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Understanding the Bible
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The Bible. It’s been the #1 book sold since the day it was written, but have you read it? And if you read it, did you understand it? In the Bible Book Club podcast, we read every word of the Bible for you. In fact, Heather Rubio and Susan Merrill will do it all for you—read, discuss, and explore the only book ever written that can change your life forever. All you have to do is listen. Just join the club! Start in the beginning with Season 1: Genesis or choose a book. Available Seasons inclu ...
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This review began with the calling of Abram and his covenant with the Lord in Genesis 12. Abraham and Sarah had Isaac, Isaac and Rebekah had Jacob and Esau. From Esau came the nation of Edom. Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, had 12 sons who became the 12 tribes of Israel. The Lord sent Jacob's family to Egypt because of a severe famine, but…
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Send us a Text Message. When we left our hero in the last episode, he was all Israel had hoped for. He was the king whom Israel needed to make God’s name known to the world. God was with David and because of that, his power grew. Our author made clear to us who holds the power by his repetitious use of the word send. In the preceding chapter, Chapt…
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The Minor Prophet of Habakkuk is unlike the other prophets, where he hears a word from the Lord and proclaims it to the people, but instead it is a theodicy - a defense of God. Habakkuk questions the Lord and asks, "How long must I call for help in this place of no justice?" The Lord tells him He is doing something, "I am raising up the Babylonians…
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The oracle of Nahum begins with a description of God. He is jealous, avenging, and wrathful - against His enemies, and yet He is good, He cares, and He is slow to anger towards those who trust in Him. The rest of chapter one lets Nineveh know that His wrath is coming, and to Judah that He will fight for them. The Lord tells Nineveh that He is again…
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The prophecy of Joel describes the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. It begins with a description of three swarms of locust, the second swarm is great, and the third swarm are young, but afterwards there is nothing left. This is also a call for the priests and the elders to mourn, and to call for a holy fast and a sacred assembly to…
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The greatest king of Judah since King David has died, King Hezekiah, and his son, Manasseh reigned. He did more evil than the pagan nations that the Lord cleared out of the way before Israel took the land. He did more evil than the kings of Israel, who were wiped out because of their sin. He rebuilt the high places, brought back polytheism with Baa…
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Chapters 38-39 end section one of Isaiah, and it sets the stage for the second half, chapters 40-66. The Lord defended Judah from the attack by Assyria because they defamed the name of the Lord, and King Hezekiah humbled himself and prayed unto the Lord. Following that, he became ill, but again because of his prayers, the Lord healed him, and allow…
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Send us a Text Message. David is a man of action. So much so, that one gets the impression that he thrives in motion and cannot be still. From herding sheep and delivering food to his brothers on the front lines as a boy to hiding in caves to escape Saul and protecting the Philistines for pay while secretly sabotaging Israel’s enemies. The man is c…
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In this chapter, King Hezekiah became ill. Isaiah the prophet came and told him that he will die and he needs to put his affairs in order. Hezekiah did what he was great at, he immediately cried out to the Lord. He pleaded his case of obedience and faithfulness to the Lord, and he wept bitterly. Before Isaiah left the middle court, the word of the …
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Proverbs 25-29 start by saying, "These are more proverbs of Solomon, copied by the men of Hezekiah king of Judah." He reigned around 716-687 BC. He was a godly king who sought the Lord and brought a revival to the land. He would reach out to Isaiah especially during difficult times, as he sought the Lord. One of those times was when Assyria came to…
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King Hezekiah did right in the eyes of the Lord, just as King David had done. He tore down the high places, the sacred stones and Asherah poles which were for other gods, he followed the word of the Lord, and he stopped his allegiance to Assyria. Assyria had demolished the ten northern tribes of Israel and exported all the Jews to other lands and b…
