Day 363: 2 Chronicles 28-30 | Read The Bible In A Year | Bible Study Commentary by Dr. Manny Arango

We're a couple days away from the end of our reading plan, which means you're about to be a part of the 6% of Christians that have actually read the entire Bible cover to cover. So stay tuned until the very end of this episode to hear about something special that we have planned just for you. Bible nerds, let's dive in to today's episode. ♪♪♪ Family, welcome to day 363. Today, we are looking at second chronicles, chapters 28 to 30. We've got two kings that we're going to be looking at. Obviously, a father and a son couldn't be more opposite than each other. We're going to be looking at King Ahas and King Hezekiah. King Hezekiah is on that Mount Rushmore of like just incredible kings. No notches against him like Josiah, Hezekiah, Solomon and David are going to be like the gold standard for kings as far as Ezra is concerned or AKA the chronicler is concerned. But if you haven't done the reading, okay, if you haven't consumed the content, the Bible reading today, chapters 28, 29 and 30, this is my gentle nudge. To stop the video, pause the audio. You definitely want to go get the reading done so that you understand exactly what I'm going to be talking about. And for all of us that have done the reading, let's jump into our context clues. And then I'll give you as many nerdy nuggets as I can. It will always end the episode with a timeless truth. Day 363, come on, let's go. All right, big, big, big, big, big context, okay. Tiglath Pyleser III, it's that's the name that you got to know.

All right, so the Syro-Ephraimatic War is the big overarching context, all right. So chapter 28 is going to deal with the alliance or the war that led to the destruction of both Aram, Syria, Israel, as well as Judah becoming a vassal of Assyria. So that's the big, big, big thing that just contextually is about to happen. So even when we get to chapters 29 and 30, all of this reform that Hezekiah is spearheading is being done while Judah is a vassal state of Assyria, okay, big that empire. Remember how a couple days ago I was saying, or maybe that was yesterday? Yeah, I was saying that the three leaders, Amaziah, Yisiah, and Jotham that we had looked at yesterday, were very lukewarm leaders. They weren't extremely bad, but they also weren't extremely good. They weren't extremely weak or extremely strong, just lukewarm. And they kind of got lucky. Like the Assyrian empire just hadn't hit a stride yet. And the Assyrian empire was shrinking, contracting, instead of expanding. And that is not going to be the case today, all right? The Assyrian empire, by the time we get to chapter 28, the Assyrian empire is on the move. Tiglath Pailisa III became king of Assyria in 745 BC, okay? His reign stopped the shrinking in the quiet period of the Assyrian empire. He led the Assyrians on a series of expansionist wars that practically tripled, or probably even more,

maybe even quadrupled the territory of the Assyrian empire. His rule then threatened the entire area that Israel is in, which is called the Levant. Like if you've ever seen that in a textbook, it's a very academic word, the Levant. It's like the fertile crescent, and kind of goes all the way down. It's a gateway to Egypt, which is the ultimate destination for all empire builders in the Middle East. It's to eventually get to Egypt. Knowing this is an alliance made between Pekka king of Israel, resin king of Damascus, the idea being that they would create a coalition of smaller peoples to unite against the Assyrian threat. As their predecessors, Ahab and Ben-Hadad had done a century before, when they stopped Shamanisa III. I know that name, Shamanisa. I've said that name a ton of times. Sometimes Bible names trip me up, but Shamanisa is not a hard one. They wanted Judah to join this coalition. That's what they're baiting Ahab's into doing. to force it to join the coalition. Okay, so that's the background for this entire conflict which we're gonna know as the Syro-Ephramatic War, the Syro-Ephramatic War. If you need any additional context and what I have the time to do like on the episode, you could always Google Syro-Ephramatic War or Tiglath Pylece of the Third. And you can, you honestly, Wikipedia probably has tons of valuable information. Okay, if you remember, this was the context

