Key verse
Jeremiah 1:8 - "Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the Lord.
Ecclesiastes
In terms of human nature, the truth about the world, and basically all abstract ideas, I suppose there is nothing new since the beginning of time. However, I think we see things in a different and new way all the time, and for each person, life is new. Life is not meaningless either, unless we decide to not give it meaning. All we do here on earth has a lot of meaning, provided we do it with a view to eternity. So long as we are investing in others and growing in God, we can have a lot of meaning in life, even if what we are doing is mundane and seemingly pointless.
Jeremiah
There is more than one version of the book of Jeremiah. Our English translations are based on the Masoretic (Hebrew) text, but there is a different version in the Septuagint (ancient Greek) text. This difference is likely due to the turmoil of Jeremiah's time. Jeremiah prophesied about the impending doom of Jerusalem, and lived to see the city captured by foreigners, while he himself was one of the captives.
I have to admire Jeremiah's tenacity in bringing God's message to the people of Jerusalem. At this time, circa 626-580 BC, the people of Judah were intent on straying from God's commands, even though Jeremiah, and Josiah, the king at the beginning of Jeremiah's career, kept trying to bring them back to God.
*Here's a neat fact: the term 'Jew' is actually a short form for Judahite, or an inhabitant of Judah, and therefore only came into existence when Judah split from the rest of Israel. This term was then later applied to all "Israelites" when northern Israel was completely assimilated into foreign countries (approx. 720 BC) -all of this information on Jeremiah is compliments of the Archaeological Study Bible
Interesting comparison - God touch Jeremiah's mouth with his hand when he called him to be a prophet, and an angel touched Isaiah's lips with a hot coal when he received his calling. In both cases, the mouths were sanctified and cleansed, so as to be worthy of the words which they would later speak.
**More on today's reading later. As we are starting four new books today, I will give some thoughts on the New Testament ones tomorrow.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Humble and contrite
Key verses
Hebrews 13:20-21 - May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever.
Isaiah
God saves his people. This is evident in Isaiah's narrative. Although they were sinful and had to be punished, God did rescue them and bring them out of the pit into the light of his blessing.
Even when sacrifices were required by Jewish law, they weren't an excuse for sin. Isaiah 66:2 explains that what God desires most is someone who follows him, who is "humble and contrite in spirit". Sacrifices were still necessary to cover for the sin that was still committed, but sacrifices on their own, without a real commitment to a right way of living, were not enough.
Hebrews 13:20-21 - May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever.
Isaiah
God saves his people. This is evident in Isaiah's narrative. Although they were sinful and had to be punished, God did rescue them and bring them out of the pit into the light of his blessing.
Even when sacrifices were required by Jewish law, they weren't an excuse for sin. Isaiah 66:2 explains that what God desires most is someone who follows him, who is "humble and contrite in spirit". Sacrifices were still necessary to cover for the sin that was still committed, but sacrifices on their own, without a real commitment to a right way of living, were not enough.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Mercy, not vengeance
Key verses
Proverbs
29:15 and 17 - Too many people leave their kids to their own devices or expect video games and tv to educate them. Let's get back to family time and actually imparting personal/social skills and moral values to our kids so that our society doesn't continue to spiral out of control!
IsaiahThe Lord states in Isaiah 59:21 that the words he will impart to his people will not depart from their mouths, or from the mouths of their children forever. I thought this was kind of strange, because it seemed like that meant that God's word would remain silent forever. However, depart here doesn't seem to mean that they will not speak, but rather that God's word will always remain with them and when they do speak, it will be God speaking through them. We have a promise from God, then, that his Spirit will be in us and his words will always be in our mouths, ready to be proclaimed to whomever we meet, forever.
"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you." (60:1) Out of the online commentaries I have looked at, only one suggests in passing that this salvation may be from Babylonian rule, but even that theologian concludes, with the others, that this passage is referring to Christ coming to save his people. Just as in Isaiah 9, where the people walking in darkness saw a great light, Isaiah 60 proclaims the coming salvation and great light of Christ.
