READINGS FOR JULY 31 - AUGUST 6

JULY 31 

You gotta feel sorry for poor Jeremiah. He’s only doing what God told him to do. People reject him, ridicule him, try to kill him, etc, etc, etc. And yet he intercedes for the people. He mourns that he was even born. God reassures him. He complains. God chastises him and even tells him in Jeremiah 15:19 that if he (Jeremiah) will repent then God will let him keep on doing what makes him whine. God tells him not to marry, not to mourn, not to feast.  So what does Jeremiah do? Give up??? Hardly!!!

Jeremiah 17:16-18
I have not run away from being your shepherd; you know I have not desired the day of despair. What passes my lips is open before you. Do not be a terror to me; you are my refuge in the day of disaster. Let my persecutors be put to shame, but keep me from shame; let them be terrified, but keep me from terror. Bring on them the day of disaster; destroy them with double destruction.

Jeremiah doesn’t run away from His calling, even though it is not something he desired to do. His attitude at this point is for God to bring on the people what they deserve. 

Jeremiah 15:19bLet this people turn to you, but you must not turn to them.

Hard, but applicable words for us today. Don't compromise when we are in the right.

How is it with us? Do we run away from God’s call because it isn’t to our liking? Do we continue honoring our idols and Asherah poles?  God has something to say about that.

Jeremiah 16:17-18 
My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes. I will repay them double for their wickedness and their sin, because they have defiled my land with the lifeless forms of their vile images and have filled my inheritance with their detestable idols. ”

Vile images today could be such things as some movies, videos, pictures, etc.  Idols, of course, take many forms.

Jeremiah 17:5-8 is a study in contrasts.  Here is a paraphrase:
Cursed is the one who trusts in man.  Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.
Cursed is the one who depends on flesh for his strength.  Blessed is the one whose confidence is in the Lord. The cursed one will be like a bush in the wastelands.  The blessed one will be like a tree planted by water. The cursed one will dwell in the parched places of the desert in a salt land where no one lives.  The blessed one does not fear when heat comes; leaves are always green with no worries in a year of drought. This blessed one never fails to bear fruit.

In thinking about those of us who are blessed, those of us who are called by His Name, we have an obligation to bear fruit.  The seed to perpetuate the tree is in the fruit.  The seed for others' understanding is in our fruit.  Pretty heavy responsibility.

Today's reading ends with these words from Jeremiah 17:16 "I have not run away from being your shepherd."

We keep thinking about how hard this must have been for Jeremiah.  God gave him the job of preaching to a people who would not listen.  And yet, Jeremiah did the job, whining and complaining some of the time, but yet weeping for the people - so human - and yet so obedient.  

AUGUST 1

The commentary in today's reading from the Chronological Bible includes this.  "The Sabbath has been honored mostly in the breach for many years and God now wants it to be observed".
A better statement would be "God has always wanted it to be observed."

The people acknowledged that the Sabbath was there but they did nothing about it.  They didn't follow the requirement of the law.  Observing the Sabbath includes the Feast and Festival Days as well as the seventh day of the week.  One way of honoring and observing the Sabbath day today is to take time to stop, slow down, and remember what Jesus has done for us.  For one thing, “The sorrows for the appointed feasts I will remove from you; they are a burden and a reproach to you.  Zephaniah 3:18.  Before the cross they had many intricate details, requirements, and sacrifices, including cleansing ceremonies that had to be done when honoring the feast days.  After the cross we only have to remember what Jesus did to fulfill the feast days.  This is what it means to take the sorrows of the appointed feasts away.  We no longer have the need for the many details and cleansing ceremonies or sacrifices.  Jesus took care of that.  This is what we need to remember and observe during the God-ordained Holy Days (feast and festivals).

Jeremiah 18:2-4
"Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message." So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

Jeremiah’s message from the potter was a bit different from Phil’s message. The message Phil received was; No matter how marred you are, how useless and inadequate you may feel- or even how blind you are – God shapes what you are into a shape that is pleasing to Him. Changing one shape into another shape requires pressure, sometimes it's not so pleasant. 

As we read Jeremiah 18 - Lesson of the Potter - we thought how the lesson applied to us today in the U.S. There are consequences for our actions as a country. There are consequences for our actions as a church, the body of Christ. But there are also consequences for us as individuals within that country and church.   Scripture says, "So turn from your evil ways, each ONE of you, and reform your ways and your actions." This goes right along with 2 Chronicles 7:14 and the many lessons we have learned from that verse.  God continually reminds the people if they will repent, then He will listen and not inflict the disaster He had planned. If the people then and now would only do what God asked them to do they would be blessed and not cursed.

