Thought for Today: Tuesday April 25:
If we look only at the newspapers headlines today, and every day, we all should have a good reason to be negative and pessimistic about the future. BUT do not forget two very important truths: First – the future is in YHVH’s hands and nothing takes Him by surprise. He is sovereign over the history of the world as well as our own personal histories, and behind the scenes, He is at work to accomplish His purposes. Secondly – never forget that even when the future is unclear, YHVH Elohiym is with those of us who are trusting Moshiach as our Saviour and Adonai and He helps us. Thus, no matter what the future holds for you – no matter what today holds for you – you do not face it alone if you know our Moshiach
SERIES N --- THE EXILE --- LESSON 03
UZZIAH’S PRIDE
KING UZZIAH OF JUDAH
From 2 Kings 14:21-22; 15:1-7; 2 Chronicles 26
When King Amaziah of Judah died, the people made his sixteen-year-old son Azariah king. Azariah, who was usually called Uzziah, ruled for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem. On the whole, Uzziah was a good king, following in the steps of his father Amaziah. A man named Zechariah, who lived in Uzziah’s kingdom, received special visions from Adonai. Uzziah was wise enough to listen to this godly man; so while Zechariah was alive, King Uzziah prospered, for Adonai was with him. Adonai was with Uzziah in his wars against the neighbouring people - the Arabians in Gurbaal, the Meunites and the Ammonites. The Ammonites paid Uzziah tribute and Uzziah broke down the walls of the Philistine cities of Gath, Jabneh and Ashdod. He also built his own cities near Ashdod and other parts of the Philistine territory. The fame of Uzziah spread all the way to Egypt as he became more and more powerful. At Jerusalem, King Uzziah built towers at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate and at the point where the walls turn, fortifying each of them. He also built forts in the wilderness and dug a number of cisterns to collect water, for he had great herds of cattle in both the plains and the valleys. He loved the soil, so he kept many farms with ploughmen and vineyards with vine keepers, both in the hills and fertile lands below. King Uzziah also kept an active army, organized by divisions under the commander-in-chief Hananiah. The draft was under the supervision of his secretary Jeiel and an officer named Maaseiah. The army of three hundred and seven thousand, five hundred well-trained troops was under the immediate command of twenty-six hundred clan leaders. King Uzziah supplied them with the best weapons - shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows and sling stones. He also made powerful machines of war, invented by some of his skilled men, which could be placed on the towers and corners of the wall to shoot arrows and hurl great stones. Uzziah’s fame spread, for Adonai was helping him to become a powerful king. But that brought him trouble, for when he became powerful, he also became proud. In fact, he became so proud that he decided he would personally offer incense in the temple, so he entered the temple and began burning incense on the altar. Azariah the priest, with eighty other priests, hurried after him and urged him to leave the temple. [It is not for you, King Uzziah, to burn incense here, for only Aaron’s descendants, the priests, may do that. Get out of here, for what you are doing is wrong and will not honour Adonai.] When Uzziah heard that he was very angry with the priests. But as soon as his anger rose, leprosy came upon his forehead, even as he held the censer in his hand beside the altar of incense, in the presence of the priests. While Azariah and the other priests watched, King Uzziah became a leper. Then they rushed him out of the temple. In fact, the king himself was anxious to leave, for he realized what was happening. King Uzziah remained a leper as long as he lived. Being a leper, he could never return to the temple and had to appoint his son Jotham to carry out his duties as king while he lived alone, isolated in a private house. The prophet Isaiah recorded the other adventures of King Uzziah. When Uzziah died, he was buried in the royal burial field but not in one of the royal tombs because, as they said, [He is a leper.] After that, Jotham, his son, ruled in his place.
COMMENTARY
THE CONQUESTS AND PROJECTS OF UZZIAH
The prosperity and power of King Uzziah’s reign in Judah were surpassed only in the days of Solomon’s wealthy monarchy. His military conquests expanded the kingdom’s borders both west and south. To the west Uzziah campaigned against the major northern cities of Philistia. He destroyed the fortifications of Gath, Jabneh and Ashdod, thus clearing a wide path from Jerusalem to the sea. Ancient and well-travelled trade routes from Egypt passed through the coastal plain. Uzziah ensured control of the coast and its trading business by building fortified outposts. The Bible records that Uzziah collected tribute from the Ammonites, east of the Jordan. However, his major military efforts focused on southern territories. Successful campaigns against the people of Arabia and the Meunim of Edom resulted in control of the southern deserts. Like the western territory, these lands were the pathways of vital caravan trade. To regulate and guard the flow of commerce, Uzziah established fortresses throughout the Negeb and possibly the Moabite plain. Similar towers were also added to the improved fortifications of Jerusalem. Strengthened with a new issue of weapons and equipment, the army provided security for these strategic cities. The existence of a permanent army allowed farmers and craftsmen to continue their routine production without being called to arms at every military crisis. With these territories in hand, Uzziah rebuilt and fortified the Ezion-geber seaport Solomon had built on the Gulf of Aqabah two centuries earlier. Uzziah renamed it Elath. With access to the maritime routes of the Red Sea, the port provided Israel with immense trading possibilities - equal to those of Solomon’s time. However, Uzziah’s service to Judah was not limited to expanding trade or strengthening military power. He also developed agriculture - the basis of Judean economy. In newly conquered regions he introduced farming projects and established new pasturelands. Work crews hewed underground cisterns for water in barren regions, near farms and the newly fortified cities. These accomplishments place Uzziah among the most capable and successful rulers of Judah.
