King Zedekiah sends messengers to Jeremiah asking that he might inquire of the Lord on behalf of Judah. Though he asks for the Lord’s favor, he instead receives a prophecy of the Lord’s wrath, for the king of Judah and his entourage will all be handed over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. After pronouncing judgment against Zedekiah, he goes on to condemn Shallum, Jehoiakim, and Coniah. These leaders have led the Lord’s flock away from Him, but God promises to raise up one who is called “a Righ...
Oct 04, 2024•29 min•Season 6Ep. 189
Jeremiah continues his pronouncement against the persistent sin of Judah as our text begins today, saying that those who trust in men are cursed and those who trust in the Lord will be blessed. Not long after this, Jeremiah must put this very teaching into practice, for after gathering the priests, prophets, and leaders of Judah to declare the judgment of the Lord, he is beaten, put in the stocks, and humiliated by one of the priests. Both before and after this event, Jeremiah pleads with the Lo...
Oct 03, 2024•27 min•Season 6Ep. 188
In today’s episode, Jeremiah delivers a lament for the drought that has come over Judah, calling on God to deliver. Throughout Scripture, the Lord often relents after such prayers, but in this instance the Lord denies Jeremiah’s request, saying that this time he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins. God tells Jeremiah not to pray for these people, saying that even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before Him, He would not listen. In his anguish, Jeremiah complains about the difficu...
Oct 02, 2024•22 min•Season 6Ep. 187
The false gods that Israel has served are worthless and lifeless, and God warns that those gods will not save them from His wrath. The nation that the Lord loved and cherished has continuously rejected Him and mocked His authority, so the Lord will finally bring them to the ruin He promised would come. Later, at the Lord’s command, Jeremiah performs a prophetic act, one of several over the course of his life, and we’ll all have to suppress our inner six year old as we read about Jeremiah’s dirty...
Oct 01, 2024•26 min•Season 6Ep. 186
The Lord’s love remains on Judah but he cannot allow her rampant evil and adulterous idol worship to continue. Time and again He has called them to repent, but they continue to love their wealth, their sin, and their idols more than the Lord their God. The Lord will send Assyria from the north to conquer Jerusalem and Judah, making it a desolate wasteland. He sends Jeremiah to ensure that everyone in Judah has heard, going throughout Israel with this message like a grape gatherer whose hand pass...
Sep 30, 2024•25 min•Season 6Ep. 185
The Lord’s love remains on Judah but he cannot allow her rampant evil and adulterous idol worship to continue. Time and again He has called them to repent, but they continue to love their wealth, their sin, and their idols more than the Lord their God. The Lord will send Assyria from the north to conquer Jerusalem and Judah, making it a desolate wasteland. He sends Jeremiah to ensure that everyone in Judah has heard, going throughout Israel with this message like a grape gatherer whose hand pass...
Sep 27, 2024•29 min•Season 6Ep. 184
Jeremiah was a young man serving as a priest when the Lord called him and set him aside to be God’s chosen instrument in prophesying against the nation of Judah. Judah had seen the fall of Israel after their centuries of wickedness and idolatry against the Lord, both figuratively and sometimes literally prostituting themselves with idols and cult prostitutes. They worshipped false gods on hilltops and under trees, as was the custom in the surrounding nations, rejecting the God who loved them, pr...
Sep 26, 2024•25 min•Season 6Ep. 183
John, the apostle whom Jesus loved and the author of the fourth gospel writes today’s letter to the church with encouragement to flee from sin, to trust in Jesus, to love one another, and to assure them of the eternal life that Christ has secured for them. This letter doesn’t have a typical structure; unlike other epistles it doesn’t address a particular church or mention individual people. The nature of fellowship with one another and the relationships between mankind and their God are at the f...
Sep 25, 2024•26 min•Season 6Ep. 182
Job has justified himself in his own sight, repeating again and again that God has been unjust, bemoaning his fate and complaining that a man should be able to take God to court. In today’s episode, God puts Job in his place by asking him a series of questions. This inquisition is designed to help Job see how finite, weak, and limited he is, while painting a vibrant picture of God’s power and authority. Job can’t even direct a wild animal to work for him, let alone oversee the entirety of creati...
Sep 24, 2024•27 min•Season 6Ep. 181
As the young man named Elihu continues to present a case against Job and his friends, he confronts the audacious claim that a man gains nothing from friendship with God. Moreover, the God who created all things is accountable to no one; in other words, He doesn’t owe anything to anyone, therefore nobody can say that He is unfair or unjust. The God who made all things also sees all things, knows all things, and will rightly judge all things. Man, with his limitations, cannot know or understand th...
