The Essentials Of The Bible: Part 103 -- God Judges And Restores The People – Daniel and His Friends Are Tested

Judah was taken away to Babylon to live in captivity.  The Babylonians only took the best of the people; the weak and poor were left behind.  Young men of intelligence and of strength were set aside and sent for special training for service in the king’s court.  They had to be young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning.  Among the young men taken, were four youths named Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.  They were probably just teenagers when they entered this special preparation for the King’s service.  The program was three years of intense training in body and in intellect.  All of the young men were required to eat a special diet, food from the Kings table and abide by a daily regiment.   They were taught the language and the culture of the Babylonians.  The chief of the King’s officers changed the names of the four youths.  Daniel became Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.

Now the King was a typical Gentile who ate anything that his heart desired; foods that were forbidden by the LORD for any Israelite to eat.  The LORD had given Israel a code of clean and unclean meats.  The latter part of this study will discuss “Clean and Unclean.”

Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah refused the King’s food and asked for a diet of vegetables and water.  The King’s Chief Servant was afraid that if he allowed them to eat just vegetables and water, they would become unhealthy.  Daniel insisted on being given a chance to prove his diet from the LORD to be healthy.  All of the meat, even if it had been from an animal they could eat, would not have been slaughtered properly, according to Levitical Laws of Moses and it would have been sacrificed to idols first.  So they asked to abstain from all meats.  The Chief Servant tested them for ten days, giving them only vegetables and water.  After ten days, they were healthier and stronger than the rest.  The Chief Servant then took away their “choice food,” and gave them only vegetables and water.

TRAINING IN CAPTIVITY FOR THE KING

Daniel 1:1-10 ESV In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.  (2)  And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god.  (3)  Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility,  (4)  youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king's palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.  (5)  The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king.  (6)  Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah.  (7)  And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.  (8)  But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.  (9)  And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, (10)  and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, "I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king."

TESTED AND PROVEN

Daniel 1:11-16 ESV Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,  (12)  "Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink.  (13)  Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king's food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see."  (14)  So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days.  (15)  At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king's food.  (16)  So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.

We have gotten very accustom to eating processed food in our American culture; and the world is following America’s lead.  Our fast food of High Saturated Fats, Fibreless Carbohydrates, Artificial Additives and Tons of Sugar along with Mega consumption of Soda Pop, Beer, Wine and Liquor; has left America Fat and plagued with Heart Disease, Diabetes and Cancer.  Many young people have blown out their stomachs and colons.  We are consuming death with every meal.  This; along with our sedentary lifestyles are robbing quality and longevity of life.  Our freedom to do what we want is killing us when it comes to the foods we eat.

CLEAN AND UNCLEAN FOODS (MEAT, SEAFOOD, POULTRY& INSECTS)

The laws of clean and unclean meats were laws that the church of my birth did keep.  For the first 33 years of my life, I never deviated from them.  They were the laws of clean and unclean meats as defined by Levitical Law, given by God through Moses.  While following these laws, God blessed me with radiant health.  Only animals that had a cloven or parted hoof AND chewed its cud could be eaten.  Bovine or beef are cattle that have a cloven hoof and chew their cud.  If you go to a farm and watch cows, they are always chewing.  They have a multi-chambered stomach that allows then to chew, swallow into the first chamber and return it to their mouth to chew some more.  Therefore beef is a clean meat.  The pig has a cloven hoof but does not chew its cud, therefore pork is unclean.  According to the WORD of the LORD in Leviticus the following were clean and unclean for food:

Clean meats good for food:              Unclean meats not good for food:

Beef                                                    Pork

Veal                                                     Bear

Venison                                               Dog & Cat

Lamb                                                   Horse, pony, donkey and camel

Mutton                                                            Rabbit

Moose                                                 Squirrel

Elk                                                       Possum

Gazelle                                                Raccoon

Deer                                                    All rodents

Grazing animals                                  Non-Grazing animals

Leviticus 11:1-3 ESV and the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, (2) “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, these are the living things that you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth.  (3)  Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat.

