[MUSIC PLAYING] The Bible From 30,000 Feet:
Soaring Through the Scripture From Genesis to Revelation. All right. Turn in your bibles, please, to
the book of Second Chronicles. We're at 30,000 feet. We're flying overhead rapidly. The intention is
not to go in depth. The intention is to
give us a broad overview of God's message in this book. We want you to know it. I believe the Holy Spirit
wants us to know it. You know, I often get
asked this question. What is your favorite
book in the Bible, Skip? And my answer is, it
depends on which week it is. [LAUGHTER] This week, Second Chronicles is
my favorite book in the Bible. You know, I was reading
through it this week, and it brought to
memory the reality of so many great promises in
this book, such great material. I remember, one time,
a friend of mine saying it was his favorite book
in the Bible of all of them. And I kind of found that
odd that somebody would say the book of Second
Chronicles in the Old Testament is a Christian's favorite
book, until I read it. Then I understood
the depth of it. So unfortunately, we are
just flying overhead, so we're going to get just
some of the highlights. We'll make those known to you
and point them out to you. We don't know who
wrote this book. Like First Chronicles, we
believe it is Ezra the Priest. And the more I read first
and Second Chronicles, the more convinced
I am that Ezra, the author of the Book of
Ezra, wrote this book as well. Why do I say that? Once again, because
of the emphasis that is in Second Chronicles
and First Chronicles seems to be the
perspective of a priest. And the language
scholars have discovered between the Book of Ezra
and the Book of Chronicles is very similar. And the last part
of Second Chronicles is repeated in the Book of Ezra. So I think I would
agree, on this point, that, like the Talmud
that says, Ezra wrote this, that was passed
on in Jewish tradition, I would agree with that. I think Ezra wrote the book,
though I can't be certain. Here's another reason why
I think Ezra wrote it. The book opens up with the
plans to build a temple. The book closes with the
destruction of the temple. It seems that the
temple is central throughout the entire book. That is something a
priest would focus on because a priest's duty in those
days took place in the temple. Just another note. There is an overlap of material
between Second Chronicles and First and Second
Kings, but it's different, in that it seems to be
more spiritually focused. It's not just information
that is given like I feel First and Second Kings is. It's not informational. It's more inspirational. Seems to be more of a
spiritual not only narrative and commentary, but an
editorial on Israel's history. I think you'll see some of those
verses as we go through it. Let me give you the
theme of this book. The theme of Second
Chronicles is from quality to captivity, from
excellence to exile. They are living, at first,
throughout this book, a quality life. Israel is at its peak. It's like post-war America,
post World War II America. The people are prospering,
the land is expanding, everybody's happy, the
kingship is strong. But they go from a
place of quality, and it ends at a place
of captivity-- so from excellence to exile,
from quality to captivity. I believe-- here's the
spiritual application. I believe God wants you
to live a quality life. Jesus said, I have come that
you might have life and have it more abundantly. He didn't say, I've come that
you might have abundant bummer. The Christian life is
to be a quality life. That doesn't mean you'll always
be prosperous financially, but I think the Lord
wants you to have joy. He wants you to have a
quality of life experience that other people
don't have that make unbelievers
want what you have by their observation
of your life. But we too can go from
quality to captivity. We too can go from excellence
in Christ to exile. We can be trapped. We can become in bondage
to a number of things, and that is not what
God wants for your life. But we take the lesson
from the children of Israel who followed that road. Let me throw out some
interesting characteristics about the book of Second
Chronicles-- notable features. First of all, if you are
reading a Hebrew Bible, this is their Book
of Revelation. This is their last
book in their Bible. Second Chronicles
ends their book. That's notable
feature number one. Notable feature number
two, Second Chronicles records the largest
army ever assembled in the Bible, one million men. That's found in Second
Chronicles Chapter 14. Third notable characteristic,
the youngest king to ever sit on the throne is
mentioned in Second Chronicles, a guy by the name of Joash-- seven years old. How would you like him
running your country? A seven-year-old King, Joash. Fourth notable
feature, the conversion of Judah's most wicked King ever
by the name of King Manasseh. He'd far outstripped any of
the other kings who did evil on the side of the Lord. And yet, miraculously,
in the 33rd chapter, he humbles his heart, and
God converts him and works some pretty incredible stuff. Now, let me give
you that outline. You could divide
Second Chronicles up into three sections,
all with the letter D. First of all, the distinction
of Solomon's kingship. The first nine chapters are
all about Solomon, Solomon, Solomon-- why he was awesome,
how he led the people, how he planned for the temple,
how he assembled people to build the temple, how
he got the materials. It's all about the distinction
of Solomon's kingship. The second part of the book,
chapters 10, 11, and 12, is the division of
the singular kingdom. When I say singular kingdom,
I mean the united monarchy. I mean Israel and
Judah both combined, Saul, David, and
Solomon all reigned over that united kingdom. But there comes a division that
is only mentioned in this book. It is not detailed like it was
