Month: January 2016

Lamentations

Posted on by Cindy Pirtle

We finished Jeremiah yesterday which is interesting to Lamentations because Jeremiah supposedly wrote Lamentations.  If you were an English major, you love this book as Lamentations is actually 5 poems and the symbolism is great at the end – the people have sinned and been sent into exile, but then the clouds break, light comes through to throw a beautiful rainbow across the sky.  Don’t you want to yell at the people in the Bible and say, “Hey don’t you get it?!?!  If you sin, bad things happen.  If you follow God, good things happen.”  Oops, I guess this is a lesson for us still today. – Cindy

LAMENTATIONS

AUTHOR:  Jeremiah, again written by his scribe Baroch.

DATE: 586 BC, shortly after the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians.

IN TEN WORDS OR LESS:  A despairing poem about the destruction of Jerusalem.

DETAILS, PLEASE:  Five beautiful, distinct poems.  After warning the southern Jewish nation to obey God, the prophet Jeremiah witnesses the punishment he’d threatened.  Judah’s enemies prosper; for the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions and her children are gone into captivity before the enemy (1:5).  The sight brings tears to Jeremiah’s eyes (1:16) and provides his nickname “the weeping prophet.”  It is not all sorrow.  Above the clouds of the poet’s weeping over the sins of his people, God’s sun is shining.  In 3:22-27, the light breaks through to throw a shining rainbow across the murky sky.

UNIQUE AND UNUSUAL: How did Lamentations get its name?  In 2 Chronicles, Jeremiah is described as a composer of laments. (35:25)

SO WHAT – God’s punishment is severe, pay attention and follow God.

Jeremiah

Posted on by Cindy Pirtle

Jeremiah was a  . . . the correct answer is a prophet.  (I know, I made you sing “bullfrog” didn’t I, hee hee.)  This book has wonderful applications for our lives.  The first big one is that Jeremiah didn’t feel he had what it took to speak for God, and so God showed him that He equips the called.  The second is that there are many people who will tell you what you want to hear – God’s message may not always be filled with sunshine and roses – because sin does exist and we are all sinners, but it pays (eternally) to listen to those preachers and teachers who are actually using the Word of God. – Cindy

JEREMIAH

AUTHOR:  Jeremiah (1:1) with the help of Baruch, a scribe. (36:4)  Jeremiah came from the village of Anathoth some three miles from Jerusalem.  This gave him advantages of the Holy City.  His father, Hilkiah, was a priest (some think that this was “Hilkiah the priest in 2 Kings 22, who brought the book of the Law to the notice of king Josiah, which started the great revival in the kingdom.)  He argued with God about being a prophet.  He complained he was too young (only 21), inexperienced and totally lacked eloquence (not a good speaker – that argument didn’t work for Moses either).  Then a hand touches his mouth and we hear a voice saying, “Now I have put my words in your mouth (1:9) – and no longer could he complain of inability to speak.

DATE: Approx.  585 BC

IN TEN WORDS OR LESS:  After years of sinful behavior, Judah will be punished.

DETAILS, PLEASE:  Called to the ministry as a boy (1:6), Jeremiah prophesies bad news to Judah: Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saieth the Lord (5:15).  Jeremiah is mocked for his prophecies, occasionally beaten, and imprisoned in a muddy well (38).  But his words come true with the Babylonian invasion in chapter 52.  After most are taken to Babylon, Jeremiah stays and then leaves for Egypt.  We don’t hear of him again.  Jeremiah foretold that Judah’s exile would last 70 years. (25:11-12)

QUOTABLE:  Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand. (18:6)

UNIQUE AND UNUSUAL:  The book of Jeremiah that we read is apparently an expanded, second version of a destroyed first draft.  King Jehoiakim, angry with Jeremiah for his dire prophecies, cut the scroll with a penknife and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth. (36:23)  At God’s command, Jeremiah produced a second scroll with additional material (36:32).

SO WHAT?  “If only God would tell us what to do.”  Here was a prophet of God telling the people what God wanted them to do.  But nothing Jeremiah said sounded fun and he was all gloom and doom.  God is always talking and even if we don’t like the message, we should heed it.

Isaiah

Posted on by Cindy Pirtle

I’m home from sunny California – except that I was cold the whole time I was there and was so glad to get back to Texas until I realized it was cold here too!  Today is Isaiah and this overview is a little longer.  One of the reasons you will read below is that Isaiah is a mini-Bible, the structure is identical.  If you still don’t believe that the entire Bible is God breathed, I’m not sure what to tell you.  Here is something you may not realize:  The scripture quote you hear most often at Christmas, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” comes not from the New Testament, but from right here in Isaiah.  Have a great day. – Cindy

ISAIAH

AUTHOR:  Isaiah, son of Amoz (1:1)  Isaiah was a man of royal blood.  He was a young aristocrat from a princely line.  He was brought up in the court and had high standing with the people of Jerusalem.  He not only was a prophet, but he also married a prophetess (8:3,18).  His training was of the best.  After his labor of 60 years, tradition tells us that he died a martyr in the reign of Manasseh at the age of 120.

