365 Reflections

God's fire is scattered over the city of Jerusalem in a vision Ezekiel beholds in chapter 10. The scene in the vision would be familiar to the prophet. For it is the same glorious vision of God on the wheeled chariot.  Ezekiel 10:9–14 (ESV) And I looked, and behold, there were four wheels beside the cherubim, one beside each cherub, and the appearance of the wheels was like sparkling beryl. 10 And as for their appearance, the four had the same likeness, as if a wheel were within a wheel. 11 When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went, but in whatever direction the front wheel faced, the others followed without turning as they went. 12 And their whole body, their rims, and their spokes, their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes all around—the wheels that the four of them had. 13 As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing “the whirling wheels.” 14 And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of the cherub, and the sec...

The Bible is relatable because it is filled with the ups and downs, the hopes and miseries of life. Jeremiah is a case in point. The faithful young prophet who resisted God's calling at first and became a stalwart of truth for his generation rode the waves of trouble and triumph through Israel's last years as an independent monarchy. Ultimately, he was in Babylon in captivity, lamenting the pain of his life's work.  Lamentations 3:1–3 (ESV) I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; 2 he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; 3 surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long. An unnamed man describes his misery for the next 20 verses in Lamentations 3. He speaks of his physical maladies, his bitterness, and the sense that God is no longer interested in hearing his prayers. He talks of God's attack on his life and feels no endurance for the struggle. Is this Jeremiah? Or is Jeremiah personifying the men of ...

Jeremiah discovered throughout his life that seeking the Lord was the best thing one could do with one's life. In seeking God, you find hope in the midst of despair, you find forgiveness in the midst of sin, you find joy on the other side of trouble. God is pleased to give to those who seek Him these marvelous realities.  Jeremiah 33:2–3 (ESV) “Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it—the LORD is his name: 3 Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. Engaging in prayer opens up new discoveries and insights in our lives and future, leading to personal growth and understanding. We especially need this when disaster seems to abound around us just as it did with Judah in the days of Jeremiah.  Jeremiah 33:4–5 (ESV) For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah that were torn down to make a defense against the siege mou...

When God disciplines you, keep moving forward and forget what is behind you.  Jeremiah 29:12–14 (ESV) Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. Some transition words in the Bible are huge. This "then" in verse 12 of Jeremiah 29 is one of them. A rebellious people are headed into exile in Babylon. Seventy years will go by, according to the word spoken by Jeremiah. And that same nation will come out of Babylon and will seek the Lord and find Him and be restored to the fortunes they lost.  How does a rebellious nation or person of God become a God-seeking person or nation? Through God's discipline. The Jews were to enter into di...

The words we hold dear from Jeremiah come from a letter he wrote to his own people as they were dragged off into exile to the nation of Babylon.  Yes. God knows the plans He has for us. But sometimes, those plans lead through a dark valley.  Jeremiah 29:1–2 (ESV) These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem. Let's first acknowledge that this is a letter from the prophet to the people. The Jews made a name for their existence and sustained their existence by doing something regularly - writing. The Bible is filled with letters from and to many people in the Bible and beyond. The largest portion of the New Testament is ...

Isaiah 61:1 (ESV)  The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; Ultimately God's prophets are people of HOPE. They are people of good news. But we avoid their message because their message first must address the bad news about us! We do not want to hear that we are sinful and wrong. Modern society has jettisoned those ancient ideas of "original sin" and "condemnation." Modern society believes man is basically born good and needs a better society to improve. God's best men beg to differ with those concepts. Humanity must be confronted over the evil inside so that it might enjoy the hope of God's goodness in the end.  Now Isaiah 61 is the verse that Jesus will read and pronounce fulfilled in Nazareth. After doing so, the people are fixed on him.  Luke 4:20 (ESV) A...

Having recalled Isaiah's calling in the Temple vision in chapter 6 we move back to the narrative of his mission. Now he has been commissioned by God to speak to a people who will not hear. Yet there are a few moments when they will feign religious observance. Isaiah 7 is one of those moments.  Isaiah 7:1–2 (ESV)  In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. 2 When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. What brings them to hear? They are surrounded by their enemies. Ahaz's heart is shaking and the people's heart is shaking and the nation looks defeated. Ahaz, we might remember is a wicked king. Notice what 2 Kings records about him.  2 Kings 16:2–4 (ESV) Ahaz was...