in the Book of First and Second King. So the distinction of
Solomon's kingship, followed by the division
of the singular kingdom, and then the third Division,
chapters 13 through 36, the decline of the
southern kingdom. Now, you're going to hear
me tonight mention this, that Second Chronicles
primarily focuses on the southern kingdom. It will mention the
north, but only as it relates to the south. So you remember-- we've
gone through this-- the kingdom was split. We're going to see this again. The kingdom was split
north and south, Israel in the north,
10 tribes, two tribes called Judah down south. This book focuses mostly
on that kingdom of Judah. So let's begin in
chapter one, verse one, with the distinction
of Solomon's kingship. Now, you saw in this little
skit we had, so now you know. How many years did Solomon
rule on the throne? 40 years. 40 years. And so he reigned
from 971 BC to 931 BC. Those 40 years, he was the
King over the united monarchy. Solomon's reign
was a golden age. It was an age of peace. They were not hassled by enemies
because the kingdom was strong. It was an age of prosperity. The kingdom was united. The borders were extended. Like I said, it was much like
our country post World War II, when the promise was a car
in every garage, a washer and dryer in every home. People were living the good
life in Judah and in Israel. In chapter one,
verse one, notice it says Solomon,
the son of David, was strengthened in his
kingdom and the Lord, his God, was with him and
exalted him exceedingly. In Psalm 75, it reads thus. Promotion does not come from
the east nor from the west. Promotion comes from the Lord. I know what you're thinking. No, promotion
comes from my boss. [LAUGHTER] I hope he likes me,
or she likes me. My boss needs to
give me a raise. In reality, it
comes from the Lord. You want a raise? Pray for your boss. Serve your boss wholeheartedly. Do your job, and then
trust in the Lord. The Lord raised Solomon to
this position, the author says. Look at verse three. Then Solomon, and all
the assembly with him, went to the high place
that was at Gibeon. Gibeon is a higher elevated
place about six miles away from Jerusalem. And notice what it says. For the Tabernacle of
meeting with God was there, not a Jerusalem-- it's in
Gibeon, six miles away-- which Moses, the
servant of the Lord, had made in the wilderness. But David had brought
up the Ark of God from Kiriath-Jearim
to the place David had prepared for it, for he
had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem. Now, we won't read
this again, but this is where the Lord appears
to Solomon the first time. He appeared to him
a couple of times. The first time, God
came to him and said, Solomon, I'm giving
you a blank check. You fill in the
amount, I'll sign it. What do you want? Ask anything. And it's interesting that
Solomon said, oh, Lord, what I really need is wisdom
and knowledge to know how to go in and come out
before this people, for it is a great people. They're your people. I don't have the
experience and leadership. So, Lord, give me wisdom
and give me knowledge. So the Lord came
back, and he said, tell you what, I'm
going to do you a solid. I'm going to do you one better. I'm not going to fill that
in on the blank check. I'm going to fill
that in, but also, I'm going to add to it prosperity. I'm going to bless you in a very
unique way so that you will be not only wise-- wiser than
anyone who's come before you or after you-- but I'm also going to
give you prosperity. I'm also going to
bless you financially because you didn't ask for it. You know, sometimes
you think, well, you don't have a cause
you didn't ask for it, and the Bible says, you have
not because you asked not. But in this case, he didn't want
that, so God gave it to him. I think the Lord knows who
he can trust with finances. Why don't I have more money? Well, maybe you wouldn't be
good-- maybe it would ruin you. Maybe it'd be the
worst thing for you. The Lord knows what
you can handle. And if your heart is so set
on it-- and the Bible says, in the New Testament,
that shouldn't be the case because it could
be your undoing. It's a root of
all kinds of evil. The Bible says, don't
seek after riches. So Solomon, interestingly,
asks for wisdom and knowledge, and the Lord added to
him riches and wealth. Now, let's give you a snapshot
of how successful Solomon was and what life was
like in Jerusalem. Look at verse 15. Also, the King made silver and
gold as common in Jerusalem as stones. If you know the
landscape of Jerusalem, this is quite a statement
because there are stones everywhere. If you've gone on a tour
to Israel-- anybody? If you looked around, there
are stones everywhere. You get the idea
when Jesus said, if these hold their peace,
even the stones will cry out. It'd be a loud concert. It'd be a rock concert
because they're everywhere. [LAUGHTER] The King made silver and gold is
common and Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as abundant
as the sycamores, which are in the low land. I'll show you why in a
moment the Sycamores-- excuse me-- the cedars
became so abundant. At this point, the
Tabernacle is in Gibeon. The Tabernacle meaning
that cloth structure that enclosed the Ark of
the Covenant, at one time, was in Gibeon. It was not in Jerusalem. The Ark was in
Jerusalem because David had brought it up and built kind
of his own little private tent for it in the City of David,
the lower escarpment-- the lower raised section of
the ancient city of Jerusalem. That's where the Ark
was, but there was no central place of worship. David wanted to build a temple. God wouldn't let him. Solomon now
undertakes that task. So chapters two, three, and
four, Solomon builds a temple. Now here's the deal. Let's say right now we
were over in Jerusalem, and you and I were standing
on the Mount of Olives. If we were, I would point
