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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 September 15 -- 16 Sep 15 -- Ezekiel 18 and Psalms 62-63 Sep 16 -- Ezekiel 19 and Psalms 64-65 ================   "For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live." (Ezekiel 18:32) THE SOUL WHO SINS (ch 18). It seems there was a popular belief that since the Lord spoke of generational sins and judgment (Ex 20:5; 34:7), then the punishment the Jews were then experiencing at the hands of Babylon was due -- unfairly, in their minds -- to past generations of Jews. Jeremiah also refers to this belief (Jer 31:29-30). But the Lord asserts, "The soul who sins shall die" (vv 4, 20). That current generation of Jews, by persisting in idolatry and injustice, had reaffirmed (rather than repudiated) the actions of their forebears. If a descendant sees the sins of his or her forebears and repents, then that generational guilt is broken (v 14; cf Ezek 33:14-16). The scribes and Pharisees of Jesus' day thought they would...

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 October 29.  2 Kings 10-11. "Thus Jehu wiped out Baal from Israel." (2 Kings 10:28)  STRAIGHT LINES, CROOKED STICKS. There's a lot of bloodshed in these two chapters, primarily of the royal sons in both Israel and Judah. Jehu cleans house in the northern kingdom, destroying all the priests and loyal worshipers of Baal. In the south, Athaliah (a sort of "Jezebel of Judah") kills the royal line in Jerusalem, except one. The young heir, Jehoash (short form: Joash), is rescued and hidden. After six years, Jehoiada, the priest loyal to the Lord and the king, installs Joash on the throne. (Btw, the Carites [or, Cherithites] in 11:4, 19 were a contingent of bodyguards organized by King David and loyal to his family line.) Queen Athaliah, the fake monarch, is killed. There is a renewal in Judah of worship to the Lord: "And Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and people, that they should be the LORD's people, and also betwee...

Bible reading for October 20.  2 Kings 1. "Again the king sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up and came and fell on his knees before Elijah and entreated him, "O man of God, please let my life, and the life of these fifty servants of yours, be precious in your sight." (2 Kings 1:13)  THE KINGS, VOLUME 2. The succession of the kings of Judah and Israel continues, opening here around 850 BC. Elijah will soon complete his service, and his successor Elisha will continue the prophetic ministry to Israel. In chapter one we see that Ahaziah, Ahab's son, follows in the ways of his fathers and seeks guidance from false gods. We also learn from these events how not to approach God's prophets, and so the third captain comes humbly. But Elijah must still pronounce judgment, and King Ahaziah dies after a very brief reign.  REFLECT. Where do I seek guidance on how to live? Do I go to the world and its pundits? Do I consult m...

"And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.'  But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?'  So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God." (Luke 12:19-21 ESV) In the past I have limited this reference of "treasure" only to monetary matters. As Kuyper notes below, this principle -- being rich or poor toward God -- is more expansive than just applying to money.  Read on... To understand what constitutes riches in God, imagine for a moment that all your earthly riches had taken wings, and that bereft of all you had, you are forgotten by those who once knew you. In this utter forsakenness of soul ask yourself: What have I left? What do I now possess? This will be our state in the hour of death. We will go into eternity alone. What will we take with us? We must leave money and ...

" And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." (John 17:3 ESV) What does it mean to know God?   Here are some excerpts from Herman Bavinck, taken from "The Knowledge of God" from his Selected Shorter Works , and originally published as chapter 2 in Our Reasonable Faith ( Magnalia Dei ) in 1909. God is the highest good of man -- that is the testimony of the whole Scriptures. God gives Himself to His people in order that His people should give themselves to Him. This declaration of faith on the part of the church is not a scientific doctrine, nor a form of unity that is being repeated, but is rather a confession of a deeply felt reality, and of a conviction of reality that has come up out of experience in life.  God was for them not at all a cold concept, which they then proceeded rationally to analyze, but He was a living, personal force, a reality infinitely more real than the world around them. I...

"For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.  For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?"  (Luke 9:24-25 ESV) Here are some of my highlights from the closing chapter of God in the Whirlwind, by David Wells... There is a center in our lives, and in both cases from this center comes an energy, a drive, to see life from the viewpoint of our center and to do certain things... This truth is fundamental to Christian faith. Either we are “enslaved to sin” (Rom. 6:6) or, through Christ, we are “slaves to righteousness” (Rom. 6:19). We are either “slaves to impurity and to lawlessness” (Rom. 6:19), or, as Paul said of himself, “a servant of Christ Jesus” (Rom. 1:1). It is the one or the other. Everyone is enslaved to something. Our choice is simply to whom or to what. This servitude of sin originally worked itself out by constricting or “contracting” the human vision. Edwar...