Sep 23, 2024•21 min•Season 6Ep. 180
In today’s episode, Job starts his “I don’t get no respect” routine and tells his friends of the dishonor he now endures from fellow citizens and from the riff-raff that live in the desert around him. He remarks that he has been faithful to the Lord, caring for those in need, and keeping himself from the worship of false gods such as the worship of sun and moon. When Job concludes his words, a young man named Elihu, who has yet to speak, begins to voice his anger. He has respectfully waited unti...
Sep 20, 2024•26 min•Season 6Ep. 179
It won’t be long before Job receives a proper rebuke from Elihu and then from God Himself, but until that time comes, Job continues to vent and express frustration with the situation he finds himself in. His friends keep telling him to repent of his evil, assuming that his sin is the cause of his state. Meanwhile, Job continues to declare himself as pure, which is also untrue, but in his state of despair he can’t see his self-righteous posture. Job thinks so highly of himself that he unabashedly...
Sep 19, 2024•26 min•Season 6Ep. 178
Job’s friends are insulted that he would reject their wisdom, especially because they are drawing their conclusions from that which was commonly assumed by the culture and by their ancestors. Job wants to find comfort and consolation from his friends, but they continue to make a case against him. In an earlier speech, Job spoke of God’s justice, but as he responds to his friend Zophar, we can see that he struggles, like many of us, to understand why the wicked are allowed to flourish while the r...
Sep 18, 2024•28 min•Season 6Ep. 177
The book of Job is thought to be one of the earliest writings of Scripture. Set in the period of the patriarchs perhaps even before the time of Abraham, this book gives us the account of a rich man who loses it all. Here in the first few chapters we are given a rare glimpse into the spiritual realm, describing scenes before the throne of God Almighty, who reigns so supremely that even His enemies must be granted permission to act. Satan despises Job and his devotion to God Almighty, and does eve...
Sep 17, 2024•31 min•Season 6Ep. 176
Job has lost everything but his wife, his life, and a handful of friends who have gathered around him. After sitting together in silence for seven days, Job opens up about the sorrow and agony he feels. His friends, however, greet him with calls to repent, suggesting that God would not punish someone like this if he were indeed righteous. Bildad rebukes Job, pointing to God’s justice and argues that God does not reject a person of integrity. Job, in turn, considers God’s power and sovereignty an...
Sep 16, 2024•27 min•Season 6Ep. 175
The book of Job is thought to be one of the earliest writings of Scripture. Set in the period of the patriarchs perhaps even before the time of Abraham, this book gives us the account of a rich man who loses it all. Here in the first few chapters we are given a rare glimpse into the spiritual realm, describing scenes before the throne of God Almighty, who reigns so supremely that even His enemies must be granted permission to act. Satan despises Job and his devotion to God Almighty, and does eve...
Sep 13, 2024•24 min•Season 6Ep. 174
In this letter to Timothy, Paul encourages the young man whom he calls a son in the faith to preach the gospel boldly, clearly, unabashedly, and without fear. Paul encourages Timothy to know the Scriptures well so that he can preach the Scriptures well. The apostle has entrusted the work of gospel ministry to Timothy and he wants to make sure that Timothy is capable of training other men to do the same. He reminds his apprentice that those who faithfully preach the gospel of Christ must expect t...
Sep 12, 2024•20 min•Season 6Ep. 173
The future looks bleak for the people of God. With the king’s signet ring in hand, Haman has devised a scheme to wipe out God’s people, whom he hates because of his hatred for Mordecai. It seems that the only hope for God’s people rests with Queen Esther, a young woman who has become fully enveloped into Persian culture. Today, Esther continues on her patient quest to woo King Ahaseurus into a hearing her case against Haman. Before today’s episode ends, Haman’s wrath will return on his head thro...
Sep 11, 2024•26 min•Season 6Ep. 172
The account of Esther, the Jewish orphan who becomes the queen of Persia, is neither a Cinderella story, nor a how-to guide for righteousness. It does, however, give us a picture of the God who graciously uses broken people to achieve His glorious ends and fulfill His covenant promises. The names that the two Jewish characters operate under, Esther and Mordecai, are names that actually give honor to Persian gods. The book reflects how they operate under this saturation of Persian culture by ment...
Sep 10, 2024•29 min•Season 6Ep. 171
Today we’re going to read the entire letter of 1 Timothy together, and as we do I think you’ll see some themes emerge. First, Paul writes to Timothy from a place of humility in order to encourage humility within Timothy and within the church. From that humility comes order within the church, including rightly viewed structures of authority and submission. Paul wants Timothy to be bold in faith and in the work of ministry, but humble in spirit, relying on the Lord in every circumstance. Self-righ...
