All Is Well1
2 Kings 4:18-23; 25-37
The greatest earthly blessings are never certain to last. The son who had brought joy to the Shunammite woman now became the cause of her grief.
18When the child had grown, he went out one day to his father among the reapers. 19And he said to his father, “Oh, my head, my head!” (Perhaps the harvest sun was too hot for him and he suffered from sunstroke. This is common in the East.) The father said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.” 20And when he had lifted him and brought him to his mother, the child sat on her lap till noon, and then he died. 21And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God and shut the door behind him and went out. (She had lost her son and was full of grief. But she still had hope, because she had not lost her faith.)
22Then she called to her husband and said, “Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, that I may quickly go to the man of God and come back again.” 23And he said, “Why will you go to him today? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath.” She said, “All is well.”
She answered, “All is well.” Her heart was full of sorrow and her faith was being greatly tried, so she said very little. She decided not to mention the crushing loss of their son until she appealed to the power of the prophet’s God.
25So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.
When the man of God saw her coming, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Look, there is the Shunammite. 26Run at once to meet her and say to her, ‘Is all well with you? Is all well with your husband? Is all well with the child?’” And she answered, “All is well”. 27And when she came to the mountain to the man of God, she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came to push her away. (She was in agony. Faith and fear battled within her. She did not act like herself, but fell anxiously at the prophet’s feet.) But the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for she is in bitter distress, and the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me. 28Then she said, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Did I not say, ‘Do not deceive me?’”
She reasoned that the son was certainly not given to mock her and break her heart. But she felt that if he were taken from her so soon that is what it would look like. She refused to believe that this is what the Lord intended. Her faith and her distress pleaded with Elisha.
29He said to Gehazi, “Tie up your garment and take my staff in your hand and go. If you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not reply. And lay my staff on the face of the child.” 30Then the mother of the child said, “As the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So he arose and followed her. 31Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the face of the child, but there was no sound or sign of life. Therefore he returned to meet him and told him, “The child has not awakened.”
God would not grant this blessing in response to a mere act. There must be mighty prayer.
32When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. 33So he went in and shut the door behind the two of them and prayed to the LORD. 34Then he went up and lay on the child, putting his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. And as he stretched himself upon him, the flesh of the child became warm. 35Then he got up again and walked once back and forth in the house, and went up and stretched himself upon him. The child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. (By faith, this woman received her child raised to life again like the woman of Zarephath had before her.2 Although a miracle like this will not be worked for us, we should have the same faith. If we do, we shall then see things equally worthy of our gratitude.)
36Then he summoned Gehazi and said, “Call this Shunammite.” So he called her. And when she came to him, he said, “Pick up your son.” 37She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground. Then she picked up her son and went out. (We must imitate this good woman. In all times of trouble, go to the Lord and he will surely help us through. “Trust in the LORD forever.”3)
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1 2 Kings 4:26
2 This story is told in 1 Kings 17:8-24
3 Isaiah 26:4
Year One, December 2
He…Made the Iron Float1
2 Kings 4:38-44
38And Elisha came again to Gilgal when there was a famine in the land. And as the sons of the prophets were sitting before him, he said to his servant, “Set on the large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.”
Even though there was only a little flour to put in the pot, Elisha was convinced that the Lord would provide a meal. Therefore he ordered that the pot be placed on the fire and be ready for what the Lord would provide. We have heard of someone who had no bread and much faith. He prayed and then had the tablecloth placed on the table in readiness for the Lord’s provision to demonstrate how real his faith was. This was the faith Elisha had.
39One of them went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered from it his lap full of wild gourds, and came and cut them up into the pot of stew, not knowing what they were. (Unbelief always needs something to do. This person could not wait for the Lord to fill the pot. He felt he must come to the Lord’s assistance and the result was trouble. Faith does better with her patient waiting than mistrust does with her conceited activity.) 40And they poured out some for the men to eat. But while they were eating of the stew, they cried out, “O man of God, there is death in the pot!” And they could not eat it. 41He said, “Then bring flour.” And he threw it into the pot and said, “Pour some out for the men, that they may eat.” And there was no harm in the pot. (The Lord has an answer for every evil. There are deadly evils in this great pot of society, like superficial forms of worship and unbelief. The way to prevent their harmful influence is to throw in the flour of gospel truth until the error is made harmless by the wonder working grace of God.)
42A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And Elisha said, “Give to the men, that they may eat.” (Elisha’s faith had empowered him to believe that God could provide when there was nothing available. Now he was convinced that divine power could multiply even the little the man had brought.) 43But his servant said, “How can I set this before a hundred men?” So he repeated, “Give them to the men, that they may eat, for thus says the LORD, ‘They shall eat and have some left.’” 44So he set it before them. And they ate and had some left, according to the word of the LORD. (We are to use what we have and then God will give us more. God will supply according to our needs. We are promised strength for each of our days here on earth.2)
2 Kings 6:1-7
1Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “See, the place where we dwell under your charge is too small for us. 2Let us go to the Jordan and each of us get there a log, and let us make a place for us to dwell there.” And he answered, “Go.” 3Then one of them said, “Be pleased to go with your servants.” And he answered, “I will go.” (His company would cheer them and his holy conversation would improve them. They loved him and so they wanted to have him with them. He loved them and so he agreed to join them in their work.) 4So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees.
5But as one was felling a log, his axe head fell into the water, and he cried out, “Alas, my master! It was borrowed.” (He was poor and had borrowed the axe. But he was also honest and was doubly sorry to lose what had been lent to him.) 6Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the iron float. (Yes, and God can still make iron float. Things that are impossible for us are possible to him. Our all-powerful God can rescue us from every difficulty. Let us cast all our anxieties on the Lord in childlike confidence.3) 7And he said, “Take it up.” So he reached out his hand and took it. (Joy returned to this son of the prophets. May we have the same work, the same friendships, the same faith, and the same joy that he had!)
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1 2 Kings 6:6
2 Deuteronomy 33:25, “As your days, so shall your strength be.”
3 1 Peter 5:7, “Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”
Year One, December 3
Wash, and Be Clean1
2 Kings 5:1-14
1Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.
There is imperfection in even the best of people. No one can be described without including a “but.” Naaman’s “but” was one that made his life bitter. His disease was repulsive, deadly and incurable.
2Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman’s wife. 3She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” (Who knows how this girl came to know about the prophet of the true God? Perhaps a holy mother had made her familiar with the true faith and its ministers. Mothers cannot tell where their children may end up years from now. Therefore they should prepare them for the future by storing their minds with the truth of God.)
4So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel. (Naaman was a kind master. All his servants took an interest in him. It is very pleasant when each one in the family seeks the good of the rest. Parents should care for the good of their children and children should make their parent’s concerns their own.) 5And the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”
So he went, taking with him ten talents (about 750 pounds) of silver, six thousand shekels (about 75 pounds) of gold, and ten changes of clothes. 6And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” (This was a mistake. King Jehoram was an idolater and could do nothing to help Naaman.) 7And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.” (He was alarmed and afraid that his powerful neighbor was looking for an excuse for another war.)
8But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. (He arrived in splendor and pride.) 10And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” (To cure Naaman of pride Elisha did not come out to meet him personally, but sent him a simple message.)
11But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. (He wanted rituals and ceremonies, just as many do today.) 12Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. (He was like those today who ignore the great gospel command, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,”2 and look for a way to be saved by their own efforts or by the ritual of some so-called priest.) 13But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”
This was good reasoning. If Jesus had said to us, “Go on a long journey to a holy place and you will be saved,” we would have traveled across the world. Should we not obey him when he says, “Believe and live”?
14So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
God is always as good as his word, but he requires us to obey him. Faith will save us, but if we will not believe we will not inherit eternal life. How is it with each one of us? Have we washed in Jesus’ blood or not?3
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1 2 Kings 5:13
2 Acts 16:31
3 Revelation 7:14b, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
Year One, December 4
He Who Tells Lies Will Perish1
2 Kings 5:15-27
15Then [Naaman] returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel; so accept now a present from your servant. (The stranger from Syria returned to give his heartfelt thanks. He was not like those who receive great help and then go away and forget the giver. His gratitude prompted him to reward the prophet as well as to praise his Master.) 16But [Elisha] said, “As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused.
He wanted Naaman to see that he was not like the greedy priests he was used to. Jesus taught his disciples, “You received without paying; give without pay.”2 Elisha accepted presents from others, but in this case he refused because he knew it was the best thing to do.
17Then Naaman said, “If not, please let there be given to your servant two mules’ load of earth, for from now on your servant will not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god but the LORD. (Did he want this earth to build an altar with, according to the law? We may suppose so, but we cannot be sure.) 18In this matter may the LORD pardon your servant; when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, leaning on my arm, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon your servant in this matter.” (His faith was very weak. He wanted some leeway granted regarding concerning his responsibilities in the royal court in Syria. It was a wrong request and Elisha passed over it in silence. Perhaps Naaman outgrew his fear and became as decided for Jehovah as we could wish him to have been at the first.) 19He said to him, “Go in peace.”
But when Naaman had gone from him a short distance, 20Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “See, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not accepting from his hand what he brought. As the LORD lives, I will run after him and get something from him.” (How irreverent to mix up the name of the Lord with his greed and lie. Someone may live with a prophet and not be the better for it.) 21So Gehazi followed Naaman. And when Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is all well?” 22And he said, “All is well. My master has sent me to say, ‘There have just now come to me from the hill country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing.’” (Intentional falsehood, every word of it!)
23And Naaman said, “Be pleased to accept two talents.” And he urged him and tied up two talents (about 150 pounds) of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing and laid them on two of his servants. And they carried them before Gehazi. 24And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand and put them in the house, and he sent the men away, and they departed.
What good could these things do him when he had to hide them and leave them? People lose their souls to get things that only cause them more trouble.
25He went in and stood before his master, and Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” And he said, “Your servant went nowhere.”
One lie requires another to back it up. The beginning of falsehood is like a fire that gets out of control. No one knows where it will end.
26But he said to him, “Did not my heart go when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Was it a time to accept money and garments, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male servants and female servants? 27Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So he went out from his presence a leper, like snow. (May God, in his infinite mercy, keep us from provoking him by telling lies. Liars may not be punished with leprosy in these days, but they will have their part in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur.3 Who can think about such a doom without trembling?)
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1 Proverbs 19:9 (NASB)
2 Matthew 10:8
3 Revelation 21:8, “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
Year One, December 5
The Glory of Israel Will Not Lie or Have Regret1
Some time after Naaman was cured of his leprosy, the king of Syria besieged Samaria. Food became so scarce that mothers actually ate their own children. At last the Lord directed Elisha to inform these people that they were about to be delivered from the Syrians.
2 Kings 7:1-17
1But Elisha said, “Hear the word of the LORD: thus says the LORD, Tomorrow about this time a seah (about eight pounds) of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel,2 and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.” 2Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned said to the man of God, “If the LORD himself should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” But he said, “You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.” (The king’s captain was scornful as well as unbelieving. This sarcasm was typical of the way he sneered at the Lord and his prophet.)
