Today’s passage: 2 Chronicles 17:1-19

Helpful thoughts:

• Asa’s son, Jehoshaphat followed hard after the Lord and this passage teaches us that he served God and the nation well.
  • He was successful even in tearing down the “High places” of pagan worship throughout the kingdom, something Asa had not done.
• The proximity of verse 9 and 10 are striking.  We might expect to see that the nation won a huge victory, or that they were ruthless against their enemies, and that these experiences would have brought fear to the surrounding nations.  But instead, what we see is a focused and detailed effort to send qualified men to teach the nation the Word of God.
• God’s blessing brought about great military power, not the other way around.

Questions to consider:

1. What was the “secret” to Jehoshaphat’s success as a king?  What did he do for the people he led?  For whom did he labor?
2. In order for people to know whether they are obeying the Lord or not, what do they need to know?  What is the danger of trusting spiritual experiences when coupled with an ignorance of the Bible?  Is it too simple of a calling to read, study and learn the Word of God and then obey Him with your life?  Why is this the best (Only) way to be led by the Spirit and strive to be pleasing to Him?
3. How could the order of events in this chapter help us to think rightly about how to discern God’s blessing in our lives?  Does Psalm 37:4 teach us that God will delight in us when we pray and give us whatever we want? Or, does Psalm 37:4 teach us that when we delight in God our desires are conformed to His, causing us to value the blessings He has promised over our old desires?

Today’s passage: 2 Chronicles 16:1-14

Helpful thoughts:

• When trouble finally came Asa’s way again, he did not rely on the Lord as he had before.  Instead, he put his hope in a foreign king.
  • God could have given the King Asa victory over the king he relied on for help.  The Syrians would be trouble to Judah in the future.
• God delights in declaring His glory through caring for those who trust in and are loyal to Him.
• In this event and in the few years that followed before his death, Asa was a different king.
  • Asa grew bitter and lashed out at the wrong people.  His bitterness produced a barrier between him and the Lord.

Questions to consider:

1. What could Asa have done when Israel and King Baasha first came to attack?  What could Asa have done even after he was rebuked for his wrongdoing (1 John 1:9)?
2. What is the sad irony of Asa’s decision to imprison the prophet who spoke God’s word to him?  What had he stood for in the many years prior to this time?
3. What characteristics and fruits of bitterness can you see in Asa’s final years?  How did Asa treat others because he was bitter toward God?  What would Asa’s repentance have looked like?  No one wants to be bitter, but what does a person want more than to avoid bitterness when they have become bitter?

Today’s passage: 2 Chronicles 15:1-19

Helpful thoughts:

• In this word from the Lord, Asa was given a short history of Israel and a promise from the Lord quite similar to the one received by Solomon.  If Asa and Judah would follow the Lord, the Lord would be with them.
• The promise to put anyone who worshiped an idol to death might sound extreme.  However, this was a promise to obey what was already in the Law which God had given to Israel (Deuteronomy 17:2-5).
  • Committing to keep this law was also an act of confession.
  • In what would have been a very symbolic gesture, even Asa’s grandmother (The Queen Mother) was not exempt from this vow.  She was removed from office and her statue destroyed.
• The “high places” were places of worship scattered around outside the cities of Israel and Judah.  They would most likely have been places where pagan worship had occurred.  Asa’s reforms fell short in that those places were not entirely destroyed.

Questions to consider:

1. Given the nature of the worship and polytheism practiced in Judah at that time, what “risks” might it have looked like Asa was taking to declare loyalty to the Lord alone?  In what ways was God’s grace on display in this time of revival for the nation?
2. Even in a nation like Judah (Or Israel) following the Word of God in the fear of the Lord can be contrary to public opinion.  How must the Christian today be resolved to follow King Jesus and seek His kingdom first in the midst of the world?  Where is our allegiance?  Who must we obey?
3. How can the call to remove the “high places” be an example to us?  What did the presence of those high places allow Judah to return to without much trouble?  Are there any “high places” in your life or daily routine that need to go in order to help you pursue God with your whole mind?

Today’s passage: 2 Chronicles 14:1-15

Helpful thoughts:

• Asa tore down what Solomon and others had built up to worship numerous false gods.
• The removal of all forms of idolatry resulted in rest for the people of Judah.
  • Asa rightly attributed that peace to the Lord.
• In another battle where the enemy had twice as many soldiers ready to fight, God gave Judah victory.  This time, against one million Ethiopians.

