Category: 1 Year Bible Reading Plan

In 1 Chronicle 17 we read of David’s desire to build a Temple or house for the LORD! While the LORD was honored by David’s desire, He told David it was not for him, but for his son to build the Temple. He also promised David to that one of his sons would rule over Israel forever. David responded with a prayer of praise and gratitude to the Lord. One of the details of this account is the LORD reminding David that He called David from watching sheep to be the king over Israel.  David didn’t start out as a  military or political leader. He started out tending sheep.  Moses was also a shepherd for forty years before he became the leader of Israel and led them out of slavery in Egypt. David wrote a psalm in which he said, “The Lord is my Shepherd….  Jesus would one day call Himself “the Good Shepherd.” The imagery of tending sheep is important in the life of God’s people. We could undoubtedly come up with many reasons for that. Let’s consider this one: human beings, for all our self-aggrandizement, are simple, sheep-like beings. We are easily led and misled. We aren’t as bright as we think we are. We die easily. The image of “sheep” is not a compliment to us. It is an accurate description. As we go about our daily lives, we must always remember the best way to “succeed” in life is to follow our Shepherd, Jesus, where He leads us.

1 Chronicles 18 offers us a list of the nations David and his army defeated. It then records the people in David’s administration. The chapter is brief and states matter-of-factly the great accomplishments of David. 1 Chronicles 19 follows in a similar vein as chapter 18, but records only the account of how the Ammonites disgraced David’s envoy, which he had sent to express condolences, when the king of the Ammonites died. David’s response was to send his army against them. In hopes of standing against Israel, the Ammonites called on the Syrians for help. Despite their having to fight on two fronts, the Israelites soundly defeated both the Ammonites and Syrians.

Matthew 16 starts with a brief account of the religious leaders asking Jesus for a sign. Jesus tells them they are able to read the signs of the weather, but He will not give them any sign of His authority except for the sign of Jonah. This means just as Jonah was three days and nights in the belly of a great fish, Jesus would be three days in the “belly” of the earth following His crucifixion. Next, as Jesus and the disciples are traveling, Jesus warns them to reward of the “leaven” of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They misunderstand Jesus, thinking He was talking about literal bread. Jesus reminds them about His ability to multiply bread for thousands of people. Then they understand Jesus was talking about the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. This is an important reminder to all of us, because it shows us that a leader’s teaching is “leaven,” that is it eventually sinks into the minds and hearts of the people being taught, and changes the way they think. This ultimately leads to a change in actions, habits, and eventually brings about a new destiny. Be careful whose teaching you hear, learn and live! After this Jesus asked the disciples who the crowds said He was? They gave various answers of famous people who had come before Him. Then He asked, “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ (Messiah), the Son of the living God.” Jesus told Simon he was blessed for this response, because it was given to him by God. He also said that response would be the foundation on which He would build His church. After this, Jesus told the disciples He would be turned over to the religious leaders and be crucified, but would rise on the third day. Peter rebuked Jesus for this statement, but Jesus rebuked Peter, calling him Satan, and telling him to get behind Him. Then Jesus told the disciples they must deny themselves and follow Him, and that any who save their life will lose it, but those who lose their lives for Him and the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven will find it. This charge is one each of us must remember and live. It is always easier to choose the path of least resistance, to go along with the world, but following Jesus, while difficult in the short run, and even over time, will bring eternal reward in the end.

 

1 Chronicles 13 records David’s first attempt to bring the Ark of the Covenant back from Kiriath-Jearim. The account is similar to that found in  2 Samuel 6. As the Ark was being moved, the oxen stumbled and Uzzah reached out to steady it. The LORD struck him dead, which both angered and frightened David, so he decided to leave the Ark at the home of Obed-edom.

In 1 Chronicles 14, we read the record of the children born to David in Jerusalem. Then we read the account of David defeating the Philistines twice. The second time, David and his men didn’t even have to fight, because the LORD sent His army into the battle. While this might seem difficult to believe from our perspective, the reality is spiritual warfare is going on around us all the time. the LORD’s angels are fighting against Satan and his minions. At times, the LORD makes these battles apparent to us, and at times He even sense His warriors to engage in our battles.

1 Chronicles 15 records the successful transportation of the Ark of the Covenant from the house of Obed-edom to Jerusalem. The Chronicler gives us a much more detailed account of all the Levites who were involved in the procession, and the roles they played. We are told once again that King David danced before the Ark wearing a linen ephod, and that this caused Michal, his wife, to despise him. While we were told in 2 Samuel that because of Michal’s disdain for David’s dancing, she remained barren for the rest of her life, the Chronicler did not include this detail in his account.

