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2 Chronicles 15:1-19...

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2 Chronicles Chapter 15

Azariah Warns Asa; Asa's Reforms Asa, with Judah and many of Israel, moved by the prophecy of Azariah,

15 1 Num 24:2; Jdg 3:10; 2 Sam 23:2 A1And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded:

2 1 Chr 28:9; 2 Chr 12:1-3; Rom 11:1-2; Heb 12:25; Mat 7:7; Jer 29:13 2And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.

3 Hos 3:4; Lev 10:11 3Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.

4 Deu 4:29 4But when they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.

5 Jdg 5:6 5And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries.

6 Mat 24:7 6And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity.

7 Gen 15:1; Col 3:24; Luk 6:35 7Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.

8 2 Chr 13:19 8¶And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the Lord, that was before the porch of the Lord.

9 2 Chr 11:16 9And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.

10So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.

11 2 Chr 14:15 11And they offered unto the Lord the same time, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep. make a solemn covenant with God

12 Neh 10:29; 2 Chr 34:31 12And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul;

13 Exo 22:20; Deu 13:5; Deu 13:9; Deu 13:15 13That whosoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.

14And they sware unto the Lord with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets.

15And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and the Lord gave them rest round about. He puts down Maachah his grandmother for idolatry

16And also concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove: and Asa cut down her idol, and stamped it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.

17 1 Kin 3:2-4; 2 Kin 12:3; 2 Kin 12:3 17But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days. He brings dedicated things into the house of God, and enjoys a long peace.

18And he brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels.

19And there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.

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Introduction to 2 Chronicles
by John MacArthur

Title

The original title in the Hebrew Bible read “The annals (i.e., events or happenings) of the days.” First and Second Chronicles were comprised of one book until later divided into separate books in the Greek OT translation, the Septuagint (LXX), ca 200 B.C. The title also changed at that time to the inaccurate title, “the things omitted,” i.e., reflecting material not in 1, 2 Samuel and 1, 2 Kings. The English title “Chronicles” originated with Jerome’s Latin Vulgate translation (ca 400 A.D.), which used the fuller title “The Chronicles of the Entire Sacred History.”

Author and Date

Neither 1 nor 2 Chronicles contains direct statements regarding the human author, though Jewish tradition strongly favors Ezra the priest (cf. Ezra 7:1-6) as “the chronicler.” These records were most likely recorded ca 450-430 B.C. The genealogical record in 1 Chr 1-9 supports a date after 450 B.C. for the writing. The NT does not directly quote either 1 or 2 Chronicles.

Background and Setting

The immediate historical backdrop encompassed the Jews’ three-phase return to the Promised Land from the Babylonian exile: 1) Zerubbabel in Ezra 1-6 (ca 538 B.C.); 2) Ezra in Ezra 7-10 (ca 458 B.C.); and 3) Nehemiah in Neh 1-13 (ca 445 B.C.). Previous history looks back to the Babylonian deportation/Exile (ca 605-538 B.C.) as predicted/reported by 2 Kings, Esther, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Habakkuk. The prophets of this restoration era were Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

The Jews had returned from their 70 years of captivity (ca 538 B.C.) to a land that was markedly different from the one once ruled by King David (ca. 1011-971 B.C.) and King Solomon (971-931 B.C.): 1) there was no Hebrew king, but rather a Persian governor (Ezra 5:3; 6:6); 2) there was no security for Jerusalem, so Nehemiah had to rebuild the wall (Neh 1-7); 3) there was no temple, so Zerubbabel had to reconstruct a pitiful semblance of the Solomonic temple’s former glory (Ezra 3); 4) the Jews no longer dominated the region, but rather were on the defensive (Ezra 4; Neh 4); 5) they enjoyed few divine blessings beyond the fact of their return; 6) they possessed little of the kingdom’s former wealth; and 7) God’s divine presence no longer resided in Jerusalem, having departed ca 597-591 B.C. (Ezek 8-11).

To put it mildly, their future looked bleak compared to their majestic past, especially the time of David and Solomon. The return could best be described as bittersweet, i.e., bitter because their present poverty brought hurtful memories about what was forfeited by God’s judgment on their ancestors’ sin, but sweet because at least they were back in the Land God had given Abraham 17 centuries earlier (Gen 12:1-3). The chronicler’s selective genealogy and history of Israel, stretching from Adam (1 Chr 1:1) to the return from Babylon (2 Chr 26:23), was intended to remind the Jews of God’s promises and intentions about: 1) the Land; 2) the nation; 3) the Davidic king; 4) the Levitical priests; 5) the temple; and 6) true worship, none of which had been abrogated because of the Babylonian captivity. All of this was to remind them of their spiritual heritage during the difficult times they faced, and to encourage them to be faithful to God.

