Monthly Archives: June 2018

Daily Bible Study

June 11, 2018 Bible Study — The Prosperous Are Not Necessarily Godly

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Job 6-10.

    I always struggle with the Book of Job because of the need to keep in mind God’s condemnation of what Job’s friends say and His rebuke of Job. If you read Job, it is obvious that the first and most important lesson of the book is that suffering is not evidence that the sufferer is any more a sinner than anyone else. However, the length of the book tells us that there is more to be learned than just that. As I mentioned yesterday, Job is an example to us that we can faithfully serve God in the midst of suffering: that being faithful in the face of suffering may be our calling. I am going to paraphrase what Job said in the first part of today’s passage, “If I died now, I could be happy because, despite my pain and suffering, I have not denied God nor turned against Him.” So, whatever pain and suffering we face in this life, let us follow Job’s example and remain faithful to God in the midst of them.

    Then Bildad responds and more explicitly blames Job’s suffering on his sin…without ever pointing out what that sin might be. This is perhaps one of the most important places to note that God condemned Job’s three friends. Bildad assumes that Job’s children died in their tragedy because of their sin, even though he knows of no sin which they committed. Further, Bildad is sure that those who prosper are godly and that the godly will prosper. Bildad is unequivocally wrong. Those who are suffering are not necessarily greater sinners than others and those who prosper are not necessarily godly.

    Job speaks once more and tells us how much greater than us God is. He is mighty and powerful beyond the limits of our ability to imagine. God’s greatness inspires fear in us, as it should. Job complains that the fear which God inspires in us makes it impossible for us to plead our case before God, it would do so even if we were innocent of sin. Then Job expresses the plea that all men who understand God’s greatness and goodness have felt, if not expressed: “If only there were a mediator between us, someone who could bring us together.” And this is the great message of Christianity. There is indeed a mediator to bring Man and God together. That mediator is Jesus Christ.

Daily Bible Study

June 10, 2018 Bible Study — Remaining Faithful While Suffering Serves as an Example To Others

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Job 1-5.

    Sometimes I think that the translators have done us a disservice by using “Satan” as a proper name. The Hebrew word means “adversary” and I think it would aid our understanding of this passage, and several others, if the translators had used “The Adversary” rather than “Satan”. Of course, this usage of Satan goes back to the New Testament writers who chose to use a transliteration of the Hebrew word in their Greek writings. Nevertheless, everywhere in the Bible where we see the word “Satan” we should be aware that the original writers were thinking “The Adversary” or perhaps just “adversary”.

    Perhaps the most overlooked aspect of this book is the fact that Job suffered in order to prove to Satan that he would not stop living righteously, even in the midst of suffering. And here is where reading “Satan” rather than “The Adversary” affects our thinking. (I am struggling with how to word the thought which struck me today reading this). Most of us have heard someone say something similar to what Satan said here about Job, or its opposite:

“Well, of course he/she is law-abiding and upright. See how privileged they are!”

OR

“Well, it is no wonder they commit crimes, look at all of the things they have suffered.”

Sometimes people suffer so as to serve as examples to the people who say such things, or more importantly to the people who excuse their sin using such arguments. There are people who will not stop honoring and serving God, even when they suffer. And having all of the blessings of this world does not mean that someone will necessarily do so. There are people who have been healthy and wealthy their entire lives for whom everything seems to go their way.

    Another important point to remember when reading the Book of Job is that at the end God tells Job’s friends that they were in the wrong regarding what they said to him. So, in light of that, I am going to look at this first exchange between Job and Eliphaz. When Job’s three friends arrived they sat and mourned his suffering with him in silence for seven days. Finally Job expressed his deep depression. I find two themes in Job’s statement. He wishes he had never been born rather than suffer the way that he was and he asks why he is suffering. Eliphaz replies by saying that suffering comes to those who have done wrong, that it is how God corrects us for doing wrong. By saying this Eliphaz implies that Job must be suffering because he did something wrong. If only Job would confess and repent of his sins his suffering would cease.

Daily Bible Study

June 9, 2018 Bible Study — Standing Up For Your Belief

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Esther 8-10.

