Stone 16 - Nehemiah

Last week we looked at Ezra who returned to the land of Judah after many had already returned from exile. This week we will look at Nehemiah and his return a bit later.

Side Note
Up to this point, all of the books we have covered have been for the most part in chronological order. The exception being 1 and 2 Chronicles which overlapped with 1 and 2 Samuel as well as 1 and 2 Kings. After Nehemiah, we will move on to books that contain events along the timeline and history we have established between Genesis and Nehemiah - at this point we are brought up to a bit before 400 B.C.

Responding to a Burden
During what migh seem as a casual conversation, Nehemiah learns of the plight of those who had returned to Jerusalem from exile (Neh 1:3). **It is worth noting here that Nehemiah probably already knew the wall had been destroyed since it happened well over 100 years prior to this conversation. Perhaps Nehemiah was most troubled by the fact that it had not been repaired and that the people were struggling.

Nehemiah's response was to weep, fast, and pray (Neh 1:4). He was clearly burdened by this news and was compelled to help. Part of Nehemiah's prayer was related to appearing before the king (Neh 1:11). We also see here that Nehemiah states his profession - he was the king's cupbearer - an extremely honorable and influential position. The king trusted Nehemiah.

Some time later, the king notices that Nehemiah is not himself and inquires about it (Neh 2:2). Nehemiah says he was overwhelmed with fear. My understanding is that you don't dare be anything other than happy in front of the king - that could mean bad news. Recall that we have some trust here between men - which is helpful - had Nehemiah been a nobody, it may not have went well. Nehemiah asks to return to Jerusalem and help rebuild and the king agrees (Neh 2:4-6).

After getting to Jerusalem, Nehemiah does a little recon and recruiting in order to get the project of working on the wall moving (Neh 2:15-18). Several groups of people took different sections of the wall as described in chapter 3.

Abundant Adversity
This project was not without critics (Neh 4:1-3). Much like today, they were mocked for their efforts by those who did not approve. However, this did not deter them and they continued to build the wall (Neh 4:6). This made the adversaries even more angry and the mocking turned physical (Neh 4:11). Again, this did not stop them from rebuilding but they fortified themselves (Neh 4:18).

In the middle of all these attacks - Nehemiah has to deal with some internal conflicts as well (Neh 5:1). Ugh!

The enemy was not going to give up easily. This time they came in the form of deceptive means by seeking a peace meeting (Neh 6:2). Several times they tried and were denied. The tactics then changed to intimidation and trickery. They tried to get Nehemiah to run and hide in the temple (Neh 6:10). It would have been a sin for Nehemiah to enter the temple because he was not one of the priests and was not likely ritually pure at the time. Likewise, the enemy would have used the sin and fear to give Nehemiah a bad rep as he was aware (Neh 6:13).

The walls were completed in an amazing 52 days despite all the adversity that the people faced. Ironically, this caused the enemy to feel intimidated and lose confidence since they recognized that God was in on it all (Neh 6:15-16).

Remember Your God
The people ask Ezra to come with the Book of the Law (Neh 8:1). He read from it for all the people and they celebrated the Festival of Booths and had a time of confession as a nation. Afterwards the Israelites renew their vow with the Lord (Neh 9:38).

Okay - so can you guess what happens next? What has been the recurring theme in several previous books?

Yup - you guessed right. After Israel renews their vow - they eventually slip into their old habits.

Nehemiah had went back to his old job as cupbearer (Neh 13:6) but later returned to find how much the people had let slip the vows they had renewed earlier. Nehemiah doesn't mind giving them a thorough rebuking (Neh 13:25) for some of it.

**As bad as some of this might sound as we read it - Nehemiah is really concerned with their spiritual well-being. This is not about love and marriage but about joining with those who will bring the nation of Israel into idolatry. Nehemiah appeals to the past and how this all happened before and where that got them.

Being a good leader, Nehemiah, confronts them with the truth of the matter regardless of what they might think of it at the time. He tries to guide them with truth.

Just like Nehemiah's adversaries - the enemy likes to camouflage truth and lies to entice us into sin and discredit us.

Lord, I pray that you would give us the wisdom to see through the camouflage that the world puts up in front of us.

Next week we will take a look at Esther.

Stone 15 - Ezra

We ended 2 Chronicles with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Israelites being exiled from the land and brought to Babylon. Ezra picks up after the 70 years of exile prophesied by Jeremiah have passed and the Israelites are allowed to return.

Return, Rebuild, Restored
Ezra begins with a repeat of the last few verses of 2 Chronicles which is the decree of King Cyrus in Persia allowing the return of the Israelites to Jerusalem. In total, a bit over 42,000 Israelites returned to Jerusalem along with their servants and animals (Ezra 2:64-67).

Restorations began and sacrifices started to be made again. **I would like to make an observation on Ezra 3:3 --  It says that they set up an altar and made burnt offerings in the morning and evening even though they feared the surrounding peoples. (emphasis mine) -- how about that? It is fair to note that the surrounding peoples happen to be worshippers of idols and false gods. The fact that they were God's chosen people meant that the surrounding people likely felt some fear or resentment that might provoke them to persecute the Israelites. Seems no different from today if one thinks about it. Many people, for many reasons, both secular and religious, are persecuted out of fear or resentment. One need only look as far as our middle schools to see this...** But they sacrificed to the Lord despite that fear. They held true to their convictions.

As they are working on the rebuild, they are approached by their enemies who offer up some help with the project (Ezra 4:1-2). The Israelites declined the offer (v. 3), to which the response was to become vengeful and hinder their progress (v. 4-5). They even went so far as to send a letter to the king at the time, Artaxerxes, to convince him that the project was a threat to his kingdom (Ezra 4:11-16).

