I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Kings 22-25.

    Josiah was the last good king of Judah. I would like to know what inspired Josiah to his lifelong dedication to the Lord. As soon as he was old enough to rule without a regent he commanded that the Temple be repaired. When the workers doing the repair work, or perhaps the priests doing the clean up in advance of the repair work, discovered a copy of the Book of the Law they brought it to the king. Josiah immediately recognized that the people of Israel had not been faithful in following God and had brought His judgement down upon themselves. Josiah did not attempt to convince God to reverse His judgement. Further, when Josiah received word that the disaster would come in due time, he still enthusiastically did what was right. Josiah went beyond what previous kings who served God had done. He removed the articles used to worship idols from the Temple. He tore down the pagan shrines, not only in the Kingdom of Judah, but also in the territory which had been the Kingdom of Israel. Josiah did what was right, even though it was too late to stop the coming disaster.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Kings 19-21.

    Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, went where he wished, conquered who he wished, and none could stop him, not even God. Or, so he thought. Sennacherib thought the world danced to his tune. But it was not just Sennacherib who thought the world danced to his tune. A lot of other people thought the same thing. Some of those people came to Jerusalem and told the people that they should just give up. God wouldn’t help, but even if He would He couldn’t. Hezekiah, the king of Judah at the time, did not believe Sennacherib or his messengers. Well, that is not exactly true. Hezekiah looked at the situation he was in, and felt helpless. He knew the kingdom he ruled could not resist the Assyrians (I want to note that despite that knowledge, Hezekiah had still bolstered the defense of Jerusalem to the best of his ability). Hezekiah could see no way out, but he knew that God could indeed save them, if only He would.

    Looking at the world today, it looks bleak. I am not going to construct a list of all of the things which look bad. However, I am going to tell you that God is still in charge. If you think the world is bleak, follow Hezekiah’s example. Turn to God in prayer. Lay before Him all the reasons why things look bad. However, in that prayer, remember that God is indeed able to change things. And don’t forget to do those things within your own power to make things better.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Well, OK, I accidentally did today’s passage yesterday. So, I am going to do yesterday’s passage today.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Kings 15-16.

    Something struck me that I never thought about before. The passage tells us that several kings in Judah did what was pleasing in God’s sight. Then it emphasizes that they did not destroy the pagan shrines. After two or three such kings, there was a king who did not do what was pleasing in God’s sight. Because his father allowed the pagan shrines to remain and did not lead the people to give them up, his son began following the practices of the people. Leaders need to do more than just do what is pleasing in God’s sight. They need to also lead the people to do the same. They need to inspire the people to give up their sinful ways. If the righteous leaders do not lead the people to be righteous, they will be followed, sooner or later, by a leader who is not righteous. A nation with righteous leaders will do well for a while, but if the people do not follow the example of those righteous leaders those righteous leaders will be succeeded by wicked leaders. Then the people and the nation will suffer. There are two sides to this. If the leaders do not inspire the people to be righteous, they are failing, at least in part, to fulfill the task to which they have been called. On the other hand, if the people are not righteous, it is only a matter of time until they have leaders as wicked as they are (or worse). Whatever our role in life, let us strive to live our lives righteously and to inspire others to do so as well.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Kings 17-18.

    Every time I read this passage I am struck by how the author finds it horrifying that the people of Israel, and then those who were brought into the land to replace them, sacrificed their own children to their idols. About the Israelites before the Assyrians took them into exile:

They EVEN sacrificed their own sons and daughters in the fire.

Then about the people the Assyrians settled in the land to replace them:

…EVEN burned their own children as sacrifices to their gods…

I can just hear that in my mind as the author says it, “Can you believe it? How depraved would you have to be to sacrifice your OWN children?” I am convinced that the author would view our society with similar horror and disbelief about the way we practice abortion. I want to make clear that I see other cultures in our world sacrificing their children in a similar manner. God’s patience with us will not last much longer. The day of His judgment is coming. Let us get down on our knees and pray that God’s Spirit will change hearts before it is too late.

    I am convinced from reading this that the people whom the Assyrians settled in the land of Israel had the opportunity to be merged into the people of God, the people of Israel. When they first came into the land, things went badly. So, the king of Assyria sent a priest from among the exiles to teach them about God. The priest taught them about God and they began to worship God, but they refused to give up their worship of other gods. The author then reminds us that God had entered into the following covenant with the descendants of Jacob

Do not worship any other gods or bow before them or serve them or offer sacrifices to them. But worship only the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt with great strength and a powerful arm. Bow down to him alone, and offer sacrifices only to him.

Immediately after writing this, the author tells us that the new residents would not listen and continued to follow their former practices. Let us not follow their example. Rather let us be careful to obey the decrees, regulations, instructions, and commands which God has given us. Let us fall on our knees and beg Him for mercy and seek how we can serve Him, and Him alone.

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I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Kings 13-14.

