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: Saturday, April 18, 2009 11:12 PM Subject: Daily Bible Reading For Sunday April 19 >2 Kings 19-21 (The Message) > > 2 Kings 19 > 1-3 When Hezekiah heard it all, he too ripped his robes apart and dressed > himself in rough burlap. > Then he went into The Temple of God. He sent Eliakim, who was in charge of > the palace, Shebna the > secretary, and the senior priests, all of them dressed in rough burlap, to > the prophet Isaiah son of > Amoz. They said to him, "A message from Hezekiah: 'This is a black day, a > terrible day-doomsday! > Babies poised to be born, No strength to birth them. > 4 "'Maybe God, your God, has been listening to the blasphemous speech of > the Rabshakeh who was sent > by the king of Assyria, his master, to humiliate the living God; maybe > God, your God, won't let him > get by with such talk; and you, maybe you will lift up prayers for what's > left of these people.'" > > 5 That's the message King Hezekiah's servants delivered to Isaiah. > > 6-7 Isaiah answered them, "Tell your master, 'God's word: Don't be at all > concerned about what > you've heard from the king of Assyria's bootlicking errand boys-these > outrageous blasphemies. Here's > what I'm going to do: Afflict him with self-doubt. He's going to hear a > rumor and, frightened for > his life, retreat to his own country. Once there, I'll see to it that he > gets killed.'" > > 8-13 The Rabshakeh left and found that the king of Assyria had pulled up > stakes from Lachish and > was now fighting against Libnah. Then Sennacherib heard that Tirhakah king > of Cush was on his way to > fight against him. So he sent another envoy with orders to deliver this > message to Hezekiah king of > Judah: "Don't let that god that you think so much of keep stringing you > along with the line, > 'Jerusalem will never fall to the king of Assyria.' That's a barefaced > lie. You know the track > record of the kings of Assyria-country after country laid waste, > devastated. And what makes you > think you'll be an exception? Take a good look at these wasted nations, > destroyed by my ancestors; > did their gods do them any good? Look at Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, the people > of Eden at Tel Assar. > Ruins. And what's left of the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king > of Sepharvaim, of Hena, of > Ivvah? Bones." > > 14-15 Hezekiah took the letter from the envoy and read it. He went to The > Temple of God and spread > it out before God. And Hezekiah prayed-oh, how he prayed! > God, God of Israel, seated > in majesty on the cherubim-throne. > You are the one and only God, > sovereign over all kingdoms on earth, > Maker of heaven, > maker of earth. > > 16 Open your ears, God, and listen, > open your eyes and look. > Look at this letter Sennacherib has sent, > a brazen insult to the living God! > > 17 The facts are true, O God: The kings of Assyria > have laid waste countries and kingdoms. > > 18 Huge bonfires they made of their gods, their > no-gods hand-made from wood and stone. > > 19 But now O God, our God, > save us from raw Assyrian power; > Make all the kingdoms on earth know > that you are God, the one and only God. > 20-21 It wasn't long before Isaiah son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah: > God's word: You've prayed to me regarding Sennacherib king of Assyria; > I've heard your prayer. > This is my response to him: > The Virgin Daughter of Zion > holds you in utter contempt; > Daughter Jerusalem > thinks you're nothing but scum. > > 22 Who do you think it is you've insulted? > Who do you think you've been bad-mouthing? > Before whom do you suppose you've been strutting? > The Holy One of Israel, that's who! > > 23 You dispatched your errand boys > to humiliate the Master. > You bragged, "With my army of chariots > I've climbed the highest mountains, > snow-peaked alpine Lebanon mountains! > I've cut down its giant cedars, > chopped down its prize pine trees. > I've traveled the world, > visited the finest forest retreats. > > 24 I've dug wells in faraway places > and drunk their exotic waters; > I've waded and splashed barefoot > in the rivers of Egypt." > 25 Did it never occur to you > that I'm behind all this? > Long, long ago I drew up the plans, > and now I've gone into action, > Using you as a doomsday weapon, > reducing proud cities to piles of rubble, > > 26 Leaving their people dispirited, > slumped shoulders, limp souls. > Useless as weeds, fragile as grass, > insubstantial as wind-blown chaff. > > 27 I know when you sit down, when you come > and when you go; > And, yes, I've marked every one > of your temper tantrums against me. > > 28 It's because of your temper, > your blasphemous foul temper, > That I'm putting my hook in