Recall from our last episode that Amos is a blue collar guy who was sent from Judah to prophesy against Israel. During a time of wealth, the rich had grown greedy, proud, and complacent, assuming that no harm could befall them. In their pride, they failed to consider the Lord, righteous conduct, or just dealings, opting instead to oppress those of lower status and lounge in luxury. Through Amos, the Lord calls Israel to live a life of justice and righteousness, but because they are hard of heart, the Lord’s justice will pour out from upon those who have profaned God’s holy name.

Amos 6 - 1:06 . 

Amos 7 - 3:58 . 

Amos 8 - 8:19 . 

Amos 9 - 11:08 . 

Psalm 131 - 14:51 . 

Psalm 132 - 15:32 . 

:::

Christian Standard Bible translation.

All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.

Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible.

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Amos was a prophet from Judah who travelled away from his homeland to prophesy against Israel. As his introduction states, Amos was a shepherd by trade, but he received instruction from the Lord to go north to Samaria around 760 BC. It was a time of great prosperity for Israel, but many farmers had been reduced to poverty. The wealthy gave them loans that they could not repay, forcing these debtors into slavery whereby the aristocrats seized their lands. They felt that their city walls and citadels would keep them safe and secure from danger, but the God of Israel sees all and will exact justice on those who have neglected his statutes.

Amos 1 - 1:03 . 

Amos 2 - 4:11 . 

Amos 3 - 7:21 . 

Amos 4 - 11:09 . 

Amos 5 - 14:07 . 

Psalm 130 - 19:13 . 

:::

Christian Standard Bible translation.

All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.

Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible.

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The signs, visions, and prophecies included into today’s reading span from the death of King Uzziah into the beginning of Ahaz’s reign, who continues the lineage of Davidic kings. In chapter 6 we get an awe-inspiring sneak peek into the throne room of God. Isaiah senses that he is unfit to be in God’s presence, but an angel approaches to cleanse him in a unique way. After this, the Lord God commissions Isaiah to be his messenger. In chapter 7, Isaiah prophesies to King Ahaz of a virgin who conceive and give birth to a son and name him Immanuel. This prophecy had an immediate fulfillment, as a statement about the amount of time which would pass between then and the invasion of the Assyrian king, but it has it’s ultimate fulfillment in the birth of Christ.

Isaiah 6 - 1:06 . 

Isaiah 7 - 4:16 . 

Isaiah 8 - 9:44 . 

Psalm 128 - 14:10 . 

Psalm 129 - 15:00 . 

:::

Christian Standard Bible translation.

All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.

Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible.

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Judah has made the mistake of trusting in the armies of men, rather than trusting in God. As such is the case, the Lord God of armies will be removing every kind of security from Judah, which includes some securities which would be considered blessings from God, and some securities which would have been sinful and earthly. The righteous will eat the fruit of their labor, but the wick will only harvest judgment. Even in this bleak forecast, the Lord proclaims that those who survive will see the beautiful and glorious Branch of the Lord. Later, Isaiah writes a song about a vineyard that yields worthless grapes as a parallel to Jerusalem and Judah. 

Isaiah 3 - 1:05 . 

Isaiah 4 - 5:14 . 

Isaiah 5 - 7:21 . 

Psalm 126 - 14:02 . 

Psalm 127 - 15:00 . 

:::

Christian Standard Bible translation.

All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.

Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible.

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So far in our chronological reading we’ve read two of the minor prophets, those being Obadiah and Jonah, and in today’s episode we’ll begin to read from our first major prophet, the prophet Isaiah. If you’re familiar with the overall arch of Israel, Judah, and the prophets, you know that there were prophets before, during, and after the exile to Babylon. Starting with this episode, the majority of our reading for the rest of the year will be from the major and minor prophets with sections from history books interspersed as history moves along. Today we’ll learn about King Uzziah of Judah from 2 Chronicles, where we are also briefly introduced to Isaiah before proceeding to the first two chapters of that book.

2 Chronicles 26 - 1:06 . 

Isaiah 1 - 8:07 . 

Isaiah 2 - 15:16 . 

Psalm 124 - 19:34 . 

Psalm 125 - 20:27 . 

:::

Christian Standard Bible translation.

All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.

Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible.

