2 CHRONICLES 33-36 - Manasseh and Josiah

Heart Issues
As I am in this stage of hoping and dreaming for my son I connect with these stories so much more. I pray that my son will walk with the Lord all of his life. It blows me away to see such amazing kings be followed up by rebellious and faithless sons. It makes me search and try to find what I can do to help my son experience the Lord and enjoy the Lord. I am beginning to understand what it is to look to the next generation and begin to get my eyes off of just what I may accomplish and look to what I can set my son up to accomplish. I want to guard against expectations of my son though, so it is such a hard balance and there is no fatherhood stories included in the chronicles. It is also amazing to me that God will still have us when we have turned to all else before seeking Him. Why does he accept our repentance after we have shown that we prefer anything but Him unless He is our last choice? He is amazingly loving and challenging to my heart as a dad. Of course, I love the story of Josiah and am challenged by his zealousness for the Lord. He truly wanted to see God exalted and lifted up. He gave of his own possessions and all of his life he sought the Lord and His word. It is great to see the power of the word as it was read before Josiah.

Notes
-Manasseh was a horrible king to begin with. He was so terrible that God let him be dragged away by his nose by the King of Assyria. God tried to get his attention through speaking to the people. There is no notation as to whether God spoke himself or used prophets. He came back to the Lord, but did not take down all of the high places and Asherah poles. The people still sacrificed to God from the high places. What does this even mean? They were not truly worshipping God for that is not the way He would be worshipped. Amon was terrible and didn’t last long. He is the only king I think I have read about who was assassinated by his own officials. It seems that people loved Amon though because he was such a terrible king and killed the officials for their assassinating him. Josiah was awesome and an inspiration to me that high school ministry is so valuable. Students can hear the word of the Lord and be cut to the heart. He renewed Judah and set it back on the course unto the Lord. Sadly it was only for his generation for the kings after him were truly wicked. Judah continued to spiral down into wickedness and were soon destroyed for it. God did spare a remnant though and brought back His people later through Cyrus.
-Jehoiachin only reigned in Jerusalem 3 months and 10 days. It almost makes you wonder how he had time to do evil in the eyes of the Lord.

2 CHRONICLES 29-32 - HEZEKIAH

Heart Issues
It is so encouraging to read this story after so many bad ones. I know that God will enable me to walk with Him for a lifetime and not sputter out in my 40s. I want to follow hard after God all the days of my life. Lately I have been undisciplined and have lost sight of the most important things in entertaining myself. I have been knocked down more than ever and had more time for reading and spending with the Lord, but have used the time to play games, watch movies, work on the computer, and get caught up in the craziness of life. I repent of this as Hezekiah did and I want to pursue the Lord more fully and passionately through the end of the year. I want to trust God in the same way Hezekiah did in battle with the enemy. I know that God could sweep in and cause all of Loveland High School to humble themselves before Him, but He is waiting to the last day for that. I want to expect Him for bigger things and allow Him to move mountains in front of us. I want to get back to memorizing scripture and praying more often. I love it when I am doing these things and experiencing God in these disciplines.

Notes
-Hezekiah went over and above the call of duty here. He had all of the sacred stones, Asherah poles, and high places smashed and removed all idolatry from Judah and Israel. He united Israel and Judah again for a Passover feast. He put the temple back into working order and back into the central part of Judah. Judah was in desperate need of a king like this following Ahaz and his horrible reign. Ahaz trusted God in battle and prospered in everything he did. The only thing written bad about him was his pride at the end of his life, but even of that he repented.

2 CHRONICLES 25-28

Heart Issues
I am challenged again to keep on keepin’ on. I want to follow the Lord all the days of my life and not be swayed by my own pride. I want to fight the good fight and finish the race that God has called me to. These stories may have partly led to Paul’s writings of pressing on. I needed this encouragement today as I am feeling weary of all of our doctor appointments and ministry stuff in addition to not being able to do them all. I am trying to figure out the balance right now of following hard after God, but giving myself a break as I am discouraged some and tired. I am excited about our baby, but I need to redefine my pace and slow down some and sit with the Lord most of all. Ahaz is a picture of someone running the complete opposite direction of God. There are many people in life who do this and God allows but opposes that person. I am thankful to God that He cares enough about each individual to punish and pursue our hearts even as wicked as Ahaz was. He continued to pursue His people and next came Hezekiah.

Notes
-Amaziah and Uzziah are more great examples of kings starting off well, but not going all the way. They start off by seeking the Lord and are changed by their pride and seeking after other gods. Amaziah, after God led him to victory over the Edomites, bows down to the gods of the people he just defeated. God’s anger burned against him and as his pride grew he contested the king of Israel who God allowed to kill him. Then Uzziah was so prideful that he entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense to Him and after being confronted by the priests, leprosy broke out on his head. At this point he was relieved of his duties for a leper was a disgraceful thing in those days. Jotham is a surprising story, for he followed the Lord and “walked steadfastly” with Him, but the people remained wicked. In most cases the kings dictated the people’s actions and here it seems that Jotham may not have enforced his views on the others and was becoming politically correct like our leaders. Ahaz is an example of an awful king who sought after other gods and never truly learned his lesson.
-It is so significant to look at where the kings were buried. All of the bad kings were not buried with their fathers which is very symbolic of saying that the good kings were in a whole other class than the wicked ones. Ahaz was not buried with his fathers.

2 CHRONICLES 21-24 - Jehoram, Ahaziah, and Joash

Heart Issues
Jehoram killed all of his brothers so that no one could rival him for the kingdom. How do I deal with my rivals or people that are better than me? I want to hold them close to make me better, not push them away to make me worse which was obviously the case with Jehoram. He was a terrible king. I can’t imagine dying and everyone being grateful for my death. Then Ahaziah was even worse, following his mother’s deceitful ways. Jehu killed a whole bunch of guys and finished up with Ahaziah. Athaliah got took by the priest Jehoiada. He impresses me in that he followed the Lord, not for his purposes, but for the Lord and His glory. Joash steps in the right direction, but only when guided there. He never takes faith in God to be his own, but trusts Jehoiada the priest with his decisions. There are so many students that will pass through our ministry that will trust us and allow us to help them make their decisions, but will not make their faith their own. My prayer is that we will be the wise council that guides them along the right path and helps them walk that path on their own for the rest of their life. How will I finish my race? Will I burn out and turn away? Or will I follow harder and harder after God until the end of my days? What am I doing now to help the latter be true of me?

Notes

-Bad streak for the house of Judah – Jehoram and Ahaziah – Terrible
- People can’t seem to follow the Lord on their own and lead from a true base of integrity. -Here is another vivid picture of starting strong but ending awfully. These men need to learn persistence and endurance