Category Devotionals

Elam’s Archers

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Ideas for blog posts come from all sorts of sources.  Sermons, memories, books.  But most often they come from Bible study.  I nearly always use a study Bible and read all of its notes as I go, while also making my own notes.  This post’s inspiration comes from a study Bible note that just said “Elam is famous for its archers,”[1] in reference to Jeremiah 49:35, which says:

“Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the mainstay of their might.””

The verse is a small part of a long section in Jeremiah where God speaks about His judgement on many nations, as a comfort to the Israelites who were about to go into exile.  The message is: in the long run, God’s people will be redeemed, but their enemies will be judged.

What do Elam’s archers have to do with this?  After reading the “Elam is famous for its archers” note I realized that nation by nation, God’s judgement focuses on the things that the nation took pride in.  His judgement fits the crime; it isn’t just arbitrary.  In Elam’s case, they believed their superior archers were the source of their strength.  They trusted in their archers, not God, and so God would “break the bow.”  Their archers would be helpless against judgement.

Consider also these other examples, from the same chapter of Jeremiah:

Jeremiah announced God’s judgement on Edom, descendants of Jacob’s brother Esau.  They had a longstanding grudge against God’s people, and they rejoiced when Jerusalem eventually fell to Babylon (see the book of Obadiah).  In Edom’s case, Jeremiah said:

“For behold, I will make you small among the nations,
despised among mankind.
The horror you inspire has deceived you,
and the pride of your heart,
you who live in the clefts of the rock,
who hold the height of the hill.
Though you make your nest as high as the eagle’s,
I will bring you down from there,
declares the LORD.”[2]

Petra. Photo by Juanma Clemente-Alloza on Unsplash

Elam took pride in their archers; Edom took pride in their natural defenses.  Edom thought physical protection was their strength and could save them from judgment.  They had fortresses built right into the rocks of the mountains, apparently including the one now known as Petra (pictured).  In addition, by being in the mountains, they had the military advantage of fighting from higher ground, with their “nest as high as the eagle’s.”  But these defenses were overcome by Babylon.

Jeremiah also had a message “Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck down.”[3]  Jeremiah doesn’t recount the sins of Kedar and Hazor, but only that Babylon was used as an instrument of judgement against them.  These two people groups were nomadic tribes, moving about rather than settling primarily in cities.  So, how does God judge them?  Jeremiah 49:29 tells us:

“Their tents and their flocks shall be taken,
their curtains and all their goods;
their camels shall be led away from them,
and men shall cry to them: ‘Terror on every side!’”

Without cities, the markers of wealth for these unsettled people were probably their tents and flocks and camels.  These are what the nations of Kedar and Hazor would take pride in, but God in His judgement would take them away.  Repeatedly in these prophecies, God strikes specifically the things those nations have pride in.

Judah was not immune.  They thought their alliance with Egypt would save them from conquest by Babylon.  However, Babylon over time defeated both Assyria, who had conquered Israel, and Egypt, who Judah was counting on to rescue them.  They had trusted in their political alliances instead of in God, putting their pride in the wrong place.

We also are not immune.  What do we and our nations take pride in?  Like Elam, is it the strength of our military?  Like Edom, does our sense of security from enemies lull us into a state of complacency and pride?  Like Kedar and Hazor, has our wealth become a source of pride?  We may not even be aware of these things, but God is aware and He will judge all of our sources of pride.  As He said in Isaiah 42:8 –

“I am the LORD; that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to carved idols.”

God does not tolerate rivals, and we should be ready for God to judge the great Babylon’s of our time, our nation, and our hearts.  Until we are perfected in eternity, we and our nations will have things we put pride in inappropriately.  Our own strength, our own security, our own wealth.  We, and our nations, aren’t perfect, but have many idols.  Things that distract us from God and lead us to do things we shouldn’t.  Only God knows what all of these things are.

If “Elam is famous for its archers,” what do you and your nation put too much pride in?  Pray that God will reveal these to us and help us to overcome them, putting Him in their place.

[1] Reformation Study Bible, note on Jeremiah 49:35.
[2] Jeremiah 49:15-16
[3] Jeremiah 49:28

Praying for Our Leaders

Todd R 1 Comment

King David was known as a man who sought God’s will in all things, even though he often failed.  The Psalms record many of his prayers for God to guide him and make him a good leader.  Psalm 26 is one of these prayers, and verses 8-10 include good objectives for any leader:

“O LORD, I love the habitation of your house
            and the place where your glory dwells.
Do not sweep my soul away with sinners,
            nor my life with bloodthirsty men,
in whose hands are evil devices,
            and whose right hands are full of bribes.”

