Tag Archive | Bible

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, days 189 & 190

Jul8

    Day 189 & 190—We are in the seventh month of Bible reading. And today, we begin the book of Isaiah.

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

    Day 189 – 2 Kings 15, 2 Chronicles 26. (Azariah/Uzziah – same guy – reigns in Judah, while Israel has FIVE kings)

Uzziah became king in Judah at age 16 and reigned 52 years. He did what was right in the sight of the LORD. A prophet, Zechariah (not the author of the Bible book), instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him prosper.

And indeed, he prospered in war against the Philistines, Ammonites, and others. He outfitted all his army with shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging.  He built “engines” invented by skillful men to be on the towers and corners around Jerusalem to shoot arrows and catapult great stones.

“His fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped….. till he was strong.” 2 Chronicles 26:17.

But when he got strong, he grew proud to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the LORD his God and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.

The priest, Azariah, went in after him with 80 other priests to withstand him.  “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but for the priests, who are consecrated. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the LORD God.”

But this angered Uzziah. (He was ready to burn incense.)  And leprosy broke out on his forehead.  The priests quickly rushed him out of the sanctuary. 

And King Uzziah was a leper to the day he died, living in a separate house.  His son, Jotham, was over the household and governed the people. When Uzziah died, they buried him in a field dedicated to the kings, not in the City of David (2 Chronicles 26:23), for he was a leper.  

And his son, Jotham, slipped into the role of king in his place.

 

Meanwhile, in the north, Zechariah, the son of Jeroboam 2nd, reigned in Samaria for…. six months. 

Shallum (the son of nobody, meaning not in the line of kings) killed Zechariah and reigned in his place. He reigned for…. one month.

Next, Menachem, probably a military commander under Zechariah, killed Shallum and reigned in his place. He reigned for ten years in Samaria and did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.  He was a barbarian, and when he attacked a city he ripped open all the women’s bellies who were pregnant.  

Menachem also exacted 50 shekels of silver from every wealthy man and gave it to Pul, the invading Assyrian king, to make him turn back.

When he died, his son Pekahiah reigned in his place for…. two years. He also did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.

Then Pekah, Pekahiah’s captain, conspired against him, killed him, and reigned in his place for…. 20 years. During his reign, Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, came, captured Kadesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphatli, and carried the people captive to Assyria. 

Then Hoshea killed Pekah and reigned in his place for…. nine years. He was the last king to reign in the north.

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    Day 190 -Isaiah 1 – 4. (Isaiah’s great vision concerning Judah came in the days of Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. )

Chapter 6 tells us that it was the year that King Uzziah, king of Judah, died that Isaiah got his commission to be prophet to Judah in Jerusalem. He was probably of high rank because he had easy access to all four kings. 

Like other prophets of the LORD, his messages were at first addressed to the sins of the people. They offered sacrifices by the train load, but their hearts were far from him. God does not delight in sacrifices for the sake of sacrifices but to show repentance in the heart.

“Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.” 

These were half of the basis of what God had against his people – their greed and injustice against the helpless.  

It reminds me of God’s simple but profound words in Deuteronomy 10:12+ and Micah 6:8, “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.

God is willing to pardon the guilty who desire forgiveness and obedience. Isaiah 1:18-20.

“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 be as wool.

If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat of the good of the land;

But, if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword.”

“O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.” 2:5

Isaiah is to…

“Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds. Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.”

In chapter 4, Isaiah mentions the beginnings of his prophecies about the future Messiah, which he calls “the Branch.”

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 188

Jul6

    Day 188—We are in the seventh month of Bible reading. Praise God!  We are reading the second minor prophet today.

    Day 188 – Jonah 1 – 4. (God’s rebellious prophet)

From 2 Kings 14:25-27, we know that Jonah (from a town in Zebulun) lived and prophesied in the time of Jeroboam 2nd in the northern kingdom of Israel. He had said that that king would restore much of Israel’s land taken by Syria BECAUSE the LORD had mercy on the people. Even though Jonah knew that God was merciful (Jonah 4:2), he hated that God’s mercy would be shown to the cruel Assyrians.