Matthew 15 begins with the account of the Pharisees and Jesus in disagreement, because Jesus’ disciples ate without practicing the Jewish ritual of hand washing. Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites for practicing this aspect of tradition, while ignoring the weightier matters of the Law. Jesus made it clear, and even explained in detail to the disciples, that whether we wash our hands before we eat, and whatever we eat does not make us unclean. It is not what we ingest into our bodies that make us clean or unclean, according to Jesus. Rather, it is what comes out of our hearts that demonstrates our state of being. Next, we read the account of Jesus healing a Canaanite woman’s daughter, even though at first He was not going to respond to her request, because she was a “foreigner.” During Jesus’ earthly ministry, He only healed non-Jews on a couple of occasions. He kept His focus on “the lost sheep” of Israel, while at the same time equipping the disciples to be ready to minister to the people of all nations. The chapter closes with the account of Jesus healing many sick and demon possessed people, and then feeding the 4,000. Jesus’ compassion is once again accounted as the reason for these amazing practices.  Jesus would one day remind us in John’s gospel that we who follow Him will do greater things than He has done, which is an incredible promise given what he did in this chapter. The key is for us to trust and obey Him and follow wherever He leads us and to ask whatever we need from Him be done in His name.

1 Chronicles 10 records the death of King Saul and his sons in battle. The record is virtually the same as the one found in 1 Samuel 31. The details vary slightly, but the gist of the account is the same.

1 Chronicles 11 and 12 start with the announcement of David becoming the king and moving to Jerusalem. But the remainder of these two chapters backtrack a bit, listing the names and backgrounds of David’s mighty men, and telling us when they came to him. The focus seems to be more on showing God’s favor on David as he developed a following and then became king, that we found in 2 Samuel. 2 Samuel gives much more background about the transition of the kingdom of Israel to David after Saul died, and has much greater detail about the fighting that went on between David and Saul’s sons, before David ultimately became the king of all Israel.

As we turn to Matthew 14, we read the account of King Herod telling others Jesus was John the Baptist come back from the dead. We are told of Herod arresting John, and then executing him, because of his step-daughter’s request that he do so. The request came after Herod had promised to give her anything she asked, even up to half of his kingdom, because she entertained Herod and his guests at a party. Herod had no idea, she would be prompted by her mother, Herodias, to ask for John’s head on a platter, but when the request came Herod fulfilled it rather than be viewed as a liar by his guests. When Jesus heard of John’s execution, He withdrew to an isolated place to pray. The ever-present crowd heard of Jesus’ whereabouts, and came to Him with their sick and demon-possessed. As usual, Jesus healed them. Then when it was evening, Jesus told the disciples to feed them. Because they had no food, Jesus multiplied the little they had. We are told Jesus fed 5,000 men and women and children in addition to that with five loaves of bread and a couple of fish. After this Jesus withdrew to a quiet place to pray, and sent the disciples on ahead by boat.  Jesus often withdrew to pray after a major “success” in His ministry. The wisdom of this is obvious. The devil doesn’t only tempt us when things are challenging for us. He pushes us to display pride, when we go through positive events. Later, Jesus came to the disciples, walking on the water. They thought He was a ghost, but He assured Him it was He. Peter told Jesus if it was He, to call him to come out on the water. Jesus did. Peter walked on the water, but eventually, he took his eyes off of Jesus and began to sink. He cried out, “Lord, Save me!” Jesus did. I’ve always been comforted by that brief prayer, and Jesus’ immediate response to it. Sometimes we have such an urgent need, all we can say is “Lord, Save me!” He does. We simply need to remember to turn to Him instead of to our own solutions in such moments.

If you looked at the title and thought, “Why are there nine chapters covered in today’s Bible plan summary?” The short answer is 1 Chronicles chapters 1-9 is all genealogies and records of the names of priests, kings and other leaders of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. 1-2 Chronicles was written originally as one book. It provides much of the same material as 1-2 Kings, although some of the details and names vary. Many biblical scholars assert the “Chronicler” wanted to re-record the history of Judah to encourage those exiled in Babylon, and to remind the people to remain faithful until the time of their deliverance.

Briefly, 1 Chronicles 1 covers the generations of people from Adam through Jacob. It also records the lists of many of the indigenous kings in the Promised Land. Chapter 2 records the genealogy of Jacob (Israel) through David, but also lists a number of generations of other descendants who weren’t of the line of David. Chapter 3 records the sons and descendants of David into the time of Judah’s exile in Babylon. Chapter 4 records the descendants of Judah and Simeon. In verse 10, we read what has become famous as the prayer of Jabez: ¹⁰Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!” And God granted what he asked. After this brief prayer, the Chronicler returned to recording the genealogies as before. Chapter 5 records the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. All of Chapter 6 records the descendants of Levi, including breaking them down into the various divisions of service among the Levites. Chapter 7 records the descendants of Issachar, Benjamin, Naphtali, Manasseh (again), Ephraim, and Asher. Chapter 8 records the descendants of Saul, the first king of Israel. Chapter 9 records the genealogy of the exiles who returned to Judah from Babylon, as well as a repeat of the genealogy of Saul. While we could have taken several days to cover these chapters, and gone into greater detail, most of us would find such an exercise tedious. For those who are interested in the study of genealogies, you always have the opportunity to use your study Bibles or online resources!

