PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Chronicles
Philip Chapman Barker [d.1904] · 404,925 words · 452 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Chronicles — Section 181
divinest instruction o.nd imggestion are of these verses present and future re.the? ministered. The Lord ie with you . . . will the.n past and "present perfect." But, in forsake you. The original occasion of the fact, no doubt the history of Israel since the beautiful lo.ngunge and word of covenant dee.th of Moses illu…
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i;e.tisfied by the latter part of ver. 2 or by all beneath his sway, with a view to sacrifice ver. 7. This is not very likely; still, the and to record anew hallowed resolve as 11 oonjunetion " and" would thereby b!'tkr nation. The strangers. U ie a signifioant account for itself. Nevertheless, it would comment on t…
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Chron. xv. 26, etc.), but uncommon in destr1;1cti?n for Maachah's obscene phallic bundrcrls 1md thouso.nds, for see 1 Kings abommat10n, and then (2 Kings xi. 16) as viii. G8; eh. xxxv. 7-9, comparing, how- the ple.c_e ;where Athallah was destroyed. ever, eh. xxx. 24. Its ~ssoc1at.1.~n& a.re similar wlien spoken of i…
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HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-19.-The hour of happiness improved. PerhAps we are not wnrranted to i;ay that it was immediately after Asa's victory over Zerah, or able to say how eoon it wa.s after it, that Azariah the son of Oded came with his message to him and "all Judah and Benjamin," under that direct and ever-typical le…
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HOMILIBS BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vere. 1, 2.-God's presence and deparlwre. It is characteristic of the Hebrew prophet that as the king comes back flushed with victory he meets the conqueror, not with honied words of congratulation, but with faithful words of admonition, What he says to the king may be taken as applicable …
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their brethren who are more richly equipped or less heavily weighted. We need to know much before we judge men. Only the Divine Father, who knows us altogether who knows, therefore, the limitations a.nd the propensities of our nature which we h11v~ received frotn himself or from our a.ncestoPS, ca.n say how much we …
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possession of Jesus Christ's benediction is one of the purest, as it is one of the most e.pprecie.ted, rewe.rds we ce.n receive. 2. The enlargement of our own powers of service. As we work in the C3Use of heavenly wisdom and of spiritual well-beica our power for action is constantly enlarging, until feebleness becomes …
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of the Divine will to the soul of me.n (Numb. xi. 26; Job xxxii. 8; Ezek. ii. 2; 1 Cor. xii. 8). That the Spirit of God came upon a me.n did not prove him to he.ve been a goo~ ma.n, Bale.e.m (Numb. xxiv. 2) _and Saul (1 Sa.m. x. 10) being witness; though there 1s no ree.son to doubt that Aze.r1ah we.s a true prophet…
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tenets and precepts ?r religion, m~c~ more is it incumbent on Christian pastors to be also teachers (Eph. IV, 11). A mm1stry that does not preach or teach ipso facto stands condomnod. (3) No Law; i.e. the Torah of Moses, unknown, or forgotten or disobeyed. When men or nations depart from God, they begin by pulling d…
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Vere. 8-19.-.Ancient cnvenanters. I. SERIOUS PREPARATION'S, (Vers. 8-11.) 1. The purgation of the land from idols. Encouraged by the words of the son of Oded -not Oded, as in the text-Asa, on reaching his capita.I, determined to convene a national assembly, and enter into a. solemn league and covenant to carry out t…
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tithes to Melohizedek on returning from the slaughter of the kings (Gen. xiv. 20); a.e the Israelites in the wilderness after the slaughter of the Midianites levied a tribute unto the Lord (Numb. xxxi. 11-47); as Saul said he intended to sacrifice unto the Lord the shee~ and. oxen he had reserved from the spoil of the …
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(2) The destruction of her abominable image. This, which was made of wood, and is suppo~ed by some to have been an obscene figure, pudend,im, representing the produc- tive rower of nature-which is doubtful (Bertheau and Keil)-was an object of horror and detestation to the Hebrews; its destruction was another indicatio…
