July 6-12, 2025

HEART PREPARATION:
 This week, the downfall and depravity of the nation of Israel continues to spiral. It is easy to read these passages and place judgement on Israel, without looking at our own lives and seeing that we are not far from making the same mistakes. Though our idols aren’t silver and gold, they are those things that we run after, placing our hope in, and letting go of God for. Pray that God would reveal any idol in your life that you might be running after. 


WEEK’S READING PLAN:

• Sunday, July 6 — 2 Kings 14, 2 Chronicles 25
• Monday, July 7 — Jonah 1-4
• Tuesday, July 8 — 2 Kings 15, 2 Chronicles 26
• Wednesday, July 9 — Isaiah 1-4
• Thursday, July 10 — Isaiah 5-8
• Friday, July 11 — Amos 1-5
• Saturday, July 12 — Amos 6-9

WHAT TO EXPECT:
In 2 Kings, the story of the divided kingdoms continues on. Israel continues to have kings who do what is evil in the sight of the Lord. Judah now has a good period, for five of the next six kings do what is right in the eyes of the Lord (2 Chronicles takes a deeper look at the kings of Judah). We are now starting to see how the prophets fit into the narrative chronologically. 


Jonah is one of three prophets who prophesies to a nation other than Israel or Judah. Jonah’s audience is the city of Nineveh, which is the capital of the Assyrian Empire, the world power at this moment. Jonah is sent to Nineveh to preach a message of repentance. Assyria was a threat to the nations of Israel and Judah, and yet God sends His messenger to them, that they might turn their hearts to God. Some quick facts about Jonah:

• Prophesied during the reign of Jereboam II, between 782-753BC. This places his prophecy chronologically during 2 Kings 14:23-25
• In 765BC and 759BC, Nineveh experienced two famines. On June 15, 763BC, they also experienced a total solar eclipse. They took this as the gods being angry with them. This set Jonah up for being able to go and share the news of the One True God with them. 

Isaiah gives prophecies to both kingdoms, but his main audience is Judah. His prophecies span the longest, from 740-681BC. As Isaiah starts out his prophesying, he gives warning of judgement on the nations of Israel and Judah. He warns Israel that they are going to be taken into exile by the Assyrian empire, and then he warns Judah that they will go into exile by Babylon. Isaiah is giving warning to both nations of the great day of the Lord, the day where God’s judgement will come upon the people because of their sin. But, throughout the book of Isaiah, there are glimpses of hope, and calls to repentance. Some quick facts about Isaiah: 

• Considered a “mini Bible” inside the Bible, because it’s layout is similar to the layout of the Bible 
  • 66 Chapters = 66 Books of the Bible 
    • The First 39 Chapters declare the History, sin, and judgement on Israel = The 39 Books of the OT sharing the history, sin, and judgement on Israel 
    • The Final 27 Chapters declare a message of hope & the coming Messiah = The 27 Books of the NT share the message of hope through the Messiah who came! (JESUS)
    • Isaiah is alluded to over 250 times in the New Testament and directly quoted 50 times 
    • One of the greatest archeological finds in Christianity was the Dead Sea Scrolls, which proved the accuracy of the Scriptures. The most famous of the Dead Sea Scrolls was a manuscript of Isaiah which were 1,000 years older than any existing manuscript of the book. Through this find, we were able to see that the Scripture had not changed in over 1,000 years. 

Amos was written during the days of King Uzziah/Azariah, around 760BC. His prophecy is to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, warning of judgement coming upon them, as well as all the nations of the earth. Amos 2:6-7 gives the reason for the coming judgement, they have forsaken God and turned to perversion and ruin, seeking after other gods and profaning the worship of the One True God. Amos is a heavy read, full of coming judgement and destruction, but it ends with a glimmer of hope, a promise from God to not utterly destroy the house of Jacob (9:8), and that there will come a day where He will restore Israel (9:11-15). Some quick facts about Amos: 

• Amos was a contemporary of Jonah, Hosea, Isaiah, and Micah 
• Amos prophesied during a national time of optimism for Israel, they were thinking they were in a good spot with God
  • Yet, morality had sank to a low, and the people pretended to worship, doing religious activities, but they were not close to God 

WHAT TO LOOK FOR:
As you read through the accounts in 2 Kings/2 Chronicles, continue to note the differences between the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel. Also pay attention to how the people are living, for this will make the message of the prophets resonate all the more. 


