Week of 12/27/20 - Pages 439 - 444

People often wonder if a story as incredible as “Jonah and the Whale” actually happened or if it’s simply an allegory. While there is no question that God can do anything, what’s more important is that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”  2 Timothy 3:16   Let’s not get hung up on whether it physically happened but rather, on what it teaches us.  Either way, Jonah is rich with insights.

God chose Jonah for the important mission of warning the 120,000 people in Nineveh, the capital of the powerful and intensely wicked Assyrians.  Their gory wartime practices against their military conquests were well known and Jonah was concerned that they just might listen to his message and repent.  Here is a prophet with a single line to speak, “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” but he refuses to do the deed.  What kind of a prophet does that?  One who, in his limited vision, believed there can be no redemption for the Ninevites living in such darkness.  One who believed forgiveness should only be offered to the Israelites and no one else.    

Taking the scenic path, Jonah eventually delivers the 8-word warning to the Ninevites and, just as he dreaded, they repented immediately.  In fact, the king of Nineveh exercised much faith in the true God by believing the warning and leading his people into repentance.  From the other side of the cross, the bottom line is that “…God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.” Acts 10:34b-35  Further, that God’s driving principle is that He “desire(s) mercy, not sacrifice”.  Matthew 12:4

When God clearly calls us to a thing, He will bring it to pass.  Whether we learn the easy way by being quick to obey, or whether we walk in the opposite direction, sooner or later God’s will is going to prevail.  Let’s determine not to be hardened in our hearts but to, like God, desire mercy more than sacrifice.  In so doing, we pave the way to be effective evangelists of God’s love and mercy and for those in darkness to enter into His marvelous light.  

Week of 12/20/20 - Pages 429 - 438

This week in our Immerse reading bible we read through the book of Joel in its entirety. I don’t think it is coincidental that this is one of the last books, the week before Christmas, which is one of the last weeks of the year of 2020. Which, I think we can all agree that this year did not go in any way shape or form as expected. For instance, the year started out with the wildfires in Australia, locust swarms in Africa, near war between the U.S and Iran, Covid-19 shelter-in-place mandates across the globe, and the murder of George Floyd which spurred on a rejuvenated the call for social reform for our brothers and sisters of color. 

All of these events separately and collectively had the opportunity to show parts of our own ideology, our own theology, and our own egocentrism. Reflect back on this year, reflect back on how you handled certain situations that arose this year. Did you donate? Did you encourage or shy away from the potential war? Did you follow the mandate and accept the face masks? Did you sit silent or speak up for those that are not being heard?

The Word teaches that what is done in private will be brought to light, that is transcendent not only to actions but thoughts and emotions. If on any of the above questions you cringed or felt convicted, I am sure you are not alone. We all fall short daily, we all need to repent and at times remember to view the Word through the lens of self-reflection first. It is easy when we read the Word to apply it to the world around us and those we see on a daily basis. It is easy to read Joel and nod your head in agreement that people need to hear this specific message. 

Yet, the second verse of the book of Joel directs this at the elders and all inhabitants of the land of Judah. He is directing this at people that know of God but don’t know God. He is directing it at the elderly, those that set the example, those that pass down wisdom and knowledge, those whose actions and characteristics are adopted by the younger generations.

We are all an elder to someone, even if that someone is our 5 year-old niece or a cousin 10 years younger than us. They look to us for guidance, direction, and how to handle situations when they arise. That is what we are here for, to share the good news. But if we are constantly reading and pointing the Word outward, are we truly receiving the insight it has for us to see and then share?

Joel reminds us of how God is slow to anger, merciful and compassionate, and filled with unfailing love. This is a welcome reminder at the end of another year when reflection often happens, family is at the forefront, and the celebration of Jesus’ birth is coming.

Week of 12/13/20 - Pages 421 - 427

Malachi Reminds me of James 4:8 where God says to draw near to Him and He will draw near to you.  In this case the people and the priests are, in effect,  saying to God, you haven’t drawn near to us so what’s the point of drawing near to you. They are half-heartedly going through the motions when doing those things God expects and even challenging him when he points out their shortcomings. Without seeking God and drawing near to him they lack the motivation to give God their best. They rob God by withholding their tithes and even divorce their wives in order to marry foreign women and worship their idols.

Week of 12/6/20 - Pages 403 - 419

Most Bible prophets lived before God punished the Israelites by exiling them to Assyria and Babylon.  Not so with the prophet Zechariah, he lived after the exile.  The Israelites are back in their homeland rebuilding their nation.