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Ver. 4.-Benhnde.rl wns nppnrently not This was Gebo. of' Benjamin, M cleBdy very Jong in me.king up either his mind or stated in the parallel. H was a position his method. The bribe that tempted him, north of Re.mah, whether opposite Michmaah drawn from "the treasures" described, well and the modern Jeba is not certain…
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king:dom. Its he"d and king bad just ( ob. xxxiv. 3) "he bege.n to purge Jurll\h thrown RWR)' the opportunity of blocking e.nd Je!u~alem from the high places," eto. out on<' evor-three.tening enemy. W11at moro At e. similarly youthful ago AsR therefore natural oonseqnence than that wars should me.y he credited with …
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HOMILETICS. Vere. 1-14.-The dlsappointing relapse of what had seemed tried worth, knowledge, and p1·oved goodness. Mournful to the last degree is the impression made on us by what we are given to learn last of the career of King Asa. It is a. reversal-not the reversal from bad to good, but of what seemed good and seem…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1-6.-Preferable things. This cannot be counted among the estimable acts of Asa; we could wish that he had adopted other means for repelling the attack of Baasha-means more worthy of himself as a servant of Jehovah. The abstraction of the gold and silver from the treasury of the ho…
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"e. large room;" comfort, which sustained the spirit in darkest and most dangerous hours, delivering from despair, restoring to equanimity and hope; influence, gently and graciously constraioing the soul to enter "the kingdom which cannot be moved," within whose blessed boundaries are found present peace and immortal j…
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the Lord . . . with all their heart and with all their soul 11 \cb. xv. 12); yet here wo find him erring, la.eking confidence in God, and "going down ' to Syria for help. But taki~g this into account, it remains true th11t God distinguishes clearly between thoso of his servants who a.re but faint-hearted and feeble …
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him (Pa. xxxiii. 17-21). To trust in God and to neglect the various sources of heaHh and, s~rength he offers us-this is a foolish fana~iciam which will bear its penalty in sullenng and weakuesa. To resort to human science and to trust it, forgetful of the truth that we can do nothing at all independently of the Divine …
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(1 Kings ni. 12). In the twelfth year of his reign he formed the plan here narrated for inflicting a blow npon Judah and Asa.. 2. The character of Baa,sha. More than likely a soldier of distinguished bravery (1 Kings xvi. 6), he was little other the.n o. monst~r of cruelty (1 Kings xv. 29)-two qualities not often al…
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IV. To WHAT IT OONDUOTED. Seeming success. Wicked schemes often appear to prosper for 11. sell.Son (Pa. xxxvii. 1; xcii. 7). Three things resulted from Asa's state- craft. 1. Benhadad accepted the briae. (Ver. 4.) The golden and eilvern keys of m11mmon can unlock the doors of most hearts. Great grace is needed to re…
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opportunity lost, with the reason of it. The Syrians might have been crushed, whereas they hs.d escaped, because, instead of relying on Jehovah, he, Asa, had relied upon Benhadnd (ver. 7). Compare Elisha's language to Joash of Israel (2 Kings xiii. 19). Nothing commoner than for men to be blind to their own best int…
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of flesh instead of upon Go<l. 4. The source of all calamity among men, viz. sin. 5, The sign of 11n evil conscience-anger against an accuser. 6. The uselessne~s of force as a remedy for evils of any kind. 7. Tho courage required of them who would champion the cause of truth and right.-W. Ver. 9.-The eyes of the Lord.…
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pinnacle of excellence-of material strength and religious consolidation-as it did under the son of Abijnh, II. His DE-".TH, 1. The date of it. In the forty-first year of bis reign; most likely he was over sixty at the time of his dec~ase. 2. The cause of it. Twofold. (1) Disease, 'l'wo years before his end he becam…
