21:16 There are a number of occasions when the LORD stirred up individuals. 1 Samuel 26:19 1 Kings 11:14 2 Chronicles 21:16 36:22 Ezra 1:1 Haggai 1:14
Rather than wondering how He does that we should appreciate that, in the case of faithful men who respond to His word, He is willing to work to encourage those who first respond to him,
As we read elsewhere 'draw night to God and he will draw nigh to thee'. James 4:8

22:2-5 Ahaziah sought the incorrect advice. He was a Godless man and so saw nothing wrong in seeking counsel of the men in the north. Doubtless he was compromised because of his mother.

21:4 The way in which Jehoram 'strengthened himself' contrasts starkly with his father. Rather than waiting for God to establish him in the kingdom he smote his brothers so that they would not be able to rise against him.

22:12 Notice that it is said that Athaliah 'reigned over the land' We find the same comment 2 Kings 11:3. The kings reigned over the people. She, on the other hand, was not concerned with the people

21:12 Whilst Elijah seemed to spend most of his time speaking in the North in Israel here we have a clear indication of his involvement in Judah. It is the only occasion when we learn of a written message from Elijah.

22:10 The actions of Athaliah in killing all the 'seed royal' of Judah is the complete opposite of the way that the woman should have behaved. She should have been looking for the seed of the woman to deliver them all form sin and death rather than seeking to elevate herself

21:2-4 Jehoram behaved abominably. His brothers are not presented as seeking to usurp his position as king.

22:9 Isn't it strange that Ahaziah - a king of Judah - was found hiding in Samaria in the northern kingdom?

21:17; 22:1,4 Jehoahaz was more commonly known as Ahaziah.  His dealings remind us to be careful from whom we take counsel.  Ironically, the man who killed Ahaziah, Jehu, had a son of the same name (Jehoahaz) who succeeded him as king of Israel (2Kin 10:35).

22:2 Although she is listed as the daughter of Omri (KJV), Athaliah was the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel.  Omri was her grandfather (ESV). It was not uncommon to list a child by a forefather (e.g. Matt 1:1). 

21:6; 22:3,10 It is not surprising that Athaliah was an evil character, given her parents' influence.  She counselled both her husband and her son to walk in the ways of Ahab.  She had no compunction to slaughter to fulfil her ambitions. 

21:6 These is presented a causal relationship between Jehoram’s behaviour and who his wife was. This is a powerful lesson for us to consider.

22:10-11  We read of the hiding of Josiah in two verses. However we should appreciate that it is most likely that Athaliah would have been seeking for Josiah diligently. She knew how many of the seed royal that there were and she would want to know that they had all been killed.

21:1-3 The way in which Jehoshaphat distributed wealth to his sons shows that he seemed to view the kingship as some sort of favour that he could disperse. Not wanting to grieve his other sons by giving the kingdom to his eldest he pacified them with wealth. Thus the kingdom was devalued to a monetary item.

22:6 The friendship between Jehoshaphat and Ahab – stimulated by the marriage of their children to each other – is seen alter when Azariah went to see Jehoram. Once one has established a friendship which is not based on Godly principles it is not easy to extricate oneself from it.

21:12 Elijah is mentioned here. But, Elijah had already been taken up into the heavens in a whirlwind, and not heard from again (2Kin 2:11). This happened in the reign of Jehoshaphat. The message that Jehoram received could have been a prediction made by Elijah that was, subsequently, delivered to the king in a letter.

We know that Elisha played an important role in Jehoram’s reign. Perhaps it was he who delivered the letter. And, perhaps it was a copyist's error that Elijah's name appears instead of Elisha.

21:19 Burnings of aromatic wood was made for a king who died in favor. Such a king was Asa (2Chron 16:14). But, Jehoram died without being desired, meaning that nobody was sorry when he died (21:20). Thus, no burnings were made for him.

21:4 In slaying all his brethren we have to conclude that Jehoram saw them as a threat to his position as king. So we have to conclude that he did not think he brethren would take any heed to the decision of his father in making him king.