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In chapters 13-23, there are prophecies against the nations which include: Babylon, Assyria, Philistia, Moab, Syria and Israel, Ethiopia, Egypt, Ethiopia and Egypt, Babylon, Edom, Arabia, Jerusalem, Shebna, and Tyre. Here we see that the Lord had His hand over all the nations, and yes, these nations are used to bring judgment on Israel and Judah be…
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In chapter 17 of 2 Kings, we have the destruction of the 10 northern tribes of Israel in 722 BC. Israel's king was Hoshea, and he decided to stop sending his yearly tribute money to the new king of Assyria, Shalmaneser, and instead decided to join forces with Egypt. To this act, Shalmaneser came and took Hoshea and placed him in prison, and then la…
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Send us a Text Message. There are 55 chapters in 1 and 2 Samuel and, without a doubt, 2 Samuel chapter 7 is the most important. In fact, this chapter ranks as one of the most important chapters in the entire Bible because, in this chapter, God will make a covenant with David. It will be the 4th and last Covenant made in the Old Testament. There is …
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In chapter 16 of 2 Kings, Pekah is the king of Israel, and Rezin in the king of Aram, also known as Syria, and they come to attack Jerusalem and King Ahaz. This scares him, and he sends messengers, as well as the treasuries from the temple and the palace, to have the king of Assyria, Tiglath-Pileser, to help him. He does, and he attacks Aram from t…
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Isaiah prophesied during the reigns of King Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah kings of Judah. He was probably the longest serving prophet of Scripture. This is during the king that Assyria was becoming a world power, and the northern tribes of Israel and Judah were on the decline because of their sinfulness of not honoring the Lord and not treatin…
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In chapter 15 of 2 Kings we see the downward spiral of the northern ten tribes of Israel. Zechariah, the fourth generation from Jehu, which the Lord had promised would happen, was king, but only for six months. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. Shallum assassinated him and became king for one month. It was so short that the writer of 2 Kings did…
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Micah is a prophet from Judah, who prophesied about the destruction that would come to Samaria and the northern ten tribes of Israel at the hand of Assyria, and they would be sent into exile (1:16). This happened in 722 BC. He also declared that even though Assyria would come against Jerusalem, the Lord would protect them at this time (5:6), but th…
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The prophet Hosea's life was an object lesson to the nation of Israel. He was called to take a wife who was unfaithful, and after he married her and had children with her, she remained unfaithful. The Lord commanded him to go and buy her back unto himself, and that is what the Lord did for us in the NT when Jesus died on the cross. He rose again on…
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Send us a Text Message. So much happened in our last episode: Joab killed Abner, David cursed Joab, Baanah and Rekab killed Ish-Bosheth, and David killed Baanah and Rekab. Despite all of the killing, David managed to unite the two kingdoms. And Israel finally became one nation under David, a king after God’s heart. This event fulfilled prophecy fro…
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Amos was a shepherd from Judah, whom God sent to Israel, to declare the day of the Lord. The king of Israel was Jeroboam II and the king of Judah was Uzziah, and Amos saw what was going to happen to Israel because of their sin of social injustice and idolatry. It starts off with judgment to the nations around Israel, then 2:4 it says, "This is what…
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Jonah was a prophet of Israel who declared the word of the Lord during the time of Jeroboam II, who reigned around 793-753 BC. Jonah is mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25, and Jesus mentioned him in Matthew 12:38-41 and Luke 11:29-32, saying that the men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment against the people of Israel in Jesus' time, because this non-…
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In this chapter Amaziah was king of Judah, and once he was fully established, he executed the men who killed his father, King Joash. He defeated the Edomites and expanded the southern border of Judah. After that victory, he was prideful, and asked for a face off with Jehoash, king of Israel. Jehoash called the king of Judah a thistle in comparison …
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This chapter focused on the kingdom of Israel. Jehu was the king that took down Ahab's family, Jezebel, plus the prophets and temple of Baal. Since the king of Israel was also related to Ahab, he also died. Since Jehu brought down the house of Ahab, the Lord promised he would have four generations of descendants sit on the throne of Israel. His fir…
