relationship with the
Lord. Rest is what God’s really driving us to - man was created last on
the sixth day so that he could enjoy rest with God. Before we can discuss
the third principle of priesthood, we need to compare verses 22 and 23 with
Ezra 1:1-3. These verses, as far as they go, are identical to the beginning of
Ezra (leading some to speculate the two books were supposed to be one,
which I disagree with), except Chronicles ends in the middle of Ezra 1:3 -
why? When writing Chronicles, did Ezra run out of ink? Did he run out of
papyrus? Did the dog eat his scroll?! Look again at the last phrase of
Chronicles: "and let him go up." Now look at Hebrews 4:9-11. The third
principle of the priesthood is this: the priest has an upward calling, a high
calling! See also Philippians 3:14: "I press toward the mark for the prize of
the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" - it’s an invitation unto God
Himself! Cyrus’ decree is just like the Great Commission - building the
temple was the Old Testament way of saying "go preach the Gospel!"
Who then is Christ? He is the Sovereign High Priest who calls us to
Himself. Consider Matthew 11:28 - "come unto me all ye who labor and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Amen, Lord, come quickly!

Ezra

INDEX
Ezra 1
Ezra 3
Ezra 4
Ezra 5
Ezra 7
Ezra 9
INTRODUCTION TO EZRA
The theme for the book of Ezra is "Revival in Christ." Ezra
begins what are commonly called the "Restoration Books,"
that is, the Israelites are being restored to the Promised
Land. Before someone’s feet could make the journey back to
Canaan, their heart had to go first - Ezra speaks of
restoration from bondage and captivity in Babylon, and
restoration unto the land and the temple.
The temple speaks of our relationship with God -as the
temple goes, so goes God’s people. Right now, as Ezra
opens, the temple is destroyed and God’s people are in
captivity in Babylon.
OBSERVATIONS
First of all, I want to make five broad observations about
Ezra, and then I will give a broad outline.
The first observation has to do with the word "revival."
What does that word mean? According to its Latin roots,
it means "to live again." It implies we were living in the
first place. And if that’s the case, then maybe we need to
repent first of whatever we let keep us from fellowship
with God.
Second, Psalm 23:3 says "he restoreth my soul; he leadeth
me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake." Why
is God restoring His people? Well, He promised that He
would. Deuteronomy 28 and 30 record the curses that Israel
would incur and also record God’s promise to restore them
to the land - before they even got into it in the first
place. Isaiah and Jeremiah also repeated God’s desire to
bring them back from captivity. Also, consider the phrase
"for his name’s sake." God is bringing back His people to
the land to restore His own reputation on the earth. He
destroyed the earthly kingdom to preserve His reputation,
and He restores His reputation by restoring His people to
the land.
Third, some observe that there are no miracles in the book
of Ezra, or for that matter in the books of Nehemiah or
Esther. That is to say, there’s nothing like the parting of
the Red Sea, no axe heads floating, no multiplied loaves,
nobody raised from the dead, etc. And to that observation I
use the strongest theological response I know: baloney!
Every time Jesus restores your soul He does for you what He
did for the man with the withered hand. How does a man with
a withered hand "stretch it forth"? He can’t! It’s a mighty
miracle of God. And so is the return of Israel to the land.
Obviously, there are no spectacular miracles, per se, but
all revival is an act of God. A pagan king declaring that a
captive people can go home to where they came from - on his
tab no less - is unprecedented that I know of - this had to
be the hand of the Lord.
Fourth, in Dcripture, Babylon is a picture of bondage and
captivity. So does that mean everyone who stayed in Babylon
was in sin? The answer is no, certainly not. The prime
example is Daniel who lived long enough to see the return
to Canaan but did not go back. Whatever the practical
reasons might have been to return or not return, the Lord
wanted him right where he was. And certainly if the Lord
had said "go" to Daniel, he would have been listening. We
also have the examples of Ezra and Nehemiah who led the
second and third waves of the return. Why didn’t they go in
the first wave? Well, scripture is silent on their ages,
but they might not even have been born at the time. If they
were born, they may not have been old enough to make the
journey. Regardless, the Lord had them go later. So while
on a broad level the "spiritual" ones returned to Canaan,
we have to be careful that we do not condemn all who didn’t
return. Is everyone who is not in church on Sunday in sin?
