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...