Tag Archives: Queen Athaliah kills her grandchildren

Daily Bible Study

September 14, 2012 Bible Study

     I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

Barony Wars, Po Fences

Isaiah 15-18:7

     The prophet Isaiah prophecies that within three years of when he wrote this the land of Moab would be desolate, destroyed by a conquering army. Isaiah does not explicitly say, “This is why God is going to destroy Moab.” However, he talks about Moabs pride, arrogance and rage. He, also, tells us that the pagan gods they worship will not be able to save them. Those nations which rise up in arrogance and rage and which do not recognize the sovereignty of God will face destruction. But it is not “nations” which need to recognize the sovereignty of God. It is individual people who need to do so. Isaiah goes on from discussing the destruction of Moab to talking about the same fate falling on Syria and the Northern Kingdom. Isaiah tells us this will happen because the people turned from God. He, also, tells us that in the midst of this destruction at last a remnant will turn back to God. When the people turn to God, the enemies will die in the space of a night. Today’s passage ends with Isaiah’s prophecy regarding the fall of the military power that existed in Ethiopia in that day. He tells us that they will be brought low and then they will bring offerings to God. I take from this that those who rest their hope of safety in human efforts will face tragedy and sorrow. Our only hope for safety is trusting in God alone.

Barony Wars, waiting to fence

Galatians 1:1-24

     Paul begins his letter to the Galatians by stating that he was appointed an apostle by God directly, not by any Church body or human delegation. He then prays for God’s grace and peace for his audience and praises God. He then goes on to question why they are accepting teachings which add to the Gospel things that are contradictory to the Gospel. He then goes on to explain how the message he taught came to him directly from God. Paul tells us that he was not taught by any of the apostles who preceded him. He explains that he received it by revelation. However, he goes on to point out that he spent time with Peter and James, the brother of Jesus, and that what he taught by revelation was consistent with what they taught through time spent with Jesus before His crucifixion. Paul did not teach something he received by revelation that superseded the teachings of those who had known Christ while He walked on this earth. Paul received by revelation a message that was consistent with the message taught by those who had walked with Jesus in His ministry on this earth.
      I find this to be an important point. It represents the way to judge those who claim to be teaching what Jesus taught. Are their teachings consistent with what we find in Scripture? Or do they claim to have some authority source which supersedes that of the Bible? If they base their teaching on some source (whether a person or a document) that has sufficient authority to, in their minds, contradict the Bible, they are not teaching the Gospel. This is different from people who have an understanding of one part of the Bible which seems to contradict another part. In this latter case, we should seek the Spirit’s assistance in resolving this apparent conflict of God’s teachings.

Barony Wars, Po fencing

Psalm 58:1-11

     The psalmist cries out against those who rule over others with injustice and against judges who use their position to advance themselves at the expense of justice. He tells us that God will sweep them aside and destroy them. When that happens the godly will rejoice in the knowledge of God’s sovereignty.

Barony Wars, Po fences

Proverbs 23:12

     Today’s proverb tells us that we should dedicate ourselves to learning. There is always more to be learned and we should always desire to learn.

Daily Bible Study

July 28, 2012 Bible Study

     I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

2 Chronicles 21-23:21

     When Jehoshaphat died, his son Jehoram succeeded him. Jehoshaphat had given his other sons gifts of gold and fortified towns in Judah. However, Jehoshaphat had gotten a daughter of Ahab as a wife for Jehoram. When Jehoram became king he killed his brothers and some other leaders of Judah. In addition Jehoram reintroduced pagan worship into the Kingdom of Judah. His power was much reduced from that of his father. An alliance of neighboring peoples invaded Judah and killed all but Jehoram’s youngest son. When Jehoram died, the passage says that no one was sorry to see him die and he was not buried in the royal cemetery.
     Jehoram’s youngest son, Ahaziah, succeeded him on the throne. Ahaziah was no better than his father. Ahaziah joined the King of Israel, his uncle on his mother’s side, in a war. When the King of Israel was wounded in battle, Ahaziah went with him to his place of convalescence. While there, Ahaziah was caught up by a revolt against the King of Israel and killed along with him. Upon Ahaziah’s death, none of his sons were old enough to rule. Ahaziah’s mother, Athaliah, seized the throne. She was the daughter of King Ahab of Israel. Athaliah set out to kill all of the remaining royal family. However, Ahaziah’s sister, Jehosheba, took Ahaziah’s infant son, Joash, and hid him in the Temple. Jehosheba was married to the high priest Jehoiada.
     Joiada raised Joash. In the seventh year of Athaliah’s reign, Jehoiada staged a revolt and place Joash on the throne. Once Jehoiada had placed the crown on Joash’s head, he led the people in religious reform. They tore down the temple of Baal in Jerusalem and killed the priest of Baal. Jehoida re-established the burnt offerings called for in the Law of Moses.