your nose > and my bit in your mouth > And turning you back > to where you came from. > 29 And this, Hezekiah, will be for you the confirming sign: > This year you'll eat the gleanings, next year > whatever you can beg, borrow, or steal; > But the third year you'll sow and harvest, > plant vineyards and eat grapes. > > 30 A remnant of the family of Judah yet again > will sink down roots and raise up fruit. > > 31 The remnant will come from Jerusalem, > the survivors from Mount Zion. > The Zeal of God > will make it happen. > 32 To sum up, this is what God says regarding the king of Assyria: > He won't enter this city, > nor shoot so much as a single arrow there; > Won't brandish a shield, > won't even begin to set siege; > > 33 He'll go home by the same road he came; > he won't enter this city. God's word! > > 34 I'll shield this city, I'll save this city, > for my sake and for David's sake. > > 35 And it so happened that that very night an angel of God came and > massacred 185,000 Assyrians. > When the people of Jerusalem got up next morning, there it was-a whole > camp of corpses! > > 36-37 Sennacherib king of Assyria got out of there fast, headed straight > home for Nineveh, and > stayed put. One day when he was worshiping in the temple of his god > Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech > and Sharezer murdered him and then escaped to the land of Ararat. His son > Esarhaddon became the next > king. > > 2 Kings 20 > 1 Some time later Hezekiah became deathly sick. The prophet Isaiah son of > Amoz paid him a visit and > said, "Put your affairs in order; you're about to die-you haven't long to > live." > 2-3 Hezekiah turned from Isaiah and faced God, praying: > Remember, O God, who I am, what I've done! I've lived an honest life > before you, My heart's > been true and steady, I've lived to please you; lived for your approval. > > And then the tears flowed. Hezekiah wept. > > 4-6 Isaiah, leaving, was not halfway across the courtyard when the word of > God stopped him: "Go > back and tell Hezekiah, prince of my people, 'God's word, Hezekiah! From > the God of your ancestor > David: I've listened to your prayer and I've observed your tears. I'm > going to heal you. In three > days you will walk on your own legs into The Temple of God. I've just > added fifteen years to your > life; I'm saving you from the king of Assyria, and I'm covering this city > with my shield-for my sake > and my servant David's sake.'" > > 7 Isaiah then said, "Prepare a plaster of figs." > > They prepared the plaster, applied it to the boil, and Hezekiah was on > his way to recovery. > > 8 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "How do I know whether this is of God and not > just the fig plaster? What > confirming sign is there that God is healing me and that in three days > I'll walk into The Temple of > God on my own legs?" > > 9 "This will be your sign from God," said Isaiah, "that God is doing what > he said he'd do: Do you > want the shadow to advance ten degrees on the sundial or go back ten > degrees? You choose." > > 10 Hezekiah said, "It would be easy to make the sun's shadow advance ten > degrees. Make it go back > ten degrees." > > 11 So Isaiah called out in prayer to God, and the shadow went back ten > degrees on Ahaz's sundial. > > 12-13 Shortly after this, Merodach-Baladan, the son of Baladan king of > Babylon, having heard that > the king was sick, sent a get-well card and a gift to Hezekiah. Hezekiah > was pleased and showed the > messengers around the place-silver, gold, spices, aromatic oils, his > stockpile of weapons-a guided > tour of all his prized possessions. There wasn't a thing in his palace or > kingdom that Hezekiah > didn't show them. > > 14 And then Isaiah the prophet showed up: "And just what were these men > doing here? Where did they > come from and why?" > > Hezekiah said, "They came from far away-from Babylon." > > 15 "And what did they see in your palace?" > > "Everything," said Hezekiah. "There isn't anything I didn't show them-I > gave them the grand > tour." > > 16-18 Then Isaiah spoke to Hezekiah, "Listen to what God has to say about > this: The day is coming > when everything you own and everything your ancestors have passed down to > you, right down to the > last cup and saucer, will be cleaned out of here-plundered and packed off > to Babylon. God's word! > Worse yet, your sons, the progeny of sons you've begotten, will end up as > eunuchs in the palace of > the king of Babylon." > > 19 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "If God says it, it must be good." But he was > thinking to himself, "It > won't happen during my lifetime-I'll enjoy peace and security as long as I > live." > > 20-21 The rest of the life and times of Hezekiah, along with his