Today we are HALFWAY done with reading the Bible.  Tomorrow we will be closer to the end than the beginning.  YOU DID IT! A brief explanation of all that we have read so far:

• Genesis answers two big questions: “How did God’s relationship with the world begin?” and “Where did the nation of Israel come from?”
• In the book of Job: Satan attacks a righteous man named Job, and Job and his friends argue about why terrible things are happening to him.
• Exodus: God saves Israel from slavery in Egypt, and then enters into a Covenant with them.
• In Leviticus God gives Israel instructions for how to worship Him.
• Numbers: Israel fails to trust and obey God, and wanders in the wilderness for 40 years.
• Deuteronomy: Moses gives Israel instructions (in some ways, a recap of the laws in Exodus–Numbers) on how to love and obey God in the Promised Land.
• Joshua (Israel’s new leader) leads Israel to conquer the Promised land, then divides out territories to the twelve tribes of Israel.
• Judges: Israel enters a cycle of turning from God, falling captive to oppressive nations, calling out to God, and being rescued by leaders God sends their way (called “judges”).
• Ruth: Two widows lose everything, and find hope in Israel—which leads to the birth of the future King David.
• 1 Samuel, Israel demands a king, who turns out to be quite a disappointment.
• 2 Samual: David, a man after God’s own heart, becomes king of Israel.
• 1 Kings: The kingdom of Israel has a time of peace and prosperity under King Solomon but afterward splits, and the two lines of kings turn away from God.
• Song of Songs- A love song (or collection of love songs) celebrating love, desire, and marriage.
• A philosophical exploration of the meaning of life—Ecclesicaties.
• In 1 Chronicles we read a brief history of Israel from Adam to David, with David commissioning the temple of God in Jerusalem.
• We also read 150 Psalms that Israel sang to God (and to each other)—kind of like a hymnal for the ancient Israelites.
• And meditated on the Proverbs: a collection of sayings written to help people make wise decisions that bring about justice.
• Tomorrow: 2 Kings: Both kingdoms ignore God and his prophets until they both fall captive to other world empires.

We have 20 books (some very short, 1-day reads) left of the Old Testament and then we turn the page to the Gospel.

If you need a copy of the schedule because you hate waiting for me to post (when I fall back asleep after the alarm) 🙂 Click here

There is a handouts section on the website of any cool visuals we have used if you need to reference them at any time. (I am bad about not updating it all the time, but I will try harder)

I know many of you are reading but don’t comment BUT if you want to make me smile, you will write in comments 1 thing you learned reading this year that you did not know before 2021 began,  I would be so happy.

• Click here to read
• Click here to listen

Today we end 1 Kings:

Last week we read about several kings but we ended with Jehosapaht on the side of Judah. (use your visuals)

I don’t want to lose you as the reading gets a little more difficult.  Lots of names here.  Use your “Kings” visuals to help you get through it.  Who is Micaiah?  Let’s look at the whole thing:

When Ahab ruled over Israel and Jehoshaphat over Judah, the two kings decided to come together to attack the city of Ramoth-Gilead to retake it from the Arameans. Before going to battle, they consulted with more than 400 “royally” appointed (not God appointed) counselors of Israel. These were fake prophets who had no regard for correctly delivering the word of the Lord. To please King Ahab and obtain his favor, these prophets only served to tell the king what he wanted to hear.

When you read this last chapter you can view it from a human standpoint “I think that is a great idea Jehoshaphat, making a treaty with Israel to overtake Aram.” OR you can look at it from God’s point of view and maybe see it a little differently.  Even though Jehoshaphat in chapter 17 started a revival for Judah we now see him 3 years later waiting and waiting for Ahab to be killed just like the Lord had promised OR fear Ahab would conquer Aram completely.

The counselors brought before Ahab all prophesied victory in battle, but King Jehoshaphat remained suspicious. He wanted to hear from an independent prophet who would be faithful to the word of the Lord. Ahab offered to seek the counsel of Micaiah but warned Jehoshaphat that he hated this prophet. The reason? Micaiah always predicted evil for Ahab. An evil king will receive bad news from God, so, if Micaiah was true to his calling, he could do nothing but deliver “evil” messages to Ahab. So Ahab hated him.

Standing before the two kings, Micaiah at first sarcastically told Ahab what he wanted to hear, forecasting good news of victory over the Arameans. But Ahab, knowing Micaiah’s sarcasm, made him swear to tell the truth, and Micaiah told the wicked king what God really had to say. The prophet’s report was devastating: “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the LORD said, ‘These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace’”.

So what happens?  Zedekiah slaps him in the face!

So then what happens??  Micaiah says (I picture it with a smile on his face) “You will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner room.”

Oh no he didn’t say that!  Yes, he did!  😂. Wait, (now I picture him laughing) he ends with “Mark wy words!” (MIC DROP!)

