Isaiah 12:1-6, 17:1-14; 2 Chronicles 28:16-21; 2 Kings 16:10-18; 2 Chronicles 28:22-25; 2 Kings 18:1-8; 2 Chronicles 29:1-2; 2 Kings 15:30-31, 17:1-4; Hosea 1:1-2:13 God’s sovereignty is on full display in today’s reading. Our tendency as fallen beings is to think we are in control or are able to manipulate our circumstances, but it is the Lord God alone who is sovereign over every person and situ...

Isaiah 8:1-11:16 Israel and Judah find themselves in what seems like a hopeless situation. The most powerful kingdom on Earth is approaching with a massive army, and death, exile, and destruction seem imminent. Yet scattered through these chapters of warning come messages of hope. Isaiah 9 speaks of the light to come and a joy that will overwhelm the darkness. This hope comes from the one who will...

2 Kings 15:32-38; 2 Chronicles 27:1-9; Micah 1:1-16; 2 Kings 16:1-9; 2 Chronicles 28:1-15; Isaiah 7:1-25 The end of Israel is drawing near, and the guarantee of their destruction is a prophecy. This prophecy is “the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. He will be eating curds and honey when...the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste” (Isaiah 7:14)...

Amos 7:1-9:15; 2 Kings 14:28-29, 15:8-29, 15:6-7; 2 Chronicles 26:22-23; Isaiah 6:1-13 Context is critical to understanding the Bible. We need to know when it was written, who wrote it, and who the audience was. In the Chronological One Year Bible, the books of the prophets are inserted directly into Israel and Judah’s timeline of events so we can understand more fully their meaning and context. F...

Amos 1:1-6:14 We live in a culture that is passionate about justice. Yet most want others to get what they deserve for their sin rather than receiving consequences for their own wrong actions. At the beginning of Amos, we see this same mentality when he pronounces judgment upon the enemies of Israel and Judah. It is not hard to imagine much delight that their enemies are finally going to receive t...

2 Kings 14:1-14; 2 Chronicles 25:1-24; 2 Kings 13:12-13, 14:15-16, 14:23-27; 2 Chronicles 25:25-28; 2 Kings 14:17- 22, 15:1-5; 2 Chronicles 26:1-21; Jonah 1:1-4:11 Jeroboam II had restored the boundaries of Israel according to God’s word as “spoken through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher” (2 Kings 14:25). Jonah, a prophet in Israel? That sure slipped by me as a child...

2 Kings 13:1-11, 12:17-21; 2 Chronicles 24:23-27; 2 Kings 13:14-25 Elisha's ministry carried on beyond his death. We are told that a dead body touched Elisha’s bones, and it came back to life. This may seem like a strange story, but we are told again and again in Scripture that God has power over everything─including life and death. For instance, Abraham believed that God could raise Isaac from th...

2 Kings 11:1-3; 2 Chronicles 22:10-12; 2 Kings 11:4-12; 2 Chronicles 23:1-11; 2 Kings 11:13-16; 2 Chronicles 23:12-15; 2 Kings 11:17-21; 2 Chronicles 23:16-21; 2 Kings 12:1-16; 2 Chronicles 24:1-22; 2 Kings 10:32-36 Even before social media, people were influenced by others. In 1 and 2 Kings, nearly every king's reign begins by stating the mother’s name. This speaks to a primary influence in their...

2 Chronicles 21:8-20; 2 Kings 8:23-29; 2 Chronicles 22:1-7; 2 Kings 9:1-10:17; 2 Chronicles 22:8-9; 2 Kings 10:18-31 Have you ever felt like you were getting a fresh start? This may have occurred when you were a child and moved to a different city, or when you went off to college, got married, acquired a new job, or retired. In today's reading, we see this fresh start for the nations of Israel and...

2 Kings 5:1-8:15 What does it mean to love your enemy? We may think of this idea as something only spoken of by Jesus, when it is modeled for us even in the Old Testament. In 2 Kings 5, an unnamed, kidnapped Israelite girl tells her mistress healing is available to her master in Israel. She tells the man, who is responsible for separating her from her family, culture, and land, he can be healed fr...

