2 Chronicles 29:3-31:21
I am so happy to begin the 2nd
half of the year with such a sudden flow of fresh air as this reading
today. Truly the people of that day must
have said, “Wow! There is a new king in
town!” It seems Hezekiah had little
going for him before he became king, but he must have had a close relationship
with a godly priest. It just doesn’t
seem like anyone in his family could have provided him with all this knowledge
of the things of God. Perhaps there was
some kind of standard schooling regarding these things and Hezekiah was just a
rare one who “got it.”
When we consider the
exceptions he allowed regarding God’s law because of people’s inabilities
coupled with their desire to do right, it teaches us the massive importance of
having a right spirit more than the right “letter.” Hezekiah had a right spirit and God heard his
prayer. All of his actions could not
turn God’s mind from the coming judgment of
Proverbs 25:1-29:27
Chapter 25 is all about
relationships and understanding how people see you and how they ultimately
react to proper and improper conduct. It
is about personal objectivity and is summed up perfectly in the last verse. “Like a city whose walls are broken down is a
man who lacks self control.”
Chapter 26 speaks vividly to
the lazy, to gossiping and interfering, and to deceitful speech. And it tends to link them all. So true and it is one I can well apply to me.
Chapter 27 talks of
temperament, humility, and attending to your neighbor. It then goes into reflecting about the heart
of man. And it closes with several
verses regarding diligence in the workplace.
Chapter 28 teaches the
relationship between knowing the Lord and righteous behavior. We can see how this knowledge leads to right
relationships with parents and then charitable behavior to all.
Chapter 29 discusses several
scenarios of wisdom versus folly, but the main thrust seems to be the curse of
pride, or at least the curses pride can bring.
Proverbs 30:1-31:31
These 2 chapters seem to have
everything. A man prays in a way that
mirrors the Beatitudes. He acknowledges
his brokenness and spiritual bankruptcy.
He acknowledges all that he is not, but he does not belabor it. He moves quickly to acknowledge God and all
that He is. As he considers the
attributes of God, he even acknowledges the Son of God. It is amazing that people would say that Old
Testament personalities would not know Jesus.
Of course they did.
He then prays a very
important prayer regarding money, wisely recognizing his own fickled,
materialistic nature. Then, this oracle
of Agur offers a proverbial section. It
opens and closes with commands about controlling what you say, but between are
a few observations that are some of the most simple but profound I have ever
read.
Chapter 31 has the most
striking descriptions of what a godly wife and mother should be like. And of course, the most important thing
listed is to fear God.
Psalms 42-46
Each of the chapters here
seems to be a combination of song and psalm in which one communicates with God
and also sings of God and His deliverances.
The full gambit of emotion is expressed, with magnificent highs and
despairing lows. There are longings,
pleadings, breaking, desponding, and hoping.
And there is remembering, and then based on that memory, reasserting the
promises of God. I see times (Ps 44)
where a desperate heart cries out to God in what looks like a commanding tone,
but ultimately reveals itself to be confidence in the only source of salvation.
Psalm 45 is truly a song of
adoration to a Bridegroom and for (and to) a Bride. It has a prophetic tone and yields smoothly
into Psalm 46 which is a song that asserts in a prophetic tone the coming
kingdom of Christ. It so appropriately
ends with “The Lord Almighty is here among us; the God of Israel is our
fortress.”
Psalms 47-49
Psalms 84-85, 87
The praise and adoration is
exhilarating throughout this section. It
is as it always should be. Most of this
section appears to look forward to the Millennial Reign of Christ. Psalm 47 (the first) says “The rulers of the
world have gathered together. They join
us in praising the God of Abraham.” And
then Psalm 87 (the last) says, “When the Lord registers the nations, He will
say, ‘This one has become a citizen of Jerusalem.’” This will be an awesome time and I want to be
there and to worship Christ. But it is a
time that has not yet come.
