2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 205

Jul23

    Day 205—We are in the seventh month of Bible reading. Praise God! Today, we continue to read in Isaiah.

    Day 205 – Isaiah 35 – 36. (A beautiful song pointing to the eventual return of the remnant of God’s people, also the story of an Assyrian captain and his army versus the LORD and Hezekiah begins)

Chapter 35. “Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Be strong; fear not! Behold your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.”

“Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,

and the ears of the deaf unstopped;

then shall the lame man leap like a dear, 

and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.

For waters break forth in the wilderness

and streams in the desert;

the burning sand shall become a pool,

and the thirsty ground springs of water.”

“And a highway shall be there,

and it shall be called the Way of Holiness;

It shall belong to those who walk on the Way;

even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.

But the redeemed shall walk there,

And the ransomed of the LORD shall return

and come to Zion with singing;

everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;

they shall obtain gladness and joy,

and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

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Chapter 36. tells the story again of 2 Kings 18:13-39 (last Thursday’s read). 

The Rabshakeh (commander of the army) of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came to Jerusalem to “trash talk” against the people closed up by fear in the city. He refused to speak in Aramaic but in Hebrew so all the people on the walls could hear his taunts against King Hezekiah and the LORD.  He challenged the king and his God to try to fight him. He even said he’d make a bet that Assyria would win. 

“Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, saying the LORD will deliver us!  He won’t!  He can’t!  No god can deliver Jerusalem out of my hand!” 

The people were silent as King Hezekiah commanded them.

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(But wait until tomorrow and see Hezekiah’s faith and God’s absolutely amazing response to it in saving Jerusalem. You will hardly believe it!!!)

 

 

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, days 203 & 204

Jul22

    Day 203 & 204—We are in the seventh month of Bible reading, continuing in Israel’s history and Isaiah’s prophecies.

(Note: SUNDAY’s and MONDAY’s readings are combined.)

    Day 203 – Isaiah 28 – 30. (Isaiah preaches judgment and shows God’s mercy and another glimpse of the messiah)

Both Ephraim and Judah are indicted here by Isaiah for their drunkenness. (They stagger and reel, and their tables are full of vomit. Yuck.)

Here is a familiar passage about the messiah that Peter quotes in 1 Peter 2:4-6. ‘Behold I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation.”

There are three “woes” in these chapters. They begin with the word “Ah,”  28:1 suggests impending disaster for Ephraim.  29:1 suggests distress and moaning for Ariel (Lion of God), pointing to the supposed “strength of Jerusalem.”  And 30:1 shows things turned upside down for Judah for their plans to seek help from Egypt instead of the LORD their God.

“For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, ‘In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.’  But you were unwilling, and you said, ‘No! We will flee away;”

And to such as these (and to Us), the LORD will be gracious.  “He will be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you.”    “And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it.'”

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    Day 204 – Isaiah 31 – 34. (Isaiah continues with words from the Lord to various peoples, both in judgment and hope)

The “Woe” in chapter 31 is actually toward Judah for going to Egypt for help against the Assyrians, when their God is so much more powerful.  “The Egyptians are man and not GOD, and their horses are flesh, and not SPIRIT. When the LORD stretches out His hand, the helper (Egypt) will stumble, and he who is helped (Judah) will fall, and they will all perish together.”

Turn to Him…O children of Israel.  And the Assyrian shall fall by a sword, NOT OF MAN; and a sword, NOT OF MAN, shall devour him.

Chapter 32 again speaks of the KING WHO WILL REIGN IN RIGHTEOUSNESS (the Messiah).

Then condemnation and judgment on FOOLS and SCOUNDRELS and COMPLACENT WOMEN.

Chapter 33 begins with another “Ah” woe  to the “destroyer.” It’s probably Assyria, but it could also refer to any power that sets itself against Israel.

“The LORD is exalted, for He dwells on high; He will fill Zion with justice and righteousness, and he will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is Zion’s treasure.” 33:5-6

Chapter 34 is full of judgment on all nations and peoples and then, particularly on Edom. Its ground will be saturated with their blood, and wild animals of every kind will make their homes there.

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 202

Jul20

    Day 202—We are in the seventh month of Bible reading. Praise God! Today, we read in another of the “minor prophets.”

    Day 202 – Hosea 8 – 14. (words of doom, but in the middle, God’s wooing them to return to Him)

Hosea continues to send bad news to Ephraim (the northern kingdom), describing to them (and us) how truly far they have strayed from the LORD, their God.

