We have great readings today in Second Chronicles chapter 30 about King Hezekiah inviting all of Israel and Judah to celebrate the Passover of the Lord! Yeah, sure, they ended up celebrating it a month later than normal because not enough priests had been purified, nor enough folks gathered in Jerusalem at the original time. But, in light of the Passover not being widely celebrated in many years, this was huge. I love Hezekiah's letter that he wrote - and verse 9 in particular: "For if you return to the LORD, your relatives and your children will be treated mercifully by their captors, and they will be able to return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful. If you return to him, he will not continue to turn his face from you." Think these words of Hezekiah's could apply to us in our lives today as well? Do you need to return to the Lord in any area of your life? Is there a sin that you are still indulging in that is hampering your relationship with God? Will you confess and repent of that sin? Will you return to the Lord? For the Lord your God is indeed gracious and merciful...
Worship Video: Today's readings in Second Chronicles reminded me of Britt Nicole's song "You:"
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!
We are re-introduced to King Hezekiah of Judah in today's readings! The quantity of the Chronicler's writings about the reign of Hezekiah is second only to the reigns of David & Solomon. We'll be reading about Hezekiah again in the coming days. Reading about Hezekiah today was such a breath of fresh air after the atrocities of King Ahaz in yesterday's readings... Hezekiah is a hero! He re-opens the Temple! He reinstitutes the sacrifices to God! You'll recall from our readings in Second Kings chapter 18 verses 5 through 7 we got 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 pagan idols:
Worship Video: Today's readings remind me of the Chris Tomlin and Jesse Reeves song "King of Glory." This is a powerful song... Who is this King of Glory!
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 in Second Chronicles chapter 26 we read about Uzziah ruling in Judah - along with his sin and punishment. Uzziah, like other kings of Judah we've read about recently honored God in his early years, but then fell away in his later years. Sad! I pray that none of us fall into the trap of honoring God now and then dishonoring him later in our lives. How do you suppose we can avoid this trap? I think one of the key things is to read the Bible daily. But I also am realizing more and more that we need to be in community with other Christians consistently. Yes, church every weekend. But more than that - small groups, Bible studies, accountability groups, etc. We need to encourage and challenge each other in community to continue running our race strong! Are you in consistent community with other Christians in your life today? If not, will you consider joining a small group or Bible study at your church? If you're not going to church, will you start going to church this weekend? Do you see the danger of not being in community with other Christians, and ending up perhaps like some of the kings of Judah who dishonored God later in their lives? Please, please, please - be in a consistent community with other Christians! Below is an oil painting by Rembrandt titled "The King Uzziah Stricken with Leprosy" from the year 1635:
Today in Second Chronicles chapter 28 we read about King Ahaz of Judah. You will note that the reign of Ahab is the only reign in which the Chronicler does not mention a single redeeming feature... Things are obviously getting worse for the southern Kingdom of Judah! A very interesting thing happens in verses 9 through 15 where we are introduced to the prophet Obed in Samaria, and the northern captors show kindness to their captives from Judah. In fact, some scholars believe that verses 14 & 15 may even be the background for Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan!! This is very powerful to consider! Do you see how these 2 verses could be background for Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan? "So the warriors released the prisoners and handed over the plunder in the sight of all the leaders and people. Then the four men mentioned by name came forward and distributed clothes from the plunder to the prisoners who were naked. They provided clothing and sandals to wear, gave them enough food and drink, and dressed their wounds with olive oil. They put those who were weak on donkeys and took all the prisoners back to their own land--to Jericho, the city of palms. Then they returned to Samaria." Below is the artist Vincent van Gogh's take on the parable of the Good Samaritan from the year 1890:
YouTube: Today's readings remind me of this video of Abby reciting Psalm 23:
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 in Second Chronicles 24 verse 1 we read - "Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years." This is quite a young age to be crowned king! (yep, that's Joash on the right in the image below - the priest presenting him to the people is on the left)
Did you notice in today's readings that Joash followed God in his early years, when Jehoiada the priest was alive (verses 1-16), and then turned to evil and idolatry after Jehoiada's death (verses 17-27)? One of the saddest parts was Joash's murder of Jehoiada's grandson Zechariah in verse 20. (Note that the text says son, but scholars believe Jehoiada's son was Berekiah, and Zechariah was Berekiah's son - Biblical genealogies sometimes skip a generation.) Jesus Himself references the atrocity of this murder when facing His own murderers in Matthew 23:35! This quote of Jesus' comes just after delivering his seven woes in Matthew 23: "And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar."