3Now there were four men who were lepers at the entrance to the gate. And they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die? 4If we say, ‘Let us enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. So now come, let us go over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare our lives we shall live, and if they kill us we shall but die.” 5So they arose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians. But when they came to the edge of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no one there. 6For the LORD had made the army of the Syrians hear the sound of chariots and of horses, the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to come against us.” 7So they fled away in the twilight and abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys, leaving the camp as it was, and fled for their lives.
If the Lord wills it, the most courageous enemies of his church will run away like frightened rabbits. Why should we be afraid of those who can become afraid of themselves so quickly?
8And when these lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent and ate and drank, and they carried off silver and gold and clothing and went and hid them. Then they came back and entered another tent and carried off things from it and went and hid them.
9Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come; let us go and tell the king’s household.” 10So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city and told them, “We came to the camp of the Syrians, and behold, there was no one to be seen or heard there, nothing but the horses tied and the donkeys tied and the tents as they were.” 11Then the gatekeepers called out, and it was told within the king’s household. 12And the king rose in the night and said to his servants, “I will tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry. Therefore they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the open country, thinking, ‘When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive and get into the city.’”
13And one of his servants said, “Let some men take five of the remaining horses, seeing that those who are left here will fare like the whole multitude of Israel who have already perished. Let us send and see.” (The promise that God had given only a few hours earlier by his prophet Elisha seems to have already been forgotten. However they did the right thing to send men and see if the story the lepers told was true. Some people are so certain that a blessing from God cannot possibly happen, they will not bother to check out a story when they hear it.) 14So they took two horsemen, and the king sent them after the army of the Syrians, saying, “Go and see.” 15So they went after them as far as the Jordan, and behold, all the way was littered with garments and equipment that the Syrians had thrown away in their haste. And the messengers returned and told the king.
16Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Syrians. So a seah of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD. (God’s word was fulfilled right down to the penny and the hour.) 17Now the king had appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate. And the people trampled him in the gate, so that he died, as the man of God had said when the king came down to him.
God fulfills his threats as well as his promises. The fine flour is sold and the unbelieving captain is crushed. It will be terrible if any of us perish because we also refuse to believe. Yet that is what will happen if we see the blessings of the gospel all around us and lose them because we refuse to believe.
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1 1 Samuel 15:29
2 A shekel weighs about two-fifths of an ounce. A silver shekel might approximate an hour’s wage.
Year One, December 6
The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things1
2 Kings 8:1-15
1Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Arise, and depart with your household, and sojourn wherever you can, for the LORD has called for a famine, and it will come upon the land for seven years.” (She had been quite content to live among her own people and now she must undergo the trial of being away from them for a time. Undoubtedly she understood that the path of faith is not an easy one, but that it is always the safest one.) 2So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God. She went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. (She submitted to this trial in the right spirit. She did not question “why?” and she did not complain.)
3And at the end of the seven years, when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she went to appeal to the king for her house and her land. (While she was gone, others had taken her property, so she went to the king to ask that it be returned to her) 4Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.” 5And while he was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and her land. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, here is the woman, and here is her son whom Elisha restored to life.”
This was an obvious act of providence. The odds were, as people would say, a million to one against these things happening at the same time. The king wanted to talk to Gehazi, the topic was about the woman’s son being restored to life, and, just in time, the hero of the story shows up. Wonderful, was it not? Yet, if we will just open our eyes, we shall see wonders like this happen in our own lives more times than we can count.
6And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed an official for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, together with all the produce of the fields from the day that she left the land until now.” (God repaid this woman a hundred times over for the cup of cold water that she gave to Elisha when she welcomed him as her guest. God will not be in debt to anyone.)
7Now Elisha came to Damascus. (He marched right into the teeth of Israel’s enemies. He carried out the Lord’s errands with the same bravery that Elijah did before him.) Ben-hadad the king of Syria was sick. And when it was told him, “The man of God has come here,” 8the king said to Hazael, “Take a present with you and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the LORD through him, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this sickness?’” 9So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, all kinds of goods of Damascus, forty camels’ loads. When he came and stood before him, he said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this sickness?’”
10And Elisha said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You shall certainly recover,’ but the LORD has shown me that he shall certainly die.” (He might recover as far as his illness was concerned, but he will die because Hazael would murder him. Both of Elisha’s statements were correct.) 11And he fixed his gaze and stared at him, until he was embarrassed. And the man of God wept. 12And Hazael said, “Why does my lord weep?” He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the people of Israel. You will set on fire their fortresses, and you will kill their young men with the sword and dash in pieces their little ones and rip open their pregnant women.” 13And Hazael said, “What is your servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?” (He denied that he could commit such a crime, but this was not the truth. In his heart he was already plotting the overthrow of his king.) Elisha answered, “The LORD has shown me that you are to be king over Syria.” 14Then he departed from Elisha and came to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he answered, “He told me that you would certainly recover.” 15But the next day he took the bed cloth and dipped it in water and spread it over his face, till he died. And Hazael became king in his place.
Hazael proved that he was worse than a dog, even though he had pretended to be innocent. Words are worth nothing when the heart is wrong. We must have new hearts and right spirits or there is no predicting what crimes we may end up committing. Who knows the amount of evil that any one of us might do if grace does not stop us? Oh Lord, save us from ourselves.
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1 Jeremiah 17:9
Year One, December 7
The LORD Has Made Himself Known; He Has Executed Judgment1
2 Kings 9:1-7; 14; 21-26; 30-37
1Then Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, “Tie up your garments, and take this flask of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead. 2And when you arrive, look there for Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi. And go in and have him rise from among his fellows, and lead him to an inner chamber. 3Then take the flask of oil and pour it on his head and say, ‘Thus says the LORD, I anoint you king over Israel.’ Then open the door and flee; do not linger.” (He was not to wait for payment or reward. Those who do the Lord’s business must not stand around idly or move slowly. God’s angels fly swiftly and God’s prophets must carry out their assignments with eagerness.)
4So the young man, the servant of the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. 5And when he came, behold, the commanders of the army were in council. And he said, “I have a word for you, O commander.” And Jehu said, “To which of us all?” and he said, “To you, O commander.” 6So he arose and went into the house. And the young man poured the oil on his head, saying to him, “Thus says the LORD the God of Israel, I anoint you king over the people of the LORD, over Israel. 7And you shall strike down the house of Ahab your master, so that I may avenge on Jezebel the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD.”
14Thus Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (He was probably Joram’s top general. It was not something new in Israel’s history for a person in this position to overthrow the king.) (Now Joram with all Israel had been on guard at Ramoth-gilead against Hazael king of Syria.)
King Joram had left Jehu in charge of the city of Ramoth-gilead while he went to Jezreel to recover from wounds he had received during a battle with the Syrians. Jehu chose this time to attack Joram. He came to Jezreel with his cavalry to attack the recuperating king. The watchman on the walls of the palace saw Jehu coming and King Joram sent messengers to find out why he was coming to Jezreel. But they immediately deserted Joram and joined Jehu’s soldiers. Finally the king himself decided to ride out and confront his rebellious general. He acted foolishly and it ended in his death. The next verses describe the deadly encounter.
21Joram said, “Make ready.” And they made ready his chariot. Then Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah set out, each in his chariot, and went to meet Jehu, and met him at the property of Naboth the Jezreelite. 22And when Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” (He was asking Jehu whether the Syrians had defeated them or if he had conquered them and brought news of peace. Little did he dream of the doom to which he was rushing. The greatest sinners are usually the ones who feel no harm will come to them, even when they are on the edge of ruin.) He answered, “What peace can there be, so long as the whorings and sorceries of your mother Jezebel are so many?” (What peace can any sinner expect to have with God while they live in sin?)
23Then Joram reined about and fled, saying to Ahaziah, “Treachery, O Ahaziah!” 24And Jehu drew his bow with his full strength, and shot Joram between the shoulders, so that the arrow pierced his heart, and he sank in his chariot. 25Jehu said to Bidkar his aide, “Take him up and throw him on the plot of ground belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. For remember, when you and I rode side by side behind Ahab his father, how the LORD made this pronouncement against him. 26‘As surely as I saw yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons—declares the LORD—I will repay you on this plot of ground.’ Now therefore take him up and throw him on the plot of ground, in accordance with the word of the LORD.” (In this way, the Lord is known by the judgments he carries out. It is remarkable that the person who had heard the prophecy years before, as if by chance, should now become the one to fulfill the prophecy.)
30When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. And she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out of the window. 31And as Jehu entered the gate, she said, “Is it peace, you Zimri, murderer of your master?”
Her arrogant spirit did not back off. She sneered at the Lord’s avenger. Maybe she hoped to frighten Jehu by showing him great disrespect. But he had a command from God and this made him bold to go forward and execute the wicked queen.
32And he lifted up his face to the window and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three eunuchs looked out at him. 33He said, “Throw her down.” So they threw her down. And some of her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses, and they trampled on her. (Her murder of the Lord’s prophets came home to her. The body that she pampered was now trampled on like “straw is trampled down in a dunghill.”2) 34Then he went in and ate and drank. And he said, “See now to this cursed woman and bury her, for she is a king’s daughter.”
35But when they went to bury her, they found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands. 36When they came back and told him, he said, “This is the word of the LORD, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, ‘In the territory of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel, 37and the corpse of Jezebel shall be as dung on the face of the field in the territory of Jezreel, so that no one can say, This is Jezebel.’” (This was heard in her pompous days. Her heralds proclaimed, “This is Jezebel,” But they would say this no more. They could not even say, this is Jezebel’s body, or this is Jezebel’s tomb, or these are Jezebel’s children. The name of the wicked will rot. Lord, we bow before you in reverence; we tremble at your justice.)
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1 Psalm 9:16
2 Isaiah 25: 10, “For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain, and Moab shall be trampled down in his place, as straw is trampled down in a dunghill.”
Year One, December 8
The Wicked Are Overthrown and Are No More1
We have seen the end of the house of Ahab. We will now glance at the kingdom of Judah. Jehoshaphat was a good king, but he was too friendly with the idol worshiping kings of Israel and the sad result was evil kings on the throne in Judah.
2 Chronicles 21:1; 4; 6; 18-20
1Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Jehoram his son reigned in his place.
4When Jehoram had ascended the throne of his father and was established, he killed all his brothers with the sword, and also some of the princes of Israel. (He followed the cruel policy of many oriental tyrants who are afraid of rivals. He put to death anyone who might rise to power through their position or influence. Jehoram’s brothers were better than he was. Perhaps this was why he was so hardened against them.)
6And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. (A lot about our future depends on whom we marry. Whether for good or evil, our spouse will influence our entire life. Jehoram acted wickedly. He married the daughter of wicked Ahab. May all the marriages of our family be “in the Lord.”)
Jehoram’s sin resulted in his country being looted, his palace abandoned, and his wives and children carried off as prisoners. None of this caused him to repent of his wickedness.
18And after all this the LORD struck him in his bowels with an incurable disease. 19In the course of time, at the end of two years…he died in great agony. His people made no fire in his honor, like the fires made for his fathers. 20He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed with no one’s regret. (No one placed value in his life or mourned his death.) They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
They did not think his body was worth burying with the godly kings. Those who despise God will not get much respect.
2 Chronicles 22:1-9
1And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, for the band of men that came with the Arabians to the camp had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned. 2Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri. 3He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor in doing wickedly.
