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  Bible reading for Oct 25 -- 26 Oct 25 -- Daniel 10 and Psalm 119:1-24 Oct 26 -- Daniel 11 and Psalm 119:25-48 ================   "And he said, 'O man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage.' And as he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, 'Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.'" (Daniel 10:19) BEHIND THE SCENES (ch 10). Daniel is not studying the future like a disinterested spectator. These revelations involve the future and welfare of his own people (e.g., 7:25; 8:24-25). He has been praying about these things, and confessing their sins. In this chapter we get a peek into the angelic drama behind the scenes. These chapters of Daniel introduce us to the only two angels named in the Bible -- Gabriel (8:16; 9:21) and Michael (10:13, 21; 12:1). Some Christians may get too carried away by the notion of spiritual warfare (and so engage in unbiblical practices), but some believers ignore this dimension entirely. ...

Bible reading for September 13 -- 14 Sep 13 -- Ezekiel 16 and Psalms 58-59 Sep 14 -- Ezekiel 17 and Psalms 60-61 ================   "I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the LORD..." (Ezekiel 16:62) YOUR CHEATING HEART (ch 16). Israel's physical ancestry traced back to Abraham who lived in Ur of the Chaldees. But their spiritual culture, their pedigree once settled in the land, was more like the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites (vv 3, 45), and even like the city of Sodom. This chapter is a poignant parable of God's longsuffering care for his people, being like a loving husband rejected by his wife. Israel's beauty and wealth, given to her by her Lord, lifts her up in pride and immorality (v 15; cf Lucifer in 28:17). Idols are allowed on every street (v 23) and the blood of their children ran down in the pagan sacrifices (vv 20, 36). The blessings from their glorious Lord were turned to self-glory. Like Sodom (v 49; cf Gen 19; Lev 18:...

  Bible reading for weekend September 10 -- 12 Sep 10 -- Ezekiel 13 and Psalms 52-54 Sep 11 -- Ezekiel 14 and Psalm 55 Sep 12 -- Ezekiel 15 and Psalms 56-57 ================   "Because you have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have not grieved him, and you have encouraged the wicked, that he should not turn from his evil way to save his life, therefore you shall no more see false visions nor practice divination. I will deliver my people out of your hand. And you shall know that I am the LORD." (Ezekiel 13:22-23) POPULAR RELIGION CONDEMNED (ch 13-14). Three groups are called out for condemnation: false prophets, and prophetesses, and some key leaders. They were all saying what the people wanted to hear -- things will be all right, peace and security is near, and your best life is arriving soon (cf Jer 6:14; Mic 3:5). It was a popular religion of the day (cf 1 Thess 5:3). All this originated in their own minds and imaginations, which they mistook for the Lord spe...

Bible reading for June 9 -- 10 Jun 9 -- Isaiah 41 and Revelation 11 Jun 10 -- Isaiah 42 and Revelation 12 ================    "Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations."  (Isaiah 42:1) "DO NOT FEAR" (ch 41). A recurring theme is that there is no other God, and he is sovereign over history. He is the one who determines the future, "calling the generations from the beginning" (v 4). He is the First and Last (Rev 1:17; 22:13). Idols, and other gods, are no gods at all. They cannot tell the future nor determine the future. Idolatry is any wrong concept of God, or anything we deem of ultimate value which takes the place of God as the center of our lives. Usually, it is something we can see (or manufacture) that becomes our main security and source of pleasure -- it may be actual idols, or it may be false hopes of deliverance, whether in money or possessions (...

Bible reading for Jan 4-5.  Jan 4 -- Ezra 4 and Acts 4 Jan 5 -- Ezra 5 and Acts 5 "This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:11-12) ================    DEALING WITH OPPOSITION. One of the more hurtful things I've experienced as a believer is to have my words deliberately twisted and my motives maligned. Perhaps it was in something I've written or spoken, but to have my words (or actions) deliberately misinterpreted and publicly misrepresented is very painful. Such hostility is seen in both of our readings today. In Ezra the adversaries of the Jews write a cunning letter to the Persian emperor, and government suppression stops the temple rebuilding project. And in Acts we see the early church being opposed by the religious leaders in Jerusalem. Throughout history God's work on ear...

Bible reading for weekend October 24-25.  2 Kings 5-6. "So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean." (2 Kings 5:14)  NAAMAN'S HEALING (ch 5). Leprosy was a dreaded and chronic skin disease that rendered a person defiled in the eyes of their community. In Israel lepers had to live  away from their towns and families, practicing social distance, literally. They were considered by many to be the living dead. Jesus not only spoke healing to, but also touched the lepers (Luke 5:13). Naaman, a gentile official from a pagan nation, comes to Elisha and humbles himself to obey a simple command. He is miraculously and instantly healed. Gehazi, though he served Elisha, seeks to enrich himself from this healing, and tries to deceive both Naaman and Elisha. The gift of healing was just that, a gift, and not a commodity for sale. Those who preach th...

