I John 2:3-27

Dear RTB’ers,

Love one another, keep His commandments, and be careful that you are not led astray by wrong teaching. Am I missing anything from today’s reading? I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing that you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. … abide in Him. (vv. 26-27)

Abide. In. Him.

Blessings!

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See also:

• December 10 (2021) / I John 2:1-29
• December 17 (2020) / I John 2:1-11
• December 18 (2020) / I John 2:12-17
• December 19 (2020) / I John 2:18-29

I John 1:1-2:2

Dear RTB’ers,

Today and for the next week we have an elderly apostle John writing circular letters to believers, presumably those living in Asia (modern Turkey), Greece and Italy (Rome). That is, in contrast to Hebrews, he does not appear to be writing to Jewish believers in Jerusalem/Israel. He does not address traditional Jewish themes. That is to say, it’s as if John is writing to us, to each of us, personally, and we should read his letters as such.

Two items today… First, “sin” (I John 1:7,8,9,10). My Study Bible says that the word for “sin” in the Greek appears 27 times in this first letter. Apparently John is speaking out against Gnosticism and its beliefs that fully separated the body and the spirit; everything about the spirit was good and holy, while the physical world, the body was evil. Therefore, in Gnostic thought there was no such thing as “sin”, if everything physical was already evil and sinful. So John is speaking out against those thoughts.

Second, Bible text memorization… Our dear friend, John S. is a serious advocate of Bible verse memorization – not a bad plan!! And today we have a number of verses that are favorites for Bible verse memorization – each one of those “sin” verses (1:7-10) are good candidates for Bible verse memorization. I recall verse 7 as a song even, making it an easy memorization! So give it a shot; I recommend I John 1:9 as one that you might like to call to mind on a regular basis: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. There, I’ve copied it for you. Now memorize it! Your comments?

Blessings!

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See also:

• December 28 (2023) / I, II, III John
• December 9 (2021) / I John 1:1-10
• December 16 (2020) / I John 1:1-10

Isaiah 38-39

Dear RTB’ers,

Today’s readings mostly repeat, sometimes verbatim what we read in late October in II Kings 20:1-19. We posted those earlier comments links yesterday. And as with my post yesterday, I was again struck by Hezekiah’s prayer and God’s answer. God does answer prayer – yes, no, later – but never “maybe”. Let’s chat more about that at our RTB gathering later today after coffee hour!!

Blessings!

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See also: June 22 (2023) / II Kings 20:1-11; Isaiah 38; II Kings 20:12-19; Isaiah 39; Isaiah 36:1; II Kings 18:13-16.

Isaiah 36-37

Dear RTB’ers,

As the STS introduction tells us, today we are repeating material, sometimes verbatim, that we already read back on October 26, 27, and 28 from II Kings 18:13-20:11, when Sennacherib, the king of Assyria attempted to take Jerusalem. Feel free to look back at those posts, but for today, I’ll just make a few comments about the text.

First, the following verse, Moreover, is it without the LORD that I have come up against this land to destroy it? The LORD said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.” (v. 36:10) As I read this verse I was a bit surprised and I was wondering if the Lord truly spoke to Sennacherib, telling him to go and take Judah and Jerusalem. No doubt, the Lord used Sennacherib, but did He truly speak to him? Just wondering…

Second, I really appreciate Hezekiah’s prayer in Isaiah 37:15-20 and the Lord’s response, “Because you have prayed to Me…” (v. 37:21b). I wonder how often the Lord says that to us, that He has heard our prayers and brought about an outcome that was in His will? All the more reason that we need to be thankful for all that we have!

Finally, a note to us all about punctuation – quotation marks are important, but the ESV leaves out some important ones that the NASB includes. Beginning in verse 37:24b with the words,  “With my many chariots…” through to verse 25, these verses are Isaiah putting words into Sennacherib’s mouth. Then the Lord continues speaking in verse 26, Have you not heard? Long ago I did it… Perhaps it’s clear from the context, but the missing quotation marks in the ESV makes it more confusing. I had to read it a couple of times before I realized who was saying what.

Only one more day of Isaiah before we return to John – but to his letters, not his gospel. Come join us tomorrow as we dig through Isaiah in our RTB gathering group discussion!

Blessings!

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See also:

• June 23 (2023) / II Kings 18:17-19:7; Isaiah 36:2-37:7
• June 24 (2023) / II Kings 19:8-37; Isaiah 37:8-38; II Kings 20:20-21

Isaiah 33-35

Dear RTB’ers,

The STS introductory note is helpful for today’s reading – Isaiah 33 tells of Israel’s fear of the coming Assyrian invasion, then joy when the Assyrians are defeated, followed by another End Times prophecy in the second half of the chapter. Isaiah 34 gives us a picture of God’s judgment on Israel’s enemies, using Edom as an example. Finally, Isaiah 35 offers another future prophecy. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. (vv. 35:5-6a)

Some 700 years later Jesus is surely citing Isaiah when John the Baptist’s disciples ask Him if He is the Messiah: Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, “Are you the One who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.” (Matthew 11:2-5) Note that Jesus offered even more than Isaiah had predicted! Seven centuries – that’s a long wait for that Messianic prophecy to be fulfilled. And now we’ve been waiting some twenty centuries for Jesus to return. Another long wait! Can we hold out a little longer…??

