June 29, 2012 … Promises … promises!!

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: 2nd Chronicles, Chapter 18 [NIV] To study these chapters, go to this link -
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Highlight Passage: 2ND Chronicles 19: 4-7 :[NIV] … 4 Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and turned them back to the Lord, the God of their ancestors.5 He appointed judges in the land, in each of the fortified cities of Judah.6 He told them, "Consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for mere mortals but for the Lord, who is with you whenever you give a verdict.7 Now let the fear of the Lord be on you. Judge carefully, for with the Lord our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery." 
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Highlight Passage #2: 2ND Chronicles 20: 3, 6, 15, 21, 24, 32-33 :[NIV] … 3 Alarmed [at the prospects of war with strong neighboring armies], Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. 4 The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him. … 6 And [Jehoshaphat] said: "Lord, the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. …15  [And Jahaziel, anointed of God, said to Jehoshaphat and the people] … "Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's.’ “ …21 After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: "Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever." … 24 When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army [after God’s deliverance from battle] …32 He [Jehoshaphat] followed the ways of his father Asa and did not stray from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.33 The high places, however, were not removed, and the people still had not set their hearts on the God of their ancestors. , they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped. 
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Highlight Passage #3: 2ND Chronicles 21: 6-7; 16-17 :[NIV] … 5 Jehoram [son of Jehoshaphat] was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. 6 He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord.7 Nevertheless, because of the covenant the Lord had made with David, the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David. He had promised to maintain a lamp for him and his descendants forever. … 16 The Lord aroused against Jehoram the hostility of the Philistines and of the Arabs who lived near the Cushites. 17 They attacked Judah, invaded it and carried off all the goods found in the king's palace, together with his sons and wives. Not a son was left to him except Ahaziah, the youngest….
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Highlight Passage #4: 2ND Chronicles 22: 2-4: :[NIV] … 2 Ahaziah [youngest son of Jehoram] was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother's name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri. … 3 He too followed the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother encouraged him to act wickedly. 4 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done, for after his father's death they became his advisers, to his undoing.
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Highlight Passage #5: 2ND Chronicles 23: 18-20 :[NIV] … 16 Jehoiada [a leader among the Levite priests] then made a covenant that he, the people and the king [Joash, son of Ahaziah] would be the Lord's people. 17 All the people went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars and idols and killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars. 18 Then Jehoiada placed the oversight of the temple of the Lord in the hands of the Levitical priests, to whom David had made assignments in the temple, to present the burnt offerings of the Lord as written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and singing, as David had ordered. 

My Journal for Today: My chronological reading assignments from YouVersion.com are getting lengthier and a bit historically complex. I hope, if you’re following my journaling, you are not put off by the lengthier citations, in this case from 2nd Chronicles, Chapters 19-23, where a succession of kings of Judah is chronicled, illustrating that God’s covenant that David’s lineage of kingship would eternally be protected.

As you can read above from the highlight passages, various of the kings of Judah, from Jehoshaphat to Joash, allowed the throne in Judah to become politically and spiritually polluted, letting pagan and idol worship back into the southern kingdoms; and this ultimately led to the weakening of the throne in Judah, even to the point of defeat at the hands of Israel’s old nemesis, the Philistines.

But through all of this, God’s covenant with David’s line remained in tact, even though various of the kings allowed for their part of the covenant (i.e., obedience to God’s will/ways) to be desecrated and dissolved, God’s promises prevailed. However, as I hope you have read (at least from the highlight passages cited above) that God saw fit to protect David’s line of the throne; and even though, as one reads ahead in Scripture, though the political line of the kings of Israel and the temple would ultimately be destroyed, the line of David’s kingship was reestablished and forever restored in the coming of Jesus, the Christ and Messiah, …Who has, with His blood, renewed the line of David and will one day sit on God’s throne in Jerusalem forever.

 It is a story of God’s promises (i.e., His covenant with His people) being established in the line of David and ultimately fulfilled in the person of the Son of God, … Jesus Christ.

My Prayer Today: … Lord, Jesus, … You are the King of kings and Lord of lords … forever! Amen