Living in the Tension: A Study on the "Now and Not Yet" Kingdom of God

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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk2KI">
 <div class="chapter ch10" data-usfm="2KI.10">
 <div class="label">10</div><div class="s1">Ahab&#8217;s Family Killed</div><div class="p"> 1Now there were in Samaria seventy sons of the house of Ahab. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria: to the officials of Jezreel,#10:1 Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts and Vulgate of the city to the elders and to the guardians of Ahab&#8217;s children. He said, 2&#8220;You have your master&#8217;s sons with you and you have chariots and horses, a fortified city and weapons. Now as soon as this letter reaches you, 3choose the best and most worthy of your master&#8217;s sons and set him on his father&#8217;s throne. Then fight for your master&#8217;s house.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 4But they were terrified and said, &#8220;If two kings could not resist him, how can we?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 5So the palace administrator, the city governor, the elders and the guardians sent this message to Jehu: &#8220;We are your servants and we will do anything you say. We will not appoint anyone as king; you do whatever you think best.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 6Then Jehu wrote them a second letter, saying, &#8220;If you are on my side and will obey me, take the heads of your master&#8217;s sons and come to me in Jezreel by this time tomorrow.&#8221;</div><div class="p">Now the royal princes, seventy of them, were with the leading men of the city, who were rearing them. 7When the letter arrived, these men took the princes and slaughtered all seventy of them. They put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu in Jezreel. 8When the messenger arrived, he told Jehu, &#8220;They have brought the heads of the princes.&#8221;</div><div class="p">Then Jehu ordered, &#8220;Put them in two piles at the entrance of the city gate until morning.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 9The next morning Jehu went out. He stood before all the people and said, &#8220;You are innocent. It was I who conspired against my master and killed him, but who killed all these? 10Know, then, that not a word the Lord has spoken against the house of Ahab will fail. The Lord has done what he announced through his servant Elijah.&#8221; 11So Jehu killed everyone in Jezreel who remained of the house of Ahab, as well as all his chief men, his close friends and his priests, leaving him no survivor.</div><div class="p"> 12Jehu then set out and went toward Samaria. At Beth Eked of the Shepherds, 13he met some relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah and asked, &#8220;Who are you?&#8221;</div><div class="p">They said, &#8220;We are relatives of Ahaziah, and we have come down to greet the families of the king and of the queen mother.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 14&#8220;Take them alive!&#8221; he ordered. So they took them alive and slaughtered them by the well of Beth Eked&#8212;forty-two of them. He left no survivor.</div><div class="p"> 15After he left there, he came upon Jehonadab son of Rekab, who was on his way to meet him. Jehu greeted him and said, &#8220;Are you in accord with me, as I am with you?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;I am,&#8221; Jehonadab answered.</div><div class="p">&#8220;If so,&#8221; said Jehu, &#8220;give me your hand.&#8221; So he did, and Jehu helped him up into the chariot. 16Jehu said, &#8220;Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord.&#8221; Then he had him ride along in his chariot.</div><div class="p"> 17When Jehu came to Samaria, he killed all who were left there of Ahab&#8217;s family; he destroyed them, according to the word of the Lord spoken to Elijah.</div><div class="s1">Servants of Baal Killed</div><div class="p"> 18Then Jehu brought all the people together and said to them, &#8220;Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much. 19Now summon all the prophets of Baal, all his servants and all his priests. See that no one is missing, because I am going to hold a great sacrifice for Baal. Anyone who fails to come will no longer live.&#8221; But Jehu was acting deceptively in order to destroy the servants of Baal.</div><div class="p"> 20Jehu said, &#8220;Call an assembly in honor of Baal.&#8221; So they proclaimed it. 21Then he sent word throughout Israel, and all the servants of Baal came; not one stayed away. They crowded into the temple of Baal until it was full from one end to the other. 22And Jehu said to the keeper of the wardrobe, &#8220;Bring robes for all the servants of Baal.&#8221; So he brought out robes for them.</div><div class="p"> 23Then Jehu and Jehonadab son of Rekab went into the temple of Baal. Jehu said to the servants of Baal, &#8220;Look around and see that no one who serves the Lord is here with you&#8212;only servants of Baal.&#8221; 24So they went in to make sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had posted eighty men outside with this warning: &#8220;If one of you lets any of the men I am placing in your hands escape, it will be your life for his life.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 25As soon as Jehu had finished making the burnt offering, he ordered the guards and officers: &#8220;Go in and kill them; let no one escape.&#8221; So they cut them down with the sword. The guards and officers threw the bodies out and then entered the inner shrine of the temple of Baal. 26They brought the sacred stone out of the temple of Baal and burned it. 27They demolished the sacred stone of Baal and tore down the temple of Baal, and people have used it for a latrine to this day.</div><div class="p"> 28So Jehu destroyed Baal worship in Israel. 29However, he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit&#8212;the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.</div><div class="p"> 30The Lord said to Jehu, &#8220;Because you have done well in accomplishing what is right in my eyes and have done to the house of Ahab all I had in mind to do, your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.&#8221; 31Yet Jehu was not careful to keep the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit.</div><div class="p"> 32In those days the Lord began to reduce the size of Israel. Hazael overpowered the Israelites throughout their territory 33east of the Jordan in all the land of Gilead (the region of Gad, Reuben and Manasseh), from Aroer by the Arnon Gorge through Gilead to Bashan.</div><div class="p"> 34As for the other events of Jehu&#8217;s reign, all he did, and all his achievements, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?</div><div class="p"> 35Jehu rested with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son succeeded him as king. 36The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkDAN">
 <div class="chapter ch2" data-usfm="DAN.2">
