THE LORD SPOKE (June 7)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: II Kings 24-25

Babylonian Press - Dateline: March 16, 597
The Egyptian army has been driven out once and for all (24:7) and after a three-month siege, Jerusalem has been destroyed (24:8). King Jehoiachin has been deposed and taken prisoner (24:12) and the Temple of Jehovah ransacked (24:13). Some 10,000 inhabitants, including 7,000 elite forces and 1,000 leading citizens, have been taken captive (24:14,16). A puppet king named Mattaniah (AKA Zedekiah) was set up by Nebuchadnezzar and his generals (24:17). He is known to be weak and indecisive (Jer. 38:5,19) but it is hoped that he will support the Babylonian regime.

Babylonian Press - Dateline: July 18, 586
After further Judean rebellion, Nebuchadnezzar's second campaign (which began on January 15, 588) has finally brought Jerusalem and the Judean kingdom to its knees. Severe famine (25:3) and the breach of the city walls (25:4) led to the precipitous flight of King Zedekiah and the whole Judean army (25:4-5). After his capture near Jericho and the execution of the royal family at Riblah, Zedekiah's eyes were gouged out and he has been brought to Babylon as a captive (25:5-7).

Babylonian Press - Dateline: August 14, 586
Nebuzaradan, commander of Nebuchadnezzar's Imperial Guard, returned to Jerusalem to tear down the rest of the walls, burn the Temple, the Royal Palace, and every important building in the city (25:8-10). Large quantities of money (gold, silver, and bronze) have been added to the Babylonian Royal Treasury and innumerable objects of artistic and historical value have been placed in the Babylonian Museum (25:13-17). All the leading citizens have been executed (25:18-21), leaving only a skeleton crew of hoi polloi and an unreliable administrator named Gedaliah to continue sending tribute to the royal coffers (25:12,22-24).

Babylonian Press - Dateline: March 22, 561
It is reported that the Prophet Jeremiah, several army officers, many inhabitants of all ages, and an unknown number of leading citizens escaped to Egypt. This was the same prophet that had earlier predicted our army's success but we have heard that he has now changed his tune. Our reporters in Egypt obtained this comment from Jeremiah: Babylon will be captured.... [Persia] will attack her and lay waste her land. No one will live in it.... In those days...the people of Israel and the people of Judah together will go in tears to seek the Lord their God. They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten. (Jer. 50:2-5)

To read the full text of Jeremiah's statement, see our web site. Though we were previously informed that our destruction of Jerusalem was "in accordance with the word of the Lord" as "proclaimed [by] the prophets" (24:2) and that "the Lord was not willing to forgive" (24:4), it now seems that there was a previously binding agreement that over-rode this temporary injunction. It appears we have not yet heard the last of those Jews in Jerusalem.

Indeed!


New Testament: II Corinthians 9

Money - Part II

Again, it’s so contrary to common thinking or practice. The more you give, the more you have! “Whosoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously” (II Cor. 9:6). This may have been an ancient proverb but it’s not one of the many that are included in the book of Proverbs. Take a look as some of those:

• 3:9 - Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops.
• 6:11 - (to the sluggard) Poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.
• 10:4 - Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.
• 10:22 - The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it.
• 11:25 - A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.
• 11:28 - Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.
• 13:11 - Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow.
• 13:22 - A good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children.
• 14:31 - He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.
• 15:16 - Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil.
• 19:17 - He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done.
• 20:21 - An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning will not be blessed at the end.
• 21:6 - A fortune made by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare.
• 22:7 - The borrower is servant to the lender.
• 22:16 - He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich - both come to poverty.
• 23:4 - Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint.
• 28:19 - he who works his land will have abundant food, but the one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.
• 29:22 - A stingy man is eager to get rich and is unaware that poverty awaits him.

During the “laymen’s missionary movement” of 1906, one of the leaders, J. Campbell White said, “If a man is growing large in wealth, nothing but constant giving can keep him from growing small in soul.” Evidence for that is so readily available. It’s those who give most that live best.

