DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR THURSDAY APRIL 20:
WORD OF WISDOM
If the people around you aren't adding value to your life... start
subtracting!
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DAILY DEVOTION
Continuing Warfare
"Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery
of man is great upon him. For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who
can tell him when it shall be? There is no man that hath power over the
spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and
there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those
that are given to it."
Ecclesiastes 8:6-8
It is a normal part of human nature to want to kick back and take it easy.
Most people look forward to their vacations, perhaps even counting down the
days until they leave the normal responsibilities of work behind and take
some time off. While there is a time and a place for rest, and it is
important to our physical and mental health, there are some responsibilities
that never stop. One of those is the ongoing spiritual warfare that we face
on a daily basis. The devil doesn't take days off, and if we let down our
guard and take time off spiritually, we will be defeated.
This tendency is what led to the greatest downfall of David's life. "And it
came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to
battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and
they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried
still at Jerusalem" (2 Samuel 11:1). When we are not where we are supposed
to be, doing what we are supposed to be doing, we are in great spiritual
danger. There will come a day in Heaven when we can lay aside our armor and
all battles will cease, but until we stand in God's presence, there will
never be a discharge from spiritual warfare. Stay alert and stay involved in
the battle to avoid becoming a casualty.
The devil will always take advantage of the opportunities that we present
him when we let down our guard.
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DAILY BIBLE READING
2 Kings 22-25New King James Version (NKJV)
Josiah Reigns in Judah
22 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one
years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of
Bozkath. 2 And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked
in all the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand
or to the left.
Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law
3 Now it came to pass, in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, that the king
sent Shaphan the scribe, the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the
house of the Lord, saying: 4 "Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may
count the money which has been brought into the house of the Lord, which the
doorkeepers have gathered from the people. 5 And let them deliver it into
the hand of those doing the work, who are the overseers in the house of the
Lord; let them give it to those who are in the house of the Lord doing the
work, to repair the damages of the house- 6 to carpenters and builders and
masons-and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house. 7 However
there need be no accounting made with them of the money delivered into their
hand, because they deal faithfully."
8 Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, "I have found the
Book of the Law in the house of the Lord." And Hilkiah gave the book to
Shaphan, and he read it. 9 So Shaphan the scribe went to the king, bringing
the king word, saying, "Your servants have gathered the money that was found
in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of those who do the work,
who oversee the house of the Lord." 10 Then Shaphan the scribe showed the
king, saying, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read it
before the king.
11 Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law,
that he tore his clothes. 12 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest,
Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor[a] the son of Michaiah, Shaphan the
scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying, 13 "Go, inquire of the
Lord for me, for the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of this
book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is aroused
against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to
do according to all that is written concerning us."
14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah
the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas,
keeper of the wardrobe. (She dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter.) And
they spoke with her. 15 Then she said to them, "Thus says the Lord God of
Israel, 'Tell the man who sent you to Me, 16 "Thus says the Lord: 'Behold,
I will bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants-all the words of
the book which the king of Judah has read- 17 because they have forsaken Me
and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with
all the works of their hands. Therefore My wrath shall be aroused against
this place and shall not be quenched.'"' 18 But as for the king of Judah,
who sent you to inquire of the Lord, in this manner you shall speak to him,
'Thus says the Lord God of Israel: "Concerning the words which you have
heard- 19 because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before
the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its
inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and you tore
your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you," says the Lord. 20
"Surely, therefore, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be
gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the
calamity which I will bring on this place."'" So they brought back word to
the king.
Josiah Restores True Worship
23 Now the king sent them to gather all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to
him. 2 The king went up to the house of the Lord with all the men of Judah,
and with him all the inhabitants of Jerusalem-the priests and the prophets
and all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all
the words of the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the house of
the Lord.
3 Then the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to
follow the Lord and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His
statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this
covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand for
the covenant. 4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests
of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the
Lord all the articles that were made for Baal, for Asherah,[b] and for all
the host of heaven;[c] and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of
Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 Then he removed the idolatrous
priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high
places in the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem, and
those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the
constellations, and to all the host of heaven. 6 And he brought out the
wooden image[d] from the house of the Lord, to the Brook Kidron outside
Jerusalem, burned it at the Brook Kidron and ground it to ashes, and threw
its ashes on the graves of the common people. 7 Then he tore down the
ritual booths of the perverted persons[e] that were in the house of the
Lord, where the women wove hangings for the wooden image. 8 And he brought
all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where
the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; also he broke down
the high places at the gates which were at the entrance of the Gate of
Joshua the governor of the city, which were to the left of the city gate. 9
Nevertheless the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of
the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brethren.
