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 (originally from '21).  I created this note on 3/26/21 but didn't complete it until 4/12/21.  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 ...

The cycles in time of Judges is really nothing new.  Nor are modern compromises to make 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 is doing the same thing over and over agai...

Good afternoon,   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 First Table (vertical relationship between man and God).  I find this interesting because the First Table is really a prerequisite...

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 easy 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 comin...

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 been terminated, the rejection of the Messiah comes with even g...

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 need paved roads for a horse to walk on.   Really just a well...

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 deceitfu...

Good afternoon saints in Christ, First devotional in second pass through Mark.  Commentaries point out that Jesus' use of  "Son of Man" is mainly found in Mark and that this ties back to Daniel.  We are so removed from the OT world view that this name does not mean as much to us as it did to the audience who heard him and then read the gospels.  We have to have it explained to us.  They knew what it meant. Blessings, Jeff  The authority of the Son of Man to forgive sins is validated by power to heal. The scribes correctly equate  divinity with forgiving sins.  Jesus puts ability to heal as divine prerogative. Doesn't say the words but makes the logical connection. The OT cleansing from leprosy indicates a leper could be healed but doesn't make it divine power. Miracles were done through the agency of men in OT. But none of them claimed right to forgive sins. Jesus doesn't fit into a category.  And that is the whole point.   Miracle ...

Good afternoon friends, Starting a new section of history.  Raises some challenging questions that I am not sure how to answer.  So here are some thoughts.  Maybe we need to be content with God being sovereign over all of history and not ask so many questions. Blessings, Jeff Why was purity so hard to maintain in ancient Israel?  They had the complete law when the entered the Promised Land.  The rest of the historical books and prophets are documentation of how they fell away with occasional reformations.  There is no additional moral guidance.  We are back to the "Did God really say....?" question.  Despite the written code, they could not (inability) and would not (unwilling) therefore, they did not obey.  How quickly Adam and Eve fell is just foreshadow of how quickly all of Israel fell.  Yes there was a golden age (David and Solomon) but it was short lived and plenty of lawbreaking even then.   If it was so obvious that kee...

Good morning fellow sojourners, I like to note the milestones on our journey through the Word.  New books and "big days"  Going from single digits to double digits, double digits to triple digits, and then back down.  100, 200, 300 days.  So be encouraged as we pass the 200 day milestone tomorrow. Blessings Jeff The dialogue between God and Jeremiah.  In v1-6, God speaks about the drought in the land.  Here v7-9, Jeremiah is pleading for the Lord not to leave them.  Then v10-12 are God's response telling Jeremiah not to pray for the people any more.  Sword, famine and pestilence is unavoidable. To me, this is one of the mysteries of scripture.  Jeremiah clearly hears what God is saying.  Applying "God-breathed" to these statements introduced by "The Lord said" is obvious.  But when Jeremiah pleads, it is inspired pleading.   Some observations Jeremiah identifies with the people.  In some ways, there are degrees of gui...

Yesterday we started the second pass through Acts.  Today, we see the end of the conquest of Promised Land under Joshua and transition to the Judges.  Acts is expansion of the Kingdom of God and unfortunately, Judges is beginning of spiritual decline.  Contrast between results following the death of Joshua and the death and resurrection of Jesus. Blessings, Jeff In response to Joshua's personal commitment, Israel's confident affirmation that they will also serve the Lord.  They acknowledge all that God has done for them during the Exodus and the conquest.  This in spite of the facts that show their faithlessness and rebellion during this entire time.   Makes me ponder the promises of man.  Yesterday, the Acts passage was God's promises to provide a redeemer and a prophet.  This passage is human promises to serve the Lord.  Can there be any sharper contrast?  All of scripture points to God's faithfulness and man's faithlessness....

Good morning friends, Here we are already in our second pass through Acts.  We spend so much time in the OT thinking about the Promised Land.  Peter reminds us to look for the Promised Person. Blessings, Jeff Peter's sermon ends with a reminder of God's promise to Moses and all Israel of another prophet who would be greater than Moses.  We should also remember that Moses tells us of God's promise made in Genesis 3:15 to send a son who would crush the serpent's head.  The eager expectation that each son might be the One. The satanic plots to wipe out baby boys to foil God's plans.  The fulfillment of both these promises in the God-man Jesus Christ.  Every generation had been looking for fulfilment but in purely human terms and not in a necessarily one individual.  The mystery of the incarnation of the Son. Hidden for ages and generations. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for h...

