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June 3, 2025 Daily Reading- Read the Bible in 1 Year
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If you would like to download my FREE calendar for keeping track of your commitment to read the Bible every day, you can find that on my site, here: https://www.inthefamilywaycoaching.com/pages/read-the-bible-in-1-year
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Today's reading comes to us from 2 Kings Chapter 18:13-37; 2 Chronicles 32:1-9, and Isaiah Chapter 36. Today we will read about the Assyrians trying to take over Judah. We will see King Hezekiah first try to pay them to keep them from attacking, but the Assyrians just took the payment and came back anyway. Then we will see King Hezekiah look to God and the Assyrian leaders trying to use scare tactics to discourage the people of Judah and try to scare them into surrendering. In our discussion for daily application we will talk about standing firm in what we believe and not letting the enemy discourage us from having faith in God. We will also talk about how one of the tactics of our enemy is to distort the truth, such as the Assyrian leaders did by claiming that God told them to get rid of their land. It was true that God said the Assyrians would come in and take possession of the land, but God has been abundantly clear that He will preserve a remnant of people and that a king from David's throne will once again reign. We will talk about Jesus' teaching that no one can add a day to their lives by worrying, and that despite things looking grim or improbable, we need to have faith in God and trust in Him, standing firm in what we believe.
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Transcript
Introduction and Bible Reading Setup
00:00:03
Speaker
so everybody Today is Tuesday. it is June 3rd, 2025, and you are here with Robin at In the Family Way Coaching. I guess you're here for our daily Bible reading, so we will do that today.
00:00:16
Speaker
ah We are going through the Day by Day Kids Bible, written by Karen Henley.
00:00:23
Speaker
And if you are following along on your commitment calendar, then it's time to take that out too.
Hezekiah's Story Begins
00:00:28
Speaker
Because you know what to do. Get that sticker or however you're marking it off. Because you're about to what?
00:00:35
Speaker
That's right. You're the Bible today. Thank you for joining me, whether you are following along on your favorite podcast or whether you are watching on video. I hope that you have been enjoying the extra video on Shavuot and that you had time to watch it by the time you get to this one.
00:00:53
Speaker
And I hope that you are having a fabulous week. We are going to be reading 2 Kings 1. second kings Chapter 19, oh, not 19, that's tomorrow.
00:01:07
Speaker
2 Kings chapter 18, verses 13 through 7. 2 Chronicles 32, verses 1 through 19. And Isaiah 36 today. And we are going to be hearing about Hezekiah and the Assyrian kingdom trying to intimidate them.
00:01:27
Speaker
So let's go ahead and get started. My hair seems to be very fluffy today. It's getting in my face.
Hezekiah vs. Assyria
00:01:35
Speaker
Now Hezekiah was still Judah's king, but the army of Assyria came in to fight Judah and they took all the forts. So Hezekiah sent a message to Assyria's king.
00:01:49
Speaker
I did the wrong thing and I'll pay you whatever you want if you'll leave our land. So Assyria's king asked for 11 tons of silver. He asked for one ton of gold.
00:02:03
Speaker
Hezekiah got the silver from the worship house and the palace, and he took the gold off of the doors of the worship house. He gave it to Assyria's king.
00:02:15
Speaker
Now Hezekiah saw that Assyria still planned to fight Jerusalem, so he asked his army for help. They blocked up all the springs of water outside the city, and they fixed all the broken walls.
00:02:30
Speaker
They built towers. They even built another wall around the first one. They made lots of shields and tools to fight with. Hezekiah chose army leaders and he told them, be strong, be brave, don't be afraid.
00:02:50
Speaker
Our power is greater than their power. They have only people, but we have God to help us fight. So the people felt brave and sure of themselves.
Assyrian Intimidation Tactics
00:03:03
Speaker
Sometime later, Assyria's king sent his army leaders to Jerusalem. They took a message to Hezekiah, and they stopped on the road to the washerman's field.
00:03:15
Speaker
It was close to the upper pool. The army leaders called for King Hezekiah to come. Hezekiah sent the man in charge of the palace, and he also sent two other men.
00:03:28
Speaker
Assyria's army leader said, Our king asks why you're so sure of yourself. You say you have a plan. You say your army is strong.
