Tag Archives: Daily Bible Study

Daily Bible Study

December 27, 2019 Bible Study — The Four Living Beings and The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Revelation 4-8.

One thing I meant to mention yesterday that I think is important to understand about what I believe about the Book of Revelation: I believe that the Book of Revelation describes a vision which John actually had.  However, John made editorial decisions about what words to use to describe that vision,  what things he chose to quote and what things he paraphrased.  Which brings us to the resemblance between John’s vision and some of Ezekiel’s visions.  Comparing and contrasting John’s and Ezekiel’s visions can give us insight into their meaning.  John saw the four living beings differently than Ezekiel did because the message he was being given in his vision was different.  In Ezekiel’s vision each of the beings had the face of a lion, an ox, a human, and an eagle.  In John’s vision, each being had a different face, one that of a lion, one that of an ox, one that of a human, and one that of an ox.  There is meaning in why those faces are present in both visions, but I have yet to see an explanation which causes me to care. 

I realized the other year that the popular understanding of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is based on a merger between what John writes here and elements from Ezekiel.  The common understanding is that the Four Horsemen were summoned one at a time and then rode out together.  In fact, John describes them as each being summoned, one at a time, and riding out immediately by themselves.   The Four Horsemen do not ride together, they follow one after the other.  I am not fully sure of how to interpret this, but the third and fourth Horsemen represent things which follow after the second.  The second Horseman brings war and violence, the complete breakdown of order, throughout the earth.  Famine, the third Horseman, follows such an outbreak of violence.  And death and disease follow closely behind that.  I am unsure of the connection between the first Horseman, the Conqueror, and the other three.  The second through fourth Horsemen represent something we see again and again throughout history.  Part of me thinks that the Four Horsemen described here represent a repeating pattern in history.  Another part of me thinks that the first Horseman represents a conqueror whose conquest will mark the beginning of the End Times

Daily Bible Study

December 26, 2019 Bible Study — Jesus Is the First and the Last, and What That Means For Us

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

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

I think we should spend more time thinking about the end days, but I struggle deciphering God’s message for us in the apocalyptic writings of the Bible.  However, I really like the first three chapters of the Book of Revelation.  John uses some phrases which convey some basic truths in a way which conveys the mysticism which they truly contain.  The first of these (taken from the NIV) is

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

He could have written something like, “God is eternal”.  That would have said the same thing, but does not convey the same sense of immediacy that God is present at every moment in history, even those which have yet to happen.  All of time is laid bare to God.  When He acts today it is with full knowledge of what will happen tomorrow, just as His actions yesterday were based in part on what He knew would happen today.

The other phrase (also taken from the NIV):

I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

Another example where the idea could have been conveyed with more pedestrian phrasing.  John begins by connecting the being he saw in his vision to God, the Creator.  The phrase used here, “the First and the Last,” also makes sure that we understand what is meant by the phrase, “the Alpha and the Omega.”  The rest of the phrase communicates both the basic, essential Christian dogma that Christ lived, died, and rose from the dead and shows us what that means for us.  Because of Christ, those who put their faith in Him need not, should not, fear death.  He holds the keys both to death and to the place of the dead.  He can, and will, free us from death.  Even if we die, He holds the ability and willingness to raise us once more to life.  Death holds no power over Jesus, therefore we do not need to, and should not, allow it to hold any power over us.

Daily Bible Study

December 25, 2019 Bible Study — You Cannot Know the Truth if You Do Not Love Others, You Will Not Love Others if You Do Not Know the Truth

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

Merry Christmas!

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 John, 3 John, and Jude

Reading these three short letters today I was struck by how well they fit together, despite Jude being written by a different writer and intended for a different audience.  In the first of them, John’s second letter, he connects loving one another with truth.  Right there is a point worth an entire post about.  We do not know the truth if we do not love one another and we cannot love one another if we do not know the truth.  We know that John is making this point because he says that he wrote to remind us to love one another and then a few sentences later he writes that this needs to be said because of those who were teaching that the truth was incorrect.

