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Bible reading for weekend July 16 -- 18 July 16 -- Jeremiah 12 and Matthew 26 July 17 -- Jeremiah 13 and Matthew 27 July 18 -- Jeremiah 14 and Matthew 28 ================    "I have forsaken my house; I have abandoned my heritage; I have given the beloved of my soul into the hands of her enemies." (Jeremiah 12:7) THE LORD'S HERITAGE (ch 12-14). These messages from God through Jeremiah are delivered over a period of forty years, and Jeremiah here wants the Lord to execute his judgment, already! (12:1-4) Not only was Jeremiah the target of political opponents, he also suffered the loss of family support (12:5-6). He's ready to see the judgment program move forward. But God is patient and longsuffering, and several times he refers to his people as "my heritage" (or, "inheritance")(12:7-9, 14-15). The Lord loved the people of Israel and Judah -- the "beloved of his soul" -- and he brought them close to himself "that they might be for me...

   Bible reading for May 5 -- 6 May 5 -- Isaiah 2 and Hebrews 10 May 6 -- Isaiah 3-4 and Hebrews 11 ================    "The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day." (Isaiah 2:11) THE PROPHETS. In our Bibles the writings of the Hebrew prophets are placed in a collection together.  There are four "major" prophets (the longer books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel) and twelve "minor" prophets (minor in the sense of being shorter books). The role of the prophet in the OT was to forth-tell, that is, to proclaim to Israel what was the nature of her problems and to give divine promises, whether of judgment or restoration (or both). Often, with these proclamations the prophet would foretell future events, some in the near future and some in the distant future. This telescoping effect is sometimes called the "mountain peaks" of prophecy, that is, two ...

Bible reading for May 3 --4 May 3 -- Song of Solomon 8 and Hebrews 8 May 4 -- Isaiah 1 and Hebrews 9  ================    "Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD." (Song of Solomon 8:6)  FINAL CHAPTER (ch 8). The couple's love continues to grow and mature. For a good summary of this concluding chapter see Constable's notes here . One note on the "little sister" (6:8-10)... This a poetic expression of the Shulammite's older brothers protecting their sister's purity in her earlier years. The Bible teaches the primacy of the family in guarding the purity and sexuality of the children. It is not the place of the schools or government or media to override parents in their role of teaching children about God's design for human sexuality. Our culture is seriously perverted in this regard.   THE POWER OF LOVE. Wh...

Bible reading for weekend of Dec 5-6.  2 Chronicles 5-6. "But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built!  Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O LORD my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you, that your eyes may be open day and night toward this house..." (6:18-20)  THE TEMPLE FINISHED. The construction of the temple is completed (ch 5), and as the people sing, the glory of God is revealed: "...when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the LORD, 'For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever,' the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God" (5:13-14).  Solomon recognizes God's choice of Jerusale...

Bible reading for Dec 3.  2 Chronicles 2. "The house that I am to build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods.  But who is able to build him a house, since heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain him? Who am I to build a house for him, except as a place to make offerings before him?" (2:5-6)  THE WORK BEGINS. The temple that Solomon would build was not to be some kind of container for God, but rather a place to meet with God and to worship him. It would be a beautiful structure, built with precious materials and fine craftsmanship. Most of the labor was provided by resident aliens who were drafted for the work and compensated as indentured servants. Hiram, the king of Tyre and friend of King David, recognized the excellence of Solomon's leadership: "Because the LORD loves his people, he has made you king over them" (v 11).   ===============   1 John 2. "And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will o...

Bible reading for weekend Nov 14-15.  1 Chronicles 3-6. "These were their settlements, and they kept a genealogical record." (4:33)  GOD KEEPS TRACK. The Jews are back in the land following their exile to Babylon (5th century BC). These are the updated genealogies ("to this day", 5:26, and chapter 9). Words like "registered" and "enrolled" (e.g., 4:41), along with locations (5:26), remind us that God keeps track of his people. It may seem like an endless list of people and places, but this is a testimony to God's preservation of his people. Also, there were remnant families from the various tribes that dwelt in Judah, for example the Simeonites, Levites, Benjaminites (e.g., Paul, Rom 11:1), and others. The Apostle Paul tells us that "all Israel will be saved" (Rom 11:26), which I take to mean that God still has a special place in his divine plan for ethnic Israel, and that there will be a great ingathering of Jews toward the end of...

