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Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 309

Nov5

A NEW MONTH!

Day 309 – Reading – Matthew 23 and Luke 20-21

Read and believe in Jesus!

Matthew 23.

Remember in yesterday’s study, Jesus was confronted with several groups of the Jewish religious leaders with questions meant to trick Him.  Jesus never faltered, and even asked THEM a question that left them stumped.  Then He warned his disciples to “Beware of the scribes/Pharisees for their hypocrisy.”

Now, this chapter is a series of scathing remarks or judgments on those very leaders to warn the crowds and his disciples about their evil ways.

But first, a caveat. Jesus tells his hearers that these leaders do “sit on Moses’ seat.” In other words, the laws they teach ARE holy as God gave them to Moses.  The people are to “practice and observe” what these leaders SAY from the Scriptures, but they are not to imitate what they DO.

Why?  As hypocrites, they “heap heavy burdens, hard to bear, on the people’s shoulders, but don’t lift a finger to help them.   And they “do all their deeds to be seen by others.”  They love the places of honor, the best seats, greetings in the marketplace, and to be called “rabbi.”  “Don’t be like that,” Jesus tells them. “The greatest among you shall be your servant.”

Then Jesus doubles down with seven “woes” or condemnations.

  1. WOE!  Jesus condemned their harsh demands on the people (far above what Moses wrote), and yet they did not observe them.
  2. WOE!  These hypocrites went to great lengths to make a single convert to Judaism, but then made him “a child of the devil” by their excessive demands.
  3. WOE!  These “blind fools” valued gold, offerings, and material objects more than the sacred things of God.
  4. WOE!  These hypocrites tithed minutely on everything, even the herbs they used, but they neglected the weightier things of God’s Law, like justice, mercy, and faithfulness.  They were straining out “gnats” while swallowing “camels.”
  5. WOE!  These blind hypocrites washed the “outside” of their cups and plates in precise, legalistic ways, while allowing the serving pieces to be full of greed and self-indulgence.  “First, clean the inside!” Jesus told them.
  6. WOE!  Jesus told these hypocrites that they were like white-washed tombs.  Pretty on the outside with their self-righteousness, but inside, they were full of “dead bones and uncleanness,” which is what Jesus called their hypocrisy and lawlessness.
  7. WOE!  They were such “false” leaders that they built monuments to honor the prophets of old who spoke God’s truth.  And all the while they were KILLING them because they did not want to hear God’s condemnation. Jesus calls these sons of murderers, “serpents” and a “brood of vipers” and asks, “How are you to escape being sentenced to hell?”  Jesus says HE is sending them prophets, wise men, and scribes, but they will kill and crucify some, and others flog and persecute … so that … on YOU may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from Abel to Zechariah. 

 

Then Jesus turns to his surroundings and weeps.  “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!  How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings … and you would not!

“See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”

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Luke 21.

While some were looking around and speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stores and offerings, Jesus said,  “As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”   (Did they think of the first Temple’s destruction and their exile?)

“Teacher, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?  they asked, worried.

Jesus:  “See that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and ‘The time is at hand!’  Do not go after them.  And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once.

Then Jesus lists events that will occur before His return.  Some are distant, even to us right now. Others will happen in 70 a.d. when the Romans destroy Jerusalem and the Temple.

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  • “Nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom.
  • There will be great earthquakes, famines, and pestilences.
  • There will be terrors and great signs in the heavens.
  • Before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, before kings and governors for My name’s sake. (You will be given wisdom to witness.)
  • You will be delivered up even by parents and relatives and friends, and some of you will be put to death.
  • You will be hated by all for My name’s sake.
  • And when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, know that its desolation is near.  FLEE to the mountains.
  • There will be great distress upon the earth, and wrath against this people. They will fall by the sword and be led captive among all nations.
  • And Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
  • There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations because of the roaring of the sea and waves.
  • People will faint with fear and with foreboding of what is coming o the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
  • And THEN they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.  When you see this begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, for your redemption is drawing near.
  • Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.”

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Then Jesus turned to them with warning and encouragement.   “But WATCH yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life … that the Day come on you suddenly like a trap.

“Stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place … and to stand before the Son of Man.”

 

(Definitely a serious lesson and it may cause us to be fearful, but TRUST in Jesus, pray, and believe.)

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 275

Oct2

A NEW MONTH – THE NEW TESTAMENT!

Day 275 – Reading – Matthew 1 and Luke 2

Read and believe in Jesus!

MATTHEW.

Yes! Read the genealogy!  (Don’t worry about pronunciation.) 

If you’ve been with me in the Old Testament study, you will recognize some names. (Most recently, Jechoniah/Jehoiachin [the king who surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar and was later honored] and Zerubbabel.)  Also, there are FOUR women mentioned, three by name. (Can you find them?)  THIS genealogy is the history of Joseph, Mary’s husband, and the stepfather of Jesus.  It traces the ROYAL line and places Jesus firmly in the kingly heritage of King David, as God promised this “man after His heart.”

(Luke’s genealogy traces Jesus’ lineage through another son of King David, Nathan (not the prophet), down to Mary, which avoids the curse on the later kings of Judah). 

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Matthew 1.

The genealogy of Jesus Christ from Abraham down, through King Solomon to Jesus’ stepfather, Joseph.  

Matthew also gives us a glimpse of the man, Joseph, who is called a “just man.”  When he learned/SAW that his fiancée, Mary, was pregnant and knew the baby was NOT his, Joseph had the right by Jewish Law to either have her “stoned to death” or divorce her.  He loved Mary, so he decided to divorce her quietly. 

Had Mary told him the story of Gabriel’s announcement? Did he not believe her? Was it too outlandish?

But before he could start proceedings, the angel of the Lord (Gabriel?) appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph! son of David! Do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus (Savior), for He will save His people from their sins.

This fulfilled what the LORD had spoken to the prophet Isaiah, that “the virgin shall conceive and bear a son” (Isaiah 7:14), and “they will call Him Immanuel, or ‘God with us.'” (Isaiah 8:8, 10)

So, the “just, but obedient” man, Joseph, did as the angel commanded and married the pregnant Mary.  But they stayed apart, intimately, until after she gave birth. 

Oh, and they did call the baby JESUS, as the angel told Joseph.

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Luke 2.

This is the most familiar account of the birth of Jesus, with portions of it printed on many Christmas cards each year.  So often is it read in December that many of us could recite the 20 verses by heart. (Our son, a 6th grader at the time, did just that for Bible reading at our church one Christmas Sunday.).

Old Caesar Augustus thought it a good idea to “register” everyone in the Roman Empire. He commanded “all the world” to go to their ancestral town and be counted. It was primarily to register young Roman men for the draft.  Formerly, Israel had been exempt from a census because Jewish men did not serve in the Roman army. But this census (to be repeated every 14 years) would also enable Augustus to levy poll taxes on everyone.

So, as we’ve seen in the genealogies, Joseph was in the line of David, so he had to travel the 70 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem, David’s ancestral home. The same with Mary.

But … Mary’s due date was only days away!  Nevertheless, they traveled with a large family group to Bethlehem.  (Of course, we KNOW this was to fulfill prophecy about where the Messiah would be born. (Micah 5:2).  

They walked (or rode) and arrived in a completely packed town. Mary started having contractions.  The only private place was where they kept the animals, so Joseph booked it. Mary started labor as the animals looked on.

In hours, Jesus, the Son of God, the Savior of the World, the second Person of the Holy Trinity, was pushed out into a hostile world which would, in a mere 33 years, horrifically kill Him. But for now, He was held safely in warm swaddling cloths, close to Mary’s breast. Later, he was placed in a straw-filled, stone feed trough while Mary slept.

