365 Reflections

The most helpful thing about reading the Bible is to learn about the many times God's people were almost done for and it turned out fine or even better than expected in the end. Isaiah 36 introduces us to a moment in Judah's history where it seems that their history is almost over.  Isaiah 36:1 (ESV) In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. Have you ever sensed the enemy standing at your door? And I'm not talking about your front door. I'm talking about your bedroom door. He's taken ground, he's encroached upon your life and you feel overwhelmed by a sense of seeming inevitable end. You will be there. It happens to some of God's best. In this case, it happens to Hezekiah. For the first time since the first verse of Isaiah's writing, Hezekiah's name shows up in the text. It is quite interesting that it happens to show up at the dark moment of Sennacherib'...

The sovereignty of God is one of the most profound mysteries we will ever encounter in the life of faith. That God reigns over all things, even the evil and deadly things, troubles every armchair theologian, as well as many serious scholars. You've wrestled with it as well. If you've ever wondered why evil exists if God is all good, you're actually asking about His sovereignty. If you wonder why bad things happen to good people, you've wrestled with His sovereignty. If you wonder how God can elect some to salvation and demand people respond in repentance for their sins, you've wrestled with His sovereignty.  And yet Biblical writers have absolutely no problem talking about God's sovereignty over the affairs of the world - even the affairs that trouble us. Consider the agent of God's judgment against Israel, the nation of Assyria. They decimated Syria and stood poised to bring trouble upon the Northern kingdom of Israel. Here's how Isaiah describes that n...

Let me BEGIN this post by saying my book is finally out and you can order it today: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08L45B6ZN/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0  I'm very proud of that work and would love to help you move with God! Back to our Bible Study: One thing is certain with the Kings of Israel and Judah: they all fail in the end. There is not one king who does what is right and just the entire time he rules. Such is the case also of Asa who began his reign in righteousness and continued that way for a very large portion of it but he too failed the people by failing to trust in the Lord.  What's amazing is that it was not some great threat against Asa that derailed him. In fact, it was Israel to the North who threatened him and sent him scurrying off to a foreign leader for political favors: 2 Chronicles 16:1 (ESV) In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might permit no one to go out or c...

During Asa's reign, the prophet Azariah shows up on the scene with a simple offer from the Lord: 2 Chronicles 15:1–2 (ESV) The Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded, 2 and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The LORD is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. I think about this simple offer. If you want God, be with God. That's all it takes. Use time in your day to ask Him to accompany you through the day. Do not walk away from Him, walk with Him. What a glorious opportunity. But what was the reason for this word from the prophet for Asa? We have already read of his reforms of the country. We have read of his righteous desire to purge the land of idolatry. Remember from the last chapter: 2 Chronicles 14:5 (ESV) He also took out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him. So what was ...

We begin to enter a period of 2 Chronicles where the testimony of Israel's past seems to be whitewashed concerning the kings of Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel. Where the books of 1 & 2 Kings reveal spiritually dark times, the Chronicler finds the light still shining. The first example of this is the reign of Abjiah (In 1 Kings he's named Abijam). 2 Chronicles 13:1 (ESV) In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah began to reign over Judah. One of Abijah's first experiences is a war with the North under Jeroboam. And in the midst of dark prospects, Abijah stands up to address the nation.  2 Chronicles 13:4–8 (ESV) Then Abijah stood up on Mount Zemaraim that is in the hill country of Ephraim and said, “Hear me, O Jeroboam and all Israel! 5 Ought you not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt? 6 Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelle...

1 Chronicles 1:1–4 (ESV) Adam, Seth, Enosh; 2 Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared; 3 Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech; 4 Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. I was tempted to skip over the long and seemingly ambiguous genealogical records of the first several chapters of 1 Chronicles. But I remember "all scripture is God-breathed and profitable." So here we are and in four verses I get an idea of what is happening in 1 Chronicles from the start.   Israel will produce the books of 1 and 2 Chronicles during their return from Exile in Babylon. The narrative of 1 & 2 Kings ends with the nation cast into exile and we aren't given the contextual details of 1 Chronicles on the first page because Israel had greater issues to deal with as they made their way back to the Promised Land after 70 years.  How do you live again where you once died?  To answer that question, Chronicles takes Isreal's exiles on a journey to where they come from. We must note the book does not open with Abraham but rather...

