Jeremiah 44
Once again, the people of Israel have (1) promised to follow everything God says to a T, then (2) done the exact opposite of what He says. In our last chapter, God not only warned them that things wouldn’t go well for them if they moved to Egypt, but also promised that they would have a good life if they stayed in occupied Israel. But, the people didn’t listen. They were determined to substitute true security for perceived security.
Jeremiah 27
Several years ago, I had a very interesting discussion with friends on my Facebook page over the issue of truth (or reality) versus feelings. Not surprisingly, this issue has continued to become more and more relevant, as the tyranny of feelings grows the longer you let them control you (instead of the other way around). In any event, the original conversation came about because of a statement made in a blog over the issue of Christians lining up at Chick-fil-A to buy chicken sandwiches. The author of the blog said, “Whether or not hate actually existed is not the point; people felt hated.”
Esther 8
I thought this chapter of Esther ended on a very interesting note: "After the law was announced in Susa, everyone shouted and cheered, and the Jews were no longer afraid. In fact, they were very happy and felt that they had won a victory. In every province and city where the law was sent, the Jews had parties and celebrated. Many of the people in the provinces accepted the Jewish religion, because they were now afraid of the Jews." (vs 15-17)
1 SAMUEL 14
It’s a little disheartening to see what happened to Saul the further he traveled from the Lord’s plans. He began his kingship as a virtuous man, one who wouldn’t make a decree to destroy those who had spoken against him. But, not too far down the road, he bound his army under an oath, saying, "Cursed be anyone who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!" (vs 24) He had obviously had a change of heart regarding revenge.
JUDGES 12
Jephthah... what can you say about a guy like Jephthah? This was the man God used to win a decisive victory over the Ammonites and to lead Israel for six years. The Lord was definitely with him, but he was so... flawed. I mean, in the previous chapter, it seemed that Jephthah thought he would have an easier time securing the Lord’s favor if he "bribed" Him with a sacrifice—the first person who stepped out of the house on his return home. Unfortunately, that was Jephthah’s daughter. He paid dearly for that misconception of God.
JOSHUA 14
I am always quite saddened to hear Christians purport the idea of "blind faith." I was recently watching a television debate between a professed Christian and an avowed atheist, and it was the atheist who was making the argument for reason and study and evidence. Unfortunately, the Christian was making the atheist’s point for him—pitting the idea of faith against the idea of reason. And I just wanted to scream. True faith is founded upon reason. If you don’t have evidence that God is trustworthy, you have no business putting your faith (trust) in Him.
LEVITICUS 14
After the description of the sacrifices cleansed lepers were to make, Leviticus 14 goes on to describe how a priest could determine whether a house was infected with mildew. These instructions sound very much like the instructions in the previous chapter for how the priests could determine whether a person had leprosy. Involved were inspection, incubation periods, diagnoses, and treatments.