The return from exile sparked joy in the hearts of the Israelites.  But it also prompted some anxiety.  They still lived under the shadow of the Persian Empire.  Also, since their monarchy had been obliterated and God’s Temple destroyed, the Israelites had much to be saddened.  Zachariah ministers to the exiles returning to Jerusalem with encouragement, hope, and shares visions of God’s judgement, this time not against Israel, but at Israel’s enemies.  

Zechariah writes also about the anticipation of the heavenly king and delivers more prophecies about Jesus in just 14 chapters than any other book in the Old Testament, except for Isaiah’s book but it contains 66 chapters.

The book of Zechariah affirms the pragmatic importance to be involved in shaping this world into a better place while also providing visionary outlook to renounce this world and lift our heads in anticipation of our redemption when “the Lord will be king over all the earth.  On that day there will be one Lord – his name alone will be worshipped” (14:9).

Important to also mention the New Testament writers took notice and about 71 quotations of Zechariah appear in the books of Revelation and throughout the Gospels, many of these found in the record of the last week of Jesus’ ministry.

Week of 11/22/20 - Pages 367 - 372

Thought it was interesting that each time a message came to Ezekiel from the Lord, it is addressed to “son of man”

God is definitely relaying how He will deal with the people, according to how they have lived their lives (the righteous behavior of righteous people will not save them if they turn to sin, conversely if they no longer do evil, none of their past sins will be brought up again for they have done what is just and right and they will surely live)

The Lord further  identifies how He will treat them, on page 373, “I will search for my lost ones who strayed away and I will bring them safely home again, but I will destroy those who are fat and powerful:”

The Lord gives Ezekiel a pretty clear synopsis of a watchman’s duties.  If the watchman sees the enemy coming and warns the people but they ignore him, it is the people’s fault, but if the watchman sees the enemy coming and doesn’t warn the people, it is the watchman’s fault.

Then The Lord lowers the boom: Now, son of man, I am making you a watchman for the people of Israel.

I believe this is telling us that we (sons (and daughters) of man) are the watchmen, not for the people of Israel necessarily, but for the non-believers.  Puts evangelism in a whole new light, doesn’t it. No time like the present.

Week of 11/15/20 - Pages 341 - 366

In this week’s reading I was struck by the assertions on pages 241 and 242 that people will be rewarded or punished for their own righteousness or their own sin. God establishes his right to determine this, he says “all people are mine to judge.” And he goes on to say that “the person who sins is the one who will die.” 

My first reaction to this was gladness, almost approval (as if I have the right to bestow approval on God’s administration of justice). In Exodus 20 and Numbers 14 it says that God punishes children for the sins of the father for three and four generations. That’s never seemed particularly “fair” to me, so I appreciate how clearly it states here that “The child will not be punished for the parent’s sins, and the parent will not be punished for the child’s sins.”

Without diverging to much from my main point, I do want to say that I think that the kind of repercussions in Genesis and Numbers may refer more to the damage and consequences that are wrought upon our families when we sin, and the kinds of generational sin patterns that are so often perpetuated through families: abuse, addiction, deceit. Too often these sin patterns (and others) not only inflict damage on subsequent generations, but the behavior itself is picked up and perpetuated. 

Here though, in Ezekiel, I think it’s pretty clear what God is saying: “Righteous people will be rewarded for their own righteous behavior, and wicked people will be punished for their own wickedness.”

Furthermore, we’re told that “if wicked people turn away from all their sins and begin to obey my decrees and do what is just and right, they will surely live and not die.” Yea! There is the promise of forgiveness with repentance. Yet, yikes, there’s a flip side: “if righteous people turn from their righteous behavior and start doing sinful things and act like other sinners…all their righteous acts will be forgotten, and they will die for their sins.” Oh dear. (Remember, as Pastor Lee has taught us, usually when the Bible talks about death, it is referring to spiritual death.)

This passage stirs up my balance-sheet thinking: that running tally I’m all too tempted to keep in my head, wherein if I do enough “good” things, it balances out the bad things and I’m okay. I read my Bible yesterday, prayed, turned away from the temptation to lose my temper: check, check, check. Yea me! But today I overslept and didn’t do my devotions, I said a bad word, and I spread some gossip. All those demerits wipe out any progress I made. 

The glorious truth of the gospel is that we are freed from living this way: There is no condemnation for those in Christ (Romans 8:1). We are forgiven because of what Jesus did, not because of our own efforts. There is no balance sheet.

What, then, do we do with this chapter of Ezekiel? Is this the pre-cross, sacrifice-based system of keeping the law to be right with God? Do we get to throw out this Old Testament teaching?

