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2 Chronicles 14–15 | Revelation 4 | Haggai 2 | John 3

Like Abijah, the godly King Asa received a fairly short treatment in 1 Kings 15:9–24. In the book of 2 Chronicles, however, the story of King Asa is significantly expanded, with three times as many verses that stretch across three whole chapters. In today’s reading, we read about the good parts of Asa’s reign, and in tomorrow’s reading from 2 Chronicles 16, we will look at the way in which Asa fell toward the end of his life.

The account of Asa in 1 Kings emphasizes the many reforms that Asa made to put away the false worship from within the borders of Judah, but we read many more details of these reforms in 2 Chronicles 14–15. So, we read in 1 Kings that Asa put away male cult prostitutes, removed idols, and even deposed his own mother from her role as queen mother because she had made an abominable image for Asherah—an image that Asa cut down and burned (1 Kings 15:12–13). But the accounts in 2 Chronicles also provide a prophetic message that Asa received that we do not find in 1 Kings 15. Here, we read that the Spirit of God comes upon the prophet Azariah, who then encourages Asa to press on in the reforms he is making, since “For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law” (2 Chron. 15:3).

So, Azariah charges Asa to push forward in restoring true worship to the people of Judah: “But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded” (2 Chron. 15:7). After hearing this, Asa takes courage to put away idols and to repair the altar in the temple (2 Chron. 15:8) and leads his people into a covenant and an oath to seek Yahweh with all their hearts and souls (2 Chron. 15:12–14). The people rejoice over the godly leadership of Asa, “for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought him [Yahweh] with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and the LORD gave them rest all around” (2 Chron. 15:15).

Asa’s story vividly illustrates the power of godly leadership. Sometimes, sinful, rebellious people reject godly leaders who seek to lead them deeper into the gospel of Jesus, but other times, people are hungry for a leader to rise up who will courageously stand for Christ. When that happens, great revival can sweep quickly through God’s people as they together seek to know, love, and obey Jesus Christ, so pray for your leaders. And, if you are in a position of leadership, pray that God might give you courage to lead well and to turn the hearts of the people to follow you in seeking Jesus Christ with all their hearts and with their whole desires.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

2 Chronicles 13 | Revelation 3 | Haggai 1 | John 2

King Abijah received a very short treatment in 1 Kings 15. There, where his name is spelled Abijam, we read three simple details. First, he walked in the sins of Rehoboam, his father (1 Kgs. 15:3). Second, Yahweh preserved Abijah’s offspring for the sake of David (1 Kgs. 15:4–5). Third, there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam (1 Kgs. 15:6–7). All of these details are repeated in 2 Chronicles 13, but the stories sound very different.

In fact, it is difficult to tell that Abijah is actually a wicked king. The narrative of 2 Chronicles 13 seems to present Abijah as a godly king who leads all of Judah to rely on “the LORD, the God of their fathers” (2 Chron. 13:18). The only clues of Abijah’s apostasy that we have, then, come in the next chapter, where we will read that King Asa, Abijah’s son, must take away foreign altars, high places, pillars, and Asherim (2 Chron. 14:3, 5)—that is, the instruments of idolatrous worship that remained from the reign of Abijah.

Instead, we read primarily in 2 Chronicles 13 about Abijah’s leadership of Judah against the rebellion Jeroboam has led against the house of David. So, Abijah stands against Jeroboam, saying, “Ought you not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt?” (2 Chron. 13:5). He goes on to point out that Jeroboam has expelled all the Levites and priests who lived among the northern ten tribes from their offices, ordaining instead his own priests (2 Chron. 13:8–9), as we explored in yesterday’s meditation. So, Abijah says this: “But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him” (2 Chron. 13:10). Then, as the battle rages on, Jeroboam leads his armies to surround Judah. When the people of Judah realize this, they cry to Yahweh and blast their trumpets, and at that point, Yahweh defeats Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah (2 Chron. 13:15), so that Jeroboam never fully recovers for all the remaining days of his life (2 Chron. 13:20).

