Reading 1 – Job 16:2

“I have heard many things like these; miserable comforters are you all!” (Job 16:2).

“Wearisome” (RV mg). Job’s friends continue to propound the same old theory.

“I must reflect on how many times I too have been a miserable comforter. What is that makes us think we have the freedom to judge others according to their sins, when we are equally sinful but we can’t see it? This is clearly wrong and yet we do it all the time. Perhaps our reflections on Job’s situation and suffering at the hands of his friends will make us stop and think” (Peter Cresswell).

Reading 2 – Hab 3:18

“Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior” (Hab 3:18).

Habakkuk does not end with a wail but with a song. It does not end with inquiry but with affirmation. It does not end with frustration but with faith.

“Thank God for His glorious invitation and opportunity to serve Him totally with all your life and strength. And pray without ceasing for the precious divine blessing of ever more zeal and enthusiasm and dedication and intensity of effort. Working for God is the only true living: all other activities are various deceptive degrees of death. It is a joy and a privilege far higher than anything this dead, dull world can ever offer, or even comprehend. All worldly accomplishment ends in the grave” (GV Growcott).

Reading 3 – 2Pe 1:10,11

“Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2Pe 1:10,11).

“In the race for life eternal, there are many things lawful enough in the abstract; but that viewed in relation to the object to be attained, are highly inexpedient, and to be ‘laid aside’, as Paul advises. It is a simple, and a safe and a reasonable, and a wise rule, and one that will give us much cause for joy at the last, to dispense with every habit or pleasure, or practice, or occupation, or friend that hinders our progress in the narrow way. This is but another way of saying what Christ said: ‘If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out. It is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into the fire of Gehenna.’ It is better to make our calling and election sure, at the expense of worldly friends and engagements and advantages, than to secure all these, in this present time, and find, at last, that we have cherished them at the expense of Christ’s approbation, and have to pay for them with the loss of the kingdom of God” (Robert Roberts, “Seasons of Comfort” 61).

Reading 1 – Job 19:25

“I know that my Redeemer lives” (Job 19:25).

Yahweh is the redeemer (Heb “goel”) of His people: Exo 6:6; Psa 19:14; 78:35; Isa 41:14; 59:20.

“Goel” is translated “avenger” (Num 35:12), “revenger” (Num 35:19,27), “near-kinsman” (Rth 2:20; 3:9); “deliver” (Psa 119:154); “ransomed” (Isa 51:10); “kinfolk” (1Ki 16:11); “kinsman” (Num 5:8).

The ‘near-kinsman” should redeem his brethren if they have fallen into slavery or servitude (Lev 25:47-55; cp Rom 6:17,18).

He may also function as:

1. An avenger of blood: Jos 20:3-6; Num 35:15-28; Deu 19:6-12. Cp Rom 12:19; Rev 6:10.

2. An avenger of violated rights: Rth 4:1,6,8.

3. A redeemer of the fatherless (Pro 23:10).

4. A redeemer from:

death, grave (Hos 13:14), evil (Gen 48:16), deceit and violence (Psa 72:14), and enemies (Psa 106:10; 107:2).

*****

“I know that MY Redeemer lives!”

What good is a Redeemer who does not redeem ME? What benefit is an Avenger who does not stand up for ME? The difference is absolute: it is the difference between gold ore buried in the mine, and gold coins in my pocket!

Reading 2 – Zep 1:4-6

“I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all who live in Jerusalem. I will cut off from this place every remnant of Baal, the names of the pagan and the idolatrous priests — those who bow down on the roofs to worship the starry host, those who bow down and swear by the LORD and who also swear by Molech, those who turn back from following the LORD and neither seek the LORD nor inquire of him” (Zep 1:4-6).

“I will sweep away — or cut off”… four distinct classes of sinners:

The OPEN idolaters: “every remnant of Baal, the names of the pagan and the idolatrous priests — those who bow down on the roofs to worship the starry host” (vv 4,5). The SECRET idolaters: “those who bow down and swear by the LORD AND who ALSO swear by Molech” (v 5). The backsliders: “those who turn back from following the LORD” (v 6). The indifferent: “those who… neither seek the LORD nor inquire of him” (v 6).

That seems to cover the field rather well! Can we imagine any sort of sinner who does not fall into at least one of these categories? Do we not sometimes find even ourselves perilously entrapped in sins of most of these types?

