Proverbs 30-31

I again encourage you to split these readings up over the course of the day…

See:

• September 17 (2022) / Proverbs 30:1-10
• September 18 (2022) / Proverbs 30:11-20
• September 19 (2022) / Proverbs 30:21-33
• September 20 (2022) / Proverbs 31:1-9
• September 21 (2022) / Proverbs 31:10-31

So how about Proverbs? Are we allowing ourselves to let these ancient words challenge our “modern sensibilities” or the direction of our not-so-wise society? Are we seeking Wisdom? Or are we just nodding our heads, saying, “That’s nice,” and going about our day as usual?

II Chronicles 36:22-23; Proverbs 22:17-24:34

Today we see the (beginning of the) fulfillment of what God promised through His prophets. Jeremiah had declared that the Babylonian exile would come to an end and that God’s people would return to the Promised Land. Further, as we read the other day, Isaiah had declared (much earlier) that a man named Cyrus would be the LORD’s chosen instrument for bringing about their release from captivity. Sure enough, Cyrus the Great, comes to power, conquers Babylon, and proclaims release to the captives.

That brings us to the end of II Chronicles, and The Chronological Study Bible takes the opportunity to return us to the Book of Proverbs for “words of the wise” that are not pegged to any more specific time frame. Unfortunately, that means we must gobble down material that is better digested more slowly…

For those who may have joined us more recently here at RTB, you should know that last year we focused on the Psalms and the Old Testament “Wisdom Literature” (i.e., Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs), which allowed us to read those books at a slower pace than we can this year in our “Bible-in-a-year” tour. As you can see below, we took seven days to cover what we’re reading today. I suggest that for Proverbs, rather than trying to read all of today’s content in one sitting, split it up over the course of the day. You might also want to take a look at last year’s Introduction to Proverbs.

See:

• July 26 (2022) / Proverbs 22:17-29
• September 1 (2022) / Proverbs 23:1-11
• September 2 (2022) / Proverbs 23:12-21
• September 3 (2022) / Proverbs 23:22-35
• September 4 (2022) / Proverbs 24:1-12
• September 5 (2022) / Proverbs 24:13-22
• September 6 (2022) / Proverbs 24:23-34

Isaiah 52-55

Today we get the last of Isaiah’s four “Servant Songs” in Isaiah 52:13-53:12. In case one look at the Cross is not enough to convince us that Jesus is the fulfillment of this “Song”, the New Testament writers practically spell it out for us. Here are several obvious direct references to this “Song”:

• Isaiah 52:15 — Romans 15:21
• Isaiah 53:1 — John 12:37-38; Romans 10:16
• Isaiah 53:4 — Matthew 8:17
• Isaiah 53:5 — I Peter 2:24
• Isaiah 53:6 — I Peter 2:25
• Isaiah 53:7 — Acts 8:32
• Isaiah 53:9 — I Peter 2:22

And there are plenty more New Testament passages that reflect the idea that the Christ must suffer and that His suffering atones for our sins and iniquities, just as this “Song” says.

So take some time today and meditate on this Suffering Servant. Ponder Who He is, His characteristics, His actions on our behalf, His undeserved suffering, His affliction. Consider that it is our sorrows and griefs with which He is acquainted. Recognize that it is for our iniquities that He is scourged, it is our sin He bears on His Cross, and it is in that awful Reality that we find peace and healing.

He was pierced for our transgressions;
He was crushed for our iniquities;
upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with His wounds we are healed.

Isaiah 53:5

Isaiah 49-51

Today we get two more of Isaiah’s “Servant Songs” in Isaiah 49:1-13 and Isaiah 50:4-9. As I mentioned before, the ESV avoids capitalizing “servant” or personal pronouns, and I suggest that it is useful to read these texts this way (uncapitalized) to avoid a biased interpretation. The NASB, on the other hand, capitalizes “Servant” and personal pronouns throughout Isaiah 49:1-13. The NKJV likewise provides such capitalization, but — interestingly — does not do so in Isaiah 49:3-4. (What, pray tell, makes the “Me” in verse 1 any different from the “me” in verse 3?)

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[The LORD] says:
“It is too light a thing that you should be My servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
I will make you as a light for the nations,
that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Isaiah 49:6

In speaking to the Jews at Antioch in Pisidia, Saint Paul quotes the end of this verse as justification for taking the Gospel to the Gentiles (i.e., the nations). (See Acts 13:13-52, specifically Acts 13:47.) And so here we are today, mostly Gentiles according to our DNA, receiving this message of the LORD’s salvation. Indeed, may His salvation reach to the end of the earth!