So many prophecies fulfilled.  So many more to be fulfilled. God’s plan of salvation had begun.

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Meanwhile, those shepherds outside Bethlehem got a FIVE-STAR show in the midnight sky.  First,  an angel appeared in lightning brightness with a heavenly birth announcement.

“FEAR NOT! For behold, I bring you Good News of great joy for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ (Messiah), the Lord.” 

The angel went on to tell the shepherds HOW they would recognize this Savior-Messiah. “You will find the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger …. YES, a manger.”

Then that glorious, brilliant, light and song of a million angels began. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased.”

Then a silence and blackness.  It took the shepherds a few minutes for their hearts to slow, their vision and hearing to return.  They looked at each other. “Did you…?” “Yes!” “The Messiah…?”  “I KNOW!”  And then, the agreed, “Let’s go!”   And forsaking their sheep (sleeping through it all, no doubt), and ran as one towards Bethlehem.  The star – Yes, THAT star – pointed to the stable.  AND THEY FOUND HIM just as they’d been told. 

When the excitement ended, and the now-awake Jesus was shown around, the shepherds told the young family about the angels, the announcement, and the glorious singing.  Mary, eyes large as saucers, “treasured up all these things in her heart.”

Eventually, the shepherds left, but they weren’t finished.  They went back glorifying and praising God, and sharing all they had heard and seen with everyone they met.

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Eight days later, as per the Law of Moses, baby Jesus was circumcised as a sign he was a Son of the Covenant (a Jew). At that time, He also officially got his name, Jesus. 

Forty days after his birthday, Mary and Joseph, again according to the Law of Moses, went to the temple to present (and redeem) Jesus, and to offer the sacrifice of 2 doves to show that the purification of Mary had been completed.  (Only then could her marriage to Joseph be consummated.)

While they were there, they met two elderly senior citizens: the righteous and devout Simeon, and the godly, widowed praying prophetess, Anna.  Both had been waiting a lifetime for that day….. the day they would see the Messiah of Israel. 

Simeon took the baby in his arms and prophesied over him.

“My eyes, Lord, have seen Your salvation that You have prepared in the presence of all peoples,

a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”

Simeon handed back Jesus and said with a sweet sigh, “Now I can depart in peace.”

After seeing Jesus, Anna began to give thanks to God and to speak of Him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. 

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(Luke here omits the visit from the Eastern Kings, and the family’s hurried trip to and stay in Egypt.) 

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He tells of them going back to Nazareth, and Jesus growing strong and filled with wisdom. His parents also saw God’s favor on Him.

Luke then fast-forwards to when Jesus was twelve and the family made the annual trip to Jerusalem for Passover.  After the feast days, they returned, but later discovered that Jesus was nowhere to be found.  His parents hurried back to Jerusalem and searched high and low for the boy. 

Yes, they found him and were both relieved and angry. 

He was at the Temple conversing with the Teachers of the Law (scribes and Pharisees). He was asking and answering questions about the Law, and these learned men were amazed at His wisdom.

Mary scolded Him (hopefully not in front of the Teachers, for at 12, He was considered a man).

Jesus answered that He was in His Father’s House.  Whoa, a slight that Joseph, whom He obeyed and respected, was NOT His true Father.

“What….?” they answered. (More stuff for Mary to ponder in her heart.)

But Jesus obediently returned to Nazareth with them.  And He continued to grow in wisdom, stature, and in favor with God and man  (….for 18 more years).

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 263

Sep20

Day 263 – Reading – Zechariah 1 – 4.

Read the Scriptures first. Do you like reading prophetic visions?  

Today begins three days in the book of Zechariah.  Remember in Ezra 5:1-2, God sent two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, to get the Jews off their recliners and back to work to finish rebuilding the Temple. He was in a priestly line, born in Babylon and raised by his priest-grandfather, Iddo. He’s described as a “young man” in Zechariah 2:4, so he was probably younger than Haggai and hadn’t begun his priestly duties (age 30).  According to Matthew 23:35, he was murdered between the temple and the altar!

Not only did Zechariah challenge the Jews to complete the Temple rebuild, but he went on to encourage them concerning their Messiah and His glorious kingdom and new Temple in the future. 

In each of his three main prophesies, Zechariah begins with the present situation in Judah and goes forward to the exaltation of the Messiah’s reign.  It is sometimes called “the apocalypse of the Old Testament.”

God used Zechariah to bring an outburst of promise for the future to sustain the faithful remnant through the coming 400 “silent years” when no word from God was heard until John the Baptist’s words announcing “the Lamb of God.”

(I think it’s cool that Israel was in Egypt for 400 years, until they killed the Passover Lamb.  And soon there would be another 400 dark years until they heard the announcement of (and killed) Jesus, “the Lamb of God.”  See Mark 1:1-11)

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Zechariah 1.

“‘Return to me, and I will return to you,’ says the LORD.” were Zechariah’s first words. And the people repented. Then Zechariah gave these two visions for the comfort of the exiles.

  • 1.)  In the night, Zechariah “saw” a Man/angel among the myrtle trees, and 3 other riders of colored horses.  These men on horses patrolled the earth, and discovered all the nations (Gentiles) were at ease/rest, while Jerusalem & Zion lay in disaster.
  • The Man/angel then told Zechariah and the Jews these gracious and comforting words from the LORD.
  • “I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; my house shall be built in it, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem (the walls were finished 75 years later).  My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and again “choose Jerusalem.” (during the Millennial Kingdom.)

 

  • 2.) Next, Zechariah “saw” four horns! He asked what they represented. 
  • The angel said they were “the horns (or powers) that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” (Maybe the four who attacked Israel: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, and Persia, but most likely the four world empires of Daniel 2:7: Babylon, Persia, Greece & Rome.)
  • Then Zechariah “saw” four craftsmen (“hammers”), and asked the angel/man what these were coming to do.
  • The angel said, “These have come to terrify the “horns” that scattered Judah. The craftsmen will terrify them and cast them down.“

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Zechariah 2.

  • 3.)  Next, the prophet “sees” a man with a measuring line, and he asks the man where he’s going and what he’s planning to do.
  • “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and length.”  The angel/man then sends a runner after the measuring man to tell him that the future Jerusalem will have NO WALL. The LORD will be a “wall of fire” all around the city, AND He will also be the Glory in her midst.

Then Zechariah comes back to the present with a message to the Jews still remaining in Babylon.  “Up! Up! Flee from the land of the north, declares the LORD.  Up! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon, who plundered you.  For he who touches you touches the apple of His (God’s) eye. I will shake my hand over them, and they (captors) shall become the plunder for those who served them.”

  • Then Zechariah again resorts to the distant future when the LORD will dwell in Zion, and many nations shall join themselves to the LORD and also be His people.  He will dwell in their midst, in “the holy land.”  He will again “choose Jerusalem.”  So, “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion!”

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Zechariah 3.

This next vision reveals the need for Israel’s cleansing and restoration as a priestly nation.

  • 4.)  The LORD showed Zechariah the High Priest Jeshua, standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand (God’s or Jeshua’s?) to ACCUSE HIM.  This is symbolic. Jeshua stands in for Israel as a whole. Will he be rejected or accepted? 
  • The LORD rebukes Satan for his accusation. He tells the enemy that He has snatched him (Jeshua/Israel) out of the fire of destruction/exile, like a stick about to burn. 
  • Satan fires back, pointing out Jeshua’s filthy garments (Israel’s sin). 
  • The LORD commands that the filthy garments be removed from Jeshua. Then He says to the priest representing all of Israel, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.”

