OCTOBER 31
Lamentations
4-5
Alas, it is our
last day in Lamentations. Rejoice!
Lamentations 4
Vs. 1-10
Jeremiah describes the change in people and the city because of the devastation
of judgment. What is interesting, especially in terms of the treatment of the
children, is that the people had already changed. The people had either been
offering their kids in sacrifice or were accepting of the practice. The
destruction and desperation of judgment just revealed the heart beneath the
civilized veneer.
Vs. 11-20 In
this section we see that the punishment of the people and the success of the
enemy was under the Lord's direction.
V. 13 Notice
that the prophets and priests, who should have led the people, shed the blood
of the righteous in the city, in its gates. This means that the people they
killed were the people who stood against their sin. Although this was done by
the leaders, the people approved.
V. 14 Jesus
said it. When the blind lead the blind, both fall into a pit.
V. 17 This is
the watching of those who had not loved or followed God. Actually, they were
looking first to Egypt to help them. When Egypt didn't work, God was the backup
plan. People get religious when there is a threat and they have no more
resources, but they have no understanding of God either. To suddenly get
religious doesn't fool God. They were so used to worshipping Baal and every
other god they thought they could hold on to, but thought they could reach out
to Yahweh at the same time.
V. 20 This is
referring to King Zedekiah. You don't put your hope in men, particularly
ungodly ones.
Vs. 21-22 We
mentioned this before and will see it again. Edom was judged for their
excessive joy in the destruction of Zion and was also taken into captivity.
Israel returned and was restored. Edom never again became an established
nation.
Lamentations 5
This chapter is
different from the others, although it doesn't appear so in the ESV. It is
written, not as a "poem," but as a prayer.
Vs. 1-18 This
is an appeal to God to look and have compassion. Notice that Jeremiah says
everything in the first person plural. He is praying on behalf of God's people.
Vs. 11-12
Although Babylon was guided to punish Judah, and although Nebuchadnezzar, I
believe, understood that God wanted him to do this, the violence was excessive.
God never is happy about this. Another example of excessive violence by a
God-ordained man was Jehu. (2 Chron. 22:8, Hos. 1:4) The Babylonians
overstepped their bounds also by taking young children by the hand and swinging
and smashing them against buildings and rocks. In judgment, God said to Babylon
in Psalm
137:9, Blessed shall he be who takes your
little ones and dashes them against the rock!
Vs. 19-20
Another appeal to God.
Vs. 21-22 The
final appeal. At this point, it looked like the nation was lost forever and the
death and destruction would have intensified that feeling. But there were the
promises to Adam and Eve, and to Abraham and to David. There were the promises
of salvation and national restoration in the book of Isaiah and in The Psalms.
Notice that this plea for restoration was not to happiness or prosperity, but
to God Himself. This will be fulfilled in the coming of their Messiah.
Hebrews
2
In reading this
section, notice that it still sounds sermonic. Also, notice how the author is
using the OT. He had a great understanding of the OT and how it spoke about
Jesus.
V. 1 This is a
warning, one of about five in the entire book. The author is summarizing
everything he has just said about Jesus and God speaking through Him. The
message is that if you don't regard the importance of the message and the
Messenger, you will drift away. In a way, if you wanted to get picky, it is
saying that the message and the Messenger are so important, that if you focus
your faith and practice on anything else as the primary focus and essential
object of faith, you are in danger of drifting away. I know we tend to look at
people who are in obvious error and agree that they have gotten lost. However,
I wonder if focusing on the Christian culture, its music and meetings, isn't a
log in our eye. I just read a report from people who had visited the
underground church in China. Those disciples are doing far more with far less
in their harvest fields than we in the West are doing in ours. It seems that
the message and the Messenger are their only focus and it burns in their
hearts. To be a believer in China means you are a disciple. In the West, being
a "believer" can mean a lot of things and exclude any need to follow
Christ in the harvest. People can get lost in their Christian culture and drift
away.
Vs. 2-4 Do you
get the argument here? If those who were following the law took the message
seriously that had been delivered by angels, they had better take seriously
this message delivered by the Son. Point: don't go back into the law.
