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As we move from 2 Kings to 1 Chronicles I think it's good to note that the two books of Kings and Chronicles along with the two books of Samuel overlap each other in their time period, but just like the Gospels which also cover the same time period, which is the life of Jesus, these books each have their own approach and perspective.
Through the six of them we get a thorough and rich history of the rise of the kings of Israel, the glory days of Israel with David and Solomon and the fall of Israel as it splits into two and eventually through the inability of the Israelites to faithfully follow God their destruction.
We will see several interesting characters this week, like Joash the seven year old king the final days of Elisha, Amaziah who even though he did what was right before the Lord he was afflicted with leprosy, and his son Jotham was in charge of the kingdom. We also see king after king who did evil in the eyes of the Lord especially in Israel and yet some of them prospered.
What lessons can we take from this history? Have people changed that much since the time of the kings? People still do right, but are still sinners. Others do right, but many still suffer, and still others do evil, but they seem to prosper.
I think it's important to remember that our reward is not in this world, and that no righteous acts of ours will get us into heaven.
So I think it's good to take a page out of the book of the wisest man to ever live, Solomon, from Ecclesiastes 12: verses 13 and 14: Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgement, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.
As we get into 1 Chronicles the first 5 chapters are almost all lineages from Adam on but it's interesting to note who gets more than their name listed. Like Nimrod the mighty warrior and Jabez, who parlayed two verses in chapter 4 into his own book! It's also interesting to see the connections there are between people we have read about earlier, such as Rahab who was the mother in law of Ruth and that Ruth and Boaz were David's great grandmother and grandfather.
Enjoy!
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