Jeremiah 2:23-5:19 When high schoolers apply to colleges, they often have a safety school. This is a college where they feel confident they will be accepted if all other options come to nothing. Judah began to treat God as a safety god. They had turned to a myriad of idols and only when those other options failed, they actually turn to God. Unlike a safety school that may be happy to still have th...

2 Kings 21:1-9; 2 Chronicles 33:1-9; 2 Kings 21:10-17; 2 Chronicles 33:10-19; 2 Kings 21:18; 2 Chronicles 33:20; 2 Kings 21:19-26; 2 Chronicles 33:21-25; 2 Kings 22:1-2; 2 Chronicles 34:1-7; Jeremiah 1:1-2:22 We probably all know someone who seems to be far from Christ. We may have been praying for this person for a long time, and even shared the gospel with them but were rejected. We may categori...

Isaiah 63:15-66:24; 2 Kings 20:20-21; 2 Chronicles 32:32-33 Who am I? This question of identity is central. If we had a stable family when we were young, we may have found our identity there, then after leaving home we may have tried to find it in a career or romantic relationship, but we were always trying to discover who we were. At the end of Isaiah we see where this issue of identity is addres...

Isaiah 58:1-63:14 One of the most common answers to how are you doing is, I'm fine. Literally, it is to feel that you are not bad or good, just okay. We, like Judah, may often find ourselves in this condition. If we think that we are fine, then we generally will not make any significant changes in our life. In the book of Isaiah, Judah had found itself unable to see the extent of their sin. They d...

Isaiah 52:13-57:21 What would you say if you were asked why Jesus is the Messiah? One of the key responses is that Jesus fulfilled prophecies in the Old Testament, many of which we read in Isaiah. Isaiah 52:14 tells us the servant's "appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness." Isaiah 53:3-5 "He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man ...

Isaiah 48:12-52:12 There are several themes that stick out throughout today's reading: the sovereignty of God, the judgment of God, the suffering Servant, and the bounty of the Lord's favor—and not in that order. Israel, even during its captivity, remains God's chosen one—as we are reminded in the very first verse of today's reading. And who would not want to be the chosen one of the One whose "ha...

Isaiah 44:6-48:11 One of the things that proves God’ superiority is he knows the future. He is omniscient, so he knows all things. He also has foreknowledge, which means his omniscience includes events which have not yet happened. Often in Scripture we have God communicating through his prophets to reveal this foreknowledge. God says, “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, w...

Isaiah 40:1-44:5 A conversation in a noisy restaurant can be an impossible task. You speak, the other person nods their head, but they probably do not understand. This must have been what the prophets felt, they spoke but nobody listened. Isaiah prophesied during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah─not the glory days of Judah. Much of his ministry was to rebuke people for their idolat...

2 Kings 20:1-11; Isaiah 38:1-8; 2 Chronicles 32:24-31; Isaiah 38:9-22; 2 Kings 20:12-19; Isaiah 39:1-8 My heart seems to vacillate between a cry of, “O God, how I need you. Every hour I need you” to “I can handle this on my own.” This is ultimately a movement between humility and pride─the very same attitudes we see in Hezekiah's life. We saw humility in his prayer for salvation yesterday and his ...

2 Kings 19:1-19; Isaiah 37:1-20; 2 Chronicles 32:9-19; 2 Kings 19:20-37; Isaiah 37:21-38; 2 Chronicles 32:20-23 Hezekiah and Judah were surrounded by an army that was insurmountable. In the face of these overwhelming odds they turned to God. From their response I think we can learn two critical lessons. When we pray, we should remember we are praying to God. Hezekiah calls out to God and acknowled...

Micah 6:1-7:20; 2 Chronicles 32:1-8; 2 Kings 18:13-18; Isaiah 36:1-3; 2 Kings 18:19-37; Isaiah 36:4-22 Trust. In whom or what do we trust? Hezekiah “trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel” and he “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done.” Hezekiah removed the places of idol worship. He broke the bronze snake that Moses had made in the wilderness calling it ‘Ne...

Isaiah 34:1-35:10; Micah 2:1-5:15 We began the book of Micah about a month ago, and today and tomorrow we will finish it. Judgment seemed imminent as Assyria lingered nearby; yet the prophets and others tried to convince the people that everything would be fine. They wanted the people to underestimate their predicament and to live blissfully unaware of the judgment that awaited. Satan has always w...

Isaiah 30:1-33:24 Where do you turn for help? Maybe you google something, watch a YouTube video, ignore the problem, or call a friend. But does your strategy consistently work? Israel once again finds itself in a predicament and once again does not turn to God for help. Their initial response to their problems was to turn to idols, horses, technology (chariots), and Egypt. God is a distant afterth...

Isaiah 24:1-27:13, 29:1-24 One of the themes in Isaiah is salvation achieved through judgment. Salvation and judgment are intricately connected throughout the Bible. In Isaiah 24:1 we read “the Lord is going to lay waste the earth and devastate it,” but also some people will “raise their voices, they shout for joy” (Isaiah 24:14). Then in Isaiah 25 praise is given to God for making “the city a hea...

Isaiah 18:1-23:18 It is easy to misunderstand the Old Testament as God's focus on Israel to the neglect of the nations. Though much of the attention of the Hebrews Scriptures is on God working through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants, God's heart has always been for the whole world. His desire was for Israel to be a light for the nations that would draw them into a relationship with hi...

Psalm 136, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150 The last five of the psalms (Psalms 146-150) all begin and end with the phrase "Praise the Lord." It could not be clearer what we are supposed to do. We are called to praise God. These psalms answer several questions about praising God. If we ask the question when we should praise God, the answer is always (Psalm 146:2). We are to begin praising God now and conti...

Psalm 128, 129, 130, 132, 134, 135 Today is part 2 of the psalms of ascent (if you did not read yesterday, I encourage you to read through all the psalms of ascent (Psalms 120-134 today). As people journeyed dozens or hundreds of miles up towards Jerusalem, they would have continuously repeated these psalms. Repetition is the key to learning. When the people came to Psalm 128, it was a reminder th...

Psalm 120, 121, 123, 125, 126 Psalms 120-134 are psalms of ascent. They were psalms which were repeated and sung by pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem for various feasts. As you read through these psalms, consider what they were meant to teach those traveling to Jerusalem, and in turn us. Psalm 120 pictures God as the judge of wickedness and evil in the world. Psalms 121 and 125 teach us God is watch...

Psalm 119 If you have read the Bible everyday so far this year, congratulations, and, even if you have not, good work reading today! Psalm 119 provides a great summary of what you have been reading. God's Scriptures are described in this psalm as: the law of the Lord, his statutes, precepts, decrees, commands, his word, promise, and word of truth. In the Bible we encounter several different genres...

Psalm 115, 116, 117, 118 The commands we repeat are important. There are many things I have told my children again and again because I want them to remember. As parents to their kids, so God is to us. When he repeats something, we should pay attention to it. In Psalm 115 we are commanded multiple times to "trust in the Lord." Then Psalms 115-117 all end with the phrase, "Praise the Lord." Then in ...