22:3 ‘his mother was his counsellor’ Athaliah was such an evil woman and her attitude was fed into her son. How easy it is for mothers to guide children – for good or for bad. What a responsibility mum has and what a responsibility dad has to help mum in that task.

2Chron 21:4,6 - the behavior of putting his brothers to the sword could have been influenced by his wife, Athaliah who later attempted to kill all her grandchildren so she might have sole power (2Chron 22:10).

2Chron 22:2 - the NIV corrects the KJV by having Athaliah the grandaughter (not daughter) of Omri; as Michael Parry noted in his 2009 comments, Ahaziah could not have been 42 when he became king (2Kin 8:26;2Chron 21:5). 

2Chron 22:10;2Chron 24:1,22;2Chron 25:1;Matt 1:8,9,17 - between Joram (Jehoram) and Ozias (Uzziah) were skipped/excluded the four of the house of Ahab (Ahaziah, Athaliah, Joash, Amaziah).

V.16 Daniel's three friends provide us with a wonderful example here. Their minds were made up, hesitation, or parleying with sin, is fatal; unhesitating decision is the only safety, where the path of duty is clear. Matt 10:19

If God decides to save us, great! But if He decides not to, then please understand whatever happens, we will NOT worship your image (Dan 3:17,18).  I wish I had that confidence – and determination.

3:8 Maybe this decree from Nebuchadnezzar and the reaction of the Jews to it provided the idea which was developed in Dan 6 to trap Daniel.

Dan 2:38,39,44 notes the king of Babylon is the head of gold who will be replaced by a succession of other worldly powers and ultimately there will be established a kingdom of God (Matt 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth), never to be destroyed, which shall  replace all of man's earthly kingdoms. The hope of the true believer is to have eternal life and a place in this kingdom on earth when Christ soon returns (Acts 1:11).

It would seem that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, wasn't particularly eager to be replaced or ready at this point to humble himself. He constructed an image of gold 60 cubits high and 6 cubits wide Dan 3:1. The number 6 is thought of by many as being symbolic of man. But God, not man, rules in the kingdoms of men (Dan 4:17) and gives them to anyone he wishes -- Babylon did indeed fall and was destroyed in 478 BC never to be inhabited again as prophesied in (Isa 13:19-20). Saddam Hussein planned to rebuild and inhabit Babylon but God did not allow this to happen.

3:15 Nebuchadnezzar seems to have had a short memory. It was only in Dan 2:47 that he recognised that Daniel’s God was ‘God of gods’. Of course in chapter 2 he recognised the truth but by now he has realised that acknowledging the truth of that awareness would place restrictions on his behaviour. This whole chapter has Nebuchadnezzar setting himself up against God.

3:25 Over the years we have highlighted a number of ideas from this chapter which are quoted or alluded to in 1 Peter. Here is another one. ‘no hurt’ is echoed in 1Pet 3:13

Note the links between Dan 3 and Luke 21:14-18.

3:1 So having seen an image of different metals and learning that the golden head represented him Nebuchadnezzar set about by his actions making the point that what God had said would not happen – namely that the kingdom of Babylon would not be superseded by another kingdom.

A key to Revelation?

We can follow a thread through scripture here. The statue of Gold measured 60 x 6 and was set up by a Babylonian King (v1). Solomon the King of Israel yearly gathered Gold worth 666 talents (1Kin 10:14). In Revelation the image is again raised up prior to the fall of Babylon, and the number 666 is again mentioned (Rev 13:14-18). It's a strange code which obviously means something. But what?

Similarly, the language of Rev 13 borrows from this chapter, so this chapter can help interpret it. For example, Dan 3:7 says "all people, nations and peoples fell down and worshipped the image" whereas we learn in v2-5 that it was actually the representatives of all nations that were there, not all people themselves. So when we apply this to Rev 13:15-18 we could conclude that the mark of the beast applies in a national sense, not to individuals. This fits with the context of the chapter because Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had to bow down as representatives of the province of Babylon (2:49, 3:12) and Daniel didn't.