“They made kings, but not through me (God). They set up princes, but I knew it not. With their silver and gold, they made idols for their own destruction.  I have spurned your (golden) calf, O Samaria. My anger burns against them.”   “For it is from Israel; a craftsman made it; it is NOT GOD. The calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces. For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.”

With poignance, God remembers their beginning…

“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt, I called my son.”   “It was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them.”

But what is their response to this love?

“They shall not return to the land of Egypt, but Assyria shall be their king because they have refused to return to ME.”  ” My people are bent on turning away from me…”

God’s grieving heart.

“How can I give you up, O Ephraim?

How can I hand you over, O Israel?

How can I make you like Adama?

How can I treat you like Zeboiim? 

My heart recoils within me;

my compassion grows warm and tender.

I will not execute my burning anger;

I will not again destroy Ephraim;

for I am God and not a man,

the Holy One in your midst,

and I will not come in wrath.”

“….but Judah still walks with God, and is faithful to the Holy One.” (Although later, the judgment also comes on the southern kingdom.)

Hosea ends with a plea to RETURN TO THE LORD.

“Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take up your words and return to the LORD, say to him, ‘Take away all iniquity…”  “We will say no more, “our God” to the work of our hands. In YOU, the orphan finds mercy.”

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 201

Jul19

    Day 201—We are in the SEVENTH month of Bible reading. Praise God! Today, we read in another of the “minor prophets.”

    Day 201 – Hosea 1 – 7. (the prophet of God to the northern kingdom of Israel, during King Jeroboam 2nd)

Hosea calls the northern kingdom “Ephraim” for the largest tribe, like the southern kingdom is called Judah.

“Ephraim” is enjoying a time of peace and prosperity under Jeroboam 2nd, but also moral corruption and religious idolatry. His prophesies cover the last six kings in quick succession until the fall of Samaria to the Assyrians.

In this book, Hosea’s married life is a picture of the relationship between the LORD and Israel. Hosea was to take a prostitute wife and have children with her. He married Gomer, and she bore him a son, whom he named “Jezreel,” signifying the God would soon punish and put an end to the house of Israel, whose winter capital was Jezreel.

Gomer conceived again and bore Hosea a daughter. God said to call her “No Mercy” for he would have no mercy on the house of Israel.

After that, Gomer bore another son, whom Hosea was to name “Not My People” because Israel was now not his people and He was not their God.

Yet even in these sad names, Hosea prophesied that one day the children of Judah and the children of Israel would be gathered together and be called “Children of the living God.

In poems, Hosea tells of the adulteries of Israel, wild and elaborate, and God’s faithful seeking her home, giving her, at that time, Mercy, and calling her My People again.

In Chapter 3, God tells Hosea to go find his wife, who has gone back into prostitution, to pay her bills and bring her home. Like the children of Israel will return and seek their God.

In Chapter 4’s poems, Hosea shows how the LORD accuses Israel of her lack of faithfulness and knowledge of God. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge because you have rejected it.”   

“My people inquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles.  For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the whore.”

“Hear this, O priests!  Pay attention, O house of Israel! Give ear, O house of the king! For the judgment is for you. “

A scary, sad picture that Hosea paints in chapter 4 is God saying, “For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear and go away. I will carry off, and no one shall rescue. I will return again to my place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face and in their distress, earnestly seek me.”

And, “They do not cry to me from the heart, but they wail upon their beds for grain and wine…..”

 

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 200

Jul18

    Day 200—We are in the seventh month of Bible reading. Praise God!

    Day 200 –2 Kings 18, 2 Chronicles 29 – 31, Psalm 48. (Godly Hezekiah restores worship and Passover in Judah, then Sennacherib attacks)

The chapters in 2 Chronicles tell of the new King Hezekiah in Judah and how he “did right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done.” 

Hezekiah removed the high places of idol worship and broke the pillars and Asherah. He even destroyed the bronze serpent Moses had made in the wilderness because the people had started to worship it. 

Hezekiah “trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel, so that there were none like him among all the kings of Judah after him or before him. He held fast to the LORD. He did not depart from following Him but kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses. And THE LORD WAS WITH HIM. WHEREVER HE WENT OUT, HE PROSPERED.”

Right away, King Hezekiah gets the temple, the priests, and the Levites cleansed & concentrated so true worship of the LORD could be restored. The holy men responded and began the cleansing. They brought out the “filth from the Holy Place” and all uncleanness and dumped it in the Kidron valley.  For eight more days they consecrated the house of the LORD, putting back all the utensils used in the temple.

Then, with as many of the consecrated priests, they began the sin offerings to make atonement for all Israel. The Levites stood with instruments and encouraged the people to sing and worship the LORD. They sang the words of David and Asaph. They sang the songs with gladness, bowed down, and worshiped.

