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Kids Bible Blog: God’s word
X-ray Book
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Hebrews 4:12,13
TO CHEW ON: "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Hebrews 4:12
You have just fallen off your skate board. But even after you cleaned up your scraped arm it keeps hurting. Then it begins to swell. What do you do?- Take a pain pill to make the pain go away?- Wrap it in a sling and keep it very still?- Go to the doctor for an examination and an x-ray?
You may do the first two. But chances are if the pain doesn’t go away, you’ll do the last one too. Though a pill and keeping your arm still may help make the pain less for a little while, those things don’t tell you the reason for the pain so you can fix the cause.
An x-ray picture, on the other hand, will show the doctor what happened inside your arm. If it shows your arm is broken, the doctor can move the bone pieces back together (set it), and put your arm in a cast to protect it and help it...
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Tags: research people Hebrews God’s word
Wisdom Search
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Proverbs 2:1-15
TO CHEW ON: "For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding." Proverbs 2:6
In the Bible book of Proverbs we have many of Solomon’s wise sayings. They help us learn the wise thing to do in all kinds of times and places. Many proverbs are about speech. Others tell us how to treat people. Still others give advice on how to handle money and possessions.
Today’s reading in Proverbs 2 talks us about wisdom itself and explains where true wisdom is found. Where? Choose one (Proverbs 2:6)...
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Who Is Jesus?
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Colossians 1:13-20
TO CHEW ON: For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him. Colossians 1:19
You are a real person who lives on earth, right? Describe yourself:
Who are you?What do you look like?What have you done?
Jesus was a real person who lived on earth too. He could have written a description of himself much like yours. It could have told us about His family, what He looked like, where He went to school, what His grades were like, all the things He had learned to do.
"The Transfiguration" - Titian, 1560-1565
But Paul in Colossians 1 tells us that Jesus was and is far more than someone who just lived on earth a long time ago. Let’s build a description of Jesus....
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Tags: salvation prophecy Jesus good news God’s word God’s plan Colossians
Unpopular
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Jeremiah 26:1-15
TO CHEW ON: "As for me, I am in your hands; do with me whatever you think is good and right. Be assured, however, that if you put me to death, you will bring the guilt of innocent blood on yourselves and on this city and on those who live in it, for in truth the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.” Jeremiah 26:14,15
Josiah was dead. Jehoiakim, his son, was now king in his place. Jehoiakim didn’t follow his father’s ways. Quickly the country slipped back into sin.
One day early in Jehoiakim’s reign, God gave Jeremiah another assignment. “Stand just outside the temple,” He said, “and tell the people if you follow my laws and listen to my prophets with all your hearts, then I will change my mind about destroying this city. But if you don’t do these things, I will really destroy Jerusalem, just like I destroyed Shiloh.”
Jeremiah did what God said. But instead of listening and obeying, the priests and false prophets got angry. “How dare you say Jerusalem will be destroyed?” they asked. Soon the king’s officials arrived on the scene. “This man should be...
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Tags: prophecy peer pressure Judah Jeremiah God’s word God’s plan courage
Town of Birth: Bethlehem
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Micah 5:1-5
TO CHEW ON: "But you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be a ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times." Micah 5:2
Royally dressed strangers on camels were asking to see the king. “Bring them in!” Herod commanded. “What do you want?” he asked when they stood before him.
“Where is the king of the Jews? We have been following his star. It has led us this far and now we want to worship him.”
Herod called the priests and teachers. “Where is the king of Jews to be born?
“In Bethlehem,” they replied. And then they read these words from our reading today: "But you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be a ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times." They are words Micah had written 750 years earlier.
Micah’s prediction of where Jesus would be born came true. Jesus was born in Bethlehem. This fulfilled prophecy is another proof that the Bible is no ordinary book. Only God could know...
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The Majority Loses
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Jeremiah 14:13-16
TO CHEW ON: "Then the Lord said to me, 'The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds.'” Jeremiah 14:14
Have you ever been outvoted by the majority? Perhaps you were working on a project and most people in your group didn't like your idea. Or you had a suggestion for a family outing, but everyone else wanted to do something different.
