The Amazing Bible. Book Club

Chapter 24 begins with a word from the Lord that the king of Babylon has laid siege on Jerusalem. Ezekiel also received word that his wife would die, but he was not to show any sign of mourning because he was an object lesson to his fellow exiles in Babylon, to remind them that this destruction of the city and the temple was all because of their sinfulness, and this is their judgement, but there i...

In these two chapters, Jeremiah is is confined in the courtyard of the guard, because he keeps declaring the word of the Lord that Babylon will destroy Jerusalem and Judah, and if the king surrenders he will live, but if he fights against King Nebuchadnezzar, he will die. That was NOT a popular message! During this time, the Lord tells Jeremiah to buy the property of his uncle when he comes to sel...

Before these two chapters, there are two groups of Jews who have been exiled to Babylon. In chapter 29, Jeremiah wrote a letter to the exiles letting them know the number of years they will be in exile is 70, and during those years they were to "grow where they have been planted!" They also were to pray for their place of exile, because if it prospers, so will they. Now these two chapter...

Ezekiel, the priest, was taken into exile when king Jehoiachin was also taken to Babylon in 597 BC. Ezekiel received his first vision during his fifth year while in exile, which would place it at 592 BC. Zedekiah is now king of Judah, and the prophet Jeremiah is there declaring that Babylon was coming, which was the Lord's plan, and they would destroy both Jerusalem and the temple, but the ki...

In this section of Jeremiah, it does not go in chronological order, but it gives flashbacks of events that happened earlier in Jeremiah's ministry. We also see that Jeremiah's prophesy that Babylon was coming and the people of Judah and Jerusalem should surrender to them and to the Lord, was not received well. In chapter 20, Jeremiah was beaten and placed in stocks. He cried out to the L...

Babylon is now the major world power. They invaded Judah once already and took money and some exiles such as Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. King Jehoiakim died after eleven years of reign, and his son Jehoiachin reigned in his place. He was only eighteen years old, and he reigned only three months, until King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and laid siege to the city. Jehoiac...

In Daniel chapter 2, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had dreams that troubled him. He asked his wise men to not only interpret the dreams, but to tell him what he dreamed. His men responded, "What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among men" (vs. 11). This anger the king, and he commanded that all the wise men should be...

In the first chapter of Daniel we meet, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. These four young men were from the royal family and nobility of Judah, and they were exiled by the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. Since these young men were handsome and bright, they were chosen to be trained for three years to learn the literature and language of the Babylonians, so they could serve the king. In the...

King Josiah, the last "good" king of Judah died because he fought Pharaoh Neco of Egypt. His son, Jehoahaz became king for three months, but then Pharaoh Neco came and took him to Egypt where he died, and Neco placed Eliakim king in Judah. He changed his name to Jehoiakim. Judah was now a vassal nation to Egypt, and they had to pay tribute money to them. During this time, Assyria was dem...

In these chapters of Jeremiah the Lord is declaring judgment on Judah for their sin against the Lord. There are comparisons with the Lord who provides living water, and the idols which are like broken cisterns that can't hold water. There is also a declaration that a nation from the north is coming, a people whose language the people of Judah do not know, and they will come and destroy Jerusa...

Chapter one of Jeremiah tells us that he is from a Levitical family of priests, who served in the city of Anathoth, in the territory of Benjamin, a part of Judah. His calling began during the reign of Josiah, the last "good" king of Judah, who reigned around 641-609 BC. It was during his reign that the capital of Assyria fell to the Babylonians with the help of the Scythians and Medes in...

We do not know when Obadiah was written, but we do know that judgment came upon Edom because they attacked their brother, Jacob, when they were down. The Edomites were descendants of Esau, and the Israelites were descendants of Jacob. Jacob and Esau were twin of Isaac and Rebekah, and even when they were in the womb there was conflict between them (Gen. 25). The conflict between Judah and Edom was...

Zephaniah prophesied during the reign of Josiah King of Judah, which was around 641-609 BC. Josiah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and began restoring the temple of the Lord. During that project, the Law of the Lord was found. When it was read to the king, he humbled himself before the Lord and received a word from the Lord through the prophetess, Huldah. The Lord told him that destruc...