God has promised to provide our needs but He delights in a generous soul and has promised to bless way beyond any point of need those who give freely. Just as we saw in the last chapter, it’s the heart attitude that counts:

Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (II Cor. 9:7)

That certainly removes giving from any consideration of “paying a tithe”. In fact, it would probably be better to determine your giving at either 9% or 11% just to avoid any appearance of paying a debt. But why stop at 10%? Rare would be the modern American who couldn’t live quite well on 90%.

In exchange you have God’s promise to “supply and increase your store of seed and [to] enlarge the harvest of your righteousness” (II Cor. 9:10).

THE LORD SPOKE (October 24)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Jeremiah 32-33

It didn’t seem like the right time for investing. The economy was shaky and nobody had any confidence in the government. Some prognosticators were saying there would be a turn-around but their words weren’t very convincing. Everyone knew the future was very bleak. Everyone knew they were headed for a crash.

In those days, a crash meant murder, pillage, and a scorched earth policy. If you were one of the fortunate ones, it meant “only” physical abuse, theft, deportation, and slavery. Enemy forces were perched on the border, the vultures were circling, the king’s men were plotting....

And God told Jeremiah to buy an expensive piece of property in the suburbs of Jerusalem? He probably had a hard time even finding a real estate agent or a lawyer to draw up the legal documents (32:9-15). Who was wasting time with paperwork when it was all about to go up in smoke? And who was so dumb to throw money down a bottomless hole?

Jeremiah’s prayer in 32:17-25 is a model of trust and dedication to following God. It contains praise of God for his awesome attributes and for His mighty works. It expresses profound trust in His providence and His power to save. Yet, is there a note of doubt in the last sentence? “Are you sure you want me to make this unwise investment, Lord?” The thundering reply repeats Jeremiah’s own prayer as if to say, “Do you believe your own words?” Nothing is too hard for the Lord!

What follows in chapter 33 is a reaffirmation of God’s covenants that still resounds to our day. God has promised to never forget His servant David or His people Israel. As sure as day follows night, He will fulfill His promises (33:19-22). In fact, even more sure than that!

You can bank on it too. If God ever abandons His people Israel, then it’s all over, all hope is lost, finito la comedia. But He hasn’t and He won’t. The promise of the return of the Jews to the land of Israel is being fulfilled in our day is still going on at the rate of tens of thousands every year. The miracle of modern Israel is the greatest visible affirmation of God’s covenants imaginable. It was still an impossibility just a hundred years ago. It’s hotly contested to this day, though it was recognized by the world (UN vote on Nov. 29,1947) and legally established on May 14, 1948. Though Jerusalem is Israel’s designated capitol, it too is hotly contested. Much is yet to come, but who can say that these historical events have nothing to do with God’s promises as found in Scripture? Of course, that all assumes a literal interpretation. No other form of interpretation can bring such assurance to the soul. God is a God of His word and may be trusted - in Jeremiah’s day and in ours!


Psalms 75-76

Psalm 76 is closely related to Psalms 46, 48, and 87. All four have Jerusalem as their central theme. The other three were all composed by the descendants of Korah. Of the four, only Psalm 76 was attributed to Asaph, one of David’s Levitical choir leaders. However, others in this group of eleven psalms “of Asaph” (Ps. 73-83) were certainly written later so this appears also to be a collection from the descendants of Asaph. In the case of Psalm 76, there is a strong tradition that it was composed after Sennacherib threatened Jerusalem and had his entire army of 185,000 men destroyed when the angel of the Lord passed over his camp (II Kings 18-19) in 701 BC, during the days of King Hezekiah.

The story is told in II Kings 18-19 and Lord Byron put it so beautifully in verse...

The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset was seen:
Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown,
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.

For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and forever grew still!

And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride;
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail:
And the tents were all silent - the banners alone,
The lances unlifted - the trumpet unblown.

And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!

Read again the words of Psalm 76 and you’ll see the connections. The application for the survivors of Jerusalem back then (and for us today) was, “You alone are to be feared. Who can stand before you when you are angry? ...Make vows to the Lord your God and fulfill them!” (Ps. 76:7,11). If He was an evil deity, this would be fearsome. But a gracious and loving God is both to be feared and greatly adored. He is Almighty God. And, He is our Father.

