Saturday, July 31, 2010

Week 31: Isaiah 49 to Jeremiah 10

This week we'll finish reading the book of Isaiah and starting with the book of the prophet Jeremiah:

* Weekend: Isaiah 49 - 52
* Monday: Isaiah 53 - 57
* Tuesday: Isaiah 58 - 62
* Wednesday: Isaiah 63 - 66
* Thursday: Jeremiah 1 - 6
* Friday : Jeremiah 7 - 10

As you finish reading Isaiah, continue to look for prophesies regarding the "Servant of the Lord", which are all pointing to Jesus. In addtion, these last chapters contain many prophesies regarding the restoration of Israel and regarding the end-times when Jesus will come back and establish His kingdom of peace. Some prophesies even refer to the very end, when God will establish a 'New heaven and new earth' (Isaiah 65). 'New' does not necessarily mean 'completely created from scratch', but rather 'restored', 'remodeled'. God is not going to let down his first creation, but rather restore it and make it whole and perfect.

The prophet Jeremiah is a very interesting book as it describes the personal life and struggles of Jeremiah in greater depth and detail than any other old-testament prophet. More on him next week!

Let us know how you are doing with the reading. Is it a struggle to keep up? I know it is for me from time to time. It is not easy to consistently read every day for 20 minutes or so. If you miss a day, you have to do 40 minutes the next day, etc. Let us know where you're at, either through the blog or by e-mail.

In His service,

Dick

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Week 30: Isaiah 28 - 48

This week we'll continue with the prophet Isaiah:

* Weekend: Isaiah 28 - 30
* Monday: Isaiah 31 - 35
* Tuesday: Isaiah 36 - 39
* Wednesday: Isaiah 40 - 42
* Thursday: Isaiah 43 - 45
* Friday: Isaiah 46 - 48

As Mike mentioned last week, some big things are about to happen in the book Isaiah. Chapters 28 to 35 continue to describe prophesies regarding the nations surrounding Israel, and regarding the liberation of Jerusalem. The key message over and over: not the powerful nations will bring liberation, but God alone! (Chapters 30,31,33,35).

When you read these prophesies, don't skip over them as not being relevant anymore. Be on the alert for prophesies that foreshadow the coming of Jesus, both his first and second coming. Sometimes, all of a sudden you find these 'pearls' that are hidden in the text, such as Isaiah 28:16, which is a clear prediction of the coming of Jesus.

In Chapters 36 to 39, the writer shifts from recording prophesies to recording some actual history. Jerusalem is under siege by king Sennacherib from Assyria with his mighty army (at least 185,000 troops!). The Jewish king Hezekiah and his men are desperate and put on sackcloth because of the distress. They know for sure that they cannot win this battle, unless... the Lord helps them (37:4). I especially like verse 20 of Chapter 37: "Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God." You have to read all of chapter 37 to see if God hears Hezekiah's prayer or not.

Then, Chapter 38 is one of those other remarkable chapters in the book of Isaiah, and in the entire Bible for that matter. Hezekiah becomes terminally ill. Through the prophet Isaiah, God even tells him he will die. But... Hezekiah prays earnestly to the Lord for an extension of his life, and... God answers his prayer! He gets another 15 years to live!! That must have felt like more than a 2nd chance to life for him. That's how some of us feel when we come to know Jesus, after being 'spiritually dead' for so many years. What a gratefulness we have when we do get that second chance to life. Hezekiah shows his gratefulness in a wonderful prayer at the end of Chapter 38.

And you would think he would live the rest of his life in gratitude and trying hard to serve the LORD, just like we would do, right?! Well, the very next chapter records a costly mistake of Hezekiah that has far-reaching consequences for the kingdom of Judah.

Chapters 40 to 48 are kind of like a whole new section in the book of Isaiah. Because of its literary style and its different contents, it is generally assumed that this is written by someone other than Isaiah. This prophet is generally called 'Deutero Isaiah', or 'the second Isaiah'. This part of the book is famous for its many prophesies regarding the coming of Jesus, especially his suffering on the cross. It's stunningly amazing how accurately these prophesies describe what happened to Jesus many centuries later. More about that next week!

Dick

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Week 29: Song of Solomon 5-8; Isaiah 1-27

Here is the reading plan for this week:

* Weekend: Song of Solomon 5-8
* Monday: Isaiah 1-3
* Tuesday: Isaiah 4-7
* Wednesday: Isaiah 8-12
* Thursday: Isaiah 13-20
* Friday: Isaiah 21-27

Welcome to Week #29 in our quest to read the Bible in one year! This week the focus is on the balance of Song of Solomon and the first third and change of the Book of Isaiah.

Dr. Chuck covered the synopsis and purpose of the Song of Solomon in last week's posting, so this week we will focus on getting to know the Old Testament prophet Isaiah.

Isaiah came to promninence at a time in history where the kingdom of Israel had already been divided into two kingdoms- Isaiah resided in the kingdom of Judah.

Now Judah had some good kings and some not-so-good kings. Isaiah served under the rule of four kings. The first two kings, Azariah (Uzziah) and Jotham, did the right thing for the Lord in their own house (2 Kings 15:1-7, 32-38), but failed to lead the people towards the Lord by allowing them to worship any god they chose. The third king, Ahaz, was not so good and he got into all sorts of trouble (2 Kings 16). This trouble carried forward to Hezekiah, who did right by the Lord and led the people towards the Lord (2 Kings 18-20).

The message Isaiah sent was one of judgement and and also comfort, as the Journey Bible outlines. Because Judah continually marginalized God, especially through the leadership of their kings, God's judgement was coming.

The people and kings of Judah worshipped "by-the-book." They sacrificed, prayed and went through the motions of the Law. But their hearts were not in it. This lukewarm religion was the key to how much they took their rights as God's chosen for granted. Well, if they are not on board fully with God when times are good, then it is time for things to turn bad.

This book is a record of the message Isaiah preached to the kings and the kingdom during this time.

To make it personal this week, consider what Isaiah might say to you if he were in your living room today. Would you be considered outright rebellious, a Sodom or Gomorrah? Would you be considered lukewarm, going through the motions but not really living in faith? Or would you be considered to be on fire for the Lord- living your faith in all aspects of your life, whether you are in public or in private? If you fall under any of the first two categories, do not despair- you are not alone. But maybe the time is right in your life to allow Isaiah to speak truth to you. But please don't stop until you have read the entire book- I won't steal the thunder from next week, but some remarkable things happen in the book that are very cool and point out the fact that no matter where we are the Lord will provide if we choose to place our faith and trust in Him.

God Bless and Happy Reading!

-Mike

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Week 28: Proverbs 22 - Song of Solomon 4

This week we get to read in 3 books that are generally (completely or partially) associated with King Solomon:

* Weekend: Proverbs 22 - 24
* Monday: Proverbs 25 - 29
* Tuesday: Proverbs 30 - 31
* Wednesday: Ecclesiastes 1 - 6
* Thursday: Ecclesiastes 7 - 12
* Friday: Song of Solomon 1 - 4

We end the book of Proverbs, then we read the book of Ecclesiastes in 2 days, and make a start with the book of Solomon on Friday.

Like the book of Proverbs, the book of Ecclesiastes is also part of the "Wisdom literature", as Chuck so nicely explained last week. Although no time period or writer's name is mentioned in the book, several passages strongly suggest that King Solomon is the author (e.g. 1:1,12,16). Some bible scholars think Solomon might have written this toward the end of his life, after the period during which his love for his many wives led him astray in his devotion to God (1 Kings 11).

The book of Ecclesiastes is reflecting on life in its entirety, from birth to death. The author tells us that life not centered on God is purposeless and meaningless. Without Him, nothing else can satisfy (2:25). With Him, all of life and his other good gifts are to be gratefully received and enjoyed to the full (2:26, 11:8). The book contains the philosophical and theological reflections of an old man (12:1-7), most of whose life was meaningless because he had not himself relied on God as he should have.

The Song of Solomon, in the Hebrew text called "Solomon's Song of Songs", is first and foremost a love song. The classic interpretation of this book is that it describes the love relationship and desire between a woman ("beloved") and a shepherd boy ("lover"), and the back-and-forth love dialogue between the two. The love between the two is challenged by king Solomon, who desires to have the woman added to his harem. In the end, the love between the woman and shepherd boy prevails (8:6-14).

Other interpretations of the text tell us that this book is an allegory of the love relationship between God and Israel, and later between Christ and the church. Regardless of which interpretation is true, the Bible speaks of both wisdom and love as gifts of God, to be received with gratitude and celebration. That is the main theme of the book, and of the Bible as a whole.

Enjoy the continued reading in the "books of wisdom".

Dick

Friday, July 2, 2010

Week 27: Psalm 145 – Proverbs 21

The Hebrew people divided (Old-Testament) Scripture into three primary sections: the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. The third division, the Writings, include such books as Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes.

This week, as we complete our reading of the Psalms and move into Proverbs, we stay within the Writings…but move into a very different literary tradition, which we call Wisdom Literature.

This week’s readings are as follows:
• Weekend: Psalms 145-150
• Monday: Proverbs 1-5
• Tuesday: Proverbs 6-9
• Wednesday: Proverbs 10-13
• Thursday: Proverbs 14-17
• Friday: Proverbs 18-21

King Solomon wrote most of the Proverbs. According to 1 Kings 4:32, Solomon spoke over 3,000 proverbs. Many of these proverbs were no doubt recorded and included in the Book of Proverbs.

Other sage writers contributed to the Book of Proverbs as well. Proverbs 22:17 and 24:23, for example, speak of the “sayings of the wise.” Other contributors appear by name. Chapter 30 ascribes authorship to Agur, son of Jakeh, and 31:1-9 attributes its content to King Lemuel. Neither of these writers appears again in Scripture.

The Book of Proverbs displays several notable literary characteristics. Many proverbs are short, two-line sayings that are cast in contrasts. Biblical scholars call this type of Hebrew poetry “antithetical parallelism.” Proverbs 10:19, for example, says, “When words are many, sin is not absent, but those who hold their tongues are wise.” Proverbs makes liberal use of simile and metaphor. Eleven similes occur in chapter 25 alone!

One important feature to note is that the Book of Proverbs contains practical wisdom…which is to say wisdom that is generally (though not always) true. It is often the case, for example, that the just and unjust “receive their due on earth” (11:31)…but not always. A person’s rewards or punishments will be reckoned in eternity, irrespective of what happens on earth (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:10).

When we read these proverbs, we must be careful not to interpret them as absolute promises or surefire prophecies that will always be realized. They are offered up as “instruction to the wise”…“for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young... (Proverbs 1:2-4).

Read with a pen in hand and mark the proverbs that speak to your soul this week. You’ll be the wiser for having read this section of God’s word!

Faithfully,
Chuck