2 Chronicles Chapter 12 About five years into his reign, Rehoboam turns his back on God. So does the rest of Israel. This just so happens to occur at the same time that the King of Egypt decides to attack Israel. Coincidence? We think not. Because God is angry with Israel, Egypt is able to […]

2 Chronicles Chapter 11 It’s not all bad news for Rehoboam. Once he gets to Jerusalem, he’s able to get the tribes of Judah and Benjamin to swear their allegiance to him. Two tribes out of twelve ain’t bad. That’s like a 17% retention rate, right? Rehoboam starts to raise an army, but God advises […]

2 Chronicles Chapter 10 After Solomon dies, his son Rehoboam ascends to the throne of Israel. When a man named Jeroboam hears about the new king, he goes to visit Rehoboam. Solomon never really liked Jeroboam because he wanted to declare himself King in the North. He wanted to split Israel in half and rule […]

2 Chronicles Chapter 9 The Queen of Sheba hears all about how amazingly wise and wealthy Solomon is. So she travels from Ethiopia to check him out for herself. When she arrives in Jerusalem, she’s pretty impressed. She peppers Solomon with all kinds of questions and riddles, but he has an answer for everything. He […]

2 Chronicles Chapter 8 During the 20 years it takes Solomon to build the Temple and his own palace (guess it wasn’t as quick as it seemed), Solomon has a lot of other stuff on his plate, too. He’s swamped. He rebuilds some cities and attacks some others. He starts all kinds of important infrastructure […]

2 Chronicles Chapter 7 Just as Solomon finishes his speech, a huge ball of fire flies down from heaven and lights all the burnt sacrifices on fire. Nice touch. It’s clear to everyone that “the glory of the Lord filled the Temple.” The people at the festival start thanking God and Solomon offers more sacrifices. […]

2 Chronicles Chapter 6 Now it’s time for Solomon to make a royal speech. He stands up on a platform made of bronze and addresses the people. Yes, Solomon has built God a house. But the credit for this goes to God. The people of Israel need to know that Yahweh has been with them […]

2 Chronicles Chapter 5 Solomon starts on the last step in finishing the Temple. He has the Ark of the Covenant brought into the Temple by the Levites. These are the guys Moses trusted to handle all the stuff with the Ark back in Exodus; they’re transport specialists, among other duties. Solomon throws a huge […]

2 Chronicles Chapter 4 But the Temple finery doesn’t end there. Inside, there’s an altar made of bronze. And a ginormous basin for the priests to wash up in before they make the burnt offerings. Cleanliness is next to… well, you know. There are also menorahs made of gold and doors coated with bronze. The […]

2 Chronicles Chapter 3 Construction on the Temple begins. Solomon’s careful to put the Temple on the exact site that God told David to build on. That’s Mount Moriah. Remember the threshing floor of Ornan? God appeared to David there back in 1 Chronicles, told him that’s where the Temple was supposed to go, and […]