Acts 17:16-34. Paul was escorted to Athens. Waiting for Timothy and Silas to arrive Paul reasoned with the Greeks about Jesus and the resurrection. Being Greeks they thought the resurrection was the female counterpart to Jesus, so they took him to Areopagus (or Mars Hill), where Paul gave his famous “Athens discourse”. Read it and reflect.
2 Chronicles 9. The Queen of Sheba praised Solomon,” the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard.” The chapter continues listing Solomon’s wealth and splendor, ending with a record of his death.
2 Chronicles 10. Israel rebelled against Rehoboam, and nothing good came out of that.
Acts 17:1-15. Paul and Silas arrived in Thessalonica, preached in the Synagogue, many people were converted, the Jews didn’t like it and a crowd attacked Jason’s home. But in Berea they were welcomed: “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” The net result though was similar to what happened in Thessalonica, so Paul was escorted to Athens.
2 Chronicles 6 records Solomon’s speech when the work was completed and Solomon’s prayer of dedication.
2 Chronicles 7. Solomon dedicated the Temple, and God appeared to Solomon a second time, promising “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
Acts 16:16-40. In Philippi Paul and Silas were put in prison, but while singing praises to God their chains fell off, the Philippian Jailer, rather than killing himself asked “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” Since Paul and Silas were Roman citizens they were asked to leave secretly, but they went to Lydia’s house instead. After that they departed.
2 Chronicles 3. Solomon did build the temple to man’s standard, six hands to a cubit. He even used gold nails instead of iron nails in the ceiling, far more gold than was called for in the tabernacle.
2 Chronicles 4 contains a listing of the temple furnishings.
2 Chronicles 5. The ark was brought into the Temple, and the glory of the LORD filled the Temple.
Acts 16:1-15. Timothy joined Paul and Silas in Lystra and in Troas Paul received “the Macedonian Call”. Lydia, a new convert was baptized at Philippi.
2 Chronicles 1. Solomon asked for wisdom, he received it and more, God also gave him economic and military power.
2 Chronicles 2. Solomon Prepared to build the temple, took inventory of all things collected and tallied the number of constricted aliens to do the work.
Psalm 45, of the Sons of Korah, a Wedding Song. C.S. Lewis saw this psalm pointing to Christmas: “The birth of Christ is the arrival of the great warrior and the great king. Also of the Lover, the Bridegroom, whose beauty surpasses that of man. But not only the Bridegroom as the lover, the desired; the Bridegroom also who makes fruitful, the Father of children still to be begotten and born.” (C.S. Lewis, as cited in Willem VanGemeren)
President Donald Trump will participate in a public Bible reading this week as the administration continues to reemphasize the importance of the Holy Bible in the daily life of the business of America.
“On April 21, President Trump is scheduled to read Scripture via video message from the Oval Office during the 6 p.m. EST hour,” a press release from organizers reads. The event is called “America Reads The Bible,” April 18–25, 2026: A national, continuous Bible reading — live from Washington, D.C., watched across the U.S. One Week. One Nation. One Book. 📖 AmericaReadsTheBible.com
This passage of the Holy Bible, 2 Chronicles 7: 11-22 is a passage that is quoted in part every National Day of Prayer, originally called a day of humiliation, fasting and prayer, held on May 15 1776, as a prelude to the preparation of the declaration of independence. This year the National Day of Prayer is on May 7. For the great majority of Americans that have never read the Holy Bible in its entirety an explanation is in order. The passage refers to the dedication of Solomon’s Temple, a celebration of offerings and animal sacrifices never seen before or again in the life of the Jewish nation. The Jews still mourn the loss of the Temple, and they are still waiting for their Messiah, waiting for their final redemption.
Two thousand years ago Jesus Christ was born, and when the time was right stepped forward and claimed to be equal with God, an obvious blasphemy unless it was true. This was accepted by large masses of the people, but not the religious establishment, so for this he was crucified by the Romans, since only the Romans had the power to condemn people to death. After the well documented crucifixion Jesus was buried and a guard was placed to prevent the dead body from being removed. After three days Jesus rose again from the dead and forty days later he returned to Heaven. Ten days after that he sent his Holy Spirit to the few believers. In all the time before the Holy Spirit had come upon Gods people, and they prophesied, wrote songs and psalms, and wrote the Holy Scriptures. God’s dwelling was in the Tabernacle, and after the Temple was completed God’s glory filled the temple. The moment Jesus Christ died on the cross the veil in the Temple was rent from top to bottom and the restricted access to God once a year was removed. The change is total. A person who truly believes has total direct access to God, because God Himself lives within the body of the believer in the form of the person of the Holy Spirit. The body of the believer has become the tabernacle or temple of the Holy Spirit. This is a very abbreviated version of the Gospel of the grace of God.