Furthermore, anything taken from the waters of seas, oceans, rivers and lakes, had to have fins and scales.  That made unclean; and eliminated all crustaceans and invertebrates along with many other predator fish and sea mammals, making filleted fish with fins and scales clean. The following lists detail such:

Clean seafood good for food:                       Unclean seafood not good for food:

Trout                                                               Shrimp, Crab & Lobster

Perch                                                               Squid & Octopus

Bass                                                                 Crayfish (crawdads)

Walleye                                                           Clams

Northern                                                          Mussels

Bluegill                                                            Oysters

Crappie                                                            Scallops

Pollack                                                                        Shark

Clean seafood good for food:                       Unclean seafood not good for food:

Cod                                                                 Whale

Haddock                                                         Catfish

Flounder                                                          Bullhead

Sole                                                                 Jellyfish

Red snapper                                                    Sea Urchin

And all with Fins and Scales                          and all without Fins and Scales

Leviticus 11:9-10 ESV These you may eat, of all that are in the waters. Everything in the waters that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers, you may eat.  (10)  But anything in the seas or the rivers that has not fins and scales, of the swarming creatures in the waters and of the living creatures that are in the waters, is detestable to you.

Clean poultry good for food:                       Unclean poultry not good for food:

Chicken                                                           Eagle

Duck                                                               Raven

Goose                                                              Hawk

Pheasant                                                          Crow

Quail                                                               Vulture

Partridge                                                         Ostrich (also Emus)

Guinea Fowl                                                   Bat (flying rodent)

Non prey and non carrion birds                      Birds of prey and carrion

Leviticus 11:13-19 ESV And these you shall detest among the birds; they shall not be eaten; they are detestable: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,  (14)  the kite, the falcon of any kind,  (15)  every raven of any kind,  (16)  the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind,  (17)  the little owl, the cormorant, the short-eared owl,  (18)  the barn owl, the tawny owl, the carrion vulture,  (19)  the stork, the heron of any kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.

Insects were not meant to be eaten unless they had legs that were jointed above their feet and that hopped on the ground.  This included grasshoppers and crickets.  A friend of mine, when we were teenagers, caught a handful of crickets and fried them, he said they tasted like burnt popcorn.  Not being there and not tasting them myself, we have to just accept his critique.

Clean insects good for food:             Unclean insects not good for food:

Grasshoppers                                       Maggots

Locust                                                 Worms

Crickets                                               Beetles

Leviticus 11:20-22 ESV All winged insects that go on all fours are detestable to you.  (21)  Yet among the winged insects that go on all fours you may eat those that have jointed legs above their feet, with which to hop on the ground.  (22)  Of them you may eat: the locust of any kind, the bald locust of any kind, the cricket of any kind, and the grasshopper of any kind.

In addition to all of the above, the following are also unclean:  Snakes, eels, scorpions, spiders, rats, mice, moles, turtles and all lizards.

God gave these laws to Israel, they were not necessarily based on health, but were ceremonially defined clean and unclean.  However, pork has had a precarious history along with bear in regard to trichinosis worms.  Many people are allergic to shrimp, lobster, calms and oysters (basically non fillet seafood).  Doctors often remove these foods from patients with severe health problems.

After the flood (long before Israel) God said that every things that lives is food.  Basically, no flesh animal will harm you to eat, health-wise.  But when God called Israel, He gave them ceremonial laws to set them apart.

TO NOAH AFTER THE FLOOD

Genesis 9:3-4 ESV Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.  (4)  But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.

TO PETER AS THE GOSPEL WENT TO THE GENTILES

God told Peter that nothing was unclean or common and commanded him to kill and eat.  No longer was the Church to call anything unclean.  This was meant for not only food, but people.  The Gentiles (non Jews) were considered unclean according to Jewish law.  No Jew could associate with, touch or even talk to a gentile.  It was strictly forbidden to allow a gentile into one’s home.  It was also forbidden to enter a Gentile home; a Jew doing so would be unclean and not allowed to enter the temple.  With this new revelation to Peter from God, nothing and nobody were to be considered unclean and avoided.

Acts 10:11-16 KJV And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth:  (12)  Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.  (13)  And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.  (14)  But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.  (15)  And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.  (16) This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.’

COUNCIL AT JERUSALEM

The issue of clean and unclean came to a heated argument with the issue of circumcision which was required of every Jew; but the Gentiles didn’t practice this custom.  Gentile convert men were not quick to embrace this painful procedure which was usually done on infants; on the eighth day.

ONLY FOUR JEWISH REQUIREMENTS FOR GENTILE CONVERTS

Acts 15:4-6 KJV And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them.  (5)  But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.  (6)  And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.

Acts 15:19-20 KJV Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:  (20)  But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.

Acts 15:28-29 KJV For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;  (29)  That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.

