One Year Bible - October 9, 2010

JEREMIAH 12:1 - 14:10                                                                                                        
WHY DO THE WICKED PROSPER?  And why does God allow some of them to be happy? God favored them and was very indulgent with them.  They cared nothing for God, but talked like they knew Him . But God is just fattening them up for the slaughter!  But why are they allowed to take the whole country with them?  The whole creation is groaning under the curse of vanity (Rom 8:19-23).

GOD'S ANSWER - apples and oranges. Rather than address what was actually asked, God says, if you are discouraged by this little detail, what will you do when the going gets really tough!  There is worse to come!  By letting yourself get "down" and your faith weakening, and not wanting to go on, you actually weaken yourself for what's ahead!  If we patiently bear the trouble we are in, we strengthen ourselves for greater trials. If your relatives can discourage you, what will you do when the chief priest and the King come after you?  This life is not a sprint, but a marathon.  It is also called a war zone.  We should expect trouble.  Expect to "contend with horsemen".  Keep our integrity and peace in small things - in order to prepare for further and greater trials.  Hold fast to the promise of God, keep our eyes on the prize.   Little things matter.  What we REALLY need is not an answer to our questions, but an answer to our needs.  We must learn to overcome ever-increasing difficulties.

DIRTY, HOLEY UNDERWEAR: The white linen underwear (worn next to the skin) symbolized the closeness OF Jehovah, in clothing Himself with Judah, once beautiful and glorious, as close as anyone could get to Him.   Jeremiah was told to wear the loincloth for a period of time without taking it off or washing it.  Then Jeremiah wore it up north - to the far side of the Euphrates River (which symbolized Judah going there in captivity) and hid it in the cleft of a rock.  After a considerable length of time God told the prophet to retrieve the loincloth.  When Jeremiah found it, it had become filthy dirty, full of holes, and was fit for nothing, least of all to be worn.  Judah (the loincloth) had made herself unfit and God loosed her and cast her off, defaced her beauty, destroyed her excellency.  God dealt with Judah's pride - pride of place, pride of Temple, pride of being "chosen".

FILLED TO THE BRIM: Wine jars filled to the top represented the country's drunkenness and ruin. Drunk with pride, drunk with deceit, drunk with hypocrisy. Pride is the ultimate ruin of anyone before God, when he is too proud to humble himself and repent. Meanwhile the minister "weeps in secret" for those who will not weep for themselves.

CAN A LEOPARD CHANGE ITS SPOTS?   A "confirmed sinner" who is held by his habits, cannot get free by himself.   But that is no obstacle for the Holy Spirit of God!

THE DROUGHT:  NOW Judah is ready to pray! NOW they cry out to God to help them, send rain and save them.   Don't leave us, we are called by Your Name!   BUT, they still "love to wander".   They still sin willfully and intentionally.   God won't compromise His holiness.  If they won't repent and pray for themselves, then Jeremiah better not pray for them either.

RESPONSE: I am as close as my underwear to God!  When I am prideful and arrogant and independent, I am like dirty, holey underwear!  Ewwww!

1 THESSALONIANS 1:1 - 2:9                                                                                          
GENERAL REMINDERS: Taken together, the Old and New Testaments are a self-interpreting volume.  It is one Divinely-contructed document.  The Old and New Testaments were not intended to be treated separately.  The Bible is one revelation, in unity and with One Author, the Holy Spirit.   We need both Testaments in order to fully understand either one.   Every important doctrine of the New Testament is found in seed form in the Old Testament.   To help us interpret Scripture, we compare one Scripture to another - not search out extra-Biblical materials.  We must gather from the Scriptures themselves, the meaning that the writers intended to convey.  And so, the meaning of verses in 1 Thessalonians are more easily arrived at when we know the purpose for the letter.   Not just that, but what does God want us to glean from there?

LIVING STRAIGHT IN A CROOKED WORLD: The founding of the Church in Thessalonica is described in Acts 17. Right from their beginning, they were persecuted, hunted down, arrested, and even killed by the Jews. The Jews accused them of "turning the world upside-down." (Acts 17:6) Paul must have made a huge impact on society! That church was characterized by three things that are foundational Christian living (1:3): (1) "faith which works" (2) "love which labors" (3) "hope which is persistent".   These points also serve as an outline of 1 Thessalonians.

(1) "faith which works".  Faith makes us turn from our false "gods" (counterfeits and substitutes for God), and turn toward God. This was manifested (v.9) when they turned toward God and away from their idols.  Their faith changed their lives.  Faith is ACTIVE and always provokes action. They "made their election sure" (v.5, 2Pet 1:10). The first work of faith was when they believed the Gospel and clung to God. 