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EXPOSITION. law," of idolatrous worship and images in CHAPTER xvn. the matter of the ce.l ves and eo on. To the contents of thie chapter, and to the Ver. 5.-All Judah brought presents to J"ehoehaphat. These presents were, of coarse, roign of Jehoshaphat, which occupies thie and voluntary gifts, though, like not a f…
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Y,•r. 12.-Caetln. Thie rendering, better i.e. the quotation is drawn from an army than" palci.res" (mnrgin), would bear improv- catalogue, e.rranged carefully by fathers' ing to the rnt\Jer •tronger word "fortresses," houses (Numb. i. 18, 22, et.o.). He\Jn:'w, ;,i•_l:,'~. found only here and in oh. Ver. 15.-The oapt…
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PEOPLl!l, AND ms OATIRYING OF THE BAME INTO EFFECT. Ignorance is no safety, though knowledge is responsibility. Mere knowledge, mental gift, mental activity, mentnl acquisiUon, mental store, and store of experience, even,-these are no reliable source11 of roal safoty, neither guide nor refuge for the real life. For thu…
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Vers. 3-6.-The wise choice and the happy course. We have before us here the king who made the wise choice, and who consequently ran through a very happy course. In him we have an example; in it a. promise for ourselves. I. THE WISE cnOICE, wmcH IS AN EXAMPLE TO us. Jehoshaphat: 1. Preferred the true God to the fals…
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Matt. vi. 33; 1 Tim. iv. 8); (2) the conscious and abiding presence of God (John xiv. 23; xv. 4 ; Rev. iii. 20); (3) the peace which, not as the world gives, Christ gives to hie own, and the joy which no man taketh from ue; (4) the spiritual conditions of holy usefulness, the means o.nd opportunity of exerting a pure a…
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a Hebrew gencml's life, and we have a form of words strikingly suggestive of the true nature of all 8Rcrcd service. We look at both. I. TrrE 0HARACTEB OF AMASIAH's SERVICE, By the phrase here employed it WI\B probably meant that he entered upon his work as a. captain of Jehosha.phat's army in a spirit of reli!;ious…
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Jehosho.phat obtainod wo.s Jehovah's, and Jehoshaphat was merely his viceroy and representative. III. Tm'l Pnun1c:-10E OF ms RULE. 1. He considered Israel as an enemy. This was wise. If Ilaasha had been hostilely disposed towards Judah all the clays of his father Asa., Ahe.b was not likely to be more peacefully inclin…
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1c1eals. 3. He had richu and hooour in abundancs. This accorded with the promiee given t.o the gC1od man (Ps. cxii. 1--8). God never fails to honour them who honour him (1 Ssm. ii. 30), or to enrich, if not with materisl yet with spiritual tre&Bure~, such as serve him with fidelity and fear (Prov. iii. 16; xxii. 4). Se…
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EXPOSITION. how they would both lead him, if not al ways CHAPTER XVIII. out of big e.nrl patronizing thoughts, to seek This chapter, from its second verse, finds and also lay him open to be sought. When this verse says Jehoshaphat joined affinity, its parallel in I Kings xxii. :!-35. It opens etc., it means that he…
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rather than ~trengthcn Israel in its ungodly e.s, the_ godly counsellor of " the ungodly" in<lependenc.e. On the other hand, nothing (eh. x1x. 2). At any rate, his counsel ia could justif~, Jehoshaphat risking euch in- right, even to tho point of urging to-day, timacy of relntionship with euoh e. family, and signifi…
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borrowed from the doubtfulness of Josephus, Mice.ie.h's bold explanation of how it comes Bee Smith's 'Bible Dictiono.ry,' iii. H136. to pa.88 that he has to bear the brunt of Had made him homs of iron. It would Ahab's "hate," on account of the uniformly seem o.e though Zedekiah had made these unfavourable character of…
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tion ~rem~ to hn'l"e been carried to n further Ver. 30.-Onr had eommanded st&nds point than in JudRh, and considering its rendered in the p&r&llel not so explicitly weater ext,<>nt. its f81' inferior metropolitan "commanded," but in both cases the Hebrew force. its douhle place of worship and 1!8,(lri- text is the s…