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You might have missed it, but in our last episode, the writer of 2 Kings mentioned the fulfillment of prophecy through the prophet Jonah back in chapter 14. We have every reason to conclude that this prophet is the same Jonah sent to Ninevah in the minor prophet book by the same name. Instead of obeying the Lord, Jonah turns to go in the completely opposite direction. As you hear this account, keep in mind that in the end it is most likely that Jonah is the one recording what happened, revealing that he eventually became aware of his hard-hearted response. We’ll end the episode with a single chapter from 2 Kings and two short Psalms.

Jonah 1 - 1:06 . 

Jonah 2 - 4:55 . 

Jonah 3 - 6:51 . 

Jonah 4 - 8:54 . 

2 Kings 15 - 11:29 . 

Psalm 122 - 18:53 . 

Psalm 123 - 20:00 . 

:::

Christian Standard Bible translation.

All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.

Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible.

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In our last episode, we considered the life of King Joash, the baby heir to the throne who was rescued from a maniacal monarch, raised in the temple, and brought to kingship by Jehoiada the priest. Joash began by rebuilding the Lord’s temple, then he abandons both the Lord’s temple and the Lord. The Lord therefore abandons him and he is later assassinated. Amaziah begins well, but surprisingly turns to worship the idols of those he has defeated, and soon thereafter becomes overconfident, challenging Israel to war. In our reading from 2 Kings we’ll encounter a few Israelite kings who ruled Israel during Amaziah’s reign, including Jehoash who plunders Jerusalem after being provoked by Amaziah.

2 Chronicles 25 - 1:07 . 

2 Kings 14 - 8:35 . 

Psalm 120 - 14:42 . 

Psalm 121 - 15:29 . 

:::

Christian Standard Bible translation.

All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.

Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible.

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Interestingly, we saw a few foreshadows of Jesus in our last episode, as a child who was meant to be king was swept away from a murderous monarch only to emerge victorious later. Today we’ll examine the rule and reign of Joash, that child who became king of Judah. It seems that early in his reign he sought to repair the temple, and no wonder! He grew up in the temple from infancy into early childhood. When the work stalls, the make a plan, but later, the wealth of Judah will be handed over to King Hazael, that same servant who murdered his king after Elisha prophesied would rule over Aram. Later, in 2 Kings, we’ll briefly cover two of Israel’s evil kings, Jehoahaz and Jehoahash. 

2 Chronicles 24 - 1:08 . 

2 Kings 12 - 7:27 . 

2 Kings 13 - 12:34 . 

Psalm 119:161 - 18:47 . 

:::

Christian Standard Bible translation.

All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.

Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible.

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In our last episode, the military commander, Jehu, was anointed as king. He and his men set out immediately to put an end to the house of Ahab, and in the process, he also killed the king of Judah, the evil king Ahaziah. Today, Jehu continues his conquest with a number of cunning strategies, killing Ahab’s wife Jezebel, overthrowing the house of Ahab, destroying the prophets of a Baal, and avenging the blood of Naboth the Gileadite on behalf of the Lord. Remember that the Lord predicted Ahab’s fall through Elijah, who has since been taken up into glory. Finally, we catch up to our last reading from 2 Chronicles by returning to the kings of Judah, where we’ll hear a parallel to that book’s account of Athaliah and Jehoiada.

2 Kings 9:30 - 1:08 . 

2 Kings 10 - 2:49 . 

2 Kings 11 - 11:36 . 

Psalm 119:145-160 - 16:26

:::

Christian Standard Bible translation.

All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.

Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible.

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When we last left our reading covering the kingdom of Israel, the Arameans had laid siege against Samaria, Israel’s capital city. This means that they were blocking people from going in or out so that the people might starve. The king of Israel, most likely Joram, son of Ahab, sends a messenger to Elisha, threatening him with violence. Today, Elisha predicts that they will soon be so flooded with food and grain that it will be hard to sell at even a fraction of its cost. Later, Jehu (a military commander) will be anointed as the next king of Israel by decree of Elisha and by a messenger sent by the prophet to anoint Jehu with oil. The newly anointed king then sets out to put an end to the house of Ahab.

2 Kings 7 - 1:08 . 

2 Kings 8 - 6:32 . 

2 Kings 9 - 13:18 . 

Psalm 119:129 - 20:17 . 

:::

Christian Standard Bible translation.

All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.

Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible.

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