The king agreed and ordered the project be stopped (Ezra 4:21). **Another note here is that we see how the government has interfered with religion. Do you think that the government put a halt to the progress of the establishment of temples for worship to false gods? I make no claims here but it would be an interesting question to have answered. Even before the time of Christ and what we call Christians today...

Now construction had been on hold for many years until the next king - King Darius - came along (Ezra 4:24). A couple prophets came along - Haggai and Zechariah - and encouraged them to continue (Ezra 5:1-2). They were asked about the project and mentioned that King Cyrus ordered that it be done so the governor at the time over the region sent a letter to King Darius requesting verification (Ezra 5:17). The decree was found and King Darius ordered that they be allowed to work unhindered (Ezra 6:6-7).

Enter Ezra
After some time, Ezra shows up on the scene. We learn that Ezra was quite the scholar of the Law (Ezra 7:6). Ezra brings with him several more people from Babylon with the King's blessing as outlined in his letter to Ezra (Ezra 7:12-26).

So Ezra completes the journey to Jerusalem and finds out that the Israelites have been marrying people from the surrounding tribes. This was forbidden - forbidden because of the idolatry among them. marrying them was only going to bring idolatry into Jerusalem. This displeases Ezra (Ezra 9:10-11, 10:2).

**Interestingly, the response is to send away the wives from the foreign lands. I do not believe that this is in any way a justification of divorce. This is an isolated case where the entire nation of Israel was in jeopardy due to the widespread infestation of idolators among the people. It needed to be purged to help make them right with God again. The church today is not a spiritual nation as Israel was at that time - a believer who marries an unbeliever and falls away will not bring about the same judgement for the entire church. Thus we would not expect this to be a viable solution today.

Sometimes, getting right before God means making some tough decisions that other people will take issue with. Ezra's situation was no different. Can you imagine what some people likely said? Breaking up families on such a large scale including the children could not have been simple.

The enemy is subtle and crafty and our response is important. Expect opposition when you attempt to follow the Lord and make advancements in your walk.

Next week we will go through Nehemiah and the continued rebuilding of Jerusalem and the restoration of God's people.

Stone 14 - 2 Chronicles

Last week we reviewed the history up through the reign of King David and Solomon takes over as king. In 2 Chronicles we will continue this redemptive account.

Unity in Israel
Right away in verse two we see Solomon speaking to "all Israel" as the author again places importance on the fact that Israel is united. After hearing about Solomon and his request for wisdom (2Chr 1:10), we jump to the building of the temple (2Chr 2:1) and have several chapters detailing the project.

What I think is important here is not so much the details of the temple but that the temple was built. This was something that made the reign of Solomon great and the nation of Israel prospered in unity.

Obedience is Key
Who does not expect their instructions to be followed when they are given? After completion of the temple, God reminds Solomon about obedience and the consequences of failing to be obedient to Him (2Chr 7:17-22).

After Solomon passes away, his son Rehoboam becomes king. Initially he is king over all of Israel (2Chr 10:1), but many of the Israelites came to him to seek a lighter work burden that had been given to them by Solomon (2Chr 10:4). Rehoboam, however, responded to them harshly based on the counsel of some young friends rather than the elders (2Chr 10:13-14). This act of poor judgement ended up causing the division of Israel into the ten northern tribes and the tribes of Judah and Benjamin in the south.

A Divided Nation - Remember to Obey
Things went well for Rehoboam for three years (2Chr 11:17) until he walked away from the Lord (2Chr 12:1-2) and they were invaded (2Chr 12:5).

After Rehoboam had passed, his son Abijah took over. We are told of a big victory for Abijah over Jeroboam and the northern tribes (2Chr 13:16-18).

After Abijah had passed, his son Asa took over (2Chr 14:1). Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and prospered for many years until he established a treaty with king Ben-hadad of Aram to help with a battle against King Baasha of the northern tribes (2Chr 16:2-3). This was foolish because he should have sought the help of the Lord instead (2Chr 16:7-9).

After Asa had passed, his son Jehoshaphat became king (2Chr 17:1). Jehoshaphat was also successful for a long time. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and as a result peace was had (2Chr 20:30)

After Jehoshaphat passed away, his son Jehoram became king (2Chr 21:1). Jehoram, however, did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord. Jehoram led Judah astray and was punished as a result of it (2Chr 21:12-15).

Ahaziah became king after his father passed away (2Chr 22:1) but did not reign long (v.2). He did evil in the sight of the Lord and was killed by Jehu (2Chr 22:9), at which point, his mother Athaliah steps up and starts killing off the heirs to the throne (2Chr 22:10). Now Joash was one of the heirs but was hidden away (v.11).

Once Athaliah had been disposed of, Joash, at a young age of seven, became king but did what was right in the eyes of the Lord (2Chr 24:1-2) for many years even taking efforts to rebuild the temple, but died shortly after when he walked away from the Lord after Jehoiada the priest died.

Amaziah, son of Joash, became king after Joash was assassinated (2Chr 24:27). What is interesting to note here is that the author states that Amaziah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord but not completely (2Chr 25:2).

