Day 180: Giving Time to God (2024)

This episode delves into the importance of dedicating time to God, reflecting on biblical scriptures from Kings and Amos, and the power of deliverance and restoration.

1. The necessity of turning to God in times of trouble as exemplified by the biblical kings who often failed to do so.
2. The impact of leadership on a nation's spiritual and moral direction, as seen in the kings' repeated sins and the resultant suffering.
3. The role of prophets in calling for repentance and the importance of heeding divine warnings.
4. The concept of divine justice and mercy, illustrated through God's responses to the sins of Israel.
5. The hope of restoration, promising redemption and renewal for those who return to God's ways.

1: Introduction to the Episode

Father Mike Schmitz introduces the episode's theme and outlines the biblical texts to be covered, emphasizing the importance of scripture in understanding God's plan. Father Mike Schmitz: "Today, as we continue our journey through the Bible, we focus on the profound lessons of giving time to God."

2: The Kings of Israel

The chapter covers the reigns of Jehoahaz and Jehoash, highlighting their failures and the consequences for Israel. Father Mike Schmitz: "These stories remind us of the dangers of forsaking God's ways."

3: The Prophet Amos

Exploration of Amos's prophecies, focusing on justice, mercy, and repentance. Father Mike Schmitz: "Amos’s words are as relevant today as they were then, calling us to live righteously."

1. Dedicate specific times daily for scripture reading to foster a closer relationship with God.
2. Reflect on personal leadership and its impact on others, striving to lead by godly example.
3. Regularly attend and participate in community worship to strengthen communal ties and spiritual growth.
4. Engage in regular confession or spiritual reflection to acknowledge and turn away from sin.
5. Practice mercy and justice in personal dealings, reflecting God’s teachings in everyday actions.

As we conclude the book of Amos, we hear Amos rebuke the people for grudgingly giving their time to God, as in prayer or on the sabbath, and counting the minutes until they could do whatever they wanted. Fr. Mike points out that if we don't give our hearts and minds to God, we won't be able to stand heaven, where prayer and praise are everlasting. The readings are 2 Kings 13-14, Amos 7-9, and Psalm 124.

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Father Mike Schmitz

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The Bible

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Father Mike Schmitz
Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in ear podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of scripture. The Bible in Ear 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 180. Congratulations, everyone.

And we're reading two kings, chapter 13 and 14. That's two chapters Amos, chapters seven, eight, and nine, the conclusion of the Book of the Prophet Amos. And we're also praying psalm 124. As always, the Bible translation that I'm reading from is the revised standard Version, the second catholic edition. I am using the great Adventure Bible from Ascension.

If you want to download your own Bible in a year reading plan, guess where you can go? You can go to ascensionpress.com bible in a year, and it's yours for free forever for as long as you want to keep it. You can also subscribe to this podcast by hitting subscribe or you can unsubscribe by clicking unsubscribe. And then I, you know, the world will be what the world is, and we'll move on. As I said, it's day 182 kings 1314 Amos seven, eight, and nine, the conclusion of the book of the prophet Amos, and we are praying psalm 124, the second book of kings, chapter 13 Jehoahaz reigns over Israel in the 23rd year of Joash, the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah.

Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned 17 years. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, which he made Israel to sin. He did not depart from them. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them continually into the hand of Hazael, king of Syria, and into the hand of Ben Hadad, the son of Hazael. Then Jehoahaz besought the lord, and the Lord listened to him, for he saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Syria oppressed them.

Therefore the Lord gave Israel a savior, so that they escaped from the hand of the Syrians. And the sons of Israel dwelt in their homes as formerly. Nevertheless they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin, but walked in them. And the Asherah also remained in Samaria, for there was not left to Jehoahaz, an army of more than 50 horsemen and ten chariots and 10,000 footmen, for the king of Syria had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz and all that he did and his might, are they not written in the book of chronicles of the kings of Israel?

So Jehoahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. And Joash, his son, reigned in his stead. Jehoash reigns over Israel. In the 37th year of Joash, king of Judah, Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned 16 years. He also did what was evil in the sight of the lord.

