Tuesday, June 22, 2010

June Twenty Two


All comments welcome!! It is how I get my questions answered.

 
~Good Morning~

 

  • Did they have to do painful things like this for forgiveness? I thought it was blood that had to be slain (death) for forgiveness?
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 He touched my lips with it and said, "See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven."

 

 
Today's Scripture:
Amos 7-9:15
Amos 7
A Vision of Locusts
1 The Sovereign Lord showed me a vision. I saw him preparing to send a vast swarm of locusts over the land. This was after the king's share had been harvested from the fields and as the main crop was coming up. 2 In my vision the locusts ate every green plant in sight. Then I said, "O Sovereign Lord, please forgive us or we will not survive, for Israel is so small."
3 So the Lord relented from this plan. "I will not do it," he said.
A Vision of Fire
4 Then the Sovereign Lord showed me another vision. I saw him preparing to punish his people with a great fire. The fire had burned up the depths of the sea and was devouring the entire land. 5 Then I said, "O Sovereign Lord, please stop or we will not survive, for Israel is so small."
6 Then the Lord relented from this plan, too. "I will not do that either," said the Sovereign Lord.
A Vision of a Plumb Line
7 Then he showed me another vision. I saw the Lord standing beside a wall that had been built using a plumb line. He was using a plumb line to see if it was still straight. 8 And the Lord said to me, "Amos, what do you see?"
I answered, "A plumb line."
And the Lord replied, "I will test my people with this plumb line. I will no longer ignore all their sins. 9 The pagan shrines of your ancestors will be ruined, and the temples of Israel will be destroyed; I will bring the dynasty of King Jeroboam to a sudden end."
Amos and Amaziah
10 Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent a message to Jeroboam, king of Israel: "Amos is hatching a plot against you right here on your very doorstep! What he is saying is intolerable. 11 He is saying, 'Jeroboam will soon be killed, and the people of Israel will be sent away into exile.'"
12 Then Amaziah sent orders to Amos: "Get out of here, you prophet! Go on back to the land of Judah, and earn your living by prophesying there! 13 Don't bother us with your prophecies here in Bethel. This is the king's sanctuary and the national place of worship!"
14 But Amos replied, "I'm not a professional prophet, and I was never trained to be one. I'm just a shepherd, and I take care of sycamore-fig trees. 15 But the Lord called me away from my flock and told me, 'Go and prophesy to my people in Israel.' 16 Now then, listen to this message from the Lord:
"You say,
   'Don't prophesy against Israel.
      Stop preaching against my people.'
 17 But this is what the Lord says:
   'Your wife will become a prostitute in this city,
      and your sons and daughters will be killed.
   Your land will be divided up,
      and you yourself will die in a foreign land.
   And the people of Israel will certainly become captives in exile,
      far from their homeland.'"
Amos 8
A Vision of Ripe Fruit
1 Then the Sovereign Lord showed me another vision. In it I saw a basket filled with ripe fruit. 2 "What do you see, Amos?" he asked.
I replied, "A basket full of ripe fruit."
Then the Lord said, "Like this fruit, Israel is ripe for punishment! I will not delay their punishment again. 3 In that day the singing in the Temple will turn to wailing. Dead bodies will be scattered everywhere. They will be carried out of the city in silence. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!"
4 Listen to this, you who rob the poor
      and trample down the needy!
 5 You can't wait for the Sabbath day to be over
      and the religious festivals to end
      so you can get back to cheating the helpless.
   You measure out grain with dishonest measures
      and cheat the buyer with dishonest scales.
 6 And you mix the grain you sell
      with chaff swept from the floor.
   Then you enslave poor people
      for one piece of silver or a pair of sandals.
7 Now the Lord has sworn this oath
      by his own name, the Pride of Israel:
   "I will never forget
      the wicked things you have done!
 8 The earth will tremble for your deeds,
      and everyone will mourn.
   The ground will rise like the Nile River at floodtime;
      it will heave up, then sink again.
9 "In that day," says the Sovereign Lord,
   "I will make the sun go down at noon
      and darken the earth while it is still day.
 10 I will turn your celebrations into times of mourning
      and your singing into weeping.
   You will wear funeral clothes
      and shave your heads to show your sorrow—
   as if your only son had died.
      How very bitter that day will be!
11 "The time is surely coming," says the Sovereign Lord,
      "when I will send a famine on the land—