ALL CHRISTIANS ARE TO AVOID & ABSTAIN FROM THESE FOUR THINGS:

1.      MEATS OFFERED TO IDOLS (Not an issue in our culture)

2.      EATING BLOOD (Is still eaten by some, blood sauge and blood soup)

3.      MEAT THAT HAS BEEN STRANGLED (slaughtering practices are out of our control)

4.      FORNICATION (This sin defines America and much of the world today)

THEREFORE, A CHRISTIAN IS A PERSON WHO HAS REPENTED, BEEN BAPTIZED IN JESUS NAME, RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST AND LIVES IN THE HOLINESS OF FLEEING FORNICATION AND ALL OF THE TRAPINGS OF FORNICATION; THE THINGS THAT LEAD TO FORNICATION; SUCH AS, WORLDY AMUSEMENTS (PROFANE, VULGAR, PROVACATIVE & IMMODEST) AND ATTIRE OF THE SAME (PROFANE, VULGAR, PROVACATIVE & IMMODEST).

FORNICATION COMPLICATES WITH A CURSE

In 2000, my wife of 20 years wanted to be free from our marriage to pursue a new life (in sexual freedom).  I had tried for three years to keep her married to me; but it became futile to try to keep her married when she no longer wanted to be married to me.  We divorced.  The church of my birth had self destructed seven years earlier.  The two hallmarks of my life were obliterated; CHURCH & MY MARRIAGE.  Having been virgins on our wedding night, I never “sowed my wild oats.”  Being confronted with dating after 20 years of marriage was a shock.  Trying to find a wife in a venue of free sex was a temptation that I foolishly fell into.  My life became cursed for my sexual sin, my fornication.  For ten years I tried to find a wife my way and had a number of short, “long term relationships” without marriage. 

Only after repenting and putting it all into God’s hands, did my life turn around.  I vowed not to be intimate with anyone without marriage.  I began praying this prayer everyday; “Father, from the beginning you never wanted us to be alone.  Let your will be manifest in my life.  Bring a help mate, a wife, to me of your choosing.  Let that person be a blessing from heaven and not a curse of my own will.” 

Six months later, God sent me a wife and we were married on October 23, 2010.  The very first girl I ever kissed, a girl from my freshman year in high school, came back into my life, after 35 years.  Our marriage is awesome.  We are truly being blessed for doing it God’s way!

Prayer:  Father in Heaven, thank you for your WORD that is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.  Help us to never compromise, but stand up for our belief, just as Daniel and his friends did.  Lead us to what you are blessing, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

The Essentials Of The Bible: Part 102 -- God Judges And Restores The People – The Weeping Prophet: Jeremiah

During the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah, Jerusalem became the conquest of Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar.  He destroyed Solomon’s Temple and carted away all of the Gold and Holy Articles of Worship.  These horrible events for the nation of Judah did not come without warning.  The nation had a number of very young kings who were given reign as young as eight years old (Josiah) and eighteen (Jehoiakin); Jehoahaz was only twenty three.  If we could imagine our nation being ruled by an eight year old as president and other top advisors in their teens and early twenties; this would be a very scary picture.  There was definitely a lack of maturity and experience among the leaders of Judah.

Jeremiah was just a child when the LORD began to speak to him.  He was the son of the priest Hilkiah and during his calling as a prophet of the LORD, he would serve King Josiah, Jehoiakin and Zedekiah and to the carrying away of the people, as captives, to Babylon.

Jeremiah 1:1-3 ESV The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin,  (2)  to whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.  (3)  It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month.

Jeremiah’s destiny was to be a prophet of the LORD because the LORD called him from the womb and had plans for his life.  Even though he was just a child, maybe not even a teenager, the LORD had made him holy from the womb and He put His WORD in Jeremiah’s mouth; for the purpose of smashing down, rebuilding and planting.

Jeremiah 1:4-10 BBE Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,  (5)  Before you were formed in the body of your mother I had knowledge of you, and before your birth I made you holy; I have given you the work of being a prophet to the nations.  (6)  Then said I, O Lord God! see, I have no power of words, for I am a child.  (7)  But the Lord said to me, Do not say, I am a child: for wherever I send you, you are to go, and whatever I give you orders to say, you are to say.  (8)  Have no fear because of them: for I am with you, to keep you safe, says the Lord.  (9)  Then the Lord put out his hand, touching my mouth; and the Lord said to me, See, I have put my words in your mouth:  (10)  See, this day I have put you over the nations and over the kingdoms, for uprooting and smashing down, for destruction and overturning, for building up and planting.

