Day 180, June 29: Bible reading & prayer

1 Kings 22, 2 Chronicles 18 (chronological); Job 16-18, Acts 9:1-22 (OT/NT)

We have been reading about Elijah the prophet, who spoke in the time of Ahab, the evil king of Israel. After Elijah challenged and then killed the prophets of Baal, and Ahab’s wife Jezebel threatened his life, he fled to the mountain of God, where the LORD met with him. Elijah thought he was left alone as the only one in Israel faithful to God, but the LORD reassured him, “I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.” He also told him to anoint Elisha as prophet in his place, and to anoint Hazael king over Aram and Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel.

Yesterday, we read about another unnamed prophet. Ben-hadad, king of Aram, was the son of Hadad, who was an enemy of Solomon (1 Kings 11:25). Ben-Hadad threatened Samaria, but “a prophet approached Ahab king of Israel and said, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver them into your hand today, and you shall know that I am the LORD.”‘“ After Ahab killed the Arameans with a great slaughter, the prophet came to him again, “Go, strengthen yourself and observe and see what you have to do; for at the turn of the year the king of Aram will come up against you [again].” When they did, yet another “man of God came near and spoke to the king of Israel and said, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Because the Arameans have said, ‘The LORD is a god of the mountains, but He is not a god of the valleys,’ therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.”’” The “sons of Israel killed of the Arameans 100,000 foot soldiers in one day.” Ahab, however, showed Ben-Hadad mercy, and made a covenant with him, so yet another one of the prophets told him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people.’”

After this, Elijah had another opportunity to speak to Ahab. Jezebel, Ahab’s wife, conspired against their neighbor, Naboth, who had a vineyard next to their palace in Jezreel that Ahab wanted. Naboth was stoned, and when “Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.” The LORD sent Elijah to Ahab, who said, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” Elijah answered:

“I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the LORD. Behold, I will bring evil upon you, and will utterly sweep you away, and will cut off from Ahab every male, both bond and free in Israel; and I 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 because you have made Israel sin. Of Jezebel also has the LORD spoken, saying, ‘The dogs will eat Jezebel in the district of Jezreel.’ The one belonging to Ahab, who dies in the city, the dogs will eat, and the one who dies in the field the birds of heaven will eat.”

“Surely there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the LORD, because Jezebel his wife incited him. He acted very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the LORD cast out before the sons of Israel.

“It came about when Ahab heard these words, that he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and fasted, and he lay in sackcloth and went about despondently. Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the evil in his days, but I will bring the evil upon his house in his son’s days.’”

The era of the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel is recounted in 1 & 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles (I note the kings of Judah in bold and the kings of Israel in bold italics).

I include housekeeping details daily for those who have newly joined this study. I usually try to schedule the timing of each day’s post so there is consistency, but sometimes I fail due to my own schedule. If you are looking for the day’s reading earlier than the post is available, you can always search for the same day’s reading from last year.

An overview of our yearly Bible reading plan, with all edited summaries so far, can be found here. My appeal for the resolution to read your Bibles is here. My challenge for us to read in wonder, recognizing the Bible is true and has consequence for our lives is here.

I use blueletterBible.org (NASB95) as my Bible study tool.

I do find typos in my writing after the fact. I schedule these posts early, but always re-read and edit them on the morning they’re posted. So, if you notice a lot of typos in an email version, just check back on Substack for an edited version (you can tell the timing of my editing by when I post the day’s reading and prayer on X: @KDMilhoanMD. If you found this study this way, praise God, and…welcome!)

June 29 chronological reading: 1 Kings 22, 2 Chronicles 18

1 Kings 22

v1-4 “Three years passed without war between Aram and Israel. In the third year Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel. Now the king of Israel said to his servants, ‘Do you know that Ramoth-gilead belongs to us, and we are still doing nothing to take it out of the hand of the king of Aram?’ And he said to Jehoshaphat, ‘Will you go with me to battle at Ramoth-gilead?’ And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, ‘I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.’

v5-12 “Moreover, Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, ‘Please inquire first for the word of the LORD.’ Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, ‘Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead to battle or shall I refrain?’ And they said, ‘Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.’ But Jehoshaphat said, ‘Is there not yet a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of him?’ The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD, but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.’ But Jehoshaphat said, ‘Let not the king say so.’ Then the king of Israel called an officer and said, ‘Bring quickly Micaiah son of Imlah.’ Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting each on his throne, arrayed in their robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets were prophesying before them. Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made horns of iron for himself and said, ‘Thus says the LORD, “With these you will gore the Arameans until they are consumed.”’ All the prophets were prophesying thus, saying, ‘Go up to Ramoth-gilead and prosper, for the LORD will give it into the hand of the king.’

v13-14 “Then the messenger who went to summon Micaiah spoke to him saying, ‘Behold now, the words of the prophets are uniformly favorable to the king. Please let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.’ But Micaiah said, ‘As the LORD lives, what the LORD says to me, that I shall speak.’

