The Message about the Crucified Christ

God's Wisdom

⁶Yet I do proclaim a message of wisdom to those who are spiritually mature. But it is not the wisdom that belongs to this world or to the powers that rule this world--powers that are losing their power. ⁷The wisdom I proclaim is God's secret wisdom, which is hidden from human beings, but which he had already chosen for our glory even before the world was made. ⁸None of the rulers of this world knew this wisdom. If they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ⁹However, as the scripture says,
"What no one ever saw or heard,
what no one ever thought could happen,
is the very thing God prepared for those who love him."
¹⁰But it was to us that God made known his secret by means of his Spirit. The Spirit searches everything, even the hidden depths of God's purposes. ¹¹It is only our own spirit within us that knows all about us; in the same way, only God's Spirit knows all about God. ¹²We have not received this world's spirit; instead, we have received the Spirit sent by God, so that we may know all that God has given us.
¹³So then, we do not speak in words taught by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, as we explain spiritual truths to those who have the Spirit. ¹⁴Whoever does not have the Spirit cannot receive the gifts that come from God's Spirit. Such a person really does not understand them, and they seem to be nonsense, because their value can be judged only on a spiritual basis. ¹⁵Whoever has the Spirit, however, is able to judge the value of everything, but no one is able to judge him. ¹⁶As the scripture says,
"Who knows the mind of the Lord?
Who is able to give him advice?"
We, however, have the mind of Christ.

King Abijah of Judah
(2 Chronicles 13.1--14.1)

1 Kings 15 In the eighteenth year of the reign of King Jeroboam of Israel, Abijah became king of Judah, ²and he ruled three years in Jerusalem. His mother was Maacah, the daughter of Absalom. ³He committed the same sins as his father and was not completely loyal to the LORD his God, as his great-grandfather David had been. ⁴But for David's sake the LORD his God gave Abijah a son to rule after him in Jerusalem and to keep Jerusalem secure. ⁵The LORD did this because David had done what pleased him and had never disobeyed any of his commands, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite. ⁶The war which had begun between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continued throughout Abijah's lifetime. ⁷And everything else that Abijah did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah.
⁸Abijah died and was buried in David's City, and his son Asa succeeded him as king.

King Asa of Judah
(2 Chronicles 15.16--16.6)

⁹In the twentieth year of the reign of King Jeroboam of Israel, Asa became king of Judah, ¹⁰and he ruled forty-one years in Jerusalem. His grandmother was Maacah, the daughter of Absalom. ¹¹Asa did what pleased the LORD, as his ancestor David had done. ¹²He expelled from the country all the male and female prostitutes serving at the pagan places of worship, and he removed all the idols his predecessors had made. ¹³He removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made an obscene idol of the fertility goddess Asherah. Asa cut down the idol and burned it in Kidron Valley. ¹⁴Even though Asa did not destroy all the pagan places of worship, he remained faithful to the LORD all his life. ¹⁵He placed in the Temple all the objects his father had dedicated to God, as well as the gold and silver objects that he himself dedicated.
¹⁶King Asa of Judah and King Baasha of Israel were constantly at war with each other as long as they were in power. ¹⁷Baasha invaded Judah and started to fortify Ramah in order to cut off all traffic in and out of Judah. ¹⁸So King Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the Temple and the palace, and sent it by some of his officials to Damascus, to King Benhadad of Syria, the son of Tabrimmon and grandson of Hezion, with this message: ¹⁹"Let us be allies, as our fathers were. This silver and gold is a present for you. Now break your alliance with King Baasha of Israel, so that he will have to pull his troops out of my territory."
²⁰King Benhadad agreed to Asa's proposal and sent his commanding officers and their armies to attack the cities of Israel. They captured Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maacah, the area near Lake Galilee, and the whole territory of Naphtali. ²¹When King Baasha heard what had happened, he stopped fortifying Ramah and went to Tirzah.
²²Then King Asa sent out an order throughout all of Judah requiring everyone, without exception, to help carry away from Ramah the stones and timber that Baasha had been using to fortify it. With this material Asa fortified Mizpah and Geba, a city in the territory of Benjamin.
²³Everything else that King Asa did, his brave deeds and the towns he fortified, are all recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah. But in his old age he was crippled by a foot disease. ²⁴Asa died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City, and his son Jehoshaphat succeeded him as king.

King Nadab of Israel

²⁵In the second year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, King Jeroboam's son Nadab became king of Israel, and he ruled for two years. ²⁶Like his father before him, he sinned against the LORD and led Israel into sin.
²⁷Baasha son of Ahijah, of the tribe of Issachar, plotted against Nadab and killed him as Nadab and his army were besieging the city of Gibbethon in Philistia. ²⁸This happened during the third year of the reign of King Asa of Judah. And so Baasha succeeded Nadab as king of Israel. ²⁹At once he began killing all the members of Jeroboam's family. In accordance with what the LORD had said through his servant, the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh, all of Jeroboam's family were killed; not one survived. ³⁰This happened because Jeroboam aroused the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, by the sins that he committed and that he caused Israel to commit.
³¹Everything else that Nadab did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. ³²King Asa of Judah and King Baasha of Israel were constantly at war with each other as long as they were in power.

A Call to Repentance

God Restores Fertility to the Land

¹⁸Then the LORD showed concern for his land;
he had mercy on his people.
¹⁹He answered them:
"Now I am going to give you
grain and wine and olive oil,
and you will be satisfied.
Other nations will no longer despise you.
²⁰I will remove the locust army that came from the north
and will drive some of them into the desert.
Their front ranks will be driven into the Dead Sea,
their rear ranks into the Mediterranean.
Their dead bodies will stink.
I will destroy them because of all they have done to you.

²¹"Fields, don't be afraid,
but be joyful and glad
because of all the LORD has done for you.
²²Animals, don't be afraid.
The pastures are green;
the trees bear their fruit,
and there are plenty of figs and grapes.

²³"Be glad, people of Zion,
rejoice at what the LORD your God has done for you.
He has given you the right amount of autumn rain;
he has poured down the winter rain for you
and the spring rain as before.
²⁴The threshing places will be full of grain;
the pits beside the presses will overflow with wine and olive oil.
²⁵I will give you back what you lost
in the years when swarms of locusts ate your crops.
It was I who sent this army against you.
²⁶Now you will have plenty to eat, and be satisfied.
You will praise the LORD your God,
who has done wonderful things for you.
My people will never be despised again.
²⁷Then, Israel, you will know that I am among you
and that I, the LORD, am your God
and there is no other.
My people will never be despised again.

The Day of the LORD

²⁸"Afterward I will pour out my Spirit on everyone:
your sons and daughters will proclaim my message;
your old people will have dreams,
and your young people will see visions.
²⁹At that time I will pour out my Spirit
even on servants, both men and women.

³⁰"I will give warnings of that day
in the sky and on the earth;
there will be bloodshed, fire, and clouds of smoke.
³¹The sun will be darkened,
and the moon will turn red as blood
before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes.
³²But all who ask the LORD for help will be saved.
As the LORD has said,
'Some in Jerusalem will escape;
those whom I choose will survive.'"