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own order8 (so our rendering is not incon- us to compare one Scripture with anolher, sistent with tlmt in the p11,rnllel ''wa88tayed" nnrl bnlance one part ago.inst anothN--a (I Kings xxii. 35) ;n the cbe.riot till he thing easy to do in me.ttera of fact, but too died in the evening, Although tho spirit often forgotten…
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his lips, bccau~e he would he.ve it known he is Jehoshaphe.t, e.nd not Ahab I All this was dangerou8ly close steering for the conscience; it brouaht upon him the distinct reproof and very forcibly expressed condemnation of the se~r Hanani, so soon e.s ever he ree.ched Jeruse.lem; and all was occa.sioned by his being…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Ver. 1.-Temporal advancement and spiritual decline. Writing the biography of Jehoshaphat from a purely religioi:s standpoint, another conjunction than the one used might well have been employed. It might well be written, "Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance, but joined affin…
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in which they were to share the risks and losses, but not to divide the gains. To this tbe King of Judah nnwisely consented. The" offensive alliance" was a mistake on his part. Simple straightforwardness needs to be fhrnked with some wariness or natural sag:icity, otherwise it may lead us into compromising and even …
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Vers. 6-27.-Speaking for God. We may take Micaia.h as the type of the true prophet, i.e. of the man who spealcs for God; he is not merely the man who has a vision of the future-that is the smaller part of his function; he is the one who is oha.rged with a Divine message, and who faithfully delivers it, however it may b…
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Vers. 28-34.-The t1"1ll lesson of human ignorance. What are the true lessons that we gather from this interesting episode? There may be suggested- !. Two THOUGHTS wmcn ARE SPECIOUS BUT FALSE. Some men would probably infer from similar facts happening in the range of their own observation : 1. That the issue of even…
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tion, o.n enconrnging word, 11 neighbourly kindness, a warning utterance, the takin"' of "a clo.se," the giving of "an address," the conduct of "a service," perhaps under" the humblest roof, or to the rnoet unpromising audience, may prove to be a most valuable contribution to the co.nee of Jeeus Cbriet, to the service …
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more prudence bad Jehosha.pha.t stayed at home. To say the leMt it was hazardous to frnternize with such a eon of Belial as the King of Israel (2 Sam. ~xiii. 6, 7). UL AN UNHOLY CONFEDERACY. Jehoshaphat makes a league with Ahab (var. 8), 1. .At what time, After enjoying Ahab's hospitality, which was sumptuous. The …
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wiehecl Divine permission, if not approbation. Cf. Bala.am with the messengers of Balak (Numb. xxii. 7, 8). II. A11An's CONSUJ,'l'ATION, (Ver. 5.) 1. The oracle inqwired at. (1) Seemingly safe. The advisers were "prophets," whose calling was to pronounce upon cases of conscience, and deliver authoritative utterances c…
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c-aknl~t.,,d nnd outwitted himself, as wicked men usually do. 2. Instantly qualified. 'l'hc prophet's name was M:icaiah, the son of Imlah~onjectured, without historical foun<lati,,n, to have been the disguised prophet who had announced to Ahab his doom for permitting Benhadad to escape (1 Kings xx. 38), and by the r…
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most of all when he knew or suspected that his words could not be acceptable to the kingly auditors on whoRe ears they were about to fall. Yet Micaiah flinched not. Composed as if he sf,ood before peasants, he told out the message Jehovah put into bis lips. Compare the attitudes of Hanani before Asa (eh. xvi. 7), of El…
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order; their position, "on his right hand and on his left," marked their submission and read.iness to execute Jehovah's will (Ps. ciii. 20, 21). (2) That agencies of evil equally with those of good are under the Divine control. Though God is not and cannot be the aut-hor of sin, he may yet, through the wicked action…
