WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:00.030 --> 00:00:02.920 Emily: welcome to immerse: the daily bible reading experience. 00:00:03.020 --> 00:00:04.570 Day 300 and 26 00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:08.890 Chronicles 00:00:17.830 --> 00:00:22.120 Almighty God, father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:00:22.540 --> 00:00:27.550 Grant, we pray that we might be grounded and settled in your truth by the coming 00:00:27.550 --> 00:00:29.920 of your Holy Spirit into our hearts. 00:00:31.030 --> 00:00:33.820 What we do not know, reveal to us. 00:00:34.540 --> 00:00:36.190 What is lacking within us? 00:00:36.490 --> 00:00:39.790 Make complete that which we do know. 00:00:39.820 --> 00:00:44.440 Confirm in us and keep us blameless in your service 00:00:45.070 --> 00:00:46.810 through Jesus Christ, our Lord. 00:00:47.890 --> 00:00:48.400 Amen. 00:00:54.820 --> 00:00:58.720 Welcome to Immerse the Bible Reading Experience. 00:01:00.850 --> 00:01:02.680 The Bible is a great gift. 00:01:03.430 --> 00:01:08.080 The creator of all things entered into our human story and spoke to us. 00:01:08.710 --> 00:01:10.780 He inspired people over many centuries. 00:01:10.805 --> 00:01:15.515 To shape words into books that reveal his mind, bringing wisdom into 00:01:15.515 --> 00:01:17.495 our lives and light to our paths. 00:01:18.395 --> 00:01:23.945 But God's biggest intention for the Bible is to invite us into its story, what God 00:01:23.950 --> 00:01:26.195 wants for us more than anything else. 00:01:26.875 --> 00:01:31.435 Is that we make the Bible's great drama of restoration and new life. 00:01:31.795 --> 00:01:33.655 The story of our lives too. 00:01:35.125 --> 00:01:39.115 The appropriate way to receive a gift like this is to come to know the 00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:41.905 Bible deeply, to lose ourselves in it. 00:01:41.915 --> 00:01:44.465 Precisely so that we can find ourselves in it. 00:01:45.395 --> 00:01:50.345 In other words, we need to immerse ourselves in it to read God's words 00:01:50.350 --> 00:01:52.205 at length and without distraction. 00:01:52.745 --> 00:01:57.275 To read with deeper historical and literary perspective, and to read 00:01:57.275 --> 00:02:00.605 through the Bible with friends in a regular three-year rhythm. 00:02:01.835 --> 00:02:02.255 Immers. 00:02:02.430 --> 00:02:06.450 The Bible reading experience has been specially designed for this purpose. 00:02:07.470 --> 00:02:11.400 Immerse the Reading Bible presents each book of the Bible without the 00:02:11.400 --> 00:02:13.710 distractions of chapter and verse markers. 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:18.790 Subject headers or footnotes, all later historical additions to the text. 00:02:19.750 --> 00:02:24.610 The Holy Bible New Living Translation is presented in a single column 00:02:24.610 --> 00:02:30.010 format with easy to read type to provide meaningful perspective. 00:02:30.190 --> 00:02:31.690 Book introductions, provide his. 00:02:31.705 --> 00:02:35.725 Historical and literary context, and the books are often reordered 00:02:35.730 --> 00:02:40.465 chronologically or grouped with books that share similar ancient audiences. 00:02:41.395 --> 00:02:45.295 Every change from tradition in this unique Bible enhances the 00:02:45.295 --> 00:02:49.525 opportunity for readers to engage with God's words in simple clarity. 00:02:54.115 --> 00:02:55.925 Introduction to Chronicles. 00:02:58.750 --> 00:03:04.000 We began our journey into the Bible's first testament with a comprehensive 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:09.160 telling of Israel's history from the creation story to Israel's 00:03:09.160 --> 00:03:11.170 exile from the land of promise. 