Day 213: The first deportation

The storm clouds are gathering. Sorry about the cliche, but it’s true.
Obedience of the Recabites
Jeremiah 35:1-11
The Jews’ disobedience
Jeremiah 35:12-19
Jerusalem’s 20 year siege begins. 606BC
The wine cup of wrath
Jeremiah 25:15-38
Nebuchadnezzar besieges Jerusalem
Daniel 1:1
Some Israelites deported
Daniel 1:2-3
Prophecy concerning Israel’s captivity
Jeremiah 25:1-11
Prophecies to be written
Jeremiah 36:1-8
God’s promise to Baruch
Jeremiah 45:1-5

There are faithful people in Jerusalem - the Recabite clan have kept a command for generations, and Jeremiah uses them to shame the rest of the population. They refused wine because of their vow, but God id preparing a cup that that the people will be forced to drink - the bitter cup of his anger.
This idea resurfaces of course in the New Testament, when Jesus consents to drink the Cup. The idea of God’s Wrath is an uncomfortable one for us modern believers, but it’s a frequent refrain in the Old Testament. The. question is, is God justified in being angry with people? We say no - they’re only human. But then, there’s the Recabites, who’ve been faithful. So people can do it. Perhaps we’re too keen to make excuses for ourselves these days.
Anyway - back to the story - Nebuchadnezzar has come to power, and is described in astonishing words as “my servant.” (Jeremiah 25:8) The book of Daniel will tell us about God’s remarkable relationship with this foreign emperor. God revealed his glory to this powerful man in an amazing way. But that doesn’t stop him being Israel’s nemesis.
Jeremiah, meanwhile, resorts to writing his prophecies down - he is banned from the Temple so he can no longer preach. His servant Baruch is entrusted with the task of conveying Jeremiah’s words.

Day 212: Habbakuk’s message

Another prophet stands up to speak about the dangerous times for Judah. Will he gain the understanding of the people?
Jeremiah proclaimed a traitor
Jeremiah 26:8-19
Habbakuk complains of injustice
Habbakuk 1:1-4
The Lord’s reply
Habbakuk 1:5-11
Habbakuk’s further complaint
Habbakuk 1:12-17
Habbakuk must wait
Habbakuk 2:1-4
Judgements on the unrighteous
Habbakuk 2:5-20
Habbakuk’s plea
Habbakuk 3:1-2
Habbakuk’s prayer & praise
Habbakuk 3:3-19

The people angrily respond to Jeremiah’s latest prophecies, and an argument breaks out about whether he should be put to death as a traitor.
Habbakuk takes a different approach to Jeremiah. He stands back, and looks at the big picture. “What is going on?” he asks God. The answer he gets is that God is marshalling the Babylonians, using them as his blunt instrument to deal with the corruption and sin of the nations, Judah included. Habbakuk protests, saying that it doesn’t seem right for the wicked to be punishing the wicked, and how it will just make the Babylonians prouder and more evil. But God has plans for their king, Nebbuchadnezzar - he will learn of the greatness of God before his life is over. Habbakuk assents to God’s plan, and even sings a song of praise.

Day 211: the sign of the ox yoke

Disaster strikes! The one thing Judah cannot afford is to lose Josiah, and that’s what happens.
Jeremiah’s questions and God’s answer
Jeremiah 12:1-6
The Lord’s sorrow
Jeremiah 12:7-13
Babylon: the world power 612-539BC
His promise
Jeremiah 12:14-17
Josiah slain
2 Kings 23:28-30, 2 Chronicles 35:20-24
Lamentation for Josiah
2 Chronicles 35:25-27
Jehoahaz’ evil life
2 Kings 23:31-32, 2 Chronicles 36:1-2
Judah pays tribute
2 Kings 23:33, 2 Chronicles 36:3
Johoahaz’ death
2 Kings 23:34, Jeremiah 22:10-12
Jehoiakim made king
2 Kings 23:36-7, 2 Chronicles 36:5
The sign of the yoke
Jeremiah 27:1-11
Jeremiah in the Temple court
Jeremiah 26:1-7

Josiah perhaps acted rashly, opposing Pharaoh as he went to the aid of Assyria. But Judah could ill afford to lose their reforming king. He was their best hope. If he had remained on the throne, and listened to Jeremiah, perhaps he could have led the people back to true faithfulness. But it was never going to happen without him. His two sons are not a patch on their father. The first one was enslaved to Egypt, the second was a puppet king, and both paid tribute to Pharaoh. Meanwhile, Assyria has been replaced by the new world power, Babylon, and the storm clouds are gathering again.
Jeremiah prophesies that the people will have to accept the yoke of Babylon, which must have seemed tantamount to treason. People would find this very hard to swallow.

