2 Kings 10:32 — Here we see God’s judgment on Jehu. The monument we talked about yesterday was a permanent record of his disobedience.
2 Kings 11:17 — Jehoiada renewed the covenant of Deuteronomy 29 – this is the same covenant in Joshua 7:11 that God reminded the people they had disobeyed, it was the same covenant that God warned about disobeying in Joshua 23:16, it was the same covenant that God renewed in Joshua 24:25, it was the same covenant that they disobeyed in Judges 2:20, it was the same covenant that God reminded Solomon he disobeyed in 1 Kings 11:11, it was the same covenant that Elijah realized the Israelites disobeyed in 1 Kings 19:10, and it was the same covenant that the nation is now renewing again.
2 Kings 11:18 — The queen that had brought in Baal worship tried to accuse the people of treason (2 Kings 11:14), and only when she heard the “noise of the guard and of the people” did she enter into the house of the LORD (2 Kings 11:13). Apparently, it had been so abandoned that it was the staging ground for the revolution.
The object of this chest was to make a separation between the money to be raised for the building from the other moneys destined for the general use of the priests, in the hope that the people would be more liberal in their contributions when it was known that their offerings would be devoted to the special purpose of making the necessary repairs. The duty of attending to this work was no longer to devolve on the priests, but to be undertaken by the king.
2 Kings 12:18 — Isn’t it interesting to read about the people who try to bribe their way to success, when all they need to do is just follow God completely (2 Kings 12:3)? As I’m sure you are aware, the problem with pragmatism is that it often works!
Acts 18:8 —
Acts of the Apostles Chapter 18
Acts 18:9 — Ever notice how often God has to tell us to not be afraid?
Acts 18:14 — Sometimes God defends us before we can defend ourselves!
Proverbs 18:1 — Many of the commentaries note that this is a hard Hebrew phrase to translate. They note that the desire is the driving force for good or for bad.
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2 Kings 9:22 — Jehu seems to be a moral crusader. He even avenges Naboth (2 Kings 9:26). Will he hang with his commitment to the LORD?
2 Kings 9:34 — The first time Jehu failed in his obedience. The prophet told Jehu that the dogs would eat Jezebel and there would be none to bury her (2 Kings 9:10), but Jehu contradicts the prophet by ordering Jezebel to be buried.
Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
2 Kings 10:6 — Jehu executes the judgment against Ahab’s family (2 Kings 9:8) that Elijah prophesied, and he again proclaims fidelity to the LORD in 2 Kings 10:10. He obeys the Lord in 2 Kings 10:17 by continuing to exterminate the lineage of Ahab.
2 Kings 10:29 — No!!! Jehu followed the LORD except in regard to the Golden Calves! 2 Kings 10:31 – he didn’t follow the Lord completely.
Interestingly, the only king of Israel or Judah that we have a depiction of is Jehu. The Israelites were forbidden from making graven images or “victory statues” of themselves (Exodus 20:4). The only graven images we have are from the secular nations such as the Assyrian Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III in the British Museum.
Depiction of Jehu King of Israel Giving Tribute to King Shalmaneser III of Assyria
Acts 17:6 — This is a great testimony: “These that have turned the world upside down!” Most Christians have left their neighborhood right side up!
Acts 17:11 — The noble Bereans who searched the Scriptures daily! May we be of their tribe!
Acts 17:22 — How does Paul preach to the intellectuals on Mars’ Hill? He uses an illustration – the altar to the Unknown God (Acts 17:23) – but he then proceeds to describe this God as the Creator first (Acts 17:24).
Acts 17:31 — At the BibleWalk Wax Museum in Mansfield, Ohio, they have a life-size portrayal of the Judgment Seat of Christ. The museum says that up to half of the people who come through the facility ask them if the Judgment Seat of Christ is really in the Bible. People are familiar with the Passion of Christ but are not as familiar with the fact that God will judge the world! It was this idea that judgment will come after God raises the dead that was so controversial in Paul’s day (Acts 17:32).
Psalm 144:1 — The Soldier’s Prayer.