You can argue many are, but what about the doctor, the
soldier or even the plumber? "I’m sorry, Mr. So-and-so. I
can’t perform the operation to save your life today. I
have to go to Sunday School." The principle is to have a
remnant heart that says yes to the Lord wherever you are.
Fifth, what do we know about Ezra himself? From Ezra 7:1-5,
he was a priest. From verse 7:6 he was a scribe, or
teacher. From Nehemiah 8:8 we learn that he was an
expository preacher. He is thought to have written or
compiled I & II Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, as well as
other books According to tradition, he is attributed with
settling the Old Testament canon, for editing the
scriptures (he may be the source of the "to this day"
references scattered throughout the kingdom books), he
started the synagogue system, and he had a reputation
second only to Moses. If I may speculate for a moment, I
believe he wrote I & II Chronicles either to
prepare his group for the return to the land, or else wrote
it in the land to warn the people how they got there in the
first place.
OUTLINE
Here then is an outline of the book:
Part 1 Section 1 Ch. 1 & 2 The Return to the Land
Section 2 Ch. 3-6 The Temple Rebuilt
Part 2 Section 1 Ch. 7 & 8 Ezra Arrives
Section 2 Ch. 9 & 10 Intermarriage
The key verse for Ezra comes from chapter 9 verse 8. How
will God revive His people? By His grace. God is faithful
to do all He has promised - He who began a good work in you
will be faithful to complete it!
EZRA 1 & 2
RETURN TO THE LAND
The theme of the book of Ezra can be stated simply as
Revival in Christ." That is, we are being restored to
relationship with Christ. The name "Babylon" means
confusion, and the name "Jerusalem" means city of
peace. Thus, revival is being led by the Lord from
confusion to peace with God.
OUTLINE
Here is a brief outline of the first two chapters:
1:1-4 Cyrus’ Proclamation
1:5-11 Temple articles & Provisions for going to Jerusalem
2:1-67 The list of the Remnant
2:68-70 Arrival and settling in
OBSERVATIONS
In chapter 1 verses 1-4, the book of Ezra begins like the
book of II Chronicles ends, only it doesn’t stop in the
middle of the sentence. Now is the time to get the whole
story of Cyrus’ decree because we are going to see the
people who act on it. Note for just a moment that the books
of Kings and Chronicles did not end with the destruction of
Jerusalem; they both ended with hope. Kings end with the
restored relationship of Jehoiachin, and Chronicles ended
with the decree of Cyrus. There are always consequences to
sin, but in Christ better days are coming. Even if this
world only gets worse, we have the hope of the world to
come. Christ Himself is our living hope (I Peter 1:3), and
all of history points to Him.
Who are all these people?
We are acquainted with Cyrus from Isaiah 44:24 - 45:1. In
other words, God told about him almost 200 years before he
was born.
Zerubbabel means "stranger in Babylon." He shows up in the
Messianic line and is mentioned in Matthew 1:11, 12. His
Babylonian name is Sheshbazzar, which is mentioned in Ezra
1:8, 11, 5:14, 16.
The third important person here is Jeshua (or Joshua).
There are actually two Joshua’s we need to know about. The
first is Joshua, son of Nun, who was the military leader
who led the children of Israel into the Promised Land. This
Joshua here is the high priest at that time. Jesus is both
our Leader and our High Priest. The name Joshua is from the
Hebrew word translated Jesus from the Greek, both meaning
"Jehovah saves" or "Jehovah is salvation."
PRINCIPLES OF REVIVAL
Here then are at least four principles of revival from
these two chapters.
First, Cyrus’ decree was a decree of grace. It was an
invitation, not a command. The decree was not unlike God’s
invitation of salvation - "whosoever will." He doesn’t
force us to be saved, but He does invite us. In the same
way, all were invited to return to the land. Obviously, not
all did. In fact, the majority did not. On top of that, I
don’t think all were supposed to return, as we have already
discussed concerning Daniel. Granted, God wants all - that
is, every single person - to be saved, so that isn’t quite
the same. But in neither instance is anyone forced against
their will.
Now, what does it mean to be "stirred up" as referred to in
verse 1? I see at least three things on the surface. I see
the word of mouth (as proclaimed by the king’s messengers),
the written word (he "put in writing"), by the spirit (as
directed by the Holy Spirit). Is that enough? It’s
sufficient from God’s perspective - but we have to respond.
