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2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 282

Oct9

    Day 282—We are in the TENTH month of Bible reading and studying the New Testament Gospels.

    Day 282 – Matthew 12, Mark 3, Luke 6 (Man with a withered hand, blasphemy, crowds, mom & brothers)

Several of the incidents and teachings of Jesus are in all three of these passages today. 

Matthew, Mark, and Lukeall tell about a man with a withered hand whom Jesus encounters in the synagogue. The conversation begins with the Jewish leaders’ strict rules (not the law) about how to keep the Sabbath.  They say healing someone is breaking the law. Jesus says mercy rules and that it IS lawful to do good on the seventh day. (Their priests do good and work every sabbath when they offer sacrifices.)

“Stretch out your hand,” He tells the man, and his hand is restored. Fury burns in the Pharisees’ hearts, and they discuss what they can do to Jesus.  Jesus is grieved by their hardness of heart. Because of this, He withdraws from there. Crowds follow Him, and he ministers to them ALL. 

Matthew quotes Isaiah 42:1-4 about Jesus’s ministry.  “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon Him, and He will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; a bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not quench until He brings justice to victory; and in His name, the Gentiles will hope.”

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Matthew and Mark tell us about the next incident and teachings.  Jesus heals a man who is blind and mute because of a demon. The healing amazes the crowd. “Can this be the Messiah?”   But the Pharisees say that Jesus is possessed by a demon and only heals by the power of Beelzebub (the devil).  Jesus must have chuckled at that. “If Satan casts out Satan, then he is divided against himself.” Then He corrects them.  “But it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, and the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

Then Jesus levels a grave accusation at them. “Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, EXCEPT the blasphemy against the Spirit. It will NOT be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven…. in this age or the age to come.“

Do you want to know the truth about someone? Look at their fruit. “You brood of vipers! How can you speak good when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the HEART, the mouth speaks.”   “I tell you, on the day of judgment, people will give account for EVERY careless word they speak, for by your words, you will be justified, and by your words, you will be condemned.”

“We wish to see a sign from you,” said the Pharisees. (In other words, PROVE IT!)

Jesus answers them with Old Testament scripture. “You evil and adulterous generation.  The only sign you’ll be given is that of the prophet Jonah. As he was three days and nights in the belly of a fish, the Son of Man will be three days and nights in the heart of the earth.” (Speaking of his death, burial, and resurrection).   “The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for THEY repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold….. someone greater than Jonah is here.”

Meanwhile, Jesus’ mother and siblings are concerned about Him. They hear about his ministry to the crowds and confrontations with the Jewish leaders. He is so involved that he doesn’t have time to eat. (Of course, a Mom would worry about this.) “He is out of his mind,” they say.

They stand at the edge of the crowd and call to him.  Some notice and tell Jesus, “Your mom and your brothers are seeking you.”

But Jesus gestures to those around Him, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.”  Jesus was not “trashing” his family but emphasizing the importance and eternality of a spiritual relationship with Him.

(NOTE:  Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3 mention the names of Jesus’ four earthly half-brothers and the fact that He also has sisters.)

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Luke 6 also begins Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount.”  But we’ll read that tomorrow with Matthew 5 – 7.

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 281

Oct8

    Day 281—We are in the TENTH month of Bible reading and studying the New Testament Gospels.

    Day 281 – John 5 (healing the lame man, authority, what bears witness)

Jesus is again in Jerusalem at Feast time. By the pool of Bethesda, many invalids languish, waiting for the water to move (currents or some believed an angel). The first in the pool when this happened got healed.  

One man had been waiting there 38 years because he had no one to help him, and with paralyzed legs, he couldn’t get to the water before others.  WHAT A TERRIBLY SAD PLACE THIS MUST BE – FULL OF DASHED HOPES. But Jesus came by, saw him, and knew all about him.

“Do you want to be healed? He asked.  What a question. Of course, he wanted to be healed, didn’t he? But…maybe not. Maybe there was just enough alms to keep him going. With working legs, he would need to go to work, hold a job, and be responsible. No more free money and pity.

“I have no one to put me in the pool when the waters stir.”  (Is that the same as “Yes, I want to be healed”? Or was it a whine that nothing was HIS fault.)

(Remember, Jesus KNEW all about him.)  “Get up. Pick up your bed.  Walk,” Jesus commanded. And he did.

And the religious leaders were mad! It was the Sabbath. Carrying a mat was “work,” so the man broke the 5th commandment. Passing the buck, the previously lame man said, “The man who healed me told me to.” They asked him who that man was, but the fellow did not know Jesus, and the Lord had withdrawn into the crowd before he could ask. 

Later, in the temple, Jesus found the man. “See. You are WELL. Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” (Unlike the man who had been blind through no fault of his own or his parents, it seems that maybe sin was involved in this man’s affliction.)  Immediately, the man went to the Jewish leaders and told them Jesus had healed him.  (Tattle-tale?)

Jesus refuted their restrictive man-made Sabbath/work traditions as NOT what God had instituted.  God had given His people REST, while the ultra-strict Pharisees had chained them to tiny rules that even THEY couldn’t keep. “Hey, My Father is working until now…and so am I,” said Jesus in their face. 