Day 210: A further message

Jeremiah is not going to be popular, swimming against the tide like this. Everybody thinks they're trying really hard, and he's telling them they're not good enough.

The people are corrected
Jeremiah 9:1-11
The captives suffer
Jeremiah 9:12-22
God’s loving kindness
Jeremiah 9:23-24
Punishment of the unrighteous
Jeremiah 9:25-26
Idolatry and true worship
Jeremiah 10:1-11
A hymn of praise
Jeremiah 10:12-16
The coming exile
Jeremiah 10:17-25
Disobedient Jews reproved
Jeremiah 11:1-10
Their utter ruin
Jeremiah 11:11-17
A plot against Jeremiah’s life
Jeremiah 11:18-23

Jeremiah goes on, weeping for his people. How is it that they cannot see what a state they are in? How can they not appreciate their predicament? How can they be so complacent? What does God have to do to make them listen? A fountain could not weep tears fast enough to lament this tragedy,
What did people make of Jeremiah’s impassioned words? We get a first clue at the end of chapter 11, when some people from Anathoth are saying  “Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD or you will die by our hands.” There seems to be a conspiracy to silence Jeremiah. His truth is not welcome.

Day 209: Jeremiah’s third message

Josiah was so good. So good. Why doesn't Jeremiah praise him more? 

Josiah’s reforms
2 Kings 23:15-20, 2 Chronicles 34:33
Jeremiah preaches in the Temple
Jeremiah 7:1-15
Birth of Ezekiel 622 BC
The people’s disobedience
Jeremiah 7:16-29
Vengeance threatened
Jeremiah 7:30-34
Bones to remain unburied
Jeremiah 8:1-3
The people’s stupidity
Jeremiah 8:4-13
The alarm of invasion
Jeremiah 8:14-17
Jeremiah’s lamentation
Jeremiah 8:18-22

Josiah continued with his reforms., which included protecting the tomb of the first prophet who warned Israel about false worship, back in the time of Jeroboam. Meanwhile Jeremiah gives his hardest message yet: to the people streaming in through the gates of the Temple to worship God, he issues a demand that they change their whole lives, giving up injustice as well as idolatry. Unless they do this, their renewed worship is pointless.
Jeremiah laments the moral sickness of his people. This repentance is only skin deep. It will not do.

Day 208: The Passover is kept

Josiah is really trying hard, no doubt about it. And the people seem serious in their commitment. Trouble is, we’ve heard all this before, and it has never lasted.
The invasion of Jerusalem
Jeremiah 6:1-8
Rebellious Israel
Jeremiah 6:9-15
Israel’s rejection of God’s way
Jeremiah 6:16-21
Invasion from the north
Jeremiah 6:22-30
Josiah celebrates the Passover
2 Kings 23:21-23, 26-7, 2 Chronicles 35:1-19
Josiah’s further reforms
2 Kings 23:4-14

“Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.” (Jeremiah 6:14) Here’s the basic problem, as Jeremiah sees it. Israel’s leaders are putting sticking plasters on gaping wounds. No attempt is being made to seek justice, and meanwhile the armies are multiplying away to the north.
Is Jeremiah commenting on Josiah’s Passover? Calling it a sticking plaster? I don’t think so. I think the problem is that the local leaders, the priests and judges, are not following their king’s lead. A whole infrastructure of pagan worship had come into existence in Judah, and although Josiah desecrated their sites of worship, what happened to the unemployed priests? Did they just drift back to the Temple, not necessarily working there, but mixing with the Temple priests, and diluting their enthusiasm?

Day 207: Jeremiah’s second message

Jeremiah wants to confront the complacency of Judah. His tactic seems to be as insulting as possible.