Bible reading for July 10.  Joshua 12-13. "...in all, thirty-one kings." (Joshua 12:24) MUCH DONE (12). The powerful alliance of kings in Canaan has been broken and their cities burned. The kings are listed, both those defeated by Moses before crossing the Jordan and those defeated by Joshua afterwards. Each city and king named represents a remarkable victory for Israel from the Lord. The Lord raises up and casts down as he wills: "Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust" (Isa 40:15) and he "...brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness" (Isa 40:23; cf Dan 4:35). By his death Jesus defeated all earthly and heavenly powers (John 12:31; Eph 4:8; Col 2:15). Sometimes this aspect of Christ's atonement is called Christus Victor , which emphasizes the "triumph of Christ over the evil powers of the world, t...

Bible reading for June 16.  Deuteronomy 21. "And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance."  (Deuteronomy 21:22-23)  CIVIL LAW. In this chapter there are continued instructions concerning justice: regarding unsolved murders, female captives, inheritance of the firstborn, and judgment of rebellious sons (vv 1-21). These judicial decisions reflect the underlying value that God places upon human life (created in the image of God), and upon authority within the family. (See the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy 5, especially those relating to life and family.) However, these particular judgments were part of the civil code of Israel, and regulated their national life under the Mosaic covenant. Believer...

Bible reading for April 11-12 -- Leviticus 15-16; Psalms 18-19.  "For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the LORD from all your sins."  (Leviticus 16:30)  Good Friday, 2020. How I wish we could be [ actually, rather than virtually ] with family and friends in celebration this weekend of Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday (aka Easter).  The current pandemic has forced most of us into quarantine, and even introverts like me get tired of the isolation!  For Christians, this is not merely a social event on our part .  Christians did not invent Easter as a way to have cantatas and chocolate eggs.  The church did not create Good Friday and Easter, but on the contrary, Good Friday and Easter created the church.  What Christ did upon the cross, sealed by his resurrection, birthed a new community called the church .  As imperfect as it is (as we are), yet the family of God is not a natural p...

Bible reading for April 2 -- Leviticus 5; Psalms 3-4.  "In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety."  (Psalm 4:8)  When you can't sleep. Many times in pastoral ministry I would read one or both of these psalms with people who were about to undergo surgery. It brings encouragement to those who trust the Lord that they can lie down and sleep (via anesthesia) with complete confidence that the Lord watches over them and sustains them .  The Lord never sleeps or slumbers (Ps 121:4).   But these words are also a comfort if you can't sleep at night .  Reciting God's word to yourself can help focus your mind on what is true and real and beautiful, rather than on whatever is causing anxiety. Biblical meditation involves repeating God's words to yourself, going over them again and again, praying over and pondering every word and meaning. When I can't sleep at night, first I pray and give thanks to God, confess ...

Bible reading for Mar 26 -- Exodus 37; John 16.  "The cherubim spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat were the faces of the cherubim." (Exodus 37:9)  Cherubim. The Bible teaches that there are supernatural beings , not just in heaven but active on earth as well. The different names used -- cherubim, seraphim, angels, living creatures -- may designate different kinds of these beings.  Cherubim (pl.; cherub, sing.) serve as defenders of God's holiness , for example, guarding the way to the tree of life with a flaming sword (Gen 3:24).  Images of cherubim were woven into the curtains of the tabernacle (Ex 26:1).  Ezekiel saw cherubim bearing up God's glorious appearance in his visions, and Lucifer (Satan) had been in that class of cherubim (Ezek 28:14, 16).  At Sinai Moses is directed to make two gold images of cherubim as part of the mercy seat, or lid, upon ...