Here we encounter the same period of time as 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings. This is similar to how the four Gospels were written by four different men of the same time period but with different perspectives. In the original Hebrew Bible, Chronicles was the final book of the Old Testament, not Malachi. The perspective of the book is that the exile is over. God’s people have returned to the land. However, their enthusiasm is flagging. They have fallen into the old patterns as Ezra, Nehemiah and Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi show. God is proving that He did indeed fulfill the prophesies and the threats of Deuteronomy 28.

Well, open your Bibles to 1 Chronicles 1, and let's pray. Father, I thank you for all these testimonies of your faithfulness, these remarkable moments when you work in history and you show yourself to be faithful as you do in these two books. And I pray that you would help us to love you more as we consider these things. Amen. Okay, so 1 and 2 Chronicles, it's a lot of chapters.

1 and 2 Chronicles was written for the same time period as Samuel and Kings. And Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles are a little bit like Matthew, Mark and Luke and John because they're written about, you know, similar time frames, same people, but you have different perspectives. And so, creating a harmony of Samuel and Kings and Chronicles is really helpful. Most people think that the Chronicles were written by Ezra, that he was the human instrument that was used of the Lord to communicate these things. Time of writing is after the Babylonian captivity.

Now Chronicles used to be at the very end of the Hebrew Bible. Malachi wasn't the last book of the Hebrew Bible. Chronicles was the last book of the Hebrew Bible because Chronicles begins with Adam and works right up to Cyrus, his edict for the Jews to go back into the promised land, back to Jerusalem. So it was sort of the end of the Bible, but that changed. And there are differences, Like compared to Kings, there's lots of similar content.

But in Chronicles, the genealogy begins with Adam, where in kings it begins with Solomon. The temple walls are lined with gold. We learned that in Chronicles. We didn't hear that in Kings when the description of the building of the temple was being delivered. There are more details regarding Rehoboam.

There are a lot more details regarding Asa and Jehoshaphat. Elijah and Elisha are not mentioned in Chronicles except for a letter from Elijah is mentioned here. There's a lot more about Jehoram, King of Judah. There's a story in Chronicles that doesn't appear at all in Kings. The story of Uzzah.

When David was moving the Ark, as is recorded in Kings, in Chronicles we learn that Uzzah tried to write the Ark when it was tottering. There's a lot more on Hezekiah. There's a lot more on Josiah's reforms. And then at the very end of 2 Chronicles we read of Cyrus's decree to send the children of Israel out of Babylon and back home. That does not appear in Kings.

So there are quite a number of differences. The purpose of writing, as you see in item number five, is this. The whole perspective of Chronicles is the exile is over, the people of God have returned to the land, but their enthusiasm is flagging, they fall into old patterns. You can see those old patterns in Ezra and Nehemiah and Haggai and Malachi. Roger Crook says that the purpose of this book is to help a spiritually sluggish people recover from their apathy and avoid a repetition of the judgment of God on the nation.

Now Jerome and Luther called this book the Chronicle of the Entire Sacred History because that's really what it is. It starts with Adam and goes all the way to Cyrus. And of course you've got to get by a bunch of genealogies to get there at the beginning, in the first nine chapters, by the way. The first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles are genealogies. I'm going to give you some key verses.

The first key verse is 1 Chronicles 17, 10 through 13, which is God's promise explaining why the temple is being built. The temple has Tremendous significance in Chronicles. Check that out when you read it. Look for the stuff about the temple. And what's the main message?

I will never leave you or forsake you. The temple is put in the world in order to demonstrate to God's people that He draws near. He comes to His people and He speaks to them and His presence is there. So in 1 Chronicles 17, verses 10 through 13, We'll actually start in verse 9. Moreover, I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more, nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them any more as previously.

Since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. Also I will subdue your enemies. Furthermore I tell you that the Lord will build you a house and it shall be when your days are fulfilled when you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up your seed after you, who will be of your sons. I will establish his kingdom. He shall build me a house, and I will establish his throne forever.

I will be his father and he shall be my son and I will not take my mercy away from him as I took it from him who is before you and I will establish him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever." So, the temple is a visible expression that God will forever dwell with his people. Now, you know that God has destroyed his temples before. He removed the tabernacle. He took away the tabernacle from Shiloh. He is going to destroy Solomon's temple in 586 BC through Nebuchadnezzar and then they're going to rebuild it again and then God is going to destroy the temple again in 70 AD.

