Tag Archives: 09/09/15 Bible Study

Daily Bible Study

September 9, 2015 Bible Study — Sorrow Awaits For Those Who Say That Evil Is Good and That Good Is Evil

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 22:28-29

    This proverb warns against about the danger of impulsively changing the rules. There is a reason our predecessors put the “boundary markers” where they did. Let us give careful thought before we decide that we can move them.
    The wealthy and powerful will offer artisans of great skill benefits which those of lesser wealth and power cannot match.

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Psalm 53

    Those who truly believe that there is no God are fools. They do not do good, but only serve their own interests. This is not much of a stretch because when God looks on mankind, He sees that all have turned away from Him. All too many people are unwilling to learn that God will indeed bring judgment upon evildoers. Nevertheless, those who do learn and turn to God will rejoice when He restores them to Himself.

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2 Corinthians 11:1-15

    Paul warns against being taken in by teachers who are great orators, but poor theologians. He does not give us a lot to go on in this passage for identifying these false teachers, but he does give us some clues. The first clue he gives us is that these false teachers will teach about a Jesus who is different than the one portrayed in the Gospels and traditional Church teachings. He also gives us a way to identify genuine teachers. Genuine teachers do not seek to get rich from their teaching. Let us be careful of false teachers who attempt to pass themselves off as servants of God

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Isaiah 3-5

    Isaiah warns us that when a people become fully ensnared by sin, they will have no true leaders because they will not tolerate true leaders. They will follow leaders who provide for their wants rather than leaders who teach them how to work to earn their needs. When the young insult their elders and the vulgar sneer at the honorable, God’s judgment will not be long delayed.
    So much of this passage strikes me as applying to the society I live in. I look at our world today and see what God intended to be His pleasant garden, but instead He finds this:

He expected a crop of justice,
but instead he found oppression.
He expected to find righteousness,
but instead he heard cries of violence.

The prophet goes on to warn those who buy up house after house and field after field, those who accumulate more wealth than they can spend in many lifetimes. He warns against those who are too busy partying to notice what God is doing. And here is the key thing I see being fulfilled,
What sorrow for those who say
that evil is good and good is evil,

I see this happen more and more.

Daily Bible Study

September 5, 2015 Bible Study

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 22:20-21

    The writer tells us his purpose in writing these proverbs: to teach us to be honest and to speak the truth. Reading Proverbs is a good way to come to the realization about how important those things are.

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Psalm 49

    If you trust in the Lord, and live your life accordingly, you have no need to fear those who trust in their wealth. No matter how wealthy someone is, no matter how powerful they are, no matter what connections they have, they will be unable to redeem themselves from death. There is no amount of money which will allow someone to avoid death and live forever. Ultimately, everyone will die, even the fabulously wealthy (special case for those who serve Christ and are still alive when He returns). Even if someone uses their wealth to build a great monument to themselves, eventually it will crumble and their name will be forgotten.
    Accumulating material wealth serves no eternal purpose. We cannot take it with us. The only wealth which will last into the next life is that which we have stored with God, and that is the rewards He gives us for serving Him.

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2 Corinthians 8:1-15

    We should eagerly give of what we have in order to help those who are struggling. The key is not how much we give, but that we give eagerly. Our giving should be in proportion to what we have. If we have more than others, we should eagerly give more than those others. If on the other hand, we have less than others we should not feel obligated to give as much as they do. We should seek to give so as to make others lives easier, but not so much as to make our lives hard. Paul quotes from Exodus to spell out what our goal should be:

“Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over,
and those who gathered only a little had enough.”

My Dad often made a statement which I think reflects what Paul is teaching here, “There is nothing wrong with a Christian being on welfare, and there is nothing wrong with a Christian being a millionaire. However, there is something wrong if a congregation has both a millionaire and someone on welfare.” He was very clear that he was not willing to say from outside the situation which one of those two was in the wrong, just that as Christians we should both be willing to help our fellow believers and accept help from our fellow believers. In the Church, those who are well off financially should strive to help those who are struggling financially, and those who are struggling financially should accept the help of those who are well off. That help does not necessarily come in the form of financial assistance, although that should play a part in the assistance.

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Ecclesiastes 10-12

    Throughout this passage the writer gives a lot of good advice. However towards the end he gives us the key to meaning. He tells us that the young should enjoy every minute of their lives, but not allow that enjoyment to cause them to forget our Creator. On the other hand, he tells those who live to an old age to enjoy every day of life they receive as a gift from God, while remembering that dark days will come. Overall, let us remember the Lord while our bodies are healthy enough to do His work.