Jeremiah was sent to proclaim the LORD’s case against Judah and Israel.  In detail, he proclaimed the wonders of the LORD and His marvelous works of blessings, deliverance, reconciliation and restoration.  How could, the LORD’s chosen people have turned their back on Him? They were a Holy people!  God set them up to be a model to the world; a Royal Priesthood of the LORD.  God wanted to bless them with all greatness and blessings pouring out in abundance forever.  Instead, Israel went out and played the prostitute, she went after strange gods made with the hands of men.  When Judah saw the evil that Israel was doing, she too followed into adultery.

Jeremiah 2:20 ESV "For long ago I broke your yoke and burst your bonds; but you said, 'I will not serve. Yes, on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed down like a whore.”

Jeremiah 3:6-11 ESV The LORD said to me in the days of King Josiah: "Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore?  (7)  And I thought, 'After she has done all this she will return to me,' but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.  (8)  She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore.  (9)  Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree.  (10)  Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the LORD."  (11)  And the LORD said to me, "Faithless Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.

Jeremiah expressed the LORD’s lament over His unfaithful bride Judah.  The LORD pleaded with His people to plow up their stony hearts, the fallow ground of their lives; meaning the hard attitudes and neglectful ways.  Fallow ground is neglected ground.  Israel had neglected their God, the LORD!  They threw away God’s blessings and turned to the most despicable pagan worship of throwing their babies in the fire of Baal, Chemosh and Molech. 

Jeremiah 2:17-24 ESV Have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the LORD your God, when he led you in the way?  (18)  And now what do you gain by going to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile? Or what do you gain by going to Assyria to drink the waters of the Euphrates?  (19)  Your evil will chastise you, and your apostasy will reprove you. Know and see that it is evil and bitter for you to forsake the LORD your God; the fear of me is not in you, declares the Lord GOD of hosts.  (20)  "For long ago I broke your yoke and burst your bonds; but you said, 'I will not serve.' Yes, on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed down like a whore.  (21)  Yet I planted you a choice vine, wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine?  (22)  Though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me, declares the Lord GOD.  (23)  How can you say, 'I am not unclean, I have not gone after the Baals'? Look at your way in the valley; know what you have done-- a restless young camel running here and there,  (24)  a wild donkey used to the wilderness, in her heat sniffing the wind! Who can restrain her lust? None who seek her need weary themselves; in her month they will find her.

Under King Jehoiakin and King Zedekiah; Jeremiah was ridiculed, beat and thrown in prison for spreading the WORD of the LORD and the warning of the impeding disaster to come upon Judah.  The voice of the LORD through Jeremiah even reached Babylon and King Nebuchadnezzar.  Jeremiah was in prison when Nebuchadnezzar sent his army to tear down the walls of Jerusalem and burn the city.  Nebuchadnezzar gave orders not to harm Jeremiah, but to free him and to follow Jeremiah’s instructions.  Nebuchadnezzar respected the WORD of the LORD as revealed by Jeremiah, even in King Zedekiah of Judah didn’t.

Jeremiah 39:8-12 ESV The Chaldeans burned the king's house and the house of the people, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.  (9)  Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried into exile to Babylon the rest of the people who were left in the city, those who had deserted to him, and the people who remained.  (10)  Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, left in the land of Judah some of the poor people who owned nothing, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.  (11)  Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave command concerning Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, saying,  (12)  "Take him, look after him well, and do him no harm, but deal with him as he tells you."

Jeremiah spent his life warning Kings who turned a deaf ear to the warnings from the LORD.  When disaster struck and Jerusalem was destroyed, there was nothing to be done.  Jeremiah was in a perpetual lament over the destruction of God’s people; their captivity and the destruction of the Temple and for Jerusalem.  Jeremiah authored the books of 1^st and 2^nd Kings, Jeremiah and Lamentations.  Jeremiah loved the LORD and was dedicated to proclaiming the warning to repent and turn to the LORD.  He wept constantly over the people and their sin.

Father in Heaven, help us to never turn a deaf ear to you.  Always lead us into your righteousness; trust you only, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

The Essentials Of The Bible: Part 101 -- God Judges And Restores The People – Jerusalem And The Temple Destroyed And The People Taken Captive

Even though Josiah turned the people to the LORD, the evil that was done under King Manasseh could not be overlooked.  The LORD was still angry with Judah and punishment of the people was on the horizon.  God was pleased with Josiah, but His wrath kindled against Judah.

