Tag Archive | Bible

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Days 222 & 223

Aug11

NOTE: Sunday and Monday studies are posted on Mondays.

Day 222 – Reading Jeremiah 10 – 13

Day 223 – Reading – Jeremiah 14 – 17

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

DAY 222 – Jeremiah 10 – 13.

In this book, Jeremiah prophesies God’s coming judgment on Judah for their unrepentant sin, often in horrifying detail.  He also foretells their return to the land and the final millennial restoration under the rule of the Messiah-King.  Jeremiah and/or the people pray for mercy, but God’s answer is mostly “Do not pray for them.” (In other words, God’s mind was made up. They had gone too long without remorse. Judgment WILL come.

Also, in Jeremiah, there are sections where God speaks directly to Jeremiah, telling him to do something, which is often a “picture” of what will happen to Judah.  Some instructions are difficult, as when the LORD told Jeremiah he was NOT to take a wife or have children.  Farther along in the book, Jeremiah will endure much suffering for the Word of the LORD’s sake.

Jeremiah 10.

The prophet compares the ultimate LORD God with the idols of the nations.

IDOLS:  “A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe BY THE HANDS OF A CRAFTSMAN. They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it cannot move. Their idols are like SCARECROWS IN A CUCUMBER FIELD!  They cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk!  DO NOT BE AFRAID OF THEM!  They cannot do evil… OR good!

THE LORD;  “There is none like you, O LORD: You are great, and your name is great in might.  Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For this is your due; for among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms, THERE IS NONE LIKE YOU!”

IDOLS:  “They are both stupid and foolish; the instruction of idols is but WOOD!  Beaten silver… and gold…  They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith; their “clothing” is violet and purple; they are ALL THE WORK OF SKILLED MEN!”

THE LORD:  “BUT THE LORD is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King.  At HIS wrath the earth shakes, and the nations cannot endure His indignation.”

Jeremiah then shifts into the words the Israelites will speak when the invaders attack – their despair over their homes destroyed and their children killed.

In ending the chapter, Jeremiah pleads that God’s terrible fury would be poured out on the attackers. He understood Judah must be punished, but prayed for mercy and moderation for them.  

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Jeremiah 11.

God tells Jeremiah to remind the people of the “Covenant” He made with them when he brought them out of the “iron furnace of Egypt;” the blessings and curses He would bring depending on how they obeyed His law.   They had confirmed that, but had quickly strayed from their promise.  “Everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart.”  Hence, the coming disaster that they cannot escape.

“Let them go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings.”

And to Jeremiah, “Do NOT pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble!”  WOW!

Jeremiah continued to tell the people of God’s fierce judgment.  Some men from the Levite town of Anathoth devised schemes to kill him for his prophesy. Jeremiah went to the LORD.   God assured Jeremiah that they would  “get theirs” when when the time came. “Behold I will punish them. I will bring disaster on the men of Anathoth.” 

(Also re-read God’s strong promise to Jeremiah in chapter 1:8, 17-18)

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Jeremiah 12.

In this chapter, Jeremiah complains about the wicked and treacherous prospering. (Maybe about those who had threaten him.)

God answers Jeremiah by listing all the ways that Judah has failed HIM, forsaken and hated HIM, destroyed HIS vineyard and pleasant land…  

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Jeremiah 13.

In this chapter, God gives Jeremiah a weird task to do, one that, if taken literally, involves a LONG TRIP.  Jeremiah is to buy a linen loincloth (equivalent of a pair of underwear) and put it on, but not to take it off to wash it. 

Jeremiah obeyed.

Then God told him to go to the Euphrates River (500 miles away!!), dig a hole and hide it there between some rocks. 

Jeremiah obeyed.

After many days, the LORD told him to go back to the Euphrates and dig up the loincloth.

Jeremiah obeyed, and reported that the loincloth was “spoiled” and “good for nothing.” 

WEIRD set of instructions, right?  But God said it illustrated how close Israel had been to Him, that they were His people and He, their God.  But they would not remain there, but stubbornly followed after other gods to worship them.  And so…. the prophesied long stay, “buried” so to speak in Babylon, was to spoil their pride.

Next, Jeremiah is to tell ALL the people, from the king who sits on the throne (Jehoiachin), the priests, and prophets, to the common inhabitants of Jerusalem, that they will be like “full wine jars” which will be dashed against each other and destroyed … when the invasion comes. 

When they all ask, “Why is this coming upon us?” tell them that it is “for the greatness of your iniquity” and “you have forgotten God and trusted in lies.”

Then God asks a question that goes back to the Illustration of the loincloth. “WOE to you, O Jerusalem! How long will it be before you are made clean?”

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DAY 223 – Jeremiah 14 – 17.

Jeremiah 14.

In a time of drought in Judah, Jeremiah pleads for mercy.  After stating how horrible it’s getting without water, he prays to God.

“O You, Hope of Israel, its Savior in time of trouble….”  Don’t be a stranger in a time of trouble.  “You, O LORD, are in the midst of us, and we are called by your name;  Do not leave us.”

