Monthly Archives: September 2025

Daily Bible Study

October 1, 2025 Bible Study — Do We Follow Worthless Shepherds?

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Zechariah 11-14.

Last year I wrote that today’s passage is a bit confusing.  Today as I read it I find myself thinking that I just don’t see how it all fits together.  We have the prophecy concerning the shepherds and the thirty pieces of silver, then a little later the prophecy about people looking on the one they had pierced.  These are both prophecies concerning Jesus but I do not see how they tie together, if they tie together.  Having said that I want to go back to the beginning of the passage where Zechariah gives a prophecy concerning shepherds.  At the end of that prophecy, God tells Zechariah that He is going to raise up a shepherd who will not care for the lost, seek the young, heal the injured, or even feed the healthy.  This shepherd will exploit the flock for his own pleasure.  God completes this prophecy by condemning this worthless shepherd.  It seems to me that this part of this prophecy is a warning to us about those leaders who rise up seeking only their own interests with not care for the interests of those they lead.  All too often the Church allows itself to be deceived by leaders who seek their own advancement rather than serving the Lord.

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

I have created a Patreon page for those who would like to support me in writing these blog posts every day: https://patreon.com/AttilaSoldus

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September 30, 2025 Bible Study — If We Do Not Listen When God Calls to Us, He Will Not Listen When We Call to Him

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Zechariah 7-10.

Zechariah prophesies that at one time God called on people to administer true justice, to show compassion and mercy each other, and to not plot evil against their fellows, but the people did not listen.  As a result God said of them, “When I called, they did not listen, so when they called, I would not listen.”  Once again God has determined to do good for people and calls on them, on us, to speak the truth to each other, to not plot evil against others, and to not love telling lies.  If we listen to God, then those occasions we have set aside to mourn  past tragedies will become times to celebrate how God has used those tragedies to transform us into His people.

Jesus entered into Jerusalem on a colt to remind the people of His day of this passage in Zechariah.  By doing so, He declared that His victory had already been won.  He has sent us, not to fight His battle but to declare His victory.  That victory means that God will no longer tolerate leaders who deceive their followers, or those who scatter His flock.  He will scatter His people to spread the word of His kingdom to all peoples.  Then He will gather those who choose to join Him into His kingdom.  So, let us listen to God and speak truth to each other.

 

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

I have created a Patreon page for those who would like to support me in writing these blog posts every day: https://patreon.com/AttilaSoldus

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September 29, 2025 Bible Study — The Lord Almighty Says, “Return to Me and I Will Return to You.”

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Today, I am reading and commenting on  Zechariah 1-6.

Early in today’s passage it tells us that God says, “Return to me and I will return to you.”  Then at the end it says about the good things it prophesies, “This will happen if you diligently obey the Lord your God.”  The passage contains prophesies about what the leaders of the Exiles who returned to Jerusalem, especially about their two leaders.  It also contains imagery which influenced the imagery which John used in the Book of Revelation.  Some of the prophesies concerning Zerubbabel, the governor of Jerusalem, and Joshua, the high priest, are also prophecies concerning Jesus.  God tells us that He had set a “stone” in front of Joshua through which (it is actually a little more complicated than that) He would the sin of the land in a single day.  Zechariah also speaks of the “capstone” (or, perhaps plumb line, as the translator’s notes mention) which will finish God’s temple.  I believe that this partially refers to the rebuilding of the temple by the Returned Exiles, but it also refers to Jesus, who is the capstone of the Temple God is building which is the Church.  Jesus is both the capstone of the Church and the plumbline by which each of us is measured to see how God’s Spirit needs to align us to bring glory to God in His Temple, which is the Church.  Let us return to God and diligently obey Him, and allow His Spirit to align us into the structure of His Church which brings glory and honor to God.

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

I have created a Patreon page for those who would like to support me in writing these blog posts every day: https://patreon.com/AttilaSoldus

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September 28, 2025 Bible Study — Do Not Live With Complacency, but Humbly Seek the Lord

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Today, I am reading and commenting on  Zephaniah and Haggai.

Zephaniah prophesies the day of the Lord when God will wipe out all life on earth.  I am unsure if he is prophesying the End Times, or if this prophecy is hyperbole about the fall of Jerusalem (or, perhaps it is both hyperbole about intermediate days of judgement AND a prophecy which will be fulfilled at the end of time).  In either case, Zephaniah speaks about how God will bring devastation and death to idolaters.  But not just to idolaters, He will also search out and punish those who are complacent, who, while they do not worship false gods, also do not do the will of God.  He will search out and punish those who complacently think that their wealth will protect them from the destruction they see coming rather than acting to forestall that destruction.  Zephaniah then tells us what we should do to avoid the devastation.  He tells us to humbly seek the Lord and do what He commands.  We are to seek righteousness with humility.  Then, perhaps, we will be sheltered on the day of God’s anger.  Which brings me to why I think the prophecy of total destruction of all life on earth may be intended to be viewed as hyperbole.  After expounding on the nations which will be destroyed and why, Zephaniah prophesies that after this destruction God will purify the lips of the peoples so that they may call on His name and serve Him in unity.  I want to circle back to what Zephaniah says that we should do.  Let us humbly seek God so that we may serve Him in unity with all who also humbly seek to serve Him.