v15-17 “When he came to the king, the king said to him, ‘Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we refrain?’ And he answered him, ‘Go up and succeed, and the LORD will give it into the hand of the king.’ Then the king said to him, ‘How many times must I adjure you to speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?’ So he said,
‘I saw all Israel
Scattered on the mountains,
Like sheep which have no shepherd.
And the LORD said, “These have no master.
Let each of them return to his house in peace.”’

v18 “Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?’

v19-23 “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 Him on His right and on His left. The LORD said, “Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?” And one said this while another said that. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said, “I will entice him.” The LORD said to him, “How?” And he said, “I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.” Then He said, “You are to entice him and also prevail. Go and do so.” Now therefore, behold, the LORD has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and the LORD has proclaimed disaster against you.’

v24-28 “Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, ‘How did the Spirit of the LORD pass from me to speak to you?’ Micaiah said, ‘Behold, you shall see on that day when you enter an inner room to hide yourself.’ Then the king of Israel said, ‘Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son; and say, “Thus says the king, ‘Put this man in prison and feed him sparingly with bread and water until I return safely.’”’ Micaiah said, ‘If you indeed return safely the LORD has not spoken by me.’ And he said, ‘Listen, all you people.’

v29-33 “So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up against Ramoth-gilead. The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘I will disguise myself and go into the battle, but you put on your robes.’ So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle. Now the king of Aram had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, ‘Do not fight with small or great, but with the king of Israel alone.’ So when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, ‘Surely it is the king of Israel,’ and they turned aside to fight against him, and Jehoshaphat cried out. When the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.

v34-36 “Now a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel in a joint of the armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, ‘Turn around and take me out of the fight; for I am severely wounded.’ The battle raged that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot in front of the Arameans, and died at evening, and the blood from the wound ran into the bottom of the chariot. Then a cry passed throughout the army close to sunset, saying, ‘Every man to his city and every man to his country.’

v37-40 “So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried the king in Samaria. They washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood (now the harlots bathed themselves there), according to the word of the LORD which He spoke. Now the rest of the acts of Ahab and all that he did and the ivory house which he built and all the cities which he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? So Ahab slept with his fathers, and Ahaziah his son became king in his place.

v41-44 “Now Jehoshaphat the son of Asa became king over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. He walked in all the way of Asa his father; he did not turn aside from it, doing right in the sight of the LORD. However, the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burnt incense on the high places. Jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of Israel.

v45-46 “Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might which he showed and how he warred, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? The remnant of the sodomites who remained in the days of his father Asa, he expelled from the land.

v47-50 “Now there was no king in Edom; a deputy was king. Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they did not go for the ships were broken at Ezion-geber. Then Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, ‘Let my servants go with your servants in the ships.’ But Jehoshaphat was not willing. And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of his father David, and Jehoram his son became king in his place.

v51-53 “Ahaziah the son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned two years over Israel. He 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 caused Israel to sin. So he served Baal and worshiped him and provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger, according to all that his father had done.”

2 Chronicles 18

v1-3 “Now Jehoshaphat had great riches and honor; and he allied himself by marriage with Ahab. Some years later he went down to visit Ahab at Samaria. And Ahab slaughtered many sheep and oxen for him and the people who were with him, and induced him to go up against Ramoth-gilead. Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, ‘Will you go with me against Ramoth-gilead?’ And he said to him, ‘I am as you are, and my people as your people, and we will be with you in the battle.’

v4-7 “Moreover, Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, ‘Please inquire first for the word of the LORD.’ Then the king of Israel assembled the prophets, four hundred men, and said to them, ‘Shall we go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I refrain?’ And they said, ‘Go up, for God will give it into the hand of the king.’ But Jehoshaphat said, ‘Is there not yet a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of him?’ The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD, but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil. He is Micaiah, son of Imla.’ But Jehoshaphat said, ‘Let not the king say so.’

v8-11 “Then the king of Israel called an officer and said, ‘Bring quickly Micaiah, Imla’s son.’ Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting each on his throne, arrayed in their robes, and they were sitting at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets were prophesying before them. Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made horns of iron for himself and said, ‘Thus says the LORD, “With these you shall gore the Arameans until they are consumed.”’ All the prophets were prophesying thus, saying, ‘Go up to Ramoth-gilead and succeed, for the LORD will give it into the hand of the king.’

v12-13 “Then the messenger who went to summon Micaiah spoke to him saying, ‘Behold, the words of the prophets are uniformly favorable to the king. So please let your word be like one of them and speak favorably.’ But Micaiah said, ‘As the LORD lives, what my God says, that I will speak.’

v14-16 “When he came to the king, the king said to him, ‘Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I refrain?’ He said, ‘Go up and succeed, for they will be given into your hand.’ Then the king said to him, ‘How many times must I adjure you to speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?’ So he said,
‘I saw all Israel
Scattered on the mountains,
Like sheep which have no shepherd;
And the LORD said,
“These have no master.
Let each of them return to his house in peace.”’

