Daily Bible Study

June 11, 2026 Bible Study — Man Needs an Intermediary in Order to Stand in the Presence of God

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Job 6-10.

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I struggle with reading the Book of Job, not because of its message, but because of its poetry.  I get caught up in the imagery at various places and lose track of the point being made by the person who is speaking.  The passage begins with Job responding to Eliphaz.  He starts by saying that his pain and discomfort have led him to speak rashly.  Job then goes into a rant where he attempts to put into words his torment.  His suffering has taken him beyond thinking that God is not listening to his prayers.  Job says that he feels like God is attacking him.  Yet, he does not know why.  That last bit leads Bildad to speak.  Bildad is sure that Job must have some sin of which he is guilty.  According to Bildad all Job needs to do is repent of his sin and turn once more to righteousness.  To make his point, Bildad tells Job that we can learn by studying history that God will not reject the righteous, nor will He partner with the wicked.

Job acknowledges that Bildad has a point about God bringing good things to the righteous and torment to the wicked.  But then Job points out that no one can be truly righteous before God.  Job tells his friends that he is overwhelmed at the thought of standing before God, even though he wishes he could make his case before Him.  This leads him to wish for an arbiter, for an intermediary, to stand between him and God.  That last bit is why we need Jesus.  No created being could be great enough to stand before God as an intermediary for man.  Any created being would be too weak to do any better stand before God than a man.  So, God Himself needed to be our intermediary, but in order for us to feel able to approach Him, He needed to take on human form.  Thus we needed Jesus, God incarnate, as our intermediary.  Jesus we can approach.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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June 10, 2026 Bible Study — Dealing With Misfortune and Suffering

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Today, I am reading and commenting on  Job 1-5.

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When Job received word that all of his great wealth had been lost and that his children had died in a natural disaster he did not curse God, or even complain.  Rather, he mourned his losses and then worshiped God.  He recognized that all that he had had had come from the Lord and so it was God’s right to take it away if He so chose.  Even when God allowed Job to physically suffer Job’s initial response was to accept that as God’s right.  We should strive to face misfortune with the same faith in God which Job displayed through the first two chapters (this is not to say that Job did wrong in the later chapters, just that his example in the first two chapters is clear what he is says later requires more interpretation to understand).

After Job’s friends were with him for a week, Job felt the need to vent.  He spoke, at least in part, to distract himself from his pain, as many of us sometimes do when we have great pain or discomfort.  I feel for Eliphaz at this point, because he felt that he needed to try to relieve some of Job’s discomfort by giving him hope that it would get better.  I have the same problem when I am with people I care about who are suffering.  That wasn’t what Job needed here.  I struggle with this, but Eliphaz, and the other friends, should have stayed silent or just expressed empathy for Job’s suffering.  Actually Eliphaz’ problem was that he did not know when to stop.  I think that what Eliphaz said in the first six verses of chapter four were good things to say in response to Job’s lament.  Here Eliphaz reminds Job of the good he had done in the past and that he should put his confidence in God and maintain his integrity.  But then Eliphaz says some things which suggest that the source of Job’s suffering was sin, which even if it was true was not the right thing to say at this moment,  Then in chapter five verse eight Eliphaz again says something helpful, “I would seek God and to God would I commit my cause.”  That is further advice which we can give to those who are suffering.  If your suffering is God disciplining you, seek Him and He will show you what He wants you to do.  However, if our suffering is for some other reason, if we seek God and commit ourselves to serving Him, He will use us to show others God.  Perhaps our suffering will allow God to draw others to Him.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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June 9, 2026 Bible Study — Thoughts

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Esther 8-10.

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In the past when I read this passage I could not quite wrap my head around why Mordecai’s edict allowed the Jews to completely defeat their enemies.  At first blush when you read Mordecai’s edict and compare it to Haman’s edict it seems like you would end up with a civil war and that the Jews, being a minority, would get the worst of it.  Now one could look at it and see that Mordecai was alive and a rising power in the empire and that the king certainly would favor his queen’s people over their enemies.  So, one can see that any government officials who did not hate the Jews would lean towards their side our of self-interest.  Which brings me to the thing that I noticed today.  Both edicts allowed those who killed their enemies to plunder their goods, but the passage tells us that the Jews did not lay their hands on the plunder.  Well, if the Jews did not gather the plunder to which they were entitled, where did it end up?  A lot of it would have ended up in the hands of government officials, either in their role as a government official to be spent on government projects, or in their personal role as someone who could use their position to take possession of “unclaimed goods.”  In either of those cases, they would be predisposed to favor the Jews.

