In our reading today, the northern kingdom of Israel is sent into exile by the LORD for their unfaithfulness to the Mosaic Covenant. The instrument used by God is the Assyrians (2Kings 17:5,6). The LORD spells out the reasons for His people’s banishment from His presence in very clear terms. In 2Kings 17:7, we read […]
Living the Kingdom on Earth
Posts by John Neposlan (Page 26)
In these last two days, the readings have been very interesting. It covers the entire time period in which the prophets Elijah and Elisha ministered in the northern kingdom of Israel. In Old Testament times, the only other servants of the LORD who were comparable in miraculous powers were Moses and Aaron. In both these […]
Today’s reading covers the last days of David’s 40-year reign over Israel and the transition to the kingship of his son Solomon. In 2Samuel 22, we read of David’s song of praise to the LORD for His faithfulness in delivering and protecting the king from all his enemies, including Saul. The word “covenant” does not […]
The Book of 2Samuel covers the 40-year reign of King David, Israel’s greatest king. The first half of the Book covers the first 20 years of David’s reign. These chapters cause us to rejoice with David over his many triumphs. The last half of David’s reign is covered in 2Samuel 12-24. As we read these […]
In today’s reading, Israel’s greatest king, David, becomes established on the throne of Israel (2Sam. 5:1-5). A couple of other events occur which have monumental impact on the shaping of biblical salvation history. First of all, David captures the city of Jerusalem (2Samuel 5:6-12). This city becomes the capital city of the Davidic kings and […]
This reading from the last half of 1Samuel begins with Samuel anointing David as the 2nd king of Israel (1Sam.16:1-13). The most prominent feature of this kingly anointing is that Saul remains the king of Israel for many years. In fact, most of our reading today reports the many attempts by Saul to kill David. […]
In the Book of 1Samuel, the 3 main characters are: Samuel, the last of the Judges; Saul, the first of the Israelite Kings and; David, the second and greatest of the Kings. In 1Samuel 1-7, the focus is on Samuel. In the early growth of Israel as a nation, the only other person who had […]
The wonderful Book of Ruth is sandwiched between the end of Judges and the beginning of 1Samuel. The story narrated in Ruth occurs during the days that the judges ruled Israel (Ruth 1:1). This narrative brings a welcome relief to the crass idolatry of Micah and the Danite tribe in Judges 17 & 18 and […]
The Book of Judges covers the first 350 years of Israel’s history in Canaan, the Promised Land. It is a dark and sad time in the life of God’s people. The Israelites served the LORD while Joshua was alive and in the lifetime of the elders who were contemporaries of Joshua. But then we read […]
The Book of Joshua covers a period of 25 years, and describes one of the most memorable conquests in history. “The occupation of this small strip of territory scarcely larger than the country of Wales, though it led to no further results in the way of conquest, has nevertheless to a great extent molded the […]