DATE:  Around 740-700 BC, starting “in the year that king Uzziah died” (6:1)

IN TEN WORDS OR LESS:  A coming Messiah will save people from the sins.

DETAILS, PLEASE:  Like most prophets, Isaiah announced the bad news of punishment for sin.  But he also described a coming Messiah who would be “wounded four our transgressions . . .  bruised for our iniquities . . . and with his stripes we are healed.” (53:5).  Called to the ministry through a stunning vision of God in heaven (chapter 6), Isaiah wrote a book that some call “the fifth Gospel” for its predictions of the birth, life and death of Jesus Christ some 700 years later.  These prophecies of redemption balance the depressing promises of God’s discipline against Judah and Jerusalem, which were overrun by Babylonian armies about a century later.  Isaiah’s prophecy ends with a long section (chapters 40-66) describing God’s restoration of Israel, His promised salvation, and His eternal kingdom.

QUOTABLE:  Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. (6:3)

Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (7:14)

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (9:6)

UNIQUE AND UNUSUAL:  Isaiah is a miniature Bible in structure.  This book has 66 chapters, just as the Bible has 66 books.  There are 2 great divisions just as there are in the Bible, with 39 chapters in the first (like the Old Testament) and 27 chapters in the second (like the New Testament).  The Old Testament opens with God’s case against humans because of their sin.  Isaiah opens the same way.  The first section closes with the prophecy of the coming King of Righteousness and the redemption of Israel (34-35) just as the prophets close the Old Testament with the prediction of his coming kingdom.  The second part of Isaiah (40) opens with the voice of him that cries out in the wilderness (40:3) and is concerned with the person and work of Jesus Christ.  The New Testament opens in exact accord with this.  John the Baptist, forerunner of Jesus, is announced as the voice of one crying in the wilderness (John:1:6, 23).  The book of Isaiah ends with the vision of new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness perfectly dwells.  The New Testament closes with this same view in Revelation 21.

SO WHAT – Early in His ministry, Jesus said He fulfilled the prophecies of Isaiah:  “The Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord: (61:1-2).  

Song of Solomon

Posted on by Cindy Pirtle

I remember the first time I read this book of the Bible.  My husband and I were doing Bible in 90 Days together for the first time and I read this and said to him: “If you ever liken me to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariot horses – I will NOT consider this romantic EVER.”  Song of Solomon is a love story about marriage!  It is beautiful and a little racy.  Enjoy – Cindy

SONG OF SOLOMON

AUTHOR:  Solomon (1:1), though some wonder if the song “of Solomon” is like the psalms “of David” – which could mean they are by, for, or about him.

DATE:  Solomon ruled around 970-930 BC

IN TEN WORDS OR LESS:  Married love is a beautiful thing worth celebrating.

DETAILS, PLEASE:  This has been called the Christian’s love song.  A dark-skinned beauty is marrying the king and both are thrilled.  “Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, though art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes,” he tells her (1:15).   “Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green,” she responds (1:16).  Through eight chapters and 117 verses, the two lovers admire each other’s physical beauty, expressing their love and devotion.  The love of Solomon and the Shulamite maid illustrates the love between Jehovah and His people. 

QUOTABLE:  Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine. 1:2

UNIQUE AND UNUSUAL:  Like the book of Esther, Song of Solomon never mentions the name “God”.

SO WHAT God made marriage for the husband and wife’s enjoyment – and that marital love can be a picture of God’s joy in His people.

Ecclesiastes

Posted on by Cindy Pirtle

I’m posting early because I have to be up and out of the hotel by 7am to get to the conference and I had trouble with internet connectivity yesterday.  Eyeore, the negative donkey from Winnie the Pooh could have written most of Ecclesiastes.  The first part goes over and over about how life is empty and horrible and worthless.  After a bit, you are yearning for the antidepressants you took when you read Job.  Finally, we get to the end and here is the good stuff and what it was leading up to.  All the things of this life are fleeting and in the end meaningless – ONLY with God will we find meaning, satisfaction and happiness.  Are you sensing a theme in the Bible???  Have a great day, Cindy

ECCLESIASTES

AUTHOR:  Not stated but probably Solomon.  The author is identified as “the son of David” (1:1) and “king over Israel in Jerusalem” (1:12) and says he had “more wisdom than all they that have been before me” (1:16).

