Well, it was bound to happen. Assyria conquered Israel. They were bound to go after Judah & Jerusalem soon enough. Tough to stop an ego & power like that. It's "never enough". So, we get the bold boasts before the walls of Jerusalem by King Sennacherib of Assyria's representatives in 2 Kings 18. Verse 35 includes this boast, which didn't make God too happy - "What god of any nation has ever been able to save its people from my power? Name just one! So what makes you think that the LORD can rescue Jerusalem?"
It is wonderful to see that in 2 Kings 19 Hezekiah takes all of this to God in prayer. Good move! How often in our lives today, when challenges come our way, do we take the challenges everywhere else BUT to God? Wouldn't it be easier to take them directly to God? Why do we turn to alcohol or drugs or food or worrying or whatever - can we simply take our challenges to the one true living God who can actually do something with them? Can we model what Hezekiah did when he received distressing news from the King of Assyria, in verses 14 through 16 - "After Hezekiah received the letter and read it, he went up to the LORD's Temple and spread it out before the LORD. And Hezekiah prayed this prayer before the LORD: "O LORD, God of Israel, you are enthroned between the mighty cherubim! You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You alone created the heavens and the earth. Listen to me, O LORD, and hear! Open your eyes, O LORD, and see! Listen to Sennacherib's words of defiance against the living God."
Worship Video: Today's readings reminds me of this video by Jars of Clay and their song "Two Hands" which was filmed in part in Africa:
Comments from You: What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
God bless, Mike
p.s. I would greatly appreciate it if you would pray for this Bible Blog ministry today! Please also consider partnering with us by financially supporting this ministry. Thank you!
HALF-WAY - Big news! We cross the halfway threshold in our Bible readings today! Whoo-hoo! Yep, June 30th marks the end of our first 6 months of readings and July 1st marks the beginning of our final 6 months of readings. Congratulations!
If by chance you’ve stopped reading the Bible at some point this past six months, how about starting back up with us again as we embark on our final six months? We’d love to have you on the journey with us once again! Let's go!
2 Kings 17 is a HUGE and very sad chapter today! This is a huge chapter because it is the end of the northern kingdom of Israel. Israel is invaded by Assyria and its people are exiled. It is so sad because the Israelites could have avoided this strife - but the chose to follow in the sins of Jeroboam and worship other gods. After much patience and many second chances by the True and Living God, Israel was allowed to be invaded & exiled for their disobedience. Sad stuff. You can learn more of the history of how this all transpired at this link. An overview map of the Assyrian empire at this time is below:
In 2 Kings 17 verse 41 we will read this about the foreigners in Israel: “Even while these people were worshiping the LORD, they were serving their idols.” If the foreigners both worshiped God AND served idols at the same time back then, do you suppose that we can fall into this same trap today? What would some examples be today of both worshiping God and serving idols at the same time? Are there any areas of your life where you might be serving idols? Will you allow those idols to be turned over to God for his healing and transformation of you? Will you worship God only? Will you leave the idols behind?
Verse 15 stands out and relates to the paragraph & photo above: "They worshiped worthless idols and became worthless themselves." How true is that? Maybe another way to look at it - you are what you worship! (like you are what you eat...) If we worship worthless idols, we become worthless ourselves. If we worship the true living God, we become more like his son Jesus. Would you rather be worthless or becoming like Jesus in this lifetime? And how about after this lifetime? So, who or what are you worshiping these days?
In 2 Kings 18 we are introduced to King Hezekiah of Judah! This is a great day for the southern kingdom of Judah. Check out verses 5 through 7 for an overview of who Hezekiah was - "Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was never another king like him in the land of Judah, either before or after his time. He remained faithful to the LORD in everything, and he carefully obeyed all the commands the LORD had given Moses. So the LORD was with him, and Hezekiah was successful in everything he did." Below is a coloured woodcut from Henry VIII´s Great Bible, from the year 1538, of King Hezekiah burning idols:
Worship Video: Today's readings reminded me of Sidewalk Prophets "You Love Me Anyway:"
Comments from You & Questions of the Day: How have the first 6 months of our Bible readings been for you? Has God changed you in any way these past 6 months because of our readings? What are you looking forward to as we look toward our next 6 months of readings coming up? Alos, what verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
God bless, Mike
p.s. I would greatly appreciate it if you would pray for this Bible Blog ministry today! Please also consider partnering with us by financially supporting this ministry. Thank you!
