The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 176: Choosing Eternal Life (2023)

Episode Date: June 25, 2023

Fr. Mike explains why all of us are called to listen to the prophets of the Old Testament, and why their role is so important in salvation history. Each of us is building some kind of life and picture of eternity: the question we must ask ourselves is are we building it with God or against him? Today's readings are 2 Kings 8, Hosea 8-10, and Psalm 108. 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 176. We're reading from 2 Kings chapter 8, from Hosea chapters 8, 9, and 10. And we're also praying Psalm 108. As always, the Bible translation that I'm reading from is the revised

standard version, second Catholic edition, and I am 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. You can also subscribe to this podcast if you'd like. But as I said yesterday, I'm not a pusher. In fact, I think I said yesterday, you don't even have to do, I don't even want you to do that anymore. So, oh brother, day 176, getting to me. Here we are reading 2 Kings 8, Hosea 8, 9, and 10, and praying Psalm 108. The second book of Kings, chapter 8, the Shunammite woman's land restored.

Now Elisha said to the woman, whose son he had restored to life, arise and depart with your household and sojourn wherever you can, for the Lord has called for a famine and will come upon the land for seven years. So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God. She went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. And at the end of the seven years, when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she went forth to appeal to the king for her house and her land. Now the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.

And while he was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, here is the woman, and here is her son whom Elisha restored to life. And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed an official for her, saying, Restore all that was hers, together with all the produce of the fields from the day that she left the land until now. The death of Ben-Hadad. Now Elisha came to Damascus. Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria, was sick, and when it was told him, the man of God has come here, the king said to Hazael, take a present with you and go to meet the man of God and inquire of the Lord through him, saying, shall I recover from this sickness? So Hazael went to

meet him and took a present with him, all kinds of goods of Damascus, 40 camel loads. When he came and stood before him, he said, your son Ben-Hadad, king of Syria, has sent me to you saying, shall I recover from this sickness? And Elisha said to him, go, say to him, you shall certainly recover. But the Lord has shown me that he shall certainly die. And he fixed his gaze and stared at him until he was ashamed. And the man of God wept. And Hazael said, Why does my Lord weep? He answered, Because I know the evil that you will do to the sons of Israel. You will set on fire their fortresses, and you will slay their young men with the sword, and dash in pieces their little ones, and rip up their women with child. And Hazael said, What is your servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing? Elisha answered, The Lord has shown me that you are

to be king over Syria. Then he departed from Elisha, and came to his master, who said to him, What did Elisha say to you? And he answered, He told me that you would certainly recover. But the next day he took the coverlet and dipped it in water and spread it over his face till he died. And Hazael became king in his stead. Jehoram reigns over Judah. In the fifth year of Joram, the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, began to reign. He was 32 years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. Yet the Lord would not destroy Judah for the sake

of David his servant, since he promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever. In his days, Edom revolted from the rule of Judah and set up a king of their own. Then Joram passed over to Zaire with all his chariots and rose by night, and he and his chariot commanders struck the Edomites who had surrounded him, but his army fled home. So Edom revolted from the rule of Judah to this day. Then Libna revolted at the same time. Now the rest of the acts of Joram and all that he did,

are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? So Joram slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And Ahaziah, his son, reigned in his stead. Ahaziah reigns over Judah. In the twelfth year of Joram, the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, the king of Judah, began to reign. Ahaziah was 22 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Ataliah. She was a granddaughter of Omri, king of Israel. He also walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done, for he was son-in-law to the house of Ahab. He went with Joram, the son of Ahab, to make war against Hazael, king of Syria, at Ramoth-Gilead, where the Syrians wounded Joram. And King Joram

returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael, king of Syria. And Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Joram, the son of Ahab, in Jezreel, because he was sick. The book of Hosea, chapter 8, Israel's apostasy. Set the trumpet to your lips, for a vulture is over the house of the Lord, because they have broken my covenant and transgressed my law. To me they cry, My God, we Israel know you. Israel has spurned the good. The enemy shall pursue him. They made kings, but not through me. They set up princes, but without my knowledge. With their silver and gold, they made idols for their own destruction. I have spurned your calf,

O Samaria. My anger burns against them. How long will it be till they are pure in Israel? A workman made it. It is not God. The calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces. For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads. It shall yield no meal. If it were to yield, aliens would devour it. Israel is swallowed up. Already they are among the nations as a useless vessel. For they have gone up to Assyria, a wild donkey wandering alone. Ephraim has hired lovers. Though they hire allies among the nations, I will soon gather them up, and they shall cease for a little while from anointing kings and princes. Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning, they have become to him altars for sinning.

