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  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 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 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 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...

   Bible reading for weekend May 14 -- 16 May 14 -- Isaiah 13 and 1 Peter 1 May 15 -- Isaiah 14 and 1 Peter 2 May 16 -- Isaiah 15 and 1 Peter 3 ================    "...then a throne will be established in steadfast love, and on it will sit in faithfulness in the tent of David one who judges and seeks justice and is swift to do righteousness." (Isaiah 16:5) WOE TO BABYLON. After pronouncing judgment upon Assyria, Isaiah looks forward a hundred years to pronounce judgment upon Babylon, the nation which will eventually destroy the city of Jerusalem and carry many Jews into exile. Chapters 13 to 23 contain a number of oracles against specific nations that have, or will, come against God's people.  There is something within fallen humanity that seeks to unite themselves together in opposition to God. From the tower of Babel (Gen 11) to the final Babylon (Rev 17-18) people build communities that exalt human ability, power, and autonomy, setting themselves against God...

Bible reading for weekend May 7 -- 9 May 7 -- Isaiah 5 and Hebrews 12 May 8 -- Isaiah 6 and Hebrews 13 May 9 -- Isaiah 7 and James 1 ================    "In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: 'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!'" (Isaiah 6:1-3) THE BEAUTY OF HOLINESS (ch 4). Backing up a chapter, we are presented with a vision of the future Mount Zion. The "branch" (or shoot, sprout, v 2) is a name for Messiah (Jer 23:5). The image is that, when Israel has been devastated, and all the royal descendants of David have failed, one descendant, or the Son of David, will arise and restore God's people and the land. The Shekinah -- that pillar of cloud ...

Bible reading for January 11-12  Jan 11 -- Nehemiah 1 and Acts 11 Jan 12 -- Nehemiah 2 and Acts 12 ================    "Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?" (Nehemiah 2:3) REBUILDING THE WALLS. We begin a new book, Nehemiah, about a man who leads the third wave of Jews returning from Babylon to their homeland in the fifth century B.C. A few years previously Ezra made the same trip, and worked on restoring national worship. Nehemiah will focus on rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem for the city's security and dignity. But the central concern for both Ezra and Nehemiah was the rebuilding of God's people. In the first two chapters we observe Nehemiah's prayer (and his heart) for his kinsmen back in their homeland. He embraces his people's failures as his own, and since he is a man of high position in the Persian empire, he asks for success in helping his fel...

Bible reading for June 30.  Joshua 2. "Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a sure sign..." (Joshua 2:12)  SPY MISSION. The Israeli Mossad agents slipped across the border into enemy territory... No, wait, that was a movie... But this is a little like that: two Israelites on a mission to reconnoiter the land before Israel crosses the Jordan into the promised land. Jericho was on the eastern border, not a large city, but heavily fortified. The spies find shelter at Rahab's house, probably an inn. She is described as a prostitute (inns also served as brothels in that day). Her confession to them is remarkable: the Canaanites are very frightened of the Israelites. She hides the two men from the authorities and asks from them kindness (Heb., hesed ) in return for their lives. It is clear she now believed that the Lord (Heb., Yahweh ) is God and seeks shelter ...

Bible reading for June 29.  Joshua 1. "No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you." (Joshua 1:5)  THEN YOU WILL HAVE SUCCESS. If we look for one word to summarize the book of Joshua it might be "conquest," or better, as Prof Hendricks suggested, "success". The tribes of Israel finally enter the land promised to them by God. This has been a long-awaited event. It was nearly 500 years earlier that God said to Abram, "To your offspring I will give this land" (Gen 12:7) . The Lord was patient toward the previous inhabitants (Gen 15:16). Joshua rather than Moses now becomes the central figure in Israel's history. We hear the call to be strong and courageous, since all the odds, naturally speaking, are against them (vv 6, 7, 9, 18). And again, courage and strength would be related to their thinking, talking about, and doing God...