Senn, Frank C. Christian Liturgy: Catholic and Evangelical. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1997.
This is a book that I read in part for a course at The American Lutheran Theological Seminary. I’m also using it to help my daughter learn to write chapter summaries for her own edification and instruction. So probably these posts will at least partially be hers rather than mine. The chapters tend to be long and involved, so we might put up several posts about one chapter.
Chapter 1 “The Repertoire of Rites” pp. 3-29
Senn begins this chapter by defining liturgy as the rites Christians engage in during public assemblies. While in recent generations Western culture has defined rituals as “obsessive and regressive” (p. 3), they have historically been recognized as perfectly healthy and normal, even essential to an ordered culture. We develop as humans in a community as we engage in those rituals, whether they are carrying a flag at the front of a parade, taking off hats to bow to the king, or striking our hands together to show approval of someone’s performance.
On page 5 Senn turns his attention to symbols. Many ritual behaviors involve symbols. For instance, in the United States the symbolic octagon which is red in color has a clear meaning, even if the word STOP is not painted on it in white. Red is considered a symbolic color of danger in this culture The Christian life is full of symbolic language. God gives us signs which expand the meaning of what we do. For instance, breaking of bread together in communion shows us not only that God’s nourishment is present for us, but that it is present through the breaking of Jesus’ body.
Sometimes modern Western people find symbolic meaning difficult to understand. This explains, at least in part, why some have so much difficulty with historic liturgy. We understand signs which are relatively clear, but when there is additional symbolic meaning, expanding the signs, we find ourselves confused. Yet the sacred life is full of symbols of inclusion and exclusion, light and dark, feasting and fasting, joy and sorrow. Learning to understand these layers of symbolic meaning will only make our participation in worship more fulfilling.
I observe again that these chapters are long and full of important ideas. I’ll leave us mid-chapter on page 9. We’ll pick up where Senn begins to talk about rites of passage.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Bible Reading Challenge Week 24 Day 2
Our reading challenge for the day is 2 Chronicles 26-30. I’ll hit a few highlights. You make comments too and fill in the gaps. What strikes you as specially significant?
2 Chronicles 26 - Uzziah was a great king until his pride took over. That was his undoing. Notice here we also have a reference to Isaiah the prophet who wrote the book of Isaiah. While the author of 2 Chronicles says Isaiah wrote the acts of Uzziah, that is not what we find in the book of Isaiah. Apparently Isaiah wrote other works as well.
2 Chronicles 27 - Jotham was another good king of Judah. This brief chapter hits a few highlights of his relatively brief reign. See as always how the author of Chronicles talks about the faithfulness of the king in relation to the well being of the people.
2 Chronicles 28 - Ahaz turned away from God. We see that he trusted in the alliances he could make with others. This was his undoing and was very destructive to the people of Judah, who were attacked and defeated by Israel and were molested by the Philistines, the Moabites, and the Assyrians, among others.
2 Chronicles 29-30 - Hezekiah the good king restores true worship to the people of Judah. I’m intrigued by what he does with the Passover. Many of the people were not appropriately cleansed and purified prior to receiving this meal. However, the king prayed for them and they received the Passover anyway. Could this be a sign of the way Jesus gives himself as the Paschal Lamb to us even though we are sinful and unclean?
2 Chronicles 26 - Uzziah was a great king until his pride took over. That was his undoing. Notice here we also have a reference to Isaiah the prophet who wrote the book of Isaiah. While the author of 2 Chronicles says Isaiah wrote the acts of Uzziah, that is not what we find in the book of Isaiah. Apparently Isaiah wrote other works as well.
2 Chronicles 27 - Jotham was another good king of Judah. This brief chapter hits a few highlights of his relatively brief reign. See as always how the author of Chronicles talks about the faithfulness of the king in relation to the well being of the people.
2 Chronicles 28 - Ahaz turned away from God. We see that he trusted in the alliances he could make with others. This was his undoing and was very destructive to the people of Judah, who were attacked and defeated by Israel and were molested by the Philistines, the Moabites, and the Assyrians, among others.
2 Chronicles 29-30 - Hezekiah the good king restores true worship to the people of Judah. I’m intrigued by what he does with the Passover. Many of the people were not appropriately cleansed and purified prior to receiving this meal. However, the king prayed for them and they received the Passover anyway. Could this be a sign of the way Jesus gives himself as the Paschal Lamb to us even though we are sinful and unclean?
Monday, June 11, 2012
Who Is God?
Kinnaman, Scot A. & Laura L. Lane (eds.) Lutheranism 101. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2010.
