READINGS FOR 10/9-10/15
OCTOBER 9
The story of the taunting of the Samaritans toward Nehemiah is a great lesson for us today for standing firm in the faith, even in the midst of ridicule and insult. It is also a lesson for us in praying about the ridicule and insults that may be hurled our way.
Later on in chapter 6, there is a veiled threat to Nehemiah. But Nehemiah
prayed, "Now strengthen my hands."
When we read about Nehemiah’s plan in chapter 4, we couldn’t help but think about missionaries and front line workers and their supporters. The rebuilders of the wall needed support personnel with swords, spears, and bows. Missionaries and front line workers need others as support in the way of financial support, prayer support, and encouragement.
Nehemiah 4:19
Then I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall.
OCTOBER 10
Today’s reading is full of
genealogical records. The same or very similar record is listed in Ezra. This
tells us that these records were very important. They were used to record dates
for time-keeping purposes. One of the most important reasons for keeping
accurate records was to identify the line of the Messiah from Judah and to
identify Levites and those who would serve as priests in the temple.
Praise God that we don't have to depend on gems or stones to ascertain the will of God, we have "gems of wisdom" in His Word! Have you dug below the surface and mined some "gems" recently? Why not share them with someone?
Great importance
concerning the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles is recorded in Nehemiah
8. The consistent pattern emerges once again. When the
people return to God with repentant hearts, what follows is a re-institution of
one of God’s Holy Days, most often Feast of Tabernacles. See the book The
Journey of Jesus From the Manger to the Mansion available at Amazon.
Nehemiah 8:5-6
Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. Ezra praised the LORD, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, "Amen! Amen!" Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
What might happen if when God’s word is read, the people would raise their hands in praise, say “Amen”, and bow down in worship to God?
The Levites interpreted the law and made it clear so the people could understand. Since several names were listed in the group of Levites, wonder if they were out in the crowd in small groups, explaining the law to them. The people celebrated with great joy, because they understood the words that were read to them. Do we rejoice when we understand the words in Scripture?
On the day of confession,
there were people there from Israelite descent, not just the tribes of Judah
and Benjamin and the Levites. So there was a remnant of all the 12
tribes represented there.
Again Nehemiah sets a standard for praying. Nehemiah prays a great confessional prayer in which he reminds the people and thanks God for all He has done for them and for continually forgiving them. There was an “attitude of gratitude” created. The people responded by agreeing to a written covenant. We could certainly take lessons from Nehemiah!
OCTOBER 12
When Nehemiah left Jerusalem things were going very well. Ezra had read the law, the Levites interpreted it, and the people wept, confessed their sins, and gave thanksgiving to God for all His many blessings. They even made a binding agreement, a written covenant that they would obey God’s commands.
Nehemiah 10:29
all these now join their
brothers the nobles, and bind themselves with a curse and an oath to follow the
Law of God given through Moses the servant of God and to obey carefully all the
commands, regulations and decrees of the LORD our Lord.
Notice they even bound
themselves with a curse!
Then Nehemiah went back to Susa. The unthinkable happened in Jerusalem while he was gone. The temple was desecrated, temple support was neglected, the Sabbath was violated, and the men of Judah had married foreign wives.
Of special significance is the
violation of the Sabbath. The men were desecrating the Sabbath by participating
in merchandising in Jerusalem on the Sabbath, thereby doing what Nehemiah
called a “wicked thing”. Remember, they had promised they would not neglect the
house of God. They were selfishly marketing their products in violation of the
rules of that day. This is reminiscent of the Israelites when Moses left the
camp and the people created a golden calf to worship. When God’s authority
figure (Nehemiah) leaves people automatically return to evil ways.
Nehemiah 13:7
and came back
to Jerusalem. Here I learned about the evil thing Eliashib had done in
providing Tobiah a room in the courts of the house of God.
Tobiah was one of the leading opponents to the rebuilding of Jerusalem under Nehemiah. He was definitely not one of the good guys! Imagine how Nehemiah must have felt when he saw his enemy given credibility and sanction in the House of God. Scripture is very clear in Nehemiah 2:19-20 that Ammonites, Moabites, and Arabs have NO place in Jerusalem,
The ever faithful Nehemiah
again instituted religious reform. It is at this time that he begins the
dedication of the wall. Can you even begin to imagine that great celebration
with the choral processions, musical instruments, and choirs as they traveled
the distance around Jerusalem? Read that passage again in Nehemiah 12 and try
to picture it in your mind!
