Month: December 2024

TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
  Hosea 1:1-3:5
  1 John 5:1-21
  Psalm 124:1-8
  Proverbs 29:5-8

Hosea 1:1 — Hosea is a unique story. Rich Christiano has produced a great movie on the book of Hosea, Amazing Love:

Hosea 1:2 — WHOA! Did God really tell Hosea to take a prostitute as a wife? And Hosea did (Hosea 1:3)!

Hosea 1:7 — For context, Hosea is written shortly before the fall of the Northern Kingdom. We’ll read this idea again in Zechariah 4:6, and we’ve already read this idea in Psalm 44:3.

Hosea 1:10 — God appeared to disown His people in Hosea 1:9, but now we read that God will regather His people and reclaim them (Hosea 1:11).

Hosea 2:6 — Ever find yourself running into a wall? Sometimes God closes a door to block us from what we want and to drive us back to our God. Sounds a bit like the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32).

Hosea 2:16 — So, we have a play on words here:

• Ishi – My Man/Husband/Love
• Baali – My Owner/Lord/Master

The LORD/Jehovah is saying that He supported His bride Israel, even while she sought other lovers (Hosea 2:8). Now, He will chasten her (Hosea 2:11), but then He will woo her (Hosea 2:14). He will change her heart from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 11:19; Ezekiel 36:26; Jeremiah 31:33; Hebrews 8:10). Israel will not be under a circumcision of flesh, but a circumcision of heart. The relationship will then be one of love (Ishi) and not fear (Baali).

Notice the contrast. The LORD/Jehovah is saying, “I don’t want to hear Baalim (Lord) because you’re serving Baal instead of me. Baal is a cruel Baali (Lord). He is using you for what the LORD/Jehovah has given you. But the LORD/Jehovah will bring you back and will give you even more.”

Hosea 2:23 — Lo-ruhamah (no mercy) and Lo-ammi (not mine) will become mercy and mine!

Hosea 3:2 — What a great picture of what Christ did for us! God redeemed us!

Hosea 3:5 — Another reference to “David their King.” Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel all prophesied that there would be a King David “in the latter days.”

1 John 5:1 — Do you need assurance of your salvation? This is the book for you! What do you believe about Jesus? Was He born of the flesh (1 John 4:2-3)? Is He born of God? (1 John 5:1)? Do you love God’s people (1 John 5:1)? Do you love God (1 John 5:2)? Do you keep His commands (1 John 5:3)? These are some of the characteristics of a believer, but we’ll get to the key verse in a bit.

1 John 5:13 — How can we know that we have eternal life? Eternal life is ours if we believe on the name of the Son of God! In Hebrew, at five letter intervals, you can see the name of Jesus hidden in the phrase.

1 John 5:15 — Because we believe in Him we can have our prayer answered!

Psalm 124:8 — Thank God that He is on our side!

Proverbs 29:7 — Why does God care so much about the poor? What is the difference between “middle class” and poor? Possession of money. Can we boast of the money we have? Only if it is truly ours, but we can’t say that. All we have is His. Perhaps it’s another extension of humility (James 4:6). Whether we are proud in our thoughts or in our wallets, all we have is God’s.

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:
  Daniel 11:36-12:13
  1 John 4:1-21
  Psalm 123:1-4
  Proverbs 29:2-4

Daniel 11:36 — Between yesterday and today, we just leapfrogged the entire Church Age. Yesterday’s reading described events from 2,000 years ago. Today’s reading describes events in the future. From John Walvoord:

Beginning with verse 36, a sharp break in the prophecy may be observed, introduced by the expression the time of the end in verse 35.

https://walvoord.com/article/252

Daniel 11:40 — From Jimmy DeYoung:

Verse 40 in our reading reveals how the alignment of Arab and Islamic nations, led by Russia, will begin to make their way into Israel to destroy the Jewish state. Almost in concert, the two nations, Egypt and Syria, will come “against him”, verse 40. Remember the “him” is the Antichrist.

Why would the text say that Syria and Egypt are going to attack the Antichrist? The answer is that before both Arab nations move against Israel, the Antichrist will have “confirmed” a peace agreement between Israel and her enemies, Daniel 9:27. So, to attack Israel is like attacking the Antichrist who has just guaranteed Israel’s peace.

http://devotional.prophecytoday.com/search/label/Daniel

Daniel 11:41 — Chuck Missler is one of many who note the connection between “Edom and Moab and the chief of the children of Ammon” (present-day Jordan) with Petra, the desert fortress.

Daniel 12:1 — The “time of trouble” is also known as the Great Tribulation.

Daniel 12:2 — We read about the special book that Moses talked about (Exodus 32:32-33, Deuteronomy 9:14), that Paul wrote about (Philippians 4:3), and that John saw (Revelation 3:5, Revelation 21:27). Is your name written there?

Daniel 12:8-9 — Daniel could interpret dreams, could counsel Nebuchadnezzar, but he couldn’t understand God’s prophetic timetable. The promise was that at the “time of the end” the words would be unsealed.