00:03:41
Speaker
But this is just talk. You're turning against our king, and who are you trusting to help you? Look, said the army leader, you are trusting in Egypt.
00:03:52
Speaker
But Egypt is like a broken walking stick. It will hurt the person who leans on it. And you might say you are trusting your God, he said.
00:04:03
Speaker
But Hezekiah is just lying to you and he's going to let you die of hunger.
00:04:09
Speaker
The king of Assyria wants me to ask you this. Don't you know what he did to the people from other lands? Their gods couldn't save them. how can your God save you?
00:04:25
Speaker
Don't believe Hezekiah. Make a deal with Assyria. How can you push back even one of our army leaders? You can't push us back, even if Egypt helps you.
00:04:37
Speaker
Besides, God told us to fight this land and he told us to get rid of it.
Silent Resistance of Judah
00:04:44
Speaker
Hezekiah's men said, talk to us in a different language and that way our townspeople won't know what you're saying.
00:04:52
Speaker
"'Were we sent only to Hezekiah?' said the leader from Assyria. "'Shouldn't the people get to hear too? "'After all, they'll run out of food just like you.' "'And then he shouted so everyone could hear. "'Listen to what the great king of Assyria says. "'Don't believe Hezekiah.
00:05:14
Speaker
"'He can't save you. "'Don't let him talk you into trusting God.' Follow the king of Assyria, he shouted, and then each of you will have your own fig tree.
00:05:27
Speaker
Each person will have a well of water. I'll take you to a land just like your own. There are grain fields and grape fields.
00:05:38
Speaker
There's wine and bread. There are olive trees and
00:05:45
Speaker
Choose to live, not to die, he shouted. Hezekiah says God will save us, but your king is lying. No other nation's gods could save them from Assyria.
00:05:59
Speaker
And the leaders from Assyria tried to scare the people. They wanted to take over the city, and they talked about God as if he were a fake god.
00:06:10
Speaker
But the people kept quiet. King Hezekiah had told them, don't answer. Hezekiah's men went back to him. They were so upset that they tore their clothes.
00:06:24
Speaker
And they told Hezekiah what the men from Assyria had said.
00:06:29
Speaker
That's the end of our reading today.
Faith Over Intimidation
00:06:35
Speaker
Wow, we see that the Assyrian nation is really trying to intimidate the nation of Judah. And we see that Hezekiah has first tried to buy them off, which never works.
00:06:52
Speaker
Every time we've seen them buy off Assyria, Assyria just comes back and takes money again and still comes back anyways. So it's not really good. That didn't really seem to help.
00:07:03
Speaker
But then he decided that he would encourage the people to be strong and be brave and not to be afraid because their power is greater than the other powers, the powers of men.
00:07:17
Speaker
Hezekiah was finally coming to the solution that he needed to look to God. And he said, we have God to help us fight.
Personal Story of Faith
00:07:27
Speaker
So many times in our life we we come up against things that are difficult and and we think, oh, I need to do something.
00:07:36
Speaker
And it isn't until we start taking some time to think about it sometimes that we say, you know what? I wasn't really looking to God for the answer. So he decides he's going to start looking to God.
00:07:48
Speaker
And we'll read about what happens with that tomorrow. But look at how he was trying be the ah the official from Assyria tried to discourage him from believing in God.
00:07:59
Speaker
Don't you know that your their gods couldn't save them, the people from the other lands? So if how could your God save you? Well, as it says, it says they were talking about God as if he were a fake God.
00:08:14
Speaker
So of course those other gods couldn't help the people. They weren't real. But guess what? Our God is real, and there is nothing too hard for our God.
00:08:27
Speaker
We need to remember when people discourage us. I know when when I was looking for my necklace, when I had lost my necklace, and I was so sure God was going to bring it back to me. there was I'm not sure that there was anybody really who just said, wow, I can't wait to see God bring that back to you.
00:08:47
Speaker
I talked to people at work a lot and every person I told, um there was not really any confidence. there was There was hope from a couple of people. So I guess I can't say nobody. As I'm thinking back, there were a couple of people who said, yes, God is going to help you get your necklace back. We're going to see what he does.
