Category Archives: Daily Bible Study

I am using this website ( http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com/ ) to attempt to read through the Bible in a year. I am going to try to blog each day on the reading.

Daily Bible Study

October 4, 2018 Bible Study — It’s Not Just What You Do, It’s What You Think and Why You Do It

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Matthew 5-6.

    Today’s passage contains most of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon contains the core of Jesus’ teachings and is worth in depth study. It contains a lot of instructions which have value. However, I am going to touch on only two aspects of it today. Jesus tells us that what we think and say determine whether or not we are righteous more than what we do. I want to stress that, in my opinion, when we apply these teachings we focus on ourselves, not others; we cannot accurately know what others are thinking. If we think evil thoughts, our actions will not be righteous. I think something my father said about thinking applies here. “You can’t stop a bird from landing in your hair, but you can keep it from making a nest there.” I may get angry, or have some other negative thought, as a result of something which happens outside of my control, but I do not have to dwell on that anger, or other thought. Experience has shown that if I immediately put aside my anger, or other negative thought, the less likely I am to get angry, or have the other thought, the next time an incident happens which might provoke anger. On the other hand, if I spend time thinking about why my anger is justified, or what I can do to make someone pay for angering me, the more likely I am to get angry the next time, and the more likely I am to get angrier.

    The second is related to the first. Jesus tells us that we should not do our acts of righteousness, giving to the poor, prayer, fasting, etc. to be seen by others. We should not seek to be seen as righteous by others. No, that is not right. We should not do righteous things in order to be honored by others. We should do righteous things because they are righteous, not because others will think better of us for doing so. In order to be sure that our acts of righteousness are done out of pure motives we should seek to hide them from others. As I was writing this something struck me. Some of the most righteous people I know do righteous acts in full view of everyone, while working hard to keep Jesus’ teaching on this. However, the reason they do not hide the acts which we see is because they do not consider the acts we see to be noteworthy. The more we train ourselves to do righteous acts just because they are righteous, the less we will think that a particular righteous act is noteworthy.
    I want to point out that there is another facet to why we should follow both of these. The more we allow ourselves to wallow in negative thoughts the more likely we are to act on them. More importantly, if we allow ourselves to remain angry with someone we are less likely to treat them as we should, without our even realizing that we are doing so. The same applies to other thoughts which we should not harbor, they make us less likely to behave as we should. Related to that, if we do our acts of righteousness in order to be seen by others the more likely our acts will be calculated for show and the less likely they are to actually do any good. If we help the needy in order to be seen as helping the needy, our acts are more likely to be an impressive show that does little good for those it is supposed to be helping. Those who strive to put on a good show of being righteous often do more harm than good.

Daily Bible Study

October 3, 2018 Bible Study — The Essenes, John The Baptist, and Jesus

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Matthew 1-4.

    Matthew begins his account of Jesus’ life with a genealogy followed by key stories about Jesus’ birth. The account of Joseph’s reaction to discovering that Mary is pregnant provides us with guidance in interpersonal relationships. Since he knew that he was not the father, Joseph had to have been hurt when he learned of her pregnancy, but rather than seeking to lash out at Mary, he sought to discretely release her from her vows to him. Then, when God’s messenger told him in a dream that Mary was not pregnant from some lover she preferred to him, Joseph married her. His kindness and gentleness in dealing with Mary after he was hurt is a model for all of us.

    As I was reading this today I realized that Matthew’s reference to John the Baptist is included to show how Jesus fit into the Judaism of His day. It seems likely that the people Matthew was writing for would have been familiar with the Essenes (a Jewish sect which strove for greater purity and who separated themselves from secular society) and would have seen that John the Baptist was preaching from that tradition. I don’t want to make too much of this, but my understanding is that Jesus’ teachings bore a strong resemblance to those of the Essenes, except that He did not call people to go live apart from society. In many ways, it seems to me that Matthew is telling us that there was a progression from the Essenes, through John the Baptist to Jesus. The Essenes lived apart from society and taught those who separated from society to join them. John the Baptist lived apart from society but taught people who came to him for short periods of time. Jesus went out into society and taught. I believe that even today there are those who God calls to live separate from society, but most of us are called to live in society and transform it by our presence.

Daily Bible Study

October 2, 2018 Bible Study — Examine Your Life and Repent of Your Sins to Reduce the Trauma of the Day of Judgement

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Malachi 1-4.

