Second Bible Read Thread

The book of Nahum is very short, as we can read it in its entirety today alone, but nevertheless, here is the MEV's summary of NahumL

This book was likely written between 663 and 612 BC. The prophet Nahum is the author, and the style of the book is poetic. Nahum receives a divine theophany against Nineveh. This book forms a type of sequel to the book of Jonah. It's theme is the doom of Neinehveh. Nineveh repented and was spared under Jonah's ministry. But when Nahum preached repentance one hundred years later, the people would not repent and were marked for destruction by the Babylonians. Nineveh fell to Babylon in 612 BC, a few years after Nahum's warning. The book of Nahum can be divided into four sections: God's character, God's punishment of his enemies, the details of Nineveh's destruction, and the cause of the destruction.

Day 204: Sep 10

2 Kings 22 and 23
2 Chronicles 34 and 35

23 And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.

2 And the king went up to the house of Jehovah, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of Jehovah.

3 And the king stood by the pillar, and made a covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all [his] heart, and all [his] soul, to confirm the words of this covenant that were written in this book: and all the people stood to the covenant.

4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring forth out of the temple of Jehovah all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the Asherah, and for all the host of heaven, and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Beth-el.

5 And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.

6 And he brought out the Asherah from the house of Jehovah, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and beat it to dust, and cast the dust thereof upon the graves of the common people.

7 And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were in the house of Jehovah, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah.

8 And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beer-sheba; and he brake down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.

9 Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of Jehovah in Jerusalem, but they did eat unleavened bread among their brethren.

10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.

11 And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of Jehovah, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

12 And the altars that were on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of Jehovah, did the king break down, and beat [them] down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.

13 And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.

14 And he brake in pieces the pillars, and cut down the Asherim, and filled their places with the bones of men.

15 Moreover the altar that was at Beth-el, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he brake down; and he burned the high place and beat it to dust, and burned the Asherah.

16 And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount; and he sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and defiled it, according to the word of Jehovah which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things.

17 Then he said, What monument is that which I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, who came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Beth-el.

18 And he said, Let him be; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.

19 And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke [Jehovah] to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Beth-el.

20 And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there, upon the altars, and burned men's bones upon them; and he returned to Jerusalem.

21 And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto Jehovah your God, as it is written in this book of the covenant.

22 Surely there was not kept such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah; 23 but in the eighteenth year of king Josiah was this passover kept to Jehovah in Jerusalem.

24 Moreover them that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the teraphim, and the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might confirm the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of Jehovah.

25 And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to Jehovah with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.


I was thinking of so much to say last night as I read through 2 Kings 23, how inspiring it was that Josiah found the written word of God in the form of the book of the Law of God, and realized immediately - or perhaps was reminded like so many people of Israel and Judah needed to constantly be reminded - that the Lord God Who saved and protected Israel is the same as the One Who made the entire span of the universe, and thus is the only true living God in all of the world. The only One Who is real. And so Josiah set about destroying all of the images of Asherah, Baal, and Molek throughout Judah, such complete and utter destruction, in fact, that it says above in chapter 23 that he reduced them all to dust. These gods were not real! Not at all! Nothing and no one could redeem and save a nation and its people but the Lord God Who specially chose Israel as His own in the O.T., and Who chooses all of us both Jew and Gentile today. Thus the image in verse 4 of Josiah apparently placing the ashes of what remained of these false gods upon Bethel - the place where, remember, Jacob first saw God way back in Genesis - really stood out to me. It was like how we today are sometimes said to sacrifice any idols we may have gathered in our own lives upon the altar of God, the only One truly worthy of worship .

Day 205: Sep 11

Zephaniah 1 through 3

Here is the MEV summary of the book of Zephaniah ->

Zephaniah was likely written in the late seventh century BC. The author is the prophet Zephaniah, and the theme of this book is the Day of the Lord. Zephaniah prophesied before the reforms of King Josiah (622 BC), who brought religious and social revival to Judah after the long and disastrous reign of Manasseh. While Zephaniah pronounced God's judgment on corruption and wickedness, he also proclaimed a message of hope when Judah, referred to as the daughter of Zion, would be restored. Zephaniah uses the term "Day of the Lord" more than any other prophet. However, while he gives no details about this day, he speaks of its fearsome consequences and calls people to seek the Lord.

Gonna have to post this one early. .... Need ... sleep ... soon .........

(But thanks to God's grace and your prayers, Multi and Miss S&S, I actually scarcely felt tired during work today. )

Day 206: Sep 12

It's going to be all prophecy all the time for a while to come.

Jeremiah 1 through 3

Day 207: Sep 13

Jeremiah 4 through 6

Swords&Sunflowers said:

i have a confession to make...im so behind im still on sept 2 readings

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Just glad to still have you here at all, Miss S&S. I would be discouraged from continuing if you and Miss Multi weren't still showing your encouragement.

Day 208: Sep 14

Jeremiah 7 through 9

Day 209: Sep 15

Jeremiah 10 through 13

Day 210: Sep 16

Jeremiah 14 through 17

Day 211: Sep 17

Jeremiah 18 through 22

Day 212: Sep 18

Jeremiah 23 through 25

Day 213: Sep 19

Jeremiah 26 through 29

Day 214: Sep 20

Jeremiah 30 and 31

Day 215: Sep 21

Jeremiah 32 through 34

Day 216: Sep 22

Jeremiah 35 through 37