anitasanecdotes

We now begin 1 Chronicles which is a history of the people God has chosen.

1 Chronicles 1-3 contains a genealogy of the generations of the people of God from Adam, following the line of David, through those in captivity in Babylon. Mostly they are lists of names, but occasionally some information is given about the people being listed. Some of the names are very familiar to us since we have read their stories.

In 2 Corinthian 10 Paul compares his visits with his letters. While he is visiting he tries to show meekness and gentleness toward the people. But his letters deal boldly with the issues at hand. He states that if he must he will be strong when he is present to clarify things for those who choose to point out his supposed frailties.

In 2 Kings 23 King Josiah of Judah reads the entire book of the covenant to the people at the house of the Lord. The king and the people make a covenant to keep the commandments, decrees and statutes written there. Josiah destroys all the idols and worship places of the false gods in Judah and Samaria. He gets rid of the idolatrous priests mediums and wizards. Then he and the people celebrate Passover.

Because of the sin of Manasseh who proceeded Josiah God still punishes the people. The king of Egypt kills Josiah. Josiah’s son Jehoiakim makes an alliance with the Pharaoh. He did evil in the sight of the Lord.

In 2 Kings 24 King Nebuchadnessar of Babylon comes against Judah and Jerusalem in several major attacks. He destroys Jerusalem and the temple and takes away all the elite of the land to Babylon. He also takes the treasure from the king’s house and the temple. The poor are left to till the soil.

After Nebuchadnezzar dies the king of Babylon releases King Jehoiachin and lets him sit at the king’s table while the people suffer.

Despite the fact that there are a couple of good and faithful kings in Judah, most do not love the Lord and lead the people astray. God is forced to punish them harshly. God’s punishment is always meant to lead us back to Him with contrite hearts.

Psalm 66 is a song of praise to God. All the earth worships Him because He has shown the people mercy.

Psalm 67 is a song of blessing for the people who are faithful to God.

In 2 Kings 21 Manasseh succeeds his father Hezekiah as king of Judah. He does not continue his father’s faith tradition. On the contrary he behaves more like the rulers of Israel. He rebuilds the high places and engages in pagan worship. Manasseh puts an idol of Asherah in the house of the Lord. Manasseh led the people to commit abominations against the Lord. The Lord vows to punish the people of Judah for their sin by delivering them into the hands of their enemies. Manasseh’s son Amon follows in his father’s footsteps and is killed by his servants.

In 2 Kings 22 Josiah becomes the king of Judah. He is a righteous king. Josiah sees to the restoration of the house of the Lord. The high priest Hilkiah finds the book of the law in the house of the Lord and reads it. When Josiah hears the words of the book he tears his clothes in repentance.

Josiah has the priests seek counsel form Huldah a prophetess of God. She tells them that God will indeed punish the people for their sin, but because Josiah has been humble and penitent he will die before the punishment begins.

God is faithful to Josiah because of his humility. When we humble ourselves before God, God show us mercy.

2 Corinthians 9 continues to speak about being generous in giving to the ministry. Our generosity is not to be forced but is to be voluntary. We are generous because God is generous to us. As we continue to give God will continue to bless. All of this is due to God’s incredible grace.

In 2 Kings 19 Hezekiah hears the threats from the king of Assyria. He sends his representatives and priests to the prophet Isaiah and asks what God would have him do. Isaiah tells Hezzekiah not to be afraid. God will make him return to his own land.

Sennacharib again sends his representative to Hezekiah with threats that God cannot protect him from an attack on Jerusalem. The other gods were not able to protect the lands that the king of Assyria as taken and Hezekiah’s God will not be able to either. Hezekiah goes to the house of the Lord and prays that God show his power against Sennacharib and his threats.

Isaiah replies to Hezekiah words from God. God says that while the king of Assyria boasts of his conquests he is merely doing what God has planned from the beginning. The remnant of the faithful in Jerusalem will not be harmed.

