November 27, 2015. Daily Reading: Zephaniah 1-3. Background: Zephaniah’s ministry was during the reign of King Josiah in Jerusalem which lasted from 641-610 B.C. This date would make Zephaniah a contemporary of Jeremiah and probably a very influential prophet for King Josiah’s religious reform. Zephaniah’s message is a oracle of judgment against Judah and the…
Tag: Judah
II Chronicles 25-28: Kings of Judah.
November 17, 2015. Daily Reading: II Chronicles 25-28. Background: II Chronicles 21-24. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 25 Amaziah: After Joash is assassinated, his son Amaziah is set up to be king. Amaziah had a strong start in doing what was right in the sight of the Lord, even adhering to the Law when delving out…
Hosea 1-7: The prophet who’s life was an allegory.
September 18, 2015. Daily Reading: Hosea 1-7. Background: The book of Hosea is one of the 12 prophets in the Hebrew scriptures, and is the first of the minor prophets in the Old Testament (unless you make an argument that Daniel is a minor prophet, however Daniel’s prophecies are much different in nature and they…
II Kings 21-25: Evil, reform and ruin.
August 25, 2015. Daily Reading: II Kings 21-25. Background: II Kings 16-20. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 21 1. Manasseh: After King Hezekiah died, his son Manasseh reigned in his place, beginning at age 12 and reigning for 55 years, which would be the longest reign in the history of the kingdom of Judah. For all…
Lamentations 1-5: Hope in the midst of lament.
June 12, 2015. Daily Reading: Lamentations 1-5. Background: The book of Lamentations is a collection of five poems (corresponding to the five chapters) that are traditionally ascribed to Jeremiah, though there is no textual evidence that states this claim outright. The first four poems are acrostics, with each verse beginning with a successive letter of…
Jeremiah 1-6: The word of the Lord through Jeremiah.
April 3, 2015. Daily Reading: Jeremiah 1-6. Background: The book of Jeremiah is a compilation of the word of the Lord though the prophet Jeremiah that spans almost the full time of the prophet’s life. Jeremiah is called as a youth to be a prophet of the Lord, delivering a very unappealing message to the people….
Genesis 36-39: The early life of Joseph and his brothers.
March 9, 2015. Daily Reading: Genesis 36-39. Background: Genesis 32-35. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 36 Esau’s (Edom) descendants: The lineage of Esau is full of many names that likely sound unfamiliar and do not have detailed stories about the lives of those named, as the plan of God was to be fulfilled through Jacob and…
Isaiah 34-39: Answers from the Lord.
February 20, 2014. Daily Reading: Isaiah 34-39. Background: Isaiah 29-33. It should be noted that the text found Isaiah 36-39 is quoted in/from II Kings 18:13 to 2 Kings 20:19, with the only difference (besides a minor word change here or there) being Hezekiah’s prayer found in chapter 38. These chapters also serve as a…
Isaiah 1-5: Prophecy of destruction.
January 9, 2014. Hello fellow readers! If you are following along with the plan that I provided on the first day, you’ll notice that I have changed today’s reading from Isaiah 1-6 to Isaiah 1-5. I did this because I think the first five chapters of Isaiah have a central message and theme whereas the…
Three choices that shaped history.
June 13, 2014. I was listening to a couple of sermons lately and I have seen some research that says that messages that make points using lists are typically favored by audiences, as indeed I enjoy lessons as such, so I want to start incorporating this into some of my posts. I have a few…
A lesson from the past.
January 13, 2014. I’m reading through II Chronicles right now and I keep coming across phrases that simply make me mad/disappointed. Chronicles, as I realized this time through, is a Old Testament book of history that mainly deals with the kings of Judah up until Babylonian captivity. Now, compared to the kings of Israel, the…
Twenty Eight Eighteen 