October 8, 2014

OCTOBER 8

Today's Reading in the ESV One-Year Bible

Believe it or not, this is your last day in Colossians and in Psalm 78. Go celebrate.

Jeremiah 10-11

Jeremiah 10

Vs. 1-5 God appeals to the people not to copy the other nations regarding serving idols or becoming led by signs and superstition. God has already said that He can be understood and known personally.

Vs. 6-13 What a surprise to find this here. What a great declaration of the glory of God. You'll see a note on v. 11 that this one verse is in Aramaic, not Hebrew. This word to the nations was in the language the nations understood.

Vs. 14-16 Meanwhile, back with the idol makers. Verse 16 is a verse of hope. In the middle of all of this warning and judgment, God is still saying that Israel is His inheritance. (Deut. 32:8-9)

Vs. 17-18 Time for the people to go into exile, like hobos with their bundles on their shoulders.

Vs. 19-25 This is Jeremiah lamenting for the people, feeling like a wounded man. Verse 21 is very sad. Leaders don't lead for themselves. If they fail, the people pay the price.

In the years after King Josiah, Judah began to shrink as the surrounding nations were able to harm them. Babylon was the new power and besides the threat they posed, the surrounding nations took advantage of the general lawless atmosphere. Later, God will pronounce judgments on Judah's neighbors.

Jeremiah 11

Vs. 1-5 God commanded Jeremiah to exhort the people to come back to the covenant that Israel made with God at Mt. Sinai. Some suggest Jeremiah began this during the revival in the days of Josiah. Until they found a copy of the OT, the leaders would not have known exactly what the covenant at Sinai was. Finding the Bible and hearing Jeremiah's preaching might explain why Josiah was so distressed when the books of Moses were read to him.

Vs. 6-8 Jeremiah may have preached this message during his entire ministry. In Josiah's day, the entire country, on the surface, served God. The revival was broad, but superficial for the majority. During Josiah's day they didn't have temples or shrines to other gods.

Vs. 9-17 After Josiah's death, the people (led by ungodly kings) quickly went back to worshipping everything other than God. The worship of Baal and Ashtoreth (Baal's wife) were "X-rated" and almost irresistible, explaining why King Solomon was lured into Ashtoreth worship. This would have begun quickly and required little overhead. The people disregarded the testimony in the books of Moses that God judges the sins of Israel if they rebel.

Vs. 9-13 The people had multiplied gods, so God said that when distress came upon them, they should seek their own gods.

Vs. 14-17 Jeremiah might be distressed and weep, but God tells Jeremiah not to intercede for the people. Actually, by the time the city was taken and destroyed, Jeremiah was seeing things very much like God did. A couple good beatings and being thrown into a muddy cistern have a way of changing your perspective.

Vs. 18-22 Anathoth was Jeremiah's hometown. So where is it that a prophet has no honor? That's right. And to boot, they wanted to kill him. God not only told Jeremiah about this, but God took it personally.

I was reading this morning in John 8 where Jesus confronted the priests, scribes and Pharisees who wanted to kill Him. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44) This is the same reason why the leaders wanted to silence Jeremiah. They were following their father.

It is interesting that taking God's Word to people in the harvest not only allows you to see God's blessing and love, it also allows you to understand God's righteousness in judging people. People may reject us, but they are really rejecting Jesus. We feel it and understand how God must sense the rejection, apathy and ridicule.

Colossians 3:18-4:18

Colossians 3:18-25

This is the same as in Ephesians 5 and extremely brief in comparison.

V. 25 Ephesians doesn't have this warning.

Colossians 4

V. 1 This is the warning to masters of slaves. In Ephesians 6, this warning and the one in 3:25 were mixed together. In some way, comparing this to Ephesians helps you to better understand what this warning means in Colossians.

Vs. 2-4 Again, there is a longer version of this in Ephesians 6, right after the mention of the spiritual armor.

Vs. 5-6 These are different than Ephesians 4 and good advice on chewing the bull with others in the harvest.

Vs. 7-9 These are exactly like Ephesians except for the mention of Onesimus. If you don't know who Onesimus is, you will when you read Philemon. Onesimus is the entire focus of that letter. It is interesting here that he is now serving Paul.