But the LORD answered Jeremiah like this,

“Do not pray for the welfare of this people! Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, and though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them.  But I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.” 

WHOA!  How does it feel for God to say NOT to pray for someone?

Jeremiah pleads for the people, because false prophets have deceived them.  But God says HE did not send those prophets, and they will be punished too.  But so will the people.  They would have known that the prophets were false if they’d stayed close to Him.

Still, Jeremiah pleads to God for the people.

“We acknowledge our wickedness, O LORD, and the iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against You. Do not spurn us, for Your name’s sake; do not dishonor Your glorious throne; remember and do not break Your covenant with us.  Are there any among the false gods of the nations THAT CAN BRING RAIN?  Or can the heavens GIVE SHOWERS?  Are You not He, O LORD our God?  We set our hope on You, for You do all these things.”

Wow, what powerful, persevering prayer!!

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Jeremiah 15.

God’s answer to Jeremiah’s intercession,

“Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go!

WOW. Double WOW.

God will not relent of the 1) pestilence, 2) sword, 3) famine, and 4) captivity “because of what Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem. (2 Kings 21:1-18, 23:26, and 24:3-4)  “I AM weary of relenting.”

Jeremiah goes through a time of self-pity and protests about staying clear of those wicked men and remaining faithful to God. (He truly loved God’s word, a joy and delight to him.) But why wouldn’t God answer his prayers? 

And God reprimanded him.  “If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you will be as My mouth. I will make you, to this people, a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but you shall prevail, for I am with you to save you and deliver you.”

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Jeremiah 16.

When God commands Jeremiah NOT to take a wife or have children, it was a mercy. God reminds His prophet that the wives, sons, and daughters who are there will die of disease but not be buried, they will perish by the sword and famine, and beast will eat their bodies.  God has taken away PEACE from the land. He will silence the voice of mirth and gladness.

When the people ask WHY?, Jeremiah is to tell them, “Because your fathers have forsaken Me and have gone after other gods and have served and worshiped them and have forsaken Me and have not kept my law.  AND YOU HAVE DONE WORSE THAN YOUR FATHERS.  And so…… I will hurl you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your fathers have known.  And there … you shall serve other gods day and night, for I will show you NO FAVOR.

“I will bring them back … But first, I will doubly repay their iniquity and sin … for their detestable idols and for filling my land with their abominations. 

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Jeremiah 17.

God continues listing the reasons for such drastic judgment on Judah.

CURSED is the man who trusts in man … he’s like a shrub in the parched desert.

BLESSED is the man who trusts in the LORD … he’s like a man planted by the water, green and fruitful.

“I the LORD search the heart and the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.

Then the LORD sends Jeremiah to the kings of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem to tell them to KEEP THE SABBATH HOLY. This had been a major sin for Israel, for all the 490 years from the first king until their captivity.  Not only had they neglected and desecrated the Sabbath Day, they had ignored the Sabbath Year.  Their 70 years of captivity would give the land rest for all those Sabbath Years they had missed.  (When they did return from captivity, special emphasis was put on observing Sabbath.)

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(We saw Jeremiah as a “human” today as well as a faithful prophet.  He balked at a few of God’s judgments and prayed to change them, but in the end, he relented.  He obey strange and dangerous instructions and got harassed and persecuted for them.  But God promised He would always be with Jeremiah.  Jeremiah was faithful to give out God’s message.  HOW faithful am I?)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 220

Aug8

Day 220 – Reading – Jeremiah 4 – 6

Read today’s Scriptures … ANYWHERE you find yourself this summer.

Stay in the WORD!

Jeremiah 4.

This chapter opens with a call to RETURN to the LORD in truth.  Are they able to remove the “detestable things” from His presence, and “circumcise” or cleanse their hearts?   If not … God’s wrath will go out like fire and burn with a flame no one can quench, and consume them. 

Jeremiah then predicts that destruction and disaster will come from the north (Babylon).  A lion … a destroyer of nations has set out … to make your land a waste and your cities into ruins.  (Babylon is often symbolized by a winged lion.)  Judah’s kings, officials, priests, and prophets will be appalled and terrified.

“Woe to us, for we are ruined,” will be the cry as the speeding horses and chariots appear.   And Jeremiah cries again for the LORD, “O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil, that you may be saved!”

“I looked on the earth, and behold, it was without form and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light.  I looked at the mountains, and behold, THEY WERE QUAKING AND THE HILLS MOVED TO AND FRO.  I looked … and all its cities were laid in ruins before the LORD’s fierce anger.

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Jeremiah 5.

God wants his servant to run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, to look (if he can) for a man who does justice and seeks truth, so the LORD may pardon the city.

But the result is: They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to repent.

Then Jeremiah said, “These are only the POOR; they have no sense; for they do not know the way of the LORD, the justice of the LORD.  I will go to the GREAT and speak to them. They KNOW the way of the LORD. 

