TCN's Biblical Journey August 31st

Today's reading is Ezekiel 44-47

The songs and tradition tell us that Jesus will enter the city of Jerusalem during his second coming through the Eastern Gate. It is the first part of Ezekiel 44 which give us this clue.

So what does this mean? Why the Eastern Gate?

There are certainly answers which people argue over but what we see here is the person showing this to Ezekiel doesn't explain.

We like to understand and to have all the answers but here and in other places in the Bible God seems not at all worried about our understanding. We can accept it or not. God isn't worried.

TCN's Biblical Journey August 30th

Today's reading Ezekiel 40-43

Question?

I can’t help but place a quote from Matthew Henry’s commentary for it says the very thing I am thinking. “Ezekiel 40:1-49 The Vision of the Temple. - Here is a vision, beginning at ch. 40, and continued to the end of the book, ch. 48, which is justly looked upon to be one of the most difficult portions in all the book of God. When we despair to be satisfied as to any difficulty we meet with, let us bless God that our salvation does not depend upon it, but that things necessary are plain enough; and let us wait till God shall reveal even this unto us. This chapter describes two outward courts of the temple. Whether the personage here mentioned was the Son of God, or a created angel, is not clear. But Christ is both our Altar and our Sacrifice, to whom we must look with faith in all approaches to God; and he is Salvation in the midst of the earth, Ps 74:12, to be looked unto from all quarters.”[1]

One side note was the day of this revelation was by best figuring the day when the Jews were supposed to choose a lamb for sacrifice under the Law. Certainly, if this was a vision which promised a new temple under the messiah it was the perfect day for it.

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[1] Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible. https://biblehub.com/commentaries/ezekiel/40-1.htm. Accessed 8-29/18.

TCN's Biblical Journey August 29th

Today's reading is Ezekiel 36-39

"Can these bones live?"

"God, you alone know." (Ez 37:3f)

When you're faced with uncertainty and the impossible this is perhaps the best answer to God about it. I say that because we know our own limitation and problems, but we also realize that nothing is impossible with God. It may look impossible, but God knows if He is going to do the impossible.

I see that when God asked Ezekiel to do something he didn't argue. He just obeyed. So when we are faced with the impossible this is what we should do. We should obey God. God knows what is going to happen and we just have to trust him.


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TCN's Biblical Journey August 28th

Today's reading is Ezekiel 32-35

It's how you _______.

Ezekiel 33 repeats the call of Ezekiel as being a watchman. The words echo back to the beginning of the book but today I want to consider verses 18 and 19.

Ezekiel 33:18-19 KJV

“When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby.

But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.”

This reminds of something I have heard many times by coaches, “It’s not how you start but how you finish that wins the game.”  We see here that God says the same thing, in fact, I think this would mean He said it first. The truth carries over into many areas of life. Yes, beginning well can help you finish well in competitions and in life, but they don’t mean you will. It is true that starting poorly makes it harder to finish well, but unlike the competition, the decision to repent and follow God erases God’s judgment.

Yes, someone coming to Christ later in life will never be able to reclaim the time that was lost, but the good news is the past life doesn’t have to be balanced. There is no excuse which says I can’t make it up, it’s too late. With God’s forgiveness, you don’t have to make it up, you just have to live for God from then forward. 

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TCN's Biblical Journey August 27th

Today's reading is Ezekiel 28-31

"Am I a god?"

In chapter 28^th of Ezekiel, the words which stand out to me is the claim of the ruler of Tyre who says, “I am a god.”

There is some argument about whether or not humans can claim this. Scriptures indicate that we are the pinnacle of God’s creation and called sons of God. If this is the case are we not gods?

I would have to say it depends on how you define the word. Also, that definition sets the proclamation as truth or blasphemy.

If being a god (little g) means we have been made supernatural being destined to live forever, then yes, we are.

If being a god means we have made ourselves or are innately sovereign over our lives (and maybe even thinking about the life of others), then this is blasphemy. It is wrong and contrary to scripture. It is also contrary to reality and a proclamation of pride.

In this scripture, the ruler of Tyre is claiming the second. He is a god. HE is equal to other gods and even the God of Israel. Reality is soon going to confront him and death is going to show his claim a falsehood.