In Chapter 18:19-23 Jeremiah speaks some harsh words against his accusers.  Is he angry because the people rejected him or is he angry because they have rejected God's message through him?  Jesus put those kinds of things in proper perspective.

John 15:18
If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 

In Jeremiah 19 God sends a message for Topheth.  We find out about this place Topheth in another book.

2 Kings 23:10  
And he (King Josiah) defiled Topheth, in the valley of the sons of Hinnom, so that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech. 

The people were doing detestable things in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, things that God says "did not enter my mind" because they were so vile and detestable to Him.  

Jeremiah 20:7 O Lord, you deceived me...

How can a perfect God deceive anyone?  This verse is an excellent example of the importance of looking at the Hebrew word that was translated into the English word "deceive".  There are several definitions of the Hebrew word.  One definition is "deceive" but another definition is "persuade". Knowing the character of God, we know that the word deceive is not the correct word to use there. 

Jeremiah 20:9
But if I say, "I will not mention him or speak any more in his name," his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.

If God’s Word is in our heart like a fire, we should not be able to hold it in. 

Jeremiah again in today’s reading feels self-pity and betrayal, even curses the day he was born, and yet he praises God. The people of Jeremiah's day conspired against him saying, "...let's attack him with our tongues and pay no attention to anything he says."

Jeremiah obeyed God no matter what the people were doing to him or saying about him. He continued to warn the people of what was about to happen. Good example for us wouldn’t you say? 

AUGUST 2

Jeremiah’s preaching must have had some effect. Six years earlier Josiah had purged the land of the idols and altars surrounding Jerusalem. In this day's reading we read about him as he began to purge the temple. 

What a refreshing concept is recorded in the following verse concerning the workers at the temple.

II Kings 22:7
But they need not account for the money entrusted to them, because they are acting faithfully."

Mention is made of the "entire remnant of Israel". At this time, most of the people in Israel (not Judah) have either been killed by the Assyrians or taken into captivity.  Only the remnant remains, but it is a godly remnant. 

Can’t you hear the excitement in the voice of Hilkiah when he found the Book of the Law!
II Kings 22:8
Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, "I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the LORD." He gave it to Shaphan, who read it.

Apparently the words spoke volumes to Josiah because look what happened next. He had the law read to the people, and then the covenant was renewed. Sounds like a modern day re-dedication of lives to Jesus, a spiritual revival.

Notice the Asherah worship was inside the temple. Josiah also got rid of the mediums and spiritists. Does this tell us how God feels about those things?  Another thing Josiah did was to tear down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes which were inside the temple.  Were these male prostitutes there for the priests?  And why were they male?  And why did they have their own quarters there?

Mention is made numerously in Scripture of "burning incense" to other gods. Contrast this to the prayers of the faithful going up to God as sweet-smelling incense.

Psalm 141:2
May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.

 Revelation 5:8
And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

We are also told in today's reading that the Ark of the Covenant was in Josiah's possession, at least at this time.

There is great confirmation in today's reading of the "power of one" that we have spoken of so many times. Josiah heard the Book of the Law, humbled himself, and repented, then God withheld His hand of judgment.  The king was not only a political leader but a spiritual leader as well.  Today we look to pastors and other spiritual leaders to set the standard. 

When Josiah renewed the covenant between God and the people, he had the people pledge themselves to the covenant of living within the laws of God.  What might happen today if pastors and spiritual leaders encouraged the people to study the Bible?

What a great Passover celebration ordered by Josiah! He did things the way God said to do things. Unlike all the other kings before him who obviously did NOT do things the way God said to do them, not even David or Solomon. Isn't it much easier to do things God's way, the first time?

Spiritual reform and renewal in the land (which didn't happen very often) culminates in the celebration of one of the three commanded feast days.  During Josiah's reform and renewal the feast day was Passover.

Under the heading HULDAH THE PROPHETESS (2 Chronicles 34:22-28) God speaks through Huldah and tells the men sent by King Josiah that because Josiah's heart was responsive and because he humbled himself, God has heard him.  However, because of the previous sins of the people, God will bring disaster on them.  And just what were these sins?  The breaking of the first two commandments. God doesn't like that!