across the valley-- the Kidron Valley-- and I would show you
the area where the temple once stood. And I would say to you, look, I
know you see a mosque on there now, but, really, years
ago, there was a temple. And that was the
Temple of King Herod. And I can even show you
where we think the foundation stones were, and I
can even show you some of the stones of that temple. But when it comes
to Solomon's temple, we can only guess that it
was in that same place. But I really can't show you any
remnants of Solomon's temple, and here's why. The Babylonians so utterly
destroyed the temple of God, so scored and scorched the
area that people, after that, didn't even know where
that temple stood, exactly. Now, I could even show you
some of the fire markings, the ash that is still on the
walls of some of the homes when Jerusalem fell to
the Babylonians in 586 BC. That evidence is there, but
where the foundation stones are of Solomon's temple, it
was so utterly obliterated by Nebuchadnezzar
and the Babylonians, we just don't know. But here, Solomon
builds the temple. And it says in chapter two,
verse one, Solomon determined to build a temple for
the name of the Lord and a royal house for himself. So what does he do? He sends a note up to his
dad's buddy up in Lebanon, like you saw in that little
skit before, a guy by the name of Hiram, the King of Tyre-- where all the cedars
of Lebanon grow in the mountains behind him-- and asked for building
materials-- cedars of Lebanon-- asked for workers to come
down, asked for architects and artists to help them out-- a good group. Verse five, and the temple,
which I build, Solomon said, will be great. For our God is
greater than all gods. Now, keep in mind that the first
10 chapters are all about the-- I just said it-- temple. So that's noteworthy. There's only about two
chapters in the Bible devoted to God creating
the heavens and the earth. 10 chapters of this book alone
are about building the temple. So it's a temple-centered book. Why is that? Because it was to be the
center of their life. Worship was to be the
center of their life. Worship is to be the
center of our life. You say, so do we
go to the temple? You don't need to
go to the temple. First of all, there is
no temple in Jerusalem, and it's a long way away. Say, well, the temple these
days is going to church. Yes and no. You are the temple. You are the place of worship. Worship should take
place inside of you as a regular, daily,
ongoing activity. You're the temple
of the Holy Spirit, that is, your body is
to be worship central. You can praise God
day or night, anytime. Paul even said, pray
without ceasing. So it's a very
temple-centered book. The first nine
chapters are devoted to the construction, gathering
supplies, gathering workers. Chapters 10 through 36 omit the
northern kings as I mentioned. Only a couple of them are
mentioned, but only as they have ties to the temple. So it's a very
temple-centered book. Also, there will
be prominence given to the Kings of Judah who
helped rebuild, and restore, and repair the temple. And number four, the book
closes with a proclamation of King Cyrus, who
helped bring captivity to the people of
Israel, and then-- well, it was King Cyrus who
took over the Babylonians, who had taken them captive. King Cyrus announces
that the Jews can go back to rebuild their
temple under Ezra and Nehemiah. So all of those factors
lead to that general idea that it's a very
temple-centered book. Also there's a word
used a lot in this book. 150 times the word "house" is
used, and it doesn't mean home. It means the house of
the Lord-- the house. Not a house, the
house-- the temple. Chapter three, verse
one, now Solomon began to build a house
of the Lord of Jerusalem on Mount Mariah, where
the Lord had appeared to his father,
David, at the place that David had prepared
on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. You saw his other name,
his alternate spelled name in that little skit
we did, Araunah. Araunah is also Ornan. I like Ornan better. It's easier to say. And he began,
verse two, to build on the second day of the
second month in the fourth year of his reign. Solomon was interesting in
how he constructed the temple. He basically took the
dimensions of the Tabernacle and doubled them. So instead of 45 feet
deep for the holy place in Holy of Holies, he
made it 90 feet deep. Instead of 15 feet wide,
like in the holy place in Holy of Holies, he
made it 30 feet wide. And he made it 45
feet tall, the temple. So he doubled it. But then, when it
came to the articles, if you remember back
in the Tabernacle, there was a place
for the priests who were doing sacrifice
to wash their hands, wash themselves, do an oblation. And that was called the laver. Remember that? The laver was sort of
a little brass basin. By the time Solomon builds
the laver, he calls it a sea-- S-E-A. It's huge. So it goes from a little
laver in the Tabernacle to this enormous basin
that is seven feet high, 15 feet in diameter, 45
feet in circumference. Holds an enormous amount of
water, so it's called a sea. And I'm bringing that
up because, by the time we get to the Book
of Revelation, and we see John
and Heaven, he sees a sea, but not a fluid sea for
a cleansing, but a sea of glass. And God's people are
standing on the sea. Why are they
standing on the sea? Because the need for
cleansing is over. They're standing on the finished
work of Jesus Christ, who cleansed us from our sin. The sea where a cleansing
was done is done. Now it's solid, man. You've got a foundation
underneath you. But in Solomon's day, he makes
the sea, flanked by 12 oxen-- three facing one direction,
three facing the other, 12 altogether. Chapter five, verse one. So all the work that Solomon had
done for the house of the Lord was finished, and
Solomon brought in the things which his
