Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / January 21 - 1 Kings 15

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January 21 - 1 Kings 15 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  It's Sean here. It's Tuesday, it's the 21st of
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  January. And today, would you believe, is
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  actually the National Hugging Day.
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  Today is the day that we remember that hugging is
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  actually good for us. Remember that thing that we used
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  to do to people before COVID arrived?
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  We used to throw our arms around each other and embrace each
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  other. We had dinner with some old
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  friends over the weekend and we arrived and they gave me a hug
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  and it felt so nice just to hug an old friend.
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  So there will be people in your life that you can hug.
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  I'm not saying go and hug randos and then get yourself in hot
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  water. No, but you're special people.
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  Throw your arms around them, squeeze them tight.
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  The endorphins and all the good physical benefits and social
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  connection. Oh, there's a bucket load of
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  research saying how good hugging is for you.
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  So hug a friend, hug a family member.
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  Let us celebrate that wonderful tactile way that we greet each
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  other and have done through the ages.
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  And today there is not going to be so much hugging and greeting.
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  As we read now, we kind of reach the section of First Kings where
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  it really just goes through the story, king after king in the
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  north and in Judah and how they interact and how they go
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  according to God's set of criteria that he wants them to
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  rule by. And friends, I'll, I'll give you
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  a little spoiler. It's not pretty, so buckle
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  yourselves up as we now begin working our way through these
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  kings who will follow in the footsteps of their fathers as we
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  go through. So let us get into it reading
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  together First Kings, chapter 15.
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  Abijah began to rule over Judah in the 18th year of Jeroboam's
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  reign in Israel. He reigned in Jerusalem three
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  years. His mother was Marker, the
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  granddaughter of Absalom. He committed the same sins as
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  his father before him, and he was not faithful to the Lord his
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  God, as his ancestor David had been.
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  But for David's sake, the Lord his God allowed his descendants
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  to continue ruling, shining like a lamp, and he gave Abijah a son
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  to rule after him in Jerusalem. For David had done what was
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  pleasing in the Lord's sight and had obeyed the Lord's commands
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  throughout his life, even in the affair concerning Uriah the
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  Hittite. There was war between Abyjam and
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  Jeroboam throughout Abyjam's reign.
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  The rest of the events in Abyjam's reign and everything he
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  did are recorded in the book of the History of the Kings of
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  Judah. There was constant war between
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  Abyjam and Jeroboam. When Abyjam died, he was buried
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  in the city of David, and his son Assa became the next king.
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  Assa began to rule over Judah in the 20th year of Jeroboam's
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  reign in Israel. He reigned in Jerusalem for 41
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  years. His grandmother was Marka, the
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  granddaughter of Absalom. Assa did what was pleasing in
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  the Lord's sight, as his ancestor David had done.
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  He banished the male and female shrine prostitutes from the land
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  and got rid of all the idols his ancestors had made.
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  He even deposed his grandmother Marka for her position as Queen
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  Mother because she had made an obscene Asherah pole.
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  He cut down her obscene pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
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  Although the Pagan shrines were not removed, Assa's heart
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  remained completely faithful to the Lord throughout his life.
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  He brought into the temple of the Lord the silver and gold and
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  various items that he and his father had dedicated.
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  There was constant war between King Assa of Judah and King
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  Basha of Israel. King Basha of Israel invaded
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  Judah and fortified Rama in order to prevent anyone from
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  entering or leaving King Assa's territory in Judah.
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  Assa responded by removing all the silver and gold that was
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  left in the treasuries of the Temple of the Lord and the royal
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  palace. He sent it with some of his
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  officials to Ben Haddad, son of Tabramon, son of Hesion, the
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  king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus.
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  Along with this message, let there be a treaty between you
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  and me, like the one between your father and my father.
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  See, I'm sending you a gift of silver and gold.
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  Break your treaty with King Basha of Israel so that he will
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  leave me alone. Ben Haddad agreed to King Asa's
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  request and sent the commanders of his army to attack the towns
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  of Israel. They conquered the towns of Ijon
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  Dan Abelbethmarka and all Kinareth and all the land of
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  Naphtali. As soon as Basha of Israel heard
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  what was happening, he abandoned his project of fortifying Rama
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  and withdrew to Terza. Then King Assa sent an order
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  throughout Judah requiring that everyone, without exception,
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  would help carry away the building stones and Timbers that
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  Basha had been using to fortify Rama.
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  Assa used these materials to fortify the town of Gibba in
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  Benjamin and the town of Mizpah. The rest of the events in Assa's
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  reign, the extent of his power, everything he did, and the names
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  of the cities he built are recorded in the book of the
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  History of the Kings of Judah. In his old age, his feet became
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  diseased. When Assa died, he was buried
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  with his ancestors in the city of David.
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  Then Jehoshaphat, Assa's son, became the next king.
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  Nadab, son of Jeroboam, began to rule over Israel in the second
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  year of King Assa's reign in Judah.
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  He reigned in Israel two years, but he did what was evil in the
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  Lord's sight and followed the example of his father,
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  continuing the sins that Jeroboam had LED Israel to
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  commit. Then Barsha, son of Ahijah from
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  the tribe of Issacha, plotted against Nadab and assassinated
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  him while he and the Israelite army were laying siege to the
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  Philistine town of Gibbethon. Barsha killed Nadab in the third
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  year of King Asa's reign in Judah, and he became the next
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  king of Israel. He immediately slaughtered all
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  the descendants of King Jeroboam so that not one of the royal
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  family was left, just as the Lord had promised concerning
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  Jeroboam by the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh.
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  This was done because Jeroboam had provoked the anger of the
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  Lord the God of Israel by the sins he had committed and the
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  sins he had LED Israel to commit.
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  The rest of the events in Nadab's reign and everything he
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  did are recorded in the Book of the History of the Kings of
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  Israel. There was constant war between
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  King Assa of Judah and King Barsha of Israel.
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  Barsha, son of Ahijah, began to rule over Israel in the third
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  year of King Assa's reign in Judah.
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  Barsha reigned in Terza 24 years, but he did what was evil
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  in the Lord's sight and followed the example of Jeroboam,
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  continuing the sins that Jeroboam had LED Israel to
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  commit. Our Lord, as we see the chapters
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  of our world turning from 1:00 to the next, our leaders rise
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  and fall. Society pushes us this way and
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  then back the other. Our friends come and go, our
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  loved ones live and die. All these things happen, but you
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  stay constant. Lord Jesus, you have set
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  yourself upon that throne in heaven, and you continue to rule
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  as our king, generation after generation after generation.
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  And Lord, you rule with love and kindness and grace, and we thank
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  you that you are a good, good king.
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  We worship you, and we just recommit our lives to serve you,
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  Jesus, in all the ways that you would lead us to respond.
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  Open our hearts, give us ears to hear your words, give us eyes to
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  see your ways, and give us a heart to respond.
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  And we pray all of this in your saving name, Amen.