Good morning sisters and brothers, Why are we here?  What is our purpose?  These are the questions that people ask and that only the God who reveals hinself in the Bible can truly answer.  Philosophy tries to answer, but starts on faulty foundations.  So we should not be surprised that philosophical answers to these questions are inadequate at best and deceptive at worst.  Today's devotion is on the solid foundation of God and his covanental relationship with man. Blessings, Jeff Jeremiah given task of repeating the covenant that Judah and Israel had already broken over the years.  Listen to my voice and do all that I command you (v4) and Obey my voice (v7).  He is supposed to go to all the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. Reminds me of all the reminders in the New Testament.  God doesn't make obedience harder and harder or change the standards.  It is the stubbornness of our evil hearts that is the problem.  Without a regen...

Good afternoon, Have you ever made a promise and then failed to carry it out.  Back in Numbers, God gave the direction for cities of refuge.  Now that the conquest of Promised Land is winding down, Joshua is directed to implement the plan.  God never forgets and does not allow us to forget. Blessings, Jeff Cities of refuge and the sixth commandment.  You shall not murder.  râṣaḥ; a primitive root; properly, to dash in pieces, i.e. kill (a human being), especially to murder: — put to death, kill, (man-)slay(-er), murder(-er). Interesting that the same Hebrew word that is used in the commandment and translated here as manslayer.  If no ever killed another person for any reason, the sixth would be completely adequate with no need for defining punishment and types of killing.  But then someone is killed and case law is needed. We have seen rules given for various accidental death and what we would call "justifiable homicide".   Number 35:19ff ...

Good morning friends, Don't feel bad if you miss a day now and then.  Reading every day is the goal, but missing a day is not failure. Blessings Jeff Observations: Refining and testing - Here Judah is on the verge of exile, they have centuries of history testifying against them and yet God is still refining and testing.  Is it that He is not sure that they are bad as they seem to be?  Is He hoping to find some glimmer of faithfulness and obedience that will let them stay in the land? Problem of the tongue - deadly arrow, speaking deceit, words of peace to neighbor but ambush in the heart.  The dilemma - God avenging himself on his chosen people.  Implied question - If He does avenge himself, other nations will think that He was not really omnipotent to save them, and if He doesn't avenge himself, the other nations will think that He is not really holy. How does this relate to other scripture? One of the strands of the plan of redemption is "that the world may kn...

Yesterday's passage was not very theological.  Today's is very theological.  I have only scratched the surface, but hope this encourages us to question ourselves about "knowledge of Scripture and the power of God". Blessings  Jeff This is a fascinating dialogue between Sadducees and Jesus.  So let's interrogate the passage. What distinguishes the Sadducees from other Jewish doctrinal positions?  They deny that there is a resurrection.  They are absolutely committed to this doctrine. How does their commitment shape their thought and questions? Even though they don't believe in the resurrection, they formulate a question focused on showing the absurdity of the resurrection.  They are not pointing to a passage of scripture that supports them, but asking a hypothetical question to make resurrection look silly. What is the purpose of the "Levirate marriage"? Deuteronomy 5:5-8.  First this is not a violation of the 7th commandment (adultery).  Brot...

Good morning, Just a few short thought about how the Promised Land was divided. Beginning of the tribal allotments.  Admittedly, this is not a great theological passage. But the connection to physical locations with great detail speaks to the historicity of the account of Joshua.  Some of these locations may have been destroyed over the centuries, but would have been known to OT readers.  The continuation of tribal identity after the Exodus is interesting.  Each tribe has a piece of the Promised Land.  There is a sense of responsibility for their portion of the land. Also interesting that the allotment does not go in birth order.  Judah is 4th son of Leah, but his allotment is given first.  Reuben if first born and had inheritance on the east side of the Jordan.  Levi is third but has no specific allotment, just towns throughout the land.