2 Kings 23:26-27 ESV Still the LORD did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him.  (27)  And the LORD said, "I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there."

Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, went to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria.  King Josiah marched his army out to meet them in battle at Megiddo where Neco killed him.

2 Kings 23:29-30 ESV In his days Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. King Josiah went to meet him, and Pharaoh Neco killed him at Megiddo, as soon as he saw him.  (30)  And his servants carried him dead in a chariot from Megiddo and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's place.

His son Jehoahaz became king, and he was twenty-three years old when he became king. And he reigned in Jerusalem three months when Pharaoh Neco put him in prison.  He had demand tribute in the amount of 7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold.  He then made another one of Josiah’s sons, Eliakim, king and changed his name to Jehoiakin. Jehoahaz was taken to Egypt as a prisoner, where he died.

Jehoiakin was only eighteen years old when he became king and it was during the time of Babylon’s greatness.  Babylon had become a world ruling kingdom and they insisted on tribute to be paid by Judah.  The Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, laid siege to Jerusalem and carted off all of the gold in the temple along with all of the sacred furnishings.

2 Kings 24:8-10 ESV Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.  (9)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done.  (10)  At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.

2 Kings 24:12-13 ESV  and Jehoiakin the king of Judah gave himself up to the king of Babylon, himself and his mother and his servants and his officials and his palace officials. The king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his reign (13) and carried off all the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold in the temple of the LORD, which Solomon king of Israel had made, as the LORD had foretold.

 Jehoiakin and all his household, all of the leaders and council surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar.  All of the best of Jerusalem were taken captive to Babylon.  Only the poorest and lowliest people were left in Jerusalem.  Then Nebuchadnezzar made Mattaniah, Jehoiakim’s uncle, the next king; and changed his name to Zedekiah. 

2 Kings 24:14-18 ESV He carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all the mighty men of valor, 10,000 captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained, except the poorest people of the land.  (15)  And he carried away Jehoiakin to Babylon. The king's mother, the king's wives, his officials, and the chief men of the land he took into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.  (16)  And the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of valor, 7,000, and the craftsmen and the metal workers, 1,000, all of them strong and fit for war.  (17)  And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's uncle, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.  (18)  Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar and brought the Babylonian King’s wrath to Jerusalem again.  Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem from the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign until the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign; the people were starving from famine.  Then Nebuchadnezzar broke through the walls and turned Jerusalem and the temple into rubble.  Zedekiah and his sons were captured along with all of his court.  They were taken to the King of Babylon and judgment was sentenced.  Zedekiah saw his sons executed and then they gouged out his eyes and led him away to Babylon in chains.

2 Kings 25:5-7 ESV But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him.  (6)  Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they passed sentence on him.  (7)  They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains and took him to Babylon.

Prayer:  LORD God Almighty we know that you are the God of Justice.  You called Israel to be your Holy People.  We are called today, to be your Holy People.  Fashion our hearts into your righteousness, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

The Essentials Of The Bible: Part 100 -- God Judges And Restores The People – Josiah; The Boy King – Turned Judah To The LORD

The divided nations of the Children of Israel, the Kingdom of Judah and the Kingdom of Israel were interwoven with the nations around them, especially Egypt, Assyria and Babylon.  The history is a complicated puzzle through which the LORD built a foundation for the fulfillment of His promises made to Abraham, when He called him out of Ur.  Abraham was faithful to the LORD and the divine promises from the Almighty could not fail, even if his descendants failed.  The story of the children of Israel becoming divided because of Solomon’s breach of faith; still, it required an ongoing and everlasting commitment of the LORD to be married to the backslider.

Josiah was the last righteous king over Judah.  Like his great grandfather Hezekiah, he tore down the pagan places of worship and drove idolatry out of Judah.  He turned the people to the LORD.  He reversed the evil ways of the reigns of his father Amon and Grandfather Manasseh.  His father, Amon, was such an evil king that his servants conspired against him and killed him to make eight year old Josiah king; but it was another eight years before Josiah sought the LORD God of David his ancestor.

