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Bible reading for Nov 12.  2 Kings 25. "And he burned the house of the LORD and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down." (2 Kings 25:9)  IT'S A WRAP, BUT NOT THE END. The day, month, and year of Zedekiah's reign reminds us that we are reading history and learning about real events. The year 586 BC is one of the saddest points in the OT -- the fall of Jerusalem and the exile of the Jews to Babylon. The city is hemmed in, under siege for a year and a half. Famine takes its toll, and finally the walls are breached. We cannot imagine the nightmare of the brutality of those days. As well, all of the beauty and wealth of the temple is destroyed or carried off. The temple was not a magic talisman for Israel. The Lord intended that his people would enjoy him in covenant relationship, and to enjoy the blessings of the land in his presence. What happened in this judgment was in complete accord with the Mosaic covenant as spelled ...

Bible reading for Nov 11.  2 Kings 24. "Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the LORD, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, and also for the innocent blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD would not pardon." (2 Kings 24:3-4)  WINDING DOWN. In the last chapter we read that Joash dies in battle to Pharaoh Neco. (From time to time Egypt was another player on the international scene.) Three more kings follow in rather rapid succession-- we'll call them J-haz, J-kim, and J-chin. Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem and J-chin surrenders, and the first deportation of Jewish exiles to Babylon takes place in 605 BC. Zedekiah (J-chin's uncle) is appointed king by the Babylonians but he too will rebel against Babylon.  All this time the prophet Jeremiah has been telling the nation to submit to the Lord's discipline and to not fight against the Babylonians. Sadly, the fal...

Bible reading for Nov 10.  2 Kings 23. "And the king went up to the house of the LORD, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the LORD." (2 Kings 23:2)  REVIVAL IN THE LAND. King Josiah now involves the elders of Judah, and then assembles all the people. The revival began in Josiah's heart through the hearing of God's law. Now God's word is read publicly to all the people (vv 1-2; cf 1 Tim 4:13; Col 3:16). They make a covenant to follow the Lord (v 3) and then proceed to remove the idols and every form of false worship in the land. [See the NETBible notes on this chapter for more detail.] "Asherah" was a fertility goddess (known by various names), and the Ashtoreth (plural of Asherah) likely referred to the the carved poles (or sacred trees) used...

Bible reading for Nov 9.  2 Kings 22. "When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes." (2 Kings 22:11)  JOSIAH AND THE POWER OF THE WORD. Another bright spot in Judah's history is King Josiah. When we read of kings beginning their reign as children (v 1) we should understand that this took place under the tutelage of the high priest (e.g., 2 Kgs 11:1-3; 12:2), royal family, the elders of Judah, or sometimes a co-regency. Josiah's first reform was to repair the temple and to begin purification of the place of worship. A scroll is discovered, perhaps the scroll of Deuteronomy, which is then read. Josiah and his fellow leaders realize the seriousness of their sin. For many years the reading of the Law (the Torah) had been neglected (cf Deut 17:19), but now God's words are heard, and their power and truthfulness are felt. (Read Nehemiah 8:8-12 for a similar event.) The Lord shows mercy to Josiah for his humble and believing response to the...

Bible reading for weekend Nov 7-8.  2 Kings 20-21. "And Hezekiah welcomed them, and he showed them all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them." (2 Kings 20:13) HEZEKIAH (ch 20). After being spared from the Assyrian conquest Hezekiah makes the mistake of inviting the king of the now-upcoming Babylonian empire into his house and showing him all his wealth. One does not simply cozy up to a powerful pagan dictator and expect to remain unaffected. Hezekiah was healed by the Lord, and his life extended -- along with the miracle of the shadow moving back -- but he does not use the extra time well. He should have taken God's early retirement offer.  MANASSEH AND AMON (ch 21). Hezekiah is followed by one of the worst kings of Judah, Manasseh. Though Manasseh repents later in life, his reign is filled with many abomi...

Bible reading for Nov 6.  2 Kings 19. "So now, O LORD our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone." (2 Kings 19:19) THE CITY SPARED. What a frightening scene -- thousands of troops in a siege against your city. What awaits -- warfare, famine, disease, and then finally the breached walls, burning, pillaging, murder, rape, and then slavery for the survivors. The Assyrians' cruel boast was not an empty one. Hezekiah brings this all in prayer to God. Isaiah the prophet gives the word of the Lord -- the city will be saved, and Sennacherib will go home only to be murdered by his own sons. Overnight, 185,000 Assyrian soldiers die in a divine judgment (2 Chron 32). Some traditions hold that this came in the form of a plague. Events unfold exactly as Isaiah prophesied. The city is spared, though much of the country has been demolished. The promise given is that "...the surviving remnant of the house of ...

Bible reading for Nov 5.  2 Kings 18. "He 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. For he held fast to the LORD. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses." (2 Kings 18:5-6)  GOOD KING HEZEKIAH. Finally, a good king comes to the throne. His reign is not without difficulties, as the land of Judah will experience the invasion of the Assyrians (who sacked Samaria in 722). Hezekiah is forced to pay tribute, and the Assyrian armies return a few years later to ravage Judah and besiege Jerusalem. This chapter focuses on the pride of the Assyrians. The commander (the Rabshakeh) boasts on behalf of King Sennacherib, "Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?'" (v 35) It's a great line to set the stage for God's deli...

