2 Chronicles, Holman Christian Standard Bible

 2 Chronicles is a continuation of 1 Chronicles, a history of Israel and Judah and the reign of kings. Again, there is the theme throughout this book: those kings who turned away from God and turned toward evil and idolatry, were brought down. Those who turned to God and followed him and did away with idolatry, God blessed them and blessed the land and the people, and protected them. These books show how God's covenant with Israel worked, and still works. If Israel will be his people, and follow him and his commandments, and not turn to wickedness and idolatry, he will bless them.

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1 Chronicles, Holman Christian Standard version

 First Chronicles is pretty much a history book for Israel, chronicling important genealogies in their history, of their tribes and priesthood, and kings. It goes over a lot of events that happened in David's life, goes through some instructions and setup for the Temple, who was assigned what roles in Temple service, and ends with Solomon's reign. 

This book is not exactly the most enjoyable reading, but is filled with great information if you are doing an in depth historical study of Israel.

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II Kings, Holman Christian Standard Bible

 This book of the Old Testament continues the records of the kings of Israel and Judah. The theme throughout this book seems to be that God offers blessing and protection if the kings will honor and obey him and not turn to evil actions and idolatry. Over and over again, we see more kings turn away from God to follow evil than we see good kings who obey God. Those that do obey God are given blessing for their reign. 

I think this theme can be applied to our daily life as well. If we turn away from evil and embrace and obey God, He will guide and bless us. That doesn't mean life will always be perfect, but He will have His hand on us and bless us and those around us.

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1Kings, Holman Christian Standard Bible

 The first book of 2022 that I have finished is 1 Kings, in the Holman Christian Standard edition.

In this book of the Bible, it begins with David's last days, goes through Solomon's life, which started out great--he built God's temple, God gave him wisdom, riches, and prosperity, on provision that Solomon remain faithful to God-- but Solomon gets distracted by the many women he marries and brings into his harem. These are women who bring in their own gods from their own cultures and instead of stopping it, he allows it, and eventually follows suit---after having personal experience with the one true God. Because of this, God pronounces judgment on Israel, and it will be divided into two kingdoms, Israel and Judah. 

The line of David will continue through Judah. God promises good for the king of Israel, again, if he obeys and remains faithful. We see that again and again, God promises prosperity if leaders will follow him, and most turn away, bringing pain, division, and death. This is a record of the kings of Israel and Judah, and what happens in their reigns. 

Also in this book you will find some of the division and drama in David's children's lives, and later, the story of Elijah the Prophet.

Something that struck me as interesting is the wording chosen in the last chapter, 1 Kings 22:27 "...Put this guy in prison.." It amazes me how different versions of the Bible can be. This is the first time I have ever noticed the words "this guy" being used in a Bible!

The Bible I am reading from is The Illustrator's Notetaking Bible in the Holman Christian Standard edition, softcover. It has little doodles on the margins that you can color in. As an artist, I thought this might be fun, and I bought it to give me something to do a few years ago when I went on a mission trip to Kenya and had 20 hours of traveling by plane. Honestly, that's probably the only time I have colored in it, because as a professional artist, if I have spare time, it's usually spent creating art to sell...that's an area I would like to work on, just spending more time enjoying little stuff like coloring. But then again, that might have to wait on retirement. I guess maybe it's time to read some time management books!

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