Tag: Judah
Why Israel’s Babylonian Return is an Important Shadow
When GOD cast the people of Judah from His presence, they spent 70 years exiled in Babylon. Afterward, a fraction of those who remained made the long journey to their homeland. GOD gathered a remnant of Israel back to the land He gave them. Continuing our theme of shadows and substances, this post examines how…
October 19 – The Genealogies of Jesus
Reading Matt. 1:1-17 Luke 3:23b-38 Devotional Today’s reading is a listing of the family lineage of Jesus. Matthew records the ancestry from Joseph’s perspective (Jesus’ earthly father), whereas Luke apparently records it from Mary’s perspective (Jesus’ mother). There are several righteous people among Jesus’ forefathers, including Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Boaz (husband of Ruth), David, Asa,…
October 15 – Old Testament Recap
Reading Daily Bible notes entitled “End of Old Testament Record” Devotional Our nine-and-a-half-month study of the Old Testament (OT) has concluded. The OT covers the span of at least 4,000 years, from the account of the creation to the lives of Nehemiah and Ezra after captivity. As we reflect upon all that we’ve learned from…
October 10 – Redistribution of the Population
Reading Neh. 7:1-73; 11:1-36; 12:1-26 Devotional Today’s reading covers some administrative details regarding the remnant of Israelites who returned from captivity. Nehemiah appointed his brother Hanani, the one who had reported Jerusalem’s disrepair to Nehemiah months earlier while he was in Susa, as being in charge of Jerusalem, along with Hananiah, the commander of the…
August 31 – A Remnant of Judah Flees to Egypt
Reading Jer. 40:7-16; 41:1-18; 42:1-22; 43:1-13; 44:1-30; 51:64b Devotional Only two months after Jerusalem’s fall conflict arises within the remnant of Judah. Recall that Nebuchadnezzar had setup Gedaliah as governor of Judah. Only the poorest Israelites had been left in Judah, the rest were carried to Babylon. Some of these men, led by a man…
August 30 – Lamentations (Part 2)
Reading Lam. 3:1-5:22 Devotional Today we conclude our two-day reading of the book of Lamentations, a collection of sad songs or poems most likely penned by the prophet Jeremiah, following the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. In Lam. 3, Jeremiah writes about his own personal suffering. GOD has protected Jeremiah from death, but his…
August 28 – Jerusalem Falls
Reading 2 Kings 25:2-4a Jer. 39:2-5a; 52:9-11 2 Chron. 36:17 Jer. 52:12-14, 24-27a, 17-23; 39:9-10; 52:15-16, 27b-30 2 Chron. 36:20-21 2 Kings 25:22 Jer. 39:15-18, 11-14; 40:1-6 Devotional In 586 B.C., Babylon broke through the wall of Jerusalem and captured the city. The famine was so bad that there was literally nothing to eat. Apparently…
August 21 – GOD Kills Ezekiel’s Wife As A Sign
Reading Eze. 24:1-27 Devotional On the very day that Jerusalem was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar, GOD spoke to Ezekiel and told him what was happening hundreds of miles away from Babylon. In one of the saddest and most difficult to explain events in all of Scripture, GOD tells Ezekiel that He is going to take the…
August 20 – GOD Equates Israel, Judah to Prostitutes
Reading Eze. 23:1-23:49 2 Chron. 36:13a 2 Kings 25:1 Jer. 52:4 Devotional Parental Caution: Today’s reading contains very graphic descriptions of two sisters who engaged in prostitution. I recommend you read Eze. 23 by yourself before deciding to read it with children. In today’s reading, GOD uses an extremely graphic illustration of two sisters who…