Monthly Archives: September 2018

Daily Bible Study

October 1, 2018 Bible Study — If We Do Not Choose the Good Shepherd We Will Get Evil Shepherds

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Zechariah 11-14.

    I am not sure that I understand Zechariah’s prophecy concerning the shepherds in this passage. However, I will take a shot at writing the meaning I find in it. The main thrust of it seems to be about the people of Israel before the Exile, but I am not going to interpret it based on that. The passage speaks of people who have bad leaders because they refuse to listen to faithful leaders. The people complain about their leaders, but when God gives them a good leader who calls them to serve God, they reject him. If we refuse to accept the Good Shepherd whom God has sent us, He will turn us over to the destruction which we merit. (When I started writing this last paragraph I thought I had a much more eloquent way of expressing my thoughts).

    Zechariah ends his prophecy by writing about a day when all of the people of Israel will individually turn to God. They will mourn the one whom they have pierced, which I understand to be Jesus. On that day, God will open a fountain of cleansing which will cleanse them of their sin. That fountain is already open, anyone who turns to Christ for forgiveness of their sin and accepts Him as Lord over their life will be so cleansed. However, Zechariah is referring to a day yet to come. A day when all of the nations of the earth will gather themselves to attack God’s people. Initially, the nations will cause great distress for God’s people, but then God will join the battle and destroy those who do not bow their knee to Him. Shortly after a day of great devastation for those who serve the Lord God will show His great power and those who survive it will worship Him. As I typed this, it occurred to me that this is both a reference to God’s final judgement and a hyperbolic reference to events which occur periodically throughout history. If you look throughout history, you will see that from time to time, God’s people (both the Jews and those who truly serve Christ) have been subject to overwhelming persecution. And each time, that persecution has soon been followed by a time when godliness takes hold where the persecution had been.

Daily Bible Study

September 30, 2018 Bible Study — Our Worship Services and Events Are Not About What We Get Out Of It

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Zechariah 7-10.

    In light of the rebuilding of the Temple, some of the people asked Zechariah whether they should continue fasting in commemoration of its destruction. Zechariah calls them out for making their religious rituals, festivals, and events about them rather than about worshiping God. In verse 9 & 10 Zechariah sums up what God wants from us:

Judge fairly, and show mercy and kindness to one another. 10 Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and the poor. And do not scheme against each other.

This theme is echoed in James 1:27. All too often we allow the world to corrupt us and begin to see our worship services as being about what WE get out of them.

    Shortly after giving the people the message calling them to task for being more concerned with what they got out of their religious activities, both fasts and festivals, Zechariah praises them for listening to the other prophets and restarting the work on the Temple. Despite having no surplus to spend on the Temple, they had sacrificed to restart the work on rebuilding it. As a result, God is as determined to bless them as He was determined to punish their ancestors. Before the fall of Jerusalem, the prophets condemned the people for their sins and called on them to repent, but declared that they would not. Now Zechariah once more calls on the people to repent of their sins and do what is right, but this time he declares that they will indeed do so. They will do so because God is determined that they will. God will provide them with the strength and wish to do right and because they do right they will draw other people to Him. When our desire to do right is about serving God and doing His will, the blessings will follow. When our desire to do right is about what’s in it for me, we are missing the point and will receive few blessings. Fortunately, God is good. If we truly do what is right, even if for the wrong reasons, God will bless us by changing our hearts.

Daily Bible Study

September 29, 2018 Bible Study — Random Thoughts on Zechariah

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

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

    I am not sure what to make of Zechariah’s vision of the horsemen, but I noticed something about it that never occurred to me before. Zechariah tells us that there was a man sitting on a red horse and that behind him were men on red, brown, and white horses (some translations translate the “brown” differently, but I don’t think that matters). Typically, we read that as four horsemen. However, I realized today that the wording does not limit the horsemen behind him to one on each color of horse. There may have been multiple men on red horses, multiple men on brown horses, and multiple men on white horses. At least, according to the way it reads in English. I am sure that our tendency to read this as four horsemen is the fact that in chapter six, Zechariah does refer to four chariots and the Book of Revelation refers to four horsemen.

    However, I want to focus on some of the Messianic prophecies in this passage. Actually, the first thing I want to focus on is not exactly a Messianic prophecy. Zechariah tells the people of Israel that God will send men against the nations who plundered them (the context implies the “men” being referred to are beings of great power and/or armies). Further, he tells them that those who harm the Children of Israel harm God’s most precious possession. Perhaps a more detailed study would prove me wrong, but my knowledge of history suggests that nations which have treated the Jewish people well have risen to great wealth and power, while those which treated them badly have suddenly fallen from positions of dominance. Now, the interesting thing is that this prophecy extends into a Messianic prophecy where Zechariah tells us that the day is coming (and I believe arrived with Jesus) that people from many nations will join themselves to the Lord, and those people will become God’s people just as the Children of Israel already were. While I believe that there is a special place in God’s heart for those who are descended from Jacob, I believe that those who choose to serve Christ are in that same place. God will adopt into His people all who accept the salvation which He offers.