Were I to write for him my laws by ten thousands, they would be regarded as a strange thing. They have become to him altars for sinning. For Israel has forgotten his maker and built palaces, and Judah has multiplied fortified cities, but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour his strongholds. Chapter 9. Punishment for Israel's Sin. Rejoice not, O Israel. Exult not like the peoples. For you have played the harlot, forsaking your God. You have loved a harlot's hire upon all threshing floors. Threshing floor and wine vat shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail them. They shall not remain in the land of the Lord, but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean food in Assyria. They shall not pour libations of wine to the Lord, and they shall not please him with their sacrifices. Their bread shall be like mourner's bread. All who eat of it shall be defiled. For their bread shall be for their

hunger only. It shall not come to the house of the Lord. What will you do on the day of appointed festival and on the day of the feast of the Lord? For behold, they are going to Assyria. Egypt shall gather them. Memphis shall bury them. Nettles shall possess their precious things of silver. Thorns shall be in their tents. The days of punishment have come. The days of recompense have come. Israel shall know it.

The prophet is a fool. The man of the spirit is mad because of your great iniquity and great hatred. The prophet is the watchman of Ephraim, the people of my God. Yet a fowler's snare is on all his ways and hatred in the house of his God. They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their iniquity, he will punish their sins. Like grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel, like the first fruit on the fig tree in its first season. I saw your fathers. But they came to Baal Peor and consecrated themselves to Baal. They became

detestable like the thing they loved. Ephraim's glory shall fly away like a bird. No birth, no pregnancy, no conception. Even if they bring up children, I will bereave them till none is left. Woe to them when I depart from them. Ephraim's sons, as I have seen, are destined for a prey. Ephraim must lead forth his sons to slaughter. Give them, O Lord, what will you give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. Every evil of theirs is in Gilgal.

There I began to hate them. Because of the wickedness of their deeds, I will drive them out of my house. I will love them no more. All their princes are rebels. Ephraim is stricken. Their root is dried up. They shall bear no fruit. Even though they bring forth, I will slay their beloved children. My God will cast them off because they have not listened to him. They shall be wanderers among the nations. Chapter 10, Israel's Sin and Captivity Israel is a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit. The more his fruit increased, the more altars he built. As his country improved, he improved his pillars.

Their heart is false, and now they must bear their guilt. The Lord will break down their altars and destroy their pillars. For now, they will say, we have no king, for we fear not the Lord. And a king, what could he do for us? They utter mere words. With empty oaths, they make covenants. So judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field. The inhabitants of Samaria tremble for the calf of Bet-Avon. Its people shall mourn for it, and its idolatrous priests shall wail over it, over its glory which has departed from it. Yes, the thing itself shall be carried to Assyria as a tribute to the great king. Ephraim shall be put to shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his idol. Samaria's king shall perish like a chip on the face of the

waters. The high places of Avan, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed. Thorn and thistle shall grow up on their altars, and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us, and to the hills, Fall upon us. From the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel. There they have continued. Shall not war overtake them in Gibeah? I will come against the wayward people to chastise them, There they have continued. So for yourselves, righteousness, reap the fruit of mercy, break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and reign salvation upon you. You have plowed iniquity. You have reaped injustice. You have eaten the fruit of lies.

Because you have trusted in your chariots and in the multitude of your warriors. Therefore, the tumult of war shall arise among your people, and all your fortresses shall be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth Arbel on the day of battle. Mothers were dashed in pieces with their children. Thus it shall be done to you, O house of Israel, because of your great wickedness. In the storm, the king of Israel shall be utterly cut off. Psalm 108. Praise and prayer for victory. A song. A psalm of David.

My heart is steadfast, O God. My heart is steadfast. I will sing and make melody. Awake, my soul. Awake, O harp and lyre. I will awake the dawn. I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples. I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your steadfast love is great above the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let your glory be over all the earth. That your beloved may be delivered. Give help by your right hand and answer me. God has promised in his sanctuary, with exaltation, I will divide up Shechem and portion out the valley of Sukkoth. Gilead is mine. Manasseh is mine. Ephraim is my helmet. Judah, my scepter. Moab is my wash basin. Upon Edom, I cast my shoe. Over Philistia, I shout in triumph.

Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom? Have you not rejected us, O God? You do not go forth, O God, with our armies. O grant us help against the foe, for vain is the help of man. With God, we shall do valiantly. It is he who will tread down our foes.

Father in heaven, thank you so much. Thank you for the gift of yourself and the gift of your son. Thank you for fighting for us. Vain is the help of the people around us. While we need each other and while we need to lift each other up and fight for one another, with you we shall do bravely. With you we shall do valiantly. And it is you who accomplish all we have done and it is you who will tread down our foes. Help us to be faithful to you and be faithful in waiting on you and to be faithful to allow you to show up and to fight for us as you want to fight for us, not as we want to be fought for. Because Lord, your will surpasses our best laid plans. Your wisdom surpasses our depth of understanding as the ocean

surpasses a puddle, a puddle, Lord God. And so we just praise you and we trust you today in Jesus name and the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy spirit. Amen. So today in second Kings, we have a story of Elisha again with the Shunammite woman who made another appearance and what a gift that Elisha was a friend of hers and of her families because he was able to save her life and preserve their property for seven years during this time of famine, which is incredible. But also we also have not only the death of Ben-Hadad, who is the king of Syria and the instatement of Gazael as the new king of Syria. I mean, he's the king of Cap'n Crunch. That's what he is. But Hazael is the new king of

Syria. Golly, oh brother, you guys. We also have a recap of the story of Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, King Judah begins to reign. And remember that Jehoram was not a king very long. He reigned for eight years and then his son rose up after him and Jehoram slept with his father. And then his son Ahaziah became king and he did not reign very long at all. He reigned for one year. Remember, because his mom's name was Ataliah. And if we remember anything about this, we have a connection with Ahab and Jezebel this whole way.

