Whenever I write on this proverb I feel like I am sucking up to my wife. However, while she does not do all of the things listed in this parable, she is indeed a virtuous and capable woman.
I will praise the Lord. I will sings songs to Him (which means you had better sing pretty loud because I do not sing all that well). I will use what ability I have to praise the Lord. He brings me victory when I am humble (and defeat when I get proud). I will praise His name.
John tells us that God will create a new heaven and a new earth to replace the current one which was broken by sin. In that new heaven and earth God will live with His people. There will be no more death, or sorrow, or crying, or pain. Those who serve God in faith will dwell there, but those who revel in sins will not be able to enter this new earth. This is a reminder that whatever pleasures sin brings, it is not worth it. And whatever suffering being faithful brings is only temporary. Those who faithfully serve God have no need to fear death. For those, death is the end of pain and suffering followed by a new life with no pain or suffering.
The prophet condemns religious leaders who, instead of teaching God’s pure instructions, have taught people to sin. They have shown favoritism in the way they carry out God’s instructions. God will punish them for this. The prophet then condemns the people in general for their unfaithfulness. People wonder why God does not accept their offerings. The answer is because they have been unfaithful to their wives (and husbands). The prophet reminds us that God hates divorce. God is wearied by us when we say that those who do evil are doing good in God’ sight. The passage in Revelation I read today said that the immoral will not enter into the new heaven and new earth. This passage condemns those who practice immorality and those who teach that immorality is not immoral.
Everyone likes to hear the latest rumours. We want to think that we are in the know. The problem is that we often forget that the rumours we heard are just that, rumours. We come to believe that they are true, even though we have heard no facts to back them up. When we hear rumours and gossip, let us make sure we remember that they may not be true, or may even be outright lies.
As Paul traveled to Jerusalem he met with various groups of believers along the way. At each placed he stopped, one or more people were led by the Holy Spirit to urge Paul not to go to Jerusalem. Nevertheless, Paul was determined to complete his trip. Paul told the believers who urged him not to go that he was not only willing to be jailed for Christ but he was willing to die for Him. In making that statement Paul gave an example that all Christians should follow. Are you willing to be jailed for following Jesus? Are you willing to die in order to remain faithful to Him?
As I have read this passage over, it seems to me that Paul was given the choice of avoiding being a martyr. I was going to write that the Holy Spirit was urging Paul to not go to Jerusalem. However, when I started to write that I realized that Paul was given the choice. I believe that if Paul had chosen not to go to Jerusalem, God had plans for him that did not involve him being a martyr. On the other hand, by going to Jerusalem knowing what he was going to face, Paul gave heart to many Christians, both in his time and later, who were facing persecution which they could not/can not avoid.
This story is one of those which tells us a lot about God’s control of history. The officials of Assyria were sure of their power, and their ability to conquer Jerusalem. They declared that God would not be able to protect Jerusalem any more than the gods of other nations had protected them. Looking at this story from a secular perspective, there was nothing which could prevent the Assyrians from besieging Jerusalem until it was forced to surrender, or fell because its soldiers were no longer able to man the walls. Sennacherib’s will was supreme. No army, no power could prevent him from doing as he wished. He and his officials declared this to Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem.
Hezekiah responded by doing what people of faith should always do when someone tells them such things. He turned to God in prayer and asked, “Do You hear this God? I call on You to answer this slander, because I know that Sennacherib is NOT sovereign. You, and You alone, are sovereign.” To which God replied, “I will answer Sennacherib and we will see who is truly sovereign. He will not conquer Jerusalem, he will not even besiege it. He will turn for home, where he will be killed.”
That night, 185,000 of Sennacherib’s soldiers died and Sennacherib broke camp to return to Nineveh. While worshiping in the temple to the god of Nineveh, Sennacherib was killed. Yes, Hezekiah and the Kingdom of Judah could not stand against the military might of the Assyrians, but God is not limited by the limits of this earth. Those who declare themselves sovereign will discover, to their regret, that only God is sovereign. When we look at world history we see nation after nation and army after army which were unbeatable and against which no force on earth could stand. Yet, time and again, they fall before the might of God. Time and again they discover that they are not sovereign after all.
For today, One Year Bible Online links here. We are approaching the end of the year and the beginning of a new one. Let us seek to serve God in all that we do in the New Year.
