Chronicles: "of matters omitted"

One title used for these books (1 and 2 Chronicles) indicates that the books contained details left out of the books of Samuel and Kings, however the Hebrew title was "events of the days" and it seems to be kind of a court journal. The likely author was Ezra, and his perspective and purpose is that of a preacher, not just narrating events, but preaching.

My favorite passage of 1 Chronicles is 21:1-4, where Satan moves David to number Israel. If you compare that with 2 Samuel 24, where the Lord moves David, we must conclude that the Lord allowed Satan to tempt, but ultimately the choice was David's.

A great story in 2 Chronicles is when the choir went out to battle before the army, in chapter 20. There are three great lines in that story: verse 12 where King Jehoshaphat prays, 'We don't know what to do, "but our eyes are upon You."' Jahaziel is a prophet, although no one remembers his name. He has a great line in verse 15: "the battle is not yours, but God's." He goes on to say, "You will not need to fight in this battle.... Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you" (verse 17).

What are "the groves"? (1 Kings 14:15; 18:19; 2 Kings 17:10, and in 37 other verses!)

The King James Version translates the Hebrew word Asherah as "grove" or "groves." The SDA Bible Dictionary explains that Asherah is a goddess of vegetation, or the "Lady of the Sea." She was the female counterpart to Baal, and images to her were set up and worshipped by the people of Israel and Judah. Asherah may also refer to the wooden poles and tree trunks dedicated to the goddess.

The drought that Elijah announced was a clear strike by the true God against the "goddess" of vegetation, as the lack of rain turned the vegetation brown.

1 Kings 11:1 "But..."

David is a great king--when Jesus is introduced in Matthew 1:1, He's called "the son of David." He leads Israel in its most glorious epoch, the pinnacle of its glory. And Solomon gets off to a great start, the gift of wisdom, building the temple, visits from the Queen of Sheba. He's on a roll! It seems the whole world is impressed with Israel's wonderful kingdom.

Then comes the "But." In the first 13 verses of 1 Kings 11, it all comes crashing down.

God had warned: "they will turn away your heart after their gods." And, sure enough, "his wives turned his heart away after other gods."

Once more, we see the pride/humility thing--Solomon felt his need of God, his need of wisdom to govern and he submitted in humility to God. But after amassing wealth, wives, and power, he began to rely on himself instead of depending on God.

Judges, Ruth, Samuel

There aren't that many heroes among the judges, and even the heroes usually have problems. Deborah is a positive character, but Barak is timid, Gideon worships an ephod (a priestly garment), Jepthah makes a foolish vow, and Samson doesn't learn his lesson about not trusting in women. There are seven cycles in Judges: the people are oppressed, they turn to God, they are delivered, and then they turn away from God again, over and over again--seven times. The Angel of the Lord in chapter 2, verses 1-5, is evidently Christ. The people repent, but six verses later "the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord." Kind of a depressing book!

Ruth is a sweet love story, featuring the redeemer/kinsman ("goel" in Hebrew). Boaz redeems Ruth just as Jesus redeems us.

Samuel is a faithful judge, but the people reject his sons. They want a king, just like all the other nations. Kind of reminds me of what I used to say to my parents, "Everybody else is doing it." Saul is proud, impatient, and doesn't trust God. He begins in humility, but after he's king he chooses not to submit to God. David, in contrast, continues to humbly submit to God--he even refuses to take Saul's life when he has a chance, because as wicked as Saul is, he is still "the Lord's anointed." David waits patiently until God's time for him to assume the throne.

Although David sins many times (lying, adultery, murder, numbering Israel), he always turns back to God and asks forgiveness. He's not "a man after God's own heart" (1 Sam 13:14) because he is always faithful, but because he always comes back to God. David is not Israel's greatest king, Jesus is. But David is a "type" of Christ: in many ways he gives us a glimpse, a foretaste, of what Jesus will be like.