But Ataliah, we have Jezebel, who's one of the bad people of the Old Testament. But also we have Ataliah, who, as we know, kills everybody in her family except for the grandson that was able to escape. And Ataliah has this connection with Ahab, the king of Israel. And so there's this connection with Joram, the son of Ahab, who is in the north, right? And Jehoram, the, I guess, in-law maybe potentially of Ahab. They have a certain kind of certain connection between the two of them that doesn't get very deep, but at the same time, it was there. And one of those many times when the king of the north of Israel and the king in the south in Judah have

common interests, even though their common interests were in basically being awful. So that's one of the things that we have today in 2 Kings. We also have Hosea 8, 9, and 10. And Hosea 8, 9, and 10 covers a few things., one of the things we need to think of when we are listening to the prophets, and this is going to happen a bunch in a number of days, for the next number of days, we're going to be looking at Hosea, Amos, Jonah, Micah, but then we're also going to get back to the deeper prophets or what they call the major prophets of Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and the, and the other minor prophets as well is they're always speaking in a particular

context. And one of the contexts is this, is here is God's blessings. That God has given everything they could possibly want, everything they need. And still the people have taken God's blessings and have said, oh, these are for us. We'll give them to false gods. We'll chase after other gods. And again, one of the things we need to do is put it in context. So here is Hosea speaking to the north saying, basically, listen, if you do not turn away from this, if you keep on doing these things, God will let you go. I mean, he's going to let you go. This is one of the pieces we just want to end today with is at some point, the story has to come to a conclusion. At some point, the story has to come to a conclusion. This is one of the pieces we just want to end today with is at some point, the story has to come to a conclusion. At some point, the story has to come to a conclusion.

This is the case for every one of our lives. Yes, God's faithfulness is unending. It is infinite. It, as I said, unending means doesn't end. It will never, ever end. But our story at some point will end. And this is not God saying, okay, Israel, that's enough. I'm now so tired of you

that I will no longer ever have mercy on you. I'll no longer forgive you. But it is saying, okay, you know, in this world, time is finite. Eternity, obviously infinite. But in this world, time is finite. And I'm calling you to repentance. You only have so much time to repent. At some point, the story is over. The clock runs out. The last grain of sand ticks through that hourglass. And the choice that we've made is the choice that we get. And so here is Hosea, who's basically begging, begging the northern tribes of Israel. Also, Ephraim is another name for Israel.

So when he says Ephraim, he's talking about the Northern Kingdom of Israel and saying what's gonna happen is God loves you and yet, and yet at some point, you're going to get what you've been choosing. And what you've been choosing is anything other than God. And at some point, that's exactly what you're going to get. You're going to get anything other than God, but that's not what God wants. But I have to warn you,

at some point, you're going to get what you've chosen. And this is the case for every one of us. The prophet's role in our lives in so many ways is, yes, to remind us of God's love for us, but also to remind us that at some point we get what we've chosen, no matter how powerfully, how faithfully, how unstoppably God loves us. At some point, we get what we've chosen and God lets us have it. He lets us walk away from him with what we've chosen to have. And so that's why all of us, all of us are called to listen to the words of the prophets and put them in context, again, the kingdom of Israel or Ephraim, but also in our own lives and to say, okay, God, I've turned away from you. I have not walked in faithfulness. That maybe for the most part, I do okay,

but I'm actually not seeking your voice. I'm not actually seeking your heart. I'm not seeking to do your will. And we have in Matthew's gospel, we have Jesus telling the story in the Sermon on the Mount. He says, well, everyone who listens to these words of mine and does not act on them will be like the person who builds the house on sand. The rains

fell, the winds came, it blew and buffeted the house, and it was collapsed and utterly ruined because it was built on sand. But those who hear these words of mine and act on them will be like the person who built their house on rock. Same rains came, winds blew and buffeted the house, and it did not collapse because it was set solidly on rock. Every one of us right now is building something. We are building some kind of life. We are building some kind of eternity. Are we building it on ourselves? Are we building it on the false gods of this world? Are we building it on the things that we love more than God? Or are we building our lives and our eternal lives on the Lord Jesus himself by doing his will, by following his commandments,

by repenting of our sins and turning to him. I hope that's what we're doing. And if we're not, let's just keep praying for each other because that's what we need. We do not want to spend eternity separated from God. This is God's desperate plea, pursuit of us, that none of us, none of us would get to the end of our lives and then realize I have been choosing something other than God this whole time. And so for eternity, I will get what I've chosen, something other than God. So please pray for me. Please. I need to repent all the time.

And I'm praying for you because I know that you're just like me. Keep praying for each other. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.