Worship God: Today's readings reminded me of JJ Heller's fantastic song "True Things:"
Comments from You & Questions of the Day: 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 One Year Bible Blog ministry today! Please also consider partnering with us by financially supporting this ministry. Thank you!
Today in Second Chronicles 21 verses 12 through 15 we read about a letter that one would really not want to receive... "Then Elijah the prophet wrote Jehoram this letter: "This is what the LORD, the God of your ancestor David, says: You have not followed the good example of your father, Jehoshaphat, or your grandfather King Asa of Judah. Instead, you have been as evil as the kings of Israel. You have led the people of Jerusalem and Judah to worship idols, just as King Ahab did in Israel. And you have even killed your own brothers, men who were better than you. So now the LORD is about to strike you, your people, your children, your wives, and all that is yours with a heavy blow. You yourself will be stricken with a severe intestinal disease until it causes your bowels to come out." The face on Jehoram in this image below captures well what one would be feeling like after receiving a letter like this from a prophet of God...
In Second Chronicles 23 today Jehoiada the priest leads a revolt against Queen Athaliah. Below is French artist Antoine Coypel's (1661-1722) take on the scene:
Worship Video: Today's readings reminded me of Chris and Conrad's song called "Lead me to the Cross." Here is a terrific live version of this song:
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 in Second Chronicles chapter 19 verse 7 we read: “Now let the fear of the Lord be upon you.” It is important to realize that this verse was said not as a curse upon someone, but really as a blessing and perhaps a warning. Jehoshaphat says these words to judges he is appointing. Why would Jehoshaphat say these words to judges? Why should judges have the fear of the Lord upon them? What is the fear of the Lord? I believe it is a healthy and strong sense of God’s presence – a sense so strong that it would prevent these judges from administering any injustices. Because they know God is in the room. How about for you and me in our lives today? What if I were to say to you right now – “Now let the fear of the Lord be upon you.”? Would you accept this as a blessing? Or would you think of this as some sort of curse? Do you want the fear of the Lord to be upon you? Why or why not? Right now in your life – is the fear of the Lord upon you? Will you consider praying for the fear of the Lord to be upon you?
Worship God: Today’s readings remind me of the classic hymn “Amazing Grace” performed here with over 200 bagpipes:
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 in 2 Chronicles 18, King Ahab of Israel is not happy about the Arameans occupying Ramoth-gilead! Unfortunately for King Jehoshaphat of Judah, he entered into a political alliance with Ahab by having his son marry Ahab's daughter, Athaliah. This basically bound him into going into battle with Ahab - but even worse, as we'll read in the coming day's readings, Ahab's daughter Athaliah nearly kills all of the descendants of David in Judah.... more on this sad drama is coming up in chapter 22. Ramoth-gilead was on a hilltop that could have looked something like this first image below. The 2nd image below is a map (look to the center-right):
King Jehoshaphat of Judah wisely suggests that they should consult God before going into battle against the Arameans. At which time King Ahab of Israel trots out his 400 yes-men "prophets" who say they should definitely go to war and that they will be victorious! I love Jehoshaphat's reaction to these 400 yes-men in verse 6 - "But Jehoshaphat asked, "Isn't there a prophet of the LORD around, too? I would like to ask him the same question."" Ahab's reaction in verse 7 is quite telling... "There is still one prophet of the LORD, but I hate him. He never prophesies anything but bad news for me! His name is Micaiah son of Imlah." This verse really stands out for me in a big way in our world today. I wonder if sometimes we - you and me - look for supposed "prophets" of the Lord that are yes-people to our particular likings - instead of looking for Truth. Meaning... and I'm just putting this out there, so bear with me. Do we sometimes maybe even decide to attend a particular church because it tells us basically what we want to hear? It keeps us in our comfortable place... we get yes-messages... When, instead, should we be okay with attending a church that will give us some challenging and convicting messages on occasion? Biblical messages mind you - which surely can be challenging to our modern ears at times. I heard somewhere once