First a brief update on the kings and then we meet the prophet Hosea.

Judah – So Ahaz, king of Judah, travels to Damascus to meet his new overlord, Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, whom Ahaz relies on for protection instead of trusting the Lord. Ahaz picks up a little something while there…their pagan worship. 🤦‍♀️ Ahaz believes that by worshipping their false gods he will also have battle success. Therefore, Ahaz cuts up the pieces of the articles of the house of God and shuts the doors. King Ahaz is a total disgrace to the Lord but one thing good comes from him; his son, Hezekiah, who becomes the next king.

King Hezekiah does what is right in the sight of the Lord. (Maybe his mama brought him up right in the ways of the Lord bc it sure wasn’t his daddy.) Hezekiah trusts in the Lord and there were no other kings of Judah like him “For he held fast to the Lord…”

Northern Israel – Over in Israel, Hoshea leads a conspiracy against Pekah, king of Israel. King Pekah is killed and Hoshea is now sitting on the throne as the last king of Northern Israel.

Hosea – Hosea, a prophet to Northern Israel, begins his ministry when Jeroboam II is king of Israel and ends in the final days of Israel before they are destroyed by the Assyrians. The Lord tells Hosea to marry Gomer, whom God knows is going to be unfaithful. She is a wife of harlotry and symbolizes Israel’s unfaithfulness to the Lord through their worship of Baal and other false gods, and through their sexual sin and use of that sexual sin even as a practice of worship. 😳

So Hosea marries Gomer and they have 3 children. The Lord gives symbolic names to each child: 1) Jezreel – the location where Ahab and Jezebel shed so much blood and a prediction of the place of future destruction. 2) Lo-Ruhamah – translated “not pitied” meaning that God would no longer have pity on Israel. 3) Lo-Ammi – translated “not my people” meaning that the Lord will remove His favor upon His people and there will be a separation between God and Israel. The Lord then lays out pretty clearly the shame, humiliation, and consequences that come with adulterous relationships; both for Hosea and Gomer & God and Israel.

Tomorrow Hosea calls the people to repent. Keep reading.

(Isaiah 12:1-6, Isaiah 17:1-14, 2 Chronicles 28:16-21, 2 Kings 16:10-18, 2 Chronicles 28:22-25, 2 Kings 18:1-8, 2 Chronicles 29:1-2, 2 Kings 15:30-31, 2 Kings 17:1-4, Hosea 1:1-2:13)

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Isaiah continues pronouncing judgement against Judah because they turned to Assyria for protection instead of trusting the Lord. But there is hope, bc “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.” The current wicked land is where, later in the Story, Jesus will do most of his earthly ministry work. Isaiah describes Jesus: “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Isaiah goes on to describe Jesus’s second coming: “Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and over His Kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgement and justice from that time forward, even forever.” (We will learn more about Jesus’s second coming later when we meet the prophet Daniel.)

Isaiah says the Lord is going to use Assyria to bring judgement against His unrepentant people but this will lead to the Assyrians becoming arrogant. The Lord will then bring judgement against the proud Assyrians.

Do you see how the Lord is in charge of it all?! God is using His people and their enemies to fulfill His promise of sending the Savior. The Lord is always going to protect a remnant of His people; “The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God.”

God is not going to allow the Davidic line to be utterly destroyed. Isaiah says a branch will come from Jesse, King David’s dad, and “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him…His delight is in the fear of the Lord, He shall not judge by sight of eye…But with righteousness…” Isaiah prophesies that there will be a day of harmony on earth and he speaks of rest that will be given, not only to Jews but to Gentiles. “For Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious.” 🙌

Tomorrow the Lord sends in the prophet Hosea to warn the people. Keep reading.

(Isaiah 8:1-11:16)

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Today we meet the prophet Micah who is from a small town in southwest Judah and a contemporary of the prophet Isaiah. “Micah may have spoken these words of judgment shortly before Israel was captured by Assyria in 722 BC.”