Elsewhere in the Old Testament we’re told that our sins are removed as far as the east is from the west (Ps 103), and that though are sins were once scarlet as blood, we are now white as snow (Is 1). We cling to those truths when we talk about forgiveness, so I don’t think we get to toss this. 

I think God speaking through Ezekiel here is not talking about tit-for-tat recordkeeping, but heart change. For the sinner who repents, there is forgiveness. Conversely, then, can one who walks in righteousness and then rejects (“turns from”) that path be lost? I don’t like that thought. But neither do I think that salvation is a one-and-done, get your rubber stamp and then live as you please. Paul says to “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12). Taken in context with all the assurances in the New Testament that salvation is by grace, through faith, we can be certain that we don’t work to earn our salvation. But we are in relationship with God, through Jesus, and that should inform the way we live. Just like the Israelites were the chosen people of God, his special nation, but they didn’t live that way, and there were consequences. 

And one thing is certain, God was incredibly clear with the Israelites, for generations, for centuries, about what a covenant relationship with him required, and what disobedience would cost. I think he’s just as clear with me about what the life walking with him looks like, and the spiritual death that would ensue from turning away. I think that kind of clarity is pretty fair.  

Week of 11/8/20 - Pages 317 - 341

Ezekiel was a prophet who had been exiled out of Judea to the land of Babylonia. He was foretelling of the impending judgement of God against his people, who have turned away from God, giving into their sin.  The first part of this this book is what we cover this week.  Parts of it are very hard to read;  God calls Ezekiel to give his people messages of judgement and coming famine, death, disease, and tells Ezekiel that they will not listen to him because their hearts are hard, and they are completely rebellious.  The result of their sin, of all sin, is death.   A few things that stuck out for me:

God’s expectation for Ezekiel is only that he obey and relay the message he has been given to tell the people.  He is not responsible for their rebellion, only for his own obedience. (p 321)

A message of warning, one of the things God judges the people for is that “you have refused to obey my degrees and regulations;  instead, you have copied the standards of the nations around you.” (p 331).  God’s desire for us is for our heart to be completely focused on him.  How easy is it for us to become engrossed in the world’s standards of good, evil, right, wrong?  We need to turn to God’s word regularly to be in tune to His degrees and regulations.  God’s law is good, he wants the best for us. 

One phrase that is repeated throughout this section is “Then you will know that I am the Lord.”  God’s judgement and the fulfillment of the prophecy of Ezekiel will serve as a testament of who God is to the people of Judea. 

Ultimately God longs for their repentance:    “And the Lord called to the man dressed in linen who was carrying the writers’ case.  He said to him, “ Walk through the streets of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of all who weep and sigh because of the detestable sins being committed in their city.” (p328).  Only those with the mark are spared from death.  Also, on page 331, Ezekiel’s message to the exiles includes a promise for them:

“This is what the Sovereign Lord says:  although I have scattered you in the countries of the world, I will be a sanctuary to you during your time in exile.  I, the Sovereign Lord, will gather you back from the nations where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel once again. When the people return to their homeland, they will remove every trace of their vile images and detestable idols.  And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them.  I will take away their stony, stubborn heart, and give them a tender, responsive heart, so they will obey my degrees and regulations.  Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God.”  

Even in the horrors of being taken from their land and under the rule of the Babylonians, God promises to be a sanctuary for them and bring them back home, giving them a new heart and spirit.  Only by God’s love and grace.  The same God that made these promises of deliverance to his people so long ago, offers us deliverance and salvation.  May we repent and accept this beautiful gift of God.  Thanks be to God!  

Week of 11/1/20 - Pages 311 - 315

The message in Obadiah actually gives us the keys to the Kingdom!

Obadiah is a very short book of the Bible. It was Obadiah’s assignment to give voice to God’s word of judgement against Edom. We know nothing about Obadiah except that he was one of two prophets (Jeremiah the other) that delivered a word of judgement against Edom.

This is an indictment of Edom’s cruel injustice to God’s chosen people, the Israelites. This can be traced back to the twins Jacob and Esau (Genesis 25-36). Jacob was the ancestor to the people of Israel, Esau the ancestor to the people of Edom. They never got along and had a long history of war and rivalry. Even when Israel was taken into exile, first by the Assyrians (721 B.C.) and later by the Babylonians (560 B.C.), Edom watched and then participated with gladness (along with the Babylonians) to see her old relative get beat up!

The Edomites lived in a rocky, mountainous region south of the Dead Sea which was scarcely accessible to attacking armies and they had become complacent about their security, confident and proud that no one could hurt them. But as we know from God’s Word, Pride goes before a fall! Their pride and their unrelenting attack on God’s chosen people would be their downfall. Hence the Babylonians (the very people they had helped) turned against them and so devastated them that they ceased to be a nation.