Psalm 144:15 — Happiness comes to those who follow the LORD!
Proverbs 17:27-28 — How much knowledge and understanding do you have?
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2 Kings 8:4 — Sometimes we think Gehazi was mistreated. In our mind, he was just running errands for Elisha (2 Kings 4:12). In spite of this, though, the Shunamite woman had ignored him (2 Kings 4:26), he had shoved her away (2 Kings 4:27), and he couldn’t heal her sick child (2 Kings 4:31). He doesn’t even get to talk to Naaman the Captain of the Host of Syria (2 Kings 5:10). When he tried to improve his financial condition, he became a leper (2 Kings 5:27). Remember, though, he was in communication with the king of Israel at the same time.
2 Kings 8:8 — The king of Syria recognized that the man of God transcended national limitations – he spoke for the LORD that transcended borders. Yet at the same time, Elisha wept (2 Kings 8:11) because he had been made aware of what Hazael would do to his people (2 Kings 8:12). That is a delicate balancing act – empathy for your own nation and still maintaining integrity before the world.
Elisha sees through Hazaeľs character and designs, and answers him in the tone of irony which he used to Gehazi in 2 Kings 5:26, “Go, tell thy lord—as thou, the supple and unscrupulous courtier wilt be sure to do—he will certainly recover. I know, however, that he will assuredly die, and by thy hand.”
2 Kings 9:13 — Well, it seems the captains of the host of Ahab weren’t too loyal to the house of Ahab. Were they loyal to the LORD and grumbling over the new Baal worship? Or were they just upset that Ahab’s boy got wounded by the Syrians (2 Kings 8:29)?
Acts 16:25 — What did Paul and Silas sing in the prison? Patch the Pirate wrote a song that pulls from Old Testament verses that express the themes that Paul & Silas may have sung:
Acts 16:27 — The keeper of the prison was asleep. It wasn’t the music that saved him – it was the testimony of the prisoners that led him to ask how he could be saved (Acts 16:30). Yes, even his house heard the word of the Lord (Acts 16:32) and was saved (Acts 16:31). They were baptized too (Acts 16:33).
Acts 16:37 — Interestingly, Paul didn’t make full use of his Roman “passport.” Paul gladly suffered so he could reach the jailer.
Psalm 143:2 — The psalmist wants mercy, not justice.
Psalm 143:5 — Note the similarity between this passage and Psalm 119 – the psalmist asks for God to listen because he knows that God does not hear the prayer of the iniquitous (Psalm 66:18, Proverbs 15:29, 1 Peter 3:12).
The psalmist says he meditates on God’s works, muses on them (Psalm 143:5), reaches for God, thirsts for God (Psalm 143:6), and because of that, he can request that God hear him (Psalm 143:7).
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2 Kings 6:16 — As an old preacher once said, “God and you make a majority.”
2 Kings 6:17-18 — The LORD takes sight and gives sight.
2 Kings 6:23 — As Psalm 20:7 says, “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.”
2 Kings 6:31 — Famine, instead of being seen as a sign of God’s judgment and of His need to be appeased, was the reason for the king to be mad at the prophet of God and his desire to shoot the messenger.
These Lepers Went into One Tent by Charles Joseph Staniland
2 Kings 7:19-20 — Bad things happen to people who question God’s power to provide.
Acts 15:38 — Interesting analysis from John Piper:
This is the foremost instance of Barnabas patience with the failures of others. He is the son of encouragement (Acts 4:36). He wants to give John Mark another chance and he wants to do it now.
Paul disagrees. The disagreement is so deep that it cannot be resolved, and these veterans whose friendship goes back at least 15 years, and who owe each other so much, part company. Neither will yield.
Which one of them was right? Well, Luke is remarkably objective here. He does not seem to take sides. Perhaps one little clue shows that the church inclined to the side of Paul, because in Acts 15:40 it says that Paul and Silas were commended by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. It doesn’t say this about the departure of Barnabas and John Mark.
Acts 16:3 — Paul not only taught mentoring (2 Timothy 2:2), he practiced it!