Matthew 13 begins with Jesus telling the crowd the Parable of the Sower. After He tells the parable, the disciples ask Him why He teaches in parables and Jesus responds that it is for them to understand the parables, but not for everyone. He then proceeds to tell the disciples the meaning of the Parable of the Sower. Next, Jesus tells the Parable of the wheat and the tares. In this parable, Jesus makes it clear that the good and bad will grow together until the time of judgment at the end of time. At that point they will be separated, and the good will go to heaven with Jesus, while the bad will be cast out. Of course, Jesus wasn’t saying that some of us are good and others bad. He was telling us that those who respond to Him and His good news of salvation will be redeemed and considered good. Jesus followed this parable with the Parable of the Mustard Seed, and the Parable of Leaven, both of which show us how the Kingdom of Heaven starts out small in our lives, and becomes all-consuming. After explaining the Parable of the Wheat and Tares, Jesus tells the Parable of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl of Great Price.  All of these parables show us the Kingdom of Heaven is worth more than anything, and we must put our pursuit of it before everything else in our lives. After telling the parables, Jesus travelled to His hometown and went to the synagogue. When He taught there, the people were amazed by His teaching, but at the same time they “took offense at Him” because they knew Him from His youth. Therefore, He didn’t do many miracles there. Mark’s gospel tells us Jesus “couldn’t” do many miracles there, because of their lack of faith, but Matthew tells us he “didn’t” do many miracles there. In any case, He did some miracles, but not as many as in the places where the people received Him in faith. In the same way, we must receive Jesus in faith if we are to experience the fullness of His Kingdom work in our lives.

2 Kings 22 records the beginning of King Josiah’s reign in Judah. Josiah was a good king, and we’re told he did good in the eyes of the LORD as his father, David, had done. Josiah also, initiated a restoration project on the Temple during his reign. While the Temple was being repaired a copy of the Book of the Law was found. When Josiah read it, he tore his clothes in repentance and sorrow. He sent to the prophets to see what was going to happen for Judah’s failure to keep the Law. The LORD told Josiah the nation would pay for its sin and be destroyed, but it wouldn’t happen during his lifetime, because he showed penitence for the nation’s sin. Josiah’s repentance for himself and on behalf of his nation reminds us that our actions have implications for the greater community around us whether they are good or evil.

In 2 Kings 23 we read an extensive summary of Josiah’s reforms and the reestablishment of the Passover. Josiah broke down all the idols that were being worshiped in the Temple and in the high places, and desecrated the altars so they could not be used again. He also deposed the priests of those false gods. Nevertheless, because of Manasseh’s evil, the LORD did not relent from His plan to destroy Judah. Josiah died in a battle against the Egyptians at Megiddo. Jehoahaz became king, but the Egyptian king sent him to Egypt after brief reign and put Josiah’s son, Eliakim, in his place, but changed his name to Jehoiakim. He reigned in Judah for eleven years. Both Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim did what was evil in the eyes of the LORD, so after a long and faithful reign by Josiah, Judah was not only overridden by Egypt, they also returned to unfaithfulness through the leadership of their own kings.

In 2 Kings 24 we read that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Johoiakim and after three years, he was replaced by Jehoiachin. Jehoiachin ruled for only 3 months and was taken into captivity with many others to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar put Zedekiah in his place. He “ruled” Judah for eleven years doing evil in the sight of the LORD. As we turn to 2 Kings 25, King Nebuchadnezzar besieges Judah. Eventually, Judah falls and all but the poorest people are carried off into captivity in Babylon. The Temple and most of the city of Jerusalem were burned. At the end of the chapter we find a bit of hope for the monarchy in Judah as we read that Nebuchadnezzar released Jehoiachin from prison and for the rest of his life, he ate at the king’s table as a free man. God had promised David there would always be one of his descendants on the throne of Judah, and in Jehoiahin, we see the hope of this promise continuing.

As we turn to Matthew 12, we read the account of Jesus’ disciples eating grain from a grain field on the Sabbath, and the Pharisees condemning them for it. Jesus responded with the account of David’s men eating the bread that was only permitted for priests to eat, and how priests serve on the Sabbath without profaning the Sabbath. He then reminded them that He was Lord of the Sabbath and that the Sabbath was made for man and not vice versa.  After that Jesus went into the synagogue and healed a man with a withered hand. He had asked the religious leaders whether it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath, but they wouldn’t answer. Jesus was more concerned with the healing of the man. Afterwards, He healed many others and cast out demons. The religious leaders said Jesus cast out demons by the power of the Prince of demons. Jesus made it clear that a house divided against itself cannot stand, and also denounced them for sinning against the Holy Spirit by proclaiming the work of the Spirit to be the work of the devil. At the end of the chapter Jesus, called anyone who does His Father’s will His mother, sister, or brother. We do well to remember that God’s work is to be carried out seven days a week. We need to rest. We need Sabbath, but the Sabbath is no excuse for failing to carry out God’s healing or other saving activity in Jesus’ name.

2 Kings 18 tells us of King Hezekiah of Judah. We are told he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, including tearing down the high places. We are told there was no king like him after him, or before him, which means in God’s eyes he was the greatest king in the history of Israel or Judah. During his reign Israel fell to the Assyrians. The Assyrians then attacked Judah. At first Hezekiah paid tribute to the Assyrians, but then he decided not to, and the Assyrian army came against Judah. As Jerusalem was under siege, the Assyrian leader told the people of Judah if they would surrender, they would be given their own vineyards and homes. He told them not to rely on Hezekiah, or on his reliance on the LORD, because no gods of any nation had ever been able to deliver their people from Assyria.

