If you don't
have a One Year Bible or prefer something online, this link will take you to
the day's reading, http://oneyearbibleonline.com/daily-oyb/. This
site allows you to select from several languages and several English
translations.
OCTOBER 12
Today
you are finishing 1 Thessalonians. If you celebrate with every book you finish
and every book you begin, you'll enjoy your favorite seasonal treat once or
twice a week. Any motivation you can bring to your day and week to keep reading
will be worth it. As often as I have read these readings, I am continually
being shown new things and understanding the Lord better and better. I not only
think I'm becoming a better follower, but I see how His Word balances my heart.
Jeremiah
19-21
Jeremiah
19
Where
the illustration of the potter showed that God could change things quickly,
based on the obedience or disobedience of the people, this illustration showed
that the damage the people brought on themselves was irreparable.
Vs.
1-13 I'm guessing this was either during the time of Jehoiakim or during the
early years of Zedekiah. Both of these kings were ungodly and led the people in
worshiping everything.
The
blood of innocents in this context
are the children who were born as the result of Baal worship, who then were
sacrificed to Moloch. (He is also called Molech, Milcom, Malcham and Chemosh
among the Moabites.) It is easy to compare these practices and worship to the
sexuality our culture promotes and the abortions that are necessary to deal
with the unwanted results.
V.
5 I have never heard of human sacrifice being a part of Baal worship. I would
guess that the altar (mouth) of Moloch was set up near the same place. I'm sure
that in the minds of the people, the worship of Baal and unwanted children that
came from it was closely associated with Moloch and throwing those babies into
its burning mouth. It made a very complete worship experience.
V.
9 If you understand v. 5, you see that this was justice, not on innocent
people, but on those who were involved in Baal worship. They were eating the
children they had given birth to as the result of Baal worship.
Vs.
14-15 After Jeremiah returned to the city with those people and leaders who had
gone with him, curious as to the Word of the Lord he would be declaring,
Jeremiah entered the temple courts and finished the message. Notice Jeremiah's
last words and then look at what happens next.
Jeremiah
20
Jeremiah
was a well-established phenomenon in Jerusalem by this time. He was hated and
tolerated and everyone knew their place. I'm sure that Jeremiah wasn't ready to
have his education as a prophet of God suddenly take a giant step forward.
Vs.
1-2 This guy appears to have been the first to lay hands on Jeremiah. He beat
Jeremiah and it looks like it was public. The mystique was gone. Jeremiah was
no longer untouchable. Pashhur was a very common name. If you do a word search
you'll find lots of them.
Vs.
3-6 Even if Jeremiah had wanted to go away quietly, he couldn't. The Lord put a
word in his mouth that I'm also sure went public.
It
is hard to say when this happened, but there are only two possibilities. After
Jehoiakim rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar and died, his eight-year-old son,
Jehoiachin, became king. In obedience to Jeremiah, after ruling for 100 days,
Jehoiachin and his mother walked out of the gate of Jerusalem and gave up the
city to Neb and he was taken to prison in Babylon. At that time, still in God's
mercy (and I think Neb was being advised by Daniel), Neb left the city standing
and the temple intact. But to humble Jerusalem and Judah, he took 12-13,000
leaders, craftsmen, and businessmen into exile. The false prophets, like
Pashhur, had said this would never happen, but it did.
It
could be that Pashhur was taken at this time. However, this was not the siege
of Jerusalem that led to people eating their children. That came 10 years later
at the end of Zedekiah's reign. If I were a guessing man, I'd say that Pashhur
was taken with Jehoiachin to Babylon as a sign for the people that God meant
business and to keep their hands off of Jeremiah.
Vs.
7-10 Jeremiah's humiliation and his calling…and he was helpless to resist
either. What a rich group of verses.
Vs.
11-13 Now if Jeremiah wrote all of this at one sitting, he was off of his
bi-polar meds. I think this was all the reflection of a few days, or weeks.
Jeremiah understood that in spite of his humiliation, God did judge Pashhur;
and Jeremiah survived and was set free. He would need to remember this lesson
because it would get much worse.
Vs.
14-18 Doesn't this sound like Job? Jeremiah, as a priest, would have had a copy
available to him. It seems to me that it isn't so much that Jeremiah was
lamenting what had just happened to him, but that God was using him to declare
judgment on the people and that he was witnessing everything. It was a dark
time to serve God.
Jeremiah
21
This
chapter may be several years after the last chapter, showing the continuation
of the prophecy of the broken flask.
Vs.
1-2 After Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin and the 12,000 into captivity, he left
Zedekiah (Jehoiachin's uncle) in Jerusalem as king. This was actually an act of
mercy by God, and again, I think Daniel advised Neb to be nice. But, because of
the hope of Egypt's army and the fact that Babylon was so far away, Zedekiah
rebelled. Zedekiah also had an army of prophets telling him that the
Babylonians would be defeated by Egypt or Assyria and that the people taken in
exile would soon return. There were even exiled false prophets in Babylon
prophesying this and sending word back to Jerusalem.
It
was totally ironic for them to ask that God would deal with them according to all his wonderful deeds.
Not only had God just shown them mercy in Neb not destroying the city, but they
were still just as idolatrous as ever. They were hoping that God would do to
Babylon what He had done to the Assyrian army when they had threatened the
city. But there couldn't have been a bigger difference in the kings and people
of those two different times.
Vs.
3-14 Notice in this prophecy, there are different people addressed. You'll find
these following, and to.
V.
14 Notice how God says He will punish them, according
to the fruit of your deeds. This is referring back to their statement to
Jeremiah in v. 2, according to all his
wonderful deeds.