This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. 

Jesus told them His words weren’t the only evidence that the Father and He were one. He asked them to remember 1) the witness of John the Baptist, whom they questioned thoroughly.  He asked him to look at 2) the “works” or miracles He was doing.  They also validated that He was one with the Father.  3) God Himself had validated Jesus at his baptism. And finally, 4) the scriptures they said THEY knew so well testified about Him. Jesus had MORE than the two or three witnesses that the Law required to establish a truth. 

“And yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.”  

(NOTE:  What a sad statement. Their hardened hearts refused to be humbled, to acknowledge that Jesus was their anointed Messiah, and to believe in Him for their salvation.

 

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, days 279 and 280

Oct7

    Day 279 and 280—We are in the TENTH month of Bible reading and studying the New Testament Gospels.

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

    Day 279 – John 2 – 4 (a wedding, Nicodemus, Samaritan woman)

John doesn’t always put his gospel of Jesus in chronological order. Jesus had done many miracle healings until this point. John, instead, says the water-to-wine miracle was the FIRST of eight significant spiritual “signs” that pointed to Jesus as God.

John 2 begins with a wedding in Cana, and John 4 ends with His healing an official’s dying son in Cana.

John 2 starts with a new Jewish couple getting married, and John 4 is about a Samaritan woman who has been married five times.

In between, in John 3, Jesus talks to a Jewish teacher privately at night about being born again as the only way to receive eternal life. During the day, John the Baptist preaches a magnificent sermon to crowds, saying whoever believes in Jesus, God’s Son, has eternal life. (See John 3:27-36, wonderful!)

John 2.  Jesus and his disciples go to the wedding, probably a family member, since Mary seems to be a hostess. They run out of wine (thirsty guests or poor planning), and Mary tells this to her Son. His answer is confusing.  “What does this have to do with Me?  My hour has not come.“

The “hour” Jesus mentions refers to the very reason and focus of why He had come – His death and resurrection.  Prophets like Jeremiah 31:12, Hosea 14:7, and Amos 9:13-14 spoke of a time in the Messianic kingdom when wine would flow freely.  Jesus knew that the cross must first come before the blessings of the millennial age. Perhaps he was reminding his mother of this (?)

Next is Passover, and Jesus is in Jerusalem.  He is angered at how the temple is desecrated by animals, buying & selling, loud noise, and greed.  He makes a whip and drives the sellers and animals out, overturning their tables of carefully stacked coins.  “Do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” 

(This reminded me of Nehemiah who discovered merchants buying/selling in the city on the Sabbath. He also drove them all out and locked the gates!)   Of course, the religious leaders, who saw their money-making schemes go down the drain, accosted Jesus angrily.

John 3. Later that night, when Jesus was alone, Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, came to Jesus secretly. Perhaps he was going to ask Jesus about what happened at the Temple earlier, for he said,

“Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher, come from God, for no one can do these signs you do unless God is with Him…”

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.“ Jesus interrupts.

(I can imagine Nico’s face. “Huh?”)  He responds to Jesus, perhaps annoyed, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter back into his mother’s womb and be born?”

Jesus responds. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” 

“But…but, how can these things be?” Nico answers.

“Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?”  Jesus explains more, then speaks that beloved verse, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Jesus explains that everyone who does NOT believe in Him is already condemned. The judgment is that Light came into the world, but people loved darkness more because their deeds were evil. They hate the Light because they know their wicked deeds will be exposed.

We don’t see or hear what Nico did with that. I know he will have lots to ponder in his heart.  I know also that by the time Jesus died, Nicodemus was a believer.

John 4. On the way back from Jerusalem to Galilee, Jesus and His men paused at Jacob’s well (Genesis 33:19 and 48:22) in Samaria, where a hard-looking woman was drawing water in the heat of the day (not morning when most women came). Jesus sent his disciples into town to buy food, leaving Himself ALONE with a woman and a Samaritan.

“Give Me a drink,” Jesus asked politely but pointedly.

“How is it that YOU, a Jew, ask for a drink from ME, a woman of Samaria? I thought you had no dealings with us.”

“If you knew who I was, you would have asked ME to give YOU a drink, and I would have given you Living Water.”

“You don’t have a bucket to draw water,” she said maybe disgusted.  “Where are you going to get that ‘Living Water?’ Are you greater than our father, Jacob?”

I’m sure Jesus looked her right in the eyes, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the Water that I will give him will NEVER thirst again.  Instead, it will become like a spring of water welling up to ETERNAL LIFE.”

“SIR, give me this water…… so I don’t have to come to this well again.”

Jesus tells her to go and bring her husband, knowing that she has had FIVE husbands and that the man she lives with now is NOT her husband. (Perhaps she was barren, and no man wanted to keep her if she couldn’t bear him offspring.)  She exclaims that He must be a prophet and starts to get sidetracked. Jesus brings her back with how true worshippers will worship the true God “in spirit and truth.

