Mark 1:1

Mark 1:1 says; The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;  Mark does not begin with the birth of Jesus, but with the beginning of His ministry, which he accurately refers to as the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Recognizing Jesus for Who He truly is will always be the beginning of the gospel. We can learn all about the historical Jesus, but unless we acknowledge that He is the Son of God it does us no good.  Verse two adds, As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.  Mark tells us that the Old Testament prophets wrote of the coming of a messenger to prepare people for the coming of Jesus Christ.  Verse three continues, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.  This messenger was to call on them to prepare the way of the Lord and make His paths straight.  Though this messenger, whom we know to be John the Baptist, was calling on them to make ready for the ministry of Jesus then, we as Christians have the same commission to proclaim the gospel today and call on people to make ready for the return of Jesus Christ and to make their paths straight in accordance with God's word. We do not accept Jesus Christ and then just go our own way, but we must follow the leadership of God through the guidance of the Holy Spirit once we are saved by God's grace.  Verse four states, John did baptize in the wilderness and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.  Mark said John baptized for the remission of sin by repentance. The physical act of baptism did not bring about the remission of sin, but repentance through faith in the coming Messiah did.  It still does today, though now it is in the Messiah, Jesus Christ, Who has already come. Verse five adds, And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.  Mark tells us that many people from throughout the land of Judea and Jerusalem came to John to be baptized after confessing their sins. We still must call the lost to repentance today and also to put their faith in Jesus Christ, the only way to salvation. Verse six continues, And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey; John was baptizing people for repentance, but he was not what we might expect a preacher to look and act like.  He was not concerned with the wealth of the world and what would be considered normal behavior but was dedicated to preaching about the coming of the Messiah.  We may need to be less concerned with what society says is normal today and more concerned with proclaiming the gospel.   Verse seven says, And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.  John was not preaching to call attention to himself, but to call attention to the coming Messiah, whose shoes John said that he was unworthy to stoop down and unfasten.  This is the same Messiah, or Savior, that we put our faith in today, so we can never afford to become filled with self-righteousness.  We are still unworthy to unfasten the shoes of Jesus Christ.  Verse eight adds. I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.  John said he baptized with water, symbolizing the forgiveness of sin, but the coming Messiah would baptize with the Holy Ghost.  We may go through a physical baptism when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, but the important fact is that as soon as we accept Him, we are baptized with the Holy Ghost.  This is true of all those who put their faith in Jesus Christ, and not just a select few at a later time.   

2 Chronicles review continued

As already stated, the book of 2nd Chronicles begins with Solomon building the temple of God and the palace of the king.  He was known as one of the wisest, richest men to ever live, because he was being obedient to God and asked Him for this wisdom.   If we want to be wise and spiritually rich, we must look be obedient to God, starting with accepting His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, as our personal Savior and Lord.  There was peace in Israel during this time, and there should be peace in our soul if we are Christians.  David had wanted to build the temple but wasn't allowed to, but he still began to gather the things necessary to build it.  We may have a desire to do a particular thing for God and be denied the right to do so, but if it is something that needs to be done, we still need to work to prepare so that someone who is called by God can do so.  The kingdom of Israel was also prosperous during Solomon's reign, and if we as followers of Christ are to be spiritually prosperous, we must be obedient to the Holy Spirit.  After Solomon died, his son, Rehoboam decided to be even more severe on his rule over the people of Israel than Solomon had evidently been, and this led to the kingdom being divided, but the other person, Jeroboam, who was made king of most of Israel was not of the house of David, but of the house of Ephraim, so he was not the one that God placed on the throne.  Throughout the rest of the book, the kingdom of Israel was divided, until it was finally defeated and carried away captive once more.  We as followers of Christ must be united in serving God, and we also must make sure that those we have in power in the church are called by God to their position.  Next, we will look at the book of Mark.