It’s not fun when no one agrees with you and you have to stand alone. Jeremiah found that out when he gave God’s messages to the people of Judah. “Unless you change your ways, God will send plague, war and famine,” he said.
But other prophets said the opposite: “Don’t worry about war or shortages of food. There will be lasting peace.”
Of course the people liked the message of the other prophets more than the Jeremiah’s message. The people thought he was annoying and simply ignored him.
Jeremiah talked to God about this. God told him, “I haven’t sent those other prophets. They aren’t saying my words. They’re telling lies. As a...
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Tags: prophecy peer pressure Judah Jeremiah God’s word God’s plan courage
Temple Cleaning
TODAY’S SPECIAL: 2 Chronicles 29:1-11
TO CHEW ON: "He brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east side and said, 'Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the Lord, the God of your fathers. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary.'” 2 Chronicles 29:4,5
What are you most likely to do when your room gets messy?- clean it up- nothingWhen Hezekiah, Uzziah’s great-grandson became Judah’s king, one of the first things he did was a clean-up job, even though the mess wasn’t in his room and it was a mess he hadn’t made. In the first month of his reign King Hezekiah called together the priests and Levites and told them to clean up the temple.
The reasons for cleaning it up were more than that Hezekiah was a neat-freak. After thirty two years of being ruled by evil kings (his father Ahaz and his grandfather Jotham), Hezekiah knew there was a connection between worshiping God and having His blessing. He wanted God’s blessing more than anything. And so he told the priests and Levites to take everything that didn’t belong in the temple out so that they could again worship God...
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Tags: work temple project obedience Judah idols God’s word 2 Chronicles
Set Free by the Enemy
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Jeremiah 40:1-6
TO CHEW ON: "But today I am freeing you from the chains on your wrists. Come with me to Babylon, if you like, and I will look after you; but if you do not want to, then don’t come. Look, the whole country lies before you; go wherever you please." Jeremiah 40:4
The people from Jerusalem, bound and chained, had set out on the long march to Babylon. Jeremiah was with them. Then at Ramah a surprising thing happened. Nebuzaradan, a commander in the Babylonian army, found him.
“I know about your God and how this is a punishment for the sins of the people,” he said. “But today I’m going to set you free.”
With that he took the chains off Jeremiah’s hands and feet. “You can come with me,” he went on, “or go wherever you like in the country. If you stay here you might want to go to Mizpah. There Gedaliah is watching over everyone who is left.”
So Jeremiah went to live with Gedeliah. Again God had helped him. This time He had sent an enemy commander to set him free....
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Scroll Mail
TODAY’S SPECIAL:Romans 1:1-17
TO CHEW ON: "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle.... To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints.” (Romans 1:1, 7)
Paul spent a lot of time traveling from place to place telling people about Jesus. After people decided to follow Jesus, they wanted to spend time with other Jesus-followers. So they started churches.
Sometimes the baby Christians in these churches needed more teaching. Sometimes they had questions or there were problems. Because Paul couldn’t be everywhere at once, he helped these new churches by writing them letters (also called epistles). The book of Romans is such a letter."Romans" by Johann C. Weigel, 1695
These letters are a little different than the letters we write. They usually have the writer’s name at the beginning.This letter was written by 1.______________. (Romans 1:1).The people to whom the letter is addressed is further down. This letter was addressed to 2. ________________ (Romans 1:7)
In his letters, Paul does more than chat about the weather and what’s new in his life. In Romans he explains that everyone needs to be saved (chapters 1 & 2) and worship God, even those people who worship other gods or...
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Read the Book!
TODAY’S SPECIAL: 2 Timothy 3:14-17
TO CHEW ON: "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." 2 Timothy 3:16
Have you ever had a toy that needed putting together, or a complicated watch or camera? It came with an instruction book, right? That book had all the information you needed to put the toy together, to set the watch, or take photos with the camera. It’s a lot easier to understand how something works by reading the book than trying to figure it out yourself.
As Christians we have an instruction book too. It’s the Bible.
The Bible is no ordinary book. Though sections of it were written hundreds of years apart, and by many different people, it fits together and never gets outdated. Each part is necessary and useful in some way....