While God says my temple is here to establish my kingdom forever, it's figurative. Because when the physical temple is destroyed in 70 AD, God has already declared that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. So he lives in his people forever. He will never leave them or forsake them. Whenever you read about the temple, think about your body and think about the fact that God does not limit himself to this temple any longer.

He walks with you, He talks with you, and He reveals Himself to you. If you come to worship Him, if you don't, He won't, right? So the temple takes on, you know, gigantic proportions, And this first key verse in 1 Chronicles 17 tells us about God's promise that explains why the temple was built. It was built to teach you that He is establishing His kingdom forever. And then another key verse, the 2nd Chronicles 7 verses 14 to 22.

And this is a declaration of God's mercy. Here's what we'll see over and over again. The people sin. They fall into grievous sin. And you know what?

They repent. And guess what? God receives repentant sinners. He doesn't say, no, no, you're done for. He doesn't do that.

When someone genuinely repents, he opens the door. It's remarkable. And in chapter 714, which is probably. The key verse in the whole book, it reads like this. If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways.

Then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land." And then he says, now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to prayer made in this place." Isn't that amazing? When we get to this portion as we start walking through the book, I want to try to show you the context of that statement. If my people, which are called by my name, because it's a remarkable context, but you see God's willingness to forgive, he's willing to receive sinners, even when they've done absolutely the worst things. And then we also learn about the Babylonian captivity. Why?

Why the Babylonian captivity? Why did God yank his people out of Judah and throw them into 70 years of bondage? Why did he do that? And 2 Chronicles 36, 14 through 21 declares it. 14 says, Moreover, all the leaders of the priests and the people transgressed more and more according to all the abominations of the nations and defiled the house of the Lord which he consecrated in Jerusalem.

So they defiled right worship. They didn't worship God right. They worshiped God in their own way. And this is another tremendous theme in this book, is that right worship leads to many blessings. Wrong worship leads to your destruction.

Here in this chapter, the chronicler says that they mocked the messengers of God, they despised the words, and they scoffed at the prophets. And if we skip down to verse 21, we learn that this was all to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate, she kept Sabbath to fulfill 70 years. Now, this opens this up to a number of other places in Jeremiah and Nehemiah where we learn that The 70 years of captivity was given because they refused to keep the Sabbath. And there were 70 seven-year cycles.

Four hundred and ninety years they did not keep the Sabbath. And God gave them a year for every Sabbath cycle missed. 490 years and they did not celebrate the Sabbath for that time. So They fell in love with the nations, and they were attracted to the abominations of the nations, and they didn't keep the Sabbath. So the reason is there.

That's why Judah went into captivity. They broke the Sabbath of the land. Now, don't get confused. When he's talking about the Sabbath, he's not talking about one day in seven. He's talking about every seven years the land was to lie fallow.

And you can read about this in Leviticus 25 and 26 in the Law of the Sabbath year. And they broke all those seven year cycles and so That's why they get 70 years of captivity God Used a calculation in order to determine how long they should be in captivity. I want to bring out five critical matters here. Before we do that, let me just give you some other verses about the Sabbath and the captivity. Jeremiah 17, 19-27, Jeremiah 29, 10-14, and Jeremiah 25, verse 12.

Those verses and Nehemiah 13 will help you understand why it is that God would judge his people so severely. Well, the seventh item in your outline are five critical matters. Now, as you read through 2 Chronicles, you know, visualize these things. Try to notice when you're going by these things here. First of all, David and his line.

A David is the king after God's own heart, and the book traces his life from the time he was anointed king. The preservation of the line of David is what the whole genealogy is about. Nine chapters of genealogy, it's really pretty much about one thing. God is preserving the line of David. He's not going to let the line go out.

He's not going to let the light go out on his people ever. He's going to keep it alive. Think times might look dark to you, God's going to continue to keep the light on. So That's, you know, consider David and his line because it'll be referred to in a number of places. There's also the prominence of the Ark.

Chapter 13 is the critical chapter for that. We'll get to a little bit more about the Ark in a few minutes. Thirdly, the temple. The book records David's passion to build the temple. He couldn't build it.

God allowed him to design the temple but not build it. Solomon built the temple. This just declares the importance of the worship of God. God has always had a place that his people would come and worship, always. Even though your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, now you come into the temple.

See, the church is also called the temple. So God has always drawn his people together to worship. That's why it's so significant that we worship together on Sunday. We're just doing what God has always done. He first gathers people to the tabernacle, then he gathers people to the temple, and now he gathers his people to the church for Sabbath worship.