   not a famine of bread or water
      but of hearing the words of the Lord.
 12 People will stagger from sea to sea
      and wander from border to border
   searching for the word of the Lord,
      but they will not find it.
 13 Beautiful girls and strong young men
      will grow faint in that day,
      thirsting for the Lord's word.
 14 And those who swear by the shameful idols of Samaria—
      who take oaths in the name of the god of Dan
      and make vows in the name of the god of Beersheba—
   they will all fall down,
      never to rise again."
Amos 9
A Vision of God at the Altar
1 Then I saw a vision of the Lord standing beside the altar. He said,
"Strike the tops of the Temple columns,
      so that the foundation will shake.
   Bring down the roof
      on the heads of the people below.
   I will kill with the sword those who survive.
      No one will escape!
2 "Even if they dig down to the place of the dead,
      I will reach down and pull them up.
   Even if they climb up into the heavens,
      I will bring them down.
 3 Even if they hide at the very top of Mount Carmel,
      I will search them out and capture them.
   Even if they hide at the bottom of the ocean,
      I will send the sea serpent after them to bite them.
 4 Even if their enemies drive them into exile,
      I will command the sword to kill them there.
   I am determined to bring disaster upon them
      and not to help them."
5 The Lord, the Lord of Heaven's Armies,
      touches the land and it melts,
      and all its people mourn.
   The ground rises like the Nile River at floodtime,
      and then it sinks again.
 6 The Lord's home reaches up to the heavens,
      while its foundation is on the earth.
   He draws up water from the oceans
      and pours it down as rain on the land.
      The Lord is his name!
7 "Are you Israelites more important to me
      than the Ethiopians?" asks the Lord.
   "I brought Israel out of Egypt,
      but I also brought the Philistines from Crete
      and led the Arameans out of Kir.
8 "I, the Sovereign Lord,
      am watching this sinful nation of Israel.
   I will destroy it
      from the face of the earth.
   But I will never completely destroy the family of Israel,"
      says the Lord.
 9 "For I will give the command
      and will shake Israel along with the other nations
   as grain is shaken in a sieve,
      yet not one true kernel will be lost.
 10 But all the sinners will die by the sword—
      all those who say, 'Nothing bad will happen to us.'
A Promise of Restoration
11 "In that day I will restore the fallen house of David.
      I will repair its damaged walls.
   From the ruins I will rebuild it
      and restore its former glory.
 12 And Israel will possess what is left of Edom
      and all the nations I have called to be mine."
   The Lord has spoken,
      and he will do these things.
13 "The time will come," says the Lord,
   "when the grain and grapes will grow faster
      than they can be harvested.
   Then the terraced vineyards on the hills of Israel
      will drip with sweet wine!
 14 I will bring my exiled people of Israel
      back from distant lands,
   and they will rebuild their ruined cities
      and live in them again.
   They will plant vineyards and gardens;
      they will eat their crops and drink their wine.
 15 I will firmly plant them there
      in their own land.
   They will never again be uprooted
      from the land I have given them,"
      says the Lord your God.
2 Kings 14:28-29
28 The rest of the events in the reign of Jeroboam II and everything he did—including the extent of his power, his wars, and how he recovered for Israel both Damascus and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah—are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel. 29 When Jeroboam II died, he was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. Then his son Zechariah became the next king.
2 Kings 15:8-29
Zechariah Rules in Israel
8 Zechariah son of Jeroboam II began to rule over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of King Uzziah's reign in Judah. He reigned in Samaria six months. 9 Zechariah did what was evil in the Lord's sight, as his ancestors had done. He refused to turn from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had led Israel to commit. 10 Then Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against Zechariah, assassinated him in public, and became the next king.
11 The rest of the events in Zechariah's reign are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel. 12 So the Lord's message to Jehu came true: "Your descendants will be kings of Israel down to the fourth generation."
Shallum Rules in Israel
13 Shallum son of Jabesh began to rule over Israel in the thirty-ninth year of King Uzziah's reign in Judah. Shallum reigned in Samaria only one month. 14 Then Menahem son of Gadi went to Samaria from Tirzah and assassinated him, and he became the next king.