God provided the grace, and we respond by faith. That
echoes Ephesians 2:8, 9. Faith is not itself a gift as some
suppose. Faith is our response to everything God has done
for us by His grace. Now, Proverbs 21:1 says "The king’s
heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water:
he turneth it whithersoever he will." Does that mean
God made Cyrus do something he didn’t want to? No. Cyrus
did exactly what he wanted to do - for whatever reason -
and God engineered the circumstances to fit. Any view of
God’s sovereignty that tones down man’s responsibility is
incorrect, and any view of man’s responsibility that
tones down God’s sovereignty is also incorrect. We must
embrace both extremes. Don’t ignore God’s hand - there
would be no chance for man’s response of faith without it.
Don’t poo-poo man’s faith - we can’t enjoy the blessings of
grace unless we respond to and appropriate it. Make no
mistake - God did the hard part. It may seem hard for us to
respond to God, but that’s only due to our own human
delusion. I don’t think every Jew was expected to respond
to the decree of Cyrus -I don’t think the land was ready
for millions to move in all at once on a practical level.
But on a spiritual level, everyone was expected to have
a willing heart.
Second, every provision is made for the return. This
parallels the verses in II Peter 1:2-4, where God has
provided "all things that pertain to life and godliness,
through the knowledge of him," that we "might be
partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the
corruption that is in the world." When God brings revival,
He engineers the circumstances according to our needs.
Third, those that returned had to walk (with animals
carrying their stuff). There was no bus, no train, no
commuter plane. In other words, there was no easy means of
restoration. If you have wandered from the Lord, it can
take at least that much time to get back to Him. God can
and will forgive instantly the moment you ask, but the
consequences of sin rarely disappear if ever.
The fourth principle concerns their position in Christ
(illustrated by the return to the land) versus their
condition - their hearts had a long way to go. Ephesians
2:4-7 speaks of our position in Christ, that we are
seated in the heavenlies with Him. It may not feel like it
now - it may never feel like that’s true - but it is. Why?
Because according to Hebrews 10:23, He who promised is
faithful. God promised to bring His people back to the
land, and He did it. He made the promise through Moses
even before they got into the land the first time, and that
promise was repeated by the prophets. And just so, God will
be preparing to restore us even before we wander. How
faithful is our God!
EZRA 3
THE ALTAR & THE FOUNDATION
The theme of Ezra is "Revival in Christ." God bringing His
people out of Babylon and back to Jerusalem pictures
revival for us - out of "confusion" and back to "peace"
with God.
In chapters 1 & 2, we discussed our position in Christ,
pictured by the arrival of the remnant in the land. This
time, chapter 3, we will begin to deal with our condition
as sinners before God. So which is it - are we sinners or
are we saints?! We are both, but sin must be dealt with
first before we can go forward in the Lord. Chapter 3 will
begin to tell us how the Lord deals with sin, once and for
all.
OUTLINE
This is how I will divide the chapter:
3:1-3 The altar built
3:4-6 The sacrifices resumed, and the feast of
tabernacles celebrated.
3:7-13 The foundation completed
OBSERVATIONS
The first general observation I will make is that Ezra used
the sacred calendar, not the civil calendar - he was a
priest, after all. The Passover redefined the first month
of the year. The feast of trumpets (Yom Kippur) corresponds
to late September, early October. The Day of Atonement is
the 7th month, 7th day when the high priest enters the Holy
of Holies. The Feast of Tabernacles is the 7th month from
the 15th to the 22nd. The seventh month remains sacred even
today - Jewish universities don’t teach during that month.
The second observation comes from verse 12 - how do they
remember the old temple?! Wouldn’t it have been 70+ years?
Not necessarily. The clock started at the first
deportation, so if someone was still around before the
destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, it would only have
to be about 50 years. From the first deportation to the
decree of Cyrus was 70 years; from the destruction of
Jerusalem to the building of the wall was 70 years - take
your pick!
PRINCIPLES OF REVIVAL
Revival begins with the old foundations - it begins with
the altar, which is the Old Testament version of the cross.
It begins with the altar and chapter 6 ends with the
Passover - you can never get away from the cross. The
temple represents how to go forward in the Lord. But the
temple can’t go forward without the altar! We can’t go
forward without the cross! Sin must be dealt with, or we
can’t even begin. There is a cost to revival, and we can
say with the hymn writer "Jesus paid it all."
