Commuter Bible

King Josiah takes the throne at age 8, begins to seek the Lord at age 16, and cleanses the land of false idols and high places at age 20. At 24, he commands his servants to clean and repair the temple of God, and when they do so, they discover the book of the law of God taken down by the hand of Moses. After consulting a prophet, he learns that God’s wrath will soon be poured out on Israel. He cal...

Now that Hezekiah has reestablished worship at the Lord’s temple, he wants to provide for the Levites who have gathered together to serve the Lord in the work of the temple. Thankfully, the people of Judah show kindness and faithfulness by giving a tenth of all that they harvested and produced. Later, King Sennacherib threatens Hezekiah and all Judah by laying siege to their fortified cities and d...

In our last episode we read about King Ahaz, one of the most evil and unfaithful kings in Judah’s history. He not only worshipped other gods, but sacrificed his children to them ass an act of pagan worship. When his son Hezekiah comes to power, he literally cleans house, restoring the temple of the Lord so that all Israel could be called back to worship the God of their ancestors. The priests and...

In our last episode, we considered the life of King Joash, the baby heir to the throne who was rescued and brought to kingship by Jehoiada the priest. Joash abandoned the Lord’s temple, and was later assassinated. The next four kings continue this lineage. Amaziah begins well, but surprisingly turns to worship the idols of those he has defeated, and soon thereafter becomes overconfident. Amaziah’s...

In our last episode we covered the life of King Jehoshaphat who was faithful to the Lord, but in today’s episode we witness the beginning of the end for the kings of Judah. Jehoshaphat’s son, King Jehoram is straight-up Je-horrible and when he dies from a horrific intestinal disease, Scripture records that he “died to no one’s regret.” Sounds like a great epitaph for a tombstone doesn’t it? His so...

At the end of our last episode we were introduced to Asa’s son, King Jehoshaphat, and today we’ll read further accounts of his life. Jehoshaphat instituted a plan to educate Judah in the ways of the Lord, sending officials and priests out with the book of the Lord’s instruction. Remember that Asa failed to call upon the name of the Lord when there was threat of war, but by contrast, Jehoshaphat re...

Our reading today examines the lives of two descendants of David who each reigned as king over Israel. First: Abijah, who reigned for only 3 years, but who made an impassioned speech against Israel’s king Jeroboam, warning him that he should not wage war against the Lord and those who serve Him. Abijah’s son Asa takes the throne after him, and Asa devotes himself to the Lord for most of his life....

Worship at the new temple has been established and the people of Israel begin to worship the Lord with renewed vigor and zeal. The Lord honors their worship and continues to love His people by providing for them and protecting them. King Solomon’s wisdom and wealth become known across the ancient world, and royalty from nearby nations come to seek his counsel and insight. Ironically, Solomon’s wis...

Solomon has finished the work of building the temple and the ark of the covenant is now in the newly constructed room known as the most holy place. The priests have consecrated themselves and will worship the Lord through music. Solomon prays to the Lord before the nation of Israel, asking God to hear their prayers, reminding the people through his prayer that God resides in heaven, and is not con...

We’re back in the Old Testament with 2 Chronicles which is the second book of a four book series which includes 1 & 2 Chronicles along with Ezra and Nehemiah. Combined, they make up a historical account of God’s people starting with Adam and ending with the return to Jerusalem from their exile in Babylon. It’s likely that Ezra is the author of all four and the one responsible for compiling the mat...

Today, Paul begins to speak of the nature of the body of Christ and the diversity of spiritual gifts within it. Just as a physical body is made of many parts that are united together, Paul teaches that the church should be united in love and put away childish divisions, otherwise their flashy spiritual gifts are absolute rubbish. He goes on to encourage the church to desire the gifts that build up...

Well, if you didn't learn it from our time in Songs of Songs, let's just be clear: God is pro-marriage and pro-sex. He created intimacy for the good of mankind so that a husband and wife might enjoy one another to the glory of God. The blessing of marital intimacy should be protected from the many ways that mankind distorts it for selfish gratification. The Corinthian church was recovering from a...