So, should we claim to be gods?  

No, in an intellectual setting it could be discussed, but the danger for humans is to be tempted by pride. The declaration of godhood (even if true) can easily be misunderstood by others causing them to fall into error, or it can cause us to think more highly of ourselves then we should open the door for us to fall. It could cause us not to see our own shortcomings and as the old saying goes, “No one is so blind as one who refuses to see.”

I’m not a god so you can disagree with me if you like. 

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TCN's Biblical Journey August 24th

Today's reading is Ezekiel 24-27

On vacation this week. Add your own thought in the comments sections on what you see in this reading.

TCN's Biblical Journey August 23rd

Today's reading is Ezekiel 20-23

On vacation this week. Add your own thought in the comments sections on what you see in this reading.

TCN's Biblical Journey August 22nd

Today's reading is Ezekiel 16-19

On vacation this week. Add your own thought in the comments sections on what you see in this reading.

TCN's Biblical Journey August 21st

Today's reading is Ezekiel 12-15

On vacation this week. Add your own thought in the comments sections on what you see in this reading.

TCN's Biblicla Journey August 20th

Today's reading is Ezekiel 8-11

On vacation this week. Add your own thought in the comments sections on what you see in this reading

TCN's Biblical Journey August 17th

Today's reading is Ezekiel 4-7

Here is your job. Don't move.?

I have a great job for you, lie on your side for 390 days.

Does this sound strange to you? It does to me, yet this is exactly what God has told Ezekiel to do. Make a miniture city, set a siege against it and lay beside it for over a year. It is strange, but that is the whole point. Sometimes straightforward words don't impact us like a great picture. God is drawing a living picture for those around to understand his future plans for Jerusalem. 

It may sound strange, but God does what it takes to reach people. Sometimes things we might never imagine. The key for those who follow him is to obey, even when it's strange.


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TCN's Biblical Journey August 16th

Today's reading is Lamentations 5 and Ezekiel 1-3

Order is gone.

Though Lamentation chapter 5 has 22 verses, the acrostic pattern is lost here. It is like the grief of the writer is so great that lack of order has descended on him as well as grief. This has been at times the heart cry of those who have struggled with grief.

Since the writer hasn't seen God's deliverance the final cry in the last verse is one of desperation and resignation; Restore us, unless you have given up on us. This book ends as several books in the Bible do without a clear ending or at least a settled ending. Yet this is how it is in life, there aren't always clear straightforward endings. Sometimes, we "see through a glass darkly" as Paul says in1 Corinthians 13. This side of eternity that is the best it gets. However for the Christian, we know that life doesn't end with death and the story for us doesn't end on a bad note, because life is just the beginning.


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TCN's Biblical Journey August 15th

Today's reading is Lamentations 1-4

It's okay to cry.

We can't see it in English but the first four chapters of Lamentations are an acrostic. They lay out a case of desperation for those who have seen their homeland destroyed.

The first part of verse 21 stands out to me who has seen many people in grief. The writer says there isn't anyone to offer comfort. In fact, the author says the those around are glad to see them, as they are. This is the way it feels at times in life. Even for those who know that God is watching over them, there are times they/I have felt alone.

Lamentations reminds me that God is okay with people grieving. He is not offended when people cry out in pain. If you look at the garden of Gethsemane you see Jesus crying out to God. God is not just not offended he understands. If anyone can comfort, it is God. Yet at times he knows we need to cry it out before we can receive comfort.   

TCN's Biblical Journey August 14th

Today's reading is Jeremiah 49-52



Here is chapter 49, Jeremiah continues to warn the nations around Judah that God is going to judge them as well. There is an interesting note in that for Ammon and Elam there is a promise of returned fortune. God is going to bring judgment but it isn't the end. For me, this seems to be a reminder that not all judgments or bad times mean the end of everything. There are times when God does bring judgment but not every time does it mean that there will be complete destruction. This perhaps can give us hope when things go bad for a time. This may not mean that everything is gone forever.

TCN's Biblical Journey August 13th

Today's reading is Jeremiah 45-48

Don't bother even trying.

At least in America, there is an attitude that if you want it and are willing to work hard you can get it. The amazing thing is that in many areas it is true. Getting wealth, notoriety, and position can come easier here than in any place in the world. So saying that you shouldn't even try seems completely wrong.