So when we do that, we're just fulfilling what God has always done. God always brings his people together. God is not a God of a bunch of lone rangers running off in their own direction. He brings his people together. And it's critical that they meet together.

That's why the Apostle Paul in the book of Hebrews said, don't stop meeting together. The fourth critical matter is the matter of obedience. And here's what you'll read about over and over again. God wants you to know this. Obedience brings blessing.

Disobedience brings cursing. I didn't count how many times this is said, but it's said over and over again. Obedience is the key to blessing. People who minimize obedience, they don't understand how God works and how he desires to bless his people. But he does it, you know, through obedience.

Number five, revival. There are five instances of revival in the Chronicles. You see a revival happening during the reign of Asa and Jehoshaphat and Joash and Hezekiah and Josiah. They're wonderful and God pours out His grace. So recognize the revivals.

We should always be crying out to God for revival. Only God can do it. I've seen revivals and I pray for more. It's such a sweet thing. You know, it's interesting, most revivals have their focus in young people.

It's pretty interesting. He lights up a younger generation And it's the most exciting thing when he does. And when he does, you know what happens? You see the same old thing. They want to study the Bible.

They want to be together. They want to talk about God. They don't want the world. They want to be part of the people of God. They want to talk about doctrine.

That's what happens, and they have joy. You know, I was just in California last week. It was the place of my salvation. It was the land of my conversion. And during that time, a lot of people were converted.

And you know, a lot of the people that I know, most of the ones that we were in church with, they're still walking with the Lord 35, 40 years later. Guess why? It was a real revival. People really were changed. And I was one of them.

But, oh, I pray for revival in our land. OK, so let's dive into the books. And you can see the outline there. We're going to walk through the various sections. As you can see, there are three big sections and one little teeny section.

We'll start with the first section, the genealogies. You know if you've ever read through the genealogies and first chronicles you'll know that it takes a long time. Our family has done it many many times. We usually don't skip them. I think maybe the last time we read Chronicles, we skipped the genealogy.

But when my kids were little, I made us go through them for a reason. They're meaningful. Why genealogies? I'm gonna give you five reasons. Number one, they show how God worked through history through specific people.

The Bible is not a book of a bunch of myths. It's a book about real people who lived in real times who had real moms and dads and who had real children. Okay? And when you read them just... I would encourage you to read the genealogies when you do this.

Don't skip over them. There's a temptation. Secondly, they demonstrate the preservation of God's people. They demonstrate the preservation of God's people. That from one generation to the next God keeps the light on.

Number three, they declare God's faithfulness. The genealogies say, I will never leave you or forsake you. Number four, the genealogies give a picture of election. God is selecting and excluding. Now in the Chronicles, Israel, the corrupt, apostate people are ignored.

And the genealogies focus in on the faithful. And they focus in on the elect. God is selecting and excluding people by His grace. And so they're a picture of election. And they also affirm divine providence, that God is in control of everything.

They explain that God has not abandoned his people, but he's working a plan all along. Now the focus of these genealogies is upon Abraham and his descendants, and this is what you'll find in the whole testimony of 1st and 2nd Chronicles, the whole focus happens to be the people of God and the line of David. In the genealogies, it's Abraham and David. Those are the two key figures and everybody else, you know, fits in along the line. You know, the genealogy focuses on Abraham.

It eliminates Ishmael and Esau. It traces Jacob's 12 sons who were the fathers of the 12 tribes of Israel. The focus is on Judah and Levi, the tribes of the priestly line. And Levi is traced back to Aaron. And again, the genealogy starts with Adam, which again, this is why the Hebrews in the Hebrew Bible made it the last book of the Bible, because it's sort of a summary from Adam all the way to the end of the Babylonian captivity.

In chapters 1 and 2, there's the genealogy from Adam to David. In chapter 3, it's the genealogies of the sons of David and Solomon. In chapters 4 through 8, it's the genealogies of the 12 tribes. In chapter 9, it's the genealogy of the remnant and of Saul. And it doesn't really say much about Saul.

We'll get to Saul in a minute, because there's something said about Saul here that will tell you the whole story about why things didn't go well with Saul. The chronicler skips generations. His purpose in this genealogy is not linear perfection but divine direction. That's His purpose. And the point is that there are people who are used of the Lord to display God's intentions in history.

God made a covenant with these people and His concern is the continuation of His people by His covenant. And that's really the only way His line continues is by God's covenant, His promise. Now in the midst of the genealogies something really unexpected happens. You're going along, you're in chapter 4, you're going to sleep, and all of a sudden this guy jumps out. His name is Jabez, and he pops out in 4, 9, and 10.

There are just two verses. I'll read 9 and 10. Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bore him in pain. And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, oh, that you would bless me indeed and enlarge my territory, that your hand would be with me and that you would keep me from evil and that I may not cause pain. So God granted him what he requested." Right in the middle of this ocean of genealogy, just pops up this guy.

It's a statement from a man who wanted to be kept from sin. He wanted to see the kingdom of heaven expanded. And God blesses him. God brings it to pass. Okay, so that's the first section, the genealogy.

Have a great time reading it. As you're reading it, remember why it's there. And then you have from chapter 10 all the way to 2 Chronicles 9. Now remember, 1 and 2 Chronicles are not different books. It's one book, and so, you know, this next section spans both of the books.

And you read about the united monarchy of David and Solomon, And you're constantly getting the contrast between David and Solomon. In chapter 10, Saul's entire life is chronicled, summed up. Now there's a lot less about Saul in Chronicles compared to Kings. A lot more about Saul and Kings. So in 1 Chronicles 10 verse 13 we get the whole key to Saul's life and I'll read it to you.

So Saul died for his unfaithfulness. Now this is written right after he had died in battle and the enemy has stripped him of his garments and his armaments and you know the Philistines you know abused him and then they took his armor and put it in the gods of Dagon in Philistia. So he died for his unfaithfulness which he committed against the Lord because he did not keep the word of the Lord and also because he consulted a medium for guidance. But He did not inquire of the Lord. Therefore he killed him and turned the kingdom over to David, the son of Jesse.

He died because he didn't love the word of God. He wanted guidance from somewhere else. God wasn't enough for him. He didn't look at the decisions and the life that he had and find himself satisfied with God. He wanted something better than God.

He wanted a medium. He wanted some better counselor than God. It's a picture of a man who was not patient, not humble before God. So that's why Saul died. Now the rest of 1st Chronicles is about David.

You get one chapter about Saul and the rest of it is about David. Because that's the emphasis is really upon the Godly line. In chapter 11 we have David and the temple. Chapter 12 we get the importance of the ark and that story about Uzzah. Chapter 13, I'll read it, chapter 13, seven, so they carried the ark of God on a new cart from the house of Abinadab, and Uzzah and Ahio drove the cart.

Then David and all Israel played music before God with all their might, with singing on harps, on singing on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on cymbals, and with trumpets. And when they came to Chidan's threshing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to hold the ark, for the oxen stumbled. Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzzah, and he struck him, because he put his hand to the ark and he died there before God. Well, David knew that there were rules and regulations for moving the ark. He disregarded them.

Those regulations are found in Leviticus, they're found in Deuteronomy 10 8 and Numbers 7 9. And Uzzah believed that God needed his help. Uzzah believed that his inclinations were holier than God's instructions. And that is the root of most of our problems. We have these voices in our heads that tell us what's true and just.

And often it contradicts the word of God. We should always bring every thought captive to the word of God. Uzzah did not do that. And, you know, Uzzah believed that his thoughts and his hands and his actions were holier than God. That was a terrible error.

You get down to chapter 18. Again, all this is about David. In chapters 18, 19, and 20, It's all about David's victories. Here's the main message. You're gonna read a lot about battles.

What do they mean? Why are we reading about these battles? Here's why we're reading about the battles. Are you ready? This is the reason.

When you obey God, He gives victory. In chapter 1, we find the only negative thing mentioned about David, And guess what? It's not Bathsheba. It's something totally different. The only thing mentioned negatively about David is that he numbered the people.

Now look at chapter 21 verse 1. There's some really interesting language here. Now Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel. Satan moved David to number Israel. Verse 2, so David said to Joab and to the leaders of the people, go number Israel from Beersheba to Dan and bring the number of them to me that I may know it.

Now why did David number the people? Well, first of all, there was an evil root cause. He was being affected by evil. He had evil thoughts. And what were those evil thoughts?

He wanted a number of the people for his own glory. He was boasting. He wanted to declare to himself and all his people and all the nations how strong he was. And he departed from his trust in God. And what you'll see in these battles, in the Chronicles, is that God doesn't win battles by majorities.

He never did, and I guess he never does. You know, remember when we were back in 1 Samuel 14 verse 6 and Jonathan said to his armor bearer that nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few. God doesn't win battles by majority and David was thinking that was so and he wanted to prove his majority. You know, in Judges 7, we saw how God desired to reduce Gideon's army. You know, he took an army of tens of thousands and brought it down to 300.

