Day 186 – 2 Kings 12-13, 2 Chronicles 24

Talking Points

• God is holy and He calls His people, in all ages, to be the same. Part of this process includes cutting off and removing sin from your midst. Over and over in these accounts, we read that a king “did right…but…” Usually, false worship was allowed as the high places were not removed or sinful practices were tolerated. These kings were blessed where they were obedient, but their allowance of sin always resulted in later trouble. Be sure, the call to be holy is not a call to work, but a call to be blessed. It is not a punishment, but rather God’s grace to sin-prone people! “Because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy‘” (1 Peter 1:16).
• God sent a deliverer for Israel. Yet, even safe in God’s deliverance from the Arameans, the people did not turn and follow Him. What would it take for people to desire to walk with God?
• In God’s grace to His people, the temple was to exist as the visible expression of His presence with them. Imagine how spectacular it must have been as Solomon dedicated it in all its splendor. In these chapters, the temple represents something else. It has become a visible expression of the people’s neglect of God. It is in disrepair. Pieces have been looted — carried away. It stands a far cry from the glorious place it once was. How sad that people can become less than impressed even with the presence of God.

Thoughts

Have you ever thought about what you might like said of you when you die? Reading about Jehoiada, the priest in Judah, and how he led young King Joash to do what was right, and then seeing the account of his death and burial, I wonder what it would have been like to have known him. I imagine he was a great blessing to all who did. I’m sure he spoke with wisdom, integrity, and encouragement. We know he led Judah to renew their covenant with the LORD, “that they would be the LORD’s people” (2 Chronicles 23:16). And, then, when he had “reached a ripe old age he died” and was buried “among the kings, because he had done well in Israel and to God and His house” (24:15-16).

A life lived out where, in the end, that might be said of us is something to aspire to. Lord, help us be a great blessing, speaking with wisdom, integrity, and encouragement, that it might be said we did well.