In my church Bible reading program we are currently in 2 Kings.  While reading this part of the Bible you may have noticed that it is pretty difficult to sort out the historical flow of kings. That is partly because the narrative keeps jumping between the kings of Judah and those of Israel. Once the kingdom divided after Solomon, there are two interrelated histories, that of Israel (10 of the original tribes) in the north, and Judah (and Benjamin) in the south.

What makes it more confusing is the fact that some of the kings have very similar names, and some kings are referred to by more than one name. Some examples:

• Joash king of Judah is also called Jehoash (these are two forms of the same name). But there was also a different Jehoash who was king of Israel around that time. It is important to pay careful attention to whether is says “of Judah” or “of Israel.”
• Each kingdom had a king named Ahaziah.
• King Azariah of Judah is also called Uzziah. Since he is mentioned in Isaiah 6, we know where to place Isaiah in biblical history.
• There are two kings of Israel named Jeroboam. The first one, whom we may call Jeroboam I is called Jeroboam the son of Nebat in the Bible. He was the first king of Israel after the division between the northern and southern kingdoms, and he started Israel down the path of idolatry. Many of the later kings of Israel are condemned for not departing from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
• Several of the kings have very similar sounding names, such as: Azariah, Ahaziah, Amahziah, Athaliah (queen mother).  It is helpful to consult a chart to keep things straight.

At the right is a helpful diagram I found on Wikipedia that shows the flow of kings of Judah and Israel along with their genealogical relationships (click on the chart for a larger image). The solid lines indicate genealogical relationships, and the arrows indicate succession. The horizontal arrows indicate a change in dynasty, that is, a king succeeded by someone who is not his son.

One of the interesting things that jumps out at me in this chart is that all of the kings of Judah are David’s descendants while in Israel there is only one king who had passed the throne on to his grandson and beyond. God promised David that he would always have a son on the throne (2 Sam. 7:16). Since Jesus is descended from David, one day in God’s kingdom David will still have a son on the throne.

For those of you doing the Bible reading program, what have you been learning from 2 Kings?

What does righteous behavior look like?  Ezekiel 18:5-18 emphasizes individual responsibility, and states that God will not reward a wicked son because he has a righteous father or punish the righteous son of a wicked father.  In this discussion, the passage lists righteous/wicked behavior in three lists that are very similar.  Here is the first one: Read the rest»»

Sometimes it is helpful to look to past generations for an example of godly devotion. One such example is John William Fletcher (1729-1785), whom John Wesley admired and desired to imitate. Seven months after his conversion, Fletcher penned a covenant with God which is a classic statement of Christian devotion. The covenant in its entirety is quoted by Fred Sanders in Scriptorium Daily.

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There is a new web site with the goal of mapping every location mentioned in the Bible on Google maps.  Tim Kimberley of BibleMap.org is a Th.M. student at Dallas Seminary who has taken on the task of creating this free map resource for Bible study.  The site is still in “Beta” because it is not finished yet, but it is already quite useful.  Read about his experience in an interview on  the ESV web site.  It’s great that a seminary student with a family can still find the time to create this resource and share it with us all.  Way to go, Tim!

What difference does it make whether or not the body of Jesus remained in the tomb? The way in which you answer this question reveals a lot about your understanding of the Christian faith.

To many, Christianity is a religious system that has much in common with the other religions of the world. Most of them teach that we should live for a higher purpose, treat others well, and try not to be too selfish. In that case, what really matters is that the teachings of Jesus live on. What happened to his body after his death isn’t really important.
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[I originally wrote this article in February 2007.  I have now moved it into the holiday series so that it will be linked to all the other holiday articles.]

Lent is a time of soul-searching and repentance in preparation for the celebration of Christ’s death and resurrection on Good Friday and Easter. In the Western Church, Lent consists of the 40 days before Easter, not counting Sundays. Read the rest»»

I wrote this FAQ on Christian Fasting several years ago. I decided to post it on my blog now because it is related to my article on Lent.

The Christian Church has a rich history of fasting. Moses, Elijah, Esther, Nehemiah, Daniel and Paul, fasted at crucial points. Jesus both taught and modeled fasting. Godly men and women throughout the centuries have used fasting as a means to draw near to God.
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