Luke
I wonder what it was about the breaking of the bread that made these two men on the road to Emmaus realize that it was Jesus with whom they were talking?
Hebrews
Abel's blood cried out for vengeance against Cain. Jesus' blood cries out to God for mercy so that we don't have to die. Let us try to mirror that approach, and extend mercy and grace to our neighbours today, rather than vengeance and annoyance.
Hebrews 12:28-29 - Therefore,
since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be
thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”
Proverbs
29:15 and 17 - Too many people leave their kids to their own devices or expect video games and tv to educate them. Let's get back to family time and actually imparting personal/social skills and moral values to our kids so that our society doesn't continue to spiral out of control!
IsaiahThe Lord states in Isaiah 59:21 that the words he will impart to his people will not depart from their mouths, or from the mouths of their children forever. I thought this was kind of strange, because it seemed like that meant that God's word would remain silent forever. However, depart here doesn't seem to mean that they will not speak, but rather that God's word will always remain with them and when they do speak, it will be God speaking through them. We have a promise from God, then, that his Spirit will be in us and his words will always be in our mouths, ready to be proclaimed to whomever we meet, forever.
"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you." (60:1) Out of the online commentaries I have looked at, only one suggests in passing that this salvation may be from Babylonian rule, but even that theologian concludes, with the others, that this passage is referring to Christ coming to save his people. Just as in Isaiah 9, where the people walking in darkness saw a great light, Isaiah 60 proclaims the coming salvation and great light of Christ.
Luke
I wonder what it was about the breaking of the bread that made these two men on the road to Emmaus realize that it was Jesus with whom they were talking?
Hebrews
Abel's blood cried out for vengeance against Cain. Jesus' blood cries out to God for mercy so that we don't have to die. Let us try to mirror that approach, and extend mercy and grace to our neighbours today, rather than vengeance and annoyance.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
God is watching
Key verses
Proverbs 29:7 - The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.
Hebrews 12:2 - Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Isaiah
56:1-2 - These two verses caught my attention. I read them, and thought, 'that's kind of neat'. To have the righteous die in order to be saved from evil sounds comforting. This isn't always the case though, and I found out through Barnes' Notes on the Bible that Isaiah was likely talking about the massive slaughter of most of the devout Jews by Manasseh, the king of Israel at that time. None of their fellow country men paid any attention to this wholesale killing, suggesting that those who merely watched and said nothing were okay with what was going on. In the end, those who were still alive would eventually be conquered by an invading nation, but the righteous who had already been killed escaped this later terror. I came away from studying that passage with the renewed sense that studying commentaries are important so we can see where the author is coming from (in this case, Isaiah).
58:4-6 - This passage reminds me of the Pharisees, who claim to follow the letter of the law, but completely miss the spirit or intent of the law. Many of the Jews in Isaiah's time were following the law, taking pride in the fact that they fasted so often, and yet completely ignored the downtrodden and poor among them. We aren't supposed to fast in order to draw the attention to ourselves. Fasting should turn our attention away from us, toward God and toward our neighbours. If fasting is making us self-centred, then we shouldn't be doing it.
Luke
Luke 24:26 makes reading the Old Testament on its own without our "Jesus-coloured" glasses a bit more difficult. By "Jesus-coloured" glasses I mean that we are living in the year of our Lord, we have seen the coming of the Messiah and believe all the prophecies that were proclaimed about him. Jesus himself told these two men on the road to Emmaus that the prophets spoke about himself. However, if we are to understand the Old Testament as its authors understood it, we have to take a few steps back in history. Clearly, there are references to Christ in the Old Testament, but where do we draw the line? Many of the prophecies were not meant for our day, or for the early Christian church, but spoke to the ancient Israelites in their time. Let's remember to use a bit of caution when interpreting the scriptures.
Hebrews
We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses! I saw that and thought, 'that's kind of creepy'. When you think about lots of invisible people watching you do your daily tasks, that can be encouraging or well... creepy. Then I realized that, wait a minute, God is always watching me. If I should care about anyone seeing what I do, it should be God. But it is so easy to not pay him any mind, and continue doing what I do without a thought of what God is thinking about me. Life application for this passage for today? Remember that God is always watching!
