2 Chronicles 24 – Joash of Judah is seven when he is crowned king. It says that his mother was Zibiah of Beer-sheba. He is a good king, does what is right in the sight of the Lord throughout the lifetime of Jehoida, the priest (24:2). Jehoiada gets him two wives, and with them he has sons and daughters.

One of the good things he does is restore the Temple. The Levites are supposed to see to the raising of the money, but they neglect it. So the king demands that…

In the opening scene of the film classic The Day the Earth Stood Still, shortly after the eerie hum of a theremin sets the stage, a strange visitor from another world, looking very much like a normal human being, walks toward a frightened crowd in a ballpark in Washington D.C.  In his hand he raises a gift, mysterious and foreign, which immediately causes a soldier to fire a shot at the stranger.  As the visitor lay on the ground he says, “it is a gift to the people of…

2 Chronicles 22 – The citizens of Jerusalem make Jehoram’s youngest son the next king of Judah; here the name given for that son is Ahaziah. He was 22 when he began his reign, but reigned only one year. He also was bad—his mother was Athaliah, granddaughter of Omri and she encouraged him to do bad things.

Ahaziah joins with the Isareli king, Joram, son of Ahab, in his war against King Hazael of Aram at Ramoth-gilead. When Joram is wounded in the battle, Ahaziah…

Kenyan Friends have had a mission in the desperately poor Turkana region of northern Kenya since 1970.  Now, a massive underground water supply has been discovered there.  If you live in an agricultural area, you will realize how important a good water supply is, to sustain life and livelihood!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-24051374…

2 Chronicles 21 – Jehoshaphat is succeeded by his son Jehoram (also called Joram). Jehoram, age 32, has many brothers—Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael, and Shephatiah—and they are given many gifts “of silver, gold, and costly items, and also some of Judah’s fortified towns” (21:3); Jehoram is the oldest, howver, so he becomes the next king. “But when Jehoram had become solidly established as king, he killed all his brothers and some of the other leaders of Judah”…

2 Chronicles 20 – The Moabites, Ammonites and some Meunites [in Edom near Petra] come against them at Edom, near the Dead Sea. Jehoshaphat is afraid and proclaims a fast throughout all Judah. They assemble to seek the help of the Lord. The king calls upon God to remember that the people attacking are descendants of people the Israelites spared in taking over the Holy Land. “[W]e are powerless against this great multitude that is coming against us.  We do not know what to do, but our…

Good Morning Friends:

I have finally published a reissue of the 1815 Edition of 'A Guide to True Peace'.  It is now available at Amazon for $8.00.

This is a resetting of the 1815 Edition, which is the edition that all subsequent editions are based on.  Each subsequent edition has made some changes.  Most of them are minor, but a few are significant.  I have reset the 1815 edition without changing the original text: that is to say the vocabulary and sentence structure are as the…

ESR student Martin Melville recently shared this message in Worship during the 2013 August Intensives:

2 Chronicles 19 – When Jehoshaphat returns to his house, Jehu, son of Hanani, the seer, meets him and criticizes him for helping Ahab. “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord?” (19:2)

He nevertheless tells him that some good is found in him for his having destroyed the sacred poles and set his heart on seeking God. He went out among the people and “brought them back to the Lord” (19:4). He appointed judges and told them, “let the fear…

2 Chronicles 18 – Jehosphaphat had great riches. He made a marriage alliance with Ahab – had his son Joram marry Ahab’s daughter, Athaliah. A few years later, he goes to visit Ahab. Ahab offers sacrifice for him and asks for Jehoshaphat’s help in fighting to recover Ramoth-gilead.  The Jerusalem Bible note says the unlawful sacrifice—not at the authorized sanctuary, will prove disastrous.  

Jehosphaphat asks Ahab to consult…

Friends,

Quaker Universalist Conversations, the blog of the Quaker Universalist Fellowship, is inviting folks to contribute guest blog posts over the coming months. Here is a description of our first three featured topics.

Many of us have…

2 Chronicles 16 - In Asa’s 36^th year, King Baasha of Israel comes against him, building Ramah (just north of Jerusalem) to prevent anyone from going in or coming out of Judah.

Asa sends treasure to Ben-had of Damascus (Aram) so he will break his alliance with Baasha and help him. This works—the Aramaeans attack cities in Israel and Baasha stops building Ramah. Asa takes the lumber Baasha was using there to build Geba and Mizpah (north of…

I am simultaneously both new to Quakerism and not new.  I started attending Meeting for Worship in about 2011, but I was not new even then, for I was already "convinced." That is, my view of the Divine (God, Jesus, Allah, Brahman, etc.) was concerned almost solely with inner realities. In the early 1970s I had an experience of the Divine that convinced me of God's existence, although I  believed then and still do that Brahman/Jesus is both immanent and transcendent. I dislike using…

Wilmington College Junior and Quaker Heritage Center Staffer Bri Knisley gives us an overview and update on the Center:

The Quaker Heritage…

2 Chronicles 14 – Abijah is buried in the city of David, and his Asa becomes king. The “land had rest for ten years” (14:1) He did “what was good and right in the sight of the Lord his God. He took away the foreign altars and the high places, broke down the pillars, hewed down the sacred poles, and commanded Judah to seek the Lord . . .” (14:2-3).

During these peaceful years, he built fortified cities and had a large army (300,000 from Judah and 280,000 of Benjamin).…

2 Chronicles 12 – After Rehoboam becomes secure, however, he abandons “the law of the Lord,” he and all Israel (12:1). The Lords brings King Shishak of Egypt against them with 1200 chariots and 60,000 cavalry. This threat must have been there from the beginning because most of the fortified cities he built up were in mid to lower Judah—defending against Egypt, not Israel.

Shishak takes these cities and approaches Jerusalem. The…

This isn't really a blog but I didn't know where else to put it.  I wanted to let as many of you as possible know that Dennis Rodman has a FB page and it's a simple act to log on and just say Thanks.  I'm not a DR fan.  I don't even think of him unless he's in the news with one of his stunts.  But when a stunt or act of good will, whichever it may actually be, has even the remotest chance of bringing peace to anyone I think a thank you is in order.  So if you agree send DR a thank you. …

2 Chronicles 10 – Rehoboam goes to Shechem to be installed as king. When Jeroboam hears of it - he is down in Egypt - he returns and with him “all Israel came.” Jeroboam in an Ephraimite who was made overseer of the labor force of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh – Joseph’s descendants - under Solomon. According to 1 Kings 11:29-39, the words of the prophet Ahijah prophecies that he will one day rule over the ten tribes. He does and when his plot…

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