Contemplative Bible Reading

Jeremiah 14:11-12 (New Living Translation)

11 Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for these people anymore. 12 When they fast, I will pay no attention. When they present their burnt offerings and grain offerings to me, I will not accept them. Instead, I will devour them with war, famine, and disease.”

God is speaking to the prophet Jeremiah. Here is a command: don’t pray for these people.

Huh? Of course we pray for others. Of course we pray for ourselves. What is this? Yet another mix up in translation? Nope.

God was out done (does anyone say, “out done” any more?). God’s patience was exhausted (can man exhaust God’s patience and love?). These people whom God had chosen were to be devoured by war, famine, and disease.

Why? How? What?

Jeremiah goes on to plead with God. Jeremiah confesses the sins of the people and begs forgiveness. That was all too late.

What a tragedy it is to see God abandon the people. In my life I have seen grandparents walk away from their grandchildren. That is the closest thing to what God is doing here. It is heartbreaking. Yet, it happens. God abandons those who abandon God. God welcomes those who return. Thanks be to God.

This is all complicated and beyond my understanding. It does show there are limits. And, thanks be to God, there is forgiveness. Please God, maybe I won’t ever understand it all, but help me in my unbelief.

Mark 10:51 (New Living Translation)

51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked. “My Rabbi,” the blind man said, “I want to see!”

Jesus is walking down the road. Along the way is a blind beggar named Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus).

Bartimaeus was told that Jesus was coming. His reaction was to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Mercy? What kind of mercy. Jesus could give the man many types of mercy. Jesus asks the question from verse 51. It seems the answer is obvious. The blind man wants to see. What else would he want?

Well, a few examples, he could want:

• sins forgiven
• food
• money
• housing
• help for some other beggar

This list continues. Jesus asks. Bartimaeus replies. Enough said. Miracle performed. All the other things in the list and lots of others as well would have been miracles, too. Jesus did what was needed.

Jeremiah 11:13 (New Living Translation)

13 Look now, people of Judah; you have as many gods as you have towns. You have as many altars of shame—altars for burning incense to your god Baal—as there are streets in Jerusalem.

God is speaking to the people through the prophet Jeremiah. It seems there are problems with false gods or idols. The people were quite religious, but neither right nor righteous. The people believed there was something out there beyond the physical. There were spirits in the spirit world outside the physical world. There was at least one god per town in Judah. And every street in Jerusalem had an altar for worshiping a god.

Needless to say, this didn’t sit well with God. The first of the Ten Commandments is, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Hmm. The people were not obeying the most fundamental of commands.

First things first and all that. Get this one thing right before we move on to the complicated stuff. Well, that wasn’t working.

Excuses? Reasons? We never run out of those. Good enough? Nope. But… nope. How about… nope. Simple.

Mark 13:9 (New Living Translation)

9 “When these things begin to happen, watch out! You will be handed over to the local councils and beaten in the synagogues. You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell them about me.

Jesus is speaking to some followers. Jesus says one of those things that makes no sense. Jesus often did that.

You followers will be beaten in our religion schools, not welcomed as followers of God. You followers will stand trial before Gentile governors and kings. Imprisonment in dirty jails to soon follow. Yikes! This sounds awful. Who wants to be a follower of Jesus?

Then Jesus turns it around with, “This will be your opportunity to tell them about me.”

Huh? Opportunity? Something good will come of this? Yes.

A friend recently told me something. He was talking to a stranger in the mall. He told the stranger something like, “No matter what you think of me or say about me, I love you unconditionally.”

That’s an odd thing to say to someone. I don’t know how I would react if a stranger said that to me. That, however, is the type of thing Jesus would say and would encourage me to say. My opportunity is upon me. What do I say?

Please God, help me in my unbelief.

Isaiah 45:18 (New Living Translation)

18 For the Lord is God,
and he created the heavens and earth
and put everything in place.
He made the world to be lived in,
not to be a place of empty chaos.
“I am the Lord,” he says,
“and there is no other.

Here is the description or definition of Jehovah God (my phrase). This English translation uses the convention of putting “lord” in capital letters in a smaller font to highlight it. This translates in various ways to various English words. I like to use the English name Jehovah (I think that is an English name, maybe not).

Jehovah is God (with a capital G). Jehovah is the creator. Sometimes in these blog posts I refer to God as the Creator God or the Creator. Jehovah created the world for mankind to live. There is no other like Jehovah God the Creator.

This is pretty simple. At least I can hold this idea in my simple mind. Somehow on some days some of us turn this into something so complicated we confuse and confound and scare people. Let’s try to keep it simpler.

2 Chronicles 26:5 (New Living Translation)

5 Uzziah sought God during the days of Zechariah, who taught him to fear God. And as long as the king sought guidance from the Lord, God gave him success.

This is part of the (hi)story of the kings of Judah, i.e., God’s people. Here we have King Uzziah—a pretty good king. While Zechariah was around, Uzziah feared, respected, and followed God. This fellow named Zechariah was sort of a mystery. We aren’t told of his official title. In the above, he seems to be a teacher in that he taught the king, and “taught” is something a teacher does.

And there is the matter of success. What does it mean to be a success or to have success? Uzziah was king. Wow! That sounds pretty successful. I can hear one of his aunts standing around talking with aunts on the corner saying, “You know my nephew is so successful. He happens to be king. Did you know that?” As if the other aunts wouldn’t know who was the king.

As long as Uzziah followed the teachings of Zechariah, God gave him success. So there is success beyond achieving kingship. And there is being a failed king. Yikes. Failing as the king takes a lot of people down with you.