The truth is that in some place and definitely during the time of Jeremiah trying to get "great things" (45:5) is an exercise in futility. God was not being cruel to Baruch (Jeremiah's scribe). God was trying to save him from the pain of even more loss.

In Ecclesiastes chapter 3, it says there is a time to give up. This was that time. Trying to fight against it wasn't going to help. Yes, we shouldn't give up just because things are hard, but there is a time to walk away. There is a time to run away. Don't give up too early, but when God says to let go. It will save you a lot of disappointment.


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TCN's Biblical Journey August 10th

Today's reading is Jeremiah 41-44


In the previous chapter, Gedaliah was warned that Ishmael son of Nethaniah was going to kill him. He didn't believe it and here while seating at table together Ishnael struck. Advice doesn't do anyone any good if it isn't listened to.

We aren't given the reason why Gedaliah didn't believe those who were trying to warn him. Maybe it was because there wasn't much left, or he thought Ismael was a friend, but whatever the reason it cost him his life. 

This scripture sets up what is going to happen to Jeremiah in the next chapter, but for us, I believe the lesson we may be able to take away is that treachery is real. Sometimes you can protect yourself against it and sometimes you can't. If nothing else this is an example of what we shouldn't be like.

TCN's Biblical Journey August 9th

Today's Journey is Jeremiah 37-40


I find this chapter interesting. The new king asks Jeremiah to pray for them and later when Jeremiah asks the king moves him to a better place, but yet he isn't repenting and turning to God. Since we don't know his heart it is impossible to say. Yet God used him to remove Jeremiah from those who wished to silence him and probably kill him.


Jeremiah asks a question which no one answers: "Where are the prophets?"(37:19) Jeremiah asks what about all those people who prophesied falsely. Where are they now? It is a good question. They seemed to have disappeared, yet the true prophet was suffering. It doesn't seem fair, but the world isn't fair.

It was true then and it is still true. Jesus warned his followers the world would not treat them right. So we shouldn't be surprised when it happens.

TCN's Biblical Journey August 8th

Today's reading is Jeremiah 33-36

God has brought and is bring destruction on Judah, yet here we find a great promise (Jeremiah 33). God is promising to bring them back and raise up the Messianic Kingdom. Part of this has been fulfilled in Jesus and part is yet to come but there is hope. Jeremiah knew he would never see it but as many a parent has had there is hope for those who come later. It is this kind of hope, which inspires people to sacrifice and even lay down their lives. It is this kind of hope which gives people the courage to face pain and not run, nor surrender.

Since the promise has been partly fulfilled in Jesus doing what was just and right, we can know that one day he will do the rest and make all things right. We too have hope. 

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TCN's Biblical Journey August 7th

Today's reading  is Jeremiah 29-32

Finding serenity in conflict!

God's perfect plan for Israel wasn't for them to be conquered yet being God, he saw what was coming and was not surprised. For the people of Israel who had been conquered it was a shock. They didn't know what to do and God sent them a message. The message summed up was “bloom where you're planted" (Jeremiah 29:4-7).

This is perhaps the most difficult action to take. Many times, we want things made right or at least our image of right, but God says, "No." In this situation we see why God has done what he has done, it is because of the disobedience of the people. However, in our lives, we don’t always see everything. It is easy to say, God wanted this, but that isn’t true. God didn’t want it, he just gave man the freedom to do it. This, however, takes us away from our point. My point today is that often God asks us to live right, right where we are. There will come a day of change (Jeremiah 29:10-14), until that time live and be content with where you are.

Yes, there is a time to fight against the system. There is a time to stand against what isn’t right. There is a time also to wait. There is a time to let go. The key is to know when that is. Here in this passage, God is giving the captives instructions on what to do. For us, it may not always be clear. This is why the prayer of serenity is so poignant.

God grant me the serenity

To accept the things, I cannot change

The courage to change the things I can

And the Wisdom to know the difference.

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TCN's Biblical Journey August 6th

Today's reading is Jeremiah 25-28

A long time.

