Year Two • January 1 - 31

Year Two, January 1

He Ordered His Ways Before the LORD His God1

Uzziah, king of Judah, became afflicted with leprosy and was succeeded by his son Jotham.

  

2 Chronicles 27

1Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok. 2And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD according to all that his father Uzziah had done, except he did not enter the temple of the LORD. (We should imitate our parents’ outstanding qualities, but not their faults. It is good that Jotham saw his father’s sin as a warning to him.) But the people still followed corrupt practices. (If King Jotham had worshipped idols, the people would have been behind him. But they would not follow him in adoring the Lord. At one point there was even a plot to overthrow Jotham and replace him with the son of a man named Tabeel, but it fell apart.2)

3He built the upper gate of the house of the LORD and did much building on the wall of Ophel. 4Moreover, he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and forts and towers on the wooded hills. (Jotham helped the people in many ways, but it grieved him that they showed no concern for their spiritual health.) 5He fought with the king of the Ammonites and prevailed against them. And the Ammonites gave him that year 100 talents (about four tons) of silver, and 10,000 cors (about 1,800 tons) of wheat and 10,000 of barley. The Ammonites paid him the same amount in the second and the third years.

For the sake of one good man God blessed the whole nation. It is sad to think that this did not lead them to follow the example of their God-fearing king. Many children of godly parents continue to sin against the Lord and grieve their parents’ hearts! May this never be the case in this family. And if it does happen, may the Lord Jesus have mercy on them and give them repentance that leads to eternal life.

6So Jotham became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the LORD his God.

He was careful and thoughtful in the way he lived his life. He also feared sinning unintentionally. This made him strong. There is a great deal of meaning in the words, “He ordered his ways before the Lord his God.” They imply that he was not a follower of people or cared about their praise, but that he lived like he was always in the presence of the Lord and wanted more than anything else to please him.

7Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars and his ways, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. 8He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. 9And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David, and Ahaz his son reigned in his place.

And so, one of the six best kings of Judah passed away. The nation should have been happy to know such a ruler.

It may be helpful to notice that during the long reign of Uzziah over Judah, the unhappy kingdom of Israel was experiencing bitter clashes. For many years there was no king on the throne. Eventually Zechariah, the great-great-grandson of Jehu, became king. Six months later Shallum the son of Jabesh put him to death in the presence of the people. Shallum also killed all the members of the family of Jehu and fulfilled the promise the Lord had made to Jehu. Shallum, the murderer, only enjoyed being king for a month before he was murdered by Menahem the son of Gadi.

Menahem reigned over the people harshly for the next ten years. The people continued to worship idols. During this time Pul the king of Assyria brought his army against Israel. Menahem taxed the people to pay Pul enough money to turn back. When Menahem died, “Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned two years. And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.”3 Pekahiah was assassinated by Pekah, one of his captains, who declared himself king and reigned over Israel for twenty years. Pekah reigned over Israel during the time when Jotham and Ahaz were kings in Judah. 

These details should not be a bother to you. They are in our Bible and nothing in God’s word is unimportant. Those who love the Lord love every letter of his Book. The prophecy of Hosea will lose much of its interest to us if we are not acquainted with the times during which he lived. The histories of Scripture are as much inspired as the Psalms or the Gospels. It would be a shame for Christians not to be quite familiar with them.

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¹ 2 Chronicles 27:6

² Isaiah 7:1-9

³ 2 Kings 15:23b-24

Year Two, January 2

I Will Give Thanks To You, O LORD1

As he did during the reign of Uzziah, the great prophet poured out his forceful statements during the days of Jotham. Isaiah is the great gospel seer. He spoke more about Jesus Christ than all the other prophets. We will now read three of his prophecies. He gave these to us in the form of songs. The first song represents Israel as a vineyard. The vineyard picture was a good way to get the attention of the people.

  

Isaiah 5:1-7

1 Let me sing for my beloved

my love song concerning his vineyard:

My beloved had a vineyard

on a very fertile hill.

2 He dug it and cleared it of stones,

and planted it with choice vines;

he built a tower in the midst of it.

and hewed out a wine vat in it;

and he looked for it to yield grapes,

but it yielded wild grapes.

3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem

and men of Judah,

judge between me and my vineyard.

4 What more was there to do for my vineyard,

that I have not done in it?

When I looked for it to yield grapes,

why did it yield wild grapes?

5 And now I will tell you

what I will do to my vineyard.

I will remove its hedge,

and it shall be devoured;

I will break down its wall,

and it shall be trampled down.

6 I will make it a waste;

it shall not be pruned or hoed,

and briers and thorns shall grow up;

I will command the clouds

that they rain no rain upon it.

7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts

is the house of Israel,

and the men of Judah

are his pleasant planting;

and he looked for justice,

but behold, bloodshed;

for righteousness,

but behold, an outcry!

We are very much like Israel and Judah in so many ways! What more could God have done for us? We have the Bible and the ministry of the gospel. Our family is protected like a walled garden. Our country has a history of fruitful gospel preaching. Are we bearing fruit? What should we expect if we are vines without grapes? God’s judgment is always related to the knowledge we choose to ignore. May the Lord give all of us grace to bear much fruit for his glory.

In this next song, the prophet looks forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus.

  

Isaiah 12

1You will say in that day:

“I will give thanks to you, O LORD,

for though you were angry with me,

your anger turned away,

that you might comfort me.

2 “Behold, God is my salvation;

I will trust, and will not be afraid;

for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song,

and he has become my salvation.”

3With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. (What a sweet gospel song. The only ones who can sing it are those whose sins have been washed away in the blood of Jesus. To them it is a joyful song. They are no longer afraid to believe God’s promises. They go to the Lord for blessings.  They may draw all the water they want from the wells of salvation. They are citizens of Zion. The water of God’s blessings are theirs without restriction or price.) 4And you will say in that day:

“Give thanks to the LORD,

call upon his name,

make known his deeds among the peoples,

proclaim that his name is exalted.

5 “Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously;

let this be made known in all the earth.

6 Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,

for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

It is the delight of saved souls to glorify the Lord. They cannot keep their joy inside. They shout like those who have just won a great battle.

After God deals with the enemies of his people, they will have another song on their lips.

  

Isaiah 24:1-4

1 Behold, the LORD will empty the earth and make it desolate,

and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.

2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest;

as with the slave, so with his master;

as with the maid, so with her mistress;

as with the buyer, so with the seller;

as with the lender, so with the borrower;

as with the creditor, so with the debtor.

3 The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered;

for the LORD has spoken this word.

4 The earth mourns and withers;

the world languishes and withers;

the highest people of the earth languish.

Happy are those who are protected and kept in peace by their All Powerful God. Is there one in our house who does not trust in the Lord? Let us pray that all our minds will always depend on God.

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¹ Isaiah 12:1

Year Two, January 3

All We Like Sheep Have Gone Astray1

2 Kings 16:1-4

1In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah (king of Israel), Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, began to reign.

He was the bad son of a good father. Under him the kingdom of Judah fell back into the sad state it was in before Jotham improved it.

2Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD his God, as his father David had done, 3but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel. 4And he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

Ahaz was not satisfied with the ordinary forms of idolatry. He searched for the most horrible superstitions and practiced the unnatural and cruel rituals of the demon god Moloch. Old historians claim that the image of Moloch was made of brass. It was heated red-hot and then children were placed in its arms as human sacrifices. What shame that the ruler of the chosen people should be guilty of so terrible a crime as putting his own son to such a death! An old writer once described Moloch as half-beast and half-devil and he was very close to being right.

When people act as wickedly as they did in the times of Ahaz, inspired words like those found in the first chapter of Isaiah are greatly needed.

  

Isaiah 1:2-9

2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;

for the LORD has spoken:

“Children have I reared and brought up,

but they have rebelled against me.”

It is not the heathen or strangers that the Lord is rebuking here. These are his own highly favored people. Sin is twice as sinful when it is found in the lovingly nurtured children of the Lord.

3 “The ox knows its owner,

and the donkey its master’s crib,

but Israel does not know,

my people do not understand.”

People can be more vicious than animals. They receive everything from the Lord and then totally forget him. Alas, Lord God, that you should be treated like this!

4 Ah, sinful nation,

a people laden with iniquity,

offspring of evildoers,

children who deal corruptly!

They have forsaken the LORD,

they have despised the Holy One of Israel,

they are utterly estranged.

5 Why will you still be struck down?

Why will you continue to rebel?

The whole head is sick,

and the whole heart faint.

6 From the sole of the foot even to the head,

there is no soundness in it,

but bruises and sores

and raw wounds;

they are not pressed out or bound up

or softened with oil.

During the next few days we will be reading about the extreme troubles of the people during the reign of Ahaz. But they were none the better for their suffering. The nation was like a man who had been beaten until there was not a place on his body that was not bruised and yet they still loved their idols and their sins.

7 Your country lies desolate;

your cities are burned with fire;

in your very presence

foreigners devour your land;

it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.

8 And the daughter of Zion is left

like a booth in a vineyard,

like a lodge in a cucumber field,

like a besieged city.

Jerusalem was abandoned and in great disrepair. She was like a temporary hut that keepers of a vineyard put up quickly to shade them from the sun. Their palace city was like a rundown shack. The cities in the valleys and hillsides around her were deserted.

9 If the LORD of hosts

had not left us a few survivors,

we should have been like Sodom,

and become like Gomorrah.

They were so wicked that if it were not for the few remaining faithful ones, God would have cursed the land like he did the cities of the plain. Oh, the miserable troubles of a favored people. May the Lord save our country from the same backsliding!

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¹ Isaiah 53:6

Year Two, January 4

Immanuel (Which Means, God With Us)1

Isaiah 7:1-17

1In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. (Rezin and Pekah had weak armies compared to other greater nations who caused them troubles. But they could not be content with peace when they had it. Their thoughts turned to raiding and stealing from their neighbors.) 2When the house of David (or the representative of David’s royal house) was told, “Syria is in league with Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz and the heart of the people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. (The goal of the invasion by Syria and Israel was to destroy the kings of the line of David completely and then set up the son of Tabeel, a king of their own choosing. The people under King Ahaz were not happy with his rule. Ahaz was afraid and did not know what to do.)

3And the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’s Field. (Ahaz was probably going there to see that water was secured for Jerusalem in case of a siege or to make sure the attacking armies would not have access to it. The prophet was told to meet the king where the water was channeled into the city.) 4And say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah. 5Because Syria, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, 6“Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” 7thus says the Lord GOD:

“‘It shall not stand,

and it shall not come to pass.

8 For the head of Syria is Damascus,

and the head of Damascus is Rezin.

And within sixty-five years

Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.

9 “‘And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,

and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.

If you are not firm in faith,

you will not be firm at all.’”

This was a very encouraging message and a wonderful opportunity for Ahaz. All he had to do was place his trust in the Lord and his kingdom would be secure. But Ahaz was already thinking about negotiating with the Assyrian king and preferred trusting in his own methods rather than depending on the Lord of hosts.

10Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, 11“Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” 12But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.” (This was just his way of avoiding the question. He knew that if he accepted a sign it would be fulfilled and then he would have no excuse for not trusting the Lord. He did not wish to commit himself to following the Lord in faith. He would rather continue discussing peace with the Assyrian king. People generally want to travel the crooked road of whatever the world says is the right way rather than follow the straight path of faith. Those ways never achieve lasting results.)

13And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? 14Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel. 15He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. (Because Ahaz had refused a sign, God appointed one far above anything he could have imagined. A son would be born of a virgin. A divine child would be born whose name would be “God with us.” Such a child would naturally grow to an age of understanding very early. But in even less time than it would take for this heaven-born son to reach an age of responsibility, the two enemies of Judah would be overthrown. Bless the Lord for giving his people such a glorious sign of his grace. Nothing can bring as much comfort to those who are troubled as the fact that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”2)

Ahaz rejected the way of faith. Therefore the prophet added the following threatening sentence:

17The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria.”