Vs. 5-9 Some
Jews believed that at the end of the age, the world would be subjected to the
good spiritual armies, Michael and his merry angels. The author shoots this
idea to pieces. Everything will be subjected to Jesus. While Jesus is fully
God, He is also fully man, bone of our bone, the Son of Man. He is the only
human capable of righteously ruling the earth and judging both mankind and the
angels who were to have served mankind.
V. 9 The full
subjection will come yet. Wait for it. For Jesus came first to be a sacrifice
for sin.
It could be that some were using the argument that now since
Jesus came, things had become no better than they were before in world affairs.
Surely God would have changed the political world. Right? The Jews never
understood that He needed to die for sin first. Even Jesus' disciples missed
that. And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets
have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should
suffer these things and enter into his glory?” (Luke 24:25-26)
Vs. 10-18 In
order for Jesus to taste death for
everyone, He had to be immersed into the entire human experience. Jesus had to
be subject to the same lost world and gravity and temptation as everyone else.
V. 16 Notice
that argument about angels again. The mention of Abraham refers to the
redemptive promise to Abraham and to those who are saved by faith, à la Romans
4.
V. 17 Jesus had
the actual experience so that He could be a high priest to us, with full
understanding of what it meant to be a human. The flip side is that no one will
be able to say to Him, "How would you know what it felt like? You're
God."
V. 18 I've
heard people expound on this temptation and how Jesus felt all temptations far
deeper because He was perfect. I've never really understood all of that. But
there is a very real point here that this audience might have understood. They
were being frightened and pressured to return to Judaism. Jesus was under
constant pressure to do the same. Because He healed on the Sabbath, the Jewish
leaders hated Him. (John 5:16-18) He didn't live according to the tradition of
the elders (Luke 11:38), so they despised and shunned Him. Jesus definitely
knew what it was like to be hated and cast out because of not adhering to the
traditions of men regarding the law.
As disciples,
following Christ in the harvest means that we might upset the local culture
too, even the Christian culture. There will always be a pressure to be quieter
and more harmless, so that others can feel more comfortable and secure in their
way of life.
Psalm
103
Remember David?
Doesn't it seem like a long time since we've heard him crying out? But remember
that David's life was not very easy. And then, he himself complicated it,
destroying most of his family, and alienating many of his friends. Still, David
was a great man because unlike so many of the kings after him, when he was
humbled, he still loved God with all his heart. Here he is telling Israel to bless the Lord. Regardless of the
challenges in our lives, following Christ in the harvest means we learn to
bless the Lord in all circumstances.
Vs. 1-5 What a
beautiful way to say so much with a few words. Knowing David's life and how he
learned this, I wonder if he wrote this in his later years, looking back.
Vs. 6-12 I'm
impressed by the mentions of God's steadfast
love in combination with the mentions of God's anger and removing of sin.
This must have meant a lot to David in those later years. David, his family,
and friends suffered much as a result of his own sin. Yet God used David as an
example of His mercy and grace.
Vs. 13-14 This
isn't just poetry coming from David. It is his understanding of God's deep love
and compassion.
Vs. 15-19 And
here are the reflective thoughts of a godly man, pulled from the fire and
restored by the grace of God. After all the treachery and instability he had
known among those who ruled Israel and through all the trouble that he,
himself, had created, David knew that it was the Lord who was in control.
Vs. 20-22 Not
only does God rule over the nations, but even the spiritual world is called
upon to give Him praise. Notice that the angels are addressed in different
ways. Notice also that the psalm comes full circle as David repeats v. 1 to
conclude this song of praise.
Proverbs
26:23
You get it,
right? The glaze hides what is underneath. This would be like putting whipped
cream on a cow pie. In what context do you think of the word fervent? Yeah, me too. It reminds me of
some of the fervent insincerity I have seen in religious settings where people
are practical strangers to the Word and are not following Christ in the
harvest, reaching the lost and making disciples, who make disciples, but they
“love” Jesus and a good worship service.
If you’re reading along
and don’t have a One Year Bible, click on this link http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/. If that doesn't work, go to http://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
complete description of this model of being and making disciples you can find
it in my book: Simply Disciples*Making Disciples.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011WJIDQA?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
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 to dgkachikis@gmail.com.
If you would like
documents containing an entire month of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes. You can download these to use on your computer or to
print.
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