Monthly Archives: July 2016

Daily Bible Study

July 22, 2016 Bible Study — Here I Am. Send Me

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Isaiah 5-8.

    The prophet condemns those who buy up real estate so that those without wealth struggle to find a place to live and those who throw grand parties. He tells us that they never think about God, nor pay attention to His actions. They expend their energy on pleasure while oppressing the poor. Rather than act righteously, they stir up violence. Great sorrow is coming for those who say that evil is good and good is evil. God has given us resources to use for justice and righteousness. If we instead use them for our own pleasure while oppressing others and engaging in violence (or encouraging others to do so) we will suffer God’s judgment.

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    God is calling for messengers to take His message to the sinners of this world. He is calling us to call people to repentance. Before we can answer that call we need to acknowledge to ourselves, to God, and to our fellow man that we are sinners, that we are no better than those to whom God is sending us. It is up to us to step forward and volunteer to do God’s will. When He calls for someone to go, will I, will you, step forward and say, “Here I am. Send me!”? Isaiah warns us that most of the people we are sent to call will refuse to hear our message or see the signs God gives them. They will refuse to understand. But those who do listen, who do see, who do understand will turn to God and He will heal them.

Daily Bible Study

July 21, 2016 Bible Study — Learn To Do Good, Seek Justice

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Isaiah 1-4.

    In today’s troubled world the only hope to stem the tide of destruction and chaos is if people turn to God. However, sacrifices, offerings and worship services are not going to do the trick. No, each and every one of us needs to learn to good, to seek justice, and to help the oppressed. Our sins are like red blood staining the whole fabric of our being. However, if we obey God He will bleach them out of us completely. If we allow God to teach us His ways, and follow them once He has so taught us, God will mediate between nations. If we want peace in this world we must bow down before God and do His will. Then, and only then, will nation no longer fight against nation.

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    If we do not as a people turn from our sins and obey God, if we continue to worship the things we have made, God will bring judgment against our nation. He will bring down the proud and humiliate them. When I read this passage it paints a scary picture of what is coming. There is, however, some hope within it. Isaiah tells us on God’s behalf that all will be well for the godly. It is the wicked who are doomed and will get what they deserve. I want to be careful here because we need to be careful not to gloat in the idea that the wicked will be punished. We need to recognize that our very being is stained with sin and we need God to wash us clean, and not just on the outside, we need Him to scrub us thoroughly. As importantly, we need to call on the wicked around us to join us in this bath which God is giving us. We are not receiving this cleansing because we are better, more deserving people than they are. If we fail to forgive them and love them enough to call them to God’s redemption, we will join them in suffering their fate.

Daily Bible Study

July 20, 2016 Bible Study — Sex and Marriage

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Song of Solomon 1-8.

    Where to go with this. I know that much of what I get out of the Song of Solomon comes from my own experiences, but I believe that the writer would agree with my conclusions (feel free to tell me I am wrong). The first point is noncontroversial. This book reminds us that God made us sexual beings and the attraction between a man and a woman being consummated in the marriage bed is not a bad thing. In fact it is something to be celebrated.

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    From my personal experience I learned that when one is looking for a wife, if the sexual attraction you feel for the woman you are dating does not make it next to impossible for you to remain chaste when the two of you are in private together, move on. Perhaps I m reading too much into this passage and my own experience, but I believe that is part of what the Song of Solomon teaches us. Clearly, the two lovers portrayed here are such lovers. I want to point out that such attraction is not sufficient, but I believe that it is necessary. I know that I dated women to whom I did not feel that level of attraction and those relationships just kind of faded out. I, also, know that I chose not to date several women for whom I felt that level of attraction because I did not want to end up married to them (looking back, I am convinced that I chose wisely in most, if not all, of those cases). However, my wife was a woman for whom I felt that level of attraction and THAT choice turned out to be one of the best of my life.

Daily Bible Study

July 19, 2016 Bible Study — Moderation In All Things

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Ecclesiastes 7-12.

    There is no one who never sins, and no one who always does what is wise. These two statements are the central insight to today’s passage. The writer tells us to work at doing what is right and what is wise, but we should not let that make us afraid to have fun. God intends for us to enjoy our lives. We should strive to always do what is wise and never sin, but we must accept that we will not be completely successful. If we try too hard to be wise and too avoid sin we will become self-righteous and arrogant. In like manner, we should study to become educated and wise, but we can study too hard and too much. We should study in order to better serve God, but we should not make study an end in itself.

