Key verses
Psalm 145:1-9 - I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds. They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.
2 Chronicles
Jehoshaphat trusted in God, and God came through for him. I read the story about Jehoshaphat defeating Moab and Ammon, described in 2 Chronicles chapter 20. The people of Judah were wondering if they should attack Moab and Ammon, because these enemies were coming to their territory. The people of Judah inquired of God, and the Spirit of the Lord spoke through Jahaziel who told the people of Judah not to fear. The Lord was with them. They wouldn't even have to fight the battle, because the Lord would fight for them. So they went out to the place where their enemies were, and there were all the dead bodies. The Moabites and Ammonites had fought against the men from Mount Seir, and then they turned on themselves and everyone was slaughtered. The people of Judah didn't have to do a thing!
When you go into a difficult situation, trust in God and rely on him to come through for you (if you are in the will of God), and you will meet with success!
As a side note - what a legacy! Here is 2 Chronicles 2:20, commenting on Jehoram's reign as king of Judah. "Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. He passed away, to no one's regret, and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings."
Showing posts with label Judah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Judah. Show all posts
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
In Chronicles, David is King
1 Chronicles
If you will recall my post from May 10, you will see that I talked about the focus of 1 Chronicles, noting that the author was keenly interested in King David, more so than the other kings of Israel/Judah. We have now come to the end of 1 Chronicles, and the main point of this book has certainly been David. The book started with many lists of names, leading up to an extremely brief narrative of Saul's reign, and then headlong into David's tenure as king. Moreover, we didn't really hear about any of the negative aspects of David's time as king, such as the fights between him and Saul before he became king, or his murder of Uriah, husband of Bathsheba. It was mainly a rosy picture of how God blessed David and prospered him on the throne. It remains to be seen how things turn out in 2 Chronicles, now that David has passed on.
If you will recall my post from May 10, you will see that I talked about the focus of 1 Chronicles, noting that the author was keenly interested in King David, more so than the other kings of Israel/Judah. We have now come to the end of 1 Chronicles, and the main point of this book has certainly been David. The book started with many lists of names, leading up to an extremely brief narrative of Saul's reign, and then headlong into David's tenure as king. Moreover, we didn't really hear about any of the negative aspects of David's time as king, such as the fights between him and Saul before he became king, or his murder of Uriah, husband of Bathsheba. It was mainly a rosy picture of how God blessed David and prospered him on the throne. It remains to be seen how things turn out in 2 Chronicles, now that David has passed on.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Extra-biblical sources
2 Kings
It is so neat to hear about extra-biblical sources that back up what the bible says. Today I read in the footnotes of my Archaeological Study Bible that some archaeologists found Babylonian administrative tablets. These tablets apparently outline the rations provided to the captives in Babylon. In 2 Kings 25, we can read about the fall of Jerusalem and the captives that were taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. These tablets support this information because they mention Jehoiachin king of Judah and five of his sons!
As I read the bible, I often find myself reading it in a bit of a vacuum, thinking that nobody else would have bothered recording the information in it. It's interesting to see that the historical facts have been recorded elsewhere, to some extent.
It is so neat to hear about extra-biblical sources that back up what the bible says. Today I read in the footnotes of my Archaeological Study Bible that some archaeologists found Babylonian administrative tablets. These tablets apparently outline the rations provided to the captives in Babylon. In 2 Kings 25, we can read about the fall of Jerusalem and the captives that were taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. These tablets support this information because they mention Jehoiachin king of Judah and five of his sons!
As I read the bible, I often find myself reading it in a bit of a vacuum, thinking that nobody else would have bothered recording the information in it. It's interesting to see that the historical facts have been recorded elsewhere, to some extent.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
For three sins or four
Amos
I read somewhere about this passage in Amos. Amos is listing off a number of foreign places, describing God's judgment that will be meted out upon them. Each new place gets a little closer to home, however, and Amos' audience must have been getting a little more anxious as they heard about Damascus, then Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and then, what? Judah and Israel? Yes, God was going to judge them for their sins as well. Don't take God's grace for granted or as a free ticket to sin with impunity.
