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Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 213

Aug1

A NEW MONTH!

Day 213 – Reading – Isaiah 64 – 66.

Read today’s Scriptures … ANYWHERE you find yourself this summer. Stay in the WORD!

Isaiah 64.

We finish the wonderful and challenging book of Isaiah today. 

Isaiah continues to pray for mercy.  Remember, his prophecy is of Israel in exile, while they have not actually been captured yet. He is looking toward those dreadful times. “Oh, do the things You used to do!” he prays. 

  • When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God beside you, who acts for those who wait for him.
  • You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways.”

But God’s people turned from him, and Isaiah mourns.

  • We sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?
  • We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
  • There is no one who calls upon your Name, who rouses himself to take hold of you;  for you have hidden your face from us, ad made us to melt in the hand of our iniquities.
  • O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. 
  • BE NOT SO TERRIBLY ANGRY, O LORD, and remember not iniquity forever.

Can you hear Isaiah pleading for the people and for what they lost because of their sin?

  • Please look, we are all your people.
  • Your holy cities have become a wilderness; Zion has become a wilderness,
  • JERUSALEM is a desolation.
  • OUR HOLY AND BEAUTIFUL HOUSE, where our fathers praised You, has been burned by fire….

And a desperate cry…

  • Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?

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Isaiah 65.

The LORD answers, repeating His warnings of judgment.  It’s harsh, but oh, did Israel deserve it.

  • “I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’ to a nation that was NOT called by My name. 
  • I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices; 
  • …a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and making offerings on bricks;
  • …who sit in tombs, and spend the night in secret places;
  • …who eat pig’s flesh, and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels;
  • …who say, ‘Keep to Yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for You.’
  • THESE ARE SMOKE IN MY NOSTRILS….

How, oh how, and a chosen people treat their God in such evil ways.  (Indeed, how can we do it??)  But then God shows mercy on a remnant, a small “cluster.”

  • I will bring forth offspring from Jacob, and from Judah possessors of my mountains; my chosen shall posses it and my servants shall dwell there.

And even greater and more wondrous!

  • Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind….. I create Jerusalem to be a joy…. I will rejoice in Jerusalem…. no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress. 

And Isaiah goes on to describe more of the wonderful things of the Messiah’s Kingdom on earth.

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Isaiah 66.

The LORD reminds Isaiah and Israel (and us), that He is not looking for a Temple made of stone to dwell in, but a heart, a special kind of heart.   

  • This is the one to whom I will look (with favor); he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.

David knew this as well, as he cried, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”   And, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

And Isaiah continues with the final judgment and wrath of God on an unbelieving, grossly sinning people.  “For behold, the LORD will come in fire… to render His anger in fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire.  for I know their works and their thoughts and the time is coming.”

And then to the remnant of Israel, the survivors, “For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the LORD, so shall your offspring and your name remain.”

Halleluia!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Days 208 and 209

Jul28

NOTE: Sunday and Monday studies are posted together on MONDAY.

Day 208 – Reading – Isaiah 44 – 48.

Day 209 – 2 Kings 19, Psalms 46, 80, and 135.

Read today’s Scriptures.  PRAY and SING them too!

SUNDAY,

Day 208 – Isaiah 44.

(We are still in the section (chapters 40-66) that addresses Judah AS IF they were already in the Babylonian captivity, which in reality is perhaps 70/80 years off.)

Isaiah’s words from the LORD about the millennial kingdom are meant to encourage Judah.

  • But now hear, O Jacob my servant, Israel whom I have chosen! Thus says the LORD who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you. “Fear not, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun* whom I have chosen. “For I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring and my blessing on your descendants.”

*Jeshurun is an honored name for Israel, whose root meaning is “right or straight,” the opposite of the meaning of Jacob, which is “deceiver.”

  •  Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts, “I AM the first and I AM the last; besides me there is no god.  WHO is like Me? Let him declare it.”  “Is there a God besides me? THERE IS NO ROCK; I KNOW NOT ANY!”

After that, the foolishness of idol worship is portrayed.  They are nothing!  “The carpenter cuts down a cedar, or cypress, or oak.  It becomes fuel to warm him, roast his meat, and bake his bread. He also makes an idol out of it and worships and prays to it, even though it falls down on its face.”

But the LORD, the LORD, is Israel’s Redeemer.

  • “I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like a mist; RETURN TO ME, for I have redeemed you! 
  • Sing O heavens, for the LORD has done it; shout, O depths of the earth; break forth into singing, O mountains, O forest, and every tree in it.  FOR THE LORD HAS REDEEMED JACOB AND WILL BE GLORIFIED IN ISRAEL.”

And then the LORD speaks of the way future Persian king, Cyrus.  “He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose, saying. “Jerusalem shall be built, the Temple will have its foundation laid.”

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Isaiah 45.

The Lord continues about Cyrus, His anointed instrument.  God will use him to “subdue nations,” and “loose the belts of kings,” and “open doors and gates before him.”

God pledges to Cyrus, “I will go before you to level the exalted places, break in pieces the doors of bronze, cut through bars of iron, and give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places.”

WHY? 

For the sake of God’s servant Jacob, and Israel, His chosen.  AND… “That you may know that it is the LORD, the God of Israel, who called you by name.  And that the people will know that there is none beside me; I am the LORD, and there is no other.

“I have stirred him (Cyrus) up in righteousness, and I will make all his ways level; he shall build my city and set my exiles free.”   Here Isaiah is telling about a Persian King who will come to destroy Babylon and release the Jewish captives….. and the captivity hasn’t even happened yet!

Many sections in this chapter are glorious statements and praises to the LORD God. Read them and let your heart swell. 

Verse 22:  “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.”

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Isaiah 46.

The useless idols of Babylon are compared to the One True God.  “Bel (Baal) bows down, and Nebo (the Phoenician chief god) stoops and bows down. They cannot save themselves, and go into captivity. 