But, they ALL alike had broken the yoke and burst the bonds. And all say to the LORD, “He will do nothing; no disaster will come upon us, nor shall we see sword or famine.  The prophets will become wind; the word is not in them.”

The LORD’s answer?  “Behold, I am bringing against you a nation from afar, O House of Israel.”  “As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.

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Jeremiah 6.

And again, impending disaster for Jerusalem!

“Flee for safety, O people of Benjamin in the midst of Jerusalem!”

“Blow the trumpet … raise a signal for disaster looms out of the north and great destruction.”

“This is a city that must be punished; there is nothing but oppression within her.”

“Be warned, O Jerusalem, lest I turn from you in disgust…”

“Therefore I am full of wrath; I am weary of holding it in. Pour it out upon the CHILDREN in the street, upon the YOUNG MEN, both HUSBAND AND WIFE, the ELDERLY and the VERY AGED!””

“Hear O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people, the fruit of their devices, because they have not paid attention to MY words; and as for MY law, they have rejected it. 

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WOW. What horrible disaster.  Sometimes I think that this very same disaster is coming upon the United States. Because we have not repented of the despicable ways we follow. Because we have neglected and rejected God, and played around with science and occult and technology as our “gods.”

O LORD, we are helpless! Please cleansed our hearts and minds. Turn us to You, our Savior and Redeemer!

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 219

Aug7

Day 219 – Reading – Jeremiah 1 – 3

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

Jeremiah.

Jeremiah was a priest before he was a prophet, but God called him to that office. Jeremiah thought himself too young, and like Moses before him, said, “I do not know how to speak.”  His excuse was youth, whereas Moses’ was that he stuttered.  In both cases, the LORD overruled their objections. “I will be with you.”

Jeremiah’s ministry lasted for 50 years or more (through Judah’s last 5 kings). It began in the 13th year of King Josiah’s 31-year reign (before he began his reforms), and lasted beyond the fall of Jerusalem.

Jeremiah was first carried along into captivity to Egypt, and then, when Egypt fell, to Babylon.  His last words written were about the captive King of Judah, Jehoiachin, who was freed from a Babylonian prison after 31 years, and “every day of his life dined regularly at the king’s table, and got an allowance for his needs.“

Jeremiah would have been between 85 and 90 years old. (A tough old guy!)

Jeremiah prophesied about the coming invasion from Babylon, and pleaded for the people to turn from their wickedness and seek the LORD. He especially preached against sin, religious hypocrisy, adultery, and injustice to the poor and helpless.  And when invasion was inevitable, he begged the people to submit and not to resist the Babylonians, to prevent total destruction.

Jeremiah’s contemporaries were Zephaniah and Habakkuk, and later, Ezekiel and Daniel.

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Jeremiah 1.

Jeremiah’s story begins with God’s beautiful statement, “I knew you in the womb before you were born… and I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Jeremiah’s response (like Moses) was, “Ah, Lord GOD! I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.”

“Don’t be afraid. I am with you to deliver you,” declared the LORD. Then the LORD put out His hand and touched Jeremiah’s mouth, “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.”

Okay, Jeremiah. No excuse now.

Then God gives Jeremiah a couple of “vision tests.”  “What do you see? (an almond branch).  What do you see now?” (a boiling pot). The new prophet passed the tests. 

And then, the LORD ordered, “Dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I commanded you. Don’t be dismayed by them. Behold, this day I make YOU, a “fortified city,” “an iron pillar,” and “bronze walls” against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, priests, and people. They will fight you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I AM with you.”

WOW! Jeremiah was “royally” armored and commissioned.

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Jeremiah 2.

Then comes Jeremiah’s first Word from the Lord to Jerusalem.  It starts with memories of love and devotion. 

  • “I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed Me in the wilderness… Israel was holy to the LORD, the first fruits of the harvest.”
  • “What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthlessness, and became … worthless.”
  • “I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things….  But when you came in, you defiled My land and made My heritage an abomination.
  • “The priests didn’t seek Me…. those who handled the law, did not know Me…. the shepherds transgressed against Me…. Therefore I will contend with you.”

(This reminds me of Revelation 2:4-5 when Ephesus “lost their first love” for God and He urged them to return.)

  • “My people have committed two evils.   1) They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and 2) they hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”
  • “And now, what do you gain by going to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile? Or what do you gain by going to Assyria to drink the waters of the Euphrates? 

When they heard of Babylon, they sought help in Egypt and  Assyria.

  • You shall be put to shame by Egypt as you were by Assyria.  From Egypt, too, you will come away with your hands on your head, for the LORD has rejected those in whom you trust, and you will NOT prosper by them.”

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Jeremiah 3.

The LORD speaks a message against Israel (north) as well as Judah (south).  He speaks of their idolatry as adultery, a woman’s promiscuousness against her husband.   She is defiled by many lovers.  She has polluted the land with her vile whoredom.  