“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message I will tell you.”

When God told his prophet to preach to Nineveh, the Assyrian capital, Jonah went in the opposite direction.  Instead of traveling east (toward modern-day Iraq), he hopped aboard a boat bound west for Tarshish (Spain).

He immediately went to sleep. Above him, a storm raged, and the sailors panicked. They prayed to their gods. They tossed the cargo overboard. Finally, they woke Jonah and discovered the real reason for their predicament. He worshipped God, the creator of the land and SEA, and he was running away in disobedience to that God.  “Toss me overboard, and you’ll be okay,” he suggested. They didn’t want to but eventually did what he said. And the storm was immediately calmed….and they praised God.

Jonah preferred death to preaching to the Assyrians. But God did not let him “off the hook.” A specially prepared fish swam by and gobbled up the sinking prophet. Inside that icky fish stomach, the prophet remained for three days. He prayed while the fish swam east, where it finally vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Like an echo, the word of the LORD to Jonah came again, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I will tell you.”

Can you imagine Jonah’s great sigh as he brushed the sand off and stomped toward Nineveh?  He finally arrived at this massive city (It took three days to walk across it!), walked a third of the way in, and said, “In forty days, Nineveh shall be overthrown!”  

And miracle upon miracle, Nineveh truly repented. From the king down to the cattle, they removed their robes, put on sackcloth, and sat in ashes.  And God relented, just as Jonah knew He would. (Psalm 86:15, 103:8)  (Nineveh was eventually destroyed, but they were given a merciful reprieve here.) 

Meanwhile, Jonah leaves the city, climbs a hill, and waits for the fiery destruction, perhaps like Sodom and Gomorrah?  But inside, he knows it wouldn’t happen. And that angers him. Just like the plant angered him, the one God caused to grow over him for shade, and then it died because a little worm killed it, allowing the burning sun to scorch his head. Nothing, it seems can make Jonah happy.  Jonah even prays to die. 

God chides him for thinking more of a plant than a city full of children and repentant adults. But Jonah remains silent in his gloom. 

 

You might think this was an allegory and not about a real person, except Jeroboam 2nd knew him, and Jesus mentioned him in Matthew 12:39-41 when the Pharisees asked him for a sign. 

“But He answered them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.  The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with THIS generation and condemn it, for THEY repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.”

By the way, the Pharisees were also wrong when they said to Nicodemus that no prophet comes from Galilee. Did they forget Jonah? John 7:50-52.

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 187

Jul5

    Day 187—We are in the seventh month of Bible reading, continuing with the history of Israel (North and South)

    Day 187 – 2 Kings 14, 2 Chronicles 25. (the southern king, Amaziah)

Both chapters today are mostly about Amaziah, the king of Judah in the south. His father, Joash, had been killed by his servants, so Amaziah killed them, but not their sons, according to God’s law in Deuteronomy 24:16. He was kind of a good king, but his heart was not wholly the LORD’s.

Amaziah assembled an army to attack Edom in the south. He didn’t think he had enough men, so he hired 100K from the northern kingdom for a huge price.  However, a man of God came to him, saying the LORD was not with Israel and Judah could be strong on their own. ‘Send the soldiers of Israel home.”

Amaziah obeyed, although he wasn’t happy about the money he’d spent. But God gave them the victory over Edom.  However, those disgruntled northern soldiers raided the cities of Judah on the way home, killed 3K people, and also took spoils (what they thought they’d have reaped in a war).

Meanwhile, Amaziah FOOLISHLY brought back some of the gods from Edom, set them up, and worshipped them with offerings.  (WHAT??)  Of course, the LORD was angry with him and sent a prophet to rebuke him. Amaziah was NOT happy with that and interrupted the prophet with “Stop with that. Who made you a royal counselor? Do you want me to kill you?” 