A wife of noble character is worth more than any amount of money or precious gems. I wish I had taken this proverb to heart when I was single. It would have made my dating life much simpler. Fortunately, God was gracious to me and gave me such a wife anyway. I will tell all the young men of my acquaintance to seek after a woman as described in this passage.
Young women, I encourage you to model yourself after the woman described in this passage and avoid men who are not looking for these things in a wife.
Yet another psalm which reminds us to praise God with all the strength that we have. This psalm reminds us of the importance of praising God in the presence of those who faithfully serve Him. There are times in everyone’s life when they need a reminder that God does great and wonderful things. Let us be the person who provides that spark to our fellow believers.
There is more to this psalm. It reminds us to praise God with enthusiasm, with dancing, and tambourine, and harp. There are times when we need to get excited about praising God. We yell and scream when we go to sporting events, or concerts, even sometimes to movies. Let us show the same enthusiasm as we worship God.
The description from John’s vision which we read today goes so well with today’s psalm. The universe as we know it, the universe which has been corrupted by mankind’s sin and rebellion will be completely wiped away. God will create a new heaven and new earth. God will live among His people. He will wipe away every tear that we have ever experienced. Yes, we have that to look forward to, the day when there will be no more death, or sorrow, or crying, or pain. No one will suffer ever again. This is why the psalmist calls us to so exuberantly praise God.
There will be no need for a temple in the City of God because God Himself will be there and we will worship directly in His presence. There will be no need for sun or moon, or any other source of light because God will radiate all of the light we will need to see clearly. There will be no evil in that place because evil is the absence of good, just as darkness is the absence of light. As I read this, I am filled with joy. The psalm leads right into this reminding us of the joy that comes from worshiping God and being in His presence.
As I read this passage it reminded me of the other side of the joy of praising God, the pain when He rejects our worship. Why would God reject our worship? This passage tells us clearly, because we substitute inferior goods for what we promised to give. Instead of giving of our time when we are fresh and enthusiastic, we put in time when we are tired and worn down. Instead of offering new clothes, or other goods to those in need, we give the clothes we have worn out, or won’t wear because they aren’t stylish.
However, these are only minor compared to an even more serious infraction. Are we faithful to our spouse? Our society has many ills, all of which generate from this one source.
“For I hate divorce!”[h] says the Lord, the God of Israel.
Can it be any more clear than that?
There is one more thing for which God condemns us. When we say that those who do evil are good in God’s sight and that He is pleased with them. Then we turn around and wonder where the God of Justice is. If we want to please God, and have Him accept our worship, let us be faithful to our spouse and refuse to call good the actions of those who do evil.
We all like to hear rumors. They make us feel like we are more important than we are because we know “inside information”. The problem with rumors is that we allow them to colour our judgement without knowing if they are true. Sometimes we form an opinion about someone based on a false rumor and forget why we thought as we did. When we learn that the rumor was false, we do not always correct our opinion of the person. We should be careful not to trust rumors before they are confirmed.
Let us sing praises to the Lord. Other psalms tell us to praise God before all people. This one reminds us not to forget to sing God’s praises among the faithful. Sometimes we need reminders that God has done great things for others. Let us never forget to tell those around us what God has done for us. The psalmist tells the faithful to have the praises of God in their mouth and a sharp, double-edged(NIV) sword in their hands. The writer of Hebrews tells us that the word of God is sharper than a double-edged sword. Let us keep that in mind and arm ourselves with the word of God so that we may present His will to all we meet.
Time after time as Paul journeyed to Jerusalem the Holy Spirit sent people to prophesy to him that he would suffer if he completed his journey. Luke tells us that they urged him not to go to Jerusalem at the prompting of the Holy Spirit. We know that Paul refused to listen to these promptings. He accepted that the prophecies of what would happen to him in Jerusalem were true, but he was determined to go to Jerusalem. Luke, the writer, seems to believe that the Holy Spirit was sending these prophecies as a message to Paul to not go to Jerusalem, but Paul believed that the Spirit was calling him to go to Jerusalem and accept what would happen when he got there.
I have come to believe that Luke was correct, the Spirit was sending the prophecies to convince Paul to turn aside from Jerusalem. However, there are times when God will call us to a course of action which will include consequences we will not enjoy. Paul’s steadfastness in his determination to go to Jerusalem should be a model to us. When the Spirit calls us to a course of action we should not allow the knowledge that it will lead to persecution dissuade us from following that course. And perhaps Paul was correct in his understanding because the Spirit certainly made use of Paul’s subsequent imprisonment to further the spread of the Gospel.