The Jews do not accept Christianity, because for them Jesus was not their Messiah. The Muslims do believe in Jesus (Issa) but only as a prophet, inferior to Muhammad and he was never crucified, it only seemed so to the Jews. Instead he was directly translated to God, because God would never punish his only Son, and certainly not for our sins.
What I have described is a very abbreviated form of the Gospel. Much more can be grasped by reading the complete Bible. My journey started with reading the book of Hebrews, then the gospel of Matthew, then the book of Genesis, and then I was hooked. The Bible is a fantastic book, but to be honest there are parts of the old Testament I still have a hard time reading. The Bible tells it as it was, warts and all, and in a way it has strengthened my faith.
Acts 23. The Apostle Paul gave his message in Jerusalem before the Sanhedrin, which led to the plot to kill Paul. Paul was then sent to Felix under heavy guard.
2 Chronicles 34. King Josiah tore down the altars to the idols, but not before he had their priests killed and burned. Then he took up offerings to restore the temple. Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law. Josiah then restored the temple and the temple worship and the people followed as long as Josiah lived.
2 Chronicles 35. Josiah celebrated Passover lavishly but after that he foolishly engaged king Neco of Egypt, who intended to fight somebody else. The result was that Josiah died in battle. One of the mourners was the Prophet Jeremiah who then wrote the book of Lamentations as a result.
2 Chronicles 36 tells a sad story, the reign and captivity of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin. Zedekiah was granted king by Nebuchadnezzar but rebelled. This led to the fall of Jerusalem and seventy years of captivity. 2 Chronicles ends with Cyrus’ Proclamation.
Acts 22. The Apostle Paul gave his salvation testimony to the Jerusalem crowd in the Aramaic language. When Paul mentioned the stoning of Stephen and that he preached to the Gentiles as well, the crowd wanted him killed right away. Paul claimed Roman citizenship, so the next day he was ordered to stand before the Sanhedrin.
2 Chronicles 31 tells of the Reforms of Hezekiah. “He did it with all his heart, and prospered.”
2 Chronicles 32. Sennacherib boasted against the LORD but was defeated and died. Hezekiah humbled himself, so the LORD sent an angel to deliver Judah. Hezekiah grew in wealth and honor, but he too finally died.
Chronicles 33. Manasseh, king of Judah became a sorcerer, repented and was restored but eventually died and was replaced by Amon , who reigned for two years, did evil, was killed and his son Josiah became king
Acts 21. On the way to Jerusalem the Apostle Paul was warned everywhere by the Holy Spirit not to go, but Paul continued unmoved, and people finally gave up, saying ‘The Lord’s will be done’. Paul was urged to make peace and purify himself with four other Jews that had taken a vow, which he did. A mob was stirred up anyway and Paul was arrested in the Temple. Because Paul was a Roman citizen he was allowed to address the Jerusalem mob.
2 Chronicles 30. Hezekiah celebrated the Passover and there was great joy in Jerusalem.
Psalm 49, of the Sons of Korah. This psalm is a teaching Psalm and gives instruction on how to live and about our hope of salvation “But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave,For He shall receive me”
Acts 20:17-38. From Miletus the Apostle Paul called the Ephesian Elders and when they arrived he exhorted them, said farewell and told them he would never see them again.
2 Chronicles 27. Jotham, king of Judah followed God, became mighty, reigned sixteen years and died.
2 Chronicles 28. Ahaz, king of Judah did not follow God, was defeated by Syria and Israel. Israel returned the captives taken. After Ahaz committed apostasy, he shut down the temple and died.
2 Chronicles 29. Hezekiah became king of Judah, cleansed the Temple and restored temple worship.
Acts 20:1-16. The Apostle Paul left Ephesus and ministered in Greece for 3 months, left Greece and ministered at Troas, where he on the last day there preached on and on and a young man fell down from a third floor window and died, but was revived by Paul. Undaunted Paul continued preaching until daybreak, after which he left and went to Miletus.
2 Chronicles 24. Joash repaired the Temple but then committed apostasy and was finally executed.
2 Chronicles 25. Amaziah reigned in Judah and went to war against Edom. Israel routed Judah and finally Amaziah was killed and buried.
Chronicles 26. Uzziah became the next king of Judah, young and successful and made Judah powerful again, but his pride got the best of him and he became a leper, an outcast. Jotham, his son became de facto regent until Uzziah’s death.
Len Bilén's blog, a blog about faith, politics and the environment. 