Tag Archives: Obstinate

Well of Mud

163 – Well of Mud

2 Chronicles 36:15-21 2 Kings 25:3-21 Jeremiah 32:1-33:26 38:1-40:6 52:1-34

Stories 159 – 164 happened during the life and ministry of Jeremiah, the prophet.

The Lord gave Jeremiah a message for the people. He said, “The choice is yours. You can have life or death. If you stay in Jerusalem, you’ll suffer hunger, disease, and death. If you surrender to the Babylonian army, you’ll live. I’ve given this city to them, and they’ll totally destroy it.”

When the officials of Judah heard this, they went to the king and said, “This man must die. He’s a traitor. He’s telling people to abandon us.” 

So Zedekiah allowed them to do what they wanted with Jeremiah. They put ropes around him and let him down into an empty well. It didn’t have water in it, but instead the bottom was nothing but mud. Soon the prophet had sunk down into the mud.

Another official ran to the king and said, “This is wrong! The prophet will die in that well. He has no food or water.”

The king gave permission for the man to pull Jeremiah out of the well. So he got 30 other men to help him. They threw old rags down the well and told the prophet to put these under his arms to protect him from the ropes. They then pulled him out of the well and took him back to the palace prison.

The Babylonians kept the city under siege for two and a half years. Finally they broke through the walls and took the city. When Zedekiah heard this, he got out of Jerusalem during the night and tried to escape.

The Babylonians chased after the king and soon caught him. They brought him back to Nebuchadnezzar. He took Zedekiah and made him watch as they killed his sons in front of him. They then gouged out his eyes, put him in chains, and led him away to Babylon.

The Babylonians totally destroyed the city so it could never again resist them. They destroyed the Temple, burned all the houses, and broke down the walls. The city was totally demolished. The Babylon army took the rest of the people away to Babylon, leaving only a few to tend the land.

Nebuchadnezzar heard about Jeremiah, so he told his captain, “Find this man, and make sure he isn’t hurt. He’s to be cared for and given whatever he wants.”

The captain went and found the prophet. He was in chains along with the others who were being sent into exile. The captain took the chains off Jeremiah and said, “You’re free to go. If you come to Babylon with us, we’ll take care of you and meet your needs for the rest of your life. But if you want, you can stay here in Judah. The choice is yours.”

Jeremiah said he would stay in Judah, so they allowed him and Baruch to go back to their homes. The Lord also protected the official that had helped the prophet get out of the well.

The Lord said to Jeremiah, “The day will come when I’ll raise up a righteous Branch from the line of David, and He’ll bring justice and righteousness to the land. He’ll be called, ‘The Lord our Righteousness.’ ”

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Jerusalem Under Siege

162 – Jerusalem Under Siege

2 Chronicles 36:10-16 2 Kings 24:18 – 25:2 Jeremiah 37:1-21

Stories 159 – 164 happened during the life and ministry of Jeremiah, the prophet.

Nebuchadnezzar had made Zedekiah king of Judah. After he had been king for nine years, he rebelled against Babylon. He thought Egypt would help him. Jeremiah said, “If you do this, the king of Babylon will totally destroy Jerusalem.”

Zedekiah didn’t listen to the prophet, so Nebuchadnezzar brought his army and circled the city, not letting anyone in or out. Zedekiah asked Jeremiah to pray and ask God for help. Suddenly the Egyptian army came up from the south. With that, the Babylon army moved away from Jerusalem. 

The Lord sent a message to Zedekiah. “Here’s what I am going to do. Pharaoh’s army will return to Egypt. Babylon will come back and burn this city to the ground. You can’t stop them. Even if your army went out and defeated them, leaving only a few wounded men alive, those few men would get up, come into the city, and burn it to the ground.”

Jeremiah decided to go outside the city walls and look at some property he owned. A guard saw him walking out of the city gate. He said, “You’re going to the Babylonian army.”

The prophet said, “No, I’d never do that.” But the guard didn’t believe him, and took him to the city officials. They were furious with him and had him beaten and put in a dungeon. He stayed there a long time.

