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  Bible reading for weekend September 3 -- 5 Sep 3 -- Ezekiel 6 and Psalm 44 Sep 4 -- Ezekiel 7 and Psalm 45 Sep 5 -- Ezekiel 8 and Psalm 46-47 ================   "According to their way I will do to them, and according to their judgments I will judge them, and they shall know that I am the LORD." (Ezekiel 7:27) JUDGMENT UPON IDOLATRY (ch 6-8). The big thing to note in these chapters is that God's judgment is coming upon Israel (specifically, Jerusalem and Judah) for her idolatry. She, called to be a people who worship God alone, has become just like the pagan nations. There are even idols in the courts of the temple of the Lord. What's so bad about idolatry? Mainly it dishonors God. But also it's a lie. When I was a boy some of my friends would carry a lucky rabbit's foot. I was never sure how the foot of a dead rabbit might bring good fortune, but it was a popular belief. Idolatry runs the gamut from silly superstitions to Satanic orgies. At the heart of it...

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 Aug 16 -- 17 Aug 16 -- Jeremiah 44-45 and Psalm 20-21 Aug 17 -- Jeremiah 46 and Psalm 22 ================    "And those who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who came to the land of Egypt to live, shall know whose word will stand, mine or theirs. "  (Jeremiah 44:28) NO QUEEN OF HEAVEN (ch 44). The remnant of Judah, left behind after three deportations to Babylon, have not done well. In fear of the king of Babylon, they have fled the land for sanctuary in Egypt. But even there they do not trust the Lord. The women are called out for their goddess-worship (cf 7:18), of which their husbands were supportive. This "queen" is likely some form of Ishtar (or Astarte), whose cult likely involved star worship and ritual prostitution. Such goddess-worship was a kind of female-empowerment in all the wrong ways . God's word to them through Jeremiah was that even in the ...

  Bible reading for Aug 11 -- 12 Aug 11 -- Jeremiah 39 and Psalms 13-14 Aug 12 -- Jeremiah 40 and Psalms 15-16 ================    "For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but you shall have your life as a prize of war, because you have put your trust in me, declares the LORD."  (Jeremiah 39:18) THE CITY FALLS (ch 39). The year is 586 BC and the city of Jerusalem falls to the Babylonian forces. The city lasted a year and a half under siege. King Hezekiah, many years before, had strengthened the city walls and had diverted a water source into the city, so that the city could (hopefully) outlast a siege. In the case of a siege, if it dragged on long enough, the invaders might run out of supplies, give up, and go home, or in this case, the invaders stayed while the people in the city suffered from famine and sickness. Finally, the walls are breached and many people are slaughtered or enslaved. Jeremiah is given his freedom by the Babylonian off...

Bible reading for June 21-- 22 Jun 21 -- Isaiah 53 and Matthew 1 Jun 22 -- Isaiah 54 and Matthew 2 ================    "But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5) WHO WOULD BELIEVE IT? (ch 53) This is the longest, the most beautiful, and the most surprising of the Servant Psalms. The Messiah prophesied in the OT might have been viewed as a kind of super-hero were it not for this chapter! It's unbelievable that God's holy Servant should be abused in this way by mankind (v 1). He is not a handsome caped man, rippling with muscles and charisma (v 2). He is despised, rejected, looked down upon. If this were not surprising enough -- many prophets beforehand were so treated -- but here the suffering and death is not some kind of martyrdom but actually brings forgiveness even for the perpetrators: "by his wounds we are healed" ...

   Bible reading for weekend May 14 -- 16 May 14 -- Isaiah 13 and 1 Peter 1 May 15 -- Isaiah 14 and 1 Peter 2 May 16 -- Isaiah 15 and 1 Peter 3 ================    "...then a throne will be established in steadfast love, and on it will sit in faithfulness in the tent of David one who judges and seeks justice and is swift to do righteousness." (Isaiah 16:5) WOE TO BABYLON. After pronouncing judgment upon Assyria, Isaiah looks forward a hundred years to pronounce judgment upon Babylon, the nation which will eventually destroy the city of Jerusalem and carry many Jews into exile. Chapters 13 to 23 contain a number of oracles against specific nations that have, or will, come against God's people.  There is something within fallen humanity that seeks to unite themselves together in opposition to God. From the tower of Babel (Gen 11) to the final Babylon (Rev 17-18) people build communities that exalt human ability, power, and autonomy, setting themselves against God...