Micah begins his prophecy by calling all the people of the earth to listen. He says judgment is coming from the Lord for all the sins of the house of Israel. He specifically calls out Samaria and Jerusalem bc they are the capitals of Israel and Judah. Micah is foretelling the destruction of Israel by the Assyrians and the future invasion of Judah by the Babylonians and he mourns the thought of his people in exile.

Currently Ahaz, the evil king of Judah, engages in pagan worship like the nations around them. During this time the Assyrian nation is expanding their empire. King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah of Israel ask King Ahaz of Judah to join forces with them against the Assyrians. King Ahaz refuses and as a result Judah is suffering attacks from Israel, Syria, and other surrounding nations.

But when Israel takes 200,000 captives from Judah to Samaria the Lord rebukes Israel. He says that He allowed Israel to oppress Judah bc of their wickedness but He was not happy with how zealously they attacked them. So Israel let the captives go back home.

The Lord then sends Isaiah and his son Shear-Jashub (whose name means ”a remnant shall return”) to Ahaz to tell him not to fear his enemies and to trust the Lord to protect Judah, David’s bloodline. Isaiah says “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call his name Immanuel…For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings.” This is a prophesy of the virgin Mary’s birth of our Savior Jesus Christ whom they will call Immanuel, which means “God with us”. (Matthew 1:20-23) The immediate fullfillment of this prophecy is that the kings of Syria and Israel will be defeated but the magnificent long term fulfillment is the birth of Jesus.

We end the reading with Isaiah warning of Assyria’s power and the future destruction of the land by the Assyrians, the nation King Ahaz trusts for protection.

Tomorrow Isaiah gives more insight on our coming Savior so keep reading.

(2 Kings 15:32-38, 2 Chronicles 27:1-9, Micah 1:1-16, 2 Kings 16:1-9, 2 Chronicles 28:1-15, Isaiah 7:1-25)

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Today we hear the last of Amos’s prophecy and we meet the prophet Isaiah.

The Lord gives Amos 5 visions. When He shows Amos the first 2, locusts and fire, Amos intercedes for the people and God relents. The 3rd vision is a plumb line which symbolizes God’s straight law and ways in contrast to the crooked ways of the people. The Lord expects His people to line up with His Word and His ways.

Well, the people of Israel didn’t mind Amos’s prophesies when he was hitting up all the other nations, but they are not too happy about what he has to say about them. Amaziah the priest tells Amos to flee to the land of Judah. But Amos responds that he is doing what the Lord told him to do.

So Amos tells them about the 4th vision being a basket of fruit which means the time is right for Israel’s judgement. The 5th and final vision is God at the altar which illustrates that no one will escape God’s sovereign judgment unless they repent. God is still working His plan to send our Savior. Although He is going to bring judgment upon the sinful nation, He always leaves a remnant. “I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob”.

Amos speaks of a time to come where there will be silence from God’s Word (the Silent Era). ““Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God, “That I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord”.” Later in the Story, the prophet Malachi will prophesy of the silence coming to an end when the Lord will send John the Baptist who is a prophet like Elijah. (Malachi 4:5) The silence will be broken approximately 400 years after the Return Era when an angel of the Lord will tell the priest Zacharias that he is going to have a son and that boy will grow up to be John the Baptist. (Luke 1:13) In the Gospel Era, Luke will say about John the Baptist, “He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah…to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1:17) A people ready for the coming Son of God, Jesus Christ! But first, let’s meet Isaiah.

Isaiah sees a vision from the Lord which overwhelms him with God’s holiness and his own sinfulness. A seraphim angel touches Isaiah’s lips with coal, washing him from his sin. Now Isaiah is standing clean before the Lord so when the Lord asks who He shall send to warn the disobedient people of Judah, Isaiah says “Here am I! Send me!”.

Tomorrow the Lord also sends in the prophet Micah to warn His people of judgment. So keep reading.

