[Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR SUNDAY APRIL 10

[Donnie Parrett]

DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR SUNDAY APRIL 10

DAILY BIBLE READING

1 Kings 13-15 New King James Version
The Message of the Man of God
13 And behold, a man of God went from Judah to Bethel [a]by the word of the
Lord, and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. 2 Then he cried out
against the altar [b]by the word of the Lord, and said, "O altar, altar!
Thus says the Lord: 'Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the
house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places
who burn incense on you, and men's bones shall be burned on you.' " 3 And he
gave a sign the same day, saying, "This is the sign which the Lord has
spoken: Surely the altar shall split apart, and the ashes on it shall be
poured out."

4 So it came to pass when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God,
who cried out against the altar in Bethel, that he stretched out his hand
from the altar, saying, "Arrest him!" Then his hand, which he stretched out
toward him, withered, so that he could not pull it back to himself. 5 The
altar also was split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar,
according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the
Lord. 6 Then the king answered and said to the man of God, "Please entreat
the favor of the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be
restored to me."

So the man of God entreated the Lord, and the king's hand was restored to
him, and became as before. 7 Then the king said to the man of God, "Come
home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward."

8 But the man of God said to the king, "If you were to give me half your
house, I would not go in with you; nor would I eat bread nor drink water in
this place. 9 For so it was commanded me by the word of the Lord, saying,
'You shall not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way you
came.' " 10 So he went another way and did not return by the way he came to
Bethel.

Death of the Man of God
11 Now an old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his [c]sons came and told him all
the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel; they also told
their father the words which he had spoken to the king. 12 And their father
said to them, "Which way did he go?" For his sons [d]had seen which way the
man of God went who came from Judah. 13 Then he said to his sons, "Saddle
the donkey for me." So they saddled the donkey for him; and he rode on it,
14 and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. Then
he said to him, "Are you the man of God who came from Judah?"

And he said, "I am."

15 Then he said to him, "Come home with me and eat bread."

16 And he said, "I cannot return with you nor go in with you; neither can I
eat bread nor drink water with you in this place. 17 For [e]I have been told
by the word of the Lord, 'You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor
return by going the way you came.' "

18 He said to him, "I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me
by the word of the Lord, saying, 'Bring him back with you to your house,
that he may eat bread and drink water.' " (He was lying to him.)

19 So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water.

20 Now it happened, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came
to the prophet who had brought him back; 21 and he cried out to the man of
God who came from Judah, saying, "Thus says the Lord: 'Because you have
disobeyed the word of the Lord, and have not kept the commandment which the
Lord your God commanded you, 22 but you came back, ate bread, and drank
water in the place of which the Lord said to you, "Eat no bread and drink no
water," your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.' "

23 So it was, after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he
saddled the donkey for him, the prophet whom he had brought back. 24 When he
was gone, a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his corpse was
thrown on the road, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the
corpse. 25 And there, men passed by and saw the corpse thrown on the road,
and the lion standing by the corpse. Then they went and told it in the city
where the old prophet dwelt.

26 Now when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard it, he
said, "It is the man of God who was disobedient to the word of the Lord.
Therefore the Lord has delivered him to the lion, which has torn him and
killed him, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke to him." 27 And
he spoke to his sons, saying, "Saddle the donkey for me." So they saddled
it. 28 Then he went and found his corpse thrown on the road, and the donkey
and the lion standing by the corpse. The lion had not eaten the corpse nor
torn the donkey. 29 And the prophet took up the corpse of the man of God,
laid it on the donkey, and brought it back. So the old prophet came to the
city to mourn, and to bury him. 30 Then he laid the corpse in his own tomb;
and they mourned over him, saying, "Alas, my brother!" 31 So it was, after
he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, "When I am dead, then
bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his
bones. 32 For the [f]saying which he cried out by the word of the Lord
against the altar in Bethel, and against all the [g]shrines on the high
places which are in the cities of Samaria, will surely come to pass."

33 After this event Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but again he
made priests from every class of people for the high places; whoever wished,
he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places. 34
And this thing was the sin of the house of Jeroboam, so as to exterminate
and destroy it from the face of the earth.

