READING: 2 Chronicles 10-12
TEXTS AND APPLICATION: These chapters are the parallel chapters to 1 Kings 12-14, though these 2 Chronicles chapters focus primarily on Rehoboam. Yesterday’s central text reminds us again of the state of Judah at the time:
1 Kgs. 14:22-24 Judah did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes. They provoked Him to jealous anger more than all that their ancestors had done with the sins they committed. They also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree; there were even male cult prostitutes in the land. They imitated all the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites.
In the summary statement of 2 Chronicles 12:14, it’s Rehoboam who bears the weight of that: “Rehoboam did what was evil, because he did not determine in his heart to seek the Lord.” Though he had at times humbled himself (2 Chron. 12:6,12), his death notice still focuses on only the negative: he led without seeking the Lord.
PRAYER: It’s important to ask, “What words would be written on my headstone when I die?” I pray they would be the opposite of the above description of Rehoboam; I want them to be, “He determined in his heart to seek the Lord.” Pray that might be the case.
TOMORROW’S READING: 1 Kings 15:1-24; 2 Chronicles 13-16
