BR-36 Chronological Bible Read (September 3-9)

Without God’s presence, places are just ... places. Doesn’t matter what you call them: "third space," "thin place," or "quiet place,"  —or any other term referencing worship locations or places for God's people to gather. 

This is a lesson hard learned by God’s people in this week’s readings ... and some never did understand this truth of places. Ezekiel’s vision (Sept 3, 4, 5, & part of 6) teaches us: God must first be present for the "land" to have any meaning. Longing for "Zion" in lovely songs is missing the point. What made the Promised Land special, was the promise and the one promising ... not the land.

Another emerging theme: The Return. 

Even when God was promising His people that they would reap what they sowed (i.e., be exiled for worshiping false gods ... despite many, many warnings to stop), He also was promising they would not be exiled forever, that life would resume, at some point, in the Promised Land. We see the beginnings of that in this week's long section describing Ezekiel's vision of the rebuilding of the Temple .

When Ezekiel witnesses God's glory returning to the Temple (Ezekiel 43, Sept 4th), he is seeing the beginnings of the promised Return from exile in Babylon. 

Blessings,

Steve

_________________________

We’re reading The One Year Chronological Bible, New Living Translation (Tyndale). It’s best with your own copy. Or, copy and paste this link to the daily reading schedule:

http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com/readingplan/oneyearchronologicalbiblereadingplan.pdf

_________________________

Highlights: 

An angel reveals to Ezekiel God's plan to rebuild the Temple and Jerusalem ... "The Handwriting on the wall" ... Daniel in the Lions Den ... Cyrus defeats Babylon and releases the captives so they can return to Jerusalem (I guess last week's "This Ol' Heart is Gonna Rise Again" was an appropriate song!). 

September 3 - Daniel 4: The dream, its interpretation, and its fulfillment are here as a warning to the leader of any nation ... ours included. God can humble and establish a national leader at will. 

September 4th - Is this still true for Temple Mount, today ?? Ezekiel 43:12 - “And this is the basic law of the Temple: absolute holiness! The entire top of the mountain where the Temple is built is holy. Yes, this is the basic law of the Temple.” [Ezekiel‬ ‭43:12‬ ‭NLT‬‬ - http://bible.com/116/ezk.43.12.nlt_]

September 5th - Ezekiel 44:15-16 - It would be easy to miss this: don’t. It’s huge. Up to now, any of Levi's descendants could serve in the Temple. That ends, now! God selects only one family from among the Tribe of Levi to serve in the Temple  —the family of Zadok—  because of their ongoing faithfulness.

September 5th - Ezekiel 45:9 - God, again, commands His leaders to provide equity, justice, and true peace to His people. [also Ezekiel 46:16-18]

September 5th - Ezekiel 46:18 - “And the prince may never take anyone’s property by force. If he gives property to his sons, it must be from his own land, for I do not want any of my people unjustly evicted from their property.””

September 6th - Ezekiel 47:21-23 - Here is the command to treat foreigners "who have joined you" like they are "native-born Israelites." There has always been a place for foreigners in God's plan for the Israelites. The ones God rejected (over the centuries) were those who worshipped false gods and did despicable things. God never rejected foreigners just because they were not "pure" Israelites (or not, genetically speaking, Israelites at all).

September 7th - Daniel 7:9-10 - It is significant that this portion of Daniel's vision matches perfectly with the scenes observed by Ezekiel on several occasions (i.e., wheels within wheels). 

BIG DEAL OF THE WEEK (biggest? Bigly-est?) September 7th - Daniel 7:13-14 - JESUS: this is the first time the Messiah is referred to as "like a son of man." Over the centuries following Daniel's vision, the phrase "Son of Man" became a shorthand reference to this person in Daniel's revelation of Heaven. You hear this reflected over 140 times in the New Testament  (e.g., as in Luke 22:66-71). Every time Jesus used this term, the leaders and teachers fully understood he was referencing the Messiah as depicted in Daniel's vision. 

September 7th - Daniel 5:1-31 - Handwriting on the wall. We hear this phrase a lot these days as an idiom. To us, it means a conclusion has been reached, that something has become obvious about the next steps ... in short: It's over. To Belshazzar and his entourage, the appearance of an actual (disconnected) hand writing on the King's plaster wall came to mean the end of the King’s reign.

September 8th - Daniel 6:1-28 - Notable: Darius' concern for Daniel "May your God, whom you serve so faithfully, rescue you!" And then later, "Daniel, servant of the living God! Was your God, whom you serve so faithfully, able to rescue you from the lions?"

September 9th - Ezra chapters 2, 3, and 4 - Zerubbabel leads a group back to Jerusalem to rebuild the altar, restart the sacrifices, and lay a new foundation for the Temple ... Actual people actually returning from Exile.

