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Nahum 1:1-3:19 ~ Revelation 8:1-13 ~ Psalm 136:1-26 ~ Proverbs 30:7-9
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Old Testament - Today we start and finish the book of the prophet Nahum! Nahum prophesied against Nineveh, about 100 years after Jonah prophesied against Nineveh. Nahum was prophesying between 663 and 612 B.C., when Nineveh was at the height of its power. Nineveh was capital of the Assyrian empire and it had control of the Fertile Crescent area. Assyria had recently conquered Israel, the northern kingdom, and was threatening and causing much suffering to Judah. Nineveh was eventually conquered by Babylon in 612 B.C., as Nahum prophesied. A good overview of the book of Nahum is at bible.org at this link. Below is an image of Nahum being called by God from a 14th century illuminated Bible:
Chapter 1 verse 7 stood out to me in today's reading: "The LORD is good. When trouble comes, he is a strong refuge. And he knows everyone who trusts in him." This is a comforting verse. Do you seek God when trouble comes? Do you realize that he is a strong refuge - if you will seek him and let him be a strong refuge for you? Do you know that God is good? Do you trust in him?
Chapter 3 verse 18 jumped out at me for some reason today: "O Assyrian king, your princes lie dead in the dust. Your people are scattered across the mountains. There is no longer a shepherd to gather them together." For some reason this verse made me very thankful that we do indeed have a shepherd to gather us together today. The shepherd whose birth we will be celebrating in about a week. A shepherd who was born in a stable in a little town called Bethlehem. Will you allow Jesus be your shepherd this Christmas season? Will you allow Jesus to gather you together with others to celebrate his birth?
New Testament - Revelation chapter 8 transitions from the breaking of the seals on the scroll to the trumpets!
To order prints visit her "Revelation Illustrated" site.
In Old Testament times trumpets represented the announcement of important events or times of war. Here we will see plagues that are more devastating than the seals, but not as devastating as the bowls to come in Revelation chapter 16. The eagle in this chapter represents swiftness and destruction. When the eagle speaks of "all who belong to this world" in verse 13, it is referring to people who are not in relationship with God.
Verses 3 & 4 in this chapter today are beautiful: "Then another angel with a gold incense burner came and stood at the altar. And a great quantity of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God's people, to be offered on the gold altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, mixed with the prayers of the saints, ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out." I love that analogy of the incense mixing with the prayers of the saints. Do you believe that your prayers reach God's altar in heaven?
Psalms - Psalm 136 is a liturgy of Praise to God as Creator and Redeemer. A Levitical priest singer likely led the recital, while either worshippers or a Levitical choir responded with the refrain. Cool Bible factoid here - the response "His love endures forever" is repeated 26 times in this Psalm, which is the numerical value of God's name "Yahweh" - back when Hebrew letters were also used as numbers. A lot of intricacies went into the Psalms... some of which do get lost in translation from Hebrew to English. Below is an image of the Hebrew letters yud, hey, vav, hey -- often depicted in English as YHWH or Yahweh -- spelling the name of God.
Psalm 136 is also a Michael W. Smith song! :) C'mon, you know the one - verse 1 - "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever." (and Smitty carries on - "for he is good, he is above all things, his love endures forever. Sing praise. Sing Praise! Forever God is faithful, forever God is strong...")
Proverbs - Proverbs 30 verses 8 & 9 are two of my favorite Proverbs verses! "Give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, "Who is the LORD?" And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God's holy name." Wow. Think there is some truth in this Proverb? Do you pray that God will give you neither poverty nor riches? Below is an image of what looks to be a very interesting book on this subject: "Neither Poverty nor Riches: A Biblical Theology of Material Possessions."
YouTube: Today's readings in Psalm 136 remind me not only of the Michael W. Smith song, but also of the David Crowder song "How He Loves Us:"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIdvtRcPGBg
Do you know how much He loves you? Click here for His eternal love!
Please join us in memorizing and meditating on two verses of Scripture today: "Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand." Revelation 8:3-4 (NIV)
Prayer Point: Pray in thanksgiving that your prayers to God are like incense smoke, going up to God from the hands of angels. Pray without ceasing. Pray right now.
Comments from you: What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
God bless,
Mike
p.s. Download our monthly Small Group study notes for our One Year Bible readings at this link.
p.p.s. Download a schedule of our One Year Bible readings for the year in PDF format at this link.
p.p.p.s. I would greatly appreciate it if you would pray for this One Year Bible Blog ministry today. Thanks!
Nahum 1-3:19
I don’t have any comments today but I do have a rhetorical question to ponder and it comes from the second verse in the first chapter:
The Lord is a zealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and very angry. The Lord takes vengeance against his foes; he sustains his rage against his enemies.
(Nahum 1:2 NET.)
The LORD is a jealous and avenging God, the LORD avengeth and is full of wrath; the LORD taketh vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserveth wrath for His enemies.
(Nahum 1:2 JPS)
In the framework of God’s character is jealousy and vengeance; however, we, the people he has made and his children are warned not to tread down that path. What is it about these two traits that makes them a part of God’s character and Holiness, but deadly for us?
I think if we took time to examine ourselves, our motives and to understand that jealousy and vengeance belong to God, we would get a better handle on keeping what is clearly to God, a good thing, but for us a very bad thing.
Just something to make you go “Hmmm.”
Grace and peace.
Ramona
Posted by: Ramona | December 16, 2015 at 08:22 PM