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: Sunday, April 19, 2009 10:04 PM Subject: Daily Bible Reading For Monday April 20 >2 Kings 22-25 (The Message) > > 2 Kings 22 > Josiah of Judah > 1-2 Josiah was eight years old when he became king. He ruled for > thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His > mother's name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath. He > lived the way God wanted. He > kept straight on the path blazed by his ancestor David, not one step to > either left or right. > 3-7 One day in the eighteenth year of his kingship, King Josiah sent the > royal secretary Shaphan > son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to The Temple of God with > instructions: "Go to Hilkiah the > high priest and have him count the money that has been brought to The > Temple of God that the doormen > have collected from the people. Have them turn it over to the foremen who > are managing the work on > The Temple of God so they can pay the workers who are repairing God's > Temple, all the carpenters, > construction workers, and masons. Also, authorize them to buy the lumber > and dressed stone for The > Temple repairs. You don't need to get a receipt for the money you give > them-they're all honest men." > > 8 The high priest Hilkiah reported to Shaphan the royal secretary, "I've > just found the Book of > God's Revelation, instructing us in God's ways. I found it in The Temple!" > He gave it to Shaphan and > Shaphan read it. > > 9 Then Shaphan the royal secretary came back to the king and gave him an > account of what had gone > on: "Your servants have bagged up the money that has been collected for > The Temple; they have given > it to the foremen to pay The Temple workers." > > 10 Then Shaphan the royal secretary told the king, "Hilkiah the priest > gave me a book." Shaphan > proceeded to read it to the king. > > 11-13 When the king heard what was written in the book, God's Revelation, > he ripped his robes in > dismay. And then he called for Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, > Acbor son of Micaiah, > Shaphan the royal secretary, and Asaiah the king's personal aide. He > ordered them all: "Go and pray > to God for me and for this people-for all Judah! Find out what we must do > in response to what is > written in this book that has just been found! God's anger must be burning > furiously against us-our > ancestors haven't obeyed a thing written in this book, followed none of > the instructions directed to > us." > > 14-17 Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went straight > to Huldah the > prophetess. She was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, > who was in charge of the > palace wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter. The five > men consulted with her. In > response to them she said, "God's word, the God of Israel: Tell the man > who sent you here that I'm > on my way to bring the doom of judgment on this place and this people. > Every word written in the > book read by the king of Judah will happen. And why? Because they've > deserted me and taken up with > other gods, made me thoroughly angry by setting up their god-making > businesses. My anger is raging > white-hot against this place and nobody is going to put it out. > > 18-20 "And also tell the king of Judah, since he sent you to ask God for > direction; tell him this, > God's comment on what he read in the book: 'Because you took seriously the > doom of judgment I spoke > against this place and people, and because you responded in humble > repentance, tearing your robe in > dismay and weeping before me, I'm taking you seriously. God's word: I'll > take care of you. You'll > have a quiet death and be buried in peace. You won't be around to see the > doom that I'm going to > bring upon this place.'" > > The men took her message back to the king. > > 2 Kings 23 > 1-3 The king acted immediately, assembling all the elders of Judah and > Jerusalem. Then the king > proceeded to The Temple of God, bringing everyone in his train-priests and > prophets and people > ranging from the famous to the unknown. Then he read out publicly > everything written in the Book of > the Covenant that was found in The Temple of God. The king stood by the > pillar and before God > solemnly committed them all to the covenant: to follow God believingly and > obediently; to follow his > instructions, heart and soul, on what to believe and do; to put into > practice the entire covenant, > all that was written in the book. The people stood in affirmation; their > commitment was unanimous. > 4-9 Then the king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, his associate priest, > and The Temple sentries to > clean house-to get rid of everything in The Temple of God that had been > made for worshiping Baal and > Asherah and the cosmic powers. He had them burned outside Jerusalem in the > fields of Kidron and then > disposed of the ashes in Bethel. He fired the pagan priests whom the kings > of Judah had hired to > supervise the local sex-and-religion shrines in the towns of Judah and > neighborhoods of Jerusalem. > In a stroke he swept the