Encounter the Bible

Welcome to Jeremiah!  Jeremiah is often known as the "weeping prophet" or as the "11th-hour prophet." Jeremiah weeps over what will happen to Judah because his last-minute warnings aren't enough to turn the people back to the Lord.  We will see more of Jeremiah's weeping when we get to Lamentations. In these opening chapters, we encounter the call of Jeremiah.  Like Moses and others who were called, he feels inadequate for the task.  How often we need to be reminded that when God calls us, he also equips us. It's also important to note chapter 2, verse 13.  "My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water." What God has against his people is that they have cut themselves off from him (the living water) and have opted to go their own way.  The image of the leaky cistern here is powerful.  Cisterns were used to collect rainwater for later...

Welcome to the fourth week of Isaiah!  These later chapters of Isaiah are probably more known than the earlier chapters because of the words of hope and promise in this section. We hear words like this: We all, like sheep, have gone astray,  each of us has turned to our own way;  and the Lord has laid on him  the iniquity of us all (Isa. 53);  Seek the Lord while he may be found;  call on him while he is near.  Let the wicked forsake their ways  and the unrighteous their thoughts.  Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,  and to our God, for he will freely pardon (Isa. 55); “Arise, shine, for your light has come,  and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.  See, darkness covers the earth  and thick darkness is over the peoples,  but the Lord rises upon you  and his glory appears over you.  Nations will come to your light,  and kings to the brightness of your dawn (Isa. 61). T...

Welcome to the third week of Isaiah!  The prophecies against the nations continue in our readings this week, but we also get a little narrative as we encounter chapters 36-39.  You can also read the Hezekiah account in 2 Kings 18-20. But then a shift happens in Chapter 40.  The bad news, the words of judgment are replaced by words of comfort and hope to God's people.  "Comfort, comfort my people."  "Fear not, I have redeemed you." Those aren't words that we typically associate with Old Testament prophets, but there they are! Some question whether chapters 40-66 were addressed to post-exile Judah or if they were spoken to pre-exile Judah as a message of hope before the judgment comes.  Either way, they are words of hope for God's people long ago, and words of hope for God's people today. What words of hope spoke to you?  How might those words of hope bring hope to our world today?  Who in your life needs to hear the words of hope from Isaiah? ...

Welcome to the second week of Isaiah!  The early chapters of our reading this week focus on prophecies against other nations.  Why do you suppose this is included in Isaiah's prophecy?  Why was it necessary for Isaiah's audience to hear those prophecies? In the middle are two chapters devoted to praise to God.  It's important, as God's people, to bring praise to him, even while God brings his word of judgment.  God is always worthy of praise because he is sovereign over all. The last few chapters include words of judgment and deliverance.  God is a God who takes sin seriously but who also deeply loves his people.  In today's culture, God might be accused of sending "mixed messages." How do you understand the relationship between God's righteousness (which requires him to punish sin) and his mercy? It's often said that prophecy has three layers of messages. The first layer is to the original audience.  What did Israel's people and leaders hear f...