Please consider I Corinthians 1:17 - 2:5, and Galatians
6:14. The altar (and thus the cross) represents the
objective truth of what God does by Himself. The temple
then represents the subjective truth of what God does
through me. "Know ye not, ye are the temple?" As He restores the altar
and the temple, so He restores me. First things, first, and a little at
a time, He restores me to Himself.
EZRA 4
AN INCOMPLETE TEMPLE (FAITH TORPEDOED)
As we consider the theme of Ezra, which is Revival in
Christ, we must consider for a moment that not all is
sweetness and roses in the Christian life. Quite the
contrary, for many, we never knew problems till we came to
the Lord. At least it can seem that way. So what do you do
when it seems like the wheels are coming off the bus?
That’s Ezra chapter 4, and we need to know what it says.
So why do revivals stall? Why did work on the temple cease?
Theologians estimate that the work stopped for about 15
years, give or take a year. How is it that someone can come
to the Lord and have a good foundation, and then stop?
Maybe you’ve been there; maybe you’re still there. You
probably know someone who is. In this chapter we will see
at least seven reasons for torpedoed faith.
SEVEN TORPEDOES
The first thing that can derail revival is found in verses
1-3. This speaks of the Samaritans. Who were they? They are
first mentioned in II Kings 17:24-41. They were half-breeds
- half Jewish, half not-Jewish, and in this case they were
trouble for God’s people. That’s why when Jesus spoke of
the "Good Samaritan" people of His day were shocked - "can
there be such a thing.?!" Individually, yes, as is apparent
from Jesus’ comments. But as a group the Samaritans
represented compromise, in that they worshiped God and
idols according to II Kings. They did not give up the old
sin. II Corinthians 6:14-18 speaks very strongly about such
things - they did not separate themselves from sin. They
tried to have it both ways.
The second thing that torpedoes faith is found in verse 4,
and that is weakened hands. This is the spirit of
discouragement. Hebrews 3:12-13 exhorts us to encourage one
another lest the deceitfulness of sin turn us away from the
Lord.
The third thing, also found in verse 4, says they were
"troubled," which in the Hebrew has the sense of being
terrified. This speaks to the fear of man, of human
rejection. To follow the Lord can mean rejection by
family, especially if they’re not believers but even
sometimes when they are. In some cultures, if you follow
the Lord you are seen as abandoning your national identity.
Turning to the Lord puts you at odds with every other
religion in the world, especially in places where
Christianity is legally or practically forbidden. All these
things can weigh heavily on someone to make them question
the Lord’s call. But I John 4:18 speaks to this fear:
"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out
fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not
made perfect in love.
The fourth thing, found in verse 5, is they "hired
counselors... to frustrate their purpose." To me, this
sounds like modern psychology which is full of human
wisdom. Do you know the statistics on modern psychological
help? Of those who seek help, about 40-50% get better. If
you seek no help at all, the rate improves to 60-70%. Human
wisdom is contrary to God’s wisdom, which always pushes us
toward Christ, Who really knows what’s wrong with us, and
really knows how to fix us. I Corinthians 1:19-25 speaks of
God frustrating the "wisdom of the wise" with the
foolishness" of the Gospel.
The fifth thing that torpedoes faith is detailed in verses
6-22, and is a letter to the king filled with lies, slander
and misrepresentation. Revelation 12:10 describes Satan as
"the accuser of the brethren," always dwelling on our past.
Is he lying? Maybe, maybe not. But regardless, the
accusations just aren’t true anymore. Think about how Satan
stands before God in the book of Job, and that’s how men
behave toward us as well.
The sixth thing that hindered their work was force of arms,
as in "this is an illegal activity." Apparently they were
unwilling to die for the Lord and unwilling to die to self.
Now, a couple scriptures speak to this situation. Romans 13
tells us to obey the authorities for they are God’s
Instruments for law and order, and they "do not hold the
sword for nothing." On the other hand, we have Acts 4:18,
19 and Acts 5:29 where the Apostles declare "we ought to
obey God rather than men." Are we to commit sin? No! Are we
to refrain from righteousness? No! The Gospel is not an
excuse to break simple rules of law. Nor can "law and
order" dictate the silence of those whom God has called to
speak.
The seventh and final thing is found back in verse 3 again,
where the people rightly turn down the help of the
compromisers, but then declare "we will do it ourselves."
