Good afternoon brothers and sisters, Running a day behind of writing.  Sometimes I let a passage roll around in my head for a day.  Then when I come back to it, there is a little more to think about.  I want these devotions to be an encouragement to meditate on what God says.  If it is just a mechanical process and not meditation, then not sure it is of much real value.   Blessings,  Jeff  The Lord promises protection for Judah and Jerusalem from the Assyrians.  The same protection is not given to Israel.  Nor does it extend to protection from Babylon in the future.   It occurs to me that the real implicit question is what will Judah and Jerusalem do with this time of protection.  Will they see it as a reprieve from judgment and repent or will they see it as what they deserve and continue in their disobedience? Then of course I have to ask the same question of myself.  I must remind myself that the current circumstanc...

Good morning friends, So glad that providence landed us in Jude.  Like the minor prophets in the OT, the shorter letters are often overlooked.  But they are packed with God's truth.  It is good that Jude wants us to remember what we should never forget.  A theme I picked up from an Alister Begg sermon and used in one of mine last summer.  But he got it from the Bible.  It is not innovation.  Everything we do must be based on scripture. Blessings, Jeff Jude, Jesus brother, writes a letter to remind his readers of what they once fully knew. What was it that they once fully knew? Jesus is the one who saved Israel out of the land of Egypt and then destroyed those who did not believe.  So what we have been reading in Moses about the 40 years in the wilderness was really the work of the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity. Jesus is the one who has kept the fallen angels (those who did not stay within their own position of authority) in eternal chains ...

Good morning fellow pilgrims & exiles, Worked through some thoughts on the 3 big questions of life,(Where did I come from, why am I here and where am I going) as the Israelites may have thought as they were  knocking on the door of the Promised Land.  Which led me to think about the body we know as TCCS.   History matters. Blessings  Jeff Compare and contrast the first attempted entry and the second successful entry  First - Kadesh-Barnea in the south - 11 days journey from Horeb, entry  to Promised Land was overland, no river to cross, larger area (to the Euphrates), 12 spies whole land. Moses & Aaron included. Second - east side opposite Jericho, entry across the Jordan, Canaan only. 2 spies Jericho only.  Aaron is dead and Moses is excluded. So this book is a kind of last will and testament for Moses.  Reminding the new generation of the blessings and cursing of the covenant.  The foundation for the conquest was established in...

Dear friends, One of the marks of the prophetic voice in Scripture is that it rarely has good news.  The prophets after Judah's return from Babylon gave encouragement to re-build the temple.  But there was a lot of warning as well.  All the prophets leading up to fall of Israel and then Judah are "wake up before its too late."  So as we make our way through Isaiah, we must face this reality.  Part of the answer to the Westminster Shorter Catechism question on what "before me" in the First Commandment teaches us is "God, who sees all things, takes notice of and is much displeased with the sin of having any other god."  Why would I do any thing with which God is much displeased? Blessings, Jeff The drunkards of Ephraim. Fading flower of its glorious beauty.  What a pleasant description for a tribe of Israel.  And not once but twice.  The exact opposite of what Israel was supposed to be.  Referring to the northern kingdom that followed Jer...

Dear saint in Christ Jesus I have tried to point out how the Ten Commandments are woven into the fabric of Moses five books.  Today is another example that also shows how rejection of biblical principles leads to disastrous consequences. Jeff The thread of the sixth commandment, You shall not murder, re-appears.  Different Hebrew words for kill and murder.  Based on the preceding distinctions and the purpose of cities of refuge, the commandment is more nuanced than it appears.  Careless or negligent killing is prohibited, but is not a capital offense.  What is clear is the value of human life and that there is no conflict between capital punishment and value of life.   To be fair to the Pharisees, the focus is definitely on the external act and not the heart.  So when Jesus includes hating a brother or saying "You fool" as being the same as actual murder, I can see how His audience would be surprised at His teaching.  That being said, when th...

Some more catching up.  God uses repetition for emphasis.  First we have the history of Israel in the "history" books.  But then He repeats the lessons of history in the Wisdom book of Psalms.  Can it be any clearer that the message of history is really important and that Israel didn't get it?  Then the Spirit says "What about you?" Blessings, Jeff This Psalm rehearses the checkered history of Israel up to the time of David.  Deliverance followed by decline.  Exodus, Judges and Saul were not great examples of Israel's obedience.   God chooses the tribe of Judah and David in particular instead of "tent of Joseph, tribe of Ephraim" i.e. the symbols of the tribes that did not initially follow David.  Point seems to be that even within His chosen people, the tribes do not have equal roles.  The constant testing to see if the nation will submit to God's choice or seek their autonomy.  The transition from Judges to Kings is story of ...

Good evening friends, Doing a little catch up on Sunday evening. Calvin's commentary  It is therefore as if he had said, "Thou wilt not only strike and afflict, O Lord, but wilt cause the chastisements to be not without effect; for by them thou wilt subdue the fierceness of men, so that those who were formerly estranged from thee shall bend their neck to thee." This passage should lead us to observe how much we need chastisements, which train us to obedience to God; for we are carried away by prosperity to such an extent, that we think that we have a right to do anything, and we even grow wanton and insolent when God treats us with gentleness.  Isaiah is given the long view of history.  Plans formed of old.  All cultures have been under His control.  Progress in civilizations is driven by His correction.  One civilization conquering another produces gradual progress.  This is not a "survival of the fittest" impersonal process.  God is in control o...