I am not going to write about what we find in Haggai today, but please read it and think about what it means for you.

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

I have created a Patreon page for those who would like to support me in writing these blog posts every day: https://patreon.com/AttilaSoldus

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September 27, 2025 Bible Study — Actions Have Consequences

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Today, I am reading and commenting on  Nahum and Habakkuk.

I am not sure that I have ever noticed before that Nahum and Habakkuk both seem to be directing their prophecies primarily against Assyria (Nineveh).  So, Nahum is explicitly prophesying against Assyria (Nineveh), but Habakkuk is a little less obvious.  Habakkuk speaks of God raising up the Babylonians in response to his request that God do something about the strife and wrongdoing he witnesses.  The Babylonians rose up to overthrow the Assyrian Empire.

Having given that background let me get to my thoughts on today’s passages.  As I begin, I believe that these prophecies tell us things about how God works in this world today, long after Nineveh and Assyria have fallen.  Nahum tells us that God is slow to anger, but will not leave the guilty unpunished.  He is good and cares for those who trust in Him, but will strike down those who choose to be His foes with an overwhelming flood that will make an end of them. (Recently I have seen several videos of flashfloods which gives this imagery some perspective).  God will bring an end to their plots against Him and their plots against those who serve Him.  Nahum tells us that Nineveh was a target of God’s anger because it was city of blood and lies that was never without victims.  Habakkuk has almost the same message and presents it in a way which expands on what Nahum had to say.  He starts by crying out to God asking how long the wicked would be allowed to prosper.  God replies to Habakkuk and tells him, tells us, to look at what is happening in the world around him, around us.  God told Habakkuk that he would be amazed at what would happen.  Further God tells Habakkuk that His enemies are arrogant and their desires are not upright, but that the righteous will live by faith.  God warns several groups of people that their actions will lead to consequences that they will not like.  Those who gather stolen goods, or use extortion to gain wealth; those who build their property with unjust gain of any kind; those who use bloodshed and injustice to create their organization (city, country, business, etc.); those who get people drunk in order to take advantage of them.  All of these will experience God’s judgement.  Their actions will come back upon them and they will suffer as much as, or even more than, those they have made to suffer.  Then in response to God’s words Habakkuk stood in awe of all that God has done and patiently waited for His action.  Let us live by faith in God and patiently wait until those who oppose Him and refuse to change learn the consequences of their evil actions.

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

I have created a Patreon page for those who would like to support me in writing these blog posts every day: https://patreon.com/AttilaSoldus

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September 26, 2025 Bible Study — When No One Can Be Trusted, Wait On the Lord

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Today, I am reading and commenting on  Micah 3-7.

Micah continues his prophecy against Israel and Judah.  He accuses their political leaders of ruling solely from self-interest and the religious leaders of saying only that which people will pay them to say.  Micah says that disaster will come upon them because the political leaders do that which benefits themselves with no care for the best interest of the nation while the religious leaders tell people what they want to hear in order to become wealthy.  This prophecy applies not just to the people of Israel and Judah in Micah’s day, but to the people of any time or nation when the leaders follow this example.  When the political leaders seek what is best for themselves, with no care for what is best for the people they lead, and the religious leaders tell people only what they are paid to say, with no concern for the message which God has for them, disaster will come upon the people.  People will have self-serving leaders (political and religious) when they follow religious rituals without acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly before God. Yet, for all of our tendency to be like that, God promises that the day will come when people from all nations will seek to do His will, and He will judge between nations so that the nations will no longer make war against each other.  Therefore, when we go through the hard times let us follow Micah’s example as given here.  In the hard times, even when others are turning on each other and us, let us watch in hope for God and wait for our Savior to tell us what to do.  He will hear us and answer.

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

I have created a Patreon page for those who would like to support me in writing these blog posts every day: https://patreon.com/AttilaSoldus

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September 25, 2025 Bible Study — Two Different Responses to a Prophecy from God

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Jonah 1-4 and Micah 1-2.

When God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach against it, Jonah instead went in the opposite direction.  Later, after the people of Nineveh repented and God relented of bringing the destruction which He had threatened, Jonah explained that he had headed for Tarshish because he did not want God to relent.  Jonah knew that the wickedness of the people of Nineveh would provoke God’s wrath and did not want to warn them because he wanted them to experience God’s wrath.  As a result, he fled and God brought him into the belly of a fish, where he cried out to God.  We need to take a lesson from Jonah and be sure that we do not strive to flee from going to those whom God has called us.  Let us not refuse to say to our enemies and to those who turn away from God’s love for them that salvation comes from the Lord.  Jonah knew that if the people of Nineveh heard God’s message they might turn to God and that if they did God would relent.  We should have the same confidence, but we should also have God’s love for them so that we do not turn from preaching God’s message.

