The Chapter-A-Day thread. (3)

[brinny]

Cyrus.

In 539 BC, Persian king Cyrus the Great issued the first ever decree on human rights. He freed slaves, and declared that all people had the right to choose their own religion, and established racial equality.

Cyrus was prophesied by the prophet Isaiah:

"Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things. Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it." ~Isa 45:1-8

 

[brinny]

Jehu.

i just noticed that when Jehu destroyed the temple of baal, he ordered that it be changed into a "cesspool" and/or a "latrine", or in modern terms, an "outhouse".

Jehu ordered the temple of Baal to be destroyed, and the place to be converted to the vile use of receiving offal or ordure. (2 Kings 10:27).

offal = the waste or by-product of a process: such as. a : trimmings (such as the belly, head, and shoulders) of a hide.

ordure = excrement, dung; something offensive; dung; filth; excrement; feces.

 

[brinny]

(i mis-posted ooops, put proverbs 3 here by mistake....i'll be back with a less confused post)

 

[brinny]

2 Kings 11:

Athaliah: The Notorious and Heartless Murderess.

Ahab and Jezebel's daughter, Athaliah, had married into David's line of genealogy (she married Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat). Jehoram had died of an incurable and particularly odious bowel disease. If that weren't bad enough, he died after his bowels fell out and on top of that, he died in disgrace, as the people refused to bury him with his fathers.

Back to his wife Athaliah. Her son died, and after he died, she went and killed all of his line (her grandsons) except for the smallest, named Joash, who was hid by Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah.

Athaliah thought she had "exterminated" the line to the throne, which was her intent, so she herself could rule.

Yet, little did she know, that God had other plans.

Joash was hidden until he was seven years old, and that is when Jehoiada the priest declared him king, and sent for Athaliah to be slain.

Link to a study on Athaliah:
Athaliah - All the Women of the Bible - Bible Gateway

 

[brinny]

Men of the Bible.

Link:
II. The Alphabetical Order of All Men Named in The Bible - All the Men of the Bible - Bible Gateway

 

[brinny]

Women of the Bible.

Link:
Chapter 2. Alphabetical Exposition of Named Bible Women - All the Women of the Bible - Bible Gateway

 

[brinny]

Men of the Bible.

Link:
II. The Alphabetical Order of All Men Named in The Bible - All the Men of the Bible - Bible Gateway

Listening to Alexander Scourby read Genesis, and he was just reading about Laban.

GENESIS 31:36-42
Jacob answered and said to Laban: “What is my trespass? What is my sin, that you have so hotly pursued me? Although you have searched all my things, what part of your household things have you found? Set it here before my brethren and your brethren, that they may judge between us both!

These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried their young, and I have not eaten the rams of your flock. That which was torn by beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it. You required it from my hand, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.

There I was! In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep departed from my eyes. Thus I have been in your house twenty years; I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times.

Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night.”

Laban -The father-in law of Jacob. What absolutely floors me is how Jacob is depicted as a wicked and horrendous and despicable man by many Bible teachers and ministers. Really? And how IS that, that this conclusion is come to, pray tell? Jacob "listened to", and "obeyed" God. He even built altars to God, and he kept his promises, even as Laban deceived and downright lied to him and intended to do Jacob harm when Jacob finally left ("escaped", really).

In addition, Laban was a Pagan. He had "gods" that he worshiped, made by man. It is Jacob who heeded God. It was GOD Who told Jacob to leave that place, and that He had seen all the evil that Laban had done unto Jacob.

When Jacob left (escaped), Laban went after him, with the intention of doing him harm (is that a lot of nerve, or WHAT??!!) The audacity of this wicked, grasping, deceiving ol' Pagan floors me.

Well i guess he wasn't ready for God intervening, telling him he betta' not do any harm to Jacob, was he? And even AFTER that, he still didn't turn to and believe in this God of Jacob's? No, he REMAINED foolish and lost and headed for destruction because of his hard heart and his rebellion and his stubbornness.

Tragic.

Link to Bible study on Jacob and Laban:
God Has Seen My Affliction (Genesis 31:36-42)

 

[brinny]

When The Serpent Lost Its Legs.

i'm listening to Alexander Scourby reading the Bible. We're in Genesis. Eve has just listened, with interest, to the serpent (Satan) that asked her "Did God say...?" And telling her that God was just attempting to withhold "good" from her, because if she DOES eat of the forbidden fruit she will be "wise" and "just like God."

Sound familiar? As it is written in Ecclesiastes, there is nothing new under the sun. THIS sure isn't "new". Satan, aka Lucifer did the same, remember? He wanted to BE God and "sit on His throne". He, in other words, wanted to "overthrow" God. He wanted to "topple" God from His throne.

As we can plainly see, he learned nothing from his own "toppling" when God tossed him out of heaven, as Jesus Himself describes it.

And there he is, coaxing Eve to do as he had done, and that is to rebel against the living God. She wanted to be "wise", and she was agreeing with that ol' serpent Satan, that God was rather "evil" and "mean" for withholding "something good" from her.

