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But sometimes God brings about hope from the most unlikely places and faces.

Read the story.

2 Chronicles 12:5-12

Like so many other instances of suffering in this book, this one is no different. King Rehoboam abandoned the law of the Lord as well as all of Israel with him. Therefore, God abandons them and plans to destroy them. Yet, the instant the princes and the king humble themselves before the Lord, God shows mercy. Please note that while God did show mercy on his people by not destroying them, he still leaves some room for chastisement and discipline.

2 Chronicles 13:18

Pretty straight forward here. Israel was subdued because they didn’t rely on the Lord, and Judah prevailed because they did rely on the Lord. More thoughts on this later.

2 Chronicles 14:9-13

This passage is a glimmer of light amidst a dark backdrop of evil and faithless men. Newly crowned King Asa has found himself against daunting and seemingly hopeless odds. His army of 580,000 men stands against a sea of a million Ethiopians and 300 chariots. Yet, against insurmountable odds, Asa’s faith in the Sovereign Lord does not waver.

“O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.”

And so it was. Man did not prevail against God, for “the Lord defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah.”

One other small note that I might write about later. When Asa calls upon the Lord for help, his reasoning and beckoning for the Lord to help his people lies in the last six words of verse 11 – Let not man prevail against you. He’s presuming upon God’s love and allegiance to His name! So it is my belief that, like so many other times throughout Scripture, God defeated the Ethiopians for His name’s sake primarily. I say primarily because I think there are other good reasons why God defeated the Ethiopians, but this is the ultimate one.

“We want you to know that the authors of books marked Read with Discernment may have espoused thoughts, ideas, or concepts that could be considered inconsistent with historical evangelical theology. However, we are making these titles available to our customers… because we believe the books do present content that is relevant and of value to Christians and/or because pastors, seminary students, and other ministry leaders need access to this type of material, strictly for critical study or research to help them understand and develop responses to the diversity of religious thought in today’s postmodern world. Our prayer for you is that in whatever you read, you place the material under the magnifying glass of scripture and read with discernment.”

At the moment, they have only attached this warning to the following authors: William Young (author of The Shack), Rob Bell, Brian McLaren, and Donald Miller. Lifeway has even offered short briefings on each of the selected authors to offer a little discernment, outline some of their concerns over the book, and try to help guide prospective readers as to what to watch out for if they decide to read one of the titles.

My wife, Misha, being her insightful self, offered the following legitimate question: “If Lifeway feels like these books could be harmful to the Christian community, why sell them in the first place?” I completely agree. Though I understand Lifeway’s reasoning for offering these books to student and pastors for critical study or research and am even excited that such an innovation has come about, I believe that books like Rob Bell’s Velvet Elvis, William Young’s The Shack, and most (if not all) of Brian McLaren’s numerous titles would be better kept off the shelves of the Christian bookstore. What do you think?

2 Chronicles 6 – 7

The most specific references to suffering occur in the following verses: 2 Chr 6:24-30, 2 Chr 6:36-39, and 2 Chr 7:12-22. These verses find themselves in the larger context of the completion of the temple and Solomon’s prayer of dedication of the people of Israel and the temple. The prayer of dedication is beautifully constructed and follows the following pattern. If God’s people find themselves in sin or suffering because of sin and his people repent of sin and plead with God for mercy, then God will hear their prayers and forgive their sin. Each situation follows the same pattern. However, it is interesting to note the different situations.

1. “If a man sins against his neighbor…” – Solomon calls for justice.
2. “If your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you [God]…” – It is implied in this phrase that, in some instances, a person’s defeat is due to his sin. Yet, if he were to repent and cry for forgiveness, God would hear his cry and grant forgiveness and mercy.
3. “When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you [God]…” – It is also implied in this phrase that, in some instances, famines are sent over the land because of the sin of people. However, if they were to repent and plead for forgiveness, God would hear their cry and grant forgiveness and mercy, opening up the clouds again.
4. “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemies besiege them in the land at their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is…” – Again this instance is similar to the first three in pattern. However, I believe that Solomon means this instance to be all-encompassing of any suffering for any individual. Note in verse 30 how personally involved God is in each individual person, not just collective Israel. Again, Solomon cries for mercy, and God gives.
5. “If they sin against you – for there is no one who does not sin – and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy…” – Same pattern. One thing to note. It is God who gives over to the enemy.

In the next chapter, God appears to Solomon in the night, telling Solomon that he has heard his prayer. In God’s response, he basically affirms Solomon’s pleas. If God’s people sin and suffering befalls them (because of sin or not) and they repent of their sin, God will hear their cries, forgive their sins, and heal their land.

The overwhelming themes of these verses is twofold.

