It's been a seven-week roller coaster ride through the history of the kings of Israel and Judah. It feels like we've been on the downhill side for quite awhile now, and Zedekiah appears to be the end of the ride.
[Zedekiah] was just one more evil king; there wasn't a trace of contrition in him when the prophet Jeremiah preached God's word to him. (36:12)
We're ending on a low point, and I feel a little exhausted by what we've read. These evil kings have worn me out. But I've been thinking about my lessons from 2 Chronicles, and Eugene Peterson summed it up beautifully for me.
"So, what's left?
Well, worship is left - and names. Accurate worship, defined and fed by the God who reveals himself in Jesus Christ. And personal names that add up to a people of God, a holy congregation. Christians have characteristically read and prayed themselves into Chronicles in order to stay alert to the irreducibly personal in all matters of faith and practice, and to maintain a critical awareness that the worship of God is the indispensable foundation for living whole and redeemed lives...in this assessment of what matters, right and faithful worship turns out to be what counts most of all." E.P., Introduction to 1 & 2 Chronicles.
So if worship matters most of all, why are we bothering to read the Old Testament? Why not just skip to the New Testament, to the feel-good part where Jesus redeems the world?
"My first thirty-nine letters will create space within you that only My Son can fill. Keep reading. I have a plan for you." 66 LL
I'm learning so much about what worship looks like, from David, from Hezekiah, from Josiah. What is God showing
you in this journey through 1 & 2 Chronicles?
1 comment:
One thing that struck me with 1 and 2 Chronicles was the idea of legacy. The kings who sought to please the Lord all their life, and even those who turned and repented later in life, must've seen the importance in passing this faith and reverence down to their children. Yet almost always, the next son in line to take the throne did what was evil in God's eyes. It makes me wonder - were their fathers actively instructing them in the ways of the Lord? Was that just the Mother's job back then? Or did they try to pour into them, yet still raised wayward sons?
It reminds me of the importance of a father's role in the spiritual lives of their children. How I pray for our men to step up and lead in this area so that we can have a spiritual legacy of children and grandchildren who seek the Lord!
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