O. Addison Gethers e-mail address : [email protected] or [email protected] window live messenger: [email protected] aim: durangoadd64 skype: cowboys62 yahoo messenger: OADDISONGETHERS
----- Original Message ----- From: "Donnie Parrett" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, April 17, 2009 11:50 PM Subject: Daily Bible Reading For Saturday April 18 >2 Kings 16-18 (The Message) > > 2 Kings 16 > Ahaz of Judah > 1-4 In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham > became king of Judah. Ahaz > was twenty years old when he became king and he ruled for sixteen years in > Jerusalem. He didn't > behave in the eyes of his God; he wasn't at all like his ancestor David. > Instead he followed in the > track of the kings of Israel. He even indulged in the outrageous practice > of "passing his son > through the fire"-a truly abominable act he picked up from the pagans God > had earlier thrown out of > the country. He also participated in the activities of the neighborhood > sex-and-religion shrines > that flourished all over the place. > 5 Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel ganged > up against Jerusalem, > throwing a siege around the city, but they couldn't make further headway > against Ahaz. > > 6 At about this same time and on another front, the king of Edom recovered > the port of Elath and > expelled the men of Judah. The Edomites occupied Elath and have been there > ever since. > > 7-8 Ahaz sent envoys to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria with this message: > "I'm your servant and > your son. Come and save me from the heavy-handed invasion of the king of > Aram and the king of > Israel. They're attacking me right now." Then Ahaz robbed the treasuries > of the palace and The > Temple of God of their gold and silver and sent them to the king of > Assyria as a bribe. > > 9 The king of Assyria responded to him. He attacked and captured Damascus. > He deported the people > to Nineveh as exiles. Rezin he killed. > > 10-11 King Ahaz went to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria in Damascus. > The altar in Damascus > made a great impression on him. He sent back to Uriah the priest a drawing > and set of blueprints of > the altar. Uriah the priest built the altar to the specifications that > King Ahaz had sent from > Damascus. By the time the king returned from Damascus, Uriah had completed > the altar. > > 12-14 The minute the king saw the altar he approached it with reverence > and arranged a service of > worship with a full course of offerings: Whole-Burnt-Offerings with > billows of smoke, > Grain-Offerings, libations of Drink-Offerings, the sprinkling of blood > from the Peace-Offerings-the > works. But the old bronze Altar that signaled the presence of God he > displaced from its central > place and pushed it off to the side of his new altar. > > 15 Then King Ahaz ordered Uriah the priest: "From now on offer all the > sacrifices on the new altar, > the great altar: morning Whole-Burnt-Offerings, evening Grain-Offerings, > the king's > Whole-Burnt-Offerings and Grain-Offerings, the people's > Whole-Burnt-Offerings and Grain-Offerings, > and also their Drink-Offerings. Splash all the blood from the burnt > offerings and sacrifices against > this altar. The old bronze Altar will be for my personal use. > > 16 The priest Uriah followed King Ahaz's orders to the letter. > > 17-18 Then King Ahaz proceeded to plunder The Temple furniture of all its > bronze. He stripped the > bronze from The Temple furnishings, even salvaged the four bronze oxen > that supported the huge > basin, The Sea, and set The Sea unceremoniously on the stone pavement. > Finally, he removed any > distinctive features from within The Temple that were offensive to the > king of Assyria. > > 19-20 The rest of the life and times of Ahaz is written in The Chronicles > of the Kings of Judah. > Ahaz died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. His son > Hezekiah became the next > king. > > 2 Kings 17 > Hoshea of Israel > 1-2 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became > king of Israel. He ruled > in Samaria for nine years. As far as God was concerned, he lived a bad > life, but not nearly as bad > as the kings who had preceded him. > 3-5 Then Shalmaneser king of Assyria attacked. Hoshea was already a puppet > of the Assyrian king and > regularly sent him tribute, but Shalmaneser discovered that Hoshea had > been operating traitorously > behind his back-having worked out a deal with King So of Egypt. And, > adding insult to injury, Hoshea > was way behind on his annual payments of tribute to Assyria. So the king > of Assyria arrested him and > threw him in prison, then proceeded to invade the entire