00:03:11.950 --> 00:03:16.450 Then we heard the prophets delivering the word of the Lord to Israel, 00:03:16.930 --> 00:03:21.910 intervening as the people wandered again and again from their allegiance to God. 00:03:22.810 --> 00:03:29.320 We joined with Israel in singing songs of both Lament and Praise, entering into the 00:03:29.320 --> 00:03:34.270 worship of God in a way that acknowledges a full range of human emotions. 00:03:35.230 --> 00:03:37.720 We listened in as Israel's wisdom. 00:03:37.720 --> 00:03:42.430 Teachers taught the good way of life meant for all the creator's people. 00:03:43.750 --> 00:03:47.980 This final part of the Immerse First Testament contains 00:03:47.980 --> 00:03:49.600 its three remaining books. 00:03:50.410 --> 00:03:54.340 This last collection focuses once again on telling stories. 00:03:55.030 --> 00:03:58.990 The Hebrew expression translated as Chronicles means 00:03:59.320 --> 00:04:01.570 words or events of the days. 00:04:02.170 --> 00:04:07.450 That is, it's a record of day-to-day events, much like a diary or journal. 00:04:08.230 --> 00:04:12.610 The stories in this volume are all Chronicles that tell how the 00:04:12.610 --> 00:04:16.570 people of God lived out their faith after his covenants with Noah. 00:04:17.035 --> 00:04:20.485 Abraham, Moses and David were established. 00:04:21.865 --> 00:04:24.715 First comes the Book of Chronicles, Ezra. 00:04:24.715 --> 00:04:25.465 Nehemiah. 00:04:26.365 --> 00:04:30.685 This unique telling of Israel's history is presented in most Bibles 00:04:30.685 --> 00:04:35.245 as four separate books, although it was originally a unified work. 00:04:36.025 --> 00:04:39.565 Notice that the ending of Second Chronicles overlaps 00:04:39.565 --> 00:04:40.945 with the beginning of Ezra. 00:04:42.025 --> 00:04:44.785 This book of Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah. 00:04:45.175 --> 00:04:48.805 Emphasizes the importance of the true worship of God. 00:04:49.765 --> 00:04:54.805 The shorter books in this volume, Esther and Daniel show God's people 00:04:54.805 --> 00:04:59.725 facing extreme challenges in foreign lands, whether in their careful 00:04:59.725 --> 00:05:04.595 day-to-day observance of God's law, or in their willingness to suffer death 00:05:04.595 --> 00:05:09.635 through persecution, faithful and courageous men and women demonstrate 00:05:09.655 --> 00:05:11.595 an unfailing loyalty to God. 00:05:12.970 --> 00:05:17.530 All three works presented here were written after the Jewish people were 00:05:17.530 --> 00:05:21.820 conquered by foreign empires and scattered among the other nations. 00:05:22.840 --> 00:05:27.430 These books tell stories that carry on the grand story of God's 00:05:27.430 --> 00:05:29.950 covenants in into later centuries. 00:05:30.730 --> 00:05:35.440 It is important to read these final books of the first Testament with the overall 00:05:35.440 --> 00:05:38.020 development of the Bible's story in mind. 00:05:39.535 --> 00:05:42.445 God created the world to be his temple. 00:05:43.045 --> 00:05:46.375 The place where he would dwell in fellowship with humanity 00:05:47.305 --> 00:05:49.285 after sin entered the world. 00:05:49.615 --> 00:05:55.465 God chose Abraham and his family, the people of Israel as those who would bring 00:05:55.465 --> 00:05:58.045 blessing and life back into the world. 00:05:58.825 --> 00:06:03.565 But most of the story so far has been about Israel's struggle to live 00:06:03.565 --> 00:06:05.815 up to its divinely given vocation. 00:06:06.745 --> 00:06:12.925 God initiated covenants with humanity in order to move the story closer and closer 00:06:12.925 --> 00:06:15.565 to his intention for all of creation. 00:06:16.285 --> 00:06:18.475 But the goal has not been reached. 00:06:19.075 --> 00:06:23.395 God wants a people who worship him well so they can go out into the 00:06:23.395 --> 00:06:25.975 world to share his light and life. 00:06:27.205 --> 00:06:31.045 The exile had caused a crisis in Israel's story. 00:06:31.555 --> 00:06:35.875 Leading many to question God's own faithfulness to the covenant, as well 00:06:35.875 --> 00:06:38.245 as their status as his chosen people. 00:06:39.175 --> 00:06:43.765 God's vision for Israel and for the world could not be fulfilled as 00:06:43.765 --> 00:06:48.085 long as foreign powers controlled God's people and their land. 00:06:49.285 --> 00:06:52.885 These books at the end of the First Testament were written to 00:06:52.885 --> 00:06:57.355 remind the people of their true story and their ultimate hope. 00:06:58.150 --> 00:07:01.930 The issues raised will continue into the period between the First 00:07:01.935 --> 00:07:03.700 Testament and the New Testament. 00:07:04.840 --> 00:07:10.360 As the years go by and Israel's struggles persist, the longing for 00:07:10.360 --> 00:07:15.040 God to keep his covenant promises will grow stronger and stronger. 00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:20.320 This is a story begging for its fitting conclusion. 00:07:26.370 --> 00:07:29.210 Immersed in Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah. 00:07:31.945 --> 00:07:37.045 In 407 bc, leaders of the Jewish community on the Egyptian Island 00:07:37.045 --> 00:07:41.545 fortress of Elephantine wrote to the Persian governor in Judea for help. 00:07:42.775 --> 00:07:46.855 They explained that their ancestors had built a temple to Yahoo, Yahweh 00:07:46.860 --> 00:07:50.875 there, but that it had recently been destroyed by a mob, incited by the 00:07:50.875 --> 00:07:52.585 priests of the Egyptian God canoe. 00:07:53.950 --> 00:07:57.610 These Jewish leaders complained that they had requested assistance from the priests 00:07:57.610 --> 00:08:02.980 and elders in Jerusalem, but had heard nothing back In response, the Persian 00:08:02.980 --> 00:08:07.750 governor authorized them to rebuild their temple, but why hadn't their fellow Jews 00:08:07.755 --> 00:08:09.460 in Jerusalem been the first to help? 00:08:10.600 --> 00:08:14.410 This request for the Jerusalem community to invest in a temple in Egypt 00:08:14.830 --> 00:08:19.090 illustrates why the writing of a grand new history of Israel was necessary. 00:08:19.975 --> 00:08:24.265 These Jews in Egypt were worshiping Yahoo alongside other gods in a 00:08:24.265 --> 00:08:26.545 mix of Jewish and pagan rituals. 00:08:27.505 --> 00:08:30.715 This newly written history repeatedly makes a vital claim. 00:08:31.735 --> 00:08:35.695 True worship of God will follow the instructions God gave in the law of 00:08:35.700 --> 00:08:41.335 Moses and will occur in the place God has chosen the temple in Jerusalem. 00:08:42.025 --> 00:08:45.385 This history comprises the books commonly known as First and Second 00:08:45.385 --> 00:08:48.055 Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah. 00:08:48.730 --> 00:08:52.180 It draws on accounts kept by profits in earlier times on the 00:08:52.180 --> 00:08:56.440 personal memoirs of Ezra and Nehemiah and on community records. 00:08:57.280 --> 00:09:01.060 These materials were brought together into one large work to address the 00:09:01.065 --> 00:09:02.920 particular challenges of this time. 00:09:03.880 --> 00:09:09.460 Israel's previously written history from Genesis to Samuel King's, addressed the 00:09:09.465 --> 00:09:14.830 situation of Israel's exile and answered the question, why did the exile happen? 00:09:15.820 --> 00:09:17.050 Chronicles Ezra. 00:09:17.050 --> 00:09:21.490 Nehemiah addresses the situation of the people after the exile and 00:09:21.490 --> 00:09:24.460 answers the question, who are we now? 00:09:25.930 --> 00:09:30.700 This new telling of Israel's history begins with an elaborate genealogy, a 00:09:30.700 --> 00:09:35.470 list of ancestors that goes all the way back to Adam and reveals the origins and 00:09:35.470 --> 00:09:38.200 development of the 12 tribes of Israel. 00:09:39.040 --> 00:09:42.250 Special attention is given to Judah, the tribe of King, David 00:09:42.640 --> 00:09:44.770 and Levi, the tribe of priests. 00:09:45.790 --> 00:09:49.360 This genealogy helps the current generation see that they are linked to 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:52.120 Israel's most ancient people and stories. 00:09:52.840 --> 00:09:56.860 Thus, the lists begin the work of reminding them of who they are. 00:09:58.120 --> 00:10:01.720 As the book changes to narrative, the reigns of David and Solomon 00:10:01.720 --> 00:10:02.800 come into the spotlight. 00:10:03.580 --> 00:10:07.540 The story alternates three times between accounts of David's wars and 00:10:07.540 --> 00:10:11.050 long descriptions of arrangements he made for true worship in the temple. 00:10:11.845 --> 00:10:15.715 David is careful to ensure that God will be worshiped in the place and in 00:10:15.715 --> 00:10:17.725 the way that God Himself has chosen. 00:10:18.805 --> 00:10:22.915 But since David is a man of bloodshed and war, God appoints his son 00:10:22.915 --> 00:10:25.315 Solomon to actually build the temple. 00:10:25.915 --> 00:10:31.195 With its completion, the key sign of God's presence among his people is now in place. 00:10:32.365 --> 00:10:36.115 The reigns of later kings are described more briefly with the exceptions of 00:10:36.115 --> 00:10:40.405 Hezekiah and Josiah, whose religious reforms restore the proper worship of 00:10:40.405 --> 00:10:42.325 the Lord after periods of idolatry. 00:10:42.985 --> 00:10:47.575 In contrast, most of the kings lead the people astray from God's ways. 00:10:48.535 --> 00:10:53.005 This unfaithfulness becomes chronic and widespread, and the people are 00:10:53.005 --> 00:10:54.775 ultimately punished with exile. 00:10:55.735 --> 00:10:59.245 The story continues with the memoirs of Ezra and Nehemiah. 00:10:59.665 --> 00:11:03.985 Describing the people's return to Judea from exile, following God's 00:11:03.985 --> 00:11:08.395 instructions, and with his help, they rebuild Jerusalem's Temple and Walls. 00:11:09.385 --> 00:11:13.945 As the story reaches its conclusion, the returned exiles diligently restore 00:11:13.950 --> 00:11:18.775 their ancient worship and community practices at a grand ceremony. 00:11:19.075 --> 00:11:22.735 The book of the law of Moses is read aloud to the entire community, 00:11:23.485 --> 00:11:28.135 leading first to weeping and confession, and then to celebration. 00:11:28.600 --> 00:11:34.390 As the people understand and respond to God's words, the temple and the law lie 00:11:34.390 --> 00:11:36.430 at the heart of the true worship of God. 00:11:37.105 --> 00:11:41.095 The temple represents God's new world, and the law reveals the path for the 00:11:41.100 --> 00:11:43.195 community to become his renewed people. 00:11:44.155 --> 00:11:49.105 This community, as the covenant people are to presume their special role in 00:11:49.105 --> 00:11:54.355 God's plan, so it's vital for them to know and obey God's instructions, 00:11:54.865 --> 00:11:58.975 to protect their faith from being diluted and distorted and to worship. 00:11:58.985 --> 00:12:01.625 And honor God in his holy place.