In John’s third letter he commends the one to whom he writes for providing loving support for traveling preachers, despite the opposition of a Church leader local to that person.  He clearly suggests that that person is both a false teacher and someone who does not love others.  Which neatly transitions us to Jude’s letter.  Jude writes of those who claim to be followers of Christ, but teach that God’s grace allows us to live immoral lives.  I do not think I would see it if I did not read Jude’s letter together with these two from John, but Jude tells us that those who teach that we can live immorally because of God’s grace do so out of a selfish failure to love others.  They teach that we must be accepting of immoral behavior because we loves and should even indulge in immoral behavior as an expression of love.  Many of them even claim that calling people to live moral lives is divisive.  Jude writes that the divisive ones are those promoting immorality. 

I want to add one comment about my title.  You cannot know the truth if you do not love others and you will not love others if you do not know the truth.  As you learn to know the truth you will come to love others and if you genuinely love others you will come to know the truth.  However, many people start out seeking the truth and fail to truly learn it because they are unwilling to love at least some other people and many other people seek to love others but stumble because they are unwilling to accept the truth.

Daily Bible Study

December 24, 2019 Bible Study — You Cannot Hate Someone and Love God

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. This picture is from a year ago today when those of my siblings who were in the area got together with my Mom in the skilled care unit she had moved into a few months previous.  It was a sad time because we all new she would not be with us much longer, but it was also a time where God showed me that we can serve Him until the very end.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 John 1-5

The writer makes two points which can be considered contradictory, but can be reconciled with a little thought.  Those who have fellowship with God do not continue in sin, but anyone who says that they have not and do not sin is a liar.  The clarifying comment comes when the writer tells us that he wrote this letter so that we would not sin, but if we do sin Jesus Christ will plead our case before God.  In writing this the writer reiterates a theme which comes up again and again in the New Testament.  We should seek the Holy Spirit’s transformation of our lives so that we do not sin again, not count on God’s forgiveness as we commit sin after sin.  If our faith does not give us a desire to no longer sin, it is not really faith. 

Closely tied into that is the fact that our faith will lead us to love others the same way that God does.  If we love God we will love those whom He loves.  We cannot hate someone if we love God. So, if we love God we will not hate anyone.  I think looking at this gives us a clearer understanding about what the writer wrote about sin.  I do not know anyone who hates someone for absolutely no reason. It may not be a good reason, but it is a reason nonetheless.  So, from time to time we will find ourselves developing a hate for someone, perhaps for something that most people would say justifies our hate.  When we realize that we have come to hate someone we have a choice.  We can continue to hate them, continue to sin.  Or we can seek the Holy Spirit’s transformative power and begin to love them instead.  If we do the former, we are choosing to separate ourselves from God.  If we do the latter we are embracing God’s love and following in Christ’s example.

Daily Bible Study

December 23, 2019 Bible Study — God Has Given Us Everything We Need to Live a Godly Life

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Peter 1-3

Peter writes here that God has given us everything we need to live a holy life.  He then goes on to instruct us in how to go about doing so.  I really like the way he gives us a step by step basis for living such a holy life.  Each step is necessary for the next one to build upon, but is incomplete without those which follow.  We cannot have real moral excellence without faith, and faith without moral excellence has no value.  The same thing goes all of the way up the chain.  You will not truly love others if you do not feel brotherly affection for them, and none of these things have any real value if you do not love others.  As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13, love is the capstone of all other gifts we receive from God, the gifts which Peter tells us that God has given us so that we can live a holy life.  And while love is the necessary capstone to make them all function, we also need knowledge and self control and endurance.

 

Peter goes on from writing about how God has given us what we need to be holy to contrasting the Gospel story with the stories told by false teachers.  The account of Jesus’ life upon which all of Peter’s teaching, and the teaching recorded in the New Testament, is based actually happened.  It was not a story cleverly composed to support the things they wished to teach.  On the other hand,, false teachers make up stories and cleverly retell stories to support whatever will allow them to exploit their listeners.  Peter even gives us guidance which helps us recognize these false stories.  These false teachers will will seek to become wealthy from their teachings and/or will lead sexually immoral lives.  Frequently, sexual immorality will be a key part of their teaching.  They will either use their supposed position of authority to gain sexual favors, or will use sexually immoral teachings to attract people to their system.