2 Chronicles Review

2 Chronicles begins the reign of Solomon and the building of the temple and ends with the the carrying away of both the people of Israel and Judah, which is the divided kingdom that they had become.  Our Christian life begins when we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord and will end either at our death or at the His return.  Either way, we must remain faithful to Him and not allow sin to take us away captive once more.  We must also never become a divided people as Christians.  Matthew Henry points out that the kingdom of Israel that began with its first monarch and possible reached its apex with Solomon was superior to any of the four kingdoms that defeated it for a time, beginning with Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon which lasted for about seventy years.  This was followed by the kingdom of Persia with several different families as the monarchs.  It included the kingdom of Greece that lasted for about three hundred years, and concluded with the kingdom of Rome, which also lasted about three hundred years.  The kingdom of God, which Israel really was spiritually has only one true King and will last forever for all those who become a part of it.  We may want to think that America is a nation of God, but many people who live here are not a part of that kingdom, and it is not going to last forever.  The Book is broken down into the peaceable reign of Solomon, when he followed God's law overall in chapters one through nine, followed by the blemished reign of Rehoboam, who was only king of part of the kingdom and who had what Matthew Henry refers to as a blemished reign as recorded in chapters ten through twelve.  This was followed by the short but busy reign of Abijah recorded in chapter thirteen, and then this was followed by the long reign of Asa, recorded in chapters fourteen through sixteen.  This was followed by the pious and prosperous reign of Jehosaphat, recorded in chapters seventeen through twenty.  The descriptions of these various reigns are what Matthew Henry referred to them as.  Next are the imperious and infamous reigns of Jehoram and Ahaziah found in chapters twenty-one and twenty-two.  Then we have again as Matthew Henry termed them the unsteady reigns of Joash and Amaziah found in chapters twenty-four and twenty- five, followed by the long and prosperous reign of Uzziah found in chapter twenty-six.  Then, the regular reign of Jotham found in chapter twenty-seven, verse one through nine, followed by the profane and wicked reign of Ahaz found in chapter twenty-eight.  This was followed by the glorious reign of Hezekiah found in chapter twenty-nine through thirty-two, which was then followed by the wicked reigns of Manasseh and Amon recorded in chapter thirty-three.  This was followed by the reforming reign of Josiah, found in chapters thirty-three and thirty-four.  Then we have a record of the ruining reigns of Josiah's sons in chapter thirty-six.  We find that some of the kings followed God faithfully and some turned away from Him completely and the people seemingly normally followed their leadership at least in appearance, but no matter if they were good kings who followed God or not, all their reigns ended.  Our King, Jesus Christ, will never have His Kingship end and He will always lead His people to be obedient to the word of God.  