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¹ Matthew 1:23

² John 1:14

Year Two, January 5

Have You Not Sins of Your Own Against the LORD Your God?1

2 Chronicles 28:5-15

Ahaz rejected the message the Lord sent to him by Isaiah.

5Therefore the LORD his God gave him into the hand of the king of Syria, who defeated him and took captive a great number of his people and brought them to Damascus. He was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with great force. (His enemies, though they could not take Jerusalem, were allowed by God to devastate the country. This was the bitter fruit Ahaz reaped by trusting in human strength. The king of Assyria was slow in coming to help him. Meanwhile, the princes who had joined together against Ahaz plundered him.) 6For Pekah the son of Remaliah killed 120,000 from Judah in one day, all of them men of valor, because they had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers. 7And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king’s son and Azrikam the commander of the palace and Elkanah the next in authority to the king. (Judgment came home to the king and death was busy in his own household. Ahaz received a due reward for sacrificing others of his children to Moloch.)

8The men of Israel took captive 200,000 of their relatives, women, sons, and daughters. They also took much spoil from them and brought the spoil to Samaria. (Everyone had sinned by serving false gods and everyone suffered. Jeremiah tells us, “The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven. And they pour out drink offerings to the other gods, to provoke [the LORD] to anger.”2 God has ways of punishing sinners of all ages.) 9But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded, and he went out to meet the army that came to Samaria (With holy courage he confronted the army in the name of the God who sent him.) and said to them, “Behold, because the LORD, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand, but you have killed them in a rage that has reached up to heaven. 10And now you intend to subjugate the people of Judah and Jerusalem, male and female, as your slaves. Have you not sins of your own against the LORD your God?

Here is a question that should humble any of us when we treat others unkindly. Is there not a log in our own eye? Then why are we so quick to notice a speck in our brother’s eye?3

11Now hear me, and send back the captives from your relatives whom you have taken, for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you.”

12Certain chiefs also of the men of Ephraim…stood up against those who were coming from the war 13and said to them, “You shall not bring the captives in here, for you propose to bring upon us guilt against the LORD in addition to our present sins and guilt. For our guilt is already great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.”

The prophet’s strong disapproval was backed up by some of the leading men of Israel and their united disapproval quickly brought a delightful result. If those who have positions of influence would support the Lord’s servants by working together with them, a world of good would be realized.

14So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the assembly. 15And the men who have been mentioned by name rose and took the captives, and with the spoil they clothed all who were naked among them. They clothed them, gave them sandals, provided them with food and drink, and anointed them, and carrying all the feeble among them on donkeys, they brought them to their kinsfolk at Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria. (This is one of the happiest moments in the gloomy history of the ten tribes of Israel. It showed a tenderness hardly to be expected. It makes us all the more deeply regret that they did not have grace enough to destroy the calves they worshiped and turn to the Lord. Fine actions are sometimes performed by ungodly people, just as now and then one sees a lovely rose blooming on a farmer’s dunghill.)

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¹ 2 Chronicles 28:10

² Jeremiah 7:18

³ A reference to Matthew 7:3

Year Two, January 6

Deliverance by Man Is in Vain1

2 Chronicles 28:16-19

16At that time King Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria for help. 17For the Edomites had again invaded and defeated Judah and carried away captives. 18And the Philistines had made raids on the cities…of Judah…. And they settled there. 19For the LORD humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had made Judah act sinfully and had been very unfaithful to the LORD.

The kingdom had flourished greatly under Jotham, but the Lord who raised it up could just as easily bring it down. Those who will not be humble must be humbled. Notice the words, “He made Judah act sinfully.” Sin removes the beauty of a person. It makes them disrespected and robs them of protection. The smallest powers were able to defeat Judah. Insignificant nations that had once paid them for protection now did as they pleased with Judah.

  

2 Kings 16:7-11

7So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” 8Ahaz also took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasures of the king’s house and sent a present to the king of Assyria. 9And the king of Assyria listened to him. The king of Assyria marched up against Damascus and took it, carrying its people captive to Kir, and he killed Rezin. (Trusting in others is an expensive business. Those we look to for help will almost certainly look only to their own interests. They will not serve us unless they can serve themselves at the same time. Placing confidence in human help leads people to rob God. Ahaz thought nothing of stealing from the temple to buy the help of his great neighbor. But the king of Assyria cared nothing for Ahaz. He was only interested in what he could get by going to war.)

10When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, he saw the altar that was at Damascus. And King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a model of the altar, and its pattern, exact in all its details. 11And Uriah the priest built the altar; in accordance with all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so Uriah the priest made it, before King Ahaz arrived from Damascus. (How foolish to make an altar that was just like the one of the enemy they had defeated. If the gods of the king of Damascus had given him any help, then he would not have been crushed by the Assyrians. Idolaters do not have common sense.)

  

2 Chronicles 28:20; 22-25; 27

20So Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came against [Ahaz] and afflicted him instead of strengthening him. (The Assyrian troops took over the land and took whatever they wanted from the people. Ahaz was now feeling the curse of trusting in human help.)

22In the time of his distress he became yet more faithless to the LORD—this same King Ahaz. (Ahaz is branded with the words, “more faithless.” It is an exceptional sin when someone grows worse because God brings them suffering for their sins.) 23For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him and said, “Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel. 24And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and he shut up the doors of the house of the LORD, and he made himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem.

Those who will not worship at God’s altar will set up a hundred shrines of their own. People who will not believe the gospel will believe a thousand lying superstitions.

25In every city of Judah he made high places to make offerings to other gods, provoking to anger the LORD, the God of his fathers.

27And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, for they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son reigned in his place. (Ahaz died in shame and without repenting. As if to make a final remark on the life of Ahaz, he was even denied a place in the royal tombs where Judah’s dead kings were usually buried.)

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¹ Psalm 108:12 (NASB)

Year Two, January 7

To Whom Then Will You Liken God?1

While Ahaz was setting up his idols, the eloquent rebukes of Isaiah were remembered by the godly few. Isaiah praises the Lord with great energy and condemns all attempts to represent him with images.

  

Isaiah 40:12-31

12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand

and marked off the heavens with a span,

enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure

and weighed the mountains in scales

and the hills in a balance?

13 Who has measured the Spirit of the LORD,

or what man shows him his counsel?

14 Whom did he consult,

and who made him understand?

Who taught him the path of justice,

and taught him knowledge,

and showed him the way of understanding?

15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,

and are accounted as the dust on the scales;

behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust.

16 Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,

nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering.

17 All the nations are as nothing before him,

they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.

18 To whom then will you liken God,

or what likeness compare with him?

The prophet goes on to show how ridiculous idol worship is by describing how these gods are made. He writes to shame them out of such foolish worship.

19 An idol! A craftsman casts it,

and a goldsmith overlays it with gold

and casts for it silver chains.

Think of worshiping a piece of wood covered with gold and then needing to be fastened with chains to keep it from falling or being stolen! Is this not insanity?

20 He who is too impoverished for an offering

chooses wood that will not rot;

he seeks out a skillful craftsman

to set up an idol that will not move.

21 Do you not know? Do you not hear?

Has it not been told you from the beginning?

Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?

22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,

and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;

who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,

and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;

23 who brings princes to nothing,

and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.

24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,

scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,

when he blows on them, and they wither,

and the tempest carries them off like stubble.

The greatest empires fade away when God forbids their success. Can an image made from wood do this?

25 To whom then will you compare me,

that I should be like him? says the Holy One.

26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:

who created these?

He who brings out their host by number,

calling them all by name,

by the greatness of his might,

and because he is strong in power

not one is missing.

Let every star rebuke the worshiper of wood and stone.

27 Why do you say, O Jacob,

and speak, O Israel,

“My way is hidden from the LORD,

and my right is disregarded by my God?”

28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The LORD is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary;

his understanding is unsearchable.

29 He gives power to the faint,

and to him who has no might he increases strength.

30 Even youths shall faint and be weary,

and young men shall fall exhausted;

31 but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

they shall walk and not faint.

Let us trust in the unseen Lord and we shall never fail. Glorious Lord, we believe; help our unbelief.2

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¹ Isaiah 40:18

² Mark 9:23-24, “And Jesus said to him, ‘If you can! All things are possible for the one who believes.’ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, ‘I believe; help my unbelief!’”

Year Two, January 8

You Cannot Serve God and Money1

2 Kings 17:1-7; 12-18; 24-29; 33

1In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel, and he reigned nine years. 2And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him. (Hoshea was the best of the kings of Israel, but he was a bad king. He was bad, but he was the best king to rule over the ten tribes. God recognizes good and bad, and notes the difference between bad and worse.) 3Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria. And Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. 4But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria as he had done year by year. Therefore the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison.

Egypt was the rival power to Assyria. The less powerful kings would be first on the side of one of these kings and then the other, depending whose side they thought would be best for them at the time.

5Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria, and for three years he besieged it.

6aIn the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria, and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria. (This was the end of the shameful history of the kingdom of Israel in the promised land.)

7And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods.

12And they served idols, of which the LORD had said to them, “You shall not do this.” 13Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.”

14But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the LORD their God. 15They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them that they should not do like them. 16And they abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made for themselves metal images of two calves; and they made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal. 17And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings and used divination and omens and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger. 18Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight. None was left but the tribe of Judah only.

24aAnd the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon…and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel. (The land became populated by a diverse company of people from several of the nations Assyria had conquered. This was part of the practice of the Assyrian kings to keep the people in slavery and prevent organized rebellion.) 25And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the LORD. Therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them. (God still has champions left. If people are traitors, lions will be loyal.) 26So the king of Assyria was told, “The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land.” 27Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there, and let him go and dwell there and teach them the law of the god of the land.”

They imagined there was a different god for each country. All that was needed was to do something to please Israel’s god.

28So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel and taught them how they should fear the LORD

29But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived.

33So they feared the LORD but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away. (This mixing of religions is still popular today. People try to serve the true God and another god of their own making, but they will not succeed. God will not put up with a rival. He will be all or nothing. May God deliver us from this blending of religions. Amen.)

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¹ Matthew 6:24

Year Two, January 9

You Have Wearied Me With Your Iniquities1

Ahaz was dead and Hezekiah was now the new king of Judah. It is easy to imagine Isaiah pleading with the people to change their ways. Notice how gentle he is.

  

Isaiah 42:24-25

24 Who gave up Jacob to the looter,

and Israel to the plunderers?

Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned,

in whose ways they would not walk,

and whose law they would not obey?

25 So he poured on him the heat of his anger

and the might of battle;

it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand;

it burned him up, but he did not take it to heart.

Israel and Judah had both suffered greatly as a result of their sins. Israel had been taken from their land by the Assyrians. Hundreds of thousands of the people of Judah had been removed until only a mere handful remained. Certainly this was the time to learn wisdom and give up the idols that angered the Lord so greatly.

To keep them from being afraid that the Lord would not forgive them if they returned, the prophet poured forth a stream of gracious promises in his Master’s name.

  

Isaiah 43:1-7; 22-28

1 But now thus says the LORD,

he who created you, O Jacob,

he who formed you, O Israel:

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name, you are mine.

2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

and the flame shall not consume you.

3 For I am the LORD your God,

the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

I give Egypt as your ransom,

Cush and Seba in exchange for you.

4 Because you are precious in my eyes,

and honored, and I love you,

I give men in return for you,

peoples in exchange for your life.