That night God strikes down the Assyrian army. Sennacharib goes to Ninevah where he iss killed by his sons. God is faithful to the remnant in Jerusalem just as He promised.

In 2 Kings 20 Hezekiah becomes ill. Isaiah goes to him and tells him that he is going to die. Hezekiah pleads with the Lord. Isaiah returns and says that God has heard his cries. He will be granted 15 more years of life. He will recover from his illness in three days. The sign that God is doing this is that the sun goes backward 10 hours.

The king of Babylon sends emissaries to Jerusalem. Hezekiah shows them all the wealth of Jerusalem. Isaiah comes to Hezekiah and predicts that Babylon will conquer Jerusalem and take its wealth and people. Hezekiah acknowledges the Lord’s words. After the 15 years God gives him, Hezekiah dies.

Hezekiah has learned to trust the Lord. His promises are sure. Even when they bring bad news they are to be trusted.

In 2 Corinthians 8 Paul shares with the church at Corinth what God has been doing in the church at Macedonia. Despite their struggles they have been generous even beyond their means to help the ministry to the saints. Paul recognizes those things in which the Corinthians excel and encourages them to excel in generosity as well. It is God’s desire that there be a fair balance between those who have much and those who have little.

Paul tells the Corinthians that Titus and two others are coming to work with them. Paul encourages the church to show them love.

Generosity is one of the fruit of the Spirit. It apparently has been lacking in the church at Corinth. They have become wealthy and have not been willing to share with others. Paul reminds them that God wants us to be generous in our giving to those in need. Generosity is evidence of God working on our lives.

2 Kings 17 speaks of the downfall of the people of Israel and Judah. They knew that they were supposed to keep the law of God and yet they all turned away. God turned his back on them and they fell into the hands of Assyria. The king of Assyria captures Samaria and God sends lions to kill them. So the king of Assyria has one of the priests of Israel come to Samaria to teach the people about the Lord. The people follow the Lord but still do not give up their worship of other gods against God’s commands.

In 2 Kings 18 Hezekiah becomes the king of Judah. He does what is right in God’s sight. Unlike his ancestors he tears down the high places, pillars and sacred pole. He breaks the bronze snake that Moses had made because it had become an object of worship. Hezekiah trusts the Lord more than any who came before him or who follow him The Lord prospers Hezekiah.

King Sennacharib of Assyria captures all the lands around Jerusalem. He sends his captains against Jerusalem. They try to entice the people to rebel against Hezekiah saying that his God will not be able to withstand his attack. The people follow Hezekiah and do not respond to Sennacharib.

In 2 Corinthians 7 Paul speak of godly grief. This is a grief brought on by the realization of our sin and the troubles it causes others and God. This grief leads to repentance and brings not regret but consolation.

In 2 Kings 15 and 16 Azariah is the king of Judah. While he has a long reign it is not marked by anything noteworthy. In Israel however, the kings come and go with great speed. Most are not noteworthy until Menahem. He is as evil the same as the others but he is able to keep the king of Assyria from invading Israel. Unfortunately when King Pekah is king of Israel (and is still evil) the king of Assyria invades much of Israel and takes the people captive to Assyria.

King Azariah is also known as Uzziah. Azariah is afflicted with leprosy throughout his reign so his son Jotham represents him. After he dies Jotham takes the throne of Judah. His reign isn’t very noteworthy. When he dies his son Ahaz takes the throne He does not follow in the steps of David or even his ancestors. Instead he assumes the practices of Israel and is influenced by other nations’ worship. The kings of Aram and Israel move against Ahaz. He forms an alliance with the king of Assyria. Ahaz copies the altar in Damascus and replaces the altar in the house of the Lord with it. He destroyed parts of the house of the Lord to please the king of Assyria.

While the kings of Judah had been faithful to God they continued to sacrifice on the high places. This was against God’s will. Finally, with Ahaz, even Judah completely turns away from God just as Israel had.  Assyria has become a strong influence on the people of God.

