Jeremiah 36
When I was an impressionable teenager in the mid-90s, Doritos developed an advertising campaign for their tortilla chips that I still remember to this day. Maybe you remember it, too. The catchy slogan was, “Crunch all you want, we’ll make more.” I thought about that ad campaign as I read today’s chapter from Jeremiah. I could just hear God saying, “Burn all you want, I’ll make more.”
Proverbs 29
I don’t think I’ve yet seen in the Bible a better description of the fate that awaits the wicked than this: “Whoever remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.” (vs 1) This is what Romans 6:23 calls the “wages of sin.” It is destruction that comes as a result of a stubborn insistence to continue in sin, not as a result of something God does to you!
Proverbs 21
For a long time now, I have believed that the only thing God requires for salvation is a willingness to listen. Why? Because, as Paul said in Philippians 1:6, “He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.” The good work is God’s, and He will complete it in us in His time—as long as we are willing. He won’t force Himself on us, so we have the ultimate say-so over whether we will allow God to do His good work in our lives.
Nehemiah 9
Yes, before you get too worked up, observe the spelling of the word "but" in the title. It’s a part of speech, not a part of the body! And it illustrates something wonderful about God—that He is always eager to give us another chance and that He is always willing to forgive, forget, and move on.
In this chapter, as the Israelite exiles recounted the history of God and their nation, there were a lot of buts flying around:
Photo © Unsplash/Ed Robertson
by the time
God announced
the plague
on the firstborn
for the /second/ time
didn't Pharaoh know
God could and
would
do exactly
what He said
after the
blood
frogs
gnats
flies
dead livestock
boils
hail
locusts and
darkness
was there anything left
more dark
than Pharaoh's heart
how dark does it have to get
to not understand
that your opponent
controls
the very elements
-all of them-
didn't Pharaoh know
that if God said
his son was going to die
he would /in fact/
be planning a funeral
if he didn't
change course
why wouldn't you change course
in ancient egypt
the only person more important
than the firstborn son of the Pharaoh
was Pharaoh himself
why wouldn't you change course
is there anything
in this world
more powerful
than the human heart
is there anything
more capable
of being more implacable
than the heart
bent on rebellion
is there anything
more wild and dangerous
than the freedom to choose
and the power
it imparts
the power to
so harden ourselves
to truth
that /in the end/
we could sacrifice
what is most important
to us
and be ourselves
swallowed up by
allconsuming
darkness
Photo © Unsplash/Thu Trang Nguyen Tran
The question Egypt's officials
put to their king
haunts me
How was he so blind
or so stubborn
or so arrogant
that he didn't see how
everything he loved
was slowly crumbling around him
Or did he see
Maybe the problem wasn't
that he didn't know
but that he did
Maybe the problem wasn't
that he thought he wasn't ruined
but knew he was
and thought there was
still a chance
still a way
he could fix it
One more opportunity
one more try
one more day
to start over
to redouble his efforts
to get it right
Maybe the problem wasn't that Pharaoh
didn't know Egypt was ruined
but that he still believed
he could repair the damage
But there is only
One
who can restore
There is only
One
who can rebuild
There is only
One
who can recover
all that has been lost
and it’s not us—
To be ruined
is not the problem
The problem is
we no more want to obey
than Pharaoh did
those two little words
God spoke:
Let. Go.
1 Kings 20
Ahab has to be the most wicked king in Israel’s history. So that’s why I found it interesting that, in this chapter, God is still trying to get through to him. I mean, if I didn’t know that God was a total genius, there could be times when I might think that He was a little thick. But I just don’t think He can help Himself. When He sees an opening, He takes it.
Photo © Brian Gary
A monstrous storm of hail
fell
such as Egypt had never seen before
and hasn’t seen since.
It smashed trees.
It smashed crops.
It smashed people and flocks.
It smashed everything it touched.
But the one thing it didn’t smash
was Pharaoh's implacable heart,
that dense little rock
beating in his chest.
God could undo Egypt,
but He couldn’t undo the king.
