The Glory of God in Judges
I will never break my covenant with you.
2
The Angel of the Lord came
and said to the people of Israel,
I brought you out of Egypt,
and into the land I promised, and I said,
I will never break my covenant with you.
Make no covenants with the people of this land
(they lead to eternal death in the lake of fire)
Why haven’t you obeyed My voice?
Judges 2:2
3
The next generation didn’t know the Lord
and hadn’t seen all His wonders.
When they bowed down to a false god
the Lord was against them,
and they were greatly distressed.
So, in His great love,
the Lord raised up a judge to deliver them.
The Lord was with the judge,
and delivered them from of their enemies
all the days of that judge.
Judges 2:15-18
4
But He left some nations
to refine and train Israel into listening to Him.
Judges 3:4
At a time when Deborah was judging Israel
the nation was captive under king Jabin.
He had 900 iron chariots.
The people groaned under his hard rule for 20 years.
And cried out to the Lord.
5
Deborah sent word to commander Barak,
The Lord says, Go to mount Tabor, with 10,000 men.
For I have delivered your oppressors into your hand.
The Lord won a mighty victory for them,
but the glory went to a woman, Jael,
because the commander refused to go to the battle
without Deborah.
Judges 4:6
They chose new gods;
then was war in the gates.'
Judges 5:8
6
Have no other gods but me.
Exodus 20:3
For all the gods of the nations are idols:
but the Lord made the heavens.'
Psalm 96:5
Deborah sang, Curse those who refused
to help the Lord against the mighty.
Judges 5:23
7
When the children of Israel again did evil,
the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian 7 years,
who ate all their crops and left no food.
When His people cried to Him, He said,
I delivered you from Egypt and all that oppressed you,
and gave you this land.
I am the Lord your God;
don’t fear these other gods that can’t talk or walk or see.
8
The Angel of the Lord came and sat under an oak
where Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress,
to hide it from the Midianites.
The Angel said, The Lord is with you,
O mighty man of valor. Go in your Strength,
and you will save Israel from the Midianites:
haven’t I sent you?
Gideon said, Oh my Lord, how can I save Israel?
My family is the least in Manasseh,
and I’m the least in my father's house.
9
And the Lord said, Surely I will be with you,
and you will strike the Midianites
as if they were just one man.
Judges 6:9-16
Gideon brought an offering to the Angel
who said to him, Put it on the rock.
Then the Angel touched the offering
with the end of His staff
and fire rose out of the rock
and consumed the offering.
Then the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight.
Judges 6:21
10
And when Gideon perceived
that He was the Angel of the Lord,
Gideon said, O Lord God!
I have seen the Lord face to face.
The Lord said to him, Peace to you;
don’t be afraid: you won’t die.
Judges 6:20-23
I come that you might have life
and have it more abundantly. John 10:10
11
The Spirit of the Lord came on Gideon,
and he blew a trumpet. The army gathered to him,
but the Lord said, These are too many.
Send away all but 300, so Israel will know
it was I who saved them.
The Lord told Gideon, Surround this vast army at night,
each man with a trumpet in one hand
and a torch in a pitcher in the other.
12
At the signal all 300 blew their trumpets
and then broke the pitchers so the light blazed.
The army woke up terrified and killed one another.
They were annihilated without Israel lifting a sword.
After several victories
the people tried to crown Gideon their king.
He said, ‘I will not rule over you, or my son.
The Lorrd rules over you.
Judges 8:23
13
When they turned from their idols
and served the Lord
His soul was grieved for their misery.
Judges 10:14
Another time,
when Israel had been under the Philistines for 40 years,
they cried to the Lord.
(Oppression opens the ears to hear the One
who is Eternal Life. Job 36:15)
14
The wife of Manoah was barren.
She was sitting out in the field
when the awesome Angel of the Lord appeared
saying, You will have a son,
No razor is to come on his head
and he is not to drink alcohol
for he will be set apart to the Lord from birth
and he will begin to deliver Israel.
Judges 13:6
They brought the Angel an offering
and set it on a rock.
The Angel brought flame from the rock
consuming the offering
and the angel of the Lord ascended to heaven in the flame.
15
The woman bore a son, Samson:
the child grew, and the Lord blessed him.
And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him.
He married a Philistine woman,
and on the way to visit her
he killed a lion with his bare hands.
The Philistines tricked him
and burned her and her family.
He put torches on foxes tails
and burned up their fields of grain,
vineyards olive groves.
Another time he killed 1,000 men
with the jawbone of a donkey.
