Bible Readings for January 6th Genesis 6 | Matthew 6 | Ezra 6 | Acts 6 The short, vague description of the Nephilim in Genesis 6:1–4 has spawned all kinds of strange interpretations over the years. Are the sons of God fallen angels who took for themselves human wives, creating demigod children? Is this just run-of-the-mill mythological literature, …

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Bible Readings for January 5th Genesis 5 | Matthew 5 | Ezra 5 | Acts 5 It’s tempting to gloss over the many genealogies included in the Bible, but there are important reasons not to. God himself decided to place the text of genealogies within his written word, so we should recognize that the genealogies are canonical Scripture just as much as the m…

Bible Readings for January 4th Genesis 4 | Matthew 4 | Ezra 4 | Acts 4 Isn’t it shocking to find a story of murder only one chapter after Adam and Eve are expelled from the perfections of the Garden of Eden? This act of fratricide in Genesis 4 demonstrates that the curse of sin already has a vice-grip on humanity, and in today’s meditation, we’ll l…

Bible Readings for January 3rd Genesis 3 | Matthew 3 | Ezra 3 | Acts 3 Although it’s difficult to see in English translations, Genesis 3:8 is one of the most tragic verses in the whole Bible: “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD …

Mike reviews the spectacular rise of Gideon as a leader and judge of Israel as well as his fall into idolatry.Oleh Mike Mazzalongo

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Bible Readings for January 2nd Genesis 2 | Matthew 2 | Ezra 2 | Acts 2 Where Genesis 1 gave a fly-by overview of creation, Genesis 2 slows the narrative down to tell us more details about the creation of Adam and Eve, as well as Yahweh’s purposes for humankind on earth. In Genesis 2, we see a different dimension to the story of God’s creation—we se…

This study looks at some of the facts about Mary and provides some application from her life.Oleh Free audio sermons: Get free audio sermons and free audio Bible studies!

Bible Readings for January 1st Genesis 1 | Matthew 1 | Ezra 1 | Acts 1 There is a beautiful simplicity to Genesis 1 that masks its rich theological depth. Nothing about the straightforward description of each day’s creation nor about the repetition of God’s decreeing creation into existence (“Let there be…”) or of declaring all his creation to be “…

This is part 2 of 2.Oleh Free audio sermons: Get free audio sermons and free audio Bible studies!

Bible Readings for December 31st 2 Chronicles 36 | Revelation 22 | Malachi 4 | John 21 The focal point of 2 Chronicles 36 is not in the stories of the wicked sons of Josiah, Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim, nor in the stories of the brothers Jehoiachin and Zedekiah, who presided over the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of Judah. These wicked kings do…

The disastrous floods that ravage various parts of the world each year remind us of the catastrophic deluge that God once used to destroy the earth in the days of Noah.Oleh Mike Mazzalongo

Eph 1:11-13 11 in whom also we were made a heritage, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his will; 12 to the end that we should be unto the praise of his glory, we who had before hoped in Christ: 13 in whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, — i…

Bible Readings for December 30th 2 Chronicles 35 | Revelation 21 | Malachi 3 | John 20 The accounts of Josiah’s reforms of Judah’s worship that we began to read about in 2 Chronicles 34 continue in today’s reading from 2 Chronicles 35, where we read about the Passover feast that Josiah holds during the eighteenth year of his reign (2 Chron. 35:19).…

Bible Readings for December 29th 2 Chronicles 34 | Revelation 20 | Malachi 2 | John 19 As we would expect, the account of Josiah, the final great king of Judah, opens first with a thoroughgoing reform of the worship in Judah. Although Josiah does not have the Book of the Law early on in his reign, he obeys Yahweh according to the knowledge that he …

Bible Readings for December 28th 2 Chronicles 33 | Revelation 19 | Malachi 1 | John 18 The contrast between the godly King Hezekiah and the wicked King Manasseh is striking. Hezekiah had been a champion for the pure worship of Yahweh, but Manasseh does what is “evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LOR…

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Bible Readings for December 27th 2 Chronicles 32 | Revelation 18 | Zechariah 14 | John 17 What the Chronicler emphasizes in 2 Chronicles about Hezekiah is strikingly different than what we read about this godly king in 2 Kings. In 2 Kings (as well as Isaiah 36–39), the focus is on the military and political aspects of Hezekiah’s reign—specifically,…