In 2 Kings 15 today we read about several kings in very short order! The thing that amazed me was that things were obviously going from bad to worse in the northern kingdom of Israel with the kings, whereas things appeared a bit more stable in Judah (for this chapter...). 2 Kings 15 opens up with Uzziah reigning in Judah for 52 years - whereas Israel I think has 6 or so kings during Uzziah's reign, most of whom are assassinated! We will see how this all plays out over the next couple of days in our 2 Kings readings. There are definitely some ramifications coming for Israel based on how things are going down in these days. Verses 13 & 14 today really showed how tough it was to be king in Israel in these days - "Shallum reigned in Samaria only one month. Then Menahem son of Gadi went to Samaria from Tirzah and assassinated him, and he became the next king." Reading about Shallum only reigning one month reminds me of how the hearts of men and women are sometimes - that very thing in our world which we seek so strongly, sometimes can be our very downfall. I have no doubt that Shallum wanted to be king very badly - he assassinated King Zechariah in public in verse 10! And yet, becoming king for Shallum did not give him control over all things - he himself was killed just 1 month into his reign. This all makes me think about us today - is there anything in this world that we are striving after that may not be all that it's cracked up to be? Might we risk "gaining the whole world, but losing our soul" in some of our pursuits? Is there anything in this world today that you are pursuing that you are putting above your relationship with God? If so, will you let it go? Will you focus primarily on your relationship with God first and foremost? Will you follow the truths of Matthew 6:33 - "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Let us not be greedy in this short and precious life!
In 2 Kings 16 today King Ahaz of Judah messes up big time... Whaddya think about his idea to remove the bronze altar from the Temple and install an altar that was designed in Damascus? Think God will be happy about this? Essentially King Ahaz swapped his security in God to placing his security in King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria and his pagan gods. Stay tuned to upcoming readings... Again - I come back to our lives today. Are we ever similar to King Ahaz in doing something in our lives that we know is not pleasing to God? Do we know what is right and what is wrong and sometimes choose what is wrong? Why do we do this? Can we stop doing this? If so, how? Might it help us to stop doing wrong things if the #1 priority in our lives today were God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit? What is the #1 priority in your life today?
Worship Video: Today's readings reminds me of the For King and Country song "Joy:"
Comments from You: What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
God bless, Mike
p.s. I would greatly appreciate it if you would pray for this Bible Blog ministry today! Please also consider partnering with us by financially supporting this ministry. Thank you!
Today we read about the passing of the prophet Elisha! I am sad that our readings of Elijah and Elisha are now behind us. I don't know what it was about these 2 prophets, but I loved them. Sure, they were a bit rough and gruff at times, but also very tender. They'd send fire down from heaven to kill the prophets of Baal and bears from the trees to kill mockers, but then they'd care for widows. I'm wondering if in our lives today we should be a mix of rough & gruff at times, but also very tender? Should we be rough and gruff toward those that are modern day "prophets of Baal" and tender toward those who need God? I have to confess, I'm rarely rough and gruff toward anyone - well, okay, maybe myself! :) Let me know your thoughts in the Comments below if you think rough and gruff should be in our personality mix at all today? Before Elisha passes he does give one final prophecy to King Joash about beating the Arameans 3 times, just after 2 Kings 13 verses 16 & 17: "Then Elisha told the king of Israel to put his hand on the bow, and Elisha laid his own hands on the king's hands. Then he commanded, "Open that eastern window," and he opened it. Then he said, "Shoot!" So he did."