Psalm 64 is a psalm of pleading to God for rescue.

Psalm 65, on the other hand, is a song of praise to God because he has delivered his people. It speaks of forgiveness of sins and God’s mighty deeds.

In 2 Kings 13 and 14 Israel goes through several kings who continue to sin against the Lord like Jeroboam. When they cry out God helps them and God will not completely destroy them because of the promise he made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Amaziah  begins his reign in Judah. He is faithful to the Lord except again he allows sacrifices on the high places. Judah goes to war against Israel and Israel wins. The king of Israel captures Amaziah. Then he goes to Jerusalem and takes all the holy vessels from the house of the Lord to Samaria.

Later both kings die and are succeeded by their sons. The king of Israel continues to do evil in the sight of the Lord. He dies and is succeeded by his son Zechariah.

In 2 Corinthians 6 Paul speaks more precisely about the hardships he is facing. He states that he has met these hardship with purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech and the power of God. This has allowed him and his ministry to thrive even in the midst of trial.

The end of this chapter has some different counsel than the last letter. He encourages the people to stay away from unbelievers and from the things of pagan temples. We are the temple of the living God, need to be separate and touch nothing unclean.

In 2 Kings 10 Jehu kills off the children of Ahab and all those who worship Baal. God promises to keep his family on the throne for his obedience. But Jehu sinned in the same way that Jeroboam did by keeping idols in the high places. God began to make Jehu’s kingdom smaller through enemy attacks.

In 2 Kings 11 and 12 Jehoash the son of Ahaziah is hidden away so he will not be killed. Jehoiada the priest enlists captains to protect the house of the Lord. Jehoiada anoints Joash king. He destroys all fo the temples and priests of Baal and makes a covenant with the king and the people. Jehoash becomes king of Judah at age seven. He was faithful to God because of Jehoiada. The people continued to make sacrifices on the high places.

Jehoash tells the priests to use the money collected from donations to repair the house of the Lord. He pays the workers well. His servants conspire against him and kill him. Jehoash’s son Amaziah becomes king.

In 2 Corinthians 5 Paul continues to speak about his desire to be with the Lord/ He knows that as long as he remains on earth he is away from the Lord.

Paul knows that those who are in Christ are no longer living for themselves but for Christ. We no longer regard them from a human point of vies but rather from that eternal point of view. They/we are new creations.

In Christ God reconciles himself to us. He does not count our sins against us.. Our task is to be ambassadors for Christ speaking his message of reconciliation so that we might become the righteousness of God.

In 2 Kings 8 and 9 the woman whose some was brought back to life went to Philistia during a famine that Elisha predicted. The famine is over and the woman returns and wants to reclaim her land. When the king of Israel hears about what Elisha has done for her he restores her land.

The kings of Israel, Aram and Judah change. Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat becomes the king of Israel.

In Psalm 62 the writer waits in silence for God his rock and his fortress. He does not put his confidence in anyone else.

In Psalm 63 the writer seeks for God. He longs to God’s steadfast love. He thinks of God every day and meditates on him every night.

In 2 Kings 6 and 7 God gives Elisha the ability to hear his enemy’s plans while he is making them in private. When the Arameans army comes to attack Elisha prays that God will help his people see the army of angels that is protecting them. God blinds the the enemy army and Elisha leads them into Samaria. He had the people of Israel feed them . They did not attack Israel for some time.

Later the Arameans lay siege on Samaria starving the people until they resort to cannibalism. The king complains to Elisha and he tells the king that the next day they will have plenty. God confuses the Arameans and they leave their camp and all of their supplies. The people of Israel can eat.

In 2 Corinthians 4 Paul speaks of being faithful to present the gospel even though he is enduring much hardship. He knows that the glory should be given to God. If thing would go easily the temptation would be to take the credit. As it is God receives all the glory.

Paul is preparing to die knowing that this momentary affliction will lead to eternal glory.