Archive for category: GAMEtime Sharing

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Chronicles 30:1-27.  Let’s go!

2 Chronicles 30:5 (NIV) 
5  They decided to send a proclamation throughout Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, calling the people to come to Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel. It had not been celebrated in large numbers according to what was written. 

On verses 1-9:  Hezekiah is getting ready to lead his people in celebrating the Passover Feast (also known as the Feast of the Unleavened Bread) for the first time in many years.  In doing so, Hezekiah reaches out not just to his own people of Judah but to all of Israel.  Notwithstanding the previous tensions between the people of Judah and the Israelites living to the north of them, Hezekiah invites all the Israelites to assemble together to celebrate the Passover and to worship the Lord at the temple in Jerusalem. 

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Chronicles 29:1-19.  Let’s go!

2 Chronicles 29:11 (NIV) 
11  My sons, do not be negligent now, for the LORD has chosen you to stand before him and serve him, to minister before him and to burn incense.”

On verses 1-19:  We now turn our attention to one of the greatest kings in Judah’s history, Hezekiah.  At 25 years old, Hezekiah takes over the throne from his father Ahaz, and in the first month of his reign, his first priority is to reopen the temple of the Lord, which his father had shut down for years.  After repairing the temple, Hezekiah brings in the priests and Levites.  In their presence, Hezekiah acknowledges that the reason Judah has become an object of ridicule among this nations, the reason why they have lost many who are dear to them, has everything to do with the fact that his and their ancestors have forsaken the Lord and His temple (v6-7).  So Hezekiah initiates his plan to make a covenant with the Lord and to have the people return to Him.  He involves the priests and Levites in his plan, reminding them that God has chosen them to serve Him (v11), putting them to the task of purifying the temple of everything unclean and getting the temple ready for use once again (v12-19).

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Chronicles 26:16-23.  Let’s go!

2 Chronicles 26:16 (NIV) 
16  But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall…

On verse 16:  Notice it was Uzziah’s pride, not his power, that led to his downfall.  What can we learn from this?  When you think you are powerful, be especially wary of pride.  Powerful people are not necessarily prideful.  You can be humble and powerful like Jesus, or you can be prideful and powerful like Uzziah.  The choice is yours.  That said, pride often affects us when we think we are powerful.  So when things are going well, when your business or ministry grows, when you’ve got some accomplishments or experience under your belt, be careful not to let pride slip into your life. 

2 Chronicles 26:16 (NIV) 
16  …He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.

On verse 16b:  According to the Jewish law, only the high priest was allowed to enter the temple and burn incense on the altar.  But Uzziah thinks, “I’m the king.  I can do whatever I want.”  Before, when Uzziah was younger, he knew his place as king and he had a good relationship with the priests of the land.  In fact, Uzziah would sit under the teaching of the prophet Zechariah.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Chronicles 25:1-28.  Let’s go!

2 Chronicles 25:1-4 (NIV) 
1  Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Jehoaddin; she was from Jerusalem. 
2  He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not wholeheartedly. 
3  After the kingdom was firmly in his control, he executed the officials who had murdered his father the king. 
4  Yet he did not put their sons to death, but acted in accordance with what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the LORD commanded: “Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sins.”

On verses 1-4:  Amaziah takes over the throne of Judah after the death of his father Joash.  One of his first orders of business is to execute the officials who had murdered his father.  He does not put their sons to death because in Deuteronomy 24:16 it says that children are not to be put to death for their fathers’ sins, and vice versa, and that each is die for his own sins. 

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Chronicles 24:1-16.  Let’s go!

2 Chronicles 24:4 (NIV) 
4  Some time later Joash decided to restore the temple of the LORD.

On verses 1-14:   When Athaliah was ruling Judah, she abandoned the temple of the Lord and allowed it to go into disrepair.  Not just that, during that time worshipers of Baal, the idol that Athaliah worshiped, would break into the temple of the Lord and steal its sacred objects for use in their worship of Baal (v7).  Athaliah looked down on the temple of the Lord.  In contrast, King Joash comes into power and has a heart for the temple.  To finance the temple repairs, Joash orders the priests and Levites to collect monies that the law of the Lord required the people to give.  When the priests and Levites are slow to act, Joash rebukes Jehoiada the lead priest and decides to institute another way to collect the funds:  he issues a proclamation in all Judah and Jerusalem that everyone is to bring in the tax that Moses required.  The people responded gladly, pouring so many offerings into the collection chest that after the temple was repaired and rebuilt, there was money left over to make new articles for the temple (v10-14).