**Okay - for the record - partial obedience is not good enough. Ever had a moment with one of your children or perhaps an employee where you confront them about something that was not done correctly and they try to justify or rationalize it away because of all the other stuff that they did right or perhaps compare to a sibling or coworker about their mistakes?
"Yeah, but I did this and this and this...!"
"Well, at least I did this and so-and-so didn't do that."
"But Jimmy did that and He didn't get in trouble..."
You get the idea... It simply is not OK to do what you feel like doing and to try to cover up when you know it doesn't measure up.**

So Amaziah sometimes listens and sometimes does not and this warrants consequences just as disobedience among children or employees warrants consequences. Amaziah slips into idolatry and a prophet asks a great question about why he would want to worship a god of a nation he just defeated since that nation's god did not deliver them from his own hand?... (2Chr 25:14-15).

After Amaziah, Uzziah became king in place of his father (2Chr 26:1). In verse 5 we read that Uzziah sought God during the lifetime of Zechariah. This is not unlike Joash who sought God up until Jehoiada died. Now Uzziah was only 16 and Joash was 7 when they took the throne. It was good that they had strong mentors that kept them seeking God. Too bad that they fell away when their mentors passed. In 26:16 we read of Uzziah doing a foolish thing and becoming afflicted with a skin disease.

Uzziah's son Jotham became king in his place (2Chr 26:23). Jotham did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and was strengthened despite the people still being corrupt (2Chr 27:2,6). When he passed away his son Ahaz became king.

Ahaz was evil in the sight of the Lord by worshipping other gods. When he passed away, his son Hezekiah became king.

Here we read about the good that Hezekiah had done by removing false gods and idols, giving offereings, worshipping God at the temple, and celebrating Passover. We also learn of the victory that Hezekiah had over Sennacherib who scoffed at them (2Chr 32:17).

Manasseh, Hezekiah's son, became king in his place and was evil in the Lord's sight. In fact, 33:9 tells us that they did worse evil than the nations that were destroyed before the Israelites. It seemed that Manasseh learned the hard way about who was the real Lord (2Chr 33:10-13).

When Manasseh died, his son Amon became king and did evil. He did not reign long before his own servants killed him (2Chr 33:21,24).

Josiah, at the young age of eight became king when Amon died. Josiah did what was right and began getting rid of the altars and idols, he repaired the temple, and found the Book of the Law. Josiah was immediately distraught and felt bad but it was too late for Judah. (At this point in time the northern tribe had fallen to the Assyrians about 100 years earlier). Judah was going to fall too, but not during Josiah's reign (2Chr 34:26-28).

After Josiah died, his son Jehoahaz became king for three months followed by his brother Jehoiakim who reigned for 11 years doing evil (2Chr 36:5). He was captured by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar (2Chr 36:6).

Jehoiakim had a son named Jehoiachin who took his place for only a few months. Nebuchadnezzar captured him and made his brother Zedekiah king (2Chr 36:10). Zedekiah did evil in the eyes of the Lord and later rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar which did not turn out so well for him. The Chaldeans came and wiped them out and destroyed Jerusalem, temple and all (2Chr 36:19-20) and took all the survivors to Babylon where they remained as servants for 70 years (v21).

We finish with King Cyrus after the 70 year period allowing the Israelites to return and rebuild.

**Notice that 2 Chronicles focuses on the tribe of Judah with little mention of the northern tribes. Remember that Jesus is to come from this line. Notice how despite all of the wickedness committed by the people of Israel and Judah that God still remains faithful. 2 Chronicles is more than just a review of history - it is a reminder of the hope and blessing we can have if we are just obedient to the Lord. Fully obedient and not just half-way.

Next week we will take a look at Ezra.

Stone 13 - 1 Chronicles

Last week we wrapped up taking a look at a long line of Kings that ruled in the northern and southern division of Israel. This week we will look at another view of history focusing mostly on the reign of King David.

More Names... Really?
The first nine chapters are a genealogy beginning all the way back to Adam. One might sort of roll their eyes at this sort of inclusion - again - but it is worth noting that at that time a family line and tribe was where one found their identity. We could possibly liken this to how people today often find their identity in their career. Just think about the awkward small talk when you meet someone new. Often one of the first questions is "So, what do you do for a living?" As such, these types of details, while dry reading for us, were important details for the author of Chronicles.

Time to Review - With Emphasis
All the family trees bring us up to chapter 10 and the death of Israel's first King, Saul. While nearly identical to 1 Sam 31, we see that the author of Chronicles adds an additional comment to the retelling of Saul's death by stating that Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the Lord (1Chr 10:13).

Next, we pick up with David becoming King. Interestingly, David's childhood is not mentioned nor is the encounter with Goliath. Rather we jump right into the kingship of all of Israel (1Chr 11;4). At this stage in Isreal's history, they are split for about seven years. David had become king over the tribe of Judah but the house of Saul was still reigning over the rest of Israel. Becoming unified again was a big deal (1Chr 12:38) so the author of Chronicles gets to this point quickly and continues to stress the unity.

We then recount the efforts of David to bring the Ark to Jerusalem but we also learn about David assembling all of Isreal to do it (1Chr 13:5). We read this again in (1Chr 15:3) and (1Chr 15:28).

David, at some point, desires to build a permanent home for the Ark after realizing that he himself had better living quarters (1Chr 17:1) but it was not time for that yet (1Chr 17:11-12). The kingdom of Isreal was still being established and there were more wars to fight. Chapters 18, 19, and 20 outline the wars and chapter 21 recalls the mistake that David had made about doing the military census and the punishment over it along with the building of the altar.

Temple Planning
Here we have some new material. While 2 Samuel shares about David's desire to build the temple and God's plan for a descendant to take care of that, it does not share any of the background preparations that David makes. At this time, Solomon is already on the scene and learning from his father (1Chr 22:6-10). We also note how much material was gathered for Solomon (1Chr 22:14-16). Take note of what David tells his son in 22:13 - he advises him to follow the statutes and ordinances that the Lord commanded if he is to be successful.

