Month: August 2024

TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
  Nehemiah 5:14-7:73
  1 Corinthians 8:1-13
  Psalm 33:1-11
  Proverbs 21:8-10

Nehemiah 5:14 — Should Christian leaders be paid? Nehemiah had a right to eat (Nehemiah 5:15), he had an opportunity to profit off the work (Nehemiah 5:16), but he realized this would be a “heavy bondage” for the people (Nehemiah 5:18). Paul says the Christian leader has a right to be paid (2 Timothy 2:6, 1 Corinthians 9:11, 1 Corinthians 9:14, Galatians 6:6) and so did Jesus (Luke 10:5-7), but at times Paul taught it is better not to be paid (1 Corinthians 9:12-18). Les Bridgeman has a lengthy discussion on Paul’s financial sources for ministry. It is interesting that Nehemiah, as foreman of a massive construction project, passed on some of the pay he had a claim to because of the specific needs of the situation.

Nehemiah 6:3 — I read about a pastor who had some naysayers criticizing his ministry. He simply replied to their voluminous attack with a simple reply: “Nehemiah 6:3.”

Nehemiah 6:9 — Notice Nehemiah again breaks into prayer! He has learned from the kings of Israel that failure to pray is the greatest predictor of failure. How many times has Nehemiah prayed in his short little book? From BridgePointe Church:

1. Nehemiah 1:4-11
2. Nehemiah 2:4
3. Nehemiah 4:4-5
4. Nehemiah 5:19
5. Nehemiah 6:9
6. Nehemiah 6:14
7. Nehemiah 9:5-38
8. Nehemiah 13:14
9. Nehemiah 13:22
10. Nehemiah 13:29

Of the 405 verses in Nehemiah, 51 are prayers. 12.6% of the book is about Nehemiah praying to God. In contrast, by my count only 45 verses talk about the work that Nehemiah did. Nehemiah the great builder lets us know its more important to be praying than it is to be working.

Nehemiah 6:18 — Commentators note that Shechaniah, the son of Arah, was one of the leading pioneer families (Ezra 2:5, and we’ll see him in Nehemiah 7:10) that returned with Zerubbabel.

Nehemiah 7:17 — Why does Nehemiah report the children of Azgad as 2,322 and Ezra 2:12 reports it as 1,222? Will Kinney thinks Nehemiah is just reporting the records he found, which were varied from Ezra’s record. CARM examines all the differences and thinks it was a copyist error. Lavista thinks Ezra recorded the departure count, and Nehemiah recorded the arrival count. GotQuestions.org concurs – thinking it was based on deaths/births in families. Jack Kelly addresses the subtotals but not the family discrepancies. He does give a good analysis of the bigger issue:

Skeptics look at apparent discrepancies like this and immediately conclude that the Bible is not the inspired Word of God but a flawed work of man.

But those who believe in the inspiration of Scripture assume that the discrepancy is caused by a lack of understanding on their part and dig deeper for the solution.

1 Corinthians 8:1 — Paul is asked to weigh in on the issue of meats offered to idols. He will in a future chapter give a very clear answer on this issue and come to the conclusion that Jesus Christ Himself reiterates in the Book of Revelation! If the question was merely theoretical, he would have gone right to the answer. But because it was rooted in a messy situation, he had several other problems to work through before he made his point about meats offered to idols. His first point: showing love is better than having the right answer.

1 Corinthians 8:4 — The “wanna be” meat eaters said that idols aren’t real, so what’s wrong with meat offered to something that doesn’t exist? Paul acknowledges that they have a valid point, but that is not the final point (1 Corinthians 8:7).