It all has to do with “caring”: the open idolaters CARE, but they care wrongly; they have a zeal but not according to knowledge, and they bow five times a day toward Mecca or burn incense to a smiling stone image, but it profits them nothing.

The secret idolaters CARE too, but only half-heartedly; they serve God at times, but they never quite overthrow the altar of “Mammon” in their lives!

The backsliders CARED for God at one time, but they stopped caring. Perhaps the “cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches” entered their lives and choked the word of God.

And, last, there are the indifferent, who CARE not at all, who cannot be moved even with dynamite from the comfortable ruts of their sad, empty little lives.

What is the lesson for us? God sees and will judge EVERY type of iniquity: the external idolatry of false religion as well as the secret, internal idolatry of covetousness (Col 3:5), which wears a cloak of “righteousness” in order to deceive (both itself and others).

“Search us, Lord, and know our heart.

With every idol bid us part.”

These exhortations are lost on us if we think only of “idols” made of wood and stone, and pride ourselves as having nothing to do with such. But the “idols” that should frighten us, from whose bondage we should pray to be delivered, are the modern “gods” of materialism, licentiousness (in books, movies, and television), and pleasure-seeking! For God WILL judge EVERY type of sin: the open indifference of atheism no more than the hidden indifference of a lax Laodicean faith which seeks its own comfort and ignores its “nakedness” in God’s sight.

Reading 3 – 2Pe 3:11

“Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?” (2Pe 3:11).

“So it is with all the doctrines of Scripture; they are all intended to have a transforming power, and it is in this way that we should view them. This reflection provokes another: if the Scriptures are designed to have such a vital influence upon us, how regularly and how prayerfully we should be reading them; and what a wise arrangement it has been that in our daily readings we set out to read all of them, and not just a selection according to our taste” (Fred Pearce, “The Christadelphian” 114:169).

Reading 1 – Job 20

Job 20: “Zophar replies to the second test experienced by the patient Job, claiming that any seeming prosperity is shortlived. It is more harsh than the first reply (Job 11). He adds coarseness and rudeness to his previous hostility (Job 20:7,15). Roused by the closing warning of Job (Job 19:28,29; cp Job 20:2,3), his discourse is a covert denunciation of Job as a wicked hypocrite (vv 5,12,19,29), deservedly punished by God. He predicts the violent death of Job and the ultimate manifestation of heaven and earth in witness against him (vv 24-28).

“So Zophar expounds:

Job’s rebuke causes Zophar’s anger: vv 1-3. The prosperity of the wicked is shortlived: vv 4-9. The calamities experienced by the wicked: vv 10-28. These calamities represent divine judgment: v 29.

“Zophar’s reply is a vicious attack on Job personally (vv 6,7,20-29), and typifies the wicked criticism of the Lord Jesus by the Pharisees. The serpent used its tongue to attack Adam and Eve in the beginning, and now the same characteristic is used by Zophar (v 16) against Job. The serpent uses its tongue to track, on the surface of the earth, the scent of mice or various prey. In Zophar’s argument, the serpent revived, and endeavoured to track the innocent Job in his sad circumstances. The serpent lives on in all who act similarly” (GE Mansfield).

Reading 2 – Zep 2:4-15

For us, these divine judgments upon the nations (Zep 2:4-15) can be both warning and encouragement: warning, because God is a jealous and holy God, whose longsuffering is not endless; but also encouragement, because His judgments on the nations are the prelude to the kingdom, when “the people of the world learn righteousness” (Isa 26:9).

In this section, four peoples or groups of peoples stand for the Gentiles in their totality:

To the west of Israel were the Philistines (vv 4-7) — modern Palestine; To the east, Moab and Ammon (vv 8-11) — modern Jordan; To the south, Cush (Ethiopia or southern Arabia) (v 12); and To the north, Assyria or Babylon (vv 13-15) — modern Iraq.

These nations encircle Israel, which is of course at the center of God’s plan. Their “bounds” — both as to national boundaries and limits of influence — are set by God according to His purpose with His people Israel (Acts 17:26; Deu 32:8).

This is a comfort to those who see and understand the Divine Hand in world affairs. God has said, in effect, “This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt” (Job 38:11). Even though around us men’s hearts are failing them for fear, if God be for US, then nothing will “harm” US except what HE causes or allows for our betterment.

Reading 3 – 1Jo 2:13,14

“I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one” (1Jo 2:13,14).

