Faithfulness: God's desire from us (Jeremiah 38:7 -52)

 When we left Jeremiah last time, he was sitting at the bottom of a muddy well, left for dead. But God........still had more for Jeremiah to do. God touched the heart of one of the king's servants, an Ethiopian named Ebed-Melech. The servant took his own life in his hands by telling the king that allowing Jeremiah to be thrown into the well to die was wrong. Instead of killing Ebed-Melech, the king had a change of heart and told the young Ethiopian to gather some men and pull Jeremiah out of the well.

Sometimes saying the right thing, or telling the hard truth is not easy. God says to do the right thing, not the easy thing. Just as Ebed-Melech risked his life, sometimes we have to risk being made fun of or losing friends. But know this. We always have God on our side when we do right.

So Jeremiah was saved..... well sort of. The king had Jeremiah brought before him. "Tell me what you know!" He ordered. Jeremiah was concerned that if he told him the truth, the king would have him killed anyway. But the king promised that he would not have Jeremiah killed if he told him the truth. So Jeremiah told the king that Babylon would soon attack Jerusalem, but that he should surrender peacefully to them or some bad stuff would happen to the king's family as well as to the king himself. The king was not happy with what Jeremiah said, but he had promised not to kill him, so he had Jeremiah tossed into dungeon.... again.

While Jeremiah was imprisoned, Jerusalem was taken over by the Babylonians, (just as God said) and the king of Judah didn't listen to what God said through Jeremiah. And remember what God told Jeremiah to tell the king... Some bad stuff would happen? Well the king tried to flee the city during the take over. He was caught and his eyes were gouged out! Also his wife and kids were killed in the palace when it was set on fire.

Even though Jeremiah was taken to Babylon during the siege, God protected him. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon set Jeremiah free to live in Babylon. Jeremiah was even given food and some gifts to help him settle in. Since Jeremiah was a prisoner of Judah, and the king of Judah was an enemy of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar showed kindness to Jeremiah. So I guess getting thrown into prison again turned out pretty well for Jeremiah.

Sometimes things don't work out like we planned. I'm sure Jeremiah didn't want to be pulled from a well, just to get tossed into a dungeon. God sees all things. We need to trust Him. Have you ever had something go the wrong way, only to find out later that it was absolutely for the best? I have.

When Jerusalem was taken over by the Babylonians, a lot of the Jews were taken captive, however, the poorest Jews were left behind and a small governmental system was put in place. Many of the Jews saw that the fighting was over and returned to Judah. The Jews that fled to Egypt however, found life very comfortable there and decided not to return. 

Jeremiah returned to Judah with a word for the people. He said that the people in Egypt should return as well. That Egypt would soon fall to Babylon just like Judah did. He said that the Jews that have remained in Egypt are now worshipping false gods. God said that He would pass judgement upon them and anyone else who is worshipping idols. Some of the new leaders did not like Jeremiah and what he was saying. So they captured Jeremiah and took him to Egypt.

While in Egypt, Jeremiah faithfully continued to speak the words that God had put in his mouth. The final 5 chapters of the Book of Jeremiah tell of God's judgement on Egypt, Moab, Philistine and neighboring countries. Jeremiah is not mentioned again in these final chapters. Some say he was killed, others say he escaped Egypt. No one really knows for sure.

So even though Jeremiah spent his whole life trying to get his people to turn from their sin and to turn toward God, the people never listened. The outcome was not in Jeremiah's hands. He simply did what the Lord asked him to do. That is called faithfulness. God delights in our faithfulness. We don't have to "save the world". That is God's job. All we have to do is obey Him, and leave the consequences to Him. If you tell someone about Jesus and they accept Him as their savior, God did that, not you. To Him be the glory! And on the same note, if the person you shared Christ with rejects the message, it's not on you. You did what God asked. Leave the rest to Him.

