Lance Brown

We pick up God’s larger story in Babylon, far away from the promised land. Daniel and three of his Jewish friends have been recruited as part of the king’s counselors because of their wisdom. King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream that is tremendously troubling to him. He knows the dream is significant, but he has no…

Last week we saw how Babylon invaded the land of Judah. In much of the territory, the cities were conquered, and the people taken off to exile in Babylon. The only territory yet not taken was Jerusalem. Jeremiah lays out the charges against the people and warns them of what’s coming.

God’s people needed a motto like that. “No king but King God.” The human kings got the nation into a heap of trouble. The nation split into two smaller, weaker nations and during the time of the divided kingdom there were 38 kings in all. Only five were good kings. The other 33 kings did…

After the nation split into the northern and southern kingdoms, the northern kingdom (then “Israel”) went into spiritual decline. Over the next 208 years Israel had 19 different kings. Every one of them evil! Israel continued in moral decay. God could’ve said, “Fine! You want to go your way into moral decay, go!”  Instead, God…

King Solomon is dead. Rehoboam, his son, is all set to become king. No problem, right? Not so fast. Jeroboam had been in charge of forced labor. He was a young man that King Solomon had trusted. But Solomon heard word that after his death, Jeroboam would be a threat to his son, Rehoboam’s throne.…