I don't know about you, but I want to stand for God when no one else does and when all hell breaks loose. I really do. But there are times it gets challenging and the temptation to compromise is real and I often take it in subtle ways.  If you feel the same way, the story of Hezekiah is for you.  Hezekiah comes to the throne of Judah after a long dark period in Israel's history. Scripture recounts the testimony of his deep trust in the Lord in spite of what his predecessor did and the neighboring nations were doing. 2 Kings 18:5–8 (ESV)  He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. 6 For he held fast to the LORD. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses. 7 And the LORD was with him ; wherever he went out, he prospered . He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him. 8 He struck down the Philistin...

There are a troubling few verses in 1 Kings 15 that took me a while to truly comprehend. Two successive kings in Judah are mentioned. One is evil (the Father) and one is righteous, seeking the Lord (the Son). And here's the worst part: They both have the same mother. 1 Kings 15:1–3 (ESV) Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah. 2 He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom . 3 And he walked in all the sins that his father did before him, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father. 1 Kings 15:9–11 (ESV) In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah, 10 and he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. 11 And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as David his father had done. It would seem incest was prevalent in the reign of A...

David's song of thanksgiving for God's deliverance continues here in 2 Samuel 22.  Here in verses 26-28, he makes a statement that illustrates God's dealings with men. 2 Samuel 22:26–28 (ESV)   “With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless; 27 with the purified you deal purely, and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous. 28 You save a humble people, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down. Please take note, God does NOT respond the same way to all people. He reveals different sides of His nature to different kinds of people.  I consider that many people get exactly what they expect from God. If they expect Him to be tortuous, He will be. Yet if they expect Him to be merciful and good, He will be. Notice that David ends with the humble person. God's salvation power works for those who remain reliant on Him. The interesting thing here for David is that he sees God's goodness work for hi...

At the end of the battle between David and Absalom, we see David's experience, humility, and commitment to empowering leaders beyond himself proving to be the difference. The text wants us to see how David goes to work putting the right battle plan in place versus Absalom. He has established and experienced leaders to give charge of the men. These are men David has believed in and shaped. 2 Samuel 18:1–2 (ESV)  Then David mustered the men who were with him and set over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. 2 And David sent out the army, one third under the command of Joab, one third under the command of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, and one third under the command of Ittai the Gittite . And the king said to the men, “I myself will also go out with you.” Notice Ittai the Gittite, who only recently joined David, in fact, the day before David fled the city! Now that same Ittai will command one-third of the entire army. That's called trust! Dav...

David's kingdom is at hand. His enemies are growing smaller and his following is growing larger. On top of this, defection from Saul's ranks is on the horizon. All things seem to be coming together for David. So it's really sad to see what happens early on in his reign at Hebron. For just when the Lord is about to bring His kingdom to fulness, David begins building the kingdom on his own terms with his own imaginations. 2 Samuel 3:2–5 (ESV)   And sons were born to David at Hebron : his firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam of Jezreel; 3 and his second, Chileab, of Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; 4 and the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; 5 and the sixth, Ithream, of Eglah, David’s wife. These were born to David in Hebron. Now David is doing what ancient kings NORMALLY did in those days. Sons for a King in the ancient world were emblem...

David put a lot of men to death during his life. He killed Goliath, he raided the land of Israel constantly. He seemed to be surrounded by blood. But there's one death we kind of skim over in reading the Bible that we should pause to take notice of. At the end of 1 Samuel David has raided the Amalekites and won back his property and wives and those of his men. At the same time, the Philistines overcome Saul and he attempts suicide. Evidently, he failed. We pick up the report from the young man who was there: 2 Samuel 1:6–10 (ESV)  And the young man who told him (David) said, “By chance I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul leaning on his spear, and behold, the chariots and the horsemen were close upon him. 7 And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called to me. And I answered, ‘Here I am.’ 8 And he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’ 9 And he said to me, ‘Stand beside me and kill me, for anguish has seized me, and yet my life still...

For a second time in the book of 1 Samuel and only 2 chapters removed from the first event, David is given the opportunity to take Saul's life. Yet for a second time, he will not take the bait and trust his life and times to the providential hand of God. 1 Samuel 26:8–11 (ESV) Then Abishai said to David, “God has given your enemy into your hand this day. Now please let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice.” 9 But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless?” 10 And David said, “As the LORD lives, the LORD will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish. 11 The LORD forbid that I should put out my hand against the LORD’s anointed. But take now the spear that is at his head and the jar of water, and let us go.” I don't know if I would have exercised the same self-control David does here. He is a man of the word. ...