Ecclesiastes Part 1 (Chapters 1-6)

  Well we have reached the 21st book of the Bible, Ecclesiastes. In Hebrew, the word ecclesiastes means to preach. It was written about 975 years before Jesus was born, by King Solomon.  It was written near the end of King Solomon's reign as king of Israel. If you remember from our journey through the Book of 1 Kings, he was given great wisdom at the beginning of his reign. But now, at the end of his regime he has accumulated years of experience. He has written down his observations in this book.... and it may not be what you'd expect.
 Have you ever won a game that you are playing with one or more of your friends? It feels good, right? At that moment you feel the rush of victorious joy, but a few hours later, it doesn't much matter who won. You have to play and win again to feel that same feeling. Then, if you win every time, even that feeling wears down nothing. Why is that? Well King Solomon, the wisest and richest man ever, tackles that very question plus a few more. And who better than the man who could have anything, do anything or command anything to share his quest for "the meaning of life."
 Basically the book of Ecclesiastes talks about the frustrations, futility and unanswered questions of life, then the teacher (King Solomon) wraps it all up in the very last paragraph by encouraging us to live a God-centered life. We will go through the first six chapters in this post and the last six chapters in the next post. I just wanted to let you know ahead of time that there is a light at the end of the eccliasastical tunnel.:)
 The teacher begins the book and chapter 1 by saying that everything is meaningless. He points out the monotony of nature, instead of God's incredible creation (Psalm 95:4-5). Then he points out how useless it is for men to work, instead of how work is a God-ordained blessing (John 5:17) He ends the first chapter talking about how being wise and searching for wisdom amounts to nothing.When God clearly says that wisdom is a gift from Him to glorify Him (James 3:17)
 In chapter 2, the teacher starts off by saying that enjoying life and laughter is totally futile. He built parks and vineyards and large houses, but it was all just a waste of time and resources. But God says in his word that He has made this day, everything good in it is a gift, and we should rejoice in it.(James1:17) (Psalm118:24) Then in chapter 2 he also repeats the fact that wisdom and work are meaningless.
 Chapter 3 starts off with a beautiful poem (it was even made into a song by the Byrds in 1965) then the teacher continues by acknowledging God's purpose and living our lives in the light of eternity.

1For everything there is a season,

a time for every activity under heaven.

2A time to be born and a time to die.

A time to plant and a time to harvest.

3A time to kill and a time to heal.

A time to tear down and a time to build up.

4A time to cry and a time to laugh.

A time to grieve and a time to dance.

5A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.

A time to embrace and a time to turn away.

6A time to search and a time to quit searching.

A time to keep and a time to throw away.

7A time to tear and a time to mend.

A time to be quiet and a time to speak.

8A time to love and a time to hate.

A time for war and a time for peace.

9What do people really get for all their hard work? 10I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. 11Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. 12So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. 13And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.

14And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God’s purpose is that people should fear him. 15What is happening now has happened before, and what will happen in the future has happened before, because God makes the same things happen over and over again.

  Then the teacher returns to the negative script and talks about how life is not fair. Well he is right about that. Sin is in our world. Bad things happen to good people, but God promises to never leave our side.(Deuteronomy 31:8)

   The teacher continues about the unfairness of life in Chapter 4, Then he adds a positive side note. He says that two people together can get more done together than they can seperately. If one falls, the other is there to help him get up. If a man falls alone, he is in trouble. Then he states the fact that three are even better. "A chord of three strands is not easily broken." (vs. 11) Then as a king, he says that he sees the futility of political power. God tells us to pray for our leaders and that He has placed them there for His purpose.(Romans 13:1)

  Chapter 5 begins with an exhortation to approach God with reverence. And if we make any promises to God, keep them, and keep them as quickly as possible. For it is better to say nothing, than to make a promise to Him and not keep it.(vs 5) He finishes up the chapter talking about how useless it is to be wealthy. God talks about money a lot in the Bible. Wealth is not useless and money is not bad according to God. Wealthy people who give to bring God glory can bless so many people.(Matthew 6:21) But we don't have to be wealthy to give. God can use a little to accomplish much. And it doesn't just have to be money. It could be our time and our talents as well.