country. He > attacked Samaria and threw up a > siege against it. The siege lasted three years. > > 6 In the ninth year of Hoshea's reign the king of Assyria captured Samaria > and took the people into > exile in Assyria. He relocated them in Halah, in Gozan along the Habor > River, and in the towns of > the Medes. > > 7-12 The exile came about because of sin: The children of Israel sinned > against God, their God, who > had delivered them from Egypt and the brutal oppression of Pharaoh king of > Egypt. They took up with > other gods, fell in with the ways of life of the pagan nations God had > chased off, and went along > with whatever their kings did. They did all kinds of things on the sly, > things offensive to their > God, then openly and shamelessly built local sex-and-religion shrines at > every available site. They > set up their sex-and-religion symbols at practically every crossroads. > Everywhere you looked there > was smoke from their pagan offerings to the deities-the identical > offerings that had gotten the > pagan nations off into exile. They had accumulated a long list of evil > actions and God was fed up, > fed up with their persistent worship of gods carved out of deadwood or > shaped out of clay, even > though God had plainly said, "Don't do this-ever!" > > 13 God had taken a stand against Israel and Judah, speaking clearly > through countless holy prophets > and seers time and time again, "Turn away from your evil way of life. Do > what I tell you and have > been telling you in The Revelation I gave your ancestors and of which I've > kept reminding you ever > since through my servants the prophets." > > 14-15 But they wouldn't listen. If anything, they were even more > bullheaded than their stubborn > ancestors, if that's possible. They were contemptuous of his instructions, > the solemn and holy > covenant he had made with their ancestors, and of his repeated reminders > and warnings. They lived a > "nothing" life and became "nothings"-just like the pagan peoples all > around them. They were > well-warned: God said, "Don't!" but they did it anyway. > > 16-17 They threw out everything God, their God, had told them, and > replaced him with two > statue-gods shaped like bull-calves and then a phallic pole for the whore > goddess Asherah. They > worshiped cosmic forces-sky gods and goddesses-and frequented the > sex-and-religion shrines of Baal. > They even sank so low as to offer their own sons and daughters as > sacrificial burnt offerings! They > indulged in all the black arts of magic and sorcery. In short, they > prostituted themselves to every > kind of evil available to them. And God had had enough. > > 18-20 God was so thoroughly angry that he got rid of them, got them out of > the country for good > until only one tribe was left-Judah. (Judah, actually, wasn't much better, > for Judah also failed to > keep God's commands, falling into the same way of life that Israel had > adopted.) God rejected > everyone connected with Israel, made life hard for them, and permitted > anyone with a mind to exploit > them to do so. And then this final No as he threw them out of his sight. > > 21-23 Back at the time that God ripped Israel out of their place in the > family of David, they had > made Jeroboam son of Nebat king. Jeroboam debauched Israel-turned them > away from serving God and led > them into a life of total sin. The children of Israel went along with all > the sins that Jeroboam > did, never murmured so much as a word of protest. In the end, God spoke a > final No to Israel and > turned his back on them. He had given them fair warning, and plenty of > time, through the preaching > of all his servants the prophets. Then he exiled Israel from her land to > Assyria. And that's where > they are now. > > 24-25 The king of Assyria brought in people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, > Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and > relocated them in the towns of Samaria, replacing the exiled Israelites. > They moved in as if they > owned the place and made themselves at home. When the Assyrians first > moved in, God was just another > god to them; they neither honored nor worshiped him. Then God sent lions > among them and people were > mauled and killed. > > 26 This message was then sent back to the king of Assyria: "The people you > brought in to occupy the > towns of Samaria don't know what's expected of them from the god of the > land, and now he's sent > lions and they're killing people right and left because nobody knows what > the god of the land > expects of them." > > 27 The king of Assyria ordered, "Send back some priests who were taken > into exile from there. They > can go back and live there and instruct