For a description of the (Y2) reading plan, see the “About” page.
John 3
In his gospel, John speaks of Jesus as being the Word of God. I think that description has a lot of depth and meaning. One aspect of it, though, is that when someone gives their word, they are making a promise. So Jesus is God’s promise. Jesus’ words and deeds and even His very existence give testimony to the reality of God and the truth of His promise. His promise, as we see in all the prophets, is always for redemption and restoration. But it is so much more than that. His promise is to do, by His own hand, what we cannot do for ourselves. He Himself will make a way for us to escape His judgment, which we fully deserve, and enter into His mercy. He will make a way for a faithless people to remain faithful and for the perpetually unclean to become permanently clean.
Jesus is both the confirmation and the implementation of that promise. He is God saying to us, “I give you my Word.” Thus, to not accept Jesus is to reject God. To believe in Him, however, is to receive the fullness of God’s promise of restoration and redemption, which leads to eternal life with Him. This is such an important concept that John lays it out for us twice in this one chapter. Once in Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, and again in John the Baptist’s conversation with his disciples.
Obad. 1
For what particular sin does God pronounce judgment on Edom? How do you respond when others fall? Edom was guilty of gloating over Judah in her time of disaster. Not only did they stand idly by, watching the disaster happen, but they then participated by plundering the fallen and taking out survivors. Not good! Not only were these Edom’s relatives, but they were also the people of God. There is more at play here, though, than Edom’s actions against God’s people. I don’t know if the people of Edom thought themselves more righteous than the people of Judah, but they seem to have considered them deserving of their fate. And Edom most certainly thought they were above the fate that befell their brothers. That is the attitude that I hear God speaking against here.
God makes it clear that His judgment is coming for ALL nations. None will escape it. God then says, “As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head.” (Obad. 1:15b). That sounds a lot like Jesus’ warning to us in the Sermon on the Mount. “For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Matt. 7:2). So I see this judgment against Edom as a warning to all of us to stay humble. We need to know that our guilt – and we all have it – is ours, while our righteousness is all God’s. Thus, it is not our place to judge and to gloat. Rather, we should be a conduit for God’s love and mercy because we know, “the kingdom will be the LORD’s.” (Obad. 21b).
Ps. 144
What does David envision to be the result of God’s deliverance and blessing? How do you hope the Lord blesses you? When David envisions deliverance from his enemies, he sees a picture of prosperity, abundance, and well-being. This is all very typical of what we would think of as “blessing”. But there is more to David’s vision. He says, “There will be no breaching of walls, no going into captivity, no cry of distress in our streets.” (Ps. 144:14b). What David sees is not just a generous provision from God, it is a provision that will not be taken away. Thus, what David describes in this Psalm is God’s final deliverance from our ultimate enemy. It is that promise we were just looking at in John of a complete, unbreakable reconciliation to God.