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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 May 21 -- 23 May 21 -- Isaiah 22 and 2 Peter 3 May 22 -- Isaiah 23 and 1 John 1 May 23 -- Isaiah 24 and 1 John 2 ================    "Behold, the LORD will empty the earth and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants." (Isaiah 24:1) VALLEY OF VISION (ch 22). In the last oracle of the previous chapter (21:13-17) Isaiah returns to a short-range prophecy, concerning the Arabian tribes to the east of Israel. This chapter (22) is addressed to Jerusalem during Hezekiah's reign and the impending Assyrian siege. A number of archaeological finds have given supporting evidence to the events of this period. The people were eager to make physical and military preparations but trusted too much in their own abilities. As Tom Constable summarizes , "This oracle reproved the people of Jerusalem for trusting in the arm of flesh to protect them from their enemies. Isaiah epitomized and condemned this attitude by citing S...

Bible reading for Dec 18.  2 Chronicles 21. "He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed with no one's regret..." (21:20)  NEXT UP. After Jehoshaphat's death Jehoram takes the throne and kills all of his royal siblings (v 4). He is acting like a pagan king, and in fact his wife is a daughter of Ahab (v 6). This is an example of influence which results from being unequally yoked (2 Cor 6:14-16). Despite all this evil God is faithful to his covenant with David and Jehoram will not rule long (v 7). "Whoredom" (vv 11, 13) means that Jehoram promoted the worship of other gods. Just as adultery is breaking the marriage covenant, so also the worship of other gods is being unfaithful to the covenant with the Lord. Also, sexual immorality often accompanied idolatry. This chapter includes the only mention of Elijah in Chronicles (v 20). His ministry was mainly to the northern tribes of Israel (the focus...

Bible reading for Nov 12.  2 Kings 25. "And he burned the house of the LORD and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down." (2 Kings 25:9)  IT'S A WRAP, BUT NOT THE END. The day, month, and year of Zedekiah's reign reminds us that we are reading history and learning about real events. The year 586 BC is one of the saddest points in the OT -- the fall of Jerusalem and the exile of the Jews to Babylon. The city is hemmed in, under siege for a year and a half. Famine takes its toll, and finally the walls are breached. We cannot imagine the nightmare of the brutality of those days. As well, all of the beauty and wealth of the temple is destroyed or carried off. The temple was not a magic talisman for Israel. The Lord intended that his people would enjoy him in covenant relationship, and to enjoy the blessings of the land in his presence. What happened in this judgment was in complete accord with the Mosaic covenant as spelled ...

Bible reading for September 24.  2 Samuel 20. "I am one of those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why will you swallow up the heritage of the LORD?" (2 Samuel 20:19) ANOTHER REVOLT. Sometime later there is another uprising against David's reign, this time led by a man named Sheba. Joab, a loyal but violent man, kills Amasa (who was delaying in his task) and leads the army again to a successful outcome. The real victory, however, goes to an unnamed "wise woman" who knew how to bring things to a head (sorry, couldn't resist the pun). The city of Abel is spared a siege, and peace returns to the kingdom. This woman displayed the character traits of the woman Wisdom (Prov 8:12-21), described by King Solomon later.  REFLECT. Why is this story recorded in Scripture? And what are we supposed to do with it? For one thing, it shows God's continued preservation of David's kingdom from yet another ...

Bible reading for September 8.  2 Samuel 2. "Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David. And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months." (2 Samuel 2:10-11)  KING OF JUDAH.   With Saul and his sons buried, David sends a word of blessing and encouragement to the leaders of the northern tribes. But he is again rejected, and one of Saul's sons is chosen to be king. Without a united monarchy (God's choice of a single king) Israelite soldiers end up fighting each other. What began as a contest for entertainment turns into a heated battle, and many men die. (Some of these animosities will continue.) How much time elapsed between Samuel's anointing David as king over Israel (1 Sam 9) and the nation (in united agreement) anointing David as king (2 Sam 5)? It was between ten and fifteen years that David wait...

Bible reading for July 2.  Joshua 4. "...that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, 'What do those stones mean to you?'" (Joshua 4:6) MEMORIAL. Chapter 3 records the miraculous crossing of the Jordan River, and this chapter tells us that the nation -- now standing in the land of Canaan (enemy territory) -- nevertheless pauses to build a memorial with stones taken from the river. Miracle, then memorial. What's important here: history matters and we need to remember it. Our culture idolizes the present and discards or revises the past. Events in the past, and their consequences, do not go away just because we forget them. Often we are too quick to move forward without taking time to remember what God has done. All through biblical history we see that people are prone to forget, and then fail in the present because they forgot the past. God's people need to take measures to remember and transfer memories to succeeding ge...