Archive for July 2024

 2 Chronicles 10-12,  Psalm 142,  Luke 11:1-13,  1 Thessalonians 5:1-11    2 Chronicles 10-12:   Rehoboam is made king, but immediately he is faced with a challenge that proves beyond him. His subjects request that he lighten the yoke of “hard service” that his father had enforced upon them for all his great building projects (10:4). Rehoboam…

 2 Chronicles 8-9,  Psalm 141,  Luke 10:38-42,  1 Thessalonians 4:11-18   2 Chronicles 8-9: The chronicler lists Solomon’s extensive accomplishments in these two chapters. He is a “builder,” emphasized many times in chapter 8, who completed and finished the work that was given to him by God—building up, extending, magnifying and establishing Israel and Jerusalem, and…

2 Chronicles 6-7,  Psalm 140,  Luke 10:25-37,  1 Thessalonians 4:1-10   2 Chronicles 6-7: While the LORD has said he would “dwell in thick darkness” (6:1)—that is, not be accessible to the naked human eye for the holiness and gloriousness in which he resides—yet through the temple (and its ultimate fulfillment in the person of Jesus…

 2 Chronicles 3-5,  Psalm 139,  Luke 10:17-24,  1 Thessalonians 3:7-13   2 Chronicles 3-5: So Solomon begins to build the temple, and starts in the second month of the fourth year of his reign (3:1-2). The precise measurements are listed in great detail throughout these chapters, as well as descriptions of the ornamentation and valuable materials;…

 2 Chronicles 1-2,  Psalm 138,  Luke 10:1-16,  1 Thessalonians 3:1-6    2 Chronicles 1-2: The chronicler of this Second Chronicles begins his account on an encouraging note. He surveys the greatness of Solomon and especially his wisdom. Before he dives into Solomon’s well-known request for that wisdom, and God’s bountiful reply with wisdom and far more…

1 Chronicles 29,  Psalm 137,  Luke 9:51-62,  1 Thessalonians 2:10-21  1 Chronicles 29: 1 Chronicles finishes with some shrewd advice from David, as well as establishing thereby some fundamental and foundational principles for effectiveness and genuine “success.” Solomon, David acknowledges, is young and inexperienced (29:1). However, because of that, David has put together a huge…

1 Chronicles 26-28,  Psalm 136,  Luke 9:37-50,  1 Thessalonians 2:1-9   1 Chronicles 26-28: Again we have a list of the various responsibilities and “divisions” or departments of the officials and their designated authority and relation to others (1 Chron. 26-27). We have a view here of the internal workings of a complex bureaucracy, organized according…

1 Chronicles 23-25,  Psalm 135,  Luke 9:28-36,  1 Thessalonians 1   1 Chronicles 23-25: David, now “old and full of days,” suggesting a sense of fulfillment as well as agedness, makes Solomon his son king in his place (23:1). The chronicler passes over the courtly intrigue that was necessary to establish Solomon in that role, and…

 1 Chronicles 20-22,  Psalm 133-134,  Luke 9:18-27,  Colossians 4:10-18   1 Chronicles 20-22: The chronicler begins this section as if he is about to relay the story of Bathsheba (20:1)—indicating that it would be normal for David to have been at battle this time of year, when instead (as we know from 2 Sam. 11) David…

 1 Chronicles 17-19,  Psalm 132,  Luke 9:1-17,  Colossians 4:1-9   1 Chronicles 17-19: David has it on his heart to build God a temple. He sees a discrepancy between the house of cedar in which he lives and the tent in which the ark is placed (17:1). He describes his desire to the prophet Nathan—note the…