Second
Chronicle continues the history
of Israel from
First
Chronicles (originally they were one book). It covers a period of almost
four centuries, beginning with the reign of Solomon and
ending as the Babylonian
captivity
started.
The
chronicles are books of comparisons and contrasts. There was something alike
about all the periods when the kings of Israel were successful and the people
thrived. Likewise, periods of defeat and loss all shared a common element.
These thriving and dying periods similarly were unlike in a key way.
The key
factor was the faithfulness
of the king, and the people, to God. When the kings
sought God and the people worshipped Him,
he blessed them
and caused to rise in wealth
and power. When the king and people sought their own
ways, especially to worship the idols and practice
the sins of
neighboring kingdoms, God let them fall into the hands of their enemies.
Eventually, Israel was completely taken over by Babylon.
This pattern
could play out even if the reign of a single king. Some hard-hearted kings
would start well but stray from God and lead the people away with him. Some
evil kings responded to God’s call of repentance and reconciliation, and their
turnaround could bring the whole kingdom back to God.
One could
argue that the kingdom was at its peak during the reign of Solomon. He built
the temple, he
reigned in peace,
and he stored up great wealth for himself and his kingdom. In spite of his wisdom, he
strayed, too. Though he never abandoned the worship of God, he suffered for his
sins, suffering he brought onto himself.
Even so,
Solomon was the model of a good king. His reign takes up more pages than others
in the book. A lot happened during that time, especially the building of the
temple. The temple was the symbol of God’s presence with the nation of Israel,
and His blessing is central to the prosperity of the nation, so it makes sense
that His temple received a lot of attention.
Other
notable kings include Jehoshaphat,
Hezekiah,
and Josiah.
These leaders were associated with revivals, the
destruction of idols, the restoration of worshipping God, and generally
successful reigns. As an engineer,
I take special note of Hezekiah, who was famous for building a reservoir and
underground aqueduct
to supply water
to Jerusalem.
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