There are some pretty horrible things in these prophecies. It’s all pretty extreme. Jealousy. Fury. And in the middle, God says that the people will despise their gold and silver because it cannot deliver them. They can’t buy their way out of judgment. More, the gods they formed out of gold and silver cannot deliver …
Several different things today. First, his vision is so bizarre, so, well, disturbing. I don’t think that’s actually what anything looks like. I doubt if anyone else were to see the exact same creatures, the exact same revelation, it would look exactly the same. I think it’s just to make it very clear how very …
Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored!… … unless you have utterly rejected us, and you remain exceedingly angry with us. There is something so very human in these last verses. Here’s everything we’ve suffered. It’s been so long. We understand why it’s all happened, why it’s like this, but maybe …
Even in pain and desolation, there is hope in the Lord. Isn’t that beautiful? We are allowed to feel our grief, but even in our grief we should remember our hope. One can remember hope without denying pain. Hope does not eliminate pain or grief or suffering, hope looks to an end, a resolution, a …
So, to begin with, I’m just going to drop a link to The Bible Project video for Lamentations. I’ve talked about The Bible Project before, but it’s been a while. The app with the reading plan I’m following is their ReadScripture app, and it includes the appropriate videos at the beginning of each book. It’s …
So Babylon faces judgment for sins against Judah. On the surface, this doesn’t seem entirely right, does it? God uses Babylon to punish Judah, and then he turns around and punishes Babylon for how they treated Judah. Except, God doesn’t make Babylon do anything. I think a far better way to say it would be: …
There was one line that caught my attention in the middle of these prophecies of judgment. “If those who did not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, will you go unpunished?” God never said that only bad people will suffer, that suffering is earned, deserved, somehow, that pain is judgment. Sometimes it is, …
So this is how I read this story: So, this is how it plays out in my life: To complete the comparison, the people of Judah basically said, “well, as soon as we stopped poking our little sister, we got put in time out! Maybe if we start poking her again, we’ll get out of …
It’s got to be difficult to be the puppet king the conquerors put on the throne. I mean, that seems like it would be fairly stressful, fairly precarious. Lean too far toward the people, and the conquering power will remove you. Lean too far toward the conquerors, and the people will reject. I don’t know …
I believe in the holiness of Scripture. I don’t believe in progressive revelation. I don’t believe that Scripture has changed. I actively endeavor to submit to the entirety of Scripture under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I don’t believe he has changed his mind about sin. I also want to examine what the Bible …