1
Thessalonians 5:4-28
Vs.
4-11 This is not saying that as children
of light, Christians know when the day of the Lord is to begin, but that
they know it will begin anytime; and so they will stay alert and keep working
in the harvest.
Vs.
6-7 These verses suggest that although we shouldn't sleep, we can if we desire.
V.
8 Notice that this instruction to stay alert and awake sounds like the
spiritual armor of Ephesians 6.
Vs.
9-10 The context of these verses is not God's wrath as in damnation, but His
wrath in the Tribulation. Our salvation in Jesus is what keeps us from that
time of testing on the earth. Christ will return to take His own, whether they
are awake or sleeping. Paul just used these words meaning spiritually alert or
spiritually lethargic. Even the lethargic will be taken to the Lord when He
comes for the church.
V.
11 If you live oblivious to all of this, you really don't need v. 11. The
Thessalonians needed it, not only because of the persecution and because they
had apparently lost people, but because they kept trying to work in their city
reaching lost people, making disciples.
Vs.
12-13 Support your local leaders/elders. Actually, since they were going
through persecution, they needed to bind together with the leaders more than
ever.
Vs.
14-22 These are a bunch of very important admonitions.
V.
14 This is caring for one another under pressure.
V.
15 Under persecution it would have been easy to lash out at neighbors or
anyone.
Vs.
16-18 As an illustration of these verses, my cell phone, out of the blue,
totally unexpected, utterly without provocation, died the day I wrote this
entry. I know enough to get over it, and I'm giving thanks because I know God
did it, or let it happen, for a reason.
V.
19 To miss vs. 16-18 would be to miss what God is doing and to quench the
Spirit.
V.
23 How do you understand this verse? Sanctify
means to set apart. Jesus asked the Father to sanctify us in the truth. His
Word is truth. Notice that this is the close of a chapter and the Lord's coming
is mentioned again.
V.
24 And then, how do you understand this?
V.
27 Apparently this was serious business.
We're
blazing through these letters, so it is good for us to remember that these were
written to disciples. The disciples in Thessalonica didn't have much of a
Bible. Maybe they had a couple of letters. They might have had a copy of Mark's
Gospel. We have so much more, but they were risking their lives and livelihoods
daily in following Christ. They truly were taking up the cross of their death
and following Christ into the harvest, reaching out to the lost and making
disciples.
Psalm
82
Just
like in Jeremiah, the rulers of the people, the shepherds, could lead the
people astray and bend justice. That is the point of this psalm. Judges,
rulers, elders are appointed by God and rule under Him. That means they are
also accountable to Him.
Vs.
1-4 This is the charge against these leaders. God mentions what they should
have done.
V.
5 Because of this, these leaders brought instability, ignorance and ruin.
Vs.
6-7 In John 10:33-35 Jesus quotes v. 6, meaning that if God called leaders
"gods" (elohim, mighty ones) because He gave them the Word of God,
how much more should Jesus have been called the Son of God and God the Son
since He had been sent and consecrated by the Father.
V.
8 And as a result of that one Good Shepherd, God will inherit all nations.
Proverbs
25:7b-10
Vs.
7b-8 Don't be quick to assume what you think you saw was accurate and declare
it publicly. Find out first.
Vs.
9-10 Don't be quick to assume you understand your neighbor's actions and then tell
your thoughts to others. Go ask him first.
Now
if we could just institute these in the church. God is always working, so we
need to slow down, take a breath and do things His way.
Please Read
the Following Disclaimer
I'm writing the Reading Notes to and
for those who are following a One Year Bible and are 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, that is, 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 and important discipleship manual we have and it is the 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, or whom we are to be following. 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, as disciples, 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, 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 (BKC).
I read the BKC in doing background for the Reading Notes and refer to it quite
often. I also make reference to maps or charts in the BKC, though I will only
note where those resources can be found. Often you can do a search for these
and find them in Google books. Buying both volumes of the Bible Knowledge
Commentary would be a good idea.
I am not endorsing any particular
One Year Bible translation; in fact, I read something you probably don't, Die
Revidierte Lutherbibel, 1984. Unless noted, all Scripture quotes are from the
ESV Bible.
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. Often there is a breadth of opinion on certain events, both
historical and prophetic. Many of my views come from my church background,
theological training and my personal study.
I'm
doing this with discipleship in mind, meaning, I'm writing out thoughts that
will keep discipleship and our growth as disciples applied to what we are
reading. Remember, the real focus of the Reading Notes is to be a
supplement, a disciple’s commentary, giving motivation and insight so that we
will keep following our Lord in the harvest, reaching the lost and making
disciples, who make disciples. Being in
the Word every day, sitting at Jesus’ feet, learning directly from Him, is the
essential essence of being and making disciples.
May the Lord bless you as you follow Him in the
harvest, reaching the lost and making disciples, who make disciples. Dan
If you would like documents
containing an entire month of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes.
If you would like a full
presentation of discipleship read Simply
Disciples*Making Disciples.
Or if you are struggling with
insomnia and would like a long boring dissertation on disciple making, these
can both be found on https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes.
Reading Notes ©, Dan Kachikis
2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018
The One Year Bible © by
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton Illinois 60189
The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version® (ESV®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers.
All charts/graphics/outlines
from the Bible Knowledge Commentary are used with the permission of David C.
Cook.
© 1983, 2001 John F Walvoord and Roy B Zuck.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary is published by David C Cook.
All rights reserved. Publisher permission
required to reproduce.
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