Then we read about Elisha's passing. Even once Elisha passes on, his bones still give life! I think this is simply because of the life-giving power of God whom Elisha represented during his life. It wasn't the bones themselves that gave life. It was God. Verses 20 & 21 tell us: "Then Elisha died and was buried. Groups of Moabite raiders used to invade the land each spring. Once when some Israelites were burying a man, they spied a band of these raiders. So they hastily threw the body they were burying into the tomb of Elisha. But as soon as the body touched Elisha's bones, the dead man revived and jumped to his feet!" Below is an image from a woodcut from the Nuremberg Bible, from the year 1483, of the recovery of the deadman who touched the bones of Elisha in today's readings:
In 2 Kings 14 today we read about King Amaziah of Judah. I'm not sure if you caught this - I barely did - but we read about the ancient city of Petra, which is located in modern day Jordan, in verse 7: "It was Amaziah who killed ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. He also conquered Sela and changed its name to Joktheel, as it is called to this day." Sela/Joktheel is the same city as Petra. I'm curious if anyone reading this has visited the ruins of Petra in Jordan? Can you post up reviews in the Comments? Are they worth visiting? I have heard they are incredible! In fact, Bruce Feiler's book, Walking the Bible, has a wonderful chapter on Petra - I highly recommend this book! I hope to visit Petra someday. A map of where Petra is located in comparison to Amman, Jordan, and Jerusalem is below.
Worship Video: Today's readings reminds me of the Avalon song "Testify to Love:" (this is an AMAZING live version, by the way...)
Comments from You: What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
God bless, Mike
p.s. I would greatly appreciate it if you would pray for this Bible Blog ministry today! Please also consider partnering with us by financially supporting this ministry. Thank you!
Eventful readings today in 2 Kings 11 for the coming of a 7 year old king of Judah, Joash! Below are 2 images for 2 Kings 11 verses 13 & 14: "When Athaliah heard all the noise made by the guards and the people, she hurried to the LORD's Temple to see what was happening. And she saw the newly crowned king standing in his place of authority by the pillar, as was the custom at times of coronation. The officers and trumpeters were surrounding him, and people from all over the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets."If God can work all things together for the good of the nation of Israel through a 7 year old boy turned King (Joash), do you trust God can work all things together for good in your life? (Roman 8:28) What is something recently in your life that seemed unlikely or small (like a 7 year old king) that God turned into a good in your life?
It is great to see that in 2 Kings 12 Joash is passionate for the repair of the Temple in Jerusalem. 2 Kings 12 verse today 9 tells us: "Then Jehoiada the priest bored a hole in the lid of a large chest and set it on the right-hand side of the altar at the entrance of the Temple of the LORD. The priests guarding the entrance put all of the people's contributions into the chest."
Worship Video: Today's readings reminded me of the importance of the message in the Point of Grace song "How You Live:"
Comments from You: What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
God bless, Mike
p.s. I would greatly appreciate it if you would pray for this Bible Blog ministry today! Please also consider partnering with us by financially supporting this ministry. Thank you!
Well... Jehu kills a lot of people in today's readings. I realize that the violence in the Old Testament can often bring up a lot of questions. Unfortunately, our human history is full of violence - from Cain and Abel until this very day. The Bible does record human history. There will come a day where there is a new heaven and a new earth, free from violence. That day has not come yet - but will with Jesus' Second Coming.
Most Biblical commentaries agree that Jehu was carrying out justice for the sins of the Kings of Israel and the worship of Baal. Jezebel's death was predicted by the prophet Elijah because of her sins. A brutal death that it was. I think one thing for us to keep in mind is that sin does bring death. As Paul teaches in Romans 6:23 - "The wages of sin is death." Jesus saves us from this deserved death when we come to him in faith and surrender our lives to him. But, let us not forget the severity and risk of sin and the risk of not being in relationship with Jesus. Without Jesus saving us, the wages of sin truly is eternal death.
2 Kings 10 verses 25-27 seem to demonstrate Jehu's initial apparent zeal for God - "Then Jehu's men went into the fortress of the temple of Baal. They dragged out the sacred pillar used in the worship of Baal and destroyed it. They broke down the sacred pillar of Baal and wrecked the temple of Baal, converting it into a public toilet. That is what it is used for to this day." But we soon learn in verse 31 - "But Jehu did not obey the law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He refused to turn from the sins of idolatry that Jeroboam had led Israel to commit." It is thus thought that Jehu's action of destroying the idols of Baal was more political than spiritual - as Baal worship was associated with the dynasty of Ahab, whereas the golden calves had a longer history in the northern kingdom of Israel and were valued by most people. And keeping the golden calves would keep people from Israel traveling to the southern kingdom of Judah to worship God in Jerusalem. Below is an image of a series of images from the life of Jehu:
Bible.org's commentary on today's Second Kings readings titled "Jehu Cleans House (Ahab's House)" is at this link and "Three 'Birds' With One Stone" is at this link.
Worship Video: Today's readings reminded me of the Switchfoot song "Meant to Live:"
Comments from You: What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
God bless, Mike
p.s. I would greatly appreciate it if you would pray for this Bible Blog ministry today! Please also consider partnering with us by financially supporting this ministry. Thank you!
Second Kings 8 begins with a wonderful example of God's "perfect timing." It was no coincidence that the king was talking with Gehazi about the time Elisha brought a boy back to life when the woman from Shunem walked in with her son! God knew that the Shumanite woman was faithful and obedient to Him, so He orchestrated the timing so that she would get her house and land back - after God perfectly timed her to be out of the country for 7 years to avoid the famine! Have you ever had the experience of God's "perfect timing" in your life? My hunch is that you have - even if you haven't realized it. I have had some experiences where I have consciously realized that God's perfect timing was at work - and sometimes I've quickly said the prayer under my breath of "thank you God!" But, I also now can look back on my life and now see so many instances of God's perfect timing. Hindsight is 20/20. When is the last time you experienced God's perfect timing? Think it could have been today - even if you don't realize it right now?
Elisha's interaction with Hazael demonstrates Elisha was certainly a prophet of God's! Elisha was not condoning what Hazael is going to violently do, but he was just stating the facts of what was going to happen. Verses 11 & 12 are sad to read - "Elisha stared at Hazaelwith a fixed gaze until Hazael became uneasy. Then the man of God started weeping. "What's the matter, my lord?" Hazael asked him. Elisha replied, "I know the terrible things you will do to the people of Israel. You will burn their fortified cities, kill their young men, dash their children to the ground, and rip open their pregnant women!" Verse 13 is also sad because you will notice that Hazael doesn't get upset by the violent predictions in Elisha's proclamation, but only wonders how someone like him would pull of something like this... "Then Hazael replied, "How could a nobody like me ever accomplish such a great feat?"" Below is and image of Elisha and Hazael having this conversation:
I love Elisha's final instructions to the young prophet concerning his anointing of Jehu as King of Israel in 2 Kings 9 verse 3 - "Then open the door and run for your life!"" Not your typical instructions from a prophet, you wouldn't think - but if a prophet gives you instructions like these, you better follow them! :)
Bible.org's commentary on today's Second Kings readings titled "Looking Out for a Lovely Lady" is at this link, "What it Takes to Make a Prophet Weep" is at this link, and "Three Birds With One Stone" is at this link.
Worship Video: Today's readings reminds me of the song "Thank You" by 33 Miles:
Comments from You: What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
God bless, Mike
p.s. I would greatly appreciate it if you would pray for this Bible Blog ministry today! Please also consider partnering with us by financially supporting this ministry. Thank you!