    Then there is the metaphorical vision of God removing the sins from the priest Jeshua (I believe that this is a reference to someone who was a contemporary of Zechariah) and purifying him. Zechariah has a vision in which he sees the filthy and tattered clothes removed from Jeshua and replaced by clean, new garments. Those filthy and tattered clothes represent Jeshua’s sins and the new clothes represent the righteousness which God gives to him. Then Zechariah tells us that what God is doing for Jeshua the priest is a symbol of what He is going to do for everyone. If we allow, God will remove our sins from us and replace them with righteousness. Just remember, that just as our sins were actions we took, so is the righteousness which God has given us. However, those actions represent not our righteousness, but God’s.

Daily Bible Study

September 28, 2018 Bible Study — Live Humbly and Do What Is Right

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Zephaniah 1-3 and Haggai 1-2.

    There are two ways to read Zephaniah (OK, there are probably more, but I am just going to consider two): as a single prophecy about the coming fall of Jerusalem containing some hyperbole, or as two prophecies, one concerning the end of the world and one concerning the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon (or perhaps some other historic event). I believe that Zephaniah considered it a prophecy about a single event. While I believe that elements of this passage concern the end of the world, I think that it is best to consider it as a prophecy about a single event.
    The main point of this passage is that the day of God’s judgement is coming. When that day comes it will not be limited to just a few people, or even a limited geographic area. When I was growing up during the Cold War, we understood how comprehensive that day would be. We read passages like verses 2 and 3 of chapter 1 and thought of nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the United States. Our understanding of the worldwide devastation which would follow was influenced by those who remembered World Wars I and II. We understood and talked about how such a war would be indiscriminate in killing people throughout the earth. That was the image we had of the Day of God’s Judgement.
    However, Zephaniah tells us that perhaps there is yet time to seek God so that He will protect us on that Day. But this is not a private, personal seeking to do what is right. Zephaniah tells us that this salvation is corporate. Each one of us must choose to seek the Lord ourselves, but we cannot go it alone. We must gather together with those others who are also seeking the Lord. We must humbly test our understanding of what is right against others who also seek to do right.

    Haggai has a message which is timeless. All too often we do what the Returned Exiles were doing when God called Haggai. We tell ourselves that as soon as we get our lives together we will begin serving God. I have been guilty of it myself. Through Haggai God tells us that we will never get our lives together until we put Him first. We will never have enough to fully meet our needs as long as we put our needs ahead of serving God. Our “needs” will expand to consume all of our resources as long as we put them first. When we start putting God first, we will find that we have a surplus to serve Him even more. Sometimes, that surplus will be because God has blessed us with more. Sometimes that surplus will be because we realize that we did not need many of the things we called “needs”.

Daily Bible Study

September 27, 2018 Bible Study — God’s Power Will Over Come

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

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

    The other day I said that Obadiah was unique in being the only prophet whose prophecy was entirely against a nation other than Israel or Judah. I was mistaken. I had completely forgotten that Nahum prophesied against Assyria. There are two elements to Nahum’s prophecy. One element is directed at the people of God. As bad as things look and as powerful as their enemies appear, God will come to their rescue. The other element is directed at Assyrians (and their successors as world powers). No matter how powerful you may think that you are, and no matter how many allies you think that you have, if you make yourself God’s enemy, your destruction will soon follow. Today, I am reminded of the Chinese government’s recent crackdown on Christians worshiping God. They have chosen to be enemies of God. I believe that if this policy continues for more than a few more months, we will soon see the collapse of the Chinese government.

    Habakkuk’s prophecy is directed at the people of Judah, but also at the powerful throughout the world. He condemns the proud and arrogant who believe that their cunning, strength, wealth, and/or connections will allow them to take advantage of others. They believe that their cunning will keep them from ever being caught. If by some chance they are caught, they believe that their power and wealth will keep them from paying a consequence for their evil actions. God’s justice may seem long in coming, but we must be patient because it is sure. Even when times are dark and things look bad, let us rejoice and praise the Lord. His power will overcome.

Daily Bible Study

September 26, 2018 Bible Study — The Lord Has Told Us What Is Good

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Micah 3-7.

