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Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 211

Jul30

Day 211 – Reading – Isaiah 54 – 58.

Read today’s Scriptures.  

Isaiah 54.

Yesterday, we read that grand chapter about Jesus purchasing our salvation by giving His own life.

Today’s chapters begin with joy.

  • Sing, O barren one, you who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor, for the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married, says the LORD.
  • For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is His name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called.

Israel has been in exile and dispersion. They are destitute and disgraced as a childless woman.   But Isaiah calls for singing because of the LORD’s promise of future fruitfulness. 

  • O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted, behold…”   “All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children.  In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear, and far from terror, for it shall not come near you.

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Isaiah 55.

This chapter is full of the compassion of the LORD towards Israel and “everyone.”

  • Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!
  • Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.  Why do you spend your money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy?
  • LISTEN diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.  INCLINE YOUR EAR, and come to me; HEAR, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,”

And this clear invitation to salvation.

  • Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
  • For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are you ways my ways, declares the LORD.
  • For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

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Isaiah 56.

This chapter gives hope to the outcasts, foreigners, and eunuchs in the future kingdom.  (Remember the Babylonians made eunuchs of many young men who would serve in their palaces, and the Mosaic law forbade them to enter into worship.  Now God was opening His arms.)

Those outside Israel, acceptance.

  • Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, ‘The LORD will surely separate me from His people.”   
  • The foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to Him, to love the Name of the LORD, and to be His servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it and holds fast my covenant — these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my alter; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

And hope for those made eunuchs.

  • Let not the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.”
  • For thus says the LORD: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name that shall not be cut off.”

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Isaiah 57.

And yet God’s own Israel had strayed away from Him and into idolatry, including immorality, debauchery, and child sacrifice.

  • But you, draw near, you sons of the sorceress, offspring of the adulterer and the loose woman.
  • Whom did you dread and fear that you lied, and did not remember me, did not lay it to heart?  Have I not held my peace, even for a long time, and you do not fear me.
  • When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you!  
  • But…. he who takes refuge in Me shall possess the land and shall inherit my holy mountain.

Again hope from the Almighty God.

  • For thus says, the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy;  “I dwell in the high and holy place, and ALSO with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.  For I will not contend forever, nor will I always  be angry!”

Praise God!  Thank You, LORD.

  • “Peace, peace, to the far and the near, says the LORD, “and I will heal him.
  • But the wicked…. “There is no peace” says my God, “for the wicked.”

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Isaiah 58.

The LORD tells Isaiah that he has two things against His people, Israel: the way they FAST, and the way they treat THE SABBATH.  God says, “Lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression.”

 Israel “sought God daily,” “delighted to know His ways,” “did righteousness,” “asked God for righteous judgments,” and “delighted to draw near to Him.”  So WHY, they asked, does the Lord not notice their fasting and humility?

WHY???  (And this is such a good lesson for us as well.  What are our MOTIVES in serving and worshipping God?

  • “Because,” says the LORD. “In the day of your fast, you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers.  You fast only to quarrel and fight and hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours will not make your voice to be heard on high.
  • “IS NOT THIS THE FAST THAT I CHOOSE;  to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
  • IS IT NOT TO share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

And what happens when the heart is right with God when it fasts?

  • THEN shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
  • THEN you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry and He will say, “Here I am.”

(Read here the other promises of God for those who deny themselves and pour themselves out for the hungry and afflicted.)

As for keeping the Sabbath…

  • If you turn back from doing YOUR pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly,
  • THEN I will make you ride on the heights of the earth. And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob, your father.

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Doesn’t your heart swell with all the promises of God, if we would only turn to Him in love and humility!  Our God is so good and kind. His heart is FOR us!  O LORD, please help me to “deny my self” and set my face and desire on YOU. 

 

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 210

Jul29

Day 210 – Reading – Isaiah 49 – 53.

Read today’s Scriptures.  

Isaiah 49.

“Listen to me, O coastlands…”  Who are the coastlands?  As Isaiah says, they are “peoples from afar.” Coastlands most likely refers to Gentiles in the unknown regions of Isaiah’s day.  Think: the coasts of the countries that circle the Mediterranean Sea. In the prophets’ time, Tarshish, or Spain, was really, really far away. Gentiles, is another way to think of “coastlands.”  And these might include the lands that at that time were not yet even discovered.

So America… head’s up!  Isaiah is going to tell you about Jesus, the LORD’s “Suffering Servant.”  It is Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who was slain to redeem God’s elect from every nation.

  • “I will make you as a light for the nations (Gentile), that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

But, no, God has not forsaken Israel for the Gentiles!

  • “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that I should have no compassion on the son of her womb?  Even THESE may forget, yet I will not forget you.  Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands…”

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Isaiah 50.

Verses 4-11 of this chapter picture Jesus Christ, “the suffering servant.”

  • “I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out my beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.”

And a call to the unconverted to believe and be saved.

  • “Let him who walks in darkness and has no light … trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.”

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Isaiah 51.

In this chapter, God comforts and encourages both Jew and Gentile.

