Daily Reading Week 18
Sunday
Jeremiah 1: 5-8
Discover:
Despite brief revivals under kings like Asa, Hezekiah, and Josiah, the history of God's people after David was marked by division and decline. After Solomon's death, Israel split into two kingdoms: the northern kingdom, Israel, and the southern kingdom, Judah. God sent prophets to both nations to warn them of the judgment they faced if they didn't turn from their idolatry, but both nations refused to repent. Eventually, the Lord executed the covenant curse of exile upon them. Assyria conquered Samaria, Israel's capital, in 722 B.C., and Babylon conquered Jerusalem, Judah's capital, in 586 B.C.
About forty years before Jerusalem fell to Babylon, God raised up the prophet Jeremiah to plead with the people for their repentance. Judah's relationship with God initially seemed to be improving under King Josiah, who led a return to pure worship by removing idols and celebrating a grand Passover. However, this revival was short-lived, and the people returned to their sins after Josiah died in 609 B.C. Through tears, Jeremiah warned the people to repent, but they refused, and Josiah's successors opposed him bitterly.
In today's passage, Jeremiah describes his call to ministry, which happened when he was just a young man. The Lord had determined to issue this call long before Jeremiah was born, even before he was an idea in his parents' minds. When God formed Jeremiah in his mother's womb, He had already purposed to send forth His word through him. Jeremiah's ministry was ordained in eternity past.
Respond:
1. How do you respond to God's call in your life, especially during challenging times?
2. What lessons can you learn from Jeremiah's perseverance in his ministry?
3. Reflect on a time when you felt God's guidance in your decisions. How did it impact your faith journey?
Monday
Psalm 139
Discover:
David was not only the greatest king of ancient Israel but also one of its greatest theologians. This is beautifully illustrated in Psalm 139, which offers profound insights into God's omniscience and omnipresence. Verses 7–12 focus on divine omnipresence, meaning God is present everywhere in His creation. As David writes, there's no place where we can hide from the Lord. When he asks where he can flee from God's presence, the expected answer is "nowhere," a truth Jonah learned the hard way when he tried to run away from God. From the highest heights to the lowest depths, from land to sea—we can never escape the Lord. Moreover, God's omnipresence doesn't mean part of Him is here and part of Him is there. He is fully present everywhere in the universe, though He doesn't make His presence felt as strongly in some places as He does in others. For example, under the old covenant, God was no less present in Assyria than He was in the tabernacle and temple. However, He made His presence felt in Israel's sanctuary in a special way that He didn't elsewhere.
Verses 1–6 emphasize divine omniscience—the fact that God knows everything. In the psalm, the Lord's knowledge is depicted in personal, intimate terms. He is thoroughly acquainted with all of David's ways. His knowledge extends even to the future—before David speaks a word, our Creator knows what he will say.
John Calvin warns us in his commentary on this passage: "Many when they hear God spoken of conceive of him as like unto themselves, and such presumption is most condemnable. Very commonly they will not allow his knowledge to be greater than what comes up to their own apprehensions of things." We must not think of the Lord's knowledge as being the same as ours. Divine omniscience doesn't mean merely that God knows a lot more than we do. Yes, the quantity of God's knowledge is greater than ours, but His knowledge is also qualitatively different. For example, our knowledge doesn't determine reality. Knowing that apples are red doesn't make them red. The Lord's knowledge, however, does determine reality.
There is a point of contact between our knowledge and God's knowledge. Both we and God know that "two plus two equals four" is a true statement, that it corresponds to reality. However, the Lord understands perfectly how this truth fits into all other truths about creation. This is possible only for an infinite being. God is infinitely greater than we are, so let us take care not to think of Him as being exactly like us
Respond:
1. How does understanding God's omnipresence and omniscience impact your daily life?
2. In what ways can you deepen your relationship with God, knowing He is always present and fully aware of your ``thoughts and actions?
3. Reflect on a time when you felt God's presence in a special way. How did it influence your faith journey
Tuesday
Ephesians 2:10
Discover:
Grace, as the apostle Paul emphasizes in Ephesians 2:1–9, is the sole reason for our salvation. There's nothing we can do to make the Lord save us—no deed good enough to earn His favor, and no way to make up for our sins. We must rely on grace—the favor God shows to His people despite what we've done—for redemption. All we can do is place our faith in Christ, which God gives us, and those who have been given faith will exercise it unto salvation.