Then — amazingly so — Jesus tells this unloved woman that HE is the Messiah, the Christ.”

Just then, the disciples return with food, and she runs off. But now she has a message and will soon bring the whole town back to see and hear “the Man who knew everything about me.”

Jesus tells the disciples that THIS is the food He desires, and to look at the fields of souls. So many are ripe for harvest. The people all come and listen to them. He stays two days, then they make their way back to Cana.

There, an official comes to Jesus, begging Him to heal his deathly ill son.  Jesus tells him to go home because his son will live.  The man believes, and eventually, his whole household believes because of the miracle.   John says this is the second “sign” that Jesus did in Galilee.

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    Day 280. – Matthew 8, Mark 2 (healing ministry, confrontations with leaders)

Jesus heals many diseases and conditions.

8:1-4.  “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean,” said a leprous man kneeling before Jesus.

“I will. Be clean.”  And immediately, his leprosy was cleansed.

8:5-13.  “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home,” said a Centurion in Capernaum.

“I will come and heal him,  said the generous Jesus.

“Only say the word, and he will be healed, for I am a man in authority over others too.”

“I have not found such faith with any in Israel! Go. Let it be done for you as you believed,” said Jesus.

8:14-17. Peter’s mother-in-law was sick with a fever, but when Jesus touched her hand, the fever left, and she got up and began serving him.  Later MANY sick were brought to him – some oppressed by demons. He healed all the sick and cast out the demons.  To account for this, Matthew pointed to Isaiah 53:4-5 “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”

8:20-34.  Across the Sea of Galilee, in Gentile territory where villagers raised a great herd of swine, Jesus and his men met more demon-oppressed men living among the tombs. Immediately, the evil spirits recognized Jesus. “Have you come to torment us before the time, O Son of God?  If you cast us out, we beg You, cast us into the herd of pigs.” 

Jesus sent the unclean spirits into the unclean swine, and they promptly ran down the hill, off the cliff, and perished in the sea…thousands of them.  The villagers were scared to death and angry at Jesus. “Please leave,” they begged Him.  (Mark’s account of this incident mentions only one of the possessed men and how his life had changed. He wanted to become a disciple, but Jesus told him to go into town and witness to others what had happened to him. 

Mark 2 retells the story of the paralytic man who was let down through a roof to see Jesus because of the crowds and how the Lord healed him because of his FRIEND’s faith. Jesus also forgave him his sins, which infuriated the Pharisees who were watching.

Those Pharisees also admonished Jesus because He and his disciples were plucking heads of grain and eating them as they walked along a field. (Perfectly legal according to Mosaic law – Deut. 23:24-25.) The religious leaders’ “beef” was because it was the Sabbath, and their actions constituted “work” according to their “traditions.” (Seriously?)

Jesus reminded them of a time when David, the future king of Israel, had requested and received the Showbread loaves from the Tabernacle’s Holy Place for himself and his men to eat. The High Priest gave it to them. (1 Samuel 22:19-20)

“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

 

 

 

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 278

Oct5

    Day 278—We are in the TENTH month of Bible reading and studying the New Testament Gospels. 

    Day 278 – Matthew 4, Luke 4 – 5 (Jesus tempted, calls disciples, great crowds healed)

Matthew 4 and Luke 4 tell what happens immediately after Jesus is baptized and God expresses His pleasure in His Son. The Holy Spirit leads the Son of God into the wilderness for a 40-day fast… to be tempted by the devil.  WHY? We might ask.  

When John baptized Jesus, He identified with us sinners, only without sin.  And where and how did mankind first sin? In a beautiful garden where their every need was met when they were tempted by the devil in three distinct ways.

(These temptations are listed in 1 John 2:16, and Satan uses these three temptations on all of us often. They are: 1) the lust of the flesh (a desire to indulge self), 2) the lust of the eyes (a desire to acquire something), and 3) the pride of life (a desire to impress others.) See if you can see all three in Genesis 3:6.

And so Jesus also encountered these temptations by Satan as well, but in a harsh environment when he was hungry and physically weak. 

Luke 4.  1) “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”  (Satisfy your physical hunger, indulge yourself.) 

Jesus resisted by using Scripture. “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.” (Deut. 8:3)

2)  “If you will worship me, I will give you ALL THE WORLD’S KINGDOMS.” (Satisfy your desire to acquire power and glory.)

Again, Jesus resisted by speaking God’s Word. “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.”  (Deut. 6:13)

3)  “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from this pinnacle of the temple, for you know angels will bear you up lest you strike your foot on a stone.” (Satisfy your pride by proving you are “special” to God.)

Here also, Jesus replied with Holy scripture: “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” (Deut. 6:16)

After the Devil’s three-fold temptation (Jesus the clear winner), he left the Son of God “until an opportune time.”  As Jesus nears the time of His crucifixion, Satan will intensify these temptations for Jesus to choose a different path than the one “set before Him” for our salvation (and the devil’s own head-crushing). 