When you read through Jonah, pay attention to Jonah’s attitude throughout the book. He goes from fleeing from God, to praying to God for mercy, to obeying God, to then being mad at God for being merciful to others. Jonah leaves us on a cliffhanger, not really giving us an end, just having God get the final word. Even in Jonah, we see the Gospel of Jesus, as Jesus Himself tells those who want a sign from Him that they will only get the sign of Jonah (Matthew 12:38-42). 


As you read through Isaiah, God reveals His reason for judgement. Often, the prophets are used as a defense for thinking that God is just angry all the time. Yet, when you read Isaiah, you see that God has put up with the sin of His people for centuries. And it’s not just little sins, it is idolatry, adultery, fornication, perversion, and complete rebellion. God uses the words the day of the Lord, talking about His coming judgement upon the nations. Yet, He also uses the words in the latter days, in which He is speaking of a time after the judgment, in which He will restore His people and bring them all to Him. A summary of the chapters is as follows: 

1. God is bringing His case against the people of Judah, presenting their sin against them. Yet, in 1:15-20, God calls the people to repentance. 
2. God is warning of His coming day of judgement upon all those who worshipped and put their trust in anything other than Him. This chapter reads similar to Revelation 6:15-17. 
3. God tells the people how He is going to execute His judgement, by sending the Babylonians upon them to take them into exile. These events happen 140 years later in three waves, the first Babylonian exile in 605BC, the second in 597BC, and the third and final in 586BC, with the destruction of Jerusalem. 
4. God promises redemption and restoration for His people, promising a branch of the Lord, a reference to Jesus. 
5. God uses symbolism of how He cared for Israel (His vineyard), yet it only produced bad fruit, not good. Therefore judgement is coming upon Israel. 
6. Isaiah tells us of His call from God, seeing the throne room of heaven and being made clean by God and being sent out to share the message of God, even to a land that will not listen. 
7. Israel and Syria are aligning to fight Judah, but God prophesies that both nations will be no more in 65 years. 
8. Isaiah prophesies about the coming destruction of Israel, in which Judah rejoices at, and therefore they will be attacked by Assyria as well, although not totally defeated. 

As mentioned earlier, Amos is a brimstone and fire prophet, warning of the coming destruction of Israel. 


PERSONAL INSIGHT:
What really stood out to me was specifically in the book of Jonah, how Jonah ran from God, rebelled against what He said, and received mercy for it. While Jonah was in the belly of the fish, he prays to God, who hears him and delivers him from the fish. Yet, after Jonah preaches to the city of Nineveh, his desire is that they will be consumed by God, and even gets the best viewing spot to be able to see it happen. Then, when it doesn’t happen, Jonah is irate with God. Jonah received mercy, yet is mad when other people receive mercy as well. This hit close to home, because as much as I desire the mercy of God, if I’m honest, there are a lot of times that I can silently rejoice when people get what I think they deserve, and when they don’t, it can cause me frustration. Jonah revealed in me my own bitter heart, and the need for personal repentance and forgiveness. 


PRAYER:
God, thank You for Your mercy. Thank You for not holding my sin against me. But God, please forgive me when I feel other people don’t deserve Your mercy. The truth is, neither do I. Help me have a heart for people the way that You have a heart for people. Take this heart of bitterness and resentment, and give me Your heart, a heart of love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness. 


This week’s devotional was prepared by Andrew Peterman