Do you feel like a stranger in a strange land? As Christians, that feeling should come standard. Why? Because we are NOT of this world, as Jesus said in John 17:14, 16. Because, as Paul says, we are "citizens of heaven and we eagerly await our Savior from there." (see Philippians 3:20).   So if you feel strange, do not be alarmed. That's a good sign you belong somewhere else. But what are we to do in the meantime? Because after all, it's not like any of us are going to heaven tomorrow unless Jesus comes. The early chapters of 1 Chronicles holds a key.  The genealogical records move from the patriarchs of the faith (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) in chapter one and moves to the dynastic records related to King David. Chapters 2 and 3 of 1 Chronicles centers on David's ancestors and descendants.  1 Chronicles 2:1–4 (ESV) These are the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, 2 Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 3 The sons of Judah: ...

1 Chronicles 1:1–4 (ESV) Adam, Seth, Enosh; 2 Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared; 3 Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech; 4 Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. I was tempted to skip over the long and seemingly ambiguous genealogical records of the first several chapters of 1 Chronicles. But I remember "all scripture is God-breathed and profitable." So here we are and in four verses I get an idea of what is happening in 1 Chronicles from the start.   Israel will produce the books of 1 and 2 Chronicles during their return from Exile in Babylon. The narrative of 1 & 2 Kings ends with the nation cast into exile and we aren't given the contextual details of 1 Chronicles on the first page because Israel had greater issues to deal with as they made their way back to the Promised Land after 70 years.  How do you live again where you once died?  To answer that question, Chronicles takes Isreal's exiles on a journey to where they come from. We must note the book does not open with Abraham but rather...

2 Kings 20:1 (ESV) In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.’ ” The life of Hezekiah is one many Christians can relate to. He had his moments of great faith and trust in the Lord, but he also had moments of pride and selfishness. At this moment, he's on the verge of death. Now in this weakened state the prophet Isaiah comes along with the worst news possible. He's going to die. Consider being in Hezekiah's shoes. You're weak and ill and the only word you get from the prophet is impending death. Yikes.  What would you do if God's servant told you you were going to die? I imagine many of us would resign ourselves to God's diagnosis. After all, it is God's decision, and who can change it? I think we'd suppose He has reasons and that we perhaps deserved it and there's no chan...

2 Kings 3 turns back from attention to the prophets to attention to the kings of Israel and Judah. The Northern kingdom of Israel suddenly loses tribute from Moab and a battle is called by the son of Ahab, Jehoram. However, Jehoram is unsure of his ability to win so he enlists the help of Judah and King Jehoshaphat as his father Ahab had done years earlier. As they make their way to the battle, they encounter a serious problem of no water for their troops. 2 Kings 3:9–10 (ESV) So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. And when they had made a circuitous march of seven days, there was no water for the army or for the animals that followed them. 10 Then the king of Israel said, “Alas! The LORD has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.” The king of Israel here represents the typical half-hearted believer. The moment trouble strikes they immediately blame the Lord for their problems. Jehoshaphat functions as both the voice of rea...

There are a troubling few verses in 1 Kings 15 that took me a while to truly comprehend. Two successive kings in Judah are mentioned. One is evil (the Father) and one is righteous, seeking the Lord (the Son). And here's the worst part: They both have the same mother. 1 Kings 15:1–3 (ESV) Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah. 2 He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom . 3 And he walked in all the sins that his father did before him, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father. 1 Kings 15:9–11 (ESV) In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah, 10 and he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. 11 And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as David his father had done. It would seem incest was prevalent in the reign of A...

If you want to know how to pray effective prayers, find the great men and women in the scriptures who prayed and watch how they did it. We come to David's response in 2 Samuel 7 to God's promise to build him a house and establish his kingdom forever. The words that come from David are eloquent, exalting the Lord and submitting his blessing to His plan and purpose. They also provide us with a key to secret strength as people whom God chooses and uses for His purposes. 2 Samuel 7:18–19 (ESV)   Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God , and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? 19 And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God . You have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord God ! I love the picture of David sitting before the Lord. This is a humble posture. He's overwhelmed with God's promises made to him earlier in the chapter. W...

