Evers Bible Class - A Gentle Ramble through the Bible

                                                          The Fall of Jerusalem    God's Precious City Falls The Babylonian siege lasts about 2 ½ years. The food supply in Jerusalem completely runs out. When the attention of the Babylonians is momentarily distracted, the Lord has Jeremiah buy a field as a sign of hope and promise that the Lord’s people will one day be gathered back home. When all hope is lost, King Zedekiah and his soldiers sneak out through a hole in the wall but are caught by the Babylonians. Things do not end well for Zedekiah.  Most of the people are taken into captivity to Babylon, leaving only a tiny staff supporting Gedeliah, the governor set up by the Babylonians. Gedeliah is quickly assassinated, and in fear for their lives, the few remaining Jews flee to Egypt, taking Jeremiah and Baruch with them. A fr...

                                                         Eze 10-23, 25-36, Jer 21-23, 32-34, 37-38    The Glory of the Lord Leaves the Temple The end is near. All who grieve Jerusalem’s evil have been marked with God’s mark on their foreheads. The rest, the Lord says, will be pursued by plague, famine, and sword. In Eze 23 we meet Oholah and Oholibah and see how God views Israel and Judah in this moment in history. And now, Ezekiel sees the Glory of the Lord depart from the Temple. It is a view of what is happening spiritually. The physical events are yet to come. Zedekiah rebels against Babylon and allies with Egypt. Big mistake. Nebuchadnezzar sets out with his armies and then comes to a fork in the road--and finds a sign that Ezekiel put there. In the midst of all this turmoil, Jeremiah is arrested and thrown in prison. A free Stud...

                                                        Ezekiel 1-9    Ezekiel Sees Visions One of the young priests in exile in Babylon is called by God to warn the people of Jerusalem of impending disaster. Which is kind of weird--Ezekiel does all sorts of object lessons there in Babylon, and his antics all have to be transmitted back to Jerusalem by mail and messenger. Isaiah had to go naked for 3 years and Hosea had to marry a woman he knew would be unfaithful, so you know Ezekiel is in for a rough ride. This week we hear his “call story” and follow along as he acts out the events bearing down on Jerusalem . A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube. More info at EversBibleClass.com .

                                                       Jeremiah 30-31, 24, 47-51, 27-29 & Daniel 2    King Nebuchadnezzar has a Dream The sages and mages of Babylon cannot tell the king his dream nor can they interpret it, so the enraged king orders them all killed as frauds. And that includes any wise-men-in-training like Daniel and his friends.   Daniel and his friends beseech the Lord God for mercy, and God gives Daniel both the dream and its meaning. This means all lives are saved and Daniel gets a big promotion. Meanwhile in Judah, Jeremiah is still trying to make an impression on the hard-hearted, stubborn leaders. He wears a wooden yoke and gets into a confrontation with a more politically correct prophet. Letters and envoys are swapped between Judah and Babylon, with Jeremiah right in the middle of it all. A free Study Gui...

                                                      2 Ki 24, 2 Chr 36, Lamentations, Nahum & Habakkuk, & Jer 18-20, 25-26, 36, 45, 35, 13    Jeremiah is Accused of Treason After King Josiah dies, Judah never has another good king. Jeremiah writes laments over King Josiah. The book of Lamentations, which may not be Jeremiah's, is a poignant lament over the fall of Jerusalem which is fast approaching. Jeremiah is a persistent, annoying thorn in the side of the new king, Jehoiakim, and his officials. And since Jeremiah sets up his soap box in the Temple precincts, it’s not long before the priests and false prophets are out to get him. Things get dicey when they accuse Jeremiah of treason. The Lord saves Jeremiah and his faithful scribe, Baruch, but he has no mercy on wicked King Jehoiakim. After Jehoiakim’s death, his son Jehoiachin reig...

                                                     2 Kings 22-23 and 2 Chron 34-35 and Isaiah 7-12 & 14-17    Gung-ho for God When the Book of the Law is found in the Temple and is read to King Josiah, he knows the nation is in deep trouble. He goes on a rampage cleansing all of Judah, Jerusalem, the Temple and even what used to be Israel of all the idols and high places and shrines. Then he orders a grand Passover celebration. The problem is that it’s a top-down reform. It definitely does not reach the hearts of the people. The Lord has Jeremiah stand at the gates of the Temple and then at every gate into Jerusalem and urge the people to repent and turn to the Lord.  The Lord tells Jeremiah to stop bothering to intercede for the people. The Lord will relent only if the people themselves turn to him with their whole hearts.  A f...

                                                    2 Kings 22:1-2 and 2 Chron 34:1-3 and Zephaniah and Isaiah 1-6    A Cauldron from the North After Manasseh’s death and the assassination of the next guy in line, 8 yo Josiah comes to the throne. He follows the Lord wholeheartedly his whole life. He destroys all the idols in Judah and even whatever he can find in what used to be Israel. He destroys high places, desecrates idol altars--the whole nine yards. But it’s pretty much only Josiah. The people show up and say the words, but their hearts are not in it. They want their idols back. And so, the Lord sends the next great prophet--Jeremiah--who will stick with the kings of Judah until the bitter end. He sees a cauldron from the north ready to flood Judah with disaster. Jeremiah is a young, introverted man and his “call story” is one of the most dra...