Soon the Babylonians came back and once again encircled the city. Zedekiah secretly sent for Jeremiah, and brought him to the palace. The king said, “Do you have a message from the Lord?”

Jeremiah said, “Yes I do. He says, ‘You’ll be defeated by the Babylonians.’ ”

Then the prophet said to the king, “Don’t send me back to that dungeon. I’ll die if you do. What have I done? Everything I’ve said has come true. Where are the prophets who said Babylon wouldn’t return? I beg you. Don’t send me back.”

So King Zedekiah gave the command that Jeremiah wasn’t to go back to the dungeon. He was kept in the palace prison, where he received better care.

Soon there was no food in the city because the Babylonians had stopped everything from going in or out. The rulers of Jerusalem sent a message to Jeremiah. “Please, pray and ask God to deliver us! Perhaps he will give us a miracle like he’s done in the past.”

The Lord sent a message back to them, “No! I won’t deliver you. I’m the one fighting against you. I’ve given you to the king of Babylon. You’ll suffer hunger, disease and plagues. People and animals will die. Those who live through this will be given to the Babylonians.”

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Burning the Book

160 – Burning the Book

Jeremiah 26:1-24 36:1-32 II Chronicles 36:1-23 2 Kings 23:31 – 25:30

Stories 159 – 164 happened during the life and ministry of Jeremiah, the prophet.

Jeremiah had been prophesying for 23 years when Jehoiakim became king. Judah was under the control of Egypt and the king paid them high taxes year after year.

God told Jeremiah to go to the Temple and tell the people to repent or the Temple would become ruins. After he was done preaching, the priest and prophets grabbed him saying, “We’re going to kill you. How dare you come and speak these things in the name of the Lord!” 

The officials of Judah defended Jeremiah saying, “He has a right to speak in the name of the Lord. Set him free.” They let him go, but told him he couldn’t come back to the Temple.

The Lord told Jeremiah, “Write a book of all the things I’ve told you about the coming judgment on Judah and Jerusalem.”

Jeremiah sent for Baruch, his scribe, and dictated to him everything the Lord had said. When they were done, the prophet said, “I’m not allowed to go to the Temple, so go there and read this book to the people.”

Baruch went and read the book in the Temple. Officials of the king heard about the book and asked him to read it to them. When he was done, the officials were afraid. They said, “The king needs to hear this.”

They told the scribe, “We’re taking this book to the king. You and Jeremiah hide, and don’t tell anyone where you’ve gone.”

They took the book to King Jehoiakim, and he allowed it to be read to him. Because it was winter, he was sitting in front of a fire. Every time a portion of the book was read, he cut that part out and threw it into the fire. His officials asked him not to do this, but he kept doing it anyway until the entire book was gone.

Everyone in the room heard the book, but no one ripped his clothes or was afraid. Jehoiakim then gave the order to imprison Jeremiah and his scribe, but God protected them.

The Lord said to Jeremiah, “Write another book, just like the one that was burned. Also, give this message to King Jehoiakim. ‘You burned the book because you didn’t want anyone talking about how Babylon will destroy Jerusalem. Here’s what will happen to you. Your dead body won’t be buried, but will rot in the open sun. Also, the throne of David will be taken away from your descendants.’ ”

Jeremiah dictated the book once more and Baruch wrote it down. As time went by, he added more to it.

Jeremiah told the people of Judah, “Babylon will come and destroy this city and take you into captivity. You’ll be there for seventy years. After that, God will bring your children back to this land.”

God sent a special message to Baruch. “You’re concerned about what will happen to you. You bear the burden of being a scribe for God’s prophet. Don’t worry. I’ll spare your life when I destroy this city. I’ll be with you wherever you go.”

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Ahaz

150 – Ahaz

2 Chronicles 28:1-27 II Kings 16:1-20 Isaiah 7:1-25

Ahaz was 20 years old when he became king of Judah. Unlike his father and grandfather, he didn’t follow the Lord. He started the worship of Baal in Jerusalem, and even practiced the ritual of child sacrifice.

