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"...those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs. You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy (Psalm 65:8 ESV)   In retirement I have a bit more time to observe nature, identify bird songs, and photograph trees and flowers. I'm even finding mushrooms to be fascinating, but I am not experimenting with their edibility! Each day I realize something of the goodness and beauty of the world that God created, even though now it is marred by sin and death.  READING PSALM 65. This psalm can be divided into three sections. First, we should praise God, for he has atoned for sin and reconciled us to himself forever (vv 1-4). Secondly, the global work of God's righteousness will bring about redemption for the nations, resulting in great joy (vv 5-8). Thirdly, this will culminate with blessings upon all creation, again, resulting in joyful praise (vv 9-13), "...they shout and sing together for joy" (65:13). There is a movement i...

  Bible reading for weekend December 20 -- 21  Dec 20 -- Zechariah 7 and John 10 Dec 21 -- Zechariah 8 and John 11 ================ "And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets." (Zechariah 8:5)  WHAT'S THE USE (ch 7)? These two chapters go together, as seen by the opening question regarding fast days (7:3), and the Lord's reference to these same fasts (8:19). The opening question may be seen as a kind of complaint, i.e., does it really do any good to observe the appointed fasts? The people have a kind of formalistic view of their relationship with God. They are ticking the boxes of ceremonial observation and nothing much has changed in their post-exilic life back in Jerusalem (vv 1-3). The Lord answers, questioning their motives (vv 5-7). They are using religion as a way to improve their own lot in life. They are not seeking the Lord for himself. So, they need to make real changes, that is, to observe justice and to not harden ...

Bible reading for weekend December 17 -- 19  Dec 17 -- Zechariah 4 and John 7 Dec 18 -- Zechariah 5 and John 8 Dec 19 -- Zechariah 6 and John 9 ================ "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts." (Zechariah 4:6)  THE DAY OF SMALL THINGS (ch 4). We are reading the visions which the prophet Zechariah received. God is giving encouragement to the post-exilic Jews to continue their work in rebuilding the temple and the nation. Many of the images in these chapters recall those symbols portrayed in Christ's Revelation to the Apostle John in the last book of the Bible. The near events of rebuilding the temple (and the purging of evil) point ahead to more distant future events. An abiding principle both in the OT and NT is that the Lord himself will do the work through his Spirit and through his anointed servants. The two servants in view here are Joshua (the high priest) and Zerubbabel (the governo...

Bible reading for December 15 -- 16  Dec 15 -- Zechariah 2 and John 5 Dec 16 -- Zechariah 3 and John 6 ================   "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the LORD. And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people." (Zechariah 2:10)  THE CITY RESTORED (ch 2). Zechariah and Haggai spoke to the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile. The people needed encouragement to rebuild the city and the temple. They needed hope for the future. Zechariah prophesies of the time of future glory and security for Jerusalem, which will also become an international gathering place for God's people from many nations. The restoration of the city, the priesthood, and the people takes place in historical stages. The earthly Jerusalem and the mount upon which the temple stood, Zion, is a shadow (or type) of God's heavenly city (Gal 4:26; Heb 12:22-24). The city was r...

  Bible reading for weekend December 10 -- 12  Dec 10 -- Zephaniah 2 and Luke 24 Dec 11 -- Zephaniah 3 and John 1 Dec 12 -- Haggai 2 and John 2 ================ "The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing." (Zephaniah 3:17)  ZEPHANIAH (ch 2-3). The God of justice is also the God who joyfully sings over his people (3:17). The purpose of his judgment is not simply to bring justice to his creation, but also to purify a people for himself (3:9-13). In the NT we read that our Lord Jesus "gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works" (Titus 2:14). One specific area of purification noted by Zephaniah is that of language: "For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of th...

Bible reading for December 6 -- 7  Dec 6 -- Habakkuk 1 and Luke 20 Dec 7 -- Habakkuk 2 and Luke 21 ================   "Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith." (Habakkuk 2:4)  THE COMPLAINT (ch 1). The prophet Habakkuk wrote late in the 7th century BC, during same time as Jeremiah's ministry in Jerusalem. The first Babylonian subjugation of Israel would come in 605 BC. The prophet complains of the widespread immorality and injustice of the Jews, and why doesn't God do something about it? God answers by saying he will in fact deal with it by raising up the Chaldeans (another name for the Babylonians) to invade the land. This shocks Habakkuk. How could the Lord deliver over his people to an empire even more evil than themselves? How could God seemingly approve, and even promote, such a wicked and pagan nation? The answer is that God is so sovereign he can use evil for a good purpose, namely, for humbling h...

  Bible reading for November 29 -- 30 Nov 29 -- Micah 4 and Luke 13 Nov 30 -- Micah 5 and Luke 14 ================ "...many nations shall come, and say: 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem." (Micah 4:2)   A NEW WORLD COMING (ch 4). Judah would suffer humiliation during the Assyrian invasion (5:5-6) and then be exiled later to Babylon (4:10), but these prophecies of Micah shine a light of hope from a future world where the nations would gather to Mount Zion to learn the ways of the Lord (vv 1-2). It will be a time of universal peace, with swords being made into plowshares (vv 3-4). Israel will be consecrated to the service of the Lord: "For all the peoples walk each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the LORD our God forever and ever" (v 5). The Lo...

