OCTOBER 5
Jeremiah
4:19-6:14
One of the challenges with Jeremiah, and you
might want to take this up with God when you get to heaven J, is that
Jeremiah's prophecies are arranged topically and chronologically, but not
primarily chronologically until we get to the end of the book. That's not
completely comfortable to a western (consecutive numbers, parallel lines and
right angles) way of thinking. In Isaiah we had to be alert to when God was
referring to the near events or the final events and the coming of the Messiah.
In Jeremiah, besides the prophetic aspect of what he is writing, we are left to
wonder if some things were written at a different time and are being put here
by Jeremiah because it fits into the topic he is addressing. Mentioning times
and kings, then, will always be important.
Jeremiah 4:19-31
Assuming that this was said in the early days
of Josiah and Jeremiah, God was not only giving Jeremiah a vision, but He was
also giving him all the emotions that come with fear.
Vs. 19-21 This is the kind of stuff that
gives Jeremiah the nickname of "The Weeping Prophet." Early on,
Jeremiah was distressed for his people and didn't seem to completely understand
God. Later, after years of trying to help them, Jeremiah's attitude toward the
people became more like God's.
Vs. 22-26 Look at what Jeremiah looked for. He was looking to see if the
people would respond to God.
V. 22 The last part of this verse was used by
Paul a couple of times, but in the opposite way, where he says, for example in
1 Corinthians 14:20, be infants in evil,
but in your thinking be mature.
V. 23 This is like Genesis, but instead of
order, the people have created their own chaos.
Vs. 27-28 This is God's desire for judgment
and it has a certain "end times" ring to it.
Vs. 29-31 Surrounded by her enemies and not
seeking the Lord, Judah tried to seek help from Egypt, but all Egypt's promises
failed and Jerusalem fell.
V. 30 It's interesting that Jezebel painted
her eyes before she went out to meet her judges and died.
Jeremiah 5
Vs. 1-2 I've noticed that often the first
couple of verses make a statement, and the rest of the chapter works off of
that statement.
V. 1 This reminds me of Abraham talking with
Jesus (the angel of the Lord) about Sodom, before the angels destroyed it in
Genesis 18:17.
Vs. 3-5 Like Abraham, Jeremiah was hoping
that someone would be found who really followed God.
V. 6 Because these people were themselves
treacherous, God will send three hunters to watch them, stalk them, and nibble
away at their numbers.
Vs. 7-9 In spite of all the lessons and all
the help, what they had become as a people was unredeemable unless God punished
and purged them. It is interesting that when God blessed and fed them, they
turned away from Him.
Vs. 10-11 The picture of Israel as a vineyard
is common, but here God is bringing ruin to it. He will leave a remnant.
Vs. 12-13 We'll see this a lot. The prophets
spoke peace to the people, but that is what the people wanted. Verse 13 is part
of what the false prophets said about the true prophets like Jeremiah. Notice
that the ESV has this as one saying inside of quotes.
Vs. 14-17 This is God declaring judgment for
the words of the prophets that no danger would come. Then God describes the
army that is to come against them and how devastating it will be.
Vs. 18-19 Mercy and judgment together. God
will save a remnant, but He will give them what they want, making them sick of
their own sin.
Vs. 20-24 This sounds a lot like Isaiah.
Notice the contrast in vs. 22-23. The wild sea submits to God, but wild Israel
does not.
Vs. 25-29 Again, although the Lord would
gladly show them mercy, He can’t. Think back to 5:6 where the Lord calls out
three predators to pick away at the people. The people were predators too.
Vs. 30-31 The leaders were religious and
ungodly, but the people liked it like that.
Jeremiah 6:1-14
Vs. 1-8 This is a prophetic warning for those
in Jerusalem regarding the punishment coming against them. Benjamin was the
only tribe that stayed with Judah when the nation divided. Jerusalem is the
object of God’s love in the future when the people will return to Him, but at
this point Jerusalem was becoming the center of everything unholy. When we read
Ezekiel, God will take him undercover and show what the leaders were really
worshiping. It was creepy.
Vs. 9-14 This is a prophetic description of
that coming punishment. Notice again who is mentioned in vs. 13 & 14. As
we’ll see in the reading tomorrow, this culture of ungodliness had gone so long
and so deep that it was a part of the average family. God would have to cleanse
everyone, but a special note would be made to single out the leaders who led
the people away from God.
As disciples in the harvest, we need tact and
wisdom as we talk to people. Yet, we need to tell people the whole truth. Jesus
mentioned the coming judgment often. The disciples were sent out telling people
to repent. Inviting people to Jesus to get a better life sounds good in their
ears. But the whole truth speaks of God's coming kingdom, our sin, our need to
turn to Jesus for forgiveness, and our need to be saved in Christ. This is the
most important part and it is the most offensive. In many places in the world,
salvation means that a person might have personal assurance and peace in
Christ, but as a result of their decision, it means having their "worst
life now" in their immediate context. People need the truth, not just what
we think they want to hear that fits their needs and lifestyle. It's God's
Word, not ours.