    Malachi (which may be a person’s name, or may just be the title they adopted since it translates as “my messenger”) calls us both to task for our unfaithfulness and to be faithful in the future. He challenges hypocrites, those who claim to hold themselves to a high standard while knowingly violating God’s law at all levels. He condemns those who claim to speak for God and to be God’s Chosen while encouraging sin and sacrificing corrupt items to God. He contrasts them to people who have no claim to a relationship with God who honor God. The prophet challenges us in two ways regarding marriage. First, he condemns those who marry someone who does not worship God, but claim to do so themselves. Second, he condemns those who are unfaithful to their spouse, either through seeking another sexual partner or through divorce (or both). Having called us out for our sins, the prophet calls us to repentance, warning that God’s day of judgement is coming. When that day arrives God will pass us through tribulations to refine us as a refiner passes silver through fire to refine it. The fewer sins and impurities there are in our lives, the less traumatic that Day will be for us.

Daily Bible Study

October 1, 2018 Bible Study — If We Do Not Choose the Good Shepherd We Will Get Evil Shepherds

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

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

    I am not sure that I understand Zechariah’s prophecy concerning the shepherds in this passage. However, I will take a shot at writing the meaning I find in it. The main thrust of it seems to be about the people of Israel before the Exile, but I am not going to interpret it based on that. The passage speaks of people who have bad leaders because they refuse to listen to faithful leaders. The people complain about their leaders, but when God gives them a good leader who calls them to serve God, they reject him. If we refuse to accept the Good Shepherd whom God has sent us, He will turn us over to the destruction which we merit. (When I started writing this last paragraph I thought I had a much more eloquent way of expressing my thoughts).

    Zechariah ends his prophecy by writing about a day when all of the people of Israel will individually turn to God. They will mourn the one whom they have pierced, which I understand to be Jesus. On that day, God will open a fountain of cleansing which will cleanse them of their sin. That fountain is already open, anyone who turns to Christ for forgiveness of their sin and accepts Him as Lord over their life will be so cleansed. However, Zechariah is referring to a day yet to come. A day when all of the nations of the earth will gather themselves to attack God’s people. Initially, the nations will cause great distress for God’s people, but then God will join the battle and destroy those who do not bow their knee to Him. Shortly after a day of great devastation for those who serve the Lord God will show His great power and those who survive it will worship Him. As I typed this, it occurred to me that this is both a reference to God’s final judgement and a hyperbolic reference to events which occur periodically throughout history. If you look throughout history, you will see that from time to time, God’s people (both the Jews and those who truly serve Christ) have been subject to overwhelming persecution. And each time, that persecution has soon been followed by a time when godliness takes hold where the persecution had been.

Daily Bible Study

September 30, 2018 Bible Study — Our Worship Services and Events Are Not About What We Get Out Of It

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

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

    In light of the rebuilding of the Temple, some of the people asked Zechariah whether they should continue fasting in commemoration of its destruction. Zechariah calls them out for making their religious rituals, festivals, and events about them rather than about worshiping God. In verse 9 & 10 Zechariah sums up what God wants from us:

Judge fairly, and show mercy and kindness to one another. 10 Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and the poor. And do not scheme against each other.

This theme is echoed in James 1:27. All too often we allow the world to corrupt us and begin to see our worship services as being about what WE get out of them.

    Shortly after giving the people the message calling them to task for being more concerned with what they got out of their religious activities, both fasts and festivals, Zechariah praises them for listening to the other prophets and restarting the work on the Temple. Despite having no surplus to spend on the Temple, they had sacrificed to restart the work on rebuilding it. As a result, God is as determined to bless them as He was determined to punish their ancestors. Before the fall of Jerusalem, the prophets condemned the people for their sins and called on them to repent, but declared that they would not. Now Zechariah once more calls on the people to repent of their sins and do what is right, but this time he declares that they will indeed do so. They will do so because God is determined that they will. God will provide them with the strength and wish to do right and because they do right they will draw other people to Him. When our desire to do right is about serving God and doing His will, the blessings will follow. When our desire to do right is about what’s in it for me, we are missing the point and will receive few blessings. Fortunately, God is good. If we truly do what is right, even if for the wrong reasons, God will bless us by changing our hearts.

Daily Bible Study

September 29, 2018 Bible Study — Random Thoughts on Zechariah

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

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

    I am not sure what to make of Zechariah’s vision of the horsemen, but I noticed something about it that never occurred to me before. Zechariah tells us that there was a man sitting on a red horse and that behind him were men on red, brown, and white horses (some translations translate the “brown” differently, but I don’t think that matters). Typically, we read that as four horsemen. However, I realized today that the wording does not limit the horsemen behind him to one on each color of horse. There may have been multiple men on red horses, multiple men on brown horses, and multiple men on white horses. At least, according to the way it reads in English. I am sure that our tendency to read this as four horsemen is the fact that in chapter six, Zechariah does refer to four chariots and the Book of Revelation refers to four horsemen.