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Vcrs. 2B-34.-Tlwbatele of Ramoth-an ill-fated expedition. I. AHAB'S nrsoursE. (Ver. 20.) 1. .Artfully contrived. .Apprehensive of the truth of Micaiah's prediction, Ahab agreed with Jehoshaphat to lay aside his royal robes and go into battle in the garb of II common soldier, perhaps (though not so said) concealing his …
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the extraordinary behaviour of the Syrians RB little short of a providential miracle-as a merciful interposition of Jehovah on his behalf, 11.8 indeed it was. Jehovah helped JchoshRphat; moved the charioteers and warriors to tum a.,ide, not by any supernatural influence upon them, but by so ordering the succession o…
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tll8 whnlo of this down to the o.ccount of the second in the life of a nation-reform in specinl inspiration of the prophet of old; yet the matter of civil administration ol justice. that wo.s but typico.l of the intrinsio force 'fhe skeleton here given of who.t should b'ol tho.t truth foithfully spoken should wield the…
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considemtion or di8tinction. For the jndg- berent sense, and would me.rk the permanonco ment of the Lord, and for oontrovereiea. and stationariness of this chief court. Considering the plainer distinction in the Ver. 10.---0ome ... of your brethren ... lRnguage of ver. 11, there can be no doubt in their oities. Thes…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Ver. 2.-Friendship with man and faithfulness to God. The Apostle John fleeing from the baths because he saw the enemy of Christ entering, is a familiar picture. But how far are we to carry such unwillingness to be associated with the ungodly or the unbelieving r Jehoshaphat is here stro…
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ahip with 11uoh an enemy of God 1111 Ahab amounted to a tacit Intimation thRt he could ~hen be wish~ to do BO, be forgetful whose servant he wu ; he laid by that con~ldem! t1on to aerve b111 momentary purpose. There may be some one who is a very pro- D?UD~ enemy of Jeaua Christ who seeks our friendahiJ:?.. To be very…
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Vere. 6-9.-Ennobling thr. earthly, or making ,rured tM aecular. Jehoshaphat made hie reign over Judah a continuous act or Divine service. For while that reirn was not without blemish and miete.ke, the king was evidently ruling" in the fear of the Lord," and wae trying to bring hie people into willing e.nd loyal subje…
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Yers. 1--3.-The sovereign and the seer. I. UNDESERVED MEROY TO THE SOVEREIGN, (Yer. 1.) 1. Jehoshaphat returns/rom Ramoth-Gilead. Having gone thither without the Divine sanction-indeed, against the Divine will-he might have been left thero ILild not permit!ed to return. But God preseryes ~he going out and coming in …
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Vers. 4-11.-A royal reformer. I. AN OLD WORK RESUMED. The reformation of religion (ver, 4). 1. The reformer. Jehoshaphat. Whether the work was done by special plenipotentiaries, ns in the former instance (eh. xvii. 7, 8), or by the kine, in person, or, as is most probable, by both, the mainspring of this movement, as o…
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EXPOSITION. CHAPTER XX. something west or Edam (the right reading in place of .A.ram, where o. resh had turned Of this chapter, with its thirty-seven verses, out e. daleth). B:aze.zon-tama.r .. , Engedi ; only the six verses (31-36) find any dupli- i.e. the place Engedi (.Ain-jiddy), a living cat.e or parallel in …
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17-19, 83; xvii. 2; Exocl. xxxiii.11); makes from Gibeon to Beth-horon (.Josh. x. 10; 1 mention of the consccmtion of the le.nd by Mace. iii. 16); to the road up the l\fount of tho so.notu11ry, nm! in particular of the very Olives (2 Sam. xv. 30); and to tho approach service of consecration nnd the special fore- to …
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l!Outh of Jeruse.lem, e.nd from it II weddy the wilderness of Jeruel." And none eaoaped; running to the Dead Soo. So shall ye be i.e. "without an exception." estBbliflbed. (80 Isa. vii. 9.) J ehosho.phat'e Ver. 25.-Both riohea with the dead own faith 11nd zeal make him nervously bodies. The Hebrew text re11ds litera…
979 wordsSource & rights
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.