 In chapter 6 the teacher talks some more about being rich verses being poor. He says that t both rich and poor get sick and they both die, the only difference is that the rich man leaves more behind that he never got the chance to enjoy. God tells us through Paul to be content whether rich or poor because God gives us the strength to live a fulfilled life in Him. (Philippians 4:12-13)

          Thanks to Phil Vischer (creator of Veggie Tales) for this clip from whatsinthebible.com

The book of Psalms

We can't illustrate every Psalm, so we are going to pick a few to draw and give an overview of the whole book by asking questions, and answering them.

 (1)Who wrote the Book of Psalms?
 The Book of Psalms was written by Moses, King David, Heman, Ethan, King Solomon, Asaph and the son's of Korah. So a lot of people were involved. Although King David wrote almost half of the Psalms.... and there are a few that we don't know who wrote them. What is nice is that, a lot of the Psalms give the author and a brief story of what was happening, and the significance of each one.

(2) How many years did it take to write the Book of Psalms?
 Believe it or not, Psalms was written over a span of nearly1000 years! From 1440 B.C. (during the time of Moses) to 586 B.C. The Psalms cover most of Israels history. (While they were in Egypt, when they escaped into the wilderness, and during the reign of their judges and kings, until the time of their captivity by the Babylonians.

(3) What is the purpose of the Book of Psalms?
 In the New testament, Psalms is referred to many times. It was and is considered a book of wisdom, teaching about God and getting to know God personally. It was actually written in song form. So, many of the Psalms read like poems, with stanzas, alliteration and rhyming. However, since they were translated from Jewish, they lost some of their rhythm.

(4) How are the Psalms applicable to me?
 The Book of Psalms are so full of prayers for many situations. We can read the Psalms from our own perspective and pray them back to God. (By the way, He loves when we pray His words back to Him) The Psalms express a wide range of emotions, from Joy, hope, trust, gratitude and praise, to despair, fear, and sorrow. We can use the Psalms to pray, worship, confess and praise God.

So as we mentioned in question/answer #3, Psalms teach us. What are some of the things that we
can learn from the Book of Psalms.
(A) It's OK to express how we feel to God, whether positive or negative.
(B) God cares for each of us. The Psalms reinforce our understanding of His love.
(C) The Psalms teach us that serving God and doing right is worth it.
(D) Some Psalms like Psalm 22 point to the coming of Jesus. So we can trust them.
(E) We learn what God desires from us in prayer and worship.

                                               PSALM 23
                                          a Psalm of David

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Even tho I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
Your rod and staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. .

More Pain and Suffering for Job (Job 2)

 Once again the angels came to present themselves before the LORD..... and once again Satan was there as well. Satan told God that he was continuing to move across the earth, checking things out.
  "Well, you must have seen that Job, the man you tested, has still not sinned, even though I allowed you to do some terrible things to his property and his family." God said.
  "Of course he didn't curse you or sin against you!" Satan retorted. "You have protected him from harm. A man would gladly trade everything he has as long as he is safe and in good health." Satan continued, "If you let me inflict his body with some disease or malady..... then I'm sure he will curse you and turn his back on you!"
  "Job is upright and blameless. He fears God and shuns evil. I will let you do what you have said, however, do not kill him." God responded.
 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD, and struck Job with painful boils from his toes to the top of his head. Job was in such intense pain that he went and sat on the ashes at a garbage dump. He found something and began scraping his skin because the boils were so itchy.

 How would you respond if you were Job? Of course we all feel like there are times when everything seems to be hitting us all at once. In Job's case, it really was! There are many choices we can make when facing the difficulties of life. 1. We can feel sorry for ourselves. 2. We can get angry at the situation, people around us, or God. 3. We can throw our hands up in the air and give up. 4. We can trust God (Proverbs 30:5), know that He loves us (1 John 3:1), and that He would never leave us (Deuteronomy 31:6). 