15 The rest of the events in Shallum's reign, including his conspiracy, are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel.
Menahem Rules in Israel
16 At that time Menahem destroyed the town of Tappuah and all the surrounding countryside as far as Tirzah, because its citizens refused to surrender the town. He killed the entire population and ripped open the pregnant women.
17 Menahem son of Gadi began to rule over Israel in the thirty-ninth year of King Uzziah's reign in Judah. He reigned in Samaria ten years. 18 But Menahem did what was evil in the Lord's sight. During his entire reign, he refused to turn from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had led Israel to commit.
19 Then King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria invaded the land. But Menahem paid him thirty-seven tons of silver to gain his support in tightening his grip on royal power. 20 Menahem extorted the money from the rich of Israel, demanding that each of them pay fifty piecesof silver to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned from attacking Israel and did not stay in the land.
21 The rest of the events in Menahem's reign and everything he did are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel. 22When Menahem died, his son Pekahiah became the next king.
Pekahiah Rules in Israel
23 Pekahiah son of Menahem began to rule over Israel in the fiftieth year of King Uzziah's reign in Judah. He reigned in Samaria two years. 24 But Pekahiah did what was evil in the Lord's sight. He refused to turn from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had led Israel to commit.
25 Then Pekah son of Remaliah, the commander of Pekahiah's army, conspired against him. With fifty men from Gilead, Pekah assassinated the king, along with Argob and Arieh, in the citadel of the palace at Samaria. And Pekah reigned in his place.
26 The rest of the events in Pekahiah's reign and everything he did are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel.
Pekah Rules in Israel
27 Pekah son of Remaliah began to rule over Israel in the fifty-second year of King Uzziah's reign in Judah. He reigned in Samaria twenty years. 28 But Pekah did what was evil in the Lord's sight. He refused to turn from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had led Israel to commit.
29 During Pekah's reign, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria attacked Israel again, and he captured the towns of Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, and Hazor. He also conquered the regions of Gilead, Galilee, and all of Naphtali, and he took the people to Assyria as captives.
2 Kings 15:6-7
6 The rest of the events in Uzziah's reign and everything he did are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah. 7 When Uzziah died, he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. And his son Jotham became the next king.
2 Chronicles 26:22-23
22 The rest of the events of Uzziah's reign, from beginning to end, are recorded by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 23 When Uzziah died, he was buried with his ancestors; his grave was in a nearby burial field belonging to the kings, for the people said, "He had leprosy." And his son Jotham became the next king.
Isaiah 6:1-13
Isaiah 6
Isaiah's Cleansing and Call
1 It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. 2Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 They were calling out to each other,
"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven's Armies!
      The whole earth is filled with his glory!"
4 Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke.
5 Then I said, "It's all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven's Armies."
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 He touched my lips with it and said, "See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven."
8 Then I heard the Lord asking, "Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?"
I said, "Here I am. Send me."
9 And he said, "Yes, go, and say to this people,
'Listen carefully, but do not understand.
      Watch closely, but learn nothing.'
 10 Harden the hearts of these people.
      Plug their ears and shut their eyes.
   That way, they will not see with their eyes,
      nor hear with their ears,
   nor understand with their hearts
      and turn to me for healing."
11 Then I said, "Lord, how long will this go on?"
And he replied,
"Until their towns are empty,
      their houses are deserted,
      and the whole country is a wasteland;
 12 until the Lord has sent everyone away,
      and the entire land of Israel lies deserted.
 13 If even a tenth—a remnant—survive,
      it will be invaded again and burned.
   But as a terebinth or oak tree leaves a stump when it is cut down,
      so Israel's stump will be a holy seed."

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