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 8
Believe it or not, this is your
last day in Colossians and in Psalm 78. Go celebrate.
Jeremiah 10-11
Jeremiah
10
Vs.
1-5 God appeals to the people not to copy the other nations regarding serving
idols or becoming led by signs and superstition. God has already said that He
can be understood and known personally.
Vs.
6-13 What a surprise to find this here. What a great declaration of the glory
of God. You'll see a note on v. 11 that this one verse is in Aramaic, not
Hebrew. This word to the nations was in the language the nations understood.
Vs.
14-16 Meanwhile, back with the idol makers. Verse 16 is a verse of hope. In the
middle of all of this warning and judgment, God is still saying that Israel is His inheritance (Deut. 32:8-9).
Vs.
17-18 Time for the people to go into exile, like hobos with their bundles on
their shoulders.
Vs.
19-25 This is Jeremiah lamenting for the people, feeling like a wounded man.
Verse 21 is very sad. Leaders don't lead for themselves. If they fail, the
people pay the price.
In
the years after King Josiah, Judah began to shrink as the surrounding nations
were able to harm them. Babylon was the new power and besides the threat they
posed, the surrounding nations took advantage of the general lawless
atmosphere. Later, God will pronounce judgments on Judah's neighbors.
Jeremiah
11
Vs.
1-5 God commanded Jeremiah to exhort the people to come back to the covenant
that Israel made with God at Mt. Sinai. Some suggest Jeremiah began this during
the revival in the days of Josiah. Until they found a copy of the OT, the
leaders would not have known exactly what the covenant at Sinai was. Finding
the Bible and hearing Jeremiah's preaching might explain why Josiah was so
distressed when the books of Moses were read to him.
Vs.
6-8 Jeremiah may have preached this message during his entire ministry. In Josiah's
day, the entire country, on the surface, served God. The revival was broad, but
superficial for the majority. During Josiah's day they didn't have temples or
shrines to other gods.
Vs.
9-17 After Josiah's death, the people (led by ungodly kings) quickly went back
to worshipping everything other than God. The worship of Baal and Ashtoreth
(Baal's wife) were "X-rated" and almost irresistible, explaining why
King Solomon was lured into Ashtoreth worship. This would have begun quickly
and required little overhead. The
people disregarded the testimony in the books of Moses that God judges the sins
of Israel if they rebel.
Vs.
9-13 The people had multiple gods, so God said that when distress came upon
them, they should seek their own gods.
Vs.
14-17 Jeremiah might be distressed and weep, but God tells Jeremiah not to
intercede for the people. Actually, by the time the city was taken and
destroyed, Jeremiah was seeing things very much like God did. A couple good
beatings and being thrown into a muddy cistern have a way of changing your
perspective.
Vs.
18-22 Anathoth was Jeremiah's hometown. So where is it that a prophet has no
honor? That's right. And to boot, they wanted to kill him. God not only told
Jeremiah about this, but God took it personally.
I was reading this
morning in John 8 where Jesus confronted the priests, scribes and Pharisees who
wanted to kill Him. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a
murderer from the beginning, and
does not stand in the truth,
because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own
character, for he is a liar and the
father of lies (John 8:44). This is the same reason
why the leaders wanted to silence Jeremiah. They were following their father.
It is interesting that taking God's Word to people in the
harvest not only allows you to see God's blessing and love, it also allows you
to understand God's righteousness in judging people. People may reject us, but
they are really rejecting Jesus. We feel it and understand how God must sense
the rejection, apathy and ridicule.
Colossians 3:18-4:18
Colossians
3:18-25
This
is the same as in Ephesians 5 and extremely brief in comparison.
V.
25 Ephesians doesn't have this warning.
Colossians
4
V.
1 This is the warning to masters of slaves. In Ephesians 6, this warning and
the one in 3:25 were mixed together. In some way, comparing this to Ephesians
helps you to better understand what this warning means in Colossians.
Vs.
2-4 Again, there is a longer version of this in Ephesians 6, right after the
mention of the spiritual armor.
Vs.
5-6 These are different than Ephesians 4 and good advice on chewing the bull
with others in the harvest.
