The One Year Bible- October 1st
Nothing says October like the
Major League Baseball playoffs or Sunday Football. Maybe it’s dusty corners
that turn into pumpkin patch carnivals. But ask any of the readers of “The
One Year Bible” and they will tell you October is for the book of Jeremiah.
Beginning October 3rd and going all the way until the 28th,
Jeremiah holds its spot as the most days spent on any book (other than Psalms
and Proverbs which we read every day). So settle in and get comfortable. Get
your hot cider and your blanket because it is time to cuddle up with Jeremiah
(that is a joke, if you don’t get it, you will soon). On to the study for
today...
Seth's Thoughts
The Old Testament
I said last week I would spend some time talking about the book of Isaiah. I continue to be fascinated with this book every time I read it. There has been much debate on whether Isaiah actually wrote the entire thing. Most of this controversy is not worthy of mention here. In my mind, the arguments are not very convincing. For me, the one thing that really glues the whole book together is the continued mention of “The Holy One of Israel”. We talked about this a bit a few weeks ago. This phrase occurs 26 times in the book and only 6 times outside of the book. The overarching theme of the book to me is one that unveils the full dimensions of God’s judgment and salvation. God is “The Holy One” who must punish his rebellious people, but will afterward redeem them. This not only came to pass with the remnants return to Jerusalem under Ezra and Nehemiah, but also came to pass with the coming of Immanuel, God with us, in the person of the Christ child born in Bethlehem. The parallels are striking. The book of Isaiah refers to the people as evil, wicked, prostitutes, selfish, and [place your own adjective here]. Sounds a bit like the circumstances when Jesus arrived, not to mention today. Isaiah, like no other book, spells out the wonderful plan of salvation in the promised Messiah. Not only was salvation found in the remnant returning, it also was found in the person, work, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. This same salvation can be found today through the power of Jesus Christ, in His word, and through what he left behind, namely baptism and communion. I don’t want to get too philosophical or theological on you, but just stop for a moment and sit in the majesty of God who, in his perfect plan, provided a way for you, a lowly sinner, to be made right with him. How awesome is that. Other main themes in the book include holiness, and hope. God is the one true God, who is holy and desires us to be holy too. There is a wonderful sense of hope in the book as well. Because of the promises from God, we have hope in salvation and hope of eternal life with him forever. Please know I am pouring in some meaning from other parts of the Bible that bring these themes out for me, but that does not change the fact that I believe that Isaiah was talking about them as well.
I said last week I would spend some time talking about the book of Isaiah. I continue to be fascinated with this book every time I read it. There has been much debate on whether Isaiah actually wrote the entire thing. Most of this controversy is not worthy of mention here. In my mind, the arguments are not very convincing. For me, the one thing that really glues the whole book together is the continued mention of “The Holy One of Israel”. We talked about this a bit a few weeks ago. This phrase occurs 26 times in the book and only 6 times outside of the book. The overarching theme of the book to me is one that unveils the full dimensions of God’s judgment and salvation. God is “The Holy One” who must punish his rebellious people, but will afterward redeem them. This not only came to pass with the remnants return to Jerusalem under Ezra and Nehemiah, but also came to pass with the coming of Immanuel, God with us, in the person of the Christ child born in Bethlehem. The parallels are striking. The book of Isaiah refers to the people as evil, wicked, prostitutes, selfish, and [place your own adjective here]. Sounds a bit like the circumstances when Jesus arrived, not to mention today. Isaiah, like no other book, spells out the wonderful plan of salvation in the promised Messiah. Not only was salvation found in the remnant returning, it also was found in the person, work, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. This same salvation can be found today through the power of Jesus Christ, in His word, and through what he left behind, namely baptism and communion. I don’t want to get too philosophical or theological on you, but just stop for a moment and sit in the majesty of God who, in his perfect plan, provided a way for you, a lowly sinner, to be made right with him. How awesome is that. Other main themes in the book include holiness, and hope. God is the one true God, who is holy and desires us to be holy too. There is a wonderful sense of hope in the book as well. Because of the promises from God, we have hope in salvation and hope of eternal life with him forever. Please know I am pouring in some meaning from other parts of the Bible that bring these themes out for me, but that does not change the fact that I believe that Isaiah was talking about them as well.