    As I read through today’s passage I saw a theme which is actually common among the Old Testament prophets. Micah condemns the leaders of the people, especially the religious leaders. They are the ones who are supposed to teach and guide the people to know right from wrong, but instead they hate what is good and love what is evil. However, he makes clear that the blame does not lie completely with the leaders. The people they lead have chosen these leaders over those who teach them God’s will. No one can be trusted because everyone does wrong, from the highest to the lowest. Micah says that the godly people have all disappeared, even the most honest twist and scheme to get what they want. In particular, Micah calls out the hypocrites who twist justice while claiming to serve the Lord and do what is right.

    Micah promises that although today people from high to low do evil, lie, and twist judgement the day will come when people from all parts of the earth will choose to follow God. They will turn to God to mediate their disputes and He will bring peace to the world. Nations will beat their swords into plowshares and turn their spears into pruning hooks. Peace and prosperity will reign when everyone enjoys the fruits of their own labor. I am not going to go into it now, but I think Micah 4:4 contains a good starting point to understand God’s ideal economic system, perhaps I will take the time to flesh that out some day.
    Later in the passage, Micah refers to the great and wonderful things God has done for His people, for us. He then asks what God wants from us in response. God does not desire that we offer piles of animal sacrifices in His name, nor does He desire that we build great and wonderful buildings in His name, nor does He want us to sacrifice our children to Him. What God wants from us is simple:

  • Do what is right.
  • Love mercy.
  • Walk humbly with our God.

Too often we forget that last item, and when we do remember, we overlook the “humble” part.

Daily Bible Study

September 25, 2018 Bible Study — Desire the Salvation of the Wicked, Not Their Destruction

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Jonah 1-4 and Micah 1-2.

    Generally when you read or here a lesson based on Jonah, the writer/speaker bases it on just part of the Book of Jonah, perhaps the story of Jonah and the Giant Fish (most commonly titled “Jonah and the Whale”), or perhaps the story of Jonah and the plant. There is nothing wrong with that, but I do not believe I have ever heard or read a lesson on the entire Book. When God called Jonah to prophecy destruction to the city of Nineveh, Jonah went in the opposite direction. Jonah did not want to prophecy destruction to Nineveh because he did not want the people of Nineveh to repent and be saved from destruction. Even after he went and prophesied as God commanded, he was angry because the people repented and were not destroyed. He should have been happy that the people of Nineveh repented of their sins and stopped acting wickedly. God does not desire anyone’s destruction, no matter how evil and vile they have behaved. He desires that they recognize the evil they have done, feel remorse that they have done it, turn from that sin to do good, and be saved. We should desire the same thing, but all too often we get angry when God forgives sinners.

    Micah begins his prophecy by calling out the people of Samaria and Jerusalem for their role in leading the rest of the nation into sin. However, he does not limit his condemnation to the people of those two cities. He calls out other cities in Israel and Judah for playing a role in leading the rest of the nation into sin, or just for the sins they joined in on. God’s judgement will fall harder on those who lead others into sin, but those who follow someone else’s lead will not escape judgement.
    Micah specifically condemns those who cheat and steal from those less powerful than themselves simply because they can. God will judge those who use their wealth and power to unjustly take from others. Harvey Weinstein is a recent example of a man who used his wealth, power, and connections to take sexual advantage of women. There are others who use those attributes to acquire wealth or property which rightly belongs to another. They laugh at those who vow vengeance or seek justice against them. When a society accepts that such men, and women, can behave as they please and leaders consider the ability to do such things their just due, God’s judgement will soon follow. You know that the day of God’s judgement will soon arrive when the people at the bottom are no longer offended that the rich and powerful can do such things and merely seek the power to do it themselves.

Daily Bible Study

September 24, 2018 Bible Study — Ignoring the Misfortune of Others While Profiting From It

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Amos 6-9 and Obadiah.

    Amos prophesies against those who enjoy the fruits of their wealth while ignoring the suffering of the poor and needy. When I read today’s passage I think of how the wealthy and powerful in Chicago stayed in their safe neighborhoods while ignoring the murders and violent crime in the other neighborhoods of the city. I hate to single out Chicago, because what Amos is prophesying about applies in many places. And it is not just in cities. This prophecy is directed at those who are living a life of luxury and ease while ignoring the violence and injustice occurring just outside their secure enclave. It is easy to think that this prophecy applies to people wealthier and more powerful than myself, but, if I am not doing what I can to help the poor and oppressed, it applies to me. Further down in today’s passage Amos talks about how God is going to measure us with a plumb line. For those of you who do not know, a plumb line is essentially a weight on the end of a string. It is used to measure whether a pole or a wall stands up straight. God measures us with the plumb line of His righteousness. Do we stand up true and pure? Or do we lean away from what is right and just?