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Tags: wisdom truth Saul/Paul God’s word God’s help death choices advice 2 Timothy
Power of Words
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Isaiah 55:8-13
TO CHEW ON: "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,and do not return to it without watering the earthand making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty,but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:10,11
Words are funny little things. As marks on paper or a screen they can make us laugh or cry, tell us good news or bad, prove little things like we’ve passed the test or big things like we’re the citizens of a certain country.
Spoken words have a lot of power too. I’m sure you’ve heard the playground rhyme: “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” Do you believe it? I don’t! Because spoken words have the power to do a lot of things, including hurt us.
If we think human words have power, how much more God’s words. These are the thoughts and ideas...
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Tags: puzzle obedience Isaiah good news God’s word God’s plan
Not Guilty
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Romans 3:19-28
TO CHEW ON: "But now God has shown us another way to heaven. It is not by 'being good enough' and trying to keep his laws.... Now God says he will accept us and declare us 'not guilty.' He will do this if we trust Jesus Christ to take away our sins. We all can be saved by coming to Christ." Acts 3:21a,22a - Simplified Living Bible
Suppose you stood before God today and He asked you, “Why should I let you into heaven?” What would you say?
- I tried my hardest to be good.- I did more good things than bad things.- I doesn’t matter what I believed because I was sincere.- My heart is clean because the wrong things that I’ve done (sins), were paid for by Jesus when He died on the cross.
I hope your answer was the last one.
One of the things Paul explained to the Roman Christians was what Jesus’ death means to everyone who believes in Him.
Before Jesus came, God gave the Jewish people rules about how they were to relate to God and treat each other (the Ten Commandments). And He told them what to do if they broke those rules...
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Tags: Saul/Paul salvation Romans God’s word God’s plan consequences Acts
No Compromise
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Daniel 1:8-20
TO CHEW ON: "But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way." Daniel 1:8
“Can you please change the diet of me and my friends?” Daniel asked the guard. “We’d like to have vegetables and water instead of the king’s rich food.”
“You’re asking a dangerous thing,” the guard replied. “The king will have my head when the four of you look weak and get sick.
Daniel was taking a big chance by asking this favor from the guard in Nebuchadnezzar’s court. He and his three friends were Hebrew boys from Judah. They no longer lived at home but were exiles and servants in Babylon. The four boys were in special training to serve the king himself.
But Daniel was determined. He knew that the royal food was not prepared the way God had commanded in the law. He wanted to honor and obey God every way he could....
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Life’s Opposites
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Ecclesiastes 3:1-15
TO CHEW ON: "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end." Ecclesiastes 3:11
From earliest times, thinking people have asked hard questions. Questions like:
- Why is this world and the universe here?- Why am I here?- Is this life all there is?
Ecclesiastes is a book that explores such things. Though the author of Ecclesiastes isn’t named, many people think Solomon wrote it when he was an old man. In Ecclesiastes the writer describes what he has seen in his life. Then he tells us lessons we can learn....
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Tags: wisdom Solomon problems God’s word God’s plan Ecclesiastes drawing
Jehoshaphat - Teacher King
TODAY’S SPECIAL: 2 Chronicles 17:1-10
TO CHEW ON: “They (Jehoshaphat’s officials, Levites and priests) taught throughout Judah, taking with them the Book of the Law of the Lord; they went around to all the towns of Judah and taught the people.” 2 Chronicles 17:9
How did you learn: to read, to do math, to play an instrument, science, nature and history?Cross out the one thing below that didn’t help:
1. By listening to teachers explain.2. By practicing what you learned.3. By someone telling you to learn these things.4. By watching DVDs.5. By memorizing and preparing for tests.6. By reading.
There are many things we can do to help us learn things. But simply having someone else tell us to do it (#3 above), isn’t enough.
King Jehoshaphat knew that. When he became king after his father King Asa died, he was careful to do everything he could to obey God. But he knew that for God to bless his nation, the citizens needed to follow God too. So he did more than simply tell them to follow God. He taught them God’s law and showed them how to obey it....
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Tags: leaders Judah God’s word 2 Chronicles
Isaiah Predicts Jesus’ Birth
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Isaiah 9:1-7
TO CHEW ON: "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6
Have you ever been in pitch black darkness? If you’ve turned on a flashlight to find your way at night, or lit a candle when the electricity went out, you know how even a tiny light pushes the dark aside. Isaiah’s prediction about a wonderful child who would be born was such a ray of light in a dark time.