(This is righteousness imputed, as God does to those who believe in Jesus, the Christ.  Nothing that they/we do can make us clean. God changes our filthiness to purity and glory, and the ability now to serve Him.)

  • Then, Zechariah joins the scene and reminds them to put a clean turban on Jeshua’s head.  The priestly turban, inscribed “Holy to the LORD,” is placed on Jeshua’s head.
  • The LORD of Hosts then charges Jeshua, “If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access with those who stand here.” (Access to God’s throne room through offerings and prayer.)  “And behold, I will bring my servant, “the Branch.” (Jeremiah 23:5-6)  I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. “

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Zechariah 4.

  • 5.) The angel/man came again to Zechariah and showed him a lampstand, all of gold. It had a bowl on top and seven lamps.  There were two olive trees by it, on the right and left, which supplied a continual flow of oil to burn.
  • Then the angel/man gave a message from the LORD to Zerubbabel. “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.” He was speaking of the task of finishing the rebuilding of the Temple. 
  • “Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain.  And he shall bring forward the “top stone” (finishing stone of the temple) amid shouts of “Grace, grace to it!” The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall complete it!”

(And it WAS completed 6 years later.)

  • Zechariah asked about the two olive trees on either side of the lampstand with pipes to pour in the oil.
  • “Do you know what these represent?” asked the angel/man.
  • “No, my lord,” said Zechariah.
  • “These are the “anointed ones” who stand by the LORD of the whole earth.” 

Who were anointed to serve in Israel?  The king and the priest.  Representing these two offices (for the returned exiles) through which the blessing of God would flow were Zerubbabel, descended from the royal line, and Jeshua, from the priestly line.  Both together foreshadowed the Messiah, as priest and king.

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****LORD, thank you for all the imagery in this section, especially the courtroom scene where Jeshua stood before You, clothed in filthy garments.  This is like all the people of the world, sinners in need of cleansing.  Then YOU took off the dirty clothes and put on clean ones. YOU, not Jeshua. And you gave him access to YOU! 

 This is such a beautiful picture of what Jesus did for all who believe in Him.  Just like 2 Corinthians 5:21 says. “For our sake, He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him, we might become the righteousness of God.”  Thank you, oh, thank you!

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 256

Sep13

Day 256 – Reading – Daniel 1 – 3.

Read Today’s Scriptures.  What do you see in Daniel that is new?

Daniel.

The book of Daniel covers the life of the prophet, from a teenager to an old man, and bridges the entire 70 years of captivity.  Daniel was taken captive from Jerusalem (along with his three friends) in Nebuchadnezzar’s first deportation. (Ezekiel went in the second.) (Ezekiel calls Daniel both righteous and wise.)  He was a prophet of God through two world empires. (Babylon, Medo-Persia) 

God, through Daniel, revealed to kings the meaning of their visions and dreams, even showing world powers way beyond their years.  What Revelation is to the New Testament, Daniel is to the Old Testament.

Daniel 1.

Daniel is taken to Babylon (the land of Shinar) along with “SOME of the vessels of the Temple.” (Do you remember King Hezekiah showing off all the treasures of the Temple to emissaries from Babylon, in Isaiah 39:1-6?  Nebuchadnezzar will take all of them in his second siege, and will even melt the precious metal from the Temple to take away in the final siege.)  These golden vessels were placed in the temple treasury of the Babylonian god, Bel, or Marduk. 

Next, Nebuchadnezzar designated some young men of the royal and noble Jewish families to be trained to work in his courts. He sent the chief of the eunuchs** to train them in the wisdom and learning of Babylon, deportment in royal ways, informed of the literature and language of the Chaldeans. They must also be without blemish, handsome, and healthy looking.

Among the ones chosen were Daniel and his three friends.  The chief of the eunuchs** was tasked to train them for three years. First, he changed their Jewish names to Babylonian ones.

**Does this mean Daniel and the others were made eunuchs?

Daniel resolved to keep himself from being defiled by pagan foods.  He requested of the chief of the eunuch to be able to eat only Kosher food. The man gave him (and his friends) ten days.  At the end, they were more healthy-looking than all the others, so he allowed them to continue with that diet.

God also gave them extra learning and skill in literature and wisdom.  And Daniel had special understanding of all visions and dreams.   (He reminds me of Joseph, in Genesis.)

At then end of the 3-year training, they all were brought before Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel and his friends were shown to be the “top of the class.,” better even than the older court magicians and enchanters!

(God honors those who honor Him!)

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Daniel 2.

Then came a test.  King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. (No, not like Martin Luther King Jr.)  It bothered him terribly.  He called all  his magicians, enchanters, and sorcerers to TELL him his dream and then INTERPRET his dream.

Of course none of those imposters could tell the King what he dreamed.  They were used to HIM telling THEM the dream, and they’d make up an interpretation.  

  1. Wise men: We can’t tell you YOUR dream, O King.  Tell it to us and we’ll tell you what it means.
  2. King Neb.:  NO!  You must tell me my dream, or…or… or you are imposters!!  And if so, you are dead men!
  3. Wise men: But, we can’t!
  4. King Neb.:  GRRRRRRR!!  LET ALL THE WISE MEN OF BABYLON BE DESTROYED!!

Wise men, Daniel and his friends, heard the decree to kill all of them. He went to Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, and inquired with prudence and discretion what the hoop-la was about.  After he was told, Daniel requested an appointment with the King, that HE might show the King HIS dream.

THEN, Daniel (wise man that he was) asked his three friends to pray with him all night that God would show him the mystery of the king’s dream.   

AND THE MYSTERY WAS REVEALED TO DANIEL IN A VISION.

Next morning, Daniel went to King Nebuchadnezzar and calmly told him the dream and the interpretation, after first telling the pagan king that it was the JEWISH GOD who’d revealed it to him.

  • You saw a great image and it was scary.
  • From top to bottom, it was made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and iron mixed with clay.
  • A stone struck the image on its feet and broke them to pieces, then the whole thing fell and the wind carried it all away.
  • The stone became an unstoppable Kingdom forever.

Yes, cried the king. That’s right.  What does it mean?

And Daniel prophetically told him of the coming world empires after Babylon, represented by the golden head:  silver chest and arms = Medo-Persian, bronze middle and thighs = Greece, iron legs = Rome, and mixed iron and clay = revived Rome. And the stone?   Christ destroying the fourth empire and establishing the Millennian. 

King Nebuchadnezzar was so impressed by Daniel’s God telling the future.  And he gave Daniel gifts and made him ruler over the whole province, and became chief prefect over all the king’s men.  He also placed Daniel’s three friends in high places.

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Daniel 3.

Perhaps the king got so enamored with himself as the “head of gold,” that he had a huge 90-foot golden statue made in his likeness.  Not just the head, but the whole thing was gold.  He had a dedication party where he invited everybody who was somebody to it.  When the music began to play, they all would fall down and worship the image.

Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego?  Um, no. As obedient Jews, they would not worship the king’s golden statue.  (Their ancestors had worshiped a few golden calves, and see what happened. Other idols in Jerusalem had caused the fall of that great city and the ruin of the magnificent Temple of God!  Bow to a golden statue?  NO WAY!)

  • The jealous ministers tattled on them.
  • Nebuchadnezzar gave them a second chance, and started up the music.
  • The three stood firm shaking their heads.
  • Then the infuriated king threw the miscreants into the blazing, hot furnace.  So there!
  • But wait. 
  • The three walked around in the furnace as if it were a Yogurt Land.  Their ropes were gone.  And… a fourth person was with them looking very much like “the Son of God.”

Nebuchadnezzar ordered them out, and quizzed them.  After all not a thread or hair was scorched, and they didn’t even smell of smoke.

“Our faithful God kept us.”

