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 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.
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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