Below are the chapters to read this week if you’re following along in my Bible in a year schedule, divided into morning and evening readings. Follow along any way you want: you can just do the evening reading, flip the morning and evening, or read it all. Whatever works for you and your schedule! It doesn’t have to be Bible in a Year for everyone.
This week, we finish Ezra and begin Nehemiah. Note there are 2 Psalms on Saturday to avoid splitting the day between Ezra and Nehemiah.
Do you have giant problems? Problems that seem too big to overcome, and that just won’t go away? There was a time when Israel had problems with literal giants and that story may encourage us with our own giant problems.
In Deuteronomy, Moses’ re-telling to Israel of their history as they prepared to finally enter the Promised Land, the second verse says, “It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea.” This eleven-day journey took Israel 40 years after being delivered from slavery in Egypt because they had giant problems.
40 years earlier, Moses sent spies into the land promised by God, not to say whether or not they should conquer the land (God has already decided that they should), but only to document what they saw. These spies reported back after 40 days in the land at Kadesh, the same place Moses was delivering his address in Deuteronomy. Unfortunately, the spies did more than document what they saw, they also injected their own opinion: “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.”[1]
Although the spies agreed the land was very desirable – “And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.” – they added three objections to the report: “However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there.”[2] The people are strong, the cities are strong, and some of the people – the descendants of Anak – are actually literal giants. The spies probably thought they were doing the right thing by presenting an “accurate” report of Israel’s military chances in Canaan, but in doing so they were opposing God and His promise. Only two of the twelve spies – Joshua and Caleb – tried to encourage the people to take the land, but the report of the other ten made the people want to stone Joshua and Caleb to death[3] instead of entering Canaan. So, God punished the people by making them wander in the wilderness until the entire rebellious generation died, for 40 years.
However, over that time God would also show His people in specific ways that they could overcome the spies’ objections so they could enter the land as He had promised. It would take time, and more experience of God’s power.
Moses tells that during the wilderness wandering, Israel learned of others who had conquered giants. In Deuteronomy 2:10-11 Moses recounted land taken by the Moabites: “The Emim formerly lived there, a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim. Like the Anakim they are also counted as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim.” In 2:20, he recalled land taken by the Ammonites: “It is also counted as a land of Rephaim. Rephaim formerly lived there—but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim— a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the LORD destroyed them before the Ammonites, and they dispossessed them and settled in their place”. These “Emim” and “Zamzummim” were like the “descendants of Anak” the spies were afraid of, but those giants were conquered.
Also, in Deuteronomy 3, Moses reminds Israel of their own victories that happened before entering Canaan. They had defeated Sihon, king of Heshbon, and Og, king of Bashan, object lessons of what God could do, and specifically related to the objections of the spies, who had reported of Canaan that “the cities are fortified and very large.” Deuteronomy 3:5 reports of the conquered cities of Bashan: “All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides very many unwalled villages.”
While the spies worried about the giant “descendants of Anak,” Moses reminds Israel that Og, Hesbon’s king, was like one of the giants reported by the spies. Deuteronomy 3:11 describes him: “(For only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron. Is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the common cubit.)” Therefore, before crossing the Jordan into Canaan, Israel had overcome both fortified cities and giants. Why should they worry about the discouraging report of the spies, instead of trusting Joshua and Caleb’s testimony about God?
Therefore, if you have giant problems, seek the testimony of others who have conquered giants, and the testimony of your own experience with God, and be encouraged by the words Moses used to close this section of his message: “You shall not fear them, for it is the LORD your God who fights for you.”[4] But overcoming giant problems might take time because He wants to show us His power in ways we can’t imagine. Israel took 40 years to make this 11-day journey because that is what God required to prepare them. Israel was not ready for the Promised Land when they first left Egypt. Allow God the time to prepare you, and He may also show you His power over your giants.
Below are the chapters to read this week if you’re following along in my Bible in a year schedule, divided into morning and evening readings. Follow along any way you want: you can just do the evening reading, flip the morning and evening, or read it all. Whatever works for you and your schedule! It doesn’t have to be Bible in a Year for everyone.
This week, we finish 2 Chronicles and move on to Ezra. If anyone’s wondering when we finally get to the New Testament, we’re almost there. After Ezra and Nehemiah will come Matthew, then Mark, Luke, and John.
