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Week 29  Jeremiah 14

Enough-was-finally-enough and so the Lord told Jeremiah: do not pray for these people anymore. When they fast in my presence, I will pay no attention. When they present their burnt offerings…I will not accept them.
That’s pretty definitive: Do Not Pray For These People Anymore. But then a couple of verses later Jeremiah said this: Lord have you completely rejected Judah?…Lord, we confess our wickedness…For the sake of your name, Lord, do not abandon us…Please don’t forget us! That sounds quite a bit like a prayer to me. A pretty good prayer. A prayer that Jeremiah wasn’t supposed to be praying.
So the Lord got even more emphatic: even if Moses and Samuel stood before me, pleading for these people, I wouldn’t help them!
Prayer has the capacity to bend events. To alter outcomes. I read king Hezekiah’s story a couple of months ago. When Isaiah forecast Hezekiah’s death Hezekiah prayed. And so he didn’t die! In Hezekiah’s case prayer changed his future. He was going to die right away – but then he prayed and got an extra fifteen-years of life. Injected into the stream of events his prayer reorganized things. Outcome A was definitely going to happen. But prayer was added and Outcome B happened instead.
So prayer can & does change things. But it looks like by the time Jeremiah 14 arrived praying’s Can-&-Does Phase had progressed to the Can’t-&-Doesn’t Phase.

Note: quotes from Jeremiah 14:11-12 19-21 & 15:1 (NLT). The Hezekiah story is in 2 Kings 20:1-7.

Week 29  Isaiah 53

Yesterday I was looking at Isaiah’s Servant – what he was like & what happened to him. Visible things. Obvious things. His sad & adversity-plagued life. His death.
Isaiah was also interested in explaining not-so-obvious things. What the Servant was actually accomplishing behind the scenes. The meaning of his life. I found a couple of those today:
• The Servant will carry our weaknesses
• He’ll be weighed down by our sorrows and diseases
• He’ll be wounded and crushed for our sins
• He’ll be beaten that we might have peace
• He’ll be whipped, so we will be healed
• The Lord will lay on him the guilt and sins of us all
• He’ll make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear their sins.
So the Servant didn’t just live his own life & die his own death. He was also a stand-in for sinners. A kind of pinch-hitter for the rest of us.  Scapegoat for the World.
Yesterday it looked like the Servant would have an unlucky & unfortunate life. But today Isaiah makes it clear there’d be no accident: it was the Lord’s good plan to crush (the Servant) and fill him with grief.
The “good plan” of the Lord will be a hard and bitter plan for the Servant. Still…Isaiah predicted that when the Servant sees all that will be accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. In retrospect it’ll be worth the very high cost.

Note: quotes from Isaiah 53:4-6 10 11 (NLT)

Week 28  Isaiah 53

Isaiah was talking about an anonymous person that he called “the Servant”. Isaiah didn’t name any names. He only gave hints. The Servant stayed in the shadows. A bit of a gray man. Mysterious & enigmatic.
I decided to look for concrete things that Isaiah said about the Servant – observable & testable things. What he was like & what happened to him. A guy would have to fit that description to be the Servant. He couldn’t be just anybody. I found twelve things:
• There was nothing beautiful or attractive about his appearance
• He was despised and rejected
• He was a man of sorrows
• He was acquainted with bitterest grief
• He was wounded and crushed
• He was beaten
• He was whipped
• He was oppressed and treated harshly
• He was led as a lamb to the slaughter
• From prison and trial he was led away to his death
• He had done no wrong and he never deceived anyone
• He was counted among those who were sinners.
The one stand-out feature in this list is that even though the Servant was treated like a criminal he had done no wrong, and he never deceived anyone.
Anyway today I was just looking at Isaiah’s summary of a) what the Servant was like and b) what happened to him. They seem pretty objective. Seem like they have a high testability rating. Whoever the Servant turns out to be I know he has to check all twelve boxes.