3:12 The encouraging words of the Prophet Isa 43:2 may well have helped these friends to retain their confidence in God when they were threatened with the fiery furnace.

1:15 one hundred and twenty
2:41 three thousand
4:4 five thousand
5:14 multitudes - men and women
6:7 increased greatly - many priests
9:31 The churches … were multiplied
11:24 much people

V.11  records that Jesus ascended into heaven and promises that He will return.  Moreover, it records that the manner of return will be the same as the ascension. 

The Lord ascended from a place near Bethany, on the side of the Mount of Olives away from Jerusalem (Luke 24:50; John 11:18): not from the top of the Mount of Olives as some suppose. 

His ascension was a private affair which could not be seen by those in Jerusalem. Likewise, His return will be surreptitious.  He will gather His people (spiritual Israel), and after judgement, He will manifest Himself on the Mount of Olives, with great fanfare, to save natural Israel (Zech 14:3,4).

If you would like a brief outline of Jesus' return and subsequent events, please e-mail me for Return of Jesus and End-time Prophecy.

V.18 It is recorded in Matthew that Judas hanged himself (Matt 27:5).  And yet there seems to be a different description of his demise. 

I suspect that Judas did try to hang himself but something went wrong.  Perhaps the rope broke and he fell crashing to the ground with the results as described in Acts. 

Judas not only messed up his life (and the opportunity for eternal life) but also bungled his own death.  How sad!

1:15 The word  ‘names’ is picked up again in Rev 3:4 to speak of faithful brethren.

V.1 Luke here is very careful of the order that he sets out in describing the work of Jesus. The Lord's work was to "DO" first, and then to teach afterwards. When we look at the events that took place on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24), we read that Jesus was a prophet, mighty in deed and word (V.19). We see that deeds come first, and after his words. We clearly see that Jesus was a man who taught first by example, and then by word. Jesus was not as the scribes and Pharisees who "say and do not". As we begin our reading through the Acts, we see that the Apostles and believers in the first century followed the example of the Master.  

THE GREAT COMMISSION

The theme Verse for the whole Book of the Acts is picked up in Acts 1:8: "Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."

1:8 Whilst the minds of the disciples was focused on the establishment of the kingdom of Israel Jesus changed their focus – they needed to tell others of the wonderful news. An early hint, maybe, of the call of the gentiles.

1:14‘one accord’ becomes a watchword throughout the early chapters of the Acts. Unity between believers is paramount, though how often do we think this when we are planning a preaching event?

1:4-5 Now Luke explains how it was that the apostles spoke with tongue and performed miracles.

Jesus' Coming - Signs (lesson 17 of 20 derived from  "Outline of Basic Bible Teachings" by Wes Booker)

I. Jesus is coming back to the earth - Acts 1:10-11;Matt 25:31, etc.

II. No one knows the day nor the hour of his return - Mark 13:32

III. BUT there are signs that it will happen soon:

     A. Israel reestablished - Matt 24:32-34 compare Luke 13:6-9;Eze 37:20-28 (note: "David" means "beloved" and is referring here to "Christ" in Ezekiel 37)   B. Coming into power of Arab nations - Luke 21:29-31 ("all the trees");Psa 83;Joel 3   C. Sin and wickedness running rampant (like times of Noah and Lot) - Luke 17:26-30 compare Gen 6:5-8;19:1-5   D. Distress  of nations with perplexity (i.e. fear of nuclear war, economic worries, dwindling natural resources, environmental concerns, etc.) - Luke 21:25-26   E. Jerusalem in the hands of the Jews - Zech 14:2   F. Signs in heavens - Luke 21:25;Matt 24:29 - also apply to political heavens, particularly Israel   G. Preparation for war on a massive scale - Joel 3:9   H. Increase in knowledge about fulfillment of Biblical events - Dan 12:1-4

1:21 Peter’s criteria that the replacement of Judas should be from among those who ‘companied with us all the time ...’ is based upon the record of the selection of the twelve – Mark 3:14