THE LORD SPOKE (October 22)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Jeremiah 27-29

“You’re going to be there for awhile so get used to it.”

That was Jeremiah’s advice to the people of Israel as they contemplated the 70-year captivity. Many were probably thinking they could get time off for good behavior. After all, God is a gracious God. Can’t we just repent and get it over with quicker?

And there were plenty of other prophets around to encourage them in this thinking. In fact, there were also diviners, interpreters of dreams, mediums, and sorcerers to promote this lie (27:9-10). Hananiah was a popular and respected prophet. He didn’t like Jeremiah’s negativism. Without a word from the Lord, he prophesied relief within two years (28:2-4). Not only did he contradict Jeremiah, he publically demonstrated against him (28:10-11) and led the people to rebel against the Lord (28:16). God took his life away!

Jeremiah told the people to “serve the king of Babylon” (27:18 - he’s even called “my servant Nebuchadnezzar” in 27:6). Jeremiah tells them to...

• build houses and settle down
• plant gardens and eat what they provide
• marry and have sons and daughters...and grandchildren
• seek the peace and prosperity of that place - “Pray to the Lord for it.”

He says, “It will be a long time [so] settle down” and get used to it (29:28). Is there an application here for us? While “this world is not my home - I’m just a passin’ through”, nevertheless, God has placed us here for a time and for a purpose. We too should settle down and lead productive lives. While our citizenship is in heaven, we should be involved in our present location, contributing to our community.

Before reading these chapters, would you have recognized any of these names:

• Hananiah, ben-Azzur
• Ahab, ben-Kolaiah
• Zedekiah, ben-Maaseiah
• Shemaiah the Nehelamite
• Zephaniah, ben-Maaseiah

They’ve been long forgotten. But have you ever heard of Jeremiah? He was just “one of the priests of Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin” (1:1) - a small village in the smallest tribe and off the beaten track. But, “the word of the Lord came to him” (1:2) and he faithfully proclaimed it. You can do no better!


Psalms 71-72

If Psalm 72 is just about Solomon, it rings rather hollow. Earliest interpreters, both Jewish and Christian, have seen messianic overtones in this psalm.

It’s what is commonly called a Royal Psalm or a Coronation Psalm. The superscription tell us it’s “Of Solomon” but therein lies part of the problem. The Hebrew means of indicating a possessive is to attach the preposition ל (lamed) as a prefix on the noun. However, that same prefix can mean both “of” in the sense of being “derived from” or “of” in the sense of “dedicated to”. Both would carry the sense of “belonging to”. In either case, it’s a psalm “of Solomon”.

It’s quite possible that both are true in this case. Solomon may well have written this psalm for his own coronation. It was used by Israel as a dedicatory prayer for later kings in the Davidic dynasty. But the messianic applications stand out in nearly every verse:

• righteousness and justice (vs. 1-2,7)
• prosperity (vs. 3,7)
• endure through all generations and forever (vs. 5,17)
• rule from sea to sea, ends of the earth, distant shores (vs. 8-10)
• deliverance of needy, afflicted, and oppressed (vs. 4,12-14)

Perhaps the clincher comes in vs. 17b where it says that “all nations will be blessed through him”. That’s a not-so-veiled reference to the Abrahamic Covenant. In Genesis 12:3, God told Abraham that “in you shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” and Paul picked up on that exact phrase in Galatians 3:8 where he says it constitutes “the gospel in advance”. A clear messianic reference!

The very idea of all the nations participating in God’s plan for mankind speaks of the Messianic Age when Jesus Christ shall reign. He is the ultimate King who will bring eternal justice and righteousness.

Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
Does his successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.

Let every creature rise and bring
Peculiar honors to our King;
Angels descend with songs again,
And earth repeat the loud amen!

Great God, whose universal sway
The known and unknown worlds obey,
Now give the kingdom to Thy Son,
Extend His power, exalt His throne.

With power He vindicates the just,
And treads th’oppressor in the dust:
His worship and His fear shall last
Till hours, and years, and time be past.