Bible reading for October 22.  2 Kings 3. "This is a light thing in the sight of the LORD. He will also give the Moabites into your hand..." (2 Kings 3:18)  SOMETIMES THERE ARE NO WINNERS. As a pastor I would often be called upon to help others resolve conflicts, whether in their marriages, families, businesses, or church relationships. Sometimes I found situations where nobody was in the right. Each party might feel justified in their position and want to win their case. But at times, well, you just wanted to throw all the bums out. (So to speak!) Israel's war against Moab is perhaps a case in point. The Moabites were an idolatrous people who often harassed their neighbors. Their chief god was Chemosh, but they also worshiped Molech and Baal, among others. As seen in this chapter Moabites could resort to human sacrifice. It was God's will that they be subjugated and the land be rendered infertile. (Moab's wealth and power came from their sheep industry.) The Moa...

Bible reading for October 6.  1 Kings 9. "I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time." (1 Kings 9:3)  ALLIANCES. This chapter opens with a promise and a warning from the Lord (vv 1-9), and then goes on to record Solomon's relationships with Tyre and Egypt (compare v 9 with v 16), two strong bordering nations. With the rise of affluence and centralized power come temptations to abuse that power or to compromise principles. We see the use of slavery for construction (a reminder of days in Egyptian bondage?), and the making of alliances by trading cities and territories. These are not good developments, but are understandable in context of their growing national strength. By the way, the Millo (vv 15, 24) was an earthen tower or raised embankment in the City of David that was pre-existing from Canaanite days.  ...

Bible reading for September 25.  2 Samuel 21. "Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, 'There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.'" (2 Samuel 21:1) WHO'S RESPONSIBLE? Here we read about judgment upon the house of Saul for breaking covenant with the Gibeonites. God is concerned for the just treatment of all people. The Bible teaches that there is both an individual human responsibility (Deut 24:16; Jer 31:29-30; Ezek 18:4, 20; Rev 20:15) and a corporate human responsibility (Ex 34:7; Josh 7:24; Rom 5:12-21). For example, we are sinners by our own choices and actions, but we also have sinned "in Adam" and thus are born sinners (Rom 5:12). The flip side of this corporate connection is that when we are "in Christ" his righteousness and life becomes ours. There are times in Scripture where family, or people con...

Bible reading for weekend of Aug 1.  Judges 15-16. "And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, and with it he struck 1,000 men." (Judges 15:15)  VICTORY, THEN DEFEAT. Samson retaliates for the murder of his wife (ch 15). The Israelites, hoping to appease the Philistines, then hand over Samson to them. Even more Philistines are killed, and God miraculously refreshes Samson after the battle (15:19; cf Ex 17:6; Deut 8:15). Samson is felled (ch 16) through his own moral weakness in the face of seduction. Cutting off his hair represented the end of his separation for God's service as a Nazirite (Num 6:5, 18). How sad was this ending of his public ministry: "And he awoke from his sleep and said, 'I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.' But he did not know that the LORD had left him" (v 20) . And yet, he is not abandoned, for the Lord hears his prayer at the end. While 3000 influential Philistines gathe...

Bible reading for July 10.  Joshua 12-13. "...in all, thirty-one kings." (Joshua 12:24) MUCH DONE (12). The powerful alliance of kings in Canaan has been broken and their cities burned. The kings are listed, both those defeated by Moses before crossing the Jordan and those defeated by Joshua afterwards. Each city and king named represents a remarkable victory for Israel from the Lord. The Lord raises up and casts down as he wills: "Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust" (Isa 40:15) and he "...brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness" (Isa 40:23; cf Dan 4:35). By his death Jesus defeated all earthly and heavenly powers (John 12:31; Eph 4:8; Col 2:15). Sometimes this aspect of Christ's atonement is called Christus Victor , which emphasizes the "triumph of Christ over the evil powers of the world, t...

Bible reading for July 9.  Joshua 11. "So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war." (Joshua 11:23) THE NORTHERN CAMPAIGN. The battle for the cities of northern Canaan was more challenging than in the south. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, the combined armies of the Canaanite tribes totaled 300,000 armed footmen, 10,000 horsemen, and 20,000 chariots.  Hamstringing the horses seems cruel, but it was necessary to render them unfit to pull chariots. The chariot was a powerful advance in military technology at that time and was a grave danger to the Israelite soldiers, all on foot. For more details on this chapter see Constable's notes in the NET Bible . The hardening of the enemy's hearts (v 20) parallels the hardening of Pharaoh's heart at the exodus (Exod 7:3, 13).  TAKEAWAY. God fulfil...

Bible reading for July 8.  Joshua 10. "And the LORD said to Joshua, 'Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you.'" (Joshua 10:8)  THE SOUTHERN CAMPAIGN. Israel does not need to take the offensive in Canaan at this time because the Canaanite kings unite to attack the cities of Gibeon which had made a covenant with Israel. And so Joshua comes to their aid (vv 1-10). What follows is all-out war which rapidly involves all of the southern city-states. It must be remembered that the Israelites were desert nomads, with no chariots, no armor, and greatly outnumbered (cf Josh 11:4). The Lord intervened miraculously on their behalf with widespread panic among the enemies, a supernaturally lengthened day, and hailstones that killed thousands (v 10-14, cf Exodus 9). In a way this battle mirrored the plagues that God sent upon Egypt. The "Book of Jashar" (v 13) was apparently another record of these events...