Seventy Years?! (Jeremiah 25:11)

That is a long time. Was this chosen as an exact number to coincide with the number of years the Jews didn’t give the land its Sabbath rest (2 Chronicles 36:21). Maybe, it was it was at least part of it. Was it a rounded number to show God’s perfect completion/harmony? That may have had part of it also. I lean towards the idea that both are true. It was to give the land rest after the years the Children of Israel didn’t, and it was also to show God’s perfect (7) completion/harmony (10).   

One thing is certain once God sets a time he fulfills it (Daniel 9:2). However, I can’t help but notice that after God’s work of perfect harmony(completion), the Children of Israel never served false God’s as they had in the past. It was a long time, but clearly, it was what was needed.

I can’t help but think that sometimes waiting is God’s way of making things perfectly complete. 

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TCN's Biblical Journey August 3rd

Today's reading is Jeremiah 21-24

“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live” Deuteronomy 30:19

"Furthermore, tell the people, 'This is what the LORD says: See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death.” Jeremiah 21:8

Doing research into Jeremiah 21:8, I wanted to see if what I saw here was generally accepted. I found a quote out of Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers which so matched what I was feeling that I have chosen to quote it.

“The words are not unlike those of Deuteronomy 11:26-27; Deuteronomy 30:15; Deuteronomy 30:19, but there is something like a solemn irony in their application here. They obviously present themselves, not with the wide spiritual application with which they meet us there, but are to be taken in their lowest and most literal sense. The “way of life” is no longer that way of righteousness which the men of Judah had forsaken, leading to the life of eternal blessedness, but simply submission to the Chaldæans, and the life so gained was one of exile and poverty, if not of bondage also.”[1]

The people of Israel had so walked away from God that the only thing left was physical life. Yes, as we read Jeremiah there is a hope for the future, but for now, there is only life. All the blessings of the covenant were gone. It is a very sad place. Those who had so much promise are now just living. It seemed a fate worse than death, however, this life was better than what lay in store for most of those who didn’t surrender.

Does this relate to us today?

I think it does. Those whom have had Jesus in their lives but haven’t lived into the Christian life may find they end missing out on the blessing in this life and the rewards in the next. Yes, they may be saved through fire, but they will have nothing to show for it (1 Corinthians 3:15). Yes, they aren’t lost, but that’s it. And this is a sad commentary on a life, the man on the cross who could do nothing for Jesus seems better off than a person who has the opportunity to obey and doesn’t. 

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[1] Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers https://biblehub.com/commentaries/jeremiah/21-8.htm. Accessed 8-2-18.

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TCN's Biblical Journey August 2nd

Today's reading is Jeremiah 17-20

"Who knows how you'll react."

I have enjoyed reading history and the history of war specifically I have noticed an idea which seems to be universally shared: "You don't know how you'll react to battle until your in it." Yes, you can prepare and train and this may help but there is something which happens inside a person. Sometimes they respond just like they have been trained. Others are captured by fear and freeze or run. Others rise to levels of courage which nearly sound like they are storybook. I say all this to say I have to agree with Jeremiah 17:9: "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?"

There is an answer though, God understands it. "I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve" (Jeremiah 17:10). God knows what is really happening. He knows if an action can't be helped or if it is a deliberate choice. The other side of this is that he rewards rightly. We can misjudge. We don't know the inside, which is why judging someone's intent and destiny is left in God's hands, not ours.

This is the Old Testament equivalent of Jesus' words not to judge. It is also a promise that God is just. He is fair and He can be trusted.

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TCN's Biblical Journey August 1st

Today's Reading is Jeremiah 13-16

A linen parable.

Buy and wear a linen girdle (chapter 13:1). This type of cloth was underclothes made to be close to the skin. A symbol of God’s desire to have Israel close to him, but Israel rebelled against Him (verse 11). They started out being closer to him, but they soon were separated and was unable to have that relationship.

God, I believe, is a storyteller. The Bible, of course, is full of stories and parables were Jesus’ most often used teaching tool. God is once again using the story of the marred girdle to show the condition of Judah.

Judah thought they were okay. Yes, if they looked at the commands of God they would have known they weren’t, but they relied on human comparisons and probably thought they were good people. This is the condition of most people without God showing them they feel they are doing pretty good, and if not then they have others to blame. God, however, is showing them this what you are like and gives them the option once again to humble themselves and return to Him.      

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