Now it was the king to stand in awe. “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has delivered his servants, who trusted Him and disobeyed the king’s command, and yielded up their lives rather than worship him. 

So King Nebuchadnezzar made a NEW law than anyone who speaks against their God, would be killed and their houses ruined.   And once again, the three were promoted.

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 241

Aug29

Day 241 – Reading Ezekiel 9 – 12

Read today’s Scriptures … ANYWHERE you find yourself this summer. Stay in the WORD!

Ezekiel 9.

If you remember, in chapter 8, God had just finished showing Ezekiel all the abominations in the Temple, and the pagan worship that had been established right at the door of God’s dwelling place. Ezekiel is horrified, and God is at the end of His patience. In this chapter, He calls for the nearest heavenly EXECUTORS, each with a destroying weapon in his hand.  Six of these fearsome men appear with their weapons of slaughter in their hands.

With these killers is a man, in linen, with only “a writing case.”  To this man, God said,

  • “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.”

The man left to obey.  And then to the six “hulks,” God says,

  • “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity.  Kill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women…. BUT touch NO ONE on whom is the mark.  Begin here at my sanctuary.”  

They began their gory duty with those 25 men facing the east and worshiping the sun, their backs to the Holy Sanctuary of God. 

Then the killers went out into the city, killing all they met, except those marked by the Man.

Ezekiel is aghast! “Will You destroy ALL the remnant of Israel in Jerusalem??“

God explains that the people’s GUILT is exceedingly great. 

  • “The land is FULL of blood, and the city is FULL of injustice. My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity.”

Then the “man clothed in linen with the writing case” (possibly the pre-incarnate Jesus) returned to report that he had finished the task,

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Ezekiel 10.

Ezekiel then noticed the awesome, holy “chariot” with the cherubim and wheels.  God told the man in linen to go “among the wheels, under the Cherubim,” and fill his hands with the burning coals found there. He was to take them then, and scatter them over the city.

Other Cherubim  were standing on the south side of the Temple. When the man went between the wheels, these other Cherubim made the inner court and Temple to be filled with the bright cloud of the “glory of the LORD.”  Only the wings of the cherubim could be heard outside the court.  The man in linen got the burning coals and went out.

Then, a heart-wrenching scene, as the Glory of the LORD leaves the temple and then Jerusalem.  

The flaming, roaring “chariot” rose.  The Glory of God left the door of the Temple and stood over the the Cherubim.  The “chariot,” with the glory of the LORD, moved to stand over the Eastern Gate.

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Ezekiel 11.

The Spirit lifted Ezekiel and brought him to the Eastern Gate too.  God pointed out the men below as the officials and princes of Jerusalem “who devise iniquity and give wicked council.”  “Prophesy against them, PROPHESY, O son of man!” the LORD God instructed.

And so Ezekiel did, condemning these men with their false prophesies of being responsible for many deaths in the city.  And as he finished, one of the official men dropped down dead. Right then.  And Ezekiel feared the whole city was about to die. “Ah, Lord God!” cried Ezekiel.. “Will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?”

Then…. God reveals His plans. No, he will not completely destroy the remnant of Israel. 

  • “Though I removed them far off among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, YET… I have been a sanctuary to them for a while in the countries where they’ve gone. 
  •  I will gather them and assemble them, and I will give them the land of Israel.  And when they come, they will remove the detestable things and the abominations. 
  • And I will give them one heart and a new spirit.  I will remove the heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh that they may walk in my statutes to obey them.
  • They shall be my people and I will be their God.”

Then the Cherubim lifted up the flaming “chariot” and the glory of the God of Israel was over it.  The glory of the LORD went up from the city and stood on the mountain East of the city.

The Glory of the LORD had gone from the temple, Jerusalem, and Judah, then to Chaldea, where His people were.

And the Spirit carried Ezekiel back to the exiles and he told them everything he had seen.

(This is really a sorrowful scene to me.  God had dwelt with His people since they exited Egypt, in that brilliant cloud and fiery pillar, and then, when the Tabernacle and Temple were built, God had the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies, as “His footstool.” But now, He was gone from His Temple and His City.  O, what destruction was left for the people remaining!)   

(This reminds me of the end times when antichrist will rule and fool all the people (almost the very elect too!). But his real evil will come when “that which restrains” is removed. (The Holy Spirit in believers at the rapture.) When God departs.) (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12.)

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Ezekiel 12.

Again, Ezekiel was to perform another “object lesson” for the exiles.  He was to prepare “an exile’s baggage” and pretend to go into exile by day in their sight.  At night he was to go to another place, like an exile sneaking out at night.  At one point, he was even to dig through a wall and pull out his baggage in their sight. 

So he did this. (What an actor, Ezekiel was!) 

If the people asked what he was doing, he would explain what was happening in Jerusalem.  AND  explain how Prince Zedekiah had tried to sneak out, too.  He even pointed to the fact that Zedekiah would not see Babylon because he’d had his eyes put out. 

(NOTE: Ezekiel calls Zedekiah “Prince,” because he believed the “real king” was already in Babylon, King Jehoiachin, who had been taken when Ezekiel was taken.)

Then the LORD tells Ezekiel to speak against a  PROVERB” that is going around, saying, “The days have grown long, and every vision comes to nothing.”

In other words, they don’t believe what God and Ezekiel are saying about the total destruction of the city and Temple. They thought and were preaching that the “vision of destruction” was FAR OFF.

(It’s like what people were saying in 2 Peter 3:3-4, “knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days, with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning….’.”)  But they, like the people of Ezekiel’s time, didn’t KNOW God.

God was shortly going to put an end to that proverb. He was going to speak the word, and it WILL be performed.

“That they will KNOW that I am the LORD.”

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(So much to learn and apply in this book! Ezekiel’s obedience is one thing that stands out to me.  Whatever he is asked to do… Ezekiel does it … without question.) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 240

Aug28

Day 240 – Reading Ezekiel 5 – 8

Read today’s Scriptures … ANYWHERE you find yourself this summer. Stay in the WORD!

Ezekiel 5.

Ezekiel – at God’s instruction – is to now shave off his hair and beard (a disgrace to a Jew) WITH A BATTLE SWORD! Whoa! Then he is to weigh it and divide it into three parts.  One third is to be burned in the fire, another part would be chopped with the sword, and the last third would be scattered to the wind. 

These actions were to represent: FIRE – plague and famine, SWORD – killed outright by the enemy, and WIND – being scattered throughout the nations. (And with this group, the LORD would also send a sword to slash some. 

Ezekiel was also to keep out a small part and put it in his pocket. And even from this small part, he was to throw a few into the fire to be burned. 

It sounds confusing, but these were to be the destinies of the horribly sinful people of the holy God.  The extent of Israel’s sins was:  rejecting God’s rules and statutes, doing wickedness MORE than the other nations. They had not even acted according to the laws of the nations around them!  AND, they had DEFILED GOD’S SANCTUARY with all their detestable things and abominations. 

“Therefore, I will withdraw (from them). My eye will not spare. I will have no pity. I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself. 

“And they shall KNOW that I am the LORD”

  • “I will bring more and more famine upon you and break your supply of bread.
  • I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will rob you of your children.
  • Pestilence and blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you.
  • I AM the LORD; I have spoken.”

. Ezekiel 6.

Again, the Word of the LORD came to Ezekiel. “Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them.” 

And God went on to tell of his “curses” against the altars, pillars, and the high places where His people had worshiped other gods. 

  • He would lay their dead bodies before the idols, and scatter their bones around their altars. 
  • All the high places will be ruined; the altars wasted, the idols broken and destroyed, the incense altars cut down, and all their works wiped out.