(Amos 7:1-9:15, 2 Kings 14:28-29, 2 Kings 15:8-29, 6-7, 2 Chronicles 26:22-23, Isaiah 6:1-13)

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The prophet Amos, a sheepbreeder and tender of sycamore fruit from the Judean village of Tekoa, is sent by the Lord to Northern Israel. Some commentaries refer to Amos as the social justice judge as he pronounces judgement against nations for various social injustices. He begins prophesying against 8 nations. He starts each prophecy with “For three transgressions…and for four”. This statement represents the excessiveness of their sin and that the Lord has had it! God is done being gracious to these wicked nations.

The first 3 prophesies are against:

1) Damascus for their brutal attacks on Gilead, land occupied by the tribes Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh.

2) Gaza for taking the Israelites captive and sending them to Edom.

3) Tyre, who had good relations with Israel when David and Solomon were on the throne, for turning on the Israelites and selling them as slaves to Edom.

The next 3 prophesies are against Israel’s blood relatives:

1) Edom, Esau’s descendants, for making war against Israel and showing no mercy.

2) Ammon, Lot’s descendants, for being so vicious that they even kill babies in their mothers’ wombs,

3) Moab, Lot’s descendants, for burning the bones of the king of Edom instead of providing a proper burial.

Amos then prophesies against his own people in Judah for hating the law of the Lord and not keeping His commandments.

Lastly Amos hits up Israel and this one is by far the longest prophesy due to their excessive wickedness. They are judged for only being concerned about their own personal gain, for mistreating the poor, for being involved in all kinds of sexual sin, for drinking wine while worshipping in their pagan temples, for the rich women neglecting the poor and indulging themselves, and so forth. He reminds Israel how He was the One that brought them out of Egypt and how He provided for them and blessed them above all the other nations, which makes them more responsible for their disobedience. “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.” He says He will also destroy the altars where Jeroboam, the first king of Northern Israel, set up those golden calves which led the nation into idolatry. The Lord tells them how He sent famine, drought, and plagues to get Israel’s attention so they would turn back to Him but they never repented.

Amos then says a lamentation, a song of mourning, against Israel to call the people to repent so they don’t die. “Seek the Lord and live…” says Amos. He warns that if they don’t repent they will be sent into captivity. “The Lord God of hosts says: I abhor the pride of Jacob, and hate his palaces; therefore I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.” God always does what He says He will do so this is not good news for Israel unless they repent!

More from Amos tomorrow so keep reading!

(Amos 1:1-6:14)

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Quick summary on the kings and then we will get to Jonah!

Judah – Amaziah defeats Edom but he takes their gods back with him and worships them. This makes the Lord angry so He allows Israel to defeat Judah. Amaziah is later killed by his own men bc of his turning from the Lord and his son Azariah (Uzziah) becomes king. He follows the Lord, defeats enemies, and builds up Judah. However, out of pride, he goes to the house of the Lord and burns incense, a job solely reserved for the priest. The Lord strikes King Uzziah with leprosy bc of his disobedience and his son, Jotham, becomes the next king of Judah.

Israel – Jehoash dies and Jeroboam II becomes the next king of Israel.

Jonah – The Lord tells prideful, stubborn Jonah to go to Nineveh and warn the lost people that they are in danger of destruction by the Lord bc of their wickedness. So Jonah, uninterested in the salvation of the disgusting pagans, gets in a boat and heads in the total opposite direction. But you can’t run from God and Jonah finds this out the hard way when he is thrown overboard and swallowed by a fish. See, if the Lord has plans for you, He is going to make it happen. It is up to you to submit and go willingly or fight Him and go the hard way! 🐳 But the Lord uses everything and He uses stubborn Jonah to display His power to the sailors on the boat and draw them to Him. “Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows.”

Unlike Jonah, the Lord has a heart for the lost! So God humbles Jonah in that fish belly and Jonah prays, “I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord”. The Lord tells the fish to spit up Jonah. So a half-hearted Jonah goes to Nineveh and delivers a one liner. “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”. But that is all it took. “So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.”

Well they weren’t the only ones mourning; so was Jonah. Jonah doesn’t understand that salvation is by grace, including his own salvation. So he is angry that the Lord spared Nineveh. God teaches Jonah a lesson by removing a plant that was giving Jonah relief from the sun. “But the Lord said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?”