Two references are made in today's reading, The Book of the Law (which Hilkiah the priest found in the temple) and the Book of the Covenant (which King Josiah read to the people).  The Book of the Law referred to the laws of Moses given to him by God at Mt. Horeb.  The Book of the Covenant includes the laws of Moses but also all those famous "If...then" statements.  God says, "If you do ________, then I will ______________.  Basically if we obey God's commands, then He will bless us.  If we don't obey, then....  So really we can look at the entire Bible, both Old and New Testaments as the Book of the Covenant.

The best part of Josiah's spiritual reform was the renewal of the covenant by the people when they promised to follow the Lord and obey all the words of the covenant.

Under the heading JOSIAH'S SWEEPING REFORMS are listed details of this reform which sounds as a spiritual "scorched earth" policy. There is mention of tearing down the quarters of the shrine prostitutes where the "women did weaving for Asherah".  Asherah was the goddess of sex and fertility.  The weaving that the women did were curtains to hide the rites performed by the prostitutes. Were these the male prostitutes or were there both male and female? When Josiah got rid of the household gods and idols he was honoring the second commandment.

Josiah's reforms extended into the territory of the Northern Kingdom (the territory of the ten tribes).

The kings during those days were not only the political leaders they were the religious leaders as well.  King Josiah was an excellent example of godly leadership.  If only we had someone today who could bring about a reform and renewal as Josiah did then.

As we revisit the prophet Jeremiah, even though Jeremiah at times feels betrayed by God, he still offers us these words:

Jeremiah 20:9
But if I say, “I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.

The younger (and wiser) of Job's friends thinks in a similar way.

Job 32:18-20
For I am full of words, and the spirit within me compels me; inside I am like bottled-up wine, like new wineskins ready to burst. I must speak and find relief; I must open my lips and reply.  

Paul also had similar thoughts.
1 Timothy 4:6
If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. 

Which takes us right back to this:

Jeremiah 5:1
“Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city. 

Even though we do not have one political and religious leader to lead the way of reform and renewal today, we must never lose sight of the "power of one" - one ordinary individual

AUGUST 3

As we read the prophecies of the Old Testament we are reminded again that God repeatedly gives opportunities to repent so the people have no excuse when God's wrath does come.  Prophecies are still being sent to us, not necessarily new prophets, but current and future prophecies for us embedded in the Old Testament.

Neco told Josiah that God was with him (Neco) and that God would destroy Josiah, which is exactly what happened.  Now, we know the answer.

2 Chronicles 34:28b
"Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place and on those who live here."

God cut Josiah's days short so that he wouldn't witness the disaster that followed.

Interestingly, it was the priests and prophets who wanted to kill Jeremiah.  The officials and people wanted to save him. Jeremiah stood his ground and was protected.  Contrast Jeremiah's actions and the actions of another prophet, Uriah (Jeremiah 26:20-23) who fled to Egypt when the king sought to put him to death.  The king's officials brought Uriah back from Egypt and had him killed.  Lesson to learn?  Truth-tellers should not run away from God's plans.

We’ve been thinking quite a bit lately about the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah against God's chosen people. Their prophecies were fulfilled many years after they were made. Why? Why were the prophecies not fulfilled sooner? Could it be because some of the people really did listen and heed the warnings of the prophets? Did God delay the captivity? Did He withhold His hand of discipline because some of the people listened and obeyed? Jeremiah 22 tells us that righteous acts are the results of having a close relationship with the Lord.

We’ve also been thinking about the power of one person in bringing about a change in attitude. What if one powerful spiritual leader were to take to heart the words in Psalm 18 or the words in 2 Chronicles 7 or the words of the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah?

Another thought, could an ordinary person also bring about a change in attitude in an entire nation or in the world? You know God has a way of taking the ordinary and turning it into the extraordinary. How about joining with us to pray for our powerful spiritual leaders that they would truly take to heart the words of Scripture and take a stand for Him? Let’s also pray for each other, that we each may take to heart the words of Scripture…who knows what might happen! We may just change the world!

Psalm 81:10-14
I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it. "But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices. "If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!

When the Israelites came out of Egypt, they were told to go in and take the land. All they had to do was figuratively “open wide” their mouth and God would “fill it”. 

But the people didn’t listen so what happened? God “gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices”. But if only they would listen, God promised to “subdue their enemies”.

