The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 175: Knowledge of God (2023)

Episode Date: June 24, 2023

Fr. Mike emphasizes the importance of knowing God and knowing his love for us as we read about the devastation of war and the lack of faith displayed by Israel. Without a deeper knowledge of God, not only can we struggle for hope in God's plan, but we can also fall into the temptation of losing faith in him altogether. Today's readings are 2 Kings 6-7, Hosea 4-7, and Psalm 103. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 175. We have a bunch of chapters to get through today. So it's 2 Kings 6 and 7. We're already, I don't know, halfway, almost halfway into Hosea, Hosea 4, 5, 6, and 7

today to read, as well as we're praying Psalm 103. As always, the Bible translation that I'm reading from is the Revised Standard Version, 2nd Catholic Edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a year, and you would already know that we have 30 chapters to read today. Oh gosh, if you haven't yet subscribed to this podcast, you're welcome to. You're not commanded to, or I don't even want, actually, I don't even want you to. If you could just hit unsubscribe, that'd be great. That'd be the best. Make me so happy. Just kidding. It's day 175 and we're

reading 2 Kings 6 and 7, Hosea 4, 5, 6, and 7. We're praying Psalm 103. The second book of Kings, chapter six, the miracle of the ax head. Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, see the place where we dwell under your charge is too small for us. Let us go to the Jordan. And each of us get there a log and let us make a place for us to dwell there. And he answered, go. Then one of them said, be pleased to go with your servants. And he answered, I will go. So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. But as one was felling a log, his ax head fell into the water and he cried out, alas, my master, it was borrowed. Then the man of God said, where did it fall? When he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the iron float. And he said, take it up.

So he reached out his hand and took it. A Syrian attack is thwarted. Once when the king of Syria was warring against Israel, he took counsel with his servants, saying, At such and such a place shall be my camp. But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are going down there. And the king of Israel sent to the place of which the man of God told him, thus he used to warn him, so that he saved himself there more than once or twice. And the mind of the king of Syria was greatly troubled because of this incident, and he called his servants and said to them, Will you not show me who of us is for the king of Israel? And one of his servants said,

None, my lord, O king, but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedchamber. And he said, Go, and see where he is, that I may send and seize him. It was told him, Behold, he is in Dothan. So he sent there horses and chariots and a great army, and they came there by night and surrounded the city. When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was round about the city, and the servant said, Alas, my master, what shall we do? He said, Fear not, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. Then Elisha prayed and said, O Lord, I beg you, open his eyes that he may see. So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold,

the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. And when the Syrians came down against him, Elisha prayed And when the Syrians came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, Strike this people, I pray you, with blindness. So he struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of Elisha. And Elisha said to them, This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek. And he led them to Samaria. As soon as they entered Samaria, Elisha said, O Lord, open the eyes of these men that they may see. So the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw, and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. When the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, My father,

shall I slay them? Shall I slay them? He answered, You shall not slay them. Would you slay those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master. So he prepared for them a great feast. And when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away. And they went to their master. And the Syrians came no more on raids into the land of Israel. Ben-Hadad's Siege of Samaria Afterward, Ben-Hadad, king of Syria, mustered his entire army and went up and besieged Samaria. And there was a great famine in Samaria as they besieged it,

until a donkey's head was sold for 80 shekels of silver and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five shekels of silver. Now, as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, Help my lord, O king. And he said, If the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, a woman cried out to him saying, help my Lord, O king. And he said, if the Lord will not help you, how shall I help you? From the threshing floor or from the wine press? And the king asked her, what is your trouble? She answered, this woman said to me, give your son that we may eat him today and we will eat my son tomorrow. So we boiled my son and ate him. And on the next day I said to her, Give your son, that we may eat him. But she has hidden her son.

When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes. Now he was passing by upon the wall. And the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth beneath upon his body. And he said, May God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today. Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Now the king had dispatched a man from his presence, but before the messenger arrived, Elisha said to the elders, Do you see how this murderer has sent to take off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold the door fast against him. Is not the sound of his master's feet behind him?

And while he was still speaking with them, the king came down to him and said, This trouble is from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer? Chapter 7 But Elisha said, Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord. Tomorrow, about this time, a measure of fine meal shall be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria. Then the captain, on whose hand the king leaned, said to the man of God,

If the Lord himself should make windows in heaven, could this thing be? But he said, You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it. The Syrians flee. Now there were four men who were lepers at the entrance to the gate, and they said to one another, why do we sit here till we die? If we say, let us enter the city, the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. So now come, let us go over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare our lives, we shall live. And if they kill us, we shall but die.

