DAY 181    Read Micah 1 through 4.

Today's reading:  During this period of general apostasy God sent Micah as His messenger.  Still the Lord pleaded with His people to repent and return to Him.

Memory gem:  "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God"  (Micah 6:8).

Thought for today:
"The prophet Micah, who bore his testimony during those troublous times [the reign of King Ahaz], declared that sinners in Zion, while claiming to 'lean upon the Lord,' and blasphemously boasting, 'Is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us,' continued to 'build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity,'  Micah 3:11, 10....

"Inspiration declares, 'the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination: how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?'  Proverbs 21:27....

"....It is not because He is unwilling to forgive, that He turns from the transgressor; it is because the sinner refuses to make use of the abundant provision of grace, that God is unable to deliver from sin....

"This was indeed a time of great peril for the chosen nation.  Only a few short years, and the ten tribes of the kingdom of Israel were to be scattered among the nations of heathendom.  And in the kingdom of Judah also the outlook was dark.  The forces for good were rapidly diminishing, the forces for evil multiplying. The prophet Micah, viewing the situation, was constrained to exclaim: 'The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men.'  Micah 7:2."--Prophets and Kings, pp. 322-324.

NOTE:  Micah 4:1-3 is almost identical with Isaiah 2:2-4.  These two prophecies have often been misunderstood.  They probably belong with many other descriptions of God's plan for Israel--provided Israel would be faithful.  Israel failed, as we see, therefore, the promise could not be fulfilled.  It has also been suggested that the promise not attained by literal Israel may find ultimate fulfillment to spiritual Israel in the final triumph of the gospel.

DAY 180    Read 2 Kings 15:8 through chapter 16 and 2 Chronicles 27.

Today's reading:  The sad record of six kings of Israel traces the continuing slide toward oblivion.  Even the king of Judah "walked in the way of the kings of Israel."

Memory gem:  "My people are doomed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee"  (Hosea 4:6).

Thought for today:
"The iniquity in Israel during the last century before the Assyrian captivity, was like that of the days of Noah, and of every other age when men have rejected God and have given themselves wholly to evil-doing.  The exaltation of nature above the God of nature, the worship of the creature instead of the Creator, has always resulted in the grossest of evils.  Thus when the people of Israel, in their worship of Baal and Ashtoreth, paid supreme homage to the forces of nature, they severed their connection with all that is uplifting and ennobling, and fell an easy prey to temptation.  With the defenses of the soul broken down, the misguided worshipers had no barrier against sin, and yielded themselves to the evil passions of the human heart.

"Against the marked oppression, the flagrant injustice, the unwonted luxury and extravagance, the shameless feasting and drunkenness, the gross licentiousness and debauchery, of their age, the prophets lifted up their voices; but in vain were their protests, in vain their denunciation of sin....

"The transgressors were given many opportunities to repent.  In their hour of deepest apostasy and greatest need, God's message to them was one of forgiveness and hope.  'O Israel,' He declared, 'thou hast destroyed thyself; but in Me is thine help.  I will be thy King; where is any other that may save thee?'"  Hosea 13:9, 10....

"From generation to generation, the Lord had borne with His wayward children; and even now, in the face of defiant rebellion, He still longed to reveal Himself to them as willing to save.  'O Ephraim' He cried, 'What shall I do unto thee?  O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.'  Hosea 6:4."--Prophets and KIngs, pp. 281-285.

DAY 179    Read Hosea 10 through 14.

Today's reading:  Hosea's prophecy breathes the agony of God's despair in trying to bring Israel to repentance.  The Lord yearned for His people's return.

Memory gem:  "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely; for mine anger is turned away from them:  (Hosea 14:4).

Thought for today:
Grant Colfax Tullar, the singer and publisher of Christian songs, was left an orphan when as small boy and was farmed out to a man who treated him with utter cruelty.  The man had ropes and a pulley fastened to the ceiling of the barn, and he used to draw the boy up by his thumbs until his toes barely touched the ground.  Sometimes he would leave him hanging that way for nine hours at a stretch.

The boy swore with a dreadful oath, "If I ever live to be as big as this man, I will bet him to death with my own fists."

When he was twelve, Grant ran away and went down into the depths of sin.  But the love of God found him.  He became a follower of Christ, who teaches us to love even our enemies.

