Day 187, July 6: Bible reading & prayer
2 Kings 14, 2 Chronicles 25 (chronological); Job 33-34, Acts 13:24-52 (OT/NT)
I appreciate the days we are able to read parallel stories in both Kings and Chronicles. Yesterday was such a day, when we read parallel accounts of Joash (also called Jehoash), who became king of Judah when he was seven years old, after the fall of the house of Ahab according to the word of the LORD at the hands of Jehu and the killing of Athaliah, daughter of Ahab, who had inappropriately reigned over Judah after killing all of her son the king’s sons. It was Athaliah’s daughter and son-in-law, Jehoiada the priest, who had been faithful to save the life of Joash and hide him from Athaliah. We read the account of the restoration of Joash yesterday in 2 Kings, and also on Day 181 in 2 Chronicles, where Jehoiada declared his resolve: “Behold, the king’s son shall reign, as the LORD has spoken concerning the sons of David” (2 Chronicles 23:3).
Jehoiada the priest was faithful and had a profound influence on Joash: “Jehoash did right in the sight of the LORD all his days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him.” During this time, Joash restored the house of the LORD, for “the sons of the wicked Athaliah had broken into the house of God and even used the holy things of the house of the LORD for the Baals.” They even made “utensils for the house of the LORD, utensils for the service and the burnt offering, and pans and utensils of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the LORD continually all the days of Jehoiada.” When Jehoiada died, they “buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done well in Israel and to God and His house.”
What happened after Jehoiada’s death is utterly heartbreaking:
But after the death of Jehoiada the officials of Judah came and bowed down to the king, and the king listened to them. They abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols; so wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guilt. Yet He sent prophets to them to bring them back to the LORD; though they testified against them, they would not listen.
Then the Spirit of God came on Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people and said to them, “Thus God has said, ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD and do not prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He has also forsaken you.’” So they conspired against him and at the command of the king they stoned him to death in the court of the house of the LORD. Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which his father Jehoiada had shown him, but he murdered his son. And as he died he said, “May the LORD see and avenge!”
Israel had long been at war with Aram, but after the murder of Jehoiada’s son Zechariah, the Arameans came against Judah. “Jehoash king of Judah took all the sacred things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own sacred things and all the gold that was found among the treasuries of the house of the LORD and of the king’s house, and sent them to Hazael king of Aram.” How many times have we read about the treasures in the house of the LORD being restored, and then being given away again? Then the Arameans “destroyed all the officials of the people from among the people, and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus. Indeed the army of the Arameans came with a small number of men; yet the LORD delivered a very great army into their hands, because they had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers. Thus they executed judgment on Joash….his own servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and murdered him on his bed….they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings….Then Amaziah his son became king in his place.”
Another reminder, regarding the house of Jehu. Jehu acted right in fulfilling the judgment of the LORD on the house of Ahab, however he continued to follow in the sin of the first king of Israel, Jeroboam, by continuing the worship of golden calves in Bethel and Dan. The LORD had pronounced to Jehu, “your sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.” So, Jehoahaz succeeded him first, but he “did evil in the sight of the LORD, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat….So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and He gave them continually into the hand of Hazael king of Aram, and into the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael.”
An aside about the kings of Aram (Damascus): Hadad was raised up by the LORD as an enemy to Solomon (1 Kings 11:14-25), because Solomon worshiped other gods. His son was Ben-hadad. Ben-hadad was killed by Hazael, who became king in his place. Interesting that Hazael then named his own son Ben-hadad. All the kings of Aram were used by the LORD as enemies of both Israel and Judah because of their sins.
Despite the sin of His people, the LORD demonstrated His willingness to be merciful: “Then Jehoahaz entreated the favor of the LORD, and the LORD listened to him; for He saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Aram oppressed them. The LORD gave Israel a deliverer, so that they escaped from under the hand of the Arameans; and the sons of Israel lived in their tents as formerly. Nevertheless they did not turn away from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, with which he made Israel sin, but walked in them; and the Asherah also remained standing in Samaria. For he left to Jehoahaz of the army not more than fifty horsemen and ten chariots and 10,000 footmen, for the king of Aram had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing.”
When Jehoahaz died, his son Joash succeeded him. Joash went to Elisha the prophet when he “became sick with the illness of which he was to die.” The proof that Elisha had received a double portion of Elijah’s spirit was when he saw Elijah taken up to heaven. At that moment, he declared, “the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” So, Joash made this declaration, evidently appealing for favor from Elisha. Elisha had Joash shoot an arrow out a window, declaring, “The LORD’S arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Aram.” He then had him strike an arrow on the ground. He struck three times, but Elisha told him, “You should have struck five or six times, then you would have struck Aram until you would have destroyed it. But now you shall strike Aram only three times.”