father David had dedicated-- the silver, the gold, all
the furnishings-- and he put them in the treasuries
of the house of God. Now Solomon assembled
the elders of Israel and all the heads of the
tribes, the chief fathers of the children of
Israel, in Jerusalem that they might bring the Ark
of the Covenant of the Lord up from the City of
David, which is Zion. So let's bring that
central piece of furniture, that place where God dwells-- let's take it out of
that tent and put it where it belongs in the
temple, where people can come, and gather, and worship,
and make sacrifices, and praise the Lord. It took Solomon seven and 1/2
years to build the temple. Once it was built,
he dedicated it. He got the people together,
had a prayer of dedication. Sacrifices were made. And he decided to dedicate
it in the seventh month of the Jewish calendar,
which is our fall. He wanted it to coincide with
the Feast of Tabernacles. So all the people of
Israel gathered together for the dedication. Chapter five, verse 13. Indeed, came to pass, when
the trumpeters and the singers were as one to make one
sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord,
when they lifted up their voice with the
trumpets, the symbols, the instruments of music. And they praised
the Lord, saying, for he is good, for his
mercy endures forever. Notice this, that the "house"-- there's that word. And then it says,
the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud. What is that cloud? I hear answers. The Shekhinah Glory of God. The Shekhinah, as
the Hebrews call it. That visible, tangible sign
of the presence of God, it filled that place. In chapter six, Solomon
gets on a special platform made for the dedication-- it's a large one-- and he spreads his
hands, and he prays. Chapter seven, verse one. When Solomon had
finished praying, fire came down from heaven and
consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and
the glory of the Lord filled the temple. That's that Shekhinah, that
cloud of the Shekhinah Glory. So the glory of the
Lord filled the temple. Now look at verse two. And the priests could not
enter the house of the Lord because the glory of the
Lord filled the house. This happened before. Exodus, chapter 40, the
dedication of the Tabernacle. The glory of the Lord came down. That cloud filled
the Tabernacle. It happens again
here with the temple. And did you know it's
going to happen again, and you're going to see it? Did you know that? You will see the cloud, the
glory, the Shekhinah Glory-- this cloud-- fill the
Millennial Temple, according to the Book
of Ezekiel, chapter 43. So it's going to happen again. And if you're a
believer in Christ, you'll be in that millennial
1,000 year reign with Christ on the Earth. So won't it be cool to see
that happen at that time? [APPLAUSE] Now, I have to pause here
and mention something. There has been, for
a number of years, in certain Christian circles,
an experience that people are told to expect
or to desire called being Slain in the Spirit. Have you ever heard that term,
being Slain in this Spirit? And what it is is people
will come forward sometimes in these churches, and they'll
have the preacher lay hands on them. Sometimes the preacher
will gently push them. Sometimes he will
firmly push them because he wants them to
fall over on the ground, and, on the ground, then
blame that on the Holy Spirit. I'll push you down,
but you're being slain in the spirit, brother. You can't control it. I've never really seen
the value of this, though I have observed it. Some seem to think
it is valuable. I absolutely see none at
all, except the potential of a possible cranial fracture. [LAUGHTER] So I don't see it
as an advantage. When you press
people who teach this or practice this for
a scriptural basis they will want to point out
this section of scripture. And they will quote
from the King James version of the
Bible, which renders that a little bit differently. Chapter five, verse 14
in the King James version says, the priests could
not stand to minister by reason of the cloud. And so they interpret that
as, well, they couldn't stand, so it must have
meant they fell down. No. All it means is they
couldn't stand it. They couldn't take it. They couldn't see, just
like when you get a fog-- a fog rolls in-- they couldn't see
clearly to do their duty, administer their
priestly function. So they got out, not
that they fell down. It didn't say that. They couldn't stand to
minister, so they left. It does not mean they fell down. So when you explain that
to them, then they say, well, there's plenty
of other scriptures that talk about this. And then they'll point to
the Garden of Gethsemane when they tried to arrest
Jesus, and Jesus said, I'm Jesus of Nazareth. Then they all fell backwards. Well, last time I checked, those
weren't Christian believers. Those were Roman soldiers
who wanted to do Jesus ill, not good. So that's an
experience unbelievers had with the power of
God, not believers. Then they'll say, well,
Ananias and Sapphira. They were believers,
and they fell. Yes, they did, but
never to get back up. [LAUGHTER] They weren't Slain
in the Spirit. They were slain by the Spirit. God killed them. I don't want that experience. No, thank you. So anyway the
temple is dedicated. A gal from Arabia, called
the Queen of Sheba, hears the reports of Solomon,
comes, interviews him, is so amazed by his wisdom. She peppers him with
question after question-- and I'm free rendering it here--
she says, wow, you're awesome. In fact, you're so
awesome, the half has not been told me
about your wisdom. What they told me,
you've exceeded it twice. So she goes back. And long and short of
it is Solomon dies. So that's the first
nine chapters. Now we got that out of the way. You still with me? Section one is out of the way. We now go into section number
two, and this is the division-- the division of that
