Today’s Hebrew Testament chronological reading is in Ecclesiastes 9 and 10.
The Psalms/ Proverbs reading is in Psalm 9.
The Greek Testament reading is in Luke 17.
ESSENTIAL STUDIES.
Ecclesiastes 9 and 10, The wisdom beyond wisdom
Additional studies: Ecclesiastes Index
When we read Ecclesiastes, there is a pervading sense of doom and futility that kind of seeps into the bones. Ecclesiastes is not a popular book of the Bible. But, that futility and that doom is wisdom, because it shows that the works of man are futile. His righteousness, his wisdom, his labor, his wickedness, his legacy, all alike do not change his destiny of death.
We need to know this, to know that we desperately need God to save us and give us life! How many people do we know who trust in themselves, no matter in what arena? Men trust in knowledge, or power, or wealth, or righteousness, or their name that they make for themselves, or in any number of things, and they spend their lives and their fortunes in pursuit of something that will not make an iota of difference. Mankind needs the wisdom of Ecclesiastes in order to come to Jesus to be made new!
Psalm 9, Trust in YHVH
Additional studies: Psalms Book One: 1-41 Index
Why does knowing YHVH’s name cause us to put our trust in Him, and not in the negative outcome? His personal name, Yehovah, means, “I am the Living One, the Self-Existent and Eternal, who was, and who is, and who is to come. My hand, behold! The nail, behold! I am He who redeems you from destruction.”
Luke 17, The internals of the kingdom
Additional studies: Luke Index
You see, the Pharisees had a worldview that externals determined kingdom citizenship: Jewish ethnicity, for example; thus Samaritans and Gentiles were despised. However, Jesus taught that internals determined kingdom citizenship: careful treatment of others; gentleness instead of hardness; faith instead of fear of man. So it was that two who shared the same externals could be living or working together, and yet one would be taken and the other left.
THREE-YEAR BIBLE.
The three-year plan is here.
Today’s reading is in Nehemiah 5.
Suggested study: Nehemiah 5, Bible for Beginners.
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