00:09:11
Speaker
So I'm thankful for those people. But by far, the majority of people were just very ah unbelieving. And they were like, well, don't really think that's going to happen.
00:09:25
Speaker
And so we can't let people who ah don't have faith in God to discourage us. We don't want the enemy to discourage us.
00:09:40
Speaker
And another thing is that you notice how the Assyrian leader said that God told us to fight this land.
Enemy Distorts God's Message
00:09:49
Speaker
He told us to get rid of it.
00:09:51
Speaker
That is not what God said. God said that the people would be displaced, but he never said to get rid of the land or all of the people in it. And in fact, we read that God has already written that when the Assyrians come, they're going to do more than they were supposed to.
00:10:11
Speaker
And God will have discipline and consequences for them, too. And so this reminds me of our enemy who likes to take the truth and bend it.
00:10:25
Speaker
It is true that God said that they were to come against Israel. And it's true that God said they would come against Judah. But God had been clear from the very beginning that that although a great many people would be killed and taken away, he said there would still be a remnant left.
00:10:44
Speaker
That is not the same as getting rid it. So it's very common that our enemy likes to twist the truth.
00:10:56
Speaker
And he was using that as a tactic. And the people were aware of the prophecies. They knew that God was going to send judgment. and But they didn't need to be listening to the Assyrian leaders.
00:11:12
Speaker
They were very upset. And when people try to give us discouragement and they try to tell us things that... ah You know, when we when the enemy tries to tell us things that are are simply not quite true, it's very easy to become discouraged and to believe that, the worst case scenario.
00:11:31
Speaker
It's always so much easier to believe the worst case scenario than it is to believe the best case scenario. We spend so much of our life in fear.
00:11:43
Speaker
And we don't need to be and afraid of everything. God tells us over and over in the Bible not to be afraid. And so this is what he was they were trying to do, was they were trying to use scare tactics.
00:11:57
Speaker
And that happens to us in our life, too. Oh, well, what are you going to do if this happens? and And well, what if that happens? And... well Well, what are you going to do about this?
00:12:08
Speaker
If, if, if, if, if. if Ifs are scare tactics. And that causes us to think of the future where God is with us here in the present.
00:12:21
Speaker
And we need to remember to rely on God.
Hope and Faith in Biblical Outcomes
00:12:24
Speaker
God tells us not to be afraid. And we've been learning this year that even things that look bad, God actually will use for good.
00:12:34
Speaker
So we need to also remember what God told us several lessons back where he says um to remain firm in what you believe. Remain firm in what you stand for, or you won't stand for anything at all.
00:12:50
Speaker
They needed to remain firm in their faith in God. And we will see tomorrow what happens with that faith that they place in God.
00:13:00
Speaker
Spoiler alert, it's a good story.
Modern Application of Biblical Lessons
00:13:04
Speaker
It's a good ending. So we need to be able to remember to take these examples of what we are seeing in the Bible, that God is not just a God of the past where he was with his people.
00:13:18
Speaker
He is with us. And mean we should not let the enemy ah use other people or our own thoughts to discourage us from things that look like they could go bad because that God, ah Jesus tells us that who by worrying can add an extra day of life to our, to our lifespan.
00:13:39
Speaker
It doesn't work that way. First, look to the kingdom of God and God will take care of the rest. And we have seen so many amazing examples of how God took care of his people when it it seemed that it was against all odds.
00:13:56
Speaker
Our God loves working against all odds, doesn't he? That gives them a chance to show his power and to give us reasons to glorify him so that we can tell other people and be witnesses to what God has done.
00:14:12
Speaker
So let's take encouragement from today's reading. It may look like things are grim. And we do know that eventually the Jewish people will all be and taken from the land.
00:14:25
Speaker
But right now they are looking to God. So let's keep that in mind. So I hope that you feel that God has lit your light today. And if you do, please click that light button.
00:14:38
Speaker
And together we can help spread the word about reading God's word so that other people may also be encouraged to look to God no matter what the circumstance so that they can give God the glory when they see God showing up in their lives as well.
00:14:55
Speaker
And that we just want everybody to know how wonderful our God is. So thank you for joining me today. And I will be here for everyone again tomorrow.