A preacher once said, Be careful what you pray for. You just might get it. Israel had asked for and longed for a king, just like the nations around them. They got what they asked for, and so much of Israelite history after the era of the judges was the story of how these kings … Continue reading –>
However much we like to talk about objectivity, about viewing things as they really are, as human beings we are hopelessly subjective. We see the world not so much as the world really is, but as we really are. And because we are fallen and corrupted beings, this corruption is going to impact our perceptions … Continue reading –>
Read for This Week’s Study: 2 Chronicles 33:1-25, Hab. 1:2-4, 2 Kings 22, Phil. 2:3-8, 2 Kings 23:1-28, 1 Cor. 5:7. Memory Text: Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law … Continue reading –>
After completing high school, I worked as a literature evangelist for three years. One day I visited a hospital, and there I saw someone who looked familiar. I barely recognized him, but it was one of my former drinking buddies, my childhood friend. He was dying of TB and AIDS. I stared at him in … Continue reading –>
Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us (1 John 3:16). No doubt we can look around in nature, in human relationships, and in the marvels of the creation itself and get a view of God’s love, however much sin has damaged that creation as well as our … Continue reading –>
As we saw yesterday, whatever his fears, whatever his own emotions, Jeremiah stood firm, fully aware of the potential death that his stance could bring him. He warned the princes and the people very clearly in Jeremiah 26:15 (know for certain [NKJV], he said) that if they killed him they would face punishment for spilling … Continue reading –>
From our perspective looking back, it’s hard to believe the hardness of the hearts of the people. As we saw in yesterday’s lesson, Jeremiah’s message-however strong-was still filled with hope. If they repented, God would avert the horrific punishments that, based on the covenant promises and curses, would come upon them. If only they would … Continue reading –>
Read Jeremiah 26:1-6. What hope is the Lord offering the people here? The message here was the same as the message all through the Bible, Old and New Testament, and that is the call to repentance, to turn away from our sin and find the salvation that God offers to all. What is the message … Continue reading –>
As we have seen already, God’s people had been called out to be different from the nations around them, which were all steeped in paganism, idolatry, and false teachings. So many of the warnings in the first five books of Moses were especially against following the practices of their neighbors. Instead, the Israelites were to … Continue reading –>
In Jeremiah 9:1-26, the prophet began his lamentation because he saw the inevitable catastrophe coming to his country and people. God pronounced judgment over Jerusalem, and when God says something, He does it. What they would face wasn’t something fortuitous, not just one of those terrible and inexplicable things that happen from time to time. … Continue reading –>