“And they shall KNOW that I am the LORD”

When the few that survive and are scattered to other nations remember how their God was “broken over their whoring hearts, they will be loathsome in their own sight for the evils that they committed. 

“And they shall KNOW that I am the LORD”

“The house of Israel shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. He who is FAR OFF shall die of pestilence, and he who is NEAR shall fall by the sword, and he who is LEFT and PRESERVED shall die of famine.  In this way, I will send my fury upon them!”

“And they shall KNOW that I am the LORD”

“When their slain shall lie among their idols and around their altars, wherever they offered pleasing aromas to all their idols, I will stretch out my hand against them and make the land desolate.”

“And they shall KNOW that I am the LORD”

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Ezekiel 7.

Again the word of the LORD came to the prophet, and he wrote it down. 

  • “Thus says the Lord GOD to the land of Israel.
  • An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land. NOW the end is upon you, and I will send my anger against you,
  • I will judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations.”

“And you shall KNOW that I am the LORD”

  • Disaster after disaster!
  • Behold, it comes. An end has come, the end has come; it has awakened against you.
  • Behold, it comes.
  • Your doom has come to you, O inhabitant of the land.
  • I will punish you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst.”

“And you shall KNOW that I am the LORD”

  • “Your doom has come; the rod has blossomed; pride has budded. Violence has grown up into a rod of wickedness. 
  • None shall remain, not their abundance, not their wealth, not their preeminence.  My wrath is upon all their multitude.
  • The sword is without; pestilence and famine are within.
  • They cast their silver into the streets; their gold is like an unclean thing. Their silver and gold are not able to deliver them on the Day of Wrath.
  • They will seek peace, but there shall be none. 
  • They seek a vision from the prophet, while the law perishes from the priests. 
  • I will judge them….

“And they shall KNOW that I am the LORD”

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Ezekiel 8.

Then one day, 18 months later, while Ezekiel was sitting in his house talking with the elders of Judah, the hand of the Lord God fell upon him.  He looked, and there was that appearance of God, brilliant, gleaming like metal, bright. 

God’s hand reached out and took Ezekiel by the hair. (Had it grown back in?)  And the Spirit lifted him up between earth and heaven and brought him in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the court before the Temple.

“Son of man, look toward the north. Do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that Israel is committing here, to drive me far from MY SANCTUARY?

Ezekiel looked and, north of the altar gate, in the entrance, was a great pagan idol, with the people sacrificing and worshiping it.

At God’s word, Ezekiel then dug through a portion of the wall into the court and, at God’s direction, saw engraved on the inside wall all around every form of creeping things, loathsome beasts, and idols.   And worst of all, the 70 elders of Israel stood before them with censers, and a cloud of incense went up.

God then took Ezekiel to the entrance gate of the Temple. There, he saw women weeping before the idol Tammuz.

  • Next, in the inner court of the Temple, between the porch and the altar was THE CROWNING INSULT TO GOD!  There, 25 men, with their backs to the Temple of God, where His Presence dwelt, were facing the east and worshiping THE SUN.

“Have you seen this, O son of man?

Therefore, I will act in wrath.

Though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I WILL NOT HEAR THEM.

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Ezekiel, who was preparing to be a priest, would have been horrified too, at this sight. 

(As for us, for me, how horrified am I to hear the Name of God or Jesus insulted?  When I see pagan centers of worship, how affronted am I for my Lord?   O LORD God, forgive us, forgive me. Turn my heart my face, and my adoration towards YOU alone!!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 231

Aug19

Day 231 – Reading – 2 Kings 24 – 25 and 2 Chronicles 36

Read today’s Scriptures … ANYWHERE you find yourself this summer. Stay in the WORD!

2 Kings 24.

The chapters cover Israel’s history during the final days of Judah and Jerusalem.

This chapter begins when King Jehoiakim (first after good King Josiah) reigned.  It also tells of the FIRST of three invasions that King Nebuchadnezzar accomplished against Judah.  Jehoiakim rebelled (stopped paying tribute) and that’s why the Chaldeans came in person (other armies were used against Juda as well).

Nebuchadnezzar bound Jehoiakim in chains, took him, as well as other captives (INCLUDING 14-year-old Daniel, his fiends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) back to Babylon to serve the king. He also ransacked the temple and too part of the vessels of the house of the LORD.  

Jehoiachin (also called Coniah) was king in his place. He reigned three months when Nebuchadnezzar came for the second time to Jerusalem.  Jehoiachin surrendered himself and his family to the Babylonian king who took him back to Babylon captive. 

Nebuchadnezzar also carried off the rest of the treasures in the Temple and the king’s palace which Solomon had made, plus all the officials and mighty men of valor and craftsmen and smiths, 10,000 in all.  The prophet Ezekiel and his wife went to Babylon at this time too. 

Nebuchadnezzar made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place, changing his name to Zedekiah. 

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2 Kings 25. 

As we learned yesterday, Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar in his third year of reign, causing the Babylonian king to come with all his army and lay siege to Jerusalem.

On the 9th day of the 4th month of the 11th year of Zedekiah’s reign, the great city of Jerusalem fell to the Chaldeans, who burned and destroyed, taking away the rest of the people of any value. The left only the poorest to tend to the fields and vineyards.  

This chapter gives details of the treasures of gold, silver, and bronze that were taken from the Temple to Babylon, including those great, huge pillars of bronze that Solomon had made. They had to cut them into pieces to be able to carry them.

Did they take the Ark of the Covenant?  It is not mentioned specifically.  Some historians say that Jeremiah had hidden it before the final invasion. 

The Babylonian Captain took the priests as well, city council members, and King Zedekiah (who had tried to escape but was captured.  The king and his sons were killed by Nebuchadnezzar at his headquarters.

Nebuchadnezzar named a former secretary named Gedaliah as “Governor,” not king, to oversee Judah.  But later, some dissidents killed Gedaliah, along with his cohorts. 

Then … all the people and the captains of the forces got up and went to … Egypt, because they were afraid of the Chaldean.  (We learn later, that Jeremiah went too, to comfort the people.)

And then a STRANG HISTORICAL FOOTNOTE:  In the 37th year of the exile, the captive king Jehoiachin of Judah was brought out of confinement by the then king of Babylon, Evil-merodach.  He “graciously freed him, spoke kindly to him, and gave him a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in  Babylon. 

“So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments and every day of his life dined regularly at the king’s table. And he was given a regular allowance according to his needs as long as he lived. (!!)

This man, who had surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar like Jeremiah encouraged the kings & people to do, was rewarded.  He is also the king through whom the line of David would pass … right down to Joseph, Jesus’ stepfather.  

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2 Chronicles 36.

This chapter covers most of the above, sometimes in greater detail, with two additional notations.

  1.  The captivity lasted 70 years for a purpose.  It was to give the land rest, for the 70 Sabbath years that the people had refused to give to it … out of greed. 
  1.  Cyrus, the king of Persia – way after Babylon – was spoken by Jeremiah to be the one who would allow and send the captives back to Judah and Jerusalem, by decree.  Anyone who wanted to go, could return.  He said, “The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build Him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all His people, may the LORD His God be with him.  Let him go up!”

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WOW.. Those three statements are hugely encouraging. God does NOT forget His promises or His people.  David’s line would continue until the Messiah came  The Jews would be in captivity 70 years.  And they would return (be sent back, and with help!) seventy years later, to rebuild the wall and the Temple.

God is a faithful God.  He means what He says and performs it to the letter.  We can count on that IN OUR OWN TIME.

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Days 229 & 230

Aug18

NOTE: Sunday and Monday studies are posted on Mondays.