This child would bring light. His names would be Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. He would be from David’s family. And His kingdom would last forever.
Has this prediction come true? Yes – in the birth of Jesus.- Jesus is the light: John 8:12- the Spirit of Jesus is called Counselor: John 14:16- Jesus is God: Hebrews 1:3- Jesus and the Father are one: John 14:7-10- Jesus is from David’s family: Matthew 1:1- Jesus’ kingdom will never end: Luke 1:32,33
In this engraving from the 1800s, artist Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld illustrated some of the things...
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I’m Not Allowed
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Luke 4: 1-13
TO CHEW ON: "Jesus answered, 'It is written ...' ... Jesus answered, 'It is written ...' ... Jesus answered, 'It says ...'” Luke 4: 4, 8, 12
Has this ever happened to you? Your friends are getting involved in an illegal or dangerous activity. Your parents have forbidden you to join in. One day your friends really put big pressure on you to join them. But you don’t want to. What is the best thing for you to do?- Discuss and argue with your friends about why it’s not a good activity?- Simply tell them, “ My parents say I’m not allowed”?
The last way is a bit like what Jesus did.
After Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit led Him into the desert. There He stayed by Himself for days, fasting (not eating).
"Christ in the Wilderness" by Ivan Kramskoy - 1873
But He wasn’t alone. For Satan was with Him, tempting Him to sin. After forty days, when Jesus was famished with hunger, Satan’s temptation was especially strong. “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread,” he said....
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Tags: temptation Satan Luke Jesus God’s word
Heart Idols
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Ezekiel 14:1-6
TO CHEW ON: “Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all? Ezekiel 14:3
The Israelites in exile soon discovered that Ezekiel heard from God. They came to him often to find out if God had something to say to them. One day when some of Israel’s leaders had come to Ezekiel in this way, God gave him private information about them.
“These men have idols in their hearts,” God told Ezekiel. “Tell them, ‘Don’t think I am going to give you messages from Me knowing all the while you are worshiping something else. You need to get rid of these idols before I will tell you anything.’”
In the past the people of Israel had worshiped actual idol statues. Here God showed that idols don’t have to be physical things at all. They could be anything people admired, or trusted in, or relied on more than God. Even though these people may not have been going to actual shrines and praying to figurines, the idols were there just the same in the attitude of their hearts....
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God Comes Near
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Nehemiah 8:1-18
TO CHEW ON: "Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it the people stood up. Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted up their hands and responded, 'Amen! Amen!' Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground." Nehemiah 8:5,6
The wall was finished. It was time to celebrate! But instead of a lively party, the people gathered in the square at the Water Gate and asked Ezra to read the law.
They had just been part of an amazing project. They had seen how God had helped and protected them. Now they wanted to know how to keep pleasing Him.
Ezra stood on a high platform with the people all around. As soon as he opened the book, everyone stood up. After he praised God, the people raised their hands and said, “Amen! Amen!” and bowed to the ground in worship.
Then Ezra began reading. Nehemiah and the priests and Levites joined him on stage. From time to time they explained what the reading meant. Soon there was a sound of sobbing from the crowd, then weeping,...
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Get Out of Jail Free
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Isaiah 61:1-3
TO CHEW ON: "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners," Isaiah 61:1
If you’ve ever played Monopoly, you’ll know that if you get sent to “Jail” there are consequences. You must miss your turn. You don’t get to move around the game board like the other players. By the time you’re free again, all the best properties may be bought by others. Unless you have a “Get out of jail free” card. Then you get to go free!
The way Isaiah described the deliverer or Messiah who would come someday sounds a lot like a “Get out of jail free” card. As well as bringing good news to the poor and comfort to the brokenhearted, the promise was that He would free captives and release prisoners.Hundreds of years later, Jesus was about to give His first sermon. In front of the gathered listeners He started by opening the scroll of Isaiah...