Psalms 84 and 85 are possibly
the most often quoted. Verse 84:10 makes
us all desire the courts of the Lord. “A
single day in Your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house
of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.” And then in verse 85:10 “…love and truth have
met…righteousness and truth have kissed!”
May we all long for that day!
Psalms 1-2
Psalms 10, 33, 71, 91
Psalm 1 is very poetic and
yet just as instructive and encouraging in its exhortation as any other verse
group in the Bible. May our minds always
delight in doing all the Lord desires.
Thank you, Lord, for changing our lives to conform more to the image of
Christ. Psalm 2 is powerful in its
presentation of Jesus and I think prophetically refers to His earthly reign to
come. It is referred to by Jesus in its
reference to the Lord and His Son. And
it ends with the wonderful acknowledgment of joy for all who are in Him. Psalm 10 cries out for help against the enemy
and is imprecatory – but boils down to the “hopes of the helpless.” Psalm 33 is a wonderful song of praise which
recites the Lord’s achievements for earth and man. I was struck by verse 17 and thought of
America. Psalm 71 seems Davidic in
nature and is mostly a cry for rescue but breaks forth eventually into the most
beautiful praise. Psalm 91 is a
wonderful promise of protection and shelter (in trouble) in the Lord.
Psalms 92-97
In a word, this section is
“exhilarating.” Some of the highest,
most musical praise anywhere, is before us here. And it starts with the value of giving
thanks. The value given is “good.” It is good.
We are desensitized to that word in our culture because we are always
trying to improve, to “one-up” what was done before. But there is no improvement regarding the
Lord. There is no “better”; there is no
“best.” His simplicity is perfect. He is “good.”
And it is good to give thanks to the Lord. Verse 92:15 says “There is nothing but
goodness in Him!”
Let us worship, bow down to
our Maker, our God, our Shepherd, our Fortress.
The riches from His goodness cannot be fully realized by an occupant of
corruptible flesh.
The prayers regarding enemies
should cause us to consider God’s protection from spiritual enemies of God and
our souls.
Psalms 98-100
Psalms 102, 104
A full circle of emotions is
presented here. We are excited to “sing
a new song to the Lord.” The reason
given, “He has done wonderful deeds” and they are listed. Another verse that speaks of newness is “His
mercies are new every morning” and that seems also to be a motivation to sing a
new song as opposed to just singing an existing song. His name is holy and proven time and
again. Psalm 100 is a sweet, brief,
powerful song of thanksgiving and approaching the Lord. And we are thankful through Jesus to approach
the throne of grace.
Psalm 102 tugs the heart to
tears. I think most could identify with
overwhelming problems, but I am especially inspired by the remembrance of the
attributes of God. We could curse our
life and forget God. We could curse God
and forget our life. Or we could join
the Psalmist and pour our hearts out at His feet and just be blessed by Who He
is, which is perfectly described in Psalm 102.
Psalms 105-106
The dating of these Psalms
intrigues me since the readings are supposed to be chronological. Psalm 105 could have been dated much earlier
it seems, but 106 is probably about right.
Psalm 105 is a great song of praise and remembrance. It recounts God’s providence from the calling
of Abraham through the protection and raising up of Joseph, the rescue of
Jacob, the Exodus, and the providence in the Wilderness until they were firmly
planted in the Land of Promise.
While I have doubts that they
could be closely dated, 105 does lead into 106 very well. After the wonderful testimonies of the Lord
in 105, we read in 106 a confession of all the sins and rebellions of the
people through the Wilderness, as well as through the Judges and the Kings; all
the way into the Captivity and Dispersion.
It is a wonderful psalm of repentance and confession and should be a
model for us all.