Obviously, these are different descriptions of King Abijah, but they are not contradictory. What we are reading is a high point in Abijah’s life—true stories that depict an idealized version of Abijah, like the idealized versions of David and Solomon we saw earlier—through which the narrator is showing us a glimpse of what zeal for the kingdom of God looks like. This isn’t so that we can sanitize Abijah but rather so that we can continue looking beyond Abijah—just as we have been looking beyond David and Solomon—in order to anticipate the coming of the one who holds the kingship of David forever, Jesus Christ the Lord.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

2 Chronicles 11–12 | Revelation 2 | Zephaniah 3 | John 1

As we began to discuss yesterday, the accounts we will find in 2 Chronicles from this point forward will focus exclusively on the perspective of the southern nation of Judah, ignoring the northern nation of Israel almost entirely. But, while we lose information about Israel, we also will find more robust accounts of Judah’s stories. So, in today’s reading, we learn much more of the story surrounding Rehoboam’s reign than we did in 1 Kings.

To begin, we discover in 2 Chronicles 11:13–17 that the priests and the Levites abandoned their dwelling places among the northern tribes of Israel and presented themselves for duty to Rehoboam, “because Jeroboam and his sons cast them out from serving as priests of the LORD, and he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat idols and for the calves that he had made” (2 Chron. 11:14–15). While we knew that Jeroboam had ordained his own priests (1 Kgs. 12:31–32, 13:33), we do not discover until now that Jeroboam had expelled the true Levitical priests from their service.

Additionally, we find in 2 Chronicles a more nuanced perspective of the reign of Rehoboam. In 1 Kings, Rehoboam was characterized simply as a wicked king who did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh (1 Kgs. 14:21–24). While the Chronicler does not downplay Rehoboam’s wickedness (2 Chron. 12:1–5, 14), the material in 2 Chronicles also includes many of the positive aspects of Rehoboam’s reign. For example, Rehoboam builds cities for defense in Judah (2 Chron. 11:5–12), and he deals well with his own family (2 Chron. 11:18–23). Furthermore, when Yahweh raises up Shishak, king of Egypt, against Rehoboam, we discover that Rehoboam and the princes of Israel humble themselves in repentance before Yahweh, so that Yahweh relents from destroying Rehoboam altogether (2 Chron. 12:6–8). The Chronicler even specifically includes the statement that conditions during this time are “good” in Judah (2 Chron. 12:12).

Now, it isn’t that this story will end differently, as though the Chronicler is telling an alternate reality story that concludes with Judah defeating the Babylonians. No, Judah will still end up in exile at the end of Chronicles, just as we read in 2 Kings. The difference, though, is that the Chronicler gives us glimpses into what might have been if Judah had faithfully obeyed Yahweh. The goal is not to play an extended game of “what if” but rather to imagine how Yahweh might ultimately reform his people through the coming Messiah.

Even as the nation of Judah sinks deeper into their sin and idolatry, then, the Chronicler holds out hope that one day, the Messiah would finally arrive. The goal of David’s greater Son does not disappear but rather becomes more urgent.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

2 Chronicles 10 | Revelation 1 | Zephaniah 2 | Luke 24

The narrative in 2 Chronicles 10 tells how the ten tribes of Israel rebel from the house of David. The version we find in 2 Chronicles for the most part retells the same story of Rehoboam’s foolishness in ignoring the counsel of the elders who advised him to treat Israel well and instead taking the advice of the young men who had grown up with him to treat Israel harshly. There is one major change, however, which illustrates the main difference we will see from this point forward in 2 Chronicles: a significant lack of material about the northern ten tribes of Israel.

So, here in 2 Chronicles 10, we read virtually nothing about Jeroboam, son of Nebat, who received a prophetic word that he would gain ten of the tribes of Israel for the faithlessness of Solomon (1 Kgs. 11:26–42) but who also acted faithlessly himself by setting up golden calves for the northern ten tribes to worship (1 Kgs. 12:25–33). He played a significant part in the narratives of 1 Kings, but we read very little of him here in 2 Chronicles. One reason for this, as we discussed in yesterday’s meditation, is that the Chronicler is presenting an idealized version of Solomon’s story in order to point forward to the greater Son of David yet to come. This, however, is only part of the story.

From here on out, we will read almost nothing of Israel’s story—that is, of the stories of the northern ten tribes. So, we will read very little about Israel’s kings, except where they pop up in the storylines of Judah’s kings (e.g., 2 Chron. 18:28–34), and we will not even read much of anything here about Israel’s great prophets, Elijah and Elisha, with one brief exception (2 Chron. 21:12). The reason for this is that the story of the Chronicles is Judah’s story, told by the exiles who returned from Judah’s captivity in Babylon. The ten tribes of Israel, from the perspective of the Chronicler, have been cut off from Yahweh’s story. Because the ten tribes rebelled against the house of David, they also rebelled against their Messiah, about whom the books of Chronicles are written.