Day 229 – Reading – Jeremiah 35 – 37

Day 230 – Reading – Jeremiah 38 – 40 and Psalm 74, 79

Read today’s Scriptures … ANYWHERE you find yourself this summer. Stay in the WORD!

Day 229 – Jeremiah 35.

This chapter again goes back in time more than 20 years, during the reign of King Jehoiakim, soon after the good King Josiah died, and the evil King Jehoahaz was taken to Egypt. 

In contrast to the Jews’ absolute disobedience toward the LORD their God, these Rechabites showed remarkable obedience to their ancestor for over 400 years!  These non-Jews, related to Moses’s father-in-law, had made a vow not ever to drink wine, to own no land, and to dwell in tents all their lives.  They were nomads living in Israel, peaceably.

But when Nebuchadnezzar first came to Judah, they decided to come up and dwell close to Jerusalem (for protection? Or, to be identified as God’s people?)

When Jeremiah told them to come up to the Temple and have some wine, they refused and told their story. 

The LORD told Jeremiah to remonstrate with Judah in the face of this loyalty, and challenge the Jews to listen and amend their ways … and not go after other gods, but incline their ears to their God.

As for these Rechabites, God told them they would never “lack a man to stand before Him.”  In other words, there would always be a remnant from that family to serve God.  (In Nehemiah 3:14, we see just such a man, working along with the returned Jews, repairing the wall of Jerusalem.)

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Jeremiah 36.

A few years after the above story of the Rechabites’ faithfulness, the LORD told Jeremiah to write down ALL THE WORDS that He had given to him, so far. (Think: the first 35 chapters of this book!  WOW, that’s a lot!  This was done, so the “house of Judah” would be reminded of all the disaster God had planned for them … SO THEY WOUD TURN FROM EVIL, AND GOD MIGHT FORGIVE THEM.

(Doesn’t it twist your heart to see how much God cared for His people, and tried again and again to bring them back to Himself?  He does this today too.  He is slow to anger, “not wishing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance.” See 2 Peter 3:9 & Exodus 343:6)

Jeremiah called Baruch, his secretary, and dictated all the words of the LORD, while the man wrote it on a scroll. It took about a year.   Then Baruch, at the command of Jeremiah, read the scroll in the Temple. 

Micaiah, the grandson of the secretary, heard all these words and went to the king’s house and into the secretary’s chamber.  All the officials were there, and Micaiah told them the words he had heard when Baruch read the scroll. 

They sent for Baruch and commanded that he “sit down and read it” to them.   When they’d heard the whole thing, they turned to each other in fear.  “We must report all these words to the king!”

They asked Baruch if HE had written the words, or if they had been dictated to him. Baruch answered, “He (Jeremiah) dictated all these words to me, while I wrote them with ink on the scroll.”

“Go and hide,” they said, “you and Jeremiah, and let no one know where you are.”  Then they took the scroll to the secretary of the king, and he read it to Jehoiakim in the presence of all the officials..  It was during the winter, and the king had a fire going.  As the scroll was read … King Jehoiakim cut off a section of the scroll and threw it into the fire until the whole thing was read … and destroyed. 

And neither the officials nor the king were afraid, sorrowful, or repentant.  WOW.

So God told Jeremiah to WRITE THE SCROLL AGAIN. 

And concerning the king, his future was dreadful, and he would not have a single descendant to sit on the throne of David.  

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Jeremiah 37.

Jeremiah jumps ahead to the kingship of Zedekiah, another son of Josiah, whom King Nebuchadnezzar had put in place when he took the 3-month reigning King Jehoiachin to Babylon. 

This was before Jeremiah had been put into prison.  It was when the Babylonian army had temporarily ended the siege of Jerusalem to deal with an invading Egyptian army. (They would soon return and destroy Jerusalem.)

Zedekiah had (surprisingly) sent for Jeremiah to pray for him and the people.  But no words of comfort came from Jeremiah. Instead, the LORD said that the Babylonians would return, fight against the city, capture it, and burn it with fire.  WHOA!

Interestingly, while the Babylonians had withdrawn, Jeremiah thought he would go out and visit his hometown in Benjamin.  But at the gate of the city, a sentry seized Jeremiah, accusing him of “deserting to the Chaldeans.” 

Jeremiah denied it, but the guard would not listen to the prophet.  The city officials were enraged.  The beat Jeremiah and imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan, the secretary, for it had been made a prison.  He was thrown into the dungeon and remained there MANY days. 

Then King Zedekiah sent for him secretly, asking if there had been any new word from the LORD…. 

“Nope,” said Jeremiah.  You WILL be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon.” Then Jeremiah asked, “What wrong have I done that you have put me in prison? Please don’t send me back to the dungeon in the house of Jonathan.”

Surprisingly, the king agreed and gave orders for Jeremiah to be held at the court of the guard. AND, that a loaf of bread be given to him daily … until all the bread in the city was gone.

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Day 230 – Jeremiah 38.

Jeremiah kept telling the people the LORD’s compassionate words.  “This says the LORD, ‘He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence … BUT, he who goes out to the Chaldeans shall live. He shall have his life as a prize of war, and live. (Surrender and live.) This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and be taken.”

But the city officials said to the king, “LET THIS MAN BE PUT TO DEATH, for he is weakening the hands of the soldiers who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people by speaking such words to them.”

“Behold, he is in your hands,” said the king.

So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of the king’s son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down by ropes.  There was no water in the cistern, only mud. Jeremiah sank into the mud.

When the Ethiopian eunuch, who was in the king’s palace, heard of that, he went to the king and said, “My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they did to Jeremiah the prophet by casting him into the cistern. He will die there of hunger.”

“Take 30 men with you and lift Jeremiah out of the cistern before he dies,” said the king.

The Ethiopian took rags and clothes and let them down into the cistern to Jeremiah.  “Put these rags between your armpits and the ropes.”  

Jeremiah did that, and they lifted him out of the cistern and kept him in the court of the guard.  Later, King Zedekiah called for Jeremiah and said to him, “If I ask you a question, hide nothing from me.“

Jeremiah: “If I tell you, will you not put me to death. And if I counsel you, you won’t listen.“

“I will listen,” promised the King, “and not put you to death.”

Jeremiah:  ‘If you will surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house will live.”  “But if you do not surrender, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they will burn it with fire, and you will not escape from their hand.”

Zedekiah: “I’m afraid of the Judeans who have deserted already, let they hand me over and deal cruelly with me.

Jeremiah:  “You shall not be given to them. OBEY NOW the voice of the LORD in what I say to you, and it shall be well with you, and your life will be spared.   But if not…. oh boy will you regret it!!”

Zedekiah:  “Let no one know of these words, or you shall die.“

Jeremiah obeyed and remained in the court of the guard …. until the day that Jerusalem was taken.

(I guess the king did not surrender.)

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Jeremiah 39.

No, the king did not surrender.  He tried slipping out a narrow gate and running for Jericho! (Seriously!)

Jerusalem – the City of Gold, the City of the LORD God, the Holy City where God had put His name – fell to the Chaldeans on the ninth day of the fourth month of the eleventh (and last) year of Zedekiah’s reign.  And the officials of the Chaldean army came flooding in. 

When Zedekiah saw it, he and his close soldiers slipped out the narrow gate in the king’s garden and ran for their lives toward Jericho that night.   He was heading towards the Arabah wilderness on the other side of the Dead Sea, where David had hid from King Saul those many years ago.

But the Chaldean army pursued and captured him before he got to Jericho.  They took him to Riblah, 230 miles north of Jerusalem, where King Nebuchadnezzar had his headquarters.  And so, Jeremiah’s prophecy came true. King Zedekiah saw the Babylonian king face-to-face and eye-to-eye.

