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Day 227 – Thru the Bible
Today we continue Second Chronicles.
2 Chronicles 5 – Ever since Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden of Eden, God has been working to restore His people to His all-satisfying presence. The Lord’s presence guided Israel through the wilderness, residing in the tabernacle and moving out as a column of smoke during the day and a pillar of fire by night (Exodus 40:34–38). This same presence was subsequently manifest in the Jerusalem temple, the place where God caused His name to dwell.
However, the Israelites, like Adam and Eve, were eventually expelled from the Land of Promise, a new Eden, because of their continued disobedience. Thus, for God’s people to dwell in God’s presence, the problem of sin must first be eradicated. With Jesus’ first coming, the problem of sin was dealt the fatal blow. Restoration to God’s all-satisfying presence was decisively secured. And so, when Jesus returns in order to bring us home, back into the presence of God for which we were created, we can be assured that this reality will never change (Revelation 21:3).
How good is it to know that God never changes and always fulfills His promises?
2 Chronicles 6 – This was a great day for Israel. First, the Lord had fulfilled His promise to establish His name and a permanent place of worship in Israel (Deuteronomy 12:3, 5, 11, 21; 16:11). Second, the Lord had established the royal line of Judah through David’s line in Solomon, the king who would build the temple (Genesis 49:10; 1 Samuel 7:12–17). Solomon stood forth at this high point in redemptive history and proclaimed the good news of God’s faithfulness to always keep His promises (2 Chronicles 6:14–17).
The house of Yahweh built by Solomon was to be a house of prayer (Matthew 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:47 [all quoting Isaiah 56:7]). In these few verses, the idea of prayer, petition, thanksgiving, or plea occurs some 25 times to emphasize the dependence of God’s people upon His grace.
The use of this house was not restricted to Israel. It was intended for all of the nations, and from this house God would hear the prayers of all peoples and grant forgiveness to those who would repent from their sins. This house represented, in a visible fashion, the Lord’s desire to dwell among His people and make Himself known to them through prayer, repentance, and forgiveness (John 1:14; 2:19; 1 Corinthians 6:19).
Solomon’s temple is now gone, but our access to the throne of grace has been enabled and strengthened by the work of Jesus on our behalf: “I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1–2).
How comforting is it to know that Jesus is your advocate before the Father?
2 Chronicles 7 & 8 – How can the Lord make an unconditional promise to David, but then make the fulfillment of that promise conditioned upon the obedience of the kings that follow? We know that Solomon forsook the Lord, worshiped other gods, and turned his heart away from the law of God. In fact, Solomon’s gross disobedience resulted in the division of the kingdom (922 b.c.).
The sins of the kings that followed Solomon eventually precipitated the total destruction of both Israel (722 b.c.) and Judah (586/587 b.c.). These human kings brought the curse of God upon the land of inheritance because of their sin. Thus, God was initially faithful to keep His promise of judgment for disobedience.
But if we can count on God to be faithful to judge disobedience, then we can also count on God to be faithful to render blessing for obedience. In the New Testament, we learn that obedience was, in fact, achieved by a second Adam, the offspring of David, the incarnate Son of God, and that Jesus’ obedience was applied to God’s people (Romans 1:1–3; 5:19; 2 Corinthians 5:21).
This is the good news! Everything that God requires from us for blessing, He has provided for us through grace and faith in Jesus, the One who came to fulfill God’s unconditional promise to David.
How does this remove the pressure for you perform for God’s blessing (because it’s already yours in Jesus? Know you’re fully blessed, how does this move you to love those around you as you have been loved by God?
What other thoughts or questions does today’s reading bring up?
Some of these notes are from the ESV Gospel Transformation Bible study notes. We highly recommend this study Bible.
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