BibleWay | Bible in a Year Devotional Bible Study

The book of Esther never mentions God's name once. In Esther 1-4, King Ahasuerus of Persia deposes Queen Vashti, and Esther, a Jewish orphan raised by her cousin Mordecai, is taken into the palace and made queen. When Mordecai refuses to bow to Haman, Haman persuades the king to order the destruction of every Jew in the empire. Now Mordecai sends Esther a message. Pastor Kevin shows how God&#3...

What happens when God's people finally hear His Word? In Nehemiah 7-13, the people gather at the Water Gate and ask Ezra to read the Book of the Law, and as they listen from morning until midday, they begin to weep. They confess their history, sign a covenant, and dedicate the wall. But Nehemiah has to leave for Persia, and when he returns, he finds out what the people did while he was gone. P...

Every time the wall rises, someone tries to stop it. In Nehemiah 4-6, Sanballat and Tobiah mock the builders, then threaten attack. Inside the city, the poor cry out that their own leaders are taking their land and children for debt. Then Nehemiah's enemies invite him to a meeting on the plain of Ono, and he knows it's a trap. Pastor Kevin shows how to stay faithful to the work God has giv...

What can God do with a few ordinary people? In Nehemiah 1-3, Nehemiah, cupbearer to the Persian king Artaxerxes, hears that Jerusalem's walls are still broken down and its gates burned. He weeps, fasts, and prays for days. Then one morning the king notices his sad face, and Nehemiah has to decide whether to risk his life with a request. Pastor Kevin shows how a great God meets a small people....

What happens when reform isn't enough? In Ezra 9-10, after eighty years of rebuilding, Ezra learns the returned exiles have intermarried with the surrounding nations, repeating the sin that led Israel into idolatry. He tears his garments and falls on his knees in prayer, ashamed to lift his face to God. Then the people gather in the rain to decide what to do. Pastor Kevin shows why no amount o...

It takes eighty years for the returned exiles to get the altar, the temple, and the Word back. In Ezra 5-8, the prophets Haggai and Zechariah stir the people to start building again, and a Persian governor writes to King Darius demanding to know who authorized it. Decades later, Ezra the scribe sets out from Babylon, having set his heart to study, do, and teach God's Law. Pastor Kevin shows wh...

Forty-eight years after Jerusalem burned, the exiles are going home. In Ezra 1-4, King Cyrus of Persia sends the Jewish people back to rebuild the temple, and before a single foundation stone is laid, they build an altar on the ruins. When the foundation is finally set, the young shout for joy while the old weep. Then their neighbors offer to help. Pastor Kevin shows how God's steadfast love,...

Judah finally gets a king who does everything right. In 2 Kings 22-25, eight-year-old Josiah grows into Judah's greatest reformer. While repairing the temple, the priests find the long-lost Book of the Law, and when Josiah hears it read, he tears his clothes. He sends to the prophetess Huldah with one question: is it too late? Pastor Kevin points to the only King worthy of the crown, Jesus. Re...

God adds fifteen years to Hezekiah's life, and Hezekiah uses the moment to show off. In 2 Kings 20-21, the dying king prays and weeps, and God answers with a sign: the shadow on the stairs goes backward. When envoys from Babylon come to ask about it, Hezekiah gives them a tour of his treasury. Then Isaiah arrives with a question. Pastor Kevin shows why the story our lives tell should be God&#3...

Israel is gone, and Assyria's army is at Jerusalem's gates. In 2 Kings 17-19, the northern kingdom falls and is carried into exile. In Judah, King Hezekiah tears down the high places and trusts the LORD, but when Sennacherib's officer stands outside the walls mocking God, Hezekiah takes the enemy's letter into the temple and spreads it out before the LORD. Pastor Kevin shows why pr...

Two kingdoms are headed for ruin, and Scripture names the causes. In 2 Kings 13-16, the dying Elisha tells King Jehoash to take arrows and strike the ground, and how many times he strikes matters more than he knows. Then Israel's throne changes hands through murder after murder, while in Judah, King Ahaz sees an altar in Damascus and sends the design home. Pastor Kevin shows how rejecting God&...

The safest place in Judah turns out to be the house of God. In 2 Kings 11-12, Queen Athaliah sets out to destroy the royal family and seize the throne, but one baby, Joash, is rescued and hidden in the temple. For six years, the priest Jehoiada waits for the right moment. Pastor Kevin shows why God is our shelter, and why, when fear comes, we so often run somewhere else. Read the whole Bible in a...