16
He loved a woman, Delilah,
and five leaders each promised her
1,100 pieces of silver for his capture.
She plagued him repeatedly
until he told her the secret of His great strength,
his hair had never been cut.
While sleeping with his head on her lap
they cut his hair, captured him, put out his eyes,
and set him to the grinding in the prison.
His hair began to grow.
17
The Philistines gathered to celebrate Samson’s capture.
They brought him out to entertain them.
He prayed, Strengthen me once more, O God,
that I may be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
He took hold of the two middle pillars
that held up the temple and prayed,
Let me die with the Philistines.
He bowed himself with all his might
and the house fell on the lords,
and the 3,000 people there.
More died at his death than he killed in his life.
(their evil stopped).
18
In Adam all die, even so in Christ all will be made alive.
1 Corinthians 15:22
In those days there was no king in Israel:
every man did what was right in his own eyes.
Judges 21:25
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and don’t lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him
and He will direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5, 6
19
The time of the judges lasted 450 years.
Under their rule, a few did right, and lots did evil,
causing much suffering.
He that rules over men must be just,
ruling in the fear of God.
2 Samuel 23:3
Of a priest in Malachi, the Lord said,
‘The law of truth was in his mouth,
and iniquity was not found in his lips:
he walked with Me in peace and equity
and turned many away from iniquity.
Malachi 2:6
20
A king will reign in righteousness
and princes will rule with justice. Isaiah 32:1
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:
the government will be on his shoulder:
His name is Wonderful, Counsellor,
The mighty God, The everlasting Father,
The Prince of Peace.
Of His government there will be no end.
His throne and his kingdom will be established
with justice from now on forever.
Isaiah 9:6, 7
Grace and peace to you from Jesus Christ,
who is the faithful witness,
and the first born from the dead,
and the prince over the kings of the earth.
To Him that loved us,
and washed us from our sins in His own blood,
And has made us kings and priests to God His Father;
to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever.
Revelation 1:5, 6
The Glory of God in Ruth, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther
(Ruth)
During the days when the judges ruled
there was a famine in Israel.
Elimelech took his wife and sons to live in the country of Moab.
Elimelech and his two sons died
leaving his wife, Naomi, and 2 daughters-in-law.
Naomi heard the Lord had given His people food
so prepared to return to Bethlehem,
saying to her 2 daughters, Go back to your families
and the Lord deal graciously with you,
as you have been gracious with the dead, and with me.
4
The Lord grant you rest
in the house of her husband.
One daughter returned,
but Ruth said, Don’t ask me to leave you.
Where you go, I will go;
and where you stay, I will stay:
your people will be my people,
and your God my God.
When they came to Bethlehem,
for food, Ruth gleaned after the barley harvesters
in the field of their relative, Boaz,
a wealthy, respected man
who had the right to redeem their fields
and to marry and raise up an heir for the family line.
5
He, like the Lord with us,
took her under his wing, protected her,
married her, provided for her and Naomi.
and raised up the heir’ who became
the great, great, great grandfather of king David
and eventually, generations later,
the ancestor our eternal Redeemer,
the Lord Jesus Christ.
He that overcomes will inherit all things;
and I will be his God,
and he will be My son.
Revelation 21:7
This is the victory that overcomes, our faith.
1 John 5:4
6
(from Ezra)
In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia,
The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus
king of Persia, who said,
The Lord God of heaven
has given me all the kingdoms of the earth;
and He has charged me to build Him
a house at Jerusalem.
Who among all His people?
His God be with him, go and build it.
(He is the God.)
42,360 Israelites went back to Jerusalem
carrying the treasures
and gold and silver utensils that were taken
when the city was captured.
In the 7th month they built an altar
and began worship there
with morning and evening sacrifices
which showed His great promise
of eternal salvation.
Ezra 3:3
7
When the foundation was completed,
they sang together
praising and giving thanks to the Lord;
because He is good,
for His faithful love endures forever.
And all the people shouted
with great shouts of joy, praising the Lord.
Ezra 3:11
Enemies delayed the work
by writing to king Darius saying
these people were rebellions against the king
and wouldn’t pay taxes.
8
The king wrote back, Let the work alone;
I decree that you fully finance this
from my treasuries there
and provide all priests require,
without fail, day by day,
for sweet sacrifices to the God of heaven,
and pray for the king, and his sons.
And God destroy any that harm this house of God;
let it be done with speed.