    Because of the nature of law in the Persian Empire, the edict which Haman had issued in the King’s name could not be repealed. That edict had ordered complete genocide against the Jewish people, with those who carried it out entitled to claim the property of the Jews for themselves. However, the King allowed Mordecai to issue another edict. Mordecai’s edict gave the Jews permission to band together to defend themselves against those who would attack them. Those who wished harm upon the Jews had planned to attack them with the tacit support of the government. Instead what happened was that the Jews had the explicit approval of the government to defend themselves. One result of the edict authorizing the Jews to defend themselves was that many people converted to Judaism. There are two things I want to make a point about here. The reason the Jews survived was because they were able to defend themselves. If you look at other genocides in history they have all occurred in situations where the victim population had their ability to defend themselves diminished before the genocide began. I want to place some distance between this first conclusion and the second point I want to make. When we stand up for our beliefs in the face of opposition people become attracted to those beliefs and are more likely to see our example and adopt our beliefs for themselves.

Daily Bible Study

June 8, 2018 Bible Study — There Is No Safety From Violent Mobs

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Esther 4-7.

    When Mordecai first asked Esther to approach the king regarding the decree calling for genocide against the Jews, she pointed out the danger to herself in approaching the king proactively. Mordecai replied by pointing out that her presence in the king’s household would not be sufficient to shield her from the genocide and that perhaps she had been placed there for this very reason. I am not going to go into much more detail about the events recorded here. It is a short passage and an easy read at that. Instead I want to focus on the idea that God places us in particular places at particular times for a reason. In this case, God arranged for Esther to become queen in order that she might counter Haman’s hatred.
    There is another lesson to be learned here as well. Once the doors of violent hate are let loose upon society, no one is safe. No matter how wealthy, or politically powerful you are, when violence and hate are turned loose only the hand of God can keep you from falling victim to it. If you look around, you will see people encouraging anger and violence, thinking that they can direct it against their political enemies. While this sometimes works, history is replete with examples of people who set the mob on their enemies only to find themselves overwhelmed by it.

    We have another lesson here as well. Haman was arrogant and proud. When the king asked for his advice on how to honor someone who pleased the king, he assumed the king was asking how he himself would like to be honored. As a result, Haman was forced to honor throughout the city the man whose death he had come to the king to request. Haman had taken the time to research the fact that Mordecai was a Jew, but he had failed to discover that Mordecai was also responsible for saving the king’s life. Haman had become so caught up in his own self-importance that he could not see the dangers which were coming his way.

Daily Bible Study

June 7, 2018 Bible Study — Lessons In Decision Making

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Esther 1-3.

    The first chapter of the Book of Esther was written as the setup for the rest of the story, but there are still lessons we can learn. Some of those lessons involve reading back into the story things I doubt the writer would have seen, but they are still valid. King Xerxes made a series of bad decisions. First, he held a festival to show off his power and wealth. While bragging is generally a bad idea, this may not have been. Sometimes a ruler can forestall other problems by demonstrating the extent of his power and wealth. However, King Xerxes combined this demonstration of his wealth and power with heavy drinking. That is always a bad decision and is what led to his other bad decisions. Next, he ordered his wife, who was holding her own celebration demonstrating their combined wealth and power, to join him. When she refused him he got angry and declared their marriage over. Something he regretted when he became sober. The lesson here is that a) alcohol tends to cause us to use poor judgment and b) the consequences of that poor judgment lasts longer than the alcohol. When I started this paragraph I intended to discuss how this chapter illustrates aspects of a bad relationship, but I think the reader can see those for themselves.

    In the second chapter the focus shifts from King Xerxes to Esther and Mordecai. These two offer us positive role models throughout the rest of the Book. Esther was clearly a beautiful and attractive woman. The passage tells us that each of the women were allowed to choose what they wore in clothing and jewelry on the night they went to the king for the first, and usually only, time. The wording of the passage suggests that Esther was unique in only wearing those items recommended to her by Hegai. In doing so, Esther demonstrated the willingness to take advice from those with more experience than herself. Actually, this is the second time she followed such advice because we are told that she followed Mordecai’s advice to keep her nationality and family background a secret. As a result, no one knew she was Jewish or related to Mordecai.

