2 Kings / chapter 25 (read the chapter)
Ah, so the residents of Judah are finally carried off into Babylon, and Jerusalem is destroyed. How depressing. Reading this chapter, I felt especially bad for Zedekiah, who watched his sons being killed before his eyes were plucked out. That would be an awful image to have to remember for the rest of your life. It’s just another stark reminder of the evil darkness we face when we try to live life without God. Continue Reading »
2 Kings / chapter 24 (read the chapter)
Since I’m writing this blog with the aim of finding out what every Bible chapter has to say about God, I’m always looking for any specific “God statements” that the Bible writers make. And boy, did I find a doozy of one in this chapter! Did you catch it? Here it is: “The Lord sent Babylonian, Aramean, Moabite and Ammonite raiders against [Jehoiakim] to destroy Judah, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by his servants the prophets. Surely these things happened to Judah according to the Lord’s command, in order to remove them from his presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all he had done, including the shedding of innocent blood. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord was not willing to forgive.” (vs 2-4) Continue Reading »
2 Kings / chapter 23 (read the chapter)
One of the things about God that confounds me is how He can know the future yet leave us free to make choices. This is a subject I’ve gone back and forth on in the past, and I still don’t feel “settled” into a position (and I may never). On the one hand, it is very clear that God knows specific details about the future, including people and events. On the other hand, the Bible is also clear that God gives us freedom to make choices, and I sympathize with people who argue that if a choice is made freely, how can it be known ahead of time? Continue Reading »
2 Kings / chapter 22 (read the chapter)
After years of evil-doing kings in Judah, the chief priest found the Book of the Law in the temple. Apparently, it had been lost—either accidentally or intentionally. Either way, when Josiah (the new king) heard what was in the Book of the Law, he was quite distraught. He tore his robes and wept. Continue Reading »
2 Kings / chapter 21 (read the chapter)
Ah, the old, familiar refrain—another evil king in Judah: “Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole, as Ahab king of Israel had done.” (vs 1-3) Continue Reading »
2 Kings / chapter 20 (read the chapter)
Once again, we encounter the subject of death, and I thought Hezekiah’s reaction on the news of his impending fate was telling (and quite familiar): “Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, ‘Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.’ And Hezekiah wept bitterly.” (vs 2-3) Continue Reading »
2 Kings / chapter 19 (read the chapter)
Well, this is certainly a drama-filled chapter in the Bible! Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, has gone around the region, conquering everyone and everything in sight (including Israel!), and now, he was sitting on Jerusalem’s doorstep with 185,000 soldiers, ready to capture Judah as well. Continue Reading »
2 Kings / chapter 18 (read the chapter)
Have you ever noticed that for everything God offers, Satan has a counterfeit? And usually, it sounds pretty good. So good that, sometimes, it can be hard to distinguish the right from the wrong. Instead of trying to decide between black and white, it’s more like trying to decide between white and off-white. Continue Reading »
2 Kings / chapter 17 (read the chapter)
Evil, evil, and more evil. Where does it all lead? To the ruin of God’s creation! Did you notice this verse? “But [the Israelites] would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their ancestors, who did not trust in the Lord their God. They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors and the statutes he had warned them to keep. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless.” (vs 14-15) Continue Reading »
2 Kings / chapter 16 (read the chapter)
As I read this chapter, I felt so bad for Ahaz, didn’t you? “Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God. He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree.” (vs 2-4) Continue Reading »