Later, in his reign,
Artaxerxes also sent more Israelites
and support to further the nation of Israel,
authorizing God’s laws
and rules be set over the land.
The people rejoiced,
‘our God hasn't forsaken us in our bondage,
but gave us mercy in
the sight of the kings of Persia,’
Ezra 9:9
9
(from Nehemiah)
Nehemiah heard
that the Israelites who’d returned
to build the temple at Jerusalem
were in great trouble with the wall broken down
and the gates burned.
He wept and prayed, O Lord God of heaven,
the great and awesome God,
that keeps covenant and mercy
for those that love Him.
We have dealt very corruptly against you,
but you promised, ‘If you return to me,
and keep My ways,'
You would gather us
from farthest part of heaven.
These are Your people,
You redeemed by Your great power.
Grant me favor with the king.
For I was the king's cupbearer.
10
The king gave letters of passage,
timber to make beams for the gates of the palace
and for the wall of the city,
and a military escort
‘according to the good hand
of my God upon me’
for ‘what God had put in my heart
to do at Jerusalem.’
Nehemiah 2:12
When enemies came and ridiculed,
I said to them, 'The God of heaven,
He will prosper us.'
Then they plotted an attack,
so we posted lookouts in the high places
and armed everyone for battle.
When they heard God had
brought their counsel to nothing.
we returned all to building.
From then on half the people worked
and half stood guard at each site
with spears, shields, and bows, saying,
‘our God will fight for us.’
11
Israel’s leaders were charging
their own people such high taxes
that the people were selling their fields
and even their children into slavery.
Nehemiah was now governor,
and stopped it all,
and had them give back the children, lands,
and excess money that had been taken.
The surrounding enemies plotted
to lure Nehemiah away and kill him.
Nehemiah prayed,
‘O God strengthen my hands.’
Nehemiah 6:9
The wall was finished in 52 days
and the enemies were downcast,
‘for they perceived that this work
was done by our God.’
Nehemiah 9:17
'I am the vine and you are the branches.
Without Me you can do nothing.'
John 15:5
12
All the people gathered as one man
in the street before the water gate;
and they asked Ezra the scribe
to bring the book of the law of Moses,
which the Lord had commanded to Israel.
When they heard, they wept.
Nehemiah said,
This day is holy to the Lord your God;
Don’t mourn or weep
for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
Stand up and bless the Lord your God forever:
blessed be Your glorious name,
which is exalted above all blessing and praise.
13
You are Lord alone;
You made heaven and the heaven of heavens
with all their armies,
the earth, and all things in it,
the seas and all that is in it.
And You preserve them all;
and the armies of heaven worship You.
You have done everything You said
because You are righteous.
You showed signs and wonders on Pharaoh,
and all the people of his land:
for You knew they acted proudly
against Your people.
You divided the sea for them,
so they went through on dry ground.
14
You gave them bread from heaven to eat
and brought water out of the rock
for their thirst,
and took them into the land You promised,
but they weren’t mindful
of your wonders and rebelled.
But you are a God ready to pardon,
gracious and merciful, slow to anger,
and of great kindness, and didn’t forsake them:
You gave them kingdoms and nations
and multiplied them as the stars of heaven.
You are just in all that is brought on us;
You have done right, but we have done wickedly.
Nehemiah 9:6-33
At the dedication of the wall,
great sacrifices were offered to the Lord,
and ‘God made them rejoice with great joy.
15
(from Esther)
In the days of Ahasuerus,
who reigned from India to Ethiopia,
127 provinces:
The king made a lavish feast
for all,
in the king’s palace garden,
giving them royal wine in gold goblets.
His queen refused His summons
to come show off her beauty
wearing her royal crown;
This greatly angered the king.
He deposed her,
and beautiful young virgins were brought
from all over the land to select another queen.
The king loved Esther above all
so that he set the royal crown on her head
and made her his queen.
Her cousin, Mordecai, who had raised her,
charged her not to reveal she was an Israelite.
16
Mordecai reported a plot to kill the king.
Enraged because Mordecai refused to bow to him,
one of the king’s trusted advisors
plotted to kill all Israelites in the nation saying,
‘they don't obey the king’s laws.’
The execution day was set,
having the king's irreversible seal.
Esther 1-3
That night the king read
that Mordecai had saved his life
and in the morning asked his advisor,
who was plotting,
What should be done for the man
the king delight to honor?
The enemy said, Put on him your royal robes
and lead him through the city calling out,
‘This is what is done for the man
the king delights to honor!’
The king said, Hurry!
