Justin Houtz

2 Chronicles 21, Revelation 9, Zechariah 5, John 8

DateVersionReading Plan
December 18, 2024ESV (2016)M’Cheyne Plan 2024

2 Chronicles 21

The chapter opens with the death of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and the succession of the throne to his eldest son, Jehoram. Jehoshaphat had other sons and gave great gifts, but the kingdom was given to Jehoram. Once he ascended the throne, Jehoram killed all of his brothers and some of the princes of Israel. “Jehoram was a murderer and an idolater. He ruthlessly killed all his own brothers to strengthen his hold on the throne.” (BBC). Jehoram married the daughter of Ahab, king of Israel, and walked in the way of the kings of Israel, doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD. As the BBC points out, “Scripture leaves us in no doubt as to the evil influence that caused Jehoram to act so wickedly: His wife was Ahab’s daughter (v. 6). Earlier Jehoshaphat had arranged the marriage between the two kingdoms, and now Judah was infected with the same wickedness that was ruining Israel. Ahab’s daughter Athaliah was a tool in Satan’s hands to bring judgment on God’s people.” (BBC).

During Jehoram’s reign, Edom and Libnah revolted against the rule of Judah, refusing to follow him because he had abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers. Jehoram also made high places and led the inhabitants into whoredom and idolatry. Elijah the prophet confronted Jehoram with a letter, telling him that because he led the people astray and killed his brothers, the LORD would bring a great plague to the people and that he would suffer a severe disease of the bowels. The LORD’s anger manifested in stirring up the Philistines and Arabians against Jehoram who invaded Judah, carrying away all the belongings of the kings house, his sons, his wives, leaving him no son except his youngest, Jehoahaz.

After all this, the LORD struck Jehoram with an incurable disease of the bowels just as Elijah had predicted. Following two years of agony, his bowels came out due to the disease and Jehoram died. Jehoram began to reign at thirty-two years of age, reigned eight years and departed with no one’s regret, being buried in the city of David but not in the tombs of the kings. “Since he had not walked as the other kings had in life, he was not buried with them in death.” (BBC)

2 Chronicles 21:12 (ESV) 12 And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, “Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father, ‘Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or in the ways of Asa king of Judah,

“Since Jehoram was Ahab’s son-in-law, it is not surprising that the prophet Elijah—Ahab’s long-standing opponent—chastised Jehoram for the same behavior for which he had rebuked Ahab. Elijah’s letter mentioned the many sins that Jehoram had committed, including idolatry and fratricide, and promised a swift and harsh punishment. Just as Jehoram eliminated his brothers, now Jehoram’s household would be eliminated.” (CSB Notes)

Revelation 9

Revelation 9:4–6 (ESV) 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. 6 And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.

“Although their sting was not fatal, it inflicted torment that lasted for five months. It was so intense that men wanted to die, but they could not. These locusts probably represent demons which, when released from the pit, took possession of unsaved men and women. This demon-possession caused the most intense physical suffering and mental torture, as it did with Legion in Mark 5:1–20.” (BBC)

It is difficult to imagine the level of suffering and torture that is depicted here. To be in such immense pain that you want to die but death flees from you is truly terrifying.

Revelation 9:11 (ESV) 11 They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.

“Abaddon. ’Place of destruction,’ a Hebrew word that occurs six times in the OT, generally referring to the place of the dead (Jb 26:6; 28:22; 31:12; Ps 88:11; Prv 15:11; 27:20). It serves as a synonym for Sheol and is variously translated ‘hell,’ ‘death,’ ‘the grave,’ or ‘destruction.’ The same Hebrew word occurs once in the NT in its Greek equivalent, Apollyon (Rv 9:11). Here the idea of destruction is personified as the ‘angel of the bottomless pit,’ so the word is translated ‘destroyer.’” (BEB)

Revelation 9:20–21 (ESV) 20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

“Although two-thirds of mankind survived these plagues, they did not repent, but continued to bow down to demons and handmade idols, lifeless and impotent. They did not turn from murders, sorceries (drug related), sexual immorality, and thefts. Punishment and suffering cannot change a sinner’s character; only the new birth can do that.” (BBC)

Zechariah 5

“5:1–4 Zechariah’s sixth vision illustrates Yahweh’s judgment or curse against all who have sinned by violating His commandments. Just as the fourth vision dealt with the cleansing of the priest’s sin (see 3:1–5), this imagery is likely related to the need for all to be cleansed from their sins brought on by breaking Yahweh’s covenant. The vision addresses the sins of social injustice and religious apostasy. Sin must be dealt with before Yahweh can return and dwell among His people (2:10).” (FSB)

“5:5–11 The seventh vision presents Zechariah with the strange sight of a woman imprisoned in a barrel or basket. The woman personifies wickedness and is about to be taken to the land of Babylon. The passage reveals that the land of Babylon will become a center of evil when the woman is established there as an idol for those who worship evil….The personification of evil or wickedness in female form has parallels with the image of the forbidden woman in Prov 7:5–27 and the great prostitute of Rev 17. The imagery focuses on evil as a power in and of itself—an external, objective force, not merely the sinful actions of people. God alone has supreme power over evil, directing His angels to remove it to distant Shinar (also known as Babylon or Babylonia), a location symbolic of rebellious opposition to Yahweh (Gen 11:2; compare Rev 14:8).” (FSB)

John 8

John 8:13–16 (ESV) 13 So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me.

“If the Lord were to judge, His judgment would be righteous and true. He is God and everything He does is done in partnership with the Father who sent Him. Over and over again, the Lord Jesus emphasized to the Pharisees His unity with God the Father. It was this that stirred up in their hearts the bitterest antagonism toward Him.” (BBC)

John 8:39–42 (ESV) 39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.

“It was very clear who their father was because they acted just like him. They did the deeds of their father, that is, the devil. The Jews may well have been accusing the Lord of being born of fornication. But many Bible students see in the word fornication a reference to idolatry. The Jews were saying that they had never committed spiritual adultery. They had always been true to God. He is the only One they ever acknowledged as their Father.” However, “The Lord showed the falseness of their claim by reminding them that if they loved God, they would love Him whom God had sent. It is foolish for anyone to claim to love God and at the same time to hate the Lord Jesus Christ.” (BBC)

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