Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2022
This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened." Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles. The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but I have divided it so that we will spend half the year in the OT, and half the year in the NT.
Bible Readings: Jeremiah 47-52
Background:
Jeremiah ends with a series of prophecies against nations and what is clearly a historical addendum to the book. After recounting the fall of Jerusalem in chapter 52, the book records the release by one of the subsequent emperors of Babylon of the last king of Judah. This preserves the line of David and gives hope.
Daily Devotional: God's Word Is True
Jerusalem lay in ruins and its best and brightest had been carried off to Babylon to serve the king there. The defeat of Judah could not have been more complete and comprehensive. The war was over, the victor declared and the spoils gathered.
Except God had a different idea. He had brought Babylon from the east to punish his people for their idolatry and waywardness. They were a tool in his hand; God used the evil in their hearts and directed at his chosen nation. God scourged his people with the wickedness of the Babylonians. But God had a different message to deliver now. The punishment was over and now God brought comfort to his people, the promise of return and restoration.
And, in addition, God promised that he would deal with the evil nation that destroyed his people. Jeremiah wrote down a series of prophecies against Babylon concerning the judgment that God would wreak on them. Jeremiah gave these prophecies to Seraiah and told him to read the prophecy when the exiles arrived in Babylon. He was then to tie a rock to the scroll and cast it in the Euphrates. As the rock sank into the Euphrates, Seraiah was to deliver Jeremiah's prophecy, that Babylon would sink into the sea and be no more.
God's word ran directly counter to what anyone's eyes could observe. Babylon was victorious, powerful, secure. No one could come against them. And the question seemed to be whether the people of Israel would ever recover. But God spoke into that set of facts and said that everything was going to change. Israel would be restored and Babylon destroyed.
You may feel abandoned, but the Word says that God will never leave you or forsake you. The truth is what God says, not what you feel. You may feel that you can't resist the temptation you are going through, but God says that you can, by depending on him and the power of his Spirit. We need to believe God's Word.
Here's the thing: if you travel to the Middle East today, Israel exists. God restored the nation. But in less than a hundred years after Jeremiah's prophecy, Babylon was destroyed and it has never been rebuilt. God's word was true. (Sure, Iraq exists but it is not Babylon.)
Believe him. Always. Fully. Without reservation. God speaks the truth!
Except God had a different idea. He had brought Babylon from the east to punish his people for their idolatry and waywardness. They were a tool in his hand; God used the evil in their hearts and directed at his chosen nation. God scourged his people with the wickedness of the Babylonians. But God had a different message to deliver now. The punishment was over and now God brought comfort to his people, the promise of return and restoration.
And, in addition, God promised that he would deal with the evil nation that destroyed his people. Jeremiah wrote down a series of prophecies against Babylon concerning the judgment that God would wreak on them. Jeremiah gave these prophecies to Seraiah and told him to read the prophecy when the exiles arrived in Babylon. He was then to tie a rock to the scroll and cast it in the Euphrates. As the rock sank into the Euphrates, Seraiah was to deliver Jeremiah's prophecy, that Babylon would sink into the sea and be no more.
God's word ran directly counter to what anyone's eyes could observe. Babylon was victorious, powerful, secure. No one could come against them. And the question seemed to be whether the people of Israel would ever recover. But God spoke into that set of facts and said that everything was going to change. Israel would be restored and Babylon destroyed.
Babylon will sink and never rise again because of the disaster I am bringing on her. Jeremiah 51:64.Our eyes can deceive us. Circumstances can be (and often are) a lie. There was not a single indication of any trouble in Babylon - they looked like they would rule for centuries. But God had a different word and the final truth in any situation is what God says about it.
You may feel abandoned, but the Word says that God will never leave you or forsake you. The truth is what God says, not what you feel. You may feel that you can't resist the temptation you are going through, but God says that you can, by depending on him and the power of his Spirit. We need to believe God's Word.
Here's the thing: if you travel to the Middle East today, Israel exists. God restored the nation. But in less than a hundred years after Jeremiah's prophecy, Babylon was destroyed and it has never been rebuilt. God's word was true. (Sure, Iraq exists but it is not Babylon.)
Believe him. Always. Fully. Without reservation. God speaks the truth!
Father, help me to believe what you say about me and not to depend on my circumstances, my feelings or my own wisdom. Your word is truth.
Consider God's Word:
Do you completely and without reservation trust God's word?
Do you trust it enough to obey it?
Do you trust it enough to obey it?
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