Sennacherib, the king of Assyria invaded Judah and sent a force to besiege Jerusalem. Then he demonstrated his arrogance, his hubris. First he sent his field commander to demand Jerusalem’s surrender. The field commander declared for all to hear that the people of Jerusalem should not rely on God to rescue them because God was not powerful enough to do so. Then, when Sennacherib was forced to withdraw his army to face the armies of Ethiopia (Cush), he sent a letter to Hezekiah repeated the assertion that God was not powerful enough to stand against the Assyrian army. Both times, King Hezekiah took those words to God and asked God what His answer was. In both cases, God told Hezekiah, through the prophet Isaiah not to worry, He was indeed powerful enough to stop the armies of Assyria and they would not enter Jerusalem.
Time and again throughout history powerful leaders have claimed that God could not stop them (usually because they did not believe in God). For example, Stalin famously dismissed the Catholic Church (and all of Christianity) by asking, “How many divisions does the Pope have?” Yet it was another Pope who played an instrumental role in bringing down the empire which Stalin had built. God will not be mocked and those who believe they are more powerful than He will learn that they are wrong.
I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.
Malachi (which may not be the prophet’s actual name, since it translates as “my messenger”) confronts the people of Israel for failing to honor and respect God. He tells them that they show their lack of respect by offering animals that are crippled and/or diseased as sacrifices and by bringing detestable food as offerings to God. They dishonor God by their actions. Malachi tells them that God will not accept such sacrifices. God would rather they closed the Temple rather than continue such unacceptable offerings. People from other nations offer (or will offer) acceptable sacrifices. They honor (or will honor) God in ways which the people of Israel are no longer doing. People from other nations recognize how great and wonderful God is, why won’t the Israelites?
The prophet goes on to condemn the priests and Levites for not teaching the people to live good and righteous lives. They failed the people to live such lives and failed to live such lives themselves. He warned them that if they did not change their ways and begin honoring God, God would curse them. Priests should preserve knowledge of God and people should be able to come to them for instruction on doing God’s will. Instead they have left God’s path and their instruction has caused people to stumble into sin. As a result, people hold the office of priest in contempt. This same prophecy applies to Christian pastors who behave similarly. We cannot dismiss this passage because it refers to practices and offices which we became obsolete with Christ’s death and resurrection.
The prophet continues by condemning the people for their unfaithfulness. They betrayed each other, even though they were all children of the same Heavenly Father. They marry those who worship idols rather than God and they fail to remain faithful to their first wives. The prophet warns us against wearying God by saying that those who do evil are good.
There is a lot in this passage for us today. When we make offerings to God, let us not make them from what is left over. Those who claim to teach others about following God’s commands should follow those commands themselves and relay those commands accurately. Everyone who claims to be a child of God should not bind themselves to those who do not worship God and once they have married they should remain faithful to the one they have married. Finally, we must not pretend that those who do evil are good people who are merely misunderstood (or perhaps not even that).
After destroying the current heaven and earth, God will create a new heaven and earth. In this new creation God will make His home among the people. He will comfort them and there will be no more death, or sorrow, or crying, or pain. All things will be made new and God will live among us as our Father. However, those who refuse to believe, who refuse to turn from their sins, will be cast into the lake of fire in what John calls the second death. There will be no Temple in God’s new creation for God will live among the people and they will be able to meet with Him and worship Him directly.
Let us praise the Lord with singing and dancing and instruments. Let us use all of the skills which God has given us to praise His name. He will delight in those who He has made His people. He will give victory to the humble. Let us praise God as He executes judgment against those who continue to do evil. I will praise the Lord.
Finding a good wife is a challenge, but it is worth the effort. A good and virtuous wife will make her husband a happy man and together they will be a successful team who will serve the Lord in all they do.
I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.
Hezekiah was king of Judah when Assyria was at the peak of its power. Assyria invaded Judah. The king of Assyria sent an army led by his three chief officers to besiege Jerusalem. The Assyrian chief of staff summoned King Hezekiah to a meeting, but Hezekiah sent several court officials in his place. The Assyrians asked the officials what Hezekiah was relying on in his rebellion against Assyria. They told them that Egypt would not be able to help them. They then asked how Hezekiah thought he could rely on God, since he had torn down the shrines where the people had worshiped God and made them come to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices. They offer to provide Hezekiah with 2,000 horses, if he can find the men to ride them into battle. Finally, they claim that they invaded Judah at God’s direction, that God had told them to attack and destroy Judah.
