02/17/2021 – Day 276 / 2 Chronicles 10 – 14// Succession of kings – “To whom much is given, much will be required” Luke 12:48
Again, one of my most quoted bible verses. We all face a judgment, even if we are saved. Much akin to the parable of the talents, I think we are judged based on “how many talents we received in life.” If I had been a king, it would be a high bar with my Dad and Mom. And I think of that in the succession chronicled here with a life summary: Was he a good king or a bad king? Did it decline or ascend from his father’s reign?
We had a caring pastor in our home church in Houston named Asa. Here at the end of our reading, we see that King Asa was a good king , even though he didn’t appear to have a “strong finish”. I would present Josiah as an example of a king that was key in leading a nationwide revival and spiritual ascent from both his father and his grandfather Mannassah. He became king at the age of eight and the revival was triggered from what one would say was and Old Testament version of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit swept over the young king. (reference : back to 2 Kings 22 and /or 23 I believe) Josiah ws born in the middle 7th century B.C. , about 1/2 way between the fall of the northern kingdom to Assyria in 648 b.c, and the fall of the Southern kingdom of Judah and Benjamin to the Babylonians starting in 598 B.C.
Solomon started with a bang with his prayer for God to grant him wisdom to serve Him and the nation of Israel. But it slid over his lifetime, largely due to his foreign wives . I cannot come up with a king that started poorly and “came to Christ” later in his reign.
Soli Deo Gloria!