On another note, many scholars say that the Book of Esther is historical fiction rather than a description of actual events.  I can understand why they would think that when I look at what we know.  I will list a few of the facts which they use to justify their position.  First, we have no archeological evidence for Queen Vashti, or even non-Jewish references to her.  Second the Book of Esther says that Persian had 127 provinces, while ancient historians (such as Herodotus) list it as having between 20 and 36 provinces.  I don’t have a specific answer to these objections, but the first one is what is called an ‘argument of silence.”  Or to put it another way, absence of evidence is not proof of absence.  If we had writings about Queen Vashti it would bolster the historicity of the Book of Esther, but its absence does not in any way undermine it.  As for the number of provinces I look at the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.  Both of those read to me as if Judah was sort of a sub-province to province of Trans-Euphrates.  It seems as if officially the governor of Trans-Euphrates had authority over Judah, yet Nehemiah ruled Judah as governor and answered only to the king of Persia.   There may have been many such sub-provinces and the author of the Book of Esther was counting them all as provinces.  My final thought on the historicity of the Book of Esther comes from the fact that I find all of the other suggested origins for the Jewish holiday Purim unsatisfactory.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

 

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June 8, 2026 Bible Study — Do Not Allow Hate to Poison Our Joy

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Esther 4-7.

I have a Youtube video of me reading the Scripture passage and my comments. Please check it out and let me know your thoughts.

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We again see a contrast between Esther and Haman in today’s passage, although this time it is not one of the opposite side of the same coin.  When Mordecai first tells Esther to go the the king and plead for the Jewish people, she is afraid to do so.  Mordecai’s response carries two important lessons for us.  First, no matter how privileged our position, we should not think it will protect us if we keep silent in the face of injustice.  If we are in a position to stop injustice and do not act, God will bring about a stop to that injustice by another means, but we will suffer for our failure to act.  Acting according to God’s will may carry great risk, but refusing to do what He has sent us to do does carry great penalties.  Second, whatever blessings God has given us He gave us so that we might help others. Additionally, Mordecai and the Jews of Susa also had a role to play in Esther’s action.  That role was more passive, but their taking the time and effort to fast and pray for her safety when she went before the king should not be dismissed (I know the passage does not mention prayer, but it seems implied to me).

Now, I want to look at Haman in today’s passage.  After being invited to Queen Esther’s feast along with the king, Haman was overjoyed for the honor of the invitation.  Yet, he allowed his joy to be spoiled by Mordecai.  When he got home, Haman recounted to his friends his blessings, but he counted those blessings as worthless as long as Mordecai could sit at the king’s gate.  Haman allowed his hate of one man to poison the joy he should have taken in his many blessings and honor.  Esther was willing to sacrifice her blessings and her life to save others.  Haman’s actions led to his death.  Esther’s brought her even greater blessings and honor.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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June 07, 2026 Bible Study — Treat Everyone With Respect

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Esther 1-3.

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The first two chapters of the Book of Esther set the stage for the rest of the book.  That doesn’t mean that we cannot learn from them.  In the account of Esther’s behavior towards Hegai, the eunuch put in charge of the women before they were presented to the king, there is a hint of humility along with a strong suggestion that she treated him with respect and dignity.  Whereas, the passage hints that the other women treated Hegai as beneath them, as a mere servant.  The suggestion is that she won the king’s favor because of her personality traits.  The text clearly states that she was beautiful, but implies that she did not think that her beauty, or her heritage, made her special.  I really think that the writer is contrasting Esther’s humility with Haman’s arrogance.  Haman wanted to be seen as special and above others.  Esther’s humility led to her rise.  Haman’s arrogance led to his fall.