Judgment on the House of Jeroboam
14 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam became sick. 2 And Jeroboam said
to his wife, "Please arise, and disguise yourself, that they may not
recognize you as the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Indeed, Ahijah the
prophet is there, who told me that I would be king over this people. 3 Also
take [h]with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him;
he will tell you what will become of the child." 4 And Jeroboam's wife did
so; she arose and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But
Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were [i]glazed by reason of his age.

5 Now the Lord had said to Ahijah, "Here is the wife of Jeroboam, coming to
ask you something about her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus you shall say
to her; for it will be, when she comes in, that she will pretend to be
another woman."

6 And so it was, when Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps as she came
through the door, he said, "Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to
be another person? For I have been sent to you with bad news. 7 Go, tell
Jeroboam, 'Thus says the Lord God of Israel: "Because I exalted you from
among the people, and made you ruler over My people Israel, 8 and tore the
kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it to you; and yet you have
not been as My servant David, who kept My commandments and who followed Me
with all his heart, to do only what was right in My eyes; 9 but you have
done more evil than all who were before you, for you have gone and made for
yourself other gods and molded images to provoke Me to anger, and have cast
Me behind your back- 10 therefore behold! I will bring disaster on the house
of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every male in Israel, bond and
free; I will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as one takes
away refuse until it is all gone. 11 The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to
Jeroboam and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever
dies in the field; for the Lord has spoken!" ' 12 Arise therefore, go to
your own house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die. 13 And
all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he is the only one of
Jeroboam who shall [j]come to the grave, because in him there is found
something good toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.

14 "Moreover the Lord will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who shall
cut off the house of Jeroboam; [k]this is the day. What? Even now! 15 For
the Lord will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water. He will
uproot Israel from this good land which He gave to their fathers, and will
scatter them beyond [l]the River, because they have made their [m]wooden
images, provoking the Lord to anger. 16 And He will give Israel up because
of the sins of Jeroboam, who sinned and who made Israel sin."

17 Then Jeroboam's wife arose and departed, and came to Tirzah. When she
came to the threshold of the house, the child died. 18 And they buried him;
and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord which He
spoke through His servant Ahijah the prophet.

Death of Jeroboam
19 Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he made war and how he reigned,
indeed they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of
Israel. 20 The period that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years. So he
rested with his fathers. Then Nadab his son reigned in his place.

Rehoboam Reigns in Judah
21 And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one
years old when he became king. He reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the
city which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put His
name there. His mother's name was Naamah, an Ammonitess. 22 Now Judah did
evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked Him to jealousy with their
sins which they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. 23 For
they also built for themselves high[n] places, sacred pillars, and wooden
images on every high hill and under every green tree. 24 And there were also
[o]perverted persons in the land. They did according to all the abominations
of the nations which the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.

25 It happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak king of Egypt
came up against Jerusalem. 26 And he took away the treasures of the house of
the Lord and the treasures of the king's house; he took away everything. He
also took away all the gold shields which Solomon had made. 27 Then King
Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place, and [p]committed them to the
hands of the captains of the [q]guard, who guarded the doorway of the king's
house. 28 And whenever the king entered the house of the Lord, the guards
carried them, then brought them back into the guardroom.

29 Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 30 And there
was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days. 31 So Rehoboam
[r]rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of
David. His mother's name was Naamah, an Ammonitess. Then Abijam[s] his son
reigned in his place.

Abijam Reigns in Judah
15 In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam became
king over Judah. 2 He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name
was Maachah the granddaughter of Abishalom. 3 And he walked in all the sins
of his father, which he had done before him; his heart was not [t]loyal to
the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. 4 Nevertheless for
David's sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, by setting up
his son after him and by establishing Jerusalem; 5 because David did what
was right in the eyes of the Lord, and had not turned aside from anything
that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of
Uriah the Hittite. 6 And there was war between [u]Rehoboam and Jeroboam all
the days of his life. 7 Now the rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he
did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of
Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.