Paul wants the Corinthian church to live under the lordship of Jesus Christ. Divisions had already begun among the church at Corinth, and as we’ll see in these first few chapters, some of the division came because believers began attributing themselves to mere men. Paul directs them to boast, not in the teachers they follow, but in Christ and Him crucified. In other words, “let one who boasts, boa...

Israel has taken the lavish blessings of their God and given those gifts to the calf idols of Baal, turning away from the covenant love of the God who redeemed them and turning to love other gods. Therefore, the Lord will discipline his people for their rebellion. Through Hosea, God remarks that he raised Israel like a father raises children, lamenting the calamity that will come upon them, promis...

Not much is known about the background of the prophet Hosea, save what is mentioned in this record of his prophecies. By referencing the kings under which he prophesied, we can see that his ministry of prophecy lasted around 40 years. Like Amos, Hosea spoke to the nation of Israel, often referenced as “Ephraim” in this book, under a time of lavish wealth and disparate poverty. Israel was being unf...

As the book of 1 Chronicles comes to a close we’re given a look at an assembly of all the leaders of Israel. In this gather, David gives glory to God for his many blessings, and charges Solomon to build the Lord’s temple. In so doing, he also makes it clear that, of his many sons, Solomon is to become king, appointed by the Lord God Himself. He passes the plans for the temple on to Solomon and dec...

As David prepares to pass the crown to his son Solomon, his heart and mind continue to be fixed on God’s glory, particularly through the building of the temple and structuring it properly. David has spent years of his life amassing materials for it’s construction, and not only that, he has also drawn up architectural plans, built instruments, and created systems for all who work in and around the...

In his latter days, David charges his son Solomon to build the temple for the worship of God, and we get a few new details. First, we learn that the Lord did not allow David to build the temple because his hands had shed so much blood and because he had waged great wars. We also realize that David looked forward to the building of the temple even though he himself couldn’t build it, charging his s...

After staying in the house of Obed-Edom for a while, the ark of the covenant finally comes to Jerusalem with great fanfare. After King David reestablishes the tabernacle, he returns to his own home, a palace made of cedar, and thinks “Why does God dwell in a tent, while I, a mere man, dwell in a palace?” As his wheels begin to spin, he tells Nathan the prophet. Nathan tells David to go for it, but...

There’s a lot more historical narrative in today’s reading, especially when compared to our first three episodes in 1 Chronicles. David becomes king, he intends to reinstitute the proper worship of God at his tabernacle. When the ark of the covenant almost falls in transit, one man reaches out to grab it, which is not permissible by God’s law. The Lord strikes him dead, which both angers and terri...

We’re still working through a list of names, but thankfully things get a little more interesting this week as the lists are broken up by historical accounts and records of what people did and when. As someone who once worked retail and food service, I like the behind-the-scenes look at how the Levites and gatekeepers conducted the daily maintenance of the temple found in today’s reading. Later we’...

We’re reading through the genealogies handed down over the centuries that trace God’s people from Adam & Eve all the way through the exile to Babylon. Remember that each name represents a lifetime and a family: real people with real lives who either trusted in the Lord or who were stiff-necked and rebelled against the Lord. Reading these genealogies juxtaposed against chapters from Ecclesiastes re...

Alright, real talk: this episode probably isn’t going to change your life, but there are some interesting little nuggets to be found in between the names and genealogies. For instance, there’s, “The Prayer of Jabez,” right? which, if you didn’t live through 90’s Christendom, is the title of a book that says you can be blessed with prosperity if you pray prayers like Jabez. Although the author prob...

Among the many things that Luke illustrates in his record of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, is that all of it was in fulfillment of Scripture, including a number of references to Psalm 22. While sinful men sought to snuff out this king and his message about a coming kingdom, they in fact helped usher in the new kingdom by crucifying the Son of God. Then, on the third day, Jesus rose from...

Looking back from our position in history, we have the advantage of considering the kingdom of God through all of the teachings of Jesus and through the lens of Scripture as a whole. During his time of ministry on earth, however, things weren’t so clear for His original audience. When the crowds thought about the Son of David, they assumed that he would be a king in the traditional sense. The Jews...