5 Fear not, for I am with you;

I will bring your offspring from the east,

and from the west I will gather you.

6 I will say to the north, Give up,

and to the south, Do not withhold;

bring my sons from afar

and my daughters from the end of the earth,

7 everyone who is called by my name,

whom I created for my glory,

whom I formed and made.”

Sin had made them prisoners, but eternal love had redeemed them. At the appointed time the exiled ones would return. Should not such loving words touch the hearts of the ones to whom they were spoken? Do they touch our hearts? These words belong to all believers. Do we love God for speaking so graciously to us?

22 “Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;

but you have been weary of me, O Israel!

23 You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings,

or honored me with your sacrifices.

I have not burdened you with offerings,

or wearied you with frankincense.

24 You have not bought me sweet cane with money,

or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.

But you have burdened me with your sins;

you have wearied me with your iniquities.”

The temple had been closed down. No one cared about honoring the good Lord. They seemed determined to provoke him. These words of Isaiah are very accusing! We would naturally expect to next hear their sentence given and the criminals taken out to be executed. Instead we marvel at the unexpected love and endless grace!

25 “I, I am he

who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,

and I will not remember your sins.”

The Lord proved these words to be true by the blessing that he gave to his people when they repented2 under the rule of King Hezekiah. Oh the depths of mercy presented in this verse! Jehovah himself has pardoned his people for his own glory! He has guaranteed to protect them from the penalty of their sins and bury their sins in the sea of his forgetfulness. Who can lose hope? Whoever believes on the Lord Jesus is already made right with God. Their sins are gone forever. Give God the glory for this. Yes, glorify him forever!

26 “Put me in remembrance; let us argue together;

set forth your case, that you may be proved right.

27 Your first father sinned,

and your mediators transgressed against me.

28 Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary,

and deliver Jacob to utter destruction

and Israel to reviling.”

Their former sufferings were the result of their own sins. The right thing to do was to confess their wrongdoing and beg the Lord to remember his promise to pardon them. Lord, we also confess our sin and beg you to pardon us as you promised.

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¹ Isaiah 43:24

² repent, repentance - The act or feeling of remorse, regret, sorrow or shame that results in a change of heart or purpose.

Year Two, January 10

Do Not Now Be Stiff-Necked1

2 Chronicles 29:1-5; 15-19

1aHezekiah began to reign when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. 2And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. (It is quite a relief to get rid of Ahaz and meet with one of the best kings. Now Judah will prosper again.)

3In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them. (Those who intend to do good things cannot begin too soon. The first year of this king’s reign was full of good.) 4He brought in the priests and the Levites and assembled them in the square on the east and 5said to them, “Hear me, Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, and consecrate the house of the LORD, the God of your fathers, and carry out the filth from the Holy Place.

15They gathered their brothers and consecrated themselves and went in as the king had commanded, by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD. (Those who are going to cleanse God’s house must first be clean themselves. We cannot cleanse others if our own hands are dirty.) 16The priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD to cleanse it, and they brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the LORD into the court of the house of the LORD. And the Levites took it and carried it out to the brook Kidron. (That famous brook that our Lord crossed when he once and for all cleansed his people. He saw that every thing about us that we thought was good was really filthy. By crossing over the brook in sorrow, he took our uncleanness away.)

17bThen for eight days they consecrated the house of the LORD. 18Then they went in to Hezekiah the king and said, “We have cleansed all the house of the LORD, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the table for the showbread and all its utensils. 19All the utensils that King Ahaz discarded in his reign when he was faithless, we have made ready and consecrated, and behold, they are before the altar of the LORD.” (The temple was now clean. Worship could now begin. Our hearts also must be clean before we can offer acceptable worship to the Lord.)

  

2 Chronicles 30:1; 6-12

1Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem to keep the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel. (Those who love God want others to join with them in his service. A true revival will create a missionary spirit. The population of the kingdom of Israel was getting smaller as attacking nations took away more captives, but Hezekiah could still reach the poor people who remained.)

6So couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his princes, as the king had commanded, saying, “O people of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may turn again to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. 7Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were faithless to the LORD God of their fathers, so that he made them a desolation, as you see. 8Do not now be stiff-necked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the LORD and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve the LORD your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you. 9For if you return to the LORD, your brothers and your children will find compassion with their captors and return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him.”

10So the couriers went from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, but they laughed them to scorn and mocked them. (This should not surprise us. Ridicule is the favorite weapon of wicked people. Let us not be amazed if the world scorns us and our pleas for them to be saved. The world only acts after its own nature.) 11However, some men of Asher, of Manasseh, and of Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. (Thank God, there is always some good soil for the divine seed to fall on.2 “Let us not grow weary of doing good.”3) 12The hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded by the word of the LORD. (The hand of the Lord works wonders. Our churches and our nation need it. Lord, stretch out your saving arm and glorify your Son.)

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¹ 2 Chronicles 30:8

² Luke 8:8, “And some [seed] fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.”

³ Galatians 6:9

Year Two, January 11

Clean out the Old Leaven1

2 Chronicles 30:13-15; 17-23; 26-27

13And many people came together in Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month, a very great assembly. 14They set to work and removed the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for burning incense they took away and threw into the brook Kidron. (Throwing away the old leaven2 before they kept the feast was the right thing to do. A clean temple led to a clean city. Good things grow. The Kidron is mentioned again and so we are reminded again of the atonement of our Lord Jesus, that removes all our sin.) 15And they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. And the priests and the Levites were ashamed, so that they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings into the house of the LORD.

17For there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves. Therefore the Levites had to slaughter the Passover lamb for everyone who was not clean, to consecrate it to the LORD. (The inconsistencies in celebrating the Feast of Unleavened Bread were unavoidable and not done on purpose. Therefore the Lord looked on the heart and forgave them. It would be a sad misuse of God’s mercy if we argued that this exception gave us an excuse to adjust God’s commands whenever we felt like it. If we do, without reasons like we find here, we shall meet with rebuke and not forgiveness.) 18For a majority of the people, many of them from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise than as prescribed. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, “May the good LORD pardon everyone 19who sets his heart to seek God, the LORD, the God of his fathers, even though not according to the sanctuary’s rules of cleanness.” (A short, but sweet prayer. Sin is confessed, mercy looked for and the goodness of the Lord requested.)

20And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people. 21And the people of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great gladness, and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD day by day, singing with all their might to the LORD. (There was much singing. The more praise the better.) 22And Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good skill in the service of the LORD. (There was much preaching. The people needed it and were glad to have it.) So they ate the food of the festival for seven days, sacrificing peace offerings and giving thanks to the LORD, the God of their fathers.

Best of all, there was much praying and confessing of sin. Therefore we may be sure there was much forgiveness. The happy result was that the people wanted even more fellowship with their God.

23Then the whole assembly agreed together to keep the feast for another seven days. So they kept it for another seven days with gladness.

26So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. (Holy duties should be sweetened with holy gladness.) 27Then the priests and the Levites arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came to his holy habitation in heaven. (The feast ended pleasantly. Everyone went to their home with a blessing in their ears and a prayer that reached the God of heaven. The greatest mercy of all is that God hears our prayers.)

  

2 Chronicles 31:1-2

1Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and broke down the high places and the altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin, and in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the people of Israel returned to their cities, every man to his possession.

Those who have benefited from the gospel should naturally go home to break their idols. Do we do this when we hear the Word? Do we put our sins far away?3

2And Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests and of the Levites, division by division, each according to his service, the priests and the Levites, for burnt offerings and peace offerings, to minister in the gates of the camp of the LORD and to give thanks and praise.

The best way to keep out error and sin is to support truth, holiness, gospel ordinances4 and dedicated pastors. Only solid Bible teaching can keep our churches cleansed from false religious beliefs. May the Lord send that teaching to us today.

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¹ 1 Corinthians 5:7 (NASB)

² leaven - a substance, typically yeast, that is added to dough to make it ferment and rise.

³ Job 11:14, “If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away, and let not injustice dwell in your tents.”

⁴ ordinance - Religious rite or ceremony specified by God. Spurgeon would mean Baptism and Communion.

Year Two, January 12

On What Are You Trusting?1

2 Chronicles 32:1-3; 5-12; 14; 16-17; 19-20

1After these things and these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and encamped against the fortified cities, thinking to win them for himself. (Even though Hezekiah had brought a glorious reformation to Judah, he and his people still had to endure trials. This trial became a test of the people’s faith and provided an opportunity for the Lord to demonstrate his power on their behalf. Just because they had trials does not mean they were not approved by God. Good trees are trimmed because they are good and to make them better.) 2And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and intended to fight against Jerusalem, 3he planned with his officers and his mighty men to stop the water of the springs that were outside the city, and they helped him. (The lack of water would be a great danger for such a large army. King Hezekiah was wise to cut off the supply in the area he knew Sennacherib would travel. Faith and common sense are closely related.)

5He set to work resolutely and built up all the wall that was broken down and raised towers upon it, and outside it he built another wall, and he strengthened the Millo (a defensive wall) in the city of David. He also made weapons and shields in abundance.

Here again we see common sense preparations. Faith trusts in God, but repairs her defenses.

6And he set combat commanders over the people and gathered them together to him in the square at the gate of the city and spoke encouragingly to them, saying, 7“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. 8With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

They were inspired with confidence by their leader’s fearless language. As soldiers of Christ, we should also be encouraged  because he said, ”Let not your hearts be troubled”2

9After this, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, who was besieging Lachish with all his forces, sent his servants to Jerusalem to Hezekiah king of Judah and to all the people of Judah who were in Jerusalem, saying, 10“Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria, ‘On what are you trusting, that you endure the siege in Jerusalem? 11Is not Hezekiah misleading you, that he may give you over to die by famine and by thirst, when he tells you, “The LORD our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria”? 12Has not this same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, “Before one altar you shall worship and on it you shall burn your sacrifices”?’”

The tyrant king was ruthless. He tried to get the people to rebel against King Hezekiah and think only about their own safety. He told them Hezekiah was lying to them and blaspheming God because he had put an end to the unlawful worship on the high places. He calls the greatest things Hezekiah did crimes. It is not unusual for saints to be misrepresented by sinners.

14“Who among all the gods of those nations that my fathers devoted to destruction was able to deliver his people from my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand?” (He spoke very proudly, as if he thought Jehovah was inferior to the idols whose worshipers he had conquered. The Lord would certainly be moved to jealousy3 by these kinds of insults.

16And his servants said still more against the Lord God and against his servant Hezekiah. 17And he wrote letters to cast contempt on the LORD, the God of Israel and to speak against him, saying, “Like the gods of the nations of the lands who have not delivered their people from my hands, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver his people from my hand.”

Writing these insults down was deliberate and therefore doubly disrespectful. It was good for Hezekiah to have such a foul-mouthed enemy, because his arrogant blasphemies stirred up the outrage of the Lord.

19And they spoke of the God of Jerusalem as they spoke of the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work of men’s hands.

20Then Hezekiah the king and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed because of this and cried to heaven. (Rescue was not far off when king and prophet both cried to heaven. Is anyone worried or afraid of conflict? Let them pray.)

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¹ 2 Chronicles 32:10

² John 14:1

³ Exodus 20:5, “You shall not bow down to [other gods] or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God.”

Year Two, January 13

In Judah God Is Known; His Name Is Great in Israel1

A terribly blasphemous letter written by the Rabshakeh,2 or captain, of Sennacherib’s army was sent to Jerusalem. It caused Hezekiah great distress, but he knew where to take his trouble.