The sound of rejoicing
in Jerusalem could be heard far away.
So what does all this have to do with us today? What connections can we make today concerning the desecration of the Sabbath? The people were merchandising and marketing products on the Sabbath. Remember God's Sabbath days include the Holy Days of Passover, Pentecost, and Feast of Tabernacles. So, chances are they were also merchandising and marketing products on those Sabbath Holy Days as well. Has the church of today merchandised and marketed products in replace of those Holy Day Sabbaths?
In Nehemiah’s day, his enemy Tobiah (an Ammonite) was given what seems to be a permanent place in the house of God. Do we allow room for ungodly practices in our churches? Do our commonly accepted rituals and celebrations have ungodly origins?
The commentary today in the
Chronological Bible contains a very profound statement. "Undoubtedly
a man of God such as Ezra would be particularly concerned that future
generations be made aware of Israel's unique status as a chosen nation through
which God has revealed himself to the whole world."
It becomes more and more obvious every day that Israel does have a unique status in God's eyes. Israel is His chosen nation. God has revealed Himself through the nation of Israel in the "Word made flesh" in Jesus.
The Scripture verses for this day are filled with the official records of Israel, listing many important and seemingly unimportant genealogical names. Among the important records is the one concerning the descendants by Keturah (Abraham's concubine/wife). Among the seemingly unimportant names as recorded in an obscure, seldom-read section of the Bible is the name Jabez.
Jabez cried out to the God
of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your
hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain."
And God granted his request.
In December of 2000 we
received a book The Prayer of Jabez from some dear friends. As
we read through this book again in preparation for writing this blog entry, we
were astounded when we reviewed our lives since we first prayed that prayer of
Jabez many years ago. We’d like to share a couple of things with you.
And Jabez called on the God
of Israel saying, "Oh, that You would bless me indeed,
and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would
keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!" So God granted him what he
requested.
(NKJ)This version includes the
word indeed…not just bless me but bless me abundantly!
This prayer has four parts.
1.
Bless me. God has told us that He wants to bless us. (Ephesians
3:20).
2. Enlarge my territory.
God wants to enlarge our lives (our spiritual territories) so that we can make
a greater impact for Him. Why not ask Him for ways to make that happen?
According to Mr. Wilkinson, “As your opportunities expand, your abilities and
resources supernaturally increase, too.”
3. Keep Your hand with me.
Asking that God’s hand be with us is the same as asking for His power and
presence to be with us. If we ask for the blessings and the territory, we
certainly need His power and presence to be with us. 2 Chronicles 16:9a For
the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose
hearts are fully committed to him. “God is not scanning the horizon
for spiritual giants or seminary standouts. He eagerly seeks those who are
sincerely loyal to him,” says Bruce Wilkinson.
4. Keep me from evil. Praying
that God would keep us from evil is asking that God keep us from even the temptation to
sin.
God granted Jabez his requests. What might happen if we all prayed this prayer and really meant it? Do you think your life would change? Our lives certainly did!
OCTOBER 14
Today’s reading again includes more of the genealogical records. We must know that these records were important, why else would God have included them in His book?
Following today’s reading there are three days of commentary concerning the historical interlude. We would encourage you to read these comments. They will help in understanding that God was definitely not “silent” during those 400 or so years!
The book of Daniel speaks volumes concerning those “silent” years. For example, we read in Daniel 8 about a ram and a goat. We know which countries are represented by these two animals because the Bible explains the representation. The horns on the ram and the goat represent the Medes, Persians, and Greeks. During the 400 year period, the Greeks took power from the Medes and Persians as illustrated by the ram and the goat in Daniel 8. The Greeks were the dominant power in the world until Alexander the Great died and his kingdom was split into four parts among his four generals. Daniel speaks of the Egyptian influence as power was transferred from the Greeks to the Romans.
Daniel’s prophecies have been fulfilled in exacting detail, having been documented by Biblical and secular history. So were there 400 years of silence? We don’t think so! Not if you read the book of Daniel. It’s rather “noisy”.
The books of 1 and 2 Maccabees were once canonized and were taken out. And of course there are many records that simply were not canonized, or were canonized and later removed, and therefore are not in our Bibles today. And finally….on October 18 we begin the New Testament.
For more information concerning the birth of Jesus see the book The Journey of Jesus From the Manger to the Mansion.
OCTOBER 15
Today begins the first in a series of three concerning the birth of Jesus as we prepare for the beginning of the New Testament readings. We ask that you prayerfully consider the things that are written here concerning Jesus' birth. There is much to digest, so read slowly.