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Luke 4. Leaner and tested, Jesus “returns in the power of the Spirit to Galilee” to begin His ministry.  He goes into his hometown synagogue in Nazareth.  As any Jewish man could do, Jesus stood up to read. That day, it was the scroll of Isaiah.

He read Isaiah 61:1-2.  “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Jesus then rolled up the scroll and sat down.  All eyes were upon him, expecting Him to teach from the passage. Instead, he shocked them by saying, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

WHAT! WAS THIS JESUS, JOSEPH’S SON, CLAIMING TO BE THE MESSIAH???   Yep.

They told Him to “do some miracle” as He’d done in Capernaum to prove his claim. But Jesus said He couldn’t because of their unbelief.  Then they got furious and actually rose up, drove Him out of town, and tried to throw Him off a cliff.  WHAT??? 

But Jesus, the Son of God, their unrecognized Messiah, simply walked through the crowd…unnoticed. 

After that, Jesus moved from Nazareth to live in Capernaum (possibly at Peter’s house).

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Luke 5 and Matthew 4 tell of Jesus beginning His ministry by choosing His disciples.  Walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Peter and Andrew casting a net into the sea and said, “Follow me,” and they did.  Next, Jesus spotted James and John in a boat with their father and called them.  They also immediately left everything to follow Him. (Remember, these men had earlier met Jesus and been convinced He was the Messiah.)

Luke gives more detail, telling how Jesus got into Peter’s boat and pushed out a little way so he could teach the crowds who were flocking to him.  Later, when Jesus showed the fishermen a huge swarm of fish to catch, Peter fell down at Jesus’s knees and said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”  Jesus answered him, “Don’t be afraid; from now on, you will be catching MEN.”

Then, Jesus went on a massive teaching and healing campaign in Galilee, cleansing lepers, delivering those oppressed by demons, healing diseases and disabilities of all kinds (one time even telling a paralytic that his SINS WERE FORGIVEN, which freaked the religious leaders who said only GOD could do that.  Well…yeah.)

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Probably to the shock of the four young fishermen following him, Jesus also called a hated TAX COLLECTOR to join them, and Levi (or Matthew) eagerly left his tax booth to follow Jesus.  Later, Levi held a big feast for his tax collector friends and introduced them to Jesus.  Of course, this incensed the religious leaders. How can he be a Rabbi and eat with such despicable people???

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick do. I have not come to call “the righteous” but sinners to repentance,” was Jesus’ response.

Then they raise the question about “fasting often,” complaining that Jesus’ disciples don’t do it.  

No, of course not.  The wedding guests don’t fast while the bridegroom is with them. One day, He’ll be gone, and then they will.  Then Jesus gives them a parable about NEW WINE put in OLD WINESKINS.

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Tomorrow’s reading will find Jesus at an actual wedding and dealing with a shortage of wine.

 

 

 

 

 

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 277

Oct4

    Day 277—We are in the TENTH month of Bible reading and studying the New Testament Gospels.

    Day 277 – Matthew 3, Mark 1, Luke 3 (John the Baptist, Jesus baptized, early ministry, Luke’s genealogy)

In all three Gospel accounts, we see more details about John the Baptist. Luke 3 sets the political scene, with Tiberius as Caesar, Pontius Pilate as governor, Herod as tetrarch (king) of Galilee, and high priests Annas and Caiaphas.  Most of these will play a role in the life of Jesus.

Luke connects John with the priest Zechariah and tells how John spent his years in the wilderness. When the time is right, John arrives in Judea at the Jordan River, calling people to repent and be baptized.  Luke quotes Isaiah 40:3-4, who wrote that someone (John) would be a “voice crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord….for all flesh will see the salvation of God. ”   

We also see a bit of the fiery preaching by John, calling the religious leaders to task, “You brood of vipers!  Who warned YOU to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance.”  Unlike the leaders, the crowds of people cried out, “What should we do?”   John preaches love, service, honesty, compassion, kindness, and contentment, all compatible with a repentant heart.  With many other exhortations, he preached the good news to the people. 

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Mark 1 begins by titling his work as ‘the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.’  He also refers to the Isaiah passage about the Baptist, stating that when John began baptizing, “all the country of Judea and Jerusalem came out to him and were baptized, confessing their sins.  He also describes John, saying he was “clothed with camel’s hair, wore a leather belt, and ate locusts (carob seed pods) and wild honey. 

John claimed that he only baptized with water, but One, who was coming, was mightier than him and would baptize them with fire and the Holy Spirit. (Zechariah 12)

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Matthew 3 also shows John as Isaiah’s “voice,” wearing rough clothes and eating raw. He tells about many coming to him to be baptized, including the Pharisees and Sadducees, whom he called a “brood of vipers,” and warned that if they didn’t repent, only the axe and unquenchable fire awaited them.

All three gospels tell of John baptizing Jesus, but Matthew’s has the most detail. 

Jesus came from Galilee to the place in Judea by the Jordan river to BE BAPTISED. John was not thrilled with this saying that Jesus should be BAPTIZING HIM. 

“Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness,” said Jesus.