1 Samuel 29:6–7 (ESV)   Then Achish called David and said to him, “As the Lord lives, you have been honest, and to me it seems right that you should march out and in with me in the campaign. For I have found nothing wrong in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, the lords do not approve of you. 7 So go back now; and go peaceably, that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines.” The end of 1 Samuel is approaching and we are like movie-goers awaiting the tension to be resolved and the resolution to come. Saul is descending further and further into moral disaster, David is living among the Philistines, war is on the horizon between Israel and Philistia. What will happen? How will it all end? This is good storytelling and we do well to pay attention to the movements here on out.  The first move toward resolve is the rejection of David by the Philistine lords. While Achish had no qualms with his apparent loyalty, the other four Philist...

1 Samuel 16:18 (ESV)   One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the Lord is with him.” Where do we get the idea that a safe and conflict-free environment is the best arena in which to raise a child or grow ourselves? This is not how the Lord grows His children. Why do we kick against God's repeated manner of training in hopes that we can spare our loved ones and/or ourselves the hardship of conflict when we KNOW it will ultimately come our way? What does the servant of Saul say about David? Mind you, Saul is looking for someone to play the harp so he can get through wicked fits brought upon him for his rebellion. And you would have it in your mind (as I do I) that a harp player is someone who has not exactly had a rough and tumble upbringing. Surely the harp player in YOUR mind is someone with no callouses and smooth skin....

There are many kinds of religious adherence that have nothing to do with true conversion to Christ. In 1 Samuel 6, the Philistines are determined to return the Ark of the Covenant to Israel for fear it will utterly destroy them. The Ark has humiliated their god Dagon and caused their cities to suffer. Now their hope is that sending the Ark away will bring them the peace they lost. So notice how this goes down: 1 Samuel 6:3–4 (ESV) They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means return him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed , and it will be known to you why his hand does not turn away from you.” 4 And they said, “What is the guilt offering that we shall return to him?” They answered, “Five golden tumors and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for the same plague was on all of you and on your lords. 1 Samuel 6:7–8 (ESV)  Now then, take and prepare a new cart and two milk cows on whi...

Ruth 2:8–10 (ESV)  Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. 9 Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.” 10 Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” The incredible trouble brought upon Naomi and Ruth is about to be reversed and turned into an incredible fortune, but step by step. The second chapter of this book is intended to teach us about the grace of the Lord Jesus. Just like Boaz saw and then secured Ruth's provision and protection, Jesus does for His lost sheep, you and I. It is not we who found Him, it is He who found us. We can only respond with the same question as Ruth, "Why have I ...

I sometimes think we treat the Bible as a "do not do" book. All the while I read a ton of "go do" in it. The Bible is God's Word to mankind who has "fallen short" of His glory. The implication of that expression is that we were not meant to fall short. We were intended to hit the mark, to attain the Glory of God! Because the scriptures make clear that we are not living as we should and must come to terms with it if we are to change and become what God intended we could be tempted to cast dispersions on this book as if it were against us. Nothing could be further from the truth. The scriptures are FOR US. Want proof? Romans 15:4 (ESV) For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope . So we see a theme running through the Bible of a certain few people who dared to believe that though their station was not as it should be (because of si...

Deuteronomy 2 has a familiar statement from Deuteronomy 1: Deuteronomy 2:3 (ESV) ‘You have been traveling around this mountain country long enough. Turn northward God speaks to the people and says basically that they have been standing in the same place long enough. He had said this to the previous generation who had received the Law from Moses 40 years earlier: Deuteronomy 1:6 (ESV) “The LORD our God said to us in Horeb, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Both generations came to a mountain where God met with them in special ways. Both Mountains became holy sites of significance and development. However, both mountains were stops along the journey to the ultimate destination - the Promised Land.  We often want to dwell around the significant moments in our lives. God wants us to have them. They are great for us. We are touched, changed and moved in incredible ways when we come to the mountain of God. But we have to remember that we cannot stay there. W...

Some call Genesis the "Pentateuch" of the Pentateuch. It's the introduction to the introduction of the Bible. Genesis provides us with the backdrop to God's story for what will be further worked out not only in Israel, but in the redemption of the world. That's good news when you see the final commentary on all that has happened in Genesis from Joseph himself in regards to evils befallen him due to his brothers. When they deceptively engineer forgiveness from them by pulling on his heart strings toward their deceased father, Joseph replies in summary: Genesis 50:19–21 (ESV)   But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. 21 So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. Here we have it. God's plan for all evil. It shall be...