Proverbs 29:7 - The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.
Hebrews 12:2 - Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Isaiah
56:1-2 - These two verses caught my attention. I read them, and thought, 'that's kind of neat'. To have the righteous die in order to be saved from evil sounds comforting. This isn't always the case though, and I found out through Barnes' Notes on the Bible that Isaiah was likely talking about the massive slaughter of most of the devout Jews by Manasseh, the king of Israel at that time. None of their fellow country men paid any attention to this wholesale killing, suggesting that those who merely watched and said nothing were okay with what was going on. In the end, those who were still alive would eventually be conquered by an invading nation, but the righteous who had already been killed escaped this later terror. I came away from studying that passage with the renewed sense that studying commentaries are important so we can see where the author is coming from (in this case, Isaiah).
58:4-6 - This passage reminds me of the Pharisees, who claim to follow the letter of the law, but completely miss the spirit or intent of the law. Many of the Jews in Isaiah's time were following the law, taking pride in the fact that they fasted so often, and yet completely ignored the downtrodden and poor among them. We aren't supposed to fast in order to draw the attention to ourselves. Fasting should turn our attention away from us, toward God and toward our neighbours. If fasting is making us self-centred, then we shouldn't be doing it.
Luke
Luke 24:26 makes reading the Old Testament on its own without our "Jesus-coloured" glasses a bit more difficult. By "Jesus-coloured" glasses I mean that we are living in the year of our Lord, we have seen the coming of the Messiah and believe all the prophecies that were proclaimed about him. Jesus himself told these two men on the road to Emmaus that the prophets spoke about himself. However, if we are to understand the Old Testament as its authors understood it, we have to take a few steps back in history. Clearly, there are references to Christ in the Old Testament, but where do we draw the line? Many of the prophecies were not meant for our day, or for the early Christian church, but spoke to the ancient Israelites in their time. Let's remember to use a bit of caution when interpreting the scriptures.
Hebrews
We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses! I saw that and thought, 'that's kind of creepy'. When you think about lots of invisible people watching you do your daily tasks, that can be encouraging or well... creepy. Then I realized that, wait a minute, God is always watching me. If I should care about anyone seeing what I do, it should be God. But it is so easy to not pay him any mind, and continue doing what I do without a thought of what God is thinking about me. Life application for this passage for today? Remember that God is always watching!
Saturday, October 9, 2010
He is not here... (That may sound odd, but read on!)
Key verse
Luke 24:5-6 - "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!"
Luke
24:12 - Peter saw the empty graveclothes and heard from the women what they had seen, and yet still wondered what had happened to Jesus. History gives us great clarity because I can't see how there could be any other conclusion than Jesus rising from the dead. Living there at that time, seeing it happen before my eyes, I think resurrection could certainly be a possibility in my mind. After all, Jesus had already done a number of miracles, including bringing the dead back to life. Certainly knowing what I know now, if I saw something like that again, I feel like I would also believe in new life. However, I could be overly optimistic about this, and in the shock of the moment, perhaps I would simply be utterly confused. It's difficult to reach a sure answer on these hypothetical.
Here's a tidbit from Clarke's Commentary on a different section of this verse."Peter seeth the linen clothes lie, and the napkin that was about his head not lying with the linen clothes, but Wrapped together in a place by itself. All these circumstances prove that the thing was done leisurely; order and regularity being observed through the whole. Hurry and confusion necessarily mark every act of robbery."
Hebrews
11:40 - God planned something better for his people. It's hard not to want to charge ahead and make sure we get what we want in this life. We have got to rely on God because ultimately it is going to be God orchestrating everything anyway, and he sees everything, knows everything. Even when it looks like we're going to lose out on something, probably like Peter felt when he saw Jesus die, before he saw the empty clothes and began wondering, even when it looks that bad, God's in control! And we can take heart in that.