The tables have turned! Now Israel rules over the Edomites. But rather than vengeance and continuing the cycle of violence they are presented as taking over the reins of government and administering God’s justice justly.

The message in Obadiah gives rise to hope! No matter how long a family or national legacy has been in existence, it is never too late to break a cycle of broken relationships and repression by walking in the opposite spirit! We see this Kingdom Key in Ephesians 4:28 ESV: "Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need."  You cannot “only” stop the behaviors in order to birth a new legacy and future. Is the thief no longer a thief when he is in between heists? No! He must stop the stealing and then put his hands to work in honest labor and then share with others.  Healing and wholeness begins when we start walking in the opposite spirit, a Kingdom key that can be applied to our personal life and for our Nation!

May God bless you as you walk in the opposite spirit for His Kingdom! 

Week of 10/25/20 - Pages 289 - 310

 The book of Jeremiah is like a manual or guide in our relationship with God.  We may have never known him in the way Jeremiah brings Him to life. He brings God down to earth and teaches us that He is ever so present with us in all parts of our lives.  He lives with us, in us.  He is always in our joys and our sorrows...                          

Interestingly at the end of chapter 51 it says, “The words of Jeremiah end here”.   And yet there is still one more chapter. Chapter 52 is like an appendix providing more detail about the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity.  It underlines the fact that all of these things occurred as Jeremiah had predicted.

A fascinating and seemingly insignificant note about the fate of the exiled King Jehoiachin is found in Jeremiah 52:31-34.  We’re told that in the 37th year of his exile (26 years after the fall of the city), the current Babylonian king (Evil-Merodach) released him from prison, “spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon”.  And for the rest of his life, King Jehoiachin is given a regular allowance and allowed to dine “regularly at the king’s table.”

So why was this historical footnote included?  My sense is that the turn of events in Babylon is included to give a glimmer of hope for the future of the nation of Israel.  Like Jehoiachin, the nation had done evil in the eyes of the Lord and suffered as a result.  However, because of His unfailing love, God was not finished with his people.  As it was with Jehoiachin, so it would be with Israel. And the book of Jeremiah which is filled with so much sadness and suffering, ends on a note of grace and hope.  God is merciful to His miserable people.  God’s promises allow hope to have the final word in the story of His people.

Week of 10/18/20 - Pages 268 - 289

Life as a prophet of God is not easy, as evidenced by Jeremiah’s life.  He endured imprisonment, was accused of treason and beaten, and was thrown in a muddy cistern to die.  And, maybe even more difficult to endure, he delivered a message from God that was continually rejected by the people.

This week’s section starts out, “While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard …” Although limited in his ability to move about freely and talk with people, God allowed him to see what no one else could – the future. He tried to warn the nation, but one king (Zedekiah) ignored his counsel, another king (Jehoiakim) burned his letter, and the common people responded no better.

 Disaster did finally come to the nation.  Jeremiah and a small remnant remained in the land.  When a neighboring nation killed Babylon’s appointed ruler of the remnant, they feared for their lives.  The remnant asked Jeremiah to find out from God what he advised, and they promised to obey God, no matter what he said.  However, when Jeremiah delivered God’s message to the people, they refused to believe and follow.

 Unfortunately, I can relate to that remnant.

 What is it that keeps me from listening to God and taking him at his word?  Often, it is one or more of the following misconceptions:

·       Pride:  “I don’t need God”

·       Shame:  “God can never love me or forgive me”

·       Unbelief:  “God can’t help”

·       Distortion of God’s character:  “God won’t help, or doesn’t care”

·       Distraction:  “Other things are more important”

·       Inconvenience:  “God might want me to do something I don’t want to”

The more we get to know God, the more we understand that we can trust him.  The book of Jeremiah reveals God’s character and helps us to know his heart.  I found the following passages helpful.

·       9:24-25 “But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things.  I, the Lord, have spoken.”

·       31:3  “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love.  With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.”

·       32:27  “I am the Lord, the God of all the peoples of the world.  Is anything too hard for me?”

·       29:11-14  “ ’For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord.  ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.  In those days when you pray, I will listen.  If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.  I will be found by you,’ says the Lord.”

·       31:33-34  “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord.  “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts.  I will be their God, and they will be my people.  And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’  For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord.  “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”

May you delight in the Lord as you grow in knowing him.  As in 33:11, we can join those who sing,

“Give thanks to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, for the Lord is good.  His faithful love endures forever!”