And there's this false notion in our heads that says that we can outman and outsmart the enemy. That all we need to do is do everything right and we'll be victorious. Have you ever thought about that for your own life? Like if you just do everything right, everything will go right. And the emphasis is on you.

And I'm not talking about obedience here, I'm talking about the person who is doing what he's doing to exalt himself. And that's what happened with David. God uses obedient people. And this is why we read in Psalm 147, verses 10 and 11, an affirmation of this really important principle. Verse 10 in Psalm 147, His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man.

The Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love. So God sends a prophet to show David the gravity of his sin in numbering the people. And you can read about it in chapter 21 verses 10 through 17. And let's read part of it. Go and tell David, this is what the Lord says, I am giving you three options.

Choose one of them for me to carry out against you." So God is going to give David three options for his punishment. David gets to choose the punishment. So this prophet, Gad, went to David and said to him, this is what the Lord says, take your choice. Number one, three years of famine. Number two, Three months of being swept away before your enemies, with their swords overtaking you, or three days of the sword of the Lord, days of plague in the land, with the angel of the Lord ravaging every part of Israel.

Now then, decide how I should answer the one who sent me." And David said to Gad, I am in deep distress. Let me fall into the hands of the Lord, for His mercy is very great, but do not let me fall into the hands of men. So the Lord sent a plague on Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead." How about that? You know, David was a man after God's own heart. He wanted to be thrown onto the mercy of God.

There's a lot that we can say about this. You know, one thing is just to be reminded that our sin can have a profound effect on other people's lives. Here, David's pride in numbering the people resulted in 70, 000 of his own people being killed in a plague. So God sent an angel in Jerusalem and That's what happened. And then God instructed David to buy the threshing floor of Arunah and to sacrifice there.

Interestingly enough, this action that God commanded him to do in order to express his repentance, resulted in his actually purchasing the location for the temple. It was on this site of the threshing floor of Arunah that the temple was built, indicating the grace and the mercy of God. He does punish, but He does restore. And then God allowed David to design the temple, even though He didn't allow him to build it. So 1 Chronicles ends with David and Solomon ruling together, David the warrior after God's own heart, Solomon the wise man of peace, the two of them exemplifying the kingdom of God.

There are a lot of lessons to be learned in these narratives. I mean, here's one. Why would you distrust such a faithful God? Why would you number the people? Why would you need to worry about anything?

Why would you need to panic and try to exalt yourself? It's just not necessary. So this takes us all the way up to 2 Chronicles 1-9, where there's the construction of the temple. And in chapter 1 verse 1 in 2 Chronicles we read, Now Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him and exalted him exceedingly. So God has secured the kingdom, strengthened it, and has exalted Solomon.

And you see this vast wealth that Solomon gives. Why did it come to him? Because God was blessing him. Don't be confused by the Marxists of our society who think that poverty is better than wealth. There are many people, even Christians, pretend that poverty is better than wealth.

And it's very difficult to prove that from Scripture. These gifts and blessings, the gold of the temple, all this was a result of God's blessing towards Solomon. We also have the same story that we read about in Kings, where God appears to Solomon and asks, what shall I give you? And Solomon says, give me wisdom. And God pours out his wisdom.

And verse 11 here says, And God said to Solomon, this is in chapter one, verse 11, and get the connection between the wisdom and the wealth and the blessing. And God said to Solomon, because this was in your heart, and have not asked riches or wealth or honor or the life of your enemies, nor asked for a long life, but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may judge my people over whom I have made you king. Wisdom and knowledge are granted to you, and I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like." The wealth was from the wisdom, and God works this way. And I'm not saying that God doesn't sometimes take away wealth, but it's very clear that wealth is very often the result of wisdom. Okay, so let's go to chapter 2.

We go from the tabernacle to the temple. There's a shift. Then we have the split kingdom in 2 Chronicles 10 all the way to 36. Now, when you get to chapter 10 in 2 Chronicles, all the way to the end of the book, what do you get? You get a bunch of kings.

So, what you have is from, you know, just a summary of Chronicles, from Adam to Solomon. And then now you get from Solomon's son Rehoboam, the divided kingdom, and then you're gonna get a disclosure of all these kings. Kings, Wars, blessings, cursings, all these are the kings of Judah. No kings of the northern apostate kingdom. Everything from here on is on down south.