1 Corinthians 8:13 — Many people think that Paul’s teaching is limited to just not offending our brother. They have extended that theory to other things such as claiming that drinking alcohol is not addressed in the Bible, and we can do it as long as no one else is offended by it. Contrary to their opinions, however, the Bible has clear warnings against the consumption of alcohol (Proverbs 20:1, Ephesians 5:18, Genesis 9:21, Leviticus 10:9, Proverbs 23:29-32, Proverbs 31:4, Isaiah 5:22, Hosea 4:11, Habakkuk 2:5, etc.). Paul’s point is something he has exemplified in his own life: “Even for something legitimate like getting paid for ministry, I will waive my rights, and do without if it causes problems for my brothers.” Interesting that we read this passage today for this was Nehemiah’s point in Nehemiah 5:18. Paul will continue to address meats offered to idols in the next few chapters.

Psalm 33:2 — What is a ten string instrument (Psalm 92:3, Psalm 144:9)?

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TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
  Nehemiah 3:15-5:13
  1 Corinthians 7:25-40
  Psalm 32:1-11
  Proverbs 21:5-7

Nehemiah 3:1 — The roll call of the faithful who were involved in rebuilding the walls! Pastor Wolfmueller has collected some maps to help explain what is going on:

Nehemiah 4:1 — No good deed goes unpunished! Nehemiah has learned the lesson from the past and intersperses the building project with prayer; we see this in Nehemiah 4:4-5 and Nehemiah 4:9.

Nehemiah 4:16 — A most unusual church building campaign! We often see the story of Nehemiah used in church building campaigns, but we can be thankful for the freedom of religion in America so that we don’t have to be physically armed. But just because our enemies don’t threaten us physically, we are daily tempted with a more subtle and dangerous enemy that has lulled us to sleep: APATHY!

Nehemiah 5:7-8 — Nehemiah is decrying crony capitalism – the “war profiteering” of his day. But note how he argued with them (Nehemiah 5:10) – he had the opportunity to demand their submission, but he didn’t. He led by example!

1 Corinthians 7:27 — Paul’s advice seems to contradict Ezra’s in Ezra 10:11 where he ordered the Israelites to divorce. Ezra, however, was talking to Jewish men who were marrying unbelievers, while Paul is talking to Gentile men who became believers after they had married other unbelievers.

1 Corinthians 7:28 — Having recently been married, I am glad that Paul says I have not sinned! For those of you who are single, John MacArthur has preached on this passage and notes the five blessings of singleness:

• pressure of the system (1 Corinthians 7:26)
• problems of the flesh (1 Corinthians 7:28)
• passing of the world (1 Corinthians 7:29)
• preoccupation of the married (1 Corinthians 7:32)
• permanence of the union (1 Corinthians 7:39-40)

Psalm 32:1 — Read how Isaac Watts set this psalm to music.

Psalm 32:7 — ”You are my Hiding Place” is based on this verse.

Psalm 32:8 — Sally Atari recorded “Be Glad” almost word for word from Psalm 32:8 & Psalm 32:11.

Proverbs 21:5 — Aesop memorialized this truth in his classic tale of the tortoise and the hare. Here’s the Disney version from 1934:

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TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
  Nehemiah 1:1-3:14
  1 Corinthians 7:1-24
  Psalm 31:19-24
  Proverbs 21:4

Nehemiah 1:7 — One thousand years after Moses, Nehemiah is still aware of the consequences of forsaking the Law and the promise for obedience to the Law (Nehemiah 1:8).

Nehemiah 2:4 — One of the shortest prayers recorded in the Bible.

Nehemiah 2:18 — The energy within the crowd is intense! “Let us rise up and build!” God’s work should result in an enthusiastic response!

Nehemiah 3:1 — Nehemiah motivated the pilgrims of Israel to follow through on the burden that God shared with Nehemiah to rebuild the city.

1 Corinthians 7:1 — Paul uses the Corinthian sin as a teaching opportunity. Having chastised the Corinthians for tolerating incest, he now backs up and shows the biblical practice of sexual morality:

• Exclusivity (1 Corinthians  7:1)
• Monogamy (1 Corinthians 7:2)
• Sexuality (1 Corinthians 7:3)
• Submissive (1 Corinthians 7:4)

1 Corinthians 7:19 — Paul reiterates that circumcision is not valuable in God’s economy (see Romans 4:9-12).

Psalm 31:20 — The Psalmist knows personally the blessing of the LORD because it was the LORD that hid him safely away from his enemies! Because God has been so good, the Psalmist has to shout (Psalm 31:19, Psalm 31:21, Psalm 31:23-24).

