Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / January 31 - 1 Kings 22

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January 31 - 1 Kings 22 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean. Here it is the 31st.
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  The very. Last day of January 2025 and
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  it's a Friday. Well done for making it to the
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  end of the week. In fact, it is quite an ending
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  today. Because today.
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  Brings the end not just to this week but to the end of this
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  year's Bible reading plan we make the plans go all the way to
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  the end of January and that's where the new plan begins and
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  the beginning of February and in.
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  Fact today. Brings us to the end of.
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  Four years. Of daily Bible reading.
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  Four years. I can scarcely imagine that we
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  have been sitting down each day, or running together, or driving
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  together, whatever you get up to.
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  Each day. For four years.
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  And for some of you, you've been along for that whole ride, as I
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  certainly have been. But wow, what an.
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  Absolute joy. And privilege it has been,
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  friends, to sit down with our God every day and to hear His
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  Word and to pray through it, and to invite that to shape us and
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  to shape our days as we live our life of praise and of service to
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  our glorious, glorious God. And so here we are.
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  Four years on. And not about you, but only just
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  getting started. Yes, there are many, many, many
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  more years for us to spend in God's Word together.
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  So I thank you and I look forward to many, many more to
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  come. All right, enough
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  sentimentality. We are going to.
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  Finish. The Book of First Kings today
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  and then next week. We will look forward to.
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  All of the amazing books of the Bible that we're going to dive
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  into in the year ahead. Boy, there are some Cracker
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  Jacks in there, but. That's next.
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  Week's conversation. For now, why don't?
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  You sit back. And listen with me.
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  As we read together. First Kings, chapter 22.
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  For. Three years there was no war
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  between Aram and Israel. Then, during the third year,
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  King. Jehoshaphat of.
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  Judah went to visit King Ahab of.
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  Israel during the visit, the king of Israel said to his
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  officials. Do you realise that the.
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  Town of. Ramoth Gilead belongs to.
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  US. And yet we've done nothing to
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  recapture it from. The King.
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  Of ARAM. Then he turned to Jehoshaphat
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  and asked. Will you?
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  Join me in battle to. Recover.
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  Ramoth, Gilead, Jehoshaphat. Replied.
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  To the. King of Israel.
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  Why, of course, you and I are as one.
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  My troops are your troops, and my horses are your horses, then,
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  Jehoshaphat added. But first, let's find out what
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  the Lord says. So the king of.
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  Israel summoned the prophets, about 400 of them.
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  And asked them. Should I go to?
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  War. Against Ramoth Gilead or should
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  I hold back? They all replied.
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  Yes, go right ahead, the Lord will give the king victory.
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  But. Jehoshaphat asked.
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  Is there? Not a prophet of the Lord here.
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  We should ask him the same question the king of Israel
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  replied to Jehoshaphat. Ah, there is one more man who
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  could consult the Lord for us, but I hate him.
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  He never prophesized anything but trouble.
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  For me. His name is Makaya son of Imlah,
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  Jehoshaphat replied. That's not the way a king should
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  talk. Let's hear what he has to say.
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  So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said,
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  quick, bring Makaya son of Imlah.
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  King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah, dressed in
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  their royal robes, were sitting on Thrones at the threshing
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  floor near the gate of Samaria. All of Ahab's prophets were
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  prophesying there in front of them.
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  One of them, Zedekiah son of Kanana, made some iron horns and
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  proclaimed, This is what the Lord says, with these horns you
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  will gore the Arameans to death. All the other prophets agreed.
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  Yes, they said, go up to Ramoth Gilead and be victorious, for
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  the Lord will give the king victory.
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  Meanwhile, the messenger who went to get Makaya said to him,
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  Look, all the prophets are promising victory for the king,
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  be sure that you agree with them and promise success.
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  But Makaya replied, As surely as the Lord lives, I will only say
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  what the Lord tells me to say. When Makaya arrived before the
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  king, Ahab asked him, Makaya, should we go to war against
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  Ramoth Gilead or should we hold back?
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  Makaya replied sarcastically, Yes, go up and be victorious,
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  for the Lord will give the king victory.
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  But the king replied sharply, How many times must I demand
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  that you speak only the truth to me when you speak for the Lord?
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  Then Makaya told him in a vision.
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  I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains like sheep without
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  a shepherd, and the Lord said Their master has been killed.
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  Send them home in peace. Didn't I tell you?
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  The king of Israel exclaimed to Jehoshaphat.
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  He never prophesized anything but trouble for me.
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  Then Micaiah continued. Listen to what the Lord says.
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  I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the armies of
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  heaven around him on his right and on his left, And the Lord
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  said, Who can entice Ahab to go into battle against Ramoth
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  Gilead so he can be killed? There were many suggestions and
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  finally a spirit approached the Lord and said, I can do it.
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  How will you do this? The Lord asked.
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  And the spirit replied, I will go out and inspire all of Ahab's
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  prophets to speak lies. You will succeed, said the Lord.
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  Go ahead and do it. So you see, the Lord has put a
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  lying spirit in the mouths of all your prophets, for the Lord
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  has pronounced your doom. Then Zedekiah, son of Kanana,
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  walked up to Makaya and slapped him across the face.