But God, who bore Israel before their birth, carried them from the womb, and will even to their old age and gray hairs, HE will carry and save them…. for He is God, there is no other like Him.  He will put salvation in Zion, for Israel His glory.

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Isaiah 47.

Isaiah foretells the humiliation of Babylon.  “Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne. For you shall no more be called tender and delicate. Take the millstones and grind flour, put off your veil, strip off your robe, uncover your legs, pass through the rivers…. your disgrace shall be seen.  I will take vengeance, and I will spare no one. Our Redeemer — the LORD of hosts is his name — is the Holy One of ISRAEL.

“I was angry with my people; I profaned my heritage; I gave them into your hand (O daughter of the Chaldeans); you showed them no mercy; on the AGED you made your yoke EXCEEDINGLY HEAVY!!!

‘Now hear this …  “these two things shall come to you in a moment, in one day; the loss of children and widowhood shall come upon you in full measure in spite of your many sorceries…”  “…there is no one to save you.”

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Isaiah 48.

And now, a bit of harshness for Israel, for their good.  God speaks to the house of Israel, who swore by his name and confessed him, but didn’t do it in truth or righteousness. 

“Because I knew that you were obstinate, and your neck was an iron sinew, and your forehead brass… I declared things to you before they came to pass — so you wouldn’t say, “My idol told me. my carved and metal image commanded them.” 

And now “From this time forth I announce to you NEW things, hidden things that you have not known.”

God says he has refined them and tried them in the furnace of affliction – for His own name’s sake. 

  • “Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea……………..”
  • Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea, declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it, send it out to the end of the earth; say, “The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob!”

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MONDAY,

Day 209 – 2 Kings 19.  

Back to some history. This section is a repeat of what we read in Isaiah 37. Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, and his commander, Rabshakeh, came to harass Jerusalem and King Hezekiah. They also mocked and reviled the Holy One of Israel.  Hezekiah brought the threats before the LORD and prayed for help.

The LORD promises to send Sennacherib home, where he will be killed. (It happens.)

The LORD promises He will “defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”  And that night, the angel of the LORD goes through the Assyrian camp and kills 185K soldiers.  In the morning, there were only dead bodies. 

This chapter also recounts Hezekiah’s terminal illness, his prayer, and God’s adding 15 years to his life. 

But before YOU decide to pray to live longer, like Hezekiah pleaded, remember what the king DID with those extra years.  He foolishly (pridefully?) showed some well-wishing Babylonian emissaries ALL the treasures in his house and his realm, including the silver, gold, (precious stones), (costly vessels), spices, precious oil, (stalls for all kinds of cattle and sheepfolds), the entire armory, and everything in his storehouses (grain and wine). 

(NOTE:  The Babylonians – always interested in the cosmos – had heard – perhaps even experienced – the sundial going back those degrees, and had come to investigate – and… bring Hezekiah presents.)

When Isaiah heard what Hezekiah had done, he rebuked him for his stupidity and prophesied that EVERYTHING he had shown TO the Babylonians would one day be carried away BY the Babylonians. They would also take some of Hezekiah’s descendants, who would be made into eunuchs in the foreign king’s palace. 

“Oh well,” Hezekiah said. “At least there will be peace and security in MY days.”  Wow. How selfish!

(This story about Sennacherib, Hezekiah’s letter before God, and God’s actions, as well as Hezekiah’s foolishness with the Babylonian visitors, AND some of his later great accomplishments, are also written in 2 Chronicles 32, with a few more details.)

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Psalm 46.

  • “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear…”
  • “The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. 
  • “He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; He burns the chariots with fire.
  • “Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!  The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

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Psalm 80.

  • “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel … You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.” 
  • “… stir up Your might and come to save us!”
  •  “Restore us O LORD God of hosts! Let Your face shine, that we may be saved!”

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Psalm 135.

  • “Praise the LORD! Praise the name of the LORD, give praise, O servants of the LORD … Praise the LORD for the LORD is good; sing to His name, for it is pleasant!
  • “For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the LORD pleases, he does..
  • “Your name, O LORD, endures forever, Your renown, O LORD throughout all ages.  For the LORD will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants. 
  • “Blessed be the LORD from Zion, He who dwells in Jerusalem! Praise the LORD!”

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 198

Jul17

Day 198 – Reading – Isaiah 18 – 22

Read today’s Scriptures.  Do you see connections?

Isaiah 18.

Cush (Ethiopia), a nation, tall and smooth, to a people feared near and far, a nation mighty and conquering, whose land the rivers divide. (The Nile River and its tributaries extend south through Ethiopia.)  

At that time (Messiah’s Kingdom) tribute will be brought to the LORD of hosts from a people tall and smooth, from a people feared near and far, a nation mighty and conquering, whose land the rivers divide …. to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the LORD of hosts.”

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Isaiah 19.

Behold the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt (to execute judgment); and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.

“I will confound their counsel; and they will inquire of the idols and sorcerers, and the mediums and the necromancers; and I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a hard master, and a fierce king (Assyria) will rule over them,” declares the LORD GOD of hosts. 

‘And the river will be dry and parched, and its canals will become foul, and the branches of Egypt’s Nile will diminish and dry up, reeds and rushes will rot away…..

  • And the fishermen, who cast hooks and spread nets will mourn and lament…
  • The workers in combed flax and weavers of white cotton will be crushed and grieved….
  • And there will be nothing for Egypt to do.

Nevertheless, “in THAT Day” (Messiah’s Kingdom)….

  • “there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD of hosts…. 
  • And there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of Egypt…
  • And the LORD will make Himself known to the Egyptians…
  • And the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day and worship….
  • They will return to the LORD and He will listen… and heal them.

IN THAT DAY, there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria (through Israel), and the Egyptians will worship (the LORD) with the Assyrians. 