    However, I want to focus on some of the Messianic prophecies in this passage. Actually, the first thing I want to focus on is not exactly a Messianic prophecy. Zechariah tells the people of Israel that God will send men against the nations who plundered them (the context implies the “men” being referred to are beings of great power and/or armies). Further, he tells them that those who harm the Children of Israel harm God’s most precious possession. Perhaps a more detailed study would prove me wrong, but my knowledge of history suggests that nations which have treated the Jewish people well have risen to great wealth and power, while those which treated them badly have suddenly fallen from positions of dominance. Now, the interesting thing is that this prophecy extends into a Messianic prophecy where Zechariah tells us that the day is coming (and I believe arrived with Jesus) that people from many nations will join themselves to the Lord, and those people will become God’s people just as the Children of Israel already were. While I believe that there is a special place in God’s heart for those who are descended from Jacob, I believe that those who choose to serve Christ are in that same place. God will adopt into His people all who accept the salvation which He offers.

    Then there is the metaphorical vision of God removing the sins from the priest Jeshua (I believe that this is a reference to someone who was a contemporary of Zechariah) and purifying him. Zechariah has a vision in which he sees the filthy and tattered clothes removed from Jeshua and replaced by clean, new garments. Those filthy and tattered clothes represent Jeshua’s sins and the new clothes represent the righteousness which God gives to him. Then Zechariah tells us that what God is doing for Jeshua the priest is a symbol of what He is going to do for everyone. If we allow, God will remove our sins from us and replace them with righteousness. Just remember, that just as our sins were actions we took, so is the righteousness which God has given us. However, those actions represent not our righteousness, but God’s.

Daily Bible Study

September 28, 2018 Bible Study — Live Humbly and Do What Is Right

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Zephaniah 1-3 and Haggai 1-2.

    There are two ways to read Zephaniah (OK, there are probably more, but I am just going to consider two): as a single prophecy about the coming fall of Jerusalem containing some hyperbole, or as two prophecies, one concerning the end of the world and one concerning the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon (or perhaps some other historic event). I believe that Zephaniah considered it a prophecy about a single event. While I believe that elements of this passage concern the end of the world, I think that it is best to consider it as a prophecy about a single event.
    The main point of this passage is that the day of God’s judgement is coming. When that day comes it will not be limited to just a few people, or even a limited geographic area. When I was growing up during the Cold War, we understood how comprehensive that day would be. We read passages like verses 2 and 3 of chapter 1 and thought of nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the United States. Our understanding of the worldwide devastation which would follow was influenced by those who remembered World Wars I and II. We understood and talked about how such a war would be indiscriminate in killing people throughout the earth. That was the image we had of the Day of God’s Judgement.
    However, Zephaniah tells us that perhaps there is yet time to seek God so that He will protect us on that Day. But this is not a private, personal seeking to do what is right. Zephaniah tells us that this salvation is corporate. Each one of us must choose to seek the Lord ourselves, but we cannot go it alone. We must gather together with those others who are also seeking the Lord. We must humbly test our understanding of what is right against others who also seek to do right.

    Haggai has a message which is timeless. All too often we do what the Returned Exiles were doing when God called Haggai. We tell ourselves that as soon as we get our lives together we will begin serving God. I have been guilty of it myself. Through Haggai God tells us that we will never get our lives together until we put Him first. We will never have enough to fully meet our needs as long as we put our needs ahead of serving God. Our “needs” will expand to consume all of our resources as long as we put them first. When we start putting God first, we will find that we have a surplus to serve Him even more. Sometimes, that surplus will be because God has blessed us with more. Sometimes that surplus will be because we realize that we did not need many of the things we called “needs”.

Daily Bible Study

September 27, 2018 Bible Study — God’s Power Will Over Come

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

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

    The other day I said that Obadiah was unique in being the only prophet whose prophecy was entirely against a nation other than Israel or Judah. I was mistaken. I had completely forgotten that Nahum prophesied against Assyria. There are two elements to Nahum’s prophecy. One element is directed at the people of God. As bad as things look and as powerful as their enemies appear, God will come to their rescue. The other element is directed at Assyrians (and their successors as world powers). No matter how powerful you may think that you are, and no matter how many allies you think that you have, if you make yourself God’s enemy, your destruction will soon follow. Today, I am reminded of the Chinese government’s recent crackdown on Christians worshiping God. They have chosen to be enemies of God. I believe that if this policy continues for more than a few more months, we will soon see the collapse of the Chinese government.