before that church should be a place that "comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable." I like that... Now, don't get me wrong. I am not saying we need to be in super-strict churches per se. I just think we should really watch for churches that are giving a yes-message all the time to our particular likings verses churches that teach the Truth. I don't think church is the only area of where we might default to looking for yes-messages. I think this can happen in books we read, TV we watch, or even with friends or with work. Are we listening to 400 yes-people in our lives or are we okay with 1 Micaiah coming in and sharing a perceived "bad-news" message? (which may ultimately be very good news if we'll just listen to it... if Ahab had really listened to Micaiah's message in today's readings, think he still would have rushed out to battle?) Below is an image of Micaiah and the false prophets before Jehoshaphat and Ahab -
Worship Video: Today’s readings remind me of the Aaron Shust song "My Savior My God:"
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 in 2 Chronicles chapter 14 we read about the early years of King Asa's reign, including his incredible prayer to God in verse 11! "Then Asa cried out to the LORD his God, "O LORD, no one but you can help the powerless against the mighty! Help us, O LORD our God, for we trust in you alone. It is in your name that we have come against this vast horde. O LORD, you are our God; do not let mere men prevail against you!" Unfortunately by the end of our readings today, in chapter 16, we read about Asa falling away from God and relying on a foreign king and physicians without any prayer for healing from God. He replaced God in his life with mere men. I wonder how often we do this in our lives today? Can you think of any times in your life where you have relied on people in the place of relying on God? How did that work out? I do think we can rely on people certainly - if we are also relying on God more so and if God is in the midst of the relationship with the people we are relying on. I think all would have gone well with King Asa in his later years if he had only been taught this motto that we teach our kids today: "Be a FROG!" :) Fully Rely On God! What about you in your life today? Are you a FROG? :) Let us all be FROG's!
(apologies for the silly start to this posting today... :)
Worship Video: Today's readings remind me of this "God of Wonders and Agnes Dei" video with Third Day and Caedmon's Call!
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 Second Chronicles chapter 11 today we read about Jeroboam appointing his own priests who served at pagan shrines and encouraged idol worship! Think this was a smart idea...? This led the Levites to abandon their homes in Israel and head south to Judah. Just imagine the spiritual vacuum this departure of the Levites left in Judah... maybe this is kind of like the spiritual vacuum that happens in our lives today when we don't go to church for a while?? :) This sin of Jeroboam unfortunately plays itself out over and over in the northern Kingdom until its destruction. Below is a sad image of Jeroboam leading the Israelites into the sin of worshiping a golden calf:
Today in Second Chronicles chapter 12 we read about Egypt invading Judah. Why? Because Rehoboam and all of Israel abandoned God's Law. You will notice often in Chronicles the patterns of obedience=blessing and disobedience=punishment. In chapter 12 we're going into punishment... Verse 9 tells us: "So King Shishak of Egypt came to Jerusalem and took away all the treasures of the Temple of the LORD and of the royal palace, including all of Solomon's gold shields." Bible History Online says this about Shishak: "Shishak's invasion of Judah has been confirmed by archaeologists. Shishak's own record of his campaign is inscribed on the south wall of the Great Temple of Amon at Karnak. In his campaign he presents 156 cities of Judea to his god Amon." Image below is courtesy of Bible History Online and shows "Shishak Smiting His Captives":
A map with a good overview of the Divided Kingdoms of Israel and Judah at this point in our readings in Second Chronicles is below:
Worship Video: I think this video and song ties in very well with the transformation we're reading about - and hopefully experiencing - in the Old Testament this year. The great thing about this video is that the artist, Brandon Heath, opens and closes the song with some great comments. Be forewarned - this video just might make you cry... Beautiful stuff. Enjoy Brandon Heath's "I'm Not Who I Was." And as you watch this video and listen to the song, take some time to reflect on how God has changed you over time... Does this song tell the story of who you are today too?