2 Kings 21:16-24 ESV Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides the sin that he made Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.  (17)  Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did, and the sin that he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?  (18)  And Manasseh slept with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza, and Amon his son reigned in his place.  (19)  Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.  (20)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as Manasseh his father had done.  (21)  He walked in all the way in which his father walked and served the idols that his father served and worshiped them.  (22)  He abandoned the LORD, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the LORD.  (23)  And the servants of Amon conspired against him and put the king to death in his house.  (24)  But the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.

2 Kings 22:1 ESV Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath.

When Josiah was eighteen; the High Priest Hilkiah, sent word through the King’s Secretary, Shaphan, that the book of the law had been found.  Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan who read it to the King.  The WORD of the LORD pierced his heart and he tore his clothes in repentance.  At the age of eighteen, Josiah began to seek the LORD and lead the people to the LORD.

2 Kings 22:8-11 ESV And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, "I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD." And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.  (9)  And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, "Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the LORD."  (10)  Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read it before the king.  (11)  When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes.

Then Josiah sent Hilkiah to inquire of the Prophetess Huldah concerning the words of the Book of the Law and she spoke the WORD of the LORD saying, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, I will bring disaster upon this place and the people because they have forsaken me for other gods; but to the King of Judah, because he tore his clothes and sought me, he will go to his fathers in peace.

2 Kings 22:14-20 ESV So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter), and they talked with her.  (15)  And she said to them, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: 'Tell the man who sent you to me,  (16)  Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read.  (17)  Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched.  (18)  But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard,  (19)  because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the LORD, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the LORD.  (20)  Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.'" And they brought back word to the king.

Josiah summoned the leaders of the people and declare national religious reform.  The nation would repent and turn to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  All pagan shrines would be burned to the ground and every pagan god and remnant of their worship would be utterly destroyed.  He executed all of the pagan priests on their own altars and burned their bones on those altars as well.  Then Josiah ordered the Passover to be observed and it was the first time that the Passover was observed since the days when the Judges ruled Israel.  Josiah got rid of all psychics, mediums, witches and every detestable practice, both in Jerusalem and throughout the land of Judah.

2 Kings 23:19-20 ESV  And Josiah removed all the shrines also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which kings of Israel had made, provoking the LORD to anger. He did to them according to all that he had done at Bethel.  (20)  And he sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

2 Kings 23:21-25 ESV And the king commanded all the people, "Keep the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant."  (22)  For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah.  (23)  But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the LORD in Jerusalem.  (24)  Moreover, Josiah put away the mediums and the necromancers and the household gods and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.  (25)  Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.

Many times we underestimate the impact of one peron’s conviction to serve the LORD.  Every known revival has always started with one person.  One man, William J. Seymour started the Azusa Street Revival in 1906 in a depressed neighborhood of Los Angeles.  That revival shaped the Pentecostal Movement of the Twentieth Century and established Apostolic Ministry, a return to the teachings of the Apostles.  Revival can start with each and every one of us.

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, you gave the great commission of the Gospel to the Apostles and we are to carry it just as they did.  Lead us into your ministry and complete the work that you began in us, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

The Essentials Of The Bible: Part 99 -- God Judges And Restores The People – King Hezekiah Part 2: The Day The LORD Reversed Time

After the LORD sent an angel to kill 180,000 Assyrian soldiers that had threatened Jerusalem; King Sennacherib of Assyria went back to Nineveh, where his sons killed him with swords and then they fled to Ararat.  Shortly thereafter, King Hezekiah became gravely ill.  The Prophet Isaiah visited the king with a message from the LORD, “Put your affairs in order because you are going to die.  You will not recover.”  Then Isaiah left the King. 

2 Kings 20:1 ESV In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, "Thus says the LORD, 'Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.'"

Hezekiah immediately turned his face to the wall and began to pray earnestly, reminding the LORD that he had been loyal and faithful to the LORD serving Him with singleness of mind.”  He wept bitterly.  

2 Kings 20:2-3 ESV Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying,  (3)  "Now, O LORD, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight." And Hezekiah wept bitterly. 

Before Isaiah had even left the king’s courtyard, the LORD sent him back to Hezekiah with a message that the LORD heard his prayer and in three days he would be healed and live for fifteen more years.  Then Isaiah laid a cake of figs on the boil that had caused the illness and he recovered.

2 Kings 20:4-7 ESV And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him:  (5)  "Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD,  (6)  and I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David's sake."  (7)  And Isaiah said, "Bring a cake of figs. And let them take and lay it on the boil, that he may recover."

