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April 26

 

Isaiah 65-Jeremiah

We are bridging between two books in the Prophetic Stream today as we read from the International Standard Version this week.

 

God, we pray that all of us would realize the gravity and seriousness of our callings the way Isaiah and Jeremiah did. There are nations yet to bring into Your Light – and you will use us to do that as we are willing and available.  Amen

Isaiah is offering parts of the vision of the new heavens and the new earth.  It is the answer to prayer for a longing earth and the people who have been hoping for God’s Kingdom to come in full. Trademarks of this time are that new nations are “taken aboard”, a new name is given to all, the atmosphere of God reigns, there is a new heaven and earth…because what has been hoped for has arrived at our current presence.  What was always thought of to be “up there” is now among us; that is a new heaven and earth. <—-the fascinating concept could be discussed for 1,000 years! and it probably will still be a fascinating discussion 1,000 from now. The evil is separated and gone. Peter speaks of this in 2 Pt. 3:10ff, John speaks of this in its final state in Rev. 21-22.  Revelation especially expands on Isaiah’s vision described.  Other aspects is that people will be living the length of years similar to lifespans before Noah’s flood.

Isa. 65:20 asserts that those who die under 100 years of age will be accursed souls who died in their youth. Apparently a time is coming when we will be seeing Methuselah-types again.  Won’t this be a wonder?  Plenty and prosperity and peace will be common. Tension and frustration will be unheard of.
 
66 – Isaiah talks clearly about those who are received of the Lord and those who are rejected.  There have been people who have lived by the rules of their own choosing and obeying which rules of God that suited them [vv. 3-4]. Obeying what we want to obey when we want to obey it – is not obeying. This great book of Isaiah then ends with comforting words akin to tender motherhood for his beloved followers and terrible reckoning for the disobedient.  There are several of Jesus’ quotes that come from this portion of Isaiah.  And this ends the words of one of the greatest writers of all time.  For his powerful and poignant contribution to Israel’s prophecy, Isaiah was executed by the diabolical king Manasseh; son of the righteous king Hezekiah.  Hebrews 11:37 talks of Isaiah’s execution wherein he joined the other saints in glory.
 
Jer. 1 – Jeremiah had the dismal task of warning Jerusalem of being over run by Babylon.  He is called to ministry and he is called to a ministry in a time when people don’t want to hear it.  He ministered in Jerusalem during its final decades before Babylon stormed in  … and there is no record of even one convert to encourage his work. Truth is he could have volunteered to go to Nineveh or Babylon and be among an elite writing team for a literary revival was in progress. But he followed his difficult call from God and he stuck to his post and henceforth his writing is still touching hearts nearly 2700 years later. This instead of having his work be celebrated, his life lived in luxury, only to have his writing become filler for an archaeological dig along with his own bones.   He was reluctant to accept his calling from God. He was about 20 years of age when his calling came. He was intimidated and felt he was too young to affect anything. But he was to tell them that an army was coming – they were as motivated and angry as a boiling pot ready to pour over the land. His calling is rich with imagery, ominous in its pulsing immensity and encouraging in that God would be present and walk him through his assignment step by step and word by word. Jeremiah is in for an intense “rest of his life”!
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April 25

 

Psalm 34-37

We are in the Wisdom Stream reading the writing of King David. We are reading from the International Standard Version this week.

 

Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis

Thank you God for being our ever present help in times of trouble, our God in every circumstance, our God who there to comfort every pain and receive every praise.  Amen

David had just come through another vortex.  He’s been on the run from Saul.  He seeks “refuge” among the Philistines – whatever that could end up meaning!  He pretended to be a nutcase so to project to the Philistine king that he was not a threat. He absolutely could NOT let the King of Gath know that he was perhaps the most brilliant battle tactician on earth at that time. But it is vital to understand David’s mentality so to ingest this Psalm for all it’s worth. David had no place to go to find safety.  God is training him that the only ‘safe’ place is with HIM; his God in heaven. One literal translation calls God “The LORD of heaven’s armies” and it is a literal translation! David would, in time, be leading a vast army and God wanted David to be ingrained with a deep and unshakable trust in God. He couldn’t have him get complacent due to so many battle victories that were coming for him. He couldn’t have David become spiritually complacent once his power became among the greatest in history, or once wealth and status had accumulated.  These years were necessary for David to walk through. They were his own pilgrimage; it had to happen. The backdrop of Psalm 34 was I Samuel 21:10-15.  David survived this spooky incident and then wrote Ps. 34.