    Mordecai’s behavior is more ambiguous. First, he demonstrates his loyalty and wisdom by getting word of an assassination plot against the king to the king through Esther. I think the loyalty part of that is obvious. However, the wisdom part takes a little thought. Mordecai had no way to know who else was involved in the plot besides those he had overheard. By telling Esther of the plot he bypassed the various levels of the bureaucracy, any of which may have been also involved in the plot. The second part of his personality revealed in today’s passage is more ambiguous. That is his failure to bow down or otherwise show respect to Haman, despite the king’s orders to do so. We do not know why Mordecai chose to take this action. Perhaps he held Haman in contempt for some reason. Perhaps, he believed that it was idolatrous to bow to anyone but God. Perhaps he believed in the equality of all men and thought that bowing would indicate that Haman was superior to others. Whatever his reason, by choosing this course of action he angered Haman, a powerful man in the kingdom.

    Which brings us to Haman, an individual who demonstrates the bad judgment which results from excessive pride. When Mordecai refused to offer him the outward signs of respect which he thought he deserved he became angry. However, it was not enough for Haman to get revenge on Mordecai for his lack of respect. No, Haman chose to go after all of Mordecai’s relatives and people (this suggests the possibility that Mordecai’s failure to bow to Haman was religiously based). If Haman had limited himself to the person by whom he felt offended, things would likely have turned out differently. And even better would have been for Haman to speak with Mordecai concerning his reasons for acting as he did. Perhaps if Haman had done the latter he would have learned that Mordecai’s action was not an expression of disrespect.

Daily Bible Study

June 6, 2018 Bible Study — Doing the Work of the Lord Is More Than Just Preaching and Teaching

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Nehemiah 11-13.

    When the walls of Jerusalem were finished the people realized that not enough people, aside from their political and religious leaders, lived in Jerusalem to sustain it as a city. So, it was decided that lots would be drawn among the Jews living in the surrounding area to select who would move to Jerusalem. While those who moved to Jerusalem were selected by lot, it appears that actually moving to Jerusalem was voluntary. The passage does not spell it out explicitly, but it appears to me that those who stayed in the outside villages provided support to those who moved to Jerusalem until they could establish themselves there. All of this shows us that the people recognized that if the Temple in Jerusalem was going to be the centerpiece of their religious life, Jerusalem needed to be economically viable as a city. That is, there need to be people present to provide for the non-religious needs of those who served in the temple. The same thing goes for the work of the Church today. There need to be people to build and repair the structures, to raise and prepare the food, to make and launder the clothes, and all of the other tasks which those who preach and teach the Word of God need done.

    While Nehemiah was in the Persian capital, The priest in charge of the Temple storerooms had converted one of those storerooms from its intended purpose. The priest made it available for Tobiah to use to store his goods there. It is possible that Tobiah was just using this storeroom as free warehouse space, but when we consider his earlier actions (anger over Nehemiah being appointed governor of Jerusalem and opposition to the rebuilding of the wall) it seems likely that these goods were illicit in some manner. In any case, when Nehemiah returned and discovered what was going on, he threw Tobiah’s goods out of the room and dismissed the priest. In addition, Nehemiah discovered that the Levites had been forced to abandon their Temple duties in order to feed themselves because those in charge had stopped providing them with the share of the offerings prescribed by the Law. Reading between the lines of what was written, it reads to me like part of the reason the Levites were not receiving their share was because the room where it was supposed to be stored was being used by Tobiah. It probably never occurred to the priest who re-purposed the room for Tobiah that doing so would have these results. My point is that sometimes our sins may seem minor, but have much larger consequences than we realized.

Daily Bible Study

June 5, 2018 Bible Study — The People Act In Response to Their Faith

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Nehemiah 9-10.