the people in what the god of the > land expects of them." > > 28 One of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria came back and moved > into Bethel. He taught > them how to honor and worship God. > > 29-31 But each people that Assyria had settled went ahead anyway making > its own gods and setting > them up in the neighborhood sex-and-religion shrines that the citizens of > Samaria had left behind-a > local custom-made god for each people: > for Babylon, Succoth Benoth; for Cuthah, Nergal; for Hamath, Ashima; for > Avva, Nibhaz and Tartak; > for Sepharvaim, Adrammelech and Anammelech (people burned their children > in sacrificial offerings to > these gods!). > > 32-33 They honored and worshiped God, but not exclusively-they also > appointed all sorts of priests, > regardless of qualification, to conduct a variety of rites at the local > fertility shrines. They > honored and worshiped God, but they also kept up their devotions to the > old gods of the places they > had come from. > > 34-39 And they're still doing it, still worshiping any old god that has > nostalgic appeal to them. > They don't really worship God-they don't take seriously what he says > regarding how to behave and > what to believe, what he revealed to the children of Jacob whom he named > Israel. God made a covenant > with his people and ordered them, "Don't honor other gods: Don't worship > them, don't serve them, > don't offer sacrifices to them. Worship God, the God who delivered you > from Egypt in great and > personal power. Reverence and fear him. Worship him. Sacrifice to him. And > only him! All the things > he had written down for you, directing you in what to believe and how to > behave-well, do them for as > long as you live. And whatever you do, don't worship other gods! And the > covenant he made with you, > don't forget your part in that. And don't worship other gods! Worship God, > and God only-he's the one > who will save you from enemy oppression." > > 40-41 But they didn't pay any attention. They kept doing what they'd > always done. As it turned out, > all the time these people were putting on a front of worshiping God, they > were at the same time > involved with their local idols. And they're still doing it. Like father, > like son. > > 2 Kings 18 > Hezekiah of Judah > 1-4 In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son > of Ahaz began his rule > over Judah. He was twenty-five years old when he became king and he ruled > for twenty-nine years in > Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. In God's > opinion he was a good king; > he kept to the standards of his ancestor David. He got rid of the local > fertility shrines, smashed > the phallic stone monuments, and cut down the sex-and-religion Asherah > groves. As a final stroke he > pulverized the ancient bronze serpent that Moses had made; at that time > the Israelites had taken up > the practice of sacrificing to it-they had even dignified it with a name, > Nehushtan (The Old > Serpent). > 5-6 Hezekiah put his whole trust in the God of Israel. There was no king > quite like him, either > before or after. He held fast to God-never loosened his grip-and obeyed to > the letter everything God > had commanded Moses. And God, for his part, held fast to him through all > his adventures. > > 7-8 He revolted against the king of Assyria; he refused to serve him one > more day. And he drove > back the Philistines, whether in sentry outposts or fortress cities, all > the way to Gaza and its > borders. > > 9-11 In the fourth year of Hezekiah and the seventh year of Hoshea son of > Elah king of Israel, > Shalmaneser king of Assyria attacked Samaria. He threw a siege around it > and after three years > captured it. It was in the sixth year of Hezekiah and the ninth year of > Hoshea that Samaria fell to > Assyria. The king of Assyria took Israel into exile and relocated them in > Halah, in Gozan on the > Habor River, and in towns of the Medes. > > 12 All this happened because they wouldn't listen to the voice of their > God and treated his > covenant with careless contempt. They refused either to listen or do a > word of what Moses, the > servant of God, commanded. > > 13-14 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria > attacked all the > outlying fortress cities of Judah and captured them. King Hezekiah sent a > message to the king of > Assyria at his headquarters in Lachish: "I've done wrong; I admit it. Pull > back your army; I'll pay > whatever tribute you set." > > 14-16 The king of Assyria demanded tribute from Hezekiah king of Judah- > eleven tons of silver and a > ton of gold. Hezekiah turned over all the silver he could find in The > Temple of God and in the > palace treasuries. Hezekiah