Questions to consider:

1. This passage causes us to consider the ideas of peace and rest.  How did Judah’s peace with God result in peace and rest? (Think: Peace with God, peace from struggles or conflicts with other people, peace of mind)  We all desire rest, or peace of mind.  How do we rightly value those things in connection with true peace with our Maker?
2. Did the rest Judah experienced mean they did not work?  What efforts were being made in their time of rest because they were in a time of rest?  In what ways does valuing “rest” (Inactivity) too highly result in a lack of rest?  What happens to the quality of our rest when we have done good work and pursued righteousness in the grace of God?
3.  What did Asa base his appeal upon in his prayer to God in verse 11?  How would you have spoken this prayer in your own words?  How does it rightly define our God and His faithfulness?

Today’s passage: 2 Chronicles 13:1-22

Helpful thoughts:

• On the day of this battle, Abijah chose to lead Judah to serve the Lord and the Lord gave Abijah the victory.
  • At the beginning of this battle, Israel had 800,000 men and a tactical advantage to Judah’s 400,000 men.
  • More Israelite men died that day than Judah had even brought to the battle field!  God gave them this victory. (Verse 18)
• The “young and inexperienced” Rehoboam was 41 when he began to reign.
• Abijah’s short reign was not all that righteous, as depicted in 1 Kings 15:1-4.  But God used this day to continue His faithfulness to His promise to David.

Questions to consider:

1. In what way was the account of this battle a cause for rejoicing in victory for Judah?  In what way was the account of this battle a cause for mourning for the whole of Israel?  Whom did Judah defeat on this day?
2. What is the striking rebuke of verse 9?  What had Jeroboam and Israel done to form their own religion?  Where do false religions come from?
3. What victory was the greatest of all time, has been promised to us, and was won for us by one who died in our place? (1 Corinthians 15:54-58)  Sometimes passages like this give us reason to think God guarantees for us smaller victories in life over difficult situations, struggles, sicknesses, etc. (God CAN give us smaller victories, but we would be wrong to take up an offense because we thought those victories had been guaranteed.) Why is the victory we have in Jesus the biggest victory of all?

Today’s passage: 2 Chronicles 12:1-16

Helpful thoughts:

• The cities Rehoboam had considered “fortified” and “secure” were only ever as safe as the Lord kept them.
  • 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen would stand no chance against the one true God.
• When the princes and the king acknowledged, “The LORD is righteous” they were admitting they were not (Verse 6).  This was a confession of their sinfulness.
• Being a bondservant/slave of the Lord and of righteousness is always better than being in bondage to men. (Romans 6:15-19)

Questions to consider:

1. How might we rephrase verse 1?  What did Rehoboam have when he decided he no longer needed God?  Why did Rehoboam have what he did?  Where did the nation go under his leadership?
2. What would have been safer, fortified cities with thick walls (And no God) or no walls and pop-up tents (With God)?  What things make us feel safe in this world?  What amount of possessions might make us feel secure?  What/Who is our strength and our greatest possession (Matthew 7:24-27, Philippians 4:11-13)?
3. Why did Rehoboam do what was evil (Verse 14)?  Knowing that our salvation and growth are gifts of God’s grace, how does He command us to pursue godliness?  Is godliness something we are simply to stumble upon as we occupy ourselves with other things, or are we to proactively strive for it? (Philippians 3:12-16)

Today’s passage: 2 Chronicles 11:1-23

Helpful thoughts:

• Rehoboam amasses an army to fight to retain his reign over all Israel.  God stops him.
• The priests and Levites from all over Israel who were unwilling to serve in Jeroboam’s new idolatry relocated in order to serve the Lord.
  • Jeroboam saw loyalty to the Lord and worship at the Temple in Jerusalem as a path to loyalty to Rehoboam.
  • Others from the ten tribes who seceded followed the priests and Levites to remain loyal to the Lord.
• Rehoboam dealt wisely in the way he distributed his sons throughout his kingdom.  He did not deal wisely in continuing the practice of polygamy.