Israel better than Judah
Jeremiah 3:6-11
Pardon is promised
Jeremiah 3:12-20
Israel’s repentance
Jeremiah 3:21-25
A call to repentance
Jeremiah 4:1-4
Judah is threatened
Jeremiah 4:5-12
Judah is surrounded
Jeremiah 4:5-18
Jeremiah’s sorrow
Jeremiah 4:19-22
His vision
Jeremiah 4:23-31
Jerusalem’s sin
Jeremiah 5:1-11
Israel’s enemies
Jeremiah 5:12-19
God’s warning
Jeremiah 5:20-31

Jeremiah compares Israel and Judah to two wayward sisters. The people of Judah had got used to despising Israel, who fell to the Assyrians. So for Jeremiah to say that Judah is worse was a real slap in the face. The trouble with insulting people is that it doesn’t incline them to listen to you.
It’s not too late, Jeremiah wants to tell them. Make your repentance genuine, and you will be safe. trouble is stirring in the north, another empire is on the rise. The problem is that the people have seen off Assyria and think they’ve got nothing to fear. They may be turning their backs on their idols, but they are still practising injustice. Where’s the genuine repentance that God seeks?

Day 206: Josiah’s godly reign

What? They LOST a book of the bible? How the heck did they do that??

Further reproofs for sin
Zephaniah 3:1-7
God’s mercy
Zephaniah 3:8-13
Restoration of Israel and Jerusalem
Zephaniah 3:14-20
Josiah repairs the Temple
2 Kings 22:3-7, 2 Chronicles 34:8-13
The Book of the Law is found
2 Kings 22:8-10, 2 Chronicles 34:14-18
Josiah consults Huldah
2 Kings 22:11-20, 2 Chronicles 34:19-28
The king’s covenant
2 Kings 23:1-3, 2 Chronicles 34:29-32

Zephaniah concludes his message, saying that despite the fact that God has demonstrated his power by destroying other nations, Judah has not repented. But his prophecies end with a look further ahead into the future, when scattered people will be brought once again to Jerusalem, and worship of God, which had ceased, will start again. One day there will be restoration.
Josiah meanwhile starts his reforms in earnest. Having destroyed false worship, he repairs the genuine article. The Temple had fallen into a sorry state, so much so that an entire book of scripture had been lost. this seems incredible to us, but of course we’re used to so many copies of the Bible. paper and online. Back then, there would be one scroll in the Temple. to be read aloud to the people during worship.
Josiah was appalled that this could have happened, and made arrangements to read the book publically, and call the people back to a new commitment to God.

Day 205: Jeremiah’s first message

Jeremiah has to deal with people in self-congratulatory mood. They think that now Assyria's beaten and Josiah's fixing things, that everything will be ok.

Israel’s early love for God
Jeremiah 2:1-3
The sin of Israel’s leaders
Jeremiah 2:4-8
The Lord’s plea
Jeremiah 2:9-13
The results of unfaithfulness
Jeremiah 2:14-19
The sins of Judah
Jeremiah 2:20-28
Their false confidence
Jeremiah 2:29-37
Exhortations to repentance
Jeremiah 3:1-5
The coming of judgement
Zephaniah 1:1-18
A plea for repentance
Zephaniah 2:1-3
Judgement against the nations
Zephaniah 2:4-15

Jeremiah starts with a powerful accusation - Israel have committed a unique sin. No other nation has abandoned their gods. But Israel has. They’ve given up secure healthy sources of fresh water for “cracked cisterns.” (2:13) This always reminds me of a holiday in Greece many years ago, on the island of Paros. My friend Rob and I had gone for a long walk across the middle of the island, far off the tourist’s beaten track. It was May, but the sun was scorching, and we had finished all our water. After several hours, we didn’t know exactly where we were, or how much further we had to walk, when we came across a little monastery. “What’s Greek for water?” Rob asked. But I didn’t know - he was the expert, I hadn’t learned any Greek at that stage, but he’d got a theology degree. An elderly widow greeted us at the gate, and we looked at her pleadingly, unable to ask for what we needed. But our needs were fairly obvious and she lowered a long handled can into the monastery’s cistern, and pulled up delicious cold water which we poured down our throats, on our faces heads and necks. She squatted on her haunches and smiled as we drank the sweetest tasting water I have ever drunk. Thank you, Greek lady, for your hospitality. Thank you for the picture of cool water from a cistern that has remained with me ever since.
Zephaniah also prophesied at this time. His message is stark - God is bringing judgement on the whole earth, and Judah must not think she will escape. Philistia, Moab and Ammon will be destroyed, Cush and Assyria desolated. the time to repent, for Judah, is now.