Do that for Mordecai.
17
Mordecai brought Esther
a copy of the execution decree
and she risked her life to enter the king’s court.
He extended to her his golden sceptre.
She invited him to bring the enemy with him
to a banquet she prepared,
and there revealed the plot to kill
her people.
The king was enraged
and went to cool his anger in the garden.
When he returned the enemy was
pleading with Esther for his life,
but it appeared like he was assaulting her.
The guards covered his face
and hanged him on the gallows
he had built for Mordecai.
All his estate was given to Esther,
and the edict was amended
to allow the Israelites to defend themselves.
18
‘Let the wicked fall into their own traps
while I completely escape.’ Psalm 141:10
'The Lord will return the wickedness
of the wicked on their own head.'
1 Kings 2:44
The kingdom is the Lord's:
and He is the governor among the nations.
Psalm 22:28
19
Ah Lord God!
You made heaven and earth by Your great power;
nothing too hard for You:
You show lovingkindness to thousands
and repay iniquity:
Your eyes are on all the ways
of the sons of men:
to give everyone
according to the fruit of his doings.
Jeremiah 32:17-19
Nothing is too hard for God
The Glory of God in 1 Samuel
Ask and it will be given, seek and you will find,’
Matthew 7:7
2
Hannah was barren and
asked God for a son,
promising, I will give him to the Lord
all the days of his life.
3
The Lord gave her conception,
and she had a son and named him Samuel saying,
Because I asked him of the Lord.
He also gave her 3 more sons and 2 daughters.
‘ I will make your seed to multiply
as the stars of heaven.
The Lord had promised Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob.
Genesis 26:4
4
She declared, My heart rejoices in the Lord.
None are as holy as the Lord:
there is none beside You:
let no arrogance come out of your mouth:
for the Lord is a God of knowledge,
and by Him actions are weighed.
The Lord kills and makes alive:
The Lord makes poor, and makes rich:
He raises the poor out of the dust
to set them among princes,
and to make them inherit the throne of glory:
6
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s;
He has set the world upon them.
He will guard the feet of His saints;
His enemies will be broken to pieces.
Out of heaven He will thunder on them:
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;
and He will exalt and give strength to His King.
Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him,
and made everything he said happen.
7
After 20 years of oppression,
the people longed for the Lord.
Samuel told them,
If you return to the Lord with all your hearts,
put away the foreign gods,
and set your hearts to worship only Him,
He will deliver you from the Philistines.
During the following battle,
the Lord thundered great thunder
on the Philistines and defeated them.
When Samuel was old,
he made his sons judges over Israel.
But they perverted justice for bribes,
so the people demanded a king
like other nations.
This grieved Samuel,
but the Lord told him,
They haven’t rejected you;
they have rejected me.
8
The Lord said, Give them a king
but tell them the rights of a king:
He will take your sons, for himself,
for his chariots and his cavalry,
and to plant and harvest his crops.
He will take your daughters
for perfumers and bakers.
He will take a tenth of everything
that is yours and you will be his slaves.
The Lord had told Samuel,
Tomorrow I will send you a man
out of the land of Benjamin
to anoint him as captain over My people.
Through signs,
the Lord brought Saul to Samuel,
and Samuel anointed him king.
Samuel told the people,
Today you have rejected your God,
who saved you from all your enemies
and your troubles.
9
He said to all the people,
See the one the Lord has chosen.
Saul was a head and shoulders taller than all.
The people cheered and shouted, ‘
God save the king.
The Ammonites camped against Jabeshgilead
and the leaders there said,
Make a covenant with us,
and we will serve you.
The Ammonites said, Only if we gouge out
your right eyes.
Israel asked for 7 days delay
to see if someone would come save them.
As Saul was bringing oxen from the field,
he saw the people weeping,
and when he heard the reason,
the Spirit of God came on Saul
and his anger blazed.
He mobilized the people under severe threat,
and they attacked and defeated the ammonites.
10
Years later, Samuel said to the people,
I have walked before you all my life.
Have I oppressed or defrauded any of you?
They answered, No.
Samuel said, The Lord is witness against you,
and his Anointed (Jesus) is witness this day,
I have done you no wrong.
And they answered, The Lord is witness.
If you will fear the Lord, hear His voice,
and not rebel, you will continue in His blessing.
But if you will not hear the voice of the Lord,
but rebel against the commandment of the Lord,
the Lord will be against you.
11
See this great thing, the Lord will do
before your eyes.
Isn’t today the wheat harvest?