    Obadiah is the only prophet whose entire message is directed entirely against a people other than those of Israel and Judah. The people of Edom thought that the geography of the land they lived in would protect them against invaders. The prophet warns them that this is not so. God has chosen to bring judgement against them because of their sins. We can learn from their sins. God brought judgement down on Edom because they failed to offer what aid they could when the Children of Israel were in distress. Not only did they not offer aid when the Children of Israel were suffering, they rejoiced in their suffering, they gloated over it. They took advantage of the misfortunes of others to profit. As I read this I realized that we can understand what is being condemned by looking at news of the recent hurricane in the Carolinas. There are stories about people from areas that did not need to evacuate going into the areas where the people evacuated to loot. This is what the people of Edom were condemned for doing.

Daily Bible Study

September 23, 2018 Bible Study — Should We Be Looking Forward to the Coming of the Day of the Lord?

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

Before I get started, I want to wish my lovely wife a Happy Anniversary and thank her for 18 wonderful years!

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

    Amos was a shepherd. He had no special education or training, but God used him to call the people of Israel and Judah to renewed faith. We must not make the mistake of thinking that only those with the proper education or training can deliver God’s message to us. Amos begins his message by declaring God’s judgement on the nations surrounding Israel for their repeated sins. One thing I missed the first time through today was that his warning to Judah falls into the same category as his declarations against the other nations surrounding Israel. For each of these nations, Amos declares they have sinned again and again and that God will not allow them to go unpunished. Amos followed that with a short description of that nation’s sins and God’s coming punishment. Then he gets to Israel and goes into a longer message, directing the rest of the book at Israel.

    Amos declares that the people of Israel saw God exercise His power on their behalf, but chose to disobey Him anyway. God called some of them to speak His word and others to dedicate themselves to His service. Rather than be inspired by these people the Israelites told the prophets to shut up and caused those dedicated to service to violate their vows. Amos goes on to condemn them for oppressing the poor while living a life of ease. He goes on to recount how God sent warnings to the people of Israel in the form of natural disasters and wars, but they would not repent of their sins. Amos points out that they despise those who tell the truth and use bribes to oppress good people. Things have gotten so bad that people no longer point out their sins for fear of being next. Finally, Amos warns them that time is running out to turn back to God. There is still time for the people to avoid God’s judgement by doing what is good and staying away from evil. But they must bring justice back to their courts or God’s judgement will fall on them.

    I said that Amos’ warning that time was running out was the final thing he said in today’s passage, but that is not quite true. No, the final, and in my mind the key thing, he says in today’s passage is that we should not wish for the Day of the Lord to come. That day will be a day of great trauma. While those who faithfully call upon the name of the Lord will be spared on that day, they will still suffer from seeing the suffering of others. Those who long for the Day of the Lord fall into two categories. Those who fail to realize how terrifying that day will be and those who fail to feel God’s love for sinners. The latter are hypocrites who do not realize that they too will face God’s judgement on that day. Rather than beg God for His Day to come, let us seek to delay its coming by seeking justice and striving to live righteous lives. Perhaps if we are faithful we will inspire those around us to be faithful as well. Let us seek to delay the coming of the Day of the Lord so that more may come to know Him.

Daily Bible Study

September 22, 2018 Bible Study — Setting Aside Our Personal Interests To Come Together and Serve God

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

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

    The Book of Joel is unique in two ways. Joel is the only prophet whose message is solely about a natural disaster. He is also the only prophet whose message is a call to repent after a disaster rather than before. Here we have a good lesson on what we should do when hard times strike. We tend to think of calls to righteousness being about avoiding disasters which will result from our sinfulness, but sometimes disaster strikes to call us to righteousness. I just realized that I missed an important point which Joel makes. In addition to calling people to return to God in prayer and fasting, he called them to unity. He called on the people to pray and fast in unity, to put aside their individual interests to join with everyone else.

    Joel gives us the promise that, if we come together to turn to God after disaster strikes, God will do great things for and among us. First, He will make things better in a way that more than makes up for what we lost in the disaster. Then He will pour out His Spirit upon all of the people, men and women, young and old, rich and poor. Joel tells us that all of this is important because the disaster is a reminder that the great and terrible day of the Lord is coming. On that day, only those who call on the name of the Lord will be spared.
    I think we need to look at the timeline as Joel tells us it should work.

  1. Disaster strikes.
  2. people come together to return to God with prayer and fasting, setting aside their own interests.
  3. God makes things as good or better than they were before the disaster (at least part of this results from people putting aside their own interests to come together).
  4. God pours out His Spirit on the people, causing them to make the world a better place.
  5. People are inspired/drawn to call on the name of the Lord (and work to make the world a better place by sharing God’s love).
  6. Sometime later, the terrible day of the Lord arrives.
  7. Those who call on the name of the Lord are spared.

Our focus should be on steps 2 through 5.