Proverbs 21:4 — What does he mean “the plowing of the wicked?” From Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers:

The plowing of the wicked.–i.e., their work, all they do; for it is not done to please God but themselves; nor carried on in His strength, but in reliance upon their own, and therefore it is “sin,” not pleasing to Him.

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TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
  Ezra 10:1-44
  1 Corinthians 6:1-20
  Psalm 31:9-18
  Proverbs 21:3

Ezra 10:3 — Is God ordering mass divorce? In today’s culture we are told “love is love,” but Luke 10:27 reminds us that the first commandment is to love God, then to love our neighbor. Sometimes following God will cause family division (Matthew 10:35). Joshua had warned the people of the curse following a religious intermarriage (Joshua 23:12-13). Ezra is hyper-sensitive to violations of the Law because this is a precedent setting time! Ezra is establishing patterns that will be followed for the next 500+ years until the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. He is afraid that if the people fail at the start, how can the nation continue? Notice also that animals died for this sin (Ezra 10:19).

First, the wives in the Old Testament were not just “unbelievers” who were “willing” to be “sanctified” by the believing husband (1 Corinthians 7:14). They were “pagans,” that is, they were probably Babylonian idol worshipers (cf. Nehemiah 13:25–26), who were having a pagan influence on their husbands. – DefendingInerrancy.com

… there are heart-breaking temporal consequences associated with wrongdoing, to say nothing of the potential eternal penalty. – ChristianCourier.com

… the special instructions to divorce non-believers in Ezra 10 must be understood from an exceptional, nationalistic circumstance during a most critical time under Jewish law and should not be looked at as objective moral law especially when considering the totality of the Bible (See: 1 Corinthians 7:12ff; 1 Peter 3:1ff). – Kevin Pendergrass

1 Corinthians 6:1 — This idea has been a historical part of the American legal system. Other religions adopt similar systems – see Sharia Tribunals, Rabbinical Courts, and Christian Panels. From the Santa Clara Law Review:

At present, in the United States, agreements to arbitrate a dispute before a religious tribunal are generally enforceable in civil courts, as are awards made by religious arbitral tribunals … A Boston town in 1635 laid down an ordinance that no congregation members could litigate unless there had been a prior effort at arbitration.

1 Corinthians 6:7 — Paul says that even though we have a right to “religious arbitration,” can we be willing to suffer temporally because we shall inherit the Kingdom (1 Corinthians 6:9)?

1 Corinthians 6:11 — The encouragement following a list of convicting sins – such were some of you!

1 Corinthians 6:15-16 — Paul might have been thinking about the sins of Ezra’s day just 500 years prior. How can a follower of the LORD unite with someone following another god? Our bodies are not our own (1 Corinthians 6:19)!

Psalm 31:9 — The miserable man makes much of mercy because he trusts in God (Psalm 31:14).

Proverbs 21:3 — Samuel has stated this before (1 Samuel 15:22). God does not believe that it is better to ask forgiveness than permission.

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TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
  Ezra 8:21-9:15
  1 Corinthians 5:1-13
  Psalm 31:1-8
  Proverbs 21:1-2

Ezra 8:22 — Ezra was faced with a dilemma: accept the gracious offer of the king to provide protection, or allow God to protect them as they traveled with over $100 million in gold (that’s not counting the silver – see Ezra 8:26). Hudson Taylor once refused to wear a life jacket on a boat because he thought it showed his faith in God. Should we refuse to wear life jackets as well? How are we to balance keeping our faith in God and exercising reasonable care?

FIRST note that Elijah fasted and prayed about this decision (Ezra 8:23). Keep in mind that this was someone that God was willing to be entreated of (Psalm 66:18). If we’re not living for the LORD, we should be hesitant to claim we heard a command from the LORD.