country clean of the polluting stench of the > round-the-clock worship of > Baal, sun and moon, stars-all the so-called cosmic powers. He took the > obscene phallic Asherah pole > from The Temple of God to the Valley of Kidron outside Jerusalem, burned > it up, then ground up the > ashes and scattered them in the cemetery. He tore out the rooms of the > male sacred prostitutes that > had been set up in The Temple of God; women also used these rooms for > weavings for Asherah. He swept > the outlying towns of Judah clean of priests and smashed the > sex-and-religion shrines where they > worked their trade from one end of the country to the other-all the way > from Geba to Beersheba. He > smashed the sex-and-religion shrine that had been set up just to the left > of the city gate for the > private use of Joshua, the city mayor. Even though these sex-and-religion > priests did not defile the > Altar in The Temple itself, they were part of the general priestly > corruption and had to go. > > 10-11 Then Josiah demolished the Topheth, the iron furnace griddle set up > in the Valley of Ben > Hinnom for sacrificing children in the fire. No longer could anyone burn > son or daughter to the god > Molech. He hauled off the horse statues honoring the sun god that the > kings of Judah had set up near > the entrance to The Temple. They were in the courtyard next to the office > of Nathan-Melech, the > warden. He burned up the sun-chariots as so much rubbish. > > 12-15 The king smashed all the altars to smithereens-the altar on the roof > shrine of Ahaz, the > various altars the kings of Judah had made, the altars of Manasseh that > littered the courtyard of > The Temple-he smashed them all, pulverized the fragments, and scattered > their dust in the Valley of > Kidron. The king proceeded to make a clean sweep of all the > sex-and-religion shrines that had > proliferated east of Jerusalem on the south slope of Abomination Hill, the > ones Solomon king of > Israel had built to the obscene Sidonian sex goddess Ashtoreth, to Chemosh > the dirty-old-god of the > Moabites, and to Milcom the depraved god of the Ammonites. He tore apart > the altars, chopped down > the phallic Asherah-poles, and scattered old bones over the sites. Next, > he took care of the altar > at the shrine in Bethel that Jeroboam son of Nebat had built-the same > Jeroboam who had led Israel > into a life of sin. He tore apart the altar, burned down the shrine > leaving it in ashes, and then > lit fire to the phallic Asherah-pole. > > 16 As Josiah looked over the scene, he noticed the tombs on the hillside. > He ordered the bones > removed from the tombs and had them cremated on the ruined altars, > desacralizing the evil altars. > This was a fulfillment of the word of God spoken by the Holy Man years > before when Jeroboam had > stood by the altar at the sacred convocation. > > 17 Then the king said, "And that memorial stone-whose is that?" > > The men from the city said, "That's the grave of the Holy Man who spoke > the message against the > altar at Bethel that you have just fulfilled." > > 18 Josiah said, "Don't trouble his bones." So they left his bones > undisturbed, along with the bones > of the prophet from Samaria. > > 19-20 But Josiah hadn't finished. He now moved through all the towns of > Samaria where the kings of > Israel had built neighborhood sex-and-religion shrines, shrines that had > so angered God. He tore the > shrines down and left them in ruins-just as at Bethel. He killed all the > priests who had conducted > the sacrifices and cremated them on their own altars, thus desacralizing > the altars. Only then did > Josiah return to Jerusalem. > > 21 The king now commanded the people, "Celebrate the Passover to God, your > God, exactly as directed > in this Book of the Covenant." > > 22-23 This commanded Passover had not been celebrated since the days that > the judges judged > Israel-none of the kings of Israel and Judah had celebrated it. But in the > eighteenth year of the > rule of King Josiah this very Passover was celebrated to God in Jerusalem. > > 24 Josiah scrubbed the place clean and trashed spirit-mediums, sorcerers, > domestic gods, and carved > figures-all the vast accumulation of foul and obscene relics and images on > display everywhere you > looked in Judah and Jerusalem. Josiah did this in obedience to the words > of God's Revelation written > in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in The Temple of God. > > 25 There was no king to compare with Josiah-neither before nor after- a > king who turned in total > and repentant obedience to God, heart and mind and strength, following the > instructions revealed to > and written by Moses. The world would never again see a king like Josiah. > > 26-27 But despite Josiah, God's hot anger did not cool; the raging anger > ignited by Manasseh burned > unchecked. And God, not swerving in his judgment, gave sentence: "I'll > remove Judah from my presence > in the same way I removed Israel. I'll turn my back on this city, > Jerusalem, that I chose, and even > from this Temple of which I said, 'My Name lives here.'" > > 28-30 The rest of the life and times of