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  Bible reading for weekend December 3 -- 5  Dec 3 -- Nahum 1 and Luke 17 Dec 4 -- Nahum 2 and Luke 18 Dec 5 -- Nahum 3 and Luke 19 ================ "The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. But with an overflowing flood he will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness." (Nahum 1:7-8)  TIME'S UP FOR NINEVEH (Nah 1-3). The prophecy of Nahum is God's word to the people of Nineveh, part two. Jonah was part one, chronicling a city-wide repentance of Assyrians in the capital about a hundred years earlier. The closing bookend is Nahum, and the Assyrian empire is big, powerful, and aggressive. Notice the references to chariots (2:3-4, 13; 3:2). The Assyrians were a militarily advanced culture, and cruel in their warfare. Whatever spiritual receptivity they had at the time of Jonah was gone by the time of Nahum. Nahum may not have actually visited Nineveh, for it seems the book was w...

  Bible reading for Aug 25 -- 26 Aug 25 -- Lamentations 2 and Psalm 33 Aug 26 -- Lamentations 3 and Psalm 34 ================    "The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23) THE ABANDONED CITY (ch 2). Lamentations is composed of five poems, or songs, and each section is written as an acrostic in the Hebrew language.  The five poems together form a chiasm. (See Tom Constable's helpful notes on Lamentations .) This chapter is full of sorrow for the ruined city. The city of God has been reduced to a ghost town. For the next seven decades there would be no sound of worship nor the public proclamation of God's word -- no more feasts, music, the reading of the law, joyful shouts, and sacrifices at the temple. Not for a long time would people hear the Aaronic blessing echo in the courts, "The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upo...

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 weekend June 18--20 Jun 18 -- Isaiah 50 and Revelation 20 Jun 19 -- Isaiah 51 and Revelation 21 Jun 20 -- Isaiah 52 and Revelation 22 ================    "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, 'Your God reigns.'" (Isaiah 52:7) THE REJECTED SERVANT (ch 50) . "The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.  The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward.  I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting" (vv 4-6). Perhaps this referred to Isaiah's ministry to the Jews, but more likely in light of chapter 53 this is another foreshadowing of ...

Bible reading for weekend May 30-31.  Deuteronomy 3-4.  "You shall not fear them, for it is the LORD your God who fights for you." (Deuteronomy 3:22)  A BIG FIGHT (3). The Rephaim, or Rephaites (Gen 14:5; Deut 2:11), were related in some way to the Anakim (Deut 1:28; 2:10, 11, 21). The Canaanites, and associated people groups, were formidable. They were technologically superior and at least some of the warriors were of unusual size. In a few instances God commanded total extermination. Why was this "ban" (or, being "devoted to destruction") necessary? It was a unique and unrepeatable historical event for Israel. I've posted before on this, but here are some considerations by Markus Zehnder at Biola: "Violence against the Canaanites in Deuteronomy and Joshua Reconsidered" , (Biola blog, September 18, 2019).  HEARING BUT NOT SEEING (4). Moses reminds the Israelites that at Sinai God was not seen, but rather, he was heard. There is...

Bible reading for May 4.  Numbers 11. "And the people complained in the hearing of the LORD about their misfortunes..." (Num 11:1) AND SO THE COMPLAINTS BEGIN... Instead of talking TO the Lord about what they needed, they talk ABOUT him, with grumbling and complaining in their voices. The people are tired of manna and want some fish on the grill.  The problem of ingratitude is one of the fundamental sins of the human condition (Rom 1:21).   Adam and Eve, and we their descendants, do not like the boundaries which God places for us .  We want more, we want better, we want something else, something other than this.  And so we murmur in such a way that God gets the blame. At root is unbelief -- we don't believe that God cares or is able to provide what we need. The LORD says to Moses, "Is the LORD's hand shortened?" (11:23) That is, is God's power limited? We must always remind ourselves that God is able, and that he cares for us as his childre...

Bible reading for Jan 24:  Genesis 25; Matthew 24. Bible reading for Jan 25:  Genesis 26; Matthew 25.  Pray for the March for Life this Friday in Washington, D.C., that many in our nation's capital and the nation's media would pay attention to this call for repentance.  "Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."  (Amos 5:23-24 ESV)  ==========  "Jacob said, 'Swear to me now.' So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright."  (Genesis 25:33-34) Abraham dies (Gen 25).   Abraham dies, and is buried by Isaac and Ishmael.  The first generation of Ishmael's lineage is recorded .  Remember, Genesis is a book of "beginnings", and Ishmael has been blessed, his sons be...

Bible reading for Jan 22:  Genesis 23; Matthew 22. Death and burial of Sarah (Gen 23).   The first piece of land Abraham officially owns in the land promised to him and his descendants is a burial place for Sarah, near Hebron.  Even though Ephron offers to give the land to Abraham it was probably only a Mideastern formality, for he adds, "...a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between you and me?" (23:15)   He slips the price in there very smoothly.  Nevertheless, Abraham insists on paying full price with no haggling.  He honored his wife in her life, death, and burial.    My take-away: as believers we should observe the customs of our land .  The Apostle Paul wrote, "...but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all" (Rom 12:17-18).  And, "Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to ...