Bible reading for Nov 4.  2 Kings 17. "'You shall not fear other gods, but you shall fear the LORD your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.' However, they would not listen, but they did according to their former manner." (2 Kings 17:38-40)  FALL OF SAMARIA. This chapter reports the Assyrian siege against Samaria and the resulting fall of the northern kingdom in 722/21 BC. The divine explanation is given in full. The northern tribes are lost, not in the sense that they are off wandering somewhere, but that they are resettled and mixed with the surrounding peoples. Their ethnic identity will be mixed (vv 6, 24). It's a sad conclusion to the story of the northern kingdom of Israel. Here's the summary: "'And the statutes and the rules and the law and the commandment that he wrote for you, you shall always be careful to do. You shall not fear other gods, and you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. You sha...

Bible reading for Nov 3.  2 Kings 16. "...but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel." (2 Kings 16:3)  NO SANITIZED HISTORY HERE. When I was in elementary school learning about American history, our presidents were presented in a very sanitized form. About the worst I learned about George Washington was that he cut down a cherry tree. Not so for Jewish children. Their national history, being recorded in the inspired Scriptures, is described from God's perspective, meaning the people there are painted with all their blemishes and moral failures. King Ahaz was an imitator (he wanted to be like Assyria) and an innovator (he wanted to change the way Jews would approach God). We have plenty of that going around in the world today -- people wanting to come to God however they'd like. And we can see here how imitating the worl...

Bible reading for Nov 2.  2 Kings 15. "And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin." (2 Kings 15:28) THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT. This chapter records for us the long reign of King Uzziah (= Azariah) in Judah for 52 years, and a succession of several short reigns in Israel. There's more detail on King Uzziah's leprosy in 2 Chron 26. Uzziah is followed by the good reign of Jotham. During this time the Assyrian empire is expanding its power into Israel, beginning about 730 BC (vv 19, 29). Also, the prophet Isaiah's ministry occurs during this period (Isa 1:1; 6:1; 7:17-18). PERSISTANT SINS. You'll notice that some of the moral failures we read about span the generations. In the south they can't seem to get rid of the high places (popular alternative worship sites)(vv 4, 35) and in the north they "did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam" (alternate worshi...

Bible reading for weekend October 31 -- Nov 1.  2 Kings 13-14. "Then Jehoahaz sought the favor of the LORD, and the LORD listened to him, for he saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Syria oppressed them." (2 Kings 13:4)  MIXED REVIEWS. We continue reading the alternating accounts of kings, north and south, most of whom do poorly. (The King Joash of 13:10-13 is a different Joash than the king of Judah, btw.) And those rulers who did better still get a mixed review.  King Amaziah of Judah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord (14:3), but he did not remove the high places, and his pride got the better of him by inciting a battle with Israel. Yet the Lord still had mercy on his people and answered their prayer (13:4). There is an ongoing reminder in these chapters that God preserves his people: "But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion on them, and he turned toward them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy ...

Bible reading for October 30.  2 Kings 12. "Then they would give the money that was weighed out into the hands of the workmen who had the oversight of the house of the LORD. And they paid it out to the carpenters and the builders who worked on the house of the LORD..." (2 Kings 12:11)  HIGH PLACES. As we proceed through 2 Kings the accounts will alternate back and forth between the southern kingdom (Judah; capital: Jerusalem) and the northern kingdom (Israel; capital: Samaria). The "high places" (v 3) were regional places of worship, scattered throughout the land. These locations might be on the high point of a hill, or under a grove of trees, or at some convenient place where people could come and give offerings without having to travel to Jerusalem. It decentralized worship, making it easier, and thus detracted from worship at the temple in Jerusalem. It also opened the door for the introduction of idolatry on those sites, making the high places a sort of one-sto...

Bible reading for October 29.  2 Kings 10-11. "Thus Jehu wiped out Baal from Israel." (2 Kings 10:28)  STRAIGHT LINES, CROOKED STICKS. There's a lot of bloodshed in these two chapters, primarily of the royal sons in both Israel and Judah. Jehu cleans house in the northern kingdom, destroying all the priests and loyal worshipers of Baal. In the south, Athaliah (a sort of "Jezebel of Judah") kills the royal line in Jerusalem, except one. The young heir, Jehoash (short form: Joash), is rescued and hidden. After six years, Jehoiada, the priest loyal to the Lord and the king, installs Joash on the throne. (Btw, the Carites [or, Cherithites] in 11:4, 19 were a contingent of bodyguards organized by King David and loyal to his family line.) Queen Athaliah, the fake monarch, is killed. There is a renewal in Judah of worship to the Lord: "And Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and people, that they should be the LORD's people, and also betwee...

Bible reading for October 28.  2 Kings 9. "And you shall strike down the house of Ahab your master, so that I may avenge on Jezebel the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD." (2 Kings 9:7)  IS IT PEACE?   Two kings and one queen will die in this chapter. "Is it peace?" is asked twice (vv 22, 31). Jehu answers, "What peace can there be, so long as the whorings and the sorceries of your mother Jezebel are so many?" (v 22) It's a brutal and grisly ending to their reigns. The irony is that Jezebel, hearing that Jehu was on his way, had just finished putting on her make-up (v 30) when she is thrown down and eaten by dogs. Jezebel has become a symbol of seduction, immorality, and idolatry (Rev 2:20). She is a kind of foreshadowing of the great prostitute in Revelation 17. She apparently used her beauty (and influence) to manipulate, deceive, and lead a nation astray. She murdered God's prophets, and led Ahab (a...