Isaiah 46-48

“I am, and there is no one besides me.” That sounds like it must be God speaking, right? But it isn’t. That’s the voice of Babylon in her arrogant self-confidence. Here it is (twice!) with a bit more context:

Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures,
who sit securely,
who say in your heart,
“I am, and there is no one besides me;
I shall not sit as a widow
or know the loss of children”:
These two things shall come to you
in a moment, in one day;
…
You felt secure in your wickedness;
you said, “No one sees me”;
your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray,
and you said in your heart,
“I am, and there is no one besides me.”
But evil shall come upon you,
…

Isaiah 48:8-11

Clearly, this prideful attitude on Babylon’s part does not serve her well, and the LORD declares His judgment against her. One might hope that we would learn from Babylon’s demise, but I look around, particularly at our own dear U.S.A., and I wonder…

Isaiah 44-45

Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel
and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts:
“I am the First and I am the Last;
besides Me there is no god.”

Isaiah 44:6

The LORD again emphasizes His preeminence. Time and again He declares that He is God and there is no other. (Isaiah 44:6,8; 45:5,6,14,18,21,22) Idols of wood certainly cannot compete. The LORD mocks those who take a block of wood, burn half of it to cook their supper, and bow down before the other half. (Isaiah 44:9-17) How obviously ridiculous that is! And yet the idolator is blind to his folly. (Isaiah 44:18-20) (I wonder how blind we, too, might be sometimes. Oh, sure, we’re not as silly as these ancient peoples, bowing down before figures made of wood, clay, or metal. We’re far more sophisticated than that! Or are we?)

The LORD declares that He will demonstrate His sovereignty by raising up Cyrus (the Great of Persia) to accomplish the LORD’s purposes. He even goes so far as to call Cyrus His “anointed” — that is, “messiah”. (Isaiah 45:1) Although we should recognize that this term has been used before (e.g., for Saul, David, and other kings of Israel and Judah) and that it is not completely reserved specifically for the Messiah, Jesus, we should not disregard the significance of this designation. Cyrus is the LORD’s specific choice for working out His purposes, and the LORD declares it well ahead of time, as no one else can. Even though Cyrus does not know the LORD, the LORD knows Cyrus. (Isaiah 45:4) So Who is responsible for Cyrus’ success? How is it that Cyrus rises to power? How is it that he is able to conquer mighty Babylon and other kingdoms?

It is entirely because of the LORD that Cyrus ever becomes “the Great”. And that is something we need to remember when we look around at our world today, when we see various leaders rise or fall. It is the LORD Who raises up and Who tears down. That is not to say that we should be politically passive, not at all. But regardless of whether we view certain world leaders as “good” or “bad”, we need to trust that the LORD is always fully in control.

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One more thing…

Turn to Me and be saved,
all the ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
By Myself I have sworn;
from My mouth has gone out in righteousness
a word that shall not return:
‘To me every knee shall bow,
every tongue shall swear allegiance.’”

Isaiah 45:22-23

If that sounds a bit familiar, consider what Saint Paul later writes to the Philippians:

Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:9-11

Paul knows Isaiah. Paul’s echo of Isaiah in his letter to the Philippians is by no means accidental.

Isaiah 42-43

Isaiah 42:1-9 is the first of four poems in Isaiah that have come to be known as the “Servant Songs”. (The others are found in Isaiah 49:1–13; 50:4–9; 52:13–53:12.) We know from New Testament references that these Servant Songs speak of Jesus Christ. (For example, see Matthew 12:15-18, which quotes Isaiah 42:1-4.) But that does not mean that every use of the term “servant” in Isaiah points to Jesus. Sometimes, like in Isaiah 41:8-9, the servant is explicitly named as Israel or Jacob, meaning the nation of Israel as a whole. Sometimes, like in Isaiah 42:19 or Isaiah 43:10, it is only implied (but still quite clear) that the nation is the servant. Sometimes the servant may well be Jesus, or the nation of Israel, or both. So as we go through these chapters of Isaiah, pay attention to how the word “servant” is used and see what it might tell you about Jesus or about Israel — or about yourself. (By the way, the ESV translation always leaves “servant” uncapitalized — as in the original text — which forces us to think a bit on our own. The NKJV tries to make it easier and capitalizes “Servant” when the term refers to Christ. Although that may be helpful, such capitalization also imposes an interpretation that may or may not be correct, so I encourage you not to depend too heavily on it.)

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Behold My servant, whom I uphold,
My chosen, in whom My soul delights;
I have put My Spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
He will not grow faint or be discouraged
till he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his law.

Isaiah 42:1-4

So what about this first Servant Song? Without the capitalizations and without Matthew’s telling us explicitly that Jesus fulfills these words, what might we think? If we were in exile and managed to perceive that this song points to the coming Messiah (which is a big “if”), what would we think of that Messiah? How would we hear these words? Of course, we have the advantage of knowing that Jesus does indeed fulfill this role. But is this how we think of Him? Three times we see the word “justice” here. What does that mean? (Hint: It’s not just talking about the court system.) What does it mean to say that a bruised reed He will not break, and a faintly burning wick He will not quench?