This section reviews the events leading up to the Canaanite invasion of Israel and its defense by Deborah, the only female judge in Jewish history, along with God's call of Barak.Oleh Mike Mazzalongo

Bible Readings for December 26th 2 Chronicles 31 | Revelation 17 | Zechariah 13 | John 16 As we studied the story of King David in 1 Chronicles, one of the main themes (a theme we did not find in the accounts of David in the books of Samuel) had to do with his reorganization of the Levites to serve as singers, musicians, gatekeepers, and treasury o…

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Bible Readings for December 25th 2 Chronicles 30 | Revelation 16 | Zechariah 12 | John 15 In 2 Kings 23, King Josiah (the great-grandson of King Hezekiah) restores the Passover feast. Even though that restoration of Passover comes much later in time than the story we read here in 2 Chronicles 30, we nevertheless find this statement: “For no such Pa…

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Bible Readings for December 24th 2 Chronicles 29 | Revelation 15 | Zechariah 11 | John 14 Despite the fact that the story of Judah is tracking quickly toward their eventual exile in Babylon, we nevertheless have two more godly kings to study, starting with Hezekiah here in 2 Chronicles 29. Unsurprisingly, the first thing we read regarding Hezekiah …

Perhaps the reason why Christmas time is "special" is because, for some reason or other, everything seems more intense at Christmas.Oleh Mike Mazzalongo

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Bible Readings for December 23rd 2 Chronicles 27–28 | Revelation 14 | Zechariah 10 | John 13 In today’s reading, we find one of the rare times a story about the northern nation of Israel is recorded in the Chronicles. In 2 Kings 16 we read the account of Judah’s King Ahaz, and there, we found many details about his interaction with Tiglath-pileser,…

Bible Readings for December 22nd 2 Chronicles 26 | Revelation 13 | Zechariah 9 | John 12 Uzziah, the king we read about in 2 Chronicles 26, also goes by the variant name Azariah in the record of his reign in 2 Kings 15:1–7. His mention in 2 Kings 15 is fairly brief, mixed in between all the accounts of Israel’s kings, but there we find this stateme…

Bible Readings for December 21st 2 Chronicles 25 | Revelation 12 | Zechariah 8 | John 11 Amaziah, like Joash his father, is a godly king who does not end his life as faithfully as he begins it. So, the summary of Amaziah’s reign goes like this: “And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, yet not with a whole heart” (2 Chron. 25:2). Amaziah,…

Bible Readings for December 20th 2 Chronicles 24 | Revelation 11 | Zechariah 7 | John 10 The reign of Joash is a tragedy that begins on the best note possible but that eventually takes a sinister turn away from faithful obedience to Yahweh and toward the false worship and idolatry that has plagued the people of Yahweh throughout their story. The un…

This first lesson in Judges covers the authorship and dating of this book as well as a comparison with the book of Joshua and a survey of the events and reasons why Israel falls away from its faithful obedience to God as in the days of Joshua.Oleh Mike Mazzalongo

Bible Readings for December 19th 2 Chronicles 22–23 | Revelation 10 | Zechariah 6 | John 9 The stories in 2 Chronicles 22–23 narrate the bloody history by which Judah emerges from chaos, wickedness, and violence in the aftermath of Jehoram’s reign. Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, picks up in Judah where his father left off, walking “in the ways of the…

Bible Readings for December 18th 2 Chronicles 21 | Revelation 9 | Zechariah 5 | John 8 Jehoshaphat, as we discovered over the last three days, reigned with a mixture of good and evil. Tragically, Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram follows only in the evil footsteps of his father, even going so far as to ally himself with King Ahab by marrying one of the dau…

Bible Readings for December 17th 2 Chronicles 19–20 | Revelation 8 | Zechariah 4 | John 7 As we have discussed over the previous two meditations, the reign of Jehoshaphat was a mixed bag. Sometimes he obeyed Yahweh, and sometimes he did not. So, while he had appointed the priests and the Levites to teach the law in 2 Chronicles 17, he also foolishl…

I remember Christmas disappointments; left-winger equipment instead of goalie equipment; toboggan instead of pool table... Anybody remember theirs? The problem many times as children is that we are not clear on what was promised.Oleh Mike Mazzalongo