(Jesus was identifying with us sinners, though He had NO SIN in Himself. He came to be our substitute sacrifice when, on the cross, the wrath of God was poured out against sin, and the sentence of death was applied.  Jesus was the perfect, spotless Lamb and substitute for us, paying the price and “fulfilling all righteousness” in God’s sight.)

So John immersed Jesus in the Jordan water, and when Jesus came up, “the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on Him.”  Both He and John heard the voice of God saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

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Luke 3 closes this chapter with the genealogy of Jesus, tracing His lineage back through David’s son Nathan (not Solomon) to Judah, Abraham, Noah, Seth, Adam… to God, HIMSELF (with whom Jesus existed in eternity past.). 

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 276

Oct3

  Day 276—We are in the TENTH month of Bible reading and studying the New Testament Gospels.

    Day 276 – Matthew 2 (Visit of the wise men, Herod, Egypt to Nazareth)

Matthew 2.  A COUPLE YEARS after Jesus was born, the family is still living in Bethlehem but in a house now. 

Herod the Great (the cruel and psycho king who was an Idumean and descended from Esau) ruled in Israel. He was so paranoid about losing his power that he killed a couple of his sons and even a favorite wife.  It was to this king that the wise men from the east came and asked about the newborn KING OF THE JEWS.  (Oops!)  He freaked out (and all of Jerusalem with him because they knew when the king was upset, THEY would suffer.) 

The wise men (see Daniel 5:11 for a description) had traveled possibly 1K miles to Jerusalem after seeing “His star.” It had taken them nearly two years. Now they needed to know WHERE this new King lived. You better believe Herod wanted to know where He lived too and not to worship him, as the wise men desired.  Herod asked the Jewish scribes, who instantly knew the prophecy of Micah 5:2 that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.  He called the wise men back and asked exactly when the star appeared, then sent them off with the request to be notified when they found him.

However, the wise men didn’t need Herod’s directions because when they left the court, the star appeared again, leading them right to the house where Jesus lived. There, they worshiped Him. Can you imagine the neighbors’ thoughts when a caravan of camels and funny-dressed rice men parked at Joseph’s house? Can you imagine Mary when these finely robed men came inside, bowed low before her toddler son, and offered those jewel-encrusted boxes of gold, frankincense, and myrrh?  They must have stayed at least one night because God warned them in a dream to go home a different way – avoiding Jerusalem and King Herod.

What was that star anyway? Some have suggested it was a comet, a unique line-up of planets, or even a supernova (star exploding).  But perhaps it was a supernatural reality similar to the Shekinah glory of God that led the Israelites through the wilderness after they left Mt. Sinai. 

What were those gifts the wise men gave?  Symbolically, the Gold represented Jesus as King. Frankincense pointed to His Deity as God.  Myrrh,  a perfume used to wrap in burial cloths, suggested Jesus would be the supreme Sacrifice for sin.  And, of course, they all could have been used as funds for traveling to Egypt and living there for a time.  God warned Joseph to flee there after the wise men left because King Herod was looking to murder the boy, Jesus.

When Herod realized the wise men were not returning, he was furious. He ordered all the baby boys two years old and younger in and around Bethlehem to be killed. NO ONE would threaten HIS THRONE!  His soldiers obeyed the command and murdered them all.  What a horror! 

Matthew quotes Jeremiah 31:15, “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted because they are no more.”  This mourning for the children killed in Jerusalem at the time of the Babylonian invasion and captivity was an echo of the current disaster caused by the insane Herod.  (Also, Jacob’s favorite wife, Rachel, died in childbirth and was buried near Bethlehem.)

Joseph obeyed his angelic dream, took Jesus and his mother, and set out for Egypt the following day. They stayed there until an angel told Joseph that Herod was dead.   They traveled back to Judea (where Bethlehem & Jerusalem were located), but the angel again warned Joseph not to stay there.  Herod’s three sons now ruled Israel, and the most wicked one, Archelaus, reigned in Judea.  Instead, Joseph took his family north into Galilee (where Herod Antipas ruled) and settled in Mary’s former town of Nazareth. 

How were the O.T. prophets’ prophecies fulfilled in that Jesus grew up in Nazareth? What did it mean that he was called a “Nazarene?” This possibly was because Nazareth was an “other side of the tracks” town. Everyone looked down on it as undesirable, even detestable.  Remember, even Nathanial asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46)  The prophets wrote that the Messiah would be “despised, abhorred, and rejected by men” (Isaiah 49:7, Isaiah 53:3) like someone from Nazareth. A Nazarene.

 

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, days 273 & Bonus Day

Sep30

    Days 273 & a bonus day—We are in the NINTH month of Bible reading, finishing the Old Testament with the prophecy of MALACHI,

NOTE: Sunday and Monday studies are posted on Monday.

    Day 273 – Malachi 1 – 4 (Jews become complacent and hard-hearted while Nehemiah is back in Persia; Malachi addresses their polluting sacrifices, marrying foreign wives, withholding tithes, and committing social injustice. When God often accuses them of sin, they respond arrogantly, HOW have we sinned?)