Up to that point in history, the gospel had been limited to Asia, and many historians credit Paul’s heeding the Macedonian Call with the spread of Christianity into Europe and the Western world.
Psalm 142:4-5 — When no man cared for my soul, the LORD is my refuge!
Proverbs 17:25 — This is interesting, especially in the context of Solomon’s son Rehoboam who lost the kingdom that his father had built.
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_____ Image Credit: Charles Joseph Staniland (British, 1838-1916), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
2 Kings 4:28 — The honest cry of a woman to the prophet comes out in this verse. She did not ask for a son, but she was ultimately given one that she loved. Now her son is taken from her, and God brings her son back to life.
2 Kings 4:31 — I heard a great message from Devon Swanson on Gehazi, the unfaithful servant. We met Gehazi yesterday (2 Kings 4:12), and he was intelligent enough to know how to help the woman (2 Kings 4:14). A good worker – but he had a fatal flaw that will also be seen in Naaman (2 Kings 5:22).
No relationship with his ministries (2 Kings 4:26). Yes, the Shunamite woman wasn’t talkative (2 Kings 4:13 and 16), but Gehazi, who had been often in her house (2 Kings 4:10), didn’t have a relationship that allowed her to freely open up to him.
No respect for his ministries (2 Kings 4:27). Yes, the Shunamite woman ignored him and physically approached his boss, the one Gehazi was called to protect. Gehazi didn’t protect Elisha because he was trying to thrust away one of his ministry’s key donors!
No reward from his ministries (2 Kings 4:31). Our reward in ministry is seeing lives changed – some thirty-fold, some sixty-fold, some one hundred-fold (Matthew 13:8). Obviously, Elisha felt that Gehazi could be used by God to work a miracle, but Gehazi’s fatal flaw cost him his reward.
2 Kings 5:1 — Did you catch the phrase “by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria?” God cares about the political affairs of heathen nations! How much more so does He care about nations that claim to trust in God! But what is the political agenda of God?
2 Kings 5:2 — The captured Israelite maid would be used of God, not to get political deliverance for herself and the other captive Israelites in Syrian bondage, but to be a witness as a faithful slave to Naaman’s wife. She was able to use her unfortunate situation just like Joseph did – to bring blessings to a heathen nation. Her testimony was evident within the household of Naaman, and so much so that it moved the king of Syria!
In the background of this picture from the VCY Israel Trip, you can see the dirty waters of Jordan
2 Kings 5:6 — Ah, Naaman. He thought healing could come through political entreaty, but the king of Israel could not heal him. Nor could healing come through religious ceremony (2 Kings 5:11). Nor could it come through financial inducement (2 Kings 5:16). It came through washing in the dirtiest river imaginable. It was not a difficult thing – it was quite simple. But it was not easy. Pride almost kept Naaman from being clean. Yes, his servants had to beg him – “Wash, and be clean!”
Today, we can wash and be clean in a river that is not too appealing – this river is the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:14, Hebrews 9:14, Hebrews 13:12)! Yes, the blood of the Lamb is not the river that most people go to for cleansing; they prefer the “prettier” waters of good works. Like Naaman, they try political activity, religious ceremony, and financial inducement. But they still are cursed with an incurable, fatal disease like Naaman (2 Kings 5:1). But like Naaman, though our sins be as scarlet, they can be made as white as snow (Isaiah 1:18, 2 Kings 5:14)!
Acts 15:1 — Ah, one of the “prettier rivers” – circumcision. Circumcision was initiated in the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 17:10), was repealed in Acts 10:15, and was expounded in Acts 10:45.
Acts 15:20 — What were these laws that were commanded to be followed by the Gentiles?
Abstaining from meats offered to idols. Wait until we get to Paul’s discussion on whether we can eat meats offered to idols!
Abstaining from fornication. The New Testament Church takes a harder line than the Old Testament Israelites on fornication. In Exodus 22:16-17, we see one of the “hardness of heart” passages (Mark 10:5, Matthew 19:8). In the New Testament, Jesus has increased our duty – we’re not just expected to follow the bare minimum requirements needed for the functioning of an orderly society of free citizens, but we have an increased duty to our fellow man that requires the full obedience of a bound servant to his master.
