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 28
This
is a red letter day. You'll be finishing two books, Jeremiah and Titus. I don't
mean to get you fat, but I think it would be an appropriate time for a treat of
some sort.
Jeremiah 51:54-52:34
Wow,
the end of the book of Jeremiah! You did it!
Jeremiah
51:54-64
Vs.
54-58 This is the end of the pronouncement of judgment on Babylon. Remember,
most of this is yet to come.
V.
57 The night Babylon was taken, that brilliant and serious military strategist
and king, Belshazzar, knowing his city was surrounded, decided to get everyone
stinking drunk and celebrate to the gods. It was a desperate religious act,
trying to find a god who would respond to their desperate need. The Persians
could have taken the city with two boy scouts and a blind German Shepherd. To
be fair to Belshazzar, he did get a response from "the other side."
At one point King Belshazzar brought out the drinking vessels taken from the
temple in Jerusalem and fed wine to his wives while praising the gods of gold
and silver. Yahweh took exception to that and publicly wrote a message to him
in the plaster of the wall. Belshazzar died that night. Trivia question: Who
was in charge of the empire of Babylon (the last Babylonian ruler) the night
the city and empire fell? A Jewish exile named Daniel. Keep this in mind.
Vs.
59-64 So Zedekiah and Seraiah both went to Babylon in the fourth year of
Zedekiah's reign. It could be that this is the event of Daniel 3. This would
have been the 12th year of Nebuchadnezzar and that fits nicely into the time
frame. If so, Zedekiah was on hand to see three Jewish men risk their lives to
follow God, and he would have seen Nebuchadnezzar worship the God with whom
Zedekiah was in rebellion.
Just
for trivia, if you do a word search on those words describing who Seraiah was
related to, the son of Neriah, the son of
Mahseiah (Jere. 51:59), you find that Seraiah was the brother of Jeremiah's
assistant, Baruch (Jere. 32:12).
Seraiah
read the prophecy against Babylon and threw it in the Euphrates. Five years
later Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar. Seraiah was killed by Neb, and
Zedekiah was severely punished by him.
Interestingly,
this is the end of the prophecies of Jeremiah. Yet, we'll read more from
Jeremiah in Lamentations. What follows now is all history.
Jeremiah
52
Tradition
says that Jeremiah wrote 2 Kings. This might have been added here by Jeremiah
as an historical summary of the final events.
Vs.
1-3 Zedekiah was a spineless man, ruled by those around him and by fear. His
own lack of faith destroyed him. He rebelled against Babylon because of his
officials who wanted to join an alliance with Egypt and the other surrounding
neighbors to oppose Babylon.
Vs.
4-11 The reason the Babylonians could breach the city was because the famine
was so severe, that no one could stand anymore to defend the walls. We have
read this about the flight and punishment of Zedekiah.
Vs.
12-16 This is the end of Israel, beginning with the destruction of the temple,
going to the destruction of the city and finally the taking away of the people.
Thankfully God had already been working for several years to preserve His
people in Babylon.
V.
14 When they burned the temple, the gold on the walls flowed into the cracks in
the foundation. To get the gold, the foundation blocks had to be moved. This
led to the total disassembling of that building. The foundation stones were
valuable and well cut and were probably hauled away to be used for other
buildings. When Zerubbabel showed up years later, he had to re-cut stones for
the foundation of the temple.
Vs.
17-23 This was the total humbling of Israel. These items had been their pride.
God promised Hezekiah that all of these would be removed to Babylon. See 2
Kings 20:17.
Vs.
24-27 Now this is what you did when you conquered a people. You found their
leaders and you put them to death. Seraiah, whom we met in 51:59, died here. So
here is a question. I mentioned that Daniel was the last ruler of the
Babylonian Empire the night the Medes and Persians took over. Why didn't they
kill Daniel? Why did Daniel become a beloved and key ruler under Darius the
Mede? We'll figure it out together when we get to Daniel. God's amazing grace and
working would be the short answer.
Vs.
28-30 Although the main deportations took place at a set time, Neb was always
taking people into exile. Some of them lived in the surrounding area and some
people obeyed and got out of the cities. Because of the next verses dealing
with Jehoiachin, I tend to think that these minor deportations are those who
obeyed and willingly surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar. That would also account for
the low totals here. Not many of the people were willing to obey God.