God wants everyone to know of Him. That is why later in the Story, Jesus will tell his disciples to go and make disciples of ALL the nations! (Matthew 28:19) Tomorrow we hear from the prophet Amos so keep reading.

(2 Kings 14:1-14, 2 Chronicles 25:1-24, 2 Kings 13:12-13, 2 Kings 14:15-16, 23-27, 2 Chronicles 25:25-28, 2 Kings 14:17-22, 2 Kings 15:1-5, 2 Chronicles 26:1-21, Jonah 1:1-4:11)

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Jehoram is the evil king sitting on Judah’s throne. He is married to Athaliah, the daughter of wicked Ahab (former king of Israel). God kills Jehoram due to his wickedness by making his intestines slowly come out during his sickness. Ouch!

Jehoram’s son Ahaziah becomes the next king of Judah and due to the family connections with Israel, Ahaziah is tight with Joram, the son of Ahab and current king of Israel. Ahaziah, king of Judah, visits Joram, king of Israel, when Joram is wounded during a battle with the Syrians. The Lord uses this opportunity to take down both evil kings.

Elijah sends a prophet’s son to a man named Jehu to anoint him as the next king of Israel. Jehu is told to strike down King Joram, son of Ahab and Jezebel, and all of his house “that I may avenge the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, at the hand of Jezebel”. Once again the Lord says, “The dogs shall eat Jezebel on the plot of ground at Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her”.

Jehu follows through. King Joram is killed and his body is thrown in the vineyard of Naboth. Remember Jezebel had Naboth killed and gave his vineyard to her husband Ahab (1 Kings 21).

So Jehu goes to Jezreel next. Jezebel gets all dolled up for his arrival and hollers at Jehu out the window right before she is thrown out that window, trampled by horses, and eaten by dogs just as the Lord said. 😱

Jehu, still cleaning house, has the heads of the 70 sons of Ahab brought to him, kills everyone else in the house of Ahab, and gathers all of the Baal worshippers and kills them.

Jehu also kills Ahaziah, king of Judah, as well as the sons of his brother who serve him “So the house of Ahaziah had no one to assume power over the kingdom”.

However, Jehu ends up being an evil king as well as he leads all of Israel to worship the golden calves that Jeroboam originally set up in the land of Israel.

Ok. That was a lot of killing. Tomorrow Ahaziah’s mother, Athaliah, will take over and rule Judah…she may also get killed. 😬 Keep reading to find out.

(2 Kings 5:1-8:15)

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Today we read 2 separate stories involving men with leprosy.

1) Naaman was a successful commander over the Syrian army. “He was a mighty man of valor, but a leper.” A lowly Israelite servant girl who was taken captive during a raid on Israel tells Naaman’s wife that Elisha, the prophet of the Lord, could heal Naaman. Naaman goes to see Elisha and Elisha tells him to dip in the Jordan 7 times and he will be healed. Well, prideful Naaman did not like the fact that Elisha didn’t roll out the red carpet for him and immediately heal him, and that he asked him to dip in what he considered inferior water. So another servant steps forward to talk some sense into Naaman. “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash and be clean’?” So Naaman follows Elisha’s instructions and is healed; not just physically but spiritually. Once healed, Naaman says “Indeed, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel”. Naaman switches allegiance from the false gods to the Lord! 🙌

2) Ben-Hadad, king of Syria, attacks Samaria, the capital of Israel. There was a great famine in Samaria bc of the siege. So much so that women were eating their own children. 😳 When the king of Israel hears women fighting over which kid to eat he blames Elisha for their terrible circumstances. Elisha tells the king that the circumstances will change tomorrow and there will be food. One of the king’s officers doesn’t believe Elisha and mocks him, which isn’t a smart move bc Elisha then prophesies that officer’s death. See, Elisha knew that the Lord was working behind the scenes by scattering the Syrian army and sending 4 leprous men, who were set outside of the city bc of their leprosy, to the Syrian camp. The lepers tell the gatekeepers of Samaria about all the goods that the Syrians left behind. So the people end up running out of the gate to the Syrian camp to gather the goods and that unbelieving officer gets trampled to death as Elisha said.