So they arose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians. But when they came to the edge of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no one there. For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians hear the sound of chariots and of horses, the sound of a great army, the Syrians hear the sound of chariots and of horses, the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to come upon us. So they fled away in the twilight and forsook their tents, their horses and their donkeys, leaving the camp as it was, and fled for their lives. And when these lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into a

tent and ate and drank, and they carried off silver and gold and clothing and went and hid them. Then they came back and entered another tent and carried off things from it and went and hid them. Then they said to one another, we are not doing right. This day is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now, therefore, come, let us go and tell the king's household. So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city and told them, we came to the camp of the Syrians. And behold, there was no one to be seen or heard there, nothing but the horses tied and the donkeys tied and the tents as they were. Then the gatekeepers called out and it was told within the king's household.

And the king rose in the night and said to told within the king's household. And the king rose in the night and said to his servants, I will tell you what the Syrians have prepared against us. They know that we are hungry. Therefore they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the open country, thinking, when they come out of the city, we shall take them alive and get into the city. And one of his servants said, Let some men take five of the remaining horses, seeing that those who are left here will fare like the whole multitude of Israel that have already perished. Let us send and see. So they took two mounted men, and the king sent them after the army of the Syrians, saying, Go and see. So they went after them as far as the Jordan, and behold, all the way was littered with garments and equipment which the Syrians had

thrown away in their haste. And the messengers returned and told the king. Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Syrians. So a measure of fine meal was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord. Now the king had appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate, and the people trod upon him in the gate, so that he died as the man of God had said when the king came down to him. For when the man of God had said to the king, two measures of barley shall be sold for a shekel

and a measure of fine meal for a shekel, about this time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria, the captain had answered the man of God, if the Lord himself should make windows in heaven, could such a thing be? And he said, you shall see Hosea, chapter 4. God accuses Israel. Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel.

For the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. God accuses Israel. Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field, and the birds of the air, and even the fish of the sea are taken away. Yet let no one contend, and let none accuse, for with you is my contention, O priest. You shall stumble by day, the prophet also shall stumble with you by night, and I will destroy your mother. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge because you have rejected knowledge. I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

The more they increased, the more they sinned against me. I will change their glory into shame. They feed on the sin of my people. They are greedy for their iniquity. And it shall be like people, like priest. I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their deeds. They shall eat, but not be satisfied. They shall play the harlot, but not multiply,

because they have forsaken the Lord to cherish harlotry. Wine and new wine take away the understanding. My people inquire of a thing of wood, and their staff gives them oracles. For a spirit of harlotry has led them astray, and they have left their god to play the harlot. They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains, and make offerings upon the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the harlot, and your brides commit adultery. I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot, nor your brides when they commit adultery, for the men themselves go aside with harlots, and sacrifice with cult prostitutes,

and a people without understanding shall come to ruin. Though you play the harlot, O Israel, let not Judah become guilty. Enter not into Gilgal, nor go up to Beth-Aven, and swear not as the Lord lives. Like a stubborn heifer, Israel is stubborn. Can the Lord now feed them like a lamb in a broad pasture? Ephraim is joined to idols. Let him alone. A band of drunkards, they give themselves to harlotry. They love shame more than their glory. A wind has wrapped them in its wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their altars. Chapter 5. Impending Judgment on Israel and Judah, and a Call to Repentance.

Hear this, O priests, give heed, O house of Israel. Listen, O house of the king, for the judgment pertains to you, for you have been a snare at Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor, and they have made deep the pit of Shittim. But I will chastise all of them. I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me. For now, O Ephraim, you have played the harlot. Israel is defiled. Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God, for the spirit of harlotry is within them, and they know not the Lord. The pride of Israel testifies to his face. Ephraim shall stumble in his guilt. Judah also shall stumble with them. With their flocks and herds, they shall go to seek the Lord,

but they will not find him. He has withdrawn from them. They have dealt faithlessly with the Lord, for they have born alien children. Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields. Blow the horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah. Sound the alarm at Beth-Avon. Tremble, O Benjamin. Ephraim shall become a desolation in the day of punishment. Among the tribes of Israel, I declare what is sure. The princes of Judah have become like those who remove the landmark. Upon them I will pour out my wrath like water.

Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, because he was determined to go after vanity. Therefore, I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like dry rot to the house of Judah. When Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria and sent to the great king. But he is not able to cure you or heal your wound, for I will be like a lion to Ephraim went to Assyria and sent to the great king, but he is not able to cure you or heal your wound. For I will be like a lion to Ephraim and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I will tear and go away. I will carry off and none shall rescue. I will return

again to my place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face. And in their distress, they seek me saying, chapter six, come, let us return to the Lord for he has torn that he may heal us. He has stricken and he will bind us up. After two days, he will revive us. On the third day, he will raise us up that we may live before him. Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His going forth is sure as the dawn. He will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth. What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. Therefore, I have hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. But at Adam they transgressed the covenant. There they dealt

faithlessly with me. Gilead is a city of evildoers, tracked with blood. As robbers lie in wait for a man, so the priests are banded together. They murder on the way to Shechem. Yes, they commit villainy. In the house of Israel, I have seen a horrible thing. Ephraim's harlotry is there. Israel is defiled. For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed.

When I would restore the fortunes of my people, when I would heal Israel. Chapter 7. The corruption of Ephraim is revealed, and the wicked deeds of Samaria, for they deal falsely. The thief breaks in, and the bandits raid without. But they do not consider that I remember all their evil works. Now their deeds encompass them. They are before my face. By their wickedness, they make the king glad, and the princes by their treachery. They are all adulterers. They are like a heated oven, whose baker ceases to stir the fire from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.

On the day of our king, the princes became sick with the heat of wine. He stretched out his hand with mockers. For like an oven, their hearts burn with intrigue. All night their anger smolders. In the morning it blazes like a flaming fire. All of them are hot as an oven, and they devour their rulers. All their kings have fallen, and none of them calls upon me. Ephraim mixes himself with the peoples. Ephraim is a cake not turned. Aliens devour his strength, and he knows it not. Gray hairs are sprinkled upon him, and he knows it not. The pride of Israel witnesses against him, yet they do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek him for all this. Ephraim is like a dove, silly and without sense, calling to Egypt, going to

Assyria. As they go, I will spread over them my net. I will bring them down like birds of the air. I will chastise them for their wicked deeds. Woe to them, for they have strayed from me. Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me. I would redeem them, but they speak lies against me. They do not cry to me from the heart, but they wail upon their beds. For grain and wine they gash themselves. They rebel against me. Although I trained and strengthened their arms, yet they devise evil against me. They turn to Abbaal. They are like a treacherous bow. Their princes shall fall by the sword because of the insolence of their tongue. This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt. Psalm 103. Thanksgiving for God's goodness. A Psalm of David. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with mercy and compassion, who satisfies you with good as long as you live, so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. The Lord works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known his way to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear him. For he knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass. He flourishes like a flower of the field. For the wind passes over it and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children, to those who keep his covenant

and remember to do his commandments. The Lord has established his throne in the heavens and his kingdom rules over all. Bless the Lord, all you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word. Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers that do his will. Bless the Lord, all his works in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Father in heaven, we give you praise and we give you thanks because it is true. Your mercy is towards those who fear you. And as far as the East is from the West, so far do you remove our transgressions from us. Lord God, your mercy

is limitless. It is unstoppable. It is infinite. Your mercy is given to us the most when we need it the most and deserve it the least. That is what your love is like. And so thank you so much. You know our frame. You remember that we're dust. You know how feeble we can be. You know how weak we can be. You know what causes us to sin. And yet you still give us your grace so that your life may abound in us. So help us to say yes to you this day and every day. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen. Okay, so a couple of things. One quick note about 2 Kings. 2 Kings 6 and 7, we have more stories of Elisha and some incredible miracles. Remember that Elisha, a incredible miracles. Remember, remember that Elisha, a double portion of the spirit of Elijah. And so his life is marked by this, not only miracles, but also this insight. I mean, he knows what's going on. In fact, at one point here is Israel. Remember the kingdom in the north, Israel is under attack by Syria and everyone is, I mean,