So what’s the issue? Self sufficiency versus God
sufficiency. Consider such passages as Galatians 3:1-11
where the "just shall live by faith," and not by works of
self; Philippians 3:2-11 which is Paul’s testimony that all
the earthly advantages he had were nothing compared to
knowing Christ; and Colossians 2:6 - how did you receive
Christ Jesus the Lord? By faith. So how shall you walk in
Him? By faith! Every aspect of the Christian life requires
us to trust Him for life and godliness from start to
finish.
Now, having said all that, these are not the reasons for an
incomplete temple, or a torpedoed faith. They are only the
occasions, the circumstances, the external reasons for an
incomplete temple and a torpedoed faith.
There is really only one reason for these things, that’s
taking our eyes off the Lord, according to Hebrews 12:1, 2.
When my eyes are on the Lord, I can walk on water if
necessary. When I take my eyes off the Lord, every and any
reason will shipwreck my faith. But God does not leave the
temple uncompleted; He does not leave His people to wallow
in their helplessness, and He does not leave us either. In
chapter 5, the prophets show up!
EZRA 5 & 6
A COMPLETED TEMPLE (PART 1)
When we looked at Ezra chapter 4, we looked at all the
reasons for an incomplete temple; compromise,
discouragement, fear of men, wisdom of men, satanic attack,
force of arms and self-sufficiency. These things were all
circumstances, they were not the real reason. What was the
real reason? They took their eyes off Christ.
Now in chapter 5, the prophets come and point the people
back to the Lord. Revelation 21:19 tells us that the spirit
of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus. Amos 3:7 tells us
that the Lord does nothing without revealing it to His
servants the prophets. All that is to say that no prophet
ever just showed up for no reason in particular and said
"well now, let me tell you how the end times will play
out!" There is always a crisis, a context, a situation
into which they are ministering, and here that situation is
the incomplete temple.
OUTLINE
Let me suggest a simple outline for chapters 5 & 6:
5:1,2 The works restarted
5:3-17 Tatnai’s letter
6:1-12 Darius’ database search & decree
6:13-15 Completion of the temple
6:16-18 Dedication of the temple
6:19-22 Passover celebrated
OBSERVATIONS
Ezra gives us the external situation and causes. We have to
go to the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to find the
spiritual reasons for what’s going on. Thus I want to look
at four principles of an incomplete temple that lead us to
a completed temple.
The first principle is the human impossibility of building
the temple (or of growing in Christ). If we compare I Kings
5 and II Chronicles 2, there were at least 150,000 workers
dedicated to the temple for 20 years. I Kings 6:7 tells us
that no sound of the hammer was heard a the temple site -
everything was prepared before it got there. So now,
according to Haggai 1:8, they were to "go to the mountain,
get wood, build the temple." Yeah, right! That’s as simple
as living the Christian life: "be ye perfect," "turn the
other cheek," "count it all joy," "avoid every appearance
of evil," "give thanks in all things," "love your enemies."
All of you out there have all those things down pat,
right?! If we’re honest, we’ll say "I quit building because
it doesn’t work."
There are generally two responses to these Biblical
commands.
The first one goes something like "if we must, we may" -
or, "God wouldn’t ask us to do the impossible." So then, we
try harder, we get more involved in activities, we study
harder, we read more books, we struggle and exert
more determination. Maybe we pursue a Bible degree, then
maybe a masters or a doctorate. You know what? All these
things are a great way to burn out.
The second response is "it’s impossible, so let God do it -
it’s His work anyway." However, the duty, the job, the
responsibility is still mine. So you can’t do it, and its
seems God won’t do it. What’s the cure? Consider if you
will Zechariah 4:1-14. The cure is this: God blesses the
"day of small things." What are "small things?" A widow’s
mite, a boy’s lunch, the jawbone of an ass, a boy’s sling,
a baby crying in a basket. We are weak, helpless and
inadequate, and we must stay that way till the day we
die. So, I can’t do it alone, and God wont’s do it alone.
But the plumb line is in Zerubbabel’s hand. Which is it? Is
it Him or me? God’s power doesn’t exclude the hands of man
- our hands, His Spirit. The seven-pronged lamp stand was
fuel by oil, which speaks of the Holy Spirit. Verse 14
speaks of two who are the "anointed ones" - that is, in
context, Zerubbabel and Jeshua. It’s God’s life in me that
makes it happen. The phrase "anointed ones" in the Hebrew
literally means "sons of fresh oil." It’s the Lord doing
the work through me. According to Galatians 2:20, "I am
crucified with Christ" - I am dead to sin - "nevertheless I
live: yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." It’s no longer
me, but Christ living in me that make the Christian life
possible. We will finish the last three principles in the
next section.
