Lessons from 2 Chronicles 1-11

1:1-2:18 - ‘Give me wisdom’ (1:10). What is the greatest wisdom of all? - It is the ‘wisdom’ which leads to ‘salvation through faith in Christ Jesus’. Where do we find this wisdom? - Read ‘the Holy Scriptures’. Ask God for wisdom - ‘Open my eyes that I may see the wonderful truths in Your Word’. Ask the question concerning salvation - ‘What must I do to be saved?’. God will give you His answer - ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved’ (2 Timothy 3:15; Psalm 119:18; Acts 16:31). Salvation cannot be earned. It can only be received as a gift. It is ‘the gift of God’ (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8). What is wisdom? - It is to say, with Solomon, ‘Our God is greater than all other gods’ (2:5). Nothing else and no-one else can even begin to compare with the Lord. Be wise. Build your life on Him (Matthew 7:24-27).

3:1-5:1 - ‘Work in the Temple of the Lord’ (4:11; 5:1) is no ordinary work. This work is ‘most holy’ (3:8,10; 4:22). Real work for the Lord emerges out of true worship of the Lord. If we are to be the Lord’s workers, we must first be His worshippers. Worship comes first. This is vitally important. Take away worship from the place of highest priority, and you have nothing left - nothing which can really be called the work of the Lord. You may have busy people, doing this, that and the other, but you will not have servants of the Lord doing the work of the Lord - without worship. We sometimes ask, “Where are the workers?”. God asks, “Where are the worshippers?”. Begin to worship the Lord. Keep on worshipping Him. Worship the Lord, and let Him show you ‘what you must do’ (Acts 9:3-6).

5:2-6:42 - Without the blessing of God, our worship is empty. We must look for God’s blessing in the place of worship. What we must pray for is this: ‘the glory of the Lord filled the House of God’ (5:14). We must look for God’s blessing in the pulpit, praying that the preachers of God’s Word will be ‘clothed with salvation’. We must look for God’s blessing in the pews, praying that all of God’s people will ‘rejoice in His goodness’ (6:41). Where does the blessing come from? - It comes from this: God is ‘good’ and ‘His steadfast love endures for ever’ (5:13). All of our praying for the Church can be summed up in this prayer: ‘O Lord God... Remember Your steadfast love...’ (6:42). More than anything else, we must pray for this: ‘God’s love... poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit...’ (Romans 5:5).

7:1-22 - In verse 14, there is a call to prayer and promise of blessing: ‘If My people who are called by My Name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their hand’. Why is there so little blessing? - ‘You do not have, because you do not ask’. God will bless mightily - when His people pray earnestly. Why does the devil have so many victories among us? - ‘Resist the devil, and he will flee from you’. God will lead us in His way of victory - when we stop tolerating the devil, and start resisting him. Why does God seem so far away? - ‘Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you’ (James 4:2,7-8). God will come near to us - if we will let Him. ‘I stand at the door and knock; if any one... opens the door, I will come in...’ (Revelation 3:20).

8:1-9:31 - In Solomon, we see strength and weakness. He was strong - ‘the House of the Lord was completed’ (8:16). He was also weak. He was infatuated with foreign women, who did not belong among the redeemed people of God. He married ‘Pharaoh’s daughter’, a woman who had no love for ‘the holy places’ of worship (8:11). To the queen of Sheba, a woman who had more love for ‘her own land’ than for life among the people of God, ‘Solomon gave all that she desired’ (9:12). Solomon was a complicated man. He had a real love for the Lord, yet the world still had a strong hold on him. “O let me feel Thee near me: the world is ever near; I see the sights that dazzle, the tempting sounds I hear; My foes are ever near me, around me and within; but, Jesus, draw Thou nearer, and shield my soul from sin’ (Church Hymnary, 434).

10:1-11:23 - We read here of division among God’s people: ‘Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day’ (10:19). What does God say about this? - ‘Do not go up to fight against your brothers (11:4). Jesus tells us that ‘a house... divided against itself cannot stand’ (Mark 3:25). Paul speaks to us ‘in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ’. There are to be ‘no divisions’ among us (1 Corinthians 1:10). God’s Word says that we are ‘all one in Christ Jesus’ (Galatians 3:28). Far too often, our lives tell a very different story. Division among God’s people is a big problem. We must learn to pray in the spirit of Jesus’ prayer. He prayed that ‘all of them may be one’: ‘May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me’ (John 17:21,23).