Isaiah
God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts. This idea ties right in to the readings from Hebrews and Luke. We only see a part of the picture. When God freely pardons us, we can't see the whole thing. When he forgives someone we don't think should be forgiven, we aren't seeing what God is seeing, and we certainly aren't thinking what he is thinking! He is so far above us. That's a good perspective to have, so that we can try and see the world from his point of view, at least a little bit, so that we can better understand what we're supposed to do.
Luke 24:5-6 - "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!"
Luke
24:12 - Peter saw the empty graveclothes and heard from the women what they had seen, and yet still wondered what had happened to Jesus. History gives us great clarity because I can't see how there could be any other conclusion than Jesus rising from the dead. Living there at that time, seeing it happen before my eyes, I think resurrection could certainly be a possibility in my mind. After all, Jesus had already done a number of miracles, including bringing the dead back to life. Certainly knowing what I know now, if I saw something like that again, I feel like I would also believe in new life. However, I could be overly optimistic about this, and in the shock of the moment, perhaps I would simply be utterly confused. It's difficult to reach a sure answer on these hypothetical.
Here's a tidbit from Clarke's Commentary on a different section of this verse."Peter seeth the linen clothes lie, and the napkin that was about his head not lying with the linen clothes, but Wrapped together in a place by itself. All these circumstances prove that the thing was done leisurely; order and regularity being observed through the whole. Hurry and confusion necessarily mark every act of robbery."
Hebrews
11:40 - God planned something better for his people. It's hard not to want to charge ahead and make sure we get what we want in this life. We have got to rely on God because ultimately it is going to be God orchestrating everything anyway, and he sees everything, knows everything. Even when it looks like we're going to lose out on something, probably like Peter felt when he saw Jesus die, before he saw the empty clothes and began wondering, even when it looks that bad, God's in control! And we can take heart in that.
Isaiah
God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts. This idea ties right in to the readings from Hebrews and Luke. We only see a part of the picture. When God freely pardons us, we can't see the whole thing. When he forgives someone we don't think should be forgiven, we aren't seeing what God is seeing, and we certainly aren't thinking what he is thinking! He is so far above us. That's a good perspective to have, so that we can try and see the world from his point of view, at least a little bit, so that we can better understand what we're supposed to do.
You should read this
You should read this book: "Taking the Guesswork out of Applying the Bible" by Jack Kuhatschek. It's great! It talks a lot about what I've been saying in this blog. God's word is for all people at all times - we just need to make sure we understand it was delivered at a particular point in time so it may not speak to us culturally in our setting, but the basic message is the same for everyone.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Good news and the kingdom
Key verse
Isaiah 51:11 - The ransomed of the LORD will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
Isaiah
52:7, the feet of those who bring good news, speaks of messengers bringing a message of victory to the waiting king (this tidbit compliments of the Archaeological Study Bible). Do I bring good news (THE good news) to the people I meet?
Luke
23:51 - "He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God." This is stated so matter of factly, that Joseph was waiting for the kingdom of God. The commentaries don't really speak to this statement. I see it as sort of a saying on a tombstone. If Joseph had died before Jesus actually came, his headstone may have said "He was waiting for the kingdom of God." That speaks of hope and faith, like we've been reading about in Hebrews. Today, let's try to make sure that we are living in the kingdom of God, and extending it as best we can, by the grace of God.
Isaiah 51:11 - The ransomed of the LORD will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
Isaiah
52:7, the feet of those who bring good news, speaks of messengers bringing a message of victory to the waiting king (this tidbit compliments of the Archaeological Study Bible). Do I bring good news (THE good news) to the people I meet?
Luke
23:51 - "He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God." This is stated so matter of factly, that Joseph was waiting for the kingdom of God. The commentaries don't really speak to this statement. I see it as sort of a saying on a tombstone. If Joseph had died before Jesus actually came, his headstone may have said "He was waiting for the kingdom of God." That speaks of hope and faith, like we've been reading about in Hebrews. Today, let's try to make sure that we are living in the kingdom of God, and extending it as best we can, by the grace of God.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)