  • “Look to Abraham, your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but ONE when I called him, that I might bless him and MULTIPLY him. 
  • “For the Lord comforts Zion … joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.
  • “And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

And…

  • “My righteousness draws near, my salvation has gone out, and my arms will judge the peoples; the COASTLANDS hope for me, and for my arm they wait. 

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Isaiah 52.

Again Isaiah foretells a time of Israel being restored to their land and to glory when their Redeemer comes to rule.

  • “You were sold for nothing (in the countries of the world), and you shall be redeemed without money.”

And after that time messengers will go throughout the mountains around Jerusalem, to spread the good news that redeemed Israel has returned.  (Paul later picks this up to show the spread of the Gospel, in Romans 10)

  • How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

Then Isaiah gives a summary and preview of the humiliation and exultation of the “Servant.” (The details will be given in the following chapter.)

  • “Behold, my servant shall act wisely; He shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted.  As many were astonished at you — his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and His form beyond that of the children of mankind — so shall He sprinkle (with his own blood) many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of Him;”

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Isaiah 53.

And then that great chapter that describes the excruciating death of Jesus for our sins and our redemption.  (Many Jews call this the “forbidden chapter.” Sometimes it is even omitted from their scriptures.)  

Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

For He grew up before him like a young plant, 
and like a root out of dry ground:
He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him,
and no beauty that we should desire Him.

He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.

Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
yet, we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for OUR transgressions;
He was crushed for OUR iniquities;
upon Him was the chastisement that brought US peace,
and with His stripes WE are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned -- every one -- to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and He was afflicted,
yet He opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so He opened not His mouth.

By oppression and judgment, He was taken away;
and as for His generation, who considered
that He was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?

And they made His grave with the wicked 
and with a rich man in his death,
although He had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in His mouth.

Yet, it was the will of the LORD to crush Him,
He has put Him to grief;
when His soul makes an offering for guilt,
He shall see His offspring; 
He shall prolong His days;
the will of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.

Out of the anguish of His soul 
He shall see and be satisfied;
by His knowledge shall the righteous One, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and He shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore, I will divide Him a portion with the many,
and He shall divide the spoil with the strong,

because He poured out His soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
Yet, He bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.

**** Thank You, LORD, for your sending Jesus to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  Jesus did that by sacrificing His own life, taking our sin, and dying as the punishment we deserved.  Oh, God!  How great a salvation you planned!

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 207

Jul26

Day 207 – Reading – Isaiah 40 – 43.

Read today’s Scriptures.  

Isaiah 40.

We are now in the second division of Isaiah. The first part was about the threat from the Assyrians.  Now we begin to get a preview of the Babylonian captivity (as if they were already in it) (ch. 40-48), the Suffering Servant/Messiah (ch. 49-51), and Israel’s future glory (ch. 52-66).

In the first two verses, God tells His prophets what to say to His people, Judah in captivity.  Comfort them!  Speak tenderly to them.  Tell them the pardon for their sins has come.

Then a glorious foretaste of the coming Messiah. 

(Do you recognize the description of John the Baptist in the four Gospels?  “A voice crying in the wilderness…  Make straight the path.…”)

Imagine captive Judah hearing these glorious words!

  • “Behold your God!   Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might…  Behold, his reward is with Him…
  • Do you not know? do you not hear? Has it not been told to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?  It is HE who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers…
  • All nations are as nothing before Him, they are accounted by Him as less than nothing and emptiness.
  • Have you not known?  Have you not heard?  The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. HE does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable.  
  • He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might, He increases strength.  They who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

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Isaiah 41.

God is calling the nations to plead their case before Him.  Then God hints at His “stirring up one from the east” who will conquer Babylon, and allow some of the Jewish captives to return to Israel. And who accomplished this?  “I, the LORD, the first and the last; I AM.”

And more words of comfort for the captive Judah:

  • “But YOU, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend;   YOU whom I took from the ends of the earth and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, YOU are my servant, I have chosen YOU and not cast you off.
  • Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
  • I am the One who helps you, declares the LORD; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
  • I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys, I will make the wilderness a pool of water and the dry land springs of water… that they may see and know, may consider and understand together … that the hand of the LORD has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it.”

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Isaiah 42.

This chapter reveals God’s “Chosen Servant,” the Messiah.

  • “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, My chosen, in whom My soul delights, I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations.
  • He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed He will not break, and a faintly burning wick He will not quench; He will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not faint or be discouraged till He has established justice in the earth. 

Did you recognize the description of our gentle Savior?  

  • I am the LORD; I have called You in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people; a light for the nations, to to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.

Did you see where Matthew and Luke quoted Jesus’ ministry? 

Then, the LORD, through Isaiah, chides his people for being deaf and blind to the promises and provisions of God, so He poured on them “the heat of His anger” for a while.

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Isaiah 43.

This is a glorious chapter of God’s love and grace to Israel (and to us as well).

“But now, says the LORD, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel:

  • Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
  • When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
  • When you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 
  • For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. 
  • Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you..

And God’s wondrous proclamations:

  • Before Me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I, I AM the LORD, and beside me there is no savior.
  • I AM He; there is none who can deliver from my hand; I work, and who can turn it back.
  • Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
  • Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
  • I, I AM He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.

