my burg

"...those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs. You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy (Psalm 65:8 ESV)   In retirement I have a bit more time to observe nature, identify bird songs, and photograph trees and flowers. I'm even finding mushrooms to be fascinating, but I am not experimenting with their edibility! Each day I realize something of the goodness and beauty of the world that God created, even though now it is marred by sin and death.  READING PSALM 65. This psalm can be divided into three sections. First, we should praise God, for he has atoned for sin and reconciled us to himself forever (vv 1-4). Secondly, the global work of God's righteousness will bring about redemption for the nations, resulting in great joy (vv 5-8). Thirdly, this will culminate with blessings upon all creation, again, resulting in joyful praise (vv 9-13), "...they shout and sing together for joy" (65:13). There is a movement i...

  Bible reading for June 2 -- 3 Jun 2 -- Isaiah 34 and Rev 4 Jun 3 -- Isaiah 35 and Rev 5 ================    "And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." (Isaiah 35:10) RECAP. We are coming to the end of what some call the first "book" of Isaiah, which focuses primarily on God's judgment upon Israel and Judah in the late eighth century BC. There will be an historical interlude in chapters 36 to 39, recording how the Lord delivered Jerusalem (under King Hezekiah) from the Assyrian siege in 701 BC. In chapter 40 we will begin what is called the "book of comfort". More on that later. These last two chapters (34 and 35) poetically describe the judgment upon the nations and the restoration of Israel. In both of these chapters we are viewing the "mountain peaks" of prophecy, where the near events (As...

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 weekend February 19 -- 21 Feb 19 -- Job 19 and 1 Corinthians 6 Feb 20 -- Job 20 and 1 Corinthians 7 Feb 21 -- Job 21 and 1 Corinthians 8 "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth." (Job 19:25)  EARTHLY HOPE DASHED (ch 19) . Job continues his lament (19:1-12), and expresses how painful is the isolation that he experiences because of his suffering (19:13-19). Family and friends stand at a distance. Not only do they avoid him, but they too most likely doubt his integrity before God. Pain isolates us, and even today, chronic pain can cause others to view us as "problem people" to be avoided. Job feels that his earthly hope has been pulled up like an uprooted tree (v 10).  Amazingly, however, he proclaims a hope beyond this world (vv 25-26). His hope is in the Lord, who is righteous, and it is the Lord himself who will redeem Job. He feels cursed, and others view him as cursed, but he is actually blessed by the Lor...

Bible reading for Nov 3.  2 Kings 16. "...but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel." (2 Kings 16:3)  NO SANITIZED HISTORY HERE. When I was in elementary school learning about American history, our presidents were presented in a very sanitized form. About the worst I learned about George Washington was that he cut down a cherry tree. Not so for Jewish children. Their national history, being recorded in the inspired Scriptures, is described from God's perspective, meaning the people there are painted with all their blemishes and moral failures. King Ahaz was an imitator (he wanted to be like Assyria) and an innovator (he wanted to change the way Jews would approach God). We have plenty of that going around in the world today -- people wanting to come to God however they'd like. And we can see here how imitating the worl...

Bible reading for Aug 13.  I Samuel 3. "And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the LORD." (1 Samuel 3:19-20)  JUDGE AND PROPHET. Samuel is called by the Lord from an early age. He hears God speak audibly to him, and is recognized as a prophet. He is also considered an OT judge because of his leadership and judicial rulings in the nation (1 Sam 7:15-17). He had a priestly role, too, in offering sacrifices (1 Sam 7:9-10; Ps 99:6). He was a unique individual who played an important role at a critical time.  REFLECT. Peace and stability come to communities when people have a true knowledge of God. The role of a prophet was to communicate the words of God. The role of a judge (and later, the king) was to ensure righteousness was practiced in the community. The role of a priest was, by sacrifice and offering, to bring people into ...

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...

Bible reading for weekend June 6-7.  Deuteronomy 10-11.  "Yet the LORD set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.  He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt." (Deuteronomy 10:15-19)  REVIEW (10). In chapter 10 Moses continues his review of Israel's journey and God's expectations for them. The covenant sign of circumcision was to prompt them to circumcise (dedicate) their hearts to the Lord (Rom 2:29) They are to remember their national deliverance, and never forget that they were once aliens, enslaved in Egypt. And God, creator o...

Bible reading for May 5.  Numbers 12-13. "But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, 'Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.'" (Numbers 13:30) WHEN GOD'S PEOPLE DO POORLY. The discontentment among the people even seems to affect Miriam and Aaron, Moses' siblings. They had two complaints , one unspoken and one spoken: a) Moses had married an Ethiopian woman; and b) Moses was (too) supreme in his authority as spokesman for God. As to the first, Moses' wife, Zipporah, is usually described as a Midianite, but she may have been of African descent.  Or perhaps, she had died and Moses remarried, and his new wife, a believer in Yahweh, was of Ethiopian background.  Either way, the resentment from Miriam and Aaron was that Moses married outside the tribe. But further, they maintained that God spoke through them just like he did through Moses, which was not true. Moses, however fallible as a man, was unique in his...

Bible reading for April 26.  Numbers 3. "They shall keep guard over him and over the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, as they minister at the tabernacle." (Num 3:7) A friend and I were attending a Hokies' basketball game at an instate rival university a few years ago.  Two men in front of us, noticing our colors, turned and said to us in a friendly way, but with no uncertain terms, "You're in our house now."  The rivals defended their arena well, and we went home chastened with our loss.   Guarding his house.  As I noted at the beginning of Numbers, the Levites were charged with guarding God's house and the people worshiping there.  This word [ shamar, "keep watch, protect", 8 times in this chapter] was the same word used by God to command Adam to "keep" the garden of Eden (Gen 2:15), that is, to preserve its holiness and to protect it from evil encroachment. (Adam failed.)  God's sanctuary in Israel ...

Bible reading for April 22.  Leviticus 26. "And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people." (26:12)  Once again we are told of God's ultimate purpose for humankind : that we might dwell happily together with God. (Ex 6:7; Ezek 37:23-28.)  Walking together is a sign of friendship.   At the beginning of creation we hear that the first human couple "...heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day..." (Gen 3:8).   What then fell into shame (and hiding) by the sin of Adam is redeemed by Christ, the second Adam, and will be restored in a new creation (2 Cor 5:17; 6:16; Rev 21:3).  We need hide no longer from God . In the words of the Westminster Shorter Catechism our ultimate purpose is, "That we might glorify God and enjoy him forever."  This new creation was purchased by Christ, and we are to receive him by faith, and along with him we receive all good things: "He who did not spa...