The void of Israel’s stories in the book of 2 Chronicles ought to stand as a warning to us, then: Do not cut yourself off from Christ. Jesus himself warns us that “Whoever believes in [the Son of God] is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:18). The house of David is your only hope, because it is through that house that God raised up his own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Do not rebel against Jesus to your condemnation; rather, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

2 Chronicles 9 | Jude 1 | Zephaniah 1 | Luke 23

The material we find in 2 Chronicles 9 is, in almost every respect, identical to the material we read in 1 Kings 10. So, the account we read of the visit of the queen of Sheba is virtually verbatim what we read, and the catalog of Solomon’s great wealth and wisdom in the second half of 2 Chronicles 9 also mirrors the catalog from 1 Kings nearly completely. There is, however, one additional line included in the narrative from 2 Chronicles 9, and we will explore the significance of that line in the meditation for today.

The additional line in 2 Chronicles 9 comes in verse 26, in the middle of all the various descriptions of Solomon’s vast riches and superior wisdom. There, we read this: “And he [Solomon] ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt.” Now, the account from 1 Kings 10 did include the statement that nothing like Solomon’s throne was ever made in any other kingdom (1 Kgs. 10:20; 2 Chron. 9:19) and that Solomon “excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom” (1 Kgs. 10:23; 2 Chron. 9:22), so both narratives do include identical information comparing Solomon’s glory with the glory of the kings around him. This statement that Solomon actually ruled over all the other kings from the other nations, though, has no precedent in the material from 1 Kings.

Why include this detail here if it didn’t need to be included in 1 Kings 10? It seems that we are gaining another glimpse forward of the nature of the reign and rule of the coming Messiah. By including the information that Solomon reigned over the surrounding kings in his region for this brief time, we start to understand that the new Messiah will not merely be a wealthy and a wise king, as though he were simply a better king than anything Israel had ever seen. Instead, we learn from this that David’s greater Son must eventually be the greatest of all kings—an eternal, everlasting King of kings who rules supremely over all powers, authorities, principalities, and rulers, not only on earth, but even in heaven as well.

And for this reason, Jesus was sure to inform his disciples before ascending into heaven that “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt. 28:17). Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, and his reign currently involves putting every last enemy under his feet until he can put away death, our last enemy, forever and ever (1 Cor. 15:24–28). Therefore, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you” (Zech. 9:9). Where Solomon was great, Jesus is greater.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

2 Chronicles 8 | 3 John 1 | Habakkuk 3 | Luke 22

In our meditations on 1 Chronicles, we looked at the ways in which the Chronicler depicts David without many of his flaws recorded in 1 and 2 Samuel. In the same way, we also find that the Chronicler depicts Solomon here in 2 Chronicles without his flaws, so that the description of Solomon’s golden age—while it remains below the reign of David—stands without the blemishes we find in 1 Kings.

First, we find in 2 Chronicles 8:11 an explanation for why Solomon moves Pharaoh’s daughter to the house that he built for her. In 1 Kings 9:24, we read this: “But Pharaoh’s daughter went up from the city of David to her own house that Solomon had built for her.” Now, however, we find that this is actually a deliberate distinction drawn by Solomon himself: “Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter up from the city of David to the house that he had built for her, for he said, ‘My wife shall not live in the house of David king of Israel, for the places to which the ark of the LORD has come are holy’” (2 Chron. 8:11). Here in 2 Chronicles, it is clear that Solomon deliberately separates his Egyptian wife from the holy places where the ark of Yahweh has been.

Second, in 2 Chronicles 8:12–15, we find a lengthy description that Solomon carries out the duties of the burnt offerings as Moses had commanded, according to each day’s requirement, and he also appoints the divisions of priests and Levites for their service as David had commanded. Solomon keeps every bit of the law handed down to him by Moses and by his own father, David.

Part of what these two narratives imply is that Solomon—despite the greatness of his wealth, fame, and glory—is nevertheless subservient to his father’s rule. Where David became a new Moses, reorganizing the worship duties of the Levites, Solomon merely carries out the commandments handed down to him by David and by Moses.