The Lord became angry and allowed the kings of Israel and Syria to march against Judah. During this invasion, the prophet Isaiah went to king Ahaz with a message from the Lord. “Look to the Lord and ask a sign of him.” Ahaz refused! The Lord gave him a sign anyway to show that God would protect the house of David. He said a day would come when a virgin would become pregnant and give birth to a son. He would be called “God with us.”

The invasion against Judah was intense, but the Lord didn’t allow Israel and Syria to capture Jerusalem. Still, their armies killed 120,000 men, and the army of Israel took 200,000 women and children as slaves. They marched them back to Israel.

When they came to Samaria, a prophet of the Lord came out to meet them. He said, “The Lord gave Israel victory over Judah because he was angry with them. But God is not pleased with you because you went too far. You slaughtered their people and took their women and children as slaves. Take them back to Judah now! If you don’t, the Lord will strike you in anger, just as he did Judah.”

This made the people of Israel afraid. Their leaders said to the army, “Don’t bring those people here! We don’t want to make God more angry with us than he already is.”

So, the people of Israel used the spoils of Judah to provide for their captives. They gave them clothes and attended to their medical needs. They gave everyone food and drink. Once the captives were cared for, they took them to Jericho, and even provided donkeys for those who were weak. After the captives were safely in the care of their own people, the Israelites went back to Samaria.

Ahaz sent gold and silver to the king of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. He said, “I’ll be your loyal servant if you rescue us from Syria and Israel.”

Assyria responded by attacking Syria and totally destroyed their nation and sent most of their people into exile. Ahaz went to Syria to meet with the king of Nineveh. While he was there, he saw a special altar he liked, and sent plans back to Jerusalem so his craftsmen could build one like it.

It was finished by the time the king got back to Jerusalem. He took many of the things from inside the Temple and started to use them with his new altar. He then closed the doors of the Temple so that no one could go inside to worship.

Ahaz’s troubles continued. All the nations around him attacked Jerusalem and took whatever they wanted. He once again asked Assyria for help, but they refused.

Ahaz still didn’t turn to the Lord. Instead, he kept trying to find another god who would help him. Finally, he died and his son Hezekiah became king.

In time, Hezekiah became one of the greatest kings of Judah.

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Uzziah

149 – Uzziah

2 Chronicles 26:1-27:9 & 2 Kings 15:1-7 15:32-38

When Amaziah died, the people made his son, Uzziah, king. He was 16 years old and served as king for 52 years. God gave him great success because he followed the Lord and wanted to please him.

Uzziah did many wonderful works. He defeated the enemies of Judah and was known far and wide as a powerful king. He restored Jerusalem and strengthened the other cities of Judah. He loved the soil, so he excelled in farm activities. He provided for his army so that every man was well equipped for battle. He invented the catapult, so he could throw large stones from the walls of Jerusalem.

One day, King Uzziah was feeling proud of his accomplishments and his dedication to God. He decided to go into the Temple and burn the incense himself, instead of letting the priest do it. The high priest suddenly realized what he was about to do. He got 80 other priests and went in the Temple so they could stop the king from doing this.

He said, “Uzziah, this is wrong! God made it clear that only a descendant of Aaron is allowed to offer incense to the Lord. Please, leave right now! You’re not honoring God in this.”

Uzziah became angry as he stood next to the altar with the censer in his hand. He couldn’t believe all the priests were so bold as to confront him on this. Suddenly leprosy appeared on his forehead. All of the priests saw it and rushed him out of the Temple. He willingly went with them because he knew the Lord was punishing him.

Uzziah had leprosy for the rest of his life. He had to stay away from other people, so he lived in isolation. Because of the leprosy, he wasn’t allowed to go into the Temple. He couldn’t even go into his own palace. His son Jotham lived there and ruled the people in the king’s stead.