“Who Is God?” Chapter 1
In this chapter we see that God is one God but exists in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. While we are able to describe God we are not able to explain all aspects of his character. We know God exists because of creation. The complexity and interrelated nature of the universe is too intricate to come about by accident. We also find that there is no other adequate explanation for morality, love, or altruism.
God has revealed himself not only in nature but through the written word in Scripture, where he presents himself as one God who exists all at the same time in three persons. The word “trinity,” though it doesn’t appear in Scripture, is described in the Bible. It really means a threefold unity. We see this in Jesus’ baptism narratives, where all three persons of the Godhead appear. We also see in Matthew 28:19 Jesus commands baptism in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
If this seems too complicated to be true, we simply need to remember that God is different from the rest of his creation. While we may try to provide a definition of God that essentially says what we are not, the Bible would give us a definition of God as the creator of everything else, but himself not created. Looking at God as the sovereign, wise, and good creator who exists in three persons does not provide us with an exhaustive explanation. But it does give us plenty to be working with.
What about a biblical view of humanity? We see in the Bible that we are created by God as creatures who depend on God. Our merciful and gracious creator has given us what we need, including some glimpses of his grace. Our role in all this is to realize that we are part of creation, we are not God. We are recipients of his blessing.
“Who Is God?” Chapter 1
In this chapter we see that God is one God but exists in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. While we are able to describe God we are not able to explain all aspects of his character. We know God exists because of creation. The complexity and interrelated nature of the universe is too intricate to come about by accident. We also find that there is no other adequate explanation for morality, love, or altruism.
God has revealed himself not only in nature but through the written word in Scripture, where he presents himself as one God who exists all at the same time in three persons. The word “trinity,” though it doesn’t appear in Scripture, is described in the Bible. It really means a threefold unity. We see this in Jesus’ baptism narratives, where all three persons of the Godhead appear. We also see in Matthew 28:19 Jesus commands baptism in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
If this seems too complicated to be true, we simply need to remember that God is different from the rest of his creation. While we may try to provide a definition of God that essentially says what we are not, the Bible would give us a definition of God as the creator of everything else, but himself not created. Looking at God as the sovereign, wise, and good creator who exists in three persons does not provide us with an exhaustive explanation. But it does give us plenty to be working with.
What about a biblical view of humanity? We see in the Bible that we are created by God as creatures who depend on God. Our merciful and gracious creator has given us what we need, including some glimpses of his grace. Our role in all this is to realize that we are part of creation, we are not God. We are recipients of his blessing.
Bible Reading Challenge Week 24 Day 1
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.
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.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Sermon for 6/10/12 Jesus, Our Eternal Fortress
Sermon “Jesus Our Eternal Fortress”
Lord, grant us a view of our frailty and your mighty loving power, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Today we want to recognize our graduates. As we look around and see Krista, Scot, Sarah, and Blake we realize that they have done a good bit of work to reach the milestone they celebrated not long ago with their classmates. They call that graduation ceremony something interesting, don’t they? What was that “c” word they used for it? Commencement. What does that mean? It means you are beginning something. Graduation is not an end, it is a beginning. The word “graduation” itself means “a step.” And you step forward into the next stage of your life. At that time, yes, you get to wear funny clothes and go through some ceremonies. Believe me, the clothes continue to have more layers of symbolism the more degrees you have completed. There’s a good deal of ceremony involved. It’s a dignified occasion. It isn’t a time for silliness. It’s a time to take stock of your life so far and look at the next step you are going to take. Usually there isa speaker who more or less tells you how to be careful in that next step.
In 2 Corinthians chapter 4 the apostle Paul tells the church at Corinth about some of their next steps. They have found that life is difficult. In fact, it’s very difficult. They ran into some troubles, church troubles like I hope we never see here, but troubles that we are all capable of engaging in. The congregation members were quarreling about one another. Some were saying they were more spiritual because of which apostle they tended to follow. There were people who were exalting themselves because they were rich. There were people who were boasting about being poor. There were people who always desired to show the most prominent spiritual gifts and who were always on display for the congregation. There were people who had involved themselves in immoral living situations and were approved by some, condemned by others. These are all situations that can and do happen in today’s world.
Does our Lord care about our finances? He sure does. He cares about the poor and blesses them. He cares about the rich, whom he has blessed financially so they can love and serve their neighbors. Does our Lord care about our seeking out training in his Word as well as in other areas? Yes he does. He cares as much about what you are studying and learning if you are reading the Bible while sitting on your couch or if you are trying to decode big theological books at a library or if you are studying anatomy, physiology, molecular biology, or economics. All the affairs of this life come from our Lord and they are all important to him. Does our Lord care about whether we strive to live a life which is morally pure in our financial and emotional dealings? He sure does. It’s all important to him. And it’s important in this local congregation just like it was in the congregation at Corinth.
