I teach a weekly Bible study where my pattern has been to cover one chapter of the Bible at each session. That chapter could be Genesis 1 or Leviticus 14, but I have tried to discipline the study to one chapter and keep going. Years ago I started with Genesis and am now at the end of II Chronicles.

I have found II Chronicles to be a book about reformation. Yes, there is rebellion, idolatry and politics, but overall the chronicler gives the hope of reform in any situation. There is a roller coaster ride throughout II Chronicles as different kings fluc-tuated between destroying "high places" and restoring "high places." The covenant blessings of prosperity, temple restoration and victories over enemies were immediately followed by the covenant curses of famine, disease and defeats by enemies.

But whenever reform came, it had several distinct features. First of all, it had godly leader-ship. Reform would come in waves with the leadership of men like Asa, Jehoshaphat, Joash, Uzziah, Jotham, Hezekiah, and Josiah. They were all in the blood line of David, but a blood line is never the determining factor in godliness. Also in the blood line of David were scoun-drels like Jehoram, Ahaz and Manasseh. The godly kings who led in reform all shared one trait: they did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.

The leadership of a godly king almost always led to God-centered worship. The restoration of temple worship based on the Law of Moses was the hallmark of every reform movement. The repairing and purifying of the temple was soon followed by sacrifices offered by the priests and praise led by the Levites. The God-centered worship under King Heze-kiah is described in II Chronicles 29:33: "King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to praise the LORD with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness and bowed their heads and worshiped."

But God-centered worship was never an end in itself. It led to another mark of true reformation: repentance. When the true worship of God was restored during the reforms under Hezekiah, the people responded. "When all this had ended (the restoration of God-centered worship), the Israelites who were there went out to the towns of Judah, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. They destroyed the high places and the altars throughout Judah and Benjamin and in Ephraim and Manasseh. After they had destroyed all of them, the Israelites returned to their own towns and to their own property." (II Chronicles 31:1)

What sounds like vandalism was really repentance, just as the plucking out of the right eye and the cutting off of the right hand wasn’t mutilation, but repentance. What else can we do when we come to God in spirit and truth than to repent in dust and ashes? Repentance might be the evidence of true reformation, especially the kind of repentance where we honor God as the LORD.

There is some bad news about reform. In almost every case in II Chronicles, whenever reform was being experienced, opposition arose. Some-thing would predictably happen. Either the king would be puffed up with pride or an enemy would invade. The king would be struck with a disease or an unwise alliance would be made. In other words, reform was always tested. When Heze-kiah was surrounded by Sennacherib, what was he to do? Would Hezekiah trust God or not? The integrity of refor-mation was put on trial, and Hezekiah came through it all giving glory to God. "King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to heaven about this....So the LORD saved Hezekiah and the people of Israel from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all others. He took care of them on every side." (II Chronicles 32:20, 22)

These stories of reform are more than stories. They are patterns for us in the PCUSA who long for reform. We need to see how the Lord has worked time and time again. II Chronicles gives us, in times much worse than today, the hope of change and reform.

Let us ask ourselves, Where is the godly leadership? Where is the God- centered, biblically based worship? Where is the repentance? Where are the trials and tests?

II Chronicles reminds us of the hope of reform in the darkest of days. May this be our hope in the PCUSA.