EZRA 5 & 6 (PART 2)
A COMPLETED TEMPLE
In chapter 4 we saw several things that caused the work on
the temple to cease, picturing things that cause us to stop
growing in Christ and make a revival come to a grinding
halt. Now in chapters 5 and 6, God sends His servants the
prophets to revive His people again and encourage them to
finish the temple. When we see how that is done, we will
see the principles God uses to revive our hearts.
Last time we looked at the first of four principles of an
incomplete temple.
The first principle was the human impossibility to obey the
Lord’s command. We do not have what it takes to obey God in
the flesh. But God has what it takes - "not by might, or by
power, but by my Spirit
says the Lord."
The second principle of an incomplete temple deals with the
insurmountable obstacles and circumstances. We looked at
these already: compromise, fear of man, wisdom of man,
misrepresentation, satanic attack, force of arms and selfsufficiency.
Any one of these is enough to stop a revival
if we let it, never mind all of them. Take a look at Psalm
3:1-3, which ends with "But thou, O Lord, are a shield for
me; my glory and the lifter up of my head." The Lord
Himself will encourage us, shield us and glorify Himself.
What’s the cure for insurmountable obstacles? According to
Zechariah 4:7, grace to it! Now, God doesn’t move just any
mountain. He never took away Paul’s thorn in the flesh, for
instance. He only moves mountains that stand in the way of
a completed temple, and stand in the way of growing in
Christ. That’s why Paul’s "thorn" stayed -it was an
instrument of grace in his life. For my inadequacy I have
the sufficiency of God. For my problems I have the grace of
God.
The third principle of an incomplete temple deals with
being under condemnation from enemies, or "digging up the
past." We need the revelation of God on how thoroughly our
sins have been forgiven. Consider Zechariah 3:1-10. This is
really a court scene, with Satan acting as our accuser, or
prosecuting attorney. The Angel of the Lord is our dvocate,
or defense attorney. Verses 4 and 7 speak of the Jury as
"those standing." Joshua, as high priest, represents all
believers. He has "dirty garments" - can they be cleaned?
No! Throw them away! The Hebrew word used means "stench,"
in the strongest terms. As the hymn writer puts it,
"clothed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand
before the throne." Our sin has separated us from God, but
He clothes us with His righteousness. We need to see
ourselves as He sees us or else we can’t go forward in the
Lord.
The fourth principle of an incomplete temple concerns Ezra
3:12 - the weeping of the elders. Why did they weep? Well,
the temple didn’t have the Ark of the Covenant; it didn’t
have the Urim and Thummin; it was not built noiselessly and
had no pre-cut stones; there was no "shekinah" glory; and
it was no where near as fancy as Solomon’s temple. In many
ways, this temple was a mere shadow of the original. But
the prophet Haggai doesn’t see it that way. Consider Haggai
2:6-9 speaking of the "desire of nations." Who is that? It
speaks of the coming of Christ. Why do people quit? They
don’t see Christ as the glory of the temple. That’s
why the Lord destroyed the picture of the original temple -
to point to the spiritual reality. That’s why the rebuilt
temple wasn’t pretty - so people would trust Christ and not
the picture. It’s not unlike the bronze serpent the Lord
told Moses to make. In Numbers, it saved lives; in
Hezekiah’s day, it became an idol and had to be destroyed.
Finally, if you embrace Christ as God’s cure, what will you
have? Haggai 2:9 speaks of peace; Haggai 2:14-19 speak of
blessing; and Haggai 2:23 speaks of influence. It’s not
just that you have the signet ring (the symbol of the
king’s authority), but that you are the signet ring. Ezra
6:16 & 22 then speak of the outworking of a completed
temple: joy, that is, joy of the supernatural kind. There
are many things that can shipwreck our faith. Embracing a
full Christ in reality is what we need to overcome the
world and live in victory and fullness of joy.