Later some friends asked Grant to preach.  Well, just as they were singing the last verse of the song before the sermon, he looked down and saw right in front of him the man who had abused him when he was a child.  He was a young giant now; and he looked at the man, and his wife, who had helped him in his cruelty, suddenly the flood of old resentment overwhelmed him.

Turning to the choir, he said, "Sing another song while I pray."  Then he went down on his knees in that old box pulpit where no one but the choir and God could see.  And this was his prayer: "Lord, I've promised with an oath to whip that man if I ever lived to be big enough to do it.  I believe I could do it today.  He needs the whipping; but, Lord, if You will whip him, I will preach to him of Your wondrous love."  Then he arose from his knees and began to preach.

Later he made an altar call, and the first to respond were that man and his wife.  The young preacher left the pulpit and went down to them.  Kneeling between the two, he put an arm around each.  There on his knees he led them both to Christ.

Nothing but the love of God could accomplish such a miracle.  And that love is drawing you and me and all men today.

DAY 178    Read Hosea 5 through 9.

Today's reading:  The prophet faithfully delivers his warnings, but almost in agony he pleads with the people to turn from their ways.

Memory gem:  "Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up"  (Hosea 6:1).

Thought for today:
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children"  (Hosea 4:6).

People reject the Word of God, do not live for Christ, have no regard for the church; and then they wonder why their children so often drift out into a life of sin.  One big reason for the tide of crime on earth today is the lack of religious and moral training in the homes.  A true, consistent, Christian life of the parents in the home will do more to hold John and Mary for God than all the preaching they are likely to hear.  The power of example is a mighty power; and when Father or Mother, or both, disregard the Ten Commandments in life and word and forget Christ in the homelife, it's a sad day for the children.

In how many homes--I mean Christian homes--is family worship a regular thing?  Millions of children have never heard Father or Mother pray.  You say you are too busy--you have no time for family prayer, no time for training the young.  There is time to feed the body, but no time to feed the soul.  No wonder the home is broken down, when God is not honored.

If we reject, ignore, or forget the divine law, we must receive the consequences.  As men sow, they shall reap--always.

But when we turn to God in faith, He forgets our sins, but He does not forget us (see 1 John 1:9; Micah 7:18; Isaiah 49:15).  In an age of profound skepticism, the greatest need of each one of us is a return to faith in God.

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Difficult or obscure words:
Hosea 5:13.  "Jareb"--probably a descriptive term meaning "great" or "exalted" king, or possibly the king "who contends."
Hosea 6:9.  "By consent"--better: toward Shechem.

DAY 177    Read Hosea 1 through 4.

Today's reading:  Another prophet sent to Israel during the reign of Jeroboam II enacted in his own life a tragic object lesson of God's dealings with His unfaithful people.

Memory gem:  "I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord"  (Hosea 2:20).

Thought for today:
Years ago in the deep South, a judge was engaged to marry a beautiful girl, but they quarreled.  Pride so ruled her life that she wouldn't consent to a reconciliation.

The judge became reckless in his sorrow, and when a terrible scourge of yellow fever came to that southern town, he volunteered to spend his entire time caring for the sick.  At last he succumbed to the dread disease and lay deathly sick for days.

One day when his physician happened to meet the judge's former sweetheart, whom he had known since childhood, she asked in a careless way, "Well, how is your patient, Doctor?", "He's passed the critical point, but he is dying."

"I don't understand that," she said.  "If he has passed the crisis, why doesn't he get well?"

The old physician replied, "Don't you know why?  He is dying of a broken heart, of hopeless love for you."

Her eyes filled with tears as she said, "Doctor, will you come with me?  She led the way to the florist shop and placed an order for some beautiful flowers.  On the card she wrote, "With the love of all my heart," and signed the pet name that the judge had loved to call her.  Then she said, "Doctor, will you see that he gets this box of flowers right away?"

The next day he was sitting up in a wheelchair, and on the fifth day there was a quiet wedding.

O friend, the world is desperately sick and millions of people are sick with it, a sickness unto death, eternal death.  There is only one hope for it--the love of God in Christ Jesus.

DAY 176    Read Amos 5 through 9.

Today's reading:  In the second half of the book of Amos, the prophet tries over and over to impress rebellious Israel with the greatness of God and the folly of forsaking His worship.

