PSA Bible Reading Challenge 2023-2024

There are very few places in Chronicles where you find a narrative. Some of the places in these chapters you will find the infamous prayer of Jabez, Chronicles 4, where culturally it has become a pseudo-prosperity Gospel. But there is nothing wrong in praying that the Lord would protect us and keep us. There is also a narrative dealing with in chapter 5 which describes the apostasy, so what’s new, of the Israelites and how as a result of the apostasy God abandoned them and allowed them to be taken into captivity. What we can’t forget in what might feel like somewhat mundane recitation of names is that the nation of Israel’s building block is built around memory and never forgetting who the Lord is and how the Lord has brought us this far. This memory has to be instilled and built up over the centuries. This recitation of names is more than just that, it is also a reminder of the constant faithfulness of the Lord. God has been faithful to me and to all those who preceeded me, is what is meant by these names.

Proverbs can pretty much be summed up with this one verse that we find in 12:1b – “those who hate to be rebuked are stupid.” I have never thought that calling something stupid was either a good argument or a way in which God would want us to talk. But here we have a real dichotomy of good vs. evil and the author has no hesitation in calling that which is evil stupid. There is also a strong sense that those who work for their living are really doing that which the Lord would consider righteous. There is so much back and forth between good and evil, the wise and the foolish, that which is blessed by God and that which is cursed. The path, if you were only to read Proverbs, seems pretty clear and pretty straightforward. But I think we know better. The good aren’t always blessed, actually they seem to be, at times, less blessed than the bad.

Titus has a few jewels tucked away in its three chapters as well. He makes a distinction between those who profess the faith and those who actually live the faith. That is a truth which is very applicable to today. There is an encouragement that our lives would reflect the piety that is required by God for anyone who calls himself or herself a disciple of Jesus.

I had forgotten what happened at the end of Esther, and I’m kinda wishing I had kept forgetting it. So, yes, the Jews are saved which is really the point of the story that Esther was able to, in her position as Queen and a Hebrew woman, save her people because she was willing to risk her life. But then the roles are reversed where the Jewish people not only are saved, but they go on a rampage against their enemies. I know Old Testament, right, but this one line really bother me and reminds me of what happened in the worst of times in Christian history. Look at Esther 8:17 where we read that many professed to be Jews, even when they weren’t, because they were afraid of the people of descendants of Abraham. Now this is troubling. Does God really want people who aren’t really His followers but rather are only professing to be His people because otherwise they just might be killed. I would think not.

So Esther ends with the people of God killing all of their enemies and this celebration has been passed down to generations to even today. I didn’t realize this dark side of the story of Esther or this dark side of the story of Purim, which would be the decimation of the enemies. Is there no in between instead of full peace or full destruction? It seemed like here there wasn’t. It does remind me a bit of what is happening in Gaza today. History certainly does have a way of repeating itself.

I love the story of Queen Esther. If you have not seen the Veggie Tales rendition of it, I highly recommed it. You can find it here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyMpbGYR-0A

It is this story that is celebrated in the festival of Purim. I have not attended the festival of Purim but apparently it is quite an event. Mordecai as the real villan is lambasted and the children take part fully in the festival. It reminds me a bit, just a little bit, of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, where people get fully engaged and involved in the movie. Again, not something that I have been to, but I have heard about it.

There is no stronger line in all of Esther than Mordecai’s words where he tells her: Maybe for such a time as this… This should be our theme in all times of our lives. Maybe it is for such a time as this that the Lord has chosen us, has asked us to serve Him in whatever capacity that he might want us to serve. If we keep that thougth before us, that the Lord has chosen us to serve Him in such a time as this, then there is no limit to what we can do in his name.

There is a pervading thought that the day of the Lord, judgment day, is one that many look forward to and are wanting to come quickly. Zephania gives us another perspectice on judgment day. While Paul speaks about a trumpet sounding and all of us being raised up with God, which is a celebration, Zephania speaks of the Day of the Lord as a terrible day in that judgment just may not be what we expect it to be. We need to be really careful in not taking our faith in God for granted. Our approach to God has to be one of reverence and awe and not one of entitlement and casualness otherwise the surprise on judgment day will not be a good one.

Proverbs once again matches in each verse what is going to happen to those who are righteous and offsets that with what is going to happen to those who are wicked. I was struck by these verses, 24-25, which, without going into the prosperity Gospel, tells us pretty clearly what happens when we tithe, which is that God meets our need. When we don’t we find ourselves often in need. It is counterintuitive, but it is how God works.