As chapter 19 begins, the prophet Isaiah assures Hezekiah that the LORD will deliver Judah from Assyria, and he does. At first it was through another army attacking the Assyrians, and as King Sennacherib leaves for another battle, he warns Hezekiah not to trust in the LORD, or to think that he will not return and defeat Judah. But again Hezekiah turns to the LORD, and once again Isaiah assures Hezekiah Sennacherib will be defeated. As it turns out, Sennacherib returned home and was executed by his own son, so the LORD’s words came true, and Judah was delivered once again.

In chapter 20, Hezekiah becomes ill to the point of death. Once again he calls out to the LORD, and this time the LORD delivers him from illness and promises to give him an additional fifteen years to live. As a sign of the LORD’s commitment to do this, He has the sun go back fifteen minutes in the sky. As Hezekiah’s reign continues, an envoy comes from Babylon. Hezekiah shows the envoy the Temple and everything in it. When Isaiah comes and asks Hezekiah what he showed the Babylonians, he answers that he showed them everything in the Temple.  Isaiah tells Hezekiah that as a result a time will come in the future when the Babylonians will come and carry everything in the Temple off to Babylon, and his own sons will be eunuchs in the court of the Babylonian king. Hezekiah comforts himself with the reality this promise won’t come true in his lifetime. It seems a selfish attitude, but Hezekiah is still seen as one of the greatest kings in the history of Judah. At the end of the chapter Hezekiah dies and “rests” with his fathers. Manasseh, his son takes his place as king.

2 Kings 21 tells us Manasseh was as evil as his father, Hezekiah, had been good. While he ruled in Judah for fifty-five years, he undid all his father’s good. He restored the high places; he sacrificed his son on the altar; he rebuilt the Asherah poles. Because of this wickedness, which we’re told was worse than that of the native Amorites, the LORD promised that Judah and Jerusalem would be destroyed. It didn’t happen immediately, but Manasseh had set Judah on a collision course with collapse. This is always the case when we choose sin over salvation in our lives. When Manasseh died, his son Amon became king, but after only two years the people conspired against him and killed him. His son, Josiah, replaced him.

As we turn to Matthew 11, we read of John the Baptist sending his followers to Jesus to ask whether He was the Messiah, or if they ought to look for someone else. John was in prison, and he didn’t see Jesus fulfilling what he perceived the calling of the Messiah to be. Jesus’ response was a direct quote from the book of Isaiah. He told John he was healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, proclaiming good news to the poor, and then He said, “Blessed is the one who doesn’t fall away on account of me.” In other words, “John, I’m not what you expected, but I am most certainly the Messiah.” Jesus praised John and said he was one of the greatest men ever to be born, and was the Elijah who was to come. Then He said, but the least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he. To be counted as a member of the Kingdom of God is a high privilege. Jesus noted that many of the towns of Israel had rejected Him, and they would be rejected. Then He told us that if we are weary and burdened down, we can come to Him, because His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Jesus is a Messiah no one expected. Far from the conquering King who would re-establish Israel as the power on the planet, He was a humble servant-king, who was on His way to die for the salvation of humanity.  We can see what Jesus was doing, and that it won’t be until His second coming that we see the conquering King, but in His own time on earth, the people couldn’t see that reality. We are blessed we have the opportunity to do so!

2 Kings 15 begins with a brief record of King Azariah’s reign. He was a good king, as his father, but as his father, he did not remove the high places from Judah. We are told this time after time in the record of the good kings of Judah, which is an important reminder for us that being a true follower of the living God requires a complete transformation from the old ways, the pagan ways, the worldly ways of our past. That does not mean we remove ourselves from the world, but that we remove the world from ourselves. Jesus told us we are to be in the world, but not of it. King Azariah and other “good” kings followed the LORD for the most part, but they didn’t remove the stumbling block of the high places from Judah. In those high places, people worshiped pagan gods, or celestial bodies, or nature. Until those high places were removed, the temptation to sin in those ways would always be present. Later in King Azariah’s reign he developed leprosy. That meant he had to isolate himself from others, so his son, Jotham, moved into the royal palace and ran the government in his father’s place.

Zechariah, the fourth son of Jeroboam II, became king in Israel, while King Azariah ruled in Judah. He ruled for only six months and Shallum overthrew him. Zechariah was did what was evil in the eyes of the LORD as all the kings of Israel before him. Shallum’s reign was even shorter, lasting only one month. He was overthrown by Manahem. Menahem’s rule lasted ten years, but the only deed of significance recorded about him is he paid tribute to the King of Assyria to keep them from attacking Israel. Pekahiah followed Menahem’s inauspicious reign, but reigned only two years. He was another wicked king in the LORD’s eyes (which are the only eyes that matter!) and he was overthrown by Pekah. Pekah reigned in Israel for twenty years, and during that time many of the people of Israel were carried off by the Assyrians. After his wicked reign, he was assassinated, which had become the way of transitioning kings in Israel, after the reigns of Jeroboam II and his descendants. Hoshea became king in his place.

Chapter 15 closes out with a record of King Jotham of Judah. He served Judah for sixteen years and did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, except he didn’t remove the high places. He was followed on the throne, by his son, Ahaz.

2 Kings 16 starts with the reign of King Ahaz. He reigned in Judah for sixteen years, and he followed the ways of the kings of Israel. In fact, during his reign he turned to Assyria for aid against Israel and Syria. When the Assyrians helped him, Ahaz went to Damascus and saw an altar there built to worship the Assyrian gods. He had a model of it made in Judah, and had the king’s sacrifices offered on it instead of on the altar of the LORD. This perversion of worship was a great affront to the LORD.  Following Ahaz’s reign, his son Hezekiah became king.

2 Kings 17 starts with the record of Hoshea’s nine-year reign in Israel. Of course, he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, but he was not as evil as the kings of Israel before him. Hoshea became a vassal of Assyria, but in the sixth year of his reign he stopped paying tribute and attempted to get Egypt to come to Israel’s aid. This proved to be a fatal error, as the King of Assyrian laid siege against Israel, and after three years Israel fell. The Assyrians carried the Israelites off into exile and resettled the cities of Israel with people from other captured lands. the remainder of the chapter is devoted to pointing out why Israel fell: because they turned away from the LORD from the beginning, and didn’t obey His commands. The record includes commentary about how the people who resettled the land were attacked by lions, because they didn’t worship the LORD the God of Israel. Priests were brought in to show them how to worship the LORD, so the people worship the LORD and the gods of their native lands. This became the practice of the people. They worshiped the LORD, but also the gods of whatever land was their home. So often this is still the case today. People are willing to serve the LORD, but also to worship the “gods” of their own land, whether their are actual idols, or ideas, or materialistic pursuits. That path never works, because as we have learned in our months of study of the Old Testament, the LORD is a jealous God, and He will not share His worship with other gods.

As we turn to Matthew 10, we find it devoted to the fulfillment of what Jesus called the disciples to pray about at the end of chapter nine. He had called them to pray for the Lord of the harvest to send workers into the harvest. In chapter 10, Jesus calls the twelve disciples, and sets them apart to go into Israel and preach, teach, heal and cast out demons. They are the workers Jesus called them to ask the Lord of the harvest to send! Jesus gives them many instructions, and much guidance. The key is to trust in the LORD regardless of the challenge or hardship. He will provide whatever is needed whether it be a place to stay, or food, or words to say to governing authorities. The worker is to be reliant on the sender. That is still our calling today. Jesus had already told the disciples to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all things would be added to them. Now, they were to put that command to the test in extremely practical terms. Jesus reminded them that following Him would mean a daily denial of themselves, and a willingness to take up their crosses and follow Him. Jesus never sugar coated the reality that following Him costs us a great deal in this life, and can even cost us our lives, but the reward is well worth the cost.

In 2 Kings 11-12, we read about the transition from King Ahaziah of Judah to his son, Joash or Jehoash (both spellings are used). After, Ahaziah died, his mother, Athaliah, declared herself queen and attempted to have all Ahaziah’s sons murdered. She nearly succeeded, but Jehoash was saved, and was brought up for six years by Jehoida the priest.  After six years, Jehoida had Jehoash declared king, and Athaliah was put to death. At that time, Baal worship was also brought to an end by King Jehoash under the guidance of Jehoida. Jehoash was a good king, and did what was right in the sight of the LORD, except that he let the high places remain. During Jehoash’s reign, he repaired the Temple in Jerusalem . Toward the end of his reign, Jehoash also took the wealth of the Temple and gave it to Hazael, king of Syria as tribute. In the end, Jehoash was assassinated by his officials, and his son, Amaziah became king.

We read in 2 Kings 13 that Jehoahaz became king in Israel during the twenty-third year of Jehoash’s reign in Judah. As all the kings of Israel, he did evil in the eyes of the LORD, so the LORD kept them under the power of Hazael King of Syria and his son, Ben-hadad. Eventually, Jehoahaz had a change of heart, and called out to the LORD. Remember, no king of Israel had ever served the LORD faithfully, and yet, the LORD heard Jehoahaz’s cry and delivered them from the Syrians. After Jehoahaz’s reign ended his son, Jehoash became king in Samaria, and ruled sixteen years. He did evil in the LORD’s sight, but he did eventually defeat King Amaziah of Judah, even though King Amaziah was a  good king.  At this time Elisha became sick and was near death. He called King Jehoash to come to him. He instructed the king to shoot an arrow out the window, and Jehoash did. Elisha said this indicated Jehoash would have victory over Syria. Then he told Jehoash to strike his arrows on the ground. Jehoash struck them three times. This angered Elisha, because it meant Israel would only defeat Syria three times. Had he struck five or six times, the defeat would have been total. What we learn from this brief encounter is even when we aren’t given specific instructions from the LORD, enthusiasm and passion are part of our response.  As the chapter closes Hazael, the king of Syria dies, and he is replaced by Ben-Hadad, his son. At this point Jehoash defeated the Syrians in battle three times, just as Elijah had predicted.