DATE:  900s BC

IN TEN WORDS OR LESS:  Apart from God, life is empty and unsatisfying.

DETAILS, PLEASE:  A king pursues the things of this world, only to find them unfulfilling.  Learning, pleasure, work, laughter – all is vanity (1:2).  The king also laments the inequities of life:  People live, work hard, and die, only to leave their belongings to someone else; the wicked prosper over the righteous, the poor are oppressed.  Nevertheless, the king realizes “the conclusion of the whole matter:  Fear God, and keep his commandments:  for this is the whole duty of man” (12:13).

QUOTABLE: To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven 3:1

The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong.  9:11

UNIQUE AND UNUSUAL:  The book’s generally negative tone makes some readers wonder if Solomon wrote it late in life, after his hundreds of wives led him to stray from God.

SO WHAT – stop pursuing self-fulfillment (it brings no meaning to life), instead pursue a God-centered life.

Proverbs . . . FINALLY!

Posted on by Cindy Pirtle

Long day.  It’s 11:45 in Houston, but it’s 9:45 in California and I am just getting back to the hotel from the ECO Synod meeting.  A FANTASTIC worship service tonight at St. Andrews.  I digress.  Proverbs is a lawyer’s dream (did I mention that in my former life I was a trial lawyer?)  Do this, Don’t do this.  Very black and white.  – Cindy

 

PROVERBS

AUTHOR:  Primarily Solomon (1:1) with sections attributed to “the wise”, Agur, and Kim Lemuel.  Little is known of the latter two.

DATE:  Solomon reigned approx.. 970-930 BC.  The staff of King Hezebiah, who lived about 200 years later, “copied out” the latter chapters of the book we have today.

IN TEN WORDS OR LESS:  Pithy, memorable sayings encourage people to pursue wisdom.

DETAILS, PLEASE:  Proverbs doesn’t have a story line – it is simply a collection of practical tips for living.  Mainly from the pen of King Solomon, the wisest human being ever, the proverbs speak to issues such as work, money, sex, temptation, drinking, laziness, discipline, and child rearing.  Underlying each proverb is the truth that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (1:7)

QUOTABLE: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. 3:5

UNIQUE AND UNUSUAL: The final chapter of Proverbs includes a long poem in praise of wives, rather unusual for that time and culture.

SO WHAT?  Wisdom is the foundation for a Godly life.

Psalms

Posted on by Cindy Pirtle

Music people LOVE Psalms.  As they read, they hear various hymns or praise songs.  They hum as they read.  My husband is one of these people.  Me, not so much.  I listen to David’s laments.  Lament is a nice word for WHINE.  Don’t get me wrong, there are many Psalms that sing praise to God, there are also a whole lot where David is whining.  If you remember me commenting on the Israelites in Exodus complaining about everything, when I read Psalms, I get Exodus flashbacks, ha!  For those that can – Sing Along with Psalms! – Cindy

PSALMS

AUTHOR:  Various, with nearly half attributed to King David.  Other names noted include Solomon, Moses, Asaph, Ethan, and the sons of Korah.  Many psalms don’t mention an author.

DATE:  Approximately 1400 BC (Moses time) through 500s BC (time of Jews’ Babylonion exile)

IN TEN WORDS OR LESS:  Ancient Jewish songbook showcases prayers, praise and complaints to God.

DETAILS, PLEASE:  Over several centuries, God led various individuals to compose emotionally charged poems, of which 150 were later compiled into the book we know as Psalms.  Many of the psalms are described as “of David” meaning they could be by, for or about him.

QUOTABLE:  Let every thing that has breath praise the Lord.  Praise ye the Lord. (150:6)

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. 23:1

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.  My help comes from the Lord. 121:1-2

UNIQUE AND UNUSUAL: Longest book in the Bible both in terms of number of chapters (150) and total word count.  Longest chapter in the Bible (119 with 176 verses) and the shortest (117 with 2 verses)  Psalm 117 is the midpoint of the Protestant Bible with 594 chapters before it and after it.  Add 594 plus 594 and you get 1188.  Center verse in the bible is Psalms 118:8  “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.”

SO WHAT? God is worthy of praise and is receptive to the petitions and laments of the righteous.  The wise will trust him.  This is how God is revealed in the psalms.