In the end, Elijah’s prophesy comes true and Ahab meets his fate of death and his blood being licked by dogs. (despite the switcharoo plan…you can’t switcharoo on the Lord!)

Overall Jehsaphat was an accomplished leader and considered a “Good King” following the ways of the Lord (except for removing all the “high places” (altars for worship to false gods).

Next on our checklist, we see (look at the visual near top of the post for Judah Kings)

• Judah King: Jehoram (slipping
• Israel King: Ahaziah–⁵² He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, because he followed the ways of his father and mother and of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. ⁵³ He served and worshiped Baal and aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, just as his father had done.

(We know that all the kings on the Israel side are bad)

• Click here to read
• Click here to listen it (starts at the beginning of the chapter, sorry)
  • 1 Kings
  • 2 Chronicles

If you like a good checklist to see what we will pick off our “Honey Do” list: Click here.  Looking at it you will see that we are coming up in Elijah (a pretty familiar name) and the book of the Prophets, starting with Obadiah. (completed is the *)

Today we switch to the Northern tribes that Jeroboam led to break off from the line of David.

• • Nadab
  • Baasha
  • Elah
  • Zimri
  • Omri
  • Intro to Ahab

Nadab-²⁵ Nadab son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. ²⁶ He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the ways of his father and committing the same sin his father had caused Israel to commit. (that pretty much summed it up)]

Baasha-Asa king of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king of all Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned twenty-four years. ³⁴ He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the ways of Jeroboam and committing the same sin Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit. (I am seeing a pattern)

Elah- Elah son of Baasha became king of Israel, and he reigned in Tirzah two years……they aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, by their worthless idols.

Zimri-Zimri reigned in Tirzah SEVEN days. He must have been busy committing so many sins in just 7 days!  But Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord and sinned more than all those before him. (Good grief)

Omri- After a short tribal split (again) Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned twelve years.

• Omri’s reign is significant because he purchased and builds the capital of Samaria, a strategic location.   This fortified capital lasts the rest of the Northern Kingdom. (we will also talk about it a lot when we get to the New Testament)

Finally, we get to Ahab.  I remember the first time I read this book I about fell over when I found out Jezebel was a person in the Bible.  I thought it was just a nickname for a “bad girl”.  Who knew!

“Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years.” (See, now reigned in Samaria makes sense).³¹ He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. ³² He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. ³³ Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him. 

When we switch to 2 Chronicles we are switching back to the South/Rehomboma/Judah- Jehoshaphat

³ The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the ways of his father David before him. He did not consult the Baals ⁴ but sought the God of his father and followed his commands rather than the practices of Israel.

⁹ They taught throughout Judah, taking with them the Book of the Law of the Lord; they went around to all the towns of Judah and taught the people.

• Click here to read
• Click here to listen to 1 kings (stop at verse 24)
• Click and listen to 2 Chronicles

Print whichever one works for you:

Click here for this one

Click here for this one

If neither of those work for you: I like this one too-

Click here to print: (I like them all!)

1 Kings 15 v:1-24 only

Look below: this is interesting! (I am going to post this a lot, you don’t have to print it) This is a common view of the Bible.  This is JUST the Kings from Judah. None of the kings were good from the side of Israel.  So track along. For the life of me I cannot remember the names so I keep this visual on my computer screen as a read:

As we read today (2 Chronicles gives more detail) we will see why the line graph moves up from Rehoboam to Abijah and significantly higher for Asa.

• 1 Kings is in Blue
• 2 Chron is in Red

Abijah- v.3 “He committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been.” (All the kings will be compared to David.  David may have sinned many times BUT he never worshipped any other God than the Lord).  So why was he better than Rehoboam? v.5-⁵ Don’t you know that the Lord, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?   Abijah is referring to the Davidic Covenant in 2 Samual 7.  He is talking to Jeroboam and saying “You idiot!  Don’t you know you have split yourself off from the line of the Covenant, God will take his hand off your people,  you even let ANYONE become a priest, even if they are not a Levite…that’s horrible”.

Asa– v.11 “Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done. ¹² He expelled the male shrine prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the idols his ancestors had made.” ……v.14-¹⁴ Although he did not remove the high places( only the ones in Judah), Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life. (this was his mistake, he did not remove the pagan altar’s)  v.11-¹¹ Then Asa called to the Lord his God and said, “Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. (You can see why on the line graph he moved up to the GOOD section.)  BUT….not Revival….why?  He did not fully trust the Lod in what he JUST said-16:2 ^“Asa then took the silver and gold out of the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of his own palace and sent it to Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus. ³ “Let there be a treaty between me and you,” he said, “as there was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will withdraw from me.”  WHY MAKE A TREATY?? AND WHY GIVE THEM THE CONSECRATED TEMPLE GOLD?  Oh Asa….close but no cigar.