Job chose to trust God. He knew that God loved him and that God would not leave him. Job's wife on the other hand chose differently. We cannot be too hard on Job's wife though. Remember, she too lost all her possessions and her children.  Now she was watching her husband suffering right in front of her! So I can understand her response to Job's pain when she said to him, "Job! Are you still clinging to your integrity? Enough is enough! Just curse God and die!"
  Job answered his wife,  "My dear wife, you are  foolishly speaking out of anger and fear. Are we supposed to accept all the good things that God gives us, but not accept His decision when He takes things away?" In all his suffering, Job did not sin with his lips.

 Job realized that God does not owe us anything and that every good thing that God gives us is a gift. (James 1:17) 

Three of Job's friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar heard about all that had happened to Job and decided to go as a group to comfort, console, and mourn with their friend. They heard that Job was sitting near the garbage dump and headed toward it. While they were a distance off, they saw a man sitting there, but he was covered by so many boils that they did not even recognize him.  When they finally realized that it was Job, tears filled their eyes. They tore their robes and put ashes on their foreheads. Then they sat down with Job in silence for seven days. Seven days was the customary time of mourning for the dead. (Genesis 50:10) Job's friends joined him in mourning for his children as well as for his circumstances.
  Job's friends had good intentions. They loved their friend.  Their compassionate presence was just what Job needed at the time. We can learn from them. Sometimes a ministry of presence is just what a person needs when they are mourning of suffering. No words, just compassion and care. 
  In the next 35 chapters we will see how Job's friends opened their mouths and messed up the good they had done by initially sitting with Job in his grief.

Nehemiah (1and2) Nehemiah Decides to Rebuild the Wall

  It had been 100 years since God touched the hearts of the Persian kings and allowed the Jewish exiles to return to Judah/Jerusalem and 40 years since God's temple had been rebuilt. The book of Nehemiah is unique. It was written by Nehemiah in the first person style. Which means he wrote of everything that happened to him and around him from his vantage point. So we are going to let Nehemiah tell the story in his own words. So whenever you read the words Me or myself or I, it is Nehemiah talking about himself.
  Hi, my name, as you already know is Nehemiah. For the past one hundred years, my countrymen, the Jews, have been making the 800 mile trek from Persian back to Jerusalem. Many of my friends and family have made the journey. But I have remained here in Persian. Mostly because I have a comfortable life here. I work for the king and live in his palace. I am the king's cup bearer, which means I taste the king's drink and food to make sure no one is trying to poison him. Yes, it is a dangerous job, but it is also a respected job because the king trusts me. Sometimes he even asks for my advice on some issues that arise in his kingdom. But I do miss my friends and family.
  So you can imagine my excitement when I heard that my brother and some of his friends were returning to Persia for a visit. When I heard that my brother was inside the kingdom walls, I ran out to meet him and his friends. My heart was beating as I asked how he and all the returning exiles were doing back in Jerusalem. But my heart sank when my brother answered, "Not good."
  "Why? what is going on?." I asked.
  "Without a wall around the city, the people are afraid to leave their homes, especially the women and children." My brother answered and then continued."The men are fearful that some neighboring countries will send troops through the city and snatch up all the women and children and the temple has yet to be decorated with the ornate silver and gold pieces that originally graced the walls and sanctuary."

  The walls had been torn down and burned by the Babylonians more than a hundred years ago. I knew it was not good for the people to live in fear. How can people live a God honoring life if they are afraid to come out of their own homes? I became very sad for the people there. I even began to cry. For many days after I hears the news, I fasted and prayed to the God of Heaven. I confessed my sin and the sin of all my people. I reminded God of His promise to restore His people and His city if we returned to Him through repentance, worship and obedience. I prayed for about four months that God would do something to help the people. Then something changed. I felt God telling me that I was the one that He was calling to go and help the people and rebuild the wall around Jerusalem.

  God is amazing that way. Prayer is not only asking God, but listening to Him. As we present our requests to Him, He slowly changes our hearts and guides us into His will. As you continue to pray for someone or some situation, listen. God may changing your heart and prompting you to be His tool for His purpose in that very situation!