Psalm 107
Psalms 111-114
Psalm 107 blows me away! I wish to comment on all the wonderful Psalms
of praise, rich with truth, but Psalm 107 pulls at my heart in a special way on
this day. Psalm 111 praises God with
thanksgiving and exhortation. Verse 9
mentions He has paid a full ransom for His people and the Holy Spirit brings
this forth from the foundation of the world and brings it back from the “fullness
of time” when Jesus came. It gives
amazing details of the results of the fear (or reverence) of the Lord. Psalm 113 presents a Lord of glory higher
than the nations reaching into the garbage dump of humanity to rescue and
establish. Psalm 114 makes us laugh in
delight as the Holy Spirit through the Psalmist taunts the Red Sea and the
Jordan River, who retreated from the people of God. But oh, Psalm 107, as it gives terrible
accounts of tragedy and then shows us the only bridge from there to the salvation
of the Lord is 2 words: Lord, help!
Psalms 115-118
The Psalmist captures the
inclination of every person to claim all glory for himself, but by the grace of
God he renews our minds to say, “to You goes all the glory.” And despite all of our foolishnesses, the
fact is: ultimately all glory will go to God, not just in Heaven, but on Earth
as well. In 115 the writer exhorts to
fear the Lord and then he says why: “He is your Helper; He is your Shield.” But before that, He is “the Lord.” Notice it does not say “your Lord” but “the
Lord.” That is why he exhorts you to
“fear the Lord.” He is essentially
exhorting you to make Him your
Lord, because He is the Lord. Whether you make Him Lord or not, whether you
bow or not, whether you fear Him or not, He is the Lord, and someday you will bow. But Psalm 116 is a whole new ballgame. He writes, “I love the Lord because He hears
and answers my prayers.” We do not love
Him because He is the Lord –
no, we revere Him for that. We love Him,
because He is our Lord!
Psalm 119
Thank you, Father, for this
chapter. I so needed to read it. I so needed to be reminded that this is the
God I serve.
This writer seems so keenly aware
of the treachery of his enemies, the weaknesses within him, and the perfection
of God’s Word. He cries out because He
knows without the Spirit of God revealing God’s truth, His Word will not be
understood, and will not be loved. And
so, not only does he memorize God’s Word, and live God’s Word; but he cries out
to the God Who makes the impossible possible.
He cries to the God of salvation.
He expresses about every
emotion and pain and triumph as he acknowledges the perfection of God’s Word;
but he knows (and craves) that God’s personal touch is ultimately all that will
prevail against all enemies, external and internal.
Psalms 120-121, 123
Psalms 125-126
Psalm 120 answers Paul’s
question, “Who will rescue me…?” It is
the Lord! So often I feel like a
deceiver, but I know my Lord is true. I
do not look to the high places for help – I look to the Heavens – to the Word –
to the Spirit for the Holy One. It says
You will not let me stumble and fall, but it seems I have; and yet, I know Your
hands of protection are always there. My
salvation is in You – it is secure. My
rescue is from the Lord – it is assured.
Our cries of mercy are not because we feel we are holy or even in good
shape. We cry to You, O Lord, because
our feet are soiled, our hands are unsanitary, our lips are unclean, and our
hearts are deceitfully wicked. We cannot
know our hearts, but we can know Yours.
You are the Lord – You are just – You are love – and You save. You, and not another. And that is amazing to the level of divine
joy. Yes, weeping is for a moment, but a
joyous harvest is coming.
Psalms 128-130, 132
Psalms 134-135
The later praises are
wonderful. They lift the heart to the
holy One. To acknowledge Him in all ways
– always – is an activity that should be spiritually natural to His children,
the redeemed. But my heart knows this is
weighted with the failure of inconsistency - inconsistent reverence for the
Lord – inconsistent yielding to His Lordship – hindering His loving
deliverances. But He IS Lord and He
ultimately will be hindered by nothing.
