Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the LORD. And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. And the LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.”

 Zechariah 2:1-13

Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the LORD. And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. And the LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.” Zechariah 2:10-12

I continue my study of the last four books of the OT (complete: Zephaniah, Haggai; to complete: Zechariah, Malachi) - using the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary volume for this book.  For this morning, my focus is a commentary-assisted review of Zechariah 2:1-13, which the commentary outlines as the fourth of four divisions for the text vv1:7-2:13 (1:7-13, 1:14-17, 1:18-21, 2:1-13).  The commentary broadly describes the theme of these verses as "God's desire to restore and rebuild" Jerusalem.  It then shares how this message would have been surprising given how "the city was in such ruin and so unstable that very few wanted to live in it, preferring the surrounding area in Judah" (see also Nehemiah 11:1-2).  The commentary then outlines in detail four elements of God's message for His people:

1. The exiles remaining in Babylon should return to Jerusalem as quickly as possible (vv6-7)
2. The nations that had been harming Israel will be judged (vv8-9)
3. God will bless Israel and many nations through Israel (vv10-12)
4. All people should be silent in the presence of the Lord (v13)
   

The commentary wraps for this text by emphasizing how, "[b]ecause of His love for His people, God placed Israel under His own protective and powerful care....God’s overwhelming love for us that protects us, draws us back to Himself, and renews us is the ultimate root of God’s extreme jealousy for us. He will not let us go, because we are precious to Him!"

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me, who restores, comforts, protects, and so much more!  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of the blessings You pour out for me.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Therefore, thus says the LORD, I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; my house shall be built in it, declares the LORD of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. Cry out again, Thus says the LORD of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.

 Zechariah 1:14-17

Therefore, thus says the LORD, I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; my house shall be built in it, declares the LORD of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. Cry out again, Thus says the LORD of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem. Zechariah 1:16-17

I continue my study of the last four books of the OT (complete: Zephaniah, Haggai; to complete: Zechariah, Malachi) - using the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary volume for this book.  For this morning, my focus is an unassisted review of Zechariah 1:14-17, which the commentary outlines as the second of four divisions for the text vv1:7-2:13 (1:7-13, 1:14-17, 1:18-21, 2:1-13).  Here, v14 shares how God is "exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion."  God does not need it but He seeks glory for Himself only and He is jealous when His people give away their worship and glory to other gods that cannot compare to the One True God.  God is also angry with Judah's neighbors who have oppressed God's people and led them astray with worship of foreign gods - God is angry that these neighbors are at peace while God's people are struggling.  Vv16-17 then pivots to how God has "returned to Jerusalem with mercy," and how God's people will once again experience prosperity and the comfort of being in the arms of God.  Key once again to this prosperity, comfort, and fellowship with God is repentance of God's people.  God's patience is not unlimited and He is all powerful - knowing this and keeping in mind He knows all of our sin, we should run into His arms and stay there as reverent fear of God should serve as a preservative, keeping us from straying from Him.  

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who is full of grace and mercy that never ceases...thank You Jesus for this grace and mercy and that I can never be separated from Your love.  Amazing indeed.  Yet I am undeserving of such grace, mercy and love.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve you, my family, my church, and others.  help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.   

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

1 Corinthians 10

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13

I continue my study of 1 Corinthians.  I am assisted in my study by the Christ-Centered Exposition Series commentary for this book.  Today my focus is a review - aided by the commentary - of 1 Corinthians 10:1-13. The main idea from the commentary*: "avoid sin by remembering God’s work in the past among the Hebrews and by depending on God’s faithfulness."  The introduction* describes this main idea by emphasizing v11 where Paul shares that Israel's failings to remain obedient to God - primarily (but not limited to) to love God above all others - described in the Old Testament are given to believers "for our instruction" to be prepared for when Jesus returns. The following divisions* are provided to unpack the text for today:   

1. Spiritual Blessings Do Not Guarantee Us God’s Pleasure (10:1-5): Paul seeks to "draw parallels between Israel (our ancestors) and the church." Similar (a foretaste compared to the new covenant with Christ) to how Israel and Moses experienced rescue and blessings during the exodus, believers in Christ share salvation, "blessings and privileges from our God." One such blessing shared by both Israel and believer is how God was with Israel as the cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night (Exodus 13:20-21). To describe how God delivered Israel - another blessing - "Paul draws an analogy between Moses (a type of Christ) leading the people to pass through the waters of the Red Sea and Christian baptism (Romans 6:1-14)." Paul then describes how Israel and believers in the church both ate "the same spiritual food" - all coming from God. Paul then moves from blessings to warning as just as God was not pleased with most of Israel in the wilderness (as many were either struck down or otherwise perished in the wilderness), God is not pleased with believers such as those practicing sexual immorality in Corinth.  Be on guard for sin creeping into your life. "This gets to the heart of Paul’s concern for the Corinthians and Paul’s concern for us. To begin well is no guarantee one will finish well."     
   
2. Spiritual Blessings Do Not Insulate Us from Divine Judgment (10:6-10): The commentary describes another "history lesson" from Paul as the text points us to Numbers 11:18-34 where Israel got "too cozy" with sin.  Paul specifically warns us of idolatry (v7) and sexual immorality (v8) problems for both Israel (Numbers 25:1-9) and Corinth.  Paul continues as he compares how both Israel and Corinth tested God (v9) and how both grumbled against God (v10). God's anger burned against Israel and if believers are not on guard His anger will burn against us.  
   
3. Spiritual Blessings Do Not Protect Us from Personal Temptations (10:11-13): Paul concludes the text for today by warning us against temptation while at the same time reminding us that Christ is the "way of escape" as He provides all we need to battle against sin.
   