Hezekiah asked Isaiah to give him a sign that in three days he would go up to the temple and that the LORD was going to give him fifteen more years of life.  Isaiah gave him the choice of either having the shadow go forward ten steps or back ten steps.  He chose to have the shadow go back ten steps and the LORD performed it.  The entire universe had to go in reverse for the sun of our solar system to reverse the shadow on the steps.  God reversed time for Hezekiah.

God is willing to go to such great lengths for us today just as He did thousands of years ago for Hezekiah.  All things are possible with God.  We should never give up on any circumstance or illness.  We never know when our persistence in prayer will be answered.  King Hezekiah did live fifteen more years more.

Prayer:  LORD God Almighty, you love us as your children and you give us so many blessings.  Thank you LORD.  Lead us in your will and help us to be faithful, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Copyright © 2006, 2011  Thomas C. Blake

The Essentials Of The Bible: Part 98 -- God Judges And Restores The People – King Hezekiah Part 1: The LORD Destroys 180,000 And Saves Judah From The Assyrians

HEZEKIAH TURNS THE PEOPLE TO THE LORD

Hezekiah was one of the few kings of Judah who did right in the eyes of the LORD.  Those who reigned in the favor of the LORD before him were few and they were disbursed between the evil reigns of unrighteous kings.  Of the twenty kings only six followed the LORD.  They were Asa, Jehoshaphat, Uzziah, Jotham, Hezekiah, followed by Josiah, the last righteous king.  All of the rest did evil in the sight of the LORD. 

The following link has a detailed chart of the Kings of Judah and Israel: 

http://www.vtaide.com/gleanings/Kings-of-Israel/kings.html

2 Kings 18:1-7 ESV In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign.  (2)  He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah.  (3)  And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done.  (4)  He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan).  (5)  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.

OPPRESSION OF ASSYRIA

Both the Kingdom of Judah and the Kingdom of Israel were constantly fighting against the kings in the area that they had once conquered.  In order to dwell in peace, both Judah and Israel were subject to paying tribute to these kings.  Hezekiah rebelled against the King of Assyria.  It was very difficult for the people of Israel and Judah to remain pure with the LORD when they were living among the pagans.  Even though Hezekiah had torn down all of the pagan shrines and basically made the people go to Jerusalem to worship at the temple, the people still insisted on worshipping foreign pagan gods.  The LORD allowed the Assyrians to prevail over them and put them in colonies of forced labor in exile.

During the sixth year of his reign…the king of Assyria exiled the Israelites to Assyria and placed them in colonies in Halah, along the banks of the Habor River in Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. (12)  For they refused to listen to the Lord their God and obey him. Instead, they violated his covenant—all the laws that Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded them to obey.  2 Kings 18:11-12 NLT

THE PROPHET ISAIAH SPEAKS HOPE FROM THE LORD

The situation continued to get worse and Hezekiah tried to settle with the King of Assyria, but he was demanding more than 11 tons of silver and 1 ton of gold.  Hezekiah actually stripped gold from the temple, all of the overlaid gold on the doors and doorposts to meet the King’s demands.  Nothing but total surrender was going to appease the Assyrians.  They did everything to demoralize the people and made vain promises of letting the people keep their land, if only they would submit to their total rule.  It was a hopeless situation that was only getting worse.  When the reports that the situation had worsened, Hezekiah tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth and went to the House of the LORD.

2 Kings 19:1-7 ESV As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the LORD.  (2)  And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz.  (3)  They said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah, This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth.  (4)  It may be that the LORD your God heard all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left."  (5)  When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah,  (6)  Isaiah said to them, "Say to your master, 'Thus says the LORD: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled me.  (7)  Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.'"

ISAIAH SENDS A MESSAGE OF HOPE

Isaiah predicts that deliverance for Judah from the torment of the Assyrians.  He speaks the WORD of the LORD:

2 Kings 19:32-37 ESV "Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it.  (33)  By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the LORD.  (34)  For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David."  (35)  And that night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.  (36)  Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh.  (37)  And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.

That night the angel of the LORD went out to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers.  The Assyrian King broke camp and went back to his own land in Nineveh and he stayed there.  One day while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons killed him with swords and then they fled to Ararat. 

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, Thank you LORD for deliverance from our enemies.  As you were with your ancient people, you are with us today.  Help us to trust in you, in Jesus’ name, Amen.




Copyright © 2006, 2011  Thomas C. Blake