Remember, when the Babylonians took King Jehoiachin off to Babylon (he’d surrendered)? King Nebuchadnezzar had made Zedekiah king of Judah in his place. Zedekiah promised to send tribute to Babylon and did so for a few years. Then he broke his vow and stopped it. 

So, now, Nebuchadnezzar saw him as a traitor, and treated him like one. The Babylonian King killed all of Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes (Oh, what a horrible sight!).  Then the Babylonian put out Zedekiah’s eyes, so the last thing he saw was his sons being massacred. Then he was hauled off to Babylon in chains.

Oh, if only he’d listened to Jeremiah.  But this was God’s plan.

Back in Jerusalem, the Chaldeans set the king’s house afire, and burned the House of the people (the Temple). They broke down the walls of Jerusalem, leaving the city in ruins.  Only the very poor remained to care for the vineyards and fields.

About Jeremiah…. King Nebuchadnezzar told his army captain, “Take him, look after him well, and do him no harm, but deal with him as he tells you.”  So the Captain took Jeremiah from prison and sent him home to live among his people.

God also took care of that Ethiopian who’d rescued Jeremiah. “I will deliver him on that day, declares the LORD.  He shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom he is afraid. For I will deliver him on the day the city falls.  I will save him, and he shall not fall by the sword… because he has put his trust in the LORD.”

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Jeremiah 40.

A few more details about Jeremiah’s release are listed here.  The Captain of the guard gave him three choices….

  1. “If it seems good to you to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will look after you well.
  2. “Or, if not, the whole world is before you; go wherever you want.
  3. “Or you can return to Gedaliah and dwell among your people.

Jeremiah chose option #3, and after receiving an allowance of food and a present, went to live under Gedaliah’s leadership. 

When the captains of the scattered forces of Judah, who had escaped and dwelled in the wild, heard that Gedaliah was governor, they met with him. The governor assured them everything would be okay. “Live on your land, gather the fruits of the field and vine. As long as we serve (pay tribute) to the Babylonian king, all will be well.”

One of the captains later came to Gedaliah, saying the king of the Ammonites had sent Ishmael, his warrior, to kill the governor.  But Gedaliah did NOT believe him, and forbade the captain from going to “taking care of” Ishmael.

(Stubborn Gedaliah! We’ll see tomorrow that Ismael does come … and kill him. (Sigh.)

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Psalm 74. 

Wow, this psalm tells of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by Nebuchadnezzar. 

  • “Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old, which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your heritage!
  • Remember Mount Zion, where You have dwelt.
  • Direct Your steps to the perpetual ruins; the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!”
  • All its carved wood they broke down with hatchets and hammers.
  • They set Your sanctuary on fire; they profaned the dwelling place of Your Name, bringing it down to the ground. 
  • They burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

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Psalm 79.

This psalm also tells of that time.

  • “O God, the nations have come into Your inheritance; they have defiled Your holy temple; they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
  • They have given the bodies of your servants to the birds of the heavens for food, the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.
  • They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem…. and there was no one to bury them.
  • “Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name deliver us and atone for our sins, for Your name’s sake!

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 225

Aug13

Day 225 – Reading – Jeremiah 23 – 25

Read today’s Scriptures … ANYWHERE you find yourself this summer. Stay in the WORD!

Jeremiah 23.

“The LORD is my shepherd. I shall not want (have any needs).  (Think of the following words in David’s Psalm 23, describing the Lord Jesus Christ.) He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still (peaceful) waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.  Even though I (will) walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me ALL the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”

And now, in Jeremiah 23, see what God says about the “shepherds” who were supposed to look after and care for the “sheep” of Israel, but didn’t.

  • “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!
  • You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them.  Behold, I will attend to YOU for your evil deeds,” declares the LORD.

The “bad” shepherds were the false leaders in Israel who failed in their duty to take care/protect/teach the flock of God.  They included the kings, prophets and priests.  

  • “Then I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them.  
  • I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply.
  • I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall ANY be missing,” declares the LORD.

After the exile, God will bring Judah back from Babylon to their homeland.  Men like Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah will be like good shepherds caring for them.

In a fuller sense, in the end times, the Great Shepherd, Jesus, will restore all His people to their land. This has yet to happen.

  • “The days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch and He shall reign as King and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.  In His days, JUDAH WILL BE SAVED, and ISRAEL WILL DWELL SECURELY.

Meanwhile, God’s heart is broken in him … for the land is full of adulterers, and the (formerly green) pastures of the wilderness are dried up.  Both prophet and priest are UNGODLY.  “EVEN IN MY HOUSE I HAVE FOUND EVIL!”  “And from the prophets of Jerusalem UNGODLINESS has gone out into all the land.”

  • “BEHOLD, the storm of the LORD! Wrath had gone forth, a whirling tempest; it will burst upon the head of the wicked.”
  • Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him?  Do I not fill heaven and earth? 
  • “You false prophets and seers (evil shepherds) … “I will surely lift you up and cast you away from My presence, you and the city that I have given to you and your fathers.  I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.”

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Jeremiah 24.

Jeremiah received a vision, then a word from the LORD explaining the vision. This happened AFTER King Nebuchadnezzar’s second attack, and his carrying King Jeconiah (Jehoiachin, Coniah – this king had several names!), back to Babylon (alive) along with his mother, officials, craftsmen, and metal workers.  

Jeremiah’s vision showed TWO BASKETS OF FIGS in front of the Temple.  One basket had VERY GOOD FIGS; the other had VERY BAD (rotten) FIGS.

The LORD:  “What do you see, Jeremiah?”

Jeremiah: Figs; very good figs and very bad figs.

The LORD: “I will regard as “the good figs” the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place. I will set my eyes on them for good, and build them up, and plant them, and give them a heart to know that I am the Lord. They shall be my people and I will be their God. For they will return to me with their whole heart.”

The LORD continues.  “But I will treat Zedekiah, king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem, who remain, and those who fled to Egypt … “as the very bad, rotten figs.”   I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places I shall drive them.  I will send sword, famine, and pestilence on them until they are utterly destroyed.”

WOW.  This reminds me of Jesus separating the sheep and goats on the Last Day, one to eternal life, and the other one to eternal punishment. Matthew 25:31-46

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Jeremiah 25.

This chapter takes a few steps backward, to the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim in Judah, and the first year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign in Babylon.  For 23 years, Jeremiah had been predicting this, but the people had not listened, nor turned from their evil ways.

And so … as prophesied … the Lord was going to send for Nebuchadnezzar “His servant” against all this land.  “I will devote it to destruction, and make it a horror, a hissing, a desolation.   This whole land will become a ruin and a waste, and you will serve the King of Babylon SEVENTY YEARS.”

There it is! 

But … “After seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation for their iniquity.“

Then figuratively, God gave to Jeremiah His “cup of wrath.”  He was to go to all the nations to which God would send him and MAKE THEY DRINK FROM THE CUP. 

So, Jeremiah took the cup and went …

  • to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, 
  • to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and all the mixed tribes there, 
  • to all the land of Uz and the Philistines, 
  • to Edom, Moab, and Ammon,
  • to Tyre, Sidon, Dedan, Tema and Buz, 
  • to the kings of Arabia and the mixed tribes who dwell in the desert, Zimri, Elam, Media, 
  • and to ALL THE KINGDOMS OF THE WORLD on the face of the earth. 
  • And finally,  to the King of Babylon who SHALL drink. 

And the LORD said, “I begin to work disaster at the city THAT IS CALLED BY MY NAME, and shall you, Babylon, go unpunished? No, for I am summoning a sword against ALL the inhabitants of the earth … ALL FLESH.”

