The name of the Lorid is a strong fortress-the godly run to Him and are safe.
The Lord is more pleased when we do right and just than when we offer him sacrifices.
Solomon loved foreign women...700 wives from royal birth and 300 concubines. GOODNESS!
"While seeking wisdom I clutched at foolishness." Solomon was pretty depressed when he wrote Ecclesiastes. "As you enter the house of God keep your ears open and your mouth shut."
Kings and rulers make a grave mistake when they give great authority to foolish people and low positions to people of proven worth. I have even seen servants riding like princes and princes walking like servants.
Solomon's son Rehoboam has not gone the way of the Lord. After 13 years of reigning and doing evil in God's sight, Rehoboam was defeated and Jeroboam becames King. Israel fought within itself and Abyam & Jeroboam fought. Abyam came from the tribe of Judah and grew more powerful. When he died, Asa became King. Asa pleased the Lord by removing the foreign gods. God told Asa "the Lord willl stay with you as long as you stay with him."
Constant war between Judah and Israel. "The eyes of the Lord search the whole Earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him." 1 Kings 15:9a
No one else so completely sold himself to what was evil in the Lord's sight as Ahab did under the influence of his wife Jezebel.
King Ahab dies. He was buried in Samaria. "Always think carefully before pronouncing judgment" 2 Chronible 19:6b
Jehoshaphat told the Levites to always act in the fear of the Lord.
Give thanks to the Lord; his faithful love endures forever.
Many kings---doing evil in the sight of the Lord.
June 15...I don't ever remember reading that both Elijah and Elisha struck the water of the Jordan River and it parted for them to walk across...but they both did. Also a man brought Elisha a sack of fresh grain and 20 loaves of barley bread. Elisha told him to feed 100 people with it...they ended up having leftovers...amazing!
Elisha is absolutely amaing as a servant of the Lord.
Jehu-a mighty King of God killed Ahab, Jezebel and all their remaining kinfolk so there was no one in that lineage remaining. Jehu killed all the Baal worshippers--God acknowledged that he had done what He had asked--however, Jehu did not obey God with all his heart.
Athaliah, mother of King Ahazrah of Judah learned that her son was dead and decided to destroy the rest of Judah's royal family. But a nurse hid the youngest child Joash. When Joash was 7, he was presented as king. A covenant was made that the people would follow the God of their fathers. The priest that advised Joash and Joash began to allow the people to build Aserah poles and worship Baal.
Zechariah the priest's son was stoned to death because he was his father's conscience and proclaimed the wrong being done.
Joash and Elisha have died...Joash's son is now King and did what was pleasing in God's eyes. His son then became king and did not please God. After his death Uzziah became king. He didn't smash the foreign gods and God allowed leoporsy to overcome his body. He reigned 52 years from a different castle than his family.
He became mighty...and with that became very prideful. Jonah's ministry took place during the reign of Jeroboam II.
In Amos I read "The Lord never does anything until He reveals his plans to his servants the prophets." God is called the "Pride of Israel" in the book of Amos.
The time is surely coming says the Sovereign Lord when I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread or water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.
Jotham is king of Judah and does what is pleasing to the Lord, but doesn't destroy the pagan temples.
Micah is grieving over God's message to Samaria and Jerusalem. Ahaz is now king of Judah. He did NOT do what was pleasing to God...even sacrificed his own sons in the fire.
God told King Ahaz-unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm.
Isaiah 8:13 "Make the Lord of Heaven's Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble."
Isaiah 12 is a song of praise for salvation. Hezekiah at the age of 25 becomes King and does what is pleasing to God.
"But then I will win her [Israel] back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there. I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of Hope."...Hosea 2:14-15
"Even though I gave them all my laws they act as if those laws don't apply to them" Hosea 8:12
Hosea is mourning for God has taken his hand of protection away from His beloved Israel. God gives them the prayer that would satisfy His anger: "Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us, so that we may offer you our praise. Assyria cannot save us, nor can our warhorses. Never again will we say to the idols we have made 'you are our gods!' No, in You alone do the orphans find mercy."
Isaiah 28:16 "Look I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem--a firm and tested stone. It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on. Whoever believes need never be shaken." Another version says "Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced."
"What sorrow for those who drag their sins behind them as ropes made of lies, who drag wickedness behind them like a cart."