He loves His children, even the ones who plunge foolishly into the
darkest caves. He loves the reader of this comment and the writer as well. Oh, how I desire Your deliverance my
Lord. Grant that reverence in me that
will carry me away from the darker recesses and into the light of Your
liberty. The verse says “blessed is
everyone who fears the Lord…” and it is easily verified. One need not wait, for we can immediately see
that the fear of the Lord is the treasure chest that contains the greatest
treasures of life, such as wisdom, joy, peace, and love. And yet the chest itself is a treasure of
immeasurable price!
Psalm 136
Psalms 146-150
Again God’s praises finish
the greatest set of lyrics ever sung and yet on this day we are shown the
reason for it all – His mercy. It is a
tendency of some contemporary thinkers in the church to exalt man simply
because God loves man so much He gave His own Son to save them. If God loves them so much then they must be
wonderfully valuable and this thinking leads to the exalting of man. But this is an error – a serious error. God does love man but it is not because of
what is in man – it is because of what is in God. Psalm 136 is so abundantly, overwhelmingly
clear: it is not about man – it is about God’s mercy. The durability of His mercy is
limitless. It flows from Him because God
is love. It is unceasing and it always
exceeds the sinfulness of man. His mercy
does not speak to us of the goodness of man.
It speaks of the sinfulness of man and it speaks to us of the goodness
of God. And so we praise Him! Thank You Lord for Your new mercies this
morning.
Isaiah 18:1-23:18
There is so much here about judgment,
but out of the ashes emerges the constant presence of God’s salvation. God will judge sin, but He redeems
sinners. It would seem that some of
these prophecies are yet future such as Ethiopia, which brings up other
questions. I know enough about history
to know that some of these prophecies are already accomplished. Some of these prophecies such as the one
about Jerusalem were fulfilled 150 years later.
While there are some skeptics who doubt the dating of this part of
Isaiah, they do so without foundation.
In fact, even many secular historians agree to the dating and when that
is the case we see this as yet another proof that the Scriptures are of Divine
inspiration.
While we are sobered by the
hideous scenes of judgment, we are humbled and thankful for the promises of
restoration. God’s mercy always endures.
Isaiah 24:1-27:13
Isaiah 29:1-24
We witness here several
things, which include prophecies that have been fulfilled and prophecies yet to
be fulfilled. We can be confident of the
latter because of the perfection of the former.
The two items that I notice
within this text are the fickledness of people; and the justice and mercy of
God. God knows exactly what He is doing
but the people cannot be depended on for any consistent faithfulness. This cuts my heart because it speaks to
me. My one confidence through it all is
that I have a Redeemer – One Who knows everything I have done, and am doing,
and will do, good or bad; and He loves me and covers me with His
righteousness. But He also changes me
and gives me a nature that desires to conform to Christ. But I am still fickled, for in this life, I
am still attached to this body of death that is yet to be transformed, and evil
continues to attempt opportunities through this flesh.
Isaiah 30:1-33:24
This section begins with,
“Destruction is certain for my rebellious children,” says the Lord. And it ends with, “The people of Israel will
no longer say, ‘We are sick and helpless,’ for the Lord will forgive their sins.”
And what takes place between
is both terrifying and blessing. God
loves His people but He will be revered.
Those that turn from God without fear will be destroyed, but His
destruction is not sent forth in hatred for His people, but only hatred for
their deeds. God disciplines from love –
a love that will ultimately heal and forgive.
I am so powerfully ministered
to by verse 30:18. It first tells us
that the Lord waits for us to come to Him so He can show His love. But then it says blessed are those who wait
for Him to help them. I have always
known the latter, but I seldom think in terms of the former. God waits!
Wow!
Isaiah 34:1-35:10
Micah 2:1-5:15
As I read this set of verses
nearly 3 millennia after it was delivered, I realize the prophecy is of 2 kinds
– fulfilled and yet-to-be-fulfilled. One
thing I learned in school is that science and mathematics are so effective in
their discoveries because they are able to project so well from past
discoveries. They continually progress,
because every time they make a discovery that is proven, they then project from
that by saying, “If this, then this.”