In these two chapters we are looking at the reign of Josiah, the king of Judah. His father and grandfather both did evil in the eyes of the Lord, but Josiah was different. In his eighteenth year, he had his men to repair the temple. When they did that the high priest found a copy of the Book of the Law in the temple, and he told Shaphan the secretary who read it. He reported to the king about the...

This review began with the calling of Abram and his covenant with the Lord in Genesis 12. Abraham and Sarah had Isaac, Isaac and Rebekah  had Jacob and Esau. From Esau came the nation of Edom. Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, had 12 sons who became the 12 tribes of Israel. The Lord sent Jacob's family to Egypt because of a severe famine, but the Lord had also sent Joseph ahead to prep...

The Minor Prophet of Habakkuk is unlike the other prophets, where he hears a word from the Lord and proclaims it to the people, but instead it is a theodicy - a defense of God. Habakkuk questions the Lord and asks, "How long must I call for help in this place of no justice?" The Lord tells him He is doing something, "I am raising up the Babylonians." Habakkuk did not like that...

The oracle of Nahum begins with a description of God. He is jealous, avenging, and wrathful - against His enemies, and yet He is good, He cares, and He is slow to anger towards those who trust in Him. The rest of chapter one lets Nineveh know that His wrath is coming, and to Judah that He will fight for them.  The Lord tells Nineveh that He is against them (2:13 & 3:5), and that an attacker is...

The prophecy of Joel describes the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. It begins with a description of three swarms of locust, the second swarm is great, and the third swarm are young, but afterwards there is nothing left. This is also a call for the priests and the elders to mourn, and to call for a holy fast and a sacred assembly to call the people back to the Lord. Even though jud...

The greatest king of Judah since King David has died, King Hezekiah, and his son, Manasseh reigned. He did more evil than the pagan nations that the Lord cleared out of the way before Israel took the land. He did more evil than the kings of Israel, who were wiped out because of their sin. He rebuilt the high places, brought back polytheism with Baal and Asherah poles. He worshipped the starry host...

Chapters 38-39 end section one of Isaiah, and it sets the stage for the second half, chapters 40-66. The Lord defended Judah from the attack by Assyria because they defamed the name of the Lord, and King Hezekiah humbled himself and prayed unto the Lord. Following that, he became ill, but again because of his prayers, the Lord healed him, and allowed him to live fifteen more years. A group from Ba...

In this chapter, King Hezekiah became ill. Isaiah the prophet came and told him that he will die and he needs to put his affairs in order. Hezekiah did what he was great at, he immediately cried out to the Lord. He pleaded his case of obedience and faithfulness to the Lord, and he wept bitterly. Before Isaiah left the middle court, the word of the Lord came again to Isaiah, who went back and told...

Proverbs 25-29 start by saying, "These are more proverbs of Solomon, copied by the men of Hezekiah king of Judah." He reigned around 716-687 BC. He was a godly king who sought the Lord and brought a revival to the land. He would reach out to Isaiah especially during difficult times, as he sought the Lord. One of those times was when Assyria came to attack Jerusalem. One of the men that H...

King Hezekiah did right in the eyes of the Lord, just as King David had done. He tore down the high places, the sacred stones and Asherah poles which were for other gods, he followed the word of the Lord, and he stopped his allegiance to Assyria. Assyria had demolished the ten northern tribes of Israel and exported all the Jews to other lands and brought people from other nations to inhabit Samari...

In chapters 13-23, there are prophecies against the nations which include: Babylon, Assyria, Philistia, Moab, Syria and Israel, Ethiopia, Egypt, Ethiopia and Egypt, Babylon, Edom, Arabia, Jerusalem, Shebna, and Tyre. Here we see that the Lord had His hand over all the nations, and yes, these nations are used to bring judgment on Israel and Judah because of their sin, but these nations will also br...

In chapter 17 of 2 Kings, we have the destruction of the 10 northern tribes of Israel in 722 BC. Israel's king was Hoshea, and he decided to stop sending his yearly tribute money to the new king of Assyria, Shalmaneser, and instead decided to join forces with Egypt. To this act, Shalmaneser came and took Hoshea and placed him in prison, and then laid siege to Samaria, the capital. It took abo...