Job

Posted on by Cindy Pirtle

When ever I read through the Bible, Job is the one book where I feel like I need an antidepressant to continue reading.  He loses everything and yet, God restores him many times over.  His friends are no help – they go on and on questioning Job’s God and telling him what to do.  OH, but then God arrives!  “Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge?”  Eekk!  When bad things happen, do you go to your friends (or Facebook) and ask for their wisdom?  It is God that we should turn to, because he has the plans, he has the knowledge, he has the wisdom.  And quite frankly after reading Job, I know that none of my friends can ever restore me whole except for God. – Cindy

JOB

AUTHOR:  Not stated.  Although most of the book consists of the words of Job and his friends, Job himself was not the author. We may be sure that the author was an Israelite, since he (not Job or his friends) frequently uses the Israelite covenant name for God (Yahweh; NIV “the Lord”). In the prologue (chs. 1–2), divine discourses (38:1—42:6) and epilogue (42:7–17) “Lord” occurs a total of 25 times, while in the rest of the book (chs. 3–37) it appears only once (12:9).

This unknown author probably had access to a tradition (oral or written) about an ancient righteous man who endured great suffering with remarkable ”perseverance” (Job 5:11; see note there) and without turning against God (see Eze 14:14,20), a tradition he put to use for his own purposes. While the author preserves much of the archaic and non-Israelite flavor in the language of Job and his friends, he also reveals his own style as a writer of wisdom literature. The book’s profound insights, its literary structures and the quality of its rhetoric display the author’s genius.

DATE:  Unclear, but many believe Job is one of the oldest stories in the Bible, perhaps from approximately 2000 BC.

IN TEN WORDS OR LESS:  God allows human suffering for His own purposes.

DETAILS, PLEASE:  Head of a large family, Job is a wealthy farmer from a place called Uz.  He’s “perfect and upright” –so much so, that God calls Satan’s attention to him.  The devil, unimpressed, asks and receives God’s permission to attack Job’s possessions and wipes out thousands of sheep, camels, oxen, donkeys, and worst of all, Job’s ten children.  Despite Satan’s attack, Job keeps his faith.  Satan then receives God’s permission to attack Job’s health – but in spite of terrible physical suffering, Job refuses to “curse God, and die” as his wife suggests.  Before long, though, Job begins to question why God would allow him – a good man – to suffer so severely.  Job’s suffering is worsened by the arrival of four friends who begin to accuse him of causing his own trouble by secret sin.  “Is not thy wickedness great?” asks Eliphaz the Temanite (22:5).  In the end, God Himself speaks, vindicating Job before his friends and also addressing the overarching issue of human suffering.  God doesn’t explain Job’s suffering but asks a series of questions that shows His vast knowledge – implying the Job should simply trust God’s way.  And Job does, telling God, “I know that thou canst do every thing. (42:2)  By the story’s end, God has restored Job’s health, possessions, and family, giving him ten more children.

QUOTABLE: Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked I will depart.  The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised. 1:21

UNIQUE AND UNUSUAL:

The book of Job pictures Satan coming into God’s presence (1:6).

1:6 – One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them.  The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?’  Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.”

SO WHAT?  Trouble isn’t necessarily a sign of sin in a person’s life.  It may be something God allows to draw us closer to Him.

Esther

Posted on by Cindy Pirtle

Beauty contests in the Bible?  The story of Esther starts that way.  The king is looking for a new bride and all the eligible, beautiful ladies are paraded in front of him and he chooses Esther.  She hides the fact that she is Jewish, until she finds out there is a plot to kill every Jew in the country.  Even though she didn’t want to be queen in the first place and she’s scared that the king will kill her, so goes and begs for the lives of her countrymen.  The plot is foiled and Esther is OK.  This is a good story for us – when we find ourselves in bad situations, maybe God has put us there to accomplish great good.  Have a Royal day! – Cindy

ESTHER

AUTHOR:  Not stated but probably Ezra or Nehemiah.

DATE:  Approximately 486-465 BC, during the reign of King Ahasuerus of Persia.  Esther became queen around 479 BC.

IN TEN WORDS OR LESS:  Beautiful Jewish girl becomes queen, saves fellow Jews from slaughter.

DETAILS, PLEASE:  In a nationwide beauty contest, young Esther becomes queen of Persia without revealing her Jewish heritage.  When a royal official plots to kill every Jew in the country, Esther risks her own life to request the king’s protection.  The king, pleased with Esther, is shocked by his official’s plan and has the man hanged – while decreeing that the Jews should defend themselves against the planned slaughter.  Esther’s people prevail and commemorate the event with a holiday called Purim.

QUOTABLE:  Esther obtained favor in the sight of all them that looked upon her 2:15

UNIQUE AND UNUSUAL:  God’s name is never mentioned in the book of Esther.  Neither is prayer, though Esther asks her fellow Jews to fast for her before she approaches the king.  4:16

SO WHAT  When we find ourselves in bad situations, it may be for the same reason Esther did – to accomplish something good.