IN THAT DAY, Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth whom the LORD has blessed.  “Blessed be EGYPT my people, and ASSYRIA the work of my hands, and ISRAEL, my inheritance.

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Isaiah 20.

But, BEFORE the Day of the LORD comes, Egypt and Ethiopia will be shamed and conquered by Assyria, and taken captive.

The LORD told Isaiah to strip off his clothes and sandals and walk about naked. WHAT??  Often the prophets of God did things to “symbolize” what they were also speaking.  This nakedness was to show the shame of Egypt and Ethiopia being conquered and taken away.

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Isaiah 21.

Then suddenly, we go past Babylon’s conquest of Jerusalem and captivity of the Jews, to a time IN PROPHECY, that Babylon itself will be conquered by the Medes 

Isaiah says, “A stern vision is told to me; the traitor betrays, and the destroyer destroys.  Go up, O Elam (Persia); lay siege, O Media; all the sighing she (Babylon) has caused I will bring to an end.

Then God reveals to Isaiah the wicked feast of Belshazzar (Daniel 5), “They prepare the table, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink…” when amid the celebration the call to fight the attacking enemy invading the city came. (Remember the writing on the wall?)

“Fallen, fallen is Babylon…”

Isaiah finishes the chapter with Oracles against other smaller nations.

Isaiah 22.

And then… Isaiah circles back to Israel, and JERUSALEM.  He portrays a picture of destruction (without a sword, for Babylon starved the people of Jerusalem) and of capture. But all the while Jerusalem is celebrating with wild parties.  THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN SACKCLOTH, REPENTING!!

Judah is shown trying to withstand the enemy by their own methods (which will surely fail) instead of looking to God for help.

The LORD:  Weep and mourn, shave your heads and wear sackcloth (evidence of repentance).

The people of JUDAH:  Joy and gladness, killing oxen and slaughtering sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine, saying, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
The LORD:  Surely this iniquity will NOT BE ATONED FOR YOU until you die.”

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From Egypt and Cush in the south, to Assyria, to Babylon’s fall, and the refusal to repent in Jerusalem, Isaiah proclaims the truth of God, hard as it may be (or as embarrassing as when he’s naked). 

God had asked for a servant to proclaim His message, even they wouldn’t listen,  Isaiah had said, “Send ME!”  Now God was using this faithful prophet to predict His purposes. 

(And Isaiah would one day pay for his faithfulness with martyrdom.

He would be sawed in half by a wooden saw under wicked King Manasseh.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 190

Jul9

Day 190 – Reading – Isaiah 1 – 4

Read today’s Scriptures.  

Isaiah prophesied to Judah and their corrupt leaders in Jerusalem for over 40 years, during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.  He warned that the devastation and exile they saw happening in the northern kingdom would come upon them too, if they didn’t repent of their rebellion, idolatry, and injustice.  He also prophesied about a coming king (branch) from David’s line.

The book is divided into three general sections.

  • 1-39 – Points to the sin and fall of the northern kingdom of Israel, and what is coming for Judah. God will send the nations to conquer the southern kingdom, and Jerusalem will fall. Her people will go into exile in Babylon. (This happens 100 years later)  A thin thread of HOPE also runs through these chapters, of the New Jerusalem, a godly remnant, and a Righteous Ruler.
  • 40-55 – Reveals the coming Messiah (700 years later), and His role as the slain Lamb of God.
  • 56-66 – Tells more fully of the final judgment and restoration; the new heaven and earth, and the righteous rule of the Messiah.

Much of Isaiah is written in the form of beautiful poetry.  Maybe, like me, you’ve learned to sing some of his words!

Isaiah 1.

The first “vision” of Isaiah is a courtroom scene.  The LORD is the plaintiff and Israel, the defendant. Instead of responding to the care and love of “the Holy One of Israel,” they rebelled and disobeyed his law.  If God’s grace had not intervened and left a few survivors, Judah and Jerusalem would have been destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah.

The LORD hates hypocrisy, especial in His worship. “He’s had enough of their burnt offerings, He doesn’t delight in the blood of bulls or lambs.”   He wants them to first “Wash themselves, remove their evil deeds, learn to do good, seek justice for the orphan and widow!”

“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.  IF YOU ARE WILLING AND OBEDIENT, you will eat of the good of the land, BUT IF YOU REFUSE AND REBEL, you shall be eaten by the sword….”

Isaiah then tells of God’s plans to “turn His hand against you, and smelt away your dross with lye, and remove all your alloy. Afterward, you shall be called the city of righteousness, a faithful city.”  

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Isaiah 2

God encourages His people first, with a glimpse of Jerusalem’s (Zion) future exaltation “in the latter days.” It will be the “highest” of mountains.”  “All nations shall flow to it.”  “Many will come to the house of God, that He may teach them His ways so they can walk in His paths.”

“For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”

And the prophet pleads, “O HOUSE OF JACOB, COME, LET US WALK IN THE LIGHT OF THE LORD.”

Then Isaiah returns to his rebuke of their sin, telling them why the LORD has rejected them: greed, fortune-tellers from the East, their lofty pride and haughty looks, and exalting idols made with their own hands.

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Isaiah 3.

The judgment of Jerusalem and Judah continues. 

Warning:  the LORD GOD is taking away support and supply from Jerusalem and Judah – bread, water, all leadership, military help, the soldier, judge, prophet, diviner, elder, counselor, the skillful magician, and the expert in charms. 

For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen – BECAUSE their speech and their deeds are against the LORD, defying HIS GLORIOUS PRESENCE.  They have brought evil on themselves.

And then Isaiah predicts the horrors that will come when Jerusalem is taken captive.  All the lovely things they have flaunted will be gone, with rottenness, death, and mourning in their place.

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Isaiah 4.

But … hope, too! 

“In that day, the Branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel.”

“And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion….”