projects, > especially the way he > engineered the Upper Pool and brought water into the city, are written in > The Chronicles of the > Kings of Judah. Hezekiah died and was buried with his ancestors. His son > Manasseh became the next > king. > > 2 Kings 21 > Manasseh of Judah > 1-6Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king. He ruled for > fifty-five years in Jerusalem. > His mother's name was Hephzibah. In God's judgment he was a bad king-an > evil king. He reintroduced > all the moral rot and spiritual corruption that had been scoured from the > country when God > dispossessed the pagan nations in favor of the children of Israel. He > rebuilt all the > sex-and-religion shrines that his father Hezekiah had torn down, and he > built altars and phallic > images for the sex god Baal and sex goddess Asherah, exactly what Ahaz > king of Israel had done. He > worshiped the cosmic powers, taking orders from the constellations. He > even built these pagan altars > in The Temple of God, the very Jerusalem Temple dedicated exclusively by > God's decree ("in Jerusalem > I place my Name") to God's Name. And he built shrines to the cosmic powers > and placed them in both > courtyards of The Temple of God. He burned his own son in a sacrificial > offering. He practiced black > magic and fortunetelling. He held seances and consulted spirits from the > underworld. Much evil-in > God's judgment, a career in evil. And God was angry. > 7-8 As a last straw he placed the carved image of the sex goddess Asherah > in The Temple of God, a > flagrant and provocative violation of God's well-known statement to both > David and Solomon, "In this > Temple and in this city Jerusalem, my choice out of all the tribes of > Israel, I place my > Name-exclusively and forever. Never again will I let my people Israel > wander off from this land I > gave to their ancestors. But here's the condition: They must keep > everything I've commanded in the > instructions my servant Moses passed on to them." > > 9 But the people didn't listen. Manasseh led them off the beaten path into > practices of evil even > exceeding the evil of the pagan nations that God had earlier destroyed. > > 10-12 God, thoroughly fed up, sent word through his servants the prophets: > "Because Manasseh king > of Judah has committed these outrageous sins, eclipsing the > sin-performance of the Amorites before > him, setting new records in evil, using foul idols to debase Judah into a > nation of sinners, this is > my judgment, God's verdict: I, the God of Israel, will visit catastrophe > on Jerusalem and Judah, a > doom so terrible that when people hear of it they'll shake their heads in > disbelief, saying, 'I > can't believe it!' > > 13-15 "I'll visit the fate of Samaria on Jerusalem, a rerun of Ahab's > doom. I'll wipe out Jerusalem > as you would wipe out a dish, wiping it out and turning it over to dry. > I'll get rid of what's left > of my inheritance, dumping them on their enemies. If their enemies can > salvage anything from them, > they're welcome to it. They've been nothing but trouble to me from the day > their ancestors left > Egypt until now. They pushed me to my limit; I won't put up with their > evil any longer." > > 16 The final word on Manasseh was that he was an indiscriminate murderer. > He drenched Jerusalem > with the innocent blood of his victims. That's on top of all the sins in > which he involved his > people. As far as God was concerned, he'd turned them into a nation of > sinners. > > 17-18 The rest of the life and times of Manasseh, everything he did and > his sorry record of sin, is > written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. Manasseh died and joined > his ancestors. He was > buried in the palace garden, the Garden of Uzza. His son Amon became the > next king. > > Amon of Judah > 19-22 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king. He was king for > two years in Jerusalem. His > mother's name was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz. She was from > Jotbah. In God's opinion he > lived an evil life, just like his father Manasseh. He followed in the > footsteps of his father, > serving and worshiping the same foul gods his father had served. He > totally deserted the God of his > ancestors; he did not live God's way. > 23-24 Amon's servants revolted and assassinated him, killing the king > right in his own palace. But > the people, in their turn, killed the conspirators against King Amon and > then crowned Josiah, Amon's > son, as king. > > 25-26 The rest of the life and times of Amon is written in The Chronicles > of the Kings of Judah. > They buried Amon in his burial plot in the Garden of Uzza. His son Josiah > became the next king. > > > > > > > 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