Vs.
7-9 These are exactly like Ephesians except for the mention of Onesimus. If you
don't know who Onesimus is, you will when you read Philemon. Onesimus is the
entire focus of that letter. It is interesting here that he is now serving
Paul.
Vs.
10-11 As Paul often does, he mentions fellow workers who are with him. Of
interest here is the mention of Mark. This is how we know that Mark and
Barnabas were related. It helps explain why Barnabas was willing to split with
Paul in Acts 15. It is interesting that Mark was here with Paul in Rome during
the time Paul was under house arrest as recorded at the end of Acts. By that
time, Mark had already written the Gospel of Mark. The next time that Paul would
be in Rome, it would be to die as recorded in 2 Timothy, and he will ask
Timothy to bring Mark with him to help him. It is said that Mark wrote his
Gospel for the church in Rome, and so it would have been appropriate for Mark
to have been in Rome ministering to the churches of Rome. It could be that Mark
was now visiting Paul, who was still under house arrest, and filling him in on
some of Jesus' history that he had not known.
Just
to make sure they understood that Paul was not promoting Jewish custom, Paul
mentioned that of all the people with him, these men were the only Jews with
him (men of the circumcision).
Vs.
12-13 Epaphras is honored here. He apparently was the guy who
"planted" the church in Colossae. Paul is showing his esteem for him
and may also be saying they should honor Epaphras more than those teachers who
are confusing them. Notice that Epaphras "struggled" for them and
notice too what his desire for them was.
V.
17 Archippus is the son of Philemon, the recipient of one of the letters we'll
be reading.
When
was the last time you read Colossians? Congratulations!
As
mentioned, the conflict with those teachers who were trying to diminish the
eminence of Christ resulted in Paul and the Spirit giving us the longest,
clearest declaration of the glory of Jesus, the Son of God, God the Son. When
you put it all together, He deserves our love, our devotion and our wonder.
Staying in the Word daily and allowing the Spirit to keep our hearts alive to
the love of God and the mission we have in the harvest will guarantee that our
hearts are always growing in the wonder of Christ. Wonder makes making
disciples a lot easier.
Psalm 78:56-72
Vs.
56-58 This is the contrast to God's amazing salvation of His people from Egypt.
They had all those signs and wonders, yet this is how they responded. Underline
all of the things they did. It is interesting.
Vs.
59-64 This summarized the period of the judges. But as we read the book of
Judges we saw the patience of God. There were about 400 years of God reaching
out to this people. Notice that Shiloh wasn't destroyed until the time that Eli
was judged in 1 Samuel 4. The death of the priests was probably during the
reign of Saul when he put to death the priests and their families at Nob, as he
was trying to find and kill David (1 Sam. 22:18-19).
V.
60 This is what we have heard mentioned in Jeremiah 7:4. The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord… was like their good
luck charm, but they had defiled it and rebelled against God.
Vs.
65-66 This is God rising in jealousy to protect His people, not because of
their works but because of His promise.
Vs.
67-72 This section is the real point of the psalm. The people were to lift
their eyes to the provision of a leader like David. It was through David that
God brought order and stability to Israel. We don't really get the emotion of
having a hero king. We don't have any real faith in our politicians. Back then,
the conquering hero, the king, brought stability; and it was a great day when
he returned victorious from battle. It meant safety, order and peace. We who
know Jesus have a real hero and a real king. In psalms like these, and in all
of the NT, we are invited to look to the return of our Lord and King, Jesus,
the Son of David, the Son of Man, who will bring order and lasting peace to the
earth. That was the vision we saw in Isaiah 6. The earthly king had died, but
God sat upon the throne of both heaven and earth. A King sits on the throne
today and we need to tell people He's returning.
Proverbs 24:28-29
Just reading these verses brings to mind words from Jesus and Paul. How
many things can you think of from Jesus or Paul that tell you what our
attitude, as the rescued, should be? I'll start.
Romans 12:17-21 Repay no one evil
for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18If
possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19Beloved,
never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written,
“Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20To the
contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him
something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”
21Do
not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment