Tweet
2 Chronicles 31-33
Today we get:
2 Chronicles 31
Judah and some members of Israel had just got done celebrating the passover, after the cleaning of the temple
1 Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.
They were filled with the spirit and went out and destroyed every last place that was used for worship of anything other than the LORD.
Hezekiah then appointed the priests and Levites to their roles. He also commanded the people to pay their tribute (tithes).
Well, the LORD blessed those people. He has a tendency to bless people when they worship Him (correctly). As the people started bringing in their offerings, the priests ran out of space to store it all.
So Hezekiah had the priests make places to store the excess.
21 And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.
This is very important.
1. He followed the law.
2. He followed the commandments.
3. He sought God.
4. He did it with all his heart
as a by-product:
5. He prospered.
So, Hezekiah did follow the law; that's part of why he prospered. He followed the commandments (not quite laws); that's part of why he prospered. He sought the LORD; that's part of why he prospered. He did it with all his heart; this is probably the most important reason why he prospered.
Many people today, just casually seek God. If they are really devout, they may go to church on Sunday; but most people today are C&E christians. Two days a year is HARDLY "with all their heart". I often wonder why most couples get married in a church; that's pretty much the ONLY day when Jesus is part of their marriage.
2 Chronicles 32
1 After these things, and the establishment thereof, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fenced cities, and thought to win them for himself.
Sennacherib, what a Sennovabich.
Well, Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was encamped out in the fields, so he had the water cut off, so that Sennacherib's troops couldn't get fresh water.
After doing that, Hezekiah put together his army.
6 And he set captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the street of the gate of the city, and spake comfortably to them, saying,
You see Hezekiah spoke "comfortably". Why was he able to remain calm. Sennacherib had a stronger army; that was better prepared and better trained. Hezekiah KNEW that he was blessed by the LORD, so why would he be afraid of Assyrians?
7 Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him:
8 With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
Sennacherib then sent out messengers to all the cities, bad mouthing the LORD.
He boasted of all his previous victories, and that other people god's didn't help them, and that he would beat these people and their God too.
14 Who was there among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out of mine hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of mine hand?
Well, that's part of Sennacherib's problem right there. Why did he capitalize God? He just mentioned other gods (lowercase) and then he asks why would your God (uppercase) be any better?
15 Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you on this manner, neither yet believe him: for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your God deliver you out of mine hand?
If he's gonna disrespect the LORD, you'd think the first thing he'd do would be to not capitalize the G in God. I always read that as offensive when people don't capitalize the j in Jesus.
20 And for this cause Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven.
Oh, Isaiah was around; sweet.
21 And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword.
Sennacherib learned how good the LORD was; he destroyed most of them; and then when Sennacherib went home; they killed him for being a loser!
(Remember, the Assyrians later claimed the Bible lied and Sennacherib won).
Well, Hezekiah's reign was until either 687 or 697 BC. Sennacherib was killed by his two sons in 681. So even though Sennacherib outlived Hezekiah; the LORD had his revenge!
Surprisingly absent from the Chronicles story is the tribute that Hezekiah paid to Sennacherib.
33 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.
Next king of Judah; Manasseh.
2 Chronicles 33.
1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem:
His father Hezekiah was 25 when he became king; and was king for 29 years, making him 64 when he died. Making Manasseh born when his dad was roughly 52.
The siege by Sennacherib was in 701. Manasseh was probably born in 699; so he wouldn't have been around for that time. He would have only known peace in his early life. Of course, what was Hezekiah doing for the rest of the years of his life; and why did he wait until he was in his 50's to finally start having kids?
2 But did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
Manasseh may not have first started building the groves when he was a teen; but he did have longer than most of the kings to turn his back on the LORD.
6 And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
Molech worship is back... again? What is it with the jews wanting to do live baby burnings to fake gods?
7 And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:
Holy crap! Can you do anything worse than putting an idol in the temple? Remember when the ark was in Dagon's house, and the idol fell down and worshiped the ark? I bet that happened here too.
9 So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel.
Apparently, God wanted to destroy the people instead; so He didn't bother with the idol.
