Justin Houtz

2 Chronicles 22–23, Revelation 10, Zechariah 6, John 9

DateVersionReading Plan
December 19, 2024ESV (2016)M’Cheyne Plan 2024

2 Chronicles 22–23

2 Chronicles 22:1 (ESV) 22 And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, for the band of men that came with the Arabians to the camp had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned.

Ahaziah was the “Sixth king of Judah; son of Jehoram and Athaliah; killed when Jehu annihilated the house of Ahab. Despite the people’s dissatisfaction with Jehoram, when he died they acclaimed his son Ahaziah as the next king…In order to make sense out of the events in this section, one must recognize the duplication of the names of the kings in the southern and northern kingdoms. In the northern kingdom of Israel, Ahab had two sons, Ahaziah and Jehoram. When Ahab died, his son Ahaziah succeeded him, and he in turn was succeeded by his brother, Jehoram (aka Joram). In the southern kingdom of Judah, Jehoshaphat was succeeded by his son Jehoram, and his successor was his son (and Jehoshaphat’s grandson), Ahaziah (aka Jehoahaz). Thus, the successions in the north were: Ahab, Ahaziah, Jehoram; in the south the successions were: Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, Ahaziah.” (CSB Notes)

2 Chronicles 22:8–9 (ESV) 8 And when Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he met the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers, who attended Ahaziah, and he killed them. 9 He searched for Ahaziah, and he was captured while hiding in Samaria, and he was brought to Jehu and put to death. They buried him, for they said, “He is the grandson of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart.” And the house of Ahaziah had no one able to rule the kingdom.

“God had appointed Jehu to put an end to the dynasty of Ahab and to become king himself (2Kg 9:1–10). Jehu went too far in eliminating Judah’s King Ahaziah, thus setting up the situation where Athaliah almost eliminated the line of David when she seized the Davidic throne (2Ch 22:10–12).” (CSB Notes)

2 Chronicles 22:11 (ESV) 11 But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were about to be put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of Jehoiada the priest, because she was a sister of Ahaziah, hid him from Athaliah, so that she did not put him to death.

Jehoshabeath “is the daughter of King Jehoram and sister of King Ahaziah, both of whom are now dead…When Athaliah, the queen mother, executes the royal family, Jehoshabeath (Jehosheba) heroically protects David’s lineage by hiding Joash—King Ahaziah’s infant son. This story shows the extent of God’s protection of the line of David. Because of His covenant with David, He will not allow it to be destroyed.” (FSB)

Revelation 10

Revelation 10:4–6 (ESV) 4 And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” 5 And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven 6 and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay,

“Apparently John could understand the message of these thunders, but when he was about to write, the angel forbade him. The angel then swore by God, the Creator, that there should be delay no longer.” (BBC)

Revelation 10:10 (ESV) 10 And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter.

“As predicted by the angel, the scroll was sweet as honey in his mouth, but bitter in his stomach. For the believer, it is sweet to read of God’s determination to glorify His Son where He was once crucified. It is sweet to read of the triumph of God over Satan and all his hosts. It is sweet to read of the time when the wrongs of earth will all be made right. But there is bitterness also connected with the study of prophecy. There is the bitterness of self-judgment which the prophetic Scriptures produce. There is the bitterness of viewing the judgments which must soon fall on apostate Judaism and Christendom. And there is the bitterness of contemplating the eternal doom of all who reject the Savior.” (BBC)

Zechariah 6

5-8, 13,

Zechariah 6:5–8 (ESV) 5 And the angel answered and said to me, “These are going out to the four winds of heaven, after presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth. 6 The chariot with the black horses goes toward the north country, the white ones go after them, and the dappled ones go toward the south country.” 7 When the strong horses came out, they were impatient to go and patrol the earth. And he said, “Go, patrol the earth.” So they patrolled the earth. 8 Then he cried to me, “Behold, those who go toward the north country have set my Spirit at rest in the north country.”

“The interpreting angel identifies the four sets of horses and chariots as the four spirits of heaven, God’s agents to bring the Gentile world into subjection to the Messiah. The black horses go to the north, and the dappled ones, to the south. These two directions in the prophetic Scriptures are commonly associated with enemies of Israel (for example, king of the North and king of the South). The white horses go forth after the black ones and apparently the red horses patrol in undesignated areas…The interpreting angel points out that the horses which went toward the north country had given rest to His Spirit. This may imply the destruction of the northern army (Babylon) which was a constant source of danger to the land of Israel. Taking the vision as a whole, it seems to indicate the destruction of Israel’s enemies by messengers of the Lord. Once again, this is an event that will precede Christ’s kingdom on earth.” (BBC)

Zechariah 6:13 (ESV) 13 It is he who shall build the temple of the LORD and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there shall be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” ’

“Ordinarily, a crown is made for a ruler, not for a high priest. But this action points forward to the coming of Christ as King and Priest. He is spoken of in verse 12 as the BRANCH who will build the millennial temple, bear royal honor, and … sit and rule on His throne. David Baron notes:

‘Surely it is in keeping with the Royal Priesthood of Messiah, that the Hebrew word used here (for temple) means both palace and sanctuary. As King He has entered into His palace, and as Priest into His sanctuary.’” (BBC)

John 9

John 9:18–19 (ESV) 18 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”

“Many of the Jews were still unwilling to believe that a miracle had been performed. And so they called the parents of the man to see what they would say…Who would know better than parents if a child had been born without sight? Surely their testimony would be conclusive. So the Pharisees asked them whether this was their son and also how he received his sight.”

The Jews were in complete disbelief that the man was born blind and had been miraculously healed until they received corroborative testimony from the man’s parents. It seems good to draw from this that while there is no wrongdoing in verifying the truthfulness of a claim, we must also not proceed in utter doubt that God is capable of performing miracles.

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