Through the Bible - 2 Chronicles

And you, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever. (1 Chronicles 28:9)

Where the king's heart goes, the nation follows—and where your soul goes, your whole life follows.

One Book, One Line: David and the Temple

As I mentioned last week, 1 and 2 Chronicles were originally one long book, just like 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Samuel. They cover the same history we saw in 1 and 2 Kings and part of 2 Samuel, but with a different focus. In 1 and 2 Kings we bounced between the northern ten tribes and the southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and it was easy to grow disoriented with so many kings reigning at the same time.

Chronicles, by contrast, focuses only on King David and his line—the southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin. This is helpful because it lets us follow one set of kings rather than two. The book centers on two things: God's king, David—the man after God's own heart (Acts 7)—and his line, and the priesthood and the temple. The temple is the house David desired to build after bringing the ark back to Jerusalem. When David told Nathan he wanted to build it, Nathan said, "Do all that's in your heart." But that night the Lord told Nathan that David could not build it; his son Solomon would.

The Genealogy and the Heart

The first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles gave the genealogy of Israel from Adam onward, but with striking inclusions and exclusions. God focuses on Adam through Seth, then Noah and Shem, then Abraham—not Ishmael but Isaac, not Esau but Jacob. From Jacob's twelve sons He highlights only two: Judah, the tribe of David and ultimately of Christ, and Levi, the priestly tribe.

Why does God choose and exclude this way? It has everything to do with the heart. Jeremiah 17:9 says the heart of man is desperately wicked—who can know it? Yet the very next verse says God searches and knows the heart. God alone truly knows your heart. We can be so deceived that we don't recognize our own heart's attitude until it's exposed by our actions, for out of the heart proceed evil thoughts and actions (Mark). When we finally come to God in confession saying, "Lord, I'm wicked," He already knew. He's not surprised when we come to Him with our sin—what's more surprising is when we refuse to, for He's the only one who can cleanse.

A Wicked Heart Swept Over, a Tender Heart Lifted Up

Notice that 1 Samuel deals primarily with King Saul, yet 1 Chronicles gives Saul only fourteen verses, because he was not a man after God's heart. His heart was lifted up in pride and given to the things of this world, so he's swept over in God's economy. The same is true of Esau, of whom the New Testament says, "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." That strong language reflects Esau's wicked heart, exposed in wicked actions.

But God brings forth David. From chapter 11 to the end of 1 Chronicles the focus is David—and though he sinned, his sin of murder and adultery is never mentioned in this book, because he was a man after God's own heart. When God accepts such a man, He removes his sin as far as the east is from the west. As 2 Chronicles tells us, the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth looking for a heart that is perfect toward Him.

David's Exhortation and Prayer for Solomon

As 1 Chronicles closed, David was preparing to die and Solomon was coming into the picture. Hear David's exhortation in 1 Chronicles 28:9: "Serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts... if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever." Then in verse 10: "Take heed now; for the LORD hath chosen thee to build an house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do it." God had chosen Solomon, so David urged him to a perfect heart and to do the work.

Then David prayed. In 1 Chronicles 29:19 he asks God to "give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep thy commandments... and to build the palace, for the which I have made provision." The only way Solomon could fulfill his calling was with a heart perfect toward the Lord—and a perfect heart brings forth good actions. Out of the heart proceed the thoughts and actions of a man.

The Soul of a Man, the Soul of a Nation

The heart is the seat of the emotions, the intellect, and the will. Back in 1 and 2 Kings we called it the soul of man—the place that chooses either the things of the flesh or the things of the Spirit. Saul's soul was given to this world; that's why when he went to destroy the Amalekites he kept everything good and destroyed only what was ugly. David's focus from the day he became king was the ark in Jerusalem and a temple for God—his focus was the Spirit.

God made us body, soul, and spirit. The soul makes decisions; it looks through fleshly eyes toward this world, or through the eyes of the Spirit toward God. Paul says in Galatians, "He that soweth to the flesh shall reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall reap everlasting life." In Israel, the king was the soul of the nation—where the king went, the nation followed. A king like Saul led the nation into the flesh; a king like David led them into repentance and renewal.