of the first 12 chapters of the book of Isaiah. I know we were in Isaiah a long, long, long, long time ago. When Isaiah prophesied to A.H.S. telling him to trust Yahweh, and these two kings would fall. Unfortunately, A.H.S., our first king that we've got on the docket to look at today. Unfortunately, A.H.S. trusted in another suzerain, Tiglath Pylece of the Third, to become his vassal, which led to him attacking Aram and Israel, destroying Aram and conquering half of Israel, the lands east of the Jordan. These actions of A.H.S. meant Judah was enslaved to other nations for almost 600 years. And it would lead even sooner to the complete destruction of Israel and the loss of the 10 Northern tribes. We will see that chapter 28 adds way more detail to that war between Judah and Israel and Aram, the Sirel Ephraimatic War, and to the aftermath of A.H.S.'s betrayal. This context also then adds extra weight to Hezekiah's reforms in chapters 29 to 31, okay? As Hezekiah is doing all of this when he was a vassal of Assyria, that's huge. Most people when they're a vassal, they take on the gods of their suzerain. They don't like go 10 toes down on their, on obeying their gods, you know? But Hezekiah is essentially saying, even though I'm a vassal to Assyria,

really we are vassals to Yahweh. And that, man, woo, that's a timeless truth. That right there is a timeless truth. I may be an American citizen, but at the end of the day, I'm a citizen of heaven, like I obey the Lord. So that is a hundred percent of timeless truth, which would mean, among other things, that He would have to worship Assyrian gods. That would have means to be a vassal, to break a part of that treaty could mean retribution from Assyria, which is what we will see in chapter 32. It highlights then the courage of Hezekiah, especially when compared to the cowardice of his father, A.H.S. All right, I hope that's enough context for the sorrow, ephraimatic war, for Tiglath Pyleeser, for A.H.S. and for Hezekiah. They are the two main characters that we're gonna look at today on day 363, as we look at chapters 28, 29, and 30. All right, let's dive into our nerdy nuggets for the day, okay? Don't skip, don't skip, hey! If you are in the homestretch of reading your Bible, first of all, I'm so proud of you! Second, you probably know this, but you're my kind of people. I thoroughly enjoy hanging out with Bible nerds. So I've got exciting news for you, and it's called the 6% Club.

For anyone that has finished their entire Bible in a calendar year, we have exclusive content, newsletters, giveaways, live events. Oh yeah, live events, baby, and more all throughout the year. You can find out about all of that. If you go to the Bible department.com/club to officially join the 6% Club. Why don't we call it the 6% Club? 'Cause only 6% of Christians have actually read their entire Bible cover to cover. And every year, Bible nerds, like you, finish our Bible reading plan, and we get asked, what's next? Well, we've got an answer, and you don't wanna miss out. So head over to the Bible department.com/club or click the link in the description to get access. We'll see you in the club. Let's go! Chapter 28 is all about AHAZ, okay? And it's all about AHAZ's, like, portrayal. I'll read 2nd Chronicles, Chapter 28, starting in Verse 1. AHAZ was 20 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 16 years in Jerusalem, and he did not do what was right in the eyes of Yahweh. As his father, David had done, but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. Remember, Israel is now a foreign nation. So to compare a king of Judah to a king of Israel is the worst, Okay. He even made metal images for the bales and he made offerings in the valley of the sun