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  Since when did the spirit of the Lord leave me to speak to you?
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  He demanded and Makaya replied. You will find out soon enough
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  when you are trying to hide in some secret room.
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  Arrest him, the king of Israel ordered.
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  Take him back to Ammon, the governor of the city, and to my
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  son Joash. Give them this order from the
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  king. Put this man in prison and feed
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  him nothing but bread and water until I return safely from the
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  battle. But Mackay replied, If you
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  return safely, it will mean that the Lord has not spoken through
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  me. Then he added to those standing
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  around everyone, mark my words, Sir.
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  King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah LED their
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  armies against Ramoth. Gilead, the king of Israel said
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  to Jehoshaphat, As we go into battle, I will disguise myself,
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  so no one will recognise me, but you wear your royal robes.
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  So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into
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  battle. Meanwhile, the King of Aram had
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  issued these orders to his. 32. Chariot commanders attack only
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  the king of Israel. Don't bother with anyone else.
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  So when the Aramean chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat in
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  his royal robes, they went after him.
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  There is the king of Israel, they shouted.
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  But when Jehoshaphat called out the chariot, commanders realised
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  he was not the king of Israel and they stopped chasing him.
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  An Aramean soldier, however, randomly shot an arrow at the
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  Israelite troops and hit the king of Israel between the
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  joints of his armour. Turn the horses and Get Me Out
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  of here. Ahab groaned to the driver of
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  his chariot. I'm badly wounded.
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  The battle raged all day and the king remained propped up in his
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  chariot, facing the Arameans. The blood from his wound ran
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  down to the floor of his chariot, and as the evening
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  arrived he died just as the sun was setting.
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  The cry ran through. His troops were done for.
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  Run for your lives. So the king died, and his body
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  was taken to Sumeria and buried there.
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  Then his chariot was washed beside the pool of Sumeria, and
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  dogs came and licked his blood at the place where the
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  prostitutes bathed, just as the Lord had promised.
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  The rest of the events in Ahab's reign and everything he did,
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  including the story of the Ivory Palace and the towns he built,
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  are recorded in the book of the History of the Kings of Israel.
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  So Ahab died, and his son Aiziah became the next king.
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  Jehoshaphat son of Assa, began to rule over Judah in the fourth
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  year of King Ahab's reign in Israel.
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  Jehoshaphat was 35 years old when he became king, and he
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  reigned in Jerusalem 25 years. His mother was a Zuba, the
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  daughter of Shilhai. Jehoshaphat was a good king.
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  Following the example of his father Assa, he did what was
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  pleasing in the Lord's sight. During his reign, however, he
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  failed to remove all the Pagan shrines, and the people still
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  offered sacrifices and burnt incense there.
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  Jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of Israel.
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  The rest of the events of Jehoshaphat's reign, the extent
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  of his power and the wars he waged are recorded in the book
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  of the History of the Kings of Judah.
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  He banished from the land the rest of the male and female
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  shrine prostitutes, who still continued their practises from
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  the days of his father ASA. There was no king and Edom at
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  that time, only a deputy. Jehoshaphat also built a fleet
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  of trading ships to sail to OFA for gold, but the ships had
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  never set sail, for they met with disaster in their home port
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  of Ezion Giba. At one time Aiziah son of Ahab
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  had proposed to Jehoshaphat, Let my men sail with your men in the
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  ships. But Jehoshaphat refused the
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  request. When Jehoshaphat died, he was
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  buried with his ancestors in the city of David.
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  Then his son Jehoram became the next king.
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  Aiziah son of Ahab, began to rule over Israel in the 17th
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  year of King Jehoshaphat's reign and Judah.
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  He reigned in Samaria two years. But he did what was evil in the
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  Lord's sight, following the example of his father and
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  mother, and the example of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had
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  LED Israel to sin. He served Baal and worshipped
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  him, provoking the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, just as
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  his Father had done. Ah Lord, we hear generation
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  after generation following the the ways of their Father so
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  often. Ah, but you are our Father, and
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  we don't only get shaped by our earthly families, but you, our
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  Heavenly Father. In your generosity and kindness
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  you shape us. You, through your Holy Spirit,
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  come to us and you grow in us these beautiful fruits, these
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  fruits that would make us ambassadors of your Kingdom,
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  Your Kingdom of mercy, your Kingdom of patience, your
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  Kingdom of kindness, Your Kingdom that shuns the values of
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  this world and shows your way and your nature.
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  So Lord, I just pray that you continue to shape us in love and
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  that we, like you, our Father, might continue your good work in
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  the world around us. And we thank you for your
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  Scripture that we can see so richly who you are and that as
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  we learn more about you, that each word would shape our hearts
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  to be more like you. We love you, our heavenly
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  Father, and we thank you for giving us truth.
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  Truth not in the words of the Scriptures, but truth in the
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  person of Jesus. May He continue to inspire, to
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  shape, and to draw us ever nearer to Him and to you, our
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  loving God. And we pray all of this in His
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  name, Amen.