                                                   2 Kings 18-21 and 2 Chron 32-33 and Isaiah 36-39, 49-53    The King of Assyria Defies God Despite Isaiah going naked in warning, Hezekiah still turns to Egypt for help. Assyria pounces and Hezekiah quickly realizes his mistake. But then the King of Assyria dares to disparage YHWH, the God of Israel. He dares to say YHWH cannot be trusted. And so, YHWH shows up. Hah! Later, after a miraculous 15-yr life extension, Hezekiah dies and his 12 year old son Manasseh becomes king. Manasseh is a disaster. He does it all--worshipping idols, bringing them into the Temple, sacrificing his own son. He ends up a captive in Babylon where he finds...YHWH? We finish up with a look at the four “Servant Songs” in Isaiah, especially Ch 49 which is typically taken out of context. A free Study Guide is available. A vide...

                                                  2 Kings 18:1-12 and 2 Chron 29-31 and Isaiah 14 (v24-end), Isaiah 18-20    Hezekiah Becomes King - The First Passover, Again When Ahaz dies, his son Hezekiah becomes king and immediately tosses all the idols out of the Temple. He calls for a renewed devotion to YHWH. Frankly, he’s looking for all the help he can get to avoid being conquered by the Assyrians. But this first effort is a comedy of errors. Will Hezekiah decide to hedge his bets by forming an alliance with Egypt? Things get pretty dicey, and the Lord calls on Isaiah to step up in a graphic way. This lesson needs to come with a warning label. A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube. More info at EversBibleClass.com .

                                                 2 Kings 17 and 2 Chron 28 and Isaiah 9 & 50, Hosea & Micah   The Last King of Israel The Lord’s going to take one more shot at saving Israel, and it’s going to be a dramatic one. This time, he doesn’t just have the prophet speak the words...the Lord has him act them out. Israel, the Lord’s chosen wife whom the Lord has wooed and protected and fed and cherished, has been hopelessly unfaithful for their entire marriage. She’s run away with idols every chance she’s gotten. So as shocking as it is, it should be no surprise that the Lord wants Hosea to act out the “state of the marriage.” The Lord tells Hosea to find a prostitute to marry--specifically one Hosea is 100% sure will be unfaithful to him. Meanwhile, in Judah, the prophet Micah adds another prophetic voice, calling both kingdoms to act justly, lo...

                                                2 Kings 15 and 2 Chron 26 and Isaiah 1-4   War on All Sides--so what does that have to do with Jesus? What if you were attacked on all sides simultaneously? And what if the Lord showed up and said, “Don’t worry. I will protect you. Let me prove it to you.”     That’s an offer you jump at, right? But the King of Judah turns to the King of Assyria for help instead. Say, what? You think Assyria is going to protect you, when they are already poised to crush you?     It's like asking the fox to protect the hen house.The results are disastrous for both Israel and Judah. Thousands of Israelites are deported to far-flung places across the Assyrian Empire.   Don’t miss the discussion and additional whiteboard session in the second half where we dive into Isaiah’s “A virgin shall conceive” and fin...

                                               2 Kings 15 and 2 Chron 26 and Isaiah 1-4   Isaiah and a Peek at the End Times King Uzziah of Judah is pretty proud of himself. Judah is thriving under his economic leadership. So he figures he should be more important than anyone, including the priests. He shows up with incense and crashes the Holy Place in the Temple. Hmmm...I wonder what could go wrong here? Israel is in complete turmoil as the kingdom changes hands three times in seven months. Into all this chaos, the Lord sends Isaiah. We take a peek at future events so we have a good frame of reference for understanding Isaiah's messages. A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube. More info at EversBibleClass.com .

                                              2 Kings 15 and 2 Chron 26 and Amos   Amos: The "Not A Prophet" Amos isn’t a prophet--nobody in his family is a prophet--but the Lord takes him from Judah and sends him to Israel to proclaim the coming disasters about to overtake Israel, Judah, and all the surrounding nations.  As long as he speaks against Israel’s enemies he is welcome company, but as soon as he starts calling Israel out, he is quickly given the boot.  In this revealing class, we’ll look at the difference between the Lord’s grievances against the foreign nations and his grievances against Israel and Judah. We’ll think about what the Lord says he wants instead of sacrifices and praise songs. And we’ll consider the “plumb line” Amos saw. What might that be, and does it have significance for us today? A free Study Guide is available. A video version...