10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son[f] of Hinnom,
that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to
Molech. 11 Then he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated
to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the Lord, by the chamber of
Nathan-Melech, the officer who was in the court; and he burned the chariots
of the sun with fire. 12 The altars that were on the roof, the upper
chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which
Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, the king broke
down and pulverized there, and threw their dust into the Brook Kidron. 13
Then the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, which
were on the south of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon king of Israel
had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the
abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the people of
Ammon. 14 And he broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden
images, and filled their places with the bones of men.
15 Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam
the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, both that altar and the
high place he broke down; and he burned the high place and crushed it to
powder, and burned the wooden image. 16 As Josiah turned, he saw the tombs
that were there on the mountain. And he sent and took the bones out of the
tombs and burned them on the altar, and defiled it according to the word of
the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words. 17
Then he said, "What gravestone is this that I see?"
So the men of the city told him, "It is the tomb of the man of God who came
from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar
of Bethel."
18 And he said, "Let him alone; let no one move his bones." So they let his
bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria.
19 Now Josiah also took away all the shrines of the high places that were in
the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the
Lord[g] to anger; and he did to them according to all the deeds he had done
in Bethel. 20 He executed all the priests of the high places who were
there, on the altars, and burned men's bones on them; and he returned to
Jerusalem.
21 Then the king commanded all the people, saying, "Keep the Passover to the
Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant." 22 Such a
Passover surely had never been held since the days of the judges who judged
Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah.
23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was held before
the Lord in Jerusalem. 24 Moreover Josiah put away those who consulted
mediums and spiritists, the household gods and idols, all the abominations
that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might perform
the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest
found in the house of the Lord. 25 Now before him there was no king like
him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with
all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any
arise like him.
Impending Judgment on Judah
26 Nevertheless the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great
wrath, with which His anger was aroused against Judah, because of all the
provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. 27 And the Lord said, "I
will also remove Judah from My sight, as I have removed Israel, and will
cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I
said, 'My name shall be there.'"[h]
Josiah Dies in Battle
28 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 29 In his days
Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went to the aid of the king of Assyria, to the
River Euphrates; and King Josiah went against him. And Pharaoh Necho killed
him at Megiddo when he confronted him. 30 Then his servants moved his body
in a chariot from Megiddo, brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his
own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah,
anointed him, and made him king in his father's place.
The Reign and Captivity of Jehoahaz
31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned
three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of
Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according
to all that his fathers had done. 33 Now Pharaoh Necho put him in prison at
Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and he
imposed on the land a tribute of one hundred talents of silver and a talent
of gold. 34 Then Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in place
of his father Josiah, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Pharaoh took
Jehoahaz and went to Egypt, and he[i] died there.
Jehoiakim Reigns in Judah
35 So Jehoiakim gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land
to give money according to the command of Pharaoh; he exacted the silver and
gold from the people of the land, from every one according to his
assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Necho. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years
old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His
mother's name was Zebudah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. 37 And he did
evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.
Judah Overrun by Enemies
24 In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became
his vassal for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. 2 And
the Lord sent against him raiding bands of Chaldeans, bands of Syrians,
bands of Moabites, and bands of the people of Ammon; He sent them against
Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord which He had spoken
by His servants the prophets. 3 Surely at the commandment of the Lord this
came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of
Manasseh, according to all that he had done, 4 and also because of the
innocent blood that he had shed; for he had filled Jerusalem with innocent
blood, which the Lord would not pardon.
5 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, are they not
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 6 So Jehoiakim
rested with his fathers. Then Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.
7 And the king of Egypt did not come out of his land anymore, for the king
of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the Brook
of Egypt to the River Euphrates.
The Reign and Captivity of Jehoiachin
8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in
Jerusalem three months. His mother's name was Nehushta the daughter of
Elnathan of Jerusalem. 9 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord,
according to all that his father had done.
10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up
against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon came against the city, as his servants were besieging it. 12 Then
Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his princes, and his
officers went out to the king of Babylon; and the king of Babylon, in the
eighth year of his reign, took him prisoner.
The Captivity of Jerusalem
13 And he carried out from there all the treasures of the house of the Lord
and the treasures of the king's house, and he cut in pieces all the articles
of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, as
the Lord had said. 14 Also he carried into captivity all Jerusalem: all the
captains and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all the
craftsmen and smiths. None remained except the poorest people of the land.
15 And he carried Jehoiachin captive to Babylon. The king's mother, the
king's wives, his officers, and the mighty of the land he carried into
captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16 All the valiant men, seven
thousand, and craftsmen and smiths, one thousand, all who were strong and
fit for war, these the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.
