Jeremiah 51:1-53 + Titus 2:1-15 + Psalm 99:1-9 + Proverbs 26:17
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Old Testament – Jeremiah Chapter 51 dives into Babylon’s destruction! Lately we’ve been basically just looking at Babylon the city & empire and Nebuchadnezzar from the historical perspective – though, certainly seeing where and how God has been interacting with Babylon. I think it might be a good point here to consider the spiritual connotations of Babylon. A great place to begin this conversation is in Revelation Chapters 17 & 18 where Babylon is discussed. I won’t go into trying to interpret these two chapters of Revelation today… 🙂 We have yet to get to Revelation later this year in the One Year Bible! But, these two chapters may give you some more insight into the spiritual meaning of the term Babylon. If you do want to read more about Babylon in context of these two Revelation chapters, check out this link for an interesting commentary. Below is an image of Babylon before its destruction…
It is interesting in the middle of Jeremiah 51 we have a few verses of a hymn of praise to God – verses 15 through 19. Again, in verse 18, idols are mentioned and can be assumed as one of the prime reasons of Babylon’s destruction: "Idols are worthless; they are lies! The time is coming when they will all be destroyed." Do you believe that idols are worthless? Are they lies? What are some of our modern day idols that are worthless and lies? Are you rejecting worshiping any and all of our modern day idols and focusing your worship and time and love toward God and Jesus? Please, leave those worthless idols behind… and don’t pick them up ever again!
The other thing to note in this chapter is that earlier in Jeremiah we read about the coming destruction of Jerusalem – but always with the note of ultimate redemption. In this chapter with Babylon, and other chapters discussing Babylon, there is no redemption for Babylon. This city will not be restored… Below is artist John Martin’s "Fall of Babylon" from Illustrations from the Bible, 1835:
New Testament – Titus chapter 2 today is full of great wisdom from Paul! Please let these verses sink in. Verse 14 stands out: "He (Jesus) gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing what is right." Do you believe that Jesus gave his life to free you from every kind of sin? To cleanse you? And to make you his very own? Are you totally committed to doing what is right? Has Jesus’ life, death and resurrection freed you from sin?
In Titus 2:11 we read: “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all people.” Do you believe this? What does God’s grace mean to you? How have you experienced God’s grace in your life? Has God’s grace brought salvation to your life?
Bible.org’s commentary on today’s readings in Titus titled "The Foundation, Means, and Motivation for godly Behavior" is at this link.
Psalms – Psalm 99 is a great psalm of praise! This Psalm mentions the word Lord 7 times. I like verse 6 a lot: "Moses and Aaron were among his priests; Samuel also called on his name. They cried to the LORD for help, and he answered them." These were obviously some godly men in the Bible. Do you believe if you cry out to the Lord for help, He will answer you too?
I love Psalm 99 verse 3 – "Let them praise your great and awesome name. Your name is holy!" I think sometimes in our modern world we can forget that God’s name is holy. Jesus’ name is holy. These holy names change things. They change everything. If ever you are ever feeling like you are being confronted by evil – maybe even in your sleep in a dream – call upon Jesus’ name and watch the evil flee from you immediately. It is true… Jesus’ name is holy! God’s name is holy! I don’t know if anyone has a CD by Vineyard Worship with Kathryn Scott singing on it? It’s called "Hungry, Live in London". This is a great CD and they have a wonderful song that includes lyrics saying, "You are the sovereign I AM, your name is holy!" Beautiful tune… And so true.
Proverbs – Proverbs 26:17 makes me chuckle. I don’t know what it is about this Chapter 26 of Proverbs, but the analogies are cracking me up lately. (I didn’t post up the vomit analogy a day or two ago… you’ll have to look that one up…) Today’s verse tells us – "Yanking a dog’s ears is as foolish as interfering in someone else’s argument." Why would you ever yank a dog’s ears?? 🙂 And thus, why would you interfere in someone else’s argument? This is of course a true and effective proverb analogy! Let that sleeping dog lie!
Worship Video: As I mention Kathryn Scott and her song “Your Name is Holy,” here’s another group performing this song live:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSvHuRN0OLI
Do you know our Holy God? Click here for Holiness!
Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture today: “Like one who seizes a dog by the ears is a passer-by who meddles in a quarrel not his own.” Proverbs 26:17 (NIV)
Prayer Point: Pray that you won’t involve yourself in quarrels that are not your own. Pray that you will realize when you don’t “have a dog in the fight.”
Comments from You: What verses or insights stand out to you from today’s readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
Grace, love, peace, and joy!