All hail the power
we’ve been given
to fortify or destroy
our own personal dynasties.
Photo © Unsplash/Peter Sjo
Ah,
the ineludible question
of every person
wise or foolish
(for the Lord does not refrain
from entering uninvited
the lives of idolaters
to introduce
Himself).
Asking the question
indicates neither
wisdom
nor
folly.
But how one responds
to the answer
reveals
a fool
or
a genius.
Once we know
the sun
the River
the frogs
et al
are frauds,
will we
relent
or
will we
refuse?
Who is the Lord that i should listen to him?
said pharaoh, the little transient ruler of egypt.
I'm so glad you asked
replied Almighty God, Creator of Heaven and Earth.
2 SAMUEL 10
I love it when the Bible surprises me. I know I’ve read this chapter before, but I read it again today as if for the first time. It seems like David was on a roll, looking for ways to show God’s kindness to those who would be considered enemies. That’s why he sent an Israeli delegation to Hanun, king of the Ammonites, to express his sympathy upon the death of his father.
1 SAMUEL 19
As I read this chapter, I couldn’t help but think about how absolutely blind Saul was—especially as we got down to the very end. David had fled to Ramah (where Samuel was), and Saul sent a group of men to capture him and bring him back for execution. But, the first group of men got to Ramah and got sidetracked by God’s Spirit. So Saul sent a second group of men to capture David, and they also got detoured by the Spirit. Saul sent a third group of men to get David, and they too were held up by the Spirit.
JUDGES 3
What would happen if you went in your kitchen right now, turned on the stovetop, and put your hand on the burner? You’d burn your hand, of course. And how do you know you’d burn your hand if you touched a hot stove? Probably because you or someone you know has had just such an unpleasant experience in the past. And that’s how we learn that touching a hot stove is dangerous and can harm us.
JOSHUA 23
I just love how, sometimes, the tiniest things jump out at me. Here’s one for today: "Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left." (vs 6) Here’s something that’s hard for us to remember sometimes: Every road has two ditches—one on the left and one on the right. God doesn’t want us to end up in either of them. He wants us to travel the middle of the road, where He is.
JOSHUA 11
Choosing the best of the worst. Almost sounds like going to the polls sometimes. However, when it comes to choosing the best of the worst, God wasn’t voting; He was simply trying to maintain contact with the human race. Sometimes, I’m not even sure how He accomplished that. As I continue to read through the Old Testament, I’m awestruck at the large numbers of people who just don’t get it.
JOSHUA 6
Is it just me, or is the story of the Fall of Jericho a little bizarre? I felt like a three-year-old as I read this chapter, as I realized I was asking why? to just about everything. Why did God want tens of thousands of people to march around the city? Why did they do it for seven days? Why not just one time? Why were the Israelites told they couldn’t make a sound—except on the final day, when they shouted? If God just wanted to get rid of everyone in the city, why did He spare Rahab and all her family? And if He wanted to get rid of the people, why did He have the Israelites kill all the animals?
DEUTERONOMY 31
I would like to marry two concepts I find in this chapter. First, that God’s love is active. It is a verb, not a noun. And second, that God loves us even while knowing exactly who and what we are. His intimate knowledge of our wickedness does not change His love for us. In fact, if anything, I think it fires Him up to love us (that is, to fiercely act for our best good) even more.
NUMBERS 35
There is a beautiful analogy about God in this chapter of Numbers. If a person had unintentionally killed another person, the cities of refuge provided a place for them to flee when they were being pursued by the "avenger." If the "avenger" found them outside the city, they could be killed, thus "avenging" the death. But if the person made it to the city of refuge, they could request a trial. If found innocent, they would be allowed to stay in the city. If they were found guilty, however, they would be turned away from the city.
NUMBERS 15
Have you heard the story of the kindergarten teacher who was having trouble getting a little boy to sit down in his chair? After a long battle, the boy finally plopped down into the chair with his arms crossed, glaring at his teacher. After a moment, he said, "I may be sitting down on the outside, but I’m still standing on the inside!"