EZRA 7 & 8
HOW BEAUTIFUL
In the first revival, recorded in chapters 1 & 2, we
learned to live free in the Lord. We learned to get out of
Babylon and into the land, that is, out of bondage and into
Christ Jesus. In the second revival, we saw a
complete versus incomplete temple, that is, maturity versus
immaturity. We learned to live again by going forward in
the Lord. So now we’re done and we’ve gone as far as we can
go, right? Wrong! In chapter 7 we have a third revival and
a new wave of people! These are the second wave of people
who are obedient to the Lord. Think of it as an hour-long
television drama where they seem to solve the mystery in
about twenty minutes, so you know there will be a few more
plot twists - it’s just too early to wrap things up, and so
it is here in Ezra. We have four more chapters to go, so
there has to be something going on.
OUTLINE
Here’s a rough outline of these two chapters:
Ch. 7:1-10 Ezra’s Arrival
Ch. 7:11-16 Artaxerxes’ letter
Ch. 8:1-14 List of Returnees
Ch. 8:15-36 Details of the Journey
Chronologically speaking, all the events from here through
Nehemiah occurred after the book of Esther. So why is
Esther at the end? There’s a good answer to that, but I’m
not going to tell you now. Anyway, these events happened
almost sixty years after chapter 6 closes. Why didn’t
they come in the first wave? Well, they probably weren’t
even born yet! Or if they were, they would have been
infants. Either way, they just weren’t ready yet. Why
hasn’t revival come to our land yet? The simple answer is,
it’s not God’s timing yet; we aren’t ready. Romans 5:6
tells us "... in due time, Christ died for the ungodly." In
due time means just at the right time - not a minute too
soon, not a second too late. God’s timing is perfect; we’re
the ones who are confused... Ezra’s arrival initiates an
emphasis on the word of God - it’s always been there, but
even more so now, and this continues through the book of
Nehemiah. As you grow, your appreciation for God’s word
should grow, not diminish.
REVIEW OF THE TEXT
Let’s highlight a few verses. According to Ezra 7:6, Ezra
was a "ready scribe." What does that mean? He was a skilled
a teacher. Why was he described as skilled? According to
verse 7:10, he "prepared his heart to
seek the law of God," and "to do it," and to "teach."
Before anyone can become a teacher of God you have to be
taught of God, and practice it yourself. As James 4:1
reminds us "be not many teachers." Teaching is a
call and gifting of God and not for the faint of heart...
Look at verse 7:13. In regards to our salvation, does God
choose who is saved, or does man? This question has divided
God’s people for centuries, so if you don’t agree with me
you’ll be in good company. But as J. Vernon McGee liked to
say, "if you want to be right, you have to agree with me."
McGee was a Texan, so humility was obviously not an ssue...
God could choose, and God has the right to choose, but He
chooses not to choose because it would not be according to
our free will. God wants us to want Him as much as He wants
us. God’s call is to everyone (Act 17:30), but not everyone
responds, in case you haven’t noticed. Consider Ezra 7:27.
Here Ezra is praying and praising God for the king’s desire
to "beautify the temple." The Hebrew word for "beautify"
can also be translated "glory" or "glorify" depending on
the context. How is the temple - and by extension, the
church - beautified? Let’s back up and find out.
Consider verses 7:12-26. Verse 14 tells us that we are
beautified by the word of God - which is in your hand! The
more you know the scripture, the more beautiful you are!
Verse 17 speaks of buying sacrifices and offerings. What
does the sacrifice speak of? Christ! As Haggai 2:7 tells
us, Christ is the glory of the temple, and Christ is the
glory of the church! The more we know Christ, the subject
of His word, the more beautiful we become. Ezra 7:18 says
"whatever is God’s will." What He wants should be our
desire. Verse 19 speaks of worship and service beautifying
the temple. Verse 20 says "whatever is needful" beautifies
the temple. When Christ meets our needs, it’s always
according to His "riches and glory." Verse 21 echoes John
14:13: "Whatever you ask in my name, I shall do for you."
We like to ask for stuff, but how often do we ask according
to His name, that is, according to the knowledge of God,
according to His purposes, according to His glory. Often,
it’s about us asking with selfish motives. Ezra 7:22 speaks
of wine and oil - pictures of the Holy Spirit. It also
speaks of salt without limit - "ye are the salt of the
earth." Verse 23 echoes verse 18 - "Whatever is commanded
by God." Some things we all need, but not everyone gets
every single thing - God is sovereign over handing out
gifts and ministry and calling to each individual. Verse 24
says no taxes - that is, no human control over the beauty
of the temple! Verse 25 speaks of appointing justices who
know the law to teach those who don’t, which is echoed by
II Timothy 2:2 to teach faithful men to teach others. The
beauty of the temple (and the church) will fade over time
unless the knowledge of God is passed on to each eneration.
