Jeremiah 20 - 31: The roaring lion

- Boldness:  Jeremiah stood up to Pashur, the chief priest of the temple (Jer 20:1). For his boldness and courage, Jeremiah was thrown into the stocks, beaten, and publicly humiliated.
- Wingman:  "But God, a most fierce warrior, is at my side" (Jer 20:11). At a low point, this truth comforted Jeremiah. I'm going to hang onto this one too for when I next need it.
- Are you kidding me?  Pashur, the chief priest who publicly punished Jeremiah, came back to ask Jeremiah for help against Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. Jeremiah couldn't help him; it was too late.
- Can't claim ignorance:  Israel could never say they hadn't been warned. Multiple prophets explained in detail the coming judgment. How could the people ignore this?
- Don't be a know-it-all:  "Don't pretend that you know all the answers yourselves and talk like you know it all" (Jer 28:37-38). Ouch.
- The Lion:  When angry, "God roars like a lion from high heaven" (Jer 25:30). At the SF Zoo, the lions are in a Lion House with marble floors, and when it's feeding time, their roars echo and resonate throughout the zoo. It's an incredible sound and makes your heart pound. There's a vibration in the air that's hard to describe.
- More boldness:  Jeremiah stood up to a false prophet named Hananiah (Jer 28) who was giving the people false hope. The people were not happy.
- Faithful:  God told his people, "I've never quit loving you and never will" (Jer 31:2-6).
- The Master Gardener:  Jer 31:27 says that God plants people and animals in their place & time like a farmer plants seeds.

Elena's verse of the day:  "I am everywhere--both near and far, in heaven and on earth. There are no secret places where you can hide from me" (Jeremiah 23:23-24)

Jeremiah 7 - 19: Rotten shorts & the shattered pot

Lots of judgment and emotion unleashed in these chapters!
- A strong caution against "performance religion." God defines this as religion "whose life is all outsdie but no insdie" (Jeremiah 9:25-26).
- Rotten shorts:  God created an interesting illustration with a pair of linen shorts. He ordered Jeremiah to get some linen shorts, wear them, then bury them under a rock. Much later, he told Jeremiah to go and get the shorts. Of course they were rotten from the exposure and no longer good for anything. God told Jeremiah that the people were rotten, just like the shorts (Jer 13).
- The burden of ministry:  Jeremiah got personally involved as he experienced God's feelings due to the closer relationship and job as a prophet. In Chap 13:15-17, Jeremiah weeps bitter tears over the people's stubborn arrogance. I've seen pastors do this over their people, too.
- No hiding:  God searches our hearts and examines our minds (Jer 17:9-10).
- Don't forget the Sabbath:  God reminds the people to keep the Sabbath holy and not go about our "self-important" business. It's important to God, so this principle should be important to us (Jer 17:24-26).
- The shattered pot:  God uses another visual illustration when he instructs Jeremiah to take a clay pot and shatter it in front of the people to show them the coming judgment, and how hard it will be to put the pot back together.

Elena's verse of the day:  "Lord All-Powerful, you always do what is right, and yo know every thought. So I trust you to help me..." (Jeremiah 11:20).

Isaiah 60 - Jeremiah 6: The bridegroom in mourning

Extravagant love:  God loves his people like a bridegroom with a new bride (Isaiah 62:1-5).
- The waiting thing again:  "Since before time began no one has ever imagined, No ear heard, no eye seen, a God like you who works for those who wait for him" (Isaiah 64:1-7).
- Isaiah is done, and on to Jeremiah (his nickname is The Weeping Prophet). Eugene Peterson writes that the prophet Jeremiah led a troubled life. These were "disruptive times," including the decades before the fall of Jerusalem, the Fall in 587 BC, and the subsequent exile in Babylon. "What happens when everything you believe in and live by is smashed to bits by circumstances?" That's the subject of Jeremiah. Peterson calls Jeremiah a "true, honest, and God-revealing companion for the worst of times."
- A picture is worth a thousand words:  God used visual images in chapter  1 to help communicate his message to Jeremiah (including a walking stick and a boiling pot).
- The bridegroom mourns:  The people traded God for cheap imitations. God felt like a bridegroom whose beloved bride walked out on him (Jeremiah 2:12-13).
- No more Ark:  The days of the Ark of the Covenant were over. "Jerusalem will be the new Ark," writes Jeremiah. Jerusalem will be "God's throne" (Jeremiah 3:17).
- God's Decree:  What does that mean? It appears over and over in this book. I checked a few sources. Here are the results: God's decree is "his purpose or determination in respect to future things." Another says God's decree is "his eternal purpose." A third says: God's decree is "the unfolding of circumstances and events that reveal God's will." Jeremiah was not just sharing God's thoughts or feelings or wishes, but what was going to happen. And God was gracious in sharing his feelings and explaining to the people why judgment was coming.

Elena's verse of the day:  I am God! I can be trusted. Your past troubles are gone; I no longer think of them...I alone am God who can be trusted" (Isaiah 65:16.