  

2 Kings 19:14-34

14Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD and spread it before the LORD. (This was a much better plan than attempting to answer his enemy in the same insulting language. An angry answer to an angry letter shows that weakness and sin are not limited to one side of the quarrel. Praying over a letter is an infinitely wiser thing than suing someone over it.) 15And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said: “O LORD the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. 16Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 17Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands 18and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. 19So now, O LORD our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone.”

After acknowledging the power of the invading army and pointing out that the gods of these other nations did not help them because they were dead idols, the king appeals to Jehovah, the God of Israel, to prove that he is real and has the power to save his people, because he is not like the gods of the idolatrous nations whose gods are gods in name only. There is great power in asking God to maintain his honor. Our greatest concern should be that God’s name is honored and our greatest confidence should be that God’s name will be honored. We are taught to begin prayer with, “Hallowed be your name,” and close it with “Your kingdom come.”3

20Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Your prayer to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. 21This is the word that the LORD has spoken concerning him:

“She despises you, she scorns you—

the virgin daughter of Zion;

she wags her head behind you—

the daughter of Jerusalem.”

Weak as she is, Israel is under the Lord’s protection and defies the armies of her enemies.

22 “Whom have you mocked and reviled?

Against whom have you raised your voice

and lifted your eyes to the heights?

Against the Holy One of Israel!

23 By your messengers you have mocked the Lord,

and you have said, ‘With my many chariots

I have gone up the heights of the mountains,

to the far recesses of Lebanon;

I felled its tallest cedars,

its choicest cypresses;

I entered its farthest lodging place,

its most fruitful forest.

24 I dug wells

and drank foreign waters,

and I dried up with the sole of my foot

all the streams of Egypt.’”

These were Sennacherib’s achievements of war. He had them inscribed on the walls of his palace. He gloried in the destruction he had caused. He was in love with himself and his abilities. He acted more like a demon than a human being. The craving to conquer wipes out compassion. Sennacherib thought he was very great, but he was about to find out who was greater and where his power really came from.

25 “Have you not heard

that I determined it long ago?

I planned from days of old

what now I bring to pass,

that you should turn fortified cities

into heaps of ruins,

26 while their inhabitants, shorn of strength,

are dismayed and confounded,

and have become like plants of the field

and like tender grass,

like grass on the housetops,

blighted before it is grown.”

It had been by Jehovah’s power that he had conquered. The Lord had used Sennacherib as a whip to punish the nations for their wickedness.

27 “But I know your sitting down

and your going out and coming in,

and your raging against me.

28 Because you have raged against me

and your complacency has come into my ears,

I will put my hook in your nose

and my bit in your mouth,

and I will turn you back on the way

by which you came.”

Sennacherib might rage and roar like a huge monster, but he would be made to know his master and go back to his den when commanded.

29“And this shall be the sign for you: this year eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs of the same. Then in the third year sow and reap and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. (Food was scarce and prices were sky high and it was too late to plant the fields. Therefore the Lord kept his people fed for two years by giving the earth an unusual fertility. This was a fulfilling of his promise, “Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.”4) 30And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 31For out of Jerusalem, shall go a remnant and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the LORD will do this.” (The kingdom would be restored again. The people would take root in the soil again and grow upward in prosperity. It is the same in spiritual things. We must take root downward in humility and understanding, so we can grow upward in zeal and enthusiasm.)

32“Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it. 33By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the LORD. 34For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”

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¹ Psalm 76:1

² Isaiah 36:2, “And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem, with a great army.”

³ Matthew 6:9-10

⁴ Psalm 37:3 NKJV

Year Two, January 14

The Wrath of Man Shall Praise You1

King Sennacherib’s captain came with his army to take the city of Jerusalem. Hezekiah prayed and God sent Isaiah to him with a message that promised the overthrow of Sennacherib’s army.  The king did not have long to wait to see what he desired. God’s actions are swift, because he is always ready for battle. His arsenal is well stocked. One word from God and one blow from his almighty hand and Assyria was struck down, never to trouble Hezekiah again.

  

2 Kings 19:35-37

35And that night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold these were all dead bodies. (The few who survived looked on the thousands of dead, lying, “Like the leaves of the forest when autumn has blown.”2) 36Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh.

Now that this terrible robber was no longer able to roam about with his thieving army, the nations surrounding Judah also had some rest. Unbelievers often benefit from the prayers of God’s people.

37And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place. (Sennacherib’s heart’s blood was poured out at the feet of his own idol and his blasphemies were heard no more.)

Psalm 76, a psalm of rejoicing, was probably written in celebration of the destruction of Sennacherib’s army. At any rate it is remarkably descriptive of it. Let us join in the holy joy of the writer as he honors the victory of his God.

  

Psalm 76

1 In Judah God is known;

his name is great in Israel.

If God is not known by the rest of the world, he is famous among his people. The world does not know him and, like Sennacherib’s captain, they blaspheme him. But the Lord’s people delight to sound forth his praises to the ends of the earth.

2 His abode has been established in Salem,

his dwelling place in Zion.

3 There he broke the flashing arrows,

the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war.     Selah

Without leaving the peacefulness of his temple, the Lord spoke the word and snapped the arrows of his enemies before they fit them on the strings of their bows. He ended the fight before they could begin it. They were not able to build a siege work or shoot an arrow there. Will not the same Lord defend his church? Yes! She is safe, come what may.

4 Glorious are you, more majestic

than the mountains of prey.

Assyria had collected mountains of plunder by attacking other nations. But Israel’s God made the mighty deeds of the destroying invader look like nothing. Glory be to his name!

5 The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil;

They came to rob and were robbed themselves.

they sank into sleep;

Their last sleep, the sleep of death.

all the men of war

were unable to use their hands.

Their arms were useless. Death made their fingers motionless.

6 At your rebuke, O God of Jacob,

both rider and horse lay stunned.

The horses would never neigh again. Gone were the sounds of the swords and spears of the riders. The horses hooves and the crash of chariots were now quiet.

7 But you, you are to be feared!

Who can stand before you

when once your anger is roused?

8 From the heavens you uttered judgment;

the earth feared and was still,

Such a complete destruction was obviously a judgment from heaven. Those who heard of it cried out, “This is the finger of God!” Such a blow will yet be struck against the world’s greatest false religion, to the astonishment of all mankind.

9 when God arose to establish judgment,

to save all the humble of the earth.     Selah

10 Surely the wrath of man shall praise you;

the remnant of wrath you will put on like a belt.

The enemies of the Lord’s people are kept in control by God’s will. When he does allow them to rage, it only serves to magnify his glory when he overthrows them. Let us not give in to fear. The Lord of hosts is mightier than the mightiest enemies of his church.

11 Make your vows to the LORD your God and perform them;

let all around him bring gifts

to him who is to be feared,

12 who cuts off the spirit of princes,

who is to be feared by the kings of the earth.

As a gardener snips off a tender stem from a plant, so can the Lord remove the proudest monarchs. Let us worship, love, and serve the King of kings. To his name be endless praises.

  

_______________

¹ Psalm 76:10

² From the poem, “The Destruction of Sennacherib” by Lord Byron (George Gordon) 1788-1824.

Year Two, January 15

His Place of Defense Will Be the Fortresses of Rocks1

These glorious and eloquent words from Isaiah came when the Lord defeated King Sennacherib and his Assyrian army.

  

Isaiah 33:1-2; 7-24

1 Ah, you destroyer,

who yourself have not been destroyed

you traitor,

whom none has betrayed!

When you have ceased to destroy,

you will be destroyed;

and when you have finished betraying,

they will betray you.

Assyria had gained power by means of betrayal and by betrayal she should fall.

2 O LORD, be gracious to us; we wait for you.

Be our arm every morning,

our salvation in the time of trouble.

7 Behold, their heroes cry in the streets;

the envoys of peace weep bitterly.

The Assyrian king refused all terms of peace. Brave men wept for fear, when they remembered his power and cruelty.

8 The highways lie waste;

the traveler ceases.

Covenants are broken;

cities are despised;

there is no regard for man.

9 The land mourns and languishes;

Lebanon is confounded and withers away;

Sharon is like a desert,

and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.

The Assyrian invaders left destruction and barrenness in their wake.

10 “Now I will arise,” says the LORD,

“now I will lift myself up;

now I will be exalted.

11 You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble;

your breath is a fire that will consume you.

12 And the peoples will be as if burned to lime,

like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.”

A word from God and the mighty adversary would be destroyed. Destroyed by his own rage. Consumed like thorns in the fire.

13 Hear, you who are far off, what I have done;

and you who are near, acknowledge my might.

14 The sinners in Zion are afraid;

trembling has seized the godless:

“Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire?

Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?”

Their terror of Sennacherib led them to ask how they could survive the even greater wrath of God. His wrath is like a fire that devours and yet continues to burn. The everlasting fires of hell should be feared more than death itself. The most important thing we have to do is escape from them. The righteous were calm, but the hypocrites were alarmed.

15 He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,

who despises the gain of oppressions,

who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe,

who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed

and shuts his eyes from looking on evil,

16 he will dwell on the heights;

his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks;

his bread will be given him; his water will be sure.

17 Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty;

they will see a land that stretches afar.

Hezekiah took off his armor and wore his royal robes again. The people were free from the invader and could travel about the country without fear.

18 Your heart will muse on the terror:

“Where is he who counted, where is he who weighed the tribute?

Where is he who counted the towers?”

19 You will see no more the insolent people,

the people of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend,

stammering in a tongue that you cannot understand.

The proud Assyrian designers of war machines were shocked. The accountants were disappointed. The fierce soldiers did not come near the city.

20 Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts!

Your eyes will see Jerusalem,

an untroubled habitation, an immovable tent,

whose stakes will never be plucked up,

nor will any of its cords be broken.

21 But there the LORD in majesty will be for us

a place of broad rivers and streams,

where no galley with oars can go,

nor majestic ship can pass.

22 For the LORD is our judge; the LORD is our lawgiver;

the LORD is our king, he will save us.

They had all the advantages of wide rivers without being exposed to attacks by ships of war, because the Lord was with them. This was not the case for Assyria. It was like a ship tossed about in a storm.

23 Your cords hang loose;

they cannot hold the mast firm in its place

or keep the sail spread out.

Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided;

even the lame will take the prey.

24 And no inhabitant will say, “I am sick”;

the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.

Jerusalem was healed, restored, and forgiven. She was very blessed. All the saints are very blessed.

^{_______________}

¹ Isaiah 33:16

Year Two, January 16

The LORD Is Good, a Stronghold in the Day of Trouble1

Somewhere about the time of Sennacherib, the prophet Nahum was called to speak for the Lord. Today we will read his declaration against Assyria.

  

Nahum 1

1An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.

2 The LORD is a jealous and avenging God;

He loves his people too well to see them trampled on and not avenge the wrong things done to them. Assyria had carried away the ten tribes of Israel and now threatened Judah. Therefore, in love to his people, God intervened.

the LORD is avenging and wrathful;

the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries

and keeps wrath for his enemies.

The Lord had patiently put up with the terrible actions of Sennacherib, but he was not unaware of what was going on. It would not be long before he would pour out his anger.

3 The LORD is slow to anger and great in power,

and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty.

God’s patience is often misunderstood. The wicked dream that their crimes are overlooked, but they will soon discover they were mistaken.

His way is in whirlwind and storm,

and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry;

he dries up all the rivers;

Bashan and Carmel wither;

the bloom of Lebanon withers.

He can hold back the rain and then the most fruitful lands will be barren with drought.

5 The mountains quake before him;

the hills melt;

the earth heaves before him,

the world and all who dwell in it.

6 Who can stand before his indignation?

Who can endure the heat of his anger?

His wrath is poured out like fire,

and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.

Lightning and earthquakes are his servants. No one can stand against them.

7 The LORD is good,

a stronghold in the day of trouble;

he knows those who take refuge in him.