Ezra 7:26 details what will happen to those who disobey
these commands: death, banishment, confiscation of
property, imprisonment... sound familiar? Think
spiritually, and you get the "wages of sin is death,"
(Romans 3:23) and "even what he does have will be taken
away" (from the parable of the talents). Ezra 8:15-36 speak
of the details of the journey of the second wave that
was lead by Ezra. I want to highlight verses 21-23. This
pictures for us the pilgrim’s journey when he no longer
trusts in the devices of men but trusts the Lord to bring
him where he ought to be. Who then is Christ from these
chapters? Consider Ecclesiastes 3:11: "He hath made
everything beautiful in his time..." and also Psalm 149:4:
"For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people: he will
beautify the meek with salvation." He is the Beautifier of
the temple and also of His people. May we be beautiful in
His sight.
EZRA 9 & 10
SIN IN THE CAMP
As we consider the theme of Ezra, which is Revival in
Christ, let’s look at where we’ve been so far. Chapters 1
and 2 spoke of Revival #1, which was out of Babylon and
into the land. Chapters 3-6 spoke of Revival #2, which was
a complete versus an incomplete temple. Chapters 7 and 8
spoke of Revival #3, which was the second wave and the
beautification of the temple. To put this in more familiar
theological terms, Revival #1 speaks of justification,
Revival #2 speaks of sanctification, and Revival #3 speaks
of glorification. So here, internal to the book of Ezra, we
see the pattern of Genesis 1 displayed. While it’s still
true that Ezra is the first in the Restoration books,
making it the "light" book if you will, it is also obvious
that the Genesis 1 pattern can also be seen internally not
only here but in other books as well. Okay, so now we’re
done with revival, right?! We’ve got the cycle, so we can
go home, right?! Not by a long shot! In fact, we’re not
done "beautifying" the temple.
OUTLINE
Here is a rough outline of these two chapters:
9:1, 2 The Problem of Sin Presented
9:3-15 Ezra’s Response and Prayer
10:1-17 The Covenant to put away the Strange Women
10:18-44 The List of those who sinned
REVIEW OF THE TEXT
According to verses 9:1, 2, we see a sin issue among the
people, that is, intermarriage with the surrounding
neighbors which is specifically forbidden in the Law. These
people also had sins associated with them: The Canaanites
were cursed since Noah’s time; the Hittites were the
Philistines - the giants of the land - who represent fear
of men; the Ammonites and Moabites, who were descended from
Lot, represent compromise and digging up the past; Egypt
speaks of the sin nature; and the Amorites, whose
immorality was as bad or worse than Sodom. In other words,
while intermarriage was the specific sin being dealt with,
it was really only the illustration; all sin was really at
issue, and the same old sins as well. If divorce is the
remedy for intermarriage, this would contradict Corinthians
7:12, 13 where Paul forbids divorce. In Deuteronomy 24:1,
Moses allowed divorce because of the "hardness of your
hearts," according o Matthew 19:7, 8. However, on the
broader scale, we must separate from sin, we must put away
sin - but how?
Consider Romans 7:15 - 8:4. Like gravity, you must overcome
the law of sin and death with a greater law. The law of
aerodynamics overcomes the law of gravity. In the same way,
the law of the Spirit overcomes the law of sin and death.
The Holy Spirit will always point us back to Christ as
the cure for snake-bitten sinners. Note how Ezra 9:9 speaks
of a heavy rain. Several times in Scripture rain is spoken
of as a blessing: Psalm 68:9, Psalm 72:6, Isaiah 44:3. Rain
can also be a curse, with one of the plagues on Egypt being
rain, along with the Genesis flood. The point of the rain:
God may have disapproved of the method they use to deal
with sin, but He approved of their heart. They may have
used an Old Covenant method, but they were sincere in their
desire to be separated from sin. Thus, in the broader
picture, to beautify the temple also means to be
done with sin. So who is Christ? He is the Cleanser of the Temple, just
as He was in the New Testament. As Psalm 69:9 tells us "the zeal of
thine house hath eaten me up." God longs to dwell in a pure temple.

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