Wow! Praise You, O great God in heaven!

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O LORD, I know you love me because of Jesus. I know you discipline me to bring me back to You. You are good and righteous, great and holy, my redeemer and savior. Praise Your Holy Name.

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 206

Jul25

Day 206 – Reading – Isaiah 37 – 39 and Psalm 76.

Read today’s Scriptures.  

Isaiah 37.

This chapter continues the story from yesterday.  Sennacherib, king of Assyria, has come up against Jerusalem. He’s sent his Commander/spokesman, Rabshakeh, to harass the people on the wall and King Hezekiah.  He called to them all sorts of things to intimidate them and cause them to give up.  Hezekiah’s spokesman told him to speak in Aramaic instead of Hebrew so the people wouldn’t understand, but the man refused and laughed.  They need to know! 

Then Rabshakeh continued to tell the people that NO PEOPLE OR GOD has prevailed against the Assyrians so far. And the God of Israel is no exception.

The people answer zero, as per Hezekiah’s instructions.  Eliakim, took the horrible news to Hezekiah.

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As soon as King Hezekiah heard the words, he tore his clothes (grief, repentance) and went to the Temple. He then sent Eliakim to Isaiah, telling him how the man mocked the living God and asking him to “PRAY for the remnant that is left.”

Isaiah encouraged him by saying Sennacherib would hear a rumor (from God) to return to his own land, and there he would be killed. But before that rumor hit his ears, the Assyrian King summarized the vile things that Rabshakeh said about the Living God and sent it in a letter to Hezekiah. “Do YOU think you shall be delivered???”

After Hezekiah got the letter and read it, he went back to the Temple and spread it out before the LORD. And he prayed. 

  • “O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, YOU ALONE, of all the kingdoms of the earth; You have made heaven and earth.  Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open You eyes, O LORD, and see; all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent TO MOCK the Living God.
  • “Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and lands (around us) and their gods made by the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. And they were destroyed.
  • “So now, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, THAT ALL THE KINGDOMS OF THE EARTH MAY KNOW THAT YOU ALONE ARE THE LORD.”

Isaiah sent to Hezekiah, “because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib… this is the what the LORD has spoken concerning him…..

Isaiah then proclaims in poetic form the fallacies and the destruction of the king of Assyria. Verses 22-29. Then…   “Because you have raged against Me and your complacency has come to My ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will turn you back on the way by which you came.”

“He shall NOT come into this city or (even) shoot an arrow there …. ” declares the LORD. “For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”

And then!!!  WOW!!!  “The angel of the LORD went out and struck down a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians.  And when the people (of Jerusalem) arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.

Then Sennacherib, king of Assyria departed and returned home to Nineveh. (As the LORD said.)  And while he was worshiping his god, his two sons struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And another of his sons reigned in his place.  (All according to the LORD’s words to Isaiah.)

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Isaiah 38.

Then comes Hezekiah’s “less great days.”

He became sick, and Isaiah told him to get his house in order because he was going to die.

Hezekiah prayed to the LORD, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness, and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.”  And he wept bitterly.

So Isaiah returned to Hezekiah with a new message from God. “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.”  WHOA!

Then he gave Hezekiah a sign to “prove” the LORD would do it.  He made the shadow on the sundial move BACKWARDS (!!) ten degrees. 

(This was like turning back time several hours!  Something like in Joshua’s days when the LORD made time stand still so Joshua could win the battle. Joshua 10:12-13  Hey, God created the sun and time. He can do anything!)

The rest of the chapter is Hezekiah telling his story in poetic form – about being consigned to die, praying, and then the LORD answering. And then his thanking God.

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Isaiah 39.

Ah-oh……  Here comes Hezekiah’s big mistake. (From arrogance or foolishness. Had the extra years or age made him diminished?)

The son of the king of Babylon sent “get well cards and a present” to Hezekiah because he’d heard Judah’s king was seriously ill, but recovered.  Hezekiah welcomed the envoy, showed them his treasure house, the silver, gold, spices, precious oil, his whole armory, and all that was in his storehouses.”

SERIOUSLY, HEZEKIAH!!!!  Was that hospitality, or stupidity, or…. arrogance?

Isaiah came to Hezekiah in anger. “What did these men say?  Where are they from?”

Hezekiah answered, “Oh, they are from some far country … Babylon.”

Isaiah, “What have they seen in your house?“

Hezekiah, “Everything. There’s nothing I did not show them.”

Isaiah, angry, “Hear the word of the LORD of hosts: Behold the days are coming when ALL that is in your house … shall be carried to Babylon. NOTHING shall be left, says the LORD.  And furthermore, some of your own sons shall be taken away and made eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

Hezekiah:  “Oh, well, at least there will be peace and security in my days.”

REALLY, HEZEKIAH??  Maybe those last 15 years weren’t so good after all………

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Psalm 76.

Written by Asaph in David’s time, this psalm almost seems to point to the glorious salvation from the Assyrians in Hezekiah’s time.

In Judah, God is known: His name is great in Israel.
His abode has been established in (Jeru)Salem,
His dwelling place is in Zion.