of Hinnam and burned his sons as an offering. Oh gosh, I just got chills reading that. That is just that is terrible. According to the abomination of the nations whom Yahweh drove out before the people of Israel and he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree that second chronicles chapter 28 verses one two three and four. All right. So what we're going to get in second chronicles is actually a different perspective. I mean surprise surprise. You know what we're going to get in kings and Isaiah. All right. In kings and Isaiah, it's just the series of events are a little different. And so our understanding of a has is a little different. So we're going to compare the cause and effect of the two accounts in kings slash Isaiah, which agree with each other. Okay. Pekka in resin attack Judah. So Isaiah urges a has okay to turn to Yahweh for salvation. But a has turns to take last pileza for salvation. Okay. You get that three things happen. Pekka in resin attack Judah. Isaiah then urges a has to turn to Yahweh for salvation. Instead of doing that, a has turns to take left pileza for salvation. Okay. Here's what chronicles is going to say. The first thing that tick like the first domino to fall is a has commits great idolatry. Therefore, Pekka in resin attack Judah. Therefore, a has turns to take left pileza for salvation. In kings and Isaiah, the attack is a chance for a has to repent to turn back to Yahweh. And Isaiah's role as a prophet, because remember kings is the prophetic history. Isaiah's role as a prophet is highlighted. A has betrays Yahweh in hands Judah over to another suzerain. Imagine the slap in the face. No, you're not a good enough suzerain Yahweh. We're going to trust Tiglak pileza from Assyria. In chronicles, the attack is Yahweh's judgment for a has his first betrayal of him. No chance of repentance is mentioned. And Isaiah is missing from the story. The second betrayal with Tiglak pileza is in the context of someone already far from Yahweh who doesn't even consider asking Yahweh for aid. This is somewhat surprising because generally speaking, we've seen this with both David and Solomon. The kings of Judah are seen in a more positive light in chronicles than they are in kings. But here, a has is worse in chronicles than he is in kings. And he's pretty freaking bad in the book of kings. A has is presented as the worst king in chronicles. Whereas in kings, the worst king is definitely Manasseh. A has is presented as the absolute worst king with no redeeming features and is especially contrast to a son Hezekiah who is placed in a similar situation. Okay, but acts insanely different like polar opposite in the chroniclers eyes, aka in Ezra's eyes. From Ezra's perspective,

A has is the worst of the worst. He is the one who betrayed Yahweh more than any of the kings of Judah before or after him. His betrayal in becoming a vassal of Assyria is seen in the context that this was nothing new for a has. He had been betraying Yahweh since he started on the throne in a sense, you could say he didn't actually betray Yahweh because he was never ever loyal to Yahweh in the first place. Okay, as if things aren't bad enough, it's going to get climatically bad. Okay, second chronicles chapter 28 starting in verse 24 is going to say this and A has gathered together the vessels of the house of God. Uh oh, uh oh, A has what are you doing? He was temple. Okay, Ezra don't mess with the temple. A has gathered together the vessels of the house of the God and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God and he shut up the doors of the house of Yahweh. He closed the church down. Oh man, he closed the temple. He closed doors of the temple. He shut up the doors of the house of Yahweh and he made himself alters in every corner of Jerusalem. In every city of Judah, he made high places to make offerings to other gods, provoking to chapter 28 verses 24 to 25. I want you to like put this in perspective. Okay. David, his his sin with the Sheba, the murder of Uriah, not even mentioned by Ezra the chronicler. Why? Because he treated the temple right. Solomon, foreign women, slave labor, all kinds of stuff. But downplayed. Why? Because he treated the temple well. Our guy a has. Oh, selling off vessels of the house of God, desecrating the house of God, shutting the doors. This is not going to go over well. Okay, it does not matter what a has does right. He has committed the cardinal sin as far as Ezra is concerned. And so for chronicles, he is the worst of the worst. However, here's what's insane. His son is going to be the exact opposite. So when we look at second chronicles chapter 29 verse two, it is an instant crumb contrast to the first paragraph. Sorry, the first paragraph of what we have of Hezekiah is in contrast to what we have in chapter 28 about his dad a has. Okay, here's what it says about Hezekiah. And he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh. According to all the David, his

father had done. Second chronicles chapter 29 verse three Hezekiah opened the doors of the house of Yahweh and repaired them. So not only is he going to rebuild, he's going to repair. He's going to consecrate. I mean, he's going to reopen. I mean, dude, Hezekiah is a temple guy. He's a temple guy through and through and through. So chapter 28 is all about a has time 29 is an immediate shift. Like our dude has a Kiah is immediately getting to work, undoing everything that his dad had done. And this involves setting up the temple reorganizing priests, getting Levites in place. He sets them to work to cleanse a temple from the sacrilege of a has his reign. They take out all the uncleanists within the temple. This could mean both literal rubbish like trash and unclean things that shouldn't be in the temple. Like I'm no bacon or actual idols and tribes of big of pagan gods and consecrate the temple. Okay. In fact, in chapter 29 verse 17, we are given a new clue to when this happened. They began to consecrate on the first day of the first month. And on the eighth day of the month, they came to the vestibule of Yahweh, then for eight days, they consecrated the house of Yahweh. And on the 16th day of the first month, they, they finished that second chronicles, chapter 29 verse 17. Dr. Mani, that's a lot of details. What are you getting at? I'll tell you exactly what I'm getting at. Literally on the first day on the job, Hezekiah ordered and began the cleansing of the temple. He wasted no time. There was no way to establish his rule. He knew that his rule was established by Yahweh. All the suffering that his people had gone through. And his father's reign was because the temple was closed point blank period. They were not worshiping their true king. They are vassal of Tigalath, Pilisa the third, not Yahweh.