Mike
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BLOG READERS HISTORICAL COMMUNITY COMMENTS:
Re Mike’s comment on “Your name is holy”:
I wonder whether in our busy western existence the word “holy” has lost some meaning. What is our concept of holiness? Have we become rather casual about the holiness of God?
Andrew
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Cheap grace => cheap holiness?
Bajo
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Need to pray for a revelation of God’s holiness. We are so inclined to reduce it to our so called moral standards. We can never be holy apart from Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.
Wendy
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What’s Wrong with Gender-Neutral Bible Translations?
by Wayne Grudem, 1997
“When I read the NRSV, I wonder what has happened to the reverence for every word of Scripture that was so common in the church in previous generations. The words of Scripture are not ours to tamper with as we please.”
“In the second century, Marcion tried to remove from Scripture all the sections he disagreed with.”
“The Jehovah’s Witnesses have a special translation that changes a few key words to suit their doctrine.”
“Now we have an NRSV that does a very similar thing in order to eliminate ‘masculine language’ from thousands of verses of Scripture. When it does this, it unnecessarily distorts the meaning of the Word of God.”
“AND SO DO THE OTHER GENDER-NEUTRAL VERSIONS (CEV, NCV, NIVI, AND NLT) THAT FOLLOW ITS PRECEDENT.”
“In addition, the NRSV has not gone as far as some people wanted, because it still calls God ‘Father’ (not ‘Parent’), for example, and calls Jesus the ‘Son of God’ (not ‘Child of God’)–probably in large measure due to the conservative influence of the chairman of the NRSV translation committee, evangelical New Testament scholar Bruce Metzger.”
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NOTICE THAT “NLT” – NEW LIVING TRANSLATION IS INCLUDED AS ONE OF THE TRANSLATIONS THAT HAVE FOLLOWED THE PRECEDENT OF THE GENDER-NEUTRAL BIBLE TRANSLATIONS.
I, Vance Brown, have been to seminary, and I have studied some Greek and Hebrew. I can tell you that words are very specific, and that they have specific meanings for a specific reason.
If we change the specific meaning, then we be confused about God’s truth, which WILL open us up to not treating with great respect the Word of God.
We will not treat the Word of God as above all other truths if we do not treat each word as true.
I Corinthians 15 (NLT)
45
The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But the last Adam–that is, Christ–is a life-giving Spirit.
46
What came first was the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later.
47
Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven.
THANK GOD that the NLT correctly translates verses 45 and 47:
“The first man, Adam…”
“Adam, the first man…Christ, the second man…”
This is important. There are liberal people who are in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ who are truly Christians (truly saved by the grace of the Man, Christ Jesus) or “Christians” in appearance only—not saved at all.
There are feminists who want to completely lead the charge to call God “Parent” and deny calling Jesus the “Son” of God because they are offended by the Divinely revealed nature of God our Father.
What troubles me is that NLT has, in some way, followed the tradition of Gender-Neutral Bible Translations.
Thus, from now on, when I do the daily readings from oneyearbibleblog.com, I will no longer be using the NLT as my reading and comment.
I really like the daily readings; therefore, I will participate to drink from the water of healing and life in the Word of God. And I enjoy reading others comments that can challenge me and build me up.
However, I will give the enemy any opening on purpose to get an avenue into my life. By the grace of God, I will not purposely allow the devil any more freedom in our culture.
VANCE
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Thanks for a wonderful works!
God Bless you.
Elsa
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Historically, Babylon was never really destroyed. In Daniel, it says the Medo-Persians took over in one night. Later, Alexander the Great made Babylon his capital. After the rise of Rome, Babylon slowly faded and was abandoned. So as far as this destruction that Jeremiah refers to, it is yet to come.
RR
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Thanks, Mike, for your link for more information about Babylon. Very interesting and most helpful in understanding some of what is transpiring in the Book of Jeremiah.
To Andrew, in our busy western existance lots of the Words of God have lost their meanings. We tend to view the words of the Bible as things that we have heard since childhood…in otherwords “ho-hum.” We need to remember that the Gospels are NEWS. Good News to be read and viewed with awe!
Art
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By living in a way that is following the word of God, others will not be able to say anything bad about how we live and will be like us too. We should teach these things and respect each other while encouraging one another.
Richie
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It’s amazing how those pagan countries are used in teaching and rebuking God’s people and yet these countries could be punished and removed for their sin and reproach too. Amen..I wouldn’t want to be in Babylons shoes in his reproach in today’s readings.
Yes God’s grace is freely given to all people. How beautiful it is! Blessed is the name of the Lord.
Dee