Jotham became king after his father died. He followed the example of his father’s early years. He continued to build up the kingdom of Judah. He did what was right and became a powerful king.

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Thistle & The Cedar

148 – The Thistle and The Cedar

II Chronicles 25:1-28 II Kings 14:1-22

After Joash died, Amaziah became king of Judah. He started off as a good king, and followed the Lord for many years.

Eventually, he decided to attack Edom and bring them under his control. He organized an army of 300,000 soldiers. He then hired another 100,000 soldiers from Israel and paid them four tons of silver.

A man of God came with a message. “Don’t use soldiers from Israel. If you do, God will make sure you lose the battle.” 

The king said, “But what about the money I already paid them?”

The prophet said, “Don’t worry about that money. God is able to give you much more than that.”

So the king told the soldiers of Israel to go home. They became angry. Along the way they raided several cities of Judah and killed over 3,000 people.

While this was going on, the army of Judah marched south toward Edom. They won the battle and regained control over them. Unfortunately, Amaziah brought the gods of Edom back to Judah. He set them up and started worshiping them.

The Lord became angry and sent a prophet to speak to the king. “Why would you worship gods that weren’t able to protect their own people from your army?”

Before he could say any more, Amaziah said, “Stop talking! You’re not one of my counselors. Leave or I’ll have you killed.”

The prophet said, “Because you won’t listen to God’s message, he is going to punish you.”

So the Lord put in Amaziah’s heart the desire to go to war against Israel. The king sent a message to king Jehoash saying, “Come out and face me in battle.”

Jehoash sent a story back to Amaziah. He said, “A thistle sent a message to the cedar tree. He said, ‘I want to arrange a marriage between my son and your daughter.’ Suddenly an animal accidentally stepped on the thistle and crushed it.”

“Don’t be like the thistle. You had a good victory with Edom. Enjoy it, but don’t let pride lift you up. Stay home, because if you come after me, Judah will fall.”

God made sure Amaziah didn’t listen to this. The two armies went into battle and Judah was totally defeated. Their army ran from the battlefield.

Jehoash captured Amaziah and then took Jerusalem. Israel broke down 600 feet of the wall of Jerusalem. They took all the gold and silver from the Temple and the king’s palace.

Jehoash left Amaziah in Jerusalem and went back to Samaria. A group of men tried to kill Amaziah, but he escaped to another city. They hunted him down, and killed him there.

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Jonah & the Vine

147 – Jonah & the Vine

Jonah 3:1-4:11

Once again, God said to Jonah, “Leave right now and go to Nineveh. You’re to tell them I’m going to judge them because of their wickedness.” This time, Jonah immediately got up and went to Nineveh.

The city of Nineveh was extremely large. It took three days to walk from one side to the other. So Jonah started his walk across the city. He shouted, “God is going to destroy this city in 40 days!” 

The people of the city heard him preach and believed that what he said was true. They passed a law that said everyone was to fast—no exceptions. Everyone was to go without food, and they were to wear burlap sacks. They prayed and asked God to be merciful to them.

The king stepped down from his throne and laid aside his royal robes. He put on burlap sacks and sat on a pile of ashes. He sent out another law that said, “No one is to taste any food or water. That includes animals as well. Everyone is to wear burlap sacks, and stop any evil they are doing. Maybe God will change his mind and allow us to live.”

The Lord saw all they were doing. He knew they had turned away from their wickedness, so he stopped the judgment that was about to kill them and destroy their city.

Jonah was furious when he heard about this. He said, “I told you this would happen! I knew you were a merciful God. I knew you were quick to forgive. That’s exactly why I didn’t want to come here. That’s why I ran away. Kill me right now. I don’t want to live.”

The Lord said, “Do you think it’s right to be so angry about this?”

Jonah didn’t answer, but went to the east side of the city. He made a small shelter so he could sit and see exactly what God was going to do with the city.

While he was sitting there, God caused a vine to grow up next to him. The vine had large leaves, which provided shade from the hot sun. Jonah was pleased with the plant, and enjoyed the shade it provided.