Athaliah was the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. She married Jehoram. She ruined her husband and influenced her son to be evil. Mothers have great influence in their families. They are the queens of the household and shape the future of their children.
4He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done. For after the death of his father they were his counselors, to his undoing. (His father’s counselors became his advisors. Counselors to wickedness are counselors to destruction.) 5He even followed their counsel and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to make war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead. And the Syrians wounded Joram, 6and he returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that he received at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was wounded.
7But it was ordained by God that the downfall of Ahaziah should come about through his going to visit Joram. For when he came there, he went out with Jehoram to meet Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab. 8And when Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he met the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers, who attended Ahaziah, and he killed them. 9aHe searched for Ahaziah, and he was captured while hiding in Samaria, and he was brought to Jehu and put to death. (Ahaziah had sinned like those in the house of Ahab and their overthrow also led to his destruction. His mother and his wife were both of the evil family of Ahab. He was twice cursed and the downfall of Ahab’s family became his too. We should never have close associations on earth with those from whom we want to be separated on the day of judgment.) They buried him, for they said, “He is the grandson of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart.” (They buried him out of respect for his godly grandfather. Otherwise his body would have been left to the dogs. “The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.”2)
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1 Proverbs 12:7
2 Proverbs 10:7
Year One, December 9
As for Me, I Have Set Up My King on Zion, My Holy Hill1
2 Kings 11:1-4; 10-18; 20
1Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family. (Like a true descendant of Ahab, she stopped at nothing that could promote her own ambition. She earned the name, “Athaliah that wicked woman.”2 She almost succeeded in destroying David’s descendants, but the Lord would not allow that to happen. The scepter could not be taken from the tribe of Judah until the Messiah came. The covenant promise to David was connected to the birth of Jesus Christ. It was not possible for God’s word to be broken.) 2But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were being put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus they hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not put to death. 3And he remained with her six years, hidden in house of the LORD, while Athaliah reigned over the land. (Athaliah was not likely to go to the Lord’s house to find the child, because she rarely visited that sacred place. David had lovingly cared for God’s house and now the Lord protects the hope of his servant’s race in the rooms of the temple.)
4But in the seventh year Jehoiada sent and brought the captains of the Carites and of the guards, and had them come to him in the house of the LORD. And he made a covenant with them and put them under oath in the house of the LORD, and he showed them the king’s son.
Jehoiada appointed these people to be the king’s bodyguard when he brought him into the open to be crowned.
Matthew Henry3 remarks that Jehoiada was a man of great wisdom, because he kept the prince in the background until a time when the people were fed up with Athaliah’s tyranny. He was a man of great influence; the Levites and all Judah did as he commanded. He was a man of great faith; in the darkest times he said, “Behold, the king’s son! Let him reign, as the LORD spoke concerning the sons of David.”4 He was a man of great religion; he returned the worship of the Lord all over the land. He was a man of great determination; he went boldly through with his loyal plan and carried it out to final success.
10And the priest gave to the captains the spears and shields that had been King David’s, which were in the house of the LORD. 11And the guards stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the south side of the house to the north side of the house, around the altar and the house on behalf of the king. 12Then he brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him and gave him the testimony. And they proclaimed him king and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, “Long live the king!”
13When Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she went into the house of the LORD to the people. 14And when she looked, there was the king standing by the pillar, according to the custom and the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets. And Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, “Treason! Treason!” (Yet she was herself the greatest traitor. Her cries were useless. Her tyranny and cruelty had lost her any friends she may have had. No one lifted a hand or voice in her defense.)
15Then Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains who were set over the army, “Bring her out between the ranks, and put to death with the sword anyone who follows her.” For the priest said, “Let her not be put to death in the house of the LORD.” 16So they laid hands on her; and she went through the horses’ entrance to the king’s house, and there she was put to death.
The last of Ahab’s family was put to death. Like Jezebel before her, this fierce and overbearing woman was rushed to her destruction.
17And Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and people, that they should be the LORD’s people, and also between the king and the people. 18Then all the people of the land went to the house of Baal and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest posted watchmen over the house of the LORD.
20aSo all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet. (The holy influence of one great and good man brought the nation back to its previous condition. True worship of the Lord returned and the idols were removed. When God’s Spirit is in a person they can sway the hearts of thousands. Lord, send us such people in both church and government.)
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1 Psalm 2:6
2 2 Chronicles 24:7
3 Matthew Henry (1662-1714). Pastor and Bible commentator.
4 2 Chronicles 23:3
Year One, December 10
You Received Without Paying; Give Without Pay1
2 Kings 12:1-15
1aIn the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash (an alternate spelling of Joash) began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. 2And Jehoash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all his days, because Jehoiada the priest instructed him.
Unfortunately, Jehoash was controlled by those around him. He lacked strength of character. He was good only as long as the real reins of his actions were in godly hands. People should have minds of their own. They should have principles that will guide them no matter whose company they are in. Still, Jehoiada deserves great honor for the way he managed the affairs of the kingdom.
3Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away; the people continued to sacrifice and make offerings on the high places.
4Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money of the holy things that is brought into the house of the LORD, the money for which each man is assessed—the money from the assessment of persons—and the money that a man’s heart prompts him to bring into the house of the LORD, 5let the priests take, each from his donor, and let them repair the house wherever any need of repairs is discovered.” (The king had been brought up in the temple. Therefore he felt a great love for it. He had only an appearance of godliness,2 but his appearance was very energetic. His zeal put even the priests to shame. Those who have nothing except external religion are often more passionate about it than those who possess the reality of godliness.)
6But by the twenty-third year of King Jehoash, the priests had made no repairs on the house. 7Therefore King Jehoash summoned Jehoiada the priest and the other priests and said to them, “Why are you not repairing the house? Now therefore take no more money from your donors, but hand it over for the repair of the house.” (Pastors should not be burdened with the responsibility of raising money. They have higher duties. The priests managed the money poorly. They failed to keep contributions for the repairs in a separate fund, so the king decided on another plan. If we cannot come up with resources for a good work one way, we must try another.) 8So the priests agreed that they should take no more money from the people, and that they should not repair the house.
9Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest and bored a hole in the lid of it and set it beside the altar on the right side as one entered the house of the LORD. And the priests who guarded the threshold put in it all the money that was brought into the house of the LORD. 10And whenever they saw that there was much money in the chest, the king’s secretary and the high priest came up and they bagged and counted the money that was found in the house of LORD.
This was a new approach and the people liked the idea. It is most important that people should be sure that whatever is given to the cause of God is used honestly.
11Then they would give the money that was weighed out into the hands of the workmen who had the oversight of the house of the LORD. And they paid it out to the carpenters and the builders who worked on the house of the LORD, 12and to the masons and the stonecutters, as well as to buy timber and quarried stone for making repairs on the house of the LORD, and for any outlay for the repairs of the house. 13But there were not made for the house of the LORD basins of silver, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, or any vessels of gold, or of silver, from the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, 14for that was given to the workmen who were repairing the house of the LORD with it.
This is a good place to stop and ask if each of us is doing our part for the support of God’s worship and work. Let us not be content to live in well-maintained homes while the house of worship is in disrepair.
15And they did not ask an accounting from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to pay out to the workmen, for they dealt honestly. (Faithfulness is a great virtue. Whatever may happen to us, we must keep an accurate account of expenses. A Christian should be someone who can be trusted with even very large amounts of money. Whether we seem to be unimportant or lords of the land, our first duty to other people is to be thoroughly honest.)
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1 Matthew 10:8
2 2 Timothy 3:5, “having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.”
Year One, December 11
It Is Good for the Heart to Be Strengthened by Grace1
2 Chronicles 24:2; 15-25
2And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest.
But Joash was not motivated by love to God. He did things to please Jehoiada, the man who had helped him to the throne. The religious party had put the crown on his head and so as long as they were in power he followed their wishes. But when the idolaters became strong he went over to their side. The person who goes whichever way the wind blows will change direction when it does. It is very important to be guided by clearly established truth.
15But Jehoiada grew old and full of days, and died. He was 130 years old at his death. 16And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, and toward God and his house.
17Now after the death of Jehoiada the princes of Judah came and paid homage to the king. Then the king listened to them.
No doubt the princes congratulated Joash on no longer needing to follow the wishes of an old priest. “Now,” they said, “let us leave the dull and harsh religion of Jehovah for the fun and pleasurable worship of idols. We have had enough of this strict religion. Let us follow the ways of other nations. Let us enjoy the happy and more liberal ways of Baal and Ashtaroth.” This king was very willing to listen to this kind of advice.
18And they abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs. 19Yet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the LORD. These testified against them, but they would not pay attention.
20Then the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God, ‘Why do you break the commandments of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you.’” 21But they conspired against him, and by command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the LORD.
Their act of murder was done in the temple court and polluted the sanctuary of the Lord. They could not bear to be scolded for their faults. Some children show the same spirit and become very angry if a parent tries to correct them. Such bad anger and rage can lead to murder if it is not controlled. The person who is angry with someone for telling him about his faults will be judged (as a murderer).2
22Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness that Jehoiada, Zechariah’s father, had shown him, but killed his son. And when he was dying, he said, “May the LORD see and avenge!”
An ungrateful man is capable of any crime. After the father had done so much for the king it was disgraceful to kill the son for doing his duty. Such a crime could not go unpunished.
23At the end of the year the army of the Syrians came up against Joash. They came to Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus.
The dying martyr’s blood brought speedy vengeance on the land. The princes had been first in the sin and therefore they were prominent in the punishment. And the city where the murder took place was made to feel the full force of the war.
24Though the army of the Syrians had come with few men, the LORD delivered into their hand a very great army, because Judah had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers. Thus they executed judgment on Joash.
25When they had departed from him, leaving him severely wounded, his servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed. So he died, and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.
First, Joash was attacked by his enemies, then his land was looted and finally he was severely injured. Since all this did not bring him to repentance, the Lord put an end to his wicked reign by a well deserved punishment. He killed the sons of his greatest supporter and soon his own servants assassinated him in his bed. “Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.”3
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1 Hebrews 13:9
2 Matthew 5:21-22, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.”
3 Psalm 34:21
Year One, December 12
Where Shall I Flee From Your Presence?1
It was about the time of King Joash and Jehoiada the priest that the prophet Jonah made his visit to the city of Nineveh. As we read his story, we should pay attention to the honest way Jonah writes about himself. He is faithful to include his own shortcomings and faults.
Jonah 1:1-7
1Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” (Nineveh has been described as being protected by a 60 mile wall surrounding the city and 1,000,000 people living in it. It was full of idols and its wealth was acquired by attacking and stealing from other nations. It was very gracious on the Lord’s part to send a prophet to warn such a city. But it was no small task for one man to take on such an unwelcome assignment.)
3But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. (Who would have thought that a prophet would act so wickedly? “Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.”2 We are much weaker than a prophet and more likely to fall. Therefore let us pray to the Lord to keep us from falling.) He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. (Some would think that Jonah finding a ship ready to sail away from his assignment was actually arranged by God so he would not need to follow the Lord’s express command. Old Thomas Adams says, “If you will flee from God, the devil will loan you both spurs and a horse. Yes, a ready horse that will carry you swiftly.”3 It is our duty to follow God’s orders and not the apparent leading of circumstances.) So he paid the fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. (Sin is expensive. A price must be paid. People will grumble about any little amount they are asked to give for the cause of God, but they do not care how much they have to pay to satisfy their wrong desires. Jonah took on a foolish mission when he tried to run away from the Lord. God is everywhere. He is just as present in Tarshish as in Nineveh!)