Bible Readings for December 16th 2 Chronicles 18 | Revelation 7 | Zechariah 3 | John 6 When we read the story of the alliance between King Jehoshaphat of Judah and King Ahab of Israel back in 1 Kings 22, we didn’t learn much about Jehoshaphat. There, King Ahab was the main character, with Jehoshaphat entering the scene to play a supporting role in …

This sermon explores the things God truly desires from us beyond the rituals of public worship.Oleh Mike Mazzalongo

Bible Readings for December 15th 2 Chronicles 17 | Revelation 6 | Zechariah 2 | John 5 Chronologically, when we read about the reign of King Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 17, we have reached the point in history where the book of 1 Kings began to spend a significant amount of time discussing the prophetic ministries of the prophets Elijah and Elisha,…

Bible Readings for December 14th 2 Chronicles 16 | Revelation 5 | Zechariah 1 | John 4 Yesterday, in 2 Chronicles 14–15, we looked at the positive aspects of King Asa’s reign over the nation of Judah, which were given in far greater detail than what we had seen in the account of Asa in 1 Kings 15. But where we have typically seen the books of Chron…

Bible Readings for December 13th 2 Chronicles 14–15 | Revelation 4 | Haggai 2 | John 3 Like Abijah, the godly King Asa received a fairly short treatment in 1 Kings 15:9–24. In the book of 2 Chronicles, however, the story of King Asa is significantly expanded, with three times as many verses that stretch across three whole chapters. In today’s readi…

The final section of Joshua's book contains this great leader's final words of wisdom to the Jewish nation and a renewal of the people's covenant with God marking a national and spiritual high point in Israel's history.Oleh Mike Mazzalongo

Bible Readings for December 12th 2 Chronicles 13 | Revelation 3 | Haggai 1 | John 2 King Abijah received a very short treatment in 1 Kings 15. There, where his name is spelled Abijam, we read three simple details. First, he walked in the sins of Rehoboam, his father (1 Kgs. 15:3). Second, Yahweh preserved Abijah’s offspring for the sake of David (1…

Bible Readings for December 11th 2 Chronicles 11–12 | Revelation 2 | Zephaniah 3 | John 1 As we began to discuss yesterday, the accounts we will find in 2 Chronicles from this point forward will focus exclusively on the perspective of the southern nation of Judah, ignoring the northern nation of Israel almost entirely. But, while we lose informatio…

Bible Readings for December 10th 2 Chronicles 10 | Revelation 1 | Zephaniah 2 | Luke 24 The narrative in 2 Chronicles 10 tells how the ten tribes of Israel rebel from the house of David. The version we find in 2 Chronicles for the most part retells the same story of Rehoboam’s foolishness in ignoring the counsel of the elders who advised him to tre…

In Psalm 6, David the king of Israel, goes through a range of emotions as he suffers from an undisclosed illness.Oleh Mike Mazzalongo

Bible Readings for December 9th 2 Chronicles 9 | Jude 1 | Zephaniah 1 | Luke 23 The material we find in 2 Chronicles 9 is, in almost every respect, identical to the material we read in 1 Kings 10. So, the account we read of the visit of the queen of Sheba is virtually verbatim what we read, and the catalog of Solomon’s great wealth and wisdom in th…

Bible Readings for December 8th 2 Chronicles 8 | 3 John 1 | Habakkuk 3 | Luke 22 In our meditations on 1 Chronicles, we looked at the ways in which the Chronicler depicts David without many of his flaws recorded in 1 and 2 Samuel. In the same way, we also find that the Chronicler depicts Solomon here in 2 Chronicles without his flaws, so that the d…

Bible Readings for December 7th 2 Chronicles 7 | 2 John 1 | Habakkuk 2 | Luke 21 Once again, it is instructive to compare the account of Yahweh’s appearance to Solomon as recorded in 1 Kings 9 with the account we find in our reading from today in 2 Chronicles 7. In 1 Kings 9, Yahweh swore that he had consecrated the temple by putting his name there…

Bible Readings for December 6th 2 Chronicles 6 | 1 John 5 | Habakkuk 1 | Luke 20 In 2 Chronicles 6, the narrator preserves for us the prayer of Solomon, and it is recorded nearly identically to the dedication prayer that we read in 1 Kings 8. Up to the end, we find significant overlap for Solomon’s three main prayers: thanking Yahweh for keeping co…