SECOND note that Ezra learned the lesson of Hezekiah and Sennacherib in 2 Kings 18:15 – trust God first or soldiers won’t help you (Psalm 127:1). His decision was a response to a specific problem in Israelite history, not a general disregard of human precautions. God blessed this decision (Ezra 8:31).

THIRD note how Ezra was demonstrating his trust in God (see today’s reading in Psalm 31), and how he took every human precaution when auditing the treasure. Not because the transport team was untrustworthy, but to a) protect their reputation, b) deter temptation, and c) ensure they focused on the goal for the team instead of personal enrichment, Ezra employed the service of the Levites to transport the treasure. This is similar to a church treasurer who completes a deposit slip with the rest of the finance team and then is dispatched to the bank to deposit the money. The church auditor then reconciles the deposit slip with the deposit receipt to make sure nothing happened to the money enroute. Ezra found trustworthy men (Ezra 8:24), weighed the gold (Ezra 8:25), documented the weights (Ezra 8:26-27), charged the trustworthy men with the sacred trust (Ezra 8:28), and then scheduled an audit in Jerusalem (Ezra 8:29). While today’s treasurer might pocket some loose change enroute, the big danger in times past was debasement. Roman emperors would reduce the silver content of coins thinking people wouldn’t notice. Archimedes famously developed a test to ensure the gold in the crown wasn’t diluted. Here, the chapter concludes with the auditing in Ezra 8:33-34.

Back to Hudson Taylor:

Later he realized that was wrong thinking and wrote, “The use of means ought not to lessen our faith in God; and our faith in God ought not to hinder whatever means He has given us for the accomplishment of His own purposes … When in medical or surgical charge of any case, I have never thought of neglecting to ask God’s guidance and blessing in the use of appropriate means … to me it would appear presumptuous and wrong to neglect the use of those measures which He Himself has put within our reach, as to neglect to take daily food, and suppose that life and health might be maintained by prayer alone” (p. 99). He was later said to be “a man of prayer, but it was prayer associated with action … He prayed about things as if everything depended upon the praying … but he worked also, as if everything depended upon the working” (p. 329).

Excerpt comes from pg. 329 of It Is Not Death to Die: A New Biography of Hudson Taylor by Jim Cromarty

Ezra 9:1-2 — Ezra, whose father was executed by a pagan king in a pagan land as part of God’s judgment on the sins of Israel, knew sin could not be tolerated. They were commanded not to defile themselves with the Canaanites and their practices (Leviticus 18:24). They were commanded not to associate with them but to drive them out (Deuteronomy 7:1). They were not to show any mercy.

Ezra 9:6 — Ezra’s prayer of contrition; he recognizes his lowly position (Psalm 40:17) and the vastness of his sins (Psalm 51:3). He cites the very command they have broken (Ezra 9:11-12, Deuteronomy 7:3). Ezra refuses to allow people to make the same mistake Solomon made (1 Kings 11:1-2).

1 Corinthians 5:1 — Speaking of sin in the camp, Paul commands a harsh penalty (1 Corinthians 5:5) for sinful activity in the local church and God’s disapproval of those who tolerated it (1 Corinthians 5:2, 1 Corinthians 5:6, 1 Corinthians 5:9).

1 Corinthians 5:10-12 — We’re not to avoid those who sin. We must confront those who claim to be washed of their sin in the blood of the Lamb and yet persist in the sin that nailed the Lamb to the Cross! God will take care of sinners; we must take care of our so-called brothers.

Psalm 31:1 — The psalmist is declaring what Ezra believed: we can trust in the LORD and be delivered! He has delivered us from our enemies!

Proverbs 21:1 — The Lord changed the heart of the king from Ezra 4:21 to Ezra 6:7. God can still change hearts even today!

Share how reading through the Bible has been a blessing to you! E-mail us at 2018bible@vcyamerica.org or call and leave a message at 414-885-5370.

TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
  Ezra 7:1-8:20
  1 Corinthians 4:1-21
  Psalm 30:1-12
  Proverbs 20:28-30

Ezra 7:1 — Don’t gloss over this genealogy! Who is Seraiah? The last high priest of Jerusalem (2 Kings 25:18, Jeremiah 52:24). The priests were executed as vanquished leaders (2 Kings 25:21, Jeremiah 52:27) by the Babylonians. God exercised judgment on the Babylonians and put the Persians in charge. They have a much different attitude toward Ezra than toward his father.

Ezra 7:5 — Remember Phinehas the Bold? Yes, we have his descendant with us. Ezra the scribe was birthed to be high priest, he descended from the valiant, he was studied in the Law, and he was ultimately favored by the king.

Ezra 7:9 — Ezra was in a 4-month-long wagon train with thousands of his kinfolk, and we complain about rush hour traffic, delays boarding our seat on a plane, or flying international in just economy!

Ezra 7:10 — Great verse to memorize and to apply!

• Seek it (2 Kings 22:8-10 – Josiah did so upon discovering the Law)
• Do it (James 1:22 – Doers of the Word and not hearers only)
• Teach it (1 Timothy 4:11 – These things command and teach)

Ezra 7:15 — Five surprising things in the Royal Letter:

• The king is giving to the God of Israel silver and gold (Ezra 7:15)
• The king is not specifying what can be purchased (Ezra 7:18)
• The king is giving a blank check (Ezra 7:20, Ezra 7:22)
• The king is giving tax exemption (Ezra 7:24)
• The king is establishing a theocracy (Ezra 7:26)

1 Corinthians 4:7 — ”What hast thou that thou didst not receive?” Everything we have is from God – why are we boasting in what we have and comparing ourselves?

1 Corinthians 4:10 — What does Christian love entail (John 13:34)? Appearing foolish, appearing weak, being despised, hungering, thirsting, being naked, being beaten, being homeless, earning your own pay, being reviled, being persecuted, and giving your best (1 Corinthians 4:17). This is the result of the love their spiritual father, Paul, had for them (1 Corinthians 4:15).

Psalm 30:4 — “Sing to the Lord and Be Not Silent” is based on Psalm 30:4-5.

Proverbs 20:28 — Solomon wrote out instructions for his son, Rehoboam, but Rehoboam ignored them (1 Kings 12:11).

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TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
  Ezra 4:24-6:22
  1 Corinthians 3:5-23
  Psalm 29:1-11
  Proverbs 20:26-27

Ezra 5:11 — “Who said you could build this?” Interesting the response back – “We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth.” Servants of not just a regional territorial god, but the God of all that is on earth and all that is above the earth!

Ezra 6:7 — The Israelis knew they had:

• authority from God (Ezra 5:11)
• atonement for their fathers (Ezra 5:12), and the
• auspice of Cyrus to build!

God used the researchers of Babylon (Ezra 6:1-2) to find the records and confirm His will!

Darius — 

• protected them from interference (Ezra 6:7)
• provided the resources needed, and
• preferred the sacrifices

Was he a devout believer? No! He had enough issues without ticking off whoever this “God of heaven” was!

1 Corinthians 3:6-7 — Just as God was the confidence of the Israelis, He is the giver of increase to the Christian. Our enemy is not Team Apollos or Team Paul, but the world, the flesh, and the devil. Apollos and Paul are “laborers together” (1 Corinthians 3:9).

1 Corinthians 3:13 — The Bema Seat that we read about in Romans 14:10 is discussed here. What will be revealed is what has been done in the Christian life. Christians will be judged, not on the economy and not on the politics of this world, but on what has been built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ! Rewards and losses will be measured out as the fire tests our work.

Psalm 29 — Notice the structure of the Psalm – 2X the expression “give unto the LORD” is used, 3X the expression “voice of the LORD” is used, there’s a center keynote, then 3X the expression “voice of the LORD” appears, followed by two descriptions of the LORD (a modified chiasm). In vv. 1-2, we give strength to Him; in vv. 10-11, He gives strength to us! What an amazing God we serve!