4But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.
If we run from God he will send rough deputies after us. We may flee when there is no apparent danger, but a storm will soon be sent as an officer from heaven to arrest us.
5Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. (On this, Adams remarks: “Mariners are as much at home in the sea as fish. They are fearless, adventurous and regard danger with contempt. Yet seeing the storm so violent all of a sudden and their large and tall ship tossed about like a little rowboat and cracked so that it was about to be torn to pieces, they were persuaded that it was no ordinary storm, but a revenging tempest, sent out by some great power that had been provoked. They trembled for fear, like little children when they are frightened, lest their ship break, or leak, and so sink, and they lose their ship, lives and all. These fearless fellows were brought down by danger, and quaked like a young soldier who jumps at the sound of a gun. They did well to pray, but they prayed not well, because they turned to idol gods that could not even help themselves.”) But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. (He for whom the storm was sent was the last to hear its message. When good people fall into sin they are generally in such a sleepy state of heart that it is difficult to bring them to repentance.)
6So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.” (How well these words may be applied to those who are careless hearers of the gospel. They are asleep. Asleep in awful danger! Even an unbeliever might rebuke them as this ship’s captain scolded Jonah. Oh that they would wake up and call on God for their own sakes and the sake of their families who are perishing with them.)
7And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. (What people call chances are all in the hands of God. How sad that the best man on board the vessel should be convicted as being, at least at this time, the worst of all! When good people sin their offense is very great. Let us ask God to guard us, so that we will not also be put to shame before the ungodly.)
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1 Psalm 139:7
2 1 Corinthians 10:12
3 Thomas Adams (1583-1652). English clergyman known as “The Shakespeare of the Puritans.”
Year One, December 13
Christ Also Suffered for You1
Jonah 1:8-16
8Then [the mariners] said to [Jonah], “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. (They put the question to him and did not condemn him without a hearing. There was more justice among these idolatrous sailors than we often find among professed Christians, who will judge by appearances and condemn in haste.) What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” 9And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
He spoke truthfully, like the honest man he was. He acknowledged that he was a Hebrew who feared the Lord. He did not hesitate to claim that his God was the supreme God who was greater than all the supposed gods to whom they had been praying. He was ashamed of himself, but not of his religion.
10Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.
They knew what he had done, but now they asked him “why?” What could have persuaded him to flee from the God who had made the sea and the dry land, and could therefore find him wherever he might try to escape?
11Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous.
The sailors were reluctant to lift up their hands against Jonah. They were afraid to injure him even though he was clearly guilty. They did not even insult him, as some would have done. Let us learn from this to never be harsh with our brothers and sisters in Christ, even if their faults result in trouble and great danger for us. Instead, let us allow them to condemn themselves and suggest what steps should be taken to correct the situation.
12He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.”
Here, Jonah was a distinguished type of our Lord Jesus. He represents the doctrine2 of substitution. Jonah is cast into the sea and it becomes calm. Jesus is cast into the sea of God’s wrath and it becomes calm to us. This is the most glorious of all revealed truths and the most necessary to be believed and personally accepted. In this verse, Jonah is seen in a good light. He is humble and regrets the trouble he has caused the ship’s crew and passengers. He is ready to be disciplined without any complaining.
13Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.
Jonah’s tender response and his deep concern for their safety touched their hearts. They were determined to save him if they could, but their efforts were doomed to fail. This is a picture of the spiritual truth that no amount of our own effort can save us. It is only by the death of the Substitute that we can be saved.
14Therefore they called out to the LORD, “O LORD, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O LORD, have done as it pleased you.”
They abandoned their false gods and prayed only to Jehovah. Their efforts to save Jonah were not effective. Therefore they were forced to throw him overboard, but they would not do it until they had made one last earnest request to heaven. What a sight it must have been, to see these men on their knees, in the fury of the storm, and what a pleasure to hear them cry, “O LORD. O LORD.” Nor did they forget all this when the storm was removed. It is most pleasing to read, “They offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.”
15So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.
This was one of the most solemn funerals that ever took place. Into the raging billows the living man was thrown as though it was his grave, and lo, all was still. The sacrifice was offered and peace returned. What a marvelous picture of our redemption! Do we all understand that it is by Jesus’ death that we receive new life?
16Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows. (When men are saved from destruction they should give glory to God with both words and gifts. Let us honor the Lord with our songs and our thank-offerings, because he alone is the Rock of our salvation.)
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1 1 Peter 2:21
2 doctrine - the belief or teaching of a church or group.
Year One, December 14
Save Us, Lord; We Are Perishing1
Jonah 1:17
17And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. (He who prepared the storm prepared the fish. It was prepared especially for this divine purpose. It is pointless to spend time investigating what species it belonged to.) And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. (Thomas Jones,2 in his “Jonah’s Portrait,” points out, “He must be a preacher whether he wants to be or not. When he was sent to preach to one city only, he refused; and now the Lord compels him to preach, not to one city, but to the whole world, by making him a type of Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection. ‘For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.’3 When the servants of God run away from an easy service, their Master frequently appoints them a harder task. If Jonah will not preach up and down the streets of Nineveh, he will preach from the bottom of the sea. Man’s highest wisdom is to obey his God, whatever work he appoints for him to do. If they who are sent to preach will not preach willingly, storms and tempests will prepare them for their work. Many have fallen into dismal darkness and the deep, for lack of more zeal and dependability in their Master’s service; when they are tried they come forth as gold. Let those who desert God and his service learn how necessary it is to return; and let those who repent see that ‘with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.’4”
Jonah 2
1Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, (He had lost his enthusiasm for prayer on board ship, but he began afresh when he was plunged into awful torment.) 2saying,
“I called out to the LORD, out of my distress,
and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you heard my voice.”
The belly of the fish must have seemed like the middle of an unseen world. Jonah sent up his heavyhearted cry to heaven and was heard. Prayer can reach the ear of God from the depths of the sea.
3 “For you cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me;
all your waves and your billows
passed over me.
4 Then I said, ‘I am driven away
from your sight;
Yet I shall again look
upon your holy temple’”
If you will not look on me, yet will I keep mine eyes on you. Perhaps I will still be shown grace.
5 “The waters closed in over me to take my life;
the deep surrounded me;
weeds were wrapped about my head”
He felt like the seaweed had become his burial shroud.
6 “at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land
whose bars closed upon me forever;
yet you brought up my life from the pit,
O LORD my God.”
Jonah had sunk a long way, but he might have gone even lower except God’s power and mercy stepped in. He was still alive and this made him glad. His thankfulness was heard even in the belly of the fish.
7 “When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the LORD,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
8 Those who pay regard to vain idols
forsake their hope of steadfast love.
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.”
He expects to be delivered and begins to rejoice in it.
“Salvation belongs to the LORD!”
This is a brief statement of trustworthy theology. Perhaps if more Christians had experienced the depth of soul trouble that was Jonah’s, this rock hard Bible truth would be preached more and believed more. ”Salvation belongs to the LORD!”
10And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.
A word from God was enough. The fish was glad to get rid of this trouble in its belly. When the enemies of the Lord’s people persecute them, a word from God is enough to make them stop, so that they may escape the judgments that would otherwise come on them.
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1 Matthew 8:25
2 Thomas Jones (1741-1803).
3 Matthew 12:40
4 Psalm 130:7
Year One, December 15
Something Greater Than Jonah Is Here1
Jonah 3
1Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” (This was a gracious sign that the Lord had forgiven his servant’s disobedience. But it also showed that the Lord would not change his purpose to please the whim of someone or change his servant’s work because they quarreled with it. Jonah was forced to go to Nineveh after all. His rebellion had not freed him from his obligation.) 3So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. (This time there was no delay and no objection. Five hundred miles was not too long a trip, nor were rivers and deserts too difficult to cross. The prophet had learned to obey by the things that he had suffered.) Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth. 4Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”
The people of Nineveh must have been surprised to see this strange, demanding man and hear his unchanging words of warning. The news sped through the city and the people crowded to hear the terrible voice that declared to them their speedy doom.
5And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.
6For word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, 8but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”
The kings of Assyria were looked on as gods and were adored by their people. It might have been thought that the king of Nineveh would strike off the prophet’s head, but he was gripped with a sense of terror and became the humble servant of a higher authority. Jonah’s message from God contained little hope for the doomed capital and yet they decided to see if repentance2 might help. “Who knows?” was all they could say, even though the fierce messenger who warned them gave them no encouragement that it would help. Will these men rise up in judgment against us? They had only the law and yet they begged for mercy. What will be our fate if we remain unrepentant when the gospel is preached to us? They did not have a promise of mercy or an invitation to seek it. We have both! Will we refuse to come to that banquet of grace that they so eagerly hoped for? They made even their children and their cattle feel the bitterness of sin. Will we go on laughing and playing on the brink of eternal damnation? Woe to us if the men of Nineveh are better off than we are at the last great day.
10When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. (If threats will work, judgment will be avoided. God tries words before he comes to blows.)
The Lord Jesus mentioned the repentance of the Ninevites when he spoke to the unbelievers of his own day. Let us read the passage in:
Matthew 12:38-41
38Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” 39But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.
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1 Matthew 12:41
2 repent, repentance - The act or feeling of remorse, regret, sorrow or shame that results in a change of heart or purpose.
Year One, December 16
Be Not Quick in Your Spirit to Become Angry1
Jonah 4
1But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. (His reputation as a prophet was everything in his eyes. What would become of it now that the city would be spared? Besides, he despised the idolatrous people of Nineveh. He thought sparing them was ridiculous. In his eyes it was only right for them to be destroyed.) 2And he prayed to the LORD and said, “O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” (We cannot love Jonah when we see him so irritable, but we must remember that he wrote this himself. He paints his own portrait in the blackest colors and does not try to excuse or explain away his gloomy temper. He was a man of serious integrity. He was extremely sensitive about being completely truthful about his personal character. He was afraid his reputation would be tarnished, so he fell into a very bad mood. A good person should not mope about like this.)
4And the LORD said, “Do you do well to be angry?” (We should be critical enough about ourselves to ask these questions: Are we quick to become angry? Are we angry a lot of the time? Do we stay angry? Are we bitter in our anger? “Do you do well to be angry?” How could it be right of Jonah to be angry because a million lives were spared?)
5Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city.
Maybe he thought his prophecy would eventually be fulfilled. In any event, he lingered near the city with the harsh and horrible hope that the great city would be destroyed and his reputation saved.