So chapters 10 and 11 is about Rehoboam. Jeroboam, this wicked man, flees and goes down to Egypt and is waiting there. And Rehoboam becomes king. And because of Rehoboam's evil, God brings Egypt in to attack them. Now you're gonna find this pattern.

When a king does evil, God's gonna bring in a nation to come in and punish them. And the pattern is so remarkable. And you just see this. If you disobey the Lord, you can bet you're gonna be taken down. You're going to be attacked.

God will bring some outside force to chastise you And you see it over and over again. That's why we read in chapter 12 verse 1, Now it came to pass when Rehoboam had established the kingdom and had strengthened himself that he forsook the law of the Lord and all Israel along with him. And the second verse is, and it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak, the king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem. Why? Because they transgressed against the Lord with 1, 200 chariots, 60, 000 horsemen, and people without number who came with him out of Egypt.

And so Shishak comes and he takes over all these cities. And Shishak comes in and says, you know why this happened? Because you forsook God. How about that? And then in chapter 13 is the story of Abijah.

Abijah is in the south. Remember these are all southern king and kings. Okay, picture this all happening in the south because what you're gonna find is some of these wars are against the northern kingdom. And Abijah, his story is the story of a war with Jeroboam, who is in the northern kingdom. Abijah makes a speech to them, and in chapter 13 verse 10 he says, But as for us, the Lord is our God.

We have not forsaken him, and the priests who minister to the Lord are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites attend to his duties, and they burn incense every morning. What he's saying is we are following God's order of worship. You don't. You will lose because you have replaced the worship of God with your own inventions. Jeroboam invented sort of Israelite.

He changed the way that worship was done, but it was common enough that people would think they were worshipping the true God. He changed the whole way the priesthood worked, and he established different places of worship for people who could go for convenience. What Abijah is saying here is, hey, God is going to bless us because we're worshiping the way that he has designed it. Now, Jeroboam outflanks Abijah. In other words, he surrounds him.

Jeroboam plays a trick and surrounds Abijah. And guess what? Even though he was outflanked, even though he was outnumbered, guess who won the battle? Abijah just process this for a second Abijah's smaller army killed 500, 000 choice men of Israel 500, 000 the battle is is the Lord's And then verse 20 in chapter 13 says, Jeroboam never did recover the strength again that he had in the days of Abijah. And the Lord struck him and he died, but Abijah grew mighty and he continued to prosper.

Then we get to another king, King Asa. Chapters 14, 15, and 16 are about Asa. Asa is remarkable. He does what's good in the sight of the Lord. You'll read that in chapter 14, verse 2.

You'll read in chapter 14, verse 6 that God gave rest to his people and God gave rest to them because they were faithful. And then, an army of a million Egyptians comes against the southern kingdom. And Asa has 300, 000 troops and a million Egyptians, like ants, are coming up to destroy them. And in chapter 14, 11, here's what we read, Asa cried out to the Lord his God and said, Lord, it is nothing for you to help, whether with many or with those who have no power. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on you.

And in your name we go against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God. Do not let man prevail against you." And they were victorious. Asa does a lot of really important, helpful things. He removed some of the idols, even his mother's idols, the obscene Asherah.

He cut down her obscene image that she created and put up, and he dealt with the high places. Verse 19 in chapter 15 says this, there was no war until the 35th year of the reign of Asa. God gives peace to those who follow Him. That's the idea and it's stated all over the place in 1 and 2 Chronicles. You get to chapter 16 and Asa falls.

How many times do we see this? Solomon falls at the end of his life. The wisest man in the world becomes a loaf of bread before his pagan wives. And now Asa has a fall. And a prophet comes to Asa in chapter 16 verse 7.

He says, because you've relied on the king of Syria and have not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped your hand. And then there's this wonderful verse. This is one of the tenderest, sweetest verses in the Bible, but recognize the context. The context is a man who trusted God all his life, and then in this one battle he trusted the Syrians, and he didn't trust the Lord. That's the context of this statement.

You've heard it before, I'm sure. Verse 9, For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to him. And then this prophet speaks to the king, in this you have done foolishly, therefore from now on you shall have wars. The eyes of the Lord go to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong. Trust God.

And also just recognize, even if you've had a lot of victories, don't think you're safe. Trusting God happens every day. It's built one day at a time. He declined in health, and then there's this remarkable language at the very end of his life where he's very sick, and I'll just read it here. Then Asa was angry with the prophet, and Asa oppressed some of the people.