This is a note of soft, sweet music amid the thunder of divine power. These words are most refreshing to the ear of faith.

8 But with an overflowing flood

he will make a complete end of the adversaries,

and will pursue his enemies into darkness.

9 What do you plot against the LORD?

He will make a complete end;

trouble will not rise up a second time.

One strike from God’s hand would be enough to break Assyria once and for all.

10 For they are like entangled thorns,

like drunkards as they drink;

they are consumed like stubble fully dried.

While gathered like thorns in a pile, a single flame from heaven would be enough to consume them.

11 From you came one

who plotted evil against the LORD,

a worthless counselor.

Sennacherib is described here and condemned.

12 Thus says the LORD,

“Though they are at full strength and many,

they will be cut down and pass away.”

In one night the deed was done and Judah was delivered. Therefore the Lord says to his people:

“Though I have afflicted you,

I will afflict you no more.

13 And now I will break his yoke from off you

and will burst your bonds apart.”

And to his enemies he says:

14 The LORD has given commandment about you:

“No more shall your name be perpetuated;

from the house of your gods I will cut off

the carved image and the metal image.

I will make your grave, for you are vile.”

Nineveh had once been warned by Jonah and for a while repented; but since then it had returned to its old ways. This time its doom was sealed and as a city it would soon be dead and buried. Let travelers who have seen the ruins of this once great city tell how fully this threat has been fulfilled.

15 Behold, upon the mountains, the feet of him

who brings good news,

who publishes peace!

Keep your feasts, O Judah;

fulfill your vows,

for never again shall the worthless pass through you;

he is utterly cut off.

Such a marvelous deliverance called for Judah’s joyful obedience. We have been set free from a worse tyrant than Sennacherib, therefore let us rejoice in the Lord our God, and magnify his Son Jesus, the Angel of the Lord that redeemed us out of all evil.

^{_______________}

¹ Nahum 1:7

Year Two, January 17

With What Shall I Come Before the LORD?1

The Lord sent many holy prophets to Judah in the evening of their history, to shine forth like stars. Micah was one of those. He came forward to back up Isaiah’s words. In this reading, Micah’s farseeing eye looks on the Lord Jesus in the glory of the last days.

  

Micah 4

1 It shall come to pass in the latter days

that the mountain of the house of the LORD

shall be established as the highest of the mountains,

and it shall be lifted up above the hills;

and peoples shall flow to it,

2 and many nations shall come, and say:

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,

to the house of the God of Jacob,

that he may teach us his ways

and that we may walk in his paths.”

For out of Zion shall go forth the law,

and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

God keeps his best things for last. When Jesus reigns over all the earth, the true faith and the true church will have tremendous influence. The temple made with human hands represented the dwelling place of God. Micah saw into the future when Jesus will rule from the City of God2 and will be seen and respected far and wide.

3 He shall judge between many peoples,

and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away;

and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,

and their spears into pruning hooks;

nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

neither shall they learn war anymore;

4 but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree,

and no one shall make them afraid,

for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.

We sigh for this time of unbroken peace. It will not come by human development, economic improvement, or social progress. Jesus alone is the world’s Peacemaker.

5 For all the peoples walk

each in the name of its god,

but we will walk in the name of the LORD our God

forever and ever.

6 In that day, declares the LORD,

I will assemble the lame

and gather those who have been driven away

and those whom I have afflicted;

7 and the lame I will make the remnant,

and those who were cast off, a strong nation;

and the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion

from this time forth and forevermore.

To the Jews, Mount Zion was the city of David, where the temple or dwelling place of God was located. The gospel came from what was left of the Jewish nation. So, in a spiritual sense, Micah saw the Lord reigning triumphantly from Mount Zion, the New Jerusalem.

8 And you, O tower of the flock

hill of the daughter of Zion,

to you shall it come,

the former dominion shall come,

kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem.

9 Now why do you cry aloud?

Is there no king in you?

Has your counselor perished,

that pain seized you like a woman in labor?

10 Writhe and groan, O daughter of Zion,

like a woman in labor,

for now you shall go out from the city

and dwell in the open country;

you shall go to Babylon.

There you shall be rescued;

there the LORD will redeem you

from the hand of your enemies.

Jerusalem was greatly troubled, but good would come of it. The people would be carried off to Babylon, but God would bring them back. While Jesus lives, his church is safe.

11 Now many nations

are assembled against you,

saying, “Let her be defiled,

and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.”

12 But they do not know

the thoughts of the LORD;

they do not understand his plan,

that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.

Faith sees her enemies as so many bundles of grain ready to be threshed, and with God’s help she treads them down. “We are more than conquerors, through him who loved us.”3

13 Arise and thresh,

O daughter of Zion,

for I will make your horn iron,

and I will make your hoofs bronze;

you shall beat in pieces many peoples;

and shall devote their gain to the LORD,

their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.

^{_______________}

¹ Micah 6:6

² Psalm 46:4, “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.”

³ Romans 8:37

Year Two, January 18

Be Strong, Fear Not!1

All of the prophecies of Isaiah are precious and should be read on a regular basis. We will take a few of the better known portions for the next few readings to spark our determination to read the entire book. In chapter thirty-five, Isaiah gives a very wonderful description of Christians on their joyful journey to heaven.

  

Isaiah 35

1 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;

the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;

The people of God are often despised and persecuted, but there will be a time when they will be known as the greatest blessings to mankind. The throwaway and cast-off parts of society will be encouraged and benefitted by the presence and influence of the people of God. It has already been so to a degree, but even better days are coming.

2 it shall blossom abundantly

and rejoice with joy and singing.

The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,

the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.

They shall see the glory of the LORD,

the majesty of our God.

They will enjoy glimpses into heaven and receive spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus, and all mankind will see what a glorious God they serve.

3 Strengthen the weak hands,

and make firm the feeble knees.

4 Say to those who have an anxious heart,

“Be strong; fear not!

Behold, your God

will come with vengeance,

with the recompense of God.

He will come and save you.”

The Lord will carry out vengeance on his enemies, but you who trust in him, even though you are weak and timid, he will come and save you. These words are intended to give you comfort!

5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,

and the ears of the deaf unstopped;

then shall the lame man leap like a deer,

and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.

6 For waters break forth in the wilderness,

and streams in the desert;

These are the miracles that prove the gospel now. They will be multiplied more and more in the golden age that is on its way. Believers know what these miracles mean. They have experienced the gracious healing of Jesus and have had their wants and needs supplied daily by the Lord. He has truly given them “streams in the desert.”

7 the burning sand shall become a pool,

and the thirsty ground springs of water;

in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down,

the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

Salvation can bring gladness where sadness once was. Lives that were given over to every unclean thing, and empty of all good, will, by divine grace, become fruitful in every good word and work.

8 And a highway shall be there,

and it shall be called the Way of Holiness;

the unclean shall not pass over it.

It shall belong to those who walk on the way;

even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.

9 No lion shall be there,

nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;

they shall not be found there,

but the redeemed shall walk there.

The Lord has provided a way of grace for simple souls. In it they are safe from sin, Satan, and every enemy. Are we traveling this sacred road? If so we are redeemed by blood and are struggling after holiness. Those who love sin cannot be on their way to heaven. We should be very thankful that the road to heaven is open for plain people. We should be happy to leave sin behind and walk on the narrow road that leads to heaven!

10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return

and come to Zion with singing;

everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;

they shall obtain gladness and joy,

and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Zion is the end of our holy journey. It ends in happiness and singing that knows no end. Crowns of joy will be placed on the heads of all who follow the Lamb of God. Their mourning will be over. They will be with the Lord forevermore. Many of our friends and relatives are among the happy travelers who have already arrived in heaven. We look forward to joining them at the end of the pathway of faith.

^{_______________}

¹ Isaiah 35:4

Year Two, January 19

I Will Lead the Blind in a Way That They Do Not Know1

We shall now listen to Isaiah, while he speaks partly about Cyrus king of Persia, but mainly about Christ.

  

Isaiah 42:1-16

1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold,

my chosen, in whom my soul delights;

I have put my Spirit upon him;

he will bring forth justice to the nations.

Jesus has done this in our case. We who are from “the nations” and not from the Jews rejoice in the righteousness of the Lord. Glory be to his name.

2 He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,

or make it heard in the street;

Jesus was “gentle and lowly in heart.”2 He was not a loud, noisy person searching for popularity.

3 a bruised reed he will not break,

and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;

he will faithfully bring forth justice.

The poor, useless, weak heart is like a crushed reed that cannot bring forth flutelike music. Jesus fixes it. The soul that has only a spark of grace remaining in it has only a smoke of desire rising from it. He will protect it and fan that spark into a flame. How encouraging this is! Oh, for faith to grab hold of this truth!

4 He will not grow faint or be discouraged

till he has established justice in the earth;

and the coastlands wait for his law.

5 Thus says God, the LORD,

who created the heavens and stretched them out,

who spread out the earth and what comes from it,

who gives breath to the people on it

and spirit to those who walk in it:

6 “I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness;

I will take you by the hand and keep you;

I will give you as a covenant for the people,

a light for the nations,

7 to open the eyes that are blind,

to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,

from the prison those who sit in darkness.”

See what a Savior we have. See how the Father is with him. He works wonders of grace. Why should we not share in them? Will he not bring our captive spirits out of the dungeon and into gospel freedom?

8 “I am the LORD; that is my name;

my glory I give to no other,

nor my praise to carved idols.

9 Behold, the former things have come to pass,

and new things I now declare;

before they spring forth

I tell you of them.”

10 Sing to the LORD a new song,

his praise from the end of the earth,

you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it,

the coastlands and their inhabitants.

11 Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice

the villages that Kedar inhabits;

let the habitants of Sela sing for joy,

let them shout from the top of the mountains.

12 Let them give glory to the LORD,

and declare his praise in the coastlands.

The finished work of Jesus is enough to fill the universe with the praises of the Eternal God. We will pray daily that it may be made known, until the whole earth rejoices in it and brings glory to God.

13 The LORD goes out like a mighty man,

like a man of war he stirs up his zeal;

he cries out, he shouts aloud,

he shows himself mighty against his foes.

The gospel is the cry of the mighty God. Those who do not receive it will be overthrown by it. To the unbelieving, the preaching of the gospel is like the dreadful roar of a lion.

14 For a long time I have held my peace;

I have kept still and restrained myself;

now I will cry out like a woman in labor;

I will gasp and pant.

15 I will lay waste mountains and hills,

and dry up all their vegetation;

I will turn the rivers into islands,

and dry up the pools.

Patience has its limits. When God begins to deal with sinful nations and ungodly people, his acts of judgment will be extremely terrible. No comforts will be left to those who refuse comfort in Christ.

16 And I will lead the blind

in a way that they do now know,

in paths that they have not known

I will guide them.

I will turn the darkness before them into light,

the rough places into level ground.

These are the things I do,

     and I do not forsake them.

In the midst of judgment, mercy and truth will not be forgotten. God’s chosen will be led to safety and their afflictions will be removed. Especially precious are the last words, “And I do not forsake them.” Why are we downhearted? God is still our friend. He has never deserted a sincerely believing heart and he never will, come what may. Let us then rest in his love and go forward throughout our life with rejoicing courage.

^{_______________}

¹ Isaiah 42:16

² Matthew 11:29

Year Two, January 20

The Lord GOD Helps Me1

Isaiah 50

1Thus says the LORD:

“Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce

with which I sent her away?

Or which of my creditors is it

to whom I have sold you?

Behold, for your iniquities you were sold,

and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.”