(Remember all those horrible kings in Israel. Not one was good. Remember the golden calves, the statues of Baal and Asherah, the pagan prophets.  This is how Israel in the north went crazy. This is what caused her ultimate demise.

And yet, the LORD proclaims to Israel,

  • “RETURN, faithless Israel. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful. I will not be angry forever, only acknowledge your guilt that you rebelled against the LORD your God, and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree, and that you have not obeyed my voice.
  • “RETURN, O faithless children, for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city  and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.” 

Then God says, through Jeremiah, that Israel’s sister Judah SAW Israel’s whoredom, “yet she did not fear, but went too, and played the whore. She did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense.”

“Faithless Israel” has shown herself more righteous than “treacherous Judah,” said the LORD.

In that “Day of the LORD,” when the Messiah will reign in Zion, God promises to give them GOOD shepherds, and they will multiply and increase. 

And – this is interesting, in the Kingdom of Messiah…

The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord will not come to mind,

or be remembered,

or missed;

and it shall not be made again.” 

WOW!

  • So, where is the Ark of the Covenant? 
  • NO, it’s not in some gigantic warehouse in Washington D. C. from an Indiana Jones movie. 
  • Did it get melted down and/or carried off to Babylon? 
  • Was it in that simple Temple that the returnees built? 
  • Was it in Herod’s rebuilt Temple in the days of Jesus?
  • Did it get destroyed (melted) when Titus destroyed the city in 70 A.D.? 
  • Some say that Jeremiah or another prophet hid or buried it so it couldn’t be taken to Babylon. 
  • If so, that’s a mighty good hiding job! 
  • Surely archeologists would have discovered it by now.

All we know is what Jeremiah recorded here, that in the Millennium, there will be NO ARK OF THE COVENANT, because Jerusalem, herself, shall be called the “throne of the LORD.”  

The Ark of the Covenant, “representing” the presence of God, will NOT be needed then, for God will be there, Himself, in person.

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 218

Aug6

Day 218 – Reading – Zephaniah 1 – 3.

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

 

Zephaniah 1-3.

Zephaniah prophesied “in the days of Josiah.” These were probably in the early years of the boy king’s reign, before the Book of the Law was found and Josiah began those massive reforms. Perhaps Zephaniah had an influence on those reforms.  He was a contemporary of Jeremiah.

Zephaniah was unique among the prophets in that he was a descendant of King Hezekiah (his great-grandfather). This may have given him more access to the royal court and more respect for his prophesies. 

Remember how the LORD told King Josiah that he would have PEACE in his day, but in no way was the wrath of God on Judah and Jerusalem to be abated.  It was still going to happen.  (After Josiah died, it came on rapidly.)

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Zephaniah 1..

NOTE: The prophesies of Zephaniah spoke of two judgments: first, the victory of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and second, the “great” Day of the LORD yet in the future. Zephaniah quotes God’s words.

  • “I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth … I will sweep away man and beast … the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea … the rubble and the wicked … I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth.”  

Wow, that sounds like the flood, but we know it isn’t.  The message continues and is more specific.

  • “I will stretch out my hand against Judah, and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal … the idolatrous priests … those who bow down to the hosts of heaven … who swear by Milcom … and have turned back from following the LORD.

Then He lists those whom He will punish.

  • “At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps. I will punish the men who are complacent and say, ‘The LORD will not do good or evil.'”

But the warning is –

  • The great day of the LORD is near; near and hastening fast!  A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, ruin and devastation, darkness and gloom, clouds and thick darkness, a day if trumpet blast and battle cry!”

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Zephaniah 2.

  • Then hope…
  • “Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do His just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the LORD>”

Zephaniah then list WOES on surrounding cities and countries:  the cities of Philistia, the inhabitants of the seacoasts, Moab, Ammon, Cush, Assyria (He will make Nineveh a desolation), 

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Zephaniah 3.

And then the LORD turns to His own people.

  • Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled, the oppressing city!”  (Jerusalem)  She does not trust in the LORD; she does not draw near to her God.  Her officials, judges, prophets, and priests “know no shame.”

But judgment is coming to them as it was with all the surrounding nations

Then Zephaniah’s prophesies turn to the blessings of RESTORATION for God’s people and the nations, after “that great and terrible “DAY OF THE LORD.”

  • ” … all the peoples will call upon the Name of the LORD and serve Him with one accord.
  • ” … for then I will remove from your midst your proud, haughty ones, and will leave a people humble and lowly … who see refuge in the name of the LORD.

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The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil.

“Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel!  Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away the judgments against you;

The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty One who will save;  He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing!

“I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,”  says the LORD.

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(The sin of the world today will also bring judgment, woe, and sorrow. The LORD will sweep it all away.  And He will make a new Heaven and Earth with holiness, joy, and peace.  And He will be the righteous King. And the people who love and serve Him here and now will join Him there and forever. Thank YOU, LORD!)

 

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 214

Aug2

Day 214 – Reading – 2 Kings 20 – 21.