2 Chronicles 36:17

2 Chronicles 36:17 says. Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.  Since the people of Judah refused to listen to God's prophets and even mistreated them, God allowed the Chaldeans to defeat them.  No one was spared by the defeating army, whether they were young or old, male or female.  All those who refuse to listen to the gospel today, which we as Christians should be sharing with them, will never be spared from God's judgment once they are old enough to know right from wrong, and it won't matter who they are.  We are all individually responsible for accepting or rejecting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord.  Verse eighteen adds, And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon. All the vessels of the temple, those things dedicated to the worship of God, and all the treasures of the king and princes of Judah were brought to Babylon.  There are still places in the world today where Christians are imprisoned and have all their property confiscated, but if that happens, we need to pray it is because they remained true to God and not because they turned away from Him as the people of Judah had.  Verse nineteen adds, And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.  The temple was also destroyed by being burned, and the walls Jerusalem were torn down as well as all the palaces and any vessels that remained.  All that Solomon had built was destroyed.  Matthew Henry says that vessels here refer to all the furnishings of the temple used in worship.  We as followers of Christ should never allow anything to come between God and us, and if it does, we need to remove it from our lives.  The temple was ultimately done away with by Jesus Christ, when He, instead of the temple, became the way to get to the Heavenly Father, and if we don't accept Him, then everything we have will one day be destroyed and we will be sent away to everlasting punishment.  Even if we do accept Him, one day everything we have in this world will be destroyed and only those treasures that we have laid up in Heaven will last.  Verse twenty-states, And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:  Those who weren't killed were taken away to be servants in Babylon until the Persians came into power.  We are going to be held captive by sin and serve the powers of this world until we are set free by accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, and there is no other way to be set free.  Verse twenty-one adds, To fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.  This captivity lasted for seventy-years, and the land if Israel, of which Judah was a part, lay fallow for that time.  God had given the people of Israel a land flowing with milk and honey, but when they rebelled against Him, the land was still there, but they no longer benefitted from it.  God has given us a heavenly home if we accept His gift of salvation, and it will always be there, but if we do not accept His gift of salvation, we will never benefit from it.  Verse twenty-two continues,  Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,  When the Persians defeated the Babylonians, God worked through Cyrus to begin to restore the kingdom of Israel.  We will never have an earthly ruler restore us to a right relationship with God, but He has already sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to make restoration possible.  Verse twenty-three concludes, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The Lord his God be with him, and let him go up.  Cyrus said that he had been called by God to restore the temple in Jerusalem and made a proclamation to this effect, and then asked who of the Israelites would go to do the work.  Jesus Christ has set us free if wea accept Him, calls on us to do His work in the world today, then the question becomes will we accept Him and do so.  No earthly power should determine whether we do or not.

2 Chronicles 36:9

2 Chronicles 36:9 says, Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.  Jehoiachin was only eight when he began to reign.  Being the descendant of a religious leader does us no good in being a part of the family of God if they have not been a follower of Christ themself.  Matthew Henry points out that in Kings, he was said to be eighteen when he started to reign, so one or the other was likely a transcription error. He only reigned for three months and ten days, so likely never really understood what being king meant.  Verse ten adds, And when the year was expired, king Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the house of the Lord, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.  At that time, Nebuchadnezzar had Jehoiachin brought to Babylon along with along with the vessels of the house of the Lord.  They were referred to as goodly vessels, and I believe that Nebuchadnezzar only saw them as a source of earthly riches, but since they were dedicated to the worship of God, they were more than that.  People of the world may see the things that we as Christians have dedicated to God only as a source of riches, but for us, they must be more than that.  They must be dedicated to accomplishing God's work and not be seen just as a source of wealth for the local congregation.  He also appointed Zedekiah, who is referred to as the brother of Jehoiachin. as king of Judah. Once more, he was attempting to take the place of God in appointing the king.  We can never just appoint who we want to be the leaders of the church today but must always appoint them in accordance with God's will.  Verse eleven states, Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.  At least Zedekiah was old enough to know how to be a leader, and he remained in power for eleven years.  Still, he was not the man God had appointed king. We may be old enough to serve as the leader of a congregation and may even be successful in doing so for years, but if we have not been appointed by God, we will never be spiritually successful.  Verse twelve adds, And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the Lord.  Like so many others before him, even those who were of the house of David, Zedekiah did what was evil in God's sight and wouldn't even humble himself before God when Jeremiah the prophet spoke the word of the Lord against him.  Many people in power who are doing evil in the sight of the Lord will never humble themselves no matter how many times God's word is proclaimed to them.  Verse thirteen continues, And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the Lord God of Israel.  Zedekiah also rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear by God that he would be faithful to Nebuchadnezzar.  He rebelled against both God and the one who had appointed him king, believing himself to be above both.  Some people today believe that they are above God and even above those who have placed them in power and will act only out of self-pride and self-glorification.  Verse fourteen says, Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.  Not only did Zedekiah rebel against God, but so did the people of Judah, from the chief priests on down.  They followed the abominations of the heathen and polluted the house of God, even though they were a part of God's chosen people.  He had called them to serve Him alone, and they instead didn't serve Him at all..  As Christians or at least those who call ourselves to be so, if we begin to allow the beliefs of those who do not put their faith in God to become the standard by which we live by and bring these ideas into the worship service, we pollute the house of God.  Verse fifteen adds, And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:  Even though they had rebelled against Him, God still sent messengers to them calling for them to repent and return to Him, because he had compassion on them.  God still sends His messengers today to call on people to repent of their sins and come to Him by putting their faith in Jesus Christ, because even while we are sinners, He has compassion on us.  Also, as Christians, if we have strayed away from His word, He will send us a message to return, I believe starting with the witness of the Holy Spirit within us.  Verse sixteen continues, But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy.  Instead of the people of Judah listening to God's prophets, they despised them and misused them.  If we proclaim the word of God today, we may often be dispised and at times may even be mistreated, but we must still continue to proclaim the truth of God. 