When Israel was carried into captivity it was not because God had forgotten his covenant or cruelly thrown away his people. He was not like a cruel husband who divorces his wife in anger or like a poor needy father forced to give up his children to his creditors for debt. No, it was sin that brought every evil on Israel—sin, and nothing else. This is also true in our case. Sin is the source of our misery. If we rebel against God, he will surely make us feel the sting of his displeasure.

2 “Why, when I came, was there no man;

why, when I called was there no one to answer?”

When Jesus came to the Jews, “His own people did not receive him.”2 They brought their punishment on themselves. They were not lost because the Lord could not save them, but because they would not welcome him.

“Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem?

Or have I no power to deliver?

Behold, by my rebuke I dry up the sea,

I make the rivers a desert;

their fish stink for lack of water

and die of thirst.

3 I clothe the heavens with blackness

and make sackcloth their covering.”

God has performed these marvels and he can do so again. He has used his mighty power to deliver his people from their enemies and he continues to be just as capable of saving them now. Sinful unbelief blinds people from seeing the great power and love of God.

4 The Lord God has given me

the tongue of those who are taught,

that I may know how to sustain with a word

him who is weary.

Morning by morning he awakens;

he awakens my ear

to hear as those who are taught.

Jesus, as man, was provided with wisdom beyond measure, because the fulness of the Holy Spirit was with him. He knows how to comfort those who mourn. He understands compassion.

5 The Lord God has opened my ear,

and I was not rebellious;

I turned not backward.

6 I gave my back to those who strike,

and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;

I hid not my face

from disgrace and spitting.

No sufferings stopped our blessed Redeemer. His holy life earned him painful humiliation, but he would not stop until he had fulfilled his Father’s will and completed our redemption. Who would not trust such a Savior?

7 But the Lord GOD helps me;

therefore I have not been disgraced;

therefore I have set my face like a flint,

and I know that I shall not be put to shame.

This is true, not only of our Lord, but of all his witnesses. The Lord makes them bold and they do not tremble at persecution. They expect to suffer, because Jesus suffered. They are confident of victory, because Jesus was victorious.

8 He who vindicates me is near.

Who will contend with me?

Let us stand up together.

Who is my adversary?

Let him come near to me.

9 Behold, the Lord GOD helps me;

who will declare me guilty?

Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment;

the moth will eat them up.

The gospel, like its Creator, laughs at those who oppose it. People are but puny things. They are so weak that a moth can destroy them. The righteous have no reason to be afraid. They may be a witness for God in spite of the most furious opponents, because the Lord will win the victory in them and through them.

10 Who among you fears the LORD

and obeys the voice of his servant?

Let him who walks in darkness

and has no light

trust in the name of the LORD

and rely on his God.

11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire,

who equip yourselves with burning torches!

Walk by the light of your fire,

and by the torches that you have kindled!

This you have from my hand:

you shall lie down in torment.

Children of light often walk in darkness. Let them trust in the Lord and their joy will return. Children of darkness walk in a light of their own making, but they have good reason to be afraid. When the eternal night comes, the time when they need light the most, they must go to the bed of the grave in the dark. What a grim threat! To lie down in torment, torment from God’s own hand. Let us escape from such a doom.

^{_______________}

¹ Isaiah 50:7

² John 1:11

Year Two, January 21

Fear Not the Reproach of Man1

Isaiah 51:1-13

1 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,

you who seek the LORD:

look to the rock from which you were hewn,

and to the quarry from which you were dug.

2 Look to Abraham your father

and to Sarah who bore you;

for he was but one when I called him,

that I might bless him and multiply him.”

To keep the people from becoming hopeless because of the low state of the nation, Isaiah reminds them from where they came. One man was chosen and one woman. They were both old before a child was born to them and they were just one family. Yet from them a great nation was born. Nothing could be more apparently hopeless and yet the promise was kept. What the Lord had done once, he could and would do again. Poor, downtrodden Israel would rise up again.

3 “For the LORD comforts Zion;

he comforts all her waste places

and makes her wilderness like Eden,

her desert like the garden of the LORD;

joy and gladness will be found in her,

thanksgiving and the voice of song.

4 “Give attention to me, my people,

and give ear to me, my nation;

for a law will go out from me,

and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.

5 My righteousness draws near,

my salvation has gone out,

and my arms will judge the peoples;

the coastlands hope for me,

and for my arm they wait.

6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens,

and look at the earth beneath;

for the heavens vanish like smoke,

the earth will wear out like a garment,

and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;

but my salvation will be forever,

and my righteousness will never be dismayed.”

God is faithful and will be true to his covenant. His is not a promise to be kept for only a few days or even a few years. His promises are forever. The Lord’s promise of salvation will not be hidden in some far off corner; it will be proclaimed far and wide. Nothing can be more delightful than to possess this salvation and understand that this covenant of grace is built on a foundation that cannot be destroyed.

7 “Listen to me, you who know righteousness,

the people in whose heart is my law;

fear not the reproach of man,

nor be dismayed at their revilings.

8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment,

and the worm will eat them like wool;

but my righteousness will be forever,

and my salvation to all generations.”

Fear not oh dying one. Trust in the ever living God.

9 Awake, awake, put on strength,

O arm of the LORD;

awake, as in days of old,

the generations of long ago.

Was it not you who cut Rahab (or Egypt) in pieces,

that pierced the dragon? (or the crocodile, the symbol of Egypt.)

10 Was it not you who dried up the sea,

the waters of the great deep,

who made the depths of the sea a way

for the redeemed to pass over?

This is a bold prayer. It lays hold on that glorious arm that performed miracles in Egypt on behalf of the Lord’s elect. It claims that similar marvels can be accomplished again and that the time has come for the Lord to do them once more.

11 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return

and come to Zion with singing;

everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;

they shall obtain gladness and joy,

and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Isaiah’s confident faith quotes the promise that the Lord had given him in a previous precious prophecy2 and boldly declares that it is a promise that will never end. It is always good to have a promise at our finger tips.

12 “I, I am he who comforts you;

who are you that you are afraid of man who dies,

of the son of man who is made like grass,

13 and have forgotten the LORD, your Maker,

who stretched out the heavens

and laid the foundations of the earth,

and you fear continually all the day

because of the wrath of the oppressor,

when he sets himself to destroy?

And where is the wrath of the oppressor?”

It is in God’s hands. No oppressor can rage against us unless the Lord allows it. Then why are we afraid? He who gives our enemy permission to annoy us to a point, holds the other end of his chain and will keep him within bounds. In holy confidence let us stand still and see the salvation of God.

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¹ Isaiah 51:7

² Spurgeon is probably referring to Isaiah 25:8, “He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken.” —editor

Year Two, January 22

Come, Lord Jesus!1

Matthew Poole calls this chapter, “The glory and blessings of the new church after a short affliction.”2 There is neither space for comment, nor need of it.

  

Isaiah 60

1 Arise, shine, for your light has come,

and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.

2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,

and thick darkness the peoples;

but the LORD will arise upon you,

and his glory will be seen upon you.

3 And nations shall come to your light,

and kings to the brightness of your rising.

4 Lift up your eyes all around, and see;

they all gather together, they come to you;

your sons shall come from afar,

and your daughters shall be carried on the hip.

5 Then you shall see and be radiant;

your heart shall thrill and exult,

because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you,

the wealth of the nations shall come to you.

6 A multitude of camels shall cover you,

the young camels of Midian and Ephah;

all those from Sheba shall come.

They shall bring gold and frankincense,

and shall bring good news, the praises of the LORD.

7 All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you;

the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you;

they shall come up with acceptance on my altar,

and I will beautify my beautiful house.

8 Who are these that fly like a cloud,

and like doves to their windows?

9 For the coastlands shall hope for me,

the ships of Tarshish first,

to bring your children from afar,

their silver and gold with them,

for the name of the LORD your God,

and for the Holy One of Israel,

because he has made you beautiful.

10 Foreigners shall build up your walls,

and their kings shall minister to you;

for in my wrath I struck you,

but in my favor I have had mercy on you.

11 Your gates shall be open continually;

day and night they shall not be shut,

that people may bring to you the wealth of the nations,

with their kings led in procession.

12 For the nation and kingdom

that will not serve you shall perish;

those nations shall be utterly laid waste.

13 The glory of Lebanon shall come to you,

the cypress, the plane, and the pine,

to beautify the place of my sanctuary,

and I will make the place of my feet glorious.

14 The sons of those who afflicted you

shall come bending low to you,

and all who despised you

shall bow down at your feet;

they shall call you the City of the LORD,

the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

15 Whereas you have been forsaken and hated,

with no one passing through,

I will make you majestic forever,

a joy from age to age.

16 You shall suck the milk of nations;

you shall nurse at the breast of kings;

and you shall know that I, the LORD, am your Savior

and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

17 Instead of bronze I will bring gold,

and instead of iron I will bring silver;

instead of wood, bronze,

instead of stones, iron.

I will make your overseers peace

and your taskmasters righteousness.

18 Violence shall no more be heard in your land,

devastation or destruction within your borders;

you shall call your walls Salvation,

and your gates Praise.

19 The sun shall be no more

your light by day,

nor for brightness shall the moon

give you light;

but the LORD will be your everlasting light.

and your God will be your glory.

20 Your sun shall no more go down,

nor your moon withdraw itself;

for the LORD will be your everlasting light,

and your days of mourning shall be ended.

21 Your people shall all be righteous;

they shall possess the land forever,

the branch of my planting, the work of my hands,

that I might be glorified.

22 The least one shall become a clan,

and the smallest one a mighty nation;

I am the LORD;

in its time I will hasten it.

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¹ Revelation 22:20

² Matthew Poole (1624-1679) A Commentary of the Holy Bible.

Year Two, January 23

I Will Greatly Rejoice in the LORD1

Isaiah 61

1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,

because the LORD has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor;

he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

2 to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor,

and the day of vengeance of our God;

to comfort all who mourn;

3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion—

to give them a beautiful headdress, instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;

that they may be called oaks of righteousness,

the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.

The opening words of this chapter were read by our Lord Jesus as proof of who he was, when he stood up to read in the synagogue of Nazareth.2 The description given here could apply to no one except Jesus. Notice also how the whole Trinity comes together in the work of grace. Jehovah the Father (the LORD) anoints and appoints his Son to this position; the Spirit is upon him; and the Son himself performs divine acts. This glorious gospel of the holy Trinity is not for those who are proud and boastful. The good news is for those who mourn over and are overcome by sin. If we are among the mourners and those of a faint spirit, then Jesus has come to bless us.

4 They shall build up the ancient ruins;

they shall raise up the former devastations;

they shall repair the ruined cities,

the devastations of many generations.

5 Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks;

foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;

We are set free from the cares of the world. We “leave the dead to bury their own dead.”3 Let those who are of the earth, be concerned about their earthly things, but as for us, our business is to be concerned about the things of another world.

6 but you shall be called the priests of the LORD;

they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God;

you shall eat the wealth of the nations,

and in their glory you shall boast.

Our highest honor is to be servants of God; to be priests who pray only to him and are devoted to his honor and praise.

7 Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion;

instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot;

therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion;

they shall have everlasting joy.

Every sorrow of the Lord’s own people shall blossom into a double joy. The winter of grief will soon be over and the eternal summer of joy will be all the brighter.

8 For I the LORD love justice;

I hate robbery and wrong;

I will faithfully give them their recompense,

and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

Those people who become sincere in heart, spiritual in worship and honest before the Lord, will be given infinite blessings now and forever.

9 Their offspring shall be known among the nations,

and their descendants in the midst of the peoples;

all who see them shall acknowledge them,

that they are an offspring the LORD has blessed.