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First Fruits Ministries Presents "Fruits of the Spirit: Self-Control," the ninth part of a multi-part Bible-study series about the fruit of the spirit. Join us at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 25 in person at the Quill at 131 Amory St. in Manchester, NH, or on zoom via https://bit.ly/3bBx3cm
Eating human flesh or any blood is forbidden by #torah (God's Law). God promises death to those who do it. Life/nephesh is in the blood and the misuse of blood is a terrible sin per Genesis 9, Leviticus 17, and Isaiah 66.
Q: Why did #yeshua (#jesus) say that we will have eternal life if we eat his flesh and drink his blood in John 6:53-58?
A: All men die and their nephesh returns to the earth from which it came. All men, except Yeshua. There is eternal life in Yeshua's blood. When we repent and submit to Him, his blood covers our sins. Yeshua's life is imparted to us by his broken body and shed blood, which is from heaven, not earth. His incorruptible nephesh infuses us. Ours returns to dust, but His carries us onward to God.
When Yeshua said we must eat his body and blood, he didn't mean it literally. He meant it metaphorically, that we must allow his death to become our life.
The life-force of every creature belongs to God. Misappropriating it is a direct sin against God. The earth is the source of all nephesh (life-force/living flesh). When a creature dies, its nephesh must be returned to the earth. When you slaughter an animal for food, you must drain the blood and let it return to the earth from whence it ultimately came.
Consider this interesting, related idea: When Moses poured the water of the Nile on the ground and God turned it to blood, he was predicting the death of Egypt. It was a picture of returning Egypt's nephesh to the earth.
#achareimot
#leviticus 17
SERIES N --- THE EXILE --- LESSON 02
POWER WITHOUT GLORY
NEW KINGS FOR ISRAEL
From 2 Kings 13:13; 14:16, 23-29; 15:8-22
After King Joash of Israel died his son Jeroboam became king. This happened during the fifteenth year of King Amaziah’s reign over Judah. This Jeroboam ruled over Israel for forty-one years and he was as evil as the first Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who led Israel into the sin of idol worship. During his reign, Jeroboam recovered the portion of Israel between Hamath and the Dead Sea, which previously had been lost. This was exactly as Jonah, the prophet from Gath-hepher, had predicted. Adonai saw how bitter Israel’s troubles had become and that there was no one to rescue the nation from its troubles. Adonai had promised that He would not blot out the name of Israel completely, so He gave relief to Israel through King Jeroboam. The other adventures of Jeroboam, including his wars and the way he recovered the lost territory around Damascus and Hamath which at one time had belonged to Judah, are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. When Jeroboam died, he was buried with the other kings of Israel. His son Zechariah became king over Israel. Zechariah became king during the thirty-eighth year of the reign of King Azariab of Judah, but ruled only six months. He was an evil king, following the wicked ways of his ancestors. He kept up the practice of idol worship in Israel which the first Jeroboam had begun. Before long Shallum the son of Jabesh organized a conspiracy against Zechariah, murdered him at Ibleam and became king. The rest of Zechariah’s adventures are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. With Zechariah’s reign, Adonai fulfilled the promise He had made that three of Jehu’s descendants - his son, his grandson and his great-grandson - would reign as kings over Israel. Shallum came to the throne during the reign of King Azariah (also called Uzziah) of Judah, who had already been king for thirty-nine years. Shallum’s further adventures are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. One month after Shallum began his reign, Menahem, the son of Gad, came to Samaria from Tirzah, murdered Shallum and seized the throne. When the city of Tappuah and its surrounding area refused to accept Menahem as king, he destroyed the city, murdered all of the people of the area and ripped open the women who were expecting babies. Menahem began ruling during the reign of King Uzziah [Azariah] of Judah, who had already been ruling Judah for thirty-nine years. Menahem was evil in Adonai’s sight, continuing to lead Israel in idol worship, as the first Jeroboam had done years before. While Menahem ruled Israel, King Pul [Tiglath-pileser] of Assyria came against the land. Menahem taxed the wealthy men of the land fifty shekels of silver each [about two thousand dollars] and paid Tiglath-pileser about two million dollars to support him as king and leave him alone. So Tiglath-pileser went home and left Israel in peace. Menahem’s other adventures are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. When he died, his son Pekahiah ruled in his place.
COMMENTARY
THE PROSPEROUS DAYS OF JEROBOAM II AND UZZIAH
In the first half of the eighth century B.C. both Israel and Judah enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity unknown since the reign of Solomon, two centuries before. Political changes outside the two kingdoms made this possible. Earlier, the Assyrian ruler Adadnirari had undermined Syrian strength. When he died, Syria was weak, leaving Israel and Judah with little to fear from their age-old enemy. Even more important, Adadnirari’s death began a difficult period in Assyria. His four sons ruled in succession, their reigns crippled by revolt, unsuccessful campaigns, plague and the growth of the rival Urartu Empire. With this decline of surrounding powers, Israel and Judah began to reassert their own strengths. King Jeroboam expanded Israel’s borders into territory lost since the days of David and Solomon. His control spread east into Trans-Jordan, and extended north past Damascus to Hamath. King Uzziah pushed Judah’s borders south to the Gulf of Aqabah, where he rebuilt the port city of Elath. To the west he established forts in Philistine land; to the east he continued his father’s subjection of Edom. These territorial gains enabled the two kingdoms to keep supervision of international trade routes. Luxury goods from Phoenician and Arabian caravan trade brought riches to the land. Jerusalem and Samaria again became centres of commercial wealth and political power.