    Habakkuk’s prophecy is directed at the people of Judah, but also at the powerful throughout the world. He condemns the proud and arrogant who believe that their cunning, strength, wealth, and/or connections will allow them to take advantage of others. They believe that their cunning will keep them from ever being caught. If by some chance they are caught, they believe that their power and wealth will keep them from paying a consequence for their evil actions. God’s justice may seem long in coming, but we must be patient because it is sure. Even when times are dark and things look bad, let us rejoice and praise the Lord. His power will overcome.

Daily Bible Study

September 26, 2018 Bible Study — The Lord Has Told Us What Is Good

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

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

    As I read through today’s passage I saw a theme which is actually common among the Old Testament prophets. Micah condemns the leaders of the people, especially the religious leaders. They are the ones who are supposed to teach and guide the people to know right from wrong, but instead they hate what is good and love what is evil. However, he makes clear that the blame does not lie completely with the leaders. The people they lead have chosen these leaders over those who teach them God’s will. No one can be trusted because everyone does wrong, from the highest to the lowest. Micah says that the godly people have all disappeared, even the most honest twist and scheme to get what they want. In particular, Micah calls out the hypocrites who twist justice while claiming to serve the Lord and do what is right.

    Micah promises that although today people from high to low do evil, lie, and twist judgement the day will come when people from all parts of the earth will choose to follow God. They will turn to God to mediate their disputes and He will bring peace to the world. Nations will beat their swords into plowshares and turn their spears into pruning hooks. Peace and prosperity will reign when everyone enjoys the fruits of their own labor. I am not going to go into it now, but I think Micah 4:4 contains a good starting point to understand God’s ideal economic system, perhaps I will take the time to flesh that out some day.
    Later in the passage, Micah refers to the great and wonderful things God has done for His people, for us. He then asks what God wants from us in response. God does not desire that we offer piles of animal sacrifices in His name, nor does He desire that we build great and wonderful buildings in His name, nor does He want us to sacrifice our children to Him. What God wants from us is simple:

  • Do what is right.
  • Love mercy.
  • Walk humbly with our God.

Too often we forget that last item, and when we do remember, we overlook the “humble” part.

Daily Bible Study

September 25, 2018 Bible Study — Desire the Salvation of the Wicked, Not Their Destruction

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

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

    Generally when you read or here a lesson based on Jonah, the writer/speaker bases it on just part of the Book of Jonah, perhaps the story of Jonah and the Giant Fish (most commonly titled “Jonah and the Whale”), or perhaps the story of Jonah and the plant. There is nothing wrong with that, but I do not believe I have ever heard or read a lesson on the entire Book. When God called Jonah to prophecy destruction to the city of Nineveh, Jonah went in the opposite direction. Jonah did not want to prophecy destruction to Nineveh because he did not want the people of Nineveh to repent and be saved from destruction. Even after he went and prophesied as God commanded, he was angry because the people repented and were not destroyed. He should have been happy that the people of Nineveh repented of their sins and stopped acting wickedly. God does not desire anyone’s destruction, no matter how evil and vile they have behaved. He desires that they recognize the evil they have done, feel remorse that they have done it, turn from that sin to do good, and be saved. We should desire the same thing, but all too often we get angry when God forgives sinners.

    Micah begins his prophecy by calling out the people of Samaria and Jerusalem for their role in leading the rest of the nation into sin. However, he does not limit his condemnation to the people of those two cities. He calls out other cities in Israel and Judah for playing a role in leading the rest of the nation into sin, or just for the sins they joined in on. God’s judgement will fall harder on those who lead others into sin, but those who follow someone else’s lead will not escape judgement.
    Micah specifically condemns those who cheat and steal from those less powerful than themselves simply because they can. God will judge those who use their wealth and power to unjustly take from others. Harvey Weinstein is a recent example of a man who used his wealth, power, and connections to take sexual advantage of women. There are others who use those attributes to acquire wealth or property which rightly belongs to another. They laugh at those who vow vengeance or seek justice against them. When a society accepts that such men, and women, can behave as they please and leaders consider the ability to do such things their just due, God’s judgement will soon follow. You know that the day of God’s judgement will soon arrive when the people at the bottom are no longer offended that the rich and powerful can do such things and merely seek the power to do it themselves.