You win the game.

We’ve set a higher bar this week when it comes to reading Scripture.  It hasn’t just been a matter of reading the passages I quote along with an explanation on my part.  We started the week by asking you to look up passages in Kings to determine what kings were good and which were bad.

Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for your sins have brought you down. Bring your confessions, and return to the LORD. Say to Him, "Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us, so that we may offer You our praises. Assyria cannot save us, nor can our warhorses. Never again will we say to the idols we have made, 'You are our gods.' No, in You alone do the orphans find mercy." The LORD says, "Then I will heal you of your faithlessness; My love will know no bounds, for My anger will be gone forever. (Hosea 14:1-4 NLT)

Then, we took a place that was confusing and looked up the story in another book of the Bible: Chronicles.  When we looked up the story from another perspective, we found that Chronicles included details that Kings did not include.  Suddenly, the story made more sense.

I will be to Israel like a refreshing dew from heaven. Israel will blossom like the lily; it will send roots deep into the soil like the cedars in Lebanon. Its branches will spread out like beautiful olive trees, as fragrant as the cedars of Lebanon. My people will again live under My shade. They will flourish like grain and blossom like grapevines. They will be as fragrant as the wines of Lebanon. (Hosea 14:5-7 NLT)

Then we read the prophets Amos and Hosea.  Both of those prophets were contemporaries of the kings we covered this week.  We found that the prophecies made a lot more sense when we had the background of the Kings and Chronicles accounts.  We learned that the prophecies weren’t just doom and gloom.  They offered a ray of hope for the Israelites, should they decide to return to the LORD again.

Let those who are wise understand these things. Let those with discernment listen carefully. The paths of the LORD are true and right, and righteous people live by walking in them. But in those paths sinners stumble and fall. (Hosea 14:9 NLT)

In the end, the work is all worth it.  We get a Bingo! (Ah-ha!) moment by reading the various accounts.  Maybe we get more than one.  We learn that those who walk with the LORD receive the benefits and blessings that go along with that walk.  We also learn that sinners who rebel against God will stumble and fall.  When we walk with God, we win the game.  By doing the work of reading Scripture, we win the game too.

How about you?  Did you do the work this week?  Did you look up the stories of the kings?  Did you read the account(s) in Chronicles?  Did you read through the writings of the two prophets?  Bingo, you won the game.