The baseline for the first two Scriptures, Amos and Obadiah, is continual prophecies against the nations of Israel and Juday because of their unfaithfulness by following other gods. This should be a theme that you have heard before because it is so recurring. Judah has disobeyed God and so has been destroyed. But be sure that you don’t laugh at Judah, oh northern kingdom of Israel, because you are also going to be destroyed. Interestingly historically it is Israel that is taken off into exile and then Judah.

Proverbs also provides the basic teaching that if you do what the Lord requires He will provide you with blessings. But if you disobey then you will experience of life which is a repercussion for your disobedience. Now, we know that this isn’t always true, but there is a certain wisdom that is imparted which mentions that a wise and hard working son brings pleasure to the father and lazy son brings ruin to a mother. Yeah, that’s the truth.

As I was reading along I was thinking to myself, so when exactly did Amos live? Stacy said it was sometime around Isaiah and I thought, so when did Isaiah live? I realized that the years and the kings and what was happening in the life of Israel and Judah was probably more fuzzy to me than it should be. So I looked it up and found this. This is a chart of the prophets who were in both Israel and Judah. We read as a beginning in the prophet Amos that he lived during the reigns of both Uzziah of Judah and of Jeroboam of Israel.

He speaks out not only against the two kingdoms, but also against those countries surrounding the two kingdoms. If you look at chapter 5 it is the one that is used most often in social justice circles, especially vs. 24. But really the entire chapter is a scolding against Israel that it has overlooked and even trampled upon the needs of the poor and the destitute and only looked after the amassing of wealth. It is a good lesson to all of us today.

We are very familiar with Psalm 23 and there is a temptation to jump right there. But our readings purposefully build us up to Psalm 23 with the introduction of Psalm 22. This first Psalm gives us some insight into the mindset of David. He is calling for deliverance, he is calling for help amidst a certain life situation which is overwhelming and potentially sure destruction. But we see a lean in Psalm 22 to deliverance, and then the complete deliverance in Psalm 23. The assurance that God is the one who will protect and keep even in the midst of times of trial.

Psalm 24 takes us to the temple where we can offer sacrifices and sing praises to the God who does deliver. As a result we are called from deliverance to reliance upon wisdom, Proverbs 9, for all of our ways. It is one thing to be delivered, it is one thing to offer sacrifices and give thanks for our deliverance, but now we need to make sure that we don’t find ourselves right back to where we were calling out for deliverance. Only wisdom can do that, only wisdom given from God can keep us for good out of trouble. Wisdom is a good thing after which we ought to strive.

While we don’t hear again about the command of God for the prophet to marry an unfaithful woman, we do continue to see the unfaithfulness of both Israel and Judah. Israel is certainly emphasized, but Judah is also mentioned. We read a number of time the image of a lion who roars and devours. The Narnia series continue to stay with me every since I read them as a child. The mention of a lion can’t help but stir up good old memories of me where God was certainly seen as powerful, not necessarily safe, but completely good.

Like Psalms of lament this book of the Bible does end with a promise of forgiveness and restoration. It took a while, thirteen chapters, to get to this place, but we do see that the people of God will not only come back to God but also come back to the land that God had established for them. I found that as I read through this book of the Bible I was a bit out of breath. So much destruction for the people of God because of their unfaithfulness. It is deserved, but still disturbing. We see more than once images of pregnant women and children being dashed against the rock. I guess we can only take so much of that.

It is unusual to have a prophet that speaks against both Isreal and Judah. If you notice both of these nations, because at this point this is where they are at, nations, have turned against the Lord. Hosea is a bit of a rated R book of the Bible, but we must cover it. The first two chapters describe God commanding his prophet to marry someone who is incredibly unfaithful. I don’t like the word prostitute because the real victim in that case is actually the prostitute herself who is in today’s day and age probably trafficked to become a prostitute. Very few women choose to be prostitutes in this day and age, so this is not what this speak to. This speak to a woman who chooses to be unfaithful. Hosea is told to marry someone like that, whom you know that no matter what she will look for and find other men to lie with even though she is married.

What I feel the most sorry for are the children who are produced as a result of this marriage. They are given terrible names that represent the unfaithfulness of this marriage and their mother. Now, granted, at the end of the chapter 2 things do start to turn around, but still, their whole life they have been going through a bit of an identity crisis with the names that they have been given. Remember, this is a clear metaphor, though, on how unfaithful the people of God have been, both Judah and Israel, and how they have chosen other gods to follow in spite of the faithfulness of God. God remains faithful, we do not. That’s the theme which applies to us today as well. God is faithful, we are not.