Next week: 

Daniel's visions of the End Times. Haggai and Zechariah prophesy the imminent return of the exiles and call for the (physical) rebuilding of the Temple. Darius (successor to Persian Conqueror Cyrus) confirms the Temple is to be rebuilt. Temple rededicated in book of Ezra. Esther becomes a queen. Ezra and the exiles start their journey back to the Promised Land.

BR-35 Chronological Bible Read (August 27 - September 2)

Being kind never goes out of style, Chronos. We see this over and over in this week’s prophecies ... well, the results of not being kind, anyway.

[Also, I answer one of your questions at the end of this email.]

A theme that has been emerging over a few weeks: all the neighboring countries have blood on their hands, so to speak. [Here God speaks to Edom; i.e., Esau's descendants] “Your eternal hatred for the people of Israel led you to butcher them when they were helpless, when I had already punished them for all their sins. As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, since you show no distaste for blood, I will give you a bloodbath of your own. Your turn has come!” (‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭35:5-6‬ ‭NLT - ‬‬http://bible.com/116/ezk.35.5-6.nlt )

Over and over, we find God having His prophets give similar messages to the countries surrounding Judah and Israel. God criticizes them all. During the time of the troubles God brought on His people, these neighbors either did nothing to help them or actively added to the harm. The lesson: it would be wrong of us to assume we are acting on behalf of God by adding harm to those He is already chastising or by standing idly by as it happens to them. In other words: No piling on!  Instead, we should be providing comfort and assistance to them during their time of distress! 

Blessings,

Steve

________________________

We’re reading The One Year Chronological Bible, New Living Translation (Tyndale). It’s best with your own copy. Or, copy and paste this link to the daily reading schedule:

http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com/readingplan/oneyearchronologicalbiblereadingplan.pdf

_________________________

Discovery of the week: Joseph's Grandaughter (Sheerah, daughter of Ephraim) built three towns! (Sept 2nd, 1st Chronicles 7:24)

Highlights: 

Lamentation falls into three days - August 26, 27, and 28. I highly recommend reading all five chapters at one sitting. That will mean backing up to yesterday for Chapter 1, and then continuing through the first reading on the 28th to pick up Chapter 5. It’s a pretty quick read, and the notes, below, should help. Also, this week: the end of Jeremiah, a little Obadiah, a lot of Ezekiel, a smidgen of 1st Chronicles, a Psalm(!), and a lot of Jesus references.

August 26th - Lamentation Chapter 1 - Fairly bleak stuff about the fall of Jerusalem. In verse 9, “Now she lies in the gutter with no one to lift her out “ (if only she had a savior ...). And in verse 21, more of other countries rejoicing at the problems faced by God’s people.

August 27th - Lamentations 2:11 - A little fun in the midst of lamenting. Jeremiah is known as the Weeping Prophet because he reflects that so much in his two books. This passage reminded me of a duet by the great Ray Charles and the equally great Oak Ridge Boys. Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czjcI4fdE44&app=desktop

August 27th - Lamentations 3:22-24 - One of the greatest passages in scripture (and one of my favorites). What makes it extraordinary is the preceding verse (21) which, in the midst of lamenting all the troubles of Jeremiah's time in service to God, he writes, "Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this:" The next three verses are often used as lyrics for hymns and praise songs. One version was written by our friend, Amy Bessire. She would never have described herself as a musician. The only reason you can find her songs in hymnals and praise books is that she made up tunes to help herself memorize scriptures. Even so, she often said God gave her this one all at once. Here is Amy's version of The Steadfast Love of the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJYf9KnxwbQ&app=desktop

August 27th - Lamentations 3:27 - JESUS (God's yoke)

August 27th - Lamentations 3:30 - JESUS (turn the other cheek)

August 27th - Lamentations 4:12-13 - See who is to blame? And why? Jesus touches on this same kind of betrayal when he says it would be better for spiritual leaders to drown themselves (“millstone about their neck”) if they harm any child (Matthew 18:6).

August 28th - Lamentation 5:21 - Revive us again! The concept of revival/restoration appears all across both the Old and New Testaments. This one, as well as Psalm 85:6, feed into the hymn many us us sang in church. 

August 28th - Obadiah 1:10-14 - Dealing with (i.e., helping) close relatives who are suffering ... even if they "brought it on themselves."

August 30th - Ezekiel 34 (verses 4, 8, 10a, 23) - JESUS (the GOOD Shepherd: John 10:11

August 30th - Ezekiel 34:17 (JESUS) x-ref to Matthew 28:31-46 (Separating the sheep from the goats). ALSO: Showers of blessings! ... the basis of that hymn is from 34:26

August 30th - Ezekiel 34:31 ... X-ref to Psalm 100 (among others) Sheep of God's pasture

August 30th - Ezekiel 36:26-27 Heart of stone (again ref 11:19)

August 31st - Ezekiel 37:1-14 - Dem Bones!

