Reading the Bible Together

Passage for the Day

13 Just as you, Judah and Israel, have been a curse among the nations, so I will save you, and you will be a blessing.  Do not be afraid, but let your hands be strong.”

    14 This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Just as I had determined to bring disaster on you and showed no pity when your ancestors angered me,” says the LORD Almighty, 15 ”so now I have determined to do good again to Jerusalem and Judah. Do not be afraid. 16 These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts; 17 do not plot evil against each other, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this,” declares the LORD.

    18 The word of the LORD Almighty came to me.

    19 This is what the LORD Almighty says: “The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months will become joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Therefore love truth and peace.”

    20 This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come, 21 and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the LORD and seek the LORD Almighty. I myself am going.’ 22 And many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the LORD Almighty and to entreat him.”

    23 This is what the LORD Almighty says: “In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.’ “

Points of interest:

·         ‘have been a curse among the nations’—Zechariah is prophesying about two hundred years after Isaiah.  By Zechariah’s time, the foreign captivity of Israel and Judah, and the return of the Jewish exiles to Jerusalem, has indeed happened just as Isaiah had prophesied.  But Jerusalem’s glorious rise to the center of what’s happening in the world has emphatically not happened.  In fact, the returned exiles are having a hard time just rebuilding the temple, which had been destroyed during the Babylonian conquest.  At this point, the Jews have become famous for their apparent bad luck.  That’s what God means here by, ‘a curse among the nations’; if you really didn’t like someone you’d say, ‘May what happened to the Jews happen to you!’

·         ‘now I have determined to do good again to Jerusalem and Judah‘—these residents of Jerusalem are about to give up on their big dreams; but God encourages them that things will indeed turn around.

·         ‘do not plot evil against each other‘—it seems that what God is most concerned about is the possibility that, if they give up their hope on God, the people will turn on one another.

·         ‘fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months‘—that’s a lot of fasting!  Apparently, these fasts are all to grieve events connected to the Babylonian conquest (IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament).  God promises that these times of mourning will be turned into times of celebration.

·         ‘Many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come‘—despite all appearances, God will still bring about the massive gathering of all the nations.

Taking it home:

·         For you: Sometimes God’s promises can take a strangely long time to come true.  Are you having a hard time continuing to believe in a promise you’re pretty sure did indeed come from God?   Why don’t you ask God to give you a new confirmation of that promise, as he did for the Israelites through Zechariah?  You might also want to ask God to give you the strength to endure well until the promise is fulfilled. 

·         For your six: This passage presents an attractive model of people seeking God together.  Consider asking one of your six if they would like to come along with you in your spiritual journey.  You could simply talking about your own faith experiences, read and discuss the book Not the Religious Type together, or even walk through this guide together.  There are more ideas for how to pursue alongside of your six in The World Awaits: the 40 Days of Faith Users’ Manual

·         For America: Pray that our country would be characterized by the qualities God recommends to the people of Jerusalem:  truth, good judgment, promise-keeping, and avoidance of doing evil to one another.

Drought, Famine, Sword

¹ This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:

² “Judah mourns,
her cities languish;
they wail for the land,
and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.

³ The nobles send their servants for water;
they go to the cisterns
but find no water.
They return with their jars unfilled;
dismayed and despairing,
they cover their heads.

⁴ The ground is cracked
because there is no rain in the land;
the farmers are dismayed
and cover their heads.

⁵ Even the doe in the field
deserts her newborn fawn
because there is no grass.

⁶ Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights
and pant like jackals;
their eyes fail
for lack of food.”

⁷ Although our sins testify against us,
do something, LORD, for the sake of your name.
For our backsliding is great;
we have sinned against you.

⁸ You who are the hope of Israel,
its Savior in times of distress,
why are you like a stranger in the land,
like a traveler who stays only a night?

⁹ Why are you like someone taken by surprise,
like a warrior powerless to save?
You are among us, LORD,
and we bear your name;
do not forsake us!

¹⁷ “Speak this word to them:
” ‘Let my eyes overflow with tears
night and day without ceasing;
for the Virgin Daughter, my people,
has suffered a grievous wound,
a crushing blow.

¹⁸ If I go into the country,
I see those slain by the sword;
if I go into the city,
I see the ravages of famine.
Both prophet and priest
have gone to a land they know not.’ ”

¹⁹ Have you rejected Judah completely?
Do you despise Zion?
Why have you afflicted us
so that we cannot be healed?
We hoped for peace
but no good has come,
for a time of healing
but there is only terror.

²⁰ We acknowledge our wickedness, LORD,
and the guilt of our ancestors;
we have indeed sinned against you.

²¹ For the sake of your name do not despise us;
do not dishonor your glorious throne.
Remember your covenant with us
and do not break it.

²² Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain?
Do the skies themselves send down showers?
No, it is you, LORD our God.
Therefore our hope is in you,
for you are the one who does all this.

For the director of music. Of David. A petition.

¹ Hasten, O God, to save me;
come quickly, LORD, to help me.

² May those who seek my life
be put to shame and confusion;
may all who desire my ruin
be turned back in disgrace.

³ May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”
turn back because of their shame.

⁴ But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who long for your saving help always say,
“The LORD is great!”

⁵ But as for me, I am poor and needy;
come quickly to me, O God.
You are my help and my deliverer;
LORD, do not delay.