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(Ah, LORD, thank you for the HOPE you give us in Jesus, the Messiah. Sin consumes our world now, and even permeates our own lives like Israel of old.  PRAISE YOU, for washing our scarlet and crimson-red sins away with the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God, who was crucified as punishment for our iniquity.  THANK YOU for making us (in your sight) white as wool and pristine as snow! We fall on our knees, no, our faces, and worship You!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Days 187 & 188

Jul7

Day 187 – Reading – 2 Kings 14, and 2 Chronicles 25

Day 188 – Reading Jonah 1 – 4

Read today’s Scriptures.  Do you see connections?

2 Kings 14 & 2 Chronicles 25.

These two chapters essentially tell the same story, but with a few different details.  It’s a bit confusing because BOTH the King of Israel and the King of Judah are named Joash! It would be like the President of the United States and the President of Russia BOTH named Trump.  Can you imagine the confusion in the press!!

Then, the southern kingdom of Judah’s King Joash was assassinated by his own servants, and his son, Amaziah, succeeded him as king.  Amaziah was a semi-good king, at least at first, doing what was “mostly right in the sight of the LORD,” but not quite as well as David.  The first thing Amaziah did was to kill the servants who had killed his father, Joash. (Remember, Joash killed Zechariah, the priest, the son of the priest who’d raised him. Two servants then conspired to kill  him.) Now the new king killed those servants. What a chain of cruelty and death! Will it stop there?

Amaziah mustered an army in Judah (along with 100K paid mercenaries from Israel) to fight against the men of Mt. Seir (Edom).  But God told him NOT to use soldiers from Israel.  God was NOT with them, but God WOULD help Judah alone to defeat Edom.  Amaziah sent the Israeli soldiers home (which made them mad), and went on to defeat Edom.

But, those 100K mercenaries, angry at not being able to go to war (and get loot), attacked and looted cities in Judah and Jerusalem!!

And then, Amaziah came back with – get this – some idols of the Edomites. And he started worshiping THEM!!  Can you believe it??  God sent a prophet to reprimand the king, but Amaziah made him stop.

Feeling emboldened, Amaziah sent to Israel and challenged King Joash of Israel to fight him. WHAT??  King Joash told King Amaziah to “Stay home, you little weed (thistle)!”  But Amaziah would not listen.  Why?  GOD HAD ORDAINED HIS DOWNFALL because of the idols from Edom.

The two kings, with their armies, fought at Beth-Shemesh in Judah’s territory, and Judah was defeated.  The southern army ran away, and King Amaziah was captured. The northern king then went to Jerusalem and seized all the gold, silver, and all the vessels that were in the Temple and the king’s own house, and even broke down part of Jerusalem’s wall!  He took hostages (but left King Amaziah there) and returned to Samaria, with a smug smirk on his lips. Thistle indeed!

Amaziah lived 15 more years, but a conspiracy against him made him flee to Lachish (a fortified city about 25 miles southwest of Jerusalem). But the angry people went after him and killed him there.  The people then put his son, the sixteen-year-old Azariah, in his place as king.  (Azariah did right in God’s sight and reigned 52 years!)

Meanwhile, back in Israel, King Joash also died and was buried in Samaria.  His son Jeroboam II succeeded him.  Unsurprisingly, he did what was “EVIL in the sight of the LORD.”

Now, here is an interesting fact.  The LORD used Jeroboam to “restore some of the borders of Israel, east of the Jordan River.  Why?  “The LORD saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter, for there was none left, bond or free, none to help Israel. The LORD had not said that He would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, so He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam.”  WHAT MERCY!

And, according to (2 Kings 14:25), who told Jeroboam to go and do that? 

NONE OTHER THAN THE PROPHET OF GOD — JONAH!!   

But we are much more familiar with the prophet’s other story.

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Jonah 1 – 4.

We’ve all heard about “Jonah and the whale” from Sunday School stories and children’s books. Those stories usually tell how Jonah was thrown overboard in a storm and was swallowed by a whale. Then God made the critter spit him out on the shore three days later, after he prayed.

All true.

But much more.

First, his name means “Dove.”  Today, we would think of “peace,” or someone who is anti-war.  Well, Jonah WAS a rebel, for sure, but not anti-war.  Earlier, God had used Jonah to encourage Jeroboam II to push back against the Syrians, which he did, and gained back almost as much land for Israel as in the days of David and Solomon. 

But the Syrians had grown weak.  Soon, a greater, fiercer, and crueler nation would swallow them up, and then look toward Israel.  Who? The Assyrians. Whereas Syria’s capital was Damascus, the capital of Assyria was Nineveh, WAY to the North-East, over 500 miles away.

“Go to that wicked city, Nineveh, and tell them to repent,” God told Jonah.

“No way!” said the prophet of God, who was all for defeating Israel’s enemies.  Jonah promptly went down to Joppa and bought a ticket on a boat to Tarshish. (Modern Spain, which is WAY to the West.) 

  • Verse 3 states twice that Jonah was “fleeing the presence of the LORD.”  Is that possible?  We may think so, but remember God is “omnipresent,” which means everywhere at once. 
  • Check out Psalm 139:7-10, where David asks the question, “Where shall I flee from Your presence?  Heaven? You are there. The grave? You are there. The uttermost parts of the sea?  Even there, Your hand shall hold me.”  I guess Jonah never read that psalm.

The boat sailed. Jonah went below deck for a nap. God “HURLED” a great wind on the sea, which whipped up into a horrible tempest!  The ship started to break up!  The sailors were terrified and began to pray to their god (Poseidon?).  They hurled the cargo into the sea (There goes their profit!)  Then, at his request, they hurled the prophet into the sea as well.

(Jonah had told them the true God of Heaven was angry with him. They got REALLY afraid – that’s why they obeyed and tossed him overboard.)

Immediately, no wind and placid seas.

That terrified the sailors even more, and they WORSHIPPED the LORD.  (A foretaste of Nineveh?)