This doesn't mean that good works are optional. Our Creator made humanity to do good works and practice wise dominion over the earth for His glory. Part of redemption is restoring our ability to fulfill our original purpose, so the Lord intends for His people to do good works. These works are not the basis for our salvation but the necessary result of being restored to a right relationship with Him. Our good works follow our justification as its result; they do not precede it as its cause.
Salvation by grace alone through faith alone does not invalidate our call to good works. After explaining the ground and means of our salvation in Ephesians 2:8–9, Paul tells us explicitly in verse 10 that we are created in Christ for good works. This aligns with Paul's teachings in passages like 2 Corinthians 9:8 and Galatians 6:10. If we do not do good works, we are not fulfilling God's purposes for us. Furthermore, if we continue in this impenitently, we will prove that the Lord has never brought us to new spiritual life by His grace.
What should we make of our good works? Are they perfect? Should we consider them good in themselves according to God’s standards? The answer is no—because of our remaining sin. But the Lord sees fit to accept them as good, not as the ground of our salvation but as its fruit. Moreover, we are to do them as long as we live. John Chrysostom says, “Walking is a metaphor that suggests continuance, extending to the end of our lives”.
Knowing that we are justified by faith alone takes the pressure off when we seek to please God. Sometimes we might not do good because we fear messing things up. Yet since the Father declares us righteous in Christ, we need not worry that our feeble attempts at doing good will be futile—if we understand they result from our salvation without causing it. Even our good deeds are covered by Jesus’ blood.
Respond:
1. How does understanding grace as the sole reason for your salvation impact your view of good works?
2. In what ways can you practice good works as a result of your faith, not as a means to earn salvation?
3. Reflect on a time when you felt God's grace in your life. How did it influence your actions and faith?
Wednesday
Joshua 1:9
Discover:
Many times in life, we find ourselves in situations where success seems almost impossible. Starting a new job can make us nervous, wondering how we'll manage all the tasks given to us. In college, the mountain of assignments at the beginning of a semester can feel overwhelming. As new parents, we often feel helpless, facing a job that no one can truly prepare for. When serious illness strikes, we may not know how we'll get through it.
Joshua faced even tougher circumstances. He had assisted Moses from his youth, and after Moses' death, he was tasked with leading the vastly outnumbered Israelites against the peoples of Canaan to drive them out of the land. Few people in history needed more encouragement than Joshua. He needed to know he could do what the Lord called him to do. As the leader of Israel, his strength was crucial, for if he were weak, the people would be weak as well.
God gave Joshua the encouragement he needed when he and the Israelites were about to enter the promised land. God promised to be with His people and told Joshua to be strong and courageous. What more encouragement could Joshua need than the Lord's promise to be with him?
However, while God's presence was the driving force behind Joshua's and the Israelites' success, they would not succeed if they lived contrary to God's will. In Joshua 1:7–8, the Lord promises success only when His people meditate on His Word and carefully obey it. There is a connection between blessing and obedience, at least in the short term. Sometimes those who obey God's law will suffer, like Job, and sometimes those who disobey will prosper temporarily, like the pagan nations that sometimes defeated ancient Israel. Still, in the long term, those who obey the Lord will ultimately win, and those who reject Him will fail for eternity.
Respond:
1. How do you find strength and encouragement in challenging situations?
2. In what ways can you ensure that your actions align with God's will?
3. Reflect on a time when obedience to God led to a positive outcome in your life. How did it strengthen your faith?
Thursday
Judges 6-7
Discover:
Gideon received divine signs and was able to gather a large army when God called him to lead the Israelites against Midian. These signs surely gave him confidence that he could fulfill the Lord's calling. But to ensure there was no doubt that the Lord Himself would bring victory over Midian, God spoke to Gideon again before the battle, instructing him to do something that seemed illogical from a human perspective.
God reduced Gideon's army before Israel went to war against the Midianites. Following Deuteronomy 20:1–9, God told Gideon to send home 22,000 men from the army of 32,000. Then, God reduced the army further to just three hundred men by having Gideon separate out the soldiers who bent down to lap water. While many commentators have theories about why God chose the men who lapped the water, the text doesn't give a clear reason. However, one thing is certain: God reduced Gideon's forces to prove that the victory would be His. Judges 7:2 indicates that fighting with 32,000 men might have led the Israelites to boast in their own strength. Reducing the force by about 99 percent without compromising the victory would show that God was fighting for Israel.