Spend some time today with our Lord meditating on this Servant Song, and let Him speak into your heart about Who He really is.

Isaiah 40-41

If you are acquainted with G. F. Handel’s “Messiah”, you are sure to recognize Isaiah 40:1-5,9,11. (Go ahead, have a listen!) But even if you are not a fan of baroque music, I’m betting several verses here sound familiar, because we find them quoted in the New Testament. For example, all four Gospels quote Isaiah 40:3 in reference to John the Baptist’s preparing the way for Christ. (Mt. 3:3; Mk. 1:3; Lk. 3:4; Jn. 1:23) That should tell us that while the exiles of Judah may well find comfort in these words after the destruction of Jerusalem, the LORD ultimately has a wider audience in view.

Reading through today’s chapters (especially those bits that may not be so familiar) one thing that strikes me is that the LORD’s message of hope and salvation is rooted entirely in Himself. He depends on no one. He is without equal. All else is trivial before Him. Idols are utterly worthless. He is the One Who raises up another conqueror (whom we will later learn is Cyrus the Great — Isaiah 44:28) to deal with Israel’s captors. He is the One Who declares all this ahead of time. There is no one else. There is only the LORD, the LORD alone.

Isaiah 13:1-14:23; 21; 33-35; Daniel 5

Like Assyria before it, Babylon has been the LORD’s instrument of judgment upon the nations. As we have seen before (e.g., July 4 and July 21), the LORD now turns and holds Babylon responsible for the evil Babylon committed in the process. As part of the LORD’s declaration of judgment upon the king of Babylon, He says this:

How you are fallen from heaven,
O Day Star, son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
you who laid the nations low!
You said in your heart,
“I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
in the far reaches of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.”
But you are brought down to Sheol,
to the far reaches of the pit.

Isaiah 14:12-15

Given the length of our reading today, I do not want to add many more words, but I must note that at least since Tertullian (around 200 A.D.) this passage has been interpreted as pointing beyond the king of Babylon to Satan himself. (The word translated “Day Star” in the ESV is “Lucifer” in the KJV, which is just taken directly from the Latin Vulgate — the Latin “lucifer” meaning “morning star”; i.e., the planet Venus…) This is somewhat similar to the “king” of Tyre in Ezekiel 28:12-19. (See August 10.) Just as Judah could rest assured that the Babylonians would one day “get theirs”, so we can all rest assured that Satan will “get his”, too.

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One more thing…

We should note that our “chronological” Bible now has us reading Isaiah, who lived over 100 years before the Fall of Jerusalem. The editors’ decision to place these readings here may (or may not!) help our understanding, but let’s not lose sight of the fact that Isaiah prophesied well before “now” in the historical timeline — and let’s recognize the bias that can creep into our interpretations when we forget that.

Ezekiel 29:17-30:19; II Kings 25:27-30; Jeremiah 52:31-34

Today we see that King Jehoiachin (aka Coniah or Jeconiah) ends his days in relative peace and comfort. He is still in exile in Babylon, of course, but he is no longer imprisoned and is treated well.

It has been a while (a month ago, in fact) since we have heard anything about Jehoiachin, so perhaps it is time for a bit of review. Jehoiachin’s father was Jehoiakim, the one who burned Jeremiah’s scroll. When his father died, Jehoiachin came to the throne of Judah at the age of 18, but reigned for only 3 months before surrendering Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar in 597 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin (and many others, including Ezekiel) into exile in Babylon and placed Jehoiachin’s uncle, Zedekiah, on the throne back in Jerusalem.

At that time the LORD gave Jeremiah a vision of good and bad figs — the good figs representing those sent into exile and the bad figs those left behind. (Jeremiah 24) As we know, those left behind went from bad to worse, resulting in the Fall of Jerusalem in 587/586 B.C. More people were then taken into captivity in Babylon, but the poorest were left to tend the fields. Although Jeremiah counseled otherwise, all those left behind still refused to submit to Babylonian rule and fled to Egypt, but Egypt was no haven and would likewise be destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.

I am quite sure that when Jehoiachin was first hauled off into exile, he did not feel like a “good fig”. I am sure he was not happy about captivity. It must have been crushing for him to know that his uncle occupied his throne and to recognize that none of his own sons would ever rule. But even though he had to endure 36 years of imprisonment, in the end we see that Jehoiachin’s path of exile was far better than that of the “bad figs” left behind, and that signals hope for God’s remnant.

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One more thing…

Jeremiah 22:30 declared that Coniah (Jehoiachin) was to be considered childless, that none of his descendants would sit on the throne of Judah. Seeing as how Jehoiachin’s uncle, Zedekiah, held the throne until the kingdom came to an end with the Fall of Jerusalem, we can see the truth of that statement. However, in exile, Jehoiachin did have sons and further descendants (I Chronicles 3:17), and we see in Matthew 1:12-16 that those descendants included Joseph, the “father” of Jesus.