Day 172 - Precious Shall be Their Blood

Today's Reading: 2 Chron. 8-9 and Ps. 72

In 2 Chronicles we are again reviewing Solomon's growing kingdom, his increasing wealth and influence (ships coming with gifts from the kings of Tarshish), and how all the king's of the earth sought his presence. I think it's interesting how today's reading in Psalms 72 parallels, for it is a prayer for Solomon. It even shares the very prophecy of how the king's of Tarshish will him gifts, and all the kings of the earth will fall down before Solomon. (Wow! I'm not sure how these correlating readings aligned up so perfectly, except by the power of the Holy Spirit!)

However, in Psalm 72, I also see pictures of Christ: "For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also and him that hath no helper. He shall spare the poor and the needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. (Sound familiar?) He shall redeem their soul from edit and violence: and precious shall be their blood in his sight."

This last passage really struck home with me today as I'm currently finishing a few days in Rome, and we've been looking at the Roman Coliseum where thousands of Christians have been martyred, the prison where Peter and Paul spent their final days before their execution, and other very sobering historical sites for early martyrs and Christianity. A lot of tragic things happened here in Rome, and yet we know that "precious is their blood in HIS sight." Someday, He will reverse the wrong and reward those who spilled their blood for His Kingdom. (Photo to left, dungeon where Paul and Peter spent final days. Paul wrote 2nd Timothy from here!)

Tomorrow's Reading: 2 Chron. 10-12 and Ephesians 1