Tag Archive | bible-study

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 207

Jul25

    Day 207—We are in the SEVENTH month of Bible reading. We’re continuing in Isaiah.

    Day 207 – Isaiah 40 – 43. (The majesty, greatness, & glory of God vs idols, Israel, His choice and love)

This is a glorious section of Isaiah to read. It will swell your heart and make you love Him more.

Chapter 40 begins a new section of Isaiah’s prophecies. The first 39 chapters spoke of Judah during Isaiah’s own time about the coming of exile in Babylon.

The following 26 chapters seem to tell a time during the captivity and beyond, even as to the Messiah’s reign.

This chapter (40) seems to tell of a time when Israel will return to their land. It is also a familiar passage quoted in the gospels about John the Baptist’s ministry of preparing the way for Jesus and His kingdom.  God’s word “stands forever.”

To Judah, Isaiah cries, “Behold your God” – a mighty ruler, a tender shepherd, the great Creator, the wise Judge.

“Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is HE who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.”

“All the nations are as nothing before Him; they are accounted by Him as LESS than nothing and emptiness.”

But to Israel… “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might, he increases strength.”

“but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

Chapter 41.  “Listen to me in silence, O coastlands…” The coastlands around the Mediterranean Sea and the islands represent the nations.  “One from the East” speaks of the Persian king, Cyrus, who defeats Babylon and releases some of the Israelite captives to return.

God confirms his choice and calling of, and love for Israel. “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  And God promises them, “Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish.”

Oh, what promises!!

Isaiah’s prophecy then addresses the glorious abundance that will return to the LAND of Israel – rivers, fountains, and pools in the wilderness, springs of water, trees of all kinds growing.

Then Isaiah sets forth the case that the LORD has against futile idols that man makes and expects to help them…. instead of HIM, God, the almighty creator of everything. “Behold they are all a delusion; their works are nothing; their metal images are empty wind.”

Chapter 42 begins to tell of God’s chosen “Servant” in whom He delights (the Messiah).

“I have put my Spirit upon him… He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice… a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench.  He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth, and the coastlands (nations) wait for His law.

And the great promises —

“I, I am the LORD, and besides me, there is no savior.”

“I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”

These remind me of the similar promises of Psalm 103:8-12.

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 206

Jul24

    Day 206—We are in the SEVENTH month of Bible reading. We’re continuing in Isaiah.

    Day 206 – Isaiah 37 – 39, Psalm 76. (Hezekiah’s strengths and weaknesses, God’s gracious help)

Chapter 37 covers the incidents in 2 Chronicles 32, where Hezekiah in Jerusalem is confronted by the strength of Assyria, first with the king’s commander, Rabshakeh (who ridiculed the God of Israel), then King Sennacherib.  Hezekiah sends his servants to Isaiah about the terrible situation and asks him to pray to the LORD.

Isaiah sends hope back to the king, saying Rabshakeh will be recalled to Assyria and killed with the sword. The very thing happens. 

Next, the King of Assyria sends a message to Hezekiah, saying he has no hope of victory, for Assyria has defeated every nation around them. “Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the King of Assyria.”

Hezekiah takes the letter, reads it, and immediately goes to the house of the LORD, where he SPREADS IT BEFORE THE LORD. He acknowledges God’s glory and strength and asks that He hear the words of Sennacherib and “save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that YOU alone are the LORD.” 

God sends a beautiful promise of Israel’s future through the prophet Isaiah and the news that the king of Assyria would not even send an arrow into the city but would return home. “For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”

That night, the angel of the LORD went through the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrians.  When the people of Jerusalem awoke, they saw all the dead bodies. And Sennacherib departed and returned to Nineveh, where two of his sons killed him as he was worshiping his pagan god. 

Chapter 38 tells about Hezekiah getting sick and coming to the point of death.  Isaiah recounted God’s words that he should get his house in order.  But Hezekiah turned to the wall and earnestly prayed to the LORD, weeping bitterly.

Surprisingly, Isaiah returns with another word from the LORD, saying He heard Hezekiah’s prayer and that he would have 15 additional years to live.  He even gives Hezekiah a sign – He will make the shadow on the sundial go back 10 steps. (Reversing time?) The two-fold miracle happens, the sun retreats, and Hezekiah recovers.  Hezekiah’s song of praise follows. 

Chapter 39.  Weirdly, Merodach-baladan, the king of Babylon, hears of his miraculous recovery and sends the king a gift. Hezekiah welcomes them to Jerusalem and shows them all his treasure, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole armory…all that was found in his storehouses.  

WHAT??? Are you crazy, Hezekiah??

Isaiah was astonished too, and told Hezekiah that ALL he showed the Babylonians would be carried away to Babylon. Some of his own sons would also be taken and made eunuchs. 

Hezekiah shrugs and shows his new arrogance.  “Oh, well, at least it won’t happen in my own day.”  

Psalm 76 shows that God is willing to use His power for his people (as He did for Jerusalem in Hezekiah’s time).

