Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentation, Ezekiel, books #29 - #32, with references to Egyptian Christians in 2015, the Sabbath in 2015, and a timekeeper

And so we begin the prophets.  Although I do love the Old Testament more than New, it is really the history I love more than the prophets.  I think they were not meant to be read so quickly.  

Isaiah:

Not to be read while on a 16 hour bus with middle schoolers.  But alas, I tried. Love seeing the foreshadowing to Jesus and the final days...
11:1 - A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse ....
11:11 - In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people ....
26:19 - But your dead will live; their bodies will rise.  You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy.
27:13 - in that day a great trumpet will sound ...
29:6 - Suddenly, in an instant, the Lord Almighty will come ...
All of chapter 53


Jeremiah:

Poor guy.  No wonder they call him the Weeping Prophet.  He had a huge load to tow.  But the thing that really hit home to me in this was chapter 11 ...

²¹ Therefore this is what the Lord says about the people of Anathoth who are threatening to kill you, saying, “Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord or you will die by our hands”— ²² therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will punish them. Their young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters by famine. ²³ Not even a remnant will be left to them, because I will bring disaster on the people of Anathoth in the year of their punishment.”  Beside this in my Bible I wrote, "Hang tight, Egyptian Christians, the day of reckoning WILL come!!"

Also, as I was reading 17:19-27 where it talks about keeping the Sabbath holy, it made me wonder what Sabbath looks like here in 2015.  Have we totally gone off the deep end with all we do on Sundays, or does Sabbath just look different in this day and age and culture?

And my deep desire right now:

31:3-4 I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.  I will build you up again, and you, [Melissa], will be rebuilt. Again you will take up your tambourines and go out to dance with the joyful.

Lamentations:

Short and sad, but also filled with hope.

Chapter 3:21- 26, 55-57

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;

therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,

to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

I called on your name, Lord, from the depths of the pit. You heard my plea: “Do not close your ears to my cry for relief.” You came near when I called you,

and you said, “Do not fear.”

Ezekiel: 

The thing I noticed right off about old Ezekiel was his love of dates.  In many chapters he would start out ... in the ___ year, in the ____ month, on the ____ day ... I started counting how many times he did that and it was 13 times that he specifically mentioned a date like that.  I love how the Lord shows Ezekiel's personality through that!  Other than that, with all the laments, prophecies, parables, allegories, the other thing that kept running through my head was, "How on earth did he remember all that The Lord said?  It all starts, "The word of the Lord came to me and said ..." and it is some pretty specific stuff.  Sometimes in other times it might say "The Lord had me take a stone and write this..." but not in this book.  Either he had an amazing memory or the Lord indeed caused him to remember every word that was said.

So whew!  I finally got caught up from the trip to Disney and am back on track!

O:)
Melissa