 <div class="label">2</div><div class="s1">Nebuchadnezzar&#8217;s Dream</div><div class="p"> 1In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. 2So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers#2:2 Or Chaldeans; also in verses 4, 5 and 10 to tell him what he had dreamed. When they came in and stood before the king, 3he said to them, &#8220;I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means.#2:3 Or was&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 4Then the astrologers answered the king,#2:4 At this point the Hebrew text has in Aramaic, indicating that the text from here through the end of chapter 7 is in Aramaic. &#8220;May the king live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 5The king replied to the astrologers, &#8220;This is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble. 6But if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and interpret it for me.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 7Once more they replied, &#8220;Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will interpret it.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8Then the king answered, &#8220;I am certain that you are trying to gain time, because you realize that this is what I have firmly decided: 9If you do not tell me the dream, there is only one penalty for you. You have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things, hoping the situation will change. So then, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can interpret it for me.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 10The astrologers answered the king, &#8220;There is no one on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer. 11What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among humans.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 12This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon. 13So the decree was issued to put the wise men to death, and men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death.</div><div class="p"> 14When Arioch, the commander of the king&#8217;s guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact. 15He asked the king&#8217;s officer, &#8220;Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?&#8221; Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel. 16At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him.</div><div class="p"> 17Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 18He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven 20and said:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;</div><div class="q2">wisdom and power are his.</div><div class="q1"> 21He changes times and seasons;</div><div class="q2">he deposes kings and raises up others.</div><div class="q1">He gives wisdom to the wise</div><div class="q2">and knowledge to the discerning.</div><div class="q1"> 22He reveals deep and hidden things;</div><div class="q2">he knows what lies in darkness,</div><div class="q2">and light dwells with him.</div><div class="q1"> 23I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors:</div><div class="q2">You have given me wisdom and power,</div><div class="q1">you have made known to me what we asked of you,</div><div class="q2">you have made known to us the dream of the king.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Daniel Interprets the Dream</div><div class="p"> 24Then Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, &#8220;Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 25Arioch took Daniel to the king at once and said, &#8220;I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 26The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), &#8220;Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 27Daniel replied, &#8220;No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, 28but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you were lying in bed are these:</div><div class="p"> 29&#8220;As Your Majesty was lying there, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen. 30As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive, but so that Your Majesty may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.</div><div class="p"> 31&#8220;Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue&#8212;an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.</div><div class="p"> 36&#8220;This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. 37Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; 38in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.</div><div class="p"> 39&#8220;After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron&#8212;for iron breaks and smashes everything&#8212;and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. 41Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. 42As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.</div><div class="p"> 44&#8220;In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. 45This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands&#8212;a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.</div><div class="p">&#8220;The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 46Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him. 47The king said to Daniel, &#8220;Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 48Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men. 49Moreover, at Daniel&#8217;s request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the royal court.</div>
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New International Version

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkJHN">
 <div class="chapter ch9" data-usfm="JHN.9.1+JHN.9.2+JHN.9.3+JHN.9.4+JHN.9.5+JHN.9.6+JHN.9.7+JHN.9.8+JHN.9.9+JHN.9.10+JHN.9.11+JHN.9.12+JHN.9.13+JHN.9.14+JHN.9.15+JHN.9.16+JHN.9.17">
 <div class="p">1As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2His disciples asked him, &#8220;Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 3 &#8220;Neither this man nor his parents sinned,&#8221; said Jesus, &#8220;but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 6After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man&#8217;s eyes. 7&#8220;Go,&#8221; he told him, &#8220;wash in the Pool of Siloam&#8221; (this word means &#8220;Sent&#8221;). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.</div><div class="p"> 8His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, &#8220;Isn&#8217;t this the same man who used to sit and beg?&#8221; 9Some claimed that he was.</div><div class="p">Others said, &#8220;No, he only looks like him.&#8221;</div><div class="p">But he himself insisted, &#8220;I am the man.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 10&#8220;How then were your eyes opened?&#8221; they asked.</div><div class="p"> 11He replied, &#8220;The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 12&#8220;Where is this man?&#8221; they asked him.</div><div class="p">&#8220;I don&#8217;t know,&#8221; he said.</div><div class="s1">The Pharisees Investigate the Healing</div><div class="p"> 13They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man&#8217;s eyes was a Sabbath. 15Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. &#8220;He put mud on my eyes,&#8221; the man replied, &#8220;and I washed, and now I see.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 16Some of the Pharisees said, &#8220;This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.&#8221;</div><div class="p">But others asked, &#8220;How can a sinner perform such signs?&#8221; So they were divided.</div><div class="p"> 17Then they turned again to the blind man, &#8220;What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.&#8221;</div><div class="p">The man replied, &#8220;He is a prophet.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> </div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEPH">
 <div class="chapter ch6" data-usfm="EPH.6.1+EPH.6.2+EPH.6.3+EPH.6.4+EPH.6.5+EPH.6.6+EPH.6.7+EPH.6.8+EPH.6.9">
 <div class="p">1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2&#8220;Honor your father and mother&#8221;&#8212;which is the first commandment with a promise&#8212; 3&#8220;so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.&#8221;#6:3 Deut. 5:16</div><div class="p"> 4Fathers,#6:4 Or Parents do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.</div><div class="p"> 5Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, 8because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.</div><div class="p"> 9And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.</div>
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