Feast of Unleavened Bread Day 5 Reading

Feast of Unleavened Bread Day 5 Reading

2 Chronicles 28 Daily Bible Reading with Paul Nison

2 Chronicles 28 New Living Translation (NLT)

Ahaz Rules in Judah

28 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. He did not do what was pleasing in the sight of the Lord, as his ancestor David had done. ² Instead, he followed the example of the kings of Israel. He cast metal images for the worship of Baal. ³ He offered sacrifices in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, even sacrificing his own sons in the fire.^[a] In this way, he followed the detestable practices of the pagan nations the Lord had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites. ⁴ He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the pagan shrines and on the hills and under every green tree.

⁵ Because of all this, the Lord his God allowed the king of Aram to defeat Ahaz and to exile large numbers of his people to Damascus. The armies of the king of Israel also defeated Ahaz and inflicted many casualties on his army. ⁶ In a single day Pekah son of Remaliah, Israel’s king, killed 120,000 of Judah’s troops, all of them experienced warriors, because they had abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors. ⁷ Then Zicri, a warrior from Ephraim, killed Maaseiah, the king’s son; Azrikam, the king’s palace commander; and Elkanah, the king’s second-in-command. ⁸ The armies of Israel captured 200,000 women and children from Judah and seized tremendous amounts of plunder, which they took back to Samaria.

⁹ But a prophet of the Lord named Oded was there in Samaria when the army of Israel returned home. He went out to meet them and said, “The Lord, the God of your ancestors, was angry with Judah and let you defeat them. But you have gone too far, killing them without mercy, and all heaven is disturbed. ¹⁰ And now you are planning to make slaves of these people from Judah and Jerusalem. What about your own sins against the Lord your God? ¹¹ Listen to me and return these prisoners you have taken, for they are your own relatives. Watch out, because now the Lord’s fierce anger has been turned against you!”

¹² Then some of the leaders of Israel^[b]—Azariah son of Jehohanan, Berekiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai—agreed with this and confronted the men returning from battle. ¹³ “You must not bring the prisoners here!” they declared. “We cannot afford to add to our sins and guilt. Our guilt is already great, and the Lord’s fierce anger is already turned against Israel.”

¹⁴ So the warriors released the prisoners and handed over the plunder in the sight of the leaders and all the people. ¹⁵ Then the four men just mentioned by name came forward and distributed clothes from the plunder to the prisoners who were naked. They provided clothing and sandals to wear, gave them enough food and drink, and dressed their wounds with olive oil. They put those who were weak on donkeys and took all the prisoners back to their own people in Jericho, the city of palms. Then they returned to Samaria.

Ahaz Closes the Temple

¹⁶ At that time King Ahaz of Judah asked the king of Assyria for help. ¹⁷ The armies of Edom had again invaded Judah and taken captives. ¹⁸ And the Philistines had raided towns located in the foothills of Judah^[c] and in the Negev of Judah. They had already captured and occupied Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages. ¹⁹ The Lord was humbling Judah because of King Ahaz of Judah,^[d] for he had encouraged his people to sin and had been utterly unfaithful to the Lord.

²⁰ So when King Tiglath-pileser^[e] of Assyria arrived, he attacked Ahaz instead of helping him. ²¹ Ahaz took valuable items from the Lord’s Temple, the royal palace, and from the homes of his officials and gave them to the king of Assyria as tribute. But this did not help him.

²² Even during this time of trouble, King Ahaz continued to reject the Lord. ²³ He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus who had defeated him, for he said, “Since these gods helped the kings of Aram, they will help me, too, if I sacrifice to them.” But instead, they led to his ruin and the ruin of all Judah.

²⁴ The king took the various articles from the Temple of God and broke them into pieces. He shut the doors of the Lord’s Temple so that no one could worship there, and he set up altars to pagan gods in every corner of Jerusalem. ²⁵ He made pagan shrines in all the towns of Judah for offering sacrifices to other gods. In this way, he aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of his ancestors.

²⁶ The rest of the events of Ahaz’s reign and everything he did, from beginning to end, are recorded in The Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷ When Ahaz died, he was buried in Jerusalem but not in the royal cemetery of the kings of Judah. Then his son Hezekiah became the next king.

2 Chronicles 27 Daily Bible Reading with Paul Nison

2 Chronicles 27 New Living Translation (NLT)

Jotham Rules in Judah

27 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. His mother was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok.

² Jotham did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight. He did everything his father, Uzziah, had done, except that Jotham did not sin by entering the Temple of the Lord. But the people continued in their corrupt ways.

³ Jotham rebuilt the upper gate of the Temple of the Lord. He also did extensive rebuilding on the wall at the hill of Ophel. ⁴ He built towns in the hill country of Judah and constructed fortresses and towers in the wooded areas. ⁵ Jotham went to war against the Ammonites and conquered them. Over the next three years he received from them an annual tribute of 7,500 pounds^[a] of silver, 50,000 bushels of wheat, and 50,000 bushels of barley.^[b]

⁶ King Jotham became powerful because he was careful to live in obedience to the Lord his God.