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

2 Kings 20.

This chapter is a repeat from Isaiah 38. It retells Hezekiah’s illness and his prayer for recovery. God allows him another 15 years of life, but he “blows it” in several ways.

  1. When visitors from Babylon come with letters and a present for Hezekiah’s good health, the king lavishly welcomes them and shows them all the riches of his kingdom and all the arms of his military.  Isaiah admonishes him and tells the king that the Babylonians will one day come, take all those treasures, destroy Jerusalem, and take his descendants captive.  “Ah, well,’ said Hezekiah. “At least it won’t happen in MY time.”
  2. The other way that Hezekiah “blew it” in those extra 15 years was to have a son, Manasseh.  This son became the king after him (as we’ll see in 2 Kings 21) and was VERY EVIL, worse than Ahab.   Just think….  if Hezekiah had died when the LORD first said … would a more godly son have inherited the throne?  But ALL is according to God’s sovereign will.

Does this mean we shouldn’t pray for healing for ourselves or others?  No.  James 5:13-15 says —

  • “Is anyone among you suffering?  Let him pray.  Is anyone among you sick?  Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick.”

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.2 Kings 21.

Hezekiah’s 12-YEAR-OLD SON, MANASSEH, became king after Hezekiah died. (Did he not have other children??)  Manasseh was born in those last EXTRA 15 years of the king’s life.  Hmmm.

Manasseh reigned a LONG time – 55 years.  

  • “He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel (Canaanites).
  • ‘He rebuilt the high places that his father had destroyed.
  • “He erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab, king of Israel, had done.
  • “He worshiped all the host of heaven (moon, sun, stars) and served them.
  • “He built altars in the house of the LORD (the Temple) where the LORD had put His name.
  • “He built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.
  • He burned his son as an offering.
  • He used fortune-telling and omens, and dealt with mediums and with necromancers.
  • “He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
  • “The carved image of Asherah that he had made, he set IN the house of the LORD, where God had chosen to put His Name. 
  • “Manasseh led Israel astray to do MORE EVIL than the nations had done whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel.”

Whoa!  What a horrible leader!  And the 55 years must have dragged on and on….

How did the LORD respond?  He sent a message through His prophets….

“BECAUSE Manasseh, king of Judah, has committed these abominations and has done things more evil than all that the Amorites did who were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols …..

  • “I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such disaster that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle.
  • “I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, and the plub like of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a  dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.
  • “I will forsake the remnant of my heritage and give them into the hand of their enemies.
  • “They will become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies…. BECAUSE they have done what is evil in my sight and provoked me to anger … since I brought them out of Egypt.

MORE than all the evil idolatry that Manasseh instigated, he “shed so much innocent blood that Jerusalem was filled from one end to another.”  (The blood of child sacrifice, persecution of the weak, and martyrdom of  God’s prophets.) 

+++++++++++++++ NOTE:  Both Jewish and Christian tradition reports that Manasseh had Isaiah (the great prophet of God, whom we just read) sawn in two inside a hollow log.  WHOA!!!  (See Hebrews 11:37.) ++++++++++++++++++++++++

We’ll be reading more about Manasseh tomorrow in 2 Chronicles – an astonishing fact about him will be revealed – so stay tuned.    Meanwhile, this wicked king died, and his son (ONE THAT ESCAPED SACRIFICE) reigned as king.  

That son, Amon, reigned TWO YEARS.  He did EVIL  (no surprise) in the sight of the LORD, as Manasseh had done.  He walked in all the way his father walked and served the idols his father had served and worshipped. HE ABANDONED THE LORD, THE GOD OF HIS FATHERS.

But his servants conspired against him and killed him in his own house.

Then, the people of the land killed all those conspirators and made his son, Josiah, king in his place.  (YAY!)

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So, until next time, SERVE THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART!  

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 213

Aug1

A NEW MONTH!

Day 213 – Reading – Isaiah 64 – 66.

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

Isaiah 64.

We finish the wonderful and challenging book of Isaiah today. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

And a desperate cry…

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

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Isaiah 65.

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

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

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

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

And even greater and more wondrous!

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

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

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Isaiah 66.

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

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

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

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

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

Halleluia!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 212

Jul31

Day 212 – Reading – Isaiah 59 – 63.

Read today’s Scriptures.  

Isaiah 59.

A little good news.

  • Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or His ear dull, that it cannot hear…

A lot of bad news.

  • But YOUR iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and YOUR sins have hidden His face from you so He does not hear.
  • YOUR hands are defiled with blood, YOUR fingers with iniquity; YOUR lips have spoken lies; YOUR tongue mutters wickedness. 
  • Their works are works of iniquity, and deeds of violence are in their hands.  Their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their highways. The way of peace they do not know, and their is no justice in their paths.
  • Our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities; transgressing and denying the LORD, and turning back from following our God.

Israel (and we) cannot save ourselves.  So God took it upon Himself to step in.

  • The LORD saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was NO ONE TO INTERCEDE.
  • Then HIS OWN ARM brought Him salvation, and HIS righteousness upheld him.
  • AND A REDEEMER WILL COME to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression, declares the LORD.

