Greetings my fellow pilgrims, Just a few thoughts on the shipwreck on Malta.  WCF Chapter 5, Section 1 describes God's providence.  There is nothing outside of his control.  But reading and believing are two different things.  Being on a small ship in the midst of a storm is a challenge. Blessings, Jeff These events make me wonder about the other 274 or possible just 74 people.  We know how things turned out for Paul and Luke, but the others were certainly impacted by the storm and shipwreck.  Sailors are famous for the sea stories about adventures on or under the water.  One of the expressions onboard submarines was "Days of boredom broken up by moments of sheer terror"  Somewhat like the voyage Paul was on.  Survivors of maritime disasters have a special perspective on God's providence. So I wonder about these men.  Did they remember the shipwreck of did they remember Paul encouraging them the night before the wreck?  Did they ask...

Dear Friends, I am writing this just prior to our trip to Wisconsin to see our son and his family.  I finished my "work for pay" career last week.  Now I am moving on to the "work for no pay" as we help take care of our grandsons.  I hope to keep up on the devotions and avoid falling further behind, but time will tell. Blessngns, Jeff Observations: Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! 2 Timothy 2:8-9 I see Jeremiah and his scroll as an OT example of this NT statement.  Although Jeremiah was prohibited from the temple, God directed him to dictate everything God had said to him to his assistant Baruch.  He would then take it to the temple and read to the people. You can see the response to the secretary and then the officials.  The officials know they have to report these words to the king and that he is not g...

Good morning brothers and sisters, Congratulations on reaching our last day in Judges. Keep up the good work. Blessings Jeff The deal between 11 tribes and the wayward Benjaminites.  While it is true that God's decree is over all things whatsoever that come to pass, saying that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel would seem to lay these events solely at His feet.   WCF Ch 3, Section 1 God from all eternity did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass:(a) yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin,(b) nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.(c) The whole tribe of Benjamin was the "second cause" of this breach.   Convergence in a theological setting is how God's will for His glory and our good and man's will in accordance with his fallen nature converge.  Prime example i...

Dear Friends, Just a review of ancient covenant making.  This is a clear description of what God did when He made a covenant with Abram back in Genesis 15.  This was before Abram was renamed and before the sign of circumcision.  Abram was fast asleep while God passed between the divided animals.  God was swearing by Himself.  Covenants between people are a likeness of this. Blessings, Jeff In v 8ff, King Zedekiah (the superior) makes a covenant with the people (the inferior) that all  the Hebrew slaves would be set free.  This was a commitment to do what God had commanded back in Exodus and Deuteronomy.  Then almost immediately, the people re-enslaved their brothers. Now in v17ff, God proclaims a different kind of liberty to the people.  To pestilence, sword and famine.   In ancient times, covenants were a very serious thing.  As described here, one part of the process was to cut animals in half and then the two parties to the ...

Spurgeon says that Psalm 3 is a "morning psalm" and Psalm 4 is matched with it as an "evening psalm".  He wrote a devotional book called "Morning and Evening" to help start and end our days in Gods word.  Thinking about the psalms as tied to events and times is helpful.  They are not just isolated songs.  They are meant to be subject of meditation.  And using commentators is not to be discouraged. Reading Spurgeon, Calvin and Henry, each psalm is divided into sections.  Most print versions don't show these divisions.  Maybe the printer doesn't want to waste space.  But this is one of the nice things about electronic versions.  Empty space doesn't cost anything.  So V1, v2-5, and v 6-8 are the three sections in this psalm. To me it seems that v2 is the challenge to those who oppose true religion and its practitioners and 3-5 are warnings to them about how they should change. But what got my attention was the last verse.  Do I close t...

Dear Friends, Another day of trying to keep even.  Today's devotion is about excuses.  When I was working at Millsone, there was an "accountability" phase of leadership.  Everybody had to be able to explain why they did what they did.  Generally, this was after something went wrong.  It is very hard to explain why you didn't follow a procedure.  We should take Paul's warning to the Corinthians that we all have to stand before the judgment seat of Christ.  Will our "excuses" hold up before His questioning? Blessings Jeff Joshua 19:40-47 describes the lot that fell to Dan, how it was "lost to them" and their eventual capture of Leshem. 40 The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the people of Dan, according to their clans. 41 And the territory of its inheritance included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh, 42 Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah, 43 Elon, Timnah, Ekron, 44 Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, 45 Jehud, Bene-berak, Gath-rimmon, 46 and Me-jarkon and Rakko...

My fellow exiles and sojourners, I pray that today's reading is of great encouragement to you as we seek the Celestial City.  Sometimes it is easy to get lost in the prophetic cursess and blessings. One minute is destruction and the next is is building up.  We have been saved, we are being saved and we will be saved.  There is a tension between the "Now" and the "not yet" Blessings, Jeff This chapter is absolutely stunning.  The exile is now on the doorstep and Jeremiah is given a promise of restoration of unbelievable proportions.  Something that only God could accomplish.   Observations: At the end of 70 years of exile, the people are to "Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, ‘O LORD, save your people, the remnant of Israel."  This is the promise that is to keep them going through difficult times. V 8&9 describe how extensive the restoration will be.  Absolutel...