In 2 Kings 14, Amaziah becomes the King in Judah. He was a good king as his father had been, but as his father, he didn’t remove the high places, so people still sacrificed there. He retaliated against the officials who had assassinated his father, after he was firmly established in his rule. For some reason, Amaziah decided to battle against Israel. He sent messengers to Jehoash asking him to come out to face him. Jehoash warned Amaziah to stay at home, but he wouldn’t listen. The end result was a major defeat for Judah. Amaziah lived for fifteen years after the defeat, but in the end, he was assassinated and his son, Azariah, who was only sixteen, was put in place as King of Judah. In the fifteenth year of Amaziah’s reign another Jeroboam became king in Israel. He was king for forty-one years, but did evil in the LORD’s eyes as had the first Jeroboam.  Even though Jeroboam was wicked, the LORD showed compassion on Israel, because of His earlier promise not to blot Israel from the face of the earth.  We see time and again how the LORD showed mercy to the people of Israel and Judah. They would have been destroyed far sooner if not for that great mercy. We see the same mercy in even greater measure in the coming of Jesus. We owe everything to God’s great mercy and grace!

As we turn to Matthew 9, we read the account of Jesus healing the paralytic, which we also read in Mark 2. Jesus demonstrated His authority to forgive sin, by healing the paralytic, which amazed everyone.  Matthew next records his being called to follow Jesus. As in Mark’s account, we read that one of Matthew’s first actions as a disciples was to invite all his friends to a meal with Jesus. When the Pharisees complained that Jesus was eating with sinners (a sign of welcome and fellowship), Jesus reminded them that the healthy don’t need a physician, but the sick. What an important reminder for all of us! Next, John’s disciples ask Jesus a question about fasting, specifically why Jesus’ disciples didn’t fast. Jesus made it clear that fasting was for a time when He, the “bridegroom” wasn’t present. After this Jesus was called to the home of a “ruler,” (which in Mark we’re told was a synagogue ruler), to heal his daughter. The account is similar to that of Mark 5, including a woman touching Jesus’ garment as they were on the way to the ruler’s house to heal his daughter. The woman was healed, and the daughter raised from the dead, just as in Mark 5.  Next, Jesus healed two blind men, and a man who was deaf and mute. The people praised God, but the Pharisees said Jesus cast out demons by the power of the prince of demons. Finally, Jesus looked at the crowds of people, and was filled with compassion for them. He told the disciples to pray for the LORD of the harvest to send workers into the harvest.  Hold that thought, because tomorrow, we’re going to see who Jesus selected as the first workers in response to that prayer.  Spoiler Alert: When we pray, God often uses us to answer the prayer!

 

2 Kings 8 starts with a wonderful account of how the Shunamite woman, who had left Israel during the time of famine, returned home after seven years. Her land had been taken by others, so she went to the king to ask for the land to be returned. As it “happened,” Gehazi, Elisha’s servant was with the king, telling him of Elisha’s miracles. He saw the woman and said that it was this woman’s son, who Elisha had raised from the dead. When the king heard what the woman wanted, he restored her land to her.

Following this account, the story turns darker. Elisha traveled to Damascus, and Ben-Hadad the Syrian king was sick. He sent Hazael to inquire of Elisha as to whether he would recover. When Hazael asked the question, Elisha stared at him for a long time and then started to weep. Hazael asked what was wrong? Elisha said he was to tell Beh-Hadad he would recover, but in fact, he would not, because Hazael would kill him, and become king of Syria. As king, he would decimate Israel.

The chapter ends with a brief record of the reigns of Kings Jehoram and Ahaziah of Judah. Both were wicked kings, who followed in the ways of the kings of Israel. Jehoram reigned for eight years, and Ahaziah for only one. During their reigns several of Judah’s vassal states rebelled and gained their freedom. The direction of both Israel and Judah was heading away from the LORD at a rapid rate.

2 Kings 9 records the bloody beginning of the reign of King Jehu of Israel. Elisha had one of his servants anoint Jehu king, and to tell him he was to carry out judgment against the house of Ahab. He not only carried out that command, but also killed King Joram his predecessor, and King Ahaziah of Judah. The chapter closes with Jehu killing Queen Jezebel. In this gruesome account after a time of drinking in celebration of his new power, Jehu tells some of his men to bury Jezebel, but when they went out to bury her, they found the dogs had eaten her flesh and only her skull and a few bones remained. This was just as Elijah had prophesied.

In 2 Kings 10, Jehu has the remaining descendants of Ahab slaughtered. He establishes himself in power, and then has all the prophets of Baal, and the Baal worshipers slaughtered. It looks as if Jehu is going to bring reform to the nation, but he does not. We’re told he continued to have the golden calves worshiped, that he followed in the sin of Jeroboam. Because of his faithfulness to destroying Ahab and the prophets of Baal, the LORD promised Jehu his descendants would rule in Israel for four generations. Jehu reigned in Israel for twenty-eight years, and when he died, his son Jehoahaz reigned in his place.

As we turn to Matthew 8, Jesus demonstrates His power to heal. First, a leper comes to Him and asks for healing. Jesus reaches out and touches the man, (which as we know from our reading of the Pentateuch, made Jesus ceremonially unclean), and heals him. Next, a Roman centurion comes to Jesus and asks Him to heal his servant. Jesus agrees to go to the man’s house, but the centurion tells Jesus He doesn’t need to come. He recognizes Jesus’ authority and power to heal with just a word. Jesus is amazed, and agrees to heal the servant. He tells the crowd this man’s faith exceeds anyone in Israel. Then He reminds them, when He comes in His glory, people will come from all over the world and be included, while some who expect to be included will not.