v17 “Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?’

v18-22 “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 and on His left. The LORD said, “Who will entice Ahab king of Israel to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?” And one said this while another said that. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said, “I will entice him.” And the LORD said to him, “How?” He said, “I will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.” Then He said, “You are to entice him and prevail also. Go and do so.” Now therefore, behold, the LORD has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of these your prophets, for the LORD has proclaimed disaster against you.’

v23-27 “Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, ‘How did the Spirit of the LORD pass from me to speak to you?’ Micaiah said, ‘Behold, you will see on that day when you enter an inner room to hide yourself.’ Then the king of Israel said, ‘Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son; and say, “Thus says the king, ‘Put this man in prison and feed him sparingly with bread and water until I return safely.’”’ Micaiah said, ‘If you indeed return safely, the LORD has not spoken by me.’ And he said, ‘Listen, all you people.’

v28-34 “So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up against Ramoth-gilead. 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. Now the king of Aram had commanded the captains of his chariots, saying, ‘Do not fight with small or great, but with the king of Israel alone.’ So when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, ‘It is the king of Israel,’ and they turned aside to fight against him. But Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him, and God diverted them from him. When the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. A certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel in a joint of the armor. So he said to the driver of the chariot, ‘Turn around and take me out of the fight, for I am severely wounded.’ The battle raged that day, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot in front of the Arameans until the evening; and at sunset he died.”

June 29 OT/NT readings: Job 16-18, Acts 9:1-22

The text of Job 16 is available on Day 7 of the chronological plan, and the text of Job 17-18 is available on Day 8.

The events in the book of Job took place around or before the time of Abraham, chronologically interrupting the book of Genesis, thus it was early in the chronology of history and the Bible that the LORD used Job to teach us so many things about the ways of God and Satan, the sovereignty of God, and the futility of questioning God.

God allowed Satan to challenge Him by taking Job’s children, wealth, and health, trusting that Job would not curse Him. Job was “blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil,” and, in his misery, he had not sinned or blamed God. Job’s three friends (Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite) came to comfort Job in his misery, sitting quietly with him for seven days. But when Job opened his mouth in lament, his friends could not resist talking back to him. This began a series of conversations between Job and his friends, where the friends basically try to convince Job he is suffering because of sin. I have warned that the friends aren’t always correct in what they say, as evidenced by their getting reprimanded by God in the end.

So far, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zohar have all spoken, encouraging Job to seek God about whatever sin has caused God to bring this suffering upon him. Job has rebuked his friends for their lack of sympathy, and acknowledged the sovereignty of God in all things. He did start to demand of God, however: “I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me; Let me know why You contend with me.’” In our reading yesterday, Job told his friends, “I would speak to the Almighty, And I desire to argue with God. But you smear with lies; You are all worthless physicians.” He did say, “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him.”

Eliphaz answered Job for the second time yesterday, with harsher accusation: “you do away with reverence And hinder meditation before God. For your guilt teaches your mouth, And you choose the language of the crafty.” Eliphaz believes that the wicked are punished in life. Today we’ll read Job’s answer to him, as well as another retort from Bildad.

We are reading the book of Acts in the New Testament plan. This account by Luke began after Jesus’ resurrection and before His ascension into heaven. Luke summarized about his Gospel account, “The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen.” Remember Luke wrote about that first account to Theophilus, “having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, [I wrote] it out for you in consecutive order…so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.”

After the stoning of Stephen, the first martyr, persecution arose “against the church in Jerusalem…they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles,” and “those who had been scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them.” His preaching was confirmed by signs and wonders. “For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed.” When “they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike.” Yesterday, we read that after this, “an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, ‘Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.’” Philip met an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who had gone up to Jerusalem to worship. He was sitting in his chariot reading Isaiah 53. The Spirit told Philip to join his chariot, and “beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.” The eunuch asked if he could be baptized, and Peter told him, “‘If you believe with all your heart, you may.’ And he answered and said, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’…When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea.”

Today, we return to the story of Saul, at whose feet “the witnesses laid aside their robes” at the stoning of Stephen. “Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death,” and “Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.”

A summary of the book of Acts, which is really a summary of the rest of the New Testament, including when all the letters of the apostles were written, is here.

Acts 9

v1-9 “Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ And he said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.’ The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

v10-19a “Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, ‘Ananias.’ And he said, ‘Here I am, Lord.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.’ But Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.’ But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.’ So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; and he took food and was strengthened.

v19b-22 “Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God.’ All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, ‘Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?’ But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ.”

Dear Lord,

there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”…the Lord said to him, “Go”…So Ananias departed….“Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus…has sent me”

May we be like Ananias, willing to listen and obey You, even when it’s frightening. What a gift for him that He was sent on behalf of Jesus to minister to Saul. Thank You that You use us to share Your message, and to minister to and encourage our brothers and sisters. Help us to be faithful.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.