Today’s post is another response to a writing prompt: “What gives you direction in life?” The short answer to the question is a who, not a what: God. Without a meaningful origin and destiny that comes from having a loving Creator and Lord, I’m not sure where I would find direction.
The longer answer is that God’s communication to us through the Bible provides direction for both life and for this blog. Here, I write what I need to hear. I write about things I learn about the direction my life should go, and I share it with my readers. So, my longer answer to this writing prompt are some key verses and themes that guide both my life and my writing. Although I routinely fail to live up to them, they provide a good and meaningful direction.
The first verse is Hebrews 10:24, which says: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works”. Christianity should be lived, not just known or believed. So, how do I stir up myself and others to loving action? We can’t do it without knowing that’s the goal and by consistent meditation on it. We should ask ourselves what tools, gifts and resources we have to help others grow in “love and good works.” For me, this blog is one of those tools. For others, they could approach this very differently. We all have our own directions, but similar goals.
The second verse is Ephesians 2:10. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” We are not created and saved just to do whatever we want, but God has plans for each of us. He puts work to do in front of us, for the good of us and those around us, and for His glory. Nothing is an accident. He made us each for a reason.
Next comes Philippians 1:6. “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” We all fail so often; therefore, we need reminders that God isn’t done with us, and will never give up on us. He didn’t die for us just to leave us hanging and alone. His purpose is to make us perfectly loving people, like Jesus was, and His work will certainly be completed in eternity. Thank Him for this!
Jeremiah 29:7 is another important guiding verse. “But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” Which world was Jesus referring to in John 3:16 when He said, “God so loved the world”? There’s only one world, the one we all live in, and He wants us to work for the good of that world. Imagine if Jesus had taken the attitude that this world is hopelessly lost in its sin. He would have never came to die for it, and we would all be lost forever. Likewise, we can’t give up on the world around us, especially our nearest neighbors.
And finally, Matthew 22:37-40. “And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.’” In my opinion, Christians don’t talk enough about love, and we don’t put enough thought and effort into how to do it. Many Christians even have trouble defining what love is. For more on that, read this article I wrote a while back. Without Christ, we are all God’s enemies, so if He didn’t love His enemies we could never be His neighbors. Only by living a life entirely guided by love for God and our neighbor, even if they are our enemy, can we live the life God intended us to live.
So, what gives me direction in life? Trying to understand and live by what God wants of me. These verses are only the beginning, but they’re verses that mean a lot to me.
Today’s post is responding to a writing prompt: “Do you have a quote you live by or think of often?” The most influential quote to me is this one from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn:
“The line separating good and evil passes, not through states, not between political parties either, but right through all human hearts.”
Much of the conflict in history, and in modern times, comes from a human tendency to group people into separate groups, where one is “evil”, and the other is “good.” There are probably thousands of examples throughout history, but some that come to mind are religious categories like Catholic versus Protestant, political categories like Republican versus Democrat, or Marxist categories like “oppressed” versus “oppressor.” Humanity follows a pattern over and over again, where we lump people into categories, then attack our enemies accordingly. If someone belongs to the “other” group, they are evil, and if someone belongs to our own group, they are good.
In opposition to this, the Solzhenitsyn quote calls to attention Romans 3:23, which declares: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” This verse, and the quote, tear down the idea that people can be easily separated into “good” and “evil.” That nations can be divided into good and evil. That political parties can be categorized as good and evil. Because every single person included in every single one of these categories is themselves a mix of good and evil, each of the groups themselves is a mix of good and evil.
Therefore, the quote calls us to treat people as individuals, dealing with them according to their specific situation and needs. Without accepting that each person is imperfect (at best), societies may pretend to treat people as individuals, but they’re really stereotyping people according to their groups and pitting them in battle against each other.
For the Christian church, the quote doesn’t demand that we withdraw from politics altogether, but it does demand that we act with more compassion toward those we disagree with. All too often, and especially on social media, we see category-based name calling and condemnation coming from Christians who categorize people and work hard to defeat those enemies that belong to other groups.
However, Jesus said in Matthew 5:43: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
Imagine if we followed Jesus’ words. Imagine if everyone could be humble based on the evil that lives within them, and therefore treat the people who we view as evil as equals before God, and just as in need of grace as we are. The church, and the world, would be much better off if Christians were as good at loving their enemies as they are at identifying them.
Therefore, a quote that drives a lot of what I think, write, and do is this one:
“The line separating good and evil passes, not through states, not between political parties either, but right through all human hearts.”