**Is this not a recurring theme...?

Levite Assignments
We also learn in 1 Chronicles that David assigned work for the line of Levites. Remember that the Ark was carried from place to place as the Israelites wandered the desert and it was the responsibility of the Levites to take care of that. Now that the Ark was going to reside in Jerusalem full-time, the Levites needed something to do (1Chr 23:25-26). They were split up to be in charge of the work on the Lord's temple, officers and judges, gatekeepers, and musicians (1Chr 23:4-5).

David's Address
David talks to the nation about the plans for the temple and lets them know that it will be Solomon who will build it (1Chr 28:2,6). Notice another plea to obedience found in 28:8-10 and another mention of "all Israel" in 29:25 for Solomon.

It is interesting to note some things from the point of view of the author of Chronicles. It would seem that ultimately, we can be unified with the Lord if we obey his commands and serve him first rather than ourselves or our own self-interests. We should focus our efforts on bringing him glory, honor, and praise. All that we do should be an act of worship. As leaders, we should live for the Lord and lead our subordinates in the same direction. Then we may have peace for eternity. It is when we fail in this that things begin to drastically break down.

Next week we will look at the second book of Chronicles where we will review the events in Solomon's reign, the division of Israel, and the reign of many kings over a divided nation.

Stone 12 - 2 Kings

We started looking at a long line of kings that followed David in 1 Kings, now we will look at several more in the lineup.

We ended 1 Kings by mentioning that some kings did right in the eyes of the Lord and others did not. A careful inspection reveals that those who did right were all from the southern division of Judah. The book of 2 Kings is no different. None of the kings of Israel did right in the sight of God.

Elisha Takes Over As Prophet
Elijah was nearing the end of his time (2Kings 2:1) and as he was leaving, Elisha requests a double portion of of Elijah's spirit (2Kings 2:9).  Here is a partial list of miracles performed by Elisha through the Lord.

1. Heals the water (2Kings 2:21)
2. Multiplies oil (2Kings 4:3-5)
3. Raised dead son (2Kings 4:32-35)
4. Cleansed stew (2Kings 4:38-41)
5. Multiplied bread (2Kings 4:42-44)
6. Heals Naaman (2Kings 5:14)

I find the healing of Naaman to be of interest because of some of the logic we see come out as well as some of the deception common to humans. So Naaman has a skin disease and he is informed that there is a prophet in the land of Israel who would cure him (2Kings 5:3). Naaman gets permission from the king to go and it is granted. The king even sends him with a gift to give to the prophet (2Kings 5:5).

So Naaman shows up at Elisha's place and he is told to go and wash up in the Jordan River a total of seven times (2Kings 6:10). Now here is the interesting part... Naaman is told what to do in order to become cured and he gets upset. He gets upset because it did not happen the way that he was expecting it to go down (2Kings 6:11). First, Naaman was expecting Elisha to come out and call on God and wave his hand in some sort of jedi mind trick and shazam! it is healed (2Kings 5:11). Secondly, He tries to argue that the Jordan River is not as nice as some other waters and asks why he could not just wash there instead...(2Kings 5:12)? It was almost as if Naaman was grossed out by the thought of washing in the dirtier water. At any rate, Naaman rejects the truth based on some faulty reasoning. Fortunately, he came with some servants who offered some wise counsel (2Kings 5:13). In the end, Naaman performs the task and is healed (2Kings 5:14).

Here is the deception... Elisha declines the gift from Naaman but Gehazi, Elisha's servant, was feeling a bit jaded that Naaman didn't have to pay up for such a service (2Kings 5:20). Gehazi crafts up a little story to throw at Naaman in order to swindle some loot (2Kings 5:22) and then lies to Elisha when he comes back (2Kings 5:25). As a result, Elisha basically curses Gehazi and his descendants with the same skin disease Naaman had. Consequences...

More Kings
Israel
Recall that 1Kings ended with Ahaziah taking over for a couple years and he died after injuries from falling out of a window.
Joram took over after that. Joram was the son of Ahab and reigned for 12 years (2Kings 3:1).
Jehu followed Joram and went on a killing spree that tore through the house of Ahab as the Lord had commanded (2Kings 9:6-7). Jehu did well on his mission to eradicate the the house of Ahab and was rewarded for that by having four generations of sons be granted the throne but he did not choose to follow the Lord (2Kings 10:28-30). He reigned 28 years until his son Jehoahaz took over.
Jehoahaz reigned 17 years and did evil in the sight of the Lord (2Kings 13:1-2).
Jehoash then stepped in for 16 years of evil (2Kings 13:10) when Jeroboam II stepped in and reigned for 41 years and continued to do evil (2Kings 14:23-24)
Zechariah followed as king for six months at which time Shallum killed him (2Kings 15:10).
Shallum, for all the work killing the king in order to become king was himself assassinated by Menahem only one month after seizing the crown (2Kings 15:13-14). I guess that didn't work out so well...
Menahem managed to hang in there for 10 years but did evil in the sight of the Lord (2Kings 15:17-18).
Pekahiah was Menahem's son and he took over when his father died and reigned for two years. One of his own officers, Pekah, assassinated him and took the throne (2Kings 15:25).
Pekah held the crown for a total of 20 years when Hoshea assassinated him and took the crown. (2Kings 15:30).
Hoshea was the final king of the northern tribes of Israel as after nine years the Assyrians conquered the land and deported the Israelites out (2Kings 17:6).