Let’s look at this a little closer.  Esther thought well of servants and took their advice.  Esther did not make known the the court that she was a Jewess or that Mordecai was her cousin who had raised her.  Yet, the court servants would have known there was some sort of relation between them, even if they did not know that fact (and they very well may have known that as well).  The servants would have known because Mordecai came by daily for news of Esther.  Additionally, when Mordecai learned of the assassination plot against the king, he passed the news along through Esther.  So, if Haman had thought to speak to the servants about Mordecai, he would have learned that Mordecai was related to Queen Esther.  He might have even learned that Mordecai had revealed a plot to assassinate the king.  Esther did not see anyone as below her.  Haman looked down on those he considered beneath him.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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June 6, 2026 Bible Study — Do Not Enter Into Partnership With Unbelievers

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Nehemiah 11-13.

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I wrote about this last year, but I want to mention it to start my blog today.  The timeline in chapter thirteen is confusing.  However, most of it seems to be about events which happened during Nehemiah’s second stint as governor of Jerusalem and Judah.  When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem after spending some time in the court of Artaxerxes, he found a lot of things had gone wrong in his absence.  The passage seems to suggest that the root of the problem was the actions of the men who made alliances with those who were opponents of the returned exiles by marrying their daughters (and probably giving their daughters in marriage to them).  It mentions that the high priest was related to Tobiah and that his son had married a daughter of Sanballat.  Tobiah and Sanballat had conspired to prevent the Jews from rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem.  The passage also mentions that other men had married women of the region.  Further it tells us that they allowed many of their children to be raised in the pagan culture of their wives.  Overall it reminds me of what Paul says in 2 Corinthians about being unequally yoked with an unbeliever.  These marriages were business and political alliances with power players of the region.  The reason they were a problem was because the men who entered into them put their economic and political fortunes ahead of being faithful to God.  Nehemiah warns them and us that if we enter into such alliances, especially through marriage, our partners will lead us into sin.  We must be careful not to put anything above God.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

 

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June 5, 2026 Bible Study – Confess Our Sins and Commit to Being Faithful Going Forward

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Nehemiah 9-10.

I have a Youtube video of me reading the Scripture passage and my comments. Please check it out and let me know your thoughts.

Also, here is the link for my Patreon page

 

 

In yesterday’s passage I discussed how the people were grief stricken when they heard the Book of the Law and realized the extent to which they and their forebearers had betrayed God.  However, they were told not to grieve because they were gathered for a holy festival to rejoice and praise God.  They did as instructed, but did not forget their grief.  On the twenty-fourth day of the month they re-assembled to express their grief and confess their sins.  That is described in today’s passage.  We need to understand that their is a time to rejoice in God and a time to mourn for our failure to be faithful.  When it is time to rejoice let us rejoice.  When it is time to confess our sins and mourn our failures, let us do so.

Their leaders prayed and itemized the failures which these people and their ancestors had done before God.  They acknowledged that those sins had led to their current position of suffering and that God was just to bring that suffering upon them.  However, they did not stop there.  They developed a plan of action about what they would do going forward and committed themselves to following that plan.  They committed themselves to do God’s will going forward and to worship God with their entire being.  Let us seek to do likewise.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

 

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June 4, 2026 Bible Study — Read God’s Word

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Nehemiah 7-8.

I have a Youtube video of me reading the Scripture passage and my comments. Please check it out and let me know your thoughts.

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I was tempted to just copy and paste what I wrote on this passage last year because I really like what I wrote last year.  After I read the passage I decided to not to do that.  When the people answerable to Nehemiah gathered  on the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the scribe read from the Book of the Law.  As I understand the passage, Ezra read a passage from the Law and several Levites stood at various points repeating what Ezra had just read so that those further away could understand what he said.  Then before Ezra read the next part, he explained what he had just read.  They continued this until Ezra completed the reading of the Law.  The passage tells us that the people wept as they heard the words of the Law.  This reminds me of the way Josiah reacted when the Book of the Law was read to him. That suggests to me that the people in this account felt that they and their forebears had sinned because they had not properly kept the Law of God up until now.  However, Nehemiah and Ezra, and the others who were teaching the people, told them not to  mourn because the day was a day for feasting and rejoicing to praise God.  The people listened to those instructions and put aside their grief for their sins.  They feasted on what they had brought for feasting and shared with those who had not adequately prepared for the feast.