Dear Friends, As I have mentioned before, one of the things I enjoy about the M'Cheyne plan is the alignment between different passages from the different sections.  One day it is the judgment of Canaan the next day it the judgment of Jerusalem.  The implications for compromising on Scripture are not new.  Every generation must make its stand on this issue.  Popularity can never be used to change the reality of judgment. Blessings Jeff Impending judgment on Jerusalem This is a variation on the theme of God's judgment of sin.  Yesterday, we were looking at Israel being the tool for judgement on the Canaanite people.  The implicit lesson is that if God judges people who do not have the law, how much more will he judge people who do have the law.  The conquest should have increased Israel's obedience.  But in rather short order, Israel begins a decline during period of Judges and the Kings.  Now centuries later, Jeremiah is giving final warnings...

As Jonathan pointed out in recent sermon (originally from 3/15/21) , judgment day is an important concept and something we cannot shy away from.  Today's passage is a "small judgment day" that took place over years of conquest of Canaan.  Using Israel to temporarily put things right points to the day when God will put all things right.  I hope consideration of this passage makes us all more aware of God's holiness. Blessiings, Jeff Repetition of "all that the LORD had commanded Moses."  Observations & comments: Israel was carrying out the divine judgment of the various Canaanite peoples.  This was not genocide as we think of it.  Murdering groups of people based on ethnicity or race is not condoned.  Executing people for what they have actually done (human sacrifice, gross immorality) is retribution.  God had allowed these people groups to occupy the Promised Land for hundreds of years.  Much as He had allowed man to go astray prior to th...

Dear Friends, I exhort you to meditate on a portion of the passages you read each day.  I was truly blessed and encouraged by meditating on these two verses.  I hope you are finding the Word to be more and more sweet. Blessings Jeff My soul thirsts for You (v6) is generally taken as the theme.  From what I know of Hebrew poetry the middle is usually the theme.  For you English majors, the first sentence in the paragraph is supposed to give the purpose or theme.  But poetry is quite different. Like all psalms, there are divisions within the psalm.  These are songs after all, not prose.  Songs have stanzas, prose has paragraphs. So this is the fourth of 6 stanzas.. Observations (what does it say) Sense of urgency - answer quickly, hide not, let me hear in morning, make me know. Dependence - spirit fails, going to the pit,  Confidence - in you I trust, I lift up my soul What is the petition/request - steadfast love and way I should go. How does it fi...

Good afternoon friends, Some thoughts today about the questions that God asked Jeremiah early in his role as prophet.  Any time God asks a person a question, it is not so that the person can fill God in.  Here God wants Jeremiah to understand why Judah is so much worse than Israel.  God wants to show Jeremiah how important understanding history is in seeing God's plan.  We would do well to consider history (personal and corporate) in these terms. Blessings, Jeff Israel (Northern Kingdom) is coming to an end when Jeremiah is called.  V 8 says God has sent her away with a decree of divorce.  Judah is condemned for not learning from the apostacy of Israel.   In fact, God considers Judah to be worse the Israel even though it will be another 140 years before Judah goes into captivity. Every high hill and every green tree - Not a few, not some, not many but every.  The people of Israel practiced idolatry at every opportunity.  Continual, consi...

Just a few thoughts on what happens when Israel does not see the need to listen to God all the time. Blessings Jeff The difference in tactics between first and second battle for Ai was what drew my interest. While the Achan's sin is the real reason for Israel's defeat in the first battle, there are some other interesting differences.  If Achan had not sinned at Jericho, Israel would have captured Ai on the first attempt. Number of soldiers First battle is 2000 or 3000 total.  Second is all the fighting men (This was the list of the people i.e. able body men, of Israel, 601,730. Numbers 26:51)  with 30,000 of them sent out to be the ambush. Tactics - First battle - frontal attack.  Second - Deception and ambush.  Used the result of first battle to deceive men of Ai. God's role - First - spies who came back with an overly optimistic report.  God was not consulted.  Second, God gives direction for the ambush, but without details. Spoils - Have to compare ...

