June 2021 – If Not For Grace

30 Jun 202129 Jun 2021

The Battle is the Lord’s

“And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel. You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.” 2 Chronicles 20:15-17 NKJV

The battle is the Lords – we must just stand in faith in the face of the battle with the enemy coming towards us – stand, and not fear or be dismayed – just stand still. In this modern world of busy, busy busy – do we even know how to stand still? During a time of grace do we even need to stand still?

Dear Heavenly Father – As always, please open eye to see and our ears to hear what you are saying! Lord – open our understanding that we may know you and give us wisdom. Please do not let us miss out on what you want and need from us today. And please keep us and bless us and shine your face upon us and pour out grace over us and give us peace! Thank you! – In Jesus name we pray, Amen

Today’s reading is from the book of Second Chronicles chapters 19-23 (embedded below the image below for your convenience).

I have been thinking about today’s post for a couple of day. I was reasoning things out. I mean, if God is the same yesterday as he is today and forever – then His wrath is coming in a big way – so big it is called ‘Jacob’s Sorrow’. And right now we live under the dispensation of grace – His wrath is differed. Without the wrath and no longer under the law – sometime it is difficult to remember which parts we are still subjected to.

Grace is so quick to mercifully restore us and forgive us and transform us – compounded by a world that is busy and rapid and instant – we begin to think all the things of the Lord are instant as well. Our battles are his so we can just move on and do something else. Or we can multitask? No.

We are told to stand still.

“But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31 NKJV

Elijah prayed and waited on the Lord. He stayed in prayer for days – just prayed, nothing else. When was the last time you prayed for days without food or sleep? You want and need to see a powerful God like the one Elijah served, but you cannot stand still and let him be God?

Moses was on the mountain for days waiting on the Lord in His presence. David waited on the Lord in hiding for his life.

Today we read about the good and bad of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah. Were the Lord saved him and the people and where the Lord poured out His Holy Wrath. We have the grace to be spared from the wrath, but we still must repent, we still must be within God’s will and we still must obey – which includes standing still in front of a charging enemy. We still must wait upon the Lord. We still must trust Him above all.

RELATIONSHIP:
Do you already have a relationship with a powerful God who cares about your every need because He loves you? Did you know my God can communicate with you and protect you – He has a plan for you to prosper if you just submit to His will and let His plan play out in your life!!! God wants a relationship with you and has already made a plan for your life. He loves you so much He sent His son to this world, to die as a sacrifice for your sins and rise from death with victory over sin and the ability to have a personal relationship with you.
“⁹If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Romans 10:9-10 NIV
Here is a prayer for you to pray:
Jesus, I believe you are the way, the truth, the life, and the only way to the Father. I believe you are the son of God, you came to Earth and lived. That you died on the cross as a sacrifice for my sins, and rose again so that I may be saved from my sins and be able to get to know you. I declare: Jesus, you are Lord!
Therefore, I confess that I am a sinner and I ask that you forgive me of my sins and come into my life. Help me to turn away from my sins and transform me into what you have lovingly created me to be. Help me through a real personal relationship grow and accept your will for my life – that I may live in your blessings. Please walk with me, and talk with me – I accept a relationship with you and with our Father God, through you. In the name of Jesus I pray ~ Amen

MEMORY WORK: Mark 16:17-18 – Last day!!!
NKJV – “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
NAS – “These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
ESV – “And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
NLT – “These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages. They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”
NIV – “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

Thank you for reading.
May the God of peace keep you and bless you. May you stay focused on Christ and covered in grace.
Maranatha ~ Come Lord Jesus!

BIBLE READING: 2 Chronicles 19-23 NKJV

Jehoshaphat’s Additional Reforms

19 Then Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned safely to his house in Jerusalem. ²And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Therefore the wrath of the Lord is upon you. ³Nevertheless good things are found in you, in that you have removed the ^[^a^]wooden images from the land, and have prepared your heart to seek God.”

The Reforms of Jehoshaphat

⁴So Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem; and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the mountains of Ephraim, and brought them back to the Lord God of their fathers. ⁵Then he set judges in the land throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, ⁶and said to the judges, “Take heed to what you are doing, for you do not judge for man but for the Lord, who is with you ^[^b^]in the judgment. ⁷Now therefore, let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take care and do it, for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, no partiality, nor taking of bribes.”

⁸Moreover in Jerusalem, for the judgment of the Lord and for controversies, Jehoshaphat appointed some of the Levites and priests, and some of the chief fathers of Israel, ^[^c^]when they returned to Jerusalem. ⁹And he commanded them, saying, “Thus you shall act in the fear of the Lord, faithfully and with a loyal heart: ¹⁰Whatever case comes to you from your brethren who dwell in their cities, whether of bloodshed or offenses against law or commandment, against statutes or ordinances, you shall warn them, lest they trespass against the Lord and wrath come upon you and your brethren. Do this, and you will not be guilty. ¹¹And take notice: Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the Lord; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, for all the king’s matters; also the Levites will be officials before you. Behave courageously, and the Lord will be with the good.”

Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir Defeated

20 It happened after this that the people of Moab with the people of Ammon, and others with them besides the Ammonites,^[^d^] came to battle against Jehoshaphat. ²Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from ^[^e^]Syria; and they are in Hazazon Tamar” (which is En Gedi). ³And Jehoshaphat feared, and set ^[^f^]himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. ⁴So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.

⁵Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, ⁶and said: “O Lord God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You? ⁷Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever? ⁸And they dwell in it, and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name, saying, ⁹‘If disaster comes upon us—sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine—we will stand before this temple and in Your presence (for Your name is in this temple), and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.’ ¹⁰And now, here are the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir—whom You would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them and did not destroy them— ¹¹here they are, rewarding us by coming to throw us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit. ¹²O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”

¹³Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before the Lord.

¹⁴Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. ¹⁵And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. ¹⁶Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the ^[^g^]brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel. ¹⁷You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.”

¹⁸And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. ¹⁹Then the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with voices loud and high.

²⁰So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” ²¹And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying:

“Praise the Lord,
For His mercy endures forever.”

²²Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. ²³For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they ^[^h^]had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.

²⁴So when Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and there were their dead bodies, fallen on the earth. No one had escaped.

²⁵When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away their spoil, they found among them an abundance of valuables on the ^[ⁱ^]dead bodies, and precious jewelry, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away; and they were three days gathering the spoil because there was so much. ²⁶And on the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of ^[^j^]Berachah, for there they blessed the Lord; therefore the name of that place was called The Valley of Berachah until this day. ²⁷Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat in front of them, to go back to Jerusalem with joy, for the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies. ²⁸So they came to Jerusalem, with stringed instruments and harps and trumpets, to the house of the Lord. ²⁹And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. ³⁰Then the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around.

The End of Jehoshaphat’s Reign

³¹So Jehoshaphat was king over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. ³²And he walked in the way of his father Asa, and did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord. ³³Nevertheless the ^[^k^]high places were not taken away, for as yet the people had not directed their hearts to the God of their fathers.

³⁴Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, indeed they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel.

³⁵After this Jehoshaphat king of Judah allied himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who acted very wickedly. ³⁶And he allied himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish, and they made the ships in Ezion Geber. ³⁷But Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, the Lord has destroyed your works.” Then the ships were wrecked, so that they were not able to go to Tarshish.

Jehoram Reigns in Judah

21 And Jehoshaphat ^[^l^]rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. Then Jehoram his son reigned in his place. ²He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azaryahu, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel. ³Their father gave them great gifts of silver and gold and precious things, with fortified cities in Judah; but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn.

⁴Now when Jehoram ^[^m^]was established over the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself and killed all his brothers with the sword, and also others of the princes of Israel.

⁵Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. ⁶And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for he had the daughter of Ahab as a wife; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. ⁷Yet the Lord would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that He had made with David, and since He had promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever.

⁸In his days Edom revolted against Judah’s authority, and made a king over themselves. ⁹So Jehoram went out with his officers, and all his chariots with him. And he rose by night and attacked the Edomites who had surrounded him and the captains of the chariots. ¹⁰Thus Edom has been in revolt against Judah’s authority to this day. At that time Libnah revolted against his rule, because he had forsaken the Lord God of his fathers. ¹¹Moreover he made ^[ⁿ^]high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit harlotry, and led Judah astray.

¹²And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying,

Thus says the Lord God of your father David:

Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or in the ways of Asa king of Judah, ¹³but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the harlot like the harlotry of the house of Ahab, and also have killed your brothers, those of your father’s household, who were better than yourself, ¹⁴behold, the Lord will strike your people with a serious affliction—your children, your wives, and all your possessions; ¹⁵and you will become very sick with a disease of your intestines, until your intestines come out by reason of the sickness, day by day.

¹⁶Moreover the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and the Arabians who were near the Ethiopians. ¹⁷And they came up into Judah and invaded it, and carried away all the possessions that were found in the king’s house, and also his sons and his wives, so that there was not a son left to him except ^[^o^]Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.

¹⁸After all this the Lord struck him in his intestines with an incurable disease. ¹⁹Then it happened in the course of time, after the end of two years, that his intestines came out because of his sickness; so he died in severe pain. And his people made no ^[^p^]burning for him, like the burning for his fathers.

²⁰He was thirty-two years old when he became king. He reigned in Jerusalem eight years and, to no one’s sorrow, departed. However they buried him in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

Ahaziah Reigns in Judah

22 Then the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his youngest son king in his place, for the raiders who came with the Arabians into the camp had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, reigned. ²Ahaziah was ^[^q^]forty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah the ^[^r^]granddaughter of Omri. ³He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother advised him to do wickedly. ⁴Therefore he did evil in the sight of the Lord, like the house of Ahab; for they were his counselors after the death of his father, to his destruction. ⁵He also followed their advice, and went with ^[^s^]Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth Gilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram. ⁶Then he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds which he had received at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And ^[^t^]Azariah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

⁷His going to Joram was God’s occasion for Ahaziah’s ^[^u^]downfall; for when he arrived, he went out with ^[^v^]Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had anointed to ^[^w^]cut off the house of Ahab. ⁸And it happened, when Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, and found the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers who served Ahaziah, that he killed them. ⁹Then he searched for Ahaziah; and they caught him (he was hiding in Samaria), and brought him to Jehu. When they had killed him, they buried him, “because,” they said, “he is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with all his heart.”

So the house of Ahaziah had no one to assume power over the kingdom.

Athaliah Reigns in Judah

¹⁰Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal heirs of the house of Judah. ¹¹But ^[^x^]Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were being murdered, and put him and his nurse in a bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah so that she did not kill him. ¹²And he was hidden with them in the house of God for six years, while Athaliah reigned over the land.

Joash Crowned King of Judah

23 In the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and made a covenant with the captains of hundreds: Azariah the son of Jeroham, Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, Azariah the son of Obed, Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri. ²And they went throughout Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah, and the chief fathers of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.

³Then all the assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said to them, “Behold, the king’s son shall reign, as the Lord has said of the sons of David. ⁴This is what you shall do: One-third of you entering on the Sabbath, of the priests and the Levites, shall be keeping watch over the doors; ⁵one-third shall be at the king’s house; and one-third at the Gate of the Foundation. All the people shall be in the courts of the house of the Lord. ⁶But let no one come into the house of the Lord except the priests and those of the Levites who serve. They may go in, for they are holy; but all the people shall keep the watch of the Lord. ⁷And the Levites shall surround the king on all sides, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whoever comes into the house, let him be put to death. You are to be with the king when he comes in and when he goes out.”

⁸So the Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. And each man took his men who were to be on duty on the Sabbath, with those who were going off duty on the Sabbath; for Jehoiada the priest had not dismissed the divisions. ⁹And Jehoiada the priest gave to the captains of hundreds the spears and the large and small shields which had belonged to King David, that were in the temple of God. ¹⁰Then he set all the people, every man with his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, along by the altar and by the temple, all around the king. ¹¹And they brought out the king’s son, put the crown on him, gave him the ^[^y^]Testimony, and made him king. Then Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, “Long live the king!”

Death of Athaliah

¹²Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people in the temple of the Lord. ¹³When she looked, there was the king standing by his pillar at the entrance; and the leaders and the trumpeters were by the king. All the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets, also the singers with musical instruments, and those who led in praise. So Athaliah tore her clothes and said, “Treason! Treason!”

¹⁴And Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds who were set over the army, and said to them, “Take her outside under guard, and slay with the sword whoever follows her.” For the priest had said, “Do not kill her in the house of the Lord.”

¹⁵So they seized her; and she went by way of the entrance of the Horse Gate into the king’s house, and they killed her there.

¹⁶Then Jehoiada made a covenant between himself, the people, and the king, that they should be the Lord’s people. ¹⁷And all the people went to the ^[^z^]temple of Baal, and tore it down. They broke in pieces its altars and images, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. ¹⁸Also Jehoiada appointed the oversight of the house of the Lord to the hand of the priests, the Levites, whom David had assigned in the house of the Lord, to offer the burnt offerings of the Lord, as it is written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, as it was established by David. ¹⁹And he set the gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the Lord, so that no one who was in any way unclean should enter.

²⁰Then he took the captains of hundreds, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought the king down from the house of the Lord; and they went through the Upper Gate to the king’s house, and set the king on the throne of the kingdom. ²¹So all the people of the land rejoiced; and the city was quiet, for they had slain Athaliah with the sword.