The drawing of lines, and the erecting of barriers between the generations, can only injure Christ’s body in the long run. We are all “one family” and “one body” — young, middle-aged, and old together. Each class has a strength peculiarly its own, but each has its special weakness. Young men are wise to seek the help of the old that they may guard against the errors of inexperience. Old men are wise to listen to the young that they may guard against a self-satisfied and crotchety prejudice. This distinction is nicely made by the Apostle John: “I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him (ie, Christ) from the beginning” (1Jo 2:13). (The words “that is” are italicized in the AV; the sense is best when they are omitted.) The old have a great wealth of experience. Their strength is that experience; but their weakness can be a desire to live in the past, and to resist all change.

“I have written unto you, young men, because you are strong” — strong and energetic in body, the envy of many older ones. But that strength is a two-edged sword; what may be great strength to serve God may also be great strength misdirected to satisfy natural desires.

“… and the word of God abideth in you” — Youth has keener wit and quicker intelligence; the memory is better; ideas may be grasped and elaborated more readily by the young. But there is, again, the corresponding danger, that the desire for some “new thing” or for notoriety may mean a greater potential for harm.

“… and ye have overcome the wicked one” (1Jo 2:14).

But what may look like an easy battle, at the beginning, against the lusts of the flesh, may only lull the “strong” young brother into a pride and a complacency that can prove fatal. “Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off” (1Ki 20:11).

Reading 1 – Job 21:27-34

Job 21:27-34, summarized:

In listening to the crude and insulting words of Zophar, it becomes apparent to Job that his friends are not interested in objective truth, and certainly not in comforting him, but rather in attacking him, personally and individually. They have obviously envied him from a distance, and now that he is in “trouble”, they mock his previous wealth (“the great man’s house”: v 28). And in their limited and narrow view of things, they generalize from their supposed “wisdom” in observation of the very specific. If only they had talked with those who had traveled and thus had wider knowledge of human affairs (v 29), then they would know that — contrary to their theory — suffering often overtakes the righteous, while the wicked live long and prosperous lives (vv 30-33).

Reading 2 – Zep 3

In the last section (Zep 3:1-20), the prophet Zephaniah looks again at the sins of Judah, but this time with a remedy. First the sins:

The sins of Jerusalem were four, and the reasons for those sins were likewise fourfold:

In Zephaniah’s day, all the kings and princes (except Josiah) were wicked men who could not lead a wicked nation into obedience. “Like princes, like people.” The judges were accustomed to bribery and graft, and did not teach “correction” or “instruction” (AV mg). With the exceptions of Zephaniah and Jeremiah, the prophets were false and wicked men, who trusted in the arm of flesh and not God. And the priests, who “profaned” the sanctuary, could not help in the least to draw men back to God.

It was a sorry state, but there was yet hope. As the sins of the people fell under four headings, because of the failures of all four classes of national leaders, so God’s remedy for His nation (and for the world) is also seen in four parts — all involving Christ. The recurring theme through the last section is:

“The LORD — Yahweh — is in the midst of you!” (vv 5,12,15,17).

Christ was once, and will be yet again in greater scope, the manifestation of the LORD or Yahweh upon the earth. He will be “in the midst” of men once again, in the capacity of righteous leader, when he returns to set up his Father’s Kingdom. At that time, he will be:

A righteous JUDGE (vv 5-7) — who will do no iniquity himself, but will instruct the world in righteousness. A righteous PROPHET (vv 8-13) — who will bring to mankind “a pure lip” or language (v 9), with which they will call upon the LORD, and “the meek and humble” will “trust in the name of the LORD” (v 12). A righteous KING (vv 14-16) — who will deliver his people from evil and lead them in the ways of obedience. A righteous PRIEST (vv 17-20) — who will save his people, and bring them back to oneness, or atonement, with God.

Reading 3 – 1Jo 4:8

“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1Jo 4:8).

