Like 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings and 1 & 2 Chronicles were originally each one book instead of two. The books of Kings and Chronicles have many similarities. One difference is that the books of Kings seem a bit more secular in their outlook, whereas Chronicles seems to have been written by a priest. Henrietta Mears says that both sets have these things in common: 1. They begin with King David and end with the king of Babylon. 2. They open with the building of the Temple and end with the burning of the Temple. 3. They open with David’s first successor to the throne, Solomon, and end with David’s last successor, Johaiachin, released from captivity by the king of Babylon.
Mears also gives these three rather odd meta messages in these books. I think they might be interesting to look for as we go through:
1. God does not show favoritism. Acts 10:34
2. When our all is on the altar, God never keeps us waiting for the fire.
3. The final captivity was because of disobedience to God. This was clearly prophesied long before.
We continue in Psalm 119 with the stanzas for He and Waw.
To me it was meaningful to read yesterday at the end of John 4 that, “The fields are already ripe for harvest. The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life.” The fields are certainly ripe. And I note, with wry smile, that Jesus must be talking of heavenly wages, because our support is falling behind here on earth. Then on a serious note, like Paul said, “The difficulties we face on earth are nothing to be compared with the glories that await us.
Many thanks to Julia Haase for reading the part of the Samaritan woman.
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