2 Chronicles
7: God himself (unlike the version in Kings) sends fire to consume the offering, legitimating the temple Solomon has built. After the great sacrifices Solomon makes at the temple, he receives a promise: The temple will be the center of worship and religious cult for the people; God will bless them and hear their prayers, but if they turn away to other gods, they will cast out of the land.
8: Solomon expands and establishes his kingdom. There are great buildings, works, fortifications etc. Solomon marries a daughter of Pharaoh.
9: Solomon is wealthy, famous for his wisdom, is visited by foreign dignitaries who marvel at his accomplishments etc. The David-Solomon time in Chronicles is the height of Israel's power, influence, and orthodoxy and becomes the standard by which all former and later kings are judged.
10: The splitting of the kingdom is in quite a different light in Chronicles. Here it happens on account of the unfaithfulness of the north rather than as a consequence of Solomon's disloyalty to Yahweh and unscrupulousness. Here Rehoboam ignores the sage advice of his elder councilors and instead listens to the young men, who cause him to be arrogant. The tribes of the north split off to form their own kingdom under Jeroboam.
11: Rehoboam is seen to be faithful the first three years, bringing in the priests from Israel, listening to the prophets and continuing to build up cities. Chronicles continues to be concerned with naming various people and we get that here as well. You will find that in the summary of a kings accomplishments will be listed the number of wives, concubines, sons and daughters the king had.
12: Rehoboam turns from following Yahweh. Exactly what that is is not told, but the invasion of Shishak of Egypt is also recounted in Kings. Here Rehoboam turns back to God, and is given a reprieve from total destruction. Shishak takes many gold items, but they are replaced by bronze ones. Definitely a sign of decline.
13: Abijah (Abijam in Kings) is a good king in Chronicles if not in Kings. He and Jeroboarm war, as was common, especially in the first years after the split. The story of Abijah is the story of how God is blessing the south because of their faithfulness to Yahweh, while the North flounders because of idolatry.
14-16: Asa was a good king and then a bad one. He begins with great faithfulness to Yahweh and reaps the rewards of prosperity and defeating of mighty enemies (the Ethiopians did not have a millionman army - no one did in those days...it likely refers to a particular cohort).
Asa launches a reform in chapter 15 in response to the prophet. He restores part of the temple and makes a covenant renewal in the form of sacrifices at a gathering of all the people at the temple.
Asa's faithfulness wains, however. He does not trust God, but, using treasure from the temple and palace to bribe to King of Aram to help him defeat the King of Israel at Ramah. The campaign is successful, but Asa is rebuked; which he doesn't like. Asa also fails to seek God when he becomes ill later in life.
17-20: King Jehoshaphat is another example of starting well and then having some trouble. He begins by fortifying the land and even sending out teachers to educate the people and cities the law of the Lord. He received tribute from vassal kings and had a good deal of peace during his reign.
Jehoshaphat makes an ill-conceived alliance with the king of Israel, Ahab - yes that Ahab. While this is one of the first real treaties with the north, likely secured by Jehoshahat's son Jehoram to Ahab's daughter, it will cause trouble in the South later.
They inquire of the Lord, as to whether they should join together to fight the King of Aram, and the prophets there say they will have success in battle, but Jehoshaphat doesn't believe them. He asks for another, and that prophet fortells doom - in fact Ahab is being lured to his demise.. They battle anyway and Ahab is killed - even though he is in disguise -, but Jehoshaphat escapes.
Jehoshaphat continues reforms in 19. In fact these are amazing reforms, that are not even done by in king in the book of Kings. Judges are setup and told to follow Yahweh, and the king himself travels through the country (Beer-sheba and Ephraim were the southern and northern borders of Judah) to bring "them back to Yahweh."
Chapter 20 covers the great war in which God defends the people from a large coalition of invaders. Jehoshaphat sees and is terrified of the multi-national army and realizes only God can save them. He prays on behalf of all the people, who are fasting. God hears their prayer. No one must fight to defeat this enemy. God does it on his own. Quite the lesson. We faced with an unbeatable foe, rely on God to do your fighting.
20 ends with another weakness of Jehoshaphat. He again makes an allegiance with the King of Israel and suffers misfortune on account of it.
21: Jehoram does not begin or end well. He takes power in a very bloody way. He fails to quash an Edomite revolt as a result. He sets up the high places (places to worship other gods and places to worship Yahweh outside the temple) and receives an incurable, and gross, disease. No one mourns his passing.
Obadiah
It's the shortest book in the OT. It references the Edomites (who rebelled) and particularly their complicity in the Babylonian conquest. It is important to remember that in Hebrew tradition the Edomites are the descendants of Essau, brother of Jacob (who becomes Israel, father of 12 sons etc.). The Edomites were allied with the Hebrews and were treated more kindly in their conquest of their land. That they aided the Babylonians is thus viewed as a vicious betrayal.
2 Corinthians
There is a lot of history with the Corinthians and Paul. He helped found the church, sent them a letter, sent them another (1 Corinthians), then sent the Timothy, who returned with a bad report. Paul has a conflict, and apparently got into it with someone. He wrote his letter of tears, and finally this letter (thought it may not have been the last). It is in many ways a said, disquieting letter. Pain, anguish, suffering, grief, are ideas and emotions that seem to inhabit this letter.
Paul was debating about whether to visit, and decided to send this letter. He then goes on in chapter 2 to find reconciliation with the person he had a great conflict with. Problems in the church and hurt feelings are not a new phenomena!
3-4: Paul continues to discuss his ministry - and specifically how he ministers and ministered to the Corinthians. He is in effect arguing that what he says is truly from Christ and that others who have come into the community (we get to that later) are the ones who are false.
5: Paul writes about the importance of a ministry of reconciliation - reconciliation that must occur because of the anguish and pain that is a part of life.
6: Paul again pleads that the Corinthians will listen to him, not for his sake, but for God's. There is an abrupt change from verse 14 - 7.1 that is likely a missed edit from an earlier letter, since 7.2 picks up and continues with the same idea. It may also simply be that Paul is digressing regarding a particular problem at that church.
7: Paul continues to ask for reconciliation and then returns to his travelogue and the ministry of Titus.
8: Here Paul shifts gears, segueing from Titus to the support of his ministry and the churches in Macedonia who are impoverished. It is very clear from the early writings of the church that various churches supported the members of others who were poor (especially Jerusalem). Paul quotes in verse 15 Exodus 16:18 - the tale about the manna. Everyone was to gather enough for that day, and when they were done - everyone had just the right amount - not too much, not too little. Paul appeals to this idea of the abundance of God and distribution of wealth to encourage the Corinthians to be generous as God has been generous.
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