  Ok, so I heard the clear voice of God. I was supposed to go back to Jerusalem, get the people together, and lead the reconstruction of the wall around Jerusalem. But there was one problem. Approaching the king with this idea was causing me much angst. The king did not even like if anyone was sad around him, let alone make such a life changing request. He could have me thrown in a dungeon, or even worse, put to death! I prayed that God would calm my soul and put just the right words in my mouth.
  I remember it was a beautiful spring morning. I had never appeared sad before the king before, but this particular morning I was feeling so much compassion for my fellow countrymen back in Jerusalem, that my face reflected my sadness. The king noticed and asked me what was wrong. I was
badly frightened, but replied. "Long live the king! I am sad because the city where my ancestors are buried is in ruins. The wall has been torn down and the gates burned."
  Then the king asked, "What can I do for you?"
  "Ok.... this was my chance..... don't blow it." I thought to myself so under my breath I said a very quick prayer to the God of Heaven, and answered. "If it please the king and you are pleased with me as your servant, I humbly request that you let me go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall around the city."

 Next time we will see if the king throws Nehemiah in the dungeon for asking such a thing, or if he grants his request. One thing we found out about Nehemiah so far.... he is definitely a man of prayer.

The Fall of Judah (2Kings 24 &25) and Ezra

 After Josiah, The next 4 kings were bad. (They didn't do right in the eyes of the Lord)  The kings led the people of Judah away from the Lord. They broke the covenant that God had made with them, which meant that their land would become desolate and the people would be scattered, just as it had happened to Israel 136 years earlier when they were taken over by the Assyrians. The four "bad" kings were Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah. During the third king's reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, surrounded Jerusalem. He went into the temple and carried out most of the gold and silver that was in there. He also took many of the officials and the king as captives. The people of Judah had one last chance to turn back to God, but the next king, Zedekiah, continued to turn his back on God. 

 God is the God of 2nd 3rd 4th and so on chances. Don't ever feel like you've crossed the line of forgiveness and that you can't come back to God. Just confess it to God (which means that you agree with Him that is was wrong) and repent. (Which means turning away from the wrong doing and turning back to God)

King Nebuchadnezzar and his troops continued to surround Jerusalem for the next eleven years. The food ran out and all the people fled. As they were fleeing, King Zedekiah was captured. Then Some of the Babylonians went into Jerusalem and destroyed walls of the city and burnt the temple of God to the ground. They took what few Jews that remained back to Babylon and made them servants and slaves. With all the people gone, the wall torn down and the temple destroyed, the message that the Lord had given through the prophet Jeremiah came to pass. 'The land laid desolate for 70 years.' During the seventy years, the Babylonian empire was taken over by Persia.  .... That concludes the book of 2Kings.
 The next two books of the Bible are 1Chronicles and 2 Chronicles. These two books are recounts of the two Kings books. They begin with the first King of Israel, King Saul, then David's life is recalled with a few more details and finally King Solomon.  After King Solomon died,  2Chronicles  tells of how Israel split into the north kingdom, (Israel) and the south kingdom, (Judah). Finally the fall of Israel and the fall of Judah were covered. So we will pick up our story seventy years after the fall of Judah in the book of Ezra.

 The book of Ezra picks up where 2 Kings left off. Babylon had fallen to the Persians and in the first year of Persian King Cyrus' rule, God touched his heart. The king made a proclamation that all the Jews that were in the land could return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. The king also personally brought out valuable items that King Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple. Then he ordered that every single item that was taken from the temple be given to the Jews so that they could return them once the temple was rebuilt. Ezra chapter 2 covers a list of all the Jewish exiles that were returning to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Chapter 3 describes the first phase of the rebuilding, which was the altar, and then the beginning of the temple rebuild. In Chapter 4, the Jews face opposition when a new king is in charge. The Jews had to put the rebuilding of the temple on hold until the next king, Darius, became ruler of the Persian empire. He reviewed the decree of King Cyrus, and allowed the Jews to resume the rebuilding of the temple. With all the opposition to the rebuilding, it took over 40 years to complete, then Ezra the prophet returned to Jerusalem with many of the Jewish exiles. Chapter 8 of the book of Ezra gives family names of the returning exiles. Ezra made sacrifices in the temple and the people confessed their sins.