It all comes down to your will, because God has given you a free will. Moses told Israel before they entered the land, "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that... thou mayest live." Even under grace, we choose the flesh that leads to destruction or the Spirit that leads to everlasting life. That's why David exhorted Solomon to a perfect heart and then prayed he would have one—and how do we know a heart is dedicated? By its actions: keeping His commandments, His testimonies, His statutes, doing the work.

We are called in the New Testament to be fruit inspectors of one another, stirring each other up to love and good deeds and not neglecting the gathering of the body, where the condition of our hearts becomes visible. God's desire is that once you follow Him, He would be Lord. Just as David established the ark in Jerusalem, the center of the nation, so we must establish the Lord on the throne of our lives, on a sure foundation, leading and guiding.

Solomon and the Pattern of Prosperity

Now in 2 Chronicles, David is gone, and we begin with Solomon, the one David prayed would have a perfect heart. The first nine chapters focus on him and the work God chose him for—building the temple. "And Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the LORD his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly" (2 Chronicles 1:1). God magnified him because, at the beginning, his heart was given to the Lord.

This echoes Joshua 1. After Moses died, God told Joshua to be strong and courageous to observe all the law, turning neither to the right hand nor to the left, "that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest... then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." A believer's prosperous walk comes from walking in the law of the Lord with a heart fully dedicated, not turning to the right or left.

When Solomon sanctified the Lord in his heart, kings and queens came from other nations bringing gifts for the temple, wanting to see his wisdom. This is the evangelistic power of a heart set apart for God. Peter writes, "Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear" (1 Peter 3:15). When we sanctify the Lord in our hearts, the world asks questions—just as the nations came to marvel at Solomon's wisdom.

The Wicked Kings: A Departure That Leads to Destruction

From chapter 10 through chapter 36 we meet many kings—some who followed the Lord and some who departed. A departure from the Lord always leads to devastation. In truth the departure began with Solomon himself, who multiplied wives and horses against the law. His thousand wives brought their false gods, and he built high places for them, so his heart was turned away. He trusted in his armies. Solomon began the departure, but it was clearly seen in his son.

Rehoboam (2 Chronicles 10–12) refused good counsel. When the people, led by Jeroboam, asked him to lighten the heavy taxes, the older men advised him to be good to the people so they would follow him all his days. But Rehoboam followed his young advisors, who told him to make the burden even heavier. Then "when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him" (2 Chronicles 12:1). Underline that—and all Israel with him. So goes the king, so goes the nation. Immediately he was invaded by Egypt, for you are always weakened when you depart from the Lord. Yet there was a minor restoration, for Rehoboam humbled himself, just as God promised: "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray... then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Jehoram (2 Chronicles 21) was filled with jealousy. When he rose to the kingdom, "he slew all his brethren with the sword, and divers also of the princes of Israel." Jealousy is a work of the flesh (Galatians 5), and immediately the land was invaded by the Philistines.

Ahaz (2 Chronicles 28) introduced idolatry into the nation. He turned to idols, and immediately the nation was weakened and invaded by Syria and the northern ten tribes.

Manasseh (2 Chronicles 33) was twelve years old when he began to reign and reigned fifty-five years—the most wicked king of all. He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had broken down, reared altars to Baal, worshiped the host of heaven, built altars to false gods in the very house of the Lord, made his children pass through the fire, and used witchcraft, enchantments, and familiar spirits. He even set a carved image in the house of God. "So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen." Again, so goes the king, so goes the nation. Manasseh is the reason the southern tribes were ultimately carried into Babylonian captivity.

The Restoring Kings: Reflections of God's Grace

Yet there are high points, and each restoring king reflects the grace of God still flowing to His people.

Asa (2 Chronicles 14–15) was determined to keep the law. "They entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul" (15:12). He removed the strange altars, broke the images, cut down the groves, and commanded Judah to seek the Lord. When Zerah the Ethiopian came against him with a million-man army and three hundred chariots, Asa cried out, "LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee." And the Lord smote the Ethiopians before them. When the soul of the nation focused on the law of the Lord, the nation followed.

Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 17) removed the idols. The Lord was with him because "he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim... and his heart was lifted up in the ways of the LORD." Several wicked kings' hearts were lifted up in pride to their destruction, but Jehoshaphat's heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord. He also established a teaching ministry, sending the Levites with the book of the law throughout the cities of Judah, "and the fear of the LORD fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Judah, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat."