After this experience, Jesus and the disciples enter the house of Simon Peter. Peter’s mother-in-law was sick with a fever. Jesus healed her, and she got up and served a meal to the entourage. That evening, the people of the town brought the sick and demon-possessed to Him, and Jesus healed them. The next day as they were traveling, a scribe came to Jesus and said he would follow Jesus anywhere. Jesus responded that foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head. When another said He would follow Jesus, but first He wanted to go bury His father. Jesus told him to let the dead bury their own dead. The account seems harsh, but as we have read in Mark and John’s gospels, Jesus expected His followers to be willing to give up everything to follow Him. After this, Jesus and the disciples go into a boat. A storm came up, but Jesus was sleeping in the back of the boat. The disciples woke Him and asked if He didn’t care that they drowned. Jesus asked them why they had such little faith, and then calmed the storm. This amazed them all.

When they came to the other side of the lake, Jesus confronted two demon-possessed men. (This is the same account we find in Mark 5, but there we’re told it was one man.  For some reason, Matthew has a tendency to add a person or an animal [in the Triumphal Entry] to his accounts. This doesn’t invalidate the accounts. It shows us the disciples were human, and the point of the accounts remains the same. In this case, Jesus cast out the demons, although they numbered a couple thousand. We surmise this, because He cast them into a herd of 2,000 pigs and each one ran down the hill to a body of water and drowned themselves. The end result of the demon-possessed men’s lives is they were healed. We would expect the people of the region to be enthusiastic about this event. Instead, they asked Jesus to leave their region. The truth is sometimes hard to digest, and even when the truth is “good news,” sometimes people can’t handle it. We can’t expect people will always respond to the gospel affirmatively. God doesn’t force anyone to trust or accept Him, our task is to trust and obey Him, and when others do not, to continue to be faithful witnesses of Jesus to them.

 

As we turn to 1 Kings 4, we read of Elisha performing four miracles. First, a widow came to Elisha telling him her husband had died, and her creditors were going to take her two sons as slaves. Elisha told the woman to borrow as many vessels as she cold from her neighbors, and to fill them with a single bottle of oil she had in her house. The oil lasted until every jar was full. The woman was able to pay her creditors and to pay to support her family from the proceeds of selling the oil. Next, Elisha and his servant, Gehazi, developed a relationship with a Shunamite woman, who provided them a place to stay when they passed through the area. As a reward, Elisha prayed for the LORD to give the woman a son. When the child was older, he died. The woman went to Elisha extremely upset. She had told Elisha she didn’t want a son, perhaps because she was fearful he wouldn’t be able to provide such an amazing gift. Now, her son was dead. Elisha raised the child from the dead! Next, Elisha was having a meal with some prophets, who had picked some herbs and put them in the stew. They turned out to be poison. Elisha had them put flour in the soup, and it was safe to eat. Finally, Elisha multiplied loaves of bread, so there would be enough for a large group of prophets to eat. These miracles remind us of Jesus. He would perform similar miracles during His earthly ministry, which tells us how powerful Elisha’s ministry was!

2 Kings 5 records Elisha’s encounter with Naaman, a commander in the Syrian army. Naaman lived with leprosy, but he had a servant girl who had been captured during a raid in Israel. She told Naaman the prophet, Elisha, could heal him.  He received permission from the King of Syria to go on a journey to Israel to look for Elisha. He gave Naaman a letter of introduction to present to the King of Israel. The king of Israel was disturbed, because he thought this was simply an excuse to start a war. Elisha intervened and told Naaman to come to his home. When Naaman arrived, Elisha sent Gehazi out to him, and told him to go wash in the Jordan River seven times, and he would be healed. Naaman was incensed. Not only did Elisha not come out personally, but Naaman said there were far better rivers in Syria than the dirty Jordan. He started to leave, but his servants convinced him that if Elisha had asked him to do something difficult he would have done it, why not do the easy thing Elisha asked him to do.  Naaman was healed by his obedience to Elisha’s instructions. He returned to Elisha and offered to pay him for the great miracle, but Elisha would take no payment. Afterwards, Gehazi in a moment of greed, followed Naaman and said Elisha had changed his mind, and would take payment. He took the payment for himself, but when he returned to Elisha, Elisha knew what he had done, and pronounced a judgment on Gehazi. From that moment forward, there would always be someone in each generation of Gehazi’s family with leprosy. The lesson here is obvious: The LORD’s blessings aren’t for sale. He helps us because He loves us. If He uses us to heal or help others we aren’t to seek payment.