**That was sure a lot of assassinating going on - was the struggle for power worth it...? Not a single one of the kings from the northern tribes did right by the Lord. 2 Kings 17:7-20 explains well why the nation ultimately fell. They sinned against the Lord and despite all the prophets that came to try and help - they simply would not listen.

Judah
Jehoram followed Jehoshaphat and reigned for eight years. Now he had married Ahab's daughter and followed Ahab's ways of evil in the sight of the Lord (2Kings 8:17-18).
Ahaziah followed Jehoram and only reigned for one year when Jehu had killed him and then his mother Athaliah killed off some heirs and reigned for six years (2Kings 11:1)
Joash, as a baby however, was hidden away and did not get killed so that when Athaliah was ousted by the priest Jehoiada he was able to take kingship. So Joash was only 7 when he became king. Say What!? Well at least he was doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord and reigned for 40 years but it turns out that he started to turn at the end of his reign (2Kings 11:21-12:1).
Amaziah took over at that point and reigned for 29 years and did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.
Azariah reigned afterwards for 52 years doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord (2Kings 15:2-3).
Jotham reigned 16 years and did what was right in the eyes of the Lord (2Kings 15:33-34).
Ahaz also reigned 16 years but did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord (2Kings 16:2-3).
Hezekiah did what was right and reigned for 29 years (2Kings 18:2-3).

**A note on Hezekiah, who we will visit again in the book of Isaiah since Isaiah is the prophet who is there at this time. From a military standpoint, what in the world is Hezekiah thinking...!? Some dudes from Babylon show up and Hezekiah gives them a complete tour of the whole place - like everything! - treasury, armory, palace - great way to give away valuable intel to be used against you... just sayin'.

Manasseh was 12 when he became king and reigned for 55 years.
**I have to wonder how that really works - so immature at that age to run a nation. I mean the people in our country five times that age have difficulties. Anyway, Manasseh was pretty bad with respect to the level of idolatry that he promoted - so bad that it sealed the fate of Judah to be like that of Israel if not worse (2Kings 21:10-13, 24:2-3).

Amon held the crown for two years doing evil in the eyes of the Lord (2Kings 21:19-20).

Josiah was only eight when he became king and remained king for 31 years.
**Again - you gotta wonder - not surprising that that nation is being driven to ruin when ruled by a bunch of children over the years. When my children are left to their own devices for even a short period of time, there is nothing but chaos to be expected. At least he was doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord. Perhaps the children of Israel have that much going for them.

During the reign of Josiah, as the temple was being repaired, the Book of the Law was found. The king realized the seriousness of the words within the book as the nation has not been good about following them (2Kings 22:8-11). Josiah really went on a quest to remove the evil and set things right in the nation of Judah.

Jehoahaz was the son of Josiah and only reigned for three months and did evil in the eyes of the Lord during that time.
Jehoiakim continued to do evil during his 11-year reign.
Jehoiachin continued to do evil for the three months that he reigned.
Zedekiah, the last king of the tribe of Judah, reigned a total of 11 years doing evil in the sight of the Lord before they were conquered by Babylon and deported.

So Where Did That Get Us?
Remember that Israel wanted a king just like the other nations? Well they got what they wanted - or did they? In the end we find that all these kings did not really do so well. The nation of Israel ended up becoming divided with the northern nation of Israel being conquered by the Assyrians (2Kings 17:6) and the southern tribe of Judah being conquered by the Babylonians some 136 years later. Jerusalem was destroyed (2Kings 25:8-9) and all of the Israelites were exiled from the land that the Lord had given to them. The majority of the kings did not do what was right but rather what was evil in the sight of the Lord and as a result, it became Israel's downfall.

Next we will look at 1 Chronicles which will essentially be a review of what we have already went through up to the end of king David and the beginning of king Solomon's reign.

Here is a video from the Bible Project about both 1 & 2 Kings.

Stone 11 - 1 Kings

David was getting along in years and it was time for the crown to be passed on to the next king soon. Let's see how this plays out.

It would appear that David's plan was to place Solomon on the throne (1Kings 1:13) after his death as king. However, David's oldest surviving son at the time, Adonijah, was already working to take the kingship.

Nothing Is Ever Simple
Time and time again we find people deliberately deceiving others for their own gain. This situation is no different. In verse 7 we find Adonijah conspiring with others about being king. In verses 9 and 10 we find that Adonijah is doing some sacrificing and invited several people that were in support of him but not Solomon or a couple others that would be in opposition to his taking of the throne. Hmmm... wonder why...?

So Nathan finds out and works with Bathsheba - remember that is Solomon's mom - to let David know so that he can take care of getting this ironed out. David proceeds to have Solomon announced as king (1Kings 1:33-34). Now this was crucial since this was King David that was making this proclamation rather than Adonijah making his own. So since David made this announcement - it was going to have much more carrying weight than whatever Adonijah and his band had proclaimed.

Not surprisingly, Adonijah and his crew get word that this has happened and they scatter in fear (1Kings 1:49:50). Ever run and hide when you get caught doing something you know you should not have? These guys must have felt the same way - oops, here we are claiming ourselves to be king and the current king is not even dead and he places someone else on the throne and we didn't invite him to our coronation party because we were trying to be sneaky. OOOHHH, this cannot be good for us. RUN!

David Gives Instructions
So David remembers all that he promised and all that had been done to him and shares with Solomon so that he can remember to honor promises or carry out God's judgement. David wisely advises Solomon to stay in the Lord (1Kings 2:2-4).