6Now the LORD God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. (Jonah was a sensitive and nervous person. The great heat stressed him out. The cool shade that the leafy shelter gave him was a great comfort.) 7But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. (The God who prepared a great fish prepared a plant and then prepared a worm to destroy it. All of this was done with the intention of preparing Jonah to submit to the will of God.) 8When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
Jonah is like Elijah in his weak points. One is almost inclined to believe the tradition that says Jonah is the son of the widow of Zarephath and the student of Elijah.2
9But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die. 10And the LORD said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?” (This was a convincing argument. No doubt it led the prophet to shake off his childishness. If Jonah did not want the plant destroyed, how much more should the Lord not want a great city with so many children in it destroyed? Perhaps some of us tend to be selfish or are overly sensitive or irritable. Let us turn to the Lord Jesus and learn. Take his yoke upon us, for he is gentle and lowly in heart.3 We can never find rest until the demon of self-will is unconditionally cast out.)
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1 Ecclesiastes 7:9
2 Elijah was fed by this widow during a drought and he raised her son from the dead (1 Kings 17). The tradition that Jonah was this widow’s son is, as far as we can discover, still told by Jewish rabbis to this day. —editor
3 From Matthew 11:29
Year One, December 17
They…Provoked the Holy One of Israel1
We will now take another glimpse at the guilty kingdom of Israel. King Jehu wiped out the worship of Baal from Israel and restored the worship of God. However, he kept the two golden calves in Bethel and Dan for the people to bow down to when they worshiped Jehovah.2 After he died, his sons continued to encourage the worship that the Lord had forbidden. Pretending to worship the true God by bowing down to images continues to this day in the Roman Catholic Church and other churches that call themselves “Christian.”
2 Kings 13:1-6; 9-11; 14-19
1In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years. 2He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from them. 3And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them continually into the hand of Hazael king of Syria and into the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael.
The Syrians reduced the population of Israel so low that no army was left to defend the country. The poor people are described as being made “like the dust at threshing.”3 The devil is a poor paymaster. “The wicked are filled with trouble.”4
4Then Jehoahaz sought the favor of the LORD, and the LORD listened to him, for he saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Syria oppressed them. 5(Therefore the LORD gave Israel a savior, so that they escaped from the hand of the Syrians, and the people of Israel lived in their homes as formerly.)
Sometimes God will respond to the prayers of wicked people when they ask for earthly help. Who can tell God who he can extend his mercy to? This should encourage us to pray for spiritual blessings.
6(Nevertheless, they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin, but walked in them; and the Asherah also remained in Samaria.) (Maybe they did not destroy them because of their beauty. Even today, foolish people admire religious images because they are works of art.)
9So Jehoahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria, and Joash his son reigned in his place.
10In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned sixteen years. 11He also did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin, but he walked in them.
14Now when Elisha had fallen sick with the illness of which he was to die, Joash king of Israel went down to him and wept before him, crying, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!”
After sixty or seventy years of service, rest came to the faithful prophet. Good people, when they come to die, are often honored by those who have rejected their living testimony. Bad as Joash was, he knew that Elisha was the only defense of the country and therefore wept at the likelihood of the prophet’s death.
15And Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and arrows.” So he took a bow and arrows. 16Then he said to the king of Israel, “Draw the bow,” and he drew it. And Elisha laid his hands on the king’s hands. 17And he said, “Open the window eastward,” and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot,” and he shot. And he said, “The LORD’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Syria! For you shall fight the Syrians in Aphek until you have made an end of them.” 18And he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground with them.” And he struck three times and stopped. 19Then the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Syria until you had made an end of it, but now you will strike down Syria only three times.”
Even though he was dying, Elisha was angry at unbelief. And why not? God is angry with it too. In this case unbelief robbed Israel of great victories and of all hope of permanent peace. If our faith can shoot many arrows by asking great things of God, expecting great things from God, and attempting great things for God,5 we will see mighty marvels. Lack of faith holds back blessing. We win only three times when we could have gone out “conquering and to conquer.”6 People who stop short of this kind of faith rob themselves and stop the stream of blessing. Unfortunately, this kind of unbelief is common in our churches.
Lord, send great blessings to our family. Convert every one of us. Bless our work for your sake and do great things for us and by us.
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1 Psalm 78:41
2 2 Kings 10:28-29
3 2 Kings 13:7
4 Proverbs 12:21
5 “Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.” William Carey (1793-1834) Baptist missionary to India.
6 Revelation 6:2
Year One, December 18
The LORD Is Able to Give You Much More Than This1
We now return to the history of the kingdom of Judah. Joash is succeeded by Amaziah.
2 Chronicles 25:1-11
1Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. 2And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, yet not with a whole heart.
Amaziah was like his father Joash. His views of right and wrong were changeable. He began well, but later he turned aside from doing what was right and suffered because of it.
3And as soon as the royal power was firmly his, he killed his servants who had struck down the king his father. 4But he did not put their children to death, according to what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the LORD commanded, “Fathers shall not die because of their children, nor children die because of their fathers, but each one shall die for his own sin.” (The king obeyed this righteous law even though it was common in those days for someone who took control of a kingdom by force to kill the reigning king and everyone in his family. Amaziah should be admired for obeying the law of the Lord and refusing to follow the custom of the time.)
5Then Amaziah assembled the men of Judah and set them by fathers’ houses under commanders of thousands and of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He mustered those twenty years old and upward, and found that they were 300,000 choice men, fit for war, able to handle spear and shield.
This was only one-fourth the size of his great-great-grandfather Jehoshaphat’s army. The kingdom of Judah had suffered greatly from the wars that were the result of its sins.
6He hired also 100,000 mighty men of valor from Israel for 100 talents (about four tons) of silver. (This amount was paid to the king of Israel for agreeing to lend his troops to Amaziah. It was a relatively small amount and went directly to the king. The soldiers were not paid. They were expected to reward themselves by the spoils of war. What must war have been like under those kinds of rules? Human life was worth next to nothing and owning property meant even less.) 7But a man of God came to him and said, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the LORD is not with Israel, with all these Ephraimites. 8But go, act, be strong for the battle. Why should you suppose that God will cast you down before the enemy? For God has power to help or to cast down.” (God would not have his people joining with idolaters. All the help we can get from the ungodly will prove to be a handicap.)
9And Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what shall we do about the hundred talents that I have given to the army of Israel?” The man of God answered, “The LORD is able to give you much more than this.” (These words should be remembered anytime it appears we will suffer loss for doing the right thing. God can make it up to us in many ways, both earthly and spiritual. We can compare the cost any way we please, but we will find that it is always best to obey the Lord.) 10Then Amaziah discharged the army that had come to him from Ephriam to go home again. And they became very angry with Judah and returned home in fierce anger. 11But Amaziah took courage and led out his people and went to the Valley of Salt and struck down 10,000 men of Seir. (He fought alone and was victorious. If we will trust in God and not rely on the arm of flesh, we will also be conquerors.2 Any loss we endure for Christ’s sake is a loss we may rejoice in.3)
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1 2 Chronicles 25:9
2 2 Chronicles 32:8, “With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles.”
3 Philippians 3:8, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”
Year One, December 19
The Haughty Eyes You Bring Down1
2 Chronicles 25:14-24; 27-28
14After Amaziah came from striking down the Edomites, he brought the gods of the men of Seir and set them up as his gods and worshiped them, making offerings to them.
This was madness itself. If the gods of Edom had been worth anything they would have helped their former worshipers. It is strange that a man will bow down before an idol he takes captive in battle. Is it not even more amazing that others will adore a piece of bread and then eat it?
15Therefore the LORD was angry with Amaziah and sent to him a prophet, who said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of a people who did not deliver their own people from your hand?” 16But as he was speaking, the king said to him, “Have we made you a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down?” So the prophet stopped, but said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.” (Those who refuse to listen challenge God to use painful ways to make his point. Those who reject the Lord’s warnings show that there is evil in their hearts. Victory made Amaziah proud and his pride became the mother of many sins. The less we admire ourselves and our accomplishments the better.)
17Then Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent to Joash the son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel saying, “Come, let us look one another in the face.”
This was an arrogant challenge to the king of Israel. The hired soldiers from Israel, who Amaziah had sent away, probably raided and robbed the towns and villages on their way home. This made proud Amaziah ready to start a war.
18And Joash the king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, “A thistle on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son for a wife,’ and a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle.”
A proud challenge provoked an insulting answer. Joash as good as said, “You petty king, you are but a thistle. How dare you challenge such a powerful monarch like me? You are not worth getting our swords and spears bloody over.”
19“You say, ‘See, I have struck down Edom,’ and your heart has lifted you up in boastfulness. But now stay at home. Why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?”
20But Amaziah would not listen, for it was of God, in order that he might give them into the hand of their enemies, because they had sought the gods of Edom. 21So Joash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth-Shemesh, which belongs to Judah. 22And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his home. 23And Joash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for 400 cubits (about 600 feet), from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. 24And he seized all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God, in the care of Obed-edom. He seized also the treasuries of the king’s house, also hostages, and he returned to Samaria.
One intense battle and the war was over. Amaziah became a prisoner, the walls of Jerusalem were broken down, the temple was looted, and the nation was forced to live by the laws of king Joash to keep the peace. Proud King Amaziah was laid low. He lost the respect of everyone around him and before long there were plots against his position as king and his life.
27From the time when he turned away from the LORD they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But they sent after him to Lachish and put him to death there. 28And they brought him upon horses, and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David.
Amaziah was the unstable son of an unstable father. His life ended in disgrace. Many start well and appear to be heaven bound, but they fall short because there is no true life in their religion. It has not changed their nature. Nothing less than a new heart and a right spirit will equip a person to weather the storm and reach the shelter of eternal rest.
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1 Psalm 18:27
Year One, December 20
Do Two Walk Together, Unless They Have Agreed to Meet?1
We take another glance at the kingdom of Israel. Jeroboam the Second is reigning with his father and will later succeed him on the throne.
2 Kings 14:23-27; 29
23In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, began to reign in Samaria, and he reigned forty-one years. 24And he did evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. 25He restored the border of Israel from Lebo-hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath-hepher.
We find Jonah still active after his return from Nineveh and his work is more pleasant. Those who fulfill difficult assignments will have easier work before long.
26For the LORD saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter, for there was none left, bond or free, and there was none to help Israel. 27But the LORD had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, so he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash. (God knows when his people are suffering. He is a tender father and is not unaffected by the miseries of his children. He will hold back his judgment for as long as it is in keeping with his righteous nature.)
29Now Jeroboam slept with his fathers, the kings of Israel, and Zechariah his son reigned in his place.
The prophet Amos delivered messages during the reign of Jeroboam. He was a shepherd and a farmer and these careers come out in his writings. His messages are short, sharp and decisive. We do not find flowery words and graceful style here. He uses short questions, sudden exclamations and claps of thundering alarming threats.
Amos 3:1-8
1Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:
2 “You only have I known
of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you
for all your iniquities.”
Others sin with less understanding of God’s law. Their faults may have little notice taken of them, but the justice of God becomes more terrible where sins are intentional and cruel.
3 “Do two walk together,
unless they have agreed to meet?
4 Does a lion roar in the forest,
when he has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from his den,
if he has taken nothing?”
God’s voice is not mere noise. It means something and trouble comes to those who despise it. He does not threaten without a good reason.
5 “Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth,
when there is no trap for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground,
when it has taken nothing?”
God’s judgments are not accidents. And he will not let up until his purposes have been accomplished.
6 “Is a trumpet blown in a city,
and the people are not afraid?
Does disaster come to a city,
unless the LORD has done it?”