  Bible reading for weekend March 12 -- 14 Mar 12 -- Job 41 and 2 Corinthians 11 Mar 13 -- Job 42 and 2 Corinthians 12 Mar 14 -- Proverbs 1 and 2 Corinthians 13 "Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has." (Job 42:8) THE END OF THE MATTER (ch 41-42) . God has spoken, and Job is humbled. God restores Job's life with double blessings. Job's prayer will result in God's forgiveness for the three friends. His possessions are returned two-fold, but the same number of children (seven boys, three girls) are given as before, but not doubled. Some think, and I would agree, that this is because Job's children from earlier, unlike the livestock, were not lost, in the sense of forever. They would be restored at the resurr...

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 26 -- 28 Feb 26 -- Job 27 and 1 Corinthians 13 Feb 27 -- Job 28 and 1 Corinthians 14 Feb 28 -- Job 29 and 1 Corinthians 15 "From where, then, does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding? ... 'God understands the way to it, and he knows its place.'" (Job 28:20, 23)  GOD WILL JUDGE (ch 27). In this chapter Job affirms God's judgment upon the wicked. But he will not, as his friends seem to be urging him to do, call upon the Lord (and confess some sin) to get out from under his judgment. God's plan for redemption is not merely to bring people to call upon the Lord in their troubles, but rather to call upon the Lord at all times and to delight in him: "For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts him off, when God takes away his life? Will God hear his cry when distress comes upon him? Will he take delight in the Almighty? Will he call upon God at all times?" (vv 8-10) This has been the pattern of Job...

Bible reading for February 24 -- 25 Feb 24 -- Job 24 and 1 Corinthians 11 Feb 25 -- Job 25-26 and 1 Corinthians 12 "Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?" (Job 26:14) TO A MAN WITH A HAMMER (ch 24). Job's friends have one paradigm they're working with: if you are suffering, then you are being judged and need to repent. This is a case of the popular saying, "to a man with a hammer everything looks like a nail." Job's friends are locked into a worldview, a narrative, about the reason for suffering. Job raises the question of the silence and seeming inactivity of God to bring judgment against evil. In other words, the problem is not just, why do the innocent suffer, but also why do the guilty not suffer (24:1, 12)? As we read Job's examples and descriptions of injustice, take time to ponder. This has been a question that has bothered believers and unb...

Bible reading for February 22 -- 23 Feb 22 -- Job 22 and 1 Corinthians 9 Feb 23 -- Job 23 and 1 Corinthians 10 "But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.  My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside." (Job 23:10-11)  "SO WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IS..." (ch 22) Don't you hate it when you're trying to explain something and a listener jumps in to say, "What you're saying, then, is this..." and runs with your statement to arrive at some bizarre conclusion? (No, that's not what I'm saying!) If it hasn't happened to you, just read a few social media posts to see how that works! That's what Eliphaz is doing in his third speech to Job (chapter 22). First, he agrees with Zophar that Job must surely be mistreating the poor, though there's no evidence of that. Then he says, "But you say, 'What does God know? Can he judge through the deep darkness?...

Bible reading for February 17 -- 18 Feb 17 -- Job 16-17 and 1 Corinthians 4 Feb 18 -- Job 18 and 1 Corinthians 5 "Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and he who testifies for me is on high. My friends scorn me; my eye pours out tears to God, that he would argue the case of a man with God, as a son of man does with his neighbor." (Job 16:19-21)  CAN I GET A WITNESS?  (ch 16-17) Job's friends are insisting on a simple and straightforward explanation for his suffering. Job does not buy it. But he is perplexed by what seems to him to be a serious contradiction.  His life circumstances testify (give witness) to Job's being under severe judgment from God (16:8). But he is also confident that God is his witness and the only one who can testify to Job's upright walk (16:19).  At heart, Job believes that God is just. But he wonders who could mediate between a man and God in a human, neighborly way? Hint: only God will be able to do that (1 Tim 2:5).    BILDAD...