Oct 11

Reference links:

Jeremiah 16:16-18:23 1 Thessalonians 4:1-5:3 Psalm 81:1-16 Proverbs 25:6-7

Overview of the Book of Jeremiah Overview of the First Epistle to the Thessalonians Overview of the Psalms Overview of the book of Proverbs

Old Testament

The Lord's declarations of punishment alternate with Jeremiah's declarations of his confidence and trust in the Lord. Jeremiah insists that the people of Jerusalem observe the sabbath. The Lord instructs Jeremiah to use a potter an example of God's ability to destroy. This includes a declaration that all God's promises are conditional.

If I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed, but then that nation renounces its evil ways, I will not destroy it as I had planned. And if I announce that I will plant and build up a certain nation or kingdom, but then that nation turns to evil and refuses to obey me, I will not bless it as I said I would.

The reading ends after Jeremiah hears he is being plotted against and turns vengefully upon the people he had been trying to get God to save. Somehow, it is not surprising that both Jeremiah and the words he attributes to God share a desire for vengeance and violence.

New Testament

Stay away from sexual sin. Love each other even more than you do already. Live a quiet life and mind your own business (I wish more attention was paid to that one).

After that, we get a brief aside about whether or not dead believers will be resurrected when Jesus returns. Paul says they will. Paul also says something that some take to be further support for the view that he believed Jesus would return in his lifetime:

We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died.

This verse by itself is pretty ambiguous, but it does lend support to other verses which imply that Paul believed Jesus would return soon.

Psalms and Proverbs

Come on One Year Bible! You've been pretty good so far with the divisions. Yeah, sometimes you divide in the middle of a topic, but usually the divisions are pretty reasonable. Which brings us to today's reading from Proverbs:

Don’t demand an audience with the king
or push for a place among the great.
It’s better to wait for an invitation to the head table
than to be sent away in public disgrace.

Just because you’ve seen something,

Dividing a reading in the middle of a sentence? Come on! I mean, I know you weren't the ones to divide the verse in the middle of a sentence, but you could have at least grouped the two verses together.