The word ‘burn’ is rarely used in the Chronicles. However, its uses are instructive. Twice we find men burning idols. In I Chronicles 14:12 David defeats the Philistines and burns their idols. In II Chronicles 15:16 Asa burns his mother’s idols. In a similar act of cleansing, Josiah takes the bones of the priests of Baal and burns them on the altar as he purges Israel of all her idols (II Chronicles 34:1-7).  The Lord command Israel to burn idols when she entered the promise land (Deuteronomy 7:5, 12:3), David, Asa, and Josiah were following the explicit commands of God in burning idols.

There are two other examples of burning in Chronicles, but this time it is not stone or wood that gets burned. It is flesh and bone. In II Chronicles 28:3 Ahaz burns his children in the fire “according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord has cast out before the children of Israel.” In II Chronicles 33:6 Manasseh causes his sons to pass through the fire as act of worship.  The Lord warned Israel of this in Deuteronomy 12:29-32:

When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations whom you go in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, take care that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods?—that I also may do the same.’ You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the LORD hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods. “Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it. 

Recently Israel approved state funded abortions for women ages 20-33 for any reason at all. Israel, the nation beloved by GOPers around the world, now has some of the most liberal abortion laws in the world. In 2013 there were over 980,000 children killed in the womb in America. There are 40-45 million abortions worldwide each year,  roughly 125,000 abortions per day. What is the reason we kill our children? What is at the root of this holocaust? As terrible as abortion is, it is just fruit, not the root of the problem. The root that gives us abortion is idol worship. We love pleasure. We love freedom. We love money. We love our houses peaceful and clean. We love our vacations and our toys.  We love convenience. We worship the great trinity of pleasure, freedom and money. Therefore we kill our children.

Until we burn our idols like David and Asa we will continue to kill our children. Until pastors encourage their parishioners to stop loving the world and start loving God then we will continue to kill our children. Until we teach our sons and daughters that God made them to be fruitful we will continue to sacrifice our children, Until we want children more than we want money or time or pleasure or cleanliness we will continue to burn them. Often those who do not abort their children worship the same gods.  We may not burn our children, but we still love pleasure and money. We still whine and complain about our children. Or refuse to have any or carefully limit how many we have. Or send them off to the state to educate them because it is too hard to do at home or costs too much to send them to a private Christian school. Many people who oppose abortion with their mouths support it with their lives. Even though we may not abort our children, the idols of pleasure, money, freedom, and convenience are often set up in our homes and our churches.The church must burn these idols and cleanse her sanctuaries of these abominations before she can speak with authority in the public square and abortion ends in this land.

The Chronicles have always been some of my favorite books. Maybe I got that from my father, who loves the stories there, especially David’s mighty men.  As you study a book, you begin to recognize themes, threads that tie the book together. Chronicles has several different themes, but one that I did not anticipate was that of seeking the Lord. In the very first narrative section (I Chronicles 10:1-14) we see that Saul was killed by God because he failed to “seek guidance” from the Lord. So from the very start the author wants us to realize that one of Saul’s great sins was failing to seek God. David repeats this theme when he says that during the days of Saul men did not “seek” the ark of the covenant. Here are the two verses. The translation is ESV. The Hebrew word used is “darash.”

1 Chron 10:14  He did not seek guidance from the LORD. Therefore the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.

1 Chron 13:3  Then let us bring again the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it in the days of Saul.”

This idea permeates the book. After David’s failed attempt to bring back the ark he says:

Because you did not carry it the first time, the LORD our God broke out against us, because we did not seek him according to the rule (I Chron. 15:13).  

In other words, David, just like Saul, had failed to seek the Lord before bringing back the ark.

The other uses of “seek” in I Chronicles are listed below.

1 Chron. 22:19  Now set your mind and heart to seek the LORD your God. Arise and build the sanctuary of the LORD God, so that the ark of the covenant of the LORD and the holy vessels of God may be brought into a house built for the name of the LORD.”

1 Chron. 28:8-9  Now therefore in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the LORD, and in the hearing of our God, observe and seek out all the commandments of the LORD your God, that you may possess this good land and leave it for an inheritance to your children after you forever. And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.

All of these verses are David giving commands to people. In 22:19 he addressing the leaders of Israel and encouraging them to seek the Lord and be a help to his son Solomon. In 28:8-9 He is addressing Solomon as he prepares to take the throne. Notice that I have “searches” in bold in 28:9. That is the same word as “seek.” It gives us a better idea of what the word means. Those who seek God are not passive. They are searching for him, searching out his laws to see what he requires, searching for his face in prayer. Seeking God is not like wandering in the woods. It is like searching for hidden treasure.

Here are some other uses of the word in II Chronicles.

2 Chron 12:14 And he [Rehoboam] did evil, for he did not set his heart to seek the LORD.

2 Ch 14:4  and [Abijah] commanded Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment.

2 Chron 15:2  and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The LORD is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.

2 Chron 15:12-13  And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul,  but that whoever would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman.

2 Chron 16:12 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but sought help from physicians.

All the references in 15 and 16 are to King Asa and his reign.

2 Chron 17:3  The LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals,

2 Chron 19:3  Nevertheless, some good is found in you [Jehoshaphat], for you destroyed the Asheroth out of the land, and have set your heart to seek God.”

2 Chron 20:3  Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

2 Chron 26:5 He [Uzziah] set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him prosper.

2 Chron 30:19  who sets his heart to seek God, the LORD, the God of his fathers, even though not according to the sanctuary’s rules of cleanness [Hezekiah praying for the people].

2 Chron 34:3  For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek [Josiah]  the God of David his father, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, and the carved and the metal images.

Here a few other points from these texts.

Seeking God begins in the heart (I Chron 22:9 and II Chron 12:14, 19:3, 30:19), but it leads to concrete behavior, such as the rejection of idols, obeying God’s word, prayer, and humility.

Seeking God and his commandments are not quite synonyms, but they are closely related. We see this parallel in II Chronicles 14:4 where Abijah commands Judah to seek God and keep his commandments. The two ideas are in parallel with each other.

Good leaders seek God and call those under their authority to seek God. Abijah, Asa, Jehoshaphat, and Hezekiah all called upon Israel to seek God. Parents, pastors, dare I even say it, magistrates are to call upon their people to seek God.

The opposite of seeking God is seeking help from some other source. Asa sought help from physicians instead of from God. Jehoshaphat refused to seek help from the Baals instead he sought help from the Lord.  This means prayer is one of the essential ways seek his face. We do not rely upon man or our own resources, but we cry out to the Lord to rescue and deliver us.