There, He broke the flashing arrows,
the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war.
Glorious are You, more majestic
than the mountains of prey.

The stout-hearted were stripped of their spoil;
they sank into sleep; all the men of war
were unable to use their hands.
At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
both rider and horse lay stunned.

But You, You are to be feared!
Who can stand before You 
when once your anger is roused?

LORD, truly You are to be feared, worshipped, honored, and obeyed. Your power and majesty are to be praised. You see, You hear, You answer prayer. You do marvelous things for us, even when we are weak … or foolish.  Thank You for being in utmost control, O Sovereign LORD.

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Days 201 and 202

Jul21

NOTE: Sunday and Monday studies are posted together on MONDAY.

Day 201 – Reading – Hosea 1 – 7

Day 202 – Reading – Hosea 8 – 14

Read today’s Scriptures.  

Day 201, Hosea 1.

Hosea was a prophet in the time of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and good King Hezekiah in the south (and while evil King Jeroboam II reigned in the north).  Hosea means “salvation,” like Joshua and Yeshua.  Although he addressed both Israel and Judah, he referred to the king of Israel as “our king.”  Only he and Jonah were “writing prophets” from the northern kingdom.  He prophesied for 45 years and was a contemporary of Isaiah.

Hosea was instructed to marry a woman and experience her unfaithfulness, much as God with His beloved Israel, and then to show forgiving love.

  • The LORD:  “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom (unfaithfulness) and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom (unfaithfulness) by forsaking the LORD.

And so Hosea obeyed and married Gomer.  She bore a son.

  • And the LORD said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel.”

Then Gomer gave birth to a daughter.

  • The LORD said, “Call her name ‘No Mercy,’ for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel.”

When the daughter was weaned, Gomer had a second son.

  • The LORD said, “Call his name ‘Not My People,’ for you are not my people (Israel) and I am not your God.”

And yet God tells him of a time when Israel will be like the sand of the sea, and where it was said, “Not my people,” they shall be called “Children of the Living God.”

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Hosea 2.

God tells Hosea to “plead with the nation of Israel (also in language reflecting Gomer, Hosea’s wife), that she put away her whoring and adultery, lest “I make her like a wilderness, a parched land, and kill her with thirst.”

Israel went after her “lovers” (false gods), praising THEM for the food, drink, and clothing she had, angering God.

  • “She did not know that it was ‘I’ who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold… WHICH SHE USED FOR BAAL.”
  • “Therefore, I will take back my grain in its time, and my wine in its season, and I will take my wool and my flax which were to cover her nakedness.  I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers.”
  • “I will punish her for when she went after her ‘lovers’ and forgot me,” declares the LORD.

Oh, but see the mercy and tenderness with which He will one day treat Israel!

  • “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. And I will give her her vineyards and make a door of hope.”
  • And in that day, you will call me “My husband.”  I will betroth her to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth her to me in FAITHFULNESS.”
  • ‘And I will have mercy on “NO MERCY.”  And I will say to “NOT MY PEOPLE,” ‘You ARE my people.”

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Hosea 3.

  • The LORD:   “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, EVEN AS the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods. “

So Hosea bought Gomer back with 15 shekels of silver and some barley.  And he told her, “You must dwell as mine. You shall not play the whore or belong to another man.”

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Hosea 4.

Then, through Hosea, the LORD comes down hard on Israel, especially her priests.  “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.  Because YOU have rejected knowledge, I reject YOU from being a priest to me.”

Then an entire section where God rants on His people for being unfaithful to husbands and to Him, worshiping idols with cult prostitutes.

“Though YOU play the whore, O Israel … let not JUDAH become guilty!”  (But alas, they follow Israel’s lead.)

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Hosea 5.

  • “Hear this, O priests!  Pay attention, O house of Israel!  Give ear, O house of the king! For the judgment is for you!  I will discipline ALL of them.”
  • “Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in his guilt:  JUDAH also shall stumble with them….”
  • “I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. 

God then issues a warning, “I will return again to MY PLACE until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me.”

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Hosea 6.

The prophet writes Israel’s FUTURE words. – “Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that He may heal us; he has struck us down, and He will bind us up. Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD.

But until then, God sees their unfaithful ways.  “For I desire steadfast love and NOT sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than offerings.

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Hosea 7.

There seems to be no hope for Israel. Their judgment of doom is set. 

  • “Woe to them, for they have strayed from me!  Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me!  I WOULD redeem them, but they speak lies against me.  They do not cry to me from the heart, but they wail upon their beds. They rebel against me.”      

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Day 202, Hosea 8.

Assyria, like a vulture, hovers over the house of Israel. 

God says, “I have spurned your calf, O Samaria.  For it is from Israel; a craftsman made it; it is not God. the calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces.

Israel… sows the wind and they shall reap the whirlwind. 

Israel has forgotten his Maker….

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Hosea 9.

  • Hosea declares, “The days of punishment have come; the days of recompense have come: Israel shall know it.” 
  • “He will remember their iniquity; he will punish their sins.”
  • “Ephraim’s glory shall fly away like a bird — no birth, no pregnancy, no conception! (Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.) Even if they bring up children, I will bereave them till NONE is left.  Woe to them if I depart from them.  Yes, even though they give birth, I will put their beloved children to death.”  
  • “My God will reject them because they have not listened to Him.“

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Hosea 10.