Blessings!

Isaiah 30:18-32:20

Dear RTB’ers,

A couple of happy chapters today… (Please forgive my informality!) But yes, the happiness begins early and continues through all three chapters: For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as He hears it, He answers you. (v. 30:19) During Isaiah’s day we saw Assyria massacred and turned back from their siege of Jerusalem. That is, much of what we read today could be then-current prophecies playing out: The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the LORD when He strikes with His rod. And the Assyrian shall fall by a sword, not of man; and a sword, not of man, shall devour him; and he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be put to forced labor. (vv. 30:31, 31:8) But the glory of it all sounds to be too much for complete prophetic realization back then: Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the LORD binds up the brokenness of His people, and heals the wounds inflicted by His blow. (v. 30:26)

So read on today with joy in Israel back then and in our own future when Jesus, our King, returns! Enjoy today’s reading during this Advent season!

Blessings!

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See also: June 21 (2023) / Isaiah 22:15-25; Isaiah 30-32.

Isaiah 29:1-30:17

Dear RTB’ers,

God continues His warnings to Judah/Jerusalem in today’s first four verses, but then He seems to deliver them from their enemies in the rest of the chapter. See especially Isaiah 29:5-8. Two following verses are particularly confusing: Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, while their hearts are far from Me, and their fear of Me is a commandment taught by men, therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people… (vv. 13-14a). The people are acting like they are worshiping, but their heart is not in it. Still, God says that He will do wonderful things with them. Confusing. God will do wonderful things even though the people are not genuine? Jesus quotes verse 13a in speaking of the Pharisees as hypocrites (and that makes sense), but He does not follow that up with the second verse above. So this pair of verses leaves me confused.

In chapter 30 God is warning His people not to go down to Egypt. This was a major item in Jeremiah’s life; he was warning the Jews with the same message, then he was himself taken to Egypt against his will. God’s word to Judah is clear: Egypt’s help is worthless and empty… (v. 30:7a) But the people refuse to listen: For they are a rebellious people, lying children, children unwilling to hear the instruction of the LORD… (v. 30:9) Still, He continues to offer them His help: In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength… (v. 30:15b) Quietness and trust. A good word for us!

Blessings!

Dear RTB’ers,

Today we have God turning His judgment away from the “nations” and toward Ephraim/Israel (the first thirteen verses) and Judah (the next nine verses). God’s word to Ephraim is the harsher of the two; today’s “that day” (v. 5) seems to be the very near current times – they will be taken captive (Isaiah 28:13). Judah is only being warned.

Isaiah rails against drunkards in Israel, even the priest and the prophet (v. 7), and scoffers in Judah (Isaiah 28:14,22) who have made a “covenant with death/Sheol”. Is this covenant truly an expectation of their death, or is Isaiah referring to Judah’s attempts to raise neighboring allies against the Assyrian invasion? It’s interesting that, in spite of the peoples’ wrongdoings, God is still in the midst of both nations (Isaiah 28:5-6, 16-18). And that’s as true today as it was back then. I am troubled by sin and wickedness in the world today, especially in our own USA (and in my own heart!), but I know that our God is a loving, forgiving, merciful God. And as I’ve mentioned a number of times in the past few days, He will do what He will do.

Blessings!

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See also: June 16 (2023) / Isaiah 28-29; II Kings 17:5-41.

Isaiah 26-27

Dear RTB’ers,

More “in that day” references today – Isaiah 27:1; 26:1,2,12,13. To me the reference continues to be End Times; I don’t see that Isaiah’s prophecies have been fulfilled any time in Israel’s history to date. There have been periodic enemy defeats and exiles and returns, but nothing like all of Israel’s enemies being defeated. The closest these prophesies come to fulfillment (to me) is when the Israeli state was created in 1948 and many Jews returned to Palestine. But that was also the beginning of Arab uprisings against Israel.

Most of the content in today’s readings is uplifting for Israel – a lot of praise and thanksgiving. One verse in particular is often quoted (whole or just the first half): You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. (v. 26:3) Isaiah closes these four End Times chapters (24-27) with a solid prediction of what will happen “in that day”: And in that day a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the LORD on the holy mountain at Jerusalem. (v. 27:13) As the Lord wills, it will be done.

Blessings!

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See also: June 26 (2023) / Isaiah 25-27.