Psalm 48  

‘Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised,

in the city of our God!

His holy mountain,

beautiful in elevation,

is the joy of all the earth,

Mount Zion in the north,

the city of the great King.

We have thought on your steadfast love, O God,

in the midst of your temple.

As your name, O God,

so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth.

Your right hand is filled with righteousness.

Let Mount Zion be glad!”

Then King Hezekiah invited any who were left in the northern kingdom of Israel to come and join Judah in the Passover celebration, so long neglected. He got jeers and mocking, but some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.

Hezekiah knew there wouldn’t be time for them to consecrate themselves and encouraged them with, “The LORD your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away His face from you if you return to Him.”   When they arrived, he prayed for them, saying, “May the good LORD pardon everyone who sets his heart to seek God, the LORD, the God of his fathers, even though not according to the sanctuary’s rules of cleanness.”  And the LORD HEARD Hezekiah. 

And there was such a joyous celebration of Passover! They stayed for the seven days of Unleavened Bread and extended it another seven days. The Levites and priests praised the LORD day by day, singing with all their might to the LORD.  So they ate the food of the festival, sacrificing peace offerings and giving thanks to the LORD, the God of their fathers.

“There was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the son of David King of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem.”  And the prayers of blessing by the priests and Levites arose and came to His holy habitation in heaven.

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Then, as it always happens, after “mountain top experiences” come the “dark valleys.”

“After these things and these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib, King of Assyria, came and invaded Judah and encamped against them.”

And the Rabshakeh (commander and spokesman for Sennacherib) taunted the king and people of Jerusalem. “On what do you rest this trust of yours?   In whom do you now trust?  Egypt? They are nothing. If you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed???  

And to the people on the wall, he called, “DO NOT let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my hand.  DO NOT let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD by saying, the LORD will surely deliver us.  DO NOT listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you.  Has any of the gods of the nations EVER delivered his land out of the land of the king of Assyria???  Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that THE LORD SHOULD DELIVER JERUSALEM OUT OF MY HAND??”

However, the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s command was, “Do not answer him.”  But the king’s chief of staff came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabshakeh. 

And we’ll see what the godly Hezekiah does in the next chapter (2 Kings 19) in nine days. Meanwhile, Isaiah.  

 

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 199

Jul17

    Day 199—We are in the seventh month of Bible reading and are continuing in Isaiah.

    Day 199 – Isaiah 23 – 27. (severe judgment, the Day of the Lord, and HOPE for God’s people)

Chapter 23 is the oracle of judgment on Tyre and Sidon. They are the traders of the world, and now the port cities are amazed at the judgment on them. Verses 8 & 9: “Who has purposed this against Tyre….”   “The LORD of hosts has purposed it, to defile the pompous pride of all glory, to dishonor all the honored of the earth.”

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Chapter 24 describes the judgment on THE WHOLE EARTH!  “Behold, the LORD will empty the earth and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.”   “The earth shall be utterly empty   plundered, for the LORD has spoken this word.” 

“The earth lies defiled under its inhabitants, for they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the EVERLASTING COVENANT.  Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their GUILT; therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left.  (Maybe see Genesis 9:5-16.)

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Chapter 25 speaks of home in that God will end death.  “He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of His people He will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken.”

“It will be said on that day, ‘Behold, this is our God, we have waited for Him, that He might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for Him; let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”

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Chapter 26 continues with a song that will be sung in the land of Judah. “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.”

“Come, my people, enter your chambers and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the fury has passed. For behold, the LORD is coming out from His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it, and will no more cover up the murdered.”

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Chapter 27. Israel will be redeemed. “In the days to come, Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom, and put forth shoots and fill the whole world with fruit.”   

“In that day, from the river Euphrates to the Brook of Egypt, the LORD will thresh out the grain, and YOU will be gleaned one by one, O people of Israel.  And in that day, a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the LORD on the holy mountain of Jerusalem.”

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 198

Jul16

    Day 198—We are in the seventh month of Bible reading and continuing in Isaiah.

    Day 198 – Isaiah 18 – 22. (the oracles against the nations and cities continue, with messages of HOPE between dire destruction)

Cush is probably Ethiopia.

“Ah, the land of whirring wings (perhaps a fleet of sailing ships) that is beyond the rivers of Cush, which sends ambassadors by the sea in vessels of papyrus on the waters!  Go, you swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people feared near and far.” Judgment was coming, but also grace. 

Egypt. “Behold the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt, and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them”. But also grace. “In that day, there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD of hosts.  In that day, there will be an altar to the LORD amid the land of Egypt.”

Babylon. The vision is of her fall. “A stern vision is told to me; a traitor betrays, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, O Elam; lay siege, O Media; all the sighing she has caused I bring to an end.”  Babylon will fall to the Medes and Persians in 200 years. 

Dumah and Arabia do not escape; their glory will end.

And an Oracle Concerning Jerusalem. “Look away from me; let me weep bitter tears; do not labor to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.  For the Lord GOD of hosts has a day of tumult, trampling, and confusion in the valley of vision, a battering down of walls and a shouting to the mountains…”   “Your choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen took their stand at the gates. He has taken away the covering of Judah.

 

 

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, days 196 & 197

Jul15

    Day 196 & 197—We are in the SEVENTH month of Bible reading, continuing in Israel’s history and Isaiah.

(Note: SUNDAY’s and MONDAY’s readings are combined.)

    Day 196 – 2 Chronicles 28, 2 Kings 16 – 17. (The evil, sin, and final exile of the northern kingdom of Israel)

2 Chronicles 28 describes the reign of Ahaz in Judah, who walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, worshiping false gods and even burning his sons as offerings to them. 

King Ahaz battled the Syrians and lost a significant number of people who were taken captive to Damascus.  Ahaz also battled King Pekah of Israel and lost 120K men of valor to him IN ONE DAY. 

It’s interesting that when the King of Israel took 200K captives of the people of Judah, God, through the prophet Oded, made him feed them, give them back their things, and send them home. Israel was NOT ALLOWED to take captive any of God’s own people.

King Ahaz of Judah also sent to Tiglath-Pilezer, king of Assyria, for help in fighting against Edom, who had invaded them from the southeast and taken captives. The Philistines had also invaded them from the west.  Desperate, King Ahaz took treasure from the Temple and palace to give to the Assyrian king, but it did not help him.

.Ahaz desperately sacrificed to all the gods he knew, “but they were the ruin of him and all Israel.”  He died but was not buried in the tombs of the kings of Israel.  And Hezekiah, his son, reigned in his place.” 

WHEW!

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2 Kings 17 describes the final demise of the northern kingdom.  Hoshea was the last king in Israel and reigned nine years.  Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, fought with him and won, making him pay tribute. After a couple years, King Hoshea stopped paying, so the Assyrian king came to Samaria and besieged it for three years.  Then, he captured Hoshea and carried the Israelites away to Assyria. 

As an epitaph, this chapter lists the reason for Israel’s end.  They had sinned against the LORD their God and feared other gods, and walked in the customs of the pagan nations. They built high places, set up idols to worship, and provoked the LORD to anger.  The LORD warred against them by every prophet and seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and statutes.”  But they would not listen.

They despised his statutes and covenant. They went after false idols. They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God. They made metal images and Asherah and worshiped the host of heaven. They burned their sons and daughters as offerings. They used divination and omens. They sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD.

THEREFORE, THE LORD WAS VERY ANGRY WITH ISRAEL AND REMOVED THEM FROM HIS SIGHT. None was left but the tribe of Judah only.  So, Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria to this day. 

Then, the king of Assyria brought people from all over his empire and settled them in the cities of Samaria. They took possession of the cities and lived there. The Assyrian king sent back a false priest to teach them “the ways of the LORD,” but those ways had long been corrupted. 

This was the beginning of the “Samaritans,” whom the Jews hated in the New Testament. 

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    Day 197 -Isaiah 13 – 17. (Oracles, or prophecies against five surrounding nations)

Babylon is first on the list of nations with predictions 100 years in the future. God not only judges his own people, but He judges the nations because of their rebellion. “i will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.” 13:11,  and “And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them.” 13:19

Then, a promise of hope for exiled Israel.  “For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel and will set them in their own land.”   “When the LORD has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve, you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon….” 14:1 and 3. 

Assyria next gets a message from the oracle. “…I will break the Assyrian in my land, and on my mountain trample him underfoot, and his yoke shall depart from them, and his burden from their shoulder.” 14:25

Philistia follows. “Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of you, that the rod that struck you is broken, for from the serpent’s root will come forth an adder, and its fruit will be a flying fiery serpent.” 14:29

Moab gets two chapters from an oracle. Harshness, with bits of mercy because of Israel’s distant relation to Moab. “But now the LORD has spoken, saying, ‘In three years, like the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab will be brought into contempt, despite all his multitude, and those who remain will be very few and feeble.” 16:13.

Damascus is last in this section. “Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city and become a heap of ruins.”   “Gleanings will be left in it, as when an olive tree is beaten – two or three berries in the top of the highest bough, four or five on the branches of a fruit tree, declares the LORD God of Israel.” 17:1,6.

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 195

Jul13

    Day 195—We’ve been reading for over half the year. Praise God! Today, we’re read in another of the “minor prophets.”

    Day 195 – Micah 1 – 7. (Prophesies mainly to the southern kingdom of Judah about social injustices and religious corruption, 3 cycles of doom then hope)

Micah is from a town south of Jerusalem and speaks mainly to Judah, although he alludes to Samaria’s fall to the Assyrians in 1:6-11.

“Woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil on their beds! When the morning dawns, they perform it because it is in the power of their hand.  They covet….  They oppress….. They lie….  They don’t know justice… They hate good and love evil…. They take bribes for religious favors….   And so, it will be night to them, without vision or prophet, and Zion will be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins.” (Chapters 1-3.)

But, in the latter days (Chapter 4), others will come to the house of God in Zion and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths. For out of Zion shall go for the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”  And the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion… forevermore.

Chapter 5 gives the promise of the future Ruler and Shepherd of Judah. “But you, O Bethlehem…. from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days..”   “And He shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall dwell secure… And He shall be their peace.”

Chapter 6 returns to the Indictment of the LORD against his people. “O my people, what have I done to you? How have I wearied you? Answer me!”

When asked if God’s people should come to Him, bowing, with burnt offerings of calves, with 10K rams, or rivers of oil, or bring their firstborn to be sacrificed for their transgressions?????? 

“He has told you, O man, what is good;

and what does the LORD require of you

but to do justice, and to love mercy,

and to walk humbly with your God?

But…. (God says) Can I forget any longer the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked?  Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow, making you desolate because of your sins. 

Chapter 7. “The godly has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among mankind; they all lie in wait for blood, each hunts the other with a net.”    “The day of your watchmen, of your punishment, has come; now their confusion is at hand.”

BUT… “Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of His inheritance. He does not retain His anger forever because He delights in mercy.”

Micah’s message. Doom and retribution.  Hope and the promise of restoration.

 

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 194

Jul12

    Day 194—We are in the SEVENTH month of Bible reading, continuing in Israel’s history and Isaiah.

    Day 194 – 2 Chronicles 27, Isaiah 9 – 12 (A good king in Judah, and Isaiah’s prophesies against the northern kingdom plus many that are about the messianic)

2 Chronicles 27 tells about the reign of King Jotham, Uzziah’s son, in Judah. He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. He “became mighty because he ordered his ways before the LORD his God.” 

He built cities, repaired walls, and fought and won a war with the Ammonites, who then paid him tribute.

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Isaiah 9 continues as a prophecy against the Northern kingdom, but interspersed are beloved Messianic portions. “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them the light shined.”

Isaiah’s prophecy goes on to tell us about “Immanuel.”

“For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given;

and the government shall be upon his shoulder,

and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of HIS government and of peace 

there would be on end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom

to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness

from this time forth and forevermore.

The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

Chapter 10.   But along with this hope come dire prophecies about the fall of Israel. “The Syrians on the east and the Philistines on the west devour Israel with open mouths.” 

FOUR times, Isaiah proclaims: “For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.”

And Isaiah predicts the country who will overpower Israel and take them captive… all at the quest and direction of the LORD.

“Ah, Assyria, the rod of MY anger; the staff in their hands is MY fury! Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of MY wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder, ad to tread them down like the mire of the streets.”

Afterward, the LORD will punish the Assyrians for their arrogant heart and boastful look in his eyes because he believed that HIS HAND and HIS WISDOM defeated Israel.  “Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it?” says the LORD. Isaiah 10:12, 15.

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Chapter 11. Another Messianic prophecy. “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him.”

This chapter goes on to tell of the righteous reign of this “Branch” who is the Lord Jesus. And, in that day, the Branch will extend his hand to recover ALL the “remnant” of His people from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush Elam Shinar (Babylon & Persia), Hamath, and “the coastlands of the sea.”

“He will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.”

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Chapter 12 is a beautiful song about the LORD GOD for the promise of that time.

“Behold, God is my salvation;

I will trust and will not be afraid;

for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song,

and He has become my salvation.

With joy you will draw water from the well of salvation

And you will say, in that day

“Give thanks to the LORD,

call upon his name,

make known his deeds among the peoples,

proclaim that his name is exalted.

Sing praises to the Lord for He has done gloriously;

let this be made known in all the earth.

Shout and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,

for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”