                                             2 Kings 14 and 2 Chron 25 and Jonah   Israel's on the Brink so God sends Jonah Israel gets Jeroboam version 2, and he's as bad as his namesake. You'd think the Lord would come down hard, right? The problem is--Israel's borders have shrunk so much it's in danger of disappearing altogether. So either the Lord will let Israel be wiped out or he'll have to let this wicked king be a victor in battle. What will the Lord choose? We know one thing for sure--the Lord's gonna send a prophet. And guess who it is this week? Jonah! Yay! This is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. Jonah is sent to both Jeroboam and to Assyria. Crazy! This week is a ton of fun. A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube. More info at EversBibleClass.com .

                                            2 Kings 11-13 and 2 Chron 23-24 and Joel   Here Come the Prophets--but no one listens Athaliah seizes power in Judah and kills all her own grandchildren. True story. She misses one though, due to some heroics by a gal named Jehosheba. That boy, Joash, eventually becomes king. He starts well but ends very poorly. Even Jesus calls him out 800 years later! We say goodbye to Elisha and hello to the books of the prophets. This takes to a whole new level of understanding Scripture. You don’t want to miss this. We start with the book of Joel. He introduces the concept of “The Day of the Lord” and provides a thumbnail sketch we can use as a template to understand all the rest of the prophets. A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube.   More info at EversBibleClass.com .

                                           2 Kings 8-10 and 2 Chron 22   Jezebel Gets What's Coming to Her As do her son, the King of Judah, and her grandson, the King of Israel. It's a complete rout and lots of old prophecies get fulfilled--as the story says, "Not a word the Lord speaks falls to the ground." The thing is, though, those prophecies were like 12-14 years old. God told Elijah to do them, but he dies and apparently passes the work to Elisha, who then dawdles around before suddenly doing it all. Why is that? What does that say to us about how WE are to understand when and how to do what the Lord tells us to do? Here's the link to the TED talk about Liquid Lead that I reference during class.   A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube.   More info at EversBibleClass.com .

                                          2 Kings 2, 6-7 and 2 Chron 21   Elijah Makes a Dramatic Exit Elijah goes out with a quite literal bang, and Elisha gets a double portion of his spirit (Elijah told him to be careful what he wished for!). Elisha gives the King of Aram fits in a hilarious story that results in the Arameans slinking away with their tails between their legs. Meanwhile in Judah, sixty years of being governed by relatively good kings comes to an abrupt end. The bloodlines of the royal families of Israel and Judah are joined, and we witness the beginning of the end of the nations. We don't do separate breakout groups this time. Instead we stay together and use our backpack tools to figure out why a crazy story about bald heads and bears is in the Bible. A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube.   More info at ...

                                         2 Kings 1, 3-5 and 2 Chron 19-20   God Brings Out the Big Guns Not only are dates getting more solid, but we're beginning to run into historical records that corroborate biblical accounts. This commemorative monument ("stele") was set up by one of Israel's enemies--a king of Moab that we run across in this week's lesson.  The northern kingdom of Israel is slipping deeper and deeper into idol worship, and they are enticing Judah to forsake dependence on YHWH. Desperate times call for desperate measures. God shows up in miraculous ways for even the wickedest of kings--all to try to woo his people back. And Elisha is right in the thick of it: calling down fire, purifying poisoned waters, rescuing widows, healing generals. We’ve got some crazy powerful stuff going on here. I wonder if the people will pay attention? A free Study Guide is...

                                        1 Kings 19-22 and 2 Chron 17-18   Elijah Finds a Successor while Israel and Aram go to War Ben-Hadad of Aram picks a fight with King Ahab of Israel. Ahab has virtually no military resources to respond. With his back to the wall, who does he turn to? His idols? Nope. YHWH. But of course, Ahab is only in this for Ahab. He doesn’t do what God tells him to do. When God calls him on it, what does Ahab do? He pouts! Jezebel has to step in and prop him up. A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube.   More info at EversBibleClass.com .

                                       1 Kings 16-19   The Prophet Elijah -- Fearless Fireworks and Deep Depression The northern kingdom is in a state of turmoil. We’ve got a civil war within a civil war. Total chaos. Finally, Omri seizes the throne and when he dies his son Ahab becomes king. Ahab is the worst king yet. Case in point? His wife is none other than the infamous Jezebel who starts a program of extermination of God’s prophets. Elijah proves to be elusive. He’s a survivor. On the outside he’s fearless, but behind the scenes we see his anguish and fear and discouragement. In this class we follow Elijah through an incredible mountaintop showdown against Jezebel’s prophets of Baal. Then Elijah faces torrential rain, wind, earthquake and fire. Which terrifying event do you think God was in? (It's a trick question) A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class...

                                      1 Kings 12-15, 2 Chronicles 10-16   The Great Divide Solomon was the last great king of Israel. After his death, his son Rehoboam’s arrogance causes the kingdom to split into civil war. The ten northern tribes make Jeroboam king, while Rehoboam is left only with Judah and Simeon, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Ahijah. The border between Judah in the south and Israel in the north remains fluid, moving and blending as battles rage. The battles are not just military ones, but are also fought over the people’s gods. Will the people choose YHWH or will they worship the golden calves their kings set up for them? When is God going to lose his patience with these people?     A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube.   More info at EversBibleClass.com .