July 23, 2026; 2 Kings 17

July 23, 2026; 2 Kings 17

Daily Dose of Hope July 23, 2026 Scripture: 2 Kings 17 Prayer: Dear Holy God, Your love is amazing. Thank you for the way you care for us. In these next few moments of silence, Lord, help us focus on you...Lord Jesus, help us set aside every distraction and take this time to lean on you. We want to hear your voice. Amen. Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope Church daily Bible reading. We are about two-thirds done with 2 Kings and this has been quite a journey. Today's reading, 2 Kings 17, is what we have been dreading. The kings are once again leading the people astray. In the north and the south, they are worshiping other gods, committing child sacrifice, and they have set up altars in the high places. Both nations are depending on the protection of the pagan nations around them. They are paying tribute to some and not others, and the political consequences are bad. God allows Aram and Israel to conquer Judah, and the casualties are significant, although God doesn't allow them to be totally decimated. But destruction does occur in Israel. All the disobedience, the years of pushing God away, the horrific kings over generations, and the constant warnings that were not heeded, it has all come to a head. The Assyrians have taken over. While there is priest allowed to stay to teach the people about their God, it's a warped Judaism mixed with pagan influences. This is the end of the Northern Kingdom. I had always been taught that once the Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom, that was basically the end of them. The Assyrians were known for their brutality and moving the native people out of their land, sending their own people to populate it. But we do see here that some Israelites stay. Again, Chronicles helps fill in some of the gaps. Hezekiah (who we will read about tomorrow) invites many from the north to settle in Judah after the Assyrians take over the north and they take him up on that offer. Most likely, many of the residents stayed, mixing with the new immigrants from Assyrian lands. This helps make sense of why the Samaritans were so despised in Jesus' time by the Jews. They were not pure Jews, having many different mixed cultural and religious influences. While this chapter was expected, it is also incredibly sad. There is a high cost to disobedience. God offered so much mercy, giving many chances, and sending many prophets to warn the kings and the people. But they just didn't listen. Blessings, Pastor Vicki

July 22, 2026; 2 Kings 16

Daily Dose of Hope July 22, 2026 Scripture: 2 Kings 16 Prayer: Lord Jesus, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, We give you all the glory and praise. Thank you for being a God who provides. Thank you for being a God who heals. Thank you for being a God who sees past our brokenness and invites us into relationship with you. Help us, Lord, to grow more deeply in love with you every day. More of you and less of me. In Your Name, Amen. Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope daily Bible reading plan. We have been working our way through both 1 & 2 Kings this summer and today's reading was 2 Kings 16. In this chapter, the author's attention turns back to Judah, the Southern Kingdom. Jotham's son, Ahaz, is abhorrently evil. I can't help but wonder – his dad was pretty good and did the right thing, what happened to him? Jotham had learned from his father's failings and tried to do better. Ahaz seems to have taken an entirely different route. King Ahaz, while he ruled in Judah, decided to follow the ways of the kings of Israel. When he feels threatened by the kings around him, he doesn't turn to God but rather tries to bribe Assyria for protection. He worships the Lord but also worships Baal, seemingly trying to cover all his bases. He engages in child sacrifice and he destroys parts of the temple, even building a new altar. He does what is utterly detestable in the eyes of God. Thus, God allows him to be conquered by the pagan kings around him. Judah may last a little longer than Israel but sin and evil are also finding their way to the Southern Kingdom. Interestingly, this is the period when Isaiah enters the scene. There are prophecies about the end of Judah during the reigns of these kings we have been learning about. In Isaiah 7, God sends Isaiah to give Ahaz a sign. This is where we get the Immanuel prophecy. It basically says that Judah will see its demise and be conquered but God isn't done with them. There will be redemption. We know that redemption to be our Messiah, Jesus Christ. It's so interesting. In the midst of real tragedy, there is still hope. The average person probably couldn't see it at the time, but we can see how God never stopped being part of the situation. I think that might be something we need to hear right now. Even when things seem really, really bad with all kinds of violence and immorality, God is still at work. Blessings, Pastor Vicki