I read somewhere about this passage in Amos. Amos is listing off a number of foreign places, describing God's judgment that will be meted out upon them. Each new place gets a little closer to home, however, and Amos' audience must have been getting a little more anxious as they heard about Damascus, then Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and then, what? Judah and Israel? Yes, God was going to judge them for their sins as well. Don't take God's grace for granted or as a free ticket to sin with impunity.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
a little history
Key verse
Jeremiah 1:8 - "Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the Lord.
Ecclesiastes
In terms of human nature, the truth about the world, and basically all abstract ideas, I suppose there is nothing new since the beginning of time. However, I think we see things in a different and new way all the time, and for each person, life is new. Life is not meaningless either, unless we decide to not give it meaning. All we do here on earth has a lot of meaning, provided we do it with a view to eternity. So long as we are investing in others and growing in God, we can have a lot of meaning in life, even if what we are doing is mundane and seemingly pointless.
Jeremiah
There is more than one version of the book of Jeremiah. Our English translations are based on the Masoretic (Hebrew) text, but there is a different version in the Septuagint (ancient Greek) text. This difference is likely due to the turmoil of Jeremiah's time. Jeremiah prophesied about the impending doom of Jerusalem, and lived to see the city captured by foreigners, while he himself was one of the captives.
I have to admire Jeremiah's tenacity in bringing God's message to the people of Jerusalem. At this time, circa 626-580 BC, the people of Judah were intent on straying from God's commands, even though Jeremiah, and Josiah, the king at the beginning of Jeremiah's career, kept trying to bring them back to God.
*Here's a neat fact: the term 'Jew' is actually a short form for Judahite, or an inhabitant of Judah, and therefore only came into existence when Judah split from the rest of Israel. This term was then later applied to all "Israelites" when northern Israel was completely assimilated into foreign countries (approx. 720 BC) -all of this information on Jeremiah is compliments of the Archaeological Study Bible
Interesting comparison - God touch Jeremiah's mouth with his hand when he called him to be a prophet, and an angel touched Isaiah's lips with a hot coal when he received his calling. In both cases, the mouths were sanctified and cleansed, so as to be worthy of the words which they would later speak.
**More on today's reading later. As we are starting four new books today, I will give some thoughts on the New Testament ones tomorrow.
Jeremiah 1:8 - "Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the Lord.
Ecclesiastes
In terms of human nature, the truth about the world, and basically all abstract ideas, I suppose there is nothing new since the beginning of time. However, I think we see things in a different and new way all the time, and for each person, life is new. Life is not meaningless either, unless we decide to not give it meaning. All we do here on earth has a lot of meaning, provided we do it with a view to eternity. So long as we are investing in others and growing in God, we can have a lot of meaning in life, even if what we are doing is mundane and seemingly pointless.
Jeremiah
There is more than one version of the book of Jeremiah. Our English translations are based on the Masoretic (Hebrew) text, but there is a different version in the Septuagint (ancient Greek) text. This difference is likely due to the turmoil of Jeremiah's time. Jeremiah prophesied about the impending doom of Jerusalem, and lived to see the city captured by foreigners, while he himself was one of the captives.
I have to admire Jeremiah's tenacity in bringing God's message to the people of Jerusalem. At this time, circa 626-580 BC, the people of Judah were intent on straying from God's commands, even though Jeremiah, and Josiah, the king at the beginning of Jeremiah's career, kept trying to bring them back to God.
*Here's a neat fact: the term 'Jew' is actually a short form for Judahite, or an inhabitant of Judah, and therefore only came into existence when Judah split from the rest of Israel. This term was then later applied to all "Israelites" when northern Israel was completely assimilated into foreign countries (approx. 720 BC) -all of this information on Jeremiah is compliments of the Archaeological Study Bible
Interesting comparison - God touch Jeremiah's mouth with his hand when he called him to be a prophet, and an angel touched Isaiah's lips with a hot coal when he received his calling. In both cases, the mouths were sanctified and cleansed, so as to be worthy of the words which they would later speak.
**More on today's reading later. As we are starting four new books today, I will give some thoughts on the New Testament ones tomorrow.
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