Sometimes God touches peoples hearts to fulfill His purposes. Sometimes He touches our hearts too. When God puts something on your heart it is called a burden. He wants you to act. But He won't force you to do anything. If we follow Jesus, we will have burdens placed on our hearts. God may want to bless someone through your actions. And guess what? Then we get blessed too! 

David's own son rebels against him (2 Samuel 13-17)

 Two years later, David's two sons, Amnon and Absalom, got in a terrible fight. Finally Absalom ended up killing Amnon. When David found out about it, he was heartbroken. Absalom left Israel
and went to stay with his grandfather Talmai, in the territory of Geshur. He stayed there for three years. Finally David stopped mourning for his son Amnon and longed to be reunited with Absalom.
David called in his right hand man, Joab, and asked him to go to Geshur to bring back Absalom. But David was still unsure about seeing Absalom. So even though Absalom was staying at a house in Jerusalem for two years, David never sent for him. Absalom was getting tired of waiting and he confronted Joab. "Why did the king summon me to Jerusalem if he never intended to even see me? I was better off staying in Gershun!"
 "I will tell the king how upset you are." Joab replied. "Perhaps he will finally request your presence."
Then at last David summoned his estranged son and Absalom bowed down before the king and David kissed him. But Absalom held contempt in his heart for his father.

After that, Absalom began hanging out at the city gate and greeting the people. Many of them were on the way to see the king with their problems. Absalom intercepted them. "Too bad the king is so busy and won't be able to hear your concerns, however, I as his son, would be glad to act as an advisor in any situation you have."
 The people were very grateful and started to bow down before him, but Absalom stopped them and instead, he gave them a big hug. So in this way, Absalom began to steal the hearts of the people in David's kingdom. He did this for four years until he felt like he had the loyalty of enough people to take over Israel!

 One day Absalom came before the king and asked for permission to go back to Geshur to make a sacrifice there. David granted the request and while Absalom was there, he sent word to all of Israel that he was starting a rebellion against the king.  The rebellion soon gained momentum and Absalom had many, many people on his side.
  Of course the news about the rebellion reached David quickly, but it was too late. Absalom was being crowned king of Hebron and he was getting ready to take over Jerusalem. David urged his men, "Hurry! If we leave the city quickly, Jerusalem will be spared a horrible disaster."
There was great sadness as David and his men crossed the city and headed toward the Valley of Kidron and then into the wilderness.

Imagine how David must have felt. He forgave his son for the horrible thing that he did, and now his son has betrayed him! Have you ever forgiven someone only to have them hurt you again? Let's see how David handles the situation and how it all turns out. Don't forget, after David's terrible sin, God told him that his family would suffer many things.... even death. I'm sure David was hurt, but maybe not surprised.

As they reached their destination in the wilderness David turned to his advisor, Hushai. I want you to go back to Jerusalem. Tell Absalom that you will be his advisor. If he asks about your loyalty to me. Tell him that you are not loyal to a person, but to whomever is king. Then when he asks for your expertise, give him faulty advise. In time, his kingship will falter and the people will see that he is not king material.
 So Hushai arrived in Jerusalem just as Absalom was arriving. He offered his services to Absalom and told him what David had suggested. Absalom already had an advisor. His name was Ahithophel. But he agreed to keep two advisors and choose which ever advice he deemed best.
 After Absalom had settled into the throne. He called in his two advisors. Of course they each had different advice. God put it into Absalom's heart to choose Hushai's advice because it would bring disaster upon him.
 Hushai sent word to David about Absalom's plan. He advised David and his men to pull up camp, cross the Jordan river and head into the wilderness. So David and his men took Hushai's advice. Absalom and his men showed up at the Jordan river shortly afterward. But David and his men were not there.
 Next time we will see what God has in store for Absalom and David.