Note: quotes from Isaiah 53:2 3 5 7 8 9 12 (NLT)

Week 28  Isaiah 34

At first I don’t pay much attention to the animals wandering through the ruins of depopulated cities and what’s left of a landscape that sounds like a post-nuclear wasteland.
At first it sounded like a worldwide apocalyptic event that effected everyone. But farther down it sounded like a specific end-of-existence forecast for Edom. I stalled trying to figure which it was. I think that’s maybe why my mind drifted to the animals.
I wondered if the twelve animals were from the Leviticus Unclean Food List. When I cross-checked I saw that pelicans owls ravens ostriches & hawks were prohibited. But not hedgehogs jackals desert-creatures wolves hairy-goats night-monsters or tree-snakes.
When I checked another version of the bible I saw that some of the names were different. I looked at a third and fourth version. The only name that was exactly the same in all four versions was Raven.
Some versions had kind-of comparable names (owl great-owl & screech-owl).
But some weren’t similar (pelican desert-owl horned-owl cormorant).
I saw one animal that was called Jackal in three versions but Dragon in the other.
Anyway I got sidetracked wondering about the animals.
In the end I remembered the point of the chapter. The Lord will bring chaos and destruction to that land. Burning pitch. Smoky skies. Deserted land. No one will live there anymore…It will be called the Land of Nothing. In Nothingland there’ll be nothing but wild animals.

Note: quotes from Isaiah 34:11 10 12 (NLT)

Week 28  Isaiah 9

Isaiah says Something Big is going to happen. As of right now I’m not too concerned about what will happen or when. I’m wondering where it’ll happen. The answer is: the land of Zebulun and Naphtali will soon be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory.
Hmmm… Galilee-of-the-Gentiles? I’m thinking these are NT words so I check my word book. I’m wrong (but nearly right). Both words are in the OT (Galilee six times & Gentiles once).
Okay… I also check my bible maps. The OT tribal districts of Zebulun & Naphtali are west of the Sea of Galilee. I look at a map of the NT and see that Galilee’s right in the Z&N spot. Geographically OT Z&N are NT Galilee.
I look at Isaiah’s forecast again. Something Big happening in the north will likely surprise people in Jerusalem (the place where big things happen). A Great Light is going to be turned on in Galilee. A child from Galilee will grow up and rise to prominence: the government will rest on his shoulders and his ever expanding peaceful government will never end. A man from the north country.
Based on Isaiah’s prediction this upcountry outsider will likely be taking some of the burnish off Jerusalem. Which doesn’t sound like good news for the metropolis.

Note: quotes from Isaiah 9:1 6 7 (NLT)

Week 28  Isaiah 8

Partway through the chapter Isaiah says: I will write down all these things as a testimony of what the Lord will do. I will entrust it to my disciples, who will pass it down to future generations. I noticed a couple of things.
For one thing I saw that Isaiah used the word “disciples”. I was surprised because I think of “disciples” as a NT word. I looked at a word book:
“Disciple” is used ~30 times in the bible. Once in the OT (by Isaiah).
“Disciples” is used ~240 times. Twice in the OT (both by Isaiah).
So it is a NT word. But I’m not sure what to make of Isaiah using it. Not sure if there’s anything to be made of it. But I am surprised that Isaiah was the only OT writer to use it.
The other thing I noticed was the four-step communication sequence. I backtracked and saw that Isaiah had already said three times in chapter eight that the Lord had spoken to him – so that’s step one. And then he said: I will write down all these things – step 2.  Isaiah planned to give that written document to his trustworthy disciples – step 3. Once the original document was reproduced the disciples would pass copies to their contemporaries and then on to future generations – step 4.
The chain of communication: the Lord > Isaiah > Isaiah’s disciples > future generations (and all the way down to the 21st century).

Note: quote from Isaiah 8:16 (NLT)

Week 27  Isaiah 7

I’m reading about Ahaz in chapter seven. Ahaz was one of Isaiah’s four kings (the prophecy begins: these visions concerning Judah and Jerusalem came to Isaiah son of Amoz during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah).
Uzziah Jotham Ahaz & Hezekiah are familiar names. In May I looked at all of the kings of Judah and ranked them Best-to-Worst. So I flipped back to that list to see where I’d placed Isaiah’s four:
Uzziah #8
Jotham #3
Ahaz #14
Hezekiah #2.
So Ahaz was 14th out of 15 kings. Not so good.
Isaiah didn’t give specific details about Ahaz’ numerous flaws (I had to reread Kings & Chronicles to see those).
What Isaiah did do was forecast Ahaz’ future: the Lord will bring a terrible curse on you, your nation, and your family…The mighty king of Assyria will come with his great army (plus eight more verses describing Judah’s national devastation).
But the thing is that rereading the Ahaz story I saw that the king of Assyria did not demolish Judah the way Isaiah described it. Sure…Ahaz ends up being a yes-sir-no-sir guy subject to Assyria. But Judah wasn’t demolished. That only came later – after Ahaz was dead & gone.
So it’s a reminder to me that I have to be careful about predictive prophesies. Isaiah’s forecast sounded like an exclusive just-for-you-Ahaz message. But it looks like Ahaz was just part of a longer range comprehensive future of the country over the next forty-or-fifty years.