Abstaining from things strangled. Again, the life is in the blood (Leviticus 17:10-12).
Abstaining from vampirism. Yes – today we have made vampires cool and exciting. No – we are not to glorify this anti-biblical behavior. Some may say these things are cultural, but these are from the Holy Ghost (Acts 15:28).
Psalm 141:8 — The foundation for our national motto – “… in Thee is my trust.”
Proverbs 17:23 — Hmm … did we not read about someone taking a gift today, and as a result, someone’s view of God was perverted?
Share how reading through the Bible has been a blessing to you! E-mail us at 2018bible@vcyamerica.org or call and leave a message at 414-885-5370.
Welcome to the 2024 Bible Reading Challenge, presented by VCY America. Join believers around the world as we together read through the entire Bible in 2024. Many people start a Bible reading plan but get lost in the genealogies, lack an easy to use reading plan, or just need friendly encouragement to keep going. We’ve provided the tools to help you succeed in your 2024 Bible Reading Challenge!
Three easy to use tools (print “daily reading” Bible, online mobile app Bible plan, or a booklet with the passages for each day) to help you track each day in the Word.
Joining our email team – we’ll encourage you each day to stay faithful. We’ll share observations, testimonies, and ways to get the most out of the Bible.
I was researching some figures in Church History and came across James H. Brookes, a Presbyterian minister who led the Niagara Bible Conferences – an interdenominational meeting committed to the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture. From Chapter 12 of his memoirs:
Many and many a time Dr. Brookes has been asked: “How did you obtain
your mastery of the Scriptures?” His answer was to the point: “By studying it.”
His idea of Bible study, however, was very different from that of most men. So familiar was he with the Scriptures, that it has been said in all seriousness by admirers: “If all the Bibles were destroyed, Dr. Brookes could produce one from memory.”
On one occasion, while preaching at a conference in Asbury Park, New Jersey, the editor of a New York semi-religious publication was present. He had heard of Dr. Brookes’ marvellous power of quoting the Scriptures, and he determined to test it.
On a note book, during the sermon, he jotted down every verse quoted. Utterly amazed, the man went to Dr. Brookes after the sermon, and pointed out that he had quoted verbatim, almost a hundred separate Bible texts; giving not only the words, but the chapter and verse.
From his earliest youth Dr. Brookes was a Bible student.
As a child he had been expected to learn and quote much Scripture; and his mother was scrupulously careful that the quotation was faultlessly exact. She held that to misquote in the slightest degree was something almost a sin. It was God’s Word, she said, and must be studied, and repeated exactly, or not at all.
(Alas, how would her soul be torn if she heard some of the wretched misquoting of the Scriptures — where any is quoted at all — in many pulpits, even Presbyterian pulpits, today! A sermon was heard by the writer in a St. Louis Presbyterian church, in 1897, in which the Savior was “quoted” as saying certain words which no man, even with a magnifying glass, can find in any portion of the New Testament.)
The influence of that training was marked throughout Dr. Brookes’ career. The Bible was his vade mecum (a handbook or guide that is kept constantly at hand for consultation). He pored over it. He, so to speak, absorbed it. He knew it, and he knew everything worth knowing that had been written about it.
He kept himself thoroughly posted, too, as to the work of the destructive German critics (and their servile American “Men Fridays”) whose hope of recognition and worldly success, in the former country — and to a growing extent in our own— lies in their power to win notoriety, and gather about them a following.
There have been certain deluded men who have ignorantly implied that Dr. Brookes knew little but the English Bible.
It would not be charitable, though doubtless true, to say that he could have taught them Hebrew, Greek and Latin. But it is only a simple fact to state that he was an expert scholar in ancient languages. While in German and French he laid no claims to a profound study, as in the ancient tongues, yet he could easily read both those languages. He studied the German theological professors’ “sensation”-seeking utterances in the original, something which (let it be said under the rose) it is to be doubted if many of their subservient followers in American seminaries can do, with all their I’m-holier-than-thou air of philologic eruditeness.