He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, which he made ISRAel to sin, but he walked in them. Now, the rest of the acts of Joash and all that he did, and the might with which he fought against Amaziah, king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? So Joash slept with his fathers, and Jeroboam sat upon his throne, and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. Death of ELISHA. Now, when Elisha had fallen sick with the illness of which he was to die, JoasH, king of ISRAeL, went down to him and wept before him, crying, my father, my father, the chariots of ISrAEL and its horsemen.

And Elisha said to him, take a bow AnD arrows. So he took a bow and arrows. Then he said to the king of ISRaeL, draw the bow. And he drew it. And ELisha laid his hands upon the king's hands, and he said, open the window easTward.

And he opened it. Then ELisha said, shoot. And he shot. And he said, the Lord's arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Syria, for you shall fight the Syrians in Aphek until you have made an end of them. And he said, take the arrows.

And he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, strike the ground with them. And he struck three times and stopped. Then the man of God was angry with him and said, you should have struck five or six times, then you would have struck down Syria until you made an end of it. But now you will strike down SyriA only three times.

So ElishA died, and they buried him. Now, the bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. And as a man was being buried, behold, a marauding band was seen, and the man was cast into the grave of Elisha, and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet. Israel recaptures its cities from Syria. Now Hazael, king of Syria, oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz, but the lord was gracious to them and had compassion on them, and he turned toward them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and would not destroy them, nor has he cast them from his presence until now.

When Hazael, king of Syria, died. Benhadad, his son, became king in his stead. Then Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again from Benhadad the son of Hazael, the cities which he had taken from Jehoahaz, his father in war. Three times Joash defeated him and recovered the cities of Israel. Chapter 14 Amaziah reigns over Judah in the second year of Joash, the son of Jehoaz, king of Israel.

Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, began to reign. He was 25 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 29 years in Jerusalem. His mothers name was jeho ad din of Jerusalem, and he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. Yet not like David his father, he did in all things as Joash his father had done. But the high places were not removed.

The people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. And as soon as the royal power was firmly in his hand, he killed his servants who had slain the king, his father. But he did not put to death the children of the murderers, according to what is written in the book of the law of Moses, where the lord commanded, the fathers shall not be put to death for the children, or the children be put to death for the fathers. But every man shall die for his own sin. He killed 10,000 Edomites in the valley of salt and took Selah by storm and called it Jachthael, which is its name to this day.

Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, come, let us look one another in the face. And Jehoash king of Israel, sent word to Amaziah, king of Judah. A thistle in Lebanon, sent to a cedar in Lebanon, saying, give your daughter to my son for a wife. And a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle. You have indeed struck down Edom, and your heart has lifted you up.

Be content with your glory and stay at home, for why should you provoke trouble so that you fall? You and Judah with you. But Amaziah would not listen. So Jehoash, king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah, king of Judah, faced one another in battle at Bet Shemesh, which belongs to Judah. And Judah, was defeated by Israel.

And every man fled to his home. And Jehoash, king of Israel, captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash, son of Ahaziah at Bet Shemesh and came to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for 400 cubits from the Ephraim gate to the corner gate. And he seized all the gold and silver and all the vessels that were found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king's house, also hostages. And he returned to Samaria. Now, the rest of the acts of Jehoash, which he did and his might and how he fought with Amaziah, king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

And Jehoash slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. And Jeroboam, his son, reigned in his stead. Amaziah, the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived 15 years after the death of Jehoash, son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. Now, the rest of the deeds of Amaziah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Laksheshish.

But they sent after him to Laksheshish and slew him there. And they brought him upon horses. And he was buried in Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David. And all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was 16 years old, and made him king instead of his father, Amaziah. He built Elath and restored it to Judah after the king slept with his fathers.

Jeroboam II reigns over Israel in the 15th year of Amaziah, the son of Joash, king of Judah. Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, began to reign in Samaria, and he reigned 41 years. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, which he made Israel to sin. He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath as far as the sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from gath he for the lord saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter, for there was none left, bond or free, and there was none to help Israel.

But the lord had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven. So he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam, the son of Joash. Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he fought and how he recovered for Israel. Damascus and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, the kings of Israel, and Zechariah, his son reigned in his stead.

The book of Amos, chapter seven. Locusts and fire. Thus the Lord God showed me. Behold, he was forming locusts in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth. And behold, it was the ladder growth after the king's mowings.