Footnotes

2 Chronicles 19:3 Or Asherim, Heb. Asheroth
2 Chronicles 19:6 Lit. in the matter of the judgment
2 Chronicles 19:8 LXX, Vg. for the inhabitants of Jerusalem
2 Chronicles 20:1 So with MT, Vg.; LXX Meunites (cf. 2 Chr. 26:7)
2 Chronicles 20:2 So with MT, LXX, Vg.; Heb. mss., Old Lat. Edom
2 Chronicles 20:3 Lit. his face
2 Chronicles 20:16 streambed or wadi
2 Chronicles 20:23 had finished
2 Chronicles 20:25 A few Heb. mss., Old Lat., Vg. garments; LXX armor
2 Chronicles 20:26 Lit. Blessing
2 Chronicles 20:33 Places for pagan worship
2 Chronicles 21:1 Died and joined his ancestors
2 Chronicles 21:4 Lit. arose
2 Chronicles 21:11 Places for pagan worship
2 Chronicles 21:17 Ahaziah or Azariah, 2 Chr. 22:1
2 Chronicles 21:19 Burning of spices
2 Chronicles 22:2 twenty-two, 2 Kin. 8:26
2 Chronicles 22:2 Lit. daughter
2 Chronicles 22:5 Joram, v. 7; 2 Kin. 8:28
2 Chronicles 22:6 Heb. mss., LXX, Syr., Vg. Ahaziah and 2 Kin. 8:29
2 Chronicles 22:7 Lit. crushing
2 Chronicles 22:7 Joram, vv. 5, 7; 2 Kin. 8:28
2 Chronicles 22:7 destroy
2 Chronicles 22:11 Jehosheba, 2 Kin. 11:2
2 Chronicles 23:11 Law, Ex. 25:16, 21; 31:18
2 Chronicles 23:17 Lit. house

29 Jun 202127 Jun 2021

Micaiah

“And Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, whatever the Lord says to me, that I will speak.” 1 Kings 22:14 NKJV

Did you know that when tracing the name Michael back to its roots the first recorded and earliest version of the name is Micaiah? Micaiah is considered a minor prophet yet here he is a contemporary of Elijah and Elisha (and his story right between the two) in a time when the power of the Lord moved mightily through the prophets. Hang onto your seats while we read about this sarcastic, stubborn, and hard man of God – and I tell you of another Micaiah.

Today’s reading is from the book of First Kings chapter 22 and Second Chronicles chapter 18 (embedded below the image below for your convenience).

Have you ever had a dream that seemed so real – that you are convinced it was? I can still remember a dream I had back in 1996 – clear as day. I woke up the next morning so completely shook by it and the events in the dream came true and changed my life.

In my dream and angel came to me. Told me I was pregnant with a boy. His name was to be Robert Micaiah and we would call him by his middle name. (Not Mic or Mike. Not Mikey, Micah, or Michael.) He was going to grow up to be on a stage and be musical and God had a purpose for his life. God had called him, made him, formed him and named him.

Half way through my pregnancy I learned that Micaiah was a minor prophet and marked the place in my Bible. The day he was born I had lost the book make. So I had to look it up the old fashion way – to my surprise Micaiah was in there 2 times! The day was February 22 and my mom pointed out who with God there are no coincidences and his name was in 1 Kings, chapter 22!! But God has a bigger since of humor than that. I was overdue, the baby was late! My son was due on the 18^th day of the SECOND month and the second place Micaiah is found in the Bible is the 18^th chapter of SECOND Chronicles!!

In Psalms 139 – we see David worshiping God at the revelation of how God knew us and planned us from before what we think of as the beginning. God made us with a purpose and plan. God called us.

“I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.” Psalm 139:14 NKJV

Some people think this isn’t true of everyone. But in my spirit, I believe every time I have quoted this verse, God laid it on my tongue because God did make and call the person I was speaking of. I know that if you have found this obscure little blog with the word of the lord and follow it – God gave this to you and it applies to you. I am not advertising or promoting. This continues to grow and grow organically giving ALL glory to God for each of you who finds this and reads it. Just like God formed us – God formed this ministry. Therefore, going back to my point – if you are reading this then this applies to you that God formed you, named you, created you with a purpose.

When my son was a small child, just old enough to start memorizing – I read him these passages regularly. The first verse he memorized was the opening verse today. He used to take his little Bible and lay it open and tap on it and pretend to preach. And honestly it frightened me.

I am quite close to one of those crazy people on a street corner holding a sign saying “Repent! For the kingdom of God is at hand!” Because quite frankly that isn’t a lie! But I know the battle I face daily and how difficult it is – I know the persecution. I am quite positive someone will be trying to kill me on the day of the rapture telling me to deny God or die and I’ll just fly away! (I may have romanticized it – it’s going to get ugly.) This isn’t what a mother wants for her toddler. And as an adult – I long for it for him because I failed to raise him in church he is so far off base and doesn’t know the scriptures. And worst – he thinks he can get it together after the rapture – oh people!!! IF this is how you think – rethink your stand. The period called the dispensation of grace ends with the rapture. How, without the transforming resurrection power of grace, does anyone expect to serve the Lord? If the cares of this life keep you from him when life is easy and good – do you really think you can do it on your own?!! Those of us who are trying WITH grace stumble regularly and cannot without grace.

I am that crazy preacher – running around yelling IT IS TIME!

It is high time to wake up – Romans 13:11

Today is the day – Now is the time of our salvation – 2 Corinthians 6:2

The dispensation of grace does come to an end and it is soon. What shall we say then, shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbids it (Romans 6:1).

I told my son I was writing about him and I would send him the link to this. I am sure he won’t read it. His life is a struggle right now. But the spiritual is manifesting in the natural. If he just surrendered to God… but he has put too much at stake of his own making, desire and design. And He knows surrendering to God doesn’t make it easier – it just makes it right. There are still struggles and battles and sometimes that are worse – but it is the right thing to do. God made him for a purpose and like Jonah – he cannot run away forever. Until that day – when he shows up covered in whale vomit and hungry to learn the Bible, will you join me in prayer for him? I appreciate it. It is tough to be in your mid-twenties and railing against God when you were created because God had need and had to create exactly what He needed for such a time as this!!

For those of you just joining for the first time – God wants a relationship with us through His son. Since the very first sin separated us from him – He has been working diligently to bring us back. Once we begin to have a real relationship, including talking to Him often throughout the day, reading His word and memorizing it, and following His will – then we begin to fulfil the purpose He created us for. We must first prove faithful in the small things. Let’s talk more about how to begin that relationship:

MEMORY WORK: Mark 16:17-18 – This month is month two of the two for one special!!!
NKJV – “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
NAS – “These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
ESV – “And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
NLT – “These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages. They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”
NIV – “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

Thank you for reading.
May the God of peace keep you and bless you. May you stay focused on Christ and covered in grace.
Maranatha ~ Come Lord Jesus!

BIBLE READING: 1 Kings 22 & 2 Chronicles 18 NKJV

1 Kings 22

Micaiah Warns Ahab

22 Now three years passed without war between Syria and Israel. ²Then it came to pass, in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went down to visit the king of Israel.

³And the king of Israel said to his servants, “Do you know that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, but we hesitate to take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?” ⁴So he said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to fight at Ramoth Gilead?”

Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” ⁵Also Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire for the word of the Lord today.”

⁶Then the king of Israel gathered ^[^a^]the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to fight, or shall I refrain?”

So they said, “Go up, for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.”

⁷And Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not still a prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of ^[^b^]Him?”

⁸So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord; but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.”

And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say such things!”

⁹Then the king of Israel called an officer and said, “Bring Micaiah the son of Imlah quickly!”

¹⁰The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, having put on their robes, sat each on his throne, at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them. ¹¹Now Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself; and he said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed.’ ” ¹²And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, “Go up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper, for the Lord will deliver it into the king’s hand.”

¹³Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, “Now listen, the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king. Please, let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak encouragement.”

¹⁴And Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, whatever the Lord says to me, that I will speak.”

¹⁵Then he came to the king; and the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall we refrain?”

And he answered him, “Go and prosper, for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king!”

¹⁶So the king said to him, “How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?”

¹⁷Then he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These have no master. Let each return to his house in peace.’ ”

¹⁸And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?”

¹⁹Then Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by, on His right hand and on His left. ²⁰And the Lord said, ‘Who will persuade Ahab to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner. ²¹Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, and said, ‘I will persuade him.’ ²²The Lord said to him, ‘In what way?’ So he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And the Lord said, ‘You shall persuade him, and also prevail. Go out and do so.’ ²³Therefore look! The Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and the Lord has declared disaster against you.”

²⁴Now Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, “Which way did the spirit from the Lord go from me to speak to you?”

²⁵And Micaiah said, “Indeed, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide!”

²⁶So the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah, and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son; ²⁷and say, ‘Thus says the king: “Put this fellow in prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction, until I come in peace.” ’ ”

²⁸But Micaiah said, “If you ever return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.” And he said, “Take heed, all you people!”

Ahab Dies in Battle

²⁹So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. ³⁰And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle; but you put on your robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.

³¹Now the king of Syria had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, “Fight with no one small or great, but only with the king of Israel.” ³²So it was, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, “Surely it is the king of Israel!” Therefore they turned aside to fight against him, and Jehoshaphat cried out. ³³And it happened, when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him. ³⁴Now a certain man drew a bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and take me out of the battle, for I am wounded.”

³⁵The battle increased that day; and the king was propped up in his chariot, facing the Syrians, and died at evening. The blood ran out from the wound onto the floor of the chariot. ³⁶Then, as the sun was going down, a shout went throughout the army, saying, “Every man to his city, and every man to his own country!”

³⁷So the king died, and was brought to Samaria. And they buried the king in Samaria. ³⁸Then someone washed the chariot at a pool in Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood while ^[^c^]the harlots bathed, according to the word of the Lord which He had spoken.

³⁹Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, the ivory house which he built and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ⁴⁰So Ahab ^[^d^]rested with his fathers. Then Ahaziah his son reigned in his place.

Jehoshaphat Reigns in Judah

⁴¹Jehoshaphat the son of Asa had become king over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. ⁴²Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. ⁴³And he walked in all the ways of his father Asa. He did not turn aside from them, doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord. Nevertheless the high places were not taken away, for the people offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places. ⁴⁴Also Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.

⁴⁵Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, the might that he showed, and how he made war, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ⁴⁶And the rest of the ^[^e^]perverted persons, who remained in the days of his father Asa, he banished from the land. ⁴⁷There was then no king in Edom, only a deputy of the king.

⁴⁸Jehoshaphat made ^[^f^]merchant ships to go to Ophir for gold; but they never sailed, for the ships were wrecked at Ezion Geber. ⁴⁹Then Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my servants go with your servants in the ships.” But Jehoshaphat would not.

⁵⁰And Jehoshaphat ^[^g^]rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David his father. Then Jehoram his son reigned in his place.

Ahaziah Reigns in Israel

⁵¹Ahaziah the son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned two years over Israel. ⁵²He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin; ⁵³for he served Baal and worshiped him, and provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger, according^[^h^] to all that his father had done.

Footnotes

1 Kings 22:6 The false prophets
1 Kings 22:7 Or him
1 Kings 22:38 Tg., Syr. they washed his armor
1 Kings 22:40 Died and joined his ancestors
1 Kings 22:46 Heb. qadesh, one practicing sodomy and prostitution in religious rituals
1 Kings 22:48 Or ships of Tarshish
1 Kings 22:50 Died and joined his ancestors
1 Kings 22:53 In the same way that

2 Chronicles 18

Micaiah Warns Ahab

18 Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance; and by marriage he allied himself with Ahab. ²After some years he went down to visit Ahab in Samaria; and Ahab killed sheep and oxen in abundance for him and the people who were with him, and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth Gilead. ³So Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “Will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead?”

And he answered him, “I am as you are, and my people as your people; we will be with you in the war.”

⁴Also Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire for the word of the Lord today.”

⁵Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?”

So they said, “Go up, for God will deliver it into the king’s hand.”

⁶But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not still a prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of Him?”^[^a^]

⁷So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord; but I hate him, because he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil. He is Micaiah the son of Imla.”

And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say such things!”

⁸Then the king of Israel called one of his officers and said, “Bring Micaiah the son of Imla quickly!”

⁹The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah, clothed in their robes, sat each on his throne; and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them. ¹⁰Now Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself; and he said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed.’ ”

¹¹And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, “Go up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper, for the Lord will deliver it into the king’s hand.”

¹²Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, “Now listen, the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king. Therefore please let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak encouragement.”

¹³And Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, whatever my God says, that I will speak.”

¹⁴Then he came to the king; and the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?”

And he said, “Go and prosper, and they shall be delivered into your hand!”

¹⁵So the king said to him, “How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?”

¹⁶Then he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These have no master. Let each return to his house in peace.’ ”

¹⁷And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?”

¹⁸Then Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left. ¹⁹And the Lord said, ‘Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner. ²⁰Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, and said, ‘I will persuade him.’ The Lord said to him, ‘In what way?’ ²¹So he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And the Lord said, ‘You shall persuade him and also prevail; go out and do so.’ ²²Therefore look! The Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours, and the Lord has declared disaster against you.”