We have before us many
prophecies that were given in advance, anywhere from a few years to hundreds of
years. These prophecies were detailed
and fulfilled perfectly and so, what comes to mind is, “If this, then
this.” If God’s track record is perfect
then we may believe it will continue to be so.
He has shown in the most verifiable manner that he is God and He knows
the beginning from the end and vice verse, so what manner of conduct should we
have?
Micah 6:1-7:20
2 Chronicles 32:1-8
2 Kings 18:13-18
Isaiah 36:1-3
2 Kings 18:19-37
Isaiah 36:4-22
Samaria has fallen and now
Assyria is going after Judah. They
appear to be unstoppable. Hezekiah tries
to buy them off but it doesn’t work.
Hezekiah wisely prepares the walls, the army, and the people; but then
he lets the people know that their real Asset is the Lord Himself and that
makes Judah the winner because God will fight for them.
I love Micah’s words as he
moves from prophecy to personal prayer.
It is a humble prayer of faith, of repentance, of sorrow, of confidence
in the Lord’s mercy. He says, “I will be
patient as the Lord punishes me, for I have sinned against Him. But after that, He will take up my case and
punish my enemies for all the evil they have done to me.” Today our mindset is to blame everyone but
ourselves when we should confess our sins and trust that God is faithful and merciful. The whole prayer in Micah 7 is worthy of
study and practice. In the context of
the rebellion and idolatry, Micah’s trust shines.
2 Kings 19:1-19
Isaiah 37:1-20
2 Chronicles 32:9-19
2 Kings 19:20-37
Isaiah 37:21-38
2 Chronicles 32:20-23
What a contrast Hezekiah was
to such as Ahab. He was a bit sloppy
about his devotion but he knew the difference between fake gods and the
Lord. And he knew his only chance
against the Assyrians would be Divine intervention.
We see Hezekiah sending
messengers to Isaiah to make inquiry of the Lord. This is very respectful of the man of God and
proper protocol. But we also see him
going directly to the Lord in prayer.
The Lord hears him and sends His answer through Isaiah. What Hezekiah did is so simple and yet so
neglected. We always want to go to the
Lord for help only as a last resort. How
much happier we could be if we dwelled in God’s promises and acknowledged Him
in everything. I wonder if Hezekiah sent
a copy of the Lord’s response to Sennacherib for his mockery of God. If so, he received a most powerful lesson on
God’s sovereignty.
2 Kings 20:1-11
Isaiah 38:1-8
2 Chronicles 32:24-31
Isaiah 38:9-22
2 Kings 20:12-19
Isaiah 39:1-8
This section tells of the
darker side of Hezekiah. It is no wonder
that the Lord warns against hoarding wealth.
Hezekiah amassed great wealth and his heart became proud; and when the
Lord withdrew from Hezekiah to test him, Hezekiah’s pride was revealed. Hezekiah had done so much in his life that
was faith-based. He had trusted the
Lord. But one thing I see is that his
theology was very poor and it caused him to think incorrectly about life,
death, and physical and spiritual realms.
When we do not put this life and the things in this world in the proper
eternal perspective, we will not be spiritually minded but carnally
minded. The closing statement (Is 39:8)
reveals the warped perspective and selfishness of Hezekiah. It is an interesting verse because it also
shows that the Spirit of God knows what you and I are thinking at all times and
God actually reveals to the world and all successive generations the pathetic
thoughts of Hezekiah. It is sobering,
because of that which travels my mind.
It is thrilling because God is sovereign. GOD IS SOVEREIGN!
Isaiah 40:1-44:5
Through Isaiah, God speaks
gentle words of comfort, and shouts loudly of man’s fleeting mortality; as well
as of the coming of the Lord. Some
ministers erroneously claim that God is simply a man with typical features –
height, build, etc., but they should read Isaiah 40 again, because I do not
know one single man who has “held the oceans in His hands” or “measured the
heavens with His fingers.” Using the
excuse of distance and scale is just silly.