Anyway, success came when the king sought the guidance of God and followed the teaching of a godly man. Sounds pretty simple.

Want success in life? How do you get success? It is pretty clear here. Seek the guidance of God and listen to godly teachers. I think that still applies today. God, help me to follow the guidance.

2 Chronicles 23:11 (New Living Translation)

11 Then Jehoiada and his sons brought out Joash, the king’s son, placed the crown on his head, and presented him with a copy of God’s laws. They anointed him and proclaimed him king, shouting, “Long live the king!”

This is part of the (hi)story of the kings of Judah. Joash is a boy. Jehoiada the priest has kept him hidden from a ruthless queen who would have killed him if should could find him. Now it is time for the boy to be king.

Here is the ceremony: we have a crown as the symbol of ruling. We have an anointing which is what the Hebrews did. We have a proclamation of “Long live the king!” We have, uh, er, a copy of God’s laws. Hmm, what’s that last one? A copy of the laws? All those lists of Thou Shalt and Thou Shalt Not?

Isn’t the attorney general or the legal staff or someone supposed to keep that? Surely there are people whose job it is to keep up with that stuff. I mean, there is Jehoiada the priest to know those things, and Jehoiada did keep track and remind Joash of those things.

Why give the boy king a copy? Why not? It was important to read, know, and follow. We later read that Joash did follow these things as long as Jehoiada was alive to advise him. Afterwards, uh, it didn’t go well. I guess the man king Joash lost his copy or something.

God, please keep me in your law and love. Please guide me all the days of my life.

Psalm 106:32-33 (New Living Translation)

32 At Meribah, too, they angered the Lord, causing Moses serious trouble.
33 They made Moses angry, and he spoke foolishly.

This is part of the (hi)story of the people wandering the desert before entering the land promised to them by God. It mentions the incident at Meribah. The people complained about the lack of water. That was a legitimate complaint, but poorly delivered. I mean, you need water. Still, you don’t have to be a baby about the whole thing.

God told Moses to go to a rock, speak to the rock, and water would flow. Instead, Moses struck the rock to have water flow. And then Moses tossed in a few poorly chosen words to chastise the people.

Moses was a smart guy. Moses was a righteous guy. What happened to Moses? Why did he fail so miserably here?

Moses was angry. In his anger, he spoke foolishly. Other translations use the adverb “rashly.” He had a short fuse (do people still say that?). He blew his top (do people still say that?).

Not much has changed with us in the past 3,000 years or so. Foolish and rash talk seem to go with anger. How to avoid such talk? Don’t become angry. Well, avoiding anger is a tough one. How about this, when angry, walk into a back room and scream at the walls. Once the anger subsides, come out and talk without so many foolish and rash words.

I don’t want to look like a fool. That is one thing. The more important thing is avoiding the sin. Please God, help me in my anger.

2 Chronicles 23:1 (New Living Translation)

1 In the seventh year of Athaliah’s reign, Jehoiada the priest summoned his courage and made a pact with five army commanders: Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zicri.

This is part of the (hi)story of the kings and rulers of Judah. There are many names here that confuse the story as I try to pronounce them. Let’s set those aside for a moment.

Athaliah is a woman who is ruling Judah. This isn’t legal, but it is quite advantageous for her. Jehoiada is a priest who is just and righteous and loyal to God and God’s promises and prophesies. Jehoiada has been hiding a small boy named Joash. Evil queen Athaliah had killed all the men in line to be the rightful ruler of Judah. She, however, missed one—baby Joash. Joash was now seven years old. Joash was now old enough, in the eyes of Jehoiada, to become king.

If this all sounds like fairy tales and movie scripts, that is because writers of fairy tales and movie scripts stole the idea from this Old Testament history. Yes, the history is true. Those stories and movies were works of fiction whose basis was borrowed from the Bible.

Hollywood aside, note the first step taken by Jehoiada the priest: he summoned his courage. This was a life-and-death situation. Jehoiada is right in what he does. Right, however, does not always work. It often leads to death. Jehoiada had a good life. He was risking everything to be righteous. That was not easy.

Summoning his courage—what does that mean? Well, the courage was there all along. It needed to be summoned, to be pulled up from the depths and be a resource for action. Without courage at hand, Jehoiada would not act. Therefore, he called his courage and used it.

The courage is there. My courage is there. How often do I summon it and act? Please God, help me in my unbelief.

2 Chronicles 20:17 (New Living Translation)

17 But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you!

God is speaking to the people in Jerusalem through a man named Jahaziel. A big army has gathered to destroy God’s people of Judah. The army was B I G. Military science and simple arithmetic showed that the army of Judah had no chance.

King Jehoshaphat of Judah had humbled himself and prayed. He pleaded with God for rescue. And we have God’s reply.

Here is the strategy for the army. March out of Jerusalem in formation. (If anyone from the invaders had seen this march, they would have laughed. That’s the best you can do? Silly. This will be easy.) March out of Jerusalem to the battlefield. Then, stand still and watch. Huh? Stand still and watch? That’s the plan? Really? Yes. Watch what Jehovah the God of the people will do. Watch. Learn. Remember. Live righteously.

Sometimes God gives demonstrations. These demonstrations are neither earned nor deserved. And here they are. Stand still and watch what God does. Learn the power of God. Learn the forgiveness of God. Learn the righteousness of God. Live the rest of your life as if you really learned. Live in the righteousness of God.

This is simple. This is almost impossible in our fallen human state. Please God, help me in my unbelief.