“There, He broke the flashing arrows, the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. Glorious are You, more majestic than the mountains of prey. The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil; they sank into sleep; all the men of war were unable to use their hands. At your rebuke, O God of Jacob, both rider and horse lay stunned.”

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 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 193

Jul11

    Day 193—We are in the seventh month of Bible reading, continuing with Amos.

    Day 193 – Amos 6 – 9. (More of the southern prophet’s words of woe from God to the northern kingdom of Israel.)

Chapter 6. Woe, woe to the lazy, rich people of Israel who have gained their wealth by cheating and stealing and abusing the poor.

Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory,

and stretch themselves out on couches,

and eat lambs from the flock,

and calves from the midst of the stall,

who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp,

who drink wine from BOWLS,

and anoint themselves with the finest oils,

BUT ARE NOT GRIEVED OVER THE RUIN OF JOSEPH.

Therefore, they shall now be the first of those who go into exile,

and the revelry of those who stretch themselves out

shall pass away.

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Chapter 7. Then, the LORD gives Amos a series of visions of disasters He has planned. (Locusts, fire, and exile)  Amos pleads for mercy,  “O Lord GOD, please forgive! How can Jacob stand? He is so small!”   “The LORD relented concerning this; “It shall not be,” said the LORD.

Then Amaziah, a false priest of Bethel, sends a message to Jeroboam the 2nd. “Amos conspired against you. The land is not able to bear his words because he said, “Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from this land.”

Then Amaziah told Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah and eat bread there, and prophesy there….. but NEVER again prophesy at Bethel…”

But Amos spoke back. I didn’t plan to be a prophet; God called me. And I will say what He has told me. “You yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel surely will go into exile away from its land.”

After that, the LORD showed Amos a series of visions of the coming and future “Day of the LORD”—and it would be horrible.

Interestingly, Chapter 9:2-4 reminds me of Psalm 139 but in a negative way. The verses in Amos say that wherever Israel hides, God will find them and judge them – down to the grave, up to heaven, up a mountain, to the bottom of the sea. Amos 9:4b says, “I will fix my eyes upon them FOR EVIL and not for good.”  But, similar verses in the Psalm speak of God’s love and knowledge of His people in all those places and more.

The last 5 verses of Amos promise hope.  Israel WILL be restored. God will raise them up. “I  will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them, says the LORD your God.”

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 192

Jul10

    Day 192—We are in the SEVENTH month of Bible reading. Praise God! Today we read in another of the “minor prophets.”

    Day 192 – Amos 1 – 5. (Judgment on Israel and her surrounding nations)

The northern kingdom of Israel, under the rule of its evil kings, has become fat, proud, and merciless.  

God sends Amos from Judah to pronounce judgment on Israel in the days of King Jeroboam the 2nd for their idol worship and their lack of justice and cruelty to the poor. 

Interestingly, God’s judgments by Amos begin with the nations around Israel, but they circle closer and closer to the center of the “target,” His own people.

Amos uses the verbal device “for three transgressions, and for four, I will punish.”  It means their “cup of iniquity” was full at #3, overflowing at #4, and ripe for judgment.

       Damascus (Syria). God will punish and send fire to the houses of Hazael and Ben-hadad for their cruelty and greed.

       Gaza (Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron: the Philistines). God will devour their strongholds and cut off the people and kings, and they will perish because they delivered God’s people to Edom.

       Tyre. God will also send fire to this country and devour them for their betraying God’s people to Edom.

       Edom. The second, closer circle begins now. God’s anger was against Edom for pursuing God’s own people with the sword and without mercy.

       Ammonites. God also will send fire, devastation, and exile on them for their cruelty and greed.

       Moabites. The same as with Ammon. But Moab “will die amid uproar.” God will cut off its king and all the princes.

       Judah.  Even the southern kingdom of Judah, God’s own people, does not escape judgment.  But their sin is worse. “They have rejected the law of the LORD and not kept His statutes.” Fire and destruction will devour Judah and Jerusalem.

       And finally, Amos comes to Israel.

God will judge them for the selfish way they’ve treated the poor and needy while living rich in their own homes. They have profaned God’s holy name by incest and sexual sin.

God lists all the good He has done for Israel, but they turned and despised Him.  And so, God will “press them down in their place, make them inadequate to fight enemies, fearful enough to flee away naked.” 

God’s heart was toward them. “You only, have I known of all the families of the earth…”   “Therefore… and adversary shall surround the land and bring down your defenses, and your strongholds shall be plundered.”

Amos tells them, “The LORD has sworn by his holiness that the days are coming upon you when they shall take you away with hooks.”

God reminds them of all the past warnings he sent them, yet “you did not return to me.”  And now, the verdict has come.  “Therefore this I will do to you, O Israel…. prepare to meet your God.”

He pleads with them, “Seek me and live.”  “Seek the LORD and live.”   “Seek good and not evil that you may live; Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”

But they do not turn, and the LORD says, “I will send you into exile beyond Damascus.” (the Assyrians)