united monarchy, the division of
the single kingdom, chapters 10, 11, and 12. So if you think about
it, Israel did rise to a high level of prosperity,
a golden age of peace and expansion, but it
was very short-lived. It only lasted 40 years. After Solomon's death,
it quickly deteriorates, and the kingdom divides. And here's what happens. Solomon's son becomes King. His name is Rehoboam. When Rehoboam becomes
King, some people see that as an opportunity. There's a power vacuum. Solomon, this very, very
strong King, is now gone. Let's go in there,
and let's try to get some political reform going. So a group of people led
by a guy named Jeroboam-- no relationship. Their names just happened
to sound a little similar. Weird name. Jeroboam goes to Rehoboam and
says, Rehoboam, buddy, your dad was pretty steep in how
he taxed us and forcing us to labor for this
temple that he built. If you would just relax
some of that forced labor and if you would relax some of
the taxation, cut taxes, man, we'll be great citizens. We'll follow you. Well, Rehoboam, being
young and inexperienced, didn't know what to do. So he consulted older men,
who said, they're right. Relax the taxes. Relax the labor force. But he went to the young
bucks his age, inexperience but cocky. They thought they-- look
there's a new generation. You old folks don't
know anything. Let us have at it for a while. So the new politicians
said, hey, you go back and tell Jeroboam,
you think my dad was tough? Dad's going to seem
like a wimp compared to what I'm going to do. In fact, tell him this. My little finger will be
thicker than my dad's waist. He scourged you with whips. I'm going to beat
you with scorpions. Tell him that. So Rehoboam comes and
goes, I'll tell you what we're going to do. I'm not going to
relax the labor force. I'm going to raise
the taxes, and you're going to work harder. So Jeroboam said, fair enough. We're out of here. And he took 10 tribes and
rebelled against that united monarchy, split the kingdom. So now you have Israel up
north 10 tribes under Jeroboam, and Judah, only two tribes, but
with the temple in Jerusalem. So now the kingdom is split. There is a lesson I
don't want you to miss. It's a mistake if we think we
can force someone to be loyal. Loyalty is never forced. If you force someone to
be loyal, they won't be. A friend of mine, Josh
McDowell, puts it this way. Rules without relationship
equals rebellion. That's true in a family. That's true in a nation. Rules without a relationship
equals rebellion. So they rebelled, and
the kingdom split. Chapter 12, verse one. It came to pass, when
Rehoboam establish the kingdom and had strengthen himself, that
he forsook the law of the Lord and all Israel along with him. And it happened in the
fifth year of King Rehoboam that, Shishak,
the King of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem
because they had transgressed against the Lord. So get the picture. Rehoboam, Solomon's son, had
three great years of reign. In the fourth year, he rebelled. In the fifth year,
God judged him. How did God judge him? By sending a foreign
power to attack him. Rehoboam forsook the Lord. He suffers the invasion
of Egypt as a result. But here's the love of God. God loved him so much, he
didn't fold his arms and go, forget that guy, I'm just going
to let him go by the wayside and judge the nation. He sends a messenger to him. He raises up a special
prophet to speak to him, to maybe at this
very last, grab his heart and he'll repent. Look at verse five. Then Shemaiah the
Prophet came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah,
who were gathered together in Jerusalem because of
Shishak, and said to them, thus says the Lord. You have forsaken
me, and, therefore, I also have left you
in the hand of Shishak. So the leaders of Israel and
the King humbled themselves-- right move-- and said,
the Lord is righteous. Verse seven. Now, when the Lord saw that
they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord
came to Shemaiah saying, they have
humble themselves, therefore I will
not destroy them, but I will grant them
some deliverance. Not total deliverance,
some deliverance. He's still going to judge all of
the years that they have sown. A man will reap what
he sows, but there's going to be a reprieve. There will be a final
judgment with the Babylonians, but I'm going to give some
relief-- some deliverance. My wrath shall not be
poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. That's the fine print. I'm giving you some deliverance. Shishak won't get you. Now, Nebuchadnezzar, on the
other hand, will get you, but that's further
on down the road. What made the difference? Humility. Do you know Micah 6:8, he has
shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require
of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to
walk humbly with your God? Humility. The Bible says God
resists the proud, but he gives grace
to the humble. And sometimes people
think, well, humility is thinking poorly of oneself. No. That's not humility. That's a disease. [LAUGHTER] Humility isn't thinking meanly,
or poorly, or self-deprecation. It's not thinking
badly of yourself. It's not thinking
of yourself at all. You don't come in the picture. It's not about you. It's about others. How do you get humility? It's a combination between being
God-aware and being self-aware. Now, follow me closely. A lot of people talk
about being self-aware. The problem is
they're not God-aware. Once you're God-aware,
you become self-aware. Once you realize who God is,
now you know who you are. When Jesus discovered
who Jesus was, that he was the Son of God-- when he stilled the storm
on the Sea of Galilee, remember what Peter said? Depart from me, Lord,
I am a sinful man. In seeing Jesus, he saw himself. Isaiah the Prophet
said, in the year the King Uzziah died, I saw