Josiah is written in The > Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. > Josiah's death came about when Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt marched out to > join forces with the king > of Assyria at the Euphrates River. When King Josiah intercepted him at the > Plain of Megiddo, Neco > killed him. Josiah's servants took his body in a chariot, returned him to > Jerusalem, and buried him > in his own tomb. By popular choice Jehoahaz son of Josiah was anointed and > succeeded his father as > king. > > Jehoahaz of Judah > 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to rule. He was king > in Jerusalem for a mere > three months. His mother's name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah. She came > from Libnah. > 32 In God's opinion, he was an evil king, reverting to the evil ways of > his ancestors. > > 33-34 Pharaoh Neco captured Jehoahaz at Riblah in the country of Hamath > and put him in chains, > preventing him from ruling in Jerusalem. He demanded that Judah pay > tribute of nearly four tons of > silver and seventy-five pounds of gold. Then Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim son > of Josiah the successor > to Josiah, but changed his name to Jehoiakim. Jehoahaz was carted off to > Egypt and eventually died > there. > > 35 Meanwhile Jehoiakim, like a good puppet, dutifully paid out the silver > and gold demanded by > Pharaoh. He scraped up the money by gouging the people, making everyone > pay an assessed tax. > > Jehoiakim of Judah > 36-37 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to rule; he was > king for eleven years in > Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah. She had come > from Rumah. In God's > opinion he was an evil king, picking up on the evil ways of his ancestors. > 2 Kings 24 > 1 It was during his reign that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded the > country. Jehoiakim became > his puppet. But after three years he had had enough and revolted. > 2-4 God dispatched a succession of raiding bands against him: Babylonian, > Aramean, Moabite, and > Ammonite. The strategy was to destroy Judah. Through the preaching of his > servants and prophets, God > had said he would do this, and now he was doing it. None of this was by > chance-it was God's judgment > as he turned his back on Judah because of the enormity of the sins of > Manasseh-Manasseh, the > killer-king, who made the Jerusalem streets flow with the innocent blood > of his victims. God wasn't > about to overlook such crimes. > > 5-6 The rest of the life and times of Jehoiakim is written in The > Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. > Jehoiakim died and was buried with his ancestors. His son Jehoiachin > became the next king. > > 7 The threat from Egypt was now over-no more invasions by the king of > Egypt-for by this time the > king of Babylon had captured all the land between the Brook of Egypt and > the Euphrates River, land > formerly controlled by the king of Egypt. > > Jehoiachin of Judah > 8-9 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king. His rule in > Jerusalem lasted only three > months. His mother's name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan; she was from > Jerusalem. In God's > opinion he also was an evil king, no different from his father. > 10-12 The next thing to happen was that the officers of Nebuchadnezzar > king of Babylon attacked > Jerusalem and put it under siege. While his officers were laying siege to > the city, Nebuchadnezzar > king of Babylon paid a personal visit. And Jehoiachin king of Judah, along > with his mother, > officers, advisors, and government leaders, surrendered. > > 12-14 In the eighth year of his reign Jehoiachin was taken prisoner by the > king of Babylon. > Nebuchadnezzar emptied the treasuries of both The Temple of God and the > royal palace and confiscated > all the gold furnishings that Solomon king of Israel had made for The > Temple of God. This should > have been no surprise-God had said it would happen. And then he emptied > Jerusalem of people-all its > leaders and soldiers, all its craftsmen and artisans. He took them into > exile, something like ten > thousand of them! The only ones he left were the very poor. > > 15-16 He took Jehoiachin into exile to Babylon. With him he took the > king's mother, his wives, his > chief officers, the community leaders, anyone who was anybody-in round > numbers, seven thousand > soldiers plus another thousand or so craftsmen and artisans, all herded > off into exile in Babylon. > > 17 Then the king of Babylon made Jehoiachin's uncle, Mattaniah, his puppet > king, but changed his > name to Zedekiah. > > Zedekiah of Judah > 18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he started out as king. He was > king in Jerusalem for > eleven years. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah. Her > hometown was Libnah. > 19 As far as God was concerned Zedekiah was just one more evil king, a > carbon copy of Jehoiakim. > > 20 The source of all this doom to Jerusalem and Judah was God's anger- God > turned his back on them > as an act of judgment. And then Zedekiah revolted against the king of > Babylon. > > 2 Kings 25 > 1-7 The revolt dates from the ninth year and tenth month of Zedekiah's > reign. Nebuchadnezzar set > out for Jerusalem immediately with a full army. He set up camp and sealed > off the city by building > siege mounds around it. The city was under siege for nineteen months > (until the eleventh year of > Zedekiah). By the fourth month of Zedekiah's eleventh year, on the ninth > day of the month, the > famine was so bad that there wasn't so much as a crumb of bread for > anyone. Then there was a > breakthrough. At night, under cover of darkness, the entire army escaped > through an opening in the > wall (it was the gate between the two walls above the King's Garden). They > slipped through the lines > of the Babylonians who surrounded the city and headed for the Jordan on > the Arabah Valley road. But > the Babylonians were in pursuit of the king and they caught up with him in > the Plains of Jericho. By > then Zedekiah's army had deserted and was scattered. The Babylonians took > Zedekiah prisoner and > marched him off to the king of Babylon at Riblah, then tried and sentenced > him on the spot. > Zedekiah's sons were executed right before his eyes; the summary murder of > his sons was the last > thing he saw, for they then blinded him. Securely handcuffed, he was > hauled off to Babylon. > 8-12 In the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, on the > seventh day of the fifth > month, Nebuzaradan, the king of Babylon's chief deputy, arrived in > Jerusalem. He burned The Temple > of God to the ground, went on to the royal palace, and then finished off > the city-burned the whole > place down. He put the Babylonian troops he had with him to work knocking > down the city walls. > Finally, he rounded up everyone left in the city, including those who had > earlier deserted to the > king of Babylon, and took them off into exile. He left a few poor dirt > farmers behind to tend the > vineyards and what was left of the fields. > > 13-15 The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the bronze washstands, > and the huge bronze basin > (the Sea) that were in The Temple of God and hauled the bronze off to > Babylon. They also took the > various bronze-crafted liturgical accessories used in the services of > Temple worship, as well as the > gold and silver censers and sprinkling bowls. The king's deputy didn't > miss a thing-he took every > scrap of precious metal he could find. > > 16-17 The amount of bronze they got from the two pillars, the Sea, and all > the washstands that > Solomon had made for The Temple of God was enormous-they couldn't weigh it > all! Each pillar stood > twenty-seven feet high, plus another four and a half feet for an ornate > capital of bronze filigree > and decorative fruit. > > 18-21 The king's deputy took a number of special prisoners: Seraiah the > chief priest, Zephaniah the > associate priest, three wardens, the chief remaining army officer, five of > the king's counselors, > the accountant, the chief recruiting officer for the army, and sixty men > of standing from among the > people. Nebuzaradan the king's deputy marched them all off to the king of > Babylon at Riblah. And > there at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon killed the lot > of them in cold blood. > > Judah went into exile, orphaned from her land. > > 22-23 Regarding the common people who were left behind in Judah, this: > Nebuchadnezzar king of > Babylon appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as their > governor. When veteran army > officers among the people heard that the king of Babylon had appointed > Gedaliah, they came to > Gedaliah at Mizpah. Among them were Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son > of Kareah, Seraiah son of > Tanhumeth the Netophathite, Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, and some > of their followers. > > 24 Gedaliah assured the officers and their men, giving them his word, > "Don't be afraid of the > Babylonian officials. Go back to your farms and families and respect the > king of Babylon. Trust me, > everything is going to be all right." > > 25 Some time later-it was in the seventh month-Ishmael son of Nethaniah, > the son of Elishama (he > had royal blood in him), came back with ten men and killed Gedaliah, the > traitor Jews, and the > Babylonian officials who were stationed at Mizpah-a bloody massacre. > > 26 But then, afraid of what the Babylonians would do, they all took off > for Egypt, leaders and > people, small and great. > > 27-30 When Jehoiachin king of Judah had been in exile for thirty-seven > years, Evil-Merodach became > king in Babylon and let Jehoiachin out of prison. This release took place > on the twenty-seventh day > of the twelfth month. The king treated him most courteously and gave him > preferential treatment > beyond anything experienced by the other political prisoners held in > Babylon. Jehoiachin took off > his prison garb and for the rest of his life ate his meals in company with > the king. The king > provided everything he needed to live comfortably. > > > > > > > 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