²³Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, “Which way did the spirit from the Lord go from me to speak to you?”

²⁴And Micaiah said, “Indeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide!”

²⁵Then the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah, and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son; ²⁶and say, ‘Thus says the king: “Put this fellow in prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction, until I return in peace.” ’ ”

²⁷But Micaiah said, “If you ever return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.” And he said, “Take heed, all you people!”

Ahab Dies in Battle

²⁸So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. ²⁹And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle; but you put on your robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle.

³⁰Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him, saying, “Fight with no one small or great, but only with the king of Israel.”

³¹So it was, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, “It is the king of Israel!” Therefore they surrounded him to attack; but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him, and God diverted them from him. ³²For so it was, when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him. ³³Now a certain man drew a bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the ^[^b^]joints of his armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and take me out of the battle, for I am wounded.” ³⁴The battle increased that day, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening; and about the time of sunset he died.

Footnotes

2 Chronicles 18:6 Or him
2 Chronicles 18:33 Or scale armor and the breastplate

28 Jun 202126 Jun 2021

Are you known?

“So Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?”
And he answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord:‘Behold, I will bring calamity on you. I will take away your posterity, and will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both bond and free.” 1 Kings 21:20-21 NKJV

What a powerful weekend reading and continuing today – Why do my favorites always fall on weekends when God doesn’t have me write a devotional to go with it?! God is pouring out his power and anointing just like in the days of Elijah! So pay attention to this man’s life and the lives of His contemporaries!

Today’s reading is from the book of First Kings chapters 20-21 (embedded below the image below for your convenience).

In today’s reading is the opening verse. Ahab sees Elijah and I am sure he didn’t just say – oh man, you found me! I am sure there was an expletive or two!! Reminds me of another evil force and its reaction when found:

“And suddenly they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?” Matthew 8:29 NKJV

Is there an implication here that Ahab was possessed? No – the Bible is pretty clear that he was controlled by His wife and it is quite possible she was possessed. Regardless of your opinion on it – there are very clear parallels between these verses so I think I might explore further, if you will humor me. Sometimes I wander a little, but I do get there eventually.

Elijah was recognized – and he was an anointed force. Jesus was recognized and was the messiah. Can we wander far and talk about the seven sons of Sceva?

“Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.
And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”
Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.” Acts 19:13-16 NKJV

The sons of Sceva were not known.

Some say they failed because they tried to use Jesus’s name as a magic trick – some (maybe closer to the truth) point out they refer to a Jesus once removed – not Jesus himself but of Paul. But how about this (and thank you for humoring me while I wander) – they saw it done and lacked understanding about having a relationship with God through Christ Jesus. Maybe that desired a form of godliness but denied the true power thereof.

“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 2 Timothy 3:1-7 NKJV

As a preacher I know named Marcus always says: casual Christians will become casualties!

So, imagine that, like these seven brothers, we are casual Christians and we find ourselves up against a demon and the demon puts our back against the wall and we know we can cast it out because we have been given power (Luke 10:19) – so in fear we try to cast it out…. or in zealousness for this power, as some believed to be the case with these brothers, we step out in faith to cast it out. We fail and get our butts handed to us!

I met a young man who said – it is written that I can fight it and God will win because God is stronger and he stepped out and was overcome. He said he doesn’t want to do that again. So maybe these brothers were like him, too young in their relationship with God.

Honestly – it doesn’t matter if you were born in the USA or in China, you were born where you were born and you have NO control over it. You have no control over the color of your skin. You have no control over the fact that there is a spiritual war if you like it or not. Jesus says that whoever is not against us is for us:

“Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”
“Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me,for whoever is not against us is for us. Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.” Mark 9:38-41 NIV

So you are in this regardless and you are either fighting for God or for the enemy. Choose.

Do you have a form of godliness but deny its power – get to know God better and make sure the enemy knows your name. Either the enemy will destroy you – or you will help take him down saving other in the process. Wake up. We are running out of time.

Tell God you want a relationship – you want to be closer to him – you want to fulfill your purpose! Just get hungry for God and He’ll take you through the rest. There is nothing to fear when you are deep in your relationship and engulf in His presence.

Put down the fear, put down the nuances of denominations, let go of the chains of legalism and get bathed in grace – the kind of grace that rose Jesus from the grave, overcame the enemy and death and transforms us into God’s glory! OOOO!!! Reading about Elijah always gets me hungry! I serve a real living God – I know in whom I believe and He is able – He has overcome and He is almighty and powerful! The enemy knows my name! Because when I get to know my God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – I become known.

Thank you for reading.
May the God of peace keep you and bless you. May you stay focused on Christ and covered in grace.
Maranatha ~ Come Lord Jesus!

BIBLE READING: 1 Kings 20-21 NKJV

Ahab Defeats the Syrians

20 Now Ben-Hadad the king of Syria gathered all his forces together; thirty-two kings were with him, with horses and chariots. And he went up and besieged Samaria, and made war against it. ²Then he sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel, and said to him, “Thus says Ben-Hadad: ³‘Your silver and your gold are mine; your loveliest wives and children are mine.’ ”

⁴And the king of Israel answered and said, “My lord, O king, just as you say, I and all that I have are yours.”

⁵Then the messengers came back and said, “Thus speaks Ben-Hadad, saying, ‘Indeed I have sent to you, saying, “You shall deliver to me your silver and your gold, your wives and your children”; ⁶but I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house and the houses of your servants. And it shall be, that whatever is ^[^a^]pleasant in your eyes, they will put it in their hands and take it.’ ”

⁷So the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, “Notice, please, and see how this man seeks trouble, for he sent to me for my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold; and I did not deny him.”

⁸And all the elders and all the people said to him, “Do not listen or consent.”

⁹Therefore he said to the messengers of Ben-Hadad, “Tell my lord the king, ‘All that you sent for to your servant the first time I will do, but this thing I cannot do.’ ”

And the messengers departed and brought back word to him.

¹⁰Then Ben-Hadad sent to him and said, “The gods do so to me, and more also, if enough dust is left of Samaria for a handful for each of the people ^[^b^]who follow me.”

¹¹So the king of Israel answered and said, “Tell him, ‘Let not the one who puts on his armor boast like the one who takes it off.’ ”

¹²And it happened when Ben-Hadad heard this message, as he and the kings were drinking at the ^[^c^]command post, that he said to his servants, “Get ready.” And they got ready to attack the city.

¹³Suddenly a prophet approached Ahab king of Israel, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver it into your hand today, and you shall know that I am the Lord.’ ”

¹⁴So Ahab said, “By whom?”

And he said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘By the young leaders of the provinces.’ ”

Then he said, “Who will set the battle in order?”

And he answered, “You.”

¹⁵Then he mustered the young leaders of the provinces, and there were two hundred and thirty-two; and after them he mustered all the people, all the children of Israel—seven thousand.

¹⁶So they went out at noon. Meanwhile Ben-Hadad and the thirty-two kings helping him were getting drunk at the command post. ¹⁷The young leaders of the provinces went out first. And Ben-Hadad sent out a patrol, and they told him, saying, “Men are coming out of Samaria!” ¹⁸So he said, “If they have come out for peace, take them alive; and if they have come out for war, take them alive.”

¹⁹Then these young leaders of the provinces went out of the city with the army which followed them. ²⁰And each one killed his man; so the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them; and Ben-Hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with the cavalry. ²¹Then the king of Israel went out and attacked the horses and chariots, and killed the Syrians with a great slaughter.

²²And the prophet came to the king of Israel and said to him, “Go, strengthen yourself; take note, and see what you should do, for ^[^d^]in the spring of the year the king of Syria will come up against you.”

The Syrians Again Defeated

²³Then the servants of the king of Syria said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hills. Therefore they were stronger than we; but if we fight against them in the plain, surely we will be stronger than they. ²⁴So do this thing: Dismiss the kings, each from his position, and put captains in their ^[^e^]places; ²⁵and you shall muster an army like the army ^[^f^]that you have lost, horse for horse and chariot for chariot. Then we will fight against them in the plain; surely we will be stronger than they.”

And he listened to their voice and did so.

²⁶So it was, in the spring of the year, that Ben-Hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. ²⁷And the children of Israel were mustered and given provisions, and they went against them. Now the children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats, while the Syrians filled the countryside.

²⁸Then a man of God came and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because the Syrians have said, “The Lord is God of the hills, but He is not God of the valleys,” therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.’ ” ²⁹And they encamped opposite each other for seven days. So it was that on the seventh day the battle was joined; and the children of Israel killed one hundred thousand foot soldiers of the Syrians in one day. ³⁰But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; then a wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of the men who were left.

And Ben-Hadad fled and went into the city, into an inner chamber.

Ahab’s Treaty with Ben-Hadad

³¹Then his servants said to him, “Look now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Please, let us put sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads, and go out to the king of Israel; perhaps he will spare your life.” ³²So they wore sackcloth around their waists and put ropes around their heads, and came to the king of Israel and said, “Your servant Ben-Hadad says, ‘Please let me live.’ ”

And he said, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”

³³Now the men were watching closely to see whether any sign of mercy would come from him; and they quickly grasped at this word and said, “Your brother Ben-Hadad.”

So he said, “Go, bring him.” Then Ben-Hadad came out to him; and he had him come up into the chariot.

³⁴So Ben-Hadad said to him, “The cities which my father took from your father I will restore; and you may set up marketplaces for yourself in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.”

Then Ahab said, “I will send you away with this treaty.” So he made a treaty with him and sent him away.

Ahab Condemned

³⁵Now a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbor by the word of the Lord, “Strike me, please.” And the man refused to strike him. ³⁶Then he said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, surely, as soon as you depart from me, a lion shall kill you.” And as soon as he left him, a lion found him and killed him.

³⁷And he found another man, and said, “Strike me, please.” So the man struck him, inflicting a wound. ³⁸Then the prophet departed and waited for the king by the road, and disguised himself with a bandage over his eyes. ³⁹Now as the king passed by, he cried out to the king and said, “Your servant went out into the midst of the battle; and there, a man came over and brought a man to me, and said, ‘Guard this man; if by any means he is missing, your life shall be for his life, or else you shall ^[^g^]pay a talent of silver.’ ⁴⁰While your servant was busy here and there, he was gone.”

Then the king of Israel said to him, “So shall your judgment be; you yourself have decided it.”

⁴¹And he hastened to take the bandage away from his eyes; and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. ⁴²Then he said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because you have let slip out of your hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people.’ ”

⁴³So the king of Israel went to his house sullen and displeased, and came to Samaria.

Naboth Is Murdered for His Vineyard

21 And it came to pass after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which was in Jezreel, next to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. ²So Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near, next to my house; and for it I will give you a vineyard better than it. Or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its worth in money.”

³But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you!”

⁴So Ahab went into his house sullen and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food. ⁵But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, “Why is your spirit so sullen that you eat no food?”

⁶He said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ And he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’ ”

⁷Then Jezebel his wife said to him, “You now exercise authority over Israel! Arise, eat food, and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

⁸And she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who were dwelling in the city with Naboth. ⁹She wrote in the letters, saying,

Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth ^[^h^]with high honor among the people; ¹⁰and seat two men, scoundrels, before him to bear witness against him, saying, “You have blasphemed God and the king.” Then take him out, and stone him, that he may die.

¹¹So the men of his city, the elders and nobles who were inhabitants of his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them. ¹²They proclaimed a fast, and seated Naboth with high honor among the people. ¹³And two men, scoundrels, came in and sat before him; and the scoundrels witnessed against him, against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth has blasphemed God and the king!” Then they took him outside the city and stoned him with stones, so that he died. ¹⁴Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”

¹⁵And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead.” ¹⁶So it was, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab got up and went down to take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.

The Lord Condemns Ahab

¹⁷Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ¹⁸“Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who lives in Samaria. There he is, in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to take possession of it. ¹⁹You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Have you murdered and also taken possession?” ’ And you shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours.” ’ ”

²⁰So Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?”

And he answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord: ²¹‘Behold, I will bring calamity on you. I will take away your posterity, and will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both bond and free. ²²I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked Me to anger, and made Israel sin.’ ²³And concerning Jezebel the Lord also spoke, saying, ‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the ^[ⁱ^]wall of Jezreel.’ ²⁴The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Ahab and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field.”

²⁵But there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife ^[^j^]stirred him up. ²⁶And he behaved very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.

²⁷So it was, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning.

²⁸And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ²⁹“See how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days. In the days of his son I will bring the calamity on his house.”

Footnotes

1 Kings 20:6 pleasing
1 Kings 20:10 Lit. at my feet
1 Kings 20:12 Lit. booths or shelters
1 Kings 20:22 Lit. at the return
1 Kings 20:24 positions
1 Kings 20:25 Lit. that fell from you
1 Kings 20:39 Lit. weigh
1 Kings 21:9 Lit. at the head
1 Kings 21:23 So with MT, LXX; some Heb. mss., Syr., Tg., Vg. plot of ground instead of wall (cf. 2 Kin. 9:36)
1 Kings 21:25 incited him

27 Jun 202118 Jun 2021

Weekend Reading (June 27)

Dear Heavenly Father, Please open my understanding as I read the Bible so that I may be able to know you better. Please help your word be planted in my mind, so I may recall it as needed. Bless me with wisdom and knowledge, please. In the name of Jesus we pray ~ amen

MEMORY WORK: Mark 16:17-18 – This month continues the two for one special!!! Two months to memorize two consecutive verses!
NKJV – “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
NAS – “These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
ESV – “And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
NLT – “These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages. They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”
NIV – “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

Thank you for reading.
May the God of peace keep you and bless you. May you stay focused on Christ and covered in grace.
Maranatha ~ Come Lord Jesus!