2 Kings 6 today opens up with a very interesting little story about the floating ax head! :) Apparently in those days the iron in an ax head was very costly - far too costly for prophets to have been able to afford. Hence, they had to borrow it. If the prophet who lost the ax head had not been able to recover it, he would have then had to have become an indentured servant for a period of time to the person he borrowed it from to pay back the cost. So, Elisha's recovery of the ax head I think demonstrates a simple moral of this opening story in today's readings: God cares for the welfare of those who love God. Whaddya think on this moral of the floating ax head story? Have you had experiences in your life where God has done some small things - or maybe even big things - that don't seem super spiritual at first glance, but simply saved you a lot of heartache/costs/time? I know I have... Praise God that He floats ax heads and even "floats" you and me too! God is indeed our great Life Preserver...
Today in 2 Kings 6 verse 27 we will read this verse that King Joram says to an Israelite during a time of a severe famine – “"If the LORD does not help you, where can I get help for you?” I think the thing to note in this verse is that the King realized he could not end the famine on his own, but that only God could end the famine. (I think the King may have actually been trying to blame God for the famine - and certainly Elisha he blames later in the chapter). I wonder about this in our lives today – do we try to help others and even try to help ourselves using our own power and without relying on God at all? And maybe sometimes even blame God for problems we see, like this King? Do we think we can end a “famine” or whatever problems we see at work, in our community, in our family, or in our world all on our own? Or should we be asking for God’s help in these areas of our lives? I’ve been thinking about this more and more lately – about how little I truly pray for others. I see areas of my life, my family, my community, my work, my church, my favorite charities, our world, that need some help. Need some changing. Need some love. And sometimes I think that I can institute these changes all on my own! Which is foolish. Instead, I should be praying for God’s providence and work in these areas of my life where I see a “famine.” Yes, I do think that God will oftentimes answer our prayers by encouraging us to “do something” to work on a change. But, we’d be wise to prayerfully approach all areas of our life and to pay attention to where God is asking us to “do something” – and to pay attention to where God is flat-out doing the work! Are there any “famine” areas in your life? In your personal relationship with God or others? In your work, church, community? Are there “famine” areas you see in our world? Will you today begin praying to God about these “famines” in the knowledge that famines can truly only end if God is involved in the work? Will you allow God to get involved in the famine areas of your life? Will you pray more consistently than ever before for the famine areas you see in your life?
In 2 Kings 7 today we read about God scaring off the Aramean army! Below is an image from a 15th century Dutch Bible for 2 Kings 7 verse 8 - "When the lepers arrived at the edge of the camp, they went into one tent after another, eating, drinking wine, and carrying out silver and gold and clothing and hiding it."
And below is an image from the same 15 century Dutch Bible for verse 17: "The king appointed his officer to control the traffic at the gate, but he was knocked down and trampled to death as the people rushed out. So everything happened exactly as the man of God had predicted when the king came to his house."
Bible.org's commentary on today's Second Kings readings titled "Saved from the Syrians: The War that Never Happened" is at this link and "Feast or Famine" is at this link.
Worship Video: Today's readings reminds me of the Nicole C. Mullen song "Call on Jesus:"
Comments from You: What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
God bless, Mike
p.s. I would greatly appreciate it if you would pray for this Bible Blog ministry today! Please also consider partnering with us by financially supporting this ministry. Thank you!