    When Nehemiah first had the people assemble to listen to the Law, he and the other leaders told them not to mourn for their failure to keep the Law at that time. That was a time to celebrate what God had done for them. However, the people assembled a second time a few weeks later for a time of mourning and repentance. There is a lesson for us here when dealing with sinners who come to the Lord. When they come to know the Lord we should encourage them to celebrate their salvation, there will be time to mourn and repent of their sins later. I want to be careful on this because many people have sins which have become deeply embedded in their lives which need to be rooted out (that may even be true of some who have been walking with the Lord for years). I want to note that there was not much time between the celebration of renewal and the gathering for repentance. The former happened on Oct 8th and the latter on Oct 31st (as the dates were translated from the calendar used to our modern calendar). I want to also say that there may be times when God calls us to follow a similar pattern, celebrate what God has just done NOW, mourn and repent the sins which He revealed to us later. I would think that these occasions would usually be corporate events rather than individual ones.

    I think we should look at the procedure they followed on this day. First, the people gathered and spent three hours listening to God’s Law being read to them. Then they spent three more hours confessing their sins. After this, their leaders led them in a prayer worshiping God and confessing their sin. Finally, their religious leaders wrote out a covenant under which the people bound themselves to obey God’s Law. A covenant to which all of the people present old enough to understand bound themselves to keep. The passage does not spell it out, but the context makes it seem to me that this gathering, and this covenant, were the idea of those who gathered to study the Law of God with Ezra. This was not something imposed on them by Nehemiah, or Ezra, or another of the elite leaders. Instead this was a gathering initiated by the people in response to beginning to truly understand the Law of God.

Daily Bible Study

June 4, 2018 Bible Study — Enthusiastically Embracing God’s Law

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Nehemiah 7-8.

    Once the wall around Jerusalem was complete Nehemiah called the people together to celebrate its completion and to rededicate themselves to God. I believe that, at least to some degree, this was modeled on the re-dedications under King Josiah and King Joash. As part of this process, Ezra the scribe (the one for whom the Book of Ezra was named) read the Book of the Law to the people. Nehemiah, Ezra, and the other leaders set things up so that everyone in the large crowd could hear and understand what was going on. There were multiple people spread out in front of the people reading the law and explaining its meaning to the people. The people reacted to the Law in much the same way that King Joash had done. They recognized how far they had fallen short of keeping God’s commands and wept in grief. Nehemiah, Ezra, and the others explaining the Law remonstrated with them to not mourn. This day was intended to be a day of celebrating the completion of the wall, of God restoring Jerusalem to His People. Further, the leaders exhorted the people to celebrate the fact that they had heard and understood God’s Law. The people followed their leaders’ advice.

    However, the people were not satisfied with hearing the Law and celebrating, then going back about their business. They selected leaders to meet with Ezra the scribe to determine how they could order their lives so as to live according to God’s Law. The following day, the selected leaders met with Ezra and began to study the Law in detail. They quickly discovered that the Festival of Shelters was due to be celebrated shortly. So they arranged for a proclamation to go out for the people to do so. The key here is that it was not Ezra, or one of the other long term students of the Law who made this discovery. It was made by those who had not previously studied the Law. We need to remember that it was those new to the study of God’s Law who made this discovery. We need to be receptive to the insights brought to the study of God’s Word by those new to it.

Daily Bible Study

June 3, 2018 Bible Study — Nehemiah, a Study In Leadership

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Nehemiah 4-6.

    When Nehemiah actually got the project started to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, Sanballat and Tobiah began to actively campaign against him. Initially, they spread rumors that they were going to launch an attack against the Jews. It is not clear to me that they actually planned to attack the Jews, they may have merely hoped to frighten the Jews into stopping work. However, based on the way people have behaved throughout history, it is likely that if the Jews had ignored the threats and continued building they would have attacked. Nehemiah was bright enough to take precautions against attack. At the same time as these rumors about an attack were spreading some of those working began to complain that they needed additional help with the rebuilding. I suspect that the writer intends for us to conclude that these complaints were planted by agents of Sanballat and Tobiah.