BIBLE READING: 1 Kings 17-19 NKJV

Elijah Proclaims a Drought

17 And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.”

²Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ³“Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. ⁴And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”

⁵So he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. ⁶The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. ⁷And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.

Elijah and the Widow

⁸Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ⁹“Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” ¹⁰So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink.” ¹¹And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”

¹²So she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a ^[^a^]jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”

¹³And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. ¹⁴For thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.’ ”

¹⁵So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. ¹⁶The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.

Elijah Revives the Widow’s Son

¹⁷Now it happened after these things that the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. And his sickness was so ^[^b^]serious that ^[^c^]there was no breath left in him. ¹⁸So she said to Elijah, “What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?”

¹⁹And he said to her, “Give me your son.” So he took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. ²⁰Then he cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?” ²¹And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him.” ²²Then the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived.

²³And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives!”

²⁴Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is the truth.”

Elijah’s Message to Ahab

18 And it came to pass after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth.”

²So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab; and there was a severe famine in Samaria. ³And Ahab had called Obadiah, who was ^[^d^]in charge of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly. ⁴For so it was, while Jezebel ^[^e^]massacred the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah had taken one hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty to a cave, and had fed them with bread and water.) ⁵And Ahab had said to Obadiah, “Go into the land to all the springs of water and to all the brooks; perhaps we may find grass to keep the horses and mules alive, so that we will not have to kill any livestock.” ⁶So they divided the land between them to explore it; Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

⁷Now as Obadiah was on his way, suddenly Elijah met him; and he recognized him, and fell on his face, and said, “Is that you, my lord Elijah?”

⁸And he answered him, “It is I. Go, tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’ ”

⁹So he said, “How have I sinned, that you are delivering your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? ¹⁰As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to hunt for you; and when they said, ‘He is not here,’ he took an oath from the kingdom or nation that they could not find you. ¹¹And now you say, ‘Go, tell your master, “Elijah is here” ’! ¹²And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from you, that the Spirit of the Lord will carry you to a place I do not know; so when I go and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he will kill me. But I your servant have feared the Lord from my youth. ¹³Was it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid one hundred men of the Lord’s prophets, fifty to a cave, and fed them with bread and water? ¹⁴And now you say, ‘Go, tell your master, “Elijah is here.” ’ He will kill me!”

¹⁵Then Elijah said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely present myself to him today.”

¹⁶So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

¹⁷Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?”

¹⁸And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the Baals. ¹⁹Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of ^[^f^]Asherah, who ^[^g^]eat at Jezebel’s table.”

Elijah’s Mount Carmel Victory

²⁰So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. ²¹And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word. ²²Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. ²³Therefore let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. ²⁴Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the God who answers by fire, He is God.”

So all the people answered and said, ^[^h^]“It is well spoken.”

²⁵Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.”

²⁶So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, “O Baal, ^[ⁱ^]hear us!” But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they ^[^j^]leaped about the altar which they had made.

²⁷And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Cry ^[^k^]aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.” ²⁸So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with ^[^l^]knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. ²⁹And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.

³⁰Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. ³¹And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel shall be your name.” ³²Then with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed. ³³And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, “Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.” ³⁴Then he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time; and he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. ³⁵So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water.

³⁶And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. ³⁷Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”

³⁸Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. ³⁹Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”

⁴⁰And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!” So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and executed them there.

The Drought Ends

⁴¹Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.” ⁴²So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, ⁴³and said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.”

So he went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.” And seven times he said, “Go again.”

⁴⁴Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, “There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!” So he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ^[^m^]‘Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.’ ”

⁴⁵Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel. ⁴⁶Then the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah; and he girded^[ⁿ^] up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

Elijah Escapes from Jezebel

19 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. ²Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” ³And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

⁴But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a ^[^o^]broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!”

⁵Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an ^[^p^]angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.” ⁶Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on ^[^q^]coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. ⁷And the ^[^r^]angel of the Lord came back the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.” ⁸So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God.

⁹And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

¹⁰So he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”

God’s Revelation to Elijah

¹¹Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; ¹²and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire ^[^s^]a still small voice.

¹³So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

¹⁴And he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”

¹⁵Then the Lord said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. ¹⁶Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. ¹⁷It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. ¹⁸Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

Elisha Follows Elijah

¹⁹So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. ²⁰And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.”

And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?”

²¹So Elisha turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and boiled their flesh, using the oxen’s equipment, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah, and became his servant.

Footnotes

1 Kings 17:12 Lit. pitcher or water jar
1 Kings 17:17 severe
1 Kings 17:17 He died.
1 Kings 18:3 Lit. over the house
1 Kings 18:4 Lit. cut off
1 Kings 18:19 A Canaanite goddess
1 Kings 18:19 Are provided for by Jezebel
1 Kings 18:24 Lit. The word is good
1 Kings 18:26 answer
1 Kings 18:26 Lit. limped about, leaped in dancing around
1 Kings 18:27 with a loud voice
1 Kings 18:28 swords
1 Kings 18:44 Lit. Bind or Harness
1 Kings 18:46 Tucked the skirts of his robe in his belt in preparation for quick travel
1 Kings 19:4 juniper
1 Kings 19:5 Or Angel
1 Kings 19:6 hot stones
1 Kings 19:7 Or Angel
1 Kings 19:12 a delicate whispering voice

26 Jun 202118 Jun 2021

Weekend Reading (June 26)

Thank you for reading.
May the God of peace keep you and bless you. May you stay focused on Christ and covered in grace.
Maranatha ~ Come Lord Jesus!

BIBLE READING: 1 Kings 15:25-16:34 and 2 Chronicles 17 NKJV

1 Kings 15:25-16:34

Nadab Reigns in Israel

²⁵Now Nadab the son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. ²⁶And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin.

²⁷Then Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him. And Baasha killed him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, while Nadab and all Israel laid siege to Gibbethon. ²⁸Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place. ²⁹And it was so, when he became king, that he killed all the house of Jeroboam. He did not leave to Jeroboam anyone that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according to the word of the Lord which He had spoken by His servant Ahijah the Shilonite, ³⁰because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he had sinned and by which he had made Israel sin, because of his provocation with which he had provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger.

³¹Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ³²And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

Baasha Reigns in Israel

³³In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah became king over all Israel in Tirzah, and reigned twenty-four years. ³⁴He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin.

The Reigns of Elah, Zimri, Omri, and Ahab

16 Then the word of the Lord came to Jehu the son of Hanani, against Baasha, saying: ²“Inasmuch as I lifted you out of the dust and made you ruler over My people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam, and have made My people Israel sin, to provoke Me to anger with their sins, ³surely I will take^[^a^] away the posterity of Baasha and the posterity of his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. ⁴The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Baasha and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the fields.”

⁵Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, what he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ⁶So Baasha ^[^b^]rested with his fathers and was buried in Tirzah. Then Elah his son reigned in his place.

⁷And also the word of the Lord came by the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha and his house, because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord in provoking Him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because he killed them.

Elah Reigns in Israel

⁸In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel, and reigned two years in Tirzah. ⁹Now his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him as he was in Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, steward^[^c^] of his house in Tirzah. ¹⁰And Zimri went in and struck him and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.

¹¹Then it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he was seated on his throne, that he killed all the household of Baasha; he did not leave him one male, neither of his relatives nor of his friends. ¹²Thus Zimri destroyed all the household of Baasha, according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet, ¹³for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, by which they had sinned and by which they had made Israel sin, in provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their ^[^d^]idols.

¹⁴Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Zimri Reigns in Israel

¹⁵In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri had reigned in Tirzah seven days. And the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. ¹⁶Now the people who were encamped heard it said, “Zimri has conspired and also has killed the king.” So all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. ¹⁷Then Omri and all Israel with him went up from Gibbethon, and they besieged Tirzah. ¹⁸And it happened, when Zimri saw that the city was ^[^e^]taken, that he went into the citadel of the king’s house and burned the king’s house ^[^f^]down upon himself with fire, and died, ¹⁹because of the sins which he had committed in doing evil in the sight of the Lord, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he had committed to make Israel sin.

²⁰Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and the treason he committed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Omri Reigns in Israel

²¹Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed Omri. ²²But the people who followed Omri prevailed over the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. So Tibni died and Omri reigned. ²³In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel, and reigned twelve years. Six years he reigned in Tirzah. ²⁴And he bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver; then he built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, Samaria,^[^g^] after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill. ²⁵Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all who were before him. ²⁶For he walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols.^[^h^]

²⁷Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and the might that he showed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

²⁸So Omri rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. Then Ahab his son reigned in his place.

Ahab Reigns in Israel

²⁹In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel; and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. ³⁰Now Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him. ³¹And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians; and he went and served Baal and worshiped him. ³²Then he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. ³³And Ahab made a ^[ⁱ^]wooden image. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. ³⁴In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation ^[^j^]with Abiram his firstborn, and with his youngest son Segub he set up its gates, according to the word of the Lord, which He had spoken through Joshua the son of Nun.

Footnotes

1 Kings 16:3 consume
1 Kings 16:6 Died and joined his ancestors
1 Kings 16:9 Lit. who was over the house
1 Kings 16:13 Lit. vanities
1 Kings 16:18 captured
1 Kings 16:18 Lit. over him
1 Kings 16:24 Heb. Shomeron
1 Kings 16:26 Lit. vanities
1 Kings 16:33 Heb. Asherah, a Canaanite goddess
1 Kings 16:34 At the cost of the life of

2 Chronicles 17

Jehoshaphat Reigns in Judah

17 Then Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place, and strengthened himself against Israel. ²And he placed troops in all the fortified cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim which Asa his father had taken. ³Now the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the former ways of his father David; he did not seek the Baals, ⁴but sought ^[^a^]the God of his father, and walked in His commandments and not according to the acts of Israel. ⁵Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah gave presents to Jehoshaphat, and he had riches and honor in abundance. ⁶And his heart took delight in the ways of the Lord; moreover he removed the ^[^b^]high places and wooden images from Judah.

⁷Also in the third year of his reign he sent his leaders, Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Michaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah. ⁸And with them he sent Levites: Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah—the Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, the priests. ⁹So they taught in Judah, and had the Book of the Law of the Lord with them; they went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught the people.

¹⁰And the fear of the Lord fell on all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat. ¹¹Also some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents and silver as tribute; and the Arabians brought him flocks, seven thousand seven hundred rams and seven thousand seven hundred male goats.

¹²So Jehoshaphat became increasingly powerful, and he built fortresses and storage cities in Judah. ¹³He had much property in the cities of Judah; and the men of war, mighty men of valor, were in Jerusalem.

¹⁴These are their numbers, according to their fathers’ houses. Of Judah, the captains of thousands: Adnah the captain, and with him three hundred thousand mighty men of valor; ¹⁵and next to him was Jehohanan the captain, and with him two hundred and eighty thousand; ¹⁶and next to him was Amasiah the son of Zichri, who willingly offered himself to the Lord, and with him two hundred thousand mighty men of valor. ¹⁷Of Benjamin: Eliada a mighty man of valor, and with him two hundred thousand men armed with bow and shield; ¹⁸and next to him was Jehozabad, and with him one hundred and eighty thousand prepared for war. ¹⁹These served the king, besides those the king put in the fortified cities throughout all Judah.

Footnotes

2 Chronicles 17:4 LXX the Lord God
2 Chronicles 17:6 Places for pagan worship

25 Jun 202124 Jun 2021

Humility and not giving up

“And Asa cried out to the Lord his God, and said, “Lord, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!” 2 Chronicles 14:11 NKJV

Asa, drags the Lord into his mess and his fight, “oh God you are able!” I wonder if he ever tires of hearing He is able and He is right? I have a battle going on right now – I cry out to God that He is not only able, this really is a small ask for such an almighty God. But to me, it is a big thing! I need a mighty God! And I need a move of God.

Today’s reading is from the book of First Kings chapters 15:1-24 and Second Chronicles 13-16 (embedded below the image below for your convenience).

Here we begin to really see the patterns I spoke of set in. In Kings, the author is focused on his disdain for those who did not follow in the way of David – short and to the point in a quick ‘this king screwed it all up and God sovereignly poured out grace and rescues regardless of failure. Over in Chronicles we start to set more detailed stories about each, making sure for the sake of David and the fact that the Messiah is coming through that line, that all the sons (heirs) who became kings are listed with both good and bad (able to find at least one good things about each king). So this will begin to feel a little rollercoaster-like. They will build high places to worship idols – the next will tear it down and usually give in and let them be rebuilt or the next king will. And down an up will go these pagan temples and up and down will go the help of God, or God’s wrath.

Here is the glorious grace of it all – God never forsook them. God always loved them. God continued to work and work and work to fix the messes man kept creating by disobeying. For those of us struggle to overcome our flesh and each time we succeed – we do not want to be constantly bombarded with the theme: man is bad. But we are bent towards evil. It is just the truth. So we mess up every day – we too are like the rollercoaster. BUT – the difference lies in if we are like David, after God’s heart, or not. I hope I do not mess up today. Some days it is a big mess up! Some days it is small. If we are upset with the theme ‘Man is Bad” maybe we struggle with pride – you did not overcome the struggle of your own accord.

