Thy Kingdom Come!
Verse of the week to live by:
“Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way” (Acts 1:11).
Bible Readings 2025, Week 19; May 5-11.
May 5; 2 Kgs 3-5; John 21;
1. 2Kings 5:1; “Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.”
Who was Naaman?
2. John 21:12; “Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.”
How does this passage inform our resurrected bodies?
3. John 21:20; “Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”
Who was the disciple whom Jesus loved?
May 6; 2 Kgs 6-7; Acts 1
1. 2 Kings 6:12; “None of us, my lord the king,” said one of his officers, “but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.”
Who was Elisha? Was he a type of Christ?
2. Acts 1:8; “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
When was this promise fulfilled?
3. Acts 1:26; “Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.”
Was it acceptable to make decisions by casting lots? (See Proverbs 16:33)
May 7; 2 Kgs 8-10;
1. 2 Kings 8:16; “In the fifth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat began his reign as king of Judah.”
Who was Jehoshaphat?
2. 2 Kings 9:1; “The prophet Elisha summoned a man from the sons of the prophets and said to him, “Tuck your cloak into your belt, take this flask of olive oil with you and go to Ramoth Gilead.”
Who were the sons (or company) of the prophets?
3. 2 Kings 10:1; “Now 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, to the elders and to the guardians of Ahab’s children.”
Who was Ahab?
May 8; 2 Kgs 11-12; Acts 2
1. 2 Kings 11:2; “But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram and sister of Ahaziah, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the royal princes, who were about to be murdered. She put him and his nurse in a bedroom to hide him from Athaliah; so he was not killed.”
Who was Joash? What role did he play in Israel’s kingdom?
2. Acts 2:3; “They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.”
What was the result of what seemed to be tongues of fire?
3. Acts 2:24; “But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.”
Why it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Jesus?
May 9; 2 Kgs 13-15; Acts 3
1. 2 Kings 14:5-7; “After the kingdom was firmly in his grasp, he executed the officials who had murdered his father the king. 6 Yet he did not put the children of the assassins to death, in accordance with what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses where the Lord commanded: “Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin.”
Where in the book of Moses do we find this text? (See Deuteronomy 24:16).
2. Acts 3:17-18; “Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer.”
How does God’s plan for Christ’s suffering align with human responsibility?
3. Acts 3:22-23; “For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. 23 Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.
Where is this found in the books of Moses? What does it reveal about Jesus? (See Deuteronomy 18:15–19)
May 10; 2 Kgs 16-17
1. 2Kings 16:7; “7 Ahaz sent messengers to say to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, “I am your servant and vassal. Come up and save me out of the hand of the king of Aram and of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.”
Who was Tiglath-Pileser?
2. 2 Kings 17:6; “In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes.”
Where was Assyria? What was the relationship between the Assyria and Israel?
3. 2 Kings 17:17; “They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sought omens and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.”
What is the meaning of this passage?
May 11; 2 Kgs 18-20; Acts 4;
1. 2 Kings 18:1; “In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.”
Who was Hezekiah? What role did he play in God’s kingdom?
2. 2 Kings 19:1-2; “When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.”
Who was Isaiah son of Amoz?
3. Acts 4:8; “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people!”
How can a person be filled with the Holy Spirit?