DAILY BIBLE READING
Aug 2: 2King 20-21
Aug 3: 2Chron 32-33
Aug 4: Nahum
Aug 5: 2King 22-23; 2Chron 34-35
Aug 6: Zephaniah
Aug 7: Jer 1-3
Aug 8: Jer 4-6
Aug 9: Jer 7-9
NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S READINGS
· I hope you enjoyed Isaiah – especially the last half! Because the messages ahead from the prophets are not exactly “positive and encouraging” (see devotions below).
· Nahum is one of our readings this week. The prophet’s name means, ironically, “comfort,” but as you read his writings you won’t feel much comfort. The book is about judgment. But judgment on Nineveh (the capital of Assyria) is comfort to God’s people in Judah. Assyria is the (pick one) Nazi Germany – Communist Russia – Taliban-controlled Afghanistan of its day. Terrorism was its modus operandus internally and externally. The northern kingdom of Israel has already fallen and Judah’s crisis with Assyria has passed. We’re now in the 7th century B.C. – but Assyria is still a constant threat to its neighbors in the region. So the “comfort” of Nahum’s message is that Assyria will be judged and will fall. Whether or not you find anything encouraging in Nahum, know that the Apostle Paul found a verse from this book that he used to talk about “good news” (See Romans 10:15).
· Zephaniah is written during the reign of Josiah, under whom Judah experienced much spiritual reform. Whether Zephaniah wrote before the reform or addressed those whom the reform had not changed is unclear. What is clear is the urgent need for repentance. The book is organized with a series of judgments against Judah’s neighbors, to which God’s people would have said, “Amen! Go get ‘em, God!” But then the prophet turns to his own people. Zephaniah 3:15 is a great encouragement – showing again that even though we may read much of the book as judgment, there are almost always these nuggets of hope and promise.
· I’ll say more about Jeremiah next week, but you’ll get started on his book this weekend. Jeremiah’s prophecy is leading up to the Babylonian captivity, so in our Bible reading we have definitely shifted to the 7th century B.C. (The fall of Jerusalem was in 586 B.C.) As the nation moves toward its eventual end, Jeremiah earns his nickname as “the weeping prophet,” literally and figuratively mourning and crying as he pleads with the people to repent. Once again, in spite of all the doom-talk, you will find many words of comfort that are even more beautiful given their context. Don’t miss them.
DEVOTIONS
It is not my goal in life to be consistently “positive and encouraging.”
To give only positive messages would be to betray my calling.
While traveling last week and this week for family and ministry, I have not had the luxury of my familiar few radio stations I tune into at home. When Linda and I are not listening to “The Hobbit” (audio book), and especially if she’s not in the car with me at the moment, I look for an alternative. One of the nationally syndicated Christian radio networks has as its motto, “Positive and Encouraging.”
I bet they don’t read much from Jeremiah. He’s probably the most consistently “negative and disheartening” writer of Scripture.
Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not fond of listening to judgmental and divisive doom-sayers myself. I try hard to give the benefit of the doubt and see the bright side. I tell people I’m the last to give up on a marriage. This week at “Answering the Call” I will insist I’m the last to give up on a church or even a denomination.
But if all I ever speak is good news and hope, I don’t look very much like Jesus and I overlook much of the Bible. I want to speak the whole truth, and sometimes the truth is confrontational, direct, and unsettling. Sometimes the truth hurts.
Jeremiah, the “weeping prophet,” complained about those who only wanted to be “positive and encouraging.” Don’t give false peace, he said in 6:14 and again in 8:11. The wounds are serious and the threat of judgment is real.
Ultimately his goal was that the warning would lead to repentance. At the other end of repentance, there is forgiveness and reconciliation with God and neighbor.
Now that is positive and encouraging.