Down, down, down went Jonah. Right into the mouth of a great fish that God had prepared. (Like Moby Dick??)

AND JONAH PRAYED TO THE LORD FROM THE BELLY OF THE FISH!

Not exactly repentance, but an acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty.  The “vow” in verse 9 could have been a vow to carry out God’s call to preach in Nineveh.

And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited (Yuck!) Jonah on dry land.  “Terra firma, Hooray!”  Good to be there.  Then…

Again came God’s message, “Go to Nineveh. Call out against it with the message I will give you.”

“Yeah, yeah. I KNOW, God.”

So, after a “swish-off” in the Mediterranean, Jonah set off, Eastward.

How long it took him, we don’t know.  Did he catch a ride with a caravan, or hot-foot it all the way?  Regardless, Jonah finally arrived at that great city (in modern-day Iraq).  The city was HUGE!  It would take a person THREE DAYS to walk across it. (Like Los Angeles??)

Jonah went halfway in and cried, “IN 40 DAYS, NINEVEH WILL BE OVERTHROWN!” And then he left, went outside the city to a hill, and sat down to watch the “holy fireworks.”

They didn’t come.

Instead, the whole city repented. (FROM ONE 7-WORD SERMON!!)  The people believed God. They put on sackcloth in mourning for their sin, the king too, and all his court.

He proclaimed a fast from all food and water (for the animals as well!) and told the people to “Call out mightily to God. Turn everyone from his evil ways and the violence he’s done. For who knows?  God may turn and relent from His fierce anger, and we may not perish.”

And when God saw their hearts, He relented of the disaster that He said he would do to them.  (At least for a while.)

Not what Jonah imagined, or wanted. He was furious! 

  • “SEE!!!  This is what I said would happen when I was back home!
  • This is why I fled to Tarshish! 
  • I KNEW You were a gracious God, merciful, slow to anger, abounding in mercy, and relenting from disaster!    (He was quoting Psalm 103, now, so I guess he did read God’s word.)

JONAH SHOULD HAVE BEEN THANKFUL that God was merciful… a God of second chances. Or else, he might have still been in that fish’s belly, rotting away!

  • Oh, please just kill me, for that is better than living (and seeing this!)

It got very hot.  Jonah put up a lean-to to shade himself while he watched. And the good and kind LORD caused a vine to grow up over the lean-to, which added more shade and a sweet fragrance.

Nice. 

Jonah settled back.

Then the good and kind LORD caused a worm to kill the plant.  And the next day, a scorching east wind blew, and the sun beat down. 

Jonah was angry that the plant died.  “It’s better for me to die than to live,” he moaned.

“You are angry and pity a vine that you did not plant or cause to grow, that came into being in a night and  perished in a night?”

“YES!“

And the good and kind LORD said, “And should I not pity Nineveh, a great city, in which there are more than 120K small children?”

No answer.

Silence.

About 40 years later, the NEXT generation of Assyrians reverted to their evil, violent ways. They came down on Israel, destroyed the kings, and carried the people away into captivity, never to return. 

End of the northern kingdom. 

.

(**** Ah, LORD, You are faithful to save, when people turn their hearts from sin and trust in You…. at the preaching of Your Word.  

"For the scripture says, Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame. 
For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. 
For the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing His riches on ALL who call on Him. 
For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed?
And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard?
And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
And how are they to preach unless they are sent?"
Romans 10:11-15.






			


	



			
				


	

		
Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 165


					
Jun14
			


	

		
Day 165.  Reading 2 Chronicles 6-7, Psalm 136








 


Read Today’s Scriptures.


*What truth about God stays in your mind?


 


Today’s reading is similar to yesterday’s verses in 1 Kings, about Solomon’s blessing the people of Israel and his prayer of dedication of the Temple.


2 Chronicles 6 and 2 Chronicles 7a.


Verses of note:


    

  • “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who with His hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David, my father.”
    • 

  • “Now the LORD has fulfilled His promise that He made.”
    • 



God’s word is ever true, and we can be sure He will “fulfill what he promises.”


    

  • “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like You, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to Your servants who walk before you with all their hearts.”
    • 

  • “Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house that I have built.”
    • 



Then Solomon prays for all the “if-then” times when Israel will fail and sin, and God will bring disaster on them … that if they turn, repent, and pray, that God will indeed HEAR and FORGIVE.


    

  • “…then hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive and render to each whose heart You know, according to all his ways, for You, You only, know the hearts of the children of mankind.”
    • 



Even when Israel is taken into captivity for their sin, perversion, and wickedness (wow, prophecy for sure!), but they REPENT with all their mind and with all their heart and pray toward their land and this house…. Solomon prays that God would HEAR and FORGIVE.


And when Solomon’s prayer was finished, “fire came down from heaven and consumed the burn offering and the sacrifices ... and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.  And everyone – Solomon, the priests, and the people – bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and WORSHIPPED and GAVE THANKS to the LORD, saying, “for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.”


King Solomon offered sacrifice before the LORD = 22K oxen and 120K sheep (wow!).  The Levites stood at their posts with instruments playing music to the LORD that King David had written for giving thanks, “for His steadfast love endures forever.”


Psalm 136.


David wrote: “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good.”  “Give thanks to the God of gods.”  “Give thanks to the Lord of lords.”  “For His Steadfast Love (mercy) endures forever.”  


In this psalm, David repeats that concluding phrase after every element of praise he states about the awesome God of Israel…. 25 TIMES!   For His Steadfast Love endures forever.  


Read all those praise phrases!  If you ever find your heart stingy and grumpy.  Read all these beginning praise praises. How awesome is our God. He does such wonderous things for His own people. He is strong and mighty.  He is tender and kind. 


SERIOUSLY!! Read them and praise Him.  


WHY is He so good to His own people???  For (because) his everlasting love and mercy towards us …. endures…. forever!  (FOREVER!  THINK ON THAT.)


