Our reading challenge for the day is 2 Chronicles 21-25. I’ll hit a few highlights. You make comments too and fill in the gaps. What strikes you as specially significant?
2 Chronicles 21 - Jehoram followed the lead of his wife, the daughter of Ahab, king of Israel. He did evil before the Lord. God protected his royal house because of his promise but allowed Jehoram to lose almost everything, including his health and life. He was an unpopular king.
2 Chronicles 22 - The kingdom of Judah seems poised to fall. Also notice the confusion of names, with Ahaziah being the son introduced in chapter 21 as Jehoahaz. See that he allied himself with Jehoram of Israel, not of Judah, who was also called Joram. Add to all this confusion the troubles associated with his sinful ways. After his death his mother Athaliah tried to kill all his children and take the reign for herself. Evil abounds when we greedily seek our own power.
2 Chronicles 23 - Jehoiada the priest plays a key role in restoration of the kingdom to God. He boldly defends Joash as king and secures an agreement that the king and the kingdom would destroy the Baals and follow the true God.
2 Chronicles 24 - Jehoiada had served as an advisor to Joash, who received the throne when a child. After Jehoiada’s death Joash listened to other advisors who led hm away from God. He went so far as to have Jehoiada’s son killed when he didn’t like the message the Lord gave this priest.
2 Chronicles 25 - Amaziah was not as evil as the other kings we saw in today’s reading. Yet when confronted in his error he rejected wise counsel.
Today’s reading has a recurring theme of people receiving good or bad counsel and acting, for the most part, based on the bad counsel they receive. Why are we so swift to follow ungodly counsel? Maybe because it makes the most sense to our minds which have been darkened by the curse of sin. Let us rather look to the Word of God in faith and receive what our Lord has given us.
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