Short thoughts about Jeremiah and his calling to prophetic office. Jeremiah is the son of Hilkiah, a Levitical priest.  While there were some priests who prophesied, I don't think they filled the prophetic office like Jeremiah.  So he is an unusual if not unique position.  I have tried to make a distinction between someone who prophesies on occasion and the office of prophet. His name means "whom Jehovah has appointed" Observations: This is one of the clearest statements about God being the initiator for prophetic voice.  He puts His words into the prophets mouth.  As we will see, the exact method is not described here.  Jeremiah and other prophets have visions and dreams, not a verbal inspiration.  But what they see in the dreams and visions is still inspired.   Jeremiah is given great delegated authority by the LORD.  He is a young man (v 6) from a small town within the territory of Benjamin.  But God sets him over nations and kin...

Hello again, This is another providential selection.  Created the note back on 3/4/21.  And then found out last Friday that John's version was going to be topic of sermon on 3/14/21. Observations: Jesus' response to the murder of John Baptist. He had been in Nazareth where he was rejected by his townfolk. He could not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. He withdraws to a desolate place but people hear about his departure from Nazareth and somehow get there before he does.  The "great crowd" is waiting for him when he lands.  How did this great crowd get organized so quickly and then actually walk to this desolate place from various towns without bringing provisions?  How could so many people be able to leave home to make this trek?  Could I get 5,000 men from various towns to show up in one place using only face to face contact? How odd that he went from a town where people rejected him to a desolate place where a "great crowd" came to him...

Good afternoon fellow soldiers, When I first created the note in Olive Tree a week ago (3/5/21), I had not heard Jonathan's sermon for 3/7.  But now that I have heard it, my thoughts on the passage adapt.  I will leave it to you to figure out why. Blessings, Jeff The first Passover in the Promised Land and the last time the people tasted manna. The provision of God for all their needs.  Thinking about how manna was given in response to grumbling of the people.  The "daily bread" aspect.  But in Deuteronomy 8:3 The "real reason" is given: And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.  Manna was supposed to teach that man does not live by physical means only. Likewise, Passover was deliverance from judgment on Egyptians.  Now it was at entry to Promised Lan...

Good morning friends, Here we are nearing the end of Isaiah.  I think I have said this before, but "remember what we should never forget".  What Isaiah saw in the future was meant to teach the people of his day what they should be doing. Blessings Jeff Isaiah is prophetically "looking back" at the desolate Jerusalem.  It hasn't happened yet, so the two questions in v12 are what the people on the other side of the destruction will be asking.  Time is a very fluid concept in prophetic writings.   The theme of "plea for mercy" seems to be something for the future.  Yet this is written to affect the people in Isaiah's day.  The implicit question is "why aren't we repenting and pleading for mercy today and possibly avoid judgment in the future altogether?"  Makes me think of 2 Peter 3.  But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to f...

Dear pilgrims in a barren land, Finally got this devotional done.  The nice thing about electronic is they are easy to edit.  The bad thing is that they are easily deleted.  Had to type this a couple of times. One of the things Jonathan emphasized this week is that the Bible is not about us.  We are prone to ask "Where am I in this story?"  I have heard Sinclair Ferguson say "You aren't in this story".  The first thing we need to do is see Jesus and how he is better than the people in the story. Blessings, Jeff "Do not come near (the ark), in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.”  Obviously, no one had been over the Jordan and into Canaan.  However, those who were under 20 at the time of Red Sea crossing had experienced going through the water.  What was different this time? Moses was no longer with them.  He had used his staff as the instrument of parting the Red Sea,  Now it was th...

 Dear Friends, As I have mentioned before, one of the things that I like about the M'Cheyne plan is how passages overlap in a way.  Today the parallel between Joshua leading Israel into the Promised Land and Jesus sending out the 12.  I confess the conviction of the Spirit at times like this.  He shows me how little I know about the kingdom. Jeff Picking up on yesterday's  theme of following Jesus, the better Joshua.  Joshua invaded heathen Canaan.  Jesus sends the disciples to the lost sheep of house of Israel.  Joshua's mission was physical conquest.  Jesus' mission is spiritual conquest with physical evidence.  Joshua had roughly 600,000 men.  Jesus had 12. I am confronted with the obedience of disciples.  They did as they were told knowing that in themselves they were unable to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers and cast out demons.   I find myself arguing with Jesus.  You can't really expect me to...