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Isaiah 60.

The future glories of Israel in the Millennial Kingdom of Christ.

  • Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.  And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.  They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of the LORD.

Isaiah continues to list all the glories that will come to the restored Zion and Israel in those 1,000 years.

  • And… Who are these that fly like a cloud, and like doves to their windows?  For the coastlands (Gentile nations) shall hope for me, the ships of Tarshish first TO BRING YOUR CHILDREN FROM AFAR,  their silver and gold with them for the name of the LORD your God, and for the HOLY ONE of Israel, BECAUSE He has made you beautiful!
  • Whereas you (Jerusalem), have been forsaken and hated, with no one passing through, I will make you majestic forever, a joy from age to age. They shall call you the City of the LORD, and Zion, the Holy One of Israel.  And you shall KNOW that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer…”  “you shall call your walls, Salvation, and your gates, Praise.
  • I AM the LORD; in its time I will  hasten it.

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Isaiah 61.

And here is the section of scripture (verses 1-2) that Jesus read and identified with in the synagogue in Nazareth at the beginning of His ministry. (Luke 4:18-19)  He did NOT read the rest of the chapter, for that speaks of his SECOND COMING.

  • “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor, He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound….”

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Isaiah 62.

These are more promises of God for Jerusalem’s glory and the salvation and restoration of His people, Israel.

  • Say to the daughter of Zion, “Behold, your salvation comes; behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.”  And they shall be called The Holy People, The Redeemed of the LORD; and you (Jerusalem) shall be called Sought Out, a City NOT Forsaken.

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Isaiah 63.

The LORD is depicted as an avenging conqueror of Israel’s enemies, with clothes red and resembling having been drenched with wine. 

  • I have trodden the winepress alone… I trod them in My anger, and trampled them in My wrath.  For the day of vengeance was in My heart.  I trampled down the peoples (represented by Edom) in My anger; I made them drunk in My wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.

Um… wow!

Isaiah then prays for Israel, confessing sin and praying for restoration.

  • “I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD, the praises of the LORD, according to all the LORD has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel that He has granted them according to His compassion, according to the abundance of His steadfast love…”
  • “But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; therefore He turned to be their enemy and Himself fought against them. 
  • “LOOK DOWN from heaven and see; from your holy and beautiful habitation.
  • “O LORD, why do you make us wander from Your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not:  RETURN for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage.
  • “Oh that You would rend the heavens and COME DOWN….

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O LORD, these passages go back and forth from joyful pictures of glory, back to sin and sorrow and judgment. We confess we are sinners. And You sent your Savior-Redeemer to rescue us. Now, my heart pleads, like Isaiah, for you to RETURN, to rend the heavens and COME DOWN!

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 211

Jul30

Day 211 – Reading – Isaiah 54 – 58.

Read today’s Scriptures.  

Isaiah 54.

Yesterday, we read that grand chapter about Jesus purchasing our salvation by giving His own life.

Today’s chapters begin with joy.

  • Sing, O barren one, you who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor, for the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married, says the LORD.
  • For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is His name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called.

Israel has been in exile and dispersion. They are destitute and disgraced as a childless woman.   But Isaiah calls for singing because of the LORD’s promise of future fruitfulness. 

  • O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted, behold…”   “All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children.  In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear, and far from terror, for it shall not come near you.

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Isaiah 55.

This chapter is full of the compassion of the LORD towards Israel and “everyone.”

  • Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!
  • Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.  Why do you spend your money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy?
  • LISTEN diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.  INCLINE YOUR EAR, and come to me; HEAR, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,”

And this clear invitation to salvation.

  • Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
  • For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are you ways my ways, declares the LORD.
  • For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

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Isaiah 56.

This chapter gives hope to the outcasts, foreigners, and eunuchs in the future kingdom.  (Remember the Babylonians made eunuchs of many young men who would serve in their palaces, and the Mosaic law forbade them to enter into worship.  Now God was opening His arms.)

Those outside Israel, acceptance.

  • Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, ‘The LORD will surely separate me from His people.”   
  • The foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to Him, to love the Name of the LORD, and to be His servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it and holds fast my covenant — these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my alter; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

And hope for those made eunuchs.

  • Let not the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.”
  • For thus says the LORD: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name that shall not be cut off.”

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Isaiah 57.

And yet God’s own Israel had strayed away from Him and into idolatry, including immorality, debauchery, and child sacrifice.

  • But you, draw near, you sons of the sorceress, offspring of the adulterer and the loose woman.
  • Whom did you dread and fear that you lied, and did not remember me, did not lay it to heart?  Have I not held my peace, even for a long time, and you do not fear me.
  • When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you!  
  • But…. he who takes refuge in Me shall possess the land and shall inherit my holy mountain.

Again hope from the Almighty God.

  • For thus says, the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy;  “I dwell in the high and holy place, and ALSO with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.  For I will not contend forever, nor will I always  be angry!”