(And then, after you read those praise phrases in Psalm 136, make a list of your own.  I’ll start…


    

  • Lord, You searched me out and found me – Why? Your love endures forever.
    • 

  • You saved me and gave me new life – Why? Your love endures forever.
    • 

  • You help me walk in righteousness – Why? Your love endures forever.
    • 

  • You forgive and restore me when I sin and repent – Why? Your love endures forever.
    • 

  • You supply all I need – Why? Your love endures forever.
    • 

  • You give me joy in sorrow and suffering – Why? Your love endures forever.
    • 

  • Your presence is with me, even in death – Why? Your love endures forever.
    • 

  • You have promised me eternal life with YOU – Why? Your love endures forever. 
    • 



And on, and on, and on…….


.


2 Chronicles 7b.


After all the celebration, glory, and praise, God appeared to Solomon in the cool, dark, silence of the night.


    

  • “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice.”  “My eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time.”
    • 



And then that verse we know so well, and often maybe mistakenly pray for our own countries.  God says about Israel, 


    

  • “If my people who are called by name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
    • 

  • “If you (Solomon) will walk before me as David your father walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and rules, then I will establish your throne, as I covenanted with David your father, saying ‘You shall not lack a man to rule Israel.”
    • 



Such glorious promises!!


But there is a dire warning as well.  Sadly, this one comes to pass…. 


    

  • “BUT IF…. you turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, THEN….I will pluck you up from my land that I have given you, and THIS HOUSE THAT I HAVE CONSECRATED FOR MY NAME, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
    • 

  • “And THIS HOUSE, WHICH WAS EXALTED, everyone passing by will be astonished and say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land and this house?’
    • 

  • “Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on OTHER gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore He has brought all this disaster on them”
    • 



Solomon’s dream/vision turned into a nightmare of warning.  Will it keep his heart wholly for the LORD???


.


*As for the truth(s) about God that stays in my mind after this reading?  It is His utter, enduring, amazing grace and love that He has for His people …. until they raise a fist in His face, turn their backs on Him, and seek to fulfill their own sinful and prideful cravings away from Him.  EVEN THEN, He is willing to forgive and restore if they repent and return to Him.  SUCH MERCY and STEADFAST LOVE!


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 





			


	



			
				


	

		
Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 164


					
Jun13
			


	

		
Day 164.  Reading 1 Kings 8, 2 Chronicles 5








Read Today’s Scriptures.


What truth about God stays in your mind?


1 Kings 8 and 2 Chronicles 5.


The Temple that King David had imagined, planned, and provided for, and that King Solomon had built … was finished.  A fantastic monument for the LORD GOD of Heaven, glorious and magnificent, only awaiting the breath of God Himself!


Solomon gathered all of Israel for the dedication. The priests were consecrated and sacrificed so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted. Then, they brought up the Ark of the Covenant from Zion, the City of David. They placed it in the Most Holy Place in the Temple, under the wings of the cherubim.


And when they came out … a cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not minister, for the GLORY of the LORD filled the house of the LORD!


King Solomon then blesses the LORD God of Heaven.


    

  • Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who with His hand has fulfilled what He promised with His mouth to David, my father, saying… ‘Since the day that I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that My Name might be there. But I chose David to be over my people, Israel.’  Now it was in the heart of David, my father, to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. (But the LORD said, you shall not build the house, but your son shall build the house for my name.)  NOW, THE LORD HAS FULFILLED HIS PROMISE.”
    • 



Then Solomon spread out his hands toward heaven and prayed a lengthy prayer to the LORD, filled with praise, humility, contrition, and confidence in God.


    

  • “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like You, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart.”  “Now therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David, my father (that he would not lack a man to sit before you on the throne of Israel). 
    • 



Solomon pleads that God when He hears prayer offered from that place, would hear it and forgive.


    

  • If a person sins against his neighbor and comes before the altar…
    • 

  • When the people of Israel are defeated because they have sinned…
    • 

  • When there is no rain because the people have sinned…
    • 

  • If there is a famine, pestilence, blight, mildew, locus, or enemy at the gates because they have sinned and they come before this place with repentance…
    • 

  • When a foreigner comes to pray before this place…
    • 

  • If your people go to battle and pray for help…
    • 

  • If they sin against You, and you send enemies to take them captive, and they turn to you….
    • 

  • If your people repent with all their mind and hearts…
    • 



“Then, O God, hear in heaven Your dwelling place their prayer and their plea and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and for all their transgressions that they have committed against You, grant them compassion.”


Then Solomon got up from his prayer and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice:


    

  • “The LORD our God be with us, as He was with our fathers, may He not leave us or forsake us, that He may incline our hearts to Him to walk in all his ways and to keep His commandments, statutes, and rules he commanded our fathers.  Let your heart, therefore, be wholly true to the LORD our God.”
    • 



After that, there were tons more sacrifices and offerings.  After eight days, the people went home to their houses, joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had shown to David, his servant, and to Israel, his people.


(More tomorrow on Solomon’s prayer and dedication and God’s well-known promise of forgiveness and healing. (2 Chronicles 7:14)


.


(Oh, the mountain-top experiences! How we all wish we could stay there. Filled with the joy of the LORD, praises, goodwill, and full tummies.  


There will be more good things about Solomon, but eventually, as he goes against the laws for a king, we will see him falter. God is faithful, but sin will show its ugly head in his own son’s reign. 


Message to me?  Stay alert, be on guard, for my heart tends to sin, pride, greed, and wishes for glory.)

























			


	



			
				


	

		
Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 156


					
Jun5
			


	

		
Day 156.  Reading Proverbs 7 – 9.








Read Today’s Scriptures.


Name some things you have learned about Wisdom.


.




Proverbs 7.


Solomon continues with his warnings about the Adulteress. He knows his son (and perhaps he, himself) needs to be repeatedly told of her sly ways.