8 So Abijam [v]rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of
David. Then Asa his son reigned in his place.

Asa Reigns in Judah
9 In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king over
Judah. 10 And he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His grandmother's
name was Maachah the granddaughter of Abishalom. 11 Asa did what was right
in the eyes of the Lord, as did his father David. 12 And he banished the
[w]perverted persons from the land, and removed all the idols that his
fathers had made. 13 Also he removed Maachah his grandmother from being
queen mother, because she had made an obscene image of [x]Asherah. And Asa
cut down her obscene image and burned it by the Brook Kidron. 14 But the
[y]high places were not removed. Nevertheless Asa's heart was loyal to the
Lord all his days. 15 He also brought into the house of the Lord the things
which his father had dedicated, and the things which he himself had
dedicated: silver and gold and utensils.

16 Now there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
17 And Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he
might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 18 Then Asa took all
the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the house of the Lord
and the treasuries of the king's house, and delivered them into the hand of
his servants. And King Asa sent them to Ben-Hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the
son of Hezion, king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying, 19 "Let there
be a treaty between you and me, as there was between my father and your
father. See, I have sent you a present of silver and gold. Come and break
your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me."

20 So Ben-Hadad heeded King Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against
the cities of Israel. He attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maachah, and all
Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali. 21 Now it happened, when Baasha
heard it, that he stopped building Ramah, and remained in Tirzah.

22 Then King Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah; none was
exempted. And they took away the stones and timber of Ramah, which Baasha
had used for building; and with them King Asa built Geba of Benjamin, and
Mizpah.

23 The rest of all the acts of Asa, all his might, all that he did, and the
cities which he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of
the kings of Judah? But in the time of his old age he was diseased in his
feet. 24 So Asa [z]rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers
in the City of David his father. Then Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his
place.

Nadab Reigns in Israel
25 Now Nadab the son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in the second year
of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. 26 And he did
evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father, and in
his sin by which he had made Israel sin.

27 Then Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired
against him. And Baasha killed him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the
Philistines, while Nadab and all Israel laid siege to Gibbethon. 28 Baasha
killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.
29 And it was so, when he became king, that he killed all the house of
Jeroboam. He did not leave to Jeroboam anyone that breathed, until he had
destroyed him, according to the word of the Lord which He had spoken by His
servant Ahijah the Shilonite, 30 because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he
had sinned and by which he had made Israel sin, because of his provocation
with which he had provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger.

31 Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, are they not
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 32 And there
was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

Baasha Reigns in Israel
33 In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah became
king over all Israel in Tirzah, and reigned twenty-four years. 34 He did
evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his
sin by which he had made Israel sin.

Footnotes
1 Kings 13:1 at the Lord's command
1 Kings 13:2 at the Lord's command
1 Kings 13:11 Lit. son
1 Kings 13:12 LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg. showed him
1 Kings 13:17 Lit. a command came to me by
1 Kings 13:32 Lit. word
1 Kings 13:32 Lit. houses
1 Kings 14:3 Lit. in your hand
1 Kings 14:4 Lit. set
1 Kings 14:13 Be buried
1 Kings 14:14 Or this day and from now on
1 Kings 14:15 The Euphrates
1 Kings 14:15 Heb. Asherim, Canaanite deities
1 Kings 14:23 Places for pagan worship
1 Kings 14:24 Heb. qadesh, one practicing sodomy and prostitution in
religious rituals
1 Kings 14:27 entrusted
1 Kings 14:27 Lit. runners
1 Kings 14:31 Died and joined his ancestors
1 Kings 14:31 Abijah, 2 Chr. 12:16ff
1 Kings 15:3 Lit. at peace with
1 Kings 15:6 So with MT, LXX, Tg., Vg.; some Heb. mss., Syr. Abijam
1 Kings 15:8 Died and joined his ancestors
1 Kings 15:12 Heb. qedeshim, those practicing sodomy and prostitution in
religious rituals
1 Kings 15:13 A Canaanite goddess
1 Kings 15:14 Places for pagan worship
1 Kings 15:24 Died and joined his ancestors