“Elisha died, and they buried him.” One last miracle regarding Elisha: “Now the bands of the Moabites would invade the land in the spring of the year. As they were burying a man, behold, they saw a marauding band; and they cast the man into the grave of Elisha. And when the man touched the bones of Elisha he revived and stood up on his feet.”
Now Hazael king of Aram had oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion on them and turned to them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them or cast them from His presence until now. When Hazael king of Aram died, Ben-hadad his son became king in his place. Then Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again from the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael the cities which he had taken in war from the hand of Jehoahaz his father. Three times Joash defeated him and recovered the cities of Israel.”
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!)
July 6 chronological reading: 2 Kings 14, 2 Chronicles 25
2 Kings 14
v1-6 “In the second year of Joash son of Joahaz king of Israel, Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah became king. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem. He did right in the sight of the LORD, yet not like David his father; he did according to all that Joash his father had done. Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. Now it came about, as soon as the kingdom was firmly in his hand, that he killed his servants who had slain the king his father. But the sons of the slayers he did not put to death, according to what is written in the book of the Law of Moses, as the LORD commanded, saying, ‘The fathers shall not be put to death for the sons, nor the sons be put to death for the fathers; but each shall be put to death for his own sin.’
v7 “He killed of Edom in the Valley of Salt 10,000 and took Sela by war, and named it Joktheel to this day.
v8-10 “Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, ‘Come, let us face each other.’ Jehoash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, ‘The thorn bush which was in Lebanon sent to the cedar which was in Lebanon, saying, “Give your daughter to my son in marriage.” But there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trampled the thorn bush. Enjoy your glory and stay at home; for why should you provoke trouble so that you, even you, would fall, and Judah with you?’
v11-14 “But Amaziah would not listen. So Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah. Judah was defeated by Israel, and they fled each to his tent. Then Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and came to Jerusalem and tore down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate,400 cubits. He took all the gold and silver and all the utensils which were found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasuries of the king’s house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.
v15-16 “Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his might and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? So Jehoash slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son became king in his place.
v17-22 “Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel. Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? They conspired against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there. Then they brought him on horses and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David. All the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah. He built Elath and restored it to Judah after the king slept with his fathers.
v23-27 “In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel became king in Samaria, and reigned forty-one years. He did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin. He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which He spoke through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher. For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, which was very bitter; for there was neither bond nor free, nor was there any helper for Israel. The LORD did not say that He would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, but He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.
v28-29 “Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam and all that he did and his might, how he fought and how he recovered for Israel, Damascus and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel, and Zechariah his son became king in his place.”
2 Chronicles 25
v1-4 “Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. He did right in the sight of the LORD, yet not with a whole heart. Now it came about as soon as the kingdom was firmly in his grasp, that he killed his servants who had slain his father the king. However, he did not put their children to death, but did as it is written in the law in the book of Moses, which the LORD commanded, saying, ‘Fathers shall not be put to death for sons, nor sons be put to death for fathers, but each shall be put to death for his own sin.’
v5-10 “Moreover, Amaziah assembled Judah and appointed them according to their fathers’ households under commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds throughout Judah and Benjamin; and he took a census of those from twenty years old and upward and found them to be 300,000 choice men, able to go to war and handle spear and shield. He hired also 100,000 valiant warriors out of Israel for one hundred talents of silver. But a man of God came to him saying, ‘O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the LORD is not with Israel nor with any of the sons of Ephraim. But if you do go, do it, be strong for the battle; yet God will bring you down before the enemy, for God has power to help and to bring down.’ Amaziah said to the man of God, ‘But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the troops of Israel?’ And the man of God answered, ‘The LORD has much more to give you than this.’ Then Amaziah dismissed them, the troops which came to him from Ephraim, to go home; so their anger burned against Judah and they returned home in fierce anger.
v11-13 “Now Amaziah strengthened himself and led his people forth, and went to the Valley of Salt and struck down 10,000 of the sons of Seir. The sons of Judah also captured 10,000 alive and brought them to the top of the cliff and threw them down from the top of the cliff, so that they were all dashed to pieces. But the troops whom Amaziah sent back from going with him to battle, raided the cities of Judah, from Samaria to Beth-horon, and struck down 3,000 of them and plundered much spoil.
v14-16 “Now after Amaziah came from slaughtering the Edomites, he brought the gods of the sons of Seir, set them up as his gods, bowed down before them and burned incense to them. Then the anger of the LORD burned against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet who said to him, ‘Why have you sought the gods of the people who have not delivered their own people from your hand?’ As he was talking with him, the king said to him, ‘Have we appointed you a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down?’ Then the prophet stopped and said, ‘I know that God has planned to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.’