Malachi 1.  God tells the backsliding Jews, “I have loved you.”  They say, “HOW have you loved us?” And God reminds them of His choosing of the younger twin, Jacob (their ancestor) over Esau, and how He has cared for them as a father for a son.”

God then confronts the priests, “Where is my fear, O priests, who despise my name.”  And they answer belligerently, “How have we despised your name?”    “By offering polluted food upon my altar,” God says.  “How have we polluted you?“ they wonder.  When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil?  I have no pleasure in you, and I will not accept an offering from your hand.”   “Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock and vows it…..and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished!”

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Malachi 2. God continues through Malachi. “And now, O priests, if you will not listen, if you will not take to heart to give honor to my name, then I will send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings.  Indeed, I already have cursed them.”  God had made a covenant with the tribe of Levi for life, to set it apart for Himself. These priests deceived themselves by claiming the covenant’s privileges while neglecting its conditions as if God was obligated to bless them.

“A second thing you do,” says the LORD. “You cover my altar with tears,  weeping, and groaning because I no longer regard the offering or accept it with favor from your hand.”   The people respond with, “Why do you not?”  And the LORD tells them why.  “Because I am a witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your wife by covenant.  What was I seeking? I was seeking godly offspring.  The man who does not love his wife but divorces her…covers his garment with violence.  SO, GUARD YOURSELVES in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”  (NOTE: They were divorcing their Jewish wives to marry pagan wives.)

‘You have wearied the LORD with your words.  But you say, “How have we wearied him?”    By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delights in them.”  OR by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”

(What cantankerous, hard-hearted, arrogant people?  (Oh, LORD, am I like that sometimes?)

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Malachi 3. The king is coming and sending his Messenger before him to prepare for and announce Him.  This is the voice of “one calling in the wilderness” (Isaiah 40:3) and the Elijah of Malachi 4:5 who initially comes before the Lord.  (The New Testament says he is John the Baptist. (Matthew 3:3, 11:10, 17:12+, Mark 1:2, Luke 1:17, 7:26-27, John 1:23)). The prophecy extends to the second coming of the Lord too, when judgment will come on all who have broken all God’s laws.

God calls to the ‘children of Jacob,’ “Return to me, and I will return to you.”  But they say, “How shall we return?  God accused them, “Will a man rob God?  You are robbing me.”  They say, “How have we robbed you?  

God answers them with a challenge.  “In your tithes and offerings, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you!”  

THE CHALLENGE:  “BRING THE FULL TITHE INTO THE STOREHOUSE, THAT THERE MAY BE FOOD IN MY HOUSE. AND THEREBY PUT ME TO THE TEST, SAYS THE lord OF HOSTS, IF I WILL NOT OPEN THE WINDOWS OF HEAVEN FOR YOU AND POUR DOWN FOR YOU A BLESSING UNTIL THERE IS NO MORE NEED. I WILL REBUKE THE DEVOURER FOR YOU SO IT WILL NOT DESTROY THE FRUITS OF YOUR SOIL OR VINE.  AND ALL THE NATIONS WILL CALL YOU BLESSED, FOR YOU WILL BE A LAND OF DELIGHT….. says the LORD of hosts.”

Some feared the Lord, and He heard them. “They shall be mine in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him.”

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Malachi 4. This last chapter features prophecies about the great and terrible DAY OF THE LORD when He will come in judgment to “set ablaze all the arrogant and evildoers.”  There are links to Isaiah, Joel, Zephaniah, and Revelation.  All who refuse to repent will be cast into the fire of hell.

And the “the Sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.”

Malachi closes with a promise of fulfillment. They can prepare by remembering the law of Moses, the statutes, and the rules.

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers….” (opposite of what happens in Christ’s first coming)  (Matthew 10:34-36)

NOTE: John the Baptist is a type of Elijah at Christ’s first appearance. Moses (the law) and Elijah (the prophets) appear with Jesus at the transfiguration, and they may also be the actual two witnesses in the great tribulation (Revelation 11:1-3)

THE END OF OLD TESTAMENT

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    Bonus Day – A Free Day for Leap Year.

Spend this day thumbing through the Old Testament, remembering all you have read, reviewing the passages and verses that touched your heart (or conscience), and preparing your heart and mind for the New Testament and the story of Jesus Christ and His followers.

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 263

Sep19

    Day 263—We are in the NINETH month of Bible reading, with more of Israel’s history and ZECHARIAH’S prophecy.

    Day 263 – Zechariah 1 – 4  (A call to repentance, and five visions)

According to Ezra 5:1 and 6:14, Zechariah and Haggai were prophets to the returned-from-exile Jews to begin (Haggai) and to finish (Zechariah) the rebuilding of the Temple.  Z. reminded them that this is where the Messiah would come, so build it!! Haggai was more scolding, whereas Z was more positive, reassuring them of future blessings. 

Zechariah 1.  Zechariah’s first words were of hope. “Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you.” Don’t be like your fathers who did not listen.  The people took this to heart and repented.

