Once the Kingdom of Israel split after Solomon’s reign, both the NorthernTribe, called Israel, and the Southern tribe, called Judah, had a series of very evil kings—one after another, with a few exceptions. King Josiah was one of those exceptions for Judah. Josiah was the grandson of Manasseh and the son of Amon—both of whom were wicked. Their evil ways ultimately led to Josiah being crowned king at the early age of eight. Despite being closely related to these evil men, 2 Continue Reading
Change
Daniel’s name was changed to Belteshazzar. Hananiah’s name was changed to Shadrach. Mishael’s name was changed to Meshach. Azariah’s name was changed to Abenego. During Judah’s time in Babylonian captivity, Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon ordered these name changes in an effort to strip these noble men of their identity as members of the tribe of Judah (Daniel 1:7). Their new names suggested a change in status. Nebuchadnezzar’s ultimate goal was to shift the religious loyalty of Continue Reading
It’s The Fall
When my daughter was a baby, she used to throw herself flat on the floor at the sound of the word “no.” This was an attempt to persuade authority figures to give her her way. It seemed to come out of nowhere! She’d literally fall to the floor, have her fit, then, when she was done, the “no” would still be there waiting for her embrace. In scripture we read about another person who, one day, out of nowhere, just fell. Turns out, his motive was a wee bit different than my daughter's. Mark Continue Reading