Bible Readings for December 10th
2 Chronicles 10 | Revelation 1 | Zephaniah 2 | Luke 24
The narrative in 2 Chronicles 10 tells how the ten tribes of Israel rebel from the house of David. The version we find in 2 Chronicles for the most part retells the same story of Rehoboam’s foolishness in ignoring the counsel of the elders who advised him to treat Israel well and instead taking the advice of the young men who had grown up with him to treat Israel harshly. There is one major change, however, which illustrates the main difference we will see from this point forward in 2 Chronicles: a significant lack of material about the northern ten tribes of Israel.
So, here in 2 Chronicles 10, we read virtually nothing about Jeroboam, son of Nebat, who received a prophetic word that he would gain ten of the tribes of Israel for the faithlessness of Solomon (1 Kgs. 11:26–42) but who also acted faithlessly himself by setting up golden calves for the northern ten tribes to worship (1 Kgs. 12:25–33). He played a significant part in the narratives of 1 Kings, but we read very little of him here in 2 Chronicles. One reason for this, as we discussed in yesterday’s meditation, is that the Chronicler is presenting an idealized version of Solomon’s story in order to point forward to the greater Son of David yet to come. This, however, is only part of the story.
From here on out, we will read almost nothing of Israel’s story—that is, of the stories of the northern ten tribes. So, we will read very little about Israel’s kings, except where they pop up in the storylines of Judah’s kings (e.g., 2 Chron. 18:28–34), and we will not even read much of anything here about Israel’s great prophets, Elijah and Elisha, with one brief exception (2 Chron. 21:12). The reason for this is that the story of the Chronicles is Judah’s story, told by the exiles who returned from Judah’s captivity in Babylon. The ten tribes of Israel, from the perspective of the Chronicler, have been cut off from Yahweh’s story. Because the ten tribes rebelled against the house of David, they also rebelled against their Messiah, about whom the books of Chronicles are written.
The void of Israel’s stories in the book of 2 Chronicles ought to stand as a warning to us, then: Do not cut yourself off from Christ. Jesus himself warns us that “Whoever believes in [the Son of God] is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:18). The house of David is your only hope, because it is through that house that God raised up his own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Do not rebel against Jesus to your condemnation; rather, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.
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Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