This section really brings
out the folly of idolatry. And it is
done mainly by just listing God’s attributes.
This alone illustrates the laughable, yet tragic practice of worshipping
a piece of wood.
There is so much in here
about the poor and needy, the tired and weary, the tested and tried. We are told of the Lord’s love and help to
these, but it refers to people who are in the midst of their problems. We are always told that people are saved –
not from their problems, but through their problems.
Isaiah 44:6-48:11
Much is laid out in this
section regarding the glory of God in contrast to the utter idiocy of
idols. God and his abilities have been
empirically proven through fulfilled prophecy and this is compared to the block
of wood that makes an idol. The total
stupidity of idol worship is brought out in great detail, as the process of
making an idol from wood is exposed alongside the activities of using wood for
fuel to warm and cook. It is
mind-boggling to think that anyone would warm themselves with wood, cook their
food with wood and then bow down and worship the wood.
The prophecies are so
powerful and in this section (for the most part) bring comfort to those going
into captivity. Of course, it should
strike fear in the hearts of those who are not serving the Lord. Isaiah prophesies of Cyrus letting the Jews
go. He gives this prophecy 100 to 150
years before they even go into captivity!
And he names the name of the monarch who will do exactly what God
decrees for him to do!
Isaiah 48:12-52:12
Of course, we see here God’s
intense love for His people. His
discipline is righteous and true – the terror is but for a moment, yet His
mercy endures forever. He has
disciplined Israel with Assyria and soon He will discipline Judah with
Babylon. But as grieved as He is about
their suffering, He is already happy about their eventual deliverance. These prophecies provide a powerful defense
of God’s Word.
There is so much
encouragement to trust – to have faith.
But we are not encouraged to do it blindly. We are told to look at some things and come
to the rational conclusion that it makes perfect sense to believe what God
says.
And so I choose to continue
to believe God, no matter how dark the challenges to my mind have become. My mind may be stressed from many directions,
but my heart will yet call You Lord. And
my mind will yet be renewed by Your sure Word through Your loving Spirit, which
is the seal of my transformation. Behold
all things have become new!
Isaiah 52:13-57:21
This is such a beautiful
section of God’s Word; and how anyone could seriously consider these prophecies
and their fulfillments, and not receive Christ is an amazement. It is no wonder that this section ends with
“There is no peace for the wicked…” In
fact this last paragraph reminds us of the only reason any of us have peace at
all – it is because of grace. Even when
our contrite spirit and our repentant hearts seem to fail us practically, God
says He will heal us. The words indicate
only one requirement to have God’s peace – do not reject Him. You have had failures? How do you feel about them? How do you feel about God? Do you hate sin? Do you love God? Do you hate your failure? Do you love His grace? Do you trust His grace? But you say, “I have failed repeatedly and I
am afraid I will again.” And if so, will
you give up? Will you then reject
God? Or will you yet again trust His
grace and hate your sin? I do not
suggest that we mock grace! No such
thing! But I do suggest we read Isaiah
53 again, and again, until we get it!
Isaiah 58:1-63:14
The description in these
first few verses sounds terribly familiar regarding false worship. And the description of true worship seems
scarce today. Sometimes the activities
of the church seem to include some sparse generosity strategically inlaid among
an abundance of self-indulgence. It is
saddening. Whether on a church-wide
level or on a personal level, the only answer is repentance – we must turn. We must not only recognize our sin, we must
truly turn to God. Our sins destroy our
relationship to God, but we can never stop intentional sin until our attitude
changes. The ability to do this comes
from God – repentance is a gift, but the willingness must come from us. The call from God to us is a genuine call for
response. While it is genuinely
rejectable, God will enable the willing to receive His gift. God will reward the broken and contrite. May we see our hopelessness without God and
may we see our salvation in God.