Hezekiah’s court officials ask the Assyrian officials to speak in Aramaic (the language spoken by the educated elites of the Middle East at the time), since they understood it, rather than in Hebrew (the dialect of the kingdom of Judah), because they did not want the people to hear what was being said. The Assyrian officials then called out to the people on the city walls telling them not to let Hezekiah fool them into thinking that he could protect them from the Assyrian army. They told the people not to count on God to rescue them because He would be unable to do so. No other god had been able to save their people from the Assyrians and God would be likewise powerless to stop them. When the court officials returned to Hezekiah and reported the message of the Assyrians to him, he tore his clothes in despair and sent to the prophet Isaiah for guidance. Isaiah told Hezekiah not to worry. The king of Assyria would be called home to deal with troubles there and while he was there, he would be killed by the sword.
Soon afterward, Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, received word that the armies of Cush (which was located approximately where Ethiopia is today) were marching out to meet him. Before taking his army to meet this attack, Sennacherib sent a letter to Hezekiah saying that he would return and that when he returned, God would be unable to prevent him from destroying Jerusalem. Hezekiah took this letter to the Temple and laid it before the Lord. Hezekiah acknowledged that Assyria had conquered these other nations and destroyed their gods. He then declared that this time it was different because those gods were mere idols, while the God that he worshiped was the creator of the universe. Hezekiah begged God to show His power and rescue His people from the Assyrians.
Isaiah sent a message to Hezekiah telling him that God had heard his prayer. God answered Sennacherib’s pride by telling him that all of his accomplishments were according to God’s plans. And now that Sennacherib had boasted against God, God would show His power by putting a hook in Sennacherib’s mouth and guiding him back the way he had come. Isaiah told Hezekiah that the Assyrians would not return to besiege Jerusalem, would not even launch the most basic attack against it. God would show His power and protect Jerusalem against this attack. That very night a large part of the Assyrian army died in the night. In the morning when he saw the number of men he had lost, Sennacherib broke camp and returned home. While he was in worshiping at the temple of his god in his capital, two of his sons killed him with their swords.
The king of Assyria was the most powerful man of his day. He believed that he could go wherever he wanted and no one, not even God, could stand in his way. This passage reminds us that no matter how much power we may have, we can only accomplish those things which God has allowed. The other side of it is, no matter how powerful those standing against us may appear, when God stands in our defense we will not be defeated. Hezekiah did not proudly confront the king of Assyria, rather he humbly cried out to God. This should be our model when facing life’s difficulties.
As Paul continued his journey to Jerusalem, he met with the believers in each city were he stopped. When he got to Caesarea, he stayed with Philip the Evangelist for several days. Agabus came down from Judea and prophesied that the Jews would bind Paul and turn him over to the Gentiles. The believers in Caesarea attempted to convince Paul that he should not go to Jerusalem. Paul responded that he was prepared not only to be bound, but to die in the service of Jesus. Paul then went on to Jerusalem where he was welcomed by the believers living there.
When reading this passage I have always heard preachers focus on Paul’s willingness to suffer persecution in the name of the Lord. And we should certainly be willing to face such persecution. We should not allow the threat of persecution turn us from following the path that God has set us on. However, I cannot help but wonder. Perhaps the reason that God sent prophets to warn Paul what he would face when he got to Jerusalem was because God was trying to tell Paul to not go to Jerusalem. As I have been reading the book of Acts this year, I noticed something. Other believers repeatedly attempted to get Paul to be less confrontational in his interactions with unbelievers. Paul had a tendency to rub people the wrong way and the book of Acts does not praise him for that. I have never seen it this way before, but I believe that the Scripture is not praising Paul for his abrasiveness. Rather it seems to me that Scripture tells us that God used Paul despite his abrasiveness.
Today’s psalm is another one of praise. I have often felt called to talk about how we as Christians need to be out among the sinners of this world in order to witness to them. This psalm reminds us that we need to spend time telling the faithful as well what God has done for us.
Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song.
Sing his praises in the assembly of the faithful.
Let us not forget to tell the faithful how God has worked in our lives, so that we can encourage them as well.
Magrat’s guest not sure he wants to be friendly
Listening to rumors and gossip make us feel like we are part of the “inner circle”, but we tend to take them into our basic understanding of people and events without ever examining their accuracy.