Zedekiah Reigns in Judah
17 Then the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's[j] uncle, king in
his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.
18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned
eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of
Jeremiah of Libnah. 19 He also did evil in the sight of the Lord, according
to all that Jehoiakim had done. 20 For because of the anger of the Lord
this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, that He finally cast them out from His
presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
The Fall and Captivity of Judah
25 Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month,
on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all
his army came against Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a
siege wall against it all around. 2 So the city was besieged until the
eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 3 By the ninth day of the fourth month the
famine had become so severe in the city that there was no food for the
people of the land.
4 Then the city wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled at
night by way of the gate between two walls, which was by the king's garden,
even though the Chaldeans were still encamped all around against the city.
And the king[k] went by way of the plain.[l] 5 But the army of the
Chaldeans pursued the king, and they overtook him in the plains of Jericho.
All his army was scattered from him. 6 So they took the king and brought
him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they pronounced judgment on
him. 7 Then they killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, put out the
eyes of Zedekiah, bound him with bronze fetters, and took him to Babylon.
8 And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month (which was the
nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), Nebuzaradan the
captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.
9 He burned the house of the Lord and the king's house; all the houses of
Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the great, he burned with fire. 10
And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard
broke down the walls of Jerusalem all around.
11 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive the rest
of the people who remained in the city and the defectors who had deserted to
the king of Babylon, with the rest of the multitude. 12 But the captain of
the guard left some of the poor of the land as vinedressers and farmers. 13
The bronze pillars that were in the house of the Lord, and the carts and the
bronze Sea that were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in
pieces, and carried their bronze to Babylon. 14 They also took away the
pots, the shovels, the trimmers, the spoons, and all the bronze utensils
with which the priests ministered. 15 The firepans and the basins, the
things of solid gold and solid silver, the captain of the guard took away.
16 The two pillars, one Sea, and the carts, which Solomon had made for the
house of the Lord, the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure. 17
The height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the capital on it was of
bronze. The height of the capital was three cubits, and the network and
pomegranates all around the capital were all of bronze. The second pillar
was the same, with a network.
18 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the
second priest, and the three doorkeepers. 19 He also took out of the city
an officer who had charge of the men of war, five men of the king's close
associates who were found in the city, the chief recruiting officer of the
army, who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of
the land who were found in the city. 20 So Nebuzaradan, captain of the
guard, took these and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21
Then the king of Babylon struck them and put them to death at Riblah in the
land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive from its own land.
Gedaliah Made Governor of Judah
22 Then he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, governor
over the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king
of Babylon had left. 23 Now when all the captains of the armies, they and
their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, they
came to Gedaliah at Mizpah-Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan the son of
Careah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah[m] the
son of a Maachathite, they and their men. 24 And Gedaliah took an oath
before them and their men, and said to them, "Do not be afraid of the
servants of the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon,
and it shall be well with you."
25 But it happened in the seventh month that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah,
the son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and struck and
killed Gedaliah, the Jews, as well as the Chaldeans who were with him at
Mizpah. 26 And all the people, small and great, and the captains of the
armies, arose and went to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.
Jehoiachin Released from Prison
27 Now it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of
Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of
the month, that Evil-Merodach[n] king of Babylon, in the year that he began
to reign, released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. 28 He spoke kindly
to him, and gave him a more prominent seat than those of the kings who were
with him in Babylon. 29 So Jehoiachin changed from his prison garments, and
he ate bread regularly before the king all the days of his life. 30 And as
for his provisions, there was a regular ration given him by the king, a
portion for each day, all the days of his life.
Footnotes:
a.2 Kings 22:12 Abdon the son of Micah in 2 Chronicles 34:20
b.2 Kings 23:4 A Canaanite goddess
c.2 Kings 23:4 The gods of the Assyrians
d.2 Kings 23:6 Hebrew Asherah, a Canaanite goddess
e.2 Kings 23:7 Hebrew qedeshim, that is, those practicing sodomy and
prostitution in religious rituals
f.2 Kings 23:10 Kethib reads Sons.
g.2 Kings 23:19 Following Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate; Masoretic Text
and Targum omit the Lord.
h.2 Kings 23:27 1 Kings 8:29
i.2 Kings 23:34 That is, Jehoahaz
j.2 Kings 24:17 Literally his
k.2 Kings 25:4 Literally he
l.2 Kings 25:4 Or Arabah, that is, the Jordan Valley
m.2 Kings 25:23 Spelled Jezaniah in Jeremiah 40:8
n.2 Kings 25:27 Literally Man of Marduk
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James VersionR. Copyright C 1982 by Thomas
Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