Dear Friends, Keeping even today, so just a few thoughts about Samson as a deliverer. Blessings, Jeff Let us return to the question "How does this story advance the promise of Genesis 3:15?". The promise of a son who will crush the head of the serpent.  The promise of a deliverer.  Observations 1. Samson was of the tribe of Dan. So he was not the lineage of Jesus.   The promises was refined in Genesis 49:10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. 2. The physical downfall of Samson as a result of spiritual compromise.  His passions eventually blind him even as he was blinded physically by the Philistines.  Delilah is the third foreign woman he has loved. The first two lead to defeats of Philistines. Appears that these events led to confidence that he could continue without consequences. But each one was a breach of the law. Repetition of...

Manage to get this out of order.  Sorry for confusion. Observations: 1. Who is  King Zedekiah? His name means "Jehovah is righteous" the last king of Judah renamed from 'Mattaniah' by Nebuchadnezzar; (2 Kings 24:17) How strange that a pagan king would rename the king of Judah.  Mattaniah = "gift of Jehovah" 2. What are the choices? According to Jeremiah: Submit to Nebuchadnezzar and live or rebel and die by sword, famine and pestilence. According to false prophets: resist Nebuchadnezzar because God is going to restore the captives already taken away. 3. What does God say? The false prophets are telling a lie so that the king will believe them and the king and prophets die as a result.   Thoughts: 1. God's ways are not man's ways.  From human perspective, surrender is humiliation.  Better to die free than submit to another superior power. But from God's perspective, surrender is obedience to God.  Obeying God is always the best path. 2. The false ...

Good evening friends, Staying even today.  I hope today's devotional will help answer a possible question from sceptics.  Forces of evil often co-opt the events of scripture.  That does not make the events wrong in the context in which they occurred in New Testament times.  Nor does it make their use right in any other context. Blessings, Jeff Most of us have probably seen pictures of book burnings in Germany in the 1930's.  Are there any differences between that and what we read here? Yes. Beginning on May 10, 1933, Nazi-dominated student groups carried out public burnings of books they claimed were “un-German.” The book burnings took place in 34 university towns and cities. Works of prominent Jewish, liberal, and leftist writers ended up in the bonfires. The book burnings stood as a powerful symbol of Nazi intolerance and censorship. Voluntary in Acts, coerced in Germany.. Private decision in Acts, Government decision in Germany, Liberation from occult practic...

Greetings friends, Managed to loose ground over the last few days.  All the judges have some strange stories, but Samson is probably the strangest.   Blessings, Jeff Observations: Samson's mother is not named.  She is just "Manoah's wife" or "the women" She is the recipient of both angelic visitations and messages.  Manoah prays for a second visit, but the angel does not come to him directly.  He has to go to the angel. She is the one who puts the pieces together to figure things out.  Manoah thinks that after appearing twice, giving specific instructions about how to raise their son, and accepting their offering, that God was going to kill them.  She pulls him in from the edge and lays out the logic of what has happened and that they won't die.   Parallels between Jesus and Samson Birth is announced to their mothers, neither of whom were seeking such a position. God is the initiator of these events. Neither exercised his office immediat...

Good morning fellow pilgrims, Some thoughts on a fascinating passage in Jeremiah.  He sees specifically what will happen and then Daniel perceives that it has happened.  Understanding the prophetic books can be difficult.  Sometimes it takes another inspired prophet to show us the way. Blessings Jeff Jeremiah's seventy years.  This is the passage that Daniel refers to in 9:2 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.  This is one of the self referenced passages which I think is pretty unusual in the OT.  We have many passages in the NT that say "this fulfilled the prophet who said..."  And many that interpret the real meaning like Jesus quoting De...

Greetings my friends, I continue to be surprised by the perspective of being behind on devotions.  I created this note on 3/26 but didn't complete it until 4/12.  So Easter is in the middle.  Now that we are on this side of Easter, this lesson on the road to Jerusalem is even more meaningful.  What he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem makes what he did on the road more special. Blessings, Jeff The soft and cuddly Jesus at least to the children. But he is indignant or much displeased with the disciples. aganakteō; from ἄγαν agan (much) and ἄχθος achthos (grief; akin to the base of 43); to be greatly afflicted, i.e. (figuratively) indignant: — be much (sore) displeased, have (be moved with, with) indignation. The crowds were bringing little children - what prompted them to do this?  Jesus is  in Judea, on the way to Jerusalem and crowds gather around him.   Parents immediately recognize something about Jesus and want him to bless their children....

Well at least I got two in today.  The cycles in time of Judges is really nothing new.  Nor are modern compromises to make us the church more acceptable to people we like to think are seeking the truth. There were remarkable judges like Deborah and Barak and Gideon.  Then there were apparently unremarkable judges like Tola and Jair.  Jair's only notable trait was 30 sons riding on 30 donkeys and they had 30 cities. Isn't it interesting that adopting foreign gods did not endear the Israelites to the people groups around them.  I guess the Philistines, Amorites, and all the others remembered what Israel under Joshua had done to their ancestors.  They oppressed Israel to the point of "severe distress" even though they had forsaken God and followed the pagan idols.  At some point, shouldn't the Israelites realize that going after foreign gods did not impress their opponents and resulted in God selling them into bondage.  It has been said that insanity...

