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Bible reading for December 1 -- 2  Dec 1 -- Micah 6 and Luke 15 Dec 2 -- Micah 7 and Luke 16 ================ "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8)  IT'S REALLY QUITE SIMPLE (ch 6). Don't you find it helpful when the Lord himself summarizes things for us? For example, Jesus summed up the law of God with, "love God with all your heart..." and "love your neighbor as yourself" (Matt 22:36-40). Here we have, "Do justice... love kindness... walk humbly with God" (v 8). How straightforward! This chapter begins with the Lord asking "what have I done to you"? That is, what fault have you found in me, what grievance do you have against me? (Cf Jer 2:5; Isa 43:22; Mal 1:13) Though Christians rarely vocalize their disappointment with God, it often becomes the reason for their backsliding. ( I find that it is best...

Bible reading for Aug 23 -- 24 Aug 23 -- Jeremiah 52 and Psalm 31 Aug 24 -- Lamentations 1 and Psalm 32 ================    "How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave." (Lamentations 1:1) THE FALL OF JERUSALEM (Jer 52). The final chapter is a summary of the siege and capture of Jerusalem in 586 BC. What occurs at that time is the third deportation of Jewish prisoners to Babylon. Daniel was taken in the first deportation (605 BC), and Ezekiel in the second (597 BC). They are the next two "major" prophets we will read, though Ezekiel (the longer work) will come next after Lamentations. Though the facts of the fall of Jerusalem -- and it will happen again in AD 70 -- are reported as history (which they are) the actual event was certainly horrific beyond imagination. This was a traumatic event in Israel's history. As I read thi...

Bible reading for March 3 -- 4 Mar 3 -- Job 32 and 2 Corinthians 2 Mar 4 -- Job 33 and 2 Corinthians 3 "'He has redeemed my soul from going down into the pit, and my life shall look upon the light.' Behold, God does all these things, twice, three times, with a man, to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be lighted with the light of life."  (Job 33:28-30) A YOUNGSTER SPEAKS UP (ch 32). Sometimes during a big debate or argument -- whether on a personal level, say, between marriage partners, or on a national scale between political parties -- we begin to realize that both sides in the debate are wrong. In today's chapter we are introduced to a new character in the drama, a young man named Elihu. He brings a different perspective, and speaks with passion. Age, experience, position, and reputation do not in themselves produce wisdom -- sometimes students know more than their teachers (Ps 119:99). We don't know much about Elihu, but he is not included in ...

Bible reading for September 23.  2 Samuel 19. 'And the king said to Shimei, 'You shall not die.' And the king gave him his oath." (2 Samuel 19:23)  RETURN AND FORGIVENESS. For once, Joab gives good advice to David, to honor those who stood by him (vv 1-8). King David begins his journey back to Jerusalem (vv 9-15). Along the way he shows mercy to Shimei (vv 16-23), and divides property between Mephibosheth and Ziba (vv 24-30). Since it was a case of he said / he said, could David ever know the real story? The king honors the kindness of Barzillai by taking Chimham into royal service (vv 31-40). There is, and will be, continuing animosity between the southern tribes (Judah and Benjamin) and the northern tribes (Israel)(vv 41-43). But David is magnanimous in receiving his place back from the hands of many of those who rejected him. If ever he could have been bitter toward the people it could have been at this time. His heart is inclined, however, to reconciliation and th...

Bible reading for June 10.  Deuteronomy 15.  "You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake." (Deuteronomy 15:10) SABBATICAL YEAR. Every seventh year all Israelites were commanded to remit [or, release, cancel ] their debts toward one another. Hebrew slaves were indentured only until that time, and at the Feast of Booths (Deut 31:10) they were to be released. And with this action a spirit of generosity was to prevail (vv 7-14). The Lord promised his blessing upon them for this (vv 6, 18; cf Prov 11:24-26). The Israelites were to remember their slavery in Egypt and to be sensitive toward others in need. They were not to be hardhearted or miserly toward the poor and the indebted.  GENEROSITY.  Christians are to have open hearts and open hands toward one another and toward those in need. We have received a blessing tha...