2 Chronicles 36:1

2 Chronicles 36:1 says, Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father's stead in Jerusalem.  Josiah's son, Jehoahaz was made king after Josiah was killed.  He was next of the descendants of David in the line of succession.  Though we do not follow a physical bloodline to determine who serves in the church today, we need to follow a spiritual bloodline of Jesus Christ in selecting the Christian that God has called to fill each position.  Verse two adds, Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.  Jehoahaz was twenty-three when he began to reign, but he only reigned for three months.  During his short reign, he did evil in the sight of the Lord as we find in the Book of Kings, so he was another one who turned away from God.  Verse three continues, And the king of Egypt put him down at Jerusalem, and condemned the land in an hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.  The reason Jehoahaz only reigned for three months was he because was taken captive by the Egyptians, who then fined the people of Judah for putting him in power to start with.  Matthew Henry says that God was allowing the people to be defeated a little at a time to give them time to repent and turn to Him instead of just letting them be totally destroyed all at once.  God will always give people time to repent and be restored to a right relationship with Him, no matter how bad they might be, instead of just destroying them when they first sin.  Verse four states, And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and turned his name to Jehoiakim. And Necho took Jehoahaz his brother, and carried him to Egypt.  The king of Egypt made Eliakim the brother Jehoahaz king of Judah and changed his name to Jehoiakim.  We can say with a certainty that he was not the person God would have put in charge since he was placed there by the king of Egypt.  Matthew Henry says his name was changed to show the people of Judah that the King of Egypt had authority over them.  I would think that he did this to imply that God didn't.  People may attempt to replace the ones that God has chosen in a place of leadership in the church today, but we need to make sure this does not happen.  Verse five adds, Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God.  Jehoiakim was twenty-five when he began to reign, and he reigned for eleven years, doing that which was evil in the sight of God. Since he was not one by those whom God had chosen as His people, it would have been hard for him to do what is right in God's sight, even if he was a descendant of David.  This was another eleven years that the people of Judah could have repented and called out to God for deliverance, but they didn't.  No matter who is in power, God will always give people a chance to put their faith in Him alone.  Verse six continues, Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.  Just as the king of Egypt had taken Jehoahaz away captive, Nebuchadnezzar then took Jehoiakim away captive.  Since Jehoiakim was not in power by God's appointment, he wasn't under God's protection either.  Kingdoms may come and go, but if we are serving the eternal King, Jesus Christ, He will never be replaced.  Verse eight says, Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of the Lord to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon.  Nebuchadnezzar also took the vessels of the temple to Babylon and put them in his temple.  Any temple that is not the temple of God will be a manmade temple to a manmade god.  Verse eight adds, Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found in him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.  Once more, we are told that the acts of Jehoiakim, were written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah, but they were referred to as abominations.  If we do not put our faith in Jesus Christ, when He returns our actions will be used to judge us, and they will be abominations since they were done for some reason other than to foll0w God's will and to glorify Him.  Jehoiachin, Jehoiakim's son then ruled in his place.