    I was going to continue to write about how Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem sought to disrupt Nehemiah’s efforts, but I realized that the important part of this was the leadership which Nehemiah demonstrated. First, he worked alongside of those he was leading, expending his own resources in the effort. Those resources were not just his wealth and property, the way I read this Nehemiah actually went and labored beside those working on the wall. He kept his focus on the project and did not let himself get distracted playing politics. When those attempting to derail the project asked for a private meeting with him, Nehemiah rejected it in no uncertain terms. We do not know if the plan was to assassinate Nehemiah, as the passage suggests, or merely to use the meetings to compromise him. In either case, Nehemiah knew that nothing beneficial to his project could come from such a meeting. Then when they threatened to spread false rumors about him and even use them to cause a divide between Nehemiah and the King if Persia, he called their bluff. As far as good leadership goes, Nehemiah had covered this one by arranging in advance how long he would be in Jerusalem.
    Finally, we have Nehemiah’s leadership when the poor complained about the hardships they were suffering. Nehemiah did not just demand that others change their behavior. He recognized that his own behavior had contributed to the problem, that he had profited off of the suffering of others. In the past I had always read the place in this passage where Nehemiah recounts how he did not take advantage of many of the perks available to him as governor as being somewhat boastful. However, as I read it today I realized he was saying, “I worked really hard to avoid being corrupted by position of power and I still missed where I was abusing my power.” Nehemiah did not get defensive when the poor complained. Instead he looked at their complaint and changed his behavior.

Daily Bible Study

June 2, 2018 Bible Study — Nehemiah Goes to Jerusalem

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Nehemiah 1-3.

    The Exiles first returned to Jerusalem under King Cyrus, the events recounted in this passage take place approximately 100 years later. Which raises the question, had the walls of Jerusalem been rebuilt and destroyed once more, or was the rebuilding by Nehemiah the first time since the Exile for the walls to be rebuilt? If the second, which is how I have always understood this passage, what happened that made rebuilding the walls necessary now? Having set the stage for this passage I will now go on to what the passage communicates to me.

    When Nehemiah received word that the Returned Exiles were having troubles in Jerusalem, he was stricken by the need to do something, but he did not know what he should do. So, he did what each of us should do when we feel similar conviction; he fasted and prayed. At some point during his days of fasting and praying, Nehemiah came to believe that he should go to Jerusalem and oversee rebuilding the walls. He knows he needs authority to do this, but he also knows that he has access to the man who can give him that authority, the King of Persia. Before entering the presence of the king, Nehemiah prays once more. However, in addition to praying Nehemiah had done some planning. He knew what it would take to accomplish his goals. So, when given the opportunity, Nehemiah knew what to ask for. There are three elements that we should imitate when convicted about something that is not right:

  1. Fasting and praying, so that God will reveal what actions we should take.
  2. Planning out how to execute the actions God has directed us to take in step 1 (step 1 is not over yet)
  3. Seeking the authorization we need to put our plans into effect.

In step 1 we need to be open to what God wants us to do about the issue. Perhaps we are called to take leadership in addressing the issue, as Nehemiah was. Perhaps we are called to assist someone else who has been called to take the lead. Or, perhaps we have only been called to intercede with God for those who are addressing the issue. Do not make the mistake of thinking that just because you have never before been a leader that God is not calling you to lead this time. However, if you are someone who knows they can be a leader do not wait for someone else to step forward.

    I find it interesting that the King of Persia gave Nehemiah an armed escort, especially in light of the opposition he faced as soon as he arrived. Another thing which is never made clear is why Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem opposed the fortification of Jerusalem. Based on what I read here and found elsewhere, it seems like Sanballat and Tobiah were officials of the Persian Empire whose authority was similar to that given to Nehemiah in neighboring areas, while Geshem appears to have been a client king of the Persian Emplire who ruled over areas of the Arabian Peninsula (also nearby). From that I conclude that their initial conversation with Nehemiah was one seeking to force him to accept a subordinate position to themselves. Further, I suspect that they had been using Jerusalem as a place through which to smuggle goods. The way it would have worked was that none of them was responsible for seeing that Persian law was enforced in Jerusalem, but all three had more authority there under Persian law than anyone else, prior to Nehemiah’s arrival. If they could have intimidated Nehemiah they could have continued their little game, with Nehemiah as the fall guy if the Empire found out.