And then it says that he became very sick. And then it says, yet in his disease, he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians. He didn't trust God. He trusted in his physicians. He trusted in nations to help him.

You know, it's easy in a society like ours to trust in the physicians, to trust in the medicines and things like that. We often run to the medicine cabinet when we should run to the prayer closet and Asa trusted in the physicians. I don't think that's an argument that we should not use physicians. I think it's an argument for trusting too much in physicians. Then we get to the king Jehoshaphat.

He gets a lot of air time in 2 Chronicles 17-20. These chapters is where we find Jehoshaphat. The Lord was with Jehoshaphat. That's verse 3 in chapter 17. He did not seek the bales.

Jehoshaphat was a great king. He sent out teachers all throughout the land to teach the law. You learn that in chapter 17. In chapter 18 Ahab shows up. Remember Ahab is the king of the north.

Ahab is the most wicked king ever. He comes down and he says, Hey, would you help me out? Would you help me go to war against Ramoth Gilead? And for some reason, Jehoshaphat says, Yeah, sure, of course. And then Jehoshaphat says the right thing.

He says, could we inquire of a prophet of God? Like could we inquire of the Lord about this? And so they inquire of Micaiah. Now Micaiah is kind of a controversial figure. All the prophets around Ahab are saying, you're gonna win, you're gonna be victorious.

Ahab, you are so fantastic, you are so good, of course you're going to win. But you know, Jehoshaphat's kind of nervous, you know, and he wants to call in a real prophet because he knows who Ahab is. A real prophet is Micaiah. Micaiah is not a flatterer. He's not a man-pleaser, and Ahab hates him.

Ahab already hates him because he doesn't give Ahab good news, because he's not a man pleaser. And so they they bring in Micaiah. Micaiah ends up saying, hey, your prophets, God has put a lying spirit in their mouth. They're lying! And then Ahab gets very upset with the prophet and throws him in prison.

And then, You know, it just goes downhill. King Ahab disguises himself in battle and he gets shot and he dies. He should have listened to Micaiah. Chapter 19, Jehoshaphat sends out judges to judge for God throughout the land. He does some really wonderful things.

Verse 11 and chapter 19, behave courageously and the Lord will be with the good." We get to chapter 20, Moab goes into battle against Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat says, do not be afraid or dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God's." That theme is all over the place. God is the victor in battle. You don't need majorities. The battle is not yours. It's God's.

Make sure you understand that. God tells them you won't need to run in battle. You're gonna win even though they're way outnumbered. So there's victory there in Jehoshaphat's reign. And then we get in chapter 21 to Jehoram.

Jehoram married Ahab's daughter. That tells you a little bit about him. Not a very good king. He made high places. He leads Judah astray, and then you get this one single mention of Elijah.

Remember how Elijah was a big deal in Kings? The only thing we hear from Elijah is that he sends a letter to Jehoram. Here's what the letter says. The Lord will strike your people with a serious affliction, your children, your wives, and your possessions. And you will become very sick with the disease of your intestines until your intestines come out by reason of the sickness day by day.

Then God raises up the nations against him And it's very clear God brings in the Ethiopians and the Philistines and the Arabians because he turned away from God. You turn away from God, God will raise up enemies for you. And then in chapter 22 we have Ahaziah and his mother Athaliah. That wicked woman Athaliah, read about it in chapter 22. And then in chapter 23, another king, Jehoiada.

In chapter 24, you get Joash. Joash, in chapter 24, two, we learn, did what was right in the sight of the Lord all his days. Now, all the days of Jehoiada the priest, okay? Now, Joash is an interesting person. In chapter 24, you're gonna read about two people.

Don't get them confused. Understand who they are. Jehoiada is the priest in chapter 24. Joash is the king. Got that?

Verse 2 says, Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest." And guess what happens? Joash is such a godly man, like for so long, and then Jehoiada the priest dies. And what happens? He turns into a pagan. He was fake.

He was fake all along. He did all kinds of good things. He repaired the house of God. He collected money for the temple. He made this chest and all the people came and brought their money to build the temple, but Joash was faithful until until the priest dies and then he turns Toward the people and then God destroys them the wrath of God comes down upon him.

And his own people end up conspiring against him and they kill him. And he doesn't get buried with the kings in the tomb of the kings. He gets buried somewhere else. Here's what happened. He kept up his religion as long as The person he wanted to please was alive and then when Jehoi de the priest died his heart was revealed And he was not a godly man.