Good afternoon, Hope you had a good Sabbath day.  Writing on 4/11 as I am almost 2 weeks behind of devotionals.  Created the note on 3/26.  I think I have mentioned this before, but prophets rarely had a positive message of encouragement.  The endurance of the OT prophets in face of opposition is a message that a godly life is not easy or free from challenges. Blessings Jeff Jeremiah is given a message for the king of Judah, but God does not use his name.  In the Navy, we were taught that saluting higher ranking officers was respect for their position, not the person.  I wonder if the sons of Josiah (the last good king of Judah) had misused God's name, so  God refuses to use the king's name.  God valued the position of the king, but not necessarily the person.   God's call is no different than before.  He just repeats it again. Focused on the Second Table (horizontal relationship between people).  There is no mention of the Fir...

Good afternoon friends, Just a few thoughts about the struggle against the world, the flesh and the devil.  Embodied in Judges by two kings.  We face rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, and spiritual forces of evil.  Take up the whole armor of God. Blessings, Jeff I suppose if I was in an army of 15,000 men and my opponent had 300 men that I would feel secure.  50 to 1.  Who could lose.  But if I started in an army of 135,000 and lost 120,000 against those 300 men, I would not be so confident.   Then there are the two kings, Zebah (slaughter, deprived of protection) and Zalmunna (also deprived of shade or protection).  Not exactly awe inspiring names.  And they are the ones who fled in the midst of Gideon's attack.  Maybe someone should have suggested a name change. This story brings to mind 1 John 4:4 - greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.  These are John's inspired words about the what the church can accom...

Hello again friends, Just a few thoughts on the mission of the church and how east it is to go off on tangents.  I don't remember where I heard this, but a wise person once said Where you start will often tell where you will wind up.  The analogy of continental divide.  A two rain drops falling just feet apart along the divide can only end up in the Pacific or Gulf of Mexico.  Circumcision party starts close to the truth but goes astray because of misunderstanding mission of the church. Blessings Jeff The circumcision party in Jerusalem at the very beginning of the church.  Sometimes we think that it takes a long time for error to creep into the church.  But scripture shows us that this is not true.  Galatians was the first letter Paul wrote shortly after first missionary journey.  He is shocked that the circumcision party was already drawing people away.  Acts 20 shows Paul speaking to the Ephesian elders and warning of fierce wolves coming ...

Hello again Missed a few more days.  More to catch up on. Heard a message from a Ligonier conference about God centered worship.  God cannot meet us without His holiness.  We cannot meet God without our sin.  Yes Christ paid our debt, but we must be contrite in our confession of sin.  Today's devotional is an example of where God's people did not take His holiness seriously and fell into idolatry without repentance and contrition.  Judgment followed. Blessings  Jeff The days of Jeremiah are far worse than the days of the Judges.  Even though Judah still had a Davidic king, the depth of their depravity was worse than during Judges.  People in Judges did was was right in their own eyes because there was no king in Israel.  People in Jeremiah's day are doing wrong even though there is a king in Judah. As we come to Easter, isn't it shocking that although Judah had been brought back from exile and the idolatry described here in Jeremiah had ...

Trying to keep up with one devotion a day, but not always successful. Part of the Song of Deborah and Barak after defeat of Jabin and his general Sisera.  We are all familiar with the Psalms as the songbook of Israel, but there are other songs not recorded there.  This is one of them. Observations Tells a story.  In this section, a low point in Israel's history is described in an unusual way.   Shamgar was the previous judge who rescued Israel (3:31).  Jael is the woman who kills Sisera as he tries to escape from Barak.  So even the restoration under Shamgar was not a full restoration. Highways abandoned and travelers kept to the byways.  I think of highways as being a rather modern invention.  After all, for all of human history up to the invention of the steam engine, the fastest mode of land travel was a horse.  And internal combustion engine is early 20th century.  So a highway was not a four lane each direction affair. Didn't n...

 From Complete Word Study Bible dictionary ’ānaš: A verb meaning to be sick, incurable, in poor health. It describes a weakened condition that can lead to death (2 Sam. 12:15; Job 34:6; Isa. 17:11) or an incurable pain or ill health (Jer. 15:18). In its most potent theological usage, it describes the incurably wicked, desperately sick condition of the human heart (Jer. 17:9) that only God knows. This is God's description of man's condition.  Many object to the doctrines of grace taught by Calvin and other reformers.  But giving man any ability to chose life with a heart that is incurably wicked is not consistent with this passage.  Do you think we are sinners because we sin?  Or do you think that we sin because we are sinners?  Which one of these options is supported by this passage?  Isn't God saying that it is the deceitful, incurably wicked heart which is the source of ways and deeds that he judges?  It is not the deeds that make the heart de...