But also, we see an idealized version of Solomon, just as we had seen an idealized version of David. We read nothing in 2 Chronicles of Solomon’s eventual apostasy that we saw in 1 Kings 11, and as with David, the reason for this is not to whitewash Solomon’s legacy. Rather, it is to cast our vision forward, anticipating the day when a greater golden age would come, marked with prosperity and wealth and wisdom—and not marred by sin—exceeding even the age of Solomon himself. The books of Chronicles are teaching us to long for David’s greater Son, and we learn here that Solomon is not that Son. The ultimate Messiah who will not only put away sin and death forever but who will also establish a kingdom of peace and prosperity for all eternity is still to come.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

2 Chronicles 7 | 2 John 1 | Habakkuk 2 | Luke 21

Once again, it is instructive to compare the account of Yahweh’s appearance to Solomon as recorded in 1 Kings 9 with the account we find in our reading from today in 2 Chronicles 7. In 1 Kings 9, Yahweh swore that he had consecrated the temple by putting his name there, and that he would establish Solomon’s throne forever if Solomon unfailingly kept Yahweh’s statutes and his rules (1 Kgs. 9:5). On the other hand, if Solomon or any one of Solomon’s offspring did turn from following him, then Yahweh would not only cut off Israel from the land but he would also destroy the temple (1 Kgs. 9:6–9).

The Chronicler includes both of those sections in 2 Chronicles 7, but he also includes this section that was omitted from 1 Kings 9: “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and attentive to the prayer that is made in this place” (2 Chron. 7:13–15). In context, this additional statement is an acknowledgment of the eventual reality that Israel will, in fact, fail. In 1 Kings, there was a tension in the narrative, where the reader would be wondering, Can they really do this? Can they remain faithful to Yahweh perpetually?

The books of Chronicles, however, acknowledge from the beginning that Yahweh’s people would fail and that they would all be carried away into exile because of their breach of faith (1 Chron. 9:1). So, the books of Chronicles have pointed forward to the greater Son of David to come, the Messiah who would save Yahweh’s people. Here, however, we also learn a new facet of Yahweh’s plan: although it is the coming of the Messiah who will fully accomplish salvation for Yahweh’s people, the role of the people in embracing that salvation will be to humble themselves, pray, and turn from their wicked ways—that is, to repent.

And indeed, this is the message of the gospel: now that Jesus has accomplished our salvation, he now commands us to humble ourselves, pray for his forgiveness, and repent from our wicked ways as we bow before his kingship. And if we do, then he promises not only to forgive us but to heal our land—that is, to grant to us an inheritance in the new creation that he is ushering in, so that we will dwell with him forever in a new heaven and a new earth. Therefore, repent and believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ, that you may be saved.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

2 Chronicles 6 | 1 John 5 | Habakkuk 1 | Luke 20

In 2 Chronicles 6, the narrator preserves for us the prayer of Solomon, and it is recorded nearly identically to the dedication prayer that we read in 1 Kings 8. Up to the end, we find significant overlap for Solomon’s three main prayers: thanking Yahweh for keeping covenant with Israel (1 Kgs. 8:22–26; 2 Chron. 6:12–17), asking whether God can indeed dwell with man on earth (1 Kgs. 8:27–30; 2 Chron. 6:18–21), and petitioning that Yahweh would hear the future prayers of his people to forgive them of their sin (1 Kgs. 8:31–50; 2 Chron. 6:22–39). After this point, however, the two accounts of this prayer diverge.

In 1 Kings 8:50–53, Solomon emphasizes that Yahweh had chosen Israel, both separating Israel from all the nations to be his heritage (1 Kgs. 8:53), as well as bringing them out of Egypt (1 Kgs. 8:51, 53). Then, in 1 Kings 8:54–61, Solomon offers to Israel a benediction, blessing Yahweh for bringing rest to his people Israel by upholding every one of the good promises he made to his people through Moses (1 Kgs. 8:56) but also blessing Israel and pleading with them to keep their hearts wholly true to Yahweh by walking in his statutes and commandments forever (1 Kgs. 8:61).

In 2 Chronicles 6, however, the emphasis is different. Here, Solomon prays, “O LORD God, do not turn away the face of your anointed one! Remember your steadfast love for David your servant” (2 Chron. 6:42). There is an implicit acknowledgment here that the people of Israel will not be able to keep the covenant with Yahweh, as hoped for in 1 Kings 8:61. Instead, the focus shifts forward to the need for Yahweh’s Messiah, the offspring of David, to keep the covenant. On that day, the great sins of Yahweh’s people would be forgiven, once and for all, since his Messiah would faithfully offer his own body up as both sacrifice and temple for the salvation of his people.

In this way, Jesus himself becomes the fulfillment of Solomon’s prayers at the consecration of the temple in a way that the temple itself never accomplished. In Jesus, Yahweh keeps his covenant. In Jesus, Yahweh dwells with humankind on earth. Through Jesus, Yahweh hears the prayers of his people to forgive them of their sins. And it will be our Messiah Jesus who will bring us out of our bondage and into our eternal rest now that he himself has walked in all the statutes and commandments of Yahweh, dying for our sins.