Proverbs 20:26 — For those wanting to keep religion out of politics, we need some good leaders who will follow the teaching of Proverbs. The good ruler does not let the wicked take over his city. You may not be a ruler of a city, but if you are a leader in your family, do not let the wicked take over your family!

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TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
  Ezra 3:1-4:23
  1 Corinthians 2:6-3:4
  Psalm 28:1-9
  Proverbs 20:24-25

Ezra 3:2 — This “3 Chronicles” (because it picks up right where 2 Chronicles ends) is a rebuilding and emphasizes the obedience of the people. “As it is written in the Law of Moses,” and “After the ordinance of David” (Ezra 3:10) is a common theme.

Ezra 3:12 — From Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers:

This most affecting scene requires the comment of Haggai 2:3 and Zechariah 4:10. The first house was destroyed in B.C. 588, fifty years before. The weeping of the ancients was not occasioned by any comparison as to size and grandeur, unless indeed they marked the smallness of their foundation stones. They thought chiefly of the great desolation as measured by the past; the younger people thought of the new future.

Ezra 4:2 — Esar-haddon was the son of Sennacherib (2 Kings 19:37). After the Northern Kingdom was wiped out, the new settlers were brought in and were judged by the LORD (2 Kings 17:25), so presumably Esar-haddon sent a priest to teach them how to fear the LORD (2 Kings 17:28). In spite of this, they didn’t stop serving other gods (2 Kings 17:32-34). The LORD isn’t just another idol for the shelf of gods. He is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14)! We are commanded to separate from false believers (2 Corinthians 6:14-18).

Ezra 4:5 — One of the earliest references to a special interest lobbyist in the Bible!

Ezra 4:6 — Is this why Esther was afraid to let Ahasuerus know she was a Jew (Esther 2:10)?

Ezra 4:23 — Did “legalistic obedience” to the command to separate cost the Jews their city walls? Did the enemies’ use of special interest lobbyists end the hope of a reconstructed Israeli settlement? Stay tuned for tomorrow’s reading!

1 Corinthians 2:6 — Paul has the answer – the world’s wisdom comes to nought, but God’s wisdom is superior!

1 Corinthians 2:14 — Why is it so hard for unbelievers to see the joys of serving the LORD? Primarily because it appears as foolishness. There are two spirits – the spirit of the world and the spirit of God (vs. 12), and the spirit you have determines what you see and receive.

1 Corinthians 3:1 — In spite of this teaching on the revelation we have from the Spirit of God, Paul says that we are carnal (1 Corinthians 3:1), and not able to bear the meat of the word (1 Corinthians 3:2). We who have the power of the Spirit of God are using the spirit of the world!

Psalm 28:1 — Ah, the words which would have saved countless heartache to the “good kings” and would have saved the “bad kings” – crying out to the LORD! When we cry, we will be able to rejoice (Psalm 28:6-8) in that He hears us!

Proverbs 20:24 — Echoing Proverbs 16:9, Solomon shows the LORD’s knowledge supersedes mere earthly wisdom/knowledge. From the Pulpit Commentary:

If man cannot see all sides, as God does, cannot comprehend the beginning, middle, and end in one view, how then can a man (a weak mortal) understand his own ways. How can he find out of himself whither he should go, or what will be the issue of his doings (comp. Proverbs 16:25; Jeremiah 10:23)?

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TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
  Ezra 1:1-2:70
  1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5
  Psalm 27:7-14
  Proverbs 20:22-23

Ezra 1:1 — Most kings don’t liberate their subjects; like Rehoboam, they tend to up the ante (1 Kings 12:11). Cyrus, however, brought in a unique policy. It was so unique that many people doubted that such a king would fund the construction of a foreign deity’s temple; that is, until something showed up in London that had been unearthed in Babylon 130 years before.

In the British Museum you can see the Cyrus Cylinder that features a similar proclamation to other people groups. Some people may say that this cylinder contradicts Ezra because Ezra appears to say that Cyrus liberated the Jews exclusively. Ezra, however, does not say that no other people groups were liberated; his focus is solely and obviously on the Jewish nation.