We will start Jeremiah this
week and we will spend quite a while chewing on the topics in this book in the
weeks to come. It may sound like Jeremiah keeps repeating himself, and that is
true, but only because the people are not listening to the message. They just
don’t get it. Look for the following mega-themes to come out in your reading
and in our studies: Sin & Punishment (similar to Isaiah), God is Lord of
All, New hearts, Faithful service. We will spend some more time on these themes
in the weeks to come.
The New Testament
We finished off the book of Ephesians this week with the armor of God. I always thought this was great original imagery from Paul, then I read from Isaiah one day later, “He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head” (Isaiah 59:17 NIV) I guess Paul really knew his Old Testament well!! The idea of the Armor of God is great concrete imagery that can be quite useful in teaching about the faith.
We finished off the book of Ephesians this week with the armor of God. I always thought this was great original imagery from Paul, then I read from Isaiah one day later, “He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head” (Isaiah 59:17 NIV) I guess Paul really knew his Old Testament well!! The idea of the Armor of God is great concrete imagery that can be quite useful in teaching about the faith.
We did get to experience this
week one of my favorite things about reading the Bible this way. We got to read
an entire book (even though it was a small one) in just a few days. This is
cool now but when we get a bunch of small books in a row coming up it will be
hard to keep it all straight. The one thing to say about the book of
Philippians is, rejoice! It seems to be a recurring theme with Paul in this
letter. Paul rejoices for the people in Philippi and he instructs them to
rejoice always and in everything. One amazing passage jumped out at me this
week, “For to
me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body,
this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I
am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better
by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.”
(Philippians 1:21-24 NIV) What a great vision Paul
has. Sometimes we get the “poor is me” attitude and it gets us down. Paul takes
it the other way and says, “I don’t care what you throw at me, I still know
that God will be honored.” I pray I can have that attitude every day.
Philippians chapter two has one of the most amazing descriptions of who Jesus
is. This is a great passage to share with someone who is just starting the
journey of the Christian life. Paul gives us some great words of comfort and of
hope in this letter. Two last quotes, “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is
behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win
the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13b-14 NIV) “I can do everything through him who gives
me strength.” (Philippians
4:13 NIV) I can’t say it much better than that. I like to go to this book
whenever I need a pick me up. It is full of great phrases and encouragement.
Bits and Pieces
The Old Testament
Get ready for a steady stream of warnings from Jeremiah about destruction from the North and to repent and turn back to God. We will see this play out over and over again in the next few weeks.
Get ready for a steady stream of warnings from Jeremiah about destruction from the North and to repent and turn back to God. We will see this play out over and over again in the next few weeks.
The New Testament
We will finish up the book of Colossians and get into 1 Thessalonians this week. Here are the vital stats for the book:
We will finish up the book of Colossians and get into 1 Thessalonians this week. Here are the vital stats for the book:
PURPOSE: To strengthen the
Thessalonian Christians in their faith, and give them assurance of Christ’s
return
AUTHOR: Paul
TO WHOM WRITTEN: The church at
Thessalonica and all believers everywhere
DATE WRITTEN: About A.D. 51
from Corinth; one of Paul’s earliest letters
SETTING: The church at
Thessalonica was very young, having been established only two or three years
before this letter was written. The Thessalonian Christians needed to mature in
their faith. In addition, there was a misunderstanding concerning Christ’s
second coming—some thought Christ would return immediately, and thus they were
confused when their loved ones died because they expected Christ to return
beforehand. Also, believers were being persecuted.
KEY VERSE: “We believe that
Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus
those who have fallen asleep in him.” (4:14)
LAW THEMES: Imitation;
affliction; parental care; God’s Word at work; God’s wrath; idleness.
GOSPEL THEMES: Deliverance;
God’s Word at work; resurrection of the dead; salvation; complete
sanctification; God’s faithfulness
KEY PEOPLE: Paul, Timothy,
Silas
KEY PLACE: Thessalonica
SPECIAL FEATURES: Paul received
from Timothy a favorable report about the Thessalonians. However, Paul wrote
this letter to correct their misconceptions about the resurrection and the
second coming of Christ.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home