The “Horseman” was the first of five visions/dreams in this section and reassured the Jews of God’s purpose for their future. The man on the red horse is called “the angel of the LORD” and possibly is an appearance of the pre-incarnate Christ.  Z. also sees three other horses, possibly referring to Revelation 6:1-8.  These patrol the earth, seeing the nations who had come against Israel, which angered the LORD. But He promises to return to Jerusalem with mercy. “My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.”

The “Horns and Craftsmen” vision is the second in the same night. The angel tells Z. that the four horns he sees are the nations God used to scatter Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.  The four craftsmen were come to terrify those nations and “cast them down.”

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Zechariah 2. The “Man with a Measuring Line” vision was next in that night of dreams. This vision is meant to comfort the returned exiles.  Not only is God measuring Jerusalem to rebuild it in their time, but also a greater Jerusalem in the time of the Messiah’s reign on earth.  And again, woes to the nations who dared to “touch Israel, the apple of His eye.”

And God’s promise of a glorious future time, “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come, and I will dwell in your midst, declares the LORD. And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people.”

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Zechariah 3. The “Joshua as High Priest” vision is the fourth that night and speaks of Israel’s future role as a priestly nation.  Joshua, the high priest, is pictured standing before “the angel of the LORD” in filthy garments (much like the nation of Israel, sinful and unworthy). At his right is Satan, the Adversary, accusing him.  The LORD rebukes Satan, saying Joshua is chosen, a “brand plucked from the fire,” much like Jerusalem. 

Note: God Himself (the angel of the LORD) removes Joshua’s filthy garments and clothes him in pure robes and a priestly turban.  This is also a glorious picture of God’s actions for those who trust in His Son, Jesus the Messiah. Our filthy sin is removed, and Christ’s righteousness clothes us like a robe.

Then, speaking of Jesus, the Messiah, the “Branch,” God says, “I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day.”

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Zechariah 4. The “Golden Lampstand”  vision is next.  It’s a huge menorah with a large golden “bowl” for oil, seven branches, and seven lips on each branch.  Behind it are two olive trees feeding oil constantly to the bowl and branches.  “What are these?” asked Z.  “Don’t you know?” asked the Angel.  “No, my, Lord,” said Z. 

And the LORD replies,  “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts. What are you, O great mountain?  Before Zerubbabel, you shall become a plain.”   Here, the LORD, through Z., encourages Zerubbabel to finish the temple building.  And God will give an abundant supply of His Spirit to help. (Spirit is often represented by oil in the Bible.)  God says that, although this temple is smaller and less grand than the previous one, it represents the glorious restoration temple when the Messiah comes to reign. 

And then the LORD tells Z. who the olive trees represent (verse 14). They are the “anointed ones” representing the kingly and priestly offices in Israel, through which God’s blessing will flow. At the time, these were Zerubbabel (descendant of David) and Joshua (descendant of Eleazar).  Together, they foreshadow the Messiah, who is both king and priest, like Melchizedek.  (Psalm 110)

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(Three more dreams that night will follow tomorrow.)

  

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 257

Sep13

    Day 257—We are in the NINETH month of Bible reading, with more of Israel’s history and future visions in DANIEL’S prophecy.

    Day 257 – Daniel 4 – 6 (Daniel serves under 3 kings, the tree stump dream, the handwriting on the wall, and the lion’s den.)

Daniel 4. Nebuchadnezzar’s praise of the God of Heaven from chapter 3 continues here… for a little while. Then he has another ominous dream – a great tree fallen with only the stump remaining. 

Daniel is called again to interpret the dream and is sad about its meaning.  He tells Nebuchadnezzar that HE is that beautiful tree that spreads far and wide, sheltering and giving food to all.  But a “holy one” coming down from heaven will chop it down and leave only the stump, bound with an iron band, for seven years. 

“Sorry, O King, but YOU shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven for seven years…..until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom He will.”

Daniel begs the king to repent and practice righteousness so that this dream will not happen for a long time.  But alas, 12 months later, we see the uber-proud king strutting on his rooftop proclaiming that all the riches and glory of Babylon were built by HIS OWN MIGHTY POWER and for the glory of  HIS MAJESTY.  And while he spoke… um… he became like an ox and was driven from the city to eat grass in the field, his body – long hair and long nails – wet with the dew of heaven.

Yikes! Talk about a God-inspired severe mental breakdown!

Seven years to the day, old King Nebuchadnezzar “came to his senses.” (What am I doing eating grass in a pasture??? I need a haircut and a manicure! )   He “lifted his eyes to heaven and blessed the Most High, and praised and honored HIM who lives forever.”

At the same time, his reason returned, as did his glory, majesty, and splendor. And he said, “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the “King of Heaven” for all His works are right, and His ways are just; and those who walk in pride He is able to humble.”

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Daniel 5.  Twenty years after Nebuchadnezzar’s death, his son, Belshazzar, is about to meet his Maker, and his kingdom is violently given to the Medes & Persians. 