the Lord high and lifted up, seated on the throne. And the train of his
robe filled the temple. The Seraphim called back
and forth, holy holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. Then I said, woe is me. I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips. I dwell amongst a
generation of unclean lips. In seeing the Lord,
Isaiah saw himself. He saw God lifted up. He saw himself,
who he really was. Now, you can always tell
if a person knows the Lord. They're humble. A prideful person
doesn't know much of God. Once you're God-aware,
you become self-aware. And when you have those two
things, it produces humility. Another way of putting it
is, the fear of the Lord-- a healthy fear of the
Lord, a reverence for him, and an actual fear
of hurting him. The fear of the Lord. There's a great story
about Alex Haley. He was the author of a book very
famous book, that became a very famous movie, called Roots. Before it was a movie-- a
motion picture-- it was a book. And in Alex Haley's
office, he used to hang a picture of a turtle
on top of a fence post. And the caption on
this picture said, if you see a turtle
on a fence post, you know it had some help. [LAUGHTER] So he has that on
his wall because he said, when I'm tempted to
think I'm pretty awesome, and I've done a lot, and I
have so many accolades and so much accomplishment as this
producer, director, writer, I look at that picture
and realize I got here only because I've been helped
by a great number of people. So the king humbled himself,
and God turned Shishak back. Now the last section,
section number three, to close off the book,
chapters 13 through 36. We'll march through
this quickly. It's the decline of
the southern kingdom. Remember, the whole
book primarily deals with the kingdom of
Judah, the southern kingdom. Now we watch its decline. We've seen it at its peak
under Solomon, now its decline. There's Solomon. There's Rehoboam. There's a total of 19 more
Judean kings after Rehoboam, from Abijah-- he's the first-- to Zedekiah-- he's the last, and then
they go into captivity. So these kings are
both good and bad-- mostly bad. There's a few good ones. And the good ones
reformed the nation, but they didn't
transform the nation. And so the trajectory
there on toward judgment was only forestalled. They didn't get off. They just delayed it. The downward spiral toward
captivity is still on. So first is Abijah. King Abijah, son of
Rehoboam, fends off an attack by Jeroboam, the guy up
north-- the King up north. Jeroboam attacks him. He pushes him back,
even takes back some of the cities
that were taken, expands the land a little bit. Chapter 13, verse 21. But Abijah-- that's son of
Rehoboam, Solomon's grandson-- grew mighty, and then it
says, married 14 wives-- like grandfather,
like grandson-- and begot 22 sons
and 16 daughters. So he's bound for trouble. Chapter 14, verse one. So Abijah rested
with his fathers. Good riddance. They buried him in
the City of David. Then Asa, his son,
reined in his place. In his days, the land
was quiet for 10 years. Asa did what was good and
right in the eyes of the Lord, his God. For he removed the altars
of the foreign gods and the high places, and
broke down the sacred pillars, and cut down the wooden images. Chapter 14, 15, and 16
is all about the reign of King Asa, how he
encouraged revival, how he destroyed altars. But here's what I
want to get across. He didn't do enough. He didn't go all the way with
the Lord, spiritually speaking. Oh, he tipped his hat
here, tipped his hat there, encourage revival, but didn't
really get revived himself and bring that on the nation. So there's a huge difference
between reformation and transformation. God is all about
transforming you completely. Don't Lord, I give
you my life 90%, but there's 10% that's just
kind of like this cool area of my pet little sin. I'd like to cuddle that little
sin and nurse that along for a while. Man, surrender all. Let the Lord transform you
by the renewing of your mind, it says in Romans chapter 12. Well, chapter 17,
18, 19, 20, and 21 is about another King
named Jehoshaphat. He was a really great guy. He continues the revival. And what I love
about Jehoshaphat is he sends priests to
go throughout the land to give Bible studies. Teach the scriptures. Teach the people the law. Don't let just the
priest know it. Teach everybody the law. Chapter 17, verse three. Now the Lord was
with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the former
ways of his father, David. He did not seek the
Baals or the Ba'als. David, as you know is
fiercely monotheistic. Verse four. But he sought the
God of his father, walked in his
commandments, not according to the Acts of Israel. So that's a very
telling description. He walked in the
ways of the Lord, not according to the Acts of Israel. Very similar to Psalm 1. Remember Psalm 1? Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the council of the ungodly,
or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat
of the scornful. But his delight is in
the law of the Lord. In his law, he
meditates day and night. That's Jehoshaphat. Therefore, the Lord established
the kingdom in his hand. All of Judah gave
presence to Jehoshaphat. He had riches and
honor in abundance. And his heart took delight
in the ways of Yahweh-- of The Lord. Moreover, he removed
the high places, the wooden images from Judah. Good stuff. Good reforms, but-- don't you
always hate when I say "but?" A guy's doing good, but
he married the wrong gal, he merged with the wrong allies,
and he managed the wrong war. Let me explain. He marries a daughter
of King Ahab. Remember King Ahab
and Jezebel up north? Really, really bad guy. Marries the daughter. She brings pagan
worship down south. Then he makes an alliance
with her dad, King Ahab, in a battle. But get this. Ahab says, hey, I'm
fighting a battle. Would you help me?