Joash (2 Chronicles 23–24) restored and repaired the temple. He told the people, in essence, to put their money where their mouth was: if you serve the Lord, let your money go toward His service. He sent the Levites to collect from the people to repair the house of the Lord. When the work was finally done, the Lord poured out His Spirit and there was great joy in Israel.

Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29–32) cleansed the temple after his father Ahaz had defiled it with idolatry. It took sixteen days just to clear the filth out. In the first month of the first year of his reign he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them, gathering the priests and Levites: "Sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place." He understood that the wrath of the Lord had come because the people turned their backs on His habitation, and he set his heart to make a covenant with the Lord.

Manasseh's Repentance and the Prison That Opens the Eyes

Though Manasseh was the most wicked king, he too sought restoration. When the people would not listen, the Lord brought the Assyrians, who bound Manasseh with fetters and carried him to Babylon. "And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers." God was entreated of him, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem—"then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God" (33:13).

Sadly it took the prison house for his eyes to be opened, and God will allow His own people to go there so they will cry out. Psalm 107 describes this very thing:

Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron; because they rebelled against the words of God... Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness... and brake their bands in sunder. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness! (Psalm 107:10–15)

We see Manasseh in that psalm, but we see ourselves as well. Many times we contemn the counsel of the Most High and find ourselves bound in affliction—but if we cry out, the Lord will hear and heal. After his restoration Manasseh took away the strange gods and the idol out of the house of the Lord and repaired the altar. Yet "nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high places," because their king had not been a good witness. Still, verse 13 is beautiful grace: when he prayed in darkness, God heard.

Josiah and the Greatest Passover

One last restoring king stands unrivaled: Josiah (2 Chronicles 34–35). "There was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet" (35:18). Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, "and he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD... and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left." At sixteen he began to seek the God of David, and at twenty he began to purge Judah of the high places, groves, and carved images, breaking down the altars of Baal and grinding the idols to dust.

In the work of repairing the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found something they hadn't seen for years—the book of the law of the Lord given by Moses. When Shaphan read it before the king, Josiah tore his clothes and sent men to inquire of the Lord, "for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD."

The prophetess Huldah answered: the Lord would indeed bring evil upon the place, "because they have forsaken me." But to Josiah she said, "because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God... I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD." Then Josiah gathered all the elders, and the whole nation kept a Passover greater than any since the days of Samuel—because this king's heart was turned to the Lord.

What Sets a Good Soul Apart

So we see the deep valleys of the wicked kings—Manasseh, Ahaz, Rehoboam, Jehoram—and what stands out in the kings whose hearts were given to God: Asa, determined to keep the law; Jehoshaphat, who removed the idols and taught the people; Joash, who restored the temple; Hezekiah, who cleansed it; Manasseh in his great repentance; and Josiah, who renewed the Passover. So clearly in this book you see what sets a good soul apart from a wicked one.

Jesus speaks of this in the Sermon on the Mount: the eye is the window of the soul, and if your eye be evil, how great is that darkness. Your soul looks upon the world through the eye, covets and desires it, and if it chooses the things of this world it reaps destruction like these wicked kings. But if you turn to the Lord with the eyes of the Spirit, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, Jesus says you shall be filled. He satisfies those who long for Him with good things.

The best way to end 1 and 2 Chronicles is with David's exhortation: "Know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts... if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever" (1 Chronicles 28:9).

Closing Prayer

God, as David prayed for Solomon, I pray that You would help us, Lord, to have hearts that are perfect toward You, hearts that are loyal and committed to You. As we see in 2 Chronicles 16, You are looking throughout the whole earth to find a heart that is perfect toward You, and You will strengthen that person. We thank You that You give us strength when we are weak, and tonight every one of us needs Your strength.

As You promised through Ezekiel, You have given us a new heart of flesh upon which You write Your law—a heart that desires to obey You. I pray that by Your Spirit we would obey You and see the restoration of the temple of each of our lives, for Paul said we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Jesus, You cleansed the temple at the start of Your ministry in John 2 and again at the end in Matthew, and I pray that as You come daily into the temple of our lives, You would cleanse it and renew it, for only You know our hearts. We thank You and praise You in Jesus' name. Amen.