Tag Archive | Bible

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.

 .

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!

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 199

Jul18

Day 199 – Reading – Isaiah 23 – 27

Read today’s Scriptures.  (Yes, they are hard to understand!)

Isaiah 23.

This “oracle” is directed at Tyre and Sidon (modern-day Lebanon). They were famous for their ships and shipping industry, as far west as Tarshish (modern-day Spain). The King of this country assisted Solomon in supplying building materials for his palace and the Temple of the LORD.  Later, relations were broken.

Now Isaiah predicts doom for these proud people. “The LORD of hosts has purposed it, to defile the pompous pride of all glory, to dishonor all the honored of the earth.”

“In that day, Trye will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king.”   

“At the end of seventy years, the LORD will visit Tyre…. Her merchandise and wages will be holy to the LORD. It will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who dwell before the LORD.”   Tyre’s sinful gain was to support Judah when they returned.

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Isaiah 24.

The horrific judgments in this chapter, against the WHOLE WORLD, reflect the tribulations as described in Revelation 6+.  The LORD God is to deal with the whole earth MORE SEVERELY than He did at the Tower of Babel and Noah’s Flood!

  • “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 and utterly plundered; for the LORD has spoken this word.
  • “The earth is utterly broken, the earth is split apart, the earth is violently shaken.
  • The earth staggers like a drunken man; it sways like a hut.

And the PEOPLE of the earth languish. The inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left.  WHY??

  • Because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the EVERLASTING COVENANT.

What is “the everlasting covenant?”  See Genesis 17:7, 13, & 19 and 1 Chronicles 16:15-17.

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Isaiah 25.

Isaiah now praises the LORD for the wonderful things He’s planned (judgment and future restoration).

  • “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.”
  • “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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Isaiah 26.

The prophet continues praise for that day of final restoration.

  • “In that day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah. ‘Open the gates, that the righteous nation that KEEPS faith may enter in.”
  • “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.”
  • “The path of the righteous is level; You make level the way of the righteous.
  • “O LORD, You will ordain peace for us, for You have indeed done for us all our works. (“It is finished,” said Jesus.)

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Isaiah 27.

And then that great promise of the final destruction of that Great Serpent, Satan…

  • “In that day, the LORD, with His hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the DRAGON that is in the sea.

And then there is ANOTHER VINEYARD SONG.  How different this one is from the sad tale of a wasted one in Isaiah 5:1-7.  This one is called “a pleasant vineyard.”

  • “In days to come Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots, and fill the whole world with fruit.”  (In Messiah’s kingdom)
  • “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.  (Matthew 24:31)
  • “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 at Jerusalem”

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(Promises of the horrors of Revelation, and the promises of the beautiful restoration of Israel in the Millennian Kingdom.  God can be trusted to fulfill each … in detail.  I believe the “beginning of sorrows”
has, or is about to start.   LORD, Thank you for your word that tells us to PERSEVERE to the end… the glorious end.)

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 196

Jul15

Day 196 – Reading – 2 Chronicles 28 and 2 Kings 16 – 17

Read today’s Scriptures.  Do you see connections?

2 Chronicles 28 and 2 Kings 16.

Both chapters are about King Ahaz in Judah (south).  While the next-to-the-last king (Pekah) was reigning in Israel, Ahaz too the throne in Judah.  He was 20 and reigned for 16 years.  He DID NOT DO WHAT WAS RIGHT IN THE EYES OF HIS GOD, AS HIS “FATHER” DAVID HAD DONE.  Ahaz imitated the kings in the north. He even burned his sons as offerings like the nations God had helped them to drive out. 

“He sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.” 

The King of Syria and King Pekah of Israel (former enemies) got together and came against Judah. Together, this force killed hundreds of thousands of Judahites and carried many away captive, and took a lot of spoil. 

But Obed, a prophet of the LORD, was in Samaria and went out to meet the returning army.   

  • “Because the LORD, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand, but you have killed them in a rage that has reached up to heaven. And NOW you intend to subjugate the people of Judah and Jerusalem, male and female, AS YOUR SLAVES. Have you not sins of your own against the LORD your God?”
  • “Now hear me and SEND BACK THE CAPTIVES FROM YOUR RELATIVES WHOM YOU HAVE TAKEN, for fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you.”  And certain of the chief men of Israel agreed with Obed.

Along with the people of Israel, the Edomites and Philistines invaded and defeated Judah. (The Lord was humbling them because of evil King Ahaz.)

So…. instead of repenting and asking God for help, King Ahaz sent to the King of Assyria for help!!!  Are you kidding?  That would be like the U.S. sending and asking the terror group, Hamas, for help with a few raids. You can tell how far away from God he was.

Ahaz took the silver and gold he found in the house of the LORD and i the treasures of the king’s house, and sent it as a present to the King of Assyria.   The Assyrian King listened to Ahaz (and had plans of his own), so he marched to Damascus, killed King Rezin, and took captives. (A nice deal!)

But…. the insane Judean King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser, the Assyrian king.  And there, King Ahaz SAW the pagan altar that was there.  He decided THAT god must be powerful to have defeated him, so he sent “a model” to Uriah the priest, with all the details.  And Uriah built the altar before Ahaz got back from Damascus. 

The great Bronze Altar, which was before the Temple of the LORD, was removed, and this pagan altar was put in its place!!!!!!!  Ahaz commanded Uriah to burn offerings on it morning and night, and throw on it all the blood of the sacrifices.  (Ahaz claimed that the god of Damascus was more powerful than the LORD. After all, it had defeated him!)

Ahaz also desecrated the other items outside the Temple. And he cut the vessels into pieces, and shut the doors of the temple. And in every city of Judah, he made offerings to other gods … PROVOKING TO ANGER THE LORD, THE GOD OF HIS FATHERS.   (NO WONDER God destroyed Jerusalem and took the people into captivity!)

And Ahaz died (thank God!) and his son, Hezekiah, reigned in his place. King Hezekiah DID WHAT WAS RIGHT IN THE EYES OF THE LORD! 

(How he could have been a godly son and escaped the vile acts of his father was only by the protection of God!)

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2 Kings 17.

Meanwhile, up north, the Assyrian king, Tiglath-Pilser, came and captured most of the northern area of Israel.  Hoshea (not the prophet) made a conspiracy against King Pekah (inspired by the Assyrian?), and killed him. Hoshea reigned in his place.  Hoshea was the LAST king of Israel.  He reigned nine years and was EVIL in God’s sight.

The NEXT king of Assyria, Shalmaneser, came against him and made him pay tribute. But Hoshea sent to the Egyptian Pharaoh and offered the tribute money, if he’d come and fight the Assyrian king.

REALLY??? Was Hoshea nuts?

Shalmaneser learned of it and threw the king into prison. Then he came south and besieged Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom. After three years he captured it and carried the Israelites to Assyria. He spread them out in the cities of the Medes, even as far as Susa, where the book of Esther is set.. 

They never returned to the promised land.

God did what He said in Deuteronomy 28.   God’s word is absolutely true, whether for blessing or curse.

Israel’s epitaph:

“This occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt … and had feared other gods and walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced. And the people of Israel did SECRETLY against the LORD their God things that were not right…. and they served idols, of which the LORD had said to them, ‘You shall not do this.'”

“YET the LORD warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, ‘Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants, the prophets.’

  • “But they would not listen…
  • “They despised His statutes and His covenant…
  • “They went after false idols…
  • “They abandoned the commandments of the LORD their God….
  • (They) made images and worshiped the host of heaven…
  • They burned their sons and daughters as offerings..
  • They used divinations and omens…

“Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them out of His sight. NONE was left but the tribe of JUDAH only.

.

The Assyrians sent other peoples they’d conquered to the land of Israel, to settle in it and keep it from going wild. And to pay him tribute.  These “other” people did not fear the LORD, so He sent LIONS  among them to kill some of them. (Don’t you see that the “land” is precious to God as well?)

The king of Assyria sent back one priest from Samaria (corrupt), to teach these “foreign” peoples the “law of the god of the land.” He settled in Bethel and taught that they should fear the LORD.

But all these people from other nations served their own gods along with the LORD.   AND NOW THE PROMISED LAND WAS ONCE AGAIN FILLED WITH FOREIGN NATIONS!

All Joshua’s work was undone. 

 “So these nations feared the LORD AND also served their carved images. Their children did likewise, and their children’s children, as the fathers did.”

They became the hated Samarians of Jesus’ time, mixing Judaism with paganism.

NOTE:  Knowing this, now read the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well.  John 4:1-42.

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 186

Jul5

Day 186 – Reading – 2 Kings 12 – 13, and 2 Chronicles 24

Read today’s Scriptures. 

Don’t be confused by all the similar names. Try to be consistent looking for the phrases:

“He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD,”

and “He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.”

Right through here the names of the kings in Israel (north) and Judah (south) get a bit confusing for they are the same, and a few have the same or opposite “nicknames.”  Here’s the chart again. 

NOTE in Judah, after Jehoshaphat, there is Jehoram (Joram), another Ahaziah, Athaliah (the queen), Joash (Jehoash), and Amaziah.

NOTE in Israel, after Ahab, there is Ahaziah, another Joram (Jehoram), Jehu, Jehoahaz, another Jehoash (Joash).

Seriously, as you are reading, if you don’t mind marking your Bible, highlight or underline the northern king’s names in blue, and the southern kings’ names in red. (or other colors).