This acknowledged champion of the Plain People’s English Bible knew all that they did concerning the Bible in the original [languages], and a great deal more, in numerous instances. Having delved deeply into the roots of words, and the textual study of men and times, he was fully equipped to battle with the destructive Biblical critics in their own camp. He saw through the pretensions of many alleged great textual scholars, and despised their lofty and exclusive assumption of sacred learning….
On blank pages of his Bibles, and on the margins of the printed pages, in small, perfect penmanship, he wrote down with the utmost care the rich results of his life-long labors. Only a photograph can adequately describe those marvellous “notes,” and only the multitudes who “heard him gladly,” and the greater multitudes who have read his books in many languages, know the value of them.
To make himself certain as to the use of any one word, he thought nothing of reading the entire Bible through for that particular purpose. If the word appeared three times that fact he established for himself. He believed in being his own concordance. (It should be added here, that he was urged scores of times to
write a concordance.)
It was often his custom to read the Bible through three or four times during a summer vacation.
When he wished to fortify himself as to any doctrine from the Bible, he, of course, read the Bible through with such especial end in view. The passages were carefully marked.
When he reached the end of Revelations, every text bearing on the topic was at his tongue’s end. He had gone to the court of last resort, and all was settled.
The results of that tremendous labor would then be written down, briefly and beautifully, in a portion of his Bible. Dr. Brookes was constantly urging men
to study first the Bible itself, and then the books about the Bible.
He believed too many preachers, young and old, held the books “about the Bible” to be far too important.
Yet he was a great bookman, and his library was a “thing of beauty.” The four walls of his large study were crowded with theological lore, and to the day of his last illness he kept close watch on new works, and secured all the worthy ones.
Williams, David Riddle. James H. Brookes: A Memoir. St. Louis: Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1897.
Date: December 6, 2017 Host: Jim Schneider Listen: MP3 | Order Jim began with a question for Randy: How is our Bible IQ as a nation and as a church are we reading our Bibles?
Randy’s response my sound shocking but it’s true. He indicated that many people aren’t reading anything. A recent study found that one out of four adults haven’t opened up any book in the last year.
Randy quoted the following statistics from Al Mohler:
–Fewer than half of all adults can name the four gospels.
–Many Christians can’t identify more than 2 or 3 of the disciples.
According to data from the Barna Research Group:
–60% of Americans can’t name even 5 of the 10 Commandments.
–82% of Americans believe ‘God helps those who help themselves’ is in the Bible.
–The majority of adults believe the Bible teaches that the most important purpose
in life is taking care of one’s family.
–Over 50% of graduating high school seniors thought that Sodom and Gomorrah were
husband and wife.
–A considerable number of respondents thought the Sermon on the Mount was
preached by Billy Graham.
Obviously this shows a great lack of biblical literacy. This shouldn’t surprise us when you consider that only 45% of those who regularly attend a church read the Bible more than once a week. 1 out of 5 people who attend church regularly never read the Bible at all. And the most scary statistic Randy found? 80% of Americans have never read the Bible through even once.
On the flip side, Back to the Bible’s Center for Bible Engagement did a study of those who read the Bible just 4 days a week. Here’s what they found:
–You’re 57% less likely to get drunk.
–You’re 68% less likely to have sex outside of marriage.
–You’re 61% less likely to engage in pornography.
–You’re 74% less likely to engage in gambling.
–You’re 228% more likely to share your faith with others.
–You’re 231% more likely to disciple others.
–You’re 407% more likely to memorize Scripture.
The key is to have a plan and a way to get started. One way to do that is through the 2018 Bible Reading Challenge that was presented on this edition of Crosstalk. It involves use of The One Year Bible published by Tyndale. This King James Version paperback is divided into 365 portions. Each day (15 minutes per day) you’ll read a portion from the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Psalms and Proverbs.
More Information:
To obtain your KJV paperback edition of The One Year Bible for a donation of just $15 or more (price includes shipping) call 1-800-729-9829 or go to www.2018bible.org
