Today’s Hebrew Testament chronological reading is in Ecclesiastes 7 and 8.
The Psalms/ Proverbs reading is in Psalm 8.
The Greek Testament reading is in Luke 16.
ESSENTIAL STUDIES.
Ecclesiastes 7 and 8, All is vanity
Additional studies: Ecclesiastes Index
So what is the point of life? That is what Solomon is asking. He spent his life testing what would profit a man. And he says in Ecc 7:23 that at the end of everything the answer was far from him. (Although Jesus revealed to us what would profit a man, but before Jesus, these things were a mystery, hidden, and no one could search them out). What Solomon has learned, is that the getting of whatever it is that men try to get is fruitless. The things the world pursues are not the point of life!
This wisdom is in the Bible and yet few people know it, that pursuing wealth or fame or power or reputation or pleasure or even knowledge is a waste of a life. Few believers even know it, because there are so many believers that pursue the same things the world pursues, and spend their time and their resources on those things which Solomon discovered to be vanity.
Psalm 8, Our Mindful God
Additional studies: Psalms Book One: 1-41 Index
God is great and glorious, thus the Psalmist’s question: Why are You mindful of man? Why do you think of man? To be mindful (Strong’s H2142 זכר zakar) tells of the covenant cut (zayin) wherein the open palm (kaph) of blessing was laid upon the head of the man (resh); that it is because of the covenant that God remembers us. To think (Strong’s H6485 פקד paqad) tells of a river edged (pey) by the bank which keeps it condensed (quph) to its channel instead of flowing out willy-nilly. Just as the river is compassed by the bank to keep it on its path, so Israel is compassed by YHVH God to keep them whither they go to and fro (dalet, as the door swings back and forth). We don’t deserve God’s goodness, but He pours it out on us anyway!
Luke 16, Bible for Beginners
Additional studies: Luke Index
Why does the central axis say that everyone is being forced into the Kingdom of God? The words and tenses and grammar of the Greek translates to that exact sentence, when you let it say what it says. The idea of being “forced” in Luke 16:16 does not necessarily mean coercive force, since we understand the broader message of Scripture to be that God presents His will and His ways, but then each individual is free to accept or reject it (Deu 30:19, Jos 24:15, Rev 3:20). Instead, the compelling nature of the kingdom’s urgent and powerful message confronts people with the need to make a decision. It’s an invitation so profound that it pulls people in.
THREE-YEAR BIBLE.
The three-year plan is here.
Today’s reading is in Nehemiah 4.
Suggested study: Nehemiah 4, Bible for Beginners.
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