1. Sin, Repentance, and Mercy
2. God Hears Prayers and Responds

So, to mix things up a little bit, here is a YouTube video remix of a sermon that CJ Mahaney preached called “The Cup.” Enjoy!

1 Chronicles 19:13

This instance of evil, suffering, and death isn’t necessarily explaining the reasons behind these atrocities. However, this instance does show a response to possible suffering and death. Brothers Joab and Abishai, both a part of the elite group of “mighty men” in David’s army, are up against the Syrians and the Ammonites. Joab takes “some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Syrians” and he put the rest of the Israelite men under the charge of Abishai who arrayed them against the Ammonites. Then, the brothers set a plan. If Abishai is having trouble with the Ammonites, Joab will come to his aid, and if Joab is having trouble with the Syrians, Abishai will come to his aid. And then Joab says this to his brother: “Be strong, and let us use our strength for our people and for the cities of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to him.” Whether that be victory or defeat, life or death, imprisonment or execution, Joab and Abishai trusted that God was working all things together for good. Where is that today?

1 Chronicles 21:1-27

You’re going to have to read the whole thing here. It’s a pretty long passage, and pretty confusing if you ask me. Here’s what I can gather. The same story is told in 2 Samuel 24:1-25. Here’s what’s interesting about both accounts of the story. Samuel says, “Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, ‘Go, number Israel and Judah.’” But the Chronicler begins by saying, “Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel.” So, the question is raised, who incited David to number Israel? Was it God or Satan? For the purpose of this post, I will not dive into the depths of God’s sovereignty over evil and the use of it to accomplish his purposes. I’m just going to skim the wake, leaving the deep diving for a later time. Skimming…

If I know one thing absolutely about God, it is that he never does evil. Never. However, God does use evil moral agents to accomplish his good purposes (see the story of Job or Joseph or Jesus). Therefore, in order to reconcile these two accounts, I think you could say that God used Satan to incite David to take a census. Samuel wants us to see that it is ultimately God who is causing this census to be taken (for purposes that are seen later on in this passage), and the Chronciler wants us to see that it is Satan who is actually carrying out the evil incitation. On top of that, both accounts want us to see that David gave in to the incitation and sinned by taking the census.

As confusing as that is, I think that the purpose of this story is for the reader to get a glimpse of the coming Christ. After taking the census, David realizes the evil he has done and repents. God sends a pestilence on Israel, killing nearly 70,000 men. And as the angel, whom God sent to destroy Jerusalem, was stretching out his drawn sword over all of Israel, God had mercy on them and told the angel to stay his hand. There would be a substitute in their place. God incited David to build an altar and sacrifice upon it. That’s foreshadowing! A better substitute is coming, Israel!

Conclusions about evil, suffering, and death for today

1. May the Lord do what seems good to him
2. God is sovereign over evil and sometimes uses it to accomplish his good purposes.
3. Sin requires immediate death, but we have a merciful and gracious God.

Now, in light of keeping things interesting, little did I know that the first 9 chapters of 1 Chronicles are genealogies. That’s okay. After trudging through those, the book begins to get a little more interesting. Here are the first 3 significant and relevant instances of evil, suffering, and death that I have come across so far.

1 Chronicles 10:13-14: As they continue their rampage of the Israelites, the Philistines overtake king Saul and his sons. The soldiers slay the sons of Saul, and the archers soon wound king Saul himself. Seeing that his impending death, Saul orders his armor-bearer to kill him with the sword before the Philistines come upon them. After the armor-bearer refused due to great fear, Saul fell on his own sword, thus killing himself. The Philistines eventually find the dead Saul, cut off his head, and fastened it in their temple. In light of his death, the author of Chronicles says that Saul died because “he broke faith with the Lord… and alos consulted a medium, seeking guidance” from him instead of God.

1 Chronicles 13:9-10, 1 Chronicles 15:13: Everytime I think of the holiness of God, this passage comes to mind. The new king David had assembled all Israel to bring the ark of God to the city of David. David and all of Israel are rejoicing before God with all their might as the ark is being brought to the city. As the ark is being brought to the city, the oxen stumble and Uzzah, a layman, not a Levite, takes hold of the ark to keep it from falling. For taking hold of the ark, God strikes down Uzzah. The first time I read this, I was struck with bewilderment and fear. However, the notes from my ESV Study bible (which I would highly recommend to anyone) have shown some light on the issue. Despite their zeal, David has failed to respect the sanctity of the ark, since the way he treats the ark is a reflection of how he is treating God. According to the law of Moses, the ark was to be carried on poles by the Levites only, not on a cart like the Philistines did. Therefore, when Uzzah takes hold of the ark, he is demonstrating a lack of reverance for the sacred object of God’s presence and is transgressing its awesome holiness. Divine punishment is, therefore, just.