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Tags: salvation prophecy Judah Jesus Isaiah good news God’s word forgiveness
Finding a Special Book
TODAY’S SPECIAL: 2 Chron 34:14-19 & 31
TO CHEW ON: "Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, 'Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.' And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king. When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his robes." 2 Chronicles 34:18,19
When King Josiah turned sixteen something changed. Perhaps after being king for eight years he realized what a hard job it was. Maybe he wished he had help and wanted to be sure that God was on his side. He may have asked, which god? For the people in Judah worshiped many gods.
Perhaps he remembered his grandfather, King Manasseh, and thought of how he had smashed the idols and taken down the Asherah poles after he got back from prison. Then he had told everyone to worship the unseen God of the temple.
However it came about, over the next four years, Josiah took down every altar and high place and pole connected with idol worship. Then he decided to clean up the temple too. He put the priests and Levites to work. One day as they were clearing out garbage, they found a book. It was the book of the...
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Fake Friendship
TODAY’S SPECIAL: 2 Chronicles 24:17-25
TO CHEW ON: "After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them. They abandoned the temple of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols." 2 Chronicles 24:17,18
Though Joel warned King Joash that bad things would happen if he didn’t return to God, he refused to change his ways. When Jehoiada’s son Zechariah warned him too, he killed Zechariah. After that things quickly fell apart.
Soon a small enemy army from Aram easily defeated Joash’s large army. In the end, Joash’s own servants murdered him in revenge for murdering Zechariah. Though Joash started out well, he ended badly.
The change in Joash came after Priest Jehoiada died. This man who saved his life had been just like a father to him. He encouraged Joash and helped him to follow God. But it seems Joash didn’t know God himself. For as soon as Jehoiada was gone, Joash turned away from God....
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Tags: prayer Judah God’s word God’s presence friendship 2 Chronicles
Dressed for War
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Ephesians 6:10-18
TO CHEW ON: "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes." Ephesians 6:11
Why would anyone choose to wear a hot bullet-proof vest, a stiff camouflage uniform, a heavy helmet, weighty steel-toed boots, an uncomfortable gas mask and on top of all that carry a cumbersome weapon and ammunition? Only someone who needed a lot of protection - like a soldier in war.
Everything a soldier wears helps protect him from the enemy. His camouflage uniform makes it easy for him to hide. His helmet, vest and boots protect his head, chest and feet. His gas mask filters out poison or germs from the air. His weapon helps him defend himself or even take more land for his country.
Christians have to be just as prepared to fight against the devil. But what exactly are we fighting against? (Ephesians 6:12) We are not fighting against a]_____ but against the b]_____, against the c]_____ against the d]_____ and against the e]_____....
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Tags: truth Saul/Paul salvation God’s word God’s help faith Ephesians
Book Burning
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Jeremiah 36:1-26
TO CHEW ON: "The king and all his attendants who heard all these words showed no fear, nor did they tear their clothes." Jeremiah 36:24
“I’m sure the people will change their ways when they hear all this,” Baruch said, as he put the final touches on the scroll.
God had told Jeremiah many months before to try another way to get the people to listen. “You write down all the things I’ve told you,” God told him. “Then read them to the people. When they hear about the judgments that are coming, surely they’ll change their ways.”
Jeremiah had hired Baruch as his secretary. He had spoken the things God had said to him, while Baruch wrote them on a scroll. It was slow work and took a long time. But finally they were done.
On a day when many people were in Jerusalem, Baruch read Jeremiah’s words at the crowded temple courtyard. Micaiah heard them. He hurried to a room where the king’s officials were gathered. “You’ve got to hear this!” he told them.
They invited Baruch to read Jeremiah’s scroll. After he finished they said, “This is serious. We’d better make sure the king hears this!”
On a cold winter...
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Tags: true/false rebellion prophecy Judah Jeremiah God’s word disobedience
Between the Old and New Testaments
We have now driven right through the Old Testament part of the Bible! In the next four months Bible Drive-Thru will take you through the New.
(The September 1 devotion - "Surprise" begins our trip through the New Testatment.)
About 400 years passed between the time when Nehemiah rebuilt the Jerusalem wall (the end of the Old Testament) and when Jesus was born (the beginning of the New Testatment). Here are some of the main events that happened between the Old and New Testaments.