So if there was to be any hope of restoration in the land, in the temple doors needed to be open. And then we get to chapter 29 verses 20 to 36. Hezekiah is going to restore temple worship. And to be honest, all of the language from chapter 29 should make you think of David and Solomon, like the singing and the joy and the praise and words like willingness and like the culture that's created by Hezekiah as a leader, like you can feel it off the page. Like it's like the words are so full of life. And then chapter 30 in Hezekiah is going to restore Passover. Okay. So not only is Hezekiah going to cleanse the temple, reopen the temple, restore temple function. He's got to restore Passover. It's the festival that's also important. And he invites people up in the north who are not in Judah to take part in the festival of Passover. It is not just the temple and sacrifices that are restored. Hezekiah then announces that the Passover will be celebrated again. Okay, you might also notice that Hezekiah's Passover takes place in the The reason given is that they couldn't keep it in the first month because that was when they were still cleansing the temple. The cleansing took 16 days and Passover begins on the 14th of Nissan the first month. So the temple wasn't ready for Passover, which means, of course, there were priests who were not ready either. So instead, it was celebrated in the second month which is a fantastic solution, which is that situation is actually covered in the Torah. Numbers 9 verses 9 through 11 says this. YHWH spoke to Moses saying, "Speak to the people of Israel, saying, 'If any of you or of your descendants is unclean through touching a dead body or is on a long journey, he shall keep the Passover to YHWH in the second month on the second day at twilight. They shall keep it.

They shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs." I want to read the result of celebrating the Passover, which man Hezekiah scores a ton of points with Ezra because he not only reopens the temple, not only consecrates the temple, but man, he brings Passover. It says this in chapter 30 verse 16, "There was great joy in Jerusalem. For since the days of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel, there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people and God heard them for their prayer reached heaven, this holy dwelling place." Okay? "Great joy in Jerusalem." I bet, man, I bet. This is going to inspire Ezra's audience. No doubt about it. Only thing we have left for this episode is our timeless truth. And honestly, our timeless truth for the day is something that I'm a poster child for. Man, I don't just think that this only applies to Hezekiah or to Ahaz, but our Thomas who for the day is that your dad is never an excuse. Like Ahaz is a terrible leader, terrible father, terrible king. The worst, according to chronicler, according to Ezra, and literally his son goes ahead and becomes one of the best kings that Israel is going to have, which means you can't use your father as an excuse as to why you don't actually follow God or why you have a mediocre life. I get it like it doesn't feel fair. It feels like, man, I would be even better how to have a functional dad.

But Ahaz is a hundred percent wicked and Hezekiah does not walk in his footsteps. Hezekiah paves a completely brand new path forward. And honestly, that's not just helpful for me or for you or for any of the Bible characters that we could name or list. I think that that is timelessly true for every generation everywhere all the time, that it doesn't matter who your parents are, that you have spiritual DNA, that God can break all generational curses off in your life, and you can chart a new path. You can blaze a new trail or in terms of Hezekiah, he just returned back to the old path, back to the old trail. He went back to the ancient ways. So tomorrow we've got a day 364. Can you believe it? Our second to last day on the podcast, we're going to be looking at second chronicles chapters 31, 32, and 33, three more chapters for tomorrow. I love you guys. I'm so proud of you. See you tomorrow. Peace! Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible Department podcast. Hey, we're almost there. I bet you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We're towards the end of the year and I'm so proud of you. If this episode and this year of reading through the Bible was helpful, how about you invite a friend to join you on the journey next year?

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