Bible reading for May 7.  Numbers 15. "So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God."  (Numbers 15:40) SACRIFICES AND SABBATH-BREAKING. Chapter 15 includes a summary of the sacrificial offerings (vv 1-31), and it was emphasized that these laws applied also to the non-Israelites who accompanied the Israelites (Ex 12:38). This mixed multitude caused problems for the nation (Num 11:4). Even today, a local church can experience much turmoil from those in their congregation who are not truly born again or walking with the Lord. Along with the instructions, the Lord reiterates that the people will indeed enter the land one day and be worshiping God there. The judges of Israel were to deal decisively with "high-handed" (flagrant, rebellious) sins , and the example is given of a man put to death for violating the Sabbath (vv 32-36).  This man was not someone who merely forgot what day it was. Keeping the Sabbath was a major observan...

Bible reading for April 21.  Leviticus 25. "And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan." (Leviticus 25:10) Holiness brings joy to God's community.   Chapter 25 gives instructions regarding the sabbatical year and the year of jubilee .  We see here God's concern for the poor, for the care of the land, for the redemption of slaves, for the release of debts, and for redeeming property.  Within the community, borrowing and lending were to be interest-free, and profit was not to be made at the expense of the poor. We will see a wonderful picture of how this worked when we come to the book of Ruth .    "The land is mine" (25:23). This is a point we often forget. The promised land belonged to the Lord, and he lent it out to the tribes as an inheritance to be enjoyed from...

Bible reading for March 9:  Exodus 20; Luke 23. And God spoke all these words, saying, "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me."  (Exodus 20:1-3)  No other gods.   In the first commandment "before me" does not mean "ahead of me", as if it's okay to have other gods, as long as they are second or third in line.  He is not merely a chief god (this is called henotheism ), but he is the only God (monotheism). "Before me" means "before my face", that is, "in my presence."  And since his presence fills his creation there are absolutely to be no other gods.  "I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other" (Isa 45:5-6).   So, ...

Bible reading for March 3:  Exodus 14; Luke 17. And Moses said to the people, "Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent." (Exodus 14:13-14) Have you ever felt the power of the ocean in the aftermath of a storm?  Some years ago I went swimming when the waves were high (too high), and was shocked at how strong the undertow was, and how many times the waves knocked me down. My muscles soon felt like helpless noodles.  It was frightening, and I was glad to get out and dry off when I did.  Water like that is simply not manageable. The Hebrews in the Old Testament had something of that view toward large bodies of water.           The parting of the Red Sea is one of the main miracles cited throughout the Old Testament . It marked the birth of the nation of Isr...

Bible reading for Feb 21:  Exodus 4; Luke 7. But [ Moses ] said, "Oh, my Lord, please send someone else." (Exodus 4:13) "Send someone else" (Ex 4). The Bible never whitewashes the failings of the heroes of the faith. Every portrait is painted with warts and all.  Moses does not really want his assignment as deliverer of God's people. He gives excuse after excuse .  My take-away: we can never exempt ourselves from obeying God by some limitation we have, or think we have.  God says, "Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak." (Ex 4:11-12)    Killing Moses? Perhaps the most surprising (and abrupt) thing about this chapter is verse 24: "At a lodging place on the way the LORD met him and sought to put him to death."   As God's leader, Moses is not exempt from obeying God. Apparently, in ...

Bible reading for Feb 12:  Genesis 45; Mark 15. "And Israel said, 'It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.'" (Gen 45:28)  At long last, Jacob's family is reconciled and reunited !  What goes a long way in bringing families together is the spirit of forgiveness that Joseph demonstrated: "And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life." (45:5)  "God sent me..."   He does not want them to feel afraid or to try to assign blame among themselves!  This ability to forgive came from Joseph's godly perspective that God was working in all things to preserve their lives. The Apostle Paul wrote, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." (Rom 8:28)   My take-away : in dealing with problem people or situations, whether in my family or...