The next morning, God caused a worm to attack the vine and kill it. As the sun got hot, the plant withered. Then God caused a hot east wind to blow on Jonah. As the day went by, the sun and the wind got hotter and hotter, and there was no vine to protect him. Jonah cried, “I don’t want to live anymore. I want to die!”

God said to him, “Is it right to be angry about the vine?”

“Yes, it’s right for me to be angry. I’m so mad I want to die.”

The Lord said, “You’re angry about a simple vine. You didn’t plant it. You didn’t water it. It came up one day and died the next.

“Shouldn’t I also care for the people of this city? If for no other reason, there are over 120,000 children living here, not to mention all the animals.”

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Jonah & the Fish

146 – Jonah & the Fish

Jonah 1:1-2:10

The Lord said to Jonah the prophet, “Leave right now and go to Nineveh. You’re to tell them I’m going to judge them because of their wickedness.”

Jonah knew that God was merciful and would forgive Nineveh if they repented. He didn’t want that, so he ran away from God’s will and went to the seaport town called Joppa. He bought a ticket and got on a ship going to Tarshish. He wanted to get far away from God’s will so there would be no possibility of Nineveh’s repenting.

Once the ship was out to sea, God sent a violent storm to hit it. The sailors were terrified because the storm was about to destroy their boat and drown them. They threw their cargo overboard to lighten the load. When that didn’t help, they prayed to their various gods. While all of this was going on, Jonah was fast asleep down in the hold of the boat.

The captain woke him up and said, “How can you sleep? We’re about to die. Get up and pray to your god.”

Eventually the sailors figured out that this storm was directed at only one person on the ship. They cast lots to see who it was. The results showed that Jonah was the reason for their troubles. They said, “Who are you, and what have you done?”

He said, “I serve the Lord God, who made the sea and the dry ground. But I’m running away from him.” Suddenly the storm got worse! The men screamed at Jonah, “What should we do to you to calm the storm?”

Jonah yelled back, “God only wants one thing, and the storm won’t stop until He gets it. You’re to grab me and throw me overboard.”

The men didn’t want to kill an innocent man, so they worked even harder to fight against the storm and get to land. Finally they realized they couldn’t fight God. They cried out to the Lord and asked him for mercy for what they were about to do. They then grabbed Jonah and threw him overboard.

Immediately, the storm stopped! The men were shocked at the power of God. They fell to the deck and worshiped the Lord and vowed to serve only him.

God had a large fish waiting for Jonah as he went into the water. The fish immediately swallowed him, and he stayed in the fish’s stomach for three days.

Jonah prayed and acknowledged that it was God who put him in the fish. He finally said, “I’ll give you what you want. I’ll thank you for your will, and do what you want me to do.”

With that, the Lord spoke to the fish. It went to land and vomited Jonah onto the shore.

Continued in the next story

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Naaman

136 – Naaman

II Kings 5:1-14

Naaman was the commander of the Syrian army. He was a brave warrior and led his men to win many victories. His king considered him a great man. During one of their wars with Israel, he captured a young girl and brought her back to be a servant for his wife.

In time, Naaman realized he had leprosy, a crippling disease of the skin. The young slave girl said, “I wish my master could go to Israel. They have a prophet who’s able to heal people, even those with leprosy.” 

Naaman told this to the king. Immediately, the king made preparations to send Naaman to the king of Israel. He sent gifts of gold, silver, and fine clothes along with a letter saying, “I’m sending my servant Naaman so you can cure him of leprosy.”

The king of Israel was shocked when he read the letter. He ripped his clothes and yelled, “Who does he think I am? I’m not God. I can’t cure people of leprosy! He’s trying to start a war with me.”

Elisha heard about this and sent a message to the king. “Why are you ripping your clothes? Send the man to me so he’ll know there’s a prophet in Israel.”

So Naaman and his men rode to the prophet’s house and stood outside. Elisha sent his servant Gehazi out with this message. “Go down to the Jordan River and wash seven times. After you’re done, you’ll be healed of leprosy.”