July 21, 2026; 2 Kings 15

Daily Dose of Hope July 21, 2026 Scripture: 2 Kings 15 Prayer: Holy God, You are so good. Forgive us for the many times we fall short. Forgive us when we are overcome with selfishness and pride, when we put worldly things and people before you. Help us to look to you and you alone for strength, wisdom, and guidance. Give us a repentant heart that wants to follow your ways. Jesus, we need you. It's in your name we pray, Amen. Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope daily Bible reading plan. We have been working our way through both 1 & 2 Kings this summer and today's reading was 2 Kings 15. Things aren't going so well in Israel, in the Northern Kingdom. King after king is evil. King after king, there is warfare, bloodshed, and idolatry. This is what happens when God's people turn from him. In a span of just a few decades, four consecutive kings (Zechariah, Shallum, Pekahiah, and Pekah) are violently assassinated by their successors. This is feeling like a really gruesome Hollywood movie, and it was real! It feels like we are getting very close to the end of the Northern Kingdom. The Southern Kingdom has a little more stability. King Azariah takes the throne at age 16. Just so you know, Azariah and Uzziah are the same person. This created some confusion for me. Uzziah is mainly the name used in Chronicles and Azariah is mainly the name used in Kings. I say mainly because Uzziah is used in today's chapter when introducing his son, Jotham. Probably the best explanation is that Azariah was his birth name and Uzziah was the name he took when becoming king. Regardless of what name we call him, he was a man who started well and ended poorly. 2 Kings says that Azariah is struck with leprosy but doesn't mention why. 2 Chronicles goes into more details. The king had a fair amount of military and political success and it's possible that it went to his head. He was yet another king who didn't think the rules were for him. He wanted more authority. So, he enters the Temple and burns incense in a place where only the priests were allowed to go. The priest who catches him (also named Azariah for lots of confusion) stands up to the king and ordered him out of the Temple. This was the king's chance to quickly leave and repent for his wrongdoing. Instead, Azariah/Uzziah becomes enraged that the priest dared to question him. As the king stood in the Temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead. He was shut out of the Temple and spent the rest of his life in isolation, banned from public worship or even normal human socialization. His son, Jotham, handles the affairs of government. Jotham seemed to learn from his father's mistakes and does what is right in the Lord's eyes. Overall, he ended well, even though he didn't totally clean out the pagan idols in the high places. Not totally getting rid of the pagan temples and altars will not end well for Judah in the years to come. Blessings, Pastor Vicki

July 20, 2026; 2 Kings 14

Daily Dose of Hope July 20, 2026 Scripture: 2 Kings 14 Prayer: Lord, Forgive us for the many times in which we have put other things in front of you. Help us have laser focus on who we are. We belong to you. We are a chosen people and a royal priesthood. We are yours. More of you and less of me, Jesus. Amen Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope daily Bible reading plan. We have been working our way through both 1 & 2 Kings this summer and today's reading was 2 Kings 14. And the drama continues. Aram/Syria has been weakened considerably, which should have been quite a relief to both Israel and Judah. They could have used this time to get their act together, both spiritually and governmentally. But they don't. Instead, they begin to torment one another. The king of Judah challenges the king of Israel. Why in the world did he do this? Israel was larger and probably much stronger. Did Amaziah, the king of Judah, simply get the big head after the defeat of Edom? That is part of it, but we get a fuller picture when we look at 2 Chronicles 25. As we read, Amaziah was initially a fairly good king. He did what was right in the eyes of God. But after the defeat of Edom, 2 Chronicles details how Amaziah brings back Edomite idols and worships them. A prophet confronts him for this, but Amaziah arrogantly rejects God's warning. He seems to think himself untouchable. But the confrontation ends up being a disaster for Judah. Israel's army comes marching into Judah, tears down part of the wall surrounding Jerusalem, captures Ahaziah, takes some hostages, and plunders the silver and gold out of the temple. In 2 Chronicles 25, we read that God allowed this punishing defeat because of King Ahaziah's blatant idolatry. But this would have certainly been humiliating for the king. It's unclear, but the text (when we look at 2 Kings 14 and 2 Chronicles 25 together) suggests that King Ahaziah may have been held as a hostage for years. While he may have officially still been the king of Judah, Ahaziah lost his grip on leadership of the nation. God is serious about not worshiping other gods. I might venture to say that God holds his leaders even more accountable to living with integrity. Think about your life. My guess is that you don't bow down and worship other gods, such as in this Old Testament text. But there are certainly lots of false gods all around us. What have we allowed to enter our lives that could be seen as a false god? What have we put before the one true God, Yahweh? Blessings, Pastor Vicki

July 17, 2026; 2 Kings 13

Daily Dose of Hope July 17, 2026 Scripture: 2 Kings 13 Prayer: Lord, We thank you that you are a God of miracles. For the people reading this devotional today, I'm sure that many of them need a miracle of some kind. Give them the courage to ask and the faith to believe that you can do anything. You are all-powerful and totally good. We need you, Lord, and we need your healing power in our lives. May it be so. In Your Name, Amen Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope daily Bible reading plan. We have been working our way through both 1 & 2 Kings this summer and today's reading was 2 Kings 13, smack dab in the middle of the book. In this chapter, we are back to the Northern Kingdom. There is a lot of king drama here. Over and over again, the kings do evil in the eyes of the Lord. Truly, it's amazing God didn't just strike them down right there. But he continued to show grace in so many ways. The kings and people would worship others gods and do deplorable things in the eyes of the Lord. But God had compassion on them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was because of the faithfulness of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that God did not destroy all the people. Because he certainly could have. So, I started thinking about this. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were far from perfect people. They were broken, just like us, but they also did their best to stay true to the Lord. They stayed faithful. Maybe this sounds strange, but this gave me a lot of encouragement. We are all sinful, we all mess up, but our desire to remain faithful to God does not go unnoticed. What difference will our faithfulness have on future generations? How will God have compassion on future generations because we tried, in our own flawed way, to stay true to Him? How will our spiritual legacy make a difference? It's worth spending some time thinking about. This chapter also discusses the death of Elisha. This is so fascinating – yes, he has physically died but not even death stops his ministry. His prophecy about Syria obviously plays out but he is still actually doing miracles. When a group of Israelites were burying a corpse, they are interrupted by a group of Moabite raiders. Hastily, they throw the corpse into Elisha's grave, presumably on top of his bones. The dead man is revived. Elisha has continued to give life to Israel, even after death. More king drama on Monday. Blessings, Pastor Vicki