So maybe you’ve heard it said, ‘read your bible’ so you tried and failed. Our hope as leaders is that all of us will pick up God’s word and come to understand the true nature of God. After all, the bible is God’s Word curated over centuries detailing His nature, His will, the meaning of life and humanity’s historical interactions with Him. The Bible details the hidden keys to the Kingdom. Hence, the reason we are reviewing a new book each week.
Last week, we learned how the words “they did evel in the eyes of the Lord” and idol worship can be applied to our own modern day failures.
This week we move to the book of Chronicles. For those keeping count - the two scrolls that make up the whole book accounts for 50 chapters, The authorship of the book is unclear but we do know the book was written to recast the past so the Jewish people would be able to recognize the Messiah when He arrives. The last two verses ultimately determine the mood of the books. The book is not about human failure (although they detail a lot of it). The book is about the power and promises of God. Out of the failure of human effort, God’s purpose can never fail and all that He intends to do will be accomplished.
So if you have your bible, let’s read the end of 2 Chronicles 36 beginning with verse 14 after Zedikiah like those before him fails to follow God.
14 Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful, following all the detestable practices of the nations and defiling the temple of the Lord, which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.
15 The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. 16 But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy. 17 He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men or young women, the elderly or the infirm. God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. 18 He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the Lord’s temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. 19 They set fire to God’s temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there.
20 He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power. 21 The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah.
I am enamored with the last partial sentence of 2 Chronicles in the ESV but before we go there, let me share something.
The bible has a little more than 60 English-language versions. We can divide them into three broad types: word-for-word, meaning-to-meaning (also called thought-for-thought) and paraphrased. The author of bible project video references an incomplete sentence at the end of the book. Its factual when reading a word for word translation and offers a better view of the author’s intent to inspire the reader.
After everything that has happened: unfaithful kings, unfaithful people, political divisions, prophetic malpractice, being conquered, brain drains and deportations; God is at work in the course of events and in the shaping of history
Take a listen
22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: 23 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him. Let him go up.’”
Let me reiterate all the scriptures are God breathed and profitable for rebuking, teaching and correcting. Each type of translation can be helpful in coming to understand God's focus.
In this case, it’s accepting the idea that our full repentance means:
settling the past and
enduring consequences for our action
So that hope can return
by directing our present activities so that we attain the preferred future.
We settle the past in four phases:
1) Becoming aware of one’s own guilt, sinfulness, and helplessness of an activity that is an offense to God (Psalm 51:4–10; 109:21–22).
2) Take hold of God’s mercy in Jesus Christ (Psalm 51:1; 130:4).
3) Changing our attitude and action regarding our past behavior that we know is affront to God. Hatred of sin turns the repentant person away from his or her sin to God (Psalm 119:128; Job 42:5–6; 2 Corinthians 7:10). The process of change is two fold:
We confess our sins to God and a trusted advisor
We talk through, pray and listen for the best way to make the person, place or situation whole or right in God’s eyes.
4) Radically and persistently pursue walking with God in obedience to His commands (2 Timothy 2:19–22; 1 Peter 1:16).
In honestly taking these actions, we mend the harms done (the best we can) and can be assured our foibles are forgiven and He has set us free.
The focus of Jesus Christ’s mission was to call sinners to repentance: “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32).
His call of absolute surrender goes out to all people: “But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Luke 13:5).
In His farewell to the disciples, Jesus made it clear “and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Luke 24:47
Repentance in the Bible involves a complete and irreversible change of mind, heart, and actions. Repentance recognizes that our sin is offensive to God. To repent means to make an about-face, heart-directed turn away from self to God, from the past to a future ruled by God’s commands, and an acknowledgement that the Lord reigns supreme over our existence.
As the prophet Joel relays to us:
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
13 Rend your heart
and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God,
for HE is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and HE relents from sending calamity.
Our full repentance means:
settling the past and
enduring consequences for our action
So that hope can return
by directing our present activities so that we attain the preferred future..
Creative:https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/Chronicles/ 6 MINUTES
References: Quest Bible Overviews, Warren Wiersbe Commentary, NIV compact Bible Commentary p.301, https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-repentance.html , https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-heart-of-true-repentance