And a special disaster for the false shepherds and lords of the flocks. No refuge. No escape.

WOW.  The LORD is really raging.  Just think how it will be AT THE END OF THE AGE, when Jesus comes, and the world goes into the Great Tribulation before the final Day of the Lord, the destruction of evil!  PRAISE GOD!

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(LORD, Thank you for the promise of Eternal Life through Jesus, the great Shepherd and the eternal King. Keep my heart turned wholly towards YOU. Help me to be obedient to your Word and to those who speak Your Words.)

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 224

Aug12

Day 224 – Reading – Jeremiah 18 – 22

Read today’s Scriptures … ANYWHERE you find yourself this summer. Stay in the WORD!

Jeremiah 18.

God gives Jeremiah another picture prophecy. (Don’t you love those?) 

He is to go to a potter’s shop and watch the man work.  The potter sees a dry chunk, a flaw, in the clay and has to begin again.  He squashes the clay vase, picks out the hard chunk, kneads the “purified” clay, forms it into an oblong, puts it back on the wheel, and begins shaping again.  His clay.  His choice. 

Jeremiah watches. He gets it.  God is the potter, Israel/Judah the clay. There are flaws in the clay – sin.  God can decide to follow through on the judgment he’s planned because the flaw is just too great (crush the clay and form another), or … if the clay is pliable enough, He can work the bad spots out as it spins and finish that flawless vase.  His people.  His choice.

The people were not happy when Jeremiah finished the story and he said, “Behold, God is devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and deeds.“

They stubbornly replied, “We will follow our OWN plans.  We will, every one of us, act according to the stubbornness of his own evil heart.”  (So there! says the clay to the potter. What are you going to do about it?)

Here’s what: “Like the east wind, I will scatter them before the enemy. I will show them my back and not my face, on the day of their calamity.” (God turning his back on me would be a scary thought!)

Scolded people never like the messenger. They say, “Come, let us plot against Jeremiah. Let us strike him with the tongue. Let us not pay attention to any of his words.” That seems pretty mild, but Verse 23 reveals that they were plotting to KILL him, as well.)

Jeremiah runs to God and complains.  “Listen to them!   Hear how they plot evil for me. Remember when I spoke up for You??  Therefore, God, give them over to famine, sword, and pestilence… just as you said.”  WHOA, Jeremiah has done an about-face.  He’d prayed that God would NOT bring those things on Israel before. 

(Boy, I’ve done that, haven’t you?  Touch a bit of me or mine, and I turn nasty!) 

Let’s see what God does.

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Jeremiah 19.

Back to the potter’s shop.  Only this time, Jeremiah was to buy a finished clay flask.  Then he was to take it to the Valley of Hinnom, called Topeth (where babies were burned alive to Molech), and say God’s words of disaster to the kings of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 

“Because they have forsaken God and profaned the city and Temple, making offerings in it to other gods, and because they have filled the place “with the blood of innocent babies, to burn them as an offering to a god….. “which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind!!    Therefore, I will make void all the plans of Judah. I will cause the people to fall by the sword. I will give THEIR dead bodies for food to the birds and beasts.  I will make them EAT the flesh of their own sons and daughters … and their neighbors…”   Yikes!

Then Jeremiah was to break the clay flask against the wall and say, “Thus will I break this people and this city … as the potter’s vessel, so that it can never be mended.”   (Great object lesson!)

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Jeremiah 20.

When Pashhur (meaning “ease”), the priest and chief officer of the temple police, heard Jeremiah, he grabbed him and BEAT him (the 40 lashes of Deuteronomy 25:3).  Then he put the prophet into stocks – hands, feet and neck – and left him bleeding and bruised over night. 

The next morning, Jeremiah gave Pashhur the “what for!!” 

Your name will no longer be “Ease” but “Terror On Every Side.”  You will watch all those horrific things happen to Jerusalem, the Temple, and the people. And YOU will be carried into captivity in Babylon, where you will die and be buried … you and all your friends.

Understandably, Jeremiah was in excruciating pain – back raw, blood crusted on the stripes, bruised, and maybe still bleeding. And joints aching from the stocks.   He says to God,

  • I have become a laughingstock all day; everyone mocks me. Whenever I speak, cry out, and shout “‘Violence and destruction!’  Well, the word of the LORD has become a reproach and derision for me….   
  • I say, ‘I will not mention Him, or speak His name anymore.”  But there comes in my heart a burning fire, shut up in my bones.  I am weary of holding it in.  I CANNOT hold it in!
  • I hear many whispering to denounce me. “Let us denounce him,” say my friends. “We can overcome him and take our revenge on him.”
  • “But the LORD is with me as a dread warrior.  “O LORD of hosts … to you have I committed my cause.  “Sing to the LORD; praise the LORD. For He has delivered the life of the needy from the hand of the evildoers.”

(This is such an example for me.  When I feel down, and people make fun of me, I should never consider stopping my testimony.  I should look to God, preach his love and care to myself, sing praises to him, and say in my heart, and aloud, HE HAS DELIVERED ME!)

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Jeremiah 21.

Okay…  the time is nigh. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, is approaching to make war on them. (No surprise!)

King Zedekiah (the very last king of Judah) tries to do what his ancestor King Hezekiah did when Sennacherib, king of Assyria, surrounded Jerusalem. He had sent for Isaiah to pray and seek the LORD.

Zedekiah sent a priest (another Pashhur, not the one who beat Jeremiah) to the prophet to “Inquire of the LORD,” for him, thinking that maybe God would do one of His “wonderful deeds” for them and make the Babylonians withdraw.   But this was a different king, a different situation.  Zedekiah was not the righteous Hezekiah. 

Jeremiah spoke.  It was NOT what King Zedekiah wanted to hear.  God was NOT going to kill 185,000 of the enemy in a night.

No, the Babylonians were going to attack and prevail against Zedekiah’s weak weapons.  God Himself was also going to fight against Zedekiah and Jerusalem with a strong arm, in anger and in fury and in great wrath.   He was going to give King Zedekiah and the people over to Nebuchadnezzar, who would strike them with the sword … without pity or compassion.  And then he would loot and burn Jerusalem.

Yikes!

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Jeremiah 22.

Wow!! Surprise, surprise! See what God – O, the merciful and forgiving, LORD God of Israel – does!

He tells Jeremiah to go to the King of Judah and tell him this:

  • “Hear the word of the LORD< O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates.  THUS says the LORD, 
  • “Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed.  And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place!
  • For… IF you will indeed obey this word, THEN there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people. (Posterity and Success offered.)
  • But IF NOT …. the house of the kings of Judah shall become a desolation. (No continuing posterity.)

And then, the LORD gives a word – the end of each of the following kings, sons of Josiah.

SHALLUM (or Jehoahaz) – carried captive to Babylon, where he will die.  “Your father (Josiah) did justice and righteousness, and it went well with him. But YOU have eyes and heart only for dishonest gain, shedding innocent blood, and practicing oppression and violence.”

JEHOIAKIM – They shall not lament for him.  “With the burial of a donkey, he shall be buried, dragged, and dumped beyond the gates of Jerusalem.” 

CONIAH (or Jehoiachin) – I will give you into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and into the hands of the Chaldeans (of whom you are afraid). I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another country where you were not born, and there you shall die. “You are a despised, broken pot, a vessel no one cares for.”

(These were the last kings of Judah, all despised.  Israel/Judah would have NO MORE KINGS until that last Glorious One.)

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Wow.  Not the epitaphs I’d want! 

(But take heart. The next chapter (tomorrow) reveals the “Greater Son of David, the King of Kings, holy and righteous, who will sit on his throne forever!”)

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