August 31st - Ezekiel 37:24-28 - JESUS ("My servant David ... one Shepard ... prince forever)

September 1st - Ezekiel 33:11-19 - "I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people!" And, “I judge each of you according to your deeds.”

September 1st - Psalm 137 - written during the exile to Babylon. It's a lament (with a shocking end!). Here is a portion of it (the beginning) in this very lovely song that perfectly captures all of the lamenting ... (after the brief ad): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0voSWdX4jo&app=desktop

Next week: 

An angel reveals to Ezekiel God's plan to rebuild the Temple and Jerusalem ... "The Handwriting on the wall" ... Daniel in the Lions Den ... Cyrus defeats Babylon and releases the captives so they can return to Jerusalem. 

A question about Ezekiel 18

I've been asked me to elaborate some on this passage, particularly with reference to the concept of the "sins of the fathers" visited on the children. 

There are two different expressions in scripture: (1) separating the punishment to fall on the sinner, only, and (2) connecting one generation’s punishment to later generations. 

On a cursory reading, it may sound like God is having it both ways. So, let’s unpack it. 

Last week, I made this comment: 

August 20 - Ezekiel 18:1-32 - God declares the end of making a person's descendants also paying for that person's sins: “The person who sins is the one who will die. The child will not be punished for the parent’s sins, and the parent will not be punished for the child’s sins. Righteous people will be rewarded for their own righteous behavior, and wicked people will be punished for their own wickedness.” ‭Ezekiel‬ ‭18:20‬ ‭NLT‬‬ - http://bible.com/116/ezk.18.20.nlt.  

Cross-Ref to Jesus in John 9:1-3 ("Who sinned, this man or his parents?")

I believe the answer starts with this verse from Exodus: “You must not bow down to them [idols] or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.”

‭‭(Exodus‬ ‭20:5‬ ‭NLT - ‬‬http://bible.com/116/exo.20.5.nlt)

It may sound, on first readings, that God is confused, but that, of course, is not the real situation. Both concepts do appear in the early books; particularly Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The difference, as noted in the Exodus passage, is this: those later generations are continuing to reject God (other translations have the word "hate" in place of "reject" ... I think the NLT gets it right.). It is the idea that they have extended the sin of their parents by continuing to act in the same, sinful, way. God never visited the sins of the fathers on descendants who turned from the evil ways of their ancestors and returned to God. We have seen abundant evidence of this in our reading, so far. 

So, Ezekiel's pronouncement is a significant change in that God is saying each generation will have its own opportunity to worship or reject God, not tied in any way to the previous generation. It's a subtle change, but also a "sea change," if you will. It is a precursor to Jesus and the forgiveness of sins "once for all" brought about by His obedience and sacrifice. I think we may take this for granted, today  —our sin is just ours—  but we are blessed with the assurance that our sins do not fall on our children ... for any reason.

I hope that helps explain it.

BR-34 Chronological Bible Read (August 20-26)

All the prophecies are coming home to roost!

Key verse: [Jeremiah, speaking to God] “See how the siege ramps have been built against the city walls! Through war, famine, and disease, the city [Jerusalem] will be handed over to the Babylonians, who will conquer it. Everything has happened just as you said.” ‭‭(Jeremiah‬ ‭32:24‬)

Something new to think on: most of God’s prophets and Prophetesses delivered the words of God. With Ezekiel, God adds visuals. There is usually some tableau or little one act play to illustrate God’s message. There are a couple examples in Ezekiel 24. Makes me wonder why God decided to add these visuals. Your thoughts?

Blessings,

Steve

_________________________

We’re reading The One Year Chronological Bible, New Living Translation (Tyndale). It’s best with your own copy. Or, copy and paste this link to the daily reading schedule:

http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com/readingplan/oneyearchronologicalbiblereadingplan.pdf

_________________________

Highlights: 

August 20 - Ezekiel 18:1-32 - God declares the end of making a person's descendants also pay for that person's sins: “The person who sins is the one who will die. The child will not be punished for the parent’s sins, and the parent will not be punished for the child’s sins. Righteous people will be rewarded for their own righteous behavior, and wicked people will be punished for their own wickedness.” If God won’t punish people for other people’s sins, why do we think we should?

Cross-Ref to Jesus in John 9:1-3 ("Who sinned, this man or his parents?")