Before the victory over your struggle weren’t you crying out to God almost the exact same prayer as Asa above?! I was literally crying out this prayer last night. I mean, I can’t – but God can. And we know God can. So will He?

“And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.” Matthew 8:2-3 NKJV

And look at that – He will!

We can’t even serve Him, without His grace, Him softening our hearts, and His power. Otherwise in our weakness and humanly fragility, we lose hope and resort back to our sinful nature.

I pray the Lord keeps you. And my hope for you is that you press in – and enjoy your relationship with God. Christianity is all about having a relationship with the Almighty God – about being His bride. And second to that it is about others. So if you are working on you – it needs to be in relation to Him. If you have a ‘you problem’ or ‘your flesh problem’ – make sure you keep it in perspective, subjected to Him. Otherwise – Christianity is all about others, freeing them from the grasp of death or supporting other Christians.

Thank you for reading.
May the God of peace keep you and bless you. May you stay focused on Christ and covered in grace.
Maranatha ~ Come Lord Jesus!

BIBLE READING: 1 Kings 15:1-24 & 2 Chronicles 13-16 NKJV

1 Kings 15:1-24

Abijam Reigns in Judah

15 In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah. ²He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maachah the granddaughter of Abishalom. ³And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him; his heart was not ^[^a^]loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. ⁴Nevertheless for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, by setting up his son after him and by establishing Jerusalem; ⁵because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. ⁶And there was war between ^[^b^]Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. ⁷Now the rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.

⁸So Abijam ^[^c^]rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Then Asa his son reigned in his place.

Asa Reigns in Judah

⁹In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king over Judah. ¹⁰And he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His grandmother’s name was Maachah the granddaughter of Abishalom. ¹¹Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as did his father David. ¹²And he banished the ^[^d^]perverted persons from the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. ¹³Also he removed Maachah his grandmother from being queen mother, because she had made an obscene image of ^[^e^]Asherah. And Asa cut down her obscene image and burned it by the Brook Kidron. ¹⁴But the ^[^f^]high places were not removed. Nevertheless Asa’s heart was loyal to the Lord all his days. ¹⁵He also brought into the house of the Lord the things which his father had dedicated, and the things which he himself had dedicated: silver and gold and utensils.

¹⁶Now there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. ¹⁷And Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. ¹⁸Then Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and the treasuries of the king’s house, and delivered them into the hand of his servants. And King Asa sent them to Ben-Hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying, ¹⁹“Let there be a treaty between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you a present of silver and gold. Come and break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.”

²⁰So Ben-Hadad heeded King Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel. He attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maachah, and all Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali. ²¹Now it happened, when Baasha heard it, that he stopped building Ramah, and remained in Tirzah.

²²Then King Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah; none was exempted. And they took away the stones and timber of Ramah, which Baasha had used for building; and with them King Asa built Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah.

²³The rest of all the acts of Asa, all his might, all that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? But in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet. ²⁴So Asa ^[^g^]rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David his father. Then Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place.

Footnotes

1 Kings 15:3 Lit. at peace with
1 Kings 15:6 So with MT, LXX, Tg., Vg.; some Heb. mss., Syr. Abijam
1 Kings 15:8 Died and joined his ancestors
1 Kings 15:12 Heb. qedeshim, those practicing sodomy and prostitution in religious rituals
1 Kings 15:13 A Canaanite goddess
1 Kings 15:14 Places for pagan worship
1 Kings 15:24 Died and joined his ancestors

2 Chronicles 13-16

Abijah Reigns in Judah

13 In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah. ²He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was ^[^a^]Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.

And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ³Abijah set the battle in order with an army of valiant warriors, four hundred thousand choice men. Jeroboam also drew up in battle formation against him with eight hundred thousand choice men, mighty men of valor.

⁴Then Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, which is in the mountains of Ephraim, and said, “Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel: ⁵Should you not know that the Lord God of Israel gave the dominion over Israel to David forever, to him and his sons, by a covenant of salt? ⁶Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord. ⁷Then worthless rogues gathered to him, and strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and inexperienced and could not withstand them. ⁸And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord, which is in the hand of the sons of David; and you are a great multitude, and with you are the gold calves which Jeroboam made for you as gods. ⁹Have you not cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made for yourselves priests, like the peoples of other lands, so that whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may be a priest of things that are not gods? ¹⁰But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken Him; and the priests who minister to the Lord are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites attend to their duties. ¹¹And they burn to the Lord every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense; they also set the showbread in order on the pure gold table, and the lampstand of gold with its lamps to burn every evening; for we keep the command of the Lord our God, but you have forsaken Him. ¹²Now look, God Himself is with us as our head, and His priests with sounding trumpets to sound the alarm against you. O children of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you shall not prosper!”

¹³But Jeroboam caused an ambush to go around behind them; so they were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. ¹⁴And when Judah looked around, to their surprise the battle line was at both front and rear; and they cried out to the Lord, and the priests sounded the trumpets. ¹⁵Then the men of Judah gave a shout; and as the men of Judah shouted, it happened that God struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶And the children of Israel fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hand. ¹⁷Then Abijah and his people struck them with a great slaughter; so five hundred thousand choice men of Israel fell slain. ¹⁸Thus the children of Israel were subdued at that time; and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied on the Lord God of their fathers.

¹⁹And Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took cities from him: Bethel with its villages, Jeshanah with its villages, and Ephrain^[^b^] with its villages. ²⁰So Jeroboam did not recover strength again in the days of Abijah; and the Lord struck him, and he died.

²¹But Abijah grew mighty, married fourteen wives, and begot twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. ²²Now the rest of the acts of Abijah, his ways, and his sayings are written in the ^[^c^]annals of the prophet Iddo.

Asa Reigns over Judah

14 So Abijah rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Then Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land was quiet for ten years.

Asa Reigns in Judah

²Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God, ³for he removed the altars of the foreign gods and the ^[^d^]high places, and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images. ⁴He commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to observe the law and the commandment. ⁵He also removed the ^[^e^]high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah, and the kingdom was quiet under him. ⁶And he built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest; he had no war in those years, because the Lord had given him rest. ⁷Therefore he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and make walls around them, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us, because we have sought the Lord our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered. ⁸And Asa had an army of three hundred thousand from Judah who carried ^[^f^]shields and spears, and from Benjamin two hundred and eighty thousand men who carried shields and drew bows; all these were mighty men of valor.

⁹Then Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and he came to Mareshah. ¹⁰So Asa went out against him, and they set the troops in battle array in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. ¹¹And Asa cried out to the Lord his God, and said, “Lord, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!”

¹²So the Lord struck the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. ¹³And Asa and the people who were with him pursued them to Gerar. So the Ethiopians were overthrown, and they could not recover, for they were broken before the Lord and His army. And they carried away very much ^[^g^]spoil. ¹⁴Then they defeated all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of the Lord came upon them; and they plundered all the cities, for there was exceedingly much ^[^h^]spoil in them. ¹⁵They also ^[ⁱ^]attacked the livestock enclosures, and carried off sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem.

The Reforms of Asa

15 Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded. ²And he went out ^[^j^]to meet Asa, and said to him: “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. ³For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law; ⁴but when in their trouble they turned to the Lord God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them. ⁵And in those times there was no peace to the one who went out, nor to the one who came in, but great turmoil was on all the inhabitants of the lands. ⁶So nation was ^[^k^]destroyed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every adversity. ⁷But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!”

⁸And when Asa heard these words and the prophecy of ^[^l^]Oded the prophet, he took courage, and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had taken in the mountains of Ephraim; and he restored the altar of the Lord that was before the vestibule of the Lord. ⁹Then he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those who dwelt with them from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, for they came over to him in great numbers from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.

¹⁰So they gathered together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. ¹¹And they offered to the Lord ^[^m^]at that time seven hundred bulls and seven thousand sheep from the ^[ⁿ^]spoil they had brought. ¹²Then they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; ¹³and whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. ¹⁴Then they took an oath before the Lord with a loud voice, with shouting and trumpets and rams’ horns. ¹⁵And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their soul; and He was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around.

¹⁶Also he removed Maachah, the ^[^o^]mother of Asa the king, from being queen mother, because she had made an obscene image of ^[^p^]Asherah; and Asa cut down her obscene image, then crushed and burned it by the Brook Kidron. ¹⁷But the ^[^q^]high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was loyal all his days.

¹⁸He also brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated and that he himself had dedicated: silver and gold and utensils. ¹⁹And there was no war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.

Asa’s Treaty with Syria

16 In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. ²Then Asa brought silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the Lord and of the king’s house, and sent to Ben-Hadad king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying, ³“Let there be a treaty between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you silver and gold; come, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.”

⁴So Ben-Hadad heeded King Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali. ⁵Now it happened, when Baasha heard it, that he stopped building Ramah and ceased his work. ⁶Then King Asa took all Judah, and they carried away the stones and timber of Ramah, which Baasha had used for building; and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.

Hanani’s Message to Asa

⁷And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him: “Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand. ⁸Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand. ⁹For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.” ¹⁰Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time.

Illness and Death of Asa

¹¹Note that the acts of Asa, first and last, are indeed written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ¹²And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians.

¹³So Asa ^[^r^]rested with his fathers; he died in the forty-first year of his reign. ¹⁴They buried him in his own tomb, which he had ^[^s^]made for himself in the City of David; and they laid him in the bed which was filled with spices and various ingredients prepared in a mixture of ointments. They made a very great burning for him.

Footnotes

2 Chronicles 13:2 Maachah, 1 Kin. 15:2; 2 Chr. 11:20, 21
2 Chronicles 13:19 Or Ephron
2 Chronicles 13:22 Or commentary, Heb. midrash
2 Chronicles 14:3 Places for pagan worship
2 Chronicles 14:5 Places for pagan worship
2 Chronicles 14:8 large shields
2 Chronicles 14:13 plunder
2 Chronicles 14:14 plunder
2 Chronicles 14:15 Lit. struck
2 Chronicles 15:2 Lit. before
2 Chronicles 15:6 Lit. beaten in pieces
2 Chronicles 15:8 So with MT, LXX; Syr., Vg. Azariah the son of Oded (cf. v. 1)
2 Chronicles 15:11 Lit. in that day
2 Chronicles 15:11 plunder
2 Chronicles 15:16 Or grandmother
2 Chronicles 15:16 A Canaanite deity
2 Chronicles 15:17 Places for pagan worship
2 Chronicles 16:13 Died and joined his ancestors
2 Chronicles 16:14 Lit. dug

24 Jun 202124 Jun 2021

To Seek God’s Own Heart

“⁶So the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, “The Lord is righteous.”

⁷Now when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, “They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance. My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. ⁸Nevertheless they will be his servants, that they may distinguish My service from the service of the kingdoms of the nations.” 2 Chronicles 12:6-8 NKJV

King Rehoboam’s life was quite a rollercoaster!!! Filled with poor choices, repentance, more poor choices and more repentance. Actually, in a lot of ways it reminds me of me. And it reminds me of his grandfather David – but here we see the Bible make a clear distinction between these two men – the difference will teach us all we need to know about how we should approach God.

Today’s reading is from the book of Second Chronicles chapters 10-12 (embedded below the image below for your convenience).

Yes, it feels very much like yesterday’s reading – it is another version of Rehoboam’s reign. The Book of Chronicles is not just a repeat – and I suppose it is time to give a quick lesson on the overview of Kings Vs Chronicles, why they are different in purpose and why both are included and important. Chronicles for example, follows the messianic bloodline from David – and all the kings over Judah. As we see Israel is now divided. Benjamin and Judah under David’s bloodline and these are the lines focused on in Chronicles. Both the remaining 10 tribes and Judah’s kings are written about in Kings. Kings explores God rescuing Israel despite their failures. Chronicles, through chronicling the kings and events emphasizes God’s never ending Love, His grace, and reaffirms that He chose these people – hope, messianic promises and end time prophesy are thematic and reflected in the events. Slightly different concepts – and while we are reading both together in chronological order we will see the overarching sovereignty of God.

For example, yesterday we read about Rehoboam’s life, it was similar. Yesterday we saw the evil of the northern kingdom and how they started off rocky. But here is Chronicles all it says is that the two kingdoms we at odds the whole time of Rehoboam’s reign. No real details about the north. But Chronicles was written after the exile of Daniel and after they returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt the temple with a sword in one hand. It was written during a time when the people thought the messiah should have already come and the people were desperate for HOPE. It was written to show that all that has happened truly did happen to lead us to the Messiah and He is still coming! We should still seek Him!

So let’s get back to the beginning of today’s devotional. Rehoboam made a mess, God warned he was sending judgment, Rehoboam repented, God had mercy and repeat. This is Daivid’s story – this is my story – this may be your story – this is the story of the whole nation of Israel!

But we see a few differences in David’s story and Rehoboam’s:

Consequences, for one. David was in most cases wrongfully accused and therefore God saved him from consequences. And when David was wrong they were merciful and lightened. But Rehoboam seems to never avoid consequence and he also is never portrayed as innocent.