10 And the LORD spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken.
Those people are just plain stupid.
11 Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
The people of Israel (northern tribes) had been taken away a long time ago. Israel ceased to be a country in 722; which was probably during the reign of Ahaz. Now, the Assyrians were attempting to remove the Judah-ians too. Apparently, the Assyrians were especially cruel to kings of lands that they took captive. The king would have been paraded in front of Esarhaddon (king of Assyria) by a ring either through their lip or through the jaw (possibly through the nose; like a bull) attached to a rope. He would have been led around like either a bull or like a fish on a stringer. That's the meaning of "among the thorns". He would also have been beaten, scourged and punished.
12 And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,
Apparently their was a prison ministry at that time too.
13 And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God.
God brought him out of Assyria. That finally convinced him that the LORD really was God.
15 And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the LORD, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.
There was another revival in Jerusalem. Praise JESUS!!!
20 So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.
Next king of Judah, Amon.
21 Amon was two and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned two years in Jerusalem.
Manasseh would have been 67 years old when he died, so he would have fathered Amon when he was 45. Remember most of Manasseh's life was spent worshiping false gods; so that probably meant he was having sex with all kinds of wanton women, it wasn't until after being released from Assyria. We don't know the amount of time he was captive in Assyria.
22 But he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as did Manasseh his father: for Amon sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them;
Apparently Manasseh didn't tell his son about the things that happened to him as a prisoner; which were all brought on because he didn't worship the LORD.
24 And his servants conspired against him, and slew him in his own house.
I guess that's better than being a king on a string; in front of Assyria.
25 But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.
It's a good thing Amon didn't wait to have kids like his dad and grandfather did; otherwise when he was killed at 24; the salt covenant would have ended.
So what have we learned today?
1. When you follow the LORD with all your heart (you obviously will be keeping the law) you get blessed.
2. If you want to be king of Judah; it's best to be a follower of the LORD; otherwise the Levites (probably Ezra) will write bad things about you.
3. If you are king of Judah; the sooner you have kids, the sooner you will die.
YIC
V
Today we get:
- Hezekiah after the late Passover
- Attack of the Assyrians
- Manasseh as king
- Amon as king
2 Chronicles 31
Judah and some members of Israel had just got done celebrating the passover, after the cleaning of the temple
1 Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.
They were filled with the spirit and went out and destroyed every last place that was used for worship of anything other than the LORD.
Hezekiah then appointed the priests and Levites to their roles. He also commanded the people to pay their tribute (tithes).
Well, the LORD blessed those people. He has a tendency to bless people when they worship Him (correctly). As the people started bringing in their offerings, the priests ran out of space to store it all.
So Hezekiah had the priests make places to store the excess.
21 And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.
This is very important.
1. He followed the law.
2. He followed the commandments.
3. He sought God.
4. He did it with all his heart
as a by-product:
5. He prospered.
So, Hezekiah did follow the law; that's part of why he prospered. He followed the commandments (not quite laws); that's part of why he prospered. He sought the LORD; that's part of why he prospered. He did it with all his heart; this is probably the most important reason why he prospered.
Many people today, just casually seek God. If they are really devout, they may go to church on Sunday; but most people today are C&E christians. Two days a year is HARDLY "with all their heart". I often wonder why most couples get married in a church; that's pretty much the ONLY day when Jesus is part of their marriage.
2 Chronicles 32
1 After these things, and the establishment thereof, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fenced cities, and thought to win them for himself.
Sennacherib, what a Sennovabich.
Well, Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was encamped out in the fields, so he had the water cut off, so that Sennacherib's troops couldn't get fresh water.
After doing that, Hezekiah put together his army.
6 And he set captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the street of the gate of the city, and spake comfortably to them, saying,
You see Hezekiah spoke "comfortably". Why was he able to remain calm. Sennacherib had a stronger army; that was better prepared and better trained. Hezekiah KNEW that he was blessed by the LORD, so why would he be afraid of Assyrians?
7 Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him:
8 With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
Sennacherib then sent out messengers to all the cities, bad mouthing the LORD.
He boasted of all his previous victories, and that other people god's didn't help them, and that he would beat these people and their God too.