⁷ The rest of the events of Jotham’s reign, including all his wars and other activities, are recorded in The Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. ⁸ He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. ⁹ When Jotham died, he was buried in the City of David. And his son Ahaz became the next king.

Is Covid-19 and Spiritual Warfare

Art Mathias from Wellspring ministres in Alaska talks about spiritual warfare and how it relates to Covid-19. This video is part of a longer interview I did with Art Mathias.

Feast of Unleavened Bread Day 3 Reading

Feast of Unleavened Bread Day 3 Reading

Feast of Unleavened Bread Day 2 Reading

Feast of Unleavened Bread Day 2 Reading

2 Chronicles 25 Daily Bible Reading with Paul Nison

2 Chronicles 25 New Living Translation (NLT)

Amaziah Rules in Judah

25 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother was Jehoaddin^[a] from Jerusalem. ² Amaziah did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, but not wholeheartedly.

³ When Amaziah was well established as king, he executed the officials who had assassinated his father. ⁴ However, he did not kill the children of the assassins, for he obeyed the command of the Lord as written by Moses in the Book of the Law: “Parents must not be put to death for the sins of their children, nor children for the sins of their parents. Those deserving to die must be put to death for their own crimes.”^[b]

⁵ Then Amaziah organized the army, assigning generals and captains^[c] for all Judah and Benjamin. He took a census and found that he had an army of 300,000 select troops, twenty years old and older, all trained in the use of spear and shield. ⁶ He also paid about 7,500 pounds^[d] of silver to hire 100,000 experienced fighting men from Israel.

⁷ But a man of God came to him and said, “Your Majesty, do not hire troops from Israel, for the Lord is not with Israel. He will not help those people of Ephraim! ⁸ If you let them go with your troops into battle, you will be defeated by the enemy no matter how well you fight. God will overthrow you, for he has the power to help you or to trip you up.”

⁹ Amaziah asked the man of God, “But what about all that silver I paid to hire the army of Israel?”

The man of God replied, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this!” ¹⁰ So Amaziah discharged the hired troops and sent them back to Ephraim. This made them very angry with Judah, and they returned home in a great rage.

¹¹ Then Amaziah summoned his courage and led his army to the Valley of Salt, where they killed 10,000 Edomite troops from Seir. ¹² They captured another 10,000 and took them to the top of a cliff and threw them off, dashing them to pieces on the rocks below.

¹³ Meanwhile, the hired troops that Amaziah had sent home raided several of the towns of Judah between Samaria and Beth-horon. They killed 3,000 people and carried off great quantities of plunder.

¹⁴ When King Amaziah returned from slaughtering the Edomites, he brought with him idols taken from the people of Seir. He set them up as his own gods, bowed down in front of them, and offered sacrifices to them! ¹⁵ This made the Lord very angry, and he sent a prophet to ask, “Why do you turn to gods who could not even save their own people from you?”

¹⁶ But the king interrupted him and said, “Since when have I made you the king’s counselor? Be quiet now before I have you killed!”

So the prophet stopped with this warning: “I know that God has determined to destroy you because you have done this and have refused to accept my counsel.”

¹⁷ After consulting with his advisers, King Amaziah of Judah sent this challenge to Israel’s king Jehoash,^[e] the son of Jehoahaz and grandson of Jehu: “Come and meet me in battle!”^[f]

¹⁸ But King Jehoash of Israel replied to King Amaziah of Judah with this story: “Out in the Lebanon mountains, a thistle sent a message to a mighty cedar tree: ‘Give your daughter in marriage to my son.’ But just then a wild animal of Lebanon came by and stepped on the thistle, crushing it!

¹⁹ “You are saying, ‘I have defeated Edom,’ and you are very proud of it. But my advice is to stay at home. Why stir up trouble that will only bring disaster on you and the people of Judah?”

²⁰ But Amaziah refused to listen, for God was determined to destroy him for turning to the gods of Edom. ²¹ So King Jehoash of Israel mobilized his army against King Amaziah of Judah. The two armies drew up their battle lines at Beth-shemesh in Judah. ²² Judah was routed by the army of Israel, and its army scattered and fled for home. ²³ King Jehoash of Israel captured Judah’s king, Amaziah son of Joash and grandson of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh. Then he brought him to Jerusalem, where he demolished 600 feet^[g] of Jerusalem’s wall, from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. ²⁴ He carried off all the gold and silver and all the articles from the Temple of God that had been in the care of Obed-edom. He also seized the treasures of the royal palace, along with hostages, and then returned to Samaria.