Prosperity resulted in spiritual corruption.

  • “Israel is a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit. The more his fruit increased, the more altars he built; as his country improved, he improved his pillars. 
  • Their heart is false; now they must bear their guilt. The LORD will break down their altars and destroy their pillars. 

The inhabitants of Samaria tremble for “the calf.”  The people mourn for it, and so do its idolatrous priests, for it has departed from them.  THE THING itself shall be carried to Assyria as tribute to the king. Ephraim shall be put to shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his idol.

And Hosea cries out!

  • “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD, that He may come and rain righteousness upon you.”

And then the solemn declaration:

  • “At dawn, the king of Israel shall be utterly cut off.”

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Hosea 11.

This chapter shows Israel’s refusal of God, and God’s extreme LOVE FOR THEM. 

“When Israel was a child, I loved him… I taught him to walk, I took him up by his arms… I led him with cords of kindness and bands of love… I became to him as one who eases the yoke.. I bent down to him and fed him…

  • How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel?  My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.”

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Hosea 12.

In this chapter, the LORD reviews the history of Jacob/Israel from Rebekah’s womb till the time they came up from Egypt. 

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Hoshea 13.

The LORD relentlessly pours on words of judgment of the ungrateful and proud Israel.  They sinned more and more, making images for themselves and offered human sacrifices, and “kissed calves” (devotion to their idols).

“But I AM the LORD your God. You know no God but Me, and besides Me there is no Savior.”

“Samaria shall bear her guilt because she rebelled against her God; they shall fall by the sword.

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Hosea 14.

And in the final chapter, Hosea reveals God’s heart – a plea for Israel to return to their God.

His promise,

  • ‘I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them. 

And Hosea adds his own epilogue. 

  • Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the LORD are right, and the upright walk in them … but transgressors stumble at them.

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Good words for us too – from Hosea’s closing epilogue, to God’s weeping heart over the sinner, to His offers of restoration. Don’t you just love Him so much!!  But also that sin is unfaithfulness to our God, and must be stopped or judged.

LORD, Help me to look in my own heart.  Are there idols there?  Do I depend on my own strength rather than Yours?  Do I praise others for what YOU do for me daily? Help me to be faithful!  Oh, turn my heart wholly towards You, O my God!  Thank you for your faithfulness, care and love for me!

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 199

Jul18

Day 199 – Reading – Isaiah 23 – 27

Read today’s Scriptures.  (Yes, they are hard to understand!)

Isaiah 23.

This “oracle” is directed at Tyre and Sidon (modern-day Lebanon). They were famous for their ships and shipping industry, as far west as Tarshish (modern-day Spain). The King of this country assisted Solomon in supplying building materials for his palace and the Temple of the LORD.  Later, relations were broken.

Now Isaiah predicts doom for these proud people. “The LORD of hosts has purposed it, to defile the pompous pride of all glory, to dishonor all the honored of the earth.”

“In that day, Trye will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king.”   

“At the end of seventy years, the LORD will visit Tyre…. Her merchandise and wages will be holy to the LORD. It will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who dwell before the LORD.”   Tyre’s sinful gain was to support Judah when they returned.

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Isaiah 24.

The horrific judgments in this chapter, against the WHOLE WORLD, reflect the tribulations as described in Revelation 6+.  The LORD God is to deal with the whole earth MORE SEVERELY than He did at the Tower of Babel and Noah’s Flood!

  • “Behold, the LORD will empty the earth and make it desolate, and He will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.
  • “The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered; for the LORD has spoken this word.
  • “The earth is utterly broken, the earth is split apart, the earth is violently shaken.
  • The earth staggers like a drunken man; it sways like a hut.

And the PEOPLE of the earth languish. The inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left.  WHY??

  • Because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the EVERLASTING COVENANT.

What is “the everlasting covenant?”  See Genesis 17:7, 13, & 19 and 1 Chronicles 16:15-17.

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Isaiah 25.

Isaiah now praises the LORD for the wonderful things He’s planned (judgment and future restoration).

  • “He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of His People He will take away from all the earth.”
  • “It will be said on that day, ‘Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, that He might save us.  This is the LORD, we have waited for Him; let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation.'”

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Isaiah 26.

The prophet continues praise for that day of final restoration.

  • “In that day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah. ‘Open the gates, that the righteous nation that KEEPS faith may enter in.”
  • “You keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.
  • “Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.”
  • “The path of the righteous is level; You make level the way of the righteous.
  • “O LORD, You will ordain peace for us, for You have indeed done for us all our works. (“It is finished,” said Jesus.)

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Isaiah 27.

And then that great promise of the final destruction of that Great Serpent, Satan…

  • “In that day, the LORD, with His hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the DRAGON that is in the sea.

And then there is ANOTHER VINEYARD SONG.  How different this one is from the sad tale of a wasted one in Isaiah 5:1-7.  This one is called “a pleasant vineyard.”