Both, in seeking "wisdom", became fools. She even dragged her husband Adam into it.

Soooooo, God comes for a visit. Adam and Eve run and hide. And Satan? He's still there hahaaaa (i guess he already knew that there's NO PLACE to "hide" from God), so he just stands there (and yes, he "stood" there......he still had "legs" then).

God then confronts Adam, and then Eve, and Eve of course told God that the serpent beguiled her, and so she did eat of the forbidden fruit.

So here's where it gets reeeeeeally interesting and something that i had not noticed for the loooooooooongest time, and that is what God tells the serpent. And THAT is that the serpent is cursed and will crawl on his belly with its face in the dust.

Well now what does that MEAN, exactly?

It means that the serpent did NOT "crawl" before it got cursed by God.

It had LEGS.

Now THAT'S a study and THEN some, isn't it?

"And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:" ~Gen 3:14

 

[brinny]

2 Kings 12:

The Boy Who Becomes King.

Jehoash was seven years old when he began to reign as king. it is written that he did what was right in the eyes of God. Part of his doing righteously was that he re-built the Temple.

"Then king Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and the other priests, and said unto them, Why repair ye not the breaches of the house? now therefore receive no more money of your acquaintance, but deliver it for the breaches of the house." ~II Kings 12:7

 

[brinny]

2 Kings 13:

Elisha Dies.

Elisha had gotten sick and he died from the sickness. Nevertheless, even in death, Elisha, by God's own power and grace, through his very bones, brought a dead man back to life.

"And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet." ~II Kings 13:20-21

 

[brinny]

*bump*

 

[brinny]

*bump*

 

[brinny]

*bump*

 

[brinny]

2 Kings 14

A Wicked King Rises.

And there rose to the throne a wicked king. His name was Amaziah, the son of Joash - king of Judah. His people conspired against him and he ran to Lachish, but they pursued him there and slew him. Then his 16 year old son, Azariah was was made king by the people.

 

[brinny]

2 Kings 15
A Righteous King Arises.

From the tragic wickedness of a wicked father, there arose to the rhrone that wicked king's son, Azariah, who was crowned king by the people after the death of his father, when he was 16 yeas old. He is described as "doing right in the eyes of God". However he did not remove all the wickedness from his kingdom but allowed it, still. Consequently, he was struck with leprosy until his death, at which time his son, Jotham reigned in his stead.

 

[brinny]

2 Kings 16

A Wicked King

Ahaz, Jotham's son, begins to reign at age 20. It is written that he was wicked and that he sacrificed his own children to the fire, as he worshiped false gods, etc.

It is not clear why he died at such a young age, after reigning for 16 years in Jerusalem.

His son, Hezekiah began to reign after the death of Ahaz.

 

[brinny]

Aaron.

Aaron was the older brother of Moses, and God appointed him to be the "spokes person" for Moses, and the high priest.

Yet, under pressure from a rebellious people, he made a golden calf, even to collecting the peoples gold jewelry, etc to melt it down and to make the golden calf.

This all took place when Moses was up on the mountain for an extended period of time, with God.

Aaron was just a "piece o' work", wasn't he?

 

[brinny]

Gideon.

Gideon had NO idea or even a glimmer of a hint that God was going to "step right smack into his despairing and hopeless world" on a pivotal day in his life and re-define him, when an angel, out of the clear blue, greeted him as he called him "mighty man of valour". Hahahaaa i LOVE Gideon's testimony and how God just "recruited" unsuspecting Gideon, into His Army, to be used mightily in ways that Gideon never ever dreamed possible.

 

[brinny]

Jabez.

Now Jabez, out of seeming obscurity, is "highlighted", so to speak, by God Himself. Out of nowhere, he is mentioned, and he is mentioned by NAME. He had been "cursed", so to speak, with a name to match, for his name means "a curse". So there he is living out his life, named "a curse". What i also find interesting is that neither his brothers nor his mother are mentioned by name.

What IS pointed out is how God describes Jabez, and that is, that Jabez was more righteous than his brothers.

He was also wise, for he went to the God of Israel, to seek release from the shackles of pain and evil, and the curse that was imposed on him at birth, even described by the name given to him at birth, by his mother.

God HEARD righteous Jabez, and granted him ALL that he requested.

Jabez was no longer obscure and cursed, but KNOWN by God and man, and BLESSED.

 

[brinny]

David: Abominable, Wicked Sinner.

David sinned horrendously and despicably. He essentially sent for, and "took" Bathsheba, the wife of his loyal man of valor, Uriah, who would've given his life for David. Then, if that was not bad enough, he learns later that she is pregnant, and conspires to murder in cold blood, her husband Uriah. And he does.

Yet, God Himself called David "a man after His own heart", and the "apple of His eye".

Why?

It's because David repented. In addition, David never ever worshiped false gods nor did he ever allow idols any place in his dwelling, or anywhere in his kingdom. In addition, and the "key" to why God continued defining David as a man after His own heart and the apple of His eye, is because David never ever stopped loving the living God.