… whose sanctuaries had been abandoned for a long time, I returned the images of the gods, who had resided there [i.e., in Babylon], to their places and I let them dwell in eternal abodes. I gathered all their inhabitants and returned to them their dwellings …

Ezra 1:11 — Note that the Ark of the Covenant is not included. We saw it mentioned in 2 Chronicles 35:3, but as our good brother, Dexter Penwell, pointed out, the text does not say that the command was completed. Interestingly, Josiah didn’t use the phrase “Ark of the Covenant of the LORD” but “the holy ark.” The “Ark of the Covenant of the LORD” was last mentioned in the time of Solomon in 2 Chronicles 5:7. We will see a curious mention of the Ark of the Covenant in Jeremiah 3:16.

Ezra 2:64-65 — The seventy years of captivity are over (Jeremiah 25:11-12). We’ve just read the list of the almost 50,000 heroic pilgrims who left the big cities of Babylon to return to Canaan. In a similar trek that Abraham took when leaving Ur of the Chaldees for Hebron, these pilgrims leave Babylon for Jerusalem following the Lord’s command (Jeremiah 29:10). Their destination was not the beautiful city of the past, but a burned out, overgrown capitol.

1 Corinthians 1:18 — What kind of message is it that tells people established in an affluent cosmopolitan city to abandon it for a place that God has supposedly told you to go to? It sounds like foolishness. The message today is similar, though: Christians will one day leave their impressive cities and comforts for a home up in the sky! Believers are commanded to abandon laying up treasures on earth and start laying up treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19-20). Our friends think we’ve lost all the money that we’ve given to the Lord, but they don’t realize that we’ve been offered a 100-fold return (Mark 10:30).

Yes, we see the word “foolish” six times in this passage. Earthly wisdom says the only things for sure is death and taxes, so get a good profession and make some money. Thus, “not many wise men” are called (1 Corinthians 1:26). We do not have earthly wisdom – we have the wisdom of Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:30). We cannot glory on our own (1 Corinthians 1:29), but in the LORD (1 Corinthians 1:31)! Paul came in weakness of self but in the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:5).

Psalm 27:9 — Where do we find our salvation? In God – the One who will take us in when our earthly parents believe we have embraced foolishness (Psalm 27:10). Yes, if we want His blessings, we need to seek Him (Psalm 27:8).

Psalm 27:14 — Listen to the song “Wait on the Lord” from our good friend Patch the Pirate:

Proverbs 20:22 — Proverbs reminds us again!

Proverbs 20:23 — Sound familiar? This is the third iteration of this command (Deuteronomy 25:13, Proverbs 20:10, Proverbs 20:23).

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TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
  2 Chronicles 35:1-36:23
  1 Corinthians 1:1-17
  Psalm 27:1-6
  Proverbs 20:20-21

My apologies for going long here – but we are covering one of the most fascinating centuries in the Bible in one day! Buckle up and let’s go!

2 Chronicles 35:1 — Josiah kept the Passover. Why is this detail included? This and Hezekiah’s Passover (2 Chronicles 30:1) are the only two Passovers mentioned in 2 Chronicles. Keep in mind, this is the 18th year of Josiah’s reign. The boy King is now 26 years old. It has been 20 years since Manasseh presumably held a Passover, and 75 years since Hezekiah held a great Passover. The Post-Exilic people who have returned to the land will have held the first official Passover in the land in over 70 years as well. Though we stray from the LORD, the LORD will hear us when we call to Him!

2 Chronicles 35:3 — For those who are curious where the Ark is today, here’s another mystery: where was the Ark before Josiah moved it back into the Temple?

2 Chronicles 35:7 — Josiah gave 33,000 bullocks. Compare Hezekiah’s gift: he only gave a thousand bullocks (2 Chronicles 30:24). Perhaps that’s why the Chronicler says it was the greatest Passover since Samuel the Prophet (2 Chronicles 35:18).

2 Chronicles 35:25 — Why did Jeremiah weep? Because in less than twenty-five years the Southern Kingdom of Judah would be no more. The next chapter will go quickly through many names. But add up the dates; within one generation Josiah’s great Kingdom will collapse.