“In those grand old ages, which are the heroic period of the Christian religion, this double mark was clearly to be seen in all believers in Jesus; they were men who knew the love of Christ, and rested upon it as a man leaneth upon a staff whose trustiness he has tried. The love which they felt towards the Lord was not a quiet emotion which they hid within themselves in the secret chamber of their souls, and which they only spake of in their private assemblies when they met on the first day of the week, and sang hymns in honour of Christ Jesus the crucified, but it was a passion with them of such a vehement and all-consuming energy, that it was visible in all their actions, spoke in their common talk, and looked out of their eyes even in their commonest glances. Love to Jesus was a flame which fed upon the core and heart of their being; and, therefore, from its own force burned its way into the outer man, and shone there. Zeal for the glory of King Jesus was the seal and mark of all genuine Christians. Because of their dependence upon Christ’s love they dared much, and because of their love to Christ they did much, and it is the same now. The children of God are ruled in their inmost powers by love — the love of Christ constraineth them [2Co 5:14]; they rejoice that divine love is set upon them… and then by force of gratitude they love the Saviour with a pure heart, fervently” (CH Spurgeon).

Reading 1 – Job 22-31

Job 22-31: The third cycle of speeches:

Eliphaz (Job 22); Job’s reply (Job 23; 24); Bildad (Job 25); Job’s reply (Job 26); and Job’s monologues (Job 27 — 31).

Job’s final speech in the second cycle (Job 20) had demolished the foundation of his friends’ arguments concerning retribution. At the same time there had been awakened in Job himself a profounder knowledge and keener faith, a conviction concerning divine justice that carried with it future assurance, the inevitability of God’s intervention to right his wrongs — and under the power of this conviction, Job’s turmoil lessened and his serenity returned.

Their thesis gone, it was inevitable that the three friends should be driven from the field of argument. In this final debate, we notice how they were quickly silenced. A desperate last defense by Eliphaz, filled with wild, unsupportable accusations; a reply from Job that easily refuted them; a few words (mostly heard before) mumbled by Bildad, a brief reply by Job; and Zophar… failing to come forward at all. He had twice been mauled by Job, and twice was enough. For him, finally, discretion was the better part of valor.

With Zophar’s failure to come forward, Job was left the master of the field, to wind up the debate with a series of monologues.

Reading 2 – Hag 1:2-8

“These people say, ‘The time has not yet come for the LORD’S house to be built’ (Hag 1:2).

The people seem to have been waiting for some indication from God that they should resume building, but in the meantime they were busy building their own houses and had forgotten God’s previous commands to rebuild the temple. They were very practical when it came to building homes for themselves. They saw the need and proceeded to do something about it. But when it came to building a house that would honor Yahweh, enable them to worship Him as He had commanded, and exalt His reputation in their land, they were waiting. Seventeen years had passed. It was time to finish the unfinished temple structure, but the people put it on hold while they gave priority to what was more important to them.

” ‘Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?… Give careful thought to your ways… Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,’ says the LORD” (vv 4,5,8).

“The doctrine of Purgatory is false. So is that of the larger hope. Akin to these untruths is the notion that we can idle away our Master’s time without imperilling our salvation. Whilst contemptuously thrusting aside the first two errors, let us not nurse the last. They are equally bad and fatal. Unbelief — a refusal to take God at His word — is at the bottom of them all. Each is a repetition of the old, old story: ‘Ye shall not surely die.’ We require to be very much on our guard against these and similar truth-hating, ease-loving, duty-procrastinating doctrines. Now is the day of salvation — the day for work and for exhibiting faithfulness — and we shall have no other. No work — no wage: this is the inexorable decree of the Scriptures. Are we disposed to idleness? — to look on with folded arms whilst others toil?

“Are we merely living on the labor of others? — allowing day after day to pass without the slightest effort to further the interests of our absent Master? If so, let us bestir ourselves ere it is too late. Night, when no man can work, is approaching for us all. In the hour of death, and much more in the hour of judgment, the sluggards of Christ’s household will bewail their folly. ‘Woe to the christian brother (said Bro Thomas) who presents himself at the tribunal of Christ with nothing else to offer but a hidden truth.’ Are we drones? Then let the shameful end of the slothful servant in the parable of our Lord sober and energize us (Mat 25:26). Let us unstop our ears to the voice which speaks so solemnly from heaven: ‘Behold I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be’ ” (AT Jannaway).

Reading 3 – 1Jo 5:2

“This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands” (1Jo 5:2).