David passes on and some time afterwards now that all of Israel is aware that Solomon was king, Adonijah is still scheming by asking for Abishag. However, he is too scared to go in and ask for himself so he asks Bathsheba to go and ask for him. **This made me think of those times in elementary school when kids would write notes - you know, before texting was a thing - and have a friend deliver it asking do you like me?** In this case Adonijah knows that he is asking a bit over his reach. Abishag is what remains of David's harem. Remember that control of the harem was a pretty major poitical advantage of the time. We see by Solomon's response in 2:22 that he was not happy and later deals with Adonijah severely (1Kings 2:25).

Solomon then spends some time following through with the instructions that David had left him.

Solomon the Wise
At some point, God comes to Solomon and pretty much says I will give you whatever you want (1Kings 3:5) - Say WHAT!? OK - WOW - how would you like to have that happen? Now here is the response from Solomon... Wisdom (1Kings 3:9). God was pleased by this request and granted him not only wisdom but honor and riches as well (1Kings 3:11-13). Well played, Solomon, well played. **How many of us would have blown that opportunity?

An amazing example of this wisdom that may initially seem cold and cruel at first glance is when the two  mothers come before him with one accusing the other of stealing her baby after she had inadvertently killed her own (1Kings 3:19-20). Solomon says to have the baby cut in half and given to each of them to share (1Kings 3:25). The response is that the true mother says to let the other have it and the false mother agrees to the choice. Solomon responds by giving the child to the mother who wanted it to live (1Kings 3:27).

Building Stuff
God honors his promise to Solomon as we read in 1 Kings 4:20-34. At some point Solomon enters into some agreements with Hiram related to some materials for building a temple to the Lord. He also makes arrangements to put some people to work on the construction. Chapter 6 outlines many of the details of the temple which was an overall project that took seven years (1Kings 6:38). As with many others before Solomon, God makes it clear that He will remain in their presence so long as he is obedient (1Kings 6:11-13).

Solomon also spends 13 years working on his palace (1Kings 7:1). Some time in there is some work to complete the temple with bronze pillars, water carts, basins, utensils, a reservoir, and many gold furnishings. Upon completion of it all, Solomon dedicates it to the Lord.

Once again the Lord tells Solomon the consequences of obedience versus disobedience (1Kings 9:4-9).

Separation
Even Solomon in all his wisdom made some mistakes (1Kings 11:1-6). Of course, as the Lord promised a couple chapters earlier, with disobedience would come ruin. This comes in the form of the separation of Israel. Up to now, Israel has been united under Saul, David, and Solomon but this will change (1Kings 11:11-13). The prophet Ahijah comes along and tells Jeroboam that he is going to get 10 tribes (1Kings 11:30-32) but that because of David he will not get the rest. God still demands obedience from Jeroboam as well (1Kings 11:38). When Solomon passed away, his son Rehoboam bacame king.

Ok - so now we are "under new management" and that means that the people come to make requests of the new guy (1Kings 12:4). They offer to serve him if he lightens the load of work that they were given by Solomon. Rehoboam was given advice by the elders and some advice from his buddies. Unfortunately for Rehoboam, he chose to follow the advice of his buddies and the people did not take to it well and went back. Jeroboam became king over Israel and Rehoboam was king over Judah.

So it did not take long for Jeroboam to fall away from the Lord based on his own fears of losing power. Since Jerusalem was in Rehoboam's territory, Jeroboam didn't like that his people would go to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices (1Kings 12:27). Well, he makes a poor choice and constructs idols of worship to other gods. This does not play out well for Jeroboam in the end.

Here is an interesting segment in this account. I find it to be interesting because I think it speaks of what happens all around us to this day. A man of God comes and speaks out against the false idols that Jeroboam has constructed and they (1Kings 13:5). Jeroboam invites him to stay and eat but the man of God declines saying that God has instructed him not to do so (1Kings 13:7-9). The man of God leaves and comes across an old prophet who also invites him to come and eat with him. Again the man of God declines for the same reasons he gave Jeroboam (1Kings 13:15-17). **So here comes my connection to our times...** In verses 18 and 19 we see the deception of the old prophet who lies to the man of God - deliberately deceiving him. It costs him his life in the end as he listened to the old prophet. I am saddened by the deception that runs rampant in our country.

Line of Kings
We now get an account of the kings to follow in both houses of Judah and Israel.
Judah
After Rehoboam came Abijam who reigned for about three years and did evil in God's eyes (1Kings 15:2) folowed by Asa who reigned for 41 years and did what was right in God's eyes (1Kings 15:9-10). After Asa came Jehoshaphat who reigned for 25 years (1Kings 22:42).
Israel
After Jeroboam came Nadab who reigned for two years (1Kings 15:25) and did evil in the sight of the Lord. Next came Baasha who reigned for 24 years (1Kings 15:33). He also did evil in the sight of the Lord and was at war with Asa from Judah during much of their reigns together (1Kings 15:16). After Baasha came Elah who reigned for two years. This was Baasha's son (1Kings 16:8) Zimri followed by killing Elah and taking kingship (1Kings 16:10). His reign lasted only a week as Omri was named after that by Israel. Omri also did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord (v.25). Then we come to Ahab who was Omri's son who reigned for 22 years (1Kings 16:29). He was a worshipper of Baal and is said to have done more evil in the sight of the Lord compared to all those before him (1Kings 16:30).