Sep 09, 2024•29 min•Season 6Ep. 170
The temple is finished. The wall is finished. The people have rededicated themselves to the Lord’s house, and on today’s episode, the remnant of Israel rejoices. With the work completed, Nehemiah returns to Persia to serve under King Artaxerxes once again, just as he promised. All is right with the world, and God’s people serve Him faithfully from then on, right? Wrong! In fact, not long after Nehemiah leaves, the work of the temple is all but abandoned and Eliashib, who is in charge of the temp...
Sep 06, 2024•25 min•Season 6Ep. 169
Now that the work of rebuilding the temple and rebuilding the walls surrounding Jerusalem is complete, the exiles from Israel gather together to hear Ezra read from the book of the Law. The Levites explain the law to the people as it is being read, and when the congregation understands the extent to which they have broken the Law, they mourn over their actions. Nehemiah, Ezra, and the Levites encourage them to rejoice, for the people have not only returned to their land, but they have returned t...
Sep 05, 2024•25 min•Season 6Ep. 168
As we began to see our last episode, the governors who oversee region west of the Euphrates, which includes Judah and Jerusalem, are unhappy that Nehemiah has been sent to help rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Feeling threatened, Sanballat and other officials create false rumors and even bribe others to attempt to deceive Nehemiah. They make every attempt to stop or delay the work, but in just 52 days’ time, Nehemiah and the diligent remnant Israel rebuild the wall and restore the gates. Once the...
Sep 04, 2024•25 min•Season 6Ep. 167
Nehemiah, an exile who lived in Persia’s capital and served King Artaxerxes as his royal cupbearer, hears news that Jerusalem has been laid waste. The wall surrounding the city had been greatly compromised and the gates that would have maintained a secure entrance had been burned down. In great dismay, Nehemiah asks the king if he can return to help restore the city. With the king’s approval and with papers in hand, Nehemiah goes back to Jerusalem, but the local governors are not happy that he h...
Sep 03, 2024•24 min•Season 6Ep. 166
In our last episode, we were introduced to Ezra, a scribe in exile who had been trained in the law of Moses and who had “determined in his heart to study the law of the Lord, obey it, and teach it’s statutes and ordinances in Israel.” King Artaxerxes has expressly commanded Ezra to do just that. After we review some of the family heads who accompanied Ezra for the journey back to Jerusalem, we discover that even the leaders of those who had returned from exile had disobeyed the commands of the L...
Aug 30, 2024•24 min•Season 6Ep. 165
If you have siblings, then there was likely a time when you tried to get them in trouble for doing something you didn’t like only to find out they were told to do it by your parents. In similar fashion, the governor and rulers that oversee the region west of the Euphrates alert King Darius that the Jews are rebuilding the temple. The king’s reply? Leave them alone! If anyone tries to stop them, they will be impaled on a beam from their own house! The temple is completed with great joy and after ...
Aug 29, 2024•21 min•Season 6Ep. 164
The books of Ezra and Nehemiah were originally part of one book but they got separated along the way as the book was translated. The author of this book and the author of 1 & 2 Chronicles are one and the same. This means Ezra continues where 2 Chronicles left off: recall that the temple had been destroyed, Jerusalem had been ravaged, and the people of God were sent into exile. Finally, King Cyrus of Persia declared that God’s people could return. Once we make it through some of the populatio...
Aug 28, 2024•23 min•Season 6Ep. 163
In Paul’s absence, the Corinthian church had begun to follow new teachers who had positioned themselves as superior in numerous ways, all of which were worldly and pompous. They wanted Paul to be like them, bold, arrogant, provocative, and brash. Paul defends the authority he has over the Corinthian church as a true apostle and sarcastically boasts to compare himself to the ones he calls “Super-apostles.” These men were well-spoken, came with letters, and requested payment for their teaching, wh...
Aug 27, 2024•27 min•Season 6Ep. 162
Paul continues to urge the Corinthian to live lives that are fully devoted to the Lord God, asking them to open their hearts once again to him and to the ministry of the gospel. He explains that his commendation comes from a life that is full of dichotomies, and urges them to consider the sacrifices they are making as proof that they are zealous for the advance of the gospel. Finally, Paul makes an appeal to the church to be diligent and intentional with the task of setting aside money to give t...
Aug 26, 2024•21 min•Season 6Ep. 161
Paul loves the church in Corinth, but at the writing of this letter, the feeling wasn’t entirely mutual. The Corinthian church had received a severe letter from Paul that contained instructions about disciplining a church member. This could be the man mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5 or it could be some other person within the church. Whatever the case may be, it pained the church. Paul writes this opening section to bring comfort to the church, to reaffirm his love for them, and to encourage the Co...
Aug 23, 2024•22 min•Season 6Ep. 160