it's not good. It is not a good deal. And so the king of Israel wants to kill Elisha. And what does Elisha do? Elisha says, I know what's coming. I know what's happening. He has this insight. He has this knowledge that the Lord has given to him. There's two quick stories I want to highlight here about in 2 Kings. The first is where Elisha, they're surrounded. The king of Syria is armed against the city in which Elisha and his young servant, where they are. And he says, alas, my master, what should we do? And here's Elisha who says, fear not for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. And, ah, such an incredible gift. We have to recognize what happens. Well, then Elisha says, let his eyes be opened. And here's

the verse. So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around about Elisha. So the whole time the horses were there, the whole time the chariots were there, the whole time God was on the side of Elisha. And the whole time God was there to protect his presence was there. He's active in that moment, but the servant of Elisha couldn't see it. In fact, you almost imagine that Elisha couldn't see it either, but it was an act of faith. In this graced moment, God, working through Elisha, allowed the young man to see the reality of the situation. The reality of the situation was God was not far. God was not distant, even though when they have the siege of Samaria later on in this chapter, some horrible things

are happening. In fact, it reminds me of the siege the Romans did against Jerusalem, against the Jews in the 60s and 70s, I think primarily in the 70s, where here are these two women who say, this woman cries out to the king, give me justice. What do you mean? Well, yesterday, this woman said, if we boil my son and eat him, then the next day we'll boil her son and eat him. And she wanted justice because the woman on the second day is not willing to serve her son as a meal. And you think, wow, the lengths to which desperation can bring up for a person. And this

is what happens in 70 AD as well with the destruction of Jerusalem. When the Romans were besieging Jerusalem, there are stories in the history of the Roman wars or the Jewish wars that talk about how people were starving. And at one point you could smell roast meat. And they found out that it was a woman who had roasted her son in order to eat him because she was driven by such hunger. And yeah, here's that reality of the horrors of war. And here is God still present, though, in the midst of the horrors of war. And what does he do?

He fights even for unfaithful Israel. This is important to understand. Here is the king of Israel, not faithful. Here are the people of Israel, not faithful. And yet against the Syrians, the Lord is willing to continue to fight for them. Now, speaking to the people of the north at this time is Hosea. And that's a prophet Hosea. We went through chapters four, five, six, and seven today. One word to keep in mind when it comes to this middle section of Hosea is the word knowledge or

the word to know. It's a repeated recognition. In fact, the whole chapter four begins with this, where it says, there is no faithfulness or kindness and no knowledge of God in the land. And that sense of knowledge, not being that you haven't heard of him, you don't know your catechism, like you don't know stuff about God. Knowledge in this sense is intimate knowledge, right? It's firsthand knowledge. It's when Adam knew his wife Eve and she conceived a son, that kind of knowledge, this intimate knowledge of God. And without that, without actually knowing who the Lord is and drawing near to him, that's one of the reasons why we're doing this Bible in here, right? So that you and I can not just hear these stories about God, but that

we can actually get to know the heart of God by allowing these stories to transform our minds, to shape our lens, to create a worldview so that we actually can come into contact with them. And that's the whole point of this, because later on in chapter four, it says this famous line, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Now I've heard people say that a translation could be my people are destroyed for lack of vision, that if you don't have vision, you don't have a sense of direction, you don't have a sense of what God could do in your life, then people are destroyed. Sure, that's not bad. But lack of knowledge, if we want to continue to understand knowledge as intimacy with the

Lord, knowledge as I know him in a relationship, that makes so much more sense. My people are destroyed. Why? Not because they don't know what to do. Not because they don't know the commandments. Not because they haven't had prophets like Hosea speaking to them, but because they haven't encountered the Lord in this life-changing way. And that's in our culture.

My gosh, in so many ways, that is what we need, right? Not just I need to know what the gospel is or I need to know the tales, you know, the stories. I don't need to know the details. I mean, those are all important. Absolutely. But we need to know the Lord himself. And that is so critical. And that is so absolutely key. And so as Hosea is preaching to these people in the north and trying to call them back to the Lord is not just to faithfulness. It's not just to obedience. Although there is that scripture that really makes it very clear. I desire mercy and not sacrifice. The knowledge of God rather than the burnt offerings. He's calling them back to that, to knowledge of God, to know him as he really is. And that's what we're

praying for. That's our goal for these 365 days is to have a deeper and deeper knowledge of the one who created us, the one who redeemed us, and the one who loves us. He loves you so much. And I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike, and I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless. you