He will send thunder and rain;
that you may see that your wickedness is great
in asking for a king.
The Lord sent thunder and rain that day:
and all the people greatly feared
the Lord and Samuel.
The people said, Pray that we not die:
for we have added to our sins this evil,
to ask for a king.
Samuel said, Don’t fear,
just don’t go after empty things
that can’t profit or deliver; for they are nothing.
12
It pleased the Lord
to make you His people.
Think about all the great things
He has done for you.
But if you still do wickedly,
you will be consumed, both you and your king.
Saul’s son Jonathan and his armor bearer
attacked a Philistine garrison.
Then the Philistines came against them
with 30,000 chariots and 60,000 cavalry
and infantry as sand on the seashore.
Israel hid in rocks, caves, and pits.
Saul waited for Samuel 7 days
and when the time passed,
he offered burnt offerings.
13
Right after he finished,
Samuel arrived and said,
What have you done?
Saul said, The people were scattering
and you didn’t come.
Samuel said, You have done foolishly.
now your kingdom won’t continue.
The Lord has sought a man after His own heart
to be captain over His people,
because you have not kept His word.
Raiders came against Israel from 3 directions
and the people had no weapons
for the Philistines wouldn’t allow it.
14
Jonathan and his armor bearer
attacked the Philistines, killing 20,
and the earth quaked, a very great trembling.
Every man’s sword was against his brother,
a very great slaughter.
The Lord saved Israel that day.
Then Lord sent Israel to totally annihilate
and destroy everything
that belonged to the Amalakites
because they attacked the stragglers
as Israel left Egypt.
But Saul kept some of the best stuff.
Samuel said, Why haven’t you obeyed?
‘Rebellion is like witchcraft,
and stubbornness is iniquity and idolatry.
The Lord has torn the kingdom from you
and given it to one better than you.
The Strength of Israel is not a man
that He will lie or change His mind:
for He is not like man who changes his mind.
15
The Lord sent Samuel to Bethlehem
to anoint David as king.
The Lord told Samuel,
Man looks at the outward appearance,
but the Lord looks at the heart.
Then the Philistine army came
to fight against Israel.
They camped opposite Israel
with a valley between
and a Philistine champion named Goliath,
who was 9 ½ feet tall,
challenged Israel morning and evening
for 40 days,
saying, Send out a man to fight me.
If he wins, we will be your slaves:
but if I win you will serve us.
16
David told Saul, Who is this
uncircumcised Philistine
to defy the armies of the Living God?
I killed a lion and a bear.
This uncircumcised Philistine
will be as one of them.
David told Goliath, ‘You come to me
with a sword, a spear,
but I come to you in the name of the Lord
whom you have defied.
I will take your head
and feed the carcasses of your army to the birds,
that all the earth may know the true God.
And all people will know
that the Lord doesn’t save with sword and spear:
for the battle is the Lord’s.
17
David hurled a stone at Goliath
and it sunk into his forehead.
Israel wiped out their army that day.
David was so successful in everything,
that Saul envied him
and tried many times to kill him.
But the Lord guided a
nd protected David at every turn.
Several times David had Saul at his mercy
but refused to kill him.
David said, The Lord judge
between me and you,
and the Lord will avenge me of you:
but my hand won’t touch you.
18
When raiders attacked the city
where David dwelt
taking everything including women
and children,
David asked the Lord,
Shall I pursue after this troop?
Will I overtake them?
The Lord said, Pursue!
You will overtake them and recover all.
Today our enemies are
the rulers of darkness of this world
and spiritual wickedness in high places.
Ephesians 6:12
19
God has given us Himself as our full armor.
I will be a wall of fire around you
and glory in your midst.
Zechariah 2:5
The Lord, our wall of fire
The Glory of God in 2 Samuel
God said, Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness:
and let them ruled over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air,
and over the animals,
and over all the earth.'
Genesis 1:26
2
God said to me,
He that rules over men must be just,
ruling in the fear of God.'
2 Samuel 23:3
3
When David heard that king Saul was dead,
he asked the Lord, Shall I go up to Judah?
And the Lord said, Go to Hebron (communion).
David was king in Hebron
over the house of Judah for 7 1/2 years.
Saul’s son was king over the rest of the Israel.
There was long war between the house of Saul
and the house of David:
but David grew stronger and stronger,
and the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.
Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
Ephesians 6:10
4
All the tribes of Israel came to David saying,
Behold, we are your bone and your flesh.
When Saul was king, the Lord said to you,
You will be captain over Israel.