Which brings me to the beginning of Micah’s message.  Micah speaks out against those who plan and plot evil.  He warns them that God is going to bring a disaster upon them that they will be unable to save themselves from.  Micah was prophesying against the people of Israel and Judah.  Unlike the people of Nineveh to whom Jonah prophesied, the prophets of Israel and Judah, who should have been speaking similar words to those of Micah, told him not to prophesy.  Let us be more like the Ninevites than the false prophets of Israel.  Let us turn from our sins and encourage our fellows to do likewise, rather than claim that God will bless us in our sins.

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

I have created a Patreon page for those who would like to support me in writing these blog posts every day: https://patreon.com/AttilaSoldus

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September 24, 2025 Bible Study — Worshiping God on Sunday Does Us No Good if We Cheat and Steal the Rest of the Week

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Amos 6-9 and Obadiah.

I am going to do something today that I rarely do.  I am going to combine thoughts I get from the end of Amos with thoughts I get from Obadiah into one message.  I am ordinarily not inclined to see this as a valid reading, but I think today it brings us a message.

Amos tells us in chapter seven that God gave him two visions of how He was going to bring His judgement against Israel, the Northern Kingdom.  After each vision, Amos begs God not to bring such a judgement because the people would not survive it.  I believe the implication in what Amos said was that even the righteous would be wiped out by such judgements so that all of Israel would be destroyed.  God listened to Amos and withdrew each of those judgements.  Instead, God told Amos that He was going to set a plumb line among His people.  Those who failed to measure up against the plumb line would be destroyed.  Amos goes on in chapter eight to speak of the ways in which the people of Israel failed to measure up to God’s standard.  Amos speaks of those who celebrate God’s festivals, but impatiently wait for them to end so that they can resume their dishonest practices by which they take advantage of the poor and needy.  He tells the Israelites that the day of God’s judgement is coming.  Which brings me to what Obadiah had to say.  While Obadiah primarily prophesied against Edom, he said that the day of God’s judgement is for all nations, for all people.  We will all be judged by what we have done.  Let us allow God’s Spirit to transform us so that we do the things which God asks of us for without His Spirit, without the Spirit of Christ, we can do nothing except that which brings God’s judgement upon us.

 

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

I have created a Patreon page for those who would like to support me in writing these blog posts every day: https://patreon.com/AttilaSoldus

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September 23, 2025 Bible Study — Seek God and Live

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

Happy Anniversary to my lovely wife.

Amos begins his prophecy by condemning Israel’s neighbors for raiding Israel in order to capture slaves and for committing what we today would call war crimes.  He then condemns Judah and Israel for injustice, idolatry, and debauchery.  He describes how they bragged about their pious acts while oppressing the poor.  He tells of how God sent famine and pestilence to get their attention and yet they still failed to turn to God.  Amos tells them, and us, to seek God and live.  God is not calling us to perform religious rituals, or go on pilgrimages.  God does not want our sacrifices or our worship services.  He wants us to seek good and hate evil.  God wants us to behave justly and help those in need.

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

I have created a Patreon page for those who would like to support me in writing these blog posts every day: https://patreon.com/AttilaSoldus

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September 22, 2025 Bible Study — Return to the Lord with Fasting and Mourning for Our Sins

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

Joel calls on the people of Judah to mourn, fast, and cry out to God in response to the famine brought about by a horde of locusts.  In today’s passage he does not mention what sins led to God bringing His day of judgement upon them.  Instead, he calls them to return to God with fasting, weeping, and mourning.  They are to rend their hearts for their sins and once more consecrate themselves to God.  If, in the wake of devastation, we follow the instructions which Joel gave here, God will show mercy upon us and upon the land.  He will do great things and give us cause to rejoice.  He will pour out His Spirit on all people so that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.  There is one more part of today’s passage, one which we don’t often seen touched on.

For this next part, I am going to write some things which may be a stretch of interpretation, but I need to write them down to see if there is any truth to them.  After telling us that God will pour out His Spirit on all people and that everyone who calls on His name will be saved Joel speaks about some of the nations around Judah, nations which were Judah’s enemies.  It seems to me that Joel is saying that, after God pours out His Spirit on all people, those who do not call in His name in response will be enemies of God’s people.  They will, or perhaps already have, attack God’s people.  In response God will attack them and bring destruction upon them.  So, my reading of this, and other parts of the Bible, is that everyone is faced with a choice.  They will either choose to call upon God’s name, or they will choose to oppose and attack those who do.  If they choose the latter, God will bring desolation upon them.

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

I have created a Patreon page for those who would like to support me in writing these blog posts every day: https://patreon.com/AttilaSoldus