2 Chronicles 19, 20, Revelation 8, Zechariah 4, John 7

2 Chronicles 19, 20,

When Jehoshaphat king of Judah returned safely to his palace in Jerusalem,
Jehu the seer, the son of Hanani, went out to meet him and said to the king, "Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD ? Because of this, the wrath of the LORD is upon you.
There is, however, some good in you, for you have rid the land of the Asherah poles and have set your heart on seeking God."
Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and turned them back to the LORD, the God of their fathers.
He appointed judges in the land, in each of the fortified cities of Judah.
  
  He told them, "Consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for man but for the LORD, who is with you whenever you give a verdict.
Now let the fear of the LORD be upon you. Judge carefully, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery."
In Jerusalem also, Jehoshaphat appointed some of the Levites, priests and heads of Israelite families to administer the law of the LORD and to settle disputes. And they lived in Jerusalem.
He gave them these orders: "You must serve faithfully and wholeheartedly in the fear of the LORD.
In every case that comes before you from your fellow countrymen who live in the cities--whether bloodshed or other concerns of the law, commands, decrees or ordinances--you are to warn them not to sin against the LORD; otherwise his wrath will come on you and your brothers. Do this, and you will not sin.
  
  "Amariah the chief priest will be over you in any matter concerning the LORD, and Zebadiah son of Ishmael, the leader of the tribe of Judah, will be over you in any matter concerning the king, and the Levites will serve as officials before you. Act with courage, and may the LORD be with those who do well."

After this, the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites came to make war on Jehoshaphat.
Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, "A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Sea. It is already in Hazazon Tamar" (that is, En Gedi).
Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah.
The people of Judah came together to seek help from the LORD; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him.
Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the LORD in the front of the new courtyard
  
  and said: "O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you.
O our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?
They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying,
'If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.'
"But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them.
  
  See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance.
O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you."
All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the LORD.
Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly.
He said: "Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's.
  
  Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel.
You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.' "
Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the LORD.
Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the LORD, the God of Israel, with very loud voice.
Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful."
  
  After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: "Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever."
As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.
The men of Ammon and Moab rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another.
When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped.
So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing and also articles of value--more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it.
  
  On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah, where they praised the LORD. This is why it is called the Valley of Beracah to this day.
Then, led by Jehoshaphat, all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully to Jerusalem, for the LORD had given them cause to rejoice over their enemies.
They entered Jerusalem and went to the temple of the LORD with harps and lutes and trumpets.
The fear of God came upon all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard how the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel.
And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.
  
  So Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king of Judah, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years. His mother's name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi.
He walked in the ways of his father Asa and did not stray from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD.
The high places, however, were not removed, and the people still had not set their hearts on the God of their fathers.
The other events of Jehoshaphat's reign, from beginning to end, are written in the annals of Jehu son of Hanani, which are recorded in the book of the kings of Israel.
Later, Jehoshaphat king of Judah made an alliance with Ahaziah king of Israel, who was guilty of wickedness.
  
  He agreed with him to construct a fleet of trading ships. After these were built at Ezion Geber,
Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, "Because you have made an alliance with Ahaziah, the LORD will destroy what you have made." The ships were wrecked and were not able to set sail to trade.

Revelation 8,

When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.
Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne.
The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand.
Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
  
  Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.
The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood,
a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water--
  
  the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.
The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.
As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: "Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!"

Zechariah 4,

Then the angel who talked with me returned and wakened me, as a man is wakened from his sleep.
He asked me, "What do you see?" I answered, "I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lights on it, with seven channels to the lights.
Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left."
I asked the angel who talked with me, "What are these, my lord?"
He answered, "Do you not know what these are?" "No, my lord," I replied.
  
  So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.
"What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of 'God bless it! God bless it!' "
Then the word of the LORD came to me:
"The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you.
"Who despises the day of small things? Men will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. "(These seven are the eyes of the LORD, which range throughout the earth.)"
  
  Then I asked the angel, "What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?"
Again I asked him, "What are these two olive branches beside the two gold pipes that pour out golden oil?"
He replied, "Do you not know what these are?" "No, my lord," I said.
So he said, "These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth."
 

John 7

After this, Jesus went around in Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea because the Jews there were waiting to take his life.
But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near,
Jesus' brothers said to him, "You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do.
No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world."
For even his own brothers did not believe in him.
  
  Therefore Jesus told them, "The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right.
The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil.
You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come."
Having said this, he stayed in Galilee.
However, after his brothers had left for the Feast, he went also, not publicly, but in secret.
  
  Now at the Feast the Jews were watching for him and asking, "Where is that man?"
Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, "He is a good man." Others replied, "No, he deceives the people."
But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the Jews.
Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach.
The Jews were amazed and asked, "How did this man get such learning without having studied?"
  
  Jesus answered, "My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me.
If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.
He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.
Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?"
"You are demon-possessed," the crowd answered. "Who is trying to kill you?"
  
  Jesus said to them, "I did one miracle, and you are all astonished.
Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a child on the Sabbath.
Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath?
Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment."
At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, "Isn't this the man they are trying to kill?
  
  Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Christ?
But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from."
Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, "Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him,
but I know him because I am from him and he sent me."
At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come.
  
  Still, many in the crowd put their faith in him. They said, "When the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man?"
The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.
Jesus said, "I am with you for only a short time, and then I go to the one who sent me.
You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come."
The Jews said to one another, "Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?
  
  What did he mean when he said, 'You will look for me, but you will not find me,' and 'Where I am, you cannot come'?"
On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.
Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."
By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
On hearing his words, some of the people said, "Surely this man is the Prophet."
  
  Others said, "He is the Christ." Still others asked, "How can the Christ come from Galilee?
Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David's family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?"
Thus the people were divided because of Jesus.
Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.
Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why didn't you bring him in?"
  
  "No one ever spoke the way this man does," the guards declared.
"You mean he has deceived you also?" the Pharisees retorted.
"Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him?
No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law--there is a curse on them."
Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked,
  
  "Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?"
They replied, "Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee."
Then each went to his own home.