Historical and Theological Themes

First and Second Chronicles, as named by Jerome, recreate an OT history in miniature, with particular emphases on the Davidic Covenant and temple worship. In terms of literary parallel, 1 Chronicles is the partner of 2 Samuel, in that both detail the reign of King David. First Chronicles opens with Adam (2 Chr 1:1) and closes with the death of David (2 Chr 29:26-30) in 971 B.C. Second Chronicles begins with Solomon (2 Chr 1:1) and covers the same historical period as 1 and 2 Kings, while focusing exclusively on the kings of the southern kingdom of Judah, thus excluding the history of the northern 10 tribes and their rulers, because of their complete wickedness and false worship. It ranges from the reign of Solomon (2 Chr 1:1) in 971 B.C. to the return from Babylon in 538 B.C. (2 Chr 36:23). Over 55 percent of the material in Chronicles is unique, i.e., not found in 2 Samuel or 1 and 2 Kings. The “chronicler” tended to omit what was negative or in opposition to the Davidic kingship; on the other hand, he tended to make unique contributions in validating temple worship and the line of David. Whereas 2 Kings 25 ends dismally with the deportation of Judah to Babylon, 2 Chronicles 36:22-23 concludes hopefully with the Jews’ release from Persia and return to Jerusalem.

These two books were written to the repatriated Jewish exiles as a chronicle of God’s intention of future blessing, in spite of the nation’s past moral/spiritual failure for which the people paid dearly under God’s wrath. First and Second Chronicles could be briefly summarized as follows:

I. A Selected Genealogical History of Israel (1 Chr 1-9)
II. Israel’s United Kingdom Under Saul (1 Chr 10), David (1 Chr 11-29), and Solomon (2 Chr 1-9)
III. Judah’s Monarchy in the Divided Kingdom (2 Chr 10-36:21)
IV. Judah’s Release From Their Seventy Year Captivity (2 Chr 36:22, 23).

The historical themes are inextricably linked with the theological in that God’s divine purposes for Israel have been and will be played out on the stage of human history. These two books are designed to assure the returning Jews that, in spite of their checkered past and present plight, God will be true to His covenant promises. They have been returned by God to the Land first given to Abraham as a race of people whose ethnic identity (Jewish) was not obliterated by the deportation and whose national identity (Israel) has been preserved (Gen 12:1-3; 15:5), although they are still under God’s judgment as prescribed by the Mosaic legislation (Deut 28:15-68). The priestly line of Eleazar’s son Phinehas and the Levitical line were still intact so that temple worship could continue in the hopes that God’s presence would one day return (Num 25:10-13; Mal 3:1). The Davidic promise of a king was still valid, although future in its fulfillment (2 Sam 7:8-17; 1 Chr. 17:7-15). Their individual hope of eternal life and restoration of God’s blessings forever rested in the New Covenant (Jer 31:31-34).

Two basic principles enumerated in these two books prevail throughout the OT, namely, obedience brings blessing, disobedience brings judgment. In the Chronicles, when the king obeyed and trusted the Lord, God blessed and protected. But when the king disobeyed and/or put his trust in something or someone other than the Lord, God withdrew His blessing and protection. Three basic failures by the kings of Judah brought God’s wrath: 1) personal sin; 2) false worship/idolatry; and/or 3) trust in man rather than God.

Interpretive Challenges

First and Second Chronicles present a combination of selective genealogical and historical records and no insurmountable challenges within the two books are encountered. A few issues arise, such as: 1) Who wrote 1 and 2 Chronicles? Does the overlap of 2 Chr 36:22-23 with Ezra 1:1-3 point to Ezra as author? 2) Does the use of multiple sources taint the inerrancy doctrine of Scripture? 3) How does one explain the variations in the genealogies of 1 Chr 1-9 from other OT genealogies? 4) Are the curses of Deut 28 still in force, even though the 70 year
captivity has concluded? 5) How does one explain the few variations in numbers when comparing Chronicles with parallel passages in Samuel and Kings? These will be dealt with in the notes at the appropriate places.