For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    We can take lessons from various creatures none of which are powerful. Ants store up food when it is plentiful for times when it is in short supply. The hyrax (the word translates from Greek as “shrewmouse”, which gives you some idea what sort of creature they are) is weak, but it lives where it is hard for predators to get at it. Locusts have no leaders, yet they move as a group so as to overwhelm any attempt to stop them. Lizards are easy to catch, yet they turn up everywhere. Let us follow these examples as we seek to serve the Lord.

    If you are feeling depressed, this psalm is both a good prayer and a good meditation. Call out to God for rescue from your depression and from the things which are making you depressed. Then think about the great works which God has done, but not just about the great works, think about all of the things which God has done. If you trust God and give yourself to Him, He will show you where and how to walk. He will hide you and protect you from your enemies. He will teach you to do His will, follow those teachings and, over time, you will find your depression lifting.

    Those who resist the temptation of the beast, his statue, and his number will stand before God to sing His praises. If we are among that number God will give us the tools which will allow us to beautifully praise His name before all people. This passage is at least partially figurative. As we resist the temptations to give in to persecution we bring praise to God and encourage others to serve and praise Him as well. I will praise and glorify God in such a way as to encourage others to do so as well.

    Zechariah is given the message that the gold and silver being brought from the exiles still in Babylon should be made into a crown for Jeshua, the high priest. Zechariah declared that Jeshua would rule over Jerusalem as a king and would also serve as high priest. What I find interesting is that Jesus is the Anglicized version of the Greek transliteration of Jeshua. So, it is possible to interpret this passage as a prophecy regarding Jesus. I believe that while this passage had meaning to the people of Zechariah’s day, it was also a prophecy regarding the coming of Jesus.
    There is an important message in this passage. Some of the Jews sent a message to Zechariah asking if they should continue to mourn and fast on the anniversary of the Temple’s destruction, since it had been rebuilt. Zechariah’s answer is one to which we need to place close attention. He tells them that they were not mourning and fasting for God, and their holy feasts were also for their own pleasure. What God wanted from them, and wants from us, is that we show mercy and kindness to one another. We must not oppress the powerless, the orphan, the widow, the foreigner, and the poor. Further we should not plot and scheme against one another. When I write this I keep thinking, “This is so obvious. I need to write something which shows how this is not just pablum.” Then I look at the world around me, even in parts of the Church, and realize that it may be pablum, but not enough people are listening and acting upon this pablum. All too many people think they are following God by putting on a show of righteousness, while failing to follow these instructions.