Daily Bible Study

December 22, 2019 Bible Study — Remaining Faithful In the Face of Suffering

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Peter 1-5

In this letter Peter has several themes he returns to again and again.  I believe he he does this because these ideas are intertwined with each other.  He primarily focuses on doing good and publicly acknowledging Christ even when it means suffering.  In fact, he writes that doing good and publicly acknowledging Christ will lead to suffering, at the very least in the form of ridicule.  In addition Peter emphasizes the importance of loving one another and having humility.  These latter are the primary expression of what Peter means by “doing good”.  It would be easy when reading this letter to think doing good for our fellow believers would satisfy what Peter means when he writes that we should “lone one another”.  However, we should remember that Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan in response to the question, “Who is my neighbor?”

Daily Bible Study

December 21, 2019 Bible Study — Control Your Anger to Control Your Tongue, and Vice Versa

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on James 1-5

Every time I read the Book of James some part of it speaks to me.  Everyone knows that James puts an emphasis on the fact that faith will result in action.  You will act according to what you truly believe.  However, we spend less time seeing the connection James makes between what we say and what we do.  James tells us that we should control what we say.  He links speech we should avoid with anger when he tells us to be quick to listen but slow to speak and to anger.  He does not limit controlling our tongue to when we are angry, but he makes it clear that that is when we are most likely to say things which we should not say.  As important, we often justify saying things we should not say by claiming that we are saying it but would not do it.  However, the more we express angry thoughts, or other thoughts of negative things, the more likely we are to act on those thoughts.

Daily Bible Study

December 20, 2019 Bible Study — Don’t Let Anything Impede Doing 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 Hebrews 12-13

In chapter 11, which we read yesterday, the writer referred to the many people who did great things, and/or experienced great suffering and persecution because of their faith.  We should be inspired by those people to remove from our lives any thing, thought, or activity which interferes with living a life which pleases God.  Look at your life and get rid of anything which takes away from doing God’s will.  Each and every one of us only has so much time or energy.  Spend that time and energy doing things which show God’s love to others.  If you find yourself sinning, fill up more of your time with doing good and soon you will not have time to sin.  And never allow yourself to feel bitter about anything.  Instead view those negative things which tempt you to be bitter as God’s loving discipline designed to goad you to do better.

Later, as part of his wrap up of the letter, the writer tells us to show hospitality to strangers because sometimes those strangers are God’s messengers.  Paul wrote that we should love one another.  The writer here is reminding us that we do not necessarily know who is, and is not, a member of that “one another”.  Further, the blessings we receive from showing love to those who may never return that love greatly exceeds the cost to us of doing so.  

Daily Bible Study

December 19, 2019 Bible Study — Encourage One Another To Perform Acts of Love

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Hebrews 10-11

Under the Law of Moses only the High Priest could enter the Most Holy Place, could enter into the presence of God.  However, the writer of the Book of Hebrews tells us that under the new covenant entered into by Jesus’ sacrifice we can freely enter into God’s presence.  Under the old covenant regular and frequent sacrifices were required.  Under the new covenant, Jesus sacrificed Himself once for all time.  This should inspire us to strive to keep from sinning.  Under the old covenant, if you sinned again, you just offered another sacrifice.  Under the new covenant, the sacrifice has been offered.  When we sin again, it is as if we are asking Christ to once more go to the Cross.  We should associate with other believers so that we can encourage them, and be encouraged by them, to do acts of love and good works.  

Daily Bible Study

December 18, 2019 Bible Study — Those Who Knew Christ and Rejected Him Will Never Turn to Him Once More

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Hebrews 6-9

The writer says something here that I struggle with explaining.  Those who have known and accepted Christ and then rejected Him will never turn to Him once more.  The reason I struggle with this is that I have known some who turned away from God and then returned to be faithful servants to Him.  Yet, I also know several people who fit into exactly what the writer is describing.  They once fervently served Christ, but something happened and they chose to turn away from what they knew to be God’s will.  I still pray that I am mistaken and that the Holy Spirit will reach out and transform them, but looking at the decisions they have made I cannot see any way that they would ever return to God.  They knew the glory of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, but have chosen to reject both.  I hope with all that I am that I am wrong.