¹² In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the Lord, but only from the physicians. ¹³ Then in the forty-first year of his reign Asa died and rested with his ancestors.

Kings can be confusing so I hope this helped as we picked off the first 2.  Good Stuff…I could have cut and pasted all of 2 Chronicles!!  Use your visuals!  The next king is “revival”

• Click here to read
• Click here to listen
• (I don’t know who ‘Beachlover’ is but I love that you click “like” after each read.   It lets me know I am not alone. ❤️)

CHAPTER 10 VISUALS:

Yemen….I can’t say it in my head without hearing Chandler’s voice:

The site of Sheba was about 1,200 miles southeast of Israel (present Yemen and or Oman). A traditional site of the Queen of Sheba’s castle is Salalah, in southern Oman.

The queen’s primary purpose in visiting Solomon seems to have been to make a treaty with him. “Testing” or “Questioning” was a typical activity among ancient Near Eastern monarchs. Solomon served as an international broker. He capitalized on Israel’s geographic location as the land bridge that connected three continents: Europe, Asia, and Africa. Everyone passed through Israel with their merchandise and Solomon charged custom taxes as goods entered and left his country.

The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents,  not including the revenues from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the territories.

Hmmm  666.

and of course…the Throne

Time to get serious.  Chapter 11:

 Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. ³ He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.

⁷ On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. ⁸ He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods

.

Pagan worship looked different for each god.  Many of the practices were sexual with each other or with animals 🤢, but the Molech often required child sacrifice to their god.

¹¹ So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates.

Ready??  BIG MOMENT:

²⁶ Also, Jeroboam son of Nebat rebelled against the king. He was one of Solomon’s officials, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, and his mother was a widow named Zeruah.

A prophet named Ahijah took a cloak and tore it into pieces giving a visual of what he was going to do to the kingdom:

I will take the kingdom from his son’s hands and give you ten tribes. (Talking to Jeroboam Solomon’s Servant)

⁴¹ As for the other events of Solomon’s reign—all he did and the wisdom he displayed—are they not written in the book of the annals of Solomon? ⁴² Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. ⁴³ Then he rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son succeeded him as king.

Either tonight or tomorrow I am going to recap what is happening and supply you with handouts because we are on the brink of a MAJOR turn in the Bible!!  We started as a Theocracy (God is King), then to Monorachy (Saul, David then Solomon as KIng), NEXT…A Divided Monarchy!  (we will call it the Divided Kingdom)

Get out a scrap piece of paper and write the words:

• Jeroboam:
• Rehaboam:

If you have studied with me before who can remember what I say the J and R represent?

• Click here to read
• Click here to listen

Our reading today is a short read today so I want you to read it very carefully.  How do these 2 chapters differ?  Remember the Chronicles author,  Ezra,  was a priest (and a pretty conservative one) so his concentration is going to be the duties of the priests, the sacrifices, the feasts…really he is always going to be Temple centered.

Solomon’s splendor was the Temple…after that, it kind of goes downhill.  I know we keep rereading this but it is so important:

Deuteronomy 17:

The King

¹⁴ When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” ¹⁵ be sure to appoint over you a king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite. ¹⁶ The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” ¹⁷ He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.

¹⁸ When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. ¹⁹ It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees ²⁰ and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.

In today’s read, we get the big “IF”… ”Then” statement:

“But if you or your descendants turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you^[and go off to serve other gods and worship them, ⁷ then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. ⁸ This temple will become a heap of rubble. 

Son of a Nutcracker!  You know I am shaking my head  (I was going to write SMH but my husband isn’t as cool as I am and would not know it meant that).

Solomon was a King of Peace and through his willingness to work with his neighbors AND marry their daughters he enlarged the Kingdom while he reigns.  Solomon knows this is wrong because she can’t even live near the Ark because her pagan rituals would be too close to the Presence of the Lord so he builds her a place distant from it.

Umm but remember he was supposed to read his Bible, I mean the Laws daily so that he would follow God’s words carefully.  If he had,  he may have seen this:

Deuteronomy 7

7 When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you— ² and when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. ³ Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, ⁴ for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you. ⁵ This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire. ⁶ For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.

It is worth the 7 minutes of your day to reread at least 1 Kings to see all the detail.  Click here

So when you read today you can see he really was ignoring God on a lot of things!  (feel free to ask yourself if you are a Solomon)

2 Chronicles:- I know it has been a while but did you have some memory recall when you read this-

¹² On the altar of the Lord that he had built in front of the portico, Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings to the Lord, ¹³ according to the daily requirement for offerings commanded by Moses for the Sabbaths, the New Moons and the three annual festivals—the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles. 

Isn’t is cool that we know what the Bible is talking about! (sort of 🤪)