Memory gem:  ""Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into morning"  (Amos 5:8).

Thought for today:
God has two great books: the book of nature, of which astronomy is one of the brightest chapters; and the Holy Scriptures, God's other book of revelation.  Both books reveal Him.

"Lift up your eyes on high, and behold"--this is  the study of astronomy.  "Behold who hath created these things!"  I believe it would do every young man and young woman good to spend at least one night awake under the starry heavens on some desert or high mountaintop where the skies are clear, and watch the rising and setting of the stars, the march of the constellations across the heavens.  Looking at such a starry night, one may ask himself, Can anyone really tell us about these things?  What is their purpose?  Their destiny?  How did it all begin?  How will it all end?  Or did it ever begin, and will it ever end?

The Bible gives us the working hypothesis regarding the origin and destiny of the universe.  The study of astronomy in the light of the Bible is therefore the best rational way to study it.  By a contemplation of God's Word and His works, we shall rise to a measure of real knowledge.  Thus we shall never lose reverence for God or confidence in His Word.  Since He is the Originator, the Creator, and the Upholder of the universe, the more we actually know about it, the more respect we shall have for God and the more faith in His wisdom and love in dealing with men.  As we look at the shining heavens, we remember the words of Holy Scripture: "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.  Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge"  (Psalm 19:1, 2).  We bow our heads in humility and wonder before His glory, power, and wisdom; and we whisper, "O Lord, my God, how great Thou art!"

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Difficult or obscure words:
Amos 6:7.  "Banquet"--an idolatrous cult festival.
Amos 9:6.  "Troop"--a Hebrew word of uncertain meaning; probably "structure" or "vault."

DAY 175    Read Amos 1 through 4.

Today's reading:  Amos, a citizen of Judah, bore a solemn message from the Lord to the northern kingdom, Israel.  First he pronounced God's judgment on the surrounding nations as a warning to erring Israel.

Memory gem:  "Because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel"  (Amos 4:12).

Thought for today:
The First doctrine of the Bible is the doctrine of God.  "In the beginning God"  (Genesis 1:1).  The Holy Scriptures reveal the doctrine of God.  On it all other doctrines rest.  With full faith in the doctrine of God, the future is full of hope.  Without it, life itself is "a narrow vale between the cold and barren peaks of two eternities," in the words of one of America's great skeptics.  "God is He without whom one cannot live" was Leo Tolstoy's definition of God.

But what does the Holy Scripture say?  We turn to the prophet Amos.  "Lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The Lord, The God of hosts, is his name"  (Amos 4:13).

The existence of God is proved by the existence of the universe.  Every effect must have an adequate cause.  There is design in the world, so there must have been a designer.  There is a mathematical plan in the universe, so there must have been a great mathematician.  All things must have had an origin, a beginning, a creation.  Either they created themselves or they came into existence by mere chance or they were made by a creator.  Self-creation is a contradiction, for it supposes that a being can act before it exists.  Creation by chance is absurd, for to say that a thing is caused with no cause for its production, is to say that a thing is effected when it is effected by nothing.  All things, then, that do appear must have been created by some being.  That being is God.

NOTE:  The earthquake (Amos 1:1) is undated; but Josephus, the Jewish historian, says that it occurred when Uzziah was struck with leprosy in the temple.

DAY 174    Read Isaiah 1 and 2.

Today's reading:  One of the greatest of the Old Testament prophets.  Isaiah also had one of the longest careers.  Today we begin reading this wonderful book, much of it in beautiful Hebrew poetic form.

Memory gem:  "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool"  (Isaiah 1:18).

Thought for today:
This offer of God is not for tomorrow--it is for today.  "Come now," He says.  When Augustine came under conviction of sin, he prayed, "O God, cleanse me from all my sins, but not now."  A little later he prayed, "Lord, deliver me from all my sins but one."  At last, in full surrender, he cried, "O God, deliver me from all my sins now.  And this is the only way for anyone to pray, the only way for those who really wish to come to Christ.

"If you see your sinfulness, do not wait to make yourself better.  How many there are who think they are not good enough to come to Christ.  Do you expect to become better through your own efforts?  'Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.'  Jeremiah 13:23.  There is help for us only in God.  We must not wait for stronger persuasions, for better opportunities, or for holier tempers.  We can do nothing of ourselves.  We must come to Christ just as we are....

