Transcript
A (0:00)
Foreign.
B (0:05)
Hey, this is Shelby and Scott. We're walking through 2 Chronicles 10 through 12 today. If you haven't yet follow and subscribed, be sure you do that on whatever platform you are watching or listening to this podcast. Scott, in these chapters today, we saw the death of Solomon yesterday. And we know because we're in a book that is retelling things that we've already walked through, that after Solomon's death comes the division into two kingdoms here. And so you said that Chronicles is a positive retelling, but it seems like it's going to be hard to spin this one positively. So I guess I'm curious if you can tell us, how does Chronicles handle this, and is it positive?
A (0:50)
Yeah, sure. Okay. First thing I'll say is that I want to point out another really big difference between Chronicles and In Kings here, because we're so in Kings. After the kingdom splits, what you basically have is this kind of going back and forth between the kings in the southern kingdom of Judah, the kings in the northern kingdom of Israel. Chronicles, though, really just focuses in on the southern kingdom. It doesn't do the back and forth. And it's not that the northern kings are never mentioned, but when they do appear, it's generally because it's absolutely necessary to the story of the southern kingdom. And the reason for that is the southern kingdom is where David's throne was. It's where the temple was, too. And so the southern kingdom is especially important in God's plans for his people and ultimately for the world. And so, like, this is the place where God is to be worshiped. This is the throne God has promised to establish forever. And this is where the exiles have come back to the original audience of Chronicles. And so from here on out, we're mainly sticking with the southern kings, the descendants of David who sat on his throne. But, yeah, I mean, it's going to be a lot of negative stuff, you know, because you can't. You cannot tell the story without the sin of the kings from here on out.
B (2:06)
Yeah, definitely. But that's a helpful explanation for us to understand, because that is quite different than walking through kings. Okay, so then let's talk about the first king that we encounter after Solomon in Second Chronicles.
A (2:17)
So that's his son Rehoboam, gonna pray me as I pronounce all these names in the next few episodes.
B (2:24)
Hey, Scott, whatever you say, we're just going to believe you. So you just. You just go with confidence.
A (2:27)
I'll just say it confidently. Yeah, and it is negative. You know, again, you can't tell this history of Rehoboam purely, positively. But it is interesting to compare Chronicles with Kings about Rehoboam because it's. First of all, it's lengthier here. And while they are both overall negative about his reign, Chronicles does paint some positive portraits of him occasionally. And so one of them is in 12:6. So when the king of Egypt attacks them, he and the leaders humble themselves. They say the Lord is righteous, and then God gives them relief from that attack. In 1212, we read that when Rehoboam humbled himself, the Lord's anger turned away from him. He did not destroy him completely. And besides that conditions were good in Judah. So there is some positives, and Chronicles wants to really underline those when they happen. I also have to mention the scene in chapter 11 where a lot of the Levites who were living in what had been what was the northern kingdom, now defect and move to the southern kingdom, because it was only in Jerusalem, in the southern kingdom where sacrifices to God could be made. And so you see a very close alignment between the Levites and David's throne. And again, these are two big themes in the Chronicles, David's throne in the temple. And so even in what he did wrong, I think you see Rehoboam like, he reminds us that the utmost priority of our lives is always, always the worship of God, always repentance for sin. I think he reminds us that when we live in obedience to God, we will flourish. That's something we've seen throughout Chronicles. And I think these chapters call us to be faithful and repent when we do sin, because we will sin. All of us are sinners, and we need to faithfully repent and turn toward God, not away from him when that happens. Because we serve a God who is very willing and eager to forgive sinners when they repent.