Day #177

Sermon - Audio
1 Kings 15:1-24, 2 Chronicles 13-16 - Audio
1 Kings 15:1-24, 2 Chronicles 13-16 - Reading

Daily Insights - Please Comment

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• 1 Kings 15.1-24

• In Kings the son of Rehoboam is Abijam (My father is the Sea [god]), his Chronicles it is Abijah (My father is Yahweh). They are the same person and no reason is given for the name differenct. Kings gives a much shorter life story of both Abijam and Asa than the book of Chronicles.
• Asa’s reign is seen only in a positive light in the book of Kings. There is just a hint of the problems of Asa when we are told that he had a disease in his feet.

2 Chronicles 13-16

• 2 Chronicles 13.1: King Jehoboam is the first king of the Northern Kingdom. Abijah is the son that Rehoboam has picked to succeed him as king of Judah.
• 13.2: The recounting of this war goes far beyond anything recorded in the book of Kings. We find the emphasis on a masterful speech given by Abijah. It reminds the readers of Chronicles that the Davidic dynasty is the one God has selected and called to rule over Israel.
• 13.5: The speech begins with a reminder of the covenant God had made with David. Salt was used in treaties because it represented preserving thing. A covenant of Salt meant a covenant that was meant to endure.
• 13.9: The condemnation speaks of Israel seeking to put in place it’s own system of worship that ignores the God given place of the Levities. This action showed greater concern for holding on to power, than holding on to worshipping the true God.
• 13.9: Anyone who brings the right offering could become a priest. But more to the point, in calling these golden calves “no gods”, Abijah undermines the confidence that the soldiers of Israel have because their gods are on the battlefield with them.
• 13.10-11: At every point where the people of Israel have been unfaithful, Abijah proclaims the faithfulness of Judah. We see the recurring theme of the importance of right worship in these words. All told, this speech of Abijah is used by the Chronicler to call the people of his day to come under the banner of the Davidic dynasty and worship God rightly. In our own day, it is the same call. We are to bow down to one king: Jesus and we are to worship God in spirit and in truth.
• 13.21: Abijah’s number of wives and children reflect God’s blessing.
• 2 Chronicles 14.1: For the land to have rest is a sign of God’s blessing and of covenant faithfulness on the part of the king.
• 14.3: “high places” were often connected with the worship of idols. The “pillars” are known as Standing Stones.
• 14.4: “commanded” is a word that speaks of someone who has the authority or right to tell another what they are to do. The command to seek the Lord means to inquire or learn of God and his ways. The sense seems to be the people are supposed to inquire about the ways of covenant living so that they live a covenant lifestyle.
• 14.7: Building in the Ancient Near East was a sign of a successful and good king. It is interesting to see that the Chronicler uses a “secular” measure of success to show that all is well with Asa. Perhaps building is in fact not a “secular” but a “sacred” sign of success since God himself is about “building” a new Jerusalem. It could be that the human heart is drawn instinctively to that which God is doing and will do.
• 14.13: While God brings about the defeat, he uses the army as well. Notice, that the army is called the Lord’s Army. It is not Asa’s army or the army of Judah. God is the commander in chief. The map below shows the basic movement of the armies.
• 15.3-5: These verses refer to the time of the Judges when everyone did what was right in his own eyes. The flavor of this time and the lack of peace is captures in Judges 5.6“In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned, and travelers kept to the byways.
• 15.8: The hill country of Ephraim is in the land of Israel (Northern Kingdom). Asa has extended the land of Judah in a previous battle that we have not heard about.
• 15.8: “detestable idols: The word “idol” is not in the text. The full meaning of this passage is that Asa put away all detestable practices from food, to worship, to the idols themselves that were contrary to the right worship of Yahweh.
• 15.9: This large desertion of people from the North will precipitate an attack from the North that will be the end of Asa’s following God.
• 15.12-15: A renewal of the covenant of Sinai. This is the highpoint in the reign of Asa. All is going well, God’s blessing is on the nation, the people have listened to his command to seek God and his nation is secure.
• Chronicles 16.1: Baasha, King of Israel, has watched as many from his nation leave to go to Judah. This has brought greater power and economic prosperity to Judah, while weakening Israel. His solution to the problem is to block the boarder between Israel and Judah, building a kind of Berlin Wall to stop the movement of people and goods. It is a threat to squeeze Judah into submission.

Note: It is important to see that Asa’s sin is not that of making an alliance with Syria. Other Kings of Judah make treaties and alliances without a problem. Asa’s problem stems from:

• Making his choice out of fear rather than trusting in God
• Not seeking God’s wisdom in this time of crisis.
• Not being a person of prayer