"Beware of procrastination.  Do not put off the work of forsaking your sins and seeking purity of heart through Jesus.  Here is where thousands have erred to their eternal loss....There is  terrible danger--a danger not sufficiently understood--in delaying to yield to the pleading voice of God's Holy Spirit, in choosing to live in sin; for such this delay really is.  Sin, however small it may be esteemed, can be indulged in only at the peril of infinite loss."--Steps to Christ, pp. 31-33.

NOTE:  Isaiah's prophetic ministry covered a longer period than that of any other prophet--more than fifty-five years from the closing years of Uzziah's reign (before 740 B.C.) until after the close of Hezekiah's reign (after 686 B.C.).

DAY 173    Read 2 Chronicles 25 and 26; 2 Kings 15:1-17.

Today's reading:  Two fairly good kings brought better times to Judah.  Amaziah served God, "but not with a perfect heart."  His son, Uzziah (Azariah), followed the same pattern; but when "his heart was lifted," personal tragedy brought him low.

Memory gem:  "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall"  (Proverbs 16:18).

Thought for today:
We can hide nothing from God.  With their super X-ray, men can look through heavy layers of solid steel.  So God can read the secrets of the hardest heart.  As with mysterious radar the operator sees objects through the thickest fog on the darkest night, so, God sees through mist and darkness.

We do not know just how God knows our actions and our thoughts; we do not know the secrets of His radar, if we may call it that.  But the Scriptures tell us that He sees and He knows.

Friend, we can never persuade our real selves that wrong is right.  A person may wish to do wrong and pretend to others, and even to himself, that he has convinced himself that it is right.  Yes, a person may try to rationalize wrong into right; but away in the back of his mind he knows--especially when he awakens at three o'clock in the morning and thinks--that wrong is still wrong and not right.  Did you ever notice the words of Isaiah 5:20?  "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!"

If a man puts his standard low enough, he can always make a favorable judgment concerning himself.  If all other men were only four feet high, a man of five feet would be a giant.  Some seem to think that by making others small they look quite good themselves.  But, friend, the judgement which we face now in Christ, or later without Him, is not man's judgment, but God's.

DAY 172    Read Jonah.

Today's reading:  A hot-headed prophet reluctantly goes on a mission for the Lord.  He conducts a very successful evangelistic campaign--and then becomes angry at the results!

Memory gem:  "When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple"  (Jonah 2:7).

Thought for today:
My friend, if you have been buying tickets to Tarshish, I plead with you, Come back to God.  Every drink of liquor is a ticket to Tarshish; every evil word, every impurity is a ticket to Tarshish.  When you buy a ticket to Tarshish, away from God, away from the church, away from religion, you start to go down.  And often, like Jonah, you may not stop until you get to the bottom.

But, wherever you are on the road to Tarshish, now is the time to call on the Lord.  He will hear you.  Come back to God, back to duty, back to prayer, back to the Bible, back to purity, back to mother, wife, to children, to home, and to heaven.

Judas betrayed Christ, and Peter denied Him.  As far as we know, one sin was about the same as the other.  But Judas went to a suicide's grave, while Peter went to Pentecost.  The difference between the two men was that Peter came back.

God can change you and use you in His great work, just where you ought to be!  Come back from Tarshish and get on the road to Nineveh, back to family worship, back to the Bible.

May God give us a vision of this hour when the world's statesmen labor hard to bring the boat of civilization to a safe harbor!  Arise, Christian, and renew the altar fires of prayer.  Pray for your country's leaders, pray for the church, pray for your family--for the wandering boys and girls.

And you, friend, if you are on the road to Tarshish, will you not, deep in your heart, pray this prayer:
    I'm tired of sin and straying, Lord
        Now I'm coming home;
    I'll trust Thy love, believe Thy Word;
        Lord, I'm coming home.
                --William J. Kirkpatrick

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Difficult or obscure words:
Jonah 1:17.  "Great fish"--The Hebrew word is a generic term for fish of any kind.  The Greek word here in the Septuagint and in Matthew 12:40 (translated "whale" in the KJV) means "sea monster" of unspecified kind.  Nothing can be determined as to the nature of the "fish" or "monster."  In any case, the Lord "prepared" the animal.