even took down the doors of The Temple of God > and the doorposts that he > had overlaid with gold and gave them to the king of Assyria. > > 17 So the king of Assyria sent his top three military chiefs (the Tartan, > the Rabsaris, and the > Rabshakeh) from Lachish with a strong military force to King Hezekiah in > Jerusalem. When they > arrived at Jerusalem, they stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool on > the road to the laundry > commons. > > 18 They called loudly for the king. Eliakim son of Hilkiah who was in > charge of the palace, Shebna > the royal secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the court historian went out to > meet them. > > 19-22 The third officer, the Rabshakeh, was spokesman. He said, "Tell > Hezekiah: A message from The > Great King, the king of Assyria: You're living in a world of make-believe, > of pious fantasy. Do you > think that mere words are any substitute for military strategy and troops? > Now that you've revolted > against me, who can you expect to help you? You thought Egypt would, but > Egypt's nothing but a paper > tiger-one puff of wind and she collapses; Pharaoh king of Egypt is nothing > but bluff and bluster. Or > are you going to tell me, 'We rely on God'? But Hezekiah has just > eliminated most of the people's > access to God by getting rid of all the local God-shrines, ordering > everyone in Judah and Jerusalem, > 'You must worship at the Jerusalem altar only.' > > 23-24 "So be reasonable. Make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria. > I'll give you two > thousand horses if you think you can provide riders for them. You can't do > it? Well, then, how do > you think you're going to turn back even one raw buck private from my > master's troops? How long are > you going to hold on to that figment of your imagination, these hoped-for > Egyptian chariots and > horses? > > 25 "Do you think I've come up here to destroy this country without the > express approval of God? The > fact is that God expressly ordered me, 'Attack and destroy this country!'" > > 26 Eliakim son of Hilkiah and Shebna and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, > "Please, speak to us in the > Aramaic language. We understand Aramaic. Don't speak in Hebrew-everyone > crowded on the city wall can > hear you." > > 27 But the Rabshakeh said, "We weren't sent with a private message to your > master and you; this is > public-a message to everyone within earshot. After all, they're involved > in this as well as you; if > you don't come to terms, they'll be eating their own turds and drinking > their own pee right along > with you." > > 28-32 Then he stepped forward and spoke in Hebrew loud enough for everyone > to hear, "Listen > carefully to the words of The Great King, the king of Assyria: Don't let > Hezekiah fool you; he can't > save you. And don't let Hezekiah give you that line about trusting in God, > telling you, 'God will > save us-this city will never be abandoned to the king of Assyria.' Don't > listen to Hezekiah-he > doesn't know what he's talking about. Listen to the king of Assyria-deal > with me and live the good > life; I'll guarantee everyone your own plot of ground-a garden and a well! > I'll take you to a land > sweeter by far than this one, a land of grain and wine, bread and > vineyards, olive orchards and > honey. You only live once-so live, really live! > > 32-35 "No. Don't listen to Hezekiah. Don't listen to his lies, telling you > 'God will save us.' Has > there ever been a god anywhere who delivered anyone from the king of > Assyria? Where are the gods of > Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? And > Samaria-did their gods save > them? Can you name a god who saved anyone anywhere from me, the king of > Assyria? So what makes you > think that God can save Jerusalem from me?" > > 36 The people were silent. No one spoke a word for the king had ordered, > "Don't anyone say a > word-not one word!" > > 37 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator, and Shebna the > royal secretary, and Joah > son of Asaph the court historian went back to Hezekiah. They had ripped > their robes in despair; they > reported to Hezekiah the speech of the Rabshakeh. > > > > > > > Please join us on Skype Monday thru Friday at 8:00 EST for our Morning > Skype Prayer Time. > > > Contact Me At: > Donnie Parrett > 1956 Asa Flat Road > Annville, Kentucky 40402 > Home Phone: 606-364-3321 > Church Phone: 606-364-PRAY > Skype Name: Donnie1261 > Email: [email protected] > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Deaf-Blind Inspirational Life Group" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/DBILG?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