The rest of Judges 7 details how Gideon's army defeated the Midianites. First, Gideon received confirmation that Israel would win. Then, his three hundred soldiers went up against Midian with torches and empty jars, not ordinary weapons. They broke the jars and held up the torches when Gideon blew the trumpet, creating such confusion that the Midianites fought each other. God delivered Midian into Israel's hands, and Israel won not because of superior battle skills but because the Lord caused the Midianites to turn their swords against their comrades.
We cannot rely on our own strength or works to enjoy the Lord's salvation. He alone can defeat the enemy, and He often uses the most unlikely means to do so. We shouldn't trust in our superior numbers, skills, or strategies. Instead, we must be faithful to the Lord, trusting Him to accomplish His purposes through the unlikeliest of means.
Respond:
1. How do you find confidence in God's plans when they seem illogical from a human perspective?
2. In what ways can you rely more on God's strength rather than your own abilities?
3. Reflect on a time when God used unlikely means to bring about a positive outcome in your life. How did it impact your faith?
Friday
Esther 4
Discover:
New covenant believers don't typically celebrate the feasts and festivals of the old covenant, but many of us are aware of major feasts like Passover, either through our own study of Scripture or by having Jewish friends. However, there's one old covenant festival that's less familiar to most of us, even though it was one of the most joyous feasts during Old Testament times. This festival is called Purim, which we read about in the book of Esther.
Like many other old covenant feasts, Purim is directly tied to the historical circumstances of God's people. Jewish cousins Mordecai and Esther were living in exile in Persia, and at Mordecai’s urging, Esther eventually became queen. This didn't ensure their safety, though, because Haman the Agagite, a member of the court, hated Mordecai and wanted to destroy him and his people. Haman cast lots to determine the best day for his sinister plan and secured the king's permission to annihilate the Jewish people under his reign. The Hebrew term for lots is purim, which is where the name of the festival comes from.
Faced with the certain destruction of his fellow Jews, Mordecai turned to the only person who could help—Queen Esther. She was initially reluctant because going before the king could mean her own death. But Mordecai’s plea for her to stand with her people and his promise that she would perish if she didn't help moved her to speak with the king. Esther showed great courage, putting her life on the line to save her people without knowing if her plan would succeed. She had to trust in the Lord’s hidden providence and do what she knew was right, even without a clear word from God that she would survive and be blessed. In this, she is much like us. We must always do what is right, even if we don't know whether our actions will lead to pleasurable outcomes. Ultimately, her intercession brought an end to Haman, but she went into it not knowing what would happen to her.
Though the Lord is always working for our good, we often can't discern how His providence will work things out. We must make decisions when there seems to be no good option or when God’s Word doesn't give us much direct information. After prayer and an honest attempt to apply biblical principles, let us decide and trust that His providence will work through us, even if we make a mistake.
Respond:
1. How do you find courage to do what is right when the outcome is uncertain?
2. In what ways can you trust in God's providence during challenging times?
3. Reflect on a time when you had to make a difficult decision without knowing the outcome. How did your faith guide you?
Saturday
2 Kings 6
Discover:
Divine providence tells us that God actively rules over His creatures, guiding their actions and decisions to fulfill His purposes. However, the Lord usually doesn't override the skills, talents, personalities, and other aspects of human beings. He also typically governs the universe without suspending the natural laws and processes He established. God generally works out His plan within the structures He created.
Yet, there are select instances where God works against the natural order, known as miracles. For example, in today’s passage, we read about the iron ax-head that floated during Elisha’s ministry. Normally, an iron ax-head can't float due to established rules of density and buoyancy. For it to float, God had to suspend certain natural laws, creating a miracle.
Because God is sovereign over His creation and can direct it to whatever ends He desires, we can be confident that He can answer our prayers. Though God in His sovereignty retains the right to say yes or no to us, He can heal the sick, change hearts, and do other things we pray for. If we trust in God’s sovereignty, we will be confident in our prayers.
Respond:
1. How does understanding divine providence influence your view of everyday events?
2. In what ways can you deepen your trust in God's sovereignty, especially when facing challenges?
3. Reflect on a time when you felt God's guidance in your life. How did it impact your faith and actions?