11

God warns/counsels the people, “No civil war.” Rehoboam is all over the place. He’s bad for awhile, good for a few years, then back to being evil. Ultimately, he ends up being deemed a bad king.

12

Egypt plunders Jerusalem. It’s the people’s first taste of slavery to the Egyptians since the Exodus. It doesn’t bode well with them. They cry out for help.

13

Abijah takes over Judah after Rehoboam dies. He makes civil war, calling out Jeroboam and the Israelites, saying God is on Judah’s side NOT Israel’s. Apparently, Abijah and Judah have a good point, for they slaughter over 1/2 of Israel’s army in battle.

CONCLUSION: Both Judah and Israel rebel. The difference is that Judah repents; Israel does not.

Chapter 7 ends with a couple “if…then” promises. They are big promises too. Unfortunately, Israel goes the wrong way, as we know from the rest of Scripture. But, lest we digress any further, let’s follow the Chronicler thru 8&9 (aka Solomon’s accomplishments).

• He built entire cities just for storage of horses, chariots, food, etc. Cities. He built cities.
• He built houses for himself and at least one of his wives.
• He obtained 450 talents of gold from Ophir, along with algum wood.
• He obtains more gold, spices, and precious stones after impressing the Queen of Sheba.
• He makes shields, a throne, and obtains gold, silver, ivory, apes, peacocks.
• He shares wisdom with lots of kings and rulers.

After chapter 10, everything starts spiraling out of control.

**It reminds me of a saying from my dad, “The first generation earns it; the second generation keeps it; the third generation loses it.” A fine summary of David, Solomon, and Rehoboam.

Chapter 5 begins with a big statement. “Thus all the work that Solomon did for the house of the Lord was finished.”

Why is that big? Because it takes a lot to finish. It’s easy to start. Shoot, I could start something new everyday. It’s invigorating, it’s fresh, it’s engaging. But finishing something is hard. It takes endurance. It takes steady, incremental progress, chipping away at the goal day-after-day, until finally, you reach the end. You may want to give up. You may want to leave it unfinished and say, “Ah, it’s good enough. We’ll just let it be.” But Solomon finished. Other great men finish. Great women finish. Someone with character and drive finishes.

In chapter 6, the phrase of choice is something akin to “the Lord has fulfilled what He promised.” At least five times we see a variation of this phrase, meaning of course, that the author is trying to make a point. God keeps His promises, and we can pray according to His promises.

Also worth noting—this prayer in chapter 6 may be the longest prayer recorded in the Bible (outside of the Psalms). It follows a certain refrain, “If this happens…then hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, and forgive (or maintain their cause).” The format and requests are simple, but thorough. For it covers nearly every type of situation people prayed for in those days and still pray for today.

Finally, in chapter 7, we see a huge worship fest. Sacrifices, bowing on faces, trumpets and music. I don’t think we’ve ever seen anything like it.

But some day we may.

Solomon sends a word to the king of Tyre asking for some assistance in materials and personnel. In 2:7, he specifically requests a man skilled to work in gold, silver, bronze, and iron; in purple, crimson, and fabrics; as well as engraving. In 2:14, the king of Tyre sends just the man Solomon is looking for—Huram-abi. This Huram-abi is able to execute any design that may be assigned to him. That is, he knows his stuff.

In the church today, I think many people are of the Huram-abi persuasion. They can work with their hands, they can design things, they can function as Mr. or Mrs. Fix-it. But for some reason they feel their abilities can’t be used in the service of the church. They fear because they aren’t teachers or preachers or Sunday school leaders, they can’t serve a crucial role in the church functions. But don’t believe that Mr. or Mrs. Huram-abi. You have a place. A very important place. Without you, there is no heating and air, no running water, no kitchen area, no sound system or lights. There is no building to gather at, no pretty décor to look at, no stained glass and vaulted ceilings to marvel at. You have a place Huram-abi, a place in the Lord’s house.

Other notable features of chapters 2-4:

• Mount Moriah, the place where Solomon builds the Lord’s temple, is also the place where the Lord had appeared to David, where David had been appointed king, and where Abraham had gone up to offer Isaac (his first born), which became a picture of God offering His first-born for the forgiveness of our sins.

• Nearly everything is overlaid with gold.

I get excited reading about Solomon. I love his wise sayings (Proverbs), his philosophical, end-of-life journal (Ecclesiastes), his poem on love (Song of Solomon), and even his biographical info recorded in the history books (Kings and Chronicles). The guy was brilliant, filled with all kinds of knowledge…and wisdom. His accomplishments—admirable. His wealth—astronomical. His sayings—top notch.

The guy knew more about life than many of us will ever know. He built vineyards and gardens, parks and palaces (plural), pools and farms. He even built the temple of the Lord. Now how many people can say that?

Chapters 2 thru 5 of Second Chronicles are all about that—Solomon building the temple. But the first chapter is about the man. It’s about his worship, his wisdom, his wealth. It’s about how God shows favor to a man, just because He wants to. It’s about how God was with Solomon and made him exceedingly great. How do I know this?

Because it’s written as a summary statement in the first verse.

• In verses 2-6, we see his worship. Solomon and all the head honchos go to Gibeon to worship at the ol’ Tabernacle, the portable structure that was built by Moses during the Exodus. Solomon goes all out in his worship, with a 1000 burnt offerings.

• In verses 7-13, we see his wisdom. Solomon prays to God and asks for wisdom to rule God’s people well. God heartily grants him wisdom. (Would God do the same for us? I think so.)

• In verses 14-17, we see his wealth. God had told Solomon that He would also grant him riches, possessions, and honor, which sure enough, God does. Solomon obtains chariots, horsemen, silver, gold, and cedar.

Great worship, great wisdom, great wealth. This is the summary of the man, the king, Solomon. I hope it is my summary as well.

• This author loves names and numbers. He is detailed, meticulous, thorough, etc.
• When you compare Chronicles to the books of Samuel or Kings, you will see they are complementary, but not identical. Sometimes, the chronicler leaves out details in this account that are included in the others; other times, he includes details that are not accounted for in the other books.
• Going quickly through the book helps you see it as a whole. It also helps you not get bogged down in the details you’ll never remember (like names of people and places).
• Due to the repetitious writing style, it’s easy to pick up on breaks in the pattern, thus knowing what details are noteworthy.
• I hope you can join us for 2 Chronicles.