  • “In days to come Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots, and fill the whole world with fruit.”  (In Messiah’s kingdom)
  • “In that day from the river Euphrates to the Brook of Egypt the LORD will thresh out the grain, and you will be gleaned one by one, O people of Israel.  (Matthew 24:31)
  • “In that day a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the LORD on the holy mountain at Jerusalem”

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(Promises of the horrors of Revelation, and the promises of the beautiful restoration of Israel in the Millennian Kingdom.  God can be trusted to fulfill each … in detail.  I believe the “beginning of sorrows”
has, or is about to start.   LORD, Thank you for your word that tells us to PERSEVERE to the end… the glorious end.)

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Days 166 & 167

Jun16

Sundays and Mondays studies are posted together on Mondays

Day 166. Reading Psalm 134, 146, 147, 148, 149, and 150.

Day 167.  Reading 1 Kings 9,  2 Chronicles 8

Read Today’s Scriptures.
What insight or comfort do you receive?
 

Day 166 – Psalm 134 – 150.

What a wonderful psalm to remind us of Solomon’s dedication of the Temple.

  • Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD who stand by night in the house of the LORD!
  • Life up your hands to the holy place and bless the LORD!
  • May the LORD bless you from Zion, he who made heaven and earth!

Oh, DO READ the rest of these Psalms to 150.  These are the songs the people sang as they “sent up to Jerusalem” for the feasts of the Lord. They are psalms of praise!

Here’s just a verse or two from each.

  • Psalm 146.  “Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul! I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have being.”
  • Psalm 147. “Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.”  “Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving, made melody to our God on the lyre.”
  • Psalm 148. “Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise Him in the heights! Praise Him all his angels, praise Him, all His hosts!  Praise Him, sun and moon, praise Him, all you shining stars! Praise Him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens.”
  • Psalm 149. “Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, His praise in the assembly of the godly!”
  • Psalm 150. “Praise the LORD!”   “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! PRAISE THE LORD!”

 

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Day 167 – 1 Kings 9a.

The first part of this chapter repeats God’s “If-Then” blessings and warnings to Solomon and Israel.

IF Solomon will walk in the ways of David with integrity of heart and uprightness, keeping God’s statutes and rules … THEN God will establish his royal throne over Israel forever.

But IF Solomon and Israel do NOT keep God’s commandments and statutes but serve other gods and worship them … THEN God will cut off Israel from the land and make it a byword and a proverb among the peoples. And the “house” (Temple) will become a pile of ruins.

Dire warnings, indeed!

1 Kings 9b and 2 Chronicles 8.

It took Solomon twenty years to build the Temple, his own palace, and the palace of his queen. The queen’s “house” was outside Jerusalem, away from the temple, because she was the daughter of Pharaoh, a pagan, and Solomon did not want her living near the Ark of the Covenant.  

(You wonder why Solomon’s first wife (of Song of Solomon?) was a pagan Egyptian, the very people from whom God had rescued Israel. It was breaking God’s specific law about a King’s marrying.  Yes, it was a political deal, and Pharaoh had killed a bunch of Canaanites and given a city to Solomon as part of the dowery for his daughter, but still …  

  • Deuteronomy 7:3-4. “You shall not intermarry with them (pagans) giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods…”
  • 1 Kings 11:1-4. “Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh …. “Solomon clung to these in love …. “And his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God as was the heart of David, his father.” 

There go God’s promises.

But meanwhile, Solomon got busy building cities.  He gave twenty of them in Galilee to King Hiram in appreciation for all the help and material he had supplied. But Hiram didn’t like them and gave them back. (What??)

Solomon used forced labor (slaves) for all his building projects, much like his father-in-law, the Pharaoh, had done.  But since God’s law forbade any Jewish people from being enslaved, Solomon used the Canaanites, which they had captured, to do the work and oversee the projects.

Solomon filled in the land depression between the city of David and the temple/palace, built the wall of Jerusalem, and the military outposts of Hazor, Megiddo, Gezer, and others, as well as grain storage cities (also like Pharaoh), and cities for stabling his horses and chariots.  He also built a fleet of ships at Ezion-Geber on the shore of the Red Sea for international trading. (Gold from Ophir, etc.) (King Hiram sent ship-builders and seamen to teach Solomon’s workers the trade.)

“And whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion, he built.”

It’s interesting that in Ecclesiastes, Solomon bemoans all this grandeur and wealth as “vanity,” worthless to his soul. (We’ll get there soon.)

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  • 1 Timothy 6:6-10.  “Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these, we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is the root of all evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith…”

 

  • Hebrews 13:5.  “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Oh, Father, keep me from greed and a desire for riches and the abundance of “things.”  Help me see the so much greater value of knowing YOU. Help me to be content with what I have.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 165

Jun14

Day 165.  Reading 2 Chronicles 6-7, Psalm 136

 
Read Today’s Scriptures.
*What truth about God stays in your mind?
 
Today’s reading is similar to yesterday’s verses in 1 Kings, about Solomon’s blessing the people of Israel and his prayer of dedication of the Temple.

2 Chronicles 6 and 2 Chronicles 7a.

Verses of note:

  • “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who with His hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David, my father.”
  • “Now the LORD has fulfilled His promise that He made.”