What did Paul see, though? What is it that he saw and talked about that I expect your commencement speakers forgot to mention? In verse 16 he says that they do not lose heart. Those graduation speakers and other motivational speakers never seem to focus on the idea that we could lose heart. It’s always a very rosy world which we face. You the graduates, or other people in the crowd are always the cream of the crop and you are going to rise to the top. There’s no reason even to think about losing heart. But if we’re honest with ourselves, there’s plenty of reason to think about losing heart. As Paul says, we are wasting away outwardly. We wear out. We find ourselves in conflict with others. We look for peace and find strife. We look for health and find weakness. We look for riches and find this world is full of financial need, more than we could ever meet. We look for knowledge and understanding and we find there’s always another book we haven’t read, another idea we don’t understand. The more I study the more I realize I don’t know. And for some of us who are in business the more money we make the more we realize we didn’t make. In manufacturing the more efficient we become the more inefficiency we see. In health care the more we are able to help and heal people the more illness we see around us. And in our moral lives, the more we pursue purity the more we see our impurity. We have reason to lose heart. We are sinful people. We are wasting away. We’ve got trouble. This world is full of sorrows. What will we do? We graduate to the next step, like everyone does many times in every day, and we see that next step is full of challenges, some of them brought on by our sin, some by the sinful condition of the world.
Do we lose heart? No, we don’t. Why not? Because, as we read in 2 Corinthians 4:14 (NIV), “the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence.” There’s our picture of eternity. There’s our priority. It isn’t about us. It isn’t about what we can do. It isn’t about how smart we are, how well trained, how honest, how pure. Those are all good things but they won’t seal our destiny. And the more realize about our nature the more glad we should be that we aren’t the ones who get to earn eternity. We couldn’t do it. We’re wasting away. But we don’t lose heart. Jesus has come, has lived that perfect life of righteousness and has been able to do it on our behalf, to give us his righteousness. Jesus has come, has died in our place so that we don’t have to die eternally. Jesus has come, has risen from the dead so we can be raised from the dead. Jesus has ascended to the Father in heaven so we will also rise and ascend to our father. We don’t see all this right now, but we can look forward through eyes of faith, knowing that Jesus has done all that is necessary for us. We do not lose heart. Though the world come apart at the seams, we do not lose heart. Though our intelligence leave us we do not lose heart. Though our health go from us we do not lose heart. Though our family and friends forsake us we do not lose heart. Though we realize the depths of our sinful desires, how we have sinned in thought, word, and deed, yet we do not lose heart. Why not? Because Jesus has risen from the dead. Because Jesus has given us his perfect righteousness, desiring that he should be the firstborn among many brothers. Because Jesus is our Lord, the eternal lord. He is our fortress. He is our strong tower. He is our deliverer. We do not lose heart.
Graduates, this is what your commencement speakers didn’t say. When your world throws challenges at you, you don’t lose heart. And you don’t lose heart because Jesus is here for you. All the education you have received or ever will receive may fall apart. It may or may not serve you. You don’t know. But when the challenges of your world are great, Jesus is greater. He has promised to stand by you, to lead you, to guide you, to provide you with that eternal home in heaven, not made by human hands, made by God in Christ. And this is your home as you believe that Jesus gave himself for you.
But as we close, I want to ask everyone. Is this what we are believing? Do we believe that Jesus gave himself to redeem us from the curse of sin? Do we believe that our Lord has purchased us by his own blood? Do we look to him in hope? Or maybe we have lost heart. Maybe we have been crushed and are not looking to Jesus. Remember what we confessed. We have sinned in thought, in word, in deed, in what we have done, in what we have left undone. We turn then to Jesus asking for his forgiveness. And he has promised it. How much of your sin does he forgive? He forgives it all. It is gone, as we believe that he is the one who lifts that burden off of us. Look to Jesus, one and all! He is the one who cleanses us, who renews us, who makes us walk in his paths. There is our hope.
Now may the grace of God give you hope and confidence in HIm, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Lord, grant us a view of our frailty and your mighty loving power, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Today we want to recognize our graduates. As we look around and see Krista, Scot, Sarah, and Blake we realize that they have done a good bit of work to reach the milestone they celebrated not long ago with their classmates. They call that graduation ceremony something interesting, don’t they? What was that “c” word they used for it? Commencement. What does that mean? It means you are beginning something. Graduation is not an end, it is a beginning. The word “graduation” itself means “a step.” And you step forward into the next stage of your life. At that time, yes, you get to wear funny clothes and go through some ceremonies. Believe me, the clothes continue to have more layers of symbolism the more degrees you have completed. There’s a good deal of ceremony involved. It’s a dignified occasion. It isn’t a time for silliness. It’s a time to take stock of your life so far and look at the next step you are going to take. Usually there isa speaker who more or less tells you how to be careful in that next step.