August 20 “Do you think that I like to see wicked people die? says the Sovereign Lord. Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live.” (Ezekiel‬ ‭18:23‬)

August 21  It didn’t start with the golden calf! Israel worshipped idols while still in Egypt! (Ezekiel 20:4-8) 

August 22 - Here’s a sobering thought: “Even common people oppress the poor, rob the needy, and deprive foreigners of justice.” (Ezekiel 22:29)

August 22 - Ezekiel 22:29-31 "Stand in the Gap!" - Here is the link to that Petra tune from the 80's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBEMJaIfY2g&app=desktop

and here is the link to the lyrics because it is absolutely worth it to have the lyrics in front of you while you listen to Petra sing them: https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics//standinthegap.html

August 23 - Jeremiah 21:11-12a - “Say to the royal family of Judah, ‘Listen to this message from the Lord! This is what the Lord says to the dynasty of David: “‘Give justice each morning to the people you judge! Help those who have been robbed; rescue them from their oppressors. Otherwise ....”

August 24 - Jeremiah 32:27 -  "I am the Lord, the God of all the peoples of all the world."

August 25 - Jeremiah 39:10 - The Babylonian conqueror is kinder to the poor than God’s people were, leaving them in charge of all the food and not taking them away as captives (also in Jeremiah 52:16 on August 26th).

August 26 - Jeremiah 39:11-40:6 - Jeremiah released from prison ... by the Babylonians!

August 26 - 2Kings 25:8ff - The Temple is ransacked and destroyed ... as prophesied. Note the items still there from the time Solomon built the Temple  

August 26 - 2 Chronicles 36:21 - God had prophesied a “sabbath rest for the land” and it was fulfilled ... it lies fallow for the 70 years God’s people are exiled to Babylon.

Even though it starts on the 26th, I am reserving Lamentations for next week.

Next week: 

It’s a hodge-podge: Lamentations, some final pieces of Jeremiah, a little Obadiah, a lot of Ezekiel, a smidgen of 1st Chronicles, a Psalm(!), several prophetic references to Jesus, and a bunch of cross references to things Jesus said and did!

BR-33 Chronological Bible Read (August 13 - 19)

If you want some insight into how God thinks, Chronos, read Ezekiel 16:1-63 (August 19) ... I kept writing "WOW!!" in my margin as I read it.

We may need to call in Muller & Scully to sort out some of this week’s reading: it has all the hallmarks of an X-File!

We aren't quite finished with Jeremiah's prophecies; primarily to Judah, its exiles, and against Babylon. But, we begin to layer in Ezekiel's prophecies (himself among those exiled to Babylon), with some overlap in the timeframe of Jeremiah. And ... Ezekiel has a close encounter of the third kind! ... maybe.

Just a quick reminder: with all the references to Israel and Judah, it's important to remember that those are distinct places. Israel always refers to the Northern Kingdom and Judah always refers to the Southern Kingdom. Jerusalem is located in Judah.

Blessings,

Steve

_________________________

We’re reading The One Year Chronological Bible, New Living Translation (Tyndale). It’s best with your own copy. Or, copy and paste this link to the daily reading schedule:

http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com/readingplan/oneyearchronologicalbiblereadingplan.pdf

_________________________

This week's highlights: 

1. August 13 - Jeremiah 31:33-34 - A new covenant: "I will remember their sins no more!"

2. August 13 - Jeremiah 51:11 - Another reference to the upcoming invasion by Cyrus the Great (also on August 14 at Jeremiah 51:28). Here’s a link to the actual historical person, Cyrus the Great: 
https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus_the_Great

3. August 14 - Jeremiah 51:36 predicts how [later] Cyrus actually invaded Babylon: by damming up the Euphrates river so they could walk into the city on the river bed (It is described in the same Wikipedia entry. See it just above the DEATH section).

4. August 14 - 1 Chronicles 3:10-16 - Take note: David's descendants are still on the throne of Judah (as promised by God)

5. August 15 Ezekiel 1:1-28 - Ezekiel's first encounter with "extraterrestrials" (which, of course, is an apt description of angels) and, also in the vision, God appears in a sort-of human form. This is the somewhat famous (at least among UFO enthusiasts) "wheels within wheels" encounter. The components of this vision return multiple times throughout the book of Ezekiel, always signaling a significant revelation by God to Ezekiel (August 16-Ezekiel 3:22; August 17-Ezekiel 8:1-4; August 18-Ezekiel 10:1-22)

6. August 18 - Ezekiel 11:19 - "Heart of stone"

7. August 19 - Ezekiel 14:1-8 "have set up idols in their hearts" ... clearly something deeper than worshipping at physical idols; an intangible object of worship ... and, somehow, worse. 

8. August 19 - The REAL reason God destroyed Sodom & Gomorrah! 

(Exekiel 16:49-50). Here it is in the NIV: “Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.”

‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭16:49-50‬ 

Next week: 

All the prophecies come home to roost!