(2) "labor of love".  First, love changes our attitude toward "affliction" to that of "joy of the Holy Ghost."  They bore suffering for His Name's sake.  They stopped complaining and started rejoicing!  Rejoicing in the Lord is a labor of love.  Secondly, when we love God like that, we spread the news.  Without fanfare, we just share at every opportunity.  Everyone around them knew about that Church!  And third, we must walk in our faith. We can't just talk about it.  No one should have to tell people that we are Christians - our walk should manifest it.

(3) "hope that perseveres".  Our hope is for resurrection (1:10).  Because Jesus lives, (John 14:19), we too, shall live.  Our ultimate victory is the resurrection in which we participate if we are born again.  "the wrath to come" probably refers to the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70.   Even death does not sway us or cause us to fear like some do.  "Hope" is not a strong wish.  "Hope" is the "anchor for the soul". (Heb 6:19)  Hope holds us in place when we are buffeted about by storms.  When life appears to be out of control, we know (are anchored by the fact) that God loves us, God is in control, and there is more to life that what we SEE. 

A FAITHFUL WITNESS:  (2:1-2) Does not give up when the going gets tough. Paul's preaching in Thessalonica provoked a riot and he had to sneak out of town!  (2:3-8) Loves people and deals with them honestly. If you truly love people, you don't scam them or flatter them to cover up your own greed.  In fact, love does not manipulate or coerce people at all.  Paul was not motivated by greed, but he truly loved people, "as a nursing mother cherishes her children". ("cherishes" - "thalpo" - to keep warm - like a dove brooding her nest).  A faithful witness who manifests Jesus, gives up their "rights" in order to serve people and give the Gospel credibility.  In fact, servants don't have rights; they have obligations.   (2:4) A faithful witness is motivated by one thing: pleasing God.  And God will even test those motives from time to time, seeing if you are staying on track, keeping your focus on God.

RESPONSE: A faithful witness genuinely manifests Jesus.  From the example of Paul and of Jesus, we can state that a faithful witness "mans up" when opposed or insulted.  We don't quit! Since we are not looking for "credit" or praise or popularity or payment of any kind, we don't have to be worried about pleasing people.  When we present the Gospel, we must never use deceitfulness, or trickery, or coercion.  Our only motivation is to please God and to love people.

PSALM 79:1-13                                                                                                                   
TRIALS THAT FORM CHARACTER: My mother always said, "What you are when you are offended, is what you are."  Affliction is an opportunity to die to SELF and live to God.  Self-preservation is a nasty dictator, and unfortunately, will cause us to betray the Lord if it isn't dealt with.  Its opposite is not to die to self, but to TRUST GOD in total abandonment. This takes a lot of instruction.  We must teach our hearts every day that God is worthy of our trust.  He is faithful, He is righteous, He is just, He is full of mercy and lovingkindness toward us, He loves us with overwhelming love.  Our best hope when everything is falling in ruins around us, is to cling to God, thank Him for His goodness and His greatness, and trust Him to work His purpose.  We need to repent continually - turning our hearts and our minds toward God in trust.  Verses 10-11 give reasons for God to avenge the elect: because the heathen have challenged God's authority, and because of "the sighing of the prisoners" (Rom 8:18-28) - all creation AND the Holy Spirit moaning for the revelation of who truly are the "sons of God".  (His elect)

PROVERBS 24:30-34                                                                                                         
A lazy man will be a poor man. Let's not get too proud here.  Our own souls and our "estate" (what we have influence over - home, family, church positions, communities, etc.) are our vineyard that we are told to "occupy until He comes".  "thorns and thistles",(evil habits) are the yield of fleshly fields and will be burned in the end.  "Broken down walls" are places where we are vulnerable to our enemies: unforgiveness, bitterness, envy, disarray.  Our world got that way from OUR "sloth" (laziness) and from being "void of understanding" (indecisive, disinterested, neglectful).  Eternal lack (NO righteousness, peace, or joy) and ruin comes on the whole vineyard. Matt 25:26-30 tells us that the "wicked and slothful servant" is cast into "outer darkness". He is ruined.

RESPONSE: The only way to die to SELF is to trust God totally.  And the only way to trust God totally is to renew our minds to the Truth about God. We have to replace our distrust with confidence in God. We can't break a bad habit of distrust and self-preservation.  We must REPLACE it with a sanctified habit of always looking to God.  We can FORCE our hearts to settle down, feel secure with God, be happy with just God.  We instruct our hearts with the Word of God.  We thank Him and praise Him at ALL times and IN everything (1 Thess 5:16-18) for all His goodness, all His mighty power and glory, all His kindness, His mercy, His love, etc. etc.