Colossians
1:21-2:7
Since Paul had not yet visited this church,
much of what he says has the same tone of introduction as in Ephesians. Even
the letter to the Ephesians was a letter sent to many churches, some of which
Paul had never visited. Paul had never visited any of those churches in the
area around Colossae.
Colossians 1:21-29
Vs. 21-23 This sounds just like portions of
Ephesians, except v. 23 where Paul reminds them that this is the same gospel
that is being preached everywhere. Paul had to remind the Corinthians of this
too, because of preachers who were adding to the teaching which Paul had
brought.
V. 23 In light of all we've read, knowing you
can't lose being a "new creation" (salvation), how do you interpret
Paul's warning?
Vs. 24-29 This is Paul describing the
importance of the ministry in the harvest God had given him, and has given us.
V. 24 Nothing
was "lacking" in Jesus' suffering with regard to salvation. Yet now,
guiding the church, Jesus was using Paul's suffering (He uses ours, too) to
provide crucial insights and leadership to others. Jesus was using Paul to fill
out what He was not physically present to teach.
V. 27 We've seen this in Ephesians. The
mystery is not that the Gentiles would be saved, but that God would make a
mysterious "nation" of Jews and Gentiles during this time. That's us,
the church.
Colossians 2:1-7
Vs. 1-2 Paul saw all of his ministry
struggles as challenges to strengthen churches. That would be an interesting
mindset for us, as disciples, to develop. Notice that in v. 2 Paul tells what
he understood to be God's goal in allowing him to struggle as he did. The point
of making Paul struggle was to produce mature disciples and a unified church.
Vs. 3-7 are entering into one of the problems
at Colossae. Teachers were apparently saying there was hidden knowledge beyond
what Paul had shared with them, and that if they wanted the fullness of God,
they had to go deeper into this knowledge and philosophy, and, wouldn't you
know it, deeper into Jewish custom.
Paul is, and will be, saying that Jesus is as
deep as you need to go. And as we saw in Galatians, Paul will tell them that if
you begin with Jesus in faith, you should stick with Jesus in faith. All the
fullness is in Him. He's enough.
Psalm
77
I wonder what this son of Asaph was living
through when he wrote this. These guys usually led worship under godly kings.
This could have been written during the Assyrian advance on Jerusalem under
Hezekiah, or it could have been written after the return of the people from
Babylon. Both times were times of distress.
Vs. 1-2 Whatever was happening, Asaph was
very distressed. In v. 2 it says he was coming to God in the day of my trouble. We might think, "better late than
never," and God may hear if we only go to Him as a last resort. However,
the godly are always going to God and always receiving peace. This is the
secret behind the peace promised in Philippians 4:6-7. Asaph was a regular at
God's door and God was his only hope.
Vs. 3-9 Here we see that the distress had
something to do with the nation. The times were continually bad and the good
times were now only memories. God's grace and favor on Israel seemed like
history. But Asaph himself is forcing himself to wrestle spiritually with the
situation. You see a progression in these verses and he comes upon God's
promise that He will be gracious to Israel.
Vs. 10-15 Underline I will. Now look at what Asaph declares about God in the last three
verses. Underline you and your. This is great stuff.
Vs. 16-20 In the fulfillment of His promises
and love for Israel, God shook all of creation. Though Asaph couldn't
understand the current distress, this was the same faithful, fearsome, and
almighty God who promised to fulfill His love to Israel. That day is still
coming.
Funny, this morning I was reading in Luke 8
about a weary Jesus waking up in a sinking, storm-tossed boat filled with
screaming fishermen, Master, master, we
are perishing! Jesus gets up and turns off the wind and the waves and says
to them, Where is your faith? They
didn't know that they had God in the boat.
So what is the comfort of these psalms? I'm
reading this one and identifying deeply with it. In a way, who'd want to
identify with such a distressing psalm? But there's a sense of saying you know
what the psalmist is going through and realizing that God says it's OK to feel
like this. It is, oddly enough, God saying that He knows how we feel. It leads
me to believe He wants me to be able to understand that this psalm is true. And
then He wants me to find and use the hope in this psalm.
So, what do we have? Crying out? Check.
Remembering? Check. Verses 7-9, wondering? Check. Appealing, remembering,
pondering, and meditating? Check. Verses 16-20 are from the Bible itself,
viewing the way God redeemed His people. For us too, we know about our
salvation, our Lord's rescue and the future we have in Him. Now as we wait on
Him, we have the privilege of knowing Him and following Him in the harvest.
He's not just in the boat with us, He's in us in the Holy Spirit. Right? Check.
Proverbs
24:23-25
I'm sure this is harder than it sounds,
especially if the wicked are in power or pay the salaries. I'm sure King
Manasseh didn't rule for 55 years by making friends with the people who rebuked
him. It says that he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and I'll bet gallons
of that blood came from those people who stood up to him. But who is the real
king? Oh, yeah, that's right. God is the real King and His is the real kingdom.
In the case of those who rebuked King
Manasseh, the delight and blessing was in the form of standing in the presence
of God and relaxing in the glory and wonder of heaven. That's not bad at all.
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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