he goes, I'm in, man. I'm here. We're together. But Ahab talks Jehoshaphat
into coming to battle with him while wearing his kingly robes. You say, well, so what? Here's the so what. Ahab disguised himself
not to look like a King. And so Jehoshaphat kind of
goes out there-- really, it's idiotic-- looking like a King. So all of the enemies think,
who's the King of Israel? The guy with the kingly robes. Kill him. So they chase Jehoshaphat
down to kill him. So he was Ahab's ploy. Jehoshaphat calls on God,
and God delivers him. He returns home, wants
nothing more to do with Ahab, but he has more
enemies who attack him. So chapter 20, two
enemies from the east-- present day Jordan-- Moab
and Amman attack Jehoshaphat. How does he deal with it? I love this. Well, he learned
in the last battle, when he dressed
up like the King-- so he was an HVT, a
high value target. He learned to call on God. So now he's being attacked. First thing he does is pray. First thing he does is pray. Chapter 20, verse three. And Jehoshaphat feared--
he's afraid for his life. He feared and,
because he was afraid, set himself to seek the Lord and
proclaim to fast throughout all of Judah. So Judah gathered together
to ask help from the Lord. And from all the
cities of Judah, they came to seek the Lord. Basically, God says, don't even
fight this battle, just watch. You don't even have to lift
a finger, or shoot an arrow, or throw a spear. Just watch me work. Verse 17. You will not need to
fight in this battle. Position yourselves. I love this verse. Stand still and see the
salvation of the Lord. Wouldn't that be great? Stand still and
see the salvation of the Lord, who is with
you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not fear or be dismayed. That's patience. Tomorrow, go out against them,
for the Lord is with you. That's perspective. God's with you. And Jehoshaphat bowed his head
with his face to the ground, and all of Judah-- the
inhabitants of Jerusalem-- bowed before the Lord,
worshipping the Lord. That's praise. Those three elements
working together. Then the Levites of the
children of the Kohathites and of the children
of the Korahites stood up to praise
the Lord God of Israel with voices loud and high. Go down to verse 21. When he had consulted
with the people, he appointed those who
should sing to the Lord and who should praise
the beauty of holiness as they went out before the
army and were saying, praise the Lord, for his
mercy endures forever. And when they began
to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against
the people of Amman, Moab, and Mount Seir who had
come against Judah, and they were defeated. Very interesting
battle strategy. What do we do? Send the worship team out first. [CHEERING AND APPLAUSE] Not the soldiers. Bring the singers. Let's fight this because
it's a spiritual battle. He said stand still, and see
the salvation of the Lord. So let's trust the Lord
and go forth singing, thanksgiving, trusting. Not fearing, trusting. That's how they marched forward. Gain the perspective of faith,
march forward and praise, and thanksgiving. When it comes to
spiritual warfare, we need to understand
our position. Satan attacks you, but the
Bible says, you are in whom? You are in Christ Jesus. So when the arrows are coming,
you are in Christ Jesus. So go into battle knowing that. Therefore, you can wait on
the Lord for the victory. Yeah, you do what you can,
but you start the singing, keep on praising, stand still,
and watch what God can do. Oh, yes, you can
do certain things, but you can't do half of what
the Spirit of God can do. So God gave them the victory. Quickly, I'll move. Chapter 21. Jehoram has an eight-year reign. He begins his reign by
killing all his brothers so he won't have
competition, so it's fair to say he was an evil king. Chapter 22. Yes, he was an evil king. Killed all his brothers. You get that? Murdered all his brothers,
killed them all-- his brothers. So there's no competition. So was he a good or bad king? Bad. Good. Thank you. Chapter 22. Ahaziah reigned one year. He was a bad dude,
and he was bad because he was influenced by
his mother named Athaliah. Please remember the
name "Athaliah." I did not have time
to go through it. Sunday, I should
have on bloodline. Remember, I talked about God's
strategy and counter-strategy of Satan? Athaliah was an
agent of the devil to destroy the
royal line of David, and she managed to destroy
every single person eligible for the throne
of David except for one. And he is mentioned
in chapters 23 and 24. He's seven-year-old Joash. He is hidden because
this mad woman is killing all the royal seed. So Joash is hidden. If she would have
succeeded in killing him, there would be no messiah. The royal line would have been
dismantled, destroyed utterly. It was down to one person
away from utter distinction. Chapter 25 is King Amaziah. Chapter 26 is a great
king named Uzziah. He was a teenager,
reign 52 years. That's why Isaiah
6 says, in the year the King Uzziah died, I saw
the Lord high and lifted up, and the train of his
robe filled the temple. Very good king with
the very good rain. Chapter 26, verse one. Now all the people of Judah took
Uzziah, who was 16 years old, made him King instead
of his father, Amaziah. Verse four. He did what was right in
the sight of the Lord, according to all that his
father, Amaziah, had done. He sought God in the
days of Zechariah, who had understanding
and the visions of God. And as long as he sought the
Lord, God made him prosper. Now, you read
Zechariah, and you think of the prophet, Zechariah. Don't do that 34 men
are called by the name Zechariah in the Old Testament. So this is not the Zechariah. It's one of the 33 others, OK? Chapter 27 or 28. King Jotham and Ahaz,
forget about them. They were nutcases. [LAUGHTER] Chapter 29 through 32,
great king, Hezekiah. He restored the temple. He restores worship. He destroys the idols. He destroys the high places. But while he does that,
wouldn't you know it, the Assyrians come down. Sennacherib, the Assyrian
king, sends his armies down to surround Jerusalem, and
they threatened to destroy it. Remember, they had
already destroyed, in 722 BC, the 10
northern tribes. They've killed and conquered
everybody, everything. They think they can take Judah. What does this King do? Gets Isaiah in. Isaiah prays for him. He spreads the
letter of threat out. They bring it before
the Lord in worship. Isaiah comes in,
chapter 32, verse seven, says, be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid nor dismayed
before the King of Assyria, nor before all the
multitude that is with him. For there are more
with us than with him. Good perspective. You're surrounded by enemies. It seems like there's