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 in Second Chronicles chapter 8 we learn that Solomon married the Egyptian Pharaoh's daughter, which was not pleasing to God and was contrary to God's Law of not marrying foreigners (in large part because they worshiped foreign gods) as you'll recall from Deuteronomy 7:3-4. The Chronicler overall paints a very rosy portrait of both David and Solomon, ignoring many aspects of their sins that we read about in Samuel and Kings. But, it's interesting the Chronicler mentioned this marriage. Solomon married likely for a military alliance with Egypt. Solomon's marrying of foreign wives ultimately led to his turning his heart away from God, as we read in 1 Kings 11:1-11. Interestingly, we see that Solomon won't allow his Egyptian wife to live in David's palace in verse 11: "Solomon moved his wife, Pharaoh's daughter, from the City of David to the new palace he had built for her. He said, "My wife must not live in King David's palace, for the Ark of the LORD has been there, and it is holy ground."" And so he builds her a brand new palace! Think Solomon knew something was amiss with this situation before God if he wouldn't let his Egyptian wife live in David's palace? What about us in our lives today - when we sin, do we try to "cover it up" or "build a pretty palace" to maybe try to distract ourselves or God from our sin? Should we instead just simply confess our sin to God and repent?
At the very end of Second Chronicles chapter 8 today we read these interesting verses 17-18: "Later Solomon went to Ezion-geber and Elath, ports in the land of Edom, along the shore of the Red Sea. Hiram sent him ships commanded by his own officers and manned by experienced crews of sailors. These ships sailed to the land of Ophir with Solomon's men and brought back to Solomon almost seventeen tons of gold." You will see the port of Elath in the 2nd map below. Then, the big question I had today was where is Ophir? Well, it turns out that Ophir was likely in the land of "Sheba" from whence Queen Sheba comes to visit Solomon! So, it is interesting to see how these last 2 verses in chapter 8 lead us to Second Chronicles chapter 9 today where we read about the Queen of Sheba's visit to Solomon. Below is about the best map I could find with the land of Sheba, and Ophir, in comparison to Israel. The Queen obviously traveled quite a distance in those days to visit Solomon! And I think we can now understand how she learned of Solomon - he built a fleet of ships and sailed them to her land!
In Second Chronicles chapter 9 we read about Solomon's wealth and splendor. I think it is interesting for us to remember that Solomon likely writes the book of Ecclesiastes, which we will read later this year. Ecclesiastes wisely teaches us that living life for one's own pleasure and for riches is meaningless - but only living for God makes life worthwhile. I thought about Ecclesiastes when reading about all of Solomon's wealth today - and realizing that it would later all be destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar and his army from Babylon. Solomon's wealth was yes, impressive. But Solomon's sins and the sins of his descendants eventually took all of it away. Let us never forget that sin kills... Let us never forget that the wages of sin are death. (remember where we read that recently? You've got this memorized from Romans 6:23 correct? :) Today in Verses 22 through 24 we read - "So King Solomon became richer and wiser than any other king in all the earth.Kings from every nation came to visit him and to hear the wisdom God had given him. Year after year, everyone who came to visit brought him gifts of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules." Below is a painting of Solomon in all of his splendor in "The Queen of Sheba before Solomon" by Nicolas Knupfer, c. 1640:
I do think map's can often give us a great overview / understanding of what we're reading about in the Bible. I think now is a good time to show a good map of Solomon's Kingdom compared to modern day Israel, below. Take a few minutes to really study this map and reflect upon places you recognize from today's readings and previous day's readings:
King Rehoboam's bad decision making in Second Chronicles chapter 10 is an excellent example of why we should respect our elders... Rehoboam blew off the advice of his elders and instead heeded the foolish advice of the young men around him. And then the kingdom was divided. Of course, this turn of events was the will of God. But, still, a good example I think of why we should listen to and respect our elders...
Worship Video: Today's readings remind me of Michael W. Smith's "You are Holy" which is a great song to worship God to today. Enjoy!
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!