David learns one of his most valuable lessons in 1 Samuel 25. Saul only gave him lip-service of peace. David has more worries now than before. So when the Nabal incident occurs, you can see why he's so angered. Abigail's words are pure poetry and heavenly wisdom to David: 1 Samuel 25:28–29 (ESV)   Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the Lord , and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live. 29 If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the Lord your God. And the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. David is assured that the Lord will repay his troubles on those who trouble him. David needs this reminder now more than ever. For the man who anointed him to be king in place of Saul is gone. He needs wisdom in these final days as Saul's...

It is no secret that  Israel is a mess by the end of Judges. They have a civil war brewing in the wake of the events of Judges 19. The man whose concubine was killed shares edited details of the story to garner support for a retributive attack on the Benjaminites. Judges 20:4–5 (ESV) And the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, “I came to Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night. 5 And the leaders of Gibeah rose against me and surrounded the house against me by night. They meant to kill me, and they violated my concubine, and she is dead. Note the lack of informing them HE offered her to them so he could save his own skin. His statements betray the root problem of Israel - "pride." God is going to her bring low. The tribe of Benjamin, we find out is strong and skilled with slings. They are also fortified in the highland. As the battle commences, we see Israel slowly be humbled by God through a series o...

The end of Samson's life looks like a terrible subscript written at the end of a movie which already seemed to end with tragedy. He is blinded bound and forced to work, grinding grain for the very people God called him to defeat. He has become physically what Israel is nationally - blind, bound and ground by their enemies. Now if you remember, the sequence of the famous Judges' cycle it is that Israel would sin, get enslaved and then cry out to God. God would respond with a judge and deliver them for a time until the cycle repeated once more. In the Samson cycle, there all the elements minus the people crying out to God for deliverance. Yet God raises up Samson and it seems clear Samson is not just a historical story but a picture of Israel's descent into the morbid slave-state vassal of Philistines. So I consider God is using this story not only to instigate the nation's deliverance but to awaken them to pray for His help EVEN when they seem to least deserve it! ...

Judges 9 does not paint a happy picture of the nation. You have the lone step-brother of Gideon's children (Abimelech) slaughter his 70 half-brothers on one stone. You have an uprising against that same man by the very people he appealed to for power. You have one massacre after another until a chance milestone throw takes out Abimelech once and for all. It's a sad chapter without mention of the Covenant name of the Lord. In fact, the only time God is mentioned is at the beginning of the insurrection against Abimelech and at the end of the matter to summarize His purposes: Judges 9:23 (ESV)   And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, Judges 9:56–57 (ESV) 56 Thus God returned the evil of Abimelech, which he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers. 57 And God also made all the evil of the men of Shechem return on their heads, and upon them came the cu...

Deuteronomy 4:5–8 (ESV) S ee, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 6 Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ 7 For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? 8 And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today? The Word of God created the Heavens and the Earth. The Word of the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt regardless of what Pharaoh said, decreed or did. The Word of the Lord sustained Israel through 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.  The Word of the Lord is good.  Deuteronomy calls us to hear God's word over 100 times. That says...

What do you do when life leads to places where you cannot be all God expects you to be? The answer lies in Numbers 9. Israel is about to celebrate the Passover for the first time since it's origination in Egypt. This is the meal that would define them as a people and ultimately point to Christ as the final Passover Lamb of God. The passover meal taught Israel how God was their hope in bitter circumstances, how they had been spared by God's elective grace from His wrath. The Passover was also a time to gather in homes and share a meal, learning to be a community of love in the care of their God and one another. The Passover was the most important meal of the year. But what about those who could not celebrate Passover because of less than perfect conditions? Numbers 9:6–8 (ESV) And there were certain men who were unclean through touching a dead body, so that they could not keep the Passover on that day, and they came before Moses and Aaron on that day. 7 And those men said ...

Leviticus 12:1–5 (ESV) The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If a woman conceives and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days. As at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. 3 And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. 4 Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed. 5 But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation. And she shall continue in the blood of her purifying for sixty-six days. Sin comes from without and within. That is the lesson here in Leviticus 12. Where chapter 11 deals primarily with those things outside of man that pollute him or bring contamination, so too there are things (normal things) that come out of us that will pollute us before God. How does God communicate this to His people? ...