 
35 – whereas David is rejoicing again about surviving in Ps.34, he is venting [his prayer] in Ps.35.  He just needs to pause and muse about all the people who were coming after him.  I guess he never calculated that dropping Goliath would fester such jealousy in so many.  Yet David’s exasperation with those who hate him is not without the positive interruptions of vv. 9 and 18; “my soul will rejoice in the Lord. [and] I will give give thanks in the congregation.”
 
36 and 37 Find us in the middle of David’s 72 Psalms. They remind and urge us to TRUST in GOD.  People are wicked. God is merciful. Uh, ya, trusting in God is what we need to be doing and this trusting in God is our only hope of having an anchored soul. The contrast of the hearts of men all around us and the heart of God above is more stark than night and day. It is the most contrasting comparison that can be made under heaven.  So gaze upon God, praise Him and live in Him and the wickedness of others will become incidental.   37 feels like a continuation of the same Psalm/verse/song.  It has become one of the most endearing Psalms in the Bible. It is interesting that th Psalms are truly worth posting in places where we see them often; desk top, coffee station, on dashboard, etc. so that we see them, read them and dwell on these Psalms – especially 37.
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April 24

 

II Samuel 1-5

We are in the Nation Stream. David is now official king of Israel as we read through the International Standard Version today.

 

Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis

Lord, these changes we see today were steps in the right direction. Yes, things were turbulent and messy but growth is rarely clean and neat and your hand was upon David in spite of all the intrigue and surprises that were not always pleasant. May our faith be equally as unshakable as we find David’s to be – even when our days are stormy.  Amen
 
The Book of II Samuel IS the reign of David

Saul is gone and what’s worse for David is that his dear friend Jonathan is dead.  The opening of II Sam. is grief for David.  Yes, Saul spent much of his years on the throne trying to kill David. But David had a character rooted in his walk with God and Israel was God’s land and Saul was Israel’s King and David respected authority.  So he had respect for Saul – odd as it may seem. David’s reaction to someone who had ‘finished off’ Saul is another testament to the depth of honor that David had for the Lord’s anointed. It is in order to mention that II Sam. 1-6 and I Chron. 11-16 is a different perspective on the same time- period. The two portions are worth reading concurrently so to get the full picture.

He was now king of Israel, but needed to grieve a bit. His “farewell song” is a treasure.
2 – David was rightful king now but some of Saul’s men just couldn’t accept the transfer of power though the time had come and there was no other way to perceive this development. The battles and skirmishes are gruesome and unnecessary but Saul’s “groupies” who couldn’t see the bigger picture nor the changing times were ebullient and there were needless deaths because of it. It never is wise to be committed to a dead cause. Nevertheless those loyal to Saul had installed Saul’s son; Ish-Bosheth as king over Israel.  The move was illicit but so it goes. He was there as “king” for two years while David was the rightful king installed at Hebron.  He was there for 7+1/2 years
 
These years before he was moved up to Jerusalem there was warring between Saul’s followers and David’s.  During these years David had children with six different wives. That was one way to pass the time…  Though David’s movement was growing and strengthening, Saul’s was becoming weaker.
 
3 – Abner changes to become one of David’s followers and supporters.  If he hadn’t been so intense and spiteful prior to doing this, perhaps there would have been more credibility to his move toward David. But since he joined with David before convincing everyone of David’s men, Abner was murdered. The intrigue and entanglement seemed to mark these years between the death of Saul and David being fully enthroned in Jerusalem.
 
4 – In another incident, there were two ruffians that went to the house of Saul’s son Ish-bosheth and killed him and brought I-B’s head to David thinking it would please David. David’s reaction was opposite and David had these two men killed. These were wild times in Hebron!
 
5 – Finally all the tribes gathered at Hebron and David is anointed King.  He moves on Jerusalem even though the Jebusites living there vowed David would not come in. But David being valiant, he and his soldiers prevailed and Jerusalem became “the City of David”.  King Hyram of Tyre soon heard of David’s triumph in Jerusalem and sent gifts.  The Philistines too heard of David’s ascension as King and they marched out twice to end this movement. David was victorious and decisively so. It’s still “The City of David” almost 3030 years later!
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