Note: quotes from Isaiah 1:1 7:17 (NLT)

Week 27  Isaiah 1

Isaiah tells Judah: you act just like the rulers and people of Sodom and Gomorrah. The verse catches my attention because I already have a niggling question about Sodom & Gomorrah. I’ve been wondering about what specifically bad things S&G did that qualified them for annihilation. The Genesis 18-19 story only comments generally about how awful the two cities were.
So now I see Isaiah comparing Israel to S&G. He says Judah is just like S&G. If Judah is acting just like S&G then I can answer my question about what S&G were like by looking at Judah. If I find out how Judah was being just like S&G then I’ve found out what S&G was like.
Isaiah compares Judah to S&G this way: your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims.
Isaiah goes on to list five things Judah should be doing (things that S&G should have done too):
Learn to do good
Seek justice
Help the oppressed
Defend the orphan
Fight for the rights of widows.
So I’m discovering some useful specific things about S&G. It’s a good start.
But when I grab a word book I see that even though S&G are mentioned twice in chapter one Isaiah only refers to them two more times in the next sixty-five chapters.
I’m a bit disappointed. I thought Isaiah would helping with my S&G question. But I’m not all that surprised. It’s not my first good question that didn’t get answered.

Note: quotes from Isaiah 1:10 16-17 (NLT)

Week 26  Nahum 1

If I owned a company that manufactured religious plaques I would Never Ever use this verse from Nahum: the Lord is a jealous God, filled with vengeance and wrath. He takes revenge on all who oppose him and furiously destroys his enemies.
I would be aiming at wall-hangings that were a little more inspirational. Like this other verse from Nahum: the Lord is good. When trouble comes, he is a strong refuge. And he knows everyone who trusts in him.
So my sign production company could use Nahum’s verse-seven (nicer & reassuring & more consolatory) but not his verse-two (somber & harder-edged & fearsome).
Of course I don’t have a religious sign business. But I still think about the different ways the Lord is described. The Wall Plaque Verses have their pluses. The Lord is softer and more pliable. Manageable. Flexible. Malleable. And there’s quite a few like that. But I need to remember that that list is an exclusory one: accurate as far as it goes…inaccurate as far as it doesn’t.
So here in Nahum I pay attention to verse-two and verse-seven. His more comprehensive list says that the Lord is good and he knows the people who trust him. And also that the Lord is jealous and he destroys his enemies.

Note: quotes from Nahum 1:2 7 (NLT). End of month reading review: June wasn’t a smooth-as-glass month for me & I lost ground. But fortunately I’m still ahead: 50% of the year gone & 52% of the bible read.

Week 26 Obadiah

Obadiah didn’t prophesy to Israel. His prophecy was to the country of Edom (one of Israel’s National Enemies). A couple of connected ideas caught my attention.
#1: Obadiah told Edom: as you have done to Israel, so it will be done to you. So…what Edom had done to Israel would happen to Edom. Their violence would boomerang.
The exact details would play out a bit differently for Edom but the general contours of the outcome – the main things – would be the same: just as you swallowed Israel…you will swallow the punishment I pour out on you. From their perspective I don’t figure Edom had taken intentional steps to map out their own defeat. They just wanted Israel to get thrashed. Edom wasn’t trying – like Obadiah put it – to disappear from history, as though they had never even existed. But Obadiah was insistent that that would be the outcome.
#2: Obadiah told Edom: all your evil deeds will fall back on your own heads. The way he describes it it’s almost like Edom threw their evil deeds up in the air and – surprisingly & almost magically – their evils stayed airborne. Defied gravity. Hanging up there while Edom’s gloating plundering destructive intentions succeeded.
Obadiah’s bad news was that evil can’t stay aloft forever. Eventually Edom’s evils would lose their flotative witchery. Evil was coming back down onto Edom’s heads. Evil was coming home.

Note: quotes from Obadiah 15 16 (NLT)