In 2 Corinthians chapter 4 the apostle Paul tells the church at Corinth about some of their next steps. They have found that life is difficult. In fact, it’s very difficult. They ran into some troubles, church troubles like I hope we never see here, but troubles that we are all capable of engaging in. The congregation members were quarreling about one another. Some were saying they were more spiritual because of which apostle they tended to follow. There were people who were exalting themselves because they were rich. There were people who were boasting about being poor. There were people who always desired to show the most prominent spiritual gifts and who were always on display for the congregation. There were people who had involved themselves in immoral living situations and were approved by some, condemned by others. These are all situations that can and do happen in today’s world.
Does our Lord care about our finances? He sure does. He cares about the poor and blesses them. He cares about the rich, whom he has blessed financially so they can love and serve their neighbors. Does our Lord care about our seeking out training in his Word as well as in other areas? Yes he does. He cares as much about what you are studying and learning if you are reading the Bible while sitting on your couch or if you are trying to decode big theological books at a library or if you are studying anatomy, physiology, molecular biology, or economics. All the affairs of this life come from our Lord and they are all important to him. Does our Lord care about whether we strive to live a life which is morally pure in our financial and emotional dealings? He sure does. It’s all important to him. And it’s important in this local congregation just like it was in the congregation at Corinth.
What did Paul see, though? What is it that he saw and talked about that I expect your commencement speakers forgot to mention? In verse 16 he says that they do not lose heart. Those graduation speakers and other motivational speakers never seem to focus on the idea that we could lose heart. It’s always a very rosy world which we face. You the graduates, or other people in the crowd are always the cream of the crop and you are going to rise to the top. There’s no reason even to think about losing heart. But if we’re honest with ourselves, there’s plenty of reason to think about losing heart. As Paul says, we are wasting away outwardly. We wear out. We find ourselves in conflict with others. We look for peace and find strife. We look for health and find weakness. We look for riches and find this world is full of financial need, more than we could ever meet. We look for knowledge and understanding and we find there’s always another book we haven’t read, another idea we don’t understand. The more I study the more I realize I don’t know. And for some of us who are in business the more money we make the more we realize we didn’t make. In manufacturing the more efficient we become the more inefficiency we see. In health care the more we are able to help and heal people the more illness we see around us. And in our moral lives, the more we pursue purity the more we see our impurity. We have reason to lose heart. We are sinful people. We are wasting away. We’ve got trouble. This world is full of sorrows. What will we do? We graduate to the next step, like everyone does many times in every day, and we see that next step is full of challenges, some of them brought on by our sin, some by the sinful condition of the world.
Do we lose heart? No, we don’t. Why not? Because, as we read in 2 Corinthians 4:14 (NIV), “the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence.” There’s our picture of eternity. There’s our priority. It isn’t about us. It isn’t about what we can do. It isn’t about how smart we are, how well trained, how honest, how pure. Those are all good things but they won’t seal our destiny. And the more realize about our nature the more glad we should be that we aren’t the ones who get to earn eternity. We couldn’t do it. We’re wasting away. But we don’t lose heart. Jesus has come, has lived that perfect life of righteousness and has been able to do it on our behalf, to give us his righteousness. Jesus has come, has died in our place so that we don’t have to die eternally. Jesus has come, has risen from the dead so we can be raised from the dead. Jesus has ascended to the Father in heaven so we will also rise and ascend to our father. We don’t see all this right now, but we can look forward through eyes of faith, knowing that Jesus has done all that is necessary for us. We do not lose heart. Though the world come apart at the seams, we do not lose heart. Though our intelligence leave us we do not lose heart. Though our health go from us we do not lose heart. Though our family and friends forsake us we do not lose heart. Though we realize the depths of our sinful desires, how we have sinned in thought, word, and deed, yet we do not lose heart. Why not? Because Jesus has risen from the dead. Because Jesus has given us his perfect righteousness, desiring that he should be the firstborn among many brothers. Because Jesus is our Lord, the eternal lord. He is our fortress. He is our strong tower. He is our deliverer. We do not lose heart.
Graduates, this is what your commencement speakers didn’t say. When your world throws challenges at you, you don’t lose heart. And you don’t lose heart because Jesus is here for you. All the education you have received or ever will receive may fall apart. It may or may not serve you. You don’t know. But when the challenges of your world are great, Jesus is greater. He has promised to stand by you, to lead you, to guide you, to provide you with that eternal home in heaven, not made by human hands, made by God in Christ. And this is your home as you believe that Jesus gave himself for you.