2 Chronicles 7:14
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

This is a verse that has been quoted often lately. Keep in mind that it is the people who are “called by my name” that need to humble themselves, seek His face, and turn from their wicked ways. It doesn’t say that we are supposed to pray that the other guys must turn from their wicked ways.  Also, when we look at the Hebrew meanings of these words: name, humble, pray, seek, and turn of this verse, substituting the Hebrew meanings for each of these words, here is what we get:

2 Chronicles 7:14  If we, who bear the family name and characteristics of God, take responsibility for the family reputation, will allow ourselves to be subdued, brought into subjection to God’s will and character, will allow ourselves to feel humiliated and ashamed of our sins in the presence of Almighty God; if we offer devout, anguished and earnest petition to God; if we crave being in His entire presence, basking in His glory; and if we will turn our backs on our sins and completely destroy our sinful way of life; Only then are we ready to receive what good things God has promised us He will do. 
Takes on a whole new meaning doesn’t it???

AUGUST 4

Jeremiah warned about a physical battle specifically against the army of Egypt at that time. But his words also apply to the spiritual battle for us. How can we apply the following Scripture to our lives today?

Jeremiah 46:3-5
"Prepare your shields, both large and small, and march out for battle! Harness the horses, mount the steeds! Take your positions with helmets on! Polish your spears, put on your armor! What do I see? They are terrified, they are retreating, their warriors are defeated. They flee in haste without looking back, and there is terror on every side," declares the LORD.

Paul tells us about this spiritual battle in Ephesians 6. (Ephesians 6:11-17) Paul calls the shield a shield of faith. According to Jeremiah 46 we prepare our shield of faith.  We must believe!

Jeremiah tells us to put our helmets on. Paul calls it the helmet of salvation. Without salvation through Jesus people are defenseless in the spiritual battles.

Jeremiah tells us to polish (that word means sharpen) our spears. Our spears according to Paul are our swords, the Word of God. If we polish our spears, we hone our knowledge of God’s Word.  We do that through study of His Word and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Jeremiah and Paul tell us to put on our armor and take up our positions and stand firm. Look what happens. Our enemy will flee. He is, after all, already defeated.

The people in Jeremiah’s day were told to be physically prepared and armed. Many times they didn’t even have to fight. Our struggle, as stated by Paul, is not against the physical flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Put on the full armor of God and maintain a firm stand.

This passage in Jeremiah was written in bold confidence of what would happen.  We must read the passage with that same bold confidence of what will happen!

Jeremiah 46 reassures Judah and Israel as well as all of us today. Verse 28 "I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished."

God loves us too much not to discipline us, to keep us from going the wrong way.

AUGUST 5

Habakkuk 1:4 The wicked hem in the righteous so that justice is perverted. 

These words seem so current. 

Habakkuk 1:13a Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. 

This verse has often been quoted to explain that God turned His back on Jesus at the cross,  that God could not look at evil.  But that word "look", " (Hebrew word, "raah") means "to have respect for or approve".  Of course God does not approve of evil, but we cannot use this verse to say that God abandoned Jesus at the cross.  In fact there are many verses that say just the opposite.

Several verses in the first chapter of Habakkuk mention sacrificing to the net, burning incense to the dragnet.  These are words that refer to a person who loves his job and all the things he can buy so much that he has made his job his god.  This is an example of an idol that we can worship. An idol, for us today, does not necessarily take the form of a carved image as the prophets wrote about.

I had written a side note in the reading for today beside the verse, "Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and establishes a town by crime!". I wrote these words - "Las Vegas - we were here on August 5, 2000" as a stopping place for our airline connections back to Indianapolis. And who says God doesn't have a sense of humor?   

Habakkuk 3 contains this verse, "God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran."

We were intrigued with these two places and did some research. Teman is a place where the Edomites were found. Mount Paran is also listed in Deuteronomy 33:2, so we went there. Quite interesting what we found.

And he said: Jehovah came from Sinai and rose up from Seir to them. He shone forth from Mount Paran, and He came with ten thousands of saints. From His right went a fiery law for them.

Of course we've read that before, but obviously it didn't sink in. When God delivered the commandments to Moses, He was accompanied by ten thousand angels. There is also a reference to this in Acts 7:53. You are the people who received Moses' Teachings, which were put into effect by angels. But you haven't obeyed those teachings." Hmmm...

A line from the Chronological Bible commentary is … “evil, wherever it is found, always bears within it the seeds of its own destruction.”  That's God's plan.

In reading the book of Habakkuk one thing comes through loud and clear. God allows some terrible things to happen to fulfill His purposes. But He continually gives humanity a choice. How are we to choose if there is only good and no evil from which to choose?