“A brother among the children of Sodom, whether these bear the name or not, might have the experience of Lot ‘whose righteous soul was vexed from day to day.’ His love would be undrawn out. His soul would be stirred within him disagreeably, in accordance with the characteristic of divinely approved men, who ‘cannot bear them that are evil’ (Rev 2:2) and despise vile men, honouring them that fear the Lord (Psa 15:4); but by John’s rule, he would be able to comfort himself in the drought and in bitterness. He knows within himself that God is his chief delight, and the commandments of God the subject of his supreme regard. He can therefore say to himself, ‘Though my antipathies are stirred; though my soul eats in bitterness; though my love is rarely called out, I know that I love the children of God, because I love God and keep His commandments. I have only to meet them to have my soul awakened to the fullness of love, and borne aloft with exceeding joy’ ” (Robert Roberts, “Seasons of Comfort” 42).

Reading 1 – Job 23:3

“If only I knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling!” (Job 23:3).

“In Job’s uttermost extremity he cried after the Lord. The longing desire of an afflicted child of God is once more to see his Father’s face. His first prayer is not ‘O that I might be healed of the disease which now festers in every part of my body!’ nor even ‘O that I might see my children restored from the jaws of the grave, and my property once more brought from the hand of the spoiler!’ but the first and uppermost cry is, ‘O that I knew where I might find HIM, who is my God! that I might come even to His seat!’ God’s children run home when the storm comes on. It is the heaven-born instinct of a gracious soul to seek shelter from all ills beneath the wings of Jehovah. ‘He that hath made his refuge God,’ might serve as the title of a true believer. A hypocrite, when afflicted by God, resents the infliction, and, like a slave, would run from the Master who has scourged him; but not so the true child of God; he kisses the hand which smote him, and seeks shelter from the rod in the bosom of the God who frowned upon him. Job’s desire to commune with God was intensified by the failure of all other sources of consolation. The patriarch turned away from his sorry friends, and looked up to the celestial throne, just as a traveller turns from his empty skin bottle, and betakes himself with all speed to the well. He bids farewell to earth-born hopes, and cries, ‘O that I knew where I might find my God!’ Nothing teaches us so much the preciousness of the Creator, as when we learn the emptiness of all besides. Turning away with bitter scorn from earth’s hives, where we find no honey, but many sharp stings, we rejoice in Him whose faithful word is sweeter than honey or the honeycomb. In every trouble we should first seek to realize God’s presence with us. Only let us enjoy His smile, and we can bear our daily cross with a willing heart for His dear sake” (CH Spurgeon).

Reading 2 – Zec 1:4

“Do not be like your forefathers, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.’ But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the LORD” (Zec 1:4).

Zechariah was to warn the Israelites not to be like their forefathers — who refused to respond to the preaching of earlier (pre-exilic) prophets who urged them to repent (eg, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Habakkuk). Their failure to do so resulted in the heaviest of punishments falling upon them: cp 2Ki 17:13,14; 2Ch 36:15-17; Jer 7:25,26.

TURN FROM YOUR EVIL WAYS…: “The world says, in its little, passing wisdom, that if you desire a better position in life: act and dress for it now. Live mentally in its atmosphere. Adopt all the ways and views constant with it. Eliminate from your life those things that are beneath its dignity and importance. Lift your conduct to comport yourself on its level. This is the world’s meaningless ‘advancement’: but the principle is so true in eternal things. If we expect to be made ‘equal to the angels’ and ‘stand in the presence of God’ throughout eternity, we must start acting like it now. We must live in harmony with it. Many things must be put away which — though not really ‘bad’ in themselves, and quite suitable for earthlings — are quite out of place in the environment we seek, and for which we must prepare ourselves. Do not carelessly indulge yourself at present with things inconsistent with divinity, in the vain delusion they’ll be miraculously and conveniently, at the last day, cleaned out of your mind and interests, to make you suitable for God’s company. It will be too late then. It’s your whole life’s present purpose (and opportunity) to labor fervently on it now — with, of course, God’s offered and essential help. Time is short! Don’t drift in fatal self-delusion” (GV Growcott).

Reading 3 – 3Jo 1:8

“We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth” (3Jo 1:8).

Aspects of fellowship:

Fellow-heirs: “This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are HEIRS TOGETHER with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus” (Eph 3:6). Fellow-soldiers: ” But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker and FELLOW SOLDIER, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs” (Phi 2:25). Fellow-helpers: as above (3Jo 1:8) Fellow-workers: “Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews among my FELLOW WORKERS for the kingdom of God, and they have proved a comfort to me” (Col 4:11). Fellow-servants: “Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their FELLOW SERVANTS and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed” (Rev 6:11). Fellow-prisoners: “Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives who have been IN PRISON WITH ME” (Rom 16:7). Fellow-laborers: “Yes, and I ask you, loyal YOKEFELLOW, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my FELLOW WORKERS, whose names are in the book of life” (Phi 4:3). Fellow-citizens: “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but FELLOW CITIZENS with God’s people and members of God’s household” (Eph 2:19).