The people of Israel are spared but things are going to get worse for them. Hazael kills Ben-Hadad and becomes the next king of Syria. Elisha says to Hazael “…I know the evil that you will do to the children of Israel: Their strongholds you will set on fire, and their young men you will kill with a sword; and you will dash their children, and rip open their women with child”.

Tomorrow Jezebel renters the scene. Keep reading to see what happens.

(2 Kings 5:1-8:15)

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Today the Lord is going to take Elijah up to be with Him. Elijah strikes the Jordan and the water parts letting him and Elisha cross on dry ground, much like in the Exodus Era with Moses and the Red Sea and in the Conquest Era with Joshua and the Jordan.

Before Elijah is taken up he asks Elisha what can he do for him. Elisha says that he wants a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. Ok. So Elisha isn’t being greedy here. This is a common concept in the Old Testament. We read about it in the book of the law regarding the firstborn getting a double portion (Deut 22:17). We also saw that Hannah’s husband gave her a double portion bc of his love for her (1 Samuel 1:5). We will see that the Lord honors his request bc after Elijah is taken in a whirlwind up to heaven, Elisha parts the Jordan the same as Elijah had done. Elisha then goes on to perform more miracles. He heals the water of Jericho, pronounces a curse on mockers, provides oil for a poor widow and her sons, gives a Shunammite woman and her husband a child and brings that child back to life when he dies.

Matter of fact, there are 28 miracles performed by Elisha that are recorded in the Bible compared to Elijah’s 14 recorded miracles which is exactly double. How about that! 🤯

Tomorrow we meet some men suffering from leprosy. Keep reading to see how the Lord uses them and their affliction to accomplish His purposes.

(2 Kings 2:1-25, 2 Kings 4:1-44)

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Ahaziah, Ahab’s son, is now king of Israel and he is wicked like his dad. He falls through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria, the capital of Northern Israel. Then he sends messengers to the false god Baal-Zebub to inquire of his injuries. The Lord has Elijah intercede to tell his messengers that bc Ahaziah sent them to inquire of Baal-Zebub and not the Lord, he will die from his injury.

So Ahaziah then sends 50 men to bring Elijah to him. Elijah has fire rain down and consume them. Ahaziah sends 50 more and they get the same fire treatment. Ahaziah sends a 3rd group of 50 but this captain pleads for mercy. The Lord tells Elijah to go with this 3rd captain and not to fear. After Elijah tells the Ahaziah what the Lord said, Ahaziah dies.

Moab then attacks Israel and their new king, Joram. Joram asks the king of Judah, Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom to fight with him against Moab. Jehoshaphat encourages them to inquire of the Lord so they find Elisha, the prophet and Elijah’s future successor. Elisha instructs them in the Lord’s battle plan for their attack. They are to dig ditches that will be filled with rain and then they will attack their cities. 🤔 Seems strange but God has a plan!

When the Moabites see the sun hit the water in the ditches they think it is blood and that their enemy must have turned on each other. So they go to take the spoils of the Israelite camp. The Israelites attack them and their cities. Out of desperation from being defeated by the Israelites, the king of Moab sacrifices his son as an offering to their false god. 😱 When the people of Moab see this, their wrath against Israel becomes great so the Israelites return to their own land.

Jehoshaphat dies after reigning 25 years and his son Jehoram becomes king of Judah. Jehoram is married to the daughter of the former king of Israel, King Ahab. Jehoram walks in all the evil ways of Ahab. “Yet the Lord would not destroy Judah, for the sake of His servant David, as He promised him to give a lamp to him and his sons forever.” Remember, King Jesus is coming through this bloodline so keep reading!

(2 Kings 1:1-18, 2 Kings 3:1-27, 1 Kings 22:41-49, 2 Chronicles 20:31-37, 1 Kings 22:50, 2 Chronicles 21:1-4, 2 Kings 8:16-22, 2 Chronicles 21:5-7)

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