Series: Epic Journey: The Bible in 99 Days

Message Outline

The Faithful Minority
Text: 2 Kings-1 & 2 Chronicles

Introduction

Be encouraged - we are one third done! There are still plenty of Sundays, grace days, holidays and shorter days coming - plenty of time to catch up!

This week, we read about the painful demise of David and Solomon's great Kingdom—starting from the time of Solomon's death in 931 BC, and ending at the end of 2 Chronicles with the decree of King Cyrus of Persia in 538 BC! The Kingdom is split as Israel (ten northern tribes) rebels from Judah (two southern tribes). Israel rejected the king in Jerusalem and set up their own capital in Samaria. Following a progressively evil string of 19 Kings, Samaria falls in 722 BC to King Sargon II of Assyria. Some people are exiled and many intermarry. Eventually there are false temples, false worship, and false priests who practice a false faith. This carries into Jesus' time, and is the reason the Samaritans are despised by the Jews.

The fate of Judah is cushioned somewhat in that some godly kings—like Asa, Hezekiah, and Josiah, supported by godly priests and advisors, take the throne and bring spiritual reforms. However, the godly kings are outweighed by the ungodly and eventually God brings judgment upon Judah. Deportations of Jews begin in 605 BC (probably including the prophet Daniel) and continue through to 586 BC when the city of Jerusalem and the Temple are destroyed. This period nevertheless ends in hope (2 Chronicles 36:23): seventy years after the beginning of the exile (see Jeremiah 29:10), King Cyrus of Persia issues a decree in 538 BC, releasing the Jews to return to their homeland and practice their religion in freedom.

Cliff Notes Summary of this week's readings

2 Kings:

In the midst of crumbling kingships, we see God at work in miraculous ways—the prophetic ministries of Elijah and Elisha being prime examples. One of the words that is peppered through 2 Kings and Chronicles is the "remnant". The remnant is the small portion of believers that God preserves. These are the faithful minority who "hold fast" and are used by God for the next steps in His plans. Noah and his family were the first remnant, and the last remnant will be those Jews who return to Jesus in the end times (see Romans 11:5). Throughout this period, God is working His plan and preserving a people for Himself. As Israel rejects God and is plowed under by the Assyrians, godly kings and their advisors in Judah preserve the Word, the Temple, and the priesthood. 
 
One such godly king was Hezekiah. He had godly people around him, including the great prophet Isaiah. Hezekiah and Judah were threatened by the Babylonian King Sennacherib After the king's faithful prayer (see below) God spoke through Isaiah and then destroyed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. The enemy king was killed by his own people and Judah was spared for another 100 years. Hezekiah's great-grandson Josiah was another godly king, also surrounded by faithful priests like Hilkiah, and advisors like Shaphan. In each case, God draws a minority of people to Himself and uses them in major ways to preserve the line of descendants from David to Jesus (see Matthew 1). They stand in contrast to the people of their time in beliefs, trustworthiness, actions, and attitudes.
 
Key Passage:  2 Kings 19:14-19:
Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: "O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God. "It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by men's hands. Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God." NIV

Application questions:

1. Have you experienced being in a minority at school, work, or in your neighborhood because of your beliefs and lifestyle choices?
2. Have you experienced times when you gave in to peer pressure and denied those beliefs?
3. How do you "hold fast" in these more difficult situations?
4. If the people around you at work, school, and in your neighborhood were asked about your faith, what would they say?

1&2 Chronicles:

Your heart probably sank when the author of Chronicles (many Jewish sources attribute Chronicles to Ezra the scribe) started off with Adam. Are we going to repeat the whole Old Testament? However we soon see that this document is designed to help the returning exiles to know their history and along with it, the important "editorial comments" about the establishment of the nation of Israel and the Davidic monarchy (1st book) and the specific preservation of that line through the kings of Judah (2nd book). There are many gems in this book that are not in the accounts of Samuel and Kings - people like Jabez and Cyrus, prayers, like 2 Chronicles 7:14, special tidbits like the covenant of salt in 2 Chronicles 13:5, God's very high standards for his Kings and people in 2 Chronicles 20:33, and insider motives and judgment information, like Jehoram dying of an incurable disease of the bowels "to no one's regret" in 2 Chronicles 21:18-20.
 
We see in Chronicles the growing importance of the priests and prophets to the kings. We see that King Joash was godly as long as Jehoiada the priest was around and when the priest died, the nation quickly reverted to idol worship. The prophets likewise played a major role in the rule of the godly kings, but were stoned or ignored in the ungodly kingships. This all previews the unique role Jesus would play as the ultimate King, Priest and Prophet, unifying in His uncreated perfection all three roles. As Judah collapses, there is also a time of unprecedented shifting in world powers around her. Assyria is defeated by Egypt and then Egypt is defeated in 605 BC by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar at Carchemish. The Babylonians deport the Jews and they are in exile for 70 years until the Babylonians are defeated by the Persians, whose leader Cyrus allows them to go back and practice their faith while still under his authority. This is the backdrop for Ezra, Nehemiah and Ester.

Key Passages:  1 Chronicles 4:10: Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request. AND 7:14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. AND 36:22-23 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing: "This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: "'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Anyone of his people among you — may the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.'" NIV
 
Application questions:

1. Have you experienced God's answers when you have prayed prayers like the first two passages above?
2. Have you seen God move in world events....like in what is happening in the Middle East, China, or in Washington this week?
3. Have you seen God work in the details of your family's lives the way He did in these books?
4. What new insights have you gained about the God of the Bible, and how will it change your life going forward.

Personal Applications for this week: (your notes)