14 Who was there among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out of mine hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of mine hand?
Well, that's part of Sennacherib's problem right there. Why did he capitalize God? He just mentioned other gods (lowercase) and then he asks why would your God (uppercase) be any better?
15 Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you on this manner, neither yet believe him: for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your God deliver you out of mine hand?
If he's gonna disrespect the LORD, you'd think the first thing he'd do would be to not capitalize the G in God. I always read that as offensive when people don't capitalize the j in Jesus.
20 And for this cause Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven.
Oh, Isaiah was around; sweet.
21 And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword.
Sennacherib learned how good the LORD was; he destroyed most of them; and then when Sennacherib went home; they killed him for being a loser!
(Remember, the Assyrians later claimed the Bible lied and Sennacherib won).
Well, Hezekiah's reign was until either 687 or 697 BC. Sennacherib was killed by his two sons in 681. So even though Sennacherib outlived Hezekiah; the LORD had his revenge!
Surprisingly absent from the Chronicles story is the tribute that Hezekiah paid to Sennacherib.
33 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.
Next king of Judah; Manasseh.
2 Chronicles 33.
1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem:
His father Hezekiah was 25 when he became king; and was king for 29 years, making him 64 when he died. Making Manasseh born when his dad was roughly 52.
The siege by Sennacherib was in 701. Manasseh was probably born in 699; so he wouldn't have been around for that time. He would have only known peace in his early life. Of course, what was Hezekiah doing for the rest of the years of his life; and why did he wait until he was in his 50's to finally start having kids?
2 But did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
Manasseh may not have first started building the groves when he was a teen; but he did have longer than most of the kings to turn his back on the LORD.
6 And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
Molech worship is back... again? What is it with the jews wanting to do live baby burnings to fake gods?
7 And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:
Holy crap! Can you do anything worse than putting an idol in the temple? Remember when the ark was in Dagon's house, and the idol fell down and worshiped the ark? I bet that happened here too.
9 So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel.
Apparently, God wanted to destroy the people instead; so He didn't bother with the idol.
10 And the LORD spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken.
Those people are just plain stupid.
11 Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
The people of Israel (northern tribes) had been taken away a long time ago. Israel ceased to be a country in 722; which was probably during the reign of Ahaz. Now, the Assyrians were attempting to remove the Judah-ians too. Apparently, the Assyrians were especially cruel to kings of lands that they took captive. The king would have been paraded in front of Esarhaddon (king of Assyria) by a ring either through their lip or through the jaw (possibly through the nose; like a bull) attached to a rope. He would have been led around like either a bull or like a fish on a stringer. That's the meaning of "among the thorns". He would also have been beaten, scourged and punished.
12 And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,
Apparently their was a prison ministry at that time too.
13 And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God.
God brought him out of Assyria. That finally convinced him that the LORD really was God.
15 And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the LORD, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.
There was another revival in Jerusalem. Praise JESUS!!!
20 So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.
Next king of Judah, Amon.
21 Amon was two and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned two years in Jerusalem.
Manasseh would have been 67 years old when he died, so he would have fathered Amon when he was 45. Remember most of Manasseh's life was spent worshiping false gods; so that probably meant he was having sex with all kinds of wanton women, it wasn't until after being released from Assyria. We don't know the amount of time he was captive in Assyria.
22 But he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as did Manasseh his father: for Amon sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them;
Apparently Manasseh didn't tell his son about the things that happened to him as a prisoner; which were all brought on because he didn't worship the LORD.
24 And his servants conspired against him, and slew him in his own house.
I guess that's better than being a king on a string; in front of Assyria.
25 But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.
It's a good thing Amon didn't wait to have kids like his dad and grandfather did; otherwise when he was killed at 24; the salt covenant would have ended.
So what have we learned today?
1. When you follow the LORD with all your heart (you obviously will be keeping the law) you get blessed.
2. If you want to be king of Judah; it's best to be a follower of the LORD; otherwise the Levites (probably Ezra) will write bad things about you.
3. If you are king of Judah; the sooner you have kids, the sooner you will die.
YIC
V