Vs. 10-11 As Paul often does, he mentions fellow workers who are with him. Of interest here is the mention of Mark. This is how we know that Mark and Barnabas were related. It helps explain why Barnabas was willing to split with Paul in Acts 15. It is interesting that Mark was here with Paul in Rome during the time Paul was under house arrest as recorded at the end of Acts. By that time, Mark had already written the Gospel of Mark. The next time that Paul would be in Rome, it would be to die as recorded in 2 Timothy, and he will ask Timothy to bring Mark with him to help him. It is said that Mark wrote his Gospel for the church in Rome, and so it would have been appropriate for Mark to have been in Rome ministering to the churches of Rome. It could be that Mark was now visiting Paul, who was still under house arrest, and filling him in on some of Jesus' history that he had not known.

Just to make sure they understood that Paul was not promoting Jewish custom, Paul mentioned that of all the people with him, these men were the only Jews with him (men of the circumcision).

Vs. 12-13 Epaphras is honored here. He apparently was the guy who "planted" the church in Colossae. Paul is showing his esteem for him and may also be saying they should honor Epaphras more than those teachers who are confusing them. Notice that Epaphras "struggled" for them and notice too what his desire for them was.

V. 17 Archippus is the son of Philemon, the recipient of one of the letters we'll be reading.

When is the last time you read Colossians? Congratulations!

As mentioned, the conflict with those teachers who were trying to diminish the eminence of Christ resulted in Paul and the Spirit giving us the longest, clearest declaration of the glory of Jesus, the Son of God, God the Son. When you put it all together, He deserves our love, our devotion and our wonder. Staying in the Word daily, allowing the Spirit to keep our hearts alive to the love of God and the mission we have in the harvest will guarantee that our hearts are always growing in the wonder of Christ. Wonder makes making disciples a lot easier.

Psalm 78:56-72

Vs. 56-58 This is the contrast to God's amazing salvation of His people from Egypt. They had all those signs and wonders, yet this is how they responded. Underline all of the things they did. It is interesting.

Vs. 59-64 This summarized the period of the judges. But as we read the book of Judges we saw the patience of God. There were about 400 years of God reaching out to this people. Notice that Shiloh wasn't destroyed until the time that Eli was judged in 1 Samuel 4. The death of the priests was probably during the reign of Saul when he put to death the priests and their families at Nob, as he was trying to find and kill David. (1 Sam. 22:18-19)

V. 60 This is what we have heard mentioned in Jeremiah 7:4. The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord… was like their good luck charm, but they had defiled it and rebelled against God.

Vs. 65-66 This is God rising in jealousy to protect His people, not because of their works but because of His promise.

Vs. 67-72 This section is the real point of the psalm. The people were to lift their eyes to the provision of a leader like David. It was through David that God brought order and stability to Israel. We don't really get the emotion of having a hero king. We don't have any real faith in our politicians. Back then, the conquering hero, the king, brought stability; and it was a great day when he returned victorious from battle. It meant safety, order and peace. We who know Jesus have a real hero and a real king. In psalms like these, and in all of the NT, we are invited to look to the return of our Lord and King, Jesus, the Son of David, the Son of Man, who will bring order and lasting peace to the earth. That was the vision we saw in Isaiah 6. The earthly king had died, but God sat upon the throne of both heaven and earth. A King sits on the throne today and we need to tell people He's returning.

Proverbs 24:28-29

Just reading these verses brings to mind words from Jesus and Paul. How many things can you think of from Jesus or Paul that tell you what our attitude, as the rescued, should be? I'll start.

Romans 12:17-21 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. ¹⁸If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. ¹⁹Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” ²⁰To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” ²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year Bible, click on this linkhttp://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/. If that doesn't work, go tohttp://www.esvbible.org/devotions/ and click on “Every Day in the Word.”

I'm writing these comments to and for those who are following a One Year Bible and interested in growing deeper as a disciple, following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see the growth of a discipleship culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples, meeting weekly, encouraging each other to follow Christ and work to reach out and make disciples who make disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal manual we have and key to our growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused on why we are here or what we are to be doing. My comments are only meant to provide some explanation of the events or to show the flow of God's plan of redemption. My comments are in no way exhaustive, but are designed to keep us focused on Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is that the people in these groups will grow in Christ and be willing, after a year, to find 3 others to meet with and encourage in their growth as disciples, disciples making disciples in the harvest.

If you would like a more descriptive commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's keyed to the NIV, so the result is the commentators are constantly telling you what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.

I am not endorsing any particular One Year Bible; in fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte Lutherbibel 1984.

Anyone reading along with us is welcome to do so and is encouraged to take their own notes and make their own observations. If the comments made do not agree with your particular tradition or understanding, that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any point of view, but only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as I understand it. Send comments or feedback todgkachikis@gmail.com.

If you would like documents containing an entire month of the Reading Notes, go tohttps://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes. You can download these to use on your computer or to print.