2 Chronicles 36:3 — Jehoahaz, son of Josiah, quickly becomes prisoner in Egypt (2 Chronicles 36:4). Eliakim, the second son of Josiah, is Egypt’s puppet until Nebuchadnezzar takes him to Babylon in chains along with the Temple vessels (2 Chronicles 36:6-7). This is the king that cut up the scroll and burned the prophecy of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 36:23).

Interesting that Pharaoh changes Eliakim’s name from El-iakim to Jeho-iakim. The prefix changes from “El” (generic name for a god, translated in the KJV as “God”), to “Jeho” (short for Jehovah, translated in the KJV as “LORD”, the personal name of God). This is especially interesting because Eliakim/Jehoiakim did evil in the sight of the LORD. Eliakim’s son Jehoiachin joins his dad shortly in the Babylonian captivity with more temple vessels (2 Chronicles 36:10).

2 Chronicles 36:11 — Zedekiah, Josiah’s grandson by Eliakim, rejected Jeremiah’s warnings. Zedekiah also imprisoned Jeremiah in the jail in the king’s house (Jeremiah 32:2) because the king would not repent and wanted to “shoot the messenger.”

2 Chronicles 36:13 — God takes vows very seriously (Ecclesiastes 5:4-6, Deuteronomy 23:21-23, Numbers 30:2, Psalm 76:11), but Zedekiah didn’t and violated his vow. From Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers:

When Nebuchadnezzar appointed Zedekiah vassal-king of Judah, he would naturally make him swear fealty to himself by the God of his fathers. The fact is not specially recorded in Kings; but the prophet Ezekiel makes it the point of a prophecy against the king and his grandees (Ezekiel 17:11-21; comp, especially 2 Chronicles 36:17, “mine oath that he hath despised.”)

2 Chronicles 36:19 — Four hundred years of the Temple, and now it comes to an end. Just 19 chapters earlier we read how God threatened to destroy Solomon’s offering, the Temple, and make it a byword (2 Chronicles 7:20). Now it has happened.

2 Chronicles 36:21 — Depending on how you count, the Sabbath of the land had only been royally observed four times since Samuel anointed Saul as King. The laws each King had to copy (Deuteronomy 17:18) included the command to give the land the seventh year off (Leviticus 25:1-7). There was specific punishment of exile if they did not (Leviticus 26:34-35). But how many kings decided to prove the promised miracle of triple-abundance (Leviticus 25:21)? Most commentators simply say “70 years of rest” or 70 X 7 = 490 years. However, the year of Jubilee was a second year of rest. Thus, we would go back 442 years from the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC to 1028 BC. Subtracting 1028 BC from 1050 BC (Anointing of Saul) would imply that the “Sabbath of the Land” had been kept only 3 or 4 times from when Samuel anointed Saul and passed the duty to keep the Sabbath to the King. Seventy years pass after the period at the end of verse 21.

2 Chronicles 36:23 — The Book of 2 Chronicles ends at the start of Ezra. Compare 2 Chronicles 36:22-23 with Ezra 1:1-3. The people are returning to build again the House of the LORD that was burned. The House of the LORD was defiled by Jewish Kings, burned by Babylonian Kings, but will be rebuilt by a Persian King! The Priests will need to organize themselves, but we read already how Josiah had to do that as well (2 Chronicles 35:2). They will need to keep a Passover that hadn’t been kept in a hundred years, but this wasn’t the first long gap between Passovers. God allowed bad foreign policy to end the life of good King Josiah and hasten the destruction of the Temple by pagan kings. Now God commanded a pagan king to fund the reconstruction of the Temple!

1 Corinthians 1:7 — We too are waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ! “What if it were today?“

Psalm 27:1 — ”The LORD Is my light and my salvation!“

Proverbs 20:21 — Solomon is contrasting the inheritance that is normally connected with a blessing, with an inheritance that is not blessed. Reminds me of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:12).

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