Reading 1 – Job 25

Job 25: Bildad virtually concedes Job’s argument. His few words might be paraphrased: “We do not know what your sin might be, but there obviously is one — because all men are sinners.”

However, this being true — all men are placed in the same condition before God. Therefore, Job’s question still stands: “Why am I singled out for special sufferings?” There is nothing left for his three friends to say.

Reading 2 – Zec 3:9

” ‘See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day’ ” (Zec 3:9).

THE STONE I HAVE SET IN FRONT OF JOSHUA: The stone is a common figure of God and Messiah in the Bible (10:4; Exo 17:6; Num 20:7-11; Psa 118:22; etc). In the past God promised that the Stone would be a secure, never-failing refuge for His people (Isa 28:16; 1Pe 2:6). When Messiah appeared, however, He proved to be a stone over which the Jews stumbled and an offensive rock to them (Psa 118:22-23; Isa 8:13-15; Mat 21:42; 1Pe 2:4-9). Presently He is the foundation stone, the chief cornerstone of the church (Eph 2:19-22). And in the future He will be the great stone that smites the nations (Dan 2:35, 45).

THERE ARE SEVEN EYES ON THAT ONE STONE: Seven stones signifies complete divine intelligence (Zec 1:10; 4:10; 2Ch 16:9; Isa 11:2; Eze 1:18; 10:12; Col 2:3, 9; Rev 5:6). The eyes of the LORD — that is, the angels — are watching over this “Stone”, and helping it accomplish its desired work.

I WILL ENGRAVE AN INSCRIPTION UPON IT: What is engraved upon the Stone of Jesus?

the name of the Father, that is, Yahweh, found in “Yah-shua”, the Salvation of God; the reaffirmation of this at his baptism: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased!”; the wounds in his hands and feet, by which he was “sealed” to the service of his Father; and ultimately the reward he received: the divine nature:

“The writer, or engraver, is the Seven-Horned and Seven-Eyed Spirit (Zec 4:5; 5:6) who ‘engraves the graving thereof’. When the dead body prepared for the Spirit (Heb 10:5) was restored to life, and had come forth from the sepulchre, the Spirit, ‘in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,’ engraved upon it, or impressed it with, every attribute necessary to constitute it ‘the Lord from the heaven’ — He ‘made it both Lord and Christ’. The precious stone had come out of the earth, whence all precious stones also come; but it had to be cut, polished, embroidered, and adorned, to bring out all the beauties of which it was susceptible. This the Spirit effected in the operation of raising the risen body to consubstantiality with the Deity.

“Now, it matters not whether it be one man to be made ‘the Lord from heaven,’ or a countless multitude of earthborns to be made the Holy Jerusalem ‘descending from the Deity out of heaven’ — the operation is the same. Every individual is subjected to a like polishing, embroidering, and adorning, as saith the Spirit who will do the work. ‘Him that overcometh,’ saith he, ‘I will make a pillar in the Nave of my Deity, and he shall go no more out; and I will write upon him the Name of my Deity, and the Name of the City of my Deity, New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my Deity; and my new Name’ (Rev 3:12). To have the Name of Deity, the Name of the City, and the New Name, engraved or written upon one, is for such an one first to come into existence, and then, to become a constituent of the things engraved. He becomes one of the City of the Deity, New Jerusalem; and in the operation is married to the Spirit in so close and intimate a union, that he becomes one body, flesh, and bones, with the Spirit; so that all the earthiness and corruptibleness of his grave-body is ‘swallowed up of life;’ it loses its similitude to the nature of the first Adam; and acquires ‘the heavenly image’ of the Lord from heaven” (John Thomas, “Eureka” 3:687).

I WILL REMOVE THE SIN OF THIS LAND IN A SINGLE DAY: Compare v 4. What Christ did for himself he also did on behalf of others: Heb 7:27; 9:28; 10:14. See also John 11:49-53; Zec 13:1; Isa 66:7,8; Rom 11:26,27.

Reading 3 – Jud 1:21-25

“And perhaps an exhortational point on priesthood might be helpful. We shall be