Do you think that God sends false alarms? Be sure of this; the Lord is behind the troubles that afflict the ungodly.
7 “For the Lord GOD does nothing
without revealing his secret
to his servants the prophets.
8 The lion has roared;
who will not fear?
The Lord GOD has spoken;
who can but prophesy?”
The intention of this series of questions is to remind the people of their God, to notify them that the Lord is speaking to them through his prophets and by the judgments that have brought them so much suffering. We need the same wakeup call and if the Lord should send it by a shepherd, we should be ready to accept it. God chooses “what is low and despised in the world”2 and was pleased to send a shepherd to warn a king. Who was more qualified to deal with such violent people than someone responsible for difficult animals?
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1 Amos 3:3
2 1 Corinthians 1:28
Year One, December 21
Hate Evil1
Today’s reading is from another portion of the prophecies of Amos.
Amos 5:14-27
14 “Seek good, and not evil,
that you may live;
and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you,
as you have said.”
You brag that God is with you, but if you really want that to be true, you must seek him and follow his ways. Just because we go to a place of worship does not mean we are children of the heavenly Father. God lives in those who have a tender conscience before him.
15 “Hate evil, and love good,
and establish justice in the gate;”
The gate was where courts of justice were held.
“it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts,
will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”
If the Lord gives people only an “it may be,” that should be enough to get them serious about seeking salvation. But how much more should we be eager for eternal life when we have the certain promise that, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord WILL be saved.”2
16“Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord:
In all the square there shall be wailing,
and in all the streets they shall say, ‘Alas! Alas!’
They shall call the farmers to mourning
and to wailing those who are skilled in lamentation,”
Farmers will be so disappointed in their harvest that they will mourn like those who bury the dead. The time for harvesting crops will be as sad as a funeral.
17 “and in all vineyards there shall be wailing,
for I will pass through your midst,”
says the LORD.
The place of great joy will become the place of great sorrow.
18 Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD!
Why would you have the day of the LORD?
It is darkness, and not light,
They will be bitterly sorry that they said, “Where is the promise of his coming?” They will find the day that they spoke about so jokingly will be overwhelmingly terrible to them.3
19 as if a man fled from a lion,
and a bear met him,
or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall,
and a serpent bit him.
For the wicked, the Day of the Lord will be going from bad to worse, from danger to destruction.
20 Is not the day of the LORD darkness and not light,
and gloom with no brightness in it?
No gleams of mercy will be found on the day of his visitation, only justice. Pure terror will spread through the ranks of the rebellious.
21 “I hate, I despise your feasts,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.”
The Lord is disgusted with those who seem to worship him, but cherish sin in their hearts. He is insulted by the outward ceremonies of those who love the pleasures of sin.
22 “Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,
I will not look upon them.
23 Take away from me the noise of your songs;
to the melody of your harps I will not listen.”
Expensive sacrifices and delightful music are not what God desires. A broken heart is the best offering and a holy life the best music.
24 “But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
This is what he wants and demands. Anything short of justice and righteousness is showing disrespect for God.
25“Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? (They were idolaters from the beginning. After they left Egypt, they could not continue to worship God the right way for even one generation. Idol worship was deeply rooted. Nothing could keep them from it.) 26You shall take up Sikkuth (another name for Moloch) your king, and Kiyyun your star-god—your images that you made for yourselves, (They adored even Moloch, the most bloody of idols. No worship was too fiendish for them.) 27and I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts.
Idolatry, injustice, and uncleanness provoke the Lord. He will not allow such evils to go unpunished.
Oh Lord God of hosts. Wash us in the blood of Jesus. Renew us by your Spirit. And, keep us true to you all our days.
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1 Amos 5:15
2 Romans 10:13
3 2 Peter 3:3a-4, “Scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.’”
Year One, December 22
Fulfill Your Ministry1
Amos had many visions and he boldly told them to the people.
Amos 7
1This is what the Lord GOD showed me: behold, he was forming locusts when the latter growth was just beginning to sprout, and behold, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings. 2When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said,
“O Lord GOD, please forgive!
How can Jacob stand?
He is so small!”
3 The LORD relented, concerning this;
“It shall not be,” said the LORD.
A food shortage was threatened by means of locusts, but Amos prayed and God’s judgment was prevented. We cannot overestimate the value of the earnest prayers of holy people.
4This is what the Lord GOD showed me: behold, the Lord GOD was calling for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land. 5Then I said,
“O Lord GOD, please cease!
How can Jacob stand?
He is so small!”
6 The LORD relented concerning this:
“This also shall not be,” said the Lord GOD.
The judgment of fire would cause more loss than the locusts. Again the prophet prayed. This time he asked the Lord to consider the humble circumstances of Israel and for a second time his prayers were victorious. The prayers of the righteous protect the nation.
7This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. 8And the LORD said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,
“Behold, I am setting a plumb line
in the midst of my people Israel;
I will never again pass by them;
9 the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate,
and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste,
and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
The Lord would judge the nation as a builder tests a wall to see if it is upright. He would then break down anything that was out of line and unfit to be left standing. The sinful house of Jehu had now ruled for four generations. There would be only one more king and then the family of Jehu would be swept away like Ahab’s was. Amos made this prophecy in Bethel, the very center of the idol worship.
10Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. 11For thus Amos has said,
“‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword,
and Israel must go into exile
away from his land.’”
This was only partly true. Amos had not said that Jeroboam would be killed by the sword. We can never hope to have our positions represented fairly. Our enemies will twist our words to suit their desires.
12And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there, 13but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.” (As much as to say, “You are not wanted here. Judah is the place for those of your way of thinking. Besides, your rough manners are not fit for this refined place.” Little did the false priest dream of the response he would receive.)
14Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. 15But the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ (Amos did not speak out because he wanted to be popular. He was sent from God. Threats were not going to stop him.) 16Now therefore hear the word of the LORD.
“You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’
17Therefore thus says the LORD:
“Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city,
and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword,
and your land shall be divided up with a measuring line;
you yourself shall die in an unclean land,
and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.’”
In a few years these words came true. Woe to those who stand up against the Lord and oppose his servants.
1 2 Timothy 4:5
Year One, December 23
Would Not God Discover This?1
We will read again in the book of Amos.
Amos 9
Chapter nine begins with Amos predicting the certain destruction of Israel.
1I saw the LORD standing beside the altar, (Trampling on the idolatrous altar at Bethel.) and he said:
“Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake,
and shatter them on the heads of all the people;
and those who are left of them I will kill with the sword;
not one of them shall flee away;
not one of them shall escape.
2 “If they dig into Sheol,
from there shall my hand take them;
if they climb up to heaven,
from there I will bring them down.
3 If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,
from there I will search them out and take them;
and if they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea,
there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them.
4 And if they go into captivity before their enemies,
there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them;
and I will fix my eyes upon them
for evil and not for good.”
The passage we have just read is one of the most wonderful descriptions of omnipresence2 ever written, even by an inspired pen.
5 “The Lord GOD of hosts,
he who touches the earth and it melts,
and all who dwell in it mourn,
and all of it rises like the Nile,
and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt;
6 who builds his upper chambers in the heavens
and founds his vault upon the earth;
who calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out upon the surface of the earth—
the LORD is his name.
7 “Are you not like the Cushites to me,
O people of Israel?” declares the LORD.
“Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt,
and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Syrians from Kir?”
Amos warns them not to assume that God will always bless them like he had in the past. When they stopped seeing him as the one true God of Israel, the Lord mocked them and reminded them that he had done great things for other nations too.
8 “Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom,
and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground,
except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,”
declares the LORD.
9 “For behold, I will command,
and shake the house of Israel among all the nations
as one shakes with a sieve,
but no pebble shall fall to the earth.
10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,
who say, ‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.’”
The prophecy we are now reading is not just about the evil things God has in store for his disobedient people. It also contains good news about glorious times to come.
11 “In that day I will raise up
the booth of David that is fallen
and repair it breaches,
and raise up its ruins
and rebuild it as in the days of old,
12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom
and all the nations who are called by my name,”
declares the LORD who does this.
In the person of the Lord Jesus, David’s royal house will have more glory than it ever had in the past. Not only will the rebellious nation of Israel submit to the Son of David, but Gentiles3 will also be ruled by King Jesus.
13 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD,
“when the plowman shall overtake the reaper
and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed;
the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and all the hills shall flow with it.”
Palestine will become fruitful again. It will become the garden of the world when Jesus reigns over it.
14 “I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,
and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.
15 I will plant them on their land,
and they shall never again be uprooted
out of the land that I have given them,”
says the LORD your God.
Is it not clear from this that Israel will be gathered under the reign of Jesus the Son of David and restored to their own land? There is a glorious future for the Lord’s ancient people and also for us who have come to trust in the great Son of David.
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1 Psalm 44:21
2 omnipresence - The teaching that God is present everywhere at the same time. There is no place where he is not there.
3 Gentile - anyone who is not a Jew by natural birth.
Year One, December 24
I Will Betroth You to Me in Righteousness1
In the days of the second Jeroboam, the prophet Hosea lived in Samaria. He prophesied about the sins and sufferings of Israel and Judah. His proclamations are made with strong feeling and intensity and might seem rough and almost rude. The first part of chapter two describes the sins of Israel. We will now read the second part and see how the Lord goes about lovingly and tenderly winning back the heart of Israel.
Hosea 2:14-23
14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
and bring her into the wilderness,
and speak tenderly to her.
15 And there I will give her her vineyards
and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth,
as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.”
God had brought suffering to Israel as payment for her sins. He now brings the hope of returning to the joy she once had as the reward for her sincere return to him.
16“And in that day, declares the LORD, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ (Or call Baal, “My lord.” Love will replace law. The spirit of the gospel will replace the spirit of cruel oppression.) 17For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. (It is good when even talking about sin becomes disliked. The saints of God should want to avoid even talking about wicked behavior in which they once delighted.2) 18And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. 19And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD.” (A marvelous verse! A bottomless gold mine of love. It is more appropriate to enjoy it in silence than to try to find words to explain it. Blessed are those who are married to the Lord. His love does not change. His wedding vows will never end in divorce.)
21 “And in that day I will answer, declares the LORD,
I will answer the heavens,
and they shall answer the earth.
22 and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and they shall answer Jezreel,
23 and I will sow her for myself in the land.
And I will have mercy on No Mercy,
and I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people’;
and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’”
These are new covenant blessings. The will’s and shall’s of sovereign grace. The promises of overflowing mercy. Promises like these should lead sinners to repent and seek the Lord. Let us see how Hosea encouraged the people to do this.
Hosea 6:1-7
1 “Come, let us return to the LORD;
for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
2 After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up.
that we may live before him.”
When the Holy Spirit convicts of sin, he intends to show the love of God. His plan is to exhibit the Savior’s healing power. God will not torment people before their time. If he brings terror to their consciences now, it is with the intention of leading them to the safety of his dear Son.
3 “Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD;
his going out is sure as the dawn;
he will come to us as the showers,
as the spring rains that water the earth.”
If we come to God, he will reveal himself to us in forgiving love.
4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, O Judah?
Your love is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that goes early away.
The problem with many who hear the gospel is that they are fickle. The message makes an impression on them, but the impression soon goes away.