When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said, o Lord God, forgive, I beg you. How can Jacob stand? He is so small. The Lord repented concerning this. It shall not be said the Lord.

Thus the Lord God showed me. Behold, the Lord God was calling for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land. Then I said, o Lord God, cease, I beg you. How can Jacob stand? He is so small.

The Lord repented concerning this. This also shall not be said. The Lord God. The plumb line he showed me. Behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand.

And the Lord said to me, Amos, what do you see? And I said, a plumb line. Then the Lord said, behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel. I will never again pass by them. The high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste.

And I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword. Amaziah's complaint. Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to Jeroboam, king of Israel, Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos has said, jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.

And Amaziah said to Amos, o seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there and prophesy there, but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom. Amos reply. Then Amos answered, Amaziah, I am no prophet, nor a prophet's son, but I am a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore trees. And the lord took me from following the flock. And the lord said to me, go prophesy to my people Israel.

Now therefore hear the word of the you say, do not prophesy against Israel, and do not preach against the house of Isaac. Therefore thus says the lord, your wife shall be a harlot in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be parceled out by a line. You yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land. Chapter eight the basket of summer fruit thus the Lord God showed me, behold, a basket of summer fruit. And he said, amos, what do you see?

And I said, a basket of summer fruit. Then the Lord said to me, the end has come upon my people, Israel. I will never again pass by them. The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day, says the Lord God, the dead bodies shall be many in every place. They shall be cast out in silence.

Hear this, you who trample upon the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end, saying, when will the new moon be over? That we may sell grain and the sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make an ephah small, and the shekel great, and deal deceitfully with false balances that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and sell the refuse of the wheat the Lord has shown by the pride of Jacob. Surely I will never forget any of their deeds. Shall not the land tremble on this account? And everyone mourn who dwells in it, in all of it.

Rise like the nile and be tossed about and sink again like the Nile of Egypt. And on that day, says the Lord God, I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. I will bring sackcloth upon all loins and baldness on every head. I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and the end of it like a bitter day.

Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord God, when I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north to east they shall run back and forth to seek the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it. In that day the fair virgins and the young men shall faint for thirst. Those who swear by of Samaria and say, as your God lives, O Dan, and as the way of beersheba lives, they shall fall and never rise again. Chapter nine destruction, captivity, and restoration I saw the Lord standing beside the altar and he said, strike the capitals until the thresholds shake and shatter them on the heads of all the people.

And what are left of them I will slay with the sword. Not one of them shall flee away, not one of them shall escape. Though they dig into Sheol, from there shall my hand take them though they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down. Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, from there I will search out and take them. And though they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them.

And though they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it shall slay them, and I will set my eyes upon them for evil and not for good. The Lord, the God of hosts, who touches the earth and it melts, and all who dwell in it mourn, and all of it rises like the nile and sinks again like the Nile of Egypt, who builds his upper chambers in the heavens and founds his vault upon the earth, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the surface of the earth. The Lord is his name. Are you not like the Ethiopians to me, o people of Israel? Says the Lord, did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt?

And the Philistines from caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir? Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground, except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, says the Lord. For behold, I will command and shake the house of Israel among all the nations, as one shakes with a sieve, but no pebble shall fall upon the earth. All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say evil shall not overtake or meet us in that day. I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name, says the Lord, who does this?

Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when the ploughman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes, him who sows the seed. The mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow from it. I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant them upon their land, and they shall never again be plucked up out of the land which I have given them, says the Lord your God.

Psalm 124. Thanksgiving for Israel's deliverance. A song of ascents of David. If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, let Israel now say, if it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us up alive. When their anger was kindled against us, then the flood would have swept us away.

The torrent would have gone over us, then over us would have gone the raging waters. Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as prey to their teeth. We have escaped as a bird from the snares of the fowlers. The snare is broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Father in heaven, we give you praise. We thank you so much. Gosh, if it had not been you, if it had not been for you, the psalmist David says in the psalm of ascent here, if it had not been for you, then we would have died in our affliction. If it had not been for you, Lord God, we would have perished long ago. If it had not been for you and what you have done.

But, Lord God, you have helped us escape. You have helped us to this day, and we ask you to continue, continue to help us. Be yours this day and every day of our lives in Jesus name, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Okay, so we've concluded the book of the prophet Amos.