God’s word is ever true, and we can be sure He will “fulfill what he promises.”

  • “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like You, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to Your servants who walk before you with all their hearts.”
  • “Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house that I have built.”

Then Solomon prays for all the “if-then” times when Israel will fail and sin, and God will bring disaster on them … that if they turn, repent, and pray, that God will indeed HEAR and FORGIVE.

  • “…then hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive and render to each whose heart You know, according to all his ways, for You, You only, know the hearts of the children of mankind.”

Even when Israel is taken into captivity for their sin, perversion, and wickedness (wow, prophecy for sure!), but they REPENT with all their mind and with all their heart and pray toward their land and this house…. Solomon prays that God would HEAR and FORGIVE.

And when Solomon’s prayer was finished, “fire came down from heaven and consumed the burn offering and the sacrifices ... and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.  And everyone – Solomon, the priests, and the people – bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and WORSHIPPED and GAVE THANKS to the LORD, saying, “for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.”

King Solomon offered sacrifice before the LORD = 22K oxen and 120K sheep (wow!).  The Levites stood at their posts with instruments playing music to the LORD that King David had written for giving thanks, “for His steadfast love endures forever.”

Psalm 136.

David wrote: “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good.”  “Give thanks to the God of gods.”  “Give thanks to the Lord of lords.”  “For His Steadfast Love (mercy) endures forever.”  

In this psalm, David repeats that concluding phrase after every element of praise he states about the awesome God of Israel…. 25 TIMES!   For His Steadfast Love endures forever.  

Read all those praise phrases!  If you ever find your heart stingy and grumpy.  Read all these beginning praise praises. How awesome is our God. He does such wonderous things for His own people. He is strong and mighty.  He is tender and kind. 

SERIOUSLY!! Read them and praise Him.  

WHY is He so good to His own people???  For (because) his everlasting love and mercy towards us …. endures…. forever!  (FOREVER!  THINK ON THAT.)

(And then, after you read those praise phrases in Psalm 136, make a list of your own.  I’ll start…

  • Lord, You searched me out and found me – Why? Your love endures forever.
  • You saved me and gave me new life – Why? Your love endures forever.
  • You help me walk in righteousness – Why? Your love endures forever.
  • You forgive and restore me when I sin and repent – Why? Your love endures forever.
  • You supply all I need – Why? Your love endures forever.
  • You give me joy in sorrow and suffering – Why? Your love endures forever.
  • Your presence is with me, even in death – Why? Your love endures forever.
  • You have promised me eternal life with YOU – Why? Your love endures forever. 

And on, and on, and on…….

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2 Chronicles 7b.

After all the celebration, glory, and praise, God appeared to Solomon in the cool, dark, silence of the night.

  • “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice.”  “My eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time.”

And then that verse we know so well, and often maybe mistakenly pray for our own countries.  God says about Israel, 

  • “If my people who are called by name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
  • “If you (Solomon) will walk before me as David your father walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and rules, then I will establish your throne, as I covenanted with David your father, saying ‘You shall not lack a man to rule Israel.”

Such glorious promises!!

But there is a dire warning as well.  Sadly, this one comes to pass…. 

  • “BUT IF…. you turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, THEN….I will pluck you up from my land that I have given you, and THIS HOUSE THAT I HAVE CONSECRATED FOR MY NAME, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
  • “And THIS HOUSE, WHICH WAS EXALTED, everyone passing by will be astonished and say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land and this house?’
  • “Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on OTHER gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore He has brought all this disaster on them”

Solomon’s dream/vision turned into a nightmare of warning.  Will it keep his heart wholly for the LORD???

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*As for the truth(s) about God that stays in my mind after this reading?  It is His utter, enduring, amazing grace and love that He has for His people …. until they raise a fist in His face, turn their backs on Him, and seek to fulfill their own sinful and prideful cravings away from Him.  EVEN THEN, He is willing to forgive and restore if they repent and return to Him.  SUCH MERCY and STEADFAST LOVE!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 161

Jun10

Day 161.  Reading Proverbs 22 – 24.

Read Today’s Scriptures.

WHAT truths have you learned about God, His Word, everyday living, or God’s Sovereignty from Solomon’s proverbs so far?

Proverbs 22.

Insights to ponder—

  • Your good name is better than getting rich.
  • God makes both the rich AND the poor.
  • One who borrows is a slave to the one who lends (so watch out about too much debt on your credit card!)
  • Don’t be friends with an angry person because you’ll learn to be angry, too. (The same goes for one who swears, tells off-color jokes, is malicious, rude, or mean, etc.)
  • (Humor) An excuse for not going to work for the lazy person is, “There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the street!”
  • Train your kids in God’s ways and His Word.
  • Don’t be afraid to spank your kids when they act foolishly.

Then Solomon says, “I’ve written for you 30 sayings (chapters) of counsel and knowledge.”  Why did he write this book? “So your trust will be in the LORD.”

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Proverbs 23.

There are some interesting pieces of advice from King Solomon in this chapter about dining with wealthy, powerful, or influential people. 