Isaiah 45 - 59: Black sheep & papooses

Isaiah is a loooonnnggg book! At this point, it seems to be veering away from pronouncements of judgment and instead there is a focus on Messianic prophecy and God's goodness.
- Not always obvious:  It's not always clear what God is doing. Sometimes we'll only understand years down the line. "You are a God who works behind the scenes" (Isaiah 45:15).
- Did you know you're a little papoose?  God said, through Isaiah, "I've been carrying you on my back from the day you were born" (Is. 46:3-4).
- Why was Israel chosen?  "I'm setting you up as a light for the nations so that my salvation becomes global" (Is 49:6). God's plan is for all people, not just the nation of Israel.
- A promise:  "The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard" (NKJV, Is 52:12).
- Love this:  God compared to a nursing mother in Is 49:15-16. A tender image.
- The man of sorrows: Chapter 53 is probably the most well known and powerful of the OT prophecies about the Messiah. In it, Jesus is called "The Servant."
- Black sheep:  Jesus loves sinners. "He took up the cause of all the black sheep" (Is. 53:12).
- Another promise:  "Salvation is just around the corner!" (Is 56)
- For all people:  "My house of worship will be known as a house of prayer for all people" (Is 56:6-8). Grace Cathedral in San Francisco is a beautiful Episcopal church and this verse in inscribed in the doorway.
- What matters to God? Is 58:6-9 spells it out.
- The armor of God:  This idea was not unique to the apostle Paul. Isaiah uses this image here, with Jesus donning the armor (Is 59:15-19). "He dressed in Righteousness, put it on like a suit of armor, with Salvation on his head like a helmet, put on Judgment like an overcoat, and threw a cloak of Passion across his shoulders."

Isaiah 30 - 44: Hovering eagle & shepherd with his lambs

More than anything else, Isaiah has impressed on me that God loves his people, and not only loves us, but longs for us.
- Wait, wait, wait:  "God takes the time to do everything right" (Isaiah 30:18). I've always heard that God's timing is best, and this verse helps to explain why. He waits and works and prepares so things are done right. The verse goes on to say that those who wait on him are "the lucky ones."
- Is anybody up there?  Sometimes we question God, especially when bad things are happening. Isaiah 31:1-3 calls him "a most wise God who knows what he's doing." Sometimes we need to be reminded that we don't always know why things are happening in a certain way or order or time frame, but God does. He knows what he's doing.
- Eagle hovering:  Love this image: "Like a huge eagle hovering in the sky, God-of-the-angel-Armies protects Jerusalem" (Is. 31:4-5). We are under his wings. He is hovering over us like a huge eagle. Love it!
- Big mistake:  King Hezekiah became boastful and proudly showed off all of his precious possession to the messengers for the king of Babylon. Big mistake. They later returned and plundered everything. Moral? Don't be a showoff.
- The shepherd:  Love the image of God gathering his lambs up in his arms (Is 40:9-11). What a gentle, tender image.
- Intelligent design:  God personally forms and makes each one of us (Is 43:5-7).

Elena's verse of the day:  "Please Lord be kind! We depend on you. Make us strong each morning...you are the foundation on which we stand today" (Isaiah 33:2,6)

Isaiah 13 - 29: Deadly ambition

 - Deadly ambition:  Isaiah offers a string of prophecies against evil nations, but Babylon is by far the worst, with the strongest prophecy against it. It's doomed, says chapter 13. The king of Babylon, who is censured here, is aligned with Lucifer/Satan, and sometimes this passage is read as being about Lucifer and his anti-God agenda.
- Satanic characteristics:

• Selfish ambition: "I'll climb to heaven"
• Thirst for power: "I'll set my throne over the stars of God"
• Defiance of God's authority: "I'll take over as king of the universe"
• Plan to take over God's job: "I'll run the assembly of angels"

- Results of this ungodly plan?  Oblivion, lack of honor or legacy, death, humiliation. "Flat on your face in the underworld mud, you, famous for flattening nations" (Isaiah 14:12).
- Current events:  An interesting note on Babylon today--it is associated with modern day Iraq. In fact, Saddam Hussein rebuilt a portion of the city of Babylon and held some festivals and ceremonies there.
- Peace:  I don't ever remember reading this before, but Isaiah 19 promises that on the Day of the Lord, that parts of Egypt and Assyria will turn to God and worship alongside Israel. God will love and accept them. Finally, long sought peace in the Middle East.

 
Elena's verse of the day:  "The Lord gives perfect peace to those whose faith is firm. So always trust the Lord because he is forever our mighty rock" (Isaiah 26:3-4).

Song of Solomon 5 - Isaiah 12: Romance & a secret garden

- This is romantic:  The Shulammite woman talking about her lover: "His words are kisses, his kisses words" (Song of Solomon 5:16).
- On to the prophets. Eugene Peterson notes that there were 16 writing prophets, and they have two main messages for Israel (and for us):

1. Accept judgment (it's from God, and it's for the best)
2. Open up to hope (a better Day is coming)

- Warning:  Peterson also warns us against accepting the ways of the world, because "it's assumptions, its values, its methods of going about its work--are never on the side of God. Never." The prophets are there to keep us straight.
- Outcasts:  The prophets were not popular, easygoing, or reasonable. They were not celebrities, they didn't fit into the dominant way of life, and they were not always easy to understand.
- A promise:  Someday God will assume "his full stature on the earth" (Isaiah 2).
- The secret garden:  Isaiah 5 describes Israel as God's private garden or vineyard that he tends carefully.
- A peek....inside God's throne room in Isaiah 6. This chapter always blows me away and fills me with awe, and some fear.
- Messianic prophecies:  In Isaiah 7, 9, and 11.
- Isaiah's wife...was a prophetess (chap 8). You go, Girl!
- Out of control fire:  The wicked were leading lives that raged like an out-of-control fire, turning "the people into consuming fires, consuming one another in their lusts" (Isaiah 9:18-21). What a horrendous image.
- I want that water!  On the Day of the Lord, "joyfully you'll pull up buckets of water from the wells of salvation" (Is 12:3-4). Love it!

Elena's verse of the day: "Love cannot be drowned by oceans or floods, it cannot be bought, no matter what is offered" (Song of Solomon 8:7)