Day 31: 1 Chronicles 24:1-2 Chronicles 7:10 - 90 Day Challenge

One-Third of the Way There!

What were the others doing during Kings?

So, today I'm going to try something different: I'm going to type out my thoughts as they come across while I'm reading. Today's reading provides some context as to what the people other than the Kings were doing during the last three chapters. 

1 Chronicles 24-27:

I actually didn't realize how many people David had appointed during his reign as King of Israel. Not only as priests, but also as singers, musicians, gatekeepers, as well as so many officials like treasurers and army leaders. The army leaders was really surprising, especially considering there were 24,000 men in each division of the army. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but that sounds like a lot of people. 

 1 Chronicles 28-29:

1 Chronicles 28:9-12 really speaks to me. Here, David is commanding his son to become a true man of God. To follow the Lord in all of his ways, to make good on his promises and to glorify the Lord. I myself am not a parent, but I do think it's important to encourage children, and to expose them to God and to right and wrong at an early age. Here, we can see David take his son seriously as a man of God, because he was chosen by God to bring a temple to the people of Israel for worship. 

I also love how in Chapter 29, David prays to the Lord in front of his entire assembly, who he just commanded to build the temple with very detailed instructions. I find his prayer from 1 Chronicles 29:10-19 to be oddly empowering, and that I find it builds me up and brings me into the presence of the Lord, if that makes any sense. 

2 Chronicles 1-7

My initial thought here is that the entire first part of 2 Chronicles is going to be about building and dedicating the temple to God. That's how King Solomon's reign began, that's his main "goal" so-to-speak, and it makes sense that the building of the temple would be the first thing to summarize. 

I still love that when the Lord offered Solomon what ever he wanted, Solomon chose wisdom. I think that speaks so highly of his character, that he chose wisdom to be a good and fair ruler rather than wealth or fame. I also never realized how big the temple was--the foundation was about 90 ft x 30 ft, or 2,700 square feet, that's massive! I also like that they refer to the temple here as the "Most Holy Place." That gave me goosebumps. 

We're then given a description of the furnishings of the temple, and then the Ark is brought to the temple--joining David and Solomon's reigns together to glorify the Name of the Lord. I also love that when the priests were singing praise, after the ark and temple had been joined, a very simple song "he is good; let his love endure forever." That's it. Ahh. 

When Solomon says a prayer of dedication, he includes (2 Chronicles 6:21) "Hear from heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive." He's calling on the Lord to keep His promise, and I feel that openly asking for forgiveness is relatively uncommon in the Old Testament. It stuck out to me. I think praying for forgiveness for your whole nation is extremely important. All over the world, unholy decisions are made every day. Decisions are made that draw us all away from God--I think the more attention we pay to that, the better off our nations will be. 

He also calls God to hear the prayers of foreigners. In our current climate, I can't imagine a more necessary thought process. One of inclusion. Our God is not exclusive. Our God loves everyone. Excluding people for their differences is not any way that we are supposed to act as Christians. We are called to love, not judge. (2 Chronicles 6:32-33).

And we've come full circle, with the dedication of the temple and the fulfilled promise of the Lord! 

Tomorrow's reading: 2 Chronicles 7:11-2 Chronicles 23:15

Have a wonderful and blessed day!

Jill Jafarace

Director of Student Ministries

New Leaf UMC