    I wrote the other day about the fact that I have been reading through the Bible every year for four years now. Yet I still cannot keep the names of the various kings straight, which has absolutely nothing to do with the point I want to highlight. King Jehoahaz did what was evil in God’s sight. He led the people of Israel into such sin that God was furious with them. As a result of His anger God allowed Israel’s enemies to defeat them repeatedly. Finally, Jehoahaz prayed for God’s help and God provided rescue for Israel. The important lesson here is how much God loves us. Despite Jehoahaz’s sin, and that of the people he led, God felt compassion for him when he called out to God and God answered his prayer. No matter how badly we have sinned, God will hear and answer our prayers. However, if that happens, let us not be as Jehoahaz and return to our sins once God has rescued us.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change. I have been writing this blog for a little over four years now. That means that I have been reading through the Bible every year for a little over four years. I recently realized how much of a blessing doing so has been for me.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Kings 10-12.

    There is a lesson for us in the story of Jehu killing the worshipers of Baal. Jehu held an assembly for the worship of Baal, he sent word throughout the land summoning all Baal worshipers to Samaria. When they had gathered, he told them to make sure that there were no worshipers of God among them, only Baal worshipers. Is it possible that there were those among the crowd who worshiped God? Certainly, but, if so, they suffered the same fate as those who worshiped Baal because they failed to publicly acknowledge their faith. Let us never fail to publicly acknowledge our faith, even when we find ourselves in the midst of those who will oppose us for it.

    When Athaliah, who was either Ahab’s sister or daughter(the Hebrew manuscripts are not clear), heard that her son, King Ahazia of Judah, was killed she promptly seized power. Her first act was to have all of the male members of the House of David killed. However, Ahaziah’s sister took her infant nephew, Athaliah’s grandson, and hid him from Athaliah. Sine he was raised by priests in the Temple, the boy, Joash, became devoted to God. Early in his reign he instructed the priests to use some of the money which people gave as an offering to repair the Temple. However, by the 23rd year of his reign the Temple was still in a state of disrepair. Elsewhere we are told that Joash stopped doing what was right in God’s sight when his foster father, the priest Jehoiada, died. I believe that the example Jehoiada set by not using the moneys given as offerings to repair the Temple contributed to Joash’s falling away.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Kings 8-9.

    We were told in earlier passages that Jehoshaphat was a king who did what was pleasing in God’s sight. However, he allied himself with the family of King Ahab of Israel, who was a wicked king. Jehoshaphat even married one of his sons to a daughter of Ahab’s family (the Biblical accounts are unclear as to whether she was Ahab’s sister, or his daughter). As a result, Jehoshaphat’s son and grandson chose to follow the example of Ahab’s family. They did evil in God’s sight. Jehoshaphat’s grandson was killed in the rebellion which overthrew Ahab’s son and destroyed all of Ahab’s family. As I said at the beginning, Jehoshaphat did what was pleasing in God’s sight, but he chose to ally with and befriend King Ahab. As a result his son and grandson did not follow his example, rather they followed the example of his friend and ally. This shows us that we need to choose our friends carefully. What influence will our choice of friends have on those who watch us? I may not have children, but if I hang out with heavy drinkers, will that lead my friends who are recovering alcoholics to fall back into drinking? (I am not sure I currently have any friends who are recovering alcoholics, but there are other ways this could apply).

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Kings 5-7.

    This passage contains a lot. Initially I thought I was going to touch on three of the things here. Now I am not so sure what all I will write about. First we have the story of Naaman. Naaman was willing to do just about anything to be cured of leprosy. However, he was angered because Elisha did not treat him with the honor he thought he deserved. His anger was triggered because Elisha did not take the time to come out and meet him. He was further angered because the task which Elisha set him in order to be healed was mundane, but inconvenient. One lesson for us from this is that sometimes the mission God gives us is not something noteworthy. Sometimes it is just mundane and inconvenient. Perhaps our mission is to go out of our way to pick someone up to take them to an activity. Perhaps someone we do not even like.

    The king of Aram was sending raiders into Israel, but whenever they planned an attack, the army of Israel was waiting for them. When he found out that this was happening because God revealed his plans to Elisha and Elisha told the king of Israel, he decided to capture Elisha. So, he sent an army to do so. When Elisha’s servant saw the army, he panicked. Elisha did not. When the servant asked Elisha what they were going to do, Elisha responded that there was no need to be afraid because there were more on their side than against them. This story teaches is that no matter how powerful and numerous the forces marshaled against us, they are as nothing compared to the forces which God commands.

    The final story in today’s passage is about a siege of Samaria by the king of Aram. Things got so bad that some of the people turned to cannibalism. The king of Israel confronted Elisha and blamed God for the situation. Elisha responded by telling the king that by the following day, food would be cheaper in the city than it had been before the war began. One of the king’s officers expressed certainty that what Elisha had just predicted was not possible, not even for God. Elisha told the officer that he would see it come true, but would not experience it. The following day the officer was trampled by the people going out of the city to loot the abandoned camp of the enemy army. The lesson here is that we should never doubt that God can bring plenty, even when things look their bleakest.