v17-19 “Then Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent to Joash the son of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu, the king of Israel, saying, ‘Come, let us face each other.’ Joash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, ‘The thorn bush which was in Lebanon sent to the cedar which was in Lebanon, saying, '“Give your daughter to my son in marriage.” But there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon and trampled the thorn bush. You said, “Behold, you have defeated Edom.” And your heart has become proud in boasting. Now stay at home; for why should you provoke trouble so that you, even you, would fall and Judah with you?’
v20-24 “But Amaziah would not listen, for it was from God, that He might deliver them into the hand of Joash because they had sought the gods of Edom. So Joash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other at Beth-shemesh, which belonged to Judah. Judah was defeated by Israel, and they fled each to his tent. Then Joash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem and tore down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, 400 cubits. He took all the gold and silver and all the utensils which were found in the house of God with Obed-edom, and the treasures of the king’s house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.
v25-28 “And Amaziah, the son of Joash king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Joash, son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, from first to last, behold, are they not written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel? From the time that Amaziah turned away from following the LORD they conspired against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there. Then they brought him on horses and buried him with his fathers in the city of Judah.”
July 6 OT/NT readings: Job 33-34, Acts 13:24-52
The text of Job 33-34 is available on Day 12 of the chronological reading plan.
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 weren’t always correct in what they said, as evidenced by their getting reprimanded by God in the end.
Job’s friends talked to him for three rounds, trying to convince him of his sin and to present evidence that the wicked receive punishment from God in life. In the first two rounds, Eliphaz then Bildad and then Zophar all spoke. In the third round, Eliphaz opened, Job’s answers got longer and longer, Bildad only gave a short response, and Zophar had no response in this round. We read six chapters of Job’s last response to his three friends. In the end, he continued to assert his integrity, but demanded, “ Oh that I had one to hear me! Behold, here is my signature; Let the Almighty answer me!” And we finally read, “The words of Job are ended.”
Then these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. But the anger of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram burned; against Job his anger burned because he justified himself before God. And his anger burned against his three friends because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job. Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were years older than he. And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three men his anger burned. So Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite spoke out.
Job’s last response to his friends was six chapters. When Elihu finally starts speaking, his is a six chapter response as well, which we’ll continue today. Yesterday we read his assertion, “I thought age should speak, And increased years should teach wisdom. But it is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding. The abundant in years may not be wise, Nor may elders understand justice.”
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.”
In our reading yesterday, “Saul, who was also known as Paul” started his first missionary journey. Barnabas had brought him to Antioch. He and Barnabas had gone to Jerusalem to take a donation. They brought John Mark back to Antioch with them. While prophets and teachers in Antioch “were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus. When they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had John as their helper.” After this, “Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia; but John left them and returned to Jerusalem,” which will become a point of later controversy.
They “arrived at Pisidian Antioch, and on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue.” Paul was invited to speak, and we read his introduction yesterday. I included it again today because it is another great summation of the history of Israel about which we have been reading, both in the chronological and Old Testament plans.
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 13
v17-25 “The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He led them out from it. For a period of about forty years He put up with them in the wilderness. When He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land as an inheritance—all of which took about four hundred and fifty years. After these things He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. After He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, “I HAVE FOUND DAVID the son of Jesse, A MAN AFTER MY HEART, who will do all My will.” From the descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, after John had proclaimed before His coming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And while John was completing his course, he kept saying, “What do you suppose that I am? I am not He. But behold, one is coming after me the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.”
v26-41 ‘Brethren, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent. For those who live in Jerusalem, and their rulers, recognizing neither Him nor the utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled these by condemning Him. And though they found no ground for putting Him to death, they asked Pilate that He be executed. When they had carried out all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb. But God raised Him from the dead; and for many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now His witnesses to the people. And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, “YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.” As for the fact that He raised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: “I WILL GIVE YOU THE HOLY and SURE blessings OF DAVID.” Therefore He also says in another Psalm, “YOU WILL NOT ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY.” For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay; but He whom God raised did not undergo decay. Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses. Therefore take heed, so that the thing spoken of in the Prophets may not come upon you:
“BEHOLD, YOU SCOFFERS, AND MARVEL, AND PERISH;
FOR I AM ACCOMPLISHING A WORK IN YOUR DAYS,
A WORK WHICH YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE, THOUGH SOMEONE SHOULD DESCRIBE IT TO YOU.”’
v42-43 “As Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people kept begging that these things might be spoken to them the next Sabbath. Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and of the God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, were urging them to continue in the grace of God.
v44-47 “The next Sabbath nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming. Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, ‘It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us,
“I HAVE PLACED YOU AS A LIGHT FOR THE GENTILES,
THAT YOU MAY BRING SALVATION TO THE END OF THE EARTH.”’
v48-52 “When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region. But the Jews incited the devout women of prominence and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. But they shook off the dust of their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”
Dear Lord,
“let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.”
We praise You for this good news!
In Jesus’ name, Amen.