But the prophet got in a few last words. “God has determined to destroy you because you have done this (the Edomite idols) and not listened to my counsel.”

Sure enough, when Amaziah picked a fight with King Jehoash/Joash in the north and went to war with them, he was soundly defeated.  The king of Israel captured Amaziah and brought him back to Jerusalem. While there, he broke down 60 feet of the city’s wall and seized all the gold and silver and vessels in the temple and the king’s treasuries. He also took hostages back to Samaria.

Then, there was a conspiracy against Amaziah in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. They chased him there and killed him. He was brought back and buried in the City of David.  The people then took his son, the 16-year-old Azariah/Uzziah, and made him king.

Meanwhile, the northern king Jehoash/Joash died, and his son, Jeroboam 2nd, became king. He reigned 41 years and did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. But BECAUSE the LORD saw Israel’s affliction was very bitter, and because he had NOT said He would blot out their names forever, He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam 2nd. Jeroboam restored the border of Israel to approximately its extent in Solomon’s time. He controlled Damascus, Syria, and Moab.  (The Syrians were weak at that time because of attacks by the Assyrians.)

Were you surprised to see Jonah’s name here?  He was the prophet who didn’t want to preach to the Assyrians, so he ran away (but eventually obeyed, and the Assyrians repented).  But Jeroboam’s expansion north was “according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel which He spoke by his servant Jonah.”

When Jeroboam died, his son Zechariah reigned…. for six months.

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 185

Jul3

    Day 185—We are NOW in the seventh month of Bible reading with the history of Israel and its prophets.

    Day 185 – 2 Kings 9 – 11. (the prophesied bloody vengeance on the house of Ahab)

In Chapter 9, Elisha sends a younger prophet to anoint Jehu as the northern kingdom’s king and instruct him to destroy all the remaining men of the house of Ahab and Queen Jezebel. Jehu quickly gathers an army and rides furiously in his chariot to Jezreel.

King Jehoram was healing from a battle wound, and Ahaziah, king of Judah (a son of a marriage alliance with Ahab), was visiting him. These two kings set out to meet Jehu, but seeing he wasn’t coming in peace, they turned their chariots and fled. Jehu drew his bow and shot Jehoram in the back, clear to the heart.  They threw his body on the plot (vineyard) previously owned by Naboth, as prophesied. Then Jehu went after the southern king and shot him also.  He died at Megiddo. They buried him in the City of David. 

Then Jehu went after Jezebel, who put on her makeup to greet him. A couple servants tossed her out the window, and she was trampled to pieces by Jehu’s men’s horses. The remaining pieces of her were scattered abroad like dung. 

In Chapter 10, Jehu also makes sure the seventy other sons of Ahab, who were being schooled by elders and guardians, are all killed. On his way out of Jezreel, Jehu meets relatives of Ahaziah, the southern king with Ahab’s blood, and kills all of them. Then, arriving at Samaria, “Jehu struck down all who remained to Ahab, till he had wiped them out, according to the word of the LORD that He spoke to Elijah.” 1 Kings 21:21

Next, Jehu gathers all the prophets, worshipers, and priests of Baal into the house of Baal. He surrounds the place with his soldiers, then tells these mighty men to go in and slaughter them all. They burn the pillar of Baal and demolish the building….. making it a latrine (outhouse) to this day.

Jehu wiped out Baal from Israel….. but he did nothing to the golden calf idols at Bethel and Dan.  However, since he did well in his commission to eliminate Ahab, God promised he would have a relative on the throne of Israel for four generations.  He was king for 28 years and died. His son, Jehoahaz, became the new northern king.