²⁵ King Amaziah of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of King Jehoash of Israel. ²⁶ The rest of the events in Amaziah’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded in The Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

²⁷ After Amaziah turned away from the Lord, there was a conspiracy against his life in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But his enemies sent assassins after him, and they killed him there. ²⁸ They brought his body back on a horse, and he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David.^[h]

If you believe in Jesus you MUST keep the law!

Many Christians claim the law was nailed to the cross. That’s not true at all. The truth is if you love Yeshua, the one you call Jesus, you must follow the commandments of Yahweh.

Feast of Unleavened Bread Day 1 Reading

Feast of Unleavened Bread Day 1 Reading

2 Chronicles 24 Daily Bible Reading with Paul Nison

2 Chronicles 24 New Living Translation (NLT)

Joash Repairs the Temple

24 Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother was Zibiah from Beersheba. ² Joash did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight throughout the lifetime of Jehoiada the priest. ³ Jehoiada chose two wives for Joash, and he had sons and daughters.

⁴ At one point Joash decided to repair and restore the Temple of the Lord. ⁵ He summoned the priests and Levites and gave them these instructions: “Go to all the towns of Judah and collect the required annual offerings, so that we can repair the Temple of your God. Do not delay!” But the Levites did not act immediately.

⁶ So the king called for Jehoiada the high priest and asked him, “Why haven’t you demanded that the Levites go out and collect the Temple taxes from the towns of Judah and from Jerusalem? Moses, the servant of the Lord, levied this tax on the community of Israel in order to maintain the Tabernacle of the Covenant.^[a]”

⁷ Over the years the followers of wicked Athaliah had broken into the Temple of God, and they had used all the dedicated things from the Temple of the Lord to worship the images of Baal.

⁸ So now the king ordered a chest to be made and set outside the gate leading to the Temple of the Lord. ⁹ Then a proclamation was sent throughout Judah and Jerusalem, telling the people to bring to the Lord the tax that Moses, the servant of God, had required of the Israelites in the wilderness. ¹⁰ This pleased all the leaders and the people, and they gladly brought their money and filled the chest with it.

¹¹ Whenever the chest became full, the Levites would carry it to the king’s officials. Then the court secretary and an officer of the high priest would come and empty the chest and take it back to the Temple again. This went on day after day, and a large amount of money was collected. ¹² The king and Jehoiada gave the money to the construction supervisors, who hired masons and carpenters to restore the Temple of the Lord. They also hired metalworkers, who made articles of iron and bronze for the Lord’s Temple.

¹³ The men in charge of the renovation worked hard and made steady progress. They restored the Temple of God according to its original design and strengthened it. ¹⁴ When all the repairs were finished, they brought the remaining money to the king and Jehoiada. It was used to make various articles for the Temple of the Lord—articles for worship services and for burnt offerings, including ladles and other articles made of gold and silver. And the burnt offerings were sacrificed continually in the Temple of the Lord during the lifetime of Jehoiada the priest.

¹⁵ Jehoiada lived to a very old age, finally dying at 130. ¹⁶ He was buried among the kings in the City of David, because he had done so much good in Israel for God and his Temple.

Jehoiada’s Reforms Reversed

¹⁷ But after Jehoiada’s death, the leaders of Judah came and bowed before King Joash and persuaded him to listen to their advice. ¹⁸ They decided to abandon the Temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and they worshiped Asherah poles and idols instead! Because of this sin, divine anger fell on Judah and Jerusalem. ¹⁹ Yet the Lord sent prophets to bring them back to him. The prophets warned them, but still the people would not listen.

²⁰ Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, “This is what God says: Why do you disobey the Lord’s commands and keep yourselves from prospering? You have abandoned the Lord, and now he has abandoned you!”

²¹ Then the leaders plotted to kill Zechariah, and King Joash ordered that they stone him to death in the courtyard of the Lord’s Temple. ²² That was how King Joash repaid Jehoiada for his loyalty—by killing his son. Zechariah’s last words as he died were, “May the Lord see what they are doing and avenge my death!”

The End of Joash’s Reign

²³ In the spring of the year^[b] the Aramean army marched against Joash. They invaded Judah and Jerusalem and killed all the leaders of the nation. Then they sent all the plunder back to their king in Damascus. ²⁴ Although the Arameans attacked with only a small army, the Lord helped them conquer the much larger army of Judah. The people of Judah had abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, so judgment was carried out against Joash.

²⁵ The Arameans withdrew, leaving Joash severely wounded. But his own officials plotted to kill him for murdering the son^[c] of Jehoiada the priest. They assassinated him as he lay in bed. Then he was buried in the City of David, but not in the royal cemetery. ²⁶ The assassins were Jozacar,^[d] the son of an Ammonite woman named Shimeath, and Jehozabad, the son of a Moabite woman named Shomer.^[e]

²⁷ The account of the sons of Joash, the prophecies about him, and the record of his restoration of the Temple of God are written in The Commentary on the Book of the Kings. His son Amaziah became the next king.