The process of winemaking illustrates the point. A vintner will pour the juice of crushed grapes into a clean container. According to his recipe he will add a certain amount of sugar to the grape juice. If nothing else is added to the recipe there will be no wine. It will eventually be only vinegar. In order for the grape juice to make wine, another element must be added to the recipe and that element is yeast. Yeast is an agitating force in the making of wine just as evil is an agitating force in the human  condition. The vintner separates the dregs from the good wine at the end of the winemaking process. Our struggles between good and evil on the earth are nothing more than the fermentation of the plan of redemption. Whether we live in a condition of eternal death or eternal life depends on how we react to the yeast that God puts into our lives.

God gives us the choice. What will we choose? Kind of takes us back to the reference in Acts7:53  about obeying God's teaching.

Habakkuk 2:2-3
Then the Lord replied, 'Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.  For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false.  Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.

This is another classic example of layered prophecies, then, now, and in our future.  God has an appointed time for everything.  Delay (something we perceive) is always in God's time.  His time doesn't change, we may perceive it as a delay.

Habakkuk in speaking of wicked and unrighteous men says, "...Because he is as greedy as the grave and like death is never satisfied..."
If we personify death it appears that death is never satisfied.  It keeps taking people.

In chapter 2 Habakkuk pronounces several "woes", but right in the middle we find a beam of sunshine among dark clouds.  "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." 

And yet another beam of sunshine, "But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him." 

Habakkuk has a great prayer in Chapter 3 verse 1 that is so applicable for our country right now.  Maybe a prayer we should pray daily!
Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord.  Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.

Habakkuk ends with a note of warning but also of hope.
Habakkuk 3:17-18
Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

Literally, a fulfillment for the nation of Judah and what people will experience in the Day of the Lord.  Spiritually speaking, no matter how impoverished we may be physically, our hope is in the spiritual.  We can take joy in the God of our salvation!

AUGUST 6

Jeremiah reminds the people that they had consistently rejected God's prophets.  He tells them to "Turn now, each of you from your evil ways and your evil practices..."
Notice the phrase each of you.  It's personal!

The religious leaders of their day were not teaching God's ways.  How can they turn from their evil ways and practices if they don't know what the evil ways and practices are? We can make a connection for us today.  Do we reject God's prophets, with their warnings as written in Scripture? Can we identify evil ways and practices in our lives?

Jeremiah 25 contains this verse, "Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them; do not provoke me to anger with what your hands have made." Then, concerning what your hands have made, he says this, "...you have brought harm to yourselves."
These verses started us thinking...what do our hands make now that provoke God to anger and bring harm to ourselves? Our list got quite lengthy. How about you? Can you come up with some examples?

Also some very thought-provoking reading concerning the Recabites. These people were also known as Kenites, descendants of Jethro, father-in-law of Moses. They faithfully obeyed the commands of their forefathers. They did not drink wine, build houses, or plant crops. In other words, they were nomads. God used them as an example to Judah. These people obeyed the words of an ancestor, a human being. The people of Judah wouldn't obey God. This lesson is all about obedience.  Obedience is rewarded. Additional lessons we learned in applying these verses:
1. Don't put too much value on pleasurable things (wine)
2. Don't put too much value on earthly possessions (houses)
3. Don't put too much value on what to eat or drink (planting crops)
Jeremiah 25 lists the punishment for spiritual leaders.  Not a pretty picture!

Jeremiah 25 CUP OF GOD'S WRATH
Jeremiah was to take the "cup filled with the wine of my wrath"  and make all the nations "drink it".

The wrath of God is not a very popular topic. We hear a lot about His love but not His hate, His grace, but not His wrath. To fully understand His love and grace we must understand His hate and wrath. God hates the sin with as much intensity as He loves the sinner. Because the wrath of God is seldom taught, this phrase may sound strange to many.

In Jeremiah 25 listed under the heading JUDGMENT AGAINST NATIONS we are told of the severity of God's punishment.  This is a multi-layered prophecy, locally and literally fulfilled for the people then.  It will be fulfilled in our future during the Day of the Lord.  Also is listed punishment for the spiritual leaders.
"The peaceful meadows will be laid waste because of the fierce anger of the Lord."
Spiritually speaking, many spiritual leaders today are at peace with the world but not at peace with the Lord.

During the last days the believers will be protected from the wrath of God. Paul explained this to the church in Thessalonica.

II Thessalonians 1:9b-10
They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead-- Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

The believers will have no reason to fear the wrath of God because they are saved. We hear that word a lot…saved. What does it mean exactly? We are saved from what? We are saved from the wrath of God. Jesus saved us from the wrath of God. That is why we as believers have no fear of the CUP OF GOD'S WRATH.