Believers who walk with God will be noted and noticed as being truly what they profess to be. It is a sad thing when people of the world cannot recognize those who call themselves Christian by their lives. It is to be feared that many who profess to know Christ lead such inconsistent lives, that the world will never suspect them of being part of those who are blessed of the Lord, if indeed they are.

10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD;

my soul shall exult in my God,

for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;

he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,

and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

How happy the church is as she sees the righteousness with which she is clothed. She is overjoyed. She should be. When the Lord covers our nakedness with his perfections, it is enough to make the stones sing.4

11 For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,

and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,

so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise

to sprout up before all the nations.

We are the plants in God’s garden. He will see to it that the good fruit of righteousness and peace will grow from us. Good Lord, let it be so.

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¹ Isaiah 61:10

² Luke 4:16-27

³ Matthew 8:21-22, “Another of the disciples said to him, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.’” Also, Luke 9:60.

⁴ Probably a reference to Luke 19:39-40, “And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to [Jesus], ‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples.’ He answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.’”

Year Two, January 24

For You Are Our Father1

Isaiah had a vision of the Lord Jesus in the latter days. He was destroying all the enemies of his people and as Isaiah saw him returning victorious from the field of battle, he exclaimed:

  

Isaiah 63

1 Who is this who comes from Edom,

in crimsoned garments from Bozrah,

he who is splendid in his apparel,

marching in the greatness of his strength?

“It is I, speaking in righteousness,

mighty to save.”

2 Why is your apparel red,

and your garments like his who treads in the winepress?

3 “I have trodden the winepress alone,

and from the peoples no one was with me;

I trod them in my anger

and trampled them in my wrath;

their lifeblood spattered on my garments,

and stained all my apparel.

4 For the day of vengeance was in my heart,

and my year of redemption had come.

5 I looked, but there was no one to help;

I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold;

so my own arm brought me salvation,

and my wrath upheld me.

6 I trampled down the people in my anger;

I made them drunk in my wrath,

and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”

7 I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD,

the praises of the LORD,

according to all that the LORD has granted us,

and the great goodness to the house of Israel

that he has granted them according to his compassion,

according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

8 For he said, “Surely they are my people,

children who will not deal falsely.”

And he became their Savior.

9 In all their affliction he was afflicted,

and the angel of his presence saved them;

in his love and in his pity he redeemed them;

he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

10 But they rebelled

and grieved his Holy Spirit;

therefore he turned to be their enemy,

and himself fought against them.

11 Then he remembered the days of old,

of Moses and his people.

Where is he who brought them up out of the sea

with the shepherds of his flock?

Where is he who put in the midst of them

his Holy Spirit,

12 who caused his glorious arm

to go at the right hand of Moses,

who divided the waters before them

to make for himself an everlasting name,

13 who led them through the depths?

Like a horse in the desert,

they did not stumble.

14 Like livestock that go down into the valley,

the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest.

So you led your people,

to make for yourself a glorious name.

15 Look down from heaven and see,

from your holy and beautiful habitation.

Where are your zeal and your might?

The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion

are held back from me.

16 For you are our Father,

though Abraham does not know us,

and Israel does not acknowledge us;

you, O LORD, are our Father,

our Redeemer from of old is your name.

17 O LORD, why do you make us wander from yours ways

and harden our heart, so that we fear you not?

Return for the sake of your servants,

the tribes of your heritage.

18 Your holy people held possession for a little while;

our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.

19 We have become like those over whom you have never ruled,

like those who are not called by your name.

Dr. Hawker has the following spiritual thoughts on this very wonderful chapter: 

“Who is this that comes up with salvation, but the LORD mighty to save? He is one with Jehovah in the divine nature and no less one with us in the human nature. He is bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. Surely, LORD, your own arm brought salvation and of the people there was no one with you. In all things you were required to be made like your brethren, but in your redemption-work, you walked in the winepress of the wrath of God alone. In the midst of all our rebellions and forgetfulness of you, you never forgot us or ignored our interest. In all our afflictions you were afflicted. Your love and your pity never decreased, because you were always Jesus; ‘the same yesterday and today and forever.’ Oh! then, Lord! do not let the waywardness of your children stand in the way of the gracious designs of your love. Remember that we are only dust and let ‘your zeal and your might’ and ‘the stirring of your inner parts and your compassion’ never be held back. We throw ourselves on your covenant relationship with us and plead of you, our God, to remember that most blessed promise, in which you said, ‘I will not turn away from doing good’ and, ‘I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.’”2

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¹ Isaiah 63:16

² Robert Hawker (1753-1827) The Poor Man’s Commentary on the Whole Bible. Scriptures quoted: Hebrews 13:8, Isaiah 63:15 & Jeremiah 32:40.

Year Two, January 25

I Have Heard Your Prayer; I Have Seen Your Tears1

2 Kings 20:1-19; 21

1In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.’” (It was good for Hezekiah to have such a faithful chaplain in his dying moments. Too often when people are near to death, their friends are afraid to tell them the truth about their condition. This kind of sensitivity is cruelty.) 2Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying, 3“Now, O LORD, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. (He wanted a little more time here below. He had begun to love the world too much. He was also too anxious about who would take over for him as king.)

4And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him: 5“Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD, 6and I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.” 7And Isaiah said, “Bring a cake of figs. And let them take and lay it on the boil, that he may recover.” (The figs were used as a medication. Although the Lord can heal us without medicine and surgery, he does not choose to.)

8And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the LORD on the third day?” 9And Isaiah said, “This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he has promised: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?” 10And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to lengthen ten steps. Rather let the shadow go back ten steps.” 11And Isaiah the prophet called to the LORD, and he brought the shadow back ten steps, by which it had gone down on the steps of Ahaz. (There is no use in asking how this was done. It is another example of the omnipotence2 of God.)

12At that time Merodach-baladan the Son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13And Hezekiah welcomed them, and he showed them all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his armory, all that was found in his store houses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. (At first sight this looks harmless enough, but the Lord saw that the king was proud, delighted in the flatteries of unbelieving strangers, and perhaps hoped to strengthen himself by associating with their expanding kingdom. God is jealous over those he loves. His strictness with them is in proportion to his love for them. This sad fault of good Hezekiah led a godly writer to cry, “Oh God! If you do not keep us as well in our sunshine as in our storm, we are sure to perish. During our times of tribulation and during our times of wealth, good Lord, deliver us!”3)

14Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.” 15He said, “What have they seen in your house?” And Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”

16Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD: 17Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house; and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the LORD. 18And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” 19Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?” (The penalty was heavy, but Hezekiah accepted it. Lord, teach us this kind of patience.)

21And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son reigned in his place.

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¹ 2 Kings 20:5

² omnipotent, omnipotence - all-powerful, almighty, absolute and supreme power, having unlimited power.

³ Joseph Hall (1574-1656). English clergyman.

Year Two, January 26

Every Sin and Blasphemy Will Be Forgiven People1

2 Chronicles 33:1-6; 9-13; 15-16; 20-25

1Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, (From this we learn that Manasseh was born three years after his father recovered from his illness. Perhaps the fact that he did not have an heir to the throne was why Hezekiah was so unwilling to die.) and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel. (Perhaps if Hezekiah could have looked into the future, he might have been content to die childless.) 3For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had broken down, and he erected altars to the Baals, and made Asheroth, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem shall my name be forever.” 5And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6And he burned his sons as an offering in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and used fortune telling and omens and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger.

He went from bad to worse. He lived for evil. Nothing was too bad for him. He piled up the most daring of sins. All this and he was the son of a saint. Children may have the best examples and still fall into the worst sins.

9Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel.

10The LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention.

They persecuted the prophets and “shed very much innocent blood.”2 It is a sign of great hardness of heart when warnings are despised.

11Therefore the LORD brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon. (His kingdom was reduced to almost nothing. The Lord had said, “Because Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations and has done things more evil than all that the Amorites did…I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.”3 His great sin was visited with a punishment that made people’s ears tingle when they heard of it.) 12And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. 13He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God. (Who can say that God is not ready to pardon, when they see such a sinner saved? No one could be worse than Manasseh and yet he received mercy. Oh, the depths of divine love! Let every sinner in the universe come and welcome Jesus, because the foremost of sinners has been saved.)

15And he took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built on the mountain of the house of the LORD and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside of the city. 16He also restored the altar of the LORD and offered on it sacrifices of peace offerings and of thanksgiving, and he commanded Judah to serve the LORD, the God of Israel.

He stopped doing evil and learned to do good. This was the best proof that he was sincere. May the Lord also give us the grace that produces the fruits of repentance.

20So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his house, and Amon his son reigned in his place.

21Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. 22And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as Manasseh his father had done. Amon sacrificed to all the images that Manasseh his father had made, and served them. 23And he did not humble himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself, but this Amon incurred guilt more and more. (How little does one person learn from the experience of another, even their own father! We see God’s electing love here. Manasseh sins and grace gives him repentance. Amon sins and continues in it until he perishes.)

24And his servants conspired against him and put him to death in his house. 25But the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon. And the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.

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¹ Matthew 12:31

² 2 Kings 21:16

³ 2 Kings 21:11, 13

Year Two, January 27

The Idols He Shall Utterly Abolish1

2 Chronicles 34:1-4

1Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. 2And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father; and he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

What a huge difference grace can make in people of the same age. Manasseh began to reign at twelve and Josiah at eight. Manasseh was brought up in the God-fearing home of Hezekiah.  Josiah was raised in the home of wicked Amon. Yet Manasseh dove into disgusting idolatries and Josiah was tender and holy. The Spirit of God blows where he chooses.2

3For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, and the carved and metal images.

He did not wait a moment longer than his young age required him to. As soon as he was accepted as a man he acted the part of a man of God.

4And they chopped down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and he cut down the incense altars that stood above them. And he broke in pieces the Asherim and the carved and metal images, and he made dust of them and scattered it over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. (Josiah showed his contempt for idolatry in every way he could.)

  

2 Kings 23:15-20

15Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected by Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, that altar with the high place he pulled down and burned, reducing it to dust. He also burned the Asherah. 16And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it, according to the word of the LORD that the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things. 17Then he said, “What is that monument that I see?” And the men of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted these things that you have done against the altar at Bethel.” 18And he said, “Let him be; let no man move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria. 19And Josiah removed all the shrines also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which kings of Israel had made, provoking the LORD to anger. He did to them according to all that he had done at Bethel. 20And he sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem. (This was a gloriously thorough work. We need such a man now to cleanse our land from the idolatries set up today by misguided people. If God does not step in soon, our beloved country will be overrun with the idols of our modern age. Oh Lord, defeat the dishonest tricks of those who corrupt our fellow citizens with their distortions of the Christian faith!)

  

2 Kings 22:3-7

3In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, the secretary, to the house of the LORD, saying, 4“Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money that has been brought into the house of the LORD, which the keepers of the threshold have collected from the people. 5And let it be given into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the LORD, and let them give it to the workmen who are at the house of the LORD, repairing the house 6(that is, to the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons), and let them use it for buying timber and quarried stone to repair the house. 7But no accounting shall be asked from them for the money that is delivered into their hand, for they deal honestly.”

Tearing down is not enough. There also needs to be building up. Many are quick to make little changes in abuses in the church, but are not half as ready to help in a good cause. Before Josiah, kings had used the temple as a sort of bank, from which to take gold and silver in their times of distress. But Josiah was anxious to restore the temple to its former splendor. It is pleasing to find one so young doing so great a work for the Lord. May the children in our family be Josiahs.

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¹ Isaiah 2:18 (NKJV)

² From John 3:7-8 where Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Year Two, January 28

My Heart Stands in Awe of Your Words1

2 Kings 22:8-20

8And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. (Perhaps this was the authentic original of the word of God that some godly priest had hidden away in times of persecution. Copies had always been few and in the bad times they had been hunted out and destroyed. We are very fortunate to have Bibles in our homes and no one to take them from us. These holy men read through the precious book with great eagerness, even when they found a terrible prophecy of coming judgment.) 9And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the LORD.” 10Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.