So David was anointed king over all the nation.
David became greater,
and the Lord God was with him.
When the Philistines heard
that they had anointed David king
they assembled against Israel in the valley of Rephaim.
Our enemies are ‘rulers of the darkness of this world
and spiritual wickedness in high places.
Ephesians 6:12
5
David asked of the Lord,
Shall I go fight the Philistines?
The Lord said to David, Go,
for I will certainly deliver the Philistines
into your hand.
David conquered many nations over the years
and set up God’s rightful rule over them.
When the Lord gave him rest from wars
he said to Nathan the prophet,
I dwell in a house of cedar,
but the ark of God dwells in a tent.
The Lord sent word to David,
It’s good that you had this in your heart
to build me a house.
6
Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool:
where is the house that you could build me?
Where is the place of my rest?’
The Lord your God in the midst of you is mighty;
He will save,
He will rejoice over you with joy;
He will rest in His love,
He will joy over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17
(He rests in His love for us.)
The Lord told David,
Your throne will be established forever.
But your son will build a house for My name.
7
You are great, O Lord God: there is none like You,
there is no God but you.
You do great and awesome things for us.
David executed judgment and justice to all his people.
The Lord sought one 'after My own heart
who will do all my will,’
I Samuel 13:14
8
However, when David used his power as king
to take another man’s wife
and had the man killed and covered it up,
the Lord disciplined severely
but forgave him and cleansed him.
Just correction came from the Lord
that mirrored what he’d done
for all history to see
‘whom the Lord loves He corrects
as a father the son in whom He delights.’
Proverbs 3:12
9
I will call on the Lord,
who is worthy to be praised:
so shall I be saved from my enemies.
He bowed the heavens and came down.
He rode on a cherub and flew,
and He was seen on the wings of the wind.
He sent from above, He took me,
He drew me out of many waters.
He delivered me from my strong enemy,
and from those that hated me:
for they were too strong for me.
10
He brought me out into a large place:
He delivered me because He delighted in me.
I have kept the ways of the Lord
and have not wickedly departed from my God.
As for God, his way is perfect;
the word of the Lord is tried:
He is a shield to all that trust in him.
God is my strength and power:
and He makes my way perfect.
11
The Lord lives; and is exalted.
It is God that avenges me,
He that rules over men must be just,
ruling in the fear of God.
He will be as the light of the morning
when the sun rises.
The Lord has made with me an everlasting covenant
(to always have a son to rule on His throne.)
12
Again, the anger of the Lord blazed
against Israel (for idolatry),
and He moved David against them to say,
Go, count the warriors in Israel and Judah.
David said to the Lord, I have sinned greatly.
Please take away the iniquity of your servant;
for I have done very foolishly.
The Lord said, Do you want 7 years of famine
to come on your land?
or defeat before your enemies for 3 months?
or 3 days' disease spreading in your land?
13
David said, Let us fall into the hand of the Lord;
for His mercies are great:
don’t let us fall into the hand of man.
So, the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel
from the morning to the time appointed:
70,000 men died (who were following evil
and bringing much suffering on the people.)
Idolatry leads to eternal death in the lake of fire.
14
But the Lord has given promises of great hope:
‘There is a God in heaven that reveals secrets,
and makes known what will come in the latter days.’
He showed Daniel the whole history
of world rulers ending with:
In the days of these kings the God of heaven
will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed.’
15
This kingdom will not be left to other people,
but it will break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms,
and it will stand forever.’
Daniel 2:4
The king answered Daniel,
It’s true that your God
is a God of gods,
and a Lord of kings,
and a revealer of secrets.’
16
Behold, a king will reign in righteousness,
and princes will rule in justice.
Isaiah 32:1
The Spirit will be poured on us from on high,
and the wilderness be a fruitful field.
The work of righteousness will be peace;
and the effect of righteousness
quietness and safety forever.’
Isaiah 32:17
17
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:
and the government will be on His shoulder:
and His name will be called Wonderful,
Counsellor, The mighty God,
The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.’
Of the increase of His government and peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David, and on His kingdom,
to order it, and to establish it
with judgment and justice now on even forever.’
Isaiah 9:6, 7
18Grace and peace from Jesus Christ,
the faithful witness,
and the firstborn from the dead,
and the prince of the kings of the earth.
Him that loved us,
and washed us from our sins in His own blood,
And has made us kings and priests
to God His Father;
to Him be glory and dominion
forever and ever. Amen.
Revelation 1:5, 6
Him that Loves us