Daily Bible Study

July 18, 2016 Bible Study — Turn, Turn, Turn

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Ecclesiastes 1-6.

    The Book of Ecclesiastes can be depressing. The writer starts out by telling us that everything is meaningless. That is the theme throughout much of the book, the writer tells us again and again that our striving will accomplish nothing. However, sprinkled in the midst of this is the reminder that God is in control and has a plan. Further, the writer shows us that if we look closely everything that happens has happened before, both the good things and the bad things. Further, he tells us that one of our problems is that we do not remember what has happened in the past. Or, as I have heard said, everyone tends to think that history began with themselves.

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    I want to take a minute to talk about what that means. In the 90s, there were people who talked about the “end of history” and the “new economy”. When they said this they meant that the lessons of history no longer applied, either to world politics or to economics. Things were different now! Then the dot com bubble burst and 9/11 happened. They discovered that the “new economy” was just like the old economy and world politics worked like it always had. Once more I am hearing that people are saying that there is a new normal, that we have to accept the way things are. However, this time the things we have to accept are not good things, they are referring to political instability around the world, increased terrorist attacks, and a world economy that is stagnant (or worse). However, those pessimists are just as wrong as the optimists of the 90s.

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    How do I know this? Well, partly because this passage tells me so. However, I remember a time when world events were much like they are today: the economy was stagnant, many parts of the world were politically unstable, terrorist attacks were on the increase. Everyone was convinced that all of these problems were to big and complicated to be addressed (well, not quite everyone, but talking about them is not my point today). Despite the fact that “everyone” knew there was nothing that could be done to change that situation, it did change(otherwise we would never have had the 90s). I do not know if we are going to see a repeat of what happened in the 80s and 90s, or if we are going to see something that resembles the fall of Babylon. What I do know is that there is a time for everything, “A time to cry and a time to laugh.” I, also, know that God has a plan and things will happen according to His timeline.

Daily Bible Study

July 17, 2016 Bible Study — The Importance of Discipline

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Proverbs 29-31.

    Once again there are many little snippets of wisdom in today’s passage. That is, after all, the point of proverbs. They are little snippets of wisdom. However, today I see a theme which runs through many, if not most, of these proverbs:the importance of discipline. It is important that we discipline those we have authority over (whether they be our children, our subordinates at work, or someone we have authority over for some other reason). It is also important that we accept discipline from those in authority over us. I want to make the distinction between discipline and revenge (I am not sure revenge is the word I am looking for here, but it is the closest I can come at the moment). When we discipline someone we are attempting to teach them not to behave differently than they have in the past. However, sometimes we just want to make people suffer for what they have done, that is not discipline and benefits no one. This is addressed in 29:11

Fools vent their anger,
but the wise quietly hold it back.

We need to recognize that this is both a call to restraint when we discipline others AND a call to exercising discipline ourselves. Which is the thought which ties this theme together. The writer talks about the importance of giving and receiving discipline, but he also writes about the importance of exercising discipline. I will not go into all of the proverbs here which discuss the importance of exercising discipline. The author even points out how those who fail to exercise discipline in their own lives hate those who do.

Daily Bible Study

July 16, 2016 Bible Study — Arguing With a Fool

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Proverbs 25-28.

    Today’s passage is another one where there are so many proverbs which contain things worth noting that I am having trouble deciding what to write. There is no point in me pointing out each and every good proverb in the passage. You can go read them for yourself, and I hope you do. I was struck by the similarity between what the writer says in 25:6-7 and what Jesus says in Luke 14:7-11. I am quite sure that the similarity is not an accident. Jesus most certainly was familiar with the proverb and applied it to the situation He found Himself in. We should not promote ourselves for honors. Let others see our actions and honor us if they see fit. There is actually a little more to this than is immediately obvious. We should not do things so that others will honor us. If that is our motive we may be disappointed if others fail to take notice of our good works. Instead we should do things because they are the right thing to do.