Questions to consider:

1. Why did Rehoboam listen today after not listening to the counsel of the elders before (End of verse 4)?  Whose will was accomplished in both instances? (Proverbs 21:1)
2. Why was Rehoboam’s reign strengthened for those first three years? Whose influence blessed the kingdom of Judah? (Verses 16-17)  What heart and actions brought about that influence?
3. Having good laws and justice is a good thing (1 Peter 2:14), but how can Christians be a good influence even when the laws aren’t good?  How can a nation be positively influenced by the church today even if the laws are contrary to Scripture?

Today’s passage: 2 Chronicles 10:1-18

Helpful thoughts:

• The rest of 2 Chronicles will cover the Judean kings starting with the secession of the rest of Israel after Rehoboam, son of Solomon, becomes king.
  • The people were asking for relief, Rehoboam decided to threaten greater struggle instead.
• The prophecy to Jeroboam (Verse 15) is recorded in 1 Kings 11:26-40 .  Ironically, Jeroboam had formerly been one of the managers of forced labor under King Solomon.
• For the most part, all the tribes except for much of Benjamin and Judah left and retained the name, “Israel.”  Those from the tribe of Benjamin and Judah became “Judah.”  There were people from different tribes who did not follow suit with the rest of their tribes though.

Questions to consider:

1. Rehoboam sent the man in charge of forced labor to the Israelites to show that his words were no empty threat.  What did the people of Israel do to him (Verse 18)?
2. What reason did Israel give for their revolt (Verse 16)?  What reason did God give for the revolt (1 Kings 11:33)?
3. If you were told that God was taking the kingdom away from Rehoboam because of idolatry, what might you try to make sure doesn’t happen in the nation afterward?  What did Jeroboam do (1 Kings 12:25-28)?  Is good logic enough to bring a person to salvation and humble obedience?  What must occur for a person to become one who fears the Lord (John 3:3-8)?

Today’s passage: 2 Chronicles 9:1-31

Helpful thoughts:

• Sheba was a nation located in the southwestern part of the Arabian peninsula.  There has been speculation concerning Sheba being in parts of Africa around the areas of Sudan and Ethiopia.
• The queen’s comments were her perspective after being left breathless at all the wealth and wisdom God had given to Solomon.
• The state of the kingdom and the successes of Solomon are emphasized in this passage, perhaps for the benefit of those returning from the exile as they were reminded of who they had been as a nation.  However, content such as 1 Kings 11:1-8, which had much to do with the beginnings of why the nation was later exiled, are not mentioned.

Questions to consider:

1. How should we perceive the words of the Queen of Sheba?  Was Solomon blessed of God and Israel to be established forever because the Queen of Sheba said so or was this simply an account of her kind words as she articulated all she saw?  How does this help us to read narrative rightly in the Bible?
2. How might an exiled Israelite think about the condition of their nation after reading this chapter in 2 Chronicles?  How would the queen’s words have served as a caution concerning God’s promise to Solomon in 7:17-18?  How might it also have served as a temptation, receiving plaudits from all of these foreign rulers?
3. Knowing what was to come even in the next generation of the throne in Jerusalem (Which we will read tomorrow), how could the wealth Solomon and Israel possessed have served as a false sense of security for the people?  Where are our true and greatest riches found (Philippians 3:8)?

Today’s passage: 2 Chronicles 8:1-18

Helpful thoughts:

• After 20 years of his reign, Solomon begins to reinforce the strength and expand the size of the kingdom (Both geographically and fiscally).
• Solomon carefully and sacrificially ensured the worship of the Temple was carried on as it had been commanded.  He was paying attention and being proactive.
• Solomon’s dealings with his wife, the daughter of Pharaoh, show that he was fully aware of her spiritual condition.
  • Solomon did not bring his wife (wives) to the Lord, they brought their gods to him.

Questions to consider:

1. What great characteristics and successes do we see in the life and reign of Solomon in this chapter?  What cause for concern is wedged right into the middle of the chapter?  With all of the care Solomon took to ensure the strength and success of Israel and the worship of the Lord, where was his great weakness?
2. If Solomon had hoped that his wives would ensure peace and good relations with foreign lands, where did he go wrong?  Who was Israel’s strength and safety?  How many wives did Solomon need and whom should they have worshiped, being “one flesh” with Solomon? (Deuteronomy 17:17)
3. How can Romans 11:36-12:2 encourage us in our lives today?  How much of our lives are under the authority and protection of God?  Is there an area of your life that you have regarded as your own?  How might you need to surrender and repent to the glory of God and for your own good and joy?