###

2 Kings 12.

This chapter continues what we learned in 2 Chronicles 23-24.  Even though the new king in Judah is called Jehoash here, we read about him as Joash, saved from his murdering grandmother, hidden away by the priest, Jehoida, until he was seven, and then crowned the king. His wicked “nana” was also killed that day.  We also read of the reforms the boy (under the priest’s tutelage) made, including repairing the Temple.

Now we see him calling again for the three types of offering that support the temple. 

  • The 1/2 shekel per man whenever a census was taken,
  • the payments of vows,
  • and voluntary offerings.

King Joash/Jehoash called for these offering.  After some years, when they did NOT come in, he had a special “offering box” made.  It was a reminder for the people to give.  When it was full, the priest would count and bag it and GIVE IT TO WORKMEN (carpenters, builders, masons and stonecutters) who were doing the repair.  (No “hanky-panky” in changing so many hands.

He reigned 40 years. Towards the end, Hazael (whom Elisha had anointed King of Syria) came and took Gath from the Philistines.  Now Gath was a mere 20-25 miles west of Jerusalem. And when Joash saw that the Syrian king meant to attack and take Jerusalem, he took all the sacred gifts, and his own gifts, and all the gold that was found in the treasuries of the Temple and the king’s house … and sent it to Hazael. 

Pleased, Hazael “went away from Jerusalem.”  (Too bad he did not pray for help from God!!)

************** And then – sheesh – two of Joash’s servants KILLED the king.  He was buried in the city of David, and his son Amaziah reigned.

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2 Kings 13.

Meanwhile back up in the North, while Joash had been reigning, Jehoahaz (son of Jehu) began to reign. (17 years, evil)

Having left Jerusalem alone, the Syrian king, Hazael, and later his son Ben-Hadad III, continually harassed the northern kingdom, taking small bites of land/cities.  King Jehoahaz’s army was whittled down to 50 horsemen, ten chariots, and 10K foot soldiers.

BUT NOTICE!!!  This wicked king “sought the favor of the LORD, and the LORD listened to him, for He saw how oppressed they were.”  (God is so gracious and merciful!  He gave them “a savior” so the people could escape from the hand of the Syrians, and live in their homes.)

NOTE: This “savior” whom God gave to Israel is not named. But there are three choices.

  • 1. The Assyrian king, who attacked the Syrians from behind and forced them to turn from Israel.
  • 2. Elisha, the prophet, who continued his “secret” leadership in revealing where the Syrians would strike next.
  • or 3. Jeroboam II, the man who would be king after Jehoahaz, who fought the Syrians back. 

Take your pick.

Jehoahaz died and was buried in Samaria. 

His son Jehoash/Joash began to reign in ISRAEL. (Joash, king of JUDAH was still on the throne in the south.  Two kings named Joash: north & south!)

This new king “did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.” 

Elisha, the prophet of God be came deathly ill.  King Jehoash/Joash went to him and wept.  HE KNEW the northern kingdom was lost without this godly prophet.  

He cried out to Elisha, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!”  (Remember there were only 10 chariots and 50 horsemen!).  He was asking for military help!!

Elisha had King Jehoash/Joash shoot an arrow out the window, prophesying a victory over Syria.

Elisha then had the King strike the ground with his quiver of arrows. the king struck three times.

“Oh, no!!” said Elisha. “You should have struck 5-6 times then you would have totally defeated them.  Now it’s only three times, and they will come back and get you.

AND ELISHA DIED. They buried him, but it seems they forgot to fill in the grave. A band of Moabites came by, one of them died, and they threw him in the grave. HE BOUNCED BACK OUT ALIVE, AFTER TOUCHING ELISHA’S BONES. Elisha’s double portion of God’s power continued even after his death!

What??? 

The Syrian king, Hazael died and Ben-Hadad III reigned. Israel fought with him and took back the cities that were taken in war. THREE TIMES Israel defeated them. 

Jehoash/Joash reigned 16 years and died, and was buried in Samaria.

..

Jeroboam II became king in the NORTH.

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2 Chronicles 24.

Okay…. were you curious at how quickly Judah’s king Joash was suddenly killed by two servants, after getting on with repairing the Temple??

I was!

Now, in Chronicles, we see the details.  King Joash had an about face, and TURNED AWAY FROM GOD, after his mentor and surrogate father, Jehoiada, the priest died.  Like Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, Joash then listened to the advice of the young princes of Judah.  He abandoned the Temple AND SERVED IDOLS! What?

Zechariah, the new priest and son of Jehoiada, called Joash out and said God would forsake HIM. Joash didn’t like that and commanded that the priest be STONED!!

The Syrians came again and took all those princes captive, and injured King Joash severely.  IT WAS THEN, THAT THOSE TWO SERVANTS CONSPIRED TO KILL KING JOASH – BECAUSE HE HAD THE PRIEST, ZACHARIAH STONED.

Okay then.  That makes sense.  Good for them!

Amaziah, the king’s son reigned instead in JUDAH.