Sometimes we may not know how to pray “for kings and all who are in high positions,”[1] as Paul suggests, but in this cry to God, David gives us at least 3 things to pray about.  He lists qualities he wanted to pursue, and some he wanted to avoid.  Praying for these things is good for any leader.  Therefore, on the model of Psalm 26, we can pray for the leaders of our countries and communities today.

We can pray for political leaders who:

  • worship God (who “love the habitation of your house”)
  • do not seek violence and vengeance (who are not “bloodthirsty men”), and
  • are not corrupted by money (whose hands are not “full of bribes”)

All leaders can use our prayers today!

[1] 1 Timothy 2:2

A Kingdom of Gentleness and Respect

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After the election in the United States, half of the country finds itself disappointed with the result.  However, as David wrote in Psalm 3 when he had been pushed out of power by his son Absalom, all American Christians should declare “salvation belongs to the LORD.”[1]  This is an inherently political statement, declaring that salvation does not come from any government.  But this is a message Christians need to deliver in a way that obeys God in approach and tone.  What does that mean?  1 Peter 4:15-16 says:  “in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”  This means it is not as simple as just yelling the right story from the rooftops, or in my case, on a blog.  “Gentleness and respect” matter.

Jesus is never on the ballot, but flawed candidates of many types are.  Some are more like David, and some more like Absalom.  David, even as God’s appointed king of Israel, knew that not every problem was in his power to solve.  David was at peace with his limits in this imperfect world, knowing that his salvation (and everyone else’s) came from God alone.  But Absalom hated David’s inability, or unwillingness, to solve every problem.  Absalom harbored angry resentment against David for years before violently overthrowing him.  During this rebellion, David was calm and able to sleep because the kingdom of God was real to him, even when it didn’t look like it.  Then he wrote Psalm 3 to let us know about it.

This conflict between David and Absalom echoes in competing narratives told throughout history: 1) we can and should perfect ourselves, or 2) we are dependent on God to save us.[2]

In the 1 Peter quote above, he says that we defend our eternal hope in God to save us with “gentleness and respect.,” meaning that those who trust God should use not only their words, but also their attitudes and very lives.  The story must be real to us to be convincing to others, and those who hope in God’s kingdom should show obedience to that kingdom.  Easier said than done.

Fortunately, when we truly believe, experience, and stand for God’s salvation, our brokenness and failure is part of the testimony.  When we know God’s salvation is the only solution, we can approach people with different worldviews with our common need for salvation, in “gentleness and respect,” instead of fighting over solutions we know are imperfect.  David was able to sleep at night even when chased out of Jerusalem by his own son, because he had “a good conscience,” showing gentleness and respect toward Absalom.  The kingdom of God was real in his heart, and he believed God would prevail no matter what.  Circumstances could not shake his faith, and God ultimately delivered and restored him.

If, on the other hand, our brokenness and God’s solution for it is not part of our story, we may be left defending an imperfect political solution to those who demand perfection and will gladly poke holes in our story.  In David’s case, he may have insisted that God was unjust in allowing Absalom to succeed.  After all, he could argue, he was a humble king after God’s own heart, while Absalom was bitter and unreasonable.  If David had done this, it may have ironically helped Absalom’s case for tyranny.  In addition, David would not have been able to find peace and sleep at night until Absalom was overthrown.  However, if the starting point of discussion is that weakness is common to all of mankind, then the imperfection of the system is both part of the “reason for the hope” and a reason for even the unbeliever to resist tyranny.  In this case, imperfection is not hypocrisy, but a condition common to mankind.

Declaring “salvation belongs to the LORD” with actions, along with words, gives evidence that worldly utopia is not the answer.  But when words or actions fall short, we can still point to the One who is perfect since we aren’t trying to prove worldly utopia is possible.  The two lessons from Absalom’s rebellion are reconciled in a life lived with “gentleness and respect.”  Because God does not rely on political systems to work His salvation, tyranny is just a temporary and provincial authority subject to the greater authority of God.  We can have a clear conscience based on the sacrifice of Christ and not on worldly success.