423 B.C. - Nehemiah, the last Old Testament character we read about, wrote his story in about 423 before Christ (B.C.). Judah was then a province of Persia. For another 100 years Judah lived under tolerant Persian kings.
336 B.C. – Meanwhile Greece was becoming strong. In 336 B.C. a young Greek soldier named Alexander the Great led a fierce army. He quickly gained control of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon and Persia. When he invaded Palestine in 332 B.C. he spared Jerusalem and was kind to the Jewish people.
"Alexander the Great in the Temple of Jerusalem" by Sebastiano Conca, 1750
323 B.C. – After Alexander the Great died, his four army generals divided the lands he had conquered. Judah was ruled by...
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Tags: God’s word God’s plan
A Special People
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Obadiah 1:-10
TO CHEW ON: "Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame; you will be destroyed forever." Obadiah 1:10
Do you have brothers and/or sisters with whom you quarrel? Arguments and quarrels between siblings are common. Bible brothers and sisters had their differences too.
Take Jacob and Esau. Though they were twins, they were always competing against each other. Jacob tricked Esau into giving him the birthright (the inheritance that belonged to Esau as the oldest). Then he tricked Isaac, their father, into blessing him instead of Esau. This made Esau so angry, he threatened to kill Jacob. So Jacob left home.
"Isaac and Esau" Fresco painting by Raphael (1518-1519)
Over the years the descendants of Esau became the nation of Edom. Jacob’s descendants became Israel. But there was no more love between the nations of Edom and Israel than there had been between their great-great-great-... grandfathers....
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Tags: prophecy Obadiah Israel God’s word God’s plan God’s care
A New Start
TODAY'S SPECIAL: 2 Kings 23:19-25
TO CHEW ON: "Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did – with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses." 2 Kings 23:25
“Everybody come to the temple. King Josiah has called a special meeting.” Quickly word traveled from house to house. When everyone had gathered, Josiah opened the book that the priests had found. He read aloud all the laws God had given Moses. Then in front of all the people he promised God that he would keep these laws for the rest of his life.
After he had dismissed everyone, he got to work.
Wherever there was an idol, he told his servants to smash it. Wherever there was an Asherah pole, he commanded it be taken down. Wherever there were altars, he broke them. He took down statues that had been dedicated to the sun god and made sure every dish, goblet, utensil or piece of furniture that had been used to worship an idol was taken out of the temple....
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A Book Like No Other
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Psalm 19:1-14
TO CHEW ON: "By them your servant is warned and in keeping them there is great reward." Psalm 19:11
What is your favorite book? Why do you like it?
If we could have asked David what his favorite book was, I’m sure he would have said, “God’s Word” – even though books in those days were rolled up strips of parchment or animal skin called scrolls, and even though God’s Word wasn’t the Bible we now have.
When David lived, God’s Word was made up mainly of the writings of Moses. They are our books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
1. David called God’s Word by many different names. What names does he call it in Psalm 19?
2. What words does David use in Psalm 19 to describe and praise God’s Word?
After David tried to bring the ark to Jerusalem and Uzzah was killed, he could go back to God’s Word. There he could read how the ark was supposed to be carried. If he took God’s warnings seriously, he could grow wise and avoid making the same mistake again....
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Tags: wisdom Psalms obedience God’s word David
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Doctrinal
Statement
Instructions
Popular Bible Maps
The Journey of Abraham
Moses and the Exodus
Joshua and the Land
The Kingdom of David
The Kingdom of Solomon
Israel in Jesus' Time
Paul's First Journey
The Land of Israel
The Land of Egypt
The Land of Assyria
The Land of Babylon
The Land of Persia
The Land of Greece
The City of Rome
Noah's Ark and Mt. Ararat
The Tower of Babel
The Old Testament World
The New Testament World
Ancient Empires
Moses and the 10 Plagues
Ancient Peoples
The 10 Commandments
The 12 Tribes of Israel
The Ministry of Jesus
Bible Stories with Maps
Daniel in the Lions Den
David and Goliath
Baby Moses
Jesus and the Little Children
Coloring Book Images
Coloring Book
Donkey
Camel
Lamb
Noah's Ark
Noah's 3 Sons
Abraham
Sheep
Lion