5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;
I have slain them by the words of my mouth,
and my judgment goes forth as the light.
6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
7 But like Adam they transgressed the covenant;
there they dealt faithlessly with me.
Let us not be charged with being faithless. Instead, let our hearts be truly broken and let us seek the Lord of Hosts through his Son, Jesus Christ.
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1 Hosea 2:19
2 Ephesians 5:3-4, “But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.”
Year One, December 25
Would That You Were Either Cold or Hot!1
Hosea 7
1 When I would heal Israel,
the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed,
and the evil deeds of Samaria;
for they deal falsely;
the thief breaks in,
and the bandits raid outside.
In his goodness, God sent prophets to warn and teach the people of Israel. But in spite of this, they went on sinning like their idolatrous neighbors. They stole from each other. Justice was almost unknown.
2 But they do not consider
that I remember all their evil.
Now their deeds surround them;
they are before my face.
3 By their evil they make the king glad,
and the princes by their treachery.
It is sad when the leaders of a nation encourage sin and take pleasure in falsehood. What can we expect from common citizens when the leaders take delight in crime?
4 They are all adulterers;
they are like a heated oven
whose baker ceases to stir the fire,
from the kneading of the dough
until it is leavened.
They were as hot with wicked desires as a baker’s oven is when it is ready for baking.
5 On the day of our king, the princes
became sick with the heat of wine;
he stretched out his hand with mockers.
Drunkenness and blasphemy were common in the king’s court. Do we not see these sins all around us today at every level of society?
6 For with hearts like an oven they approach their intrigue;
all night their anger smolders;
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
The baker may rest and sleep, but he knows he must get up early to add fuel to his fire. Even so, when they were quiet and resting, they thought about new ways to sin.
7 All of them are hot as an oven,
and they devour their rulers.
All their kings have fallen,
and none of them calls upon me.
8 Ephraim mixes himself with the peoples;
Ephraim is a cake not turned.
He is good for nothing. He says he fears God and yet he worships idols. This double-mindedness is common nowadays, and is very distasteful to God, who says, “I wish that you were cold or hot.”2
9 Strangers devour his strength,
and he knows it not;
gray hairs are sprinkled upon him,
and he knows it not.
The nation did not know how rotten it had become, just as unbelievers do not know how sad their situation really is.
10 The pride of Israel testifies to his face;
yet they do not return to the LORD their God,
nor seek him, for all this.
As bad as they were, they still had a high opinion of themselves. They did not think it was necessary to repent or cry to God for mercy. This is the secret reason people are not ashamed of themselves and why they reject Christ.
11 Ephraim is like a dove,
silly and without sense,
calling to Egypt, going to Assyria.
They ran after many false religions. Instead of relying on God, they tried to be like one great nation after another.
12 As they go, I will spread over them my net;
I will bring them down like birds of the heavens;
I will discipline them according to the report made to their congregation.
13 Woe to them, for they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me!
I would redeem them,
but they speak lies against me.
When God cries, “Woe,” it is woe indeed! These words are leveled against every unrepentant sinner. It is a dreadful thing to remain opposed to the Lord.
14 They do not cry to me from the heart,
but they wail upon their beds;
for grain and wine they gash themselves;
they rebel against me.
People can be loud enough when they are drinking, but when it comes to prayer or praise they are silent.
15 Although I trained and strengthened their arms,
yet they devise evil against me.
God gave them power and ability, but they used them to rebel against him. Are any of us acting like this?
16 They return, but not upward (or to the Most High);
they are like a treacherous bow;
their princes shall fall by the sword
because of the insolence of their tongue.
This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.
Their punishment would be mixed with shame. The idolatrous nation that they looked to for help would treat them with supreme contempt. If we will make earthly things our gods, we will be clothed with shame forever.
Lord save us from this. Amen.
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1 Revelation 3:15
2 Revelation 3:15 (NASB)
Year One, December 26
Unite My Heart to Fear Your Name1
Hosea 10
1 Israel is a luxuriant vine
that yields its fruit.
The more his fruit increased,
the more altars he built;
as his country improved,
he improved his pillars.
If everything we do is for ourselves and to satisfy our sins, our lives are useless. But the lives of many very active and busy people deserve no better description. They work for self and toil for sin.
2 Their heart is false;
now they must bear their guilt.
The LORD will break down their altars
and destroy their pillars.
3 For now they will say:
“We have no king,
for we do not fear the LORD;
and a king—what could he do for us?”
For a time Israel had no king. Jeroboam the Second was dead, but civil strife kept his son Zechariah from immediately becoming the new king. Leadership is necessary to keep things running properly, but without God even the best human arrangements fall apart.
4 They utter mere words;
with empty oaths they make covenants;
so judgment springs up like poisonous weeds
in the furrows of the field.
Israel had made an agreement with Shalmaneser king of Assyria when Hoshea was king and then shamefully broke it.2 Their idea of fair play was no better than a poisonous weed. Their behavior was criminal.
5 The inhabitants of Samaria tremble
for the calf of Beth-aven.
This was a mocking reference to their worship of the golden calf at Bethel.
Its people mourn for it, and so do its idolatrous priests—
those who rejoiced over it and over its glory—
for it has departed from them.
6 The thing itself shall be carried to Assyria
as tribute to the great king.
Ephraim shall be put to shame,
and Israel shall be ashamed of his idol.
7 Samaria’s king shall perish
like a twig on the face of the waters.
The king was like a stick floating on the water and just as easily destroyed.
8 The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel,
shall be destroyed.
Thorn and thistle shall grow up
on their altars,
and they shall say to the mountains, “Cover us,”
and to the hills, “Fall on us.”
Then the only use for the mountains, where they built places for idol worship, will be to provide hiding places from the armies of the terrible king of Assyria.
9 From the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, O Israel;
there they have continued.
Shall not the war against the unjust overtake them in Gibeah?
Israel once fought for God against the tribe of Benjamin, but from that day on they have only been found on the side of evil. Which side are we on?
10 When I please, I will discipline them,
and nations shall be gathered against them
when they are bound up for their double iniquity.
Israel and her sin are joined like two oxen plowing the field. As long as they are yoked together, they will not be able to escape.
11 Ephraim was a trained calf
that loved to thresh,
and I spared her fair neck;
but I will put Ephraim to the yoke;
They had had a comfortable life, like oxen treading out grain, but now they will have a yoke placed on them and be forced to pull a heavy load.
Judah must plow;
Jacob must harrow for himself.
12 Sow for yourselves righteousness;
reap steadfast love;
break up your fallow ground,
for it is the time to seek the LORD,
that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.
13 You have plowed iniquity;
you have reaped injustice;
you have eaten the fruit of lies.
Because you have trusted in your own way
and in the multitude of your warriors,
14 therefore the tumult of war shall arise among your people,
and all your fortresses shall be destroyed,
as Shalman (or Shalmaneser) destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle;
mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.
Evidently, the fierce Assyrian king made a terrible example of a certain city. And this is what would happen to all the land of Israel if they continued in their sin.
15 Thus it shall be done to you, O Bethel,
because of your great evil.
At dawn the king of Israel
shall be utterly cut off.
They worshiped the golden calf in Bethel. That idol would now be the reason for the sudden downfall of them and their king. This prophecy of Hosea was fulfilled when the Assyrians destroyed their land, carried away king Hoshea, left him in prison until he died, and put an end to the very existence of the kingdom of the ten tribes of Israel. God will deal out justice to those who sin against him. Let us cry to him for mercy and turn away from every evil way.
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1 Psalm 86:11
2 2 Kings 17:1-5
Year One, December 27
I Will Heal Their Backsliding1
Hosea 11:1-11
1 When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.
God had shown his love and grace to Israel for centuries. That should have been a powerful reason for obeying him, but they still refused to pay attention to the Lord’s warnings.
2 The more they were called,
the more they went away;
they kept sacrificing to the Baals
and burning offerings to idols.
The more they were warned, the more they sinned. Sadly, many do the same in our day!
3 Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk;
I took them up by their arms,
but they did not know that I healed them.
4 I led them with cords of kindness,
with the bands of love
and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws,
and I bent down to them and fed them.
Farmers rest their oxen. They take their yokes off and feed them. The Lord gives rest to his people. He sets them free and supplies their needs. But they returned his love by rebelling against him.
5 They shall not return to the land of Egypt,
but Assyria shall be their king,
because they have refused to return to me.
6 The sword shall rage against their cities,
consume the bars of their gates,
and devour them because of their own counsels.
My people are bent on turning away from me,
and though they call out to the Most High,
he shall not raise them up at all.
8 How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, O Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?2
My heart recoils within me;
my compassion grows warm and tender.
9 I will not execute my burning anger;
I will not again destroy Ephraim;
for I am God and not a man
the Holy One in your midst,
and I will not come in wrath.
Note the tender love of God and his unwillingness to strike his people. The same conflict over sinners is still in his soul. His great concern should lead us to repentance.3
10 They shall go after the LORD;
he will roar like a lion;
when he roars,
his children shall come trembling from the west;
11 they shall come trembling like birds from Egypt,
and like doves from the land of Assyria,
and I will return them to their homes, declares the LORD.
At last, aware of their danger, they would fly to God and he would save them. Even if sinners come to God entirely out of fear, he will not reject them.
Hosea 14
1 Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God,
for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
What gracious pleading! Can we reject it like Israel did? If we do, we will fall like they did.
2 Take with you words
and return to the LORD;
say to him,
“Take away all iniquity;
accept what is good,
and we will pay with bulls
the vows of our lips.
3 Assyria shall not save us;
we will not ride on horses;
and we will say no more, ‘Our God,’
to the work of our hands.
In you the orphan finds mercy.”
Here Hosea gives the words for sinners to pray. Will they use them? All they have to do is give up their sins and quit trusting in things and false gods, and God will pity them like he does suffering children. The next words are pure mercy written in capital letters.
4 I will heal their apostasy;
I will love them freely,
for my anger has turned from them.
5 I will be like the dew to Israel;
he shall blossom like the lily;
he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon;
He shall be beautiful and strong.
6 his shoots shall spread out;
his beauty shall be like the olive,
and his fragrance like Lebanon.
He will thrive and give shade to others. He will be fruitful and therefore pleasant to look at. And the fame of his happiness and excellence will drift about like sweet perfume.
7 They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow;
they shall flourish like the grain;
they shall blossom like the vine;
their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
His children will also be blessed. They too will enjoy the sweet kindness of God.
8 O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after you.
I am like an evergreen cypress;
from me comes your fruit.
All our goodness comes from God’s grace. We cannot produce spiritual fruit without him. We should study these passages of God’s word deeply. The next verse should have our very special attention.
9 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things.
whoever is discerning, let him know them;
for the ways of the LORD are right,
and the upright walk in them,
but transgressors stumble in them.
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1 Hosea 14:4 (New King James Version)
2 Deuteronomy 29:23, “The whole land burned out with brimstone and salt, nothing sown and nothing growing, where no plant can sprout, an overthrow like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger and wrath.”
3 repent, repentance - The act or feeling of remorse, regret, sorrow or shame that results in a change of heart or purpose.