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These chapters focus of the southern tribes of Judah. After Jehu killed Ahaziah, king of Judah, his mother Athaliah, killed off everyone from the family, and she became king for six years. Thankfully she did not kill off everyone, for Ahaziah's sister, hid her baby brother, Joash, also known as Jehoash. She took him and his nurse to the temple of t…
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Send us a Text Message. In 2 Samuel 2-3, David listens to God's plan for his nation but not everyone is on board. Joab and Abner start a civil war over their disagreement. After some bloodshed, Abner wants to switch teams and asks to join team David. David makes peace with him, hoping to reunite Israel as one nation. But, Joab is not on board with …
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These three chapters begin with a story of the Shunamite woman, whose son was brought back to life through Elisha. The Lord brought a famine to the land, and Elisha told to woman to leave for seven years until the famine was over. When she came back, it seems that her elderly husband had died, and so she went to the king to ask for her home and her…
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These two chapters begin with a miracle of the Lord that was done through Elisha. A company of prophets had grown so large, that they needed to build a bigger place to meet with Elisha, so they asked him to come with them to the Jordan River so they could cut a pole and build a bigger place to live. While doing so, one of the men who had borrowed a…
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Today's lesson covers the story of Naaman the Aramean, who had leprosy. During one of the raids Aram conducted in Israel, they had taken a young girl, who became Naaman's wife's servant. She told her mistress, "If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy!" Naaman got permission to go to Samaria to the…
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Today's lesson covers five miracles from the Lord through Elisha. The first is with a widow whose husband was a prophet. Now that her husband died, a creditor was going to take her two sons to pay their debt. She cried out to Elisha, and he asked, "What do you have in your house?" She only had a little oil, so they were to ask their neighbors for a…
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In this chapter, Elisha is revealed to the kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom, that he is a prophet of the Lord. Joram is now king of Israel, and his brother before him, Ahaziah died after only two years after he found out that the king of Moab was going to stop paying the 100,000 lambs and wool of 100,000 rams (vs. 4). Now that Joram is king, he see…
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Send us a Text Message. 2 Samuel 2 begins well on David’s part, but for Israel, it’s what we have come to expect—messy. For the next 5 chapters, Israel will fight through the transition from Saul to David. Welcome to Season 10! Thank you for being a part of the club. Show Notes Blog The Tribal Allotments of Israel Map The Old Testament Books The Ne…
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As Roy L. Honeycutt said in his commentary of this chapter, "Elisha is Confirmed as Successor to Elijah, and the Confirmation of Elijah's translation." Elijah and Elisha start off at Gilgal, then go to Bethel, and then to Jericho. Each of these places have a company of prophets living there. Each time Elijah tells Elisha to stay there with the prop…
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This is Elijah's last recorded confrontation with a king of Israel, Ahaziah. As Paul R. House said in his commentary, "Elijah delivers his life's message one last time." King Ahaziah was hurt by falling through the lattice of his upper room, and instead of seeking wisdom from the Lord, he sent his messengers to the god of Ekron, a Philistine city. …
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This last chapter of 1 Kings ends with the death of king Ahab of Israel. His death was predicted at the end of chapter 21 because in their last battle with Ben-Hadad of Aram, he made a pact with the king instead of killing him, Ben-Hadad promised to give all the cities that used to belong to Israel back, plus Ahab had access to sell trade in Damasc…
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This chapter focused on king Ahab in the Northern Tribe of Israel. He wanted a beautiful vineyard that was close to his palace, but it belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite. Ahab offered to buy it, or replace it with another vineyard, but Naboth refused because it was his inheritance from his father. Ahab sulked, laid in his bed, and refused to eat. Hi…
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In this chapter, king Ben-Hadad of Aram, the country north and east of Israel, planned on attacking Samaria, the capital of Israel. He first sent word that if King Ahab would give him their silver and gold and the best of their wives and children, then they would not attack. At first the king of Israel agreed, but then Ben-Hadad added wanted his me…