2 Chronicles 35:17

2 Chronicles 35:17 says,  And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days.  The people of Judah all kept the feast of the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread for a week.  Matthew Henry says that the whole celebration of the Passover was done with exactness to what God's law required.  Though we are under grace and not the law, and there is no one particular way that we must worship God as far as the way the service is conducted, we must worship under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and under the commandments of God if we are to worship successfully.  Verse eighteen adds, And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.  It says that this was the greatest Passover celebration since the days of Samuel, and that none of the kings of Israel had never kept such a Passover, and that all of Judah and those of Israel who wanted to joined in the celebration.  Some of God's chosen people were reunited at this time, and as followers of Christ, spiritually we should all be united when we worship God.  We might even be in different countries, but we should all be united spiritually.  Verse nineteen continues, In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover kept.  It had taken a few years, but Josiah had totally restored the worship of God alone to Judah and even to some people from Israel.  We may not be in a position where we have much influence on people like a king would, but we serve a King Who has greater power than any earthly ruler, and even if we are not immediately successful, we need to continue to proclaim God's word to the world.  Verse twenty states, After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Charchemish by Euphrates: and Josiah went out against him.  At this time, Necho the king of Egypt came to fight against Charchemish, and Josiah decided to join the fight against Necho.  We are not told that God led him to this decision, but Matthew henry says he acted rashly and was meddling in a conflict that was none of his concern.  We need to make sure that we are led by God if we decide to get involved in conflicts between non-Christians.  We are not called to fight for either side in such a battle, but to present the gospel to all.  Verse twenty-one adds, But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war: for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not.  Josiah even received a warning from the king of Egypt to not get involved, saying that God had commanded him to go to war with those he was battling, and asking what quarrel Josiah had with him.  We should not doubt that God had somehow inspired him to do this and do it quickly, because it does not say his god, but God, had inspired him in this.  We need to stay out of battles that don't concern us, because God may be at work through one side to bring about His will.  Verse twenty-two continues, Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.  Josiah did not listen nor did he ask God for guidance, and then disguised himself so that he might join in the battle.   Matthew Henry says this was occurring because of the hypocrisy of Judah, who didn't desrve such an honorable King, but that doesn't dismiss the fact that Josiah did not ask God for guidance in the situation.  Even if those around us are being hypocritical, that doesn't excuse use from following God's will in our life.  Verse twenty-three says, And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded.  Since he was disguised, Josiah would have seemed to be just another soldier, and he was shot and wounded.  These archers were not trying to kill the king of Judah but were just engaged in a normal battle.  We should never deny who we are as followers of Christ, but need to let the world know, and if we die in battle with evil in the world, at least it will be for the right cause.  Josiah told his servants to take him away from the battle because he was badly injured.  His being there had made no difference in the outcome of the war, and if we place ourselves in a situation that is not in accordance with God's leadership, we may find ourselves physically wounded or even killed and having made no difference in the battle.  Verse twenty-four adds, His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.  His servants brought him out from the battle and back to Jerusalem, but he died there.  We will never know what more Josiah might have accomplished had he sought and followed God's will in this situation.  If we begin to act out of self-pride and without seeking God's guidance as Christians, we may die without accomplishing all that God has called us to do.  Verse twnty-five continues, And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations.  Jeremiah the prophet and the singing men and women of Judah lamented the death of Josiah, and it says this was written in the Lamentations.  Matthew Henry says that though they were not sincere in their worship that they were sincere in their lamenting the death of Josiah.  People who do not believe in God will often be saddened by the death of a great man of God, even if it doesn't bring them into a right relationship with Him.  Verse twenty-six states, Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his goodness, according to that which was written in the law of the Lord,  Verse twenty-seven adds, And his deeds, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.  The acts of Josiah from the first to the last were recorded in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.  Our deeds may not be noted by the world, but if we have done anything for God at His direction, I believe that He will note it.