Naaman couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He became furious and stormed away. He said, “A true prophet would come out and stand in front of me. He’d pray to the Lord and wave his hand over my skin. If I thought washing in a river would help, I’d bathe in one of the beautiful rivers of Syria—not a dirty river like the Jordan.”

His servants said to him, “My father, if the prophet had asked you to do something hard, you would’ve done it. But he told you to do something easy—wash and be clean.”

So Naaman went to the Jordan River and dipped into it seven times. Suddenly his skin was healed just as the prophet said it would be. In fact, it was like the skin of a young boy.

Continued in the next story

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Jehoshaphat & Ahab

129 – Jehoshaphat & Ahab

I Kings 22:1-53 II Chronicles 17:1 – 19:3

After Asa died, his son Jehoshaphat became king of Judah. The Lord was with him, and he followed the example of King David.

The first thing he did was make the nation more secure. He also set up an educational program so people could understand God’s Laws. The Lord made the surrounding nations fear Jehoshaphat, so they didn’t want to go to war with him.

The king decided to build an alliance with the kingdom of Israel. So he arranged a marriage between his son and the daughter of King Ahab.

Jehoshaphat then went to Samaria to make the alliance stronger. Ahab said to him, “I’m going to fight a battle. Come with me and we’ll do it together.”

Jehoshaphat said, “I’m willing to go if it’s God’s will, so let’s ask a prophet.”

Ahab sent for his 400 prophets. He said, “Should we go into this battle?”

They said, “Yes! Go fight because God will give you victory.”

King Jehoshaphat said, “I want to hear from a prophet of the Lord. Don’t you have one in Israel?”

Ahab said, “Well yes. We have one. But I hate to call him because he only says bad things about me. He’s always talking about judgment.”

Jehoshaphat said, “Still, I want to hear from him.”

So Ahab said to his guards, “Go get Micaiah and bring him here.”

As the guards brought the prophet in, they told him, “Everyone else is saying good things about the king’s plans. So go along with them.”

He said, “As there is a God in heaven, I’ll say what the Lord tells me to say.”

When King Ahab saw Micaiah, he said, “Tell me. Should I lead my army into this battle, or should I stay home?”

Micaiah said, “Oh, you should definitely go. You’ll be successful.”

Ahab glared at him, “I’ve told you over and over. Always tell me the truth. What does the Lord really say about this battle?”

Micaiah said, “I see Israel scattered like sheep without a shepherd. Their master is dead.”

Ahab turned to Jehoshaphat. “See I told you. He only says bad things about me.”

Micaiah said, “Hear the Word of the Lord. I saw God sitting among his angels. He said, ‘How shall I get King Ahab to go to this battle?’ The angels had various ideas. Then one spirit said, ‘I can make him go. I’ll become a lying spirit in the mouth of his prophets. He’ll believe them and go into the battle.’ So, that’s what he did. Listen, the Lord wants you at that battle.”

One of Ahab’s prophets walked over and slapped Micaiah. Ahab yelled at his guards, “Put this man in prison. Give him nothing but bread and water until I come back from battle.”

Micaiah yelled at the crowd, “Everyone listen and remember. I’m not a prophet of God if the king returns from this battle.”

Both kings went to the battlefield. Once they were there, Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “You can wear your royal robes, but I’ll disguise myself as a common soldier.”

The battle was fierce. The opposing army was focused on killing Ahab, but they couldn’t find him. At one point, they thought King Jehoshaphat was Ahab. But once they realized they were mistaken, they turned away from him.

Finally, a man shot an arrow into the air without aiming. It hit Ahab at a joint in his armor. He yelled, “Take me off of the battlefield. I’m wounded.” 

Ahab watched the battle propped up in his chariot. He died as the sun set in the west.

They took his body back to Samaria and buried him. Someone washed his chariot beside a pool. Dogs licked up his blood just as the Lord had said.

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