Day 204:The fall of Nineveh

The last time there was a boy on the throne, he ruled well, under the tutelage of the priest Jehoiada. Judah needs the same from Josiah.
Josiah’s godly character
2 Chronicles 34:1-2, 2 Kings 22:1-2, 23:25
God’s justice and power
Nahum 1:1-8
The Assyrians overthrown
Nahum 1:9-15
Nineveh’s destruction foretold
Nahum 2:1-10
The cause
Nahum 2:11-13
The fall of Nineveh
Nahum 3:1-19
Josiah’s early reforms
2 Chronicles 34:3-7
Jeremiah’s ministry begins 628BC
Jeremiah’s call and early vision
Jeremiah 1:1-19

Josiah makes a very good start. At the tender age of 12, he is bold enough to tear down the sites of idol worship across Judah, earning the Chronicler’s respect.
Meanwhile, the Assyrian empires is tottering. Onto the stage steps Nahum, a little known prophet (at least to me), proclaiming the Lord’s greatness and Nineveh’s weakness. There is the pleasure of revenge in his voice as he describes the siege of Assyria’s capital and its downfall. But no mention of the Babylonians, who did the deed. No one is thinking about them, not yet - just rejoicing that the tormentor of Jerusalem has got her comeuppance.
There is a slightest whiff of the danger of complacency, and God calls another prophet to dispel this. Enter Jeremiah, the weeping prophet. Here is a man who suffered for his calling. He started his ministry when Josiah was 21, saw him out, and his son, and lived to see the last king of Judah, the feeble Zedekiah. A story of woe waits to be told. Disaster is coming from the North.(Jeremiah 1:14)

Day 203: Manasseh turns to God

The next king of Judah is Manasseh. Has he got what it takes to lead Judah rightly?
Manasseh’s sinful ways
2 Kings 21:1-9, 2 Chronicles 33:1-9
God’s displeasure
Warning to Shebna
Isaiah 22:15-25
Sennacherib’s death
2 Kings 19:37, Isaiah 37:38
Manasseh’s sin and repentance
2 Kings 21:16, 2 Chronicles 33:11-13
His reforms
2 Chronicles 33:14-17
His death
2 Kings 21:17-18, 2 Chronicles 33:18-20
Amon’s evil life and death
2 Kings 21:19-23, 26, 2 Chronicles 33:21-24
Josiah becomes king
2 Kings 21:24, 2 Chronicles 33:25


With a sinking heart I read that Manasseh is as wicked as the worst of the kings. Judah can’t afford another lapse. They escaped by the skin of their teeth last time. According to Chronicles, he was swiftly humbled by the Assyrians, who captured him and imprisoned him in Babylon. There he repented, and got a second chance to mend his ways. But his son Amon was as bad as he was, and ended up assassinated, leaving the boy king Josiah on the throne.

Day 202: Hezekiah’s last days

This victory is as remarkable in its way as the Exodus. It seems strange that it isn’t celebrated more.
Assyrian army destroyed
2 Kings 19:35-36, 2 Chronicles 32:21-22, Isaiah 37:36-37
God the judge
Psalm 75
God the victor
Psalm 76
Hezekiah’s prosperity
2 Chronicles 32:23, 270-30, 2 Kings 20:20
The Babylonians ambassadors
2 Kings 20:12-19, Isaiah 39:1-8, 2 Chronicles 32:31
Hezekiah’s death
2 Kings 20:21, 2 Chronicles 32:32-33
Assyrians settle in Samaria
2 Kings 17:24-41

The angel of death gets another outing, the Assyrian army is decimated. Sennacherib finds reason to return home, where two of his sons attempt a coup against him, and he is killed. At a stroke, the mighty Assyrian war machine is humbled. God has acted, as he promised he would.
Strange that there is no exuberant triumph. It seems that Hezekiah and his people are too tired. Too battered by events, too close to death, they have no energy for celebrations.
Some time later, Babylonian ambassadors come to visit Hezekiah, and he shows them everything. Bad move. Isaiah warns him of it, but Hezekiah no longer has the strength to care. At least it won’t happen in my lifetime, he thinks.
Two slightly solemn Psalms tell of God’s victory. Psalm 75 surveys the battlefield. God’s enemies lie still, as if they were asleep. Oh good, God has saved us. Now can we have a rest?

