Hello all,

 

If all of you were able to open the PDF document I sent with the reading schedule, you will see we start going through the first chapter next week.  There will be many Scripture references throughout the reading.  You can decide for yourself how many of these you will read, and which ones you will read.  It would be great if we could read every Scripture reference - that would basically be reading all four gospels during this first quarter!  Please DO read at least some of the Scripture references, because that is where the true power of this reading plan comes.

 

I hope this do-at-your-own-pace format works well for everyone.  I encourage those of you (including me) with families, to do this with your family.  If you don't a ...

See how Jeremiah prayed in Lamentations 5.  He told God exactly what was going on in Jerusalem.  "Remember, O LORD, what has befallen us; Look, and see our reproach!" he said in Lamentations 5:1.  It's not as if God didn't already know the score - after all, He brought this punishment upon Jerusalem.  So why did Jeremiah, in this prayer, spend most of the chapter explaining to God the plight of Jerusalem?

 

Doesn't God already know everything we are going to ask before we ask?  So why ask?  Why tell God anything if He already knows?  For one thing, God wants us to express our feelings and issues to Him.  It's good for us, it's true, but it is COMMUNICATION.  God wants a relationship with His creation.  Relationships are built around communication.  J ...

Why did Adam and Eve have to sin?  Why did they mess things up?  Why do I sin?  Why are we now FALLEN?

 

We fall for the same reasons Adam and Eve did - we are tempted by our own lusts, and "when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death" (James 1:15).  This truth is graphically illustrated in Lamentations 4.  These Israelites (supposedly God's people) displayed the worst types of selfishness during the siege of Jerusalem.  Here were little boys and girls who were literally starving to death.  They had no food and no water.  "The tongue of the infant cleaves to the roof of its mouth because of thirst; The little ones ask for bread, but no one breaks it for them" (

Jeremiah cried out to the Lord in the first 18 verses, but he said, "even when I cry out and call for help, He shuts out my prayer" (Lamentations 3:8).  Jeremiah felt like God had basically knocked him to the earth and kicked him while he was down.  "He has broken my teeth with gravel; He has made me cower in the dust," he said in verse 16.

 

Who would have thought in the midst of this kind of language a POSITIVE thought would be presented?  Lamentations 3:19-38 is some of the greatest positive language of faith and trust in the Old Testament!  Here is my favorite snippet from this chapter:

 

 

The book of Lamentations consists of five poems.  The first four poems (corresponding to our chapters) are acrostic (in the Hebrew), meaning the first verse begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the second verse with the second letter, and so forth.  A short sentence about each poem might be as follows:

 

1.  The destruction of Jerusalem

2.  The anger of the Lord (at the sin of Jerusalem)

3.  The prayer for mercy

4.&n ...

Jeremiah 52 is almost word-for-word equal to 2 Kings 24:18 to the end of 2 Kings.  Notice the end of Jeremiah 51:64 - "Thus far are the words of Jeremiah."  The information contained in Jeremiah 52 has already been covered in a historical setting in Jeremiah 39 - the fall of Jerusalem, the death of Zedekiah's sons, and putting out of Zedekiah's eyes.

 

What's the point of this chapter?  Everything happened just as God had said.  Those who were exiled to Babylon were preserved.  In the midst of despair, God works for His people!

 

We have Lamentations to read and then we will be finished with the reading this time through.&am ...

How sure is prophecy in Scripture?  In fact, EVERY word spoken from the Lord comes to fruition.  Not a word from God falls to the ground.  We see a hint at the surety of prophecy in the way it is sometimes delivered.  In Jeremiah 51:41-43 the prophecy speaks in the past-tense, as if these things had already come to pass.  They would not come to pass until years in the future, but God speaks, "Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations!" 

 

Why will Babylon fall?  Jeremiah 51:49 says, "Indeed Babylon is to fall for the slain of Israel."  In verse 24 God said, "I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all their evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes.&a ...

After prophecies against the following nations:

 

Egypt (46)

Philistia (47)

Moab (48)

Ammon (49:1-6)

Edom (49:7-22)

Damascus (49:23-27)

Kedar and Hazor (49:28-33)

Elam (49:34-39)

 

Now we enter into a two-chapter prophecy against Babylon (Jer. 50-51).

 

In Jeremiah 50 God foretold "a nation" would come "out ...

Some Christians think the United States is a "Christian" nation.  There is no such thing, in reality.  The United States is just as "Christian" as any other nation.  That being said, God obviously holds entire nations, entire societies, to a moral standard.  Just because everyone is not a "child of God" doesn't mean they aren't judged by God's rules.  God's standards are the same for everyone - Christian or heathen.  In Jeremiah 49 we see prophecies against Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar and Hazor, and Elam.  None of these nations were "God's people" as Israel was.  Yet, God held them to a certain moral standard.  He warned them and called them to turn away from their sins.  Entire societies had gone bad.  God was going to punish them.

 

S ...

Even though the destruction on these nations would be horrific, there is some comfort in God's warning.  The fact that He took the time and made the effort to give these nations a "heads-up" shows His care for the nations.  In a way, this was an opportunity for individuals to repent.  God had already decided on the fate of the nations, but perhaps there were a few who would trust Him and turn from their iniquity.

 

God also made sure there was a remnant left of His people, the Jews.  Jeremiah 46:28 says: