The king stood by his pillar and renewed the
covenant in the presence of the Lord -- to follow the Lord and keep his
commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, and to
obey the word of the covenant written in this book. 34:31
Footnote: When Josiah read the book that Hilkiah
discovered (34:14), he responded with repentance and humility and promised to
follow God's commands as written in the book. The Bible is God's word to us,
"living and active" (Hebrews 4:12), but we cannot know what God wants us to do
if we do not read it. And even reading God's Word is not enough; we must be
willing to do what it says. There is not much difference between the book
hidden in the temple and the Bible hidden on the bookshelf. An unread
Bible is as useless as a lost one.
Ending Footnote: Second Chronicles focuses on the rise and
fall of the worship of God as symbolized by the Jerusalem temple. David planned
the temple. Solomon built it and then put on the greatest dedication service
the world had ever seen. Worship in the temple was superbly
organized.
But several evil kings defiled the temple and degraded
worship so that the people revered idols more highly than God. Finally, King
Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon destroyed the temple. The kings were gone, the temple
was destroyed, and the people were removed. The nation was stripped to its very
foundation. But fortunately there was a greater foundation -- God himself.
When everything in life seems stripped away from us, we too still have God --
his Word, his presence, and his promises.
Keep reading -- 113 days left!
All footnotes taken from the Life Application Study Bible, NIV
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