On the second day of the month, the leaders of the people gathered with Ezra in order to do a more detailed study of the Law.  I am not sure if this gathering on the second day was pre-planned or if it was a response to what the people heard on the first day.  In either case, it was a good idea.  The leaders of the people discussed the implications of the Law and came up with a plan for how they should study the Book of the Law.  Then for the rest of the seven days of the festival, Ezra read from the Book of the Law each day.  There was value in them hearing the same thing day after day.  In the same way, there is value for us in reading God’s word each day.  This passage encourages me in re-reading the Bible each year, with a Bible passage for each day.  I want to encourage you to do the same.  I want to encourage you to read it, but if that is too much you can listen to my recording of the passage, or someone else reading passages.  And don’t just listen to someone reading passages you like.  Find an audiobook or video series which reads through the Bible in a year.  I have learned a lot by doing these blogs, and since I have been doing the video recording of reading the passages it has opened up even more to me.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

 

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June 3, 2026 Bible Study — Doing God’s Will in the Face of Opposition

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Nehemiah 4-6.

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I want to start with something Nehemiah wrote in chapter five verse seventeen. “Moreover, there were at my table 150 men, Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us.”  I am touching on this because I think it gives insight into the relationship between the returned exiles (whom Nehemiah refers to as “Jews”) and the nations around them.  I think that this here goes along with the Ezra 6:21 where we are told that the people of the land who separated themselves from unclean practices were allowed to eat of the Passover lamb.  Here Nehemiah accepted at his table to eat with him those who came to them from the nations around them.  These were some of those who had left the practices of the peoples of the land and joined with the practices of the Jews.  I am mentioning this because I think it provides context to later passages in Nehemiah which could be read as looking down on the peoples of the land for being the peoples of the land, when this, and the passage from Ezra chapter six, suggest that the separation was about the actions of the people who were rejected, not who they were by birth.

Having written that I want to go back and look at why Nehemiah’s defenses worked.  I have always wondered why Nehemiah’s defenses worked in the face of overwhelming odds.  It struck me today that all along I have missed something.  Nehemiah’s enemies, Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, knew that Nehemiah had the support of Artaxerxes.  So their plan was to sabotage the wall, and kill some of the workers, then escape without being identified.  Nehemiah’s defensive plans meant that they could not accomplish that final piece of the plan.  Their planned attack would have been interpreted by Artaxerxes as rebellion against him.  If it could be tracked back to them, Artaxerxes would have sent his army against them.  Nehemiah’s enemies had sufficient strength to defeat Nehemiah, but not sufficient to stand against the king of Persia.  There are more lessons here than this, but it teaches us an important lesson.  We do not need to be able to withstand opposition.  God just calls us to stand up against it to do His will.  This passage shows us how standing up for what is right can succeed even when we lack the strength to stop our opposition.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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June 2, 2026 Bible Study — Pray and Plan

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Today, I am reading and commenting on  Nehemiah 1-3.

I have a Youtube video of me reading the Scripture passage and my comments. Please check it out and let me know your thoughts.

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I don’t remember if I pointed this out last year, but I think it is important to bring up as part of setting the stage.  For a long time I assumed that the broken down walls and burnt gates were leftover from the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem.  More recently I have come to understand that the walls of Jerusalem had been rebuilt to at least some extent since the exiles returned to Jerusalem and then been destroyed again.  So when Hanani told Nehemiah that the wall of Jerusalem was broken down and the gates burned, it was news that indicated a change of state from what Nehemiah had known about Jerusalem.  Nehemiah’s reaction to this news was to begin praying.  Nehemiah’s prayer seemed to contain three parts.  First, he acknowledged that God was just in causing suffering for the descendants of Jacob.  Second, he declared an intent to turn back to God.  Third, he requested that God give him aid and direction in fixing the problem.

However, in addition to praying, Nehemiah planned.  When he appeared before Artaxerxes, he was prepared to answer the questions which the king asked of him.  Not only did he have answers to the king’s questions, he was prepared with additional requests when it became obvious that his initial request met with the king’s support.  Nehemiah did not just pray for God to take care of things.  He prayed to God but also made plans to address the problems of which he was aware.   We should follow this model: pray and plan.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.