A life lived in hope for the eternal kingdom of God is one lived in love for those left behind by all the imperfect systems of this world, but also one that testifies that all systems, including our own individual wills, are not perfectible by human effort.  Peter wrote that those who hope in God will be slandered, but also that those who live humble lives based on hope in God and not themselves will ultimately be proved right.  Until then, by their example as they follow Christ, they can show the futility of tyranny.  By God’s grace, His people will inherit a real utopia by learning to love those who hope in a false one with gentleness and respect.

Our failure is part of our testimony as we drive toward morning, and “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” – Matthew 6:33

[1] Psalm 3:8
[2] There’s also a third common story: “If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’” (1 Corinthians 15:32) Today, we focus on the first two.

Daily Readings for November 2 – 8

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Fellow travelers:

For those looking for a Bible reading plan, each week I post 2 chapters to read per day as a main reading plan, and for anyone who wants to read the whole Bible in 2026, I’ll post the extra chapters to read that week.  The main readings include nearly all of the New Testament, plus Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Prophets, and a few other Old Testament books.

Reading 3 chapters a day on weekdays and 4 on weekends almost exactly covers the 1,189 chapters of the Bible, so the “extra” readings will be about 9 chapters per week.  These readings cover the Pentateuch, the OT histories, a few other OT books, plus Jude and Revelation from the NT.

Regardless, I hope this schedule encourages others to read and study their Bible regularly, whatever parts they decide to read.  Follow along (or not) any way you choose!

2 chapter a day plan:
Monday, November 2: Philemon, Hebrews 1
Tuesday, November 3: Hebrews 2 – 3
Wednesday, November 4: Hebrews 4 – 5
Thursday, November 5: Hebrews 6 – 7
Friday, November 6: Hebrews 8 – 9
Saturday, November 7: Hebrews 10 – 11
Sunday, November 8: Hebrews 12 – 13

Extra chapters for those reading the whole Bible in 2026:
2 Chronicles 28 – 36

Mountain Bullies

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It’s almost universal to human experience that big and strong people bully smaller and weaker people.  Those with position, influence and power use what they have to take advantage of those who don’t have what they have.  Centuries ago, David imagined in Psalm 68:15-16 that even the mountains do the same:

“O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan;
            O many-peaked mountain, mountain of Bashan!
Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain,
            at the mount that God desired for his abode,
            yes, where the LORD will dwell forever?” – Psalm 68:15-16

The mountains of Bashan, of which Mount Hermon is the tallest, are northeast of Israel and are much taller than Mount Zion, where God had chosen to be most fully present with His people.  In David’s picture, size is what matters: the bigger mountains hate the smaller mountains, even knowing that God is there.  The big bully the small, and perhaps they do so because they know God is there.

Photo by Kalen Emsley on Unsplash

Likewise, people who are well-off in this world often look down on Christians, God’s chosen people.  It is rare for the rich, famous, or powerful to publicly testify about Christ, and so we often get excited when athletes, celebrities, or politicians make their faith public.  We say to each other, “did you hear so-and-so is a Christian?”  It can make us feel like it’s more reasonable and accepted to follow Christ when this happens.  It feels good to identify with the rich and powerful.

But what if this rarity of seeing faith in the rich and powerful is intentional on God’s part?

Throughout Scripture God doesn’t identify with the rich and powerful; He identifies with the widow and orphan, with the lonely and outcast.  He favors the weak and the exploited.

In 1 Corinthians 1:26, Paul wrote to the church in Corinth: “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.”  The first century isn’t much different than to today: the “wise”, powerful and noble rarely testified about Christ.  Next Paul wrote: “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are…”

Why?  “…so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.”

Back to Psalm 68, where we found the mountains of Bashan ridiculing God’s mountain of Zion, David ends with these verses:

“Ascribe power to God,
            whose majesty is over Israel,
            and whose power is in the skies.
Awesome is God from his sanctuary;
            the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people.
Blessed be God!”

I’ll rejoice over a public Christian testimony wherever it comes from, but I remember that God doesn’t need the help of the movers and shakers of this world.  His power is “in the skies” – way above the mountains that bully His Mount Zion.  He is glorified more when His power enables the weak to love Him and love their neighbor.

We might sometimes feel alone and ignored, like we’re not part of the “in crowd” or successful, but that might mean we’re God’s type of person!  No celebrity endorsement required.

“Ascribe power to God”