Praise God!  Thank You, LORD.

  • “Peace, peace, to the far and the near, says the LORD, “and I will heal him.
  • But the wicked…. “There is no peace” says my God, “for the wicked.”

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Isaiah 58.

The LORD tells Isaiah that he has two things against His people, Israel: the way they FAST, and the way they treat THE SABBATH.  God says, “Lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression.”

 Israel “sought God daily,” “delighted to know His ways,” “did righteousness,” “asked God for righteous judgments,” and “delighted to draw near to Him.”  So WHY, they asked, does the Lord not notice their fasting and humility?

WHY???  (And this is such a good lesson for us as well.  What are our MOTIVES in serving and worshipping God?

  • “Because,” says the LORD. “In the day of your fast, you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers.  You fast only to quarrel and fight and hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours will not make your voice to be heard on high.
  • “IS NOT THIS THE FAST THAT I CHOOSE;  to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
  • IS IT NOT TO share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

And what happens when the heart is right with God when it fasts?

  • THEN shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
  • THEN you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry and He will say, “Here I am.”

(Read here the other promises of God for those who deny themselves and pour themselves out for the hungry and afflicted.)

As for keeping the Sabbath…

  • If you turn back from doing YOUR pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly,
  • THEN I will make you ride on the heights of the earth. And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob, your father.

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Doesn’t your heart swell with all the promises of God, if we would only turn to Him in love and humility!  Our God is so good and kind. His heart is FOR us!  O LORD, please help me to “deny my self” and set my face and desire on YOU. 

 

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 210

Jul29

Day 210 – Reading – Isaiah 49 – 53.

Read today’s Scriptures.  

Isaiah 49.

“Listen to me, O coastlands…”  Who are the coastlands?  As Isaiah says, they are “peoples from afar.” Coastlands most likely refers to Gentiles in the unknown regions of Isaiah’s day.  Think: the coasts of the countries that circle the Mediterranean Sea. In the prophets’ time, Tarshish, or Spain, was really, really far away. Gentiles, is another way to think of “coastlands.”  And these might include the lands that at that time were not yet even discovered.

So America… head’s up!  Isaiah is going to tell you about Jesus, the LORD’s “Suffering Servant.”  It is Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who was slain to redeem God’s elect from every nation.

  • “I will make you as a light for the nations (Gentile), that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

But, no, God has not forsaken Israel for the Gentiles!

  • “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that I should have no compassion on the son of her womb?  Even THESE may forget, yet I will not forget you.  Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands…”

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Isaiah 50.

Verses 4-11 of this chapter picture Jesus Christ, “the suffering servant.”

  • “I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out my beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.”

And a call to the unconverted to believe and be saved.

  • “Let him who walks in darkness and has no light … trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.”

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Isaiah 51.

In this chapter, God comforts and encourages both Jew and Gentile.

  • “Look to Abraham, your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but ONE when I called him, that I might bless him and MULTIPLY him. 
  • “For the Lord comforts Zion … joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.
  • “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.

And…

  • “My righteousness draws near, my salvation has gone out, and my arms will judge the peoples; the COASTLANDS hope for me, and for my arm they wait. 

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Isaiah 52.

Again Isaiah foretells a time of Israel being restored to their land and to glory when their Redeemer comes to rule.

  • “You were sold for nothing (in the countries of the world), and you shall be redeemed without money.”

And after that time messengers will go throughout the mountains around Jerusalem, to spread the good news that redeemed Israel has returned.  (Paul later picks this up to show the spread of the Gospel, in Romans 10)

  • How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

Then Isaiah gives a summary and preview of the humiliation and exultation of the “Servant.” (The details will be given in the following chapter.)

  • “Behold, my servant shall act wisely; He shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted.  As many were astonished at you — his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and His form beyond that of the children of mankind — so shall He sprinkle (with his own blood) many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of Him;”

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Isaiah 53.

And then that great chapter that describes the excruciating death of Jesus for our sins and our redemption.  (Many Jews call this the “forbidden chapter.” Sometimes it is even omitted from their scriptures.)  

Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

For He grew up before him like a young plant, 
and like a root out of dry ground:
He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him,
and no beauty that we should desire Him.

He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.

Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
yet, we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for OUR transgressions;
He was crushed for OUR iniquities;
upon Him was the chastisement that brought US peace,
and with His stripes WE are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned -- every one -- to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and He was afflicted,
yet He opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so He opened not His mouth.

By oppression and judgment, He was taken away;
and as for His generation, who considered
that He was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?

And they made His grave with the wicked 
and with a rich man in his death,
although He had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in His mouth.

Yet, it was the will of the LORD to crush Him,
He has put Him to grief;
when His soul makes an offering for guilt,
He shall see His offspring; 
He shall prolong His days;
the will of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.

Out of the anguish of His soul 
He shall see and be satisfied;
by His knowledge shall the righteous One, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and He shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore, I will divide Him a portion with the many,
and He shall divide the spoil with the strong,

because He poured out His soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
Yet, He bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.

