Week 47, November 16–22: 2 Thessalonians 1–3; 1 Chronicles 1–16; Psalms 123–129

• Sun  Nov 16  2 Thess. 1–3  Ps. 123
• Mon  Nov 17  1 Chron. 1–2  Ps. 124
• Tue  Nov 18  1 Chron. 3–5  Ps. 125
• Wed  Nov 19  1 Chron. 6–7  Ps. 126
• Thu  Nov 20  1 Chron. 8–10  Ps. 127
• Fri  Nov 21  1 Chron. 11–13  Ps. 128
• Sat  Nov 22  1 Chron. 14–16  Ps. 129

Last week’s reading included the letters to the Colossian church and the first letter to the Thessalonians, and we start this week by reading Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonian church. Colossians and 1 and 2 Thessalonians are generally positive in tone. In contrast to books like 1 Corinthians and Galatians, Paul’s emphasis in writing to the Christians in Colossae and Thessalonica is on thanking God and commending the Christians there for the evidence of the gospel’s good work in their lives and in their churches.

The differences of emphasis in Paul’s letters can be attributed to the particular situations of those churches—the challenges they were facing and the ways they were responding to those challenges. This variety also contributes to the ongoing relevance of the Bible. It speaks to God’s people across the centuries in ways that fit all sorts of occasions experienced by Christians and churches throughout history. While Paul and the other NT writers were writing to particular churches in the first century world, it appears they also expected the letters to have value for a broader readership than the immediate recipients. We can be confident that God, through the process of inspiration, worked through the biblical authors to communicate timeless teaching for Christians from the first to the twenty-first century.

Colossians is another letter Paul wrote from prison. He addresses the Christians in Colossae as the “saints and faithful brothers in Christ” and commends them for their faithfulness (Col. 1:2). His real emphasis, however, as is typical for Paul, is relentlessly God- and Christ-centered. So, as we also see in 1–2 Thessalonians, his positive message to the Christians is more about thanking and praising God for his faithful, powerful work than it is about praising those he is writing to. “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” he says to open Colossians, “since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints.” (Col. 1:3–4) He goes on to encourage them and exhort them to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord by keeping their eyes fixed on Christ Jesus, the preeminent Son of God. Colossians contains some of the Bible’s richest language praising Jesus and proclaiming his divine character and saving work.

The two letters to the Thessalonians were written by Paul to a church he had visited in his travels as a missionary. We read of his time in Thessalonica in Acts 17. Paul had stopped there and engaged in discussions with the Jewish leaders in the synagogue. He had demonstrated from their Scriptures (the OT) that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah the Scriptures anticipated, and that his death and resurrection were all part of God’s plan (Acts 17:1–3). Some of the Jews, and also some non-Jews, responded to Paul’s gospel message by believing, but some were jealous and stirred up a mob and attacked the Christians there (verses 4–9). The letters of 1 and 2 Thessalonians were written sometime later to encourage the church to continue in their faith and grow still more, even in the face of opposition and persecution.

One key theme running through Colossians and 1–2 Thessalonians is the focus on a mind set on heavenly and future realities. The gospel is the good news of what God has done in Christ, and it is also wonderful news of a promised future we wait for with eager expectation and hope. As we look back on Christ’s death and resurrection and forward to his second coming, we can live life now with joy and peace knowing that his promises are sure. He is accomplishing his purposes in us and in the world, and these purposes will come to full fruition on the last day.

Colossians encourages us to look to the risen Christ and see our own resurrection as an already-not-yet reality too. We are to “seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Col. 3:1–4)

In 1 Thessalonians, Paul writes to instill hope in his readers for Jesus’ second coming. Though we do not know the time or season of his return, we do know he is coming. We are to remain steadfast in our faith and hope, with the “breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake [still alive at the time of his second coming] or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” (1 Thess. 5:1–11)

Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonian church continues this same theme of setting our minds and hope on heavenly realities and future promises. There will be judgement at the time of Christ’s return, but that judgement will be for the vindication of those who are in Christ. In the day of Jesus’ coming, he will be glorified in those who are his, and they will marvel at him. In light of this, Paul prays that God would make them (us) worthy of their (our) calling. As we await our Savior’s promised return, let us also pray that the Lord would “fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in us, and us in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thess. 1:5–12).

After reading these encouraging Pauline epistles, we move back to the OT and begin the final book in the Hebrew Bible’s canonical (Tanak) order: 1–2 Chronicles. In our English Bibles, Chronicles follows Samuel and Kings, and much of what is covered in Chronicles repeats what we read in 1–2 Samuel and especially 1–2 Kings. Sometimes these books are referred to as synoptic histories, because they are similar accounts of parallel events. Nevertheless, we should not see them simply as repetitions of exactly the same content. Just as we see each of the four Gospels as significant in its own right, even though they too cover essentially the same historical period, so too we should read Chronicles as a distinct book of the Bible with its own emphases and message. As you read through 1–2 Chronicles, keep this in mind and be noticing the details that stand out in comparison with the accounts of Samuel and Kings. We will consider a few of the distinct features in future posts. Also take into account the placement of Chronicles in the Tanak order. Consider what difference it might make to our readerly perspective to read Chronicles after reading all the other OT books, the Prophets, Psalms, Ezra-Nehemiah, and the rest.

Like 1-2 Samuel and 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles should be read as one book. Its first several chapters are dominated by lists of names. These genealogies function to introduce the book, and though they do not make for as compelling reading as an exciting narrative, these genealogies do serve a narrative, and theological, purpose for the message of the book and of the OT as a whole. Through the listing of names, the author uses genealogy as a literary technique to summarize Israel’s history. We are expected to understand the prior stories represented by the names in the genealogies, and to trace the narrative of the rest of the OT, and of God’s activity and relationship with his people in history as it has been told throughout the rest of the OT. After going through the genealogies of each of the tribes of Israel, chapter 8 narrows in on the family line of king Saul. This moves us closer to where the narrative will pick up in chapter 10. There, the death of Saul, Israel’s first king, is followed by David’s rise to the throne.

Chapter 9 is a curious but important interruption between chapters 8 and 10. After Saul’s genealogy and before the beginning of the David story in chapter 10, the author lists representatives from the group that would eventually return from exile to begin the project of rebuilding Jerusalem. This list is essentially repeated in Nehemiah (Neh. 11:3–22), which was a book about this return from exile and the rebuilding effort of those initial returnees. Including the list here in 1 Chronicles 9 helps remind us as readers where things are heading as we read along. Even as we are about to read things much earlier in Israel’s history, the author wants us to keep in mind that exile is coming. And we are also told in advance why exile is coming; It is coming “because of their breach of faith.” (1 Chron. 9:1) 

These kinds of statements from the author are important to notice. They are purposeful and are meant to guide us in our reading. Knowing that Israel and Judah are heading towards exile shapes the way we read these stories, even when things seem to be going well in the time of David’s reign and the beginning of Solomon’s. Having already read 1–2 Samuel and 1–2 Kings, and having read the Prophets and their theological interpretation and assessment of Israel’s history, we already know anyway that the people, led by the kings, would become increasingly sinful. Chronicles retells the same history, but the emphasis is on God’s larger purposes and plans that go beyond the history that spans from Saul’s reign to exile. It goes all the way back to Adam and looks forward to the time when the Lord’s promises to David will be fulfilled in the distant future.