These men were not like many of today’s religions that call themselves Christian and whose leaders use their authority to keep their followers from reading the Bible. They truly wanted God’s message to be read, to be understood and to have its power felt.

11When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. (He had a tender spirit and when he saw the evils that sin had brought on the nation, he trembled at the word of the Lord.) 12And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, 13“Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

This was sensible wisdom. King Josiah wanted to know if the Lord might, in answer to prayer, reverse the curses that were threatened in the law. Whenever we read the Scriptures and understand that we have sinned against God, we should also beg the Lord for mercy.

14So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter), and they talked with her.

Huldah was both a homemaker and a prophetess, but the great ones were not too proud to ask her for advice. Perhaps Jeremiah was somewhere else doing the Lord’s work and in his great alarm the king consulted with the servant of God who was in the area.

15And she said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, 16Thus says the LORD, behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. 17Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched.’”

The prophetess was not one to flatter people. She called the king a “man.” Josiah was a king before his people, but he was only a man before God. It was her duty to speak the truth. Grace makes even timid people bold.

18“‘But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, 19because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the LORD, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the LORD. 20Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.’” And they brought back word to the king.

The Lord’s judgment on Judah was mixed with mercy to Josiah. He was humble while others were proud. He bowed like a reed before a violent wind and the storm of wrath left him unharmed. Pay attention to the advantage of submitting to God. May the same tenderness of heart be found in each of us and may the Lord deal graciously with his servants.

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¹ Psalm 119:161

Year Two, January 29

Let Your Heart Be Wholly True to the LORD Our God1

2 Chronicles 35:1-2; 7-8; 10-18

1Josiah kept a Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem. And they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month. (This was the day appointed in the law. Josiah decided to be exact to the letter.) 2He appointed the priests to their offices and encouraged them in the service of the house of the LORD. (He assigned the priests their duties as God had instructed, so that everything was done in the proper way. Serving the Lord should be done with great care and deep respect. His work should never be done in a careless way. The apostle Paul reminds us that, “All things should be done decently and in order.”2)

7Then Josiah contributed to the lay people, as Passover offerings for all who were present, lambs and young goats from the flock to the number of 30,000 and 3,000 bulls; these were from the king’s possessions. 8aAnd his officials contributed willingly to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites.

Many of the people were too poor to bring their own sacrifices, so the generous king provided them. He thought no expense was too great to honor his God. Generosity toward a good cause is the natural response of those who have the grace of God in their hearts.

10When the service had been prepared for, the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their divisions according to the king’s command. 11And they slaughtered the Passover lamb, and the priests threw the blood that they received from them while the Levites flayed the sacrifices. (In this way Judah renewed its covenant3 with the Lord and rejoiced in the ceremony that was a grand type4 of the promised Savior. No feast is so precious to believers as feeding on the Lamb of God’s Passover.5) 12And they set aside the burnt offerings that they might distribute them according to the groupings of the father’s houses of the lay people, to offer to the LORD, as it is written in the Book of Moses. And so they did with the bulls. 13And they roasted the Passover lamb with fire according to the rule; and they boiled the holy offerings in pots, in cauldrons, and in pans, and carried them quickly to all the lay people. (There were so many to be served, and so few of the priests and Levites, that they used every means available to them. When the king’s business requires haste, we must not delay.)

14And afterward they prepared for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron were offering the burnt offerings and the fat parts until night; so the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests the sons of Aaron. 15The singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their place according to the command of David, and Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer; and the gatekeepers were at each gate. They did not need to depart from their service for their brothers the Levites prepared for them. (Singing was not forgotten, neither was any other part of the holy duties. Even the gatekeepers were at their post. One duty did not compete against another. It is always bad when, while serving God in one way, we forget other duties. Entrances must be watched over as well as psalms sung.)

16So all the service of the LORD was prepared that day, to keep the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the LORD, according to the command of King Josiah. 17And the people of Israel who were present kept the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days. 18No Passover like it had been kept in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as was kept by Josiah, and the priest and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

There may have been greater numbers present on other occasions, but at no other time were the rules that were laid down in the word of God observed so exactly. In the Lord’s eyes, this is a point of far greater importance than numbers or grandeur. It is our duty to worship the Lord in his own way. The closer we keep to Scripture the better. Any change spoils our worship. Let us be careful to remember this and jealously guard against any worship designed to please ourselves. Let us adore the Lord in spirit and in truth. “The Father is seeking [true worshipers] to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”6 Let others do as they will, but as for this household, let us serve the Lord with our whole hearts.

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¹ 1 Kings 8:61

² 1 Corinthians 14:40

³ covenant - A contract, promise, guarantee, pledge or agreement between two or more persons.

⁴ type - something or someone that represents something or someone else, usually in the future. In this case, the killing and sprinkling of the blood of the Passover lamb to save Israel from the destroying angel, pictured the Lord Jesus dying on the cross and shedding his blood to save lost sinners.

⁵ Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.” Jesus dealt with this in John 6:41-58.

⁶ John 4:23-24.

Year Two, January 30

He Will Exult Over You With Loud Singing1

The prophet Zephaniah appeared at the close of Josiah’s reign. We will read a portion from his prophecy.

  

Zephaniah 3:8-20

8 “Therefore wait for me,” declares the LORD,

“for the day when I rise up to seize the prey

For my decision is to gather nations,

to assemble kingdoms,

to pour out upon them my indignation,

all my burning anger;

for in the fire of my jealousy

all the earth shall be consumed.

9 “For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples

to a pure speech,

that all of them may call upon the name of the LORD

and serve him with one accord.”

After wrath will come mercy. The language of mankind has become polluted with sin. Their words are awful. When the Spirit of God descended at Pentecost he sanctified human lips to serve the Lord. There is a day coming when all nations will praise God with one voice.

10 “From beyond the rivers of Cush

my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones,

shall bring my offering.”

Israel will return to their land from distant places. The most far off nations will be converted to the Lord. Oh long-expected day, begin!

11 “On that day you shall not be put to shame

because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me;

for then I will remove from your midst

your proudly exultant ones,

and you shall no longer be haughty

in my holy mountain.”

The cause of their shame will be removed by the Lord’s cleansing grace and they will then enjoy peace with God.

12 “But I will leave in your midst

a people humble and lowly.

They shall seek refuge in the name of the LORD,”

When boasting is kicked out, trust begins and the humble are then made rich in grace.

13 “those who are left in Israel;

they shall do no injustice

and speak no lies,

nor shall there be found in their mouth

a deceitful tongue.

For they shall graze and lie down,

and none shall make them afraid.”

What an excellent promise! Sin both starves and disturbs the soul, but grace brings both food and rest.

14 Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;

shout, O Israel!

Rejoice and exult with all your heart,

O daughter of Jerusalem!

15 The LORD has taken away the judgments against you;

he has cleared away your enemies.

the King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst;

you shall never again fear evil.

The presence of God brings joy. What evil can harm us when Jesus is near? The fulfillment of this promise to Israel is yet to come, but believers already experience safety in Christ.

16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:

“Fear not, O Zion;

let not your hands grow weak.

17 The LORD your God is in your midst,

a mighty one who will save;

he will rejoice over you with gladness;

he will quiet you by his love;

he will exult over you with loud singing.”

What marvelous words. Think of God himself singing! “As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.”2 God’s work of creation could not make him sing, but the work of grace is dear to his heart beyond measure and makes him “rejoice over you with gladness.” What brilliant and powerful words!

18 “I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival,

so that you will no longer suffer reproach.”

When the Jews were in exile they could not celebrate their holy feasts. This was a troubling disappointment to them. God will bring them together again and their disgrace will be rolled away.

19 “Behold, at that time I will deal

with all your oppressors.

And I will save the lame

and gather the outcast,

and I will change their shame into praise

and renown in all the earth.

20 At that time I will bring you in,

at the time when I gather you together;

for I will make you renowned and praised

among all the peoples of the earth,

when I restore your fortunes

before your eyes,” says the LORD.

Persecution and contempt will end. In the latter days the saints will be honored for their excellence. Shame and disapproval is the cross that Christians must now carry for their Lord’s sake, but the loving providence3 of God will change all this before long. Our enemies will be bewildered and our God will be glorified. Let us rest in the love of God and quietly wait for that great day.

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¹ Zephaniah 3:17

² Isaiah 62:5

³ providence  - refers to God’s will, his divine intervention, and his predetermination (predestination)

Year Two, January 31

You, O LORD, Reign Forever1

2 Chronicles 35:20-27

20After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Neco king of Egypt went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates and Josiah went out to meet him.

Josiah probably thought he had good reasons for fighting against the Pharaoh of Egypt. He may have signed a treaty with the Assyrian king promising to protect his border against invaders, but he would have been far better off letting the matter alone. God has separated his people for himself and they are best off when they remain that way. Why should they have anything to do with the quarrels of these two great kings? They would have been better off standing back and letting them fight between themselves. God’s people should live “in the shelter of the Most High” and “abide in the shadow of the Almighty.”2

21But he sent envoys to him, saying, “What have we to do with each other, king of Judah? I am not coming against you this day, but against the house with which I am at war. And God has commanded me to hurry. Cease opposing God, who is with me, lest he destroy you.” (Pharaoh knew that Josiah was a religious man, so he hoped to keep him quiet by pretending he had received a message from God. It was not likely that the true God would use an unbeliever like Neco to send a message to his own favored servant. Josiah should not be blamed because he ignored the scheming advice of this Egyptian.)

22Nevertheless, Josiah did not turn away from him, but disguised himself in order to fight with him. He did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, but came to fight in the plain of Megiddo. 23And the archers shot King Josiah. And the king said to his servants, “Take me away, for I am badly wounded.” 24So his servants took him out of the chariot and carried him in his second chariot and brought him to Jerusalem. And he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. (Even though Pharaoh was only trying to trick Josiah, the outcome proved that God had determined to take his servant home by an honorable death on the battlefield. In this way, the Lord removed him from the evil that was coming to Judah. Josiah did not have a grudge against Neco. He simply felt honor bound to try to stop him from waging war against the Assyrian king who had restored his grandfather to the throne. The fact that he was killed does not mean that he was in error. People may die in even the best of causes.) All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

25Jeremiah also uttered a lament for Josiah; and all the singing men, and singing women have spoken of Josiah in their laments to this day. They made these a rule in Israel; behold, they are written in the Laments. (This is not the Book of Lamentations that is part of the Holy Scriptures, but some other book that is now lost. There were many books that existed in those days that were not inspired. The fact that these are lost should make us all the more grateful for the special protection God has given the Bible.) 26Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his good deeds according to what is written in the Law of the LORD, 27and his acts, first and last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

The following portion of Jeremiah’s Lamentations does not refer only to Josiah, but it is suitable to include it here.

  

Lamentations 5:15-22

15 The joy of our hearts has ceased;

our dancing has been turned to mourning.

16 The crown has fallen from our head;

woe to us, for we have sinned!

17 For this our heart has become sick,

for these things our eyes have grown dim,

18 for Mount Zion which lies desolate;

jackals prowl over it.

19 But you, O LORD, reign forever;

your throne endures to all generations.

The king is dead, but the Lord lives. God is our comfort. We will plead our case with him.

20 Why do you forget us forever,

why do you forsake us for so many days?

21 Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored!

Renew our days as of old—

22 unless you have utterly rejected us,

and you remain exceedingly angry with us.

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¹ Lamentations 5:19

² Psalm 91:1