“Now, O my God, let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayer of this place” (2 Chron. 6:40)—that is, to the prayers offered through our Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is himself God’s temple.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

2 Chronicles 5 | 1 John 4 | Nahum 3 | Luke 19

Bringing the ark into the temple is the final step before consecrating the temple for the worship of Yahweh, and the account we read here in 2 Chronicles 5 is largely the same as what we read in the corresponding account in 1 Kings 8. The major difference, though, is that what we find here includes the roles of the Levitical musicians who ministered through song during this time: “all the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, their sons and kinsmen, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres, stood east of the altar with 120 priests who were trumpeters; and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the LORD” (2 Chron. 5:12–13). In 1 Kings 8:10, we only read of where the priests were when the cloud of Yahweh came, but here we read that this was also during the singing of the Levites who served alongside the priests. What does this section add to the theology of the construction of the temple?

As we discussed in a previous meditation, the inclusion of the rest of the Levites provides a trajectory of greater inclusion of Yahweh’s people in worship.1 And yet, the reign of David isn’t the first place we find worshipers playing instruments and singing praises to Yahweh—a wide variety of people had been doing so before David was ever crowned king. Previously, we had seen women playing instruments, dancing, and singing praise to Yahweh in Exodus 15:20–21 and then again to celebrate Israel’s military victories in Judges 11:34 and 1 Samuel 18:6–7. Additionally, we had seen specific groups of prophets who played instruments and prophesied in 1 Samuel 10:5–6. Furthermore, we should remember that David himself was summoned to play his lyre daily to soothe Saul from being tormented by an evil spirit (1 Sam. 16:23, 18:10). It seems more accurate, then, to speak of the inclusion of these Levites to sing at the bringing of the ark into the new temple not as a brand new innovation to the worship of Israel but as an official reintroduction and reorganization of the musical worship in which Yahweh’s people had participated from the beginning.

But additionally, these passages look forward to the worship that God would command to us in the new covenant. All of us are commanded to sing praises to Yahweh, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Eph. 5:20; Col. 3:16). In Christian worship, music must not be for the sake of performance, as though we were passively listening to a concert, since the new covenant now provides that we all—not just the priests and not just the Levites—may participate fully in worship by singing praises to God through Jesus Christ.

1 See the November 28 meditation for 1 Chronicles 24–25.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

2 Chronicles 3–4 | 1 John 3 | Nahum 2 | Luke 18

In a previous meditation, we looked at the only story in 1 Chronicles that recorded David’s sin: the story of the census that he took.1 As we discussed, one of the reasons that story was included is to provide the backstory of how David purchased the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, since that site became the location where the temple would eventually stand: “Then David said, ‘Here shall be the house of the LORD God and here the altar of burnt offering for Israel’” (1 Chron. 22:1).

In our reading for today, then, we find this detail reiterated in 2 Chronicles 3:1: “Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.” This verse, however, adds another unexpected wrinkle by giving us more information about the temple’s location. Here, we learn that the temple is built on Mount Moriah. This information is extremely significant, since Mount Moriah was the place where God tested Abraham, saying, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you” (Gen. 22:2). We learn here something shocking: the temple is built on the very spot where Abraham had nearly offered his son Isaac up as a sacrifice so many years before.

But more than just an interesting correlation of locations, there is also an interesting correlation of stories between the sacrifice of Isaac and the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. In both cases, Yahweh provided a substitute to spare his people—in the case of Abraham, Yahweh provided a ram whose horns were caught in the thicket that Abraham offered as a substitute for Isaac (Gen. 22:13). In the case of David, Yahweh allowed a sacrifice on Ornan’s threshing floor to turn away his wrath from the people of Israel (1 Chron. 21:26–27).

Together, both of these stories announce that the temple would be the place where Yahweh’s people would shed the blood of animal sacrifices as a substitute for themselves. When the people sinned, the sacrificial animals would die in their place to avert Yahweh’s wrath. And ultimately, these stories point forward to the way that David’s greater Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, would endure the suffering of the cross, not because of his own sin, but as the substitutionary sacrifice Yahweh provided to avert his wrath from us.

The LORD will provide—and he has provided—nothing less than his own Son as your substitute. Jesus died in your place, for your sins, so that you might be reconciled to God.

1 See the November 25 meditation for 1 Chronicles 21.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.