But first, he extols the virtues of the other woman, Wisdom. “Keep my WORDS, treasure up my COMMANDMENTS, keep my TEACHING as the “apple (pupil) of your eye,” and write them on your heart.”


Let your “sister” and “intimate friend,” Wisdom, “keep you from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words.


    

  • This reminds me of David’s Psalm 119:11, “Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.”
    • 



Then follows a scene that has happened many times. A young man is lured to the house, the arms, and the bed of either an adulterous wife or a prostitute. She is wily; she knows what he wants; she tells him what he wants to hear. She’s ritually “clean,” and her husband is far away.  Oh my!


And the fellow listens and follows “as an OX goes to the slaughter, or as a STAG is caught fast till an arrow pierces its liver, as a BIRD rushes into a snare.  He does not know that it will cost him his life.”


    

  • James 1:14-15 says, “Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”
    • 

  • James 1:5 also says, “If any of you LACK wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”
    • 



“O sons! Listen to me.  Let not your heart turn aside to her ways.”


.


Proverbs 8.


Now Solomon praises the “other path,” that of Wisdom (sometimes personified as Christ).  Unlike the Adulteress, Wisdom’s call is faithful and righteous.


    

  • On the heights beside the way, at the crossroads, she takes her stand; besides the gates in front of the town, at the entrance or the portals, she cries aloud, “To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the children of man.  O simple ones, learn prudence; O fools, learn sense. HEAR, for I will speak noble things, and from MY lips will come what is right, for the words of MY mouth are righteous.”
    • 



And then Wisdom’s worth.


    

  • “Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.  My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield is better than choice silver.
    • 



Christ used His eternal Wisdom in creation.


    

  • “The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His work, the first of His acts of old. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. 
    • 

  • “When He established the heavens, I was there; when He drew a circle on the face of the deep… when He made firm the skies above… when He established the fountains of the deep… when He assigned to the sea its limit… when He marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside Him, like a master workman.
    • 

  • “I was daily His delight, rejoicing before Him always, rejoicing in His inhabited world and delighting in the children of man.”
    • 



Blessed are those who keep my ways.


Blessed is the one who listens to me


Whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD.


.


Proverbs 9.


Solid truth: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”


The pleasant, abundant, long-lasting ways of Wisdom are contrasted now with the ways of “Folly.”


    

  • The woman Folly is loud; she is seductive and knows NOTHING.
    • 

  • She sits at the door of her house; she takes a seat in the highest places of the town and calls to those who pass by.  “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”
    • 

  • But the listener does not know that the DEAD are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
    • 



And so, Solomon ends his warnings there.  Does his son(s) hear and respond?  Does he “get” Wisdom? Does he learn to fear the LORD above all?


.


Do I heed the sweet words of Wisdom?  Do I shun the blatant, off-key untruths of Folly?  


O, LORD, the Holy One, please keep me on the narrow way. May I not be tricked and seduced by my own desires but seek You and Your face always!   


“Remind me constantly to keep Your Word in my heart as a guardrail against Folly.” 





















			


	



			
				


	

		
Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Days 152 & 153


					
Jun2
			


	

		
Sunday and Monday studies are posted together on Mondays.
Day 152. Reading 2 Chronicles 1 and Psalm 72.


Day 153.  Reading Song of Solomon 1 – 8.








A NEW MONTH!


Read Today’s Scriptures.


What truth about God stays in your mind?


 


 


 


Day 152 – 2 Chronicles 1.


This chapter repeats much of what we read in 1 Kings 3-4. 


King Solomon and “all” Israel went to Gibeon, where the old Tabernacle that Moses built still stood.  David had brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem to dwell in a tent he made for it.  But the bronze altar was still at Gibeon, and at this time, King Solomon offered 1,000 burnt offerings on it. 


That night, God appeared to him, saying, “Ask what I shall give you.”


After some thought, Solomon said, “Give me now wisdom and knowledge, for who can govern this people of Yours, which is so great?”


God was pleased. “Wisdom and knowledge are granted to you.  I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor such as none of the kings had who were before you or shall be after you.”


And the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stone.”


.


Psalm 72. 


A psalm of Solomon.


    

  • “Give the king Your justice, O God, and Your righteousness to the royal son!  May he judge Your people with righteousness and Your poor with justice.
    • 

  • “May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor!”
    • 

  • “In his days may the righteous flourish, and peace abound till the moon be no more.
    • 

  • “Long may he live; may the gold of Sheba be given to him!  May prayer be made for him continually and blessings invoked for him all the day.
    • 



And then,


    

  • “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be His glorious Name forever; may the whole earth be filled with His glory!  Amen and Amen!
    • 



.


###


.


Day 153 – Song of Solomon 1-8.


Also titled the Song of Songs, meaning that this song is the best among Solomon’s 1,005 musical works.  It is a true-life love song.  Solomon appears as “the beloved.”  The woman is called “the Shulamite Maiden.”  She is probably Solomon’s first wife (Ecclesiastes 9:9) before he sinned by adding 699 other wives and 300 concubines. (1 Kings 11:3).  Solomon’s Song exalts the purity of marital affection and romance. 


Some strained interpretations use the allegory of God and Israel or Christ and the Church, but that’s misleading.  It’s a story of Solomon and the love of his youth.  It’s very picturesque and names several places that existed at the time.


Read it and “say or sing” portions of it to your own true love!  And praise God that He put this in His Word.


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 





			


	



			
				


	

		
Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 138 &139


					
May19
			


	

		


Sundays and Mondays studies are posted together on Mondays


Day 138. Reading Psalms 26, 40, 58, 61, 62, 64.


Day 139.  Reading 2 Samuel 19 – 21.






 


Read Today’s Scriptures.


 


Day 138.


(Look for all the trials and triumphs in David’s life in these psalms.  Look for his lows and his times of faith and worship. Here are a few snippets, but read them all.)


Psalm 26.