Day 201: Hezekiah’s prayer answered

Hezekiah may not be perfect, but his heart’s in the right place - with God. Will that be enough to save him, and the nation?
Sennacherib’s letters
2 Chronicles 32:17
He defies God
2 Kings 19:8-13, Isaiah 37:8-13
Hezekiah’s prayer
2 Chronicles 32:20, 2 Kings 19:14-19 Isaiah 37:14-20
The Psalmist’s temptation
Psalm 73:1-14
How he gained victory
Psalm 73:15-28
Isaiah’s response to Hezekiah
2 Kings 19:20-34, Isaiah 37:21-35

Sennacherib writes a threatening letter to Hezekiah, and Hezekiah’s response is to take it straight to God. “Look at this, God,” he says. “What shall we do about it?” God has promised exactly what he’s going to do about it, and he puts his plans into effect.
The angel of death gets another outing, the Assyrian army is decimated. Sennacherib finds reason to return home, where two of his sons attempt a coup against him, and he is killed. At a stroke, the mighty Assyrian war machine is humbled. God has acted, as he promised he would.
Psalm 73 expresses the feeling that doubtless Hezekiah and his people had. They had been clinging to hope by the fingertips, almost despairing that God would save them. But God will hear them, and help them. “Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds..” (Psalm 73:27-28)

Day 200: Hezekiah’s consultation

200 days of reading the Bible! I've surprised myself, didn't think I'd stick at it this well. I have to say, it's been good.

Today, the siege drags on. Jerusalem’s future hangs by  a thread. Isaiah is urging people to trust in God and keep faith, but will they be able to do it?
Time of peace
Isaiah 32:1-8
Time of trouble
Isaiah 32:9-14
Time of blessing
Isaiah 32:15-20
A prayer for help
Isaiah 33:1-9
the Lord’s warning
Isaiah 33:10-16
The glorious future
Isaiah 33:17-24
Hezekiah humbles himself
2 Kings 18:36-37, 19:1, Isaiah 36:21-22, 37:1
Heziekiah consults Isaiah
2 Kings 19:2-7, Isaiah 37:2-7
A prayer for protection
Psalm 44

Isaiah’s words of hope must have sustained the people, but their deliverance is a long time coming. Hezekiah sends people to Isaiah to ask more details, and Isaiah replies by saying that something urgent will come up that will make Sennacherib leave the battlefield and go home, there he will be killed.
So the people wait in hope. Psalm 44 expresses something of this - God, where are you? We need you, we can’t survive without you. But can God possibly intervene in such a concrete way to deny the steamroller of Assyria its chance to flatten Jerusalem?

Day 199: Israel seeks help

So as the Assyrians threaten, what will the nation do?
Rabshekah’s defiance
Isaiah 36:12-20
Siege of Jerusalem prophesied
Isaiah 29:1-8
The Jew’s hypocrisy
Isaiah 29:9-16
Future blessings
Isaiah 29:17-24
The Jews reproved
Isaiah 30:1-7
The disobedient people
Isaiah 30:8-17
God’s mercies
Isaiah 30:18-26
Final ruin of the Assyrians
Isaiah 30:27-33
The folly of seeking help
Isaiah 31:1-3
God’s care for Jerusalem
Isaiah 31:4-9

The people received the challenging words of Assyria’s commander in stony silence. They can’t see how God is going to rescue them, but they’re not giving in just yet. God promises through Isaiah that Jerusalem’s enemies will be miraculously overthrown, and all the people can do is wait and see if it will happen.
“People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help!” (Isaiah 30:19) This is the promise, but how can it possibly be fulfilled? Assyrian’s armies are irresistable, far stronger than any other. But God promises “The voice of the LORD will shatter Assyria; with his rod he will strike them down.” (30:31)