more with them. There's more with us. Martin Luther said, with
God, one is a majority. You know, why is
it that Christians get all worried about demons? I'm being attacked by demons. So what? [LAUGHTER] What do you mean, so what? Only a third of the angels
that fell became demons. There's 2/3 left. They are outnumbered
by the good. Plus, God lives in you. [APPLAUSE] Say, Holy Spirit, sic'em. [LAUGHTER] Let God be your defense. Oh, yes, they want
to hassle you. Oh, yes, they mess
with your mind. Oh, yes, they oppress you. But don't let them gain ground. There is more with
us than with them. Verse eight. With him is an arm of flesh. With us is the Lord,
our God to help us and to fight our battles. And all the people were
strengthened by the words of Hezekiah, the King of Judah. Probably have a lot
more to say on this. Don't have the time. Chapter 33, great chapter
about a creepy dude named Manasseh, the worst
king ever, ever, ever. And he gets converted. Well, when I say ever, he
restores all the pagan worship. Like any administration
can do in any country, they can sort of change
everything that went before and make it all go bad again. They restore all the paganism
back, eradicated all the good. Chapter 33, verse
nine, Manasseh seduced Judah and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations
whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel. The Lord spoke to
Manasseh and his people, but they would not listen. But God has the ways of
getting your attention, and he gets his attention. He has Judah surrounded. Manasseh gets captured,
taken to Babylon in Babylon, he cries out to God. God listens to him,
and brings him back, and restores him back as King-- a conversion story. Chapter 34-- we're almost
done with the book-- King Josiah. Great King. Really, the greatest,
in my opinion, of all the rest of the
Kings after Solomon-- Godliest of all. It's a key chapter. A dramatic revival
happens under King Josiah. Verse one of chapter 34,
Josiah was eight years old when he became King. He reigned 31
years in Jerusalem. And he did what was right
in the sight of the Lord. At age 26, he
repairs the temple. Get this. While repairing the temple,
they find an old book-- scroll-- of the Pentateuch, the five
books of Moses-- the law. They bring it into the King. They read the law of God. The King is so convicted. He's never heard
the Bible before. He rips his robes. The people hear the law. The people of Israel make a
new, renewed covenant with God. And revival is on
under a King Josiah. They celebrate the Passover. They hadn't celebrated
it for years. 41,000 animals were sacrificed
during that Passover. Chapter 35, verse 18. There had been no
Passover kept in Israel like that since the days
of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of
Israel kept such a Passover as Josiah kept with the
priests, the Levites, all Judah and Israel who were present-- inhabitants of Jerusalem. You can tell I'm moving fast. [LAUGHTER] Chapter 36 ends the book. Verse 15. The Lord God, their fathers,
sent warnings to them by his messengers rising
up early, sending them because he had compassion on his
people and his dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers
of God, despised his words, scoffed at his prophets
until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people
until there was no remedy. Verse 19. Then they burned
the house of God-- that's the temple-- broke
down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all its
palaces with fire-- and I can show you burn
marks from that event still in Jerusalem--
and destroyed all of its precious possessions. And those who escaped
from the sword, he carried away to Babylon,
where they became servants to him and his sons, until the
rule of the kingdom of Persia to fulfill the word of the
Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had
enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate,
she kept the Sabbath to fulfill 70 years. Three deportations. Three attacks, three
deportations of people. 605 BC, 597 BC, 586 BC. The very first deportation, a
young man by the name of Daniel is taken to Babylon. God uses them there. The very last deportation, 586
BC, Jerusalem is destroyed, temple is destroyed. People are taken away. They don't come
back for 70 years. When they do come back,
it's under Ezra, the author, I believe, of this
book and Nehemiah. But the book ends. Just really quickly,
look at verse 22. God stirred up the
spirit of Cyrus. He stirred up the
spirit of Cyrus to allow the Jews to return. So Ezra is giving hope. He's writing this to
people in the captivity. Their temple has been destroyed,
but he's letting them know-- I'm sorry, the people who were
in captivity that came back. He's letting them know hope
in God, hope for the future. The book begins by the
building of a temple. It ends with the
destruction of the temple, but it really ends with the
hope of return and restoration. That's how the book ends. Wish I could tell you more. Don't have time, except
with this thought. The temple prefigures Christ. The temple was built, but Jesus
said, I say unto do you verily, one greater than the
temple is in your midst. He was speaking of himself. Later on, he said, destroy
this temple and in three days, I will raise it up. They thought he was speaking of
the temple house in Jerusalem. He was speaking of the
temple of his body. I say it prefigures Christ
because when you get to Heaven, and you stand on that
glassy sea, eventually, you'll be in the
Millennial kingdom. And then, eventually, you
will be in the new Jerusalem, new Heaven, a new Earth. And it says, I saw
no temple in i. For the Lord God Almighty
and the lamb are its temple. Right now, you're the
temple of the Holy Spirit, but God and the lamb
will be its temple. Father, thank you for this
very quick, but possibly comprehensive view of
this incredible story in Second Chronicles. Thank you that we can learn from
examples like Saul, and David, and Solomon, and Rehoboam,
and Jeroboam, and Joash, and all the other
kings, good and bad. We can learn what not to
do, we can learn what to do. And I pray, Lord,
that until we get into Heaven, our
new, and eternal, and final home, that we,
as the temple of the Lord, the temple of God,
would be worshipful, would be centered in worship
that you would occupy the center of our life and that
praise would go forth from us even during the battles,
even during the times we feel surrounded and down, that
you would strengthen us in the midst of it,
knowing more are with us than with the enemy
in Jesus's name. Amen. [MUSIC PLAYING] We hope you enjoyed this message
from Skip Heitzig of Calvary Church. For more resources,
visit calvarynm.church. Thank you for joining us for
this teaching from The Bible From 30,000 Feet.