There’s a fascinating history of eschatology (study of last things) at ChristInProphecy.org (Lamb & Lion Ministries). The key point is that eschatology is relatively new in theological studies, especially because of its interconnection with Zionism.

In 1878, “one of the first [statements of faith] to explicitly proclaim faith in the premillennial return of Jesus Christ to earth” was written at the Niagara Bible Conference.

Since Julian the Apostate’s attempt in 363 to rebuild the Temple was stopped by “fearful balls of fire,” there had been little movement to return Jews to Eretz Israel until Lord Shaftesbury’s Memorandum calling for “the restoration of the Jews to Palestine” in 1841. The Zionist Congress didn’t commit itself to Palestine until 1905 (for fun, read a fictional travel guide to “New Judea, East Africa” which has an alternative timeline history). In 1940, President Roosevelt considered moving the Jews to Alaska.

Daniel 12:12 — Apparently, there is a 75-day transitional period between the Tribulation and the New Jerusalem (Walvoord).

1 John 4:3 — Speaking of the Antichrist, denial of the humanity of Jesus is a sign of a false teacher.

1 John 4:4 — Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world!

1 John 4:9 — Notice the similarity between this verse and John 3:16.

1 John 4:16 — You’ve heard that “God is love,” which is only found in 1 John 4. Remember also, though, that the reverse is not true. Love IS NOT God.

1 John 4:19 — Thank God He loved us first!

Psalm 123:2 — Notice that the psalmist identifies himself as a servant of the Master, the LORD Our God!

Proverbs 29:2 — Yes, that means you have to vote for good candidates!

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:
  Daniel 11:2-35
  1 John 3:7-24
  Psalm 122:1-9
  Proverbs 29:1

In today’s reading we’ll go from Daniel’s present day (fall of Babylon in 539 BC) to the Maccabean Revolt in 164 BC. Matthew Henry, John Walvoord, and EnduringWord.com can tell you the “what” that’s going on, but the bigger question is “why” should we care about the “intertestamental time?”

First, we need to remember that Scripture was written for the immediate audience first. Daniel is writing to the Jewish people for their immediate edification. If we look at a Bible timeline of chronology, we notice that there was a surge in prophets around the fall of Jerusalem.

Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Joel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Obadiah all were writing around the fall of Jerusalem (586 BC). Haggai and Zechariah were writing around the return of Zerubbabel (536 BC); Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, and Malachi were active around 450 BC for the rebuilding of the walls. Then there were roughly 450 years of silence.

Today’s reading is a “play by play” of the dream in Daniel 2. Daniel 2 identified the four kingdoms (Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome), but Daniel 11 gives us the actions. It takes us from Daniel’s present day, through the political events of the last prophet, Malachi, to the return of a Jewish self-governing state. That state (Hasmonean Dynasty) would become the Herodian vassal state of the fourth kingdom (Rome), the kingdom that the Messiah would be born into. .. but not without controversy – from John Walvoord:

Probably no other portion of Scripture presents more minute prophecy than Daniel 11:1-35, and this has prompted the sharpest attack of critics seeking to discredit this prophetic portion.

Interestingly enough, it was the eleventh chapter of Daniel with its detailed prophecy of about two hundred years of history that prompted the heathen philosopher Porphyry (third century AD) to attack the book of Daniel as a forgery. In his study, Porphyry established the fact that history corresponded closely to the prophetic revelation of Daniel 11:1-35, and the correspondence was so precise that he was persuaded that no one could have prophesied these events in the future. Accordingly, he solved the problem by taking the position that the book of Daniel was written after the events occurred, that is, it was written in the second century B.C. This attack prompted Jerome to defend the book of Daniel and to issue his own commentary, which for over one thousand years thereafter was considered the standard commentary on the book of Daniel.

https://walvoord.com/article/252

1 John 3:9 — Can a Christian sin? After reading 1 John 1:8, we know that we have sin. GotQuestions.org points out that this is not “sinless perfection” but “a decreasing pattern of sin.”

1 John 3:13 — There is a war between the world and Christ. John is reiterating the teaching Jesus made (John 15:18). What’s the difference?

• Righteousness vs. sin (1 John 3:7-8)
• Father God vs. Father Devil (1 John 3:10)
• Love not vs. Love (1 John 3:10-11, 1 John 3:14)
• Evil works vs. Righteous works (1 John 3:12)
• Love vs. Hate (1 John 3:15-16)
• Giver vs. Hoarder (1 John 3:17)

At the end of the day, the symptoms are not absolute, but believing on Jesus Christ is (1 John 3:23), as well as having the Spirit (1 John 3:24).

Psalm 122:1 — Do you look forward to spending time with God’s people?

Psalm 122:6 — Notice the blessing for those who love Jerusalem! What is the peace that will come to Jerusalem? Paul shared his burden in Romans 10:1.

Proverbs 29:1 — Rejecting correction brings destruction!

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.