Contemplative Bible Reading

Proverbs 15:9 (New Living Translation)

The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked,
but he delights in the prayers of the upright.

The LORD does not delight in the actions of the wicked as He does in the actions of the upright.

Notice – the wicked offer sacrifices. By definition, that means the wicked give to God things that hurt to give, things that they treasure.

Hmmm, just because I see someone sacrificing to give to God does not mean that person is not wicked. I guess I really can’t judge a person by their outward appearance or actions. Only God can see in the heart and judge. Perhaps I actually do need to leave the judging business to God.

2 Chronicles 20:29-30 (New Living Translation)

²⁹ When all the surrounding kingdoms heard that the Lord himself had fought against the enemies of Israel, the fear of God came over them. ³⁰ So Jehoshaphat’s kingdom was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.

The surrounding kingdoms realized that the LORD had fought the enemies of Israel. No one wanted to be an enemy of Israel because no one wanted to fight against YHWH, the God of Israel.

Notice how God put fear, an emotion, into the hearts of men. God can put any emotion into the hearts of men. God can cause me to feel and react as He wishes.

God is truly powerful.

2 Chronicles 17:9-10 (New Living Translation)

⁹ They took copies of the Book of the Law of the Lord and traveled around through all the towns of Judah, teaching the people. ¹⁰ Then the fear of the Lord fell over all the surrounding kingdoms so that none of them wanted to declare war on Jehoshaphat.

This passage begins with the end of the story of how Jehoshaphat sent teachers through the land of Judah to (re)teach the Law of the Lord. When this was finished, the surrounding kingdoms learned of this.

The surrounding kingdoms fell into fear and avoided war with Jehoshaphat.

Imagine that: knowing what God wants us to know brings fear into the hearts of others. Today? Maybe this isn’t a good example to follow. Perhaps it is.

Perhaps people around us can recognize that the words of God are alive in us. I don’t think we want those around us to fear us. Fear us? Maybe that is the wrong word or phrase. I do think that we want those around us to recognize the words from God and want to hear them.

James 3:9-10 (American Standard Version)

⁹ Therewith bless we the Lord and Father; and therewith curse we men, who are made after the likeness of God:

¹⁰ out of the same mouth cometh forth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.

So are the words from the American Standard Version of the late 19th century. When was the last time you heard the word “therewith?”

This is poetic. The poetry went away in the early 1970s with the New International Version:

⁹ With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.

I find the second version much easier to understand. Then again, I am an engineer – not a poet and not an artist.

Has the move from poetry to plain English chased the poets and artists from the Bible? From the church? Have we kept space in the church for the artists?

Matthew 11:2-5 (New Living Translation)

² John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about all the things the Messiah was doing. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, ³ “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?”

⁴ Jesus told them, “Go back to John and tell him what you have heard and seen— ⁵ the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.

Followers of John the Baptizer came to Jesus and asked a simple question: Are you the Messiah?

Jesus answers with, “What have you seen?”

The answer includes:

1. the blind see
2. the lame walk
3. the lepers are cured
4. the deaf hear
5. the dead are raised
6. the Good News is preached

That is quite a list. Those are miracles, er, uh, wait a moment. How did number 6 appear on the list? Preaching ranking up there with raising the dead to life? That must be some type of mistake or something, right? I mean anyone can preach the Good News, right?

I can think of several explanations. Here is one:

the Good News is that Jesus, son of Mary and Joseph, is the one anointed to take away the sins of the world.

That statement is as amazing as raising the dead. Today, I guess we have grown so accustomed to that statement that it doesn’t seem like such a big deal. Too bad for us.

1 Kings 20:26-27 (New Living Translation)

²⁶ The following spring he called up the Aramean army and marched out against Israel, this time at Aphek. ²⁷ Israel then mustered its army, set up supply lines, and marched out for battle. But the Israelite army looked like two little flocks of goats in comparison to the vast Aramean forces that filled the countryside!

The army of Israel didn’t look like much. What a great description – two little flocks of goats.

The result contrasts with that description. In a few verses we learn that the two little flock of goats inflicted 127,000 dead in the Aramean army. That is a lot of dead in battle.

Yes, the entire situation was arranged by God to demonstrate His power.

God doesn’t see things the way we do, and I am happy with that. When things appear silly for us, perhaps God is at work.

I am going out to try to find a couple of little flocks of goats.

2 Chronicles 17:7-9 (New Living Translation)

⁷ In the third year of his reign Jehoshaphat sent his officials to teach in all the towns of Judah. These officials included Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah. ⁸ He sent Levites along with them, including Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tob-adonijah. He also sent out the priests Elishama and Jehoram. ⁹ They took copies of the Book of the Law of the Lord and traveled around through all the towns of Judah, teaching the people.

Time had passed, and the people of Judah had forgotten the words of the Book of the Law. Many had forgotten that the Book of the Law existed. Hence, the King sent out teachers with copies of the book.

We live in a time where more people can read the Bible than at any time in human history. There are more people, there are more people who can read, and the Bible is online free in many languages.

Still, there are those who have never seen any of the words in the Bible. Shall we send out copies of the book?

Luke 15:13-14 (New Living Translation)

¹³ “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. ¹⁴ About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve.

These verses are from what we call The Parable of the Prodigal Son. This past week I read a commentary that showed me something I had never noticed – the role of the famine in this parable.

I have never seen a famine. The closest thing that comes to mind was the dust bowl in America some 80 or 90 years ago. That only affected a part of America. Food was available everywhere else.

In this parable, the younger son was doing okay until the famine swept over the land. Then he began to starve. His wasteful living didn’t help, but the famine brought his hunger.

Again, I’ve never seen a famine. Thank you God.

2 Chronicles 12:7-8 (New Living Translation)

⁷ When the Lord saw their change of heart, he gave this message to Shemaiah: “Since the people have humbled themselves, I will not completely destroy them and will soon give them some relief. I will not use Shishak to pour out my anger on Jerusalem. ⁸ But they will become his subjects, so they will know the difference between serving me and serving earthly rulers.”

The people have escaped disaster. The LORD will not destroy them. Instead, He will allow them to live under the rule of Shishak, a King of Egypt.

Good news, right? I mean, rule under a King of Egypt is better than death, right?

The people will soon learn. They will know the difference between serving the LORD and serving an Egyptian. Wait a minute, didn’t they serve Egyptians for 400 years back a while…? Ooooops. Now they are going back to the bad old days.

Funny how they never seemed to learn. Funny how they went back to their old ways that led to misery and all that. I’m glad we licked that habit today, ooops, or did we?

1 Peter 1:3 (New Living Translation)

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation,

God is merciful.

God’s mercy gives us a new birth, and, with it, a great expectation of a new life that is free from the anxiety of the previous one.

Thank you God.