**** Thank You, LORD, for your sending Jesus to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  Jesus did that by sacrificing His own life, taking our sin, and dying as the punishment we deserved.  Oh, God!  How great a salvation you planned!

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 200 (wow)

Jul19

Day 200 – Reading – 2 Kings 18, 2 Chronicles 29 – 31, and Psalm 48

Do you see connections?

2 Kings 18:1-8 and 2 Chronicles 29

First, we learn that in the third year of Israel’s King Hoshea’s nine-year-reign, Hezekiah began his 29-year reign in the southern kingdom of Judah.  HE DID WHAT WAS RIGHT IN THE EYES OF THE LORD.  Praise God!  (In all the sons that King Ahaz’s burned on that pagan altar … God kept Hezekiah safe.) Praise God!

Hezekiah “trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were 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.”

And King Hezekiah began to “clean up Judah.” In the first year of his reign,

          2 Kings:

  • he REMOVED the high places, BROKE the pillars, and CUT DOWN the Asherah.
  • he BROKE IN PIECES THE BRONZE SERPENT that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it. (WHAT??)  (See Numbers 21:4-9)

           2 Chronicles 29:

  • he OPENED the doors of the House of the Lord, that his father, King Ahaz had permanently shut (See 28:22-25). 
  • he CALLED BACK the priests and Levites and charged them to consecrate themselves and the House of the LORD.  (Take out the filth that was in the Holy Place!!)
  • he REMINDED them that the LORD had chosen THEM to stand in His presence and to minister to Him.

And the three clans of Levites consecrated themselves went into the inner part of the House of the LORD to cleanse it. They brought out all the uncleanness they found in the court and the Temple. For EIGHT DAYS they consecrated it. Then they told the king it was done.

And Hezekiah rose early and had sacrificed to the LORD many sin offerings and burnt offerings … to make atonement for Israel.  And with musical instruments, they sang to the LORD, and worshiped Him.  They sang the praises of David and Asaph, with gladness. They bowed down and worshiped! 

WOW. Halleluia!

And so the service of the House of the LORD was restored.

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2 Chronicles 30.

Then Hezekiah sent letters to ALL of Israel AND Judah, that they should come to the House of the LORD at Jerusalem to “keep the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel.”  It was going to be a month late, because of the time it took to cleanse the Temple, but the plan seemed right to the king and the assembly.

So the proclamation went out – from Beersheba to Dan. (ALL the country of the united Israel from the southern tip to the most northern boarder.) “Come to Jerusalem. Come and keep the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel.”

“O people of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that He may turn again to you. The LORD your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away His face from you, if you return to Him.”

WOW, what a message!!!  PREACH IT, Hezekiah!!

But …………………………… they laughed the messengers to scorn and mocked them.

However, some of the men of Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. And many from Ephraim and Issachar came.  They had not cleansed themselves, yet they came to eat the Passover lamb. 

  • FOR HEZEKIAH HAD 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 rules of cleanness.”
  • And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people.  And the people of ISRAEL who were present kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with GREAT GLADNESS.
  • And the Levites and priests praised the LORD day by day, singing with all their might to the LORD.

And the whole assembly that came out of Israel, and the sojourners who came out of the land of Israel, and the sojourners who lived in Judah… REJOICED.  So there was GREAT JOY in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon, there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. 

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2 Chronicles 31.

And when it was finished, Judah, and their brothers from Israel went out into the cities of Judah and Benjamin, and ….

  • broke in pieces the pillars
  • cut down the Asherim poles
  • broke down the high places and altars
  • … until they had destroyed them all.

Then Hezekiah commanded the people who lived in Jerusalem to give the portion due to the priests and Levites … that THEY could give themselves to the Law of the LORD.

And people begin to bring in their offerings IN ABUNDANCE. And the people of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities brought in the tithe too.  And the priests reported, that since the contributions began, “we have eaten and had enough and have plenty left, for the LORD has blessed the people.”

“Thus Hezekiah DID throughout all Judah, and he did WHAT WAS GOOD AND RIGHT AND FAITHFUL before the LORD his God.  And every work he undertook in the service of the house of God, seeking his God, HE DID WITH ALL HIS HEART, and prospered.”

……………………………………………………

2 Kings 18:9-12

Meanwhile … In the 4th year of Hezekiah’s reign in Judah, and the 7th year of King Hoshea’s reign in the north, Shalmaneser, King of Assyria came up to Samaria (northern capital) and besieged it for three years. 

In the 9th year of King Hoshea of Israel, SAMARIA WAS TAKEN and the Israelites (who had not gone to Judah) were carried away to Assyria and put into cities of the Medes …….. BECAUSE they did not obey the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed His covenant.  They neither listened or obeyed the LORD’s commandments.

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What a contrast between Israel and Judah with the godly King Hezekiah!

O LORD, may I always set my heart to SEEK YOU. May I hear and obey Your Word!