II Kings 17 Dear RTB’ers, Samaria is mentioned nine times in today’s one chapter (II Kings 17:1,5,6,24,26,27,28,29 — twice in verse 24). It is both a city (see especially vv. 1,5,6) and a global word for all of the Northern Kingdom (see the rest of the verses noted above, especially v. 24 and 26, “the …
Category Archives: RTB 2025 – Search the Scriptures, Part 2
October 24 / II Kings 15-16
II Kings 15-16 Dear RTB’ers, Today we read the beginning of the fall of the Northern Kingdom: In the time of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came and … and deported the people to Assyria. (v. 15:29) This first deportation occurred in 732 BC; we will see the end of the Northern …
October 23 / II Kings 13-14
II Kings 13-14 Dear RTB’ers, Joash, Jehoahaz, Jeroboam, Jehoash, Joahaz… How to keep these kings and their names straight, especially when a king with the same name (Joash / Jehoash) rules in each kingdom at the same time! (See II Kings 13:10, 14:1.) We had not heard of Elisha for some time. My Study Bible …
October 22 / II Kings 11-12
II Kings 11-12 Dear RTB’ers, Today we return to the Southern Kingdom, Judah, and we meet Amaziah’s mother, Athaliah, who makes herself queen. Amaziah was the young king of Judah who was killed by Jehu when he had visited Jehoram, the king of Israel. His mother, Athaliah then “succeeded” him. She quickly eliminated any others …
October 21 / II Kings 10
II Kings 10 Dear RTB’ers, Jehu. Wow! Yes, Jehu was chosen by the Lord to cleanse Israel of its paganism. (See I Kings 19:15-16.) But he went over and above that charge. We read of his anointing yesterday: Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, I anoint you king over the people of the …
October 20 / II Kings 8-9
II Kings 8-9 Dear RTB’ers, A long reading today, but mostly just narrative if you can keep the kings and their reigns straight – a particular problem when kings in both the Northern and Southern Kingdom have the same name, Joram/Jehoram. Our STS note helps clarify that. Elisha serves only as a messenger today — …
October 19 / II Kings 6:8-7:20
II Kings 6:8-7:20 Dear RTB’ers, Two items of interest to me today… First, Elisha prayed that his servant could see the heavenly army that had surrounded the city and it was done. (II Kings 6:17). Then he prayed for blindness for the enemy’s eyes and that also happened. (II Kings 6:18) Consecutive verses – vision …
October 18 / II Kings 5:1-6:7
II Kings 5:1-6:7 Dear RTB’ers, So, Naaman… What a story! Many of you know that I often like to “put myself into the story”. So readers, who would you be? The Israeli servant girl? Naaman (or his wife)? Elisha? Gehazi? I’m sure that none of us chose Gehazi; mostly, I think we like to set …
October 17 / II Kings 4:8-44
II Kings 4:8-44 Today’s reading presents a few miracles at the hands of Elisha. Together with II Kings 4:1-7 and subsequent chapters, these stories all serve to establish Elisha as a man of God (II Kings 4:9,16,21,22,25,27,40,42), a genuine prophet of the LORD. So it behooves us to pay attention to what Elisha says and …
October 16 / II Kings 3:1-4:7
II Kings 3:1-4:7 Dear RTB’ers, The author of II Kings does not have much good to say about the kings in the Northern Kingdom, but today we read a couple of positives. First, [Jehoram] … did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, though not like his father and mother, for he put …