The second, major difference and the sum of all we need to know about approaching God is in relation to the state or condition our hearts are in. David was described as a man after Gods own heart. But Rehoboam is described as evil:

“And he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord.” 2 Chronicles 12:14

Could it really be this simple? Prepare your heart for God and seek Him like David and have all the blessings and go down in history as David did – or don’t and have hard consequences and go down in the books as “evil”. Note the grace, though. That when the evil man humbles himself, God response just the same as when a righteous man like David humbles himself. God responds to humility no matter who you are. God is hoping that through that humility you will press in – into the next step, seeking Him!

The way to God, I have learned is a tiny door on the floor of a smoke filled room. Get low and seek it. It is through humility you find the way to God – but you cannot find it if you do not seek it!

He stands at the door and knocks – He begs to be let in and have a relationship with you to be the groom who came for His bride. He longs to transform you, save you, forgive you of all that you have done and start over fresh and new. You need to seek Him first – then it all can be added unto you.

Thank you for reading.
May the God of peace keep you and bless you. May you stay focused on Christ and covered in grace.
Maranatha ~ Come Lord Jesus!

BIBLE READING: 2 Chronicles 10-12 NKJV

The Revolt Against Rehoboam

10 And Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king. ²So it happened, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard it (he was in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon), that Jeroboam returned from Egypt. ³Then they sent for him and called him. And Jeroboam and all Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴“Your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.”

⁵So he said to them, “Come back to me after three days.” And the people departed.

⁶Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived, saying, “How do you advise me to answer these people?”

⁷And they spoke to him, saying, “If you are kind to these people, and please them, and speak good words to them, they will be your servants forever.”

⁸But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. ⁹And he said to them, “What advice do you give? How should we answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?”

¹⁰Then the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you should speak to the people who have spoken to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter on us’—thus you shall say to them: ‘My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s waist! ¹¹And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with ^[^a^]scourges!’ ”

¹²So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had directed, saying, “Come back to me the third day.” ¹³Then the king answered them roughly. King Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders, ¹⁴and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, ^[^b^]“My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with ^[^c^]scourges!” ¹⁵So the king did not listen to the people; for the turn of events was from God, that the Lord might fulfill His word, which He had spoken by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

¹⁶Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying:

“What share have we in David?
We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse.
Every man to your tents, O Israel!
Now see to your own house, O David!”

So all Israel departed to their tents. ¹⁷But Rehoboam reigned over the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah.

¹⁸Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was in charge of revenue; but the children of Israel stoned him with stones, and he died. Therefore King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste to flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

Rehoboam’s Reign in Judah

11 Now when Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled from the house of Judah and Benjamin one hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against Israel, that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.

²But the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, ³“Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, ⁴‘Thus says the Lord: “You shall not go up or fight against your brethren! Let every man return to his house, for this thing is from Me.” ’ ” Therefore they obeyed the words of the Lord, and turned back from attacking Jeroboam.

Rehoboam Fortifies the Cities

⁵So Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defense in Judah. ⁶And he built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷Beth Zur, Sochoh, Adullam, ⁸Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and Benjamin, fortified cities. ¹¹And he fortified the strongholds, and put captains in them, and stores of food, oil, and wine. ¹²Also in every city he put shields and spears, and made them very strong, having Judah and Benjamin on his side.

Priests and Levites Move to Judah

¹³And from all their territories the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel took their stand with him. ¹⁴For the Levites left their common-lands and their possessions and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them from serving as priests to the Lord. ¹⁵Then he appointed for himself priests for the ^[^d^]high places, for the demons, and the calf idols which he had made. ¹⁶And ^[^e^]after the Levites left, those from all the tribes of Israel, such as set their heart to seek the Lord God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord God of their fathers. ¹⁷So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong for three years, because they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.

The Family of Rehoboam

¹⁸Then Rehoboam took for himself as wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of Eliah the son of Jesse. ¹⁹And she bore him children: Jeush, Shamariah, and Zaham. ²⁰After her he took Maachah the ^[^f^]granddaughter of Absalom; and she bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹Now Rehoboam loved Maachah the granddaughter of Absalom more than all his wives and his concubines; for he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and begot twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. ²²And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maachah as chief, to be leader among his brothers; for he intended to make him king. ²³He dealt wisely, and ^[^g^]dispersed some of his sons throughout all the territories of Judah and Benjamin, to every fortified city; and he gave them provisions in abundance. He also sought many wives for them.

Egypt Attacks Judah

12 Now it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom and had strengthened himself, that he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel along with him. ²And it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the Lord, ³with twelve hundred chariots, sixty thousand horsemen, and people without number who came with him out of Egypt—the Lubim and the Sukkiim and the Ethiopians. ⁴And he took the fortified cities of Judah and came to Jerusalem.

⁵Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah, who were gathered together in Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the Lord: ‘You have forsaken Me, and therefore I also have left you in the hand of Shishak.’ ”

⁶So the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, “The Lord is righteous.”

⁷Now when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, “They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance. My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. ⁸Nevertheless they will be his servants, that they may distinguish My service from the service of the kingdoms of the nations.”

⁹So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house; he took everything. He also carried away the gold shields which Solomon had made. ¹⁰Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, who guarded the doorway of the king’s house. ¹¹And whenever the king entered the house of the Lord, the guard would go and bring them out; then they would take them back into the guardroom. ¹²When he humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned from him, so as not to destroy him completely; and things also went well in Judah.

The End of Rehoboam’s Reign

¹³Thus King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Now Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king; and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. His mother’s name was Naamah, an Ammonitess. ¹⁴And he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord.

¹⁵The acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer concerning genealogies? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days. ¹⁶So Rehoboam ^[^h^]rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David. Then Abijah^[ⁱ^] his son reigned in his place.

Footnotes

2 Chronicles 10:11 Scourges with points or barbs, lit. scorpions
2 Chronicles 10:14 So with many Heb. mss., LXX, Syr., Vg. (cf. v. 10; 1 Kin. 12:14); MT I
2 Chronicles 10:14 Lit. scorpions
2 Chronicles 11:15 Places for pagan worship
2 Chronicles 11:16 Lit. after them
2 Chronicles 11:20 Lit. daughter, but in the broader sense of granddaughter
2 Chronicles 11:23 distributed
2 Chronicles 12:16 Died and joined his ancestors
2 Chronicles 12:16 Abijam, 1 Kin. 14:31

23 Jun 202122 Jun 2021

New Manager Syndrome

“And they spoke to him, saying, “If you will be a servant to these people today, and serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” 1 Kings 12:7 NKJV

There is a very clear reason why there is such a thing as management classes and leadership classes. Just because you have some natural tendency to lead, and just because in your mind, some idiot managed a department – doesn’t mean just anyone can. Even highly educated professional have never been taught how to manage or lead.

Today’s reading is from the book of First Kings chapters 12-14 (embedded below the image below for your convenience).

Solomon’s son – we know Israel must split under his leadership but it is painful to read. Even those without leadership or management training can see the newbie mistakes he makes. There is actually a name for it in business school. It is called “New Manager’s Syndrome”. And you do NOT have to be new at managing to make these mistakes. Actually most of the errors made under the classification of this syndrome can be avoided by just reading and obeying the proverbs. And the son of the author, just acts like a bull in a china shop instead! he is a great example of what NOT to do.

First, ask and respect the answers of the elders. There is no shame in asking and plenty of opportunity to be mentored by someone wiser.

Second, the first thing that must be managed is yourself! You cannot be full of pride or have something to prove. New to the team and leading them doesn’t mean you get to bully them – you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. And making an example of one, well – it may seem to work, but years later it will come back to bite you – did we not read about that also in proverbs!!!

It is strange, there aren’t many, if any children’s church lessons on how Rehoboam split Israel into two nations. For many years I thought there was just a gap in the timeline. But if adults struggle to grasp leadership and management skills, how are they supposed to teach them to children, and explain how this man made a blunder that is now so common it has a same. (In a world more anti-bulling than ever before the bullying managerial style is still the most prevalent. At least with statistics from the United States.)

Are any of you leaders? Worked under a good leader? Worked under a bad leader? I have been all three – nay, I have been all four!!! Yes, I have been under good leaders and bad leaders – I have also been a good leader and a bad leader. Thankfully I was bad at it when I first started and I was under an good leader who tempered me and taught me – and Although I was bad at it, I was eager to learn to be good at it. I was promoted for natural leadership tendencies and lacked the education. I was insulted at them telling me I needed classes, but in hindsight, it was wised.

If you are under a bad manager, note the response of the other Tribes. You are not of this world, although you are in it. and those of the other tribes, were in Judah, but not of Judah – so they packed their tents and left. You do not have to stay willfully. Stay only as God leads and directs.

As we are called, each of us, to lead home the wayward lambs – to seek and save the lost, to fulfill the great commission – some of us on a small scale and some on a large scale. Leading one to Christ is still leading.

And the most valuable leadership lesson shall always be humility! Be careful not to divide, but to unite and humbly bring the kingdom of God together. To lead the other brides in filling our oil and preparing for the bridegroom and the wedding feast!

Thank you for reading.
May the God of peace keep you and bless you. May you stay focused on Christ and covered in grace.
Maranatha ~ Come Lord Jesus!

BIBLE READING: 1 Kings 12-14 NKJV

The Revolt Against Rehoboam

12 And Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king. ²So it happened, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard it (he was still in Egypt, for he had fled from the presence of King Solomon and had been dwelling in Egypt), ³that they sent and called him. Then Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴“Your father made our yoke ^[^a^]heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.”

⁵So he said to them, “Depart for three days, then come back to me.” And the people departed.

⁶Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived, and he said, “How do you advise me to answer these people?”

⁷And they spoke to him, saying, “If you will be a servant to these people today, and serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.”

¹⁰Then the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you should speak to this people who have spoken to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter on us’—thus you shall say to them: ‘My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s waist! ¹¹And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with ^[^b^]scourges!’ ”

¹²So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had directed, saying, “Come back to me the third day.” ¹³Then the king answered the people ^[^c^]roughly, and rejected the advice which the elders had given him; ¹⁴and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with ^[^d^]scourges!” ¹⁵So the king did not listen to the people; for the turn of events was from the Lord, that He might fulfill His word, which the Lord had spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

¹⁶Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying:

“What share have we in David?
We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse.
To your tents, O Israel!
Now, see to your own house, O David!”

So Israel departed to their tents. ¹⁷But Rehoboam reigned over the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah.

¹⁸Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of the revenue; but all Israel stoned him with stones, and he died. Therefore King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste to flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

²⁰Now it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, they sent for him and called him to the congregation, and made him king over all Israel. There was none who followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.

²¹And when Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah with the tribe of Benjamin, one hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. ²²But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, ²³“Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, saying, ²⁴‘Thus says the Lord: “You shall not go up nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel. Let every man return to his house, for this thing is from Me.” ’ ” Therefore they obeyed the word of the Lord, and turned back, according to the word of the Lord.

Jeroboam’s Gold Calves

²⁵Then Jeroboam built^[^e^] Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and dwelt there. Also he went out from there and built Penuel. ²⁶And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom may return to the house of David: ²⁷If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah.”

²⁸Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!” ²⁹And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. ³⁰Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. ³¹He made ^[^f^]shrines on the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi.

³²Jeroboam ^[^g^]ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And at Bethel he installed the priests of the high places which he had made. ³³So he made offerings on the altar which he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had devised in his own heart. And he ^[^h^]ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered sacrifices on the altar and burned incense.

The Message of the Man of God

13 And behold, a man of God went from Judah to Bethel ^[ⁱ^]by the word of the Lord, and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. ²Then he cried out against the altar ^[^j^]by the word of the Lord, and said, “O altar, altar! Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men’s bones shall be burned on you.’ ” ³And he gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign which the Lord has spoken: Surely the altar shall split apart, and the ashes on it shall be poured out.”

⁴So it came to pass when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, who cried out against the altar in Bethel, that he stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Arrest him!” Then his hand, which he stretched out toward him, withered, so that he could not pull it back to himself. ⁵The altar also was split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. ⁶Then the king answered and said to the man of God, “Please entreat the favor of the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.”

So the man of God entreated the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored to him, and became as before. ⁷Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.”

⁸But the man of God said to the king, “If you were to give me half your house, I would not go in with you; nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this place. ⁹For so it was commanded me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘You shall not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way you came.’ ” ¹⁰So he went another way and did not return by the way he came to Bethel.

Death of the Man of God

¹¹Now an old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his ^[^k^]sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel; they also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king. ¹²And their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” For his sons ^[^l^]had seen which way the man of God went who came from Judah. ¹³Then he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him; and he rode on it, ¹⁴and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. Then he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”

And he said, “I am.”

¹⁵Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.”

¹⁶And he said, “I cannot return with you nor go in with you; neither can I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place. ¹⁷For ^[^m^]I have been told by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by going the way you came.’ ”

¹⁸He said to him, “I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’ ” (He was lying to him.)

¹⁹So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water.

²⁰Now it happened, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back; ²¹and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord, and have not kept the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you, ²²but you came back, ate bread, and drank water in the place of which the Lord said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water,” your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’ ”

²³So it was, after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, the prophet whom he had brought back. ²⁴When he was gone, a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his corpse was thrown on the road, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the corpse. ²⁵And there, men passed by and saw the corpse thrown on the road, and the lion standing by the corpse. Then they went and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.