Chapter 11 describes how the baby, Joash, who had escaped the murderous actions of his grandmother Athaliah (Ahab’s daughter) and was hidden for six years, is brought out at age 7 by the godly priest, Jehoiada, and anointed King of Judah. The guards are summoned and told to kill Athaliah.  Then, Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and people that they should be the LORD’s people. Then, all the people went to the house of Baal, tore it down, and broke it into pieces, as they did with all the altars of Baal. 

Then, all the people of the land (Judah) rejoiced, and the city was quiet after Athaliah had been put to death with the sword in the king’s house. 

Dead and done, all you of Ahab.  Thank God!

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 184

Jul2

    Day 184—We are NOW in the seventh month of Bible reading – halfway through the year. Praise God!  Hopefully, we have established a good habit that will continue to December 31st and beyond!

    Day 184 – 2 Kings 5 – 8. (God working His grace through Elisha’s “double portion”)

1 Kings 5. Here is the familiar story of Naaman, an Israeli servant girl, and Elisha. Naaman was the commander of the army of the king of Syria. In a recent war with Israel, he acquired a young girl who became a servant to his wife.

Naaman had leprosy, and this little girl told his wife he should visit the prophet (Elisha) in Samaria and be healed.  Naaman requested leave and got it, plus a note to King Jehoram in Samaria and a large payment from his personal wealth. Naaman went to King Jehoram, who was terrified, thinking the Syrians were seeking a quarrel with him. 

But Elisha heard of it and sent a note to Naaman. “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be clean of leprosy.“

But Naaman was insulted and said he could bathe in a Syrian River. He gave up and headed home when one of his men told him, it was really “nothing” to bathe in the Jordan. Why not try it.

Naaman reconsidered, bathed in the river, and became healed. (It’s a wise leader to listen to his servants.) 

In gratitude, he tried to give all his wealth to Elisha, but the prophet declined, wanting the man’s gratitude to go to God alone.  But Elisha’s servant thought he might enjoy some of it and ran after Naaman with a story that Elisha had unexpected guests, and some of that loot would be helpful. Naaman gladly gave the servant a sizable gift. When Elisha heard of his greed and lying, Naaman’s leprosy was immediately transferred to the servant.  

1 Kings 6. The next story tells how Elisha retrieved an iron axe head a young prophet was using when it flew off and fell into the river. God, through Elisha, made the axe head float!

Elisha often told King Jehoram about specific movements of the King of Syria’s army, which Israel could avoid and be safe. The Syrian king thought he had a mole, but his servants told him about Elisha. He sent his army to get rid of the snitch. 

Elisha’s servant was terrified to see that hoard coming to get his master.  But Elisha asked God to open his eyes.  Behold, the hills surrounding Elisha were full of horses and chariots of fire protecting Elisha.  When the Syrian army approached, Elisha asked God to make them blind, then he led them to Samaria. King Jehoram asked if he should kill them all, and Elisha said he should feed them a great feast instead.  After that “the Syrians did not come again on raids into the land of Israel.”

Later, a severe famine hit Israel. They had begun to eat their own children! The king sent to kill Elisha, blaming him for the famine. Elisha told him there would be food aplenty the next day, but the king’s main Captain in charge did not believe him. Elisha countered, “You shall see it with your own eyes but not eat it.”

And it happened this way. The Syrians encircled Samaria, but in the night, God caused a noise of chariots coming. It scared the Syrian army, and they fled in fear, leaving their tents, supplies, horses, and donkeys.  Four lepers decided to investigate – either way, they would die either from starvation or by soldier swords. But they found the camp deserted and ate their fill.  Then they told the king, and sure enough, when the crowds came out to gather the spoil, there was food aplenty.

But that Captain was trampled to death by the people rushing out the gate to get the food.

2 Kings 8. In this chapter Elisha was in the Syrian capital of Damascus. Ben-Hadad, the king was sick and he sent to Elisha to discover if he would get well. Elisha said he would, but that he would then die, and it happened that way. He got over the illness, but Hazael killed him. Elisha wept at this prediction because he knew the horrors Hazael, as king, would do to Israel in war.