One-Chapter Wonders
I passed my test! Yay for Hannah! Anyways, we are now overdue for some Old Testament commentary. So, here we are.
I was thinking the other day about all those kings in the book of Chronicles that only last for one chapter apiece. Why do we even have them in the Bible? It turns out that you can learn a lot from these One Chapter Wonders. Just a few things about them.
Let's start with Jehoram (not to say that Asa and Jehosaphat aren't worth reading, too, but we have to start somewhere). Jehoram is flat-out bad. He kills all his brothers and marries Ahab's daughter, and tries his best to not do what he's supposed to do. Eventually, Elijah prophesies bad stuff for Israel, and Jehoram dies of what sounds a lot like IBD or Crohn's or something like that.
Then we get Ahaziah. He was twenty-two when he came to power (actually, Chronicles says 42, but Kings says 22, and that makes a lot more sense in context, and Hebrew scribes were notoriously bad with numbers, so let's go with 22). He wasn't a bad person, but he had been taught very bad things by his mother, Athaliah. Since he was young and impressionable, he did whatever she said, which equated to bad stuff.
After Ahaziah dies, Athaliah goes on a killing spree, because she says "if my son's not king, no one gets to be King." But one of Athaliah's daughters, Jehoshabeath, hides Ahaziah's son, Joash. Jehoshabeath's husband, Jehoiada (the priest) makes Joash the king. Joash is only seven at this time, and he does wonderful things throughout much of his reign. He even starts to rebuild the temple. Then, Jehoiada dies, and Joash loses his testimony, even ending up killing a prophet.
Then, Joash's son pops up, and his name is Amaziah. Amaziah does everything he's supposed to do, but "not with a perfect heart." We'll come back to that.
Next we get Uzziah. Uzziah is a complicated figure (and one that the Ordain Women movement should investigate...incense can only be burned by Levites, getting struck by leprosy, and stuff), but also a really good one to watch for everyone else. Here's a verse to listen to, "And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as along as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper."
Then, we have Jotham. Jotham did everything right, but the people were still evil. We'll come back to that, too.
Then we're going to stop, because then we get into Ahaz, and Hezekiah, who have lots of stories to their names. We're talking about the One-Chapter Wonders, rememeber? So, why did I bring up all these guys? Because, I believe, each one is a type of testimony.
Jehoram. Jehoram doesn't care what he does. He doesn't care what's right. All he cares about is what he wants. And heck, he's going to do what he wants. Let's just not be Jehoram, okay?
Ahaziah. Ahaziah breaks my heart. Ahaziah is the kid that you know is just going straight to Hell in a hand-basket the minute you meet his parents. We've mentioned before that I have a disproportionate number of novel characters who defy the evil of their parents. I like apples that fall far from the trees. Ahaziah missed the wind, I guess. And that breaks me up.
Now for Joash. Joash is that convert that gets to know the ward really well, and looks like they're the golden investigator. But then, they move away, or their friends move away, and they fall away again. When he had Jehoiada, he was golden. But he didn't have his own testimony, so when Jehoiada died, he had nothing to believe in anymore.
Amaziah. Amaziah is that person who does absolutely everything right, but they don't know why. Or they do know why, and it's to look good. And inside, they have no testimony. They are doing the right things for the wrong reasons.
Uzziah. Uzziah wasn't perfect. But as long as he was trying, God blessed him. Let's be Uzziah. Except let's not then say that we love God, and want to burn incense and when we're told that only Levites burn incense, we do it anyways. Let's forget that part. But the rest of Uzziah. Try your best. Do what the Lord asks, as best as you can.
Last, but not least, we have Jotham. Jotham was great. But Israel decided that they weren't having any part of it. It didn't change a thing about Jotham. And that's what's perfect about him.
I hope that these One-Chapter Wonders gave you some good insight. Until next time, y'all.
I was thinking the other day about all those kings in the book of Chronicles that only last for one chapter apiece. Why do we even have them in the Bible? It turns out that you can learn a lot from these One Chapter Wonders. Just a few things about them.
Let's start with Jehoram (not to say that Asa and Jehosaphat aren't worth reading, too, but we have to start somewhere). Jehoram is flat-out bad. He kills all his brothers and marries Ahab's daughter, and tries his best to not do what he's supposed to do. Eventually, Elijah prophesies bad stuff for Israel, and Jehoram dies of what sounds a lot like IBD or Crohn's or something like that.
Then we get Ahaziah. He was twenty-two when he came to power (actually, Chronicles says 42, but Kings says 22, and that makes a lot more sense in context, and Hebrew scribes were notoriously bad with numbers, so let's go with 22). He wasn't a bad person, but he had been taught very bad things by his mother, Athaliah. Since he was young and impressionable, he did whatever she said, which equated to bad stuff.
After Ahaziah dies, Athaliah goes on a killing spree, because she says "if my son's not king, no one gets to be King." But one of Athaliah's daughters, Jehoshabeath, hides Ahaziah's son, Joash. Jehoshabeath's husband, Jehoiada (the priest) makes Joash the king. Joash is only seven at this time, and he does wonderful things throughout much of his reign. He even starts to rebuild the temple. Then, Jehoiada dies, and Joash loses his testimony, even ending up killing a prophet.
Then, Joash's son pops up, and his name is Amaziah. Amaziah does everything he's supposed to do, but "not with a perfect heart." We'll come back to that.
Next we get Uzziah. Uzziah is a complicated figure (and one that the Ordain Women movement should investigate...incense can only be burned by Levites, getting struck by leprosy, and stuff), but also a really good one to watch for everyone else. Here's a verse to listen to, "And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as along as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper."
Then, we have Jotham. Jotham did everything right, but the people were still evil. We'll come back to that, too.
Then we're going to stop, because then we get into Ahaz, and Hezekiah, who have lots of stories to their names. We're talking about the One-Chapter Wonders, rememeber? So, why did I bring up all these guys? Because, I believe, each one is a type of testimony.
Jehoram. Jehoram doesn't care what he does. He doesn't care what's right. All he cares about is what he wants. And heck, he's going to do what he wants. Let's just not be Jehoram, okay?
Ahaziah. Ahaziah breaks my heart. Ahaziah is the kid that you know is just going straight to Hell in a hand-basket the minute you meet his parents. We've mentioned before that I have a disproportionate number of novel characters who defy the evil of their parents. I like apples that fall far from the trees. Ahaziah missed the wind, I guess. And that breaks me up.
Now for Joash. Joash is that convert that gets to know the ward really well, and looks like they're the golden investigator. But then, they move away, or their friends move away, and they fall away again. When he had Jehoiada, he was golden. But he didn't have his own testimony, so when Jehoiada died, he had nothing to believe in anymore.
Amaziah. Amaziah is that person who does absolutely everything right, but they don't know why. Or they do know why, and it's to look good. And inside, they have no testimony. They are doing the right things for the wrong reasons.
Uzziah. Uzziah wasn't perfect. But as long as he was trying, God blessed him. Let's be Uzziah. Except let's not then say that we love God, and want to burn incense and when we're told that only Levites burn incense, we do it anyways. Let's forget that part. But the rest of Uzziah. Try your best. Do what the Lord asks, as best as you can.
Last, but not least, we have Jotham. Jotham was great. But Israel decided that they weren't having any part of it. It didn't change a thing about Jotham. And that's what's perfect about him.
I hope that these One-Chapter Wonders gave you some good insight. Until next time, y'all.
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