He is feasting and drinking with a thousand of his lords. In drunken braggadocio, he calls for the splendid gold and silver chalices his father took from the Temple – the House of God – in Jerusalem. “Why aren’t we drinking from them?”  He, his guests, and concubines drank wine and praised the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

And IMMEDIATELY, the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the wall plaster, and the king saw them. His pallor changed, his limbs weakened (Can you imagine the goblet slipping from his fingers, wine splashing on him?), and his knees knocked together.  He called for all his magicians to interpret the writing, but they could not.

Then, the Queen (his mother) mentioned a man ‘in whom is the spirit of the Holy gods.’ Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, trusted him because he could interpret dreams and solve problems.  ” Let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.”

Daniel is located and brought to the palace. The king said, “You are that Daniel, one of the exiles, whom the king my father brought from Judah. I have heard that light, and understanding, and excellent wisdom are found in you. I have heard that you can interpret dreams and solve problems.  IF YOU WILL READ THIS WRITING AND INTERPRET IT, I will make you Number Three in my kingdom!”

“Keep your gifts, O king,” said Daniel shortly. “But I will read and interpret the writing.”  

But first, Daniel gives a little history of this king’s father, Nebuchadnezzar, how God made him great, how he was prideful, how God made him like an ox, and how God restored his majesty when he humbled himself and acknowledged the God of Heaven.  “But YOU, his son, Belshazzar, have NOT humbled your heart though you knew all this. You have lifted yourself up against the God of heaven. You have praised the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.  But the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have NOT honored.  And so, this hand was sent.” 

It says, “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN.  It means that God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end. You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting. Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

That very night, Belshazzar, the Chaldean king, was killed. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom.”

(You don’t mess with the God of heaven or His Holy stuff!)

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Daniel 6. And now, Daniel is serving under a third king, Darius. He is now one of three ‘presidents’ in charge of the 120 satraps (governors).  They all had to report to him.  Soon, they were resentful and jealous of him, “one of the exiles” ruling over them, and they devised a wicked, deceitful plan to get rid of him. The only grounds of complaint against Daniel that they could find (for he was exemplary) was to see it in the law of his God.

They convinced King Darius that he should be honored for a month.  (Darius month!!)   During that month, if anyone asked anything (petitioned) of anyone except the king, he would be thrown into a lion’s den.   The king said that sounded cool and stamped it into law.

The jealous governors camped outside Daniel’s house, and when they saw him open his East-facing window toward Jerusalem, kneel, and pray three times each day, they knew they had him. Wide-eyed, with innocent smiles, they tattled to the king.

Of course, the king was distraught. Daniel was one of his chief men. A “rainmaker.” But, the law of a Mede or Persian could not be changed. (We’ll see this again in Esther.)  And he condemned his ‘fave guy’ to the lion’s den. (BTW, Daniel is about 82 years old by now.)

All night, Darius prayed and fasted for Daniel. (Quite a turnabout.)  Early in the morning, he rushed to the lion’s den.  “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?”

A tiny wait while he held his breath.

“O king, live forever! My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me.” 

Daniel is drawn from the den joyously, and those jealous, sneaky satraps and their wives and children are tossed in. (Does this remind you of the fiery furnace story??)  Having been denied dinner all night, the lions leaped on them before they even hit the bottom of the den. 

Darius then sends a message throughout his kingdom that people are to tremble and fear the God of Daniel. “For He is the living God, enduring forever; His kingdom shall never be destroyed, and His dominion shall be to the end.”

And this chapter of Daniel ends with…”So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.”

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(Tomorrow, we begin Daniel’s prophetic visions.)

 

 

 

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 227

Aug14

    Day 227—We are in the eighth month of Bible reading, with more of Israel’s history and prophecy.

    Day 227 – Jeremiah 30 – 31 (Bad news, but then glorious news, future, then WAY future)

Jerimiah 30. The promises of God (more than 22!) stand out in this chapter: restoration, return, bonds & yokes broken, end of servanthood to foreigners, salvation, a King, medicine and healing, retaliation against their oppressors, compassion, rebuilding, their position as the people of God.

What a glorious, hopeful message this must have been to the exiles! And a Messianic hope!  “Their Prince shall be one of themselves; their Ruler shall come out from their midst; I will make Him draw near, and He shall approach Me, for who would dare of himself to approach me?, declares the LORD. And you shall be my people, and I will be your God.”

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Jeremiah 31.  Prophecies of the nation’s restoration are continued in this chapter, both closely future and distant, end-times future.

“I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued my faithfulness to you.  AGAIN, I will build you and you shall be built, O virgin Israel (What???)  AGAIN, you shall adorn yourself with tambourines and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.  AGAIN, you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant and shall enjoy the fruit.”

“For the LORD has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD…”

“I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them and give them gladness for sorrow. I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares the LORD.”

And in the far future… “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, NOT like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke (the law)…”    “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel AFTER THOSE DAYS,  I will put my law within them and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD’ for they shall ALL know me, from the least to the greatest.  For I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more.”

“Behold the days are coming, declares the LORD, when the city shall be rebuilt for the LORD.”    “It shall not be uprooted or overthrown  anymore forever.” (see Revelation 3:12, 21:2)