2 Chronicles 36: 2 – 4

As we come towards the end of our long journey through Chronicles over the next few days, we are going to find ourselves disappointed with the last kings we encounter. The remaining monarchs of Judah, before the exile, went out with a whimper and not a bang. (It’s been said that 2 Chronicles opens by telling how the temple was built. It closes showing how and why that temple was destroyed.)

  •  Jehoahaz had a short reign (2)
  • Jehoahaz was shamed (3,4a). How humiliating it was to be replaced by his brother; to have the crown forcibly ripped from his head and placed upon the brow of a sibling.
  •  Jehoahaz became a slave (4b). Effectively, it would appear, that’s what happened.

The point I want to make is that the next generation picked up the bill (see 3b particularly) for Josiah’s disobedience to God. Josiah, as we have seen, ran an almost ideal race, but then he fell at the final fence. It looked like he was going to win the ‘National’, but then he didn’t. Off his horse he came. And other riders following immediately behind him tripped and fell too.

We are going to leave something to the next generation; for the next generation. It can be good or bad (or mixed). Let’s ensure that we are sowing good seeds today, and every day, that will grow into a beautiful harvest and provide a bumper crop. So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up, or quit. (Galatians 6:9). The Message.

All sin is sin. All sin has consequences. We cannot say that all sins will be equally damaging, but some will have ‘knock on’ effects into future years; they will carry generational consequences. It’s no use kidding ourselves that we can be careless about doing wrong. I remember sitting on a rock by Lake Derwentwater, near Keswick. As a boat passed by, it left a ‘wake’. Human lives do that, and sometimes it can be disturbing and damaging.  As a song says, ‘May all who come behind us find us faithful. May the fire of our obedience light their way.’

Prayer: Lord let me so live that those who follow on after me have something good to emulate.