But as we close, I want to ask everyone. Is this what we are believing? Do we believe that Jesus gave himself to redeem us from the curse of sin? Do we believe that our Lord has purchased us by his own blood? Do we look to him in hope? Or maybe we have lost heart. Maybe we have been crushed and are not looking to Jesus. Remember what we confessed. We have sinned in thought, in word, in deed, in what we have done, in what we have left undone. We turn then to Jesus asking for his forgiveness. And he has promised it. How much of your sin does he forgive? He forgives it all. It is gone, as we believe that he is the one who lifts that burden off of us. Look to Jesus, one and all! He is the one who cleanses us, who renews us, who makes us walk in his paths. There is our hope.
Now may the grace of God give you hope and confidence in HIm, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Bible Reading Challenge Week 23 Day 5
Our reading challenge for the day is 2 Chronicles 16-20. I’ll hit a few highlights. You make comments too and fill in the gaps. What strikes you as specially significant?
2 Chronicles 16 - Near the end of his life Asa turned away from trusting the Lord. He and the kingdom suffered for this. We bring harm upon ourselves and others by our lack of faithfulness.
2 Chronicles 17-20 - Jehoshaphat is a good king. Yet he forms alliances with unbelieving kings, Ahab in particular. God delivers him and his people. Yet there is more turmoil than there would be if Jehoshaphat had not been so interested in alliances with others.
Sometimes we do well to interact with others, sometimes we would do better to keep to ourselves. It is always better if we form alliances with likeminded people. As I often say in church, doctrine does matter. Where we have agreement we function much better.
2 Chronicles 16 - Near the end of his life Asa turned away from trusting the Lord. He and the kingdom suffered for this. We bring harm upon ourselves and others by our lack of faithfulness.
2 Chronicles 17-20 - Jehoshaphat is a good king. Yet he forms alliances with unbelieving kings, Ahab in particular. God delivers him and his people. Yet there is more turmoil than there would be if Jehoshaphat had not been so interested in alliances with others.
Sometimes we do well to interact with others, sometimes we would do better to keep to ourselves. It is always better if we form alliances with likeminded people. As I often say in church, doctrine does matter. Where we have agreement we function much better.
Bible Reading Challenge Week 23 Day 4
Our reading challenge for the day is 2 Chronicles 11-15. I’ll hit a few highlights. You make comments too and fill in the gaps. What strikes you as specially significant?
2 Chronicles 11 - Rehoboam has a fairly good start, listening to the prophet who urges him to faithfulness. He also receives the displaced priests and Levites from Israel. It must be especially painful to see the nation where you are one of God’s servants turn to idolatry.
2 Chronicles 12 - The review of Rehoboam turns downhill after five years. Continue to notice how the author of Chronicles is particularly interested in the leader’s faithfulness to God. Rehoboam is found wanting. Things are not too bad in Judah but Rehoboam has turned away from God and receives the penalty of his sin.
2 Chronicles 13 - After the time of Rehoboam, Abijah in Judah stood up boldly for God’s commands before Jeroboam. God gave him the victory though he was significantly outnumbered. Do we stand up for God’s truth? What is our confidence when we are outnumbered?
2 Chronicles 14-15 - We then have yet another good king in Judah, Asa. He is quite forceful about looking to God alone. Remaining faithful to God is a challenge. Yet it is a challenge that is full of rewards. We can have confidence that if our Lord has ordained our path we can walk down it without fear.
2 Chronicles 11 - Rehoboam has a fairly good start, listening to the prophet who urges him to faithfulness. He also receives the displaced priests and Levites from Israel. It must be especially painful to see the nation where you are one of God’s servants turn to idolatry.
2 Chronicles 12 - The review of Rehoboam turns downhill after five years. Continue to notice how the author of Chronicles is particularly interested in the leader’s faithfulness to God. Rehoboam is found wanting. Things are not too bad in Judah but Rehoboam has turned away from God and receives the penalty of his sin.
2 Chronicles 13 - After the time of Rehoboam, Abijah in Judah stood up boldly for God’s commands before Jeroboam. God gave him the victory though he was significantly outnumbered. Do we stand up for God’s truth? What is our confidence when we are outnumbered?
2 Chronicles 14-15 - We then have yet another good king in Judah, Asa. He is quite forceful about looking to God alone. Remaining faithful to God is a challenge. Yet it is a challenge that is full of rewards. We can have confidence that if our Lord has ordained our path we can walk down it without fear.
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