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Send us a Text Message. The books of 1 and 2 Samuel are the story of Israel’s leadership transition from judges to the first 2 kings: Saul, who failed due to pride and disobedience, and David, a man after God’s heart. The 2 books were originally one book and are named after Samuel, the prophet God used to establish Israel’s monarchy. Most of 1 Samu…
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Queen Jezebel has threatened to kill Elijah so he ran. He left Israel and ran down to Beersheba where the Lord had spoken to Jacob, also known as Israel (Genesis 46:1-4). Elijah left his servant there and then went into the dessert, he cried out to the Lord, "I have had enough, Lord. Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors!" Yet the Lord did…
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After three and a half years, the Lord told Elijah to go tell Ahab that He would send rain to the land, so he went and found Obadiah, Ahab's overseer of the palace. We learn that Obadiah fears the Lord and has protected 100 prophets of the Lord from Jezebel who was killing the Lord's prophets. Obadiah was fearful to tell Ahab, thinking that Elijah …
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Elijah came to king Ahab, the most wicked king of the northern tribes of Israel, and said, "As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except by my word!" This began the showdown between the God of Israel, and Baal and Asherah, the gods of the Phoenicians. Baal was supposed to be the…
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The kingdom of Israel is divided with 10 tribes in the north called Israel, and 2 tribes in the south, Judah and Benjamin. Solomon's son, Rehoboam, reigned for 17 years in Jerusalem, and when he died, his son, Abijah became king. Jeroboam was still the king of Israel. Abijah was committed sins like his father, and his reign was only for three years…
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King Solomon is now dead, and his son Rehoboam was about to become king of all Israel, but the people cried out, "Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you." Rehoboam asked for three days to consider, and first he went to Solomon's advisors, and they said, "If you serv…
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Send us a Text Message. David is playing a dangerous game with a lot of moving parts. He is a mercenary soldier deceiving his employer, Achish who just happens to be in league with 4 other powerful Philistine leaders. At this time, Achish and their friends are attacking David’s people the Israelites. Achish believes David has been raiding the Israe…
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With Hebrew poetry and wisdom literature, there is an understanding that God is sovereign over all things, and these poetic books acknowledge Him and cry out to Him. With Proverbs, this is not, "Thus says the Lord," instead it is people speaking to humanity about humanity. These are not necessarily promises from God, but general truths about life. …
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In the twelve chapters of Ecclesiastes, the "Teacher," who has tried everything under the sun finds everything, "Meaningless! Meaningless! Everything is meaningless!" Toiling away at a hard job is just chasing after wind. Seeking wisdom just brings much sorrow. Laughter - foolishness. Projects - foolishness. Great wealth - foolishness. Both the wis…
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The Song of Songs, also known as the Song of Solomon, could be a collection of various songs, or it could mean that it is the best of the songs, like "King of kings, Lord of lords, Song of Songs." In Hebrew it could mean it is either "by," "for," or "about" Solomon, and there are few divisions, so it makes it hard to understand who is speaking. Mos…
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It is interesting that the write of Solomon's life uses nine and a half chapters to mainly tell the great things about Solomon and his reign with just a few glimpses of what is coming, and then bang, he uses the last chapter, chapter 11 to tell all the bad stuff. Solomon had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines, and he loved foreign women, a…
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After Solomon had achieved all he had desired to do, the Lord appeared to him a second time. The first time was in 3:4-15 when Solomon asked the Lord for wisdom, and here the Lord has heard Solomon's prayers, and He reminded Solomon if he and his sons would be faithful to the Lord then he would be blessed, but if their hearts turn from the Lord, "t…
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Send us a Text Message. For over a year, David bides his time with the Philistines. Living in Ziklag and raiding Canaanites instead of Israelites. Until a huge contingency of Philistines begins to form for a battle against the Israelites, Achish calls up David and his men to take part. Thank you for being a part of the club. Show Notes Blog David's…
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