2 Kings 6 starts with Elisha performing another miracle. This time one of the prophets was cutting down a tree when the axe head flew off into the water of a nearby river. The servant told Elisha the axe was borrowed. Elisha promptly threw a stick into the water and the axe head floated to the surface. How? The only explanations are: it didn’t happen, or the LORD gave Elisha a supernatural solution once again. We believe it was the LORD. Following this, we read of the King of Syria attempting to kill Elisha, because Elisha was constantly giving his plans to the King of Israel. Finally, the Syrian army found Elisha and surrounded the house where he was staying. When Elisha’s servant looked out and saw all the soldiers, he was terrified. Elisha asked the LORD to show the servant His army. The servant’s eyes were opened and he saw the Lord’s vast army, including chariots of fire. Elisha went out and asked the LORD to blind the Syrian army, which He did. Then Elisha had them march into the middle of Samaria, whereupon he gave them back their vision. The King of Israel asked whether he ought to slaughter them, because the LORD had delivered them into his hands. Elisha’s response was to feed them and release them. Upon their return to the King of Syria, the response led the king to stop pursuing Elisha and Israel for a time. As the chapter ends, though, Ben-hadad, the King of Syria has besieged Samaria, and the people are starving. The King of Israel was outraged at the plight of the people, and promised to kill Elisha, because he saw Elisha as the reason for their problems. The chapter ends with men sent from the king interacting with Elisha, and Elisha pointing out that he was not the problem. It is always easy for us to point our finger at someone else when we experience pain or problems. As they saying goes, “Hurting people hurt people.” But when we go through difficult times, we must first ask ourselves whether we are the source of those difficulties, or what part we are playing in them. If we are not to blame, then we must call on the LORD to intervene. If we are to blame, we must change our behavior and then call on the LORD to intervene, because as we have seen many times in our daily readings, God loves us despite our sinfulness. He will intervene in our lives regardless of the cause of our difficulty.

In 2 Kings 7, Elisha promises the King of Israel the LORD will provide food, and it will be more than needed. The captain of the guard tells Elisha it isn’t possible. Elisha tells him, he will see it with his own eyes, but won’t participate in it, because of his disbelief. The next day, four lepers decide to go to the Syrian camp to beg for food. They said they were going to die of leprosy anyway, so if the Syrians killed them it would only speed up the inevitable. But when they arrived at the camp, not a single Syrian could be found. All their goods were there, but no Syrians. They started collecting the plunder, and then realized what they were doing was wrong. All the people in the city of Samaria were starving, and they needed to tell them. When they did, and the King verified their account was true, the people stormed out to gather the plunder. As Elisha had said the captain of the guard saw this, but in their rush to leave the city, the people knocked down the gate. It fell on the captain and he died as he watched others receive the blessing Elisha predicted. What a strong reminder of how important it is for us to trust the word of the LORD!

As we turn to Matthew 7, we come to the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus starts by calling us not to judge others, because we will be judged with the same standard we use in judging them. He gives the illustration of how we often see the “speck” in another person’s eye, while ignoring the “log” in our own. How true! Before we call someone else into judgment, we need to be sure our own lives are free of the sin we are judging. Some have used this passage to avoid calling others to accountability, because none of us are perfect. The better response is to judge ourselves first, and then to help others who are heading down the path to destruction by pointing out their sin as fellow sinners, rather than as self-righteous Pharisees.

Jesus follows up this instruction with a brief comment regarding not throwing our “pearls” before “swine.” He was telling us not to offer the good news to those who are unwilling to hear it. In my experience, it’s easy to tell whether others are open to the gospel or not. When they aren’t, we don’t give up, but we do disengage from the situation, until they are.

Next, Jesus tells us to “ask, seek, and knock” when we need something from the LORD. The verbs are in the present imperative, which means we are to keep asking, seeking, and knocking, and not just to do so once. Jesus reminded us our earthly fathers give us good gifts and they are sinners, so how much more does our Heavenly Father want to respond to our prayers.

Jesus’ next command is to do to others as we would have them do to us. We call this the “Golden Rule.” Jesus tells us this command sums up the whole Law and the Prophets, or it sums up the Old Testament. Wow! How important that makes this instruction. As we seek to do to others as we would have them do to us, it’s helpful to remember every person is different, and sometimes if we do to others what we would want them to do to us, it may not come across as we intend. The better approach is to get to know what the other person wants to have done in a situation, and then provide that, so long as it will draw them closer to God in the process.

Jesus goes on to tell us the way to heaven is “narrow.” In other words difficult. Salvation is free. Jesus gives it to us as a gift, but living as Jesus’ followers is often hard. As I often say, “Following Jesus is simple, but not easy.” Jesus goes on to remind us the way to tell whether someone is following Him is to look at the “fruit.” As He points out good trees produce good fruit, while bad trees produce bad fruit. He then goes on to tells us not everyone who uses His name, or calls out, “Lord! Lord!” is going to heaven, but only those who do the will of His Father in heaven. Jesus was not teaching we gain heaven through our works. He was teaching us when we have been saved by His grace, and been born again, our lives will demonstrate that salvation through good works. We don’t do good works to get saved, but because we are saved.

Jesus concludes the Sermon on the Mount by telling us that anyone who hears this teaching and lives it is like a man who built his house on a rock, or on a solid foundation. When the storms and floods come, such a house stands. But if we hear the teaching and don’t live it, we are like a foolish man who built his house on sand. Such a foundation doesn’t stand against the storms and floods of life and it falls. Let’s trust Jesus enough to obey His commands in the power of the Holy Spirit. As we do, not only will our “house” stand firm, but we will be the salt and light others need to be drawn to Jesus!