It is exciting to read through 2 Chronicles after reading through 1 and 2 Kings because details are drawn out that I didn’t notice. There was preparations for a civil war among the kingdom of Judah and Israel after they split. It amazes me that they so easily lost their focus on God and sought to keep what they deemed their own after the death of Solomon. The idea of civil war in Israel is nothing new because you have the fighting that occurred between the descendants of Saul and David in 2 Samuel and you have the sons of Israel rising up against the tribe of Benjamin in Judges 19 and 20. Why does God prevent the battle among Judah and Israel from occurring? We know that both kingdoms of Judah and Israel are taken away in exile from their homes by reading 2 Kings 25. Are some lessons learned more readily why when we are taken away from everything we know? It will never cease to amaze me how God chooses to sometimes use war while other times he uses exile to remind people they need Him.
What happened to the Levites when the nation of Israel split into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah? In 2 Chronicles 11:13-17 the Levites leave the land that they were given among all the cites of Israel and head to Jerusalem. The whole structure of the nation of Israel was upturned then the division occurred. When the Levites left the kingdom of Israel to go to Judah what was left behind? What was the spiritual condition of the people in the kingdom? Would it be like having all pastors and teachers within our churches rise up and leave the country? The Levites were set apart for service to God and they were removed from the cites within the kingdom of Israel. Did this promote the downfall of the northern kingdom? Throughout the Old Testament when people were not actively reminded to cling to God with all of their heart, mind, soul, and strength they easily sought out the god of their choice from among the idolatry of the land. Does this happens today when christians seek live apart from the body of Christ to live out their faith on their own? It is absolutely necessary that our faith is developed in communion with fellow believers because when one person falls away other are there to help them along the way.