Isaiah 63:15-66:24
2 Kings 20:20-21
2 Chronicles 32:32-33
Isaiah asks the Lord why He
allowed the people to turn from His path and why He has given them stubborn
hearts so they no longer fear Him. This
is a prayer I am tempted to pray at times but it seems to blame God for the
people’s bad choices and so I try to avoid this prayer. And yet I believe strongly that God is able
to keep us. Isaiah later prays and
prophesies in a way that acknowledges the people’s responsibility. And this is the dilemma we have always come
to – the compatibility of God’s sovereignty and man’s ability to choose (man’s
responsibility). If we embrace one
extreme we make God the author of evil and if we accept the other we make man
the author of salvation. Both are
hideously wrong extremes and yet can only be avoided by acknowledging that
there is a balance – a compatibility and I think the answer lies in that word
“allow.” God allows certain things –
permits – for a time. His will is always
perfect, but what He wills to allow is not always perfect or the word “allow”
would not be used. He has always known
His allowances, for you see they are part of His orchestra playing out His plan
for the ages.
2 Kings 21:1-9
2 Chronicles 33:1-9
2 Kings 21:10-17
2 Chronicles 33:10-19
2 Kings 21:18
2 Chronicles 33:20
2 Kings 21:19-26
2 Chronicles 33:21-25
2 Kings 22:1-2
2 Chronicles 34:1-7
Jeremiah 1:1-2:22
The one thing that stands out
most to me here (and that I seize on to the most tenaciously) is the way God
responded to Manasseh’s prayer and repentance.
But frankly this only has significance if the scope of Manasseh’s evil
has been examined. This dude was the
worst of the worst. He was bad. And it appears he did not operate out of
ignorance. The way he turned to the true
God when the going got rough, tells me he knew it was something he should have
done all along but just preferred to be ugly.
Maybe he preferred what he perceived in his youth to be more fun. And he led the people to sin in the most
horrid ways.
But when he cried out humbly
and sought the Lord, the Lord was moved and re-established him, but the sins of
the people would not be forgotten. I
suppose the key word is “humbly.” But
the biggest word that is not shown specifically but implied clearly is
“grace.” God is rich in mercy.
Jeremiah 2:23-5:19
We have the details of
Israel’s and Judah’s sins of idolatry and spiritual prostitution from God’s
perspective. The Lord is just – He is
righteous; and while He owes us nothing, yet in grace He lays out the whole case
against us. This reminds me of the
powerful case that Paul lays out to the Romans.
One of the most striking
things is the wishy-washiness of the people, because at times they seem to be
repentant, but it is short-lived [unless I am just misunderstanding the
chronology]. Perhaps at times I am
reading a prophecy of the people’s future repentance and restoration. God does promise to restore.
I am always amazed by texts
such as Jeremiah 3:19-20 which is an open theist’s dream (even though he
ignores the context). The open theist (or
process theologian) says if God knows all of the future absolutely, then the
verses like this would have no meaning.
But the context shows once again man sinks into error when he tries to
master all the mysteries of God.
Jeremiah 5:20-6:30
2 Kings 22:3-20
2 Chronicles 34:8-28
God’s people no longer
revered the Lord. To be in His presence
was a small thing to them. They no
longer found gratification in God but had turned to idolatry for their fulfillment. God’s response is one of heartbreak and
anger. Punishment is assured.
An incredible thing happened
at this time that affected the entire world’s future and rescued Judah from
destruction until after Josiah died. The
Book of the Law was found in the Temple.
It is clear that this scroll or the contents had not been available for
a long time, until now. And the time
that I now spend with the Lord thousands of years later is occurring because of
this discovery. There must have been
other copies or at least other recordings that contained at least portions of
this scroll’s contents but there are no indicators that such was
available. Nevertheless, we can be sure
that copies were quickly and carefully made of this one.
Ó 2004 C. E. Briggs