Vs.
31-34 I've seen it suggested that this is a sign that the exiles would
eventually return to Jerusalem. That may be. But clearly it is a delayed
fulfillment of God's promise, that if anyone left the city and surrendered to
the Babylonian army, they would be taken into captivity and God would honor
them (Jere. 21:9). This is what Jeremiah told Zedekiah to do when Zed asked him
to inquire of the Lord for him. Zedekiah didn't do it, because he didn't
believe it and was afraid of his Jewish enemies. Jehoiachin, the king before
Zedekiah, walked out of the gates of Jerusalem with his mother, was imprisoned,
but for his obedience, was honored.
I'd
like to think it was Jeremiah, 27 years after the fall of Jerusalem, who wrote
these notes. I'd like to think he settled down on that acreage he bought in Anathoth, married some sweet young thing and
lived in peace, writing out 2 Kings and enjoying the sunsets at night.
Jeremiah
had suffered in his service for God. He was hated by most people for bringing
them a message of salvation they didn't want to hear. And for all of this, he
helplessly watched his people give themselves to disobedience and destruction.
Yet even with this, he was much closer to God than anyone around him. When we
read Lamentations 3, we’ll see the deep faith and maturity of Jeremiah in the
midst of all the suffering.
Titus 3
Wow,
the end of Titus!
Vs.
1-8 This is an awesome passage of Scripture. At this time, Nero was beginning
to light the fires of persecution. To me, the section has to do with people being
salt and light in the harvest.
Vs.
1-2 This is keeping our hearts and attitudes in tune with Jesus and His love,
so that we can work in the harvest. Getting lost in "civilian
affairs" and being anxious and vocal about elections is a way to repel
others needlessly from Christ.
Vs.
3-7 We always need to remember that we, too, were lost and in rebellion to God,
hating and being hated. It was His complete love and mercy that saved us in
spite of who we were.
V.
8 The main way to show the love of Christ is good works. Even in persecution a disciple needs to remember why he
is here, and it is very hard to slander a neighbor for being a Christian when
he helps your elderly parent rake leaves. There are lots of things the Spirit
shows us to do in our own neighborhood, if we know our neighbors and we live in
the harvest. Notice that these good works
are tied into our salvation in Christ. In fact, notice that this entire section
has to do with living a life as an ambassador of Christ in a dying world. The
spiritual perspective and power to live like this comes from the gospel and our
own salvation, through the grace of God.
Vs.
9-11 Whatever focuses the church inward, taking on a self-righteous life of its
own, is brought about by warped people. And it takes away our compassion for
the lost in the harvest.
V.
12 I like this guy Tychicus. Suddenly he's everywhere. He's also mentioned in
Acts, Ephesians, Colossians and 2 Timothy.
V.
13 Titus was supposed to make sure that the church supported these workers and
sent them out with their back-packs full.
V.
14 One more urging of the people to be involved in good works, which I think means being in the harvest following
Christ.
V.
15 Isn't this an interesting sentence, Greet
those who love us in the faith? That "faith" embraced the entire
spiritual perspective of life in Christ in the harvest. There is a kindred
spirit of those who know what it is all about and are working hard in the
harvest.
Psalm 100
Wouldn't
it be great to get through something indescribably hard and dangerous,
something that had been filled with difficulty and sadness, and then to stand
on the other side of that "something" and celebrate the goodness and
salvation of God? We get glimpses of this, and it is ultimately where we are
heading.
Vs.
1-2 This will happen completely when Jesus takes His throne.
V.
3 These are just a few words, but the depth of what they mean is endless.
V.
4 That we can enter His gates and courts is enough cause for praise and
thanksgiving.
V.
5 This is the declaration of David. God's steadfast
love and His faithfulness are
often found in tandem, and they are always found when we seek the Lord.
Proverbs 26:18-19
Wow, what a declaration from God. That little sin is the tip of a madly
sinful and violent heart. Little sins have a way of seeming innocent, funny and
acceptable. Those of us who have known people like this know that it definitely
isn't funny.
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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