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who equips me with everything that I need to battle sin - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You bless me.  My sin continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

*Akin, Dr. Daniel L.; Merritt, James. Exalting Jesus in 1 Corinthians (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.

1 Corinthians 10

Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 1 Corinthians 10:11

I continue my study of 1 Corinthians.  I am assisted in my study by the Christ-Centered Exposition Series commentary for this book.  Today my focus is a review - unaided by the commentary - of 1 Corinthians 10:1-13.  Here Paul pivots from the gospel being "of first importance" (see posts from previous two days) and how we are to exercise self-control and self-discipline in our race towards glorification, to warnings against idolatry, an acute problem in Corinth at the time.  According to John MacArthur, "some of the Corinthian Christians, in the name of Christian liberty, in the name of their so-called freedom in Christ, we’re attending idolatrous activities. They had decided that an idol is nothing, and they were right; an idol isn’t anything. The idol certainly isn’t the god they think it is, and that God really isn’t too concerned about those forms of ritual that people carry on, and that isn’t really what it appears to be.  And so, consequently, it’s kind of insignificant, and it wouldn’t hurt if the Christians kind of got involved." In today's text, Paul of course seeks to admonish those who wrongly think that just because idols - and do not compare to the One True God - are not real that it's not a big deal to pursue idol worship.  Paul first starts by reminding them how God was with the Israelites as they escaped Egypt and crossed the Red Sea on dry land.  All of this, including how Moses repeatedly served as intercessory for Israel, was provided as a foretaste of how Jesus would intercede on behalf of all humanity across all of redemptive history.  Believers share in the same (albeit Israel's experience was a shadow of things to come) experience of Israel that we have One who intercedes and serves as our Savior (vv1-4).  Paul then reminds us that despite God being One who abounds in love, He is a jealous God that commands us to love Him more than any others - thus His anger burned on many occasions in the Old Testament when Israel pursued idol worship and we are warned to avoid the fate Israel suffered when God's anger burned (vv5-12).  Paul then concludes the text for today by sharing the hope that only Jesus provides as He knows the temptations we face and if we remain in Him God is faithful to give us what we need to battle sin.

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is full of grace and compassion for me.  Thank You Jesus!  Thank You for being faithful to me and giving me all I need to defend against temptation and sin.  I am not deserving of such blessings!  My sin is great and it often feels overwhelming...and it is daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from such sin towards You. Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord.

 Jeremiah 7-9

This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord. Jeremiah 9:23-24

Day 208 of my chronological study of the Bible with The Daily Bible® - In Chronological Order (NIV®) (available by purchase through Amazon - author F. LaGard Smith) continues with my study of Jeremiah. It is understandable that Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet (see DesiringGod.com for a good application of Jeremiah).  Jeremiah must deliver a warning message to Judah with respect to her sinful and wicked lives, including what my commentary* describes as "false religiosity", idolatry, hypocrisy, false use/application of the law, and failure in leadership. Jeremiah's warning from God includes impending destruction of Judah, including destruction of the Temple of the Lord constructed by Solomon. This is of course a very difficult message - on top of this God tells Jeremiah that Judah will reject God's message and remain stubborn in her ways: 

When you [Jeremiah] tell[s] them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer.  Therefore say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips. Jeremiah 7:27-28

*Smith, F. LaGard. The Daily Bible® - In Chronological Order (NIV®). Harvest House Publishers. Kindle Edition. 

God then instructs Jeremiah that upon rejection, he is to lament - hence the "weeping prophet" as this is one of Jeremiah's several "laments":

Cut off your hair and throw it away; take up a lament on the barren heights, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned this generation that is under his wrath. Jeremiah 7:29

God is also lamenting as He is a jealous God - desiring for His people to be His own.  Unfortunately, Judah has sought other Gods.  God is not happy that He must punish His children:

Since my people are crushed, I am crushed; I mourn, and horror grips me. Jeremiah 8:21

As I posted yesterday, God disciplines those He loves: 

See, I will refine and test them, for what else can I do because of the sin of my people? Jeremiah 9:7

Among their many sins, Judah has boasted of its own wisdom and strength - failing to acknowledge what God has done as Judah's prosperity and strength is due to God.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an AMAZING God who has done so much for me - I am blessed.  Yet I know I am undeserving.  I sin...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

By the sins they committed they stirred up his jealous anger more than those who were before them had done.

1 Kings 14

By the sins they committed they stirred up his jealous anger more than those who were before them had done. v22

We see here that God is a jealous God, as He is angry with how those in the kingdom of Judah who worshiped other gods besides the One True God.  Israel worshiped other gods as well - see 1 Kings 12:30.

God is referred to as a jealous God throughout scripture - primarily the Old Testament.

Yet this is not a human jealousy as God's thoughts and ways are not like ours (Isaiah 55:8).

Paul refers to Godly jealousy in his letter to the church in Corinth:

I hope you will put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me!   I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.  2 Corinthians 11:1-3

Charles Spurgeon describes Godly jealousy here with an excerpt below.


"Not that God is jealous so as to bring him down to the likeness of men, but that this is the nearest idea we can form of what the Divine Being feels—if it be right to use even that word toward him—when he beholds his throne occupied by false gods, his dignity insulted, and his glory usurped by others."

Lord Jesus, please help me avoid worshiping other gods and love You alone.

My Prayers: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God, full of love and compassion for me - I know from time to time I have worshiped other Gods. Yet You have been slow to anger and abounding in love - thank You Jesus! Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome such sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.