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    When I finished writing the previous paragraph I was going to stop there. Then I read through the passage again. When I came to 26:4-5 I could not resist commenting on them. These two verses seem to contradict each other, but, as someone who has trouble resisting a debate, I think I understand where the writer is coming from. All too often when I get into a debate with someone I think is expressing a foolish argument I become emotionally invested in showing them why their argument is foolish. As a result I start to make foolish arguments myself. However, when I decide that I will avoid responding to foolish arguments at all I start to see people claiming that people are foolish for not believing their foolish argument because “everybody knows” it is true. I have realized that it is important to let people know when you do not “buy” their argument.

Daily Bible Study

July 15, 2016 Bible Study

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Proverbs 22-24.

    Once again today’s passage contains a lot of little bits of wisdom which are not exactly tied together. However, there are a couple themes which run through this passage. Actually, they are themes which run through this entire book and throughout the entire Bible. I am really struggling with how to express the thoughts I see here without falling into bullet point writing and/or just rephrasing what the writer wrote. The fact of the matter is that we are all equal before God. If we have power over others and misuse it, God will hold us to account. Honesty and integrity will bring more joy, satisfaction, contentment into our lives than any amount of wealth. Pursue truth and integrity, if you give them away for material possessions you will regret it for the rest of your life. There is no amount of wealth or power that is worth being known as a cheat and a liar. People think that they can use their power and wealth to silence those who know of their dishonesty and avarice, but even if they succeed God will know the truth and hold them accountable.

Daily Bible Study

July 14, 2016 Bible Study — Wait For All of the Facts

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Proverbs 18-21.

    Today’s passage contains many nuggets of wisdom. I do not have time to point all of them out. However, I will touch on the things which stood out to me, because they either spoke to my own weaknesses/temptations or I thought they addressed things going on in the news today.

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    The writer reminds us in many ways about the dangers of being lazy. Paying attention to what the writer is saying reveals that for many people laziness causes them to be poor. Laziness leads to poverty in two different ways. First, a lazy person fails to work when the time is optimum for gathering wealth (whether that is the lazy farmer who does not harvest when the crops become ripe, or the person who does not plan for the future). Second, laziness will cause us to fail to maintain things which we possess or are responsible for. Over time, if we do not spend the time maintaining things, they will be destroyed. Laziness can have results every bit as bad as outright destructiveness.

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    The writer warns us against reaching conclusions before we hear all of the facts about a situation. If you look at the world around us you will see that time after time people have reached the wrong conclusion because they did not follow that advice. There are really two parts to the writers warning. We need to recognize that it takes time for all of the facts to be collected and that as a situation is examined initial appearances may prove to be deceiving. In addition, we need to be aware that the first person to speak up may have their own agenda leading them to leave out (or distort) facts which will not support the conclusion they wish you to reach. We should be shamed by speaking out on something before we have listened to what everyone has to say because, by doing so, we have revealed ourselves to be foolish. The writer even reveals why many people speak before hearing all of the facts. They do so because they are more interested in broadcasting their opinion and advancing their agenda than they are in knowing what really happened.

Daily Bible Study

July 13, 2016 Bible Study — Integrity and Fear of the Lord

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Proverbs 14-17.

    I really like the message of the proverb in chapter 14 verse 2, especially when you look at it in both the NLT and the NIV. I think that both readings tell us something important about human behavior. The NLT take on the proverb tells us why some people fear and follow God and others do not. Those who choose to walk on the path of righteousness will fear God. Those who take the path of sin and deceit will despise God. If you have looked around you will see how often this is true. There are many people who refuse to believe in God because that would force them to accept that the lives they have chosen to live are sinful. There are many people who embrace a faith in God because they wish to live a righteous life. On the other hand, the NIV take tells us that those who fear the Lord have integrity and act accordingly. Those who despise God choose deception and lies. There is truth here as well. The fear of God leads people to lead lives of integrity, while those who despise God become ever more deceptive and devious as time goes by.

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    Throughout this passage are many proverbs which sum up basic truths about life. The writer repeatedly stresses the importance of choosing our words carefully. He covers issues from speaking with arrogance to telling lies, to allowing our emotions to override our better judgment. The wise do not allow their mouths to lead them into such errors. The writer’s emphasizes the importance of taking our time to reach a conclusion, not allowing the heat of the moment to guide our actions. I see people around me failing to follow this advice and thus making problems worse rather than providing solutions.