2 Kings 2:1-25, 4:1-44 The ministries of Elisha and Elijah were filled with miracles. In reading the Bible, we may feel like miracles are common occurrences, and wonder why we do not see them as often today. Yet, if we really study the miracles of the Bible, many of them are clustered around a few distinct periods of history. One such period is the current one we are reading; in many ways, this pe...

2 Kings 1:1-18, 3:1-27; 1 Kings 22:41-49; 2 Chronicles 20:31-37; 1 Kings 22:50; 2 Chronicles 21:1-4; 2 Kings 8:16-22; 2 Chronicles 21:5-7 There is a common adage that “the only constant in life is change.” For followers of Christ, this applies only to the external circumstances of life, as God is always constant and true. Israel's throne transitions from Ahab to Ahaziah and then quickly to Joram/J...

1 Kings 22:10-28; 2 Chronicles 18:9-27; 1 Kings 22:29-35; 2 Chronicles 18:28-34; 1 Kings 22:36-40, 22:51-53; 2 Chronicles 19:1-20:30 We hear lots of voices every day, but how well do we pay attention to them? We can hear, but not actually listen. In our reading today, we see two different communications from God through prophets─one that is heeded and one that is not. First, Micaiah tells Ahab and...

1 Kings 20:23-22:9; 2 Chronicles 18:1-8 There was a popular worship song with the line, "Break my heart for what breaks yours." These words express the desire that our hearts would align with God's in the things we love and hate. As we continue with the life of Ahab, we discover what breaks his heart is not what breaks God's heart. The primary thing over which Ahab’s heart breaks is his inability ...

1 Kings 17:8-20:22 After a focus on the kings of Israel and Judah, the spotlight moves to the prophets Elijah and Elisha. As we read about their lives, we will see that being a spokesperson for God does not mean comfort and ease. God uses Elijah to remind the people of God's power against the inability of Baal and idols. The climactic victory at Mt. Carmel with fire coming from Heaven led to the s...

1 Kings 15:16-22; 2 Chronicles 16:1-10; 1 Kings 16:1-34, 15:23-24; 2 Chronicles 16:11-17:19; 1 Kings 17:1-7 What do you rely upon in times of trouble? Where do you turn for help? Asa found himself with the army of Israel bearing down upon him and he turned not to God, but to the power of Aram. He thought that military might was needed to push back an army; instead of trusting God that he had power...

1 Kings 13:1-14:18, 14:21-14:24; 2 Chronicles 12:13-14, 11:18-23, 12:1-12; 1 Kings 14:25-28; 2 Chronicles 12:13-16; 1 Kings 14:29-15:5; 2 Chronicles 13:1-22; 1 Kings 15:6-8; 2 Chronicles 14:1-8; 1 Kings 15:9-15, 14:19-20, 15:25-34; 2 Chronicles 14:9-15 What is the foundation of your life? On what do you ultimately rely? At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus describes how the foundation of a...

Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:14; 1 Kings 12:1-20; 2 Chronicles 10:1-19; 1 Kings 12:21-24; 2 Chronicles 11:1-4; 1 Kings 12:25-33; 2 Chronicles 11:5-17 Don't hit your sister! Don't say that! Don't run into the street! So much of my energy is spent telling my kids what not to do and, yet according to my wife, they aren't even wired to hear the don't or the no in a statement or command. Nearly all of Ecclesia...

Psalm 98, 99, 100, 102, 104 "Mom," "Dad" seem to be two continual refrains from the mouths of my kids. It might be absurdly early in the morning or after they have been put to bed, but these words constantly flow from their mouths. Many psalms want us to learn a similar continual call for God our Father. Psalms 98 and 100 are calls to God from a place of joy. It is easy to envision smiles on the f...

Ecclesiastes 7:1-11:6 None of our lives have turned out exactly how we hoped. We have dreams that have been crushed, relationships destroyed, and the consequences of sin all around us. We have all experienced injustice and unfairness, which at times can make us want to give up. Solomon wrestles with these realities in his search for meaning and purpose in Ecclesiastes. He wonders why the wicked we...