    

  • 1-2. Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, and have trusted in the LORD without wavering.  Prove me, O LORD, and try me; test my heart and my mind.
    • 



Psalm  40.


    

  • 1-3. I waited patiently for the LORD; He inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD.
    • 

  • 13-16. Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me! O LORD, make haste to help me! Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt! Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, “Aha, aha!” BUT, may all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; may those who love Your salvation say continually, “Great is the LORD!”
    • 



Psalm 58.


    

  • 10-11. The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.  Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.”
    • 



Psalm 61.


    

  • 1-3. Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth, I call to You when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.
    • 

  • 6a. Prolong the life of the king …..
    • 



Psalm 62.


    

  • 1-4. For God alone my soul waits in silence; from Him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.  How long will all of you attack a man to batter him, like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?  They only plan to thrust him down from his high position. They take pleasure in falsehood. 
    • 

  • 5-6. For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
    • 



Psalm 64.


    

  • 1-2. Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint; preserve my life from dread of the enemy. Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, from the throng of evildoers.
    • 

  • 10. Let the righteous one rejoice in the LORD and take refuge in Him!  Let the upright in heart exult!
    • 



###


.


Day 139.


2 Samuel 19.


Remember how David is devastated by Absalom’s death.  He’s upstairs wailing his heart out.  The people don’t know what to make of it.  Didn’t they just win the battle against the interlopers?  Wasn’t the one who was stealing the throne and seeking to kill King David, gone?  Why was he acting this way? The people started slinking home with their “tails between their legs.”


Joab would have NONE of that.  He goes to David and rips him royally!


    

  • “YOU have today covered with shame the faces of all your servants, who have this day SAVED YOUR LIFE and the lives of your sons and daughters and wives and concubines because you love those who HATE YOU and hate those who love you.
    • 

  • “You have made it clear today that COMMANDERS AND SERVANTS ARE NOTHING TO YOU!  For today — I know that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead — then you would be pleased!!!
    • 

  • “NOW, THEREFORE ARISE, GO OUT AND SPEAK KINDLYTO YOUR SERVANTS, for I swear by the LORD, if you do not go, not a man will stay with you this night, and this will be worse for you than all the evil that has come upon you from your youth until now!”
    • 



(Way to go, Joab!)


Then the king arose and took his seat in the gate, (presumably with a nice face), “and all the people came before the king.


Meanwhile, the country is in chaos. 


    

  • King David had delivered them from all their enemies and saved them from the Philistines.
    • 

  • But he has fled because of Absalom.
    • 

  • And now, Absalom – whom they anointed over themselves – is dead.
    • 

  • Should they bring the king back?
    • 



David sent a message to Zadok and Abiathar and told them to speak to the elders of Judah about reinstating him as king.   He also told them to tell Amasa (Commander of Absalom’s army) that the king wants HIM to be HIS commander “in place of Joab.”  Whoa, what???  (David has a lot of grudges against Joab and the chewing-out didn’t help.)


So the king came back to Judah.


On his way back, Shimei (the rock thrower), along with a thousand Benjamite men, Ziba with his 15 sons and 20 servants rushed to help David and his household. Shimei fell on his face and begged forgiveness. Abishai wanted to kill him, but David forgave him.


Mephibosheth came too to meet the king.


DAVID: “Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?”


MEPH.: “My servant Ziba deceived me, took my donkey, and left.”


DAVID (who had given all of Mephibosheth’s stuff to Ziba, now decided to split everything in two between them.)  “I have decided.”


MEPH.: “Oh, let him take it all since my lord the king has come home safely.”


DAVID to Barzillai (who had brought all the food and supplies to him when he was in hiding) “Come with me and I will provide for you in Jerusalem.”


BARZILLA: “Nah. I’m old (80) and have enough money. I’ll stay here, but you can take Chimham (his son?) and do good to him.”


David agreed and possibly gave Chimham a part of his personal estate in Bethlehem. (Jeremiah 41:17)


(David also retired his ten concubines whom Absalom had desecrated. He gave them a special house, and they lived there as widows for the rest of their lives.)


.


2 Samuel 20.


Sheba, a Benjamite continued to war against David and gathered an army.  The men of Judah pursued them to Jerusalem.  David called his new Army Commander. Amasa, and said to gather all the men of Judah and be back there IN THREE DAYS.


And so…. Amasa went out to gather Judah but he delayed beyond the time David had set. (On purpose??) So the king called Abishai, his second in command, and sent him to chase Sheba.  Joab heard of all this, and he and his men (and all David’s mighty men & bodyguards) followed Abishai (his brother) chasing Sheba.


Amasa came to meet them, and Joab pretended to greet the man nicely, even reaching out to kiss him. But Joab had a short sword hidden beneath his robe and gutted Amasa as they stood close.   Then Joab and Abishai pursued Sheba.  One of Joab’s men stood by the body of Amasa and directed whoever was “FOR THE KING” to follow Joab.  Finally, he dragged the body into a field and threw his garment over it. 


Sheba made it to a fortified city and Joab’s men surrounded it.  Then a “wise woman” came to meet Joab.


WW: “Are you Joab? Listen to me.”


JOAB: ” I am, and I’m listening.”


WW; “Why will you swallow up a peaceable city for one man?”


JOAB; “I won’t if you will give up the man.


WW: “Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall.”


The wise woman went into the city, and in a short time, the head of Sheba came hurling over the city wall.


JOAB:  “Good enough.”  He blew the trumpet and dispersed from the city. 


And Joab (once more David’s Army Commander) returned to Jerusalem to the king.


.


2 Samuel 21.


This chapter is a series of flashbacks.  It begins an epilogue.


First, the story of David making right a terrible wrong that Saul did to the Gibeonites, whom Joshua had made a special deal with, is told here.  When David sought revenge for them, the famine (sent by God) was eased. (This all happened before David initially found and showed kindness to Mephibosheth.) 


Next, Samuel reviews a series of the wars that David fought (and won) against the Philistines,