Romans 11:13-36

     Paul here tells us that the rejection of God’s good news by the children of Israel led to salvation being preached to the Gentiles. He goes on to say that if their rejection led to salvation for the Gentiles, their acceptance will be even more wonderful. Paul says that God broke off the branches of Abraham’s family tree that rejected His gospel and grafted those Gentiles who accepted it in their place. If God was willing to graft wild branches on to His cultivated tree, won’t he be eager to graft the original branches back on? Paul seems to me to have two purposes here. The first is to once again remind all believers that they have no basis for pride in themselves over others. The second is to combat a feeling of hostility among Gentile believers against Jews. He is telling them that they have no basis for seeing themselves as better than Jewish non believers. Paul says that even though the Jews have rejected Christ now, the time will come when they will turn to God and accept His Gospel. He finishes today’s passage by reminding us that we can never know enough to judge God’s decisions and, since everything we have comes from God, we can never place God in our debt.

Psalm 22:1-18

     Today we have the first half of Psalm 22. This psalm is one that is heavily associated with Jesus crucifixion and death by the writers of the New Testament. Jesus Himself references it when He cries out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” just before He died. The Gospel writers and other New Testament writers reference Psalm 22 as a prophecy concerning Jesus’ death and it certainly contains imagery that closely resembles that of the crucifixion. The psalmist talks about the piercing of hands and feet, dividing the garments among them. Today we see the depth of depression that was the crucifixion experience, but we must remember that by rabbinical tradition of the day to quote the first line of a Scripture was to call for the entire passage. Tomorrow we will see the rest of Psalm 22 which Christ referenced just before His death.

Proverbs 20:7

     This proverb tells us that the godly walk with integrity. I often have to ask myself if I live up to this. I know that I try to, and I know many who think that I do, but I know that I do not always succeed. I often wonder how many people have rejected the Gospel because of my failure to live my faith with integrity? How many more might the Spirit been able to reach if I had lived my faith with greater integrity? Or to put it another way, who have I failed because they saw me failing to live according to what I say I believe? I can only pray for God’s Spirit to strengthen me and make it so I live more faithfully in the future. I cannot change the past.

Daily Bible Study

June 27, 2012 Bible Study

     I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

2 Kings 10:32-12:21

     After the death of King Ahaziah of Judah, his mother, Athaliah, attempts to kill off all of his sons. However, King Ahaziah’s sister hides his infant son, Joash, and takes him to the priest, Jehoiada. Athaliah, Jezebel’s daughter, ruled Judah for seven years. When Joash is seven years old, Jehoiada organizes a revolt against Athaliah and puts him on the throne. Jehoiada uses his position as the man who put Joash on the throne to destroy the temple of Baal and kill Baal’s high priest. Early in his reign, Joash instructs the priests to take part of the money that is brought as offerings to the Temple and use it to repair the Temple. However, by the twenty-third year of his reign, little to no progress has been made in repairing the Temple. Joash instructs that all money donated for any reason other than as a guilt or sin offering will go into a separate fund exclusively for Temple repair. In addition, he took responsibility for the Temple repair away from the priests and gave it to construction experts.
      I remember when I was young there was a bit of a controversy in the local conference of the Mennonite Church because the financial management for the conference was taken out of the hands of ordained ministers and given to lay persons. The bulk of the controversy was because some people interpreted this move as expressing distrust of the ordained ministers. I remember my father explaining/arguing that ordained ministers have many gifts, but they are selected to be ordained and for conference leadership positions for gifts other than financial management. My father went on to make the case that the Church’s money should be managed by people who are selected for that job because they do have the gift of financial management. Conference finances improved significantly after this change was made and my impression is that the ministries of the conference became more effective as well. I believe that this represents an important point, the Church should select people with ministry gifts for those roles we traditionally consider “ministry” and choose people with the appropriate gifts for those roles that call for other gifts, rather than assume that the guidance of the Holy Spirit will suffice to direct those we have called to the ministry to the proper action in areas where they have not been gifted.

Acts 18:1-22

     After his experience on Mars Hill, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. In Corinth, Paul meets Priscilla and Aquila. He lived and worked with them for awhile because they were tent-makers, as was he. Each Sabbath Paul went to the synagogue and attempted to convince Jews and Gentiles of the truth of the Gospel. When Silas and Timothy joined him in Corinth, Paul spent more time preaching the Word. At this point some of the Jews in the synagogue became hostile to him. Paul stopped going to the synagogue and started teaching in the home of a Gentile who lived next to the synagogue. Luke tells us that even though Paul moved his preaching and teaching from the synagogue, the leader of the synagogue and his household became believers. The Jews who did not believe left Paul alone until there was a change in the governor. At that point they brought Paul before the governor and accused him of teaching things contrary to Jewish law. The governor refused to even listen to Paul’s defense and threw the case out telling them that it was a matter for them to settle themselves and not for his court.
     Paul spent some more time in Corinth and then traveled to Ephesus where he preached for a short time. The Jews in Ephesus asked Paul to stay longer, but he declined, promising to return if the Lord willed. He then traveled to Jerusalem by way of Caesarea. From Jerusalem he returned to Antioch.

Psalm 145:1-21

     The psalmist declares that the Lord is great and the he will praise Him everyday. He tells us that each generation should tell the next of God’s mighty works and raise them to praise Him. The psalmist tells us that God provides for all of creation and protects those who love Him. The psalmist closes by repeating that he will praise the Lord and calls on everyone on the earth to do the same. I will do my best to join the psalmist in praising the Lord everyday.

Proverbs 18:1

     This proverb tells us that people are unfriendly because they care only about themselves. That they will lash out even at common sense suggestions.