Month: December 2015

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ZECHARIAH 8:1-23 | REVELATION 16:1-21 | PSALM 144:1-15 | PROVERBS 30:29-31

This chapter of Zechariah must be a most comforting one to the Jewish people.  It is full of promises to the people of God’s restoration and promises of blessing.  And what does this “jealous” God want from His people? 

He tells them fair and square:  ¹⁶ These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts; ¹⁷ do not plot evil against each other, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this,” declares the LORD.

Sounds simple enough… don’t you think? 

Turning now to our reading in the book of Revelations, the series of plagues recorded in today’s passage is reminiscent of the many plagues that the people of Egypt were afflicted with during the days of Moses. 

There is also an early reference to Armageddon, the final battle on earth.  May it be that the “mark of the beast” is not upon you or me, if this event should occur in our lifetimes.

Next, our reading in the Psalms reveals David, the Psalmist, asking this in amazement:

³ LORD, what are human beings that you care for them,
   mere mortals that you think of them?
⁴ They are like a breath;
   their days are like a fleeting shadow.

Like David, I am also acutely aware of my insignificance.  And yet, I am impossibly confident in the knowledge that despite my insignificance, this is a God who would do it all over again if I was the only one person on the face of this earth.  That is the mystery and measure of His love for me.  What am I?  I am nothing, and yet I am God’s child.  And even more amazing is this: in my weakness, I am strong.  Just like David.

Finally, a few verses from the book of Proverbs, worthy of record and rumination.  Solomon, wise king of Israel, says:

²⁹ “There are three things that are stately in their stride,
   four that move with stately bearing:
³⁰ a lion, mighty among beasts,
   who retreats before nothing;
³¹ a strutting rooster, a he-goat,
   and a king secure against revolt.

May God bless the reading and reflection of His Word.  Amen.

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ZECHARIAH 6:1-7:14 | REVELATION 15:1-8 | PSALM 143:1-12 | PROVERBS 30:24-28

Fasting may be good for the body, but not necessarily for the soul.  In fact, God tells the people that He doesn’t care for it at all! 

To what end is all this, he seems to ask.  You’re doing it for yourself, that’s all. 

But God does go on to say what he might be impressed with. 

Zechariah says:  ⁹ “This is what the LORD Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. ¹⁰ Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’

Can you do that?  The people of Israel couldn’t. 

This is what they did.  Zechariah says:

¹¹ “But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears. ¹² They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets.

Hard as flint — that was the state of their hearts.

Turning now to our reading in the book of Revelations, the song of praise that is sung in heaven is the one that I wish to find on my own lips.  John writes:

“Great and marvelous are your deeds,
   Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
   King of the nations.
⁴ Who will not fear you, Lord,
   and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
   and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

Next, we turn to the Psalms, and find that the psalmist offers such beautiful words of praise in these lines.  David says:

⁸ Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
   for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
   for to you I entrust my life.

Finally, a few words of wisdom from the book of Proverbs.  Solomon, wise king of Israel, writes:

²⁴ “Four things on earth are small,
   yet they are extremely wise:
²⁵ Ants are creatures of little strength,
   yet they store up their food in the summer;
²⁶ hyraxes are creatures of little power,
   yet they make their home in the crags;
²⁷ locusts have no king,
   yet they advance together in ranks;
²⁸ a lizard can be caught with the hand,
   yet it is found in kings’ palaces.

May God bless the reading and reflection of His Word.  Amen.