Interesting readings in 2 Kings 4 about the Shumanite woman, her son and the prophet Elisha today! You'll note that in verse 20 her son dies, and in verse 21 she places her son on Elisha's bed - in part so that no one will know that her son died. As she gets to verse 22-24 she is saddling up on a donkey to go straight to Elisha without anyone in her family knowing her son had died! Below is a painting by Rembrandt from 1640 titled "The Departure of the Shumanite Woman":
As the Shumanite woman nears Mount Carmel Gehazi, Elisha's servant, comes out to greet her and still she won't even tell him that her son has died! She says everything is fine. She wants to deliver the news first and directly to Elisha! I like this woman's focused faith. She knew that Elisha delivered the Word that she would have a son in previous day's readings, and now that her son had died, I think she had faith that Elisha, being a prophet in relationship with God, would be able to revive her son. Do you have a focused faith like this when it comes to your relationship with God and Jesus? Do you always take your problems directly to the One who can truly revive you? Below is an image of Elisha and the Shumanite woman by artist C.F. Vos:
Did anyone else notice that at the end of chapter 4 today Elisha busted out with a miracle that seemed to foreshadow Jesus' loaves and fishes miracles?? Very cool to consider the parallels between Jesus' feeding of the 5,000 and Elisha feeding 100 here in chapter 4 verses 42-44: "One day a man from Baal-shalishah brought the man of God a sack of fresh grain and twenty loaves of barley bread made from the first grain of his harvest. Elisha said, "Give it to the group of prophetsso they can eat." "What?" his servant exclaimed. "Feed one hundred people with only this?" But Elisha repeated, "Give it to the group of prophets so they can eat, for the LORD says there will be plenty for all. There will even be some left over!" And sure enough, there was plenty for all and some left over, just as the LORD had promised." (That's Jesus below, not Elisha :)
In chapter 5 we get to the story of the healing of Naaman. I found it very interesting that Naaman needed to humble himself and wash up in the waters of the lowly river Jordan! Know anyone else that did some "washing up" in the river Jordan?? :) Maybe all of us somehow need to humble ourselves and symbolically be washed up in the river Jordan to receive true healing? Below is a portrait by artist Guy Rowe of the prophet Elisha with Naaman washing in the river Jordan:
Bible.org's commentary on today's Second Kings readings titled "The Shunammite's Son Resurrected" is at this link, "Death in the Pot" is at this link, "The Miracle of the Bread" is at this link, "The Healing of Namaan" is at this link, and "The Sin of Covetousness" is at this link.
Worship Video: Today's readings remind me of MercyMe's song "You Reign:"
Comments from You: What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
God bless, Mike
p.s. I would greatly appreciate it if you would pray for this Bible Blog ministry today! Please also consider partnering with us by financially supporting this ministry. Thank you!
In 2 Kings 3 verse 3 today we are reminded that King Jeroboam's legacy is held out as a unfavorable legacy... "Nevertheless he (Joram) continued in the sins of idolatry that Jeroboam son of Nebat had led the people of Israel to commit." That is an interesting thing to think about - a legacy. Jeroboam's legacy was obviously not one we'd like to have. So, what type of legacy would you like to have? And what type of legacy are you in fact leaving these days? The more I think about my legacy, the more I simply hope and pray that my legacy is something along the lines of "one who loved God and loved people." Pretty simple really. But also really tough in our modern world full of so many distractions! And I am not so sure that I am really leaving this legacy some days. I don't want to pursue this type of legacy for the wrong reasons - for any sort of appearing "righteous" or prideful reasons. But I in fact I really do want to spend the rest of my days simply loving God and loving people. Whatever else I do - career, ministry, whatever - pales in comparison to loving God and loving people. I even hesitate to write this hope for a legacy on this blog - I feel like I should go back and delete everything I just wrote. Except - I think this might be the type of legacy we are called to as Christians. Remember the two great commands Jesus gave us in Matthew 22:37 & 39 - "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself." Love God and love people. So - whaddya think? Is this a good legacy for us to aim for? Should we be aiming for a legacy at all? What will your legacy be?
2 Kings 4 verse 8 definitely demonstrates that in addition to being a prophet, Elisha was a very wise man! "One day Elisha went to the town of Shunem. A wealthy woman lived there, and she invited him to eat some food. From then on, whenever he passed that way, he would stop there to eat." :)
Bible.org's commentary on today's 2 Kings readings titled "The Rebellion of the Moabites" is at this link, "Elisha Prepares to Hear God’s Word" is at this link, "The Victory Over Moab" is at this link, "God’s Supply in the Midst of Poverty" is at this link, and "The Shunammite Woman Receives a Son" is at this link.
Worship Video: 2nd Kings today reminds me of the song "Legacy" by Nichole Nordeman:
Comments from You: What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
God bless, Mike
p.s. I would greatly appreciate it if you would pray for this Bible Blog ministry today! Please also consider partnering with us by financially supporting this ministry. Thank you!