²⁶Now when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard it, he said, “It is the man of God who was disobedient to the word of the Lord. Therefore the Lord has delivered him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke to him.” ²⁷And he spoke to his sons, saying, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled it. ²⁸Then he went and found his corpse thrown on the road, and the donkey and the lion standing by the corpse. The lion had not eaten the corpse nor torn the donkey. ²⁹And the prophet took up the corpse of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back. So the old prophet came to the city to mourn, and to bury him. ³⁰Then he laid the corpse in his own tomb; and they mourned over him, saying, “Alas, my brother!” ³¹So it was, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, “When I am dead, then bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. ³²For the ^[ⁿ^]saying which he cried out by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel, and against all the ^[^o^]shrines on the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, will surely come to pass.”

³³After this event Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but again he made priests from every class of people for the high places; whoever wished, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places. ³⁴And this thing was the sin of the house of Jeroboam, so as to exterminate and destroy it from the face of the earth.

Judgment on the House of Jeroboam

14 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam became sick. ²And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Please arise, and disguise yourself, that they may not recognize you as the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Indeed, Ahijah the prophet is there, who told me that I would be king over this people. ³Also take ^[^p^]with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him; he will tell you what will become of the child.” ⁴And Jeroboam’s wife did so; she arose and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were ^[^q^]glazed by reason of his age.

⁵Now the Lord had said to Ahijah, “Here is the wife of Jeroboam, coming to ask you something about her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus you shall say to her; for it will be, when she comes in, that she will pretend to be another woman.”

⁶And so it was, when Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps as she came through the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be another person? For I have been sent to you with bad news. ⁷Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Because I exalted you from among the people, and made you ruler over My people Israel, ⁸and tore the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it to you; and yet you have not been as My servant David, who kept My commandments and who followed Me with all his heart, to do only what was right in My eyes; ⁹but you have done more evil than all who were before you, for you have gone and made for yourself other gods and molded images to provoke Me to anger, and have cast Me behind your back— ¹⁰therefore behold! I will bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every male in Israel, bond and free; I will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as one takes away refuse until it is all gone. ¹¹The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Jeroboam and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field; for the Lord has spoken!” ’ ¹²Arise therefore, go to your own house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die. ¹³And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he is the only one of Jeroboam who shall ^[^r^]come to the grave, because in him there is found something good toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.

¹⁴“Moreover the Lord will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam; ^[^s^]this is the day. What? Even now! ¹⁵For the Lord will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land which He gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond ^[^t^]the River, because they have made their ^[^u^]wooden images, provoking the Lord to anger. ¹⁶And He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who sinned and who made Israel sin.”

¹⁷Then Jeroboam’s wife arose and departed, and came to Tirzah. When she came to the threshold of the house, the child died. ¹⁸And they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke through His servant Ahijah the prophet.

Death of Jeroboam

¹⁹Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he made war and how he reigned, indeed they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. ²⁰The period that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years. So he rested with his fathers. Then Nadab his son reigned in his place.

Rehoboam Reigns in Judah

²¹And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king. He reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. His mother’s name was Naamah, an Ammonitess. ²²Now Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked Him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. ²³For they also built for themselves high^[^v^] places, sacred pillars, and wooden images on every high hill and under every green tree. ²⁴And there were also ^[^w^]perverted persons in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.

²⁵It happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. ²⁶And he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house; he took away everything. He also took away all the gold shields which Solomon had made. ²⁷Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place, and ^[^x^]committed them to the hands of the captains of the ^[^y^]guard, who guarded the doorway of the king’s house. ²⁸And whenever the king entered the house of the Lord, the guards carried them, then brought them back into the guardroom.

²⁹Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ³⁰And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days. ³¹So Rehoboam ^[^z^]rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. His mother’s name was Naamah, an Ammonitess. Then Abijam^[^aa^] his son reigned in his place.

Footnotes

1 Kings 12:4 hard
1 Kings 12:11 Scourges with points or barbs, lit. scorpions
1 Kings 12:13 harshly
1 Kings 12:14 Lit. scorpions
1 Kings 12:25 fortified
1 Kings 12:31 Lit. a house; cf. 1 Kin. 13:32, lit. houses
1 Kings 12:32 instituted
1 Kings 12:33 instituted
1 Kings 13:1 at the Lord’s command
1 Kings 13:2 at the Lord’s command
1 Kings 13:11 Lit. son
1 Kings 13:12 LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg. showed him
1 Kings 13:17 Lit. a command came to me by
1 Kings 13:32 Lit. word
1 Kings 13:32 Lit. houses
1 Kings 14:3 Lit. in your hand
1 Kings 14:4 Lit. set
1 Kings 14:13 Be buried
1 Kings 14:14 Or this day and from now on
1 Kings 14:15 The Euphrates
1 Kings 14:15 Heb. Asherim, Canaanite deities
1 Kings 14:23 Places for pagan worship
1 Kings 14:24 Heb. qadesh, one practicing sodomy and prostitution in religious rituals
1 Kings 14:27 entrusted
1 Kings 14:27 Lit. runners
1 Kings 14:31 Died and joined his ancestors
1 Kings 14:31 Abijah, 2 Chr. 12:16ff

22 Jun 202121 Jun 2021

The Bride of Christ

“Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies.” Proverbs 31:10 NKJV

Every women who has been a Christian for a little while has read or heard of the Proverbs 31 woman. It is the high achievement for all women to strive for and as impossible to truly achieve as is our transformation from sinner to saved – it is only accomplished through God’s grace. But, why do we only focus on women when we study this? You do see it is for men as well? Let me explain…

Today’s reading is from the book of Proverbs chapters 30-31 (embedded below the image below for your convenience).

Did you know I was made to memorize chapter 31 as a child, as a girl? The idea must have been to raise up a child in the way they should go? Unfortunately that church became very legalistic when I was a young adult – and the constant condemnation and lack of grace did no favors to God. So proverbs 31 became one of those unrealistic legalistic means to condemn me once again for being human.

And for being human, I am guilty as charged, not a sin to be washed away, but a being created in the image of The Creator! It’s a glorious accusation! But only NOW, now that I understand grace and how it is only extended to humans.

“And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” Matthew 9:15 ESV

Jesus explained that He is the Bridegroom and that His followers are the bride, and this metaphor runs throughout BOTH the old testament (where Israel was the bride) and the new testament (where all believers are to behave as a bride). Under grace we are freed from the law, but we are NOT freed from the covenant that God is trying to make (or has made) with each of us. He laid down His sacrifice and waits for us to lay ourselves down as the sacrifice and joint the covenant – become His bride.

So, Let us look at the opening verse today (above); instead of asking who can find a virtuous women – we could rightfully ask: will Jesus find a virtuous bride when He returns?!

Now, we see this passage bathes in ALL GRACE! It is not just an unachievable standard for women – but for the whole body of church! Leveling the playing field did not bring men down or women up – IT IS A CALL FOR THE BRIDE TO FILL HER LAMP WITH OIL!!! The night is almost over!

We cannot rise to be who God wishes us to be as we keep stumbling over temptation and sin and strongholds and attacks – but grace, grace and the touch from GOD himself will raise us. But not in a prideful way. There shall be no “I am Christian, hear me roar!” because we are to be humble and meek. Get low; as low as low can be – but do it in the hand of the almighty!!! So when He lifts His hand above, there you are still meek and humble – but far above. Laying as low as you can low, but in His will and in His high and mighty hands.

Today, while reading – place yourself in the position of wife in a relationship with God and review where you stand or where you fall sort. If you are found lacking, ask for forgiveness and grace to fill in the gaps. Our God is a God of personal relationship with each of us, but he is also a God of restoration.

Draw closer to Him.

Thank you for reading.
May the God of peace keep you and bless you. May you stay focused on Christ and covered in grace.
Maranatha ~ Come Lord Jesus!

BIBLE READING: Proverbs 30-31 NKJV

The Wisdom of Agur

30 The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, his utterance. This man declared to Ithiel—to Ithiel and Ucal:

²Surely I am more stupid than any man,
And do not have the understanding of a man.
³I neither learned wisdom
Nor have knowledge of the Holy One.

⁴Who has ascended into heaven, or descended?
Who has gathered the wind in His fists?
Who has bound the waters in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is His name, and what is His Son’s name,
If you know?

⁵Every word of God is ^[^a^]pure;
He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.
⁶Do not add to His words,
Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.

⁷Two things I request of You
(Deprive me not before I die):
⁸Remove falsehood and lies far from me;
Give me neither poverty nor riches—
Feed me with the food allotted to me;
⁹Lest I be full and deny You,
And say, “Who is the Lord?”
Or lest I be poor and steal,
And profane the name of my God.

¹⁰Do not malign a servant to his master,
Lest he curse you, and you be found guilty.

¹¹There is a generation that curses its father,
And does not bless its mother.
¹²There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes,
Yet is not washed from its filthiness.
¹³There is a generation—oh, how lofty are their eyes!
And their eyelids are ^[^b^]lifted up.
¹⁴There is a generation whose teeth are like swords,
And whose fangs are like knives,
To devour the poor from off the earth,
And the needy from among men.

¹⁵The leech has two daughters—
Give and Give!

There are three things that are never satisfied,
Four never say, “Enough!”:
¹⁶The^[^c^] grave,
The barren womb,
The earth that is not satisfied with water—
And the fire never says, “Enough!”

¹⁷The eye that mocks his father,
And scorns obedience to his mother,
The ravens of the valley will pick it out,
And the young eagles will eat it.

¹⁸There are three things which are too wonderful for me,
Yes, four which I do not understand:
¹⁹The way of an eagle in the air,
The way of a serpent on a rock,
The way of a ship in the ^[^d^]midst of the sea,
And the way of a man with a virgin.

²⁰This is the way of an adulterous woman:
She eats and wipes her mouth,
And says, “I have done no wickedness.”

²¹For three things the earth is perturbed,
Yes, for four it cannot bear up:
²²For a servant when he reigns,
A fool when he is filled with food,
²³A ^[^e^]hateful woman when she is married,
And a maidservant who succeeds her mistress.

²⁴There are four things which are little on the earth,
But they are exceedingly wise:
²⁵The ants are a people not strong,
Yet they prepare their food in the summer;
²⁶The ^[^f^]rock badgers are a feeble folk,
Yet they make their homes in the crags;
²⁷The locusts have no king,
Yet they all advance in ranks;
²⁸The ^[^g^]spider skillfully grasps with its hands,
And it is in kings’ palaces.

²⁹There are three things which are majestic in pace,
Yes, four which are stately in walk:
³⁰A lion, which is mighty among beasts
And does not turn away from any;
³¹A ^[^h^]greyhound,
A male goat also,
And ^[ⁱ^]a king whose troops are with him.

³²If you have been foolish in exalting yourself,
Or if you have devised evil, put your hand on your mouth.
³³For as the churning of milk produces butter,
And wringing the nose produces blood,
So the forcing of wrath produces strife.

The Words of King Lemuel’s Mother

31 The words of King Lemuel, the utterance which his mother taught him:

²What, my son?
And what, son of my womb?
And what, son of my vows?
³Do not give your strength to women,
Nor your ways to that which destroys kings.

⁴It is not for kings, O Lemuel,
It is not for kings to drink wine,
Nor for princes intoxicating drink;
⁵Lest they drink and forget the law,
And pervert the justice of all ^[^j^]the afflicted.
⁶Give strong drink to him who is perishing,
And wine to those who are bitter of heart.
⁷Let him drink and forget his poverty,
And remember his misery no more.

⁸Open your mouth for the speechless,
In the cause of all who are ^[^k^]appointed to die.
⁹Open your mouth, judge righteously,
And plead the cause of the poor and needy.

The Virtuous Wife

¹⁰Who^[^l^] can find a ^[^m^]virtuous wife?
For her worth is far above rubies.
¹¹The heart of her husband safely trusts her;
So he will have no lack of gain.
¹²She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life.
¹³She seeks wool and flax,
And willingly works with her hands.
¹⁴She is like the merchant ships,
She brings her food from afar.
¹⁵She also rises while it is yet night,
And provides food for her household,
And a portion for her maidservants.
¹⁶She considers a field and buys it;
From ^[ⁿ^]her profits she plants a vineyard.
¹⁷She girds herself with strength,
And strengthens her arms.
¹⁸She perceives that her merchandise is good,
And her lamp does not go out by night.
¹⁹She stretches out her hands to the distaff,
And her hand holds the spindle.
²⁰She extends her hand to the poor,
Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.
²¹She is not afraid of snow for her household,
For all her household is clothed with scarlet.
²²She makes tapestry for herself;
Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
²³Her husband is known in the gates,
When he sits among the elders of the land.
²⁴She makes linen garments and sells them,
And supplies sashes for the merchants.
²⁵Strength and honor are her clothing;
She shall rejoice in time to come.
²⁶She opens her mouth with wisdom,
And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
²⁷She watches over the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
²⁸Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her:
²⁹“Many daughters have done well,
But you excel them all.”
³⁰Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.
³¹Give her of the fruit of her hands,
And let her own works praise her in the gates.