Remember, Amos is preaching to all the nations, right? He goes that whole circle around Israel, around Judah. He preaches against Judah and tells them where they need to come back to the Lord. But here he is speaking specifically to Israel, right? The northern nation of Israel.

And in this, what he's saying is, he's saying what's going to happen ultimately is you're going to have destruction, you're going to have captivity. And that's exactly what happens, right? And the same thing we heard with the book of the prophet Hosea, where he said that what's going to happen is unless you turn back to the Lord. You will not experience grace, you will not experience mercy. In fact, you'll experience destruction.

So here in chapter eight, we have, what are some of the ways in which the people were dealing deceitfully, not only with each other, but even with God. It says this. In chapter eight, it says, hear this, you who trample upon the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end. So there are two things, violence, destruction, injustice and unrighteousness against those who are needy and those who are poor. But then they also go on to say, when will the new moon be over?

That we may sell grain. When will the Sabbath be over? That we may offer wheat for sale. Basically that sense of like, okay, fine. You know, it's kind of one of those situations where here it happens to a lot of christians where we think, oh, gosh, you know, here's the command to keep holy of the Sabbath or keep holy the Lord's day, and by resting.

And we think like, gosh, when is this going to be over? Because I want to get back to work. Like, really? That's so interesting that we will do this to ourselves where we think, wait, this time is for the Lord. I can't wait to get back to time.

That's just for me. And that makes sense. I mean, we're all like that. And yet here is the prophet Amos speaking to the people of the north, the people in the northern nation of Israel, and he is able to call out in their lives something that is so present in our lives, where things that belong to God, we can't wait for them to be over with. But then stuff that is about us, stuff that we like doing or stuff that is about our own advancement or about our entertainment, we cannot wait to get back to those things.

And it just reveals to us where our hearts are and reveals to the Lord he already knows, but reveals to the Lord and to ourselves, to the people around us where our hearts are. And so because of that, on that day, says the Lord, I will turn your feasts into mourning, all your songs into lamentation. Yeah, if you can't wait to leave prayer. In fact, it was one of those things where I think John Henry Cardinal Newman, I work at a Newman center, and it's named after John Henry Cardinal Newman, who is, he was an anglican priest for about 40 plus years of his life and he became a catholic and he became catholic priest and a catholic cardinal years ago. And at one point he was talking about how if we don't pray in this life, then it makes sense that we're not even preparing our hearts for heaven, because if heaven is going to be, you know, internal union with God, communion with each other, if heaven is going to be this eternal, like outpouring of love and worship to the Lord, but we're not.

We don't spend our time in this life worshiping the Lord or seeking out union with the Lord. In prayer, he says, how will heaven possibly be heaven for the heart, for the soul that dreads hearing the words? Let us pray, he says, because those are the words of heaven. Let us pray. Let us worship.

Let us adore. And so the heart that dreads those words, let us pray on earth. How will that same kind of heart rejoice when it hears the words? Let us pray for eternity. And so what we need to do, of course, is we need to let our hearts be changed, just like the people of Israel needed to let their hearts be changed.

They didn't. And so what happens is Assyria comes in and utterly destroys them. Destruction, captivity and restoration is that last chapter, chapter nine. And yet. And yet destruction and captivity are not the last word.

The last word is restoration. Behold, the days are coming. Chapter nine. The days are coming. I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel.

And they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and drink their wine. They shall make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant them upon their land, and they shall never again be plucked up out of the land which I have given them. And that's the Lord's promise, right?

That is fulfilled in Jesus, because it's not fulfilled anywhere other than the fact that those ten tribes of the north, they are scattered, they're decimated, they're obliterated off the face of the earth. And they're only gathered again because of the fact that Christianity has spread throughout all the world. That is the only way in which those ten tribes are, in any sense of the word, restored. And that's us. We get to be part of that.

We are, as Saint Paul says, those gentiles, if you're phrase gentile instead of jewish, grafted onto the tree of Jesus. And so we just give God thanks. Thank him for restoring us. Thank him for calling us back, and also thank him for giving us time to be able to come back to him right now, this day and every day, this day, day 180, once again, a chance to return to the Lord with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength. Let's keep praying for each other.

I am praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God blessed.