Bible reading for weekend Nov 19 -- 21 Nov 19 -- Amos 8 and Luke 3 Nov 20 -- Amos 9 and Luke 4 Nov 21 -- Obadiah and Luke 5 ================ "In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old..."  (Amos 9:11)  THE HARVEST HAS COME (ch 8). There's a wordplay in the first two verses: "summer fruit" (Heb., qayits ) and "the end" (Heb., qets ). It's an illustration that the summer has ended and the harvest -- not what they expected -- was upon them (cf Jer 8:20). Their life of affluence and leisure was about to come to an end. At the fall of Samaria (capital of Israel) in 722 BC, the people would be exiled and scattered among the other nations. They would experience a "famine" of God's word in that God's prophets would no longer come to them (like Ezekiel did for the Jews in Babylon) nor would they have the strong group identity that come...

Bible reading for Nov 17 -- 18 Nov 17 -- Amos 6 and Luke 1:39-80 Nov 18 -- Amos 7 and Luke 2 ================ "Then the Lord said, 'Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass by them...'" (Amos 7:8)  THE LEISURE CLASS (ch 6). It seems Amos' generation had the same mindset as our advertisers today, that is, "You deserve the best!" Note how the people of Israel are described: idle, taking it easy, self-secure, partying, and enjoying the best beauty products (vv 1-7). This sinful lifestyle was rooted in pride (v 8) and injustice (v 12). Not all prosperity is bad, for example, we may enjoy what God gives when it is something permissible, prayed about, and used with gratitude and humility (2 Tim 4:4-5). But much luxury can come at the cost of spiritual compromise (idolatry), self-indulgence, and from taking advantage of vulnerable people (injustice).  CANCELLING AMOS (ch 7). In compassion and mercy, Amos inte...

    Bible reading for Oct 20 -- 21 Oct 20 -- Daniel 5 and Psalms 110-111 Oct 21 -- Daniel 6 and Psalms 112-113 ================   "...for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth..." (Daniel 6:26-27) THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL (ch 5). In this chapter you see where that popular expression came from! Belshazzar, son (or grandson?) of Nebuchadnezzar, was likely a co-regent or crown prince in Babylon, and to no one's surprise was yet another haughty monarch. Daniel says to him, "you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is y...

Bible reading for weekend Oct 8 -- 10 Oct 8 -- Ezekiel 41 and Psalms 92-93 Oct 9 -- Ezekiel 42 and Psalm 94 Oct 10 -- Ezekiel 43 and Psalms 95-96 ================   "And he measured the length of the room, twenty cubits, and its breadth, twenty cubits, across the nave. And he said to me, 'This is the Most Holy Place.'" (Ezekiel 41:4) THE NEW TEMPLE, INTERIOR AND COURTS (ch 41-42). We are continuing to read of Ezekiel's vision of God's temple. Notice that the most holy place (Holy of Holies) is laid out as a square, just as in the Tabernacle and Solomon's Temple previously, and in the future city, the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:16). There's great attention to measurements and architectural detail, and there are a few differences between this design and the earlier ones. THE GLORY RETURNS (ch 43) . In his vision Ezekiel sees the glory of God, which departed in chapter 11, now returning to the temple. God will not abandon his work -- or his people --but will...

  Bible reading for Oct 4 -- 5 Oct 4 -- Ezekiel 37 and Psalms 87-88 Oct 5 -- Ezekiel 38 and Psalm 89 ================   "I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." (Ezekiel 37:26-27) DRY BONES RESURRECTED (ch 37). Ezekiel is prophesying the future restoration of the nation -- uniting both Israel and Judah together -- in conjunction with God's new covenantal work (ch 36). On one sense (spiritually) this is being fulfilled in the church age as the gospel goes forth bringing life to Jew and Gentile (Rom 3:29-30; 9:24; 11:1-5). But the church does not replace Israel in God's plan. This chapter looks forward to the future work of God in restoring Israel (Rom 11:25-32; Zech 12:9-14). "David" ruling as king (vv 24-25) is ...

  Bible reading for weekend September 10 -- 12 Sep 10 -- Ezekiel 13 and Psalms 52-54 Sep 11 -- Ezekiel 14 and Psalm 55 Sep 12 -- Ezekiel 15 and Psalms 56-57 ================   "Because you have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have not grieved him, and you have encouraged the wicked, that he should not turn from his evil way to save his life, therefore you shall no more see false visions nor practice divination. I will deliver my people out of your hand. And you shall know that I am the LORD." (Ezekiel 13:22-23) POPULAR RELIGION CONDEMNED (ch 13-14). Three groups are called out for condemnation: false prophets, and prophetesses, and some key leaders. They were all saying what the people wanted to hear -- things will be all right, peace and security is near, and your best life is arriving soon (cf Jer 6:14; Mic 3:5). It was a popular religion of the day (cf 1 Thess 5:3). All this originated in their own minds and imaginations, which they mistook for the Lord spe...

  Bible reading for September 6 -- 7 Sep 6 -- Ezekiel 9 and Psalm 48 Sep 7 -- Ezekiel 10 and Psalm 49 ================   "Then the glory of the LORD went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim." (Ezekiel 10:18) MARKED OUT (ch 9) . In a vision Ezekiel sees Jerusalem's upcoming destruction from a heavenly point of view. Executioners (lit., officers, guards) approach the city along with an angelic scribe. The individuals to be spared are marked with a tav , last letter of Hebrew alphabet, which at that time looked like an x or + (v 4). Compare this with Revelation 7:3, "Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads." Besides idolatry the people were punished for their violence and injustice (v 9). For an excellent pictorial overview of the book of Ezekiel I recommend this Bible Project video . THE GLORY DEPARTING (ch 10). In the vision Ezekiel is seeing the appearance of God...