Enter Elijah
This is quite an amazing account of a prophet of the Lord who comes and confronts evil as displayed in the behavior of King Ahab the Baal worshipper. To make the longer story short, Elijah comes to Ahab and challenges him and his prophets of Baal atop of Mount Carmel (1Kings 18:19, 23-24). The challenge is to place a bull upon the altar and then cry out to God. The one that answers by fire is the true God. What is fun here is that the Baal worshippers are busy crying out for several hours (1Kings 18:26-29) and Elijah is busy mocking them when their god does not reply in front of all of Israel. That evening, Elijah takes his bull on the altar and douses it with several buckets of water and builds a trench around it full of water. He makes sure his bull is good and wet. An awesome request is made by Elijah in 18:37 and the fire comes and burns it all up water, stones, and all (1Kings 18:38). Elijah calls for Israel to seize the prophets of Baal and he kills them all later (1Kings 18:40). Point made. Another 'W' for God.

So Ahab goes home and tells his wife Jezebel all about the incredible afternoon and this made her angry so she vowed to kill Elijah (1Kings 19:1-2). Elijah flees and prays to God for death but the Lord strengthens him and tells him to stand in the Lord's presence on the mountain.

This is interesting to me... Elijah goes out and stands on the mountain as he was told and along comes wind but no Lord, then and earthquake but no Lord, then fire but no Lord, finally a whisper comes (1Kings 19:11-12. It makes me think of all the "noise" through which we must filter the voice of God. Imagine the difficulties of trying to hear a whisper through the chaos of wind, earthquake, and fire...! Remain patient - focus on Him and listen.

God instructs Elijah to appoint Elisha to take his place - note difference of spelling - who pretty much drops everything and follows Elijah.

Ahab later has a run-in with a fellow named Naboth. Ahab wanted his vineyard and offered to buy it or trade for something else but Naboth declined. I almost get a sense of Ahab's immaturity in the response (1Kings 21:4). He goes in and lays on his bed and refuses to eat. His wife comes in and is like "What's wrong?" He replies that he is upset because Naboth said 'No.' (1Kings 21:5-6). Jezebel devises a plan to slander Naboth and gets him stoned to death where Ahab then takes the land.

Of course, this was not hidden from the Lord. So Elijah is sent to tell Ahab of his impending doom (1Kings 21:19). Ahab's response is such that God says He will not bring this on him during his lifetime but during the lifetime of his son.

Final Days for Ahab
During Jehoshaphat's tenure as king, Ahab wanted his help to go and defeat Ramoth-gilead. Since Jehoshaphat was a follower of the Lord, he asked for knowledge of God's will. Ahab asked some prophets and they said that he should go fight and the Lord would hand it over. Jehoshaphat was not buying it and asked specifically for a prophet of Yahweh. We learn that there is one but Ahab doesn't like that idea because Micaiah always proclaims disaster. **Funny how Ahab chose to listen to those people who told him what he wanted to hear. We are warned of this in 2 Timothy 4:3**

As Ahab predicted, Micaiah had some disastrous things to say and so he has Micaiah placed in prison (1Kings 22:27-28). They go up to fight anyway and Ahab tries to disguise himself as someone other than the king but dies anyway (1Kings 22:34-35)

Jehoshaphat continued to do what was right in the eyes of the Lord while Ahaziah replaced Ahab and reigned for 2 years doing evil in the sight of the Lord. Jehoram eventually replaced Jehoshaphat.

So we have all these kings - some doing evil and others doing right in the eyes of the Lord. We will continue to follow the history in 2 Kings next week.

Stone 10 - 2 Samuel

At the end of 1 Samuel we read that Saul, Israel's first king died. There is a seamless transition to 2 Samuel as David becomes informed of this event.

Beware the Message You Bring
In the first chapter a messenger comes to relay the news to David about Saul's death and the defeat of the Isrealites at the hand of the Philistines. What is interesting is that the messenger thought that he was bringing good news to David (2Sam 4:10). In fact, the messenger even delivered the armband and crown, knowing full well that David is the next anointed (2Sam 1:10).

I imagine that to the messenger's surprise, David is pained and tears his clothes over it and mourns (2Sam 1:11). David later had the messenger killed for having killed the Lord's anointed (2Sam 1:14-16). I am pretty sure that was not on the messenger's radar as a possibility.

Civil War
David becomes king over Judah (2Sam 2:4) but Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, was king over the rest of Israel (2Sam 2:8-9). At a certain point they came together and it appears as though they were going to try and settle matters with minimal bloodshed by having a smaller group of 12 men from each side come out and fight in a sort of gang-style underground fighting ring or something but they all died anyway so the bigger battle ensued (2Sam 2:14-16).

Verse 17 tells us that David wins and they began pursuit of Abner, who is the commander of the Army, and we later learn that the war was long (2Sam 3:1). Something that appears to have been somewhat pivotal is when Ish-bosheth questions his commander Abner about sleeping with a concubine (2Sam 3:7). Abner is offended and seems to vow that he will now help David become king (2Sam 3:8-10). So Abner makes a covenant with David (2Sam 3:12) to hand over all of Israel to him. Unfortunately, Joab, who is David's commander, runs into Abner and kills him saying that he is an enemy (2Sam 3:24-25) but really taking vengeance on him for the death of his brother (2Sam 3:27).

Later, Ish-bosheth is also assassinated (2Sam 4:7) and his head is brought to David like some kind of gift (2Sam 4:8). I think of the cat that leaves the dead mouse on the doorstep as a gesture of love. As with the messenger in chapter 1, the assassins think they have done well and are bringing good news but what they have done was not God's way and David brings the same punishment on them as the messenger (2Sam 4:9-12). Finally, David becomes king over all of Israel (2Sam 5:3).