Footnotes

Proverbs 30:5 tested, refined, found pure
Proverbs 30:13 In arrogance
Proverbs 30:16 Or Sheol
Proverbs 30:19 Lit. heart
Proverbs 30:23 Or hated
Proverbs 30:26 rock hyraxes
Proverbs 30:28 Or lizard
Proverbs 30:31 Or perhaps strutting rooster, lit. girded of waist
Proverbs 30:31 A Jewish tradition a king against whom there is no uprising
Proverbs 31:5 Lit. sons of affliction
Proverbs 31:8 Lit. sons of passing away
Proverbs 31:10 Vv. 10–31 are an alphabetic acrostic in Hebrew; cf. Ps. 119
Proverbs 31:10 Lit. a wife of valor, in the sense of all forms of excellence
Proverbs 31:16 Lit. the fruit of her hands

21 Jun 202118 Jun 2021

Solomon’s Wealth

“Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord has loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, to do justice and righteousness.” 1 Kings 10:9 NKJV

I came from a family who did not have a Godly and right relationship with finances and money. As an adult, it is difficult for me to fully understand the flow of wealth that came and went from Solomon – nor how God’s multiplication works. I am aware and I am working on my personal mindset.

Today’s reading is from the book of First Kings chapters 10-11 and Second Chronicles chapter 9 (embedded below the image below for your convenience).

Some have told me to surrender my finances to God which I did many times. It wasn’t until – well, I lost my job (if you remember when that happened) and then I had no money coming in not even state benefits – I lived by faith. This was when God really started to tear down these mindsets, which were essentially strongholds! It wasn’t my surrender that was needed – but the very foundations needed to come down.

I will never be a “Name it = Claim it” prosperity preacher. Quite honestly – it works as long as you are naming only that which is within God’s will for you. And God’s will is that we are faithful stewards of the investments He makes in us.

The Queen of Sheba said the opening verse today (from our daily reading) and she could see the formula of God’s abundance very clearly. This verse is more profound than it seems on the surface. Let us dig in a little:

“Blessed be the Lord your God,” God’s will is that FIRST and FOREMOST, He is glorified. You and I cannot be financially blessed if we are prideful (and take the glory for our self) or under oppression of someone or something else (and give them the glory instead of God). Then our blessings will cause unbelievers like the Queen of Sheba to declare – blessed be our Lord!

“who delighted in you,” Does God delight in you?
“the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.” Psalm 147:11 NIV
Literal Hebrew to English translations can mean “God has pleasure in the action of reverence” – and we commonly use the word fear – but it really is a revelation of who God is that inspires awe and obedience and love and hope and transformation. So – do you seek Him, try to understand Him and get to know Him? Because that is what He delights in. As Paul described how we are to fear Him and Hope in His unfailing love:
“[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope]” Philippians 3:10 AMPC

“setting you on the throne of Israel!” continuing with the opening verse, we see the Queen of Sheba opened and ended this statement glorifying God – Giving God credit for the position, stature, wealth, and even for creating Solomon – since Solomon only became king because of who his daddy was.

“Because the Lord has loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king,” Now, bear with me – I know we all hate when we changing things to fit our situation or person. But I can give you many Biblical examples of metaphor where the city or nation represented individuals metaphorically and visa versa. And if that is the case then we can accurately divide this verse as meaning – ‘the Lord has loved each of us forever’. And now it is personal. Wasn’t it before?
“Therefore He made you king” – Yes He did! Now stop and think about what He made you king of. These are the things he asked you to steward like the parable of the talents. Not about your gifts & talents – and money & finances are not about money and finances either. It is bigger as we see – we are kings and queens over our homes, are we good stewards? We are the Temple, are we good stewards? We have provisions are we also using them to provide? Are we kings and queens like Solomon is his young and wise years?

We must note those – we have a purpose to fulfill: “to do justice and righteousness.” We also have the warning in the proverbs themselves as we read – and in the example of Solomon’s very life, when we step out of God’s will, God is no longer given the glory, when we build temples to false gods, when we go astray – then we fall and God takes it all away. Sadly, it was taken from Solomon’s son. Thanks Dad for the curse.

Which brings us back up full circle to me struggling with these prosperity concepts (more scripturally let us use: exceedingly abundantly). Poor stewardship effects multiple generations. But getting into God’s presence means he can tear down these strong holds, he can break chains, he can shake the foundation so even the weak bricks crumble and HE will rebuild!

I now am a business owner and it is more important than ever to have my life in His order. The very success of the business depends completely on Him pouring out grace. Please pray for God to bless the business – He is already using it to bless people and be glorified! I pray it continues as I draw closer to Him!

MEMORY WORK: Mark 16:17-18 – This month is month two of the two for one special!!!
NKJV – “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
NAS – “These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
ESV – “And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
NLT – “These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages. They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”
NIV – “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

Thank you for reading.
May the God of peace keep you and bless you. May you stay focused on Christ and covered in grace.
Maranatha ~ Come Lord Jesus!

BIBLE READING: 1 Kings 10-11 & 2 Chronicles 9 NKJV

1 Kings 10-11

The Queen of Sheba’s Praise of Solomon

10 Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions. ²She came to Jerusalem with a very great ^[^a^]retinue, with camels that bore spices, very much gold, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart. ³So Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing ^[^b^]so difficult for the king that he could not explain it to her. ⁴And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, ⁵the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers, and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. ⁶Then she said to the king: “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. ⁷However I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard. ⁸Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom! ⁹Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord has loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, to do justice and righteousness.”

¹⁰Then she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, spices in great quantity, and precious stones. There never again came such abundance of spices as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. ¹¹Also, the ships of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought great quantities of ^[^c^]almug wood and precious stones from Ophir. ¹²And the king made ^[^d^]steps of the almug wood for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, also harps and stringed instruments for singers. There never again came such almug wood, nor has the like been seen to this day.

¹³Now King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired, whatever she asked, besides what Solomon had given her according to the royal generosity. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.

Solomon’s Great Wealth

¹⁴The weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, ¹⁵besides that from the traveling merchants, from the income of traders, from all the kings of Arabia, and from the governors of the country.

¹⁶And King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield. ¹⁷He also made three hundred shields of hammered gold; three minas of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.

¹⁸Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. ¹⁹The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round at the back; there were armrests on either side of the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the armrests. ²⁰Twelve lions stood there, one on each side of the six steps; nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom.

²¹All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Not one was silver, for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon. ²²For the king had merchant^[^e^] ships at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the merchant ships came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and ^[^f^]monkeys. ²³So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.

²⁴Now all the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. ²⁵Each man brought his present: articles of silver and gold, garments, armor, spices, horses, and mules, at a set rate year by year.

²⁶And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen; he had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he ^[^g^]stationed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem. ²⁷The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar trees as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland.

²⁸Also Solomon had horses imported from Egypt and Keveh; the king’s merchants bought them in Keveh at the current price. ²⁹Now a chariot that was imported from Egypt cost six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse one hundred and fifty; and ^[^h^]thus, through their agents, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.

Solomon’s Heart Turns from the Lord

11 But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites— ²from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. ³And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. ⁴For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not ^[ⁱ^]loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. ⁵For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom^[^j^] the abomination of the Ammonites. ⁶Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David. ⁷Then Solomon built a ^[^k^]high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon. ⁸And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

⁹So the Lord became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, ¹⁰and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what the Lord had commanded. ¹¹Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. ¹²Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. ¹³However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”

Adversaries of Solomon

¹⁴Now the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was a descendant of the king in Edom. ¹⁵For it happened, when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury the slain, after he had killed every male in Edom ¹⁶(because for six months Joab remained there with all Israel, until he had cut down every male in Edom), ¹⁷that Hadad fled to go to Egypt, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with him. Hadad was still a little child. ¹⁸Then they arose from Midian and came to Paran; and they took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house, apportioned food for him, and gave him land. ¹⁹And Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him as wife the sister of his own wife, that is, the sister of Queen Tahpenes. ²⁰Then the sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house. And Genubath was in Pharaoh’s household among the sons of Pharaoh.

²¹So when Hadad heard in Egypt that David ^[^l^]rested with his fathers, and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, ^[^m^]“Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.”

²²Then Pharaoh said to him, “But what have you lacked with me, that suddenly you seek to go to your own country?”

So he answered, “Nothing, but do let me go anyway.”

²³And God raised up another adversary against him, Rezon the son of Eliadah, who had fled from his lord, Hadadezer king of Zobah. ²⁴So he gathered men to him and became captain over a band of raiders, when David killed those of Zobah. And they went to Damascus and dwelt there, and reigned in Damascus. ²⁵He was an adversary of Israel all the days of Solomon (besides the trouble that Hadad caused); and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria.

Jeroboam’s Rebellion

²⁶Then Solomon’s servant, Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite from Zereda, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, also rebelled against the king.

²⁷And this is what caused him to rebel against the king: Solomon had built the Millo and ^[ⁿ^]repaired the damages to the City of David his father. ²⁸The man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor; and Solomon, seeing that the young man was industrious, made him the officer over all the labor force of the house of Joseph.

²⁹Now it happened at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the way; and he had clothed himself with a new garment, and the two were alone in the field. ³⁰Then Ahijah took hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces. ³¹And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you ³²(but he shall have one tribe for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel), ³³because ^[^o^]they have forsaken Me, and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the people of Ammon, and have not walked in My ways to do what is right in My eyes and keep My statutes and My judgments, as did his father David. ³⁴However I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, because I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of My servant David, whom I chose because he kept My commandments and My statutes. ³⁵But I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand and give it to you—ten tribes. ³⁶And to his son I will give one tribe, that My servant David may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for Myself, to put My name there. ³⁷So I will take you, and you shall reign over all your heart desires, and you shall be king over Israel. ³⁸Then it shall be, if you heed all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you. ³⁹And I will afflict the descendants of David because of this, but not forever.’ ”

⁴⁰Solomon therefore sought to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

Death of Solomon

⁴¹Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon? ⁴²And the period that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. ⁴³Then Solomon ^[^p^]rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.

Footnotes

1 Kings 10:2 company
1 Kings 10:3 too
1 Kings 10:11 algum, 2 Chr. 9:10, 11
1 Kings 10:12 Or supports
1 Kings 10:22 Lit. ships of Tarshish, deep-sea vessels
1 Kings 10:22 Or peacocks
1 Kings 10:26 So with LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg. (cf. 2 Chr. 9:25); MT led
1 Kings 10:29 Lit. by their hands
1 Kings 11:4 Lit. at peace with
1 Kings 11:5 Or Molech
1 Kings 11:7 A place for pagan worship
1 Kings 11:21 Died and joined his ancestors
1 Kings 11:21 Lit. Send me away
1 Kings 11:27 Lit. closed up the breaches
1 Kings 11:33 So with MT, Tg.; LXX, Syr., Vg. he has
1 Kings 11:43 Died and joined his ancestors

2 Chronicles 9

The Queen of Sheba’s Praise of Solomon

9 Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with hard questions, having a very great retinue, camels that bore spices, gold in abundance, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart. ²So Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing so difficult for Solomon that he could not explain it to her. ³And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, ⁴the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers and their apparel, and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her.

⁵Then she said to the king: “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. ⁶However I did not believe their words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me. You exceed the fame of which I heard. ⁷Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom! ⁸Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, setting you on His throne to be king for the Lord your God! Because your God has loved Israel, to establish them forever, therefore He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.”

⁹And she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, spices in great abundance, and precious stones; there never were any spices such as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

¹⁰Also, the servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, brought ^[^a^]algum wood and precious stones. ¹¹And the king made walkways of the ^[^b^]algum wood for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, also harps and stringed instruments for singers; and there were none such as these seen before in the land of Judah.

¹²Now King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all she desired, whatever she asked, much more than she had brought to the king. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.

Solomon’s Great Wealth

¹³The weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, ¹⁴besides what the traveling merchants and traders brought. And all the kings of Arabia and governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon. ¹⁵And King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of hammered gold went into each shield. ¹⁶He also made three hundred shields of hammered gold; ^[^c^]three hundred shekels of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.

¹⁷Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. ¹⁸The throne had six steps, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne; there were ^[^d^]armrests on either side of the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the armrests. ¹⁹Twelve lions stood there, one on each side of the six steps; nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom.

²⁰All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Not one was silver, for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon. ²¹For the king’s ships went to Tarshish with the servants of ^[^e^]Hiram. Once every three years the ^[^f^]merchant ships came, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and ^[^g^]monkeys.

²²So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. ²³And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. ²⁴Each man brought his present: articles of silver and gold, garments, armor, spices, horses, and mules, at a set rate year by year.

²⁵Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem.

²⁶So he reigned over all the kings from ^[^h^]the River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. ²⁷The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar trees as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland. ²⁸And they brought horses to Solomon from Egypt and from all lands.

Death of Solomon

²⁹Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? ³⁰Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. ³¹Then Solomon ^[ⁱ^]rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.

Footnotes

2 Chronicles 9:10 almug, 1 Kin. 10:11, 12
2 Chronicles 9:11 almug, 1 Kin. 10:11, 12
2 Chronicles 9:16 three minas, 1 Kin. 10:17
2 Chronicles 9:18 Lit. hands
2 Chronicles 9:21 Heb. Huram; cf. 1 Kin. 10:22
2 Chronicles 9:21 Lit. ships of Tarshish, deep-sea vessels
2 Chronicles 9:21 Or peacocks
2 Chronicles 9:26 The Euphrates
2 Chronicles 9:31 Died and joined his ancestors