Year One, December 28
He Destroys You, O Israel, for You Are Against Me, Against Your Helper1
Hosea 13:1-14
1 When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;
he was exalted in Israel,
but he incurred guilt through Baal and died.
To walk humbly before God brings honor, but to sin intentionally and proudly is deadly. Oh for grace to keep a humble spirit before the Lord.
2 And now they sin more and more,
and make for themselves metal images,
idols skillfully made of their silver,
all of them the work of craftsmen.
It is said of them,
“Those who offer human sacrifice kiss calves!”
3 Therefore they shall be like the morning mist
or like the dew that goes early away,
like the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor
or like smoke from a window.
If people trust in things that are here today and gone tomorrow, their joys will be here today and gone tomorrow. If we love gold, our joy will melt. If we live for fame, which is the breath of man praising us, it will disappear and be gone like the morning mist. Only God provides what truly lasts, yet only a few open their hearts to him!
4 But I am the LORD your God
from the land of Egypt;
you know no God but me,
and besides me there is no savior.
Looking to our own works is useless. So is looking to false priests. Only Jesus can save and only Jesus alone.
5 It was I who knew you in the wilderness,
in the land of drought;
The Lord has not let us down in hardship or suffering. We have tried him and proved his faithfulness in times of great need. We should return his kindness by being faithful to him.
6 but when they had grazed, they became full,
they were filled, and their heart was lifted up;
therefore they forgot me.
What shameful ungratefulness! The more mercies they enjoyed the more wickedly they behaved! Because God remembered them in his goodness they forgot him and grew proud.
7 So I am to them like a lion;
like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.
8 I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs;
I will tear open their breast,
and there I will devour them like a lion,
as a wild beast would rip them open.
Our God is completely fair and his punishment is terrible. Sin makes him angry. The Lord is slow to anger, but when the time of his vengeance arrives, he is mighty to punish.
9 He destroys you, O Israel,
for you are against me, against your helper.
This is the beginning and the end of the whole matter. People bring their ruin upon themselves. God alone saves them. Damnation is completely the result of sin. Salvation is completely the result of grace.
10 Where now is your king, to save you in all your cities?
Where are all your rulers—
those of whom you said,
“Give me a king and princes”?
11 I gave you a king in my anger,
and I took him away in my wrath.
Saul is an example of a king they asked for and who God gave them in his anger. People often wish for useless things.
12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up;
his sin is kept in store.
Sin is not forgotten. God stores it up for future judgment like people take the deed to their home and keep it in a safe. All our sins will be remembered at the last great day, unless they are covered by the blood of Jesus.
13 The pangs of childbirth come for him,
but he is an unwise son,
for at the right time he does not present himself
at the opening of the womb.
He is slow to be born again. He delays coming to Christ. Many sinners know they should trust in Jesus, but make excuses not to. “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him.”2 Death and judgment are coming soon. Hurry, Oh sinner, and be wise before it is too late.
14 I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol;
I shall redeem them from Death.
O Death, where are your plagues?
O Sheol, where is your sting?
Compassion is hidden from my eyes.
These words apply first to Israel becoming a nation again, but they also refer to the great resurrection of the dead and God’s final judgment. We believe in this promise, we hate our sins and know that we are pardoned. We face death with joy, because we expect to rise from the grave in the glorious likeness of the Redeemer.
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1 Hosea 13:9
2 1 Kings 18:21
Year One, December 29
The Day of the LORD Is Great and Very Awesome1
Joel probably prophesied to Judah about the same time Amos and Hosea were the Lord’s messengers to Israel. One of his most unforgettable prophecies is about a plague of locusts that was sent to the nation.
Joel 2:1-14
1 Blow a trumpet in Zion;
sound an alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of the LORD is coming; it is near,
This was an event worth getting alarmed about. It was also a visit from the Lord that should have humbled his people and caused them to pray.
2 a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains
a great and powerful people;
their like has never been before,
nor will be again after them
through the years of all generations.
There were so many locusts that they were like thick clouds covering the sun. They caused darkness in the middle of the day. Huge swarms of these destructive creatures are not unusual, but Joel’s prophecy was about a special and unusual plague of locusts.
3 Fire devours before them,
and behind them a flame burns.
The land is like the garden of Eden before them,
but behind them a desolate wilderness,
and nothing escapes them.
Locusts devour every green thing as completely as a raging fire.
4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses,
and like war horses they run.
5 As with the rumbling of chariots,
they leap on the tops of the mountains,
like the crackling of a flame of fire
devouring the stubble,
like a powerful army
drawn up for battle.
The Italians call a locust “little horse” because their numbers, speed, noise and even the way they advance across the land remind them of troops of cavalry.
6 Before them peoples are in anguish;
all faces grow pale.
7 Like warriors they charge;
like soldiers they scale the wall.
They march each on his way;
they do not swerve from their paths.
8 They do not jostle one another;
each marches in his path;
they burst through the weapons
and are not halted.
Their attack is marvelous in every way. No disciplined troops could possibly maintain their ranks more accurately.
9 They leap upon the city,
they run upon the walls,
they climb up into the houses,
they enter through the windows like a thief.
Nothing can stop them. Their march is onward, over walls and fences, hills and valleys.
10 The earth quakes before them;
the heavens tremble.
The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.
This is the misery of the poor people who see the crops of their fields devoured before their eyes by this relentless and irresistible force. They are full of terror and make it seem like the end of the world has come.
11 The LORD utters his voice
before the army,
for his camp is exceedingly great;
he who executes his word is powerful.
For the day of the LORD is great and very awesome;
who can endure it?
The human ear does not hear, but their Commander-in-chief makes his voice heard by his battalions of devouring locusts. The Lord of Hosts commands them to push forward in their awful advance. It is not hard to understand why the prophet says, “Who can endure it?”
12 “Yet even now,” declares the LORD,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the LORD, your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
and he relents over disaster.
14 Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain offering and a drink offering
for the LORD your God?
If anything could prevent such a terrible disaster, prayer would do it. True repentance is the only way to remove God’s rod of correction from any people.
Oh Lord, help us to drive out our sins, before they require you to discipline us with painful affliction. Accept us, for our hope is in your Son.
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1 Joel 2:11
Year One, December 30
There Is One Mediator Between God and Men1
We now return to the history of Judah and are glad to find that a good man was crowned king and that he ruled for many years.
2 Chronicles 26:1; 4-8; 16-21
1And all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah.
4And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. (But he did not worship idols like his father had foolishly done. Children should follow the example of their parents as far as they follow the commands of God, but no further.) 5He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him prosper. (Only God can give true success and seeking the Lord with all our heart is the surest way to be blessed.)
6He went out and made war against the Philistines and broke through the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod, and he built cities in the territory of Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. 7God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabians who lived in Gurbaal and against the Meunites. 8The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong. (Uzziah was a skilled man. He was a great inventor of instruments of war as well as a soil expert. The country achieved a high level of prosperity under his rule.2)
16But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. (What a warning this is to Christians who are well off. When we are weak we depend on the Lord and are safe. But when we are strong the temptation is to become proud and then a fall is near. More fall among the strong than among the timid and trembling. Uzziah’s fall came when he decided he could be a priest as well as a king.) For he was unfaithful to the LORD his God and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.
Most of the idolatrous kings combined the role of king and priest into one. No doubt Uzziah thought that his own influence would become stronger if he did too. But this was a wicked thing for him to do and it angered the Lord.
17But Azariah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the LORD who were men of valor, 18and they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but for the priests the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the LORD God.” (They boldly told the intruding king that his act was not right and was not safe for him. Korah and his followers paid dearly for offering incense,3 because it was the work of the priests only. The king would also find that taking over the office of priest would not bring him honor either. The incense of our prayers and praises must rise up before the Lord from the hand of our great High Priest Jesus. Any other way will not be accepted by the Lord.)
19Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the LORD, by the altar of incense.
The Lord ended the disagreement once and for all. If the king would not listen to the Lord’s word, then he would feel the Lord’s anger. Woe to those who pretend to offer a sacrifice for sin now that the one offering of Jesus has put away our sin. The leprosy of false teaching is on their foreheads even now. Let us steer clear of fellowship with them.
20And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they rushed him out quickly, and he himself hurried to go out, because the LORD had struck him. 21And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the LORD. And Jotham his son was over the king’s household, governing the people of the land. (His punishment was merciful, because it gave him time to repent. But it was an appropriate penalty for his sin. He was proud and the disease humbled him. He had invaded the office of the priests and now he became their subject, because lepers were under the care of the priests. He coveted an honor to which he had no right and he ended up losing his legitimate honor as king. Let us have the greatest respect for the priesthood of our Lord Jesus and never dream of intruding into it.)
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1 1 Timothy 2:5
2 See 2 Chronicles 26:9-15
3 This story is told in Numbers 16
Year One, December 31
Here Am I! Send Me1
Uzziah was confined as a leper for some time. The year he died was also a year Isaiah received one of his visions. The ministry of this renowned prophet extended over the reign of Uzziah and the next three kings.
Isaiah 6
1In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. (We learn from John 12:41 that Isaiah saw the Messiah. His marvelous clothing and majesty filled the Holy of Holies with glory.) 2Above him stood the seraphim. (Those holy angels stood around the throne of glory, adoring and waiting as servants to obey their King’s instructions.) Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
Milton poetically describes a seraph in this way:
“Six wings he wore to shade
His lineaments divine; the pair that clad
Each shoulder broad, came mantling o’er his breast
With regal ornament; the middle pair
Girt like a starry zone his waist, and round
Skirted his loins and thighs with downy gold,
And colors dipped in heaven; the third his feet
Shadowed from either heel with feathered mail,
Sky tinctured grain.”2
3And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
4And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” (A sense of the Lord’s presence humbles even the best of people. We cannot see the glory of God and continue to glory in ourselves. Humility is absolutely necessary in preparing for the Lord’s work. Isaiah must first feel his sinfulness before the live coal can touch his lips.)
6Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.
8And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
When a person’s lips have felt the flame from the altar of Jesus’ sacrifice, they are bold to go the ends of the earth in the Lord’s service.
9And he said, “Go, and say to this people:
“‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
keep on seeing, but do not perceive,’
10 Make the heart of this people dull,
and their ears heavy,
and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
11 Then I said, “How long, O Lord?”
And he said:
“Until cities lie waste
without inhabitant,
and houses without people
and the land is a desolate waste,
12 and the LORD removes people far away,
and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.”
The people could find no blessing in Isaiah’s ministry because of their sin. Even the voice of God brought the smell of death to them.3
13 “And though a tenth remain in it,
it will be burned again,
like a terebinth or an oak,
whose stump remains
when it is felled.”
The holy seed is its stump.
As a tree has life even when it is chopped down, so the nation will still live. When the time is right, Israel will be restored to the glory it once had.
The evangelist John applied these words of Isaiah to the times of our Lord as a fulfillment of this prophecy.
John 12:37-41
37Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, 38so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
“Lord, who has believed what he heard from us,
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
39Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,
40 “He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart,
lest they see with their eyes,
and understand with their heart, and turn,
and I would heal them.”
41Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.
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1 Isaiah 6:8
2 From John Milton’s (1608-1674) Paradise Lost circa 1667.
3 2 Corinthians 2:15-16, “For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.
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