More Conflict
The Philistines now try to come in and take over (2Sam 5:17-18) to no avail as David listened to the Lord (2Sam 5:25).

Though not a battle, David wants to move the Ark from its current spot to Jerusalem with him and give it a better place (2Sam 7:2) but God tells David, through Nathan, that He has never commanded this (2Sam 7:7).
An interesting note in this part is during the move of the Ark when it begins to fall off of the cart (2Sam 6:6). A man named Uzzah tries to grab it to keep it from falling and dies (2Sam 6:7). It is worth noting that Uzzah is not slain because of his good intention but because he was not an authorized priest and touched the most holy object. This was a violation for which death was promised. Remember the sons of Aaron who came before the tent in an unauthorized way (Lev 10:1-2)?

The Ammonites later came on the scene when the king passed away and reign passed on to his son (2Sam 10:1). David tries to be nice to Hanun but the feeling was not mutual - or at least the counsel from leadership was flawed (2Sam 10:3-5). The battle ensues and Israel comes out as victor.

The Lasting Consequences of Sin
Now we come to the famous account of David and Bathsheba where David sees this married woman bathing from his roof and summons her to have sex (2Sam 11:2-5). **Personally, I cannot ignore the coincidence that she was bathing and her name was Bathsheba...** OK - OOPS - she gets pregnant and now David knows that he has a problem on his hands so he tries to be really slick and cover it up by bringing her husband in from battle to sleep with with her so that nine months later he would think it was his (2Sam 11:6-9). So that does not work and so they get Uriah drunk and even then he does not go home (2Sam 11:13). With his plans foiled, David arranges to get Uriah killed in battle (2Sam 11:14).

Now David may have thought that he finally got this covered up but God knew about it and was not pleased (2Sam 11:27). Some time later the prophet Nathan is sent to David with a story (2Sam 12:1-4) that gets David riled up and says the man deserves to die (v. 5) to which Nathan replies that David is the man in the story (v. 7). Due to this sin, God says that David's house will be filled with disaster (2Sam 12:10-12).

So the newborn dies and some time later David and Bathsheba are blessed with Solomon.

David has many wives and children. One of his sons, Absalom, has a sister named Tamar who is apparently so beautiful that another son Amnon cannot seem to get over her (2Sam 13:1-4). This plan gets devised to bring Tamar close to him and he rapes her and immediately hates her (2Sam 13:12-15). Obviously this brings just a little tension to the family and we eventually have one brother plotting to kill another a couple years down the road (2Sam 13:23,28). Absalom then runs away (v. 38).

Are we seeing the disaster God promised yet?

So Joab puts together this plan to reunite king David with his son Absalom which does work but David indicates that he can come back but not be allowed to see him (2Sam 14:24). A couple years later Absalom burns Joab's field to get his attention (v 30) so he could petition to see the king (2Sam 14:33).

Not long after - Absalom starts building himself a following by intercepting people coming in the city and telling them that the king did not have anyone to listen to them (2Sam 15:1-6). After four years of building some fame and notoriety throughout Isreal, Absalom goes to Hebron and plans to make himself king (2Sam 15:7) but does it in a decietful manner. Word finally gets back to David that people are starting to follow Absalom and so David flees (2Sam 15:14).

Some time later, Absalom moves into Jerusalem (2Sam 16:15). His advisors tell him to sleep with the concubines (2Sam 16:21-22) - this goes back to what God said would happen (2Sam 12:11-12). It is also my understanding politically at this time that the one who controls the harem holds the reigns. This, then, becomes a public symbol of who is in charge. Plans are then made to go out and attack David. **Imagine having your own son try to hunt you down and kill you...**

An insider, Hushai, gives advice and then sends messengers to inform David of the advice (2Sam 17:16). Battle later ensued through which David comes out victorious (2Sam 18:7). At some point Absalom got himself hung up in a tree by his massive hairdo (2Sam 18:9). While he was hanging there, Joab and his men came along and killed him. **What is interesting to note here is that king David specifically told the people in v. 5 not to harm Absalom. Joab has him killed anyway. From a military standpoint this seems a wise decision but it defies the king's orders nonetheless. Even though his own son was trying to kill him, he still loved him.

So David is now restored as king over Israel but there is a small dispute of sorts and Sheba pretty much walks off with most of Israel following him (2Sam 20:1-2). A party is sent out to take care of Sheba who clearly didn't have much of a support group because the city he was in simply handed over his head at the request of Joab (2Sam 20:20-22).

Something Doesn't Add Up
David calls to have his military counted but Joab hesitates and queries this as if knowing it should not be done (2Sam 24:2-3). It happens anyway, over the course of roughly ten months, and even David feels bad about it afterwards (2Sam 24:10). Perhaps it was the meotivation behind the counting as if to boast of his strength as opposed to the strength of the Lord.

David is given three options for punishment and goes with the plague from God rather than a punishment at the hands of men (2Sam 24:14). So the plague comes and 70,000 men die by the time David cries out to say that the punishment should be on him and his family since it was his sin. Now the text says that 70,000 men die - I wonder if that means there were many more women and children that dies as well...? Either way all this counting up ended in a net loss. **Despite the alluring intial potential benefits, sin does not have a payoff in the end.**

David was then instructed to build an altar to the Lord (2Sam 24:18). David obeys. **Another interesting note is that the owner of the property where the altar was to be built was willing to simply hand over all of it and David refused and insisted on buying it since he would not give offerings that had cost him nothing (2Sam 24:22-24)

Things seem to settle down for now - at least until David grows old and it is time for a new king. We will look at David's son Solomon next time in the book of 1 Kings.