You know, it's like when you're in your home and you're only obedient when your parents are looking. Or, you know, you're only obedient when there's somebody around. But if that force of constraining of evil is not around, you're off. You're going to go do what you want. That was the situation in chapter 24.

And then we have Amaziah in 25, Amos the prophet speaks to Amaziah, by the way, we're going to be in Amos on Monday. You have, you know, the similar cycles. Then you have Uzziah in chapter 26. Uzziah was the king that Isaiah spoke to. Remember, in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord.

So King Uzziah did what was right hey Uzziah was an incredibly productive man read about him in chapter 26 he produced all this military armament he was incredibly creative builder kind of a guy. He was inquisitive and he did all kinds of really interesting things. Then you just continue to have these kings, Jotham in chapter 27, Ahaz in chapter 28. Remember Ahaz is the king that Isaiah is speaking to too. Remember when Isaiah met Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct on the highway to the Fuller's Field in Isaiah.

That's Ahaz. He's right here in chapter 28. And then we read about, you know, Ahaz was wicked and again, you know, God brings the king of Assyria in and he kills 120, 000 people in Judah. That's what happened with Ahaz. He turned against God and God brought an enemy.

God is always bringing enemies into those who become idolaters. You're going to read about a prophet by the name of Oded. Now, here's what we know about Ahaz. Ahaz, in chapter twenty eight verse nineteen we read, He encouraged moral decline in Judah. He encouraged moral decline.

That's like our current president, by the way. Encouraging moral decline. It won't go well with our nation, believe me. Look at the patterns. God does not change.

Then you have King Hezekiah, such a bright spot, chapters 29 through 32. He cleans up the temple. The people had turned their faces away from the dwelling place of God, which is a sign of people who are not converted. They turn their face away from worship of God. But Hezekiah restores the Passover.

There's more rejoicing going on during this revival than any time since Solomon. That's what you learn in chapter 30 verse 26. The high places are destroyed. Sennacherib comes and enters Judah. This whole drama in the reign of Hezekiah.

Then you have Manasseh and Ammon in chapter 33. And then you have Josiah, who restores the worship of God, destroys the idols. A remarkable reign. He removes the abominations. He keeps the Passover.

And then finally, he's killed in battle against King Nico. And why? He departed from the Lord at the end of his life. Finally, at the end of the book, the small part, there's this return from exile, chapter 36, 22 through 33. It's the proclamation of Cyrus, and here we find that this is really the ray of hope.

Now, so 2 Chronicles ends with this note of hope of the proclamation of Cyrus, king of Persia. The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, the king of Persia, and he made a proclamation. And this was the beginning of the return of the exiles. The 70-year captivity is over, and that's the ray of hope. Now, let's talk about Christ in Chronicles.

Number one, the King. God's King will come. He's the descendant of David. He makes a covenant that lasts. King Jesus has not entered the picture yet, but what we know about Jesus is He'll tell His disciples, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

There is a king and he will reign. He will not stop reigning. And all the kings of Israel are figures of God's kingly reign through Christ. Secondly, the temple. Christ is also seen in the temple.

A good king or a bad king is measured on the rule of His worship. Good and evil are defined. They are either good or evil on the basis of their worship. The Lord Jesus Christ has established true worship as a supreme good. Jesus Christ is the temple in the New Testament, and the believer is also the temple of the Holy Spirit, and the church is also called the temple.

So The temple in Chronicles foretells a greater temple. And then thirdly, the blessing. God blesses those who follow Him and He curses those who do not. You'll see this over and over again in Chronicles. The prosperity of every generation hinges on obedience.

That's why Jesus said, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The poor in spirit want God. The poor in spirit feel empty of their own righteousness, and they want the righteousness of God. And then the fourth is restoration from captivity. The chronicler desires to see the kingdom restored among those who returned from the exile.

And the exiles have just experienced a time of discipline and chastisement. And now, after this, they now return home. They now return to the true worship of God, and they're restored. And it's a picture of the true followers of Christ, heirs of the promise of Abraham, from Adam to Cyrus and then to the end of the age, God always has a people. God always keeps his promises and he makes a covenant with his people and he preserves them by his covenant, not by their righteousness.

And yet God is always faithful to bless his people when they turn to him. And he's also faithful to teach them how harmful and unprofitable it is to turn away from him and to invent their own life and their own worship. And so there it is. 1 and 2 Chronicles just speaks of this, from Adam to Cyrus and then to the end of the age. Jesus Christ is such a good shepherd to his people.

He blesses his people who obey him.