Does evil ever really get away with it? In 2 Kings 9-10, Elisha sends a young prophet to anoint Jehu king of Israel and then run for his life. Jehu drives his chariot furiously toward Jezreel, where King Joram asks him, “Is it peace?” and Jezebel paints her eyes and waits at the window. Pastor Kevin shows why God's justice is patient, why ours is always incomplete, and how to leave vengeance t...

An axe head, an enemy army, and a city starving under siege. In 2 Kings 6-8, Elisha's servant wakes to find their city surrounded by Syrian horses and chariots, and Elisha prays for his eyes to be opened. Later, Samaria is so starved that the king blames God and wants Elisha dead, while four lepers outside the gate decide they have nothing left to lose. Pastor Kevin traces God's grace thro...

A widow, a grieving mother, and an enemy general all find their way to Elisha. In 2 Kings 4-5, a widow is about to lose her sons to a creditor, a Shunammite woman holds the son God promised her as he falls sick, and Naaman, a proud Syrian commander with leprosy, is insulted by the prophet's simple instructions. Pastor Kevin shows how God's care reaches the widow, the grieving, and the fore...

Where do you turn when trouble comes? In 2 Kings 1-3, King Ahaziah falls through a lattice and sends messengers to Baal-zebub, but Elijah intercepts them. Then Elisha refuses to leave his master's side on the day he knows Elijah will be taken, and asks for a double portion of his spirit. Later, three kings stranded in the desert without water have to decide whether God is against them. Pastor...

Four hundred prophets tell Ahab what he wants to hear. In 1 Kings 21-22, Ahab sulks over a vineyard he can't have, and Jezebel arranges to take it from its owner, Naboth. Elijah meets the king in the stolen vineyard. Later, before going to war, Ahab calls for one more prophet, Micaiah, a man he says never prophesies anything good about him. Pastor Kevin looks at how flattery leads to ruin, and...

Elijah just called down fire from heaven. One threat from Jezebel, and he runs for his life. In 1 Kings 19-20, God meets him on Mount Horeb, not in wind, earthquake, or fire, but in a low whisper, and keeps guiding even wayward King Ahab. Pastor Kevin shows why God so often feels quiet: He usually leads with a still small voice, not a spectacle, and He meets you in the cave of your fear. Here we c...

Three years without rain, and Israel can't decide between God and Baal. It all comes down to one mountaintop: Elijah against 450 prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. In 1 Kings 15-18, ravens feed Elijah and a starving widow sees her son raised from the dead. Pastor Kevin shows the cost of living between two opinions, and why only one God is still powerful enough to answer. Here we consider Elijah and...

A man of God turns down a king's reward, then accepts dinner with a lying prophet. In 1 Kings 13-14, King Jeroboam's hand withers at the altar in Bethel, the old prophet claims an angel spoke to him, and later Jeroboam's wife visits the blind prophet Ahijah in disguise. Pastor Kevin shows how to tell God's voice from one that only sounds like Him. Here we consider the lying prophet, the man of God...

The wisest king in history ends his life building altars to other gods. In 1 Kings 11-12, Solomon's heart turns to Chemosh and Milcom, Rehoboam ignores the elders and the kingdom divides, and Jeroboam sets up golden calves at Bethel and Dan. Pastor Kevin shows how idolatry always becomes injustice, and why repentance begins with three words. Here we consider the divided kingdom, Rehoboam and Jerob...

Solomon's kingdom has never looked better, and it's quietly breaking the rules God set for Israel's kings. In 1 Kings 9-10, God warns Solomon a second time, forced labor builds his cities, horses arrive from Egypt, and the Queen of Sheba comes to praise it all. Pastor Kevin shows why the small compromises we ignore keep spreading, and points to the King who can repair what we can't. Here we consid...

The temple is finished, and Solomon admits that heaven itself can't contain God. In 1 Kings 8, the ark of the covenant enters the temple, a cloud of glory fills the house, and Solomon kneels to ask God to hear every prayer made toward this place, even a foreigner's. Pastor Kevin shows how the temple became a house of prayer, and why God still listens to you. Here we consider Solomon's prayer of de...

Solomon's temple is carved with cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and it's no accident that it looks like a garden. In 1 Kings 5-7, Solomon and Hiram of Tyre spend seven years building God's house, with every stone cut at the quarry so no hammer is heard. Pastor Kevin shows how each detail echoes the garden of Eden, and how God has always been making a way to bring us home. Here we consider...

God offers King Solomon anything he wants, and he asks for a listening heart. In 1 Kings 3-4, that request is tested when two mothers claim the same baby and the king calls for a sword. Pastor Kevin shows why a heart that hears God is the best thing you can ask for, and how that wisdom lets a whole nation flourish. Here we consider Solomon's wisdom, his dream at Gibeon, the two mothers and the bab...