Much of the world celebrates the birth of Jesus on the 25th of December. Why? Is this the actual day of Jesus' birth? How do we know when to honor His birth? Scripture doesn’t tell us exactly when Jesus was born, but there are some clues, some puzzle pieces that we can put together that will give a better picture. Some of these puzzle pieces are found in the Bible and some are found in historical records and documentation.
God includes some of the puzzle pieces by giving us a few seemingly insignificant times and numbers. We start with the known. In order to place the date of Jesus’ birth, we need to first place the time of the birth of John the Baptist because we know that Jesus was born six months after John. We begin to put the puzzle together with a few pieces from the book of Luke and visit the priest Zechariah and his barren wife Elizabeth, a relative of Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Luke 1:5
In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron.
Zechariah was of the Levitical
division of Abijah. The Levitical priests were given an appointed
order of ministering in the temple was established by King David and put into
practice by Solomon after the temple was built. The priests were separated into
24 turns or divisions for their appointed order of ministering. After the 24
groups of priests were established, lots were drawn to determine the sequence
in which each group would serve in the temple. These turns began in the first
month of the Jewish calendar, the month of Nisan.
1 Chronicles 24:19
This was their appointed order of ministering when they entered the temple of the LORD, according to the regulations prescribed for them by their forefather Aaron, as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded him.
The appointed order of turns
for ministering rotated every week until they reached the end of the sixth
month, when the cycle was repeated until the end of the year. This meant that
Zechariah’s division served at the temple twice a year for their regular turn
of service. They, along with all the other divisions would also be required to
serve on special occasions during the three commanded festival days of the
Lord. The three main festival days of the Lord were Feast of Unleavened Bread,
Pentecost, and Feast of Tabernacles.
Once when Zechariah's division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
This account in Luke takes place when it was Zechariah’s division’s turn. There are two possible times for Zechariah’s regular time of service at the temple. The Bible does not specify which turn of service this one was. Beginning with the first month, Nisan, in the spring (March-April), the schedule of the priests’ turn of duty would result in Zechariah serving during the 10th week of the year because he was a member of the course of Abijah, the 8th course (1 Chr 24:10) and at this time both the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Pentecost would have already occurred. This places one of Zechariah’s turns in the temple beginning in the third month of the year during the month of Sivan (June). Regardless of which turn of service, Zechariah went home after his turn of service to his wife Elizabeth and she conceived. Due to laws of separation (Leviticus 12:5, 15:19, 25) two additional weeks must be counted, so most likely Elizabeth conceived John about two weeks after Zechariah’s return.
Let’s suppose Luke is
recording the first turn of service which took place during the month of Sivan.
Going forward nine months, this would place John’s birth in early spring, at
the time of the Jewish Passover. There are another couple of clues from Scripture
that lets us know that this was Zechariah’s first turn of service. There are
connections with the prophet Elijah, John, and Passover. The angel told
Zechariah that John was to come “in the spirit and power of Elijah”. The
Old Testament prophet Malachi tells us that God will send Elijah before the
coming Messiah. (Malachi 3:1, 4:5-6) Even Jesus made the connection between
John and Elijah.
Matthew 17:10-13
The disciples asked him, "Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?" Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands." Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.
The Jews look for Elijah to
return on the day of Passover. Still today, there is an empty chair and a table
setting for Elijah whenever Passover is celebrated by many devout Jews.
Everything points to the birth of John the Baptist to take place at Passover.
And when the time for the
burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the
altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with
fear. But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer
has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give
him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice
because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the
Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled
with the Holy Spirit even from birth. Many of the people
of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on
before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the
hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of
the righteous-- to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
When his time of service
was completed, he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant
and for five months remained in seclusion.
By the way, there were a great number of priests on duty during Zechariah’s turn so when “he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense” it was a rare high honor.
Placing the conception of John
shortly after Zechariah returns from his temple service sometime in June
(modern calendar) , let’s go forward six months to the month of December
(modern calendar).
Luke 1:26-31
In the sixth month, God
sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin
pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The
virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you
who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled
at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel
said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You
will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name
Jesus.
Even Elizabeth your
relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be
barren is in her sixth month.
Incidentally, it was the custom in ancient Israel to count the years of one's age from the date of conception - in other words, when a child is born he is considered one year old until three months after his first birthday when he is considered two years old. (this is still a practice in some oriental cultures today).
So Jesus’ conception, not His birth occurred in mid-December.
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