  • Use restraint in eating their delicacies (they may be trying to bribe you).
  • Don’t assume they are “treating” you because they like you, for they are probably inwardly calculating how to trap/use you.
  • “Eat and drink!” your host may say, but desist. You’ll end up vomiting if you eat/drink too much (and how will that look?).

Solomon also expands on the relationship between parents and children.

  • Don’t be afraid to spank your children as a part of their discipline.  They won’t die, though their yells may sound like it.
  • Children should listen to and respect their fathers and mothers when they are old.
  • Children, be wise and righteous so your parents will be glad and rejoice over you.

Then Solomon writes seven vivid (humorous if it weren’t so sad) verses about what happens to a person when they get DRUNK.  (Do we really want to look, act, and feel that way???)

  • Wounds without cause, red eyes, it’s smooth going down but with a serpent’s sting at the end.
  • Seeing strange things, speaking vile words, staggering, dizzy, numb.
  • And when they awake? Proof of addiction.  “I must have another drink!

(I wonder if Solomon observed this or experienced it.)

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Proverbs 24.

Solomon built his own palace and the Temple of God. He watched, read the plans his father drew up, and organized the building materials. (TOMORROW, WE WILL SEGUAY TO 1 KINGS AND 2 CHRONICLES FOR A FEW DAYS TO READ ABOUT THAT GREAT WORK.)

Meanwhile, in this chapter, he speaks of other building projects.

  • Verse 27.  He advises getting your fields in order (fences, plowing, and planting) first and then building your house.
  • Verses 3-4.  Solomon compares spiritual education to building your house.  “Wisdom is a house built, and by understanding, it is established; and by knowledge, the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.”  
  • Knowledge = the facts of God’s truth,
  • Understanding = the meaning of the truth,
  • Wisdom = the application of the truth.

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I love verses 13-14. “Eat honey, for it is good. The drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste. Wisdom is like honey to your soul. If you find it, there will be a future and a hope.”

This reminds me of the words of Solomon’s father, David, in Psalm 19, speaking of the wisdom (all the law) of the Lord. “More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.”

(Do I seek for that sweetness of God’s Word and truth?

Do I desire His wisdom, understanding, and knowledge like a taste of honey? 

LORD, oh, help me to long for Your word and to “devour” it constantly.)

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Solomon also writes about our responsibility to help others in physical or spiritual distress.

  • Proverbs 24:11-12.  “Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not He who weighs the heart perceive it?  Does not He who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will He not repay man according to his work?”

Many prophets in the Old Testament warn about the responsibility of being a watchman and telling others about approaching disaster.  Jesus’ brother, Jude, urges this too.

  • Jude 22-23, “And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.”

Salvation should not mean complacency. Love for our Lord and others (friend or enemy) should always guide us.

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 157

Jun6

Day 157.  Reading Proverbs 10 – 12.

Read Today’s Scriptures.
Which proverbs made you “think”?

Proverbs 10.

The Proverbs of Solomon. The proverbs in chapters 10-15 usually offer contrasts or opposites. Look for them.  There are a few familiar phrases, such as “love covers all offenses,” reminding us of 1 Peter 4:8.

Although I have to remember that these proverbs are “general truths” and not theology or promises, I enjoyed all that this chapter says about the “righteous.” (those who fear the LORD)

  • 3. The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry…
  • 6. Blessings are on the head of the righteous…
  • 7. The memory of the righteous is a blessing…
  • 11. The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life…
  • 20. The tongue of the righteous is choice silver…
  • 24. The desire of the righteous will be granted…
  • 28. The hope of the righteous brings joy…
  • 30. The righteous will never be removed…
  • 31. The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom
  • 32. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable..

All of these are contrasted to that of the foolish, wicked, and slothful.  It’s true that the righteous often prosper, but not always.  They are frequently mocked and persecuted horribly.

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Proverbs 11.

There are more contrasts between the righteous and the wicked, perverse, cruel, and foolish in this chapter: common truths that often play out today.  Solomon also writes about money and wealth, as well as greed and dishonesty, pride and humility in this chapter, ending with, “Whoever trusts in his riches will fall.” (29).  (Says the wealthiest man of his time!)

Humorously, right in the middle of the chapter, is this proverb (22): “Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman without discretion.”  He also writes about a gracious woman getting honor” in verse 16.  (Most of chapter 31 is honoring the “virtuous woman.”)

I love the truths about generosity in verses 24-25.

  • “One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give and only suffers want.  Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and the one who waters will himself be watered.”

This truth is reinforced in Malachi 3:10 and 2 Corinthians 9:6-9.

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Proverbs 12.

This chapter holds more contrasts between good and evil, knowledge and stupidity, the righteous and the wicked, pride and humility, hard work and sloth, prudence and foolishness, and much about the power of the mouth and lips and what/how they speak.

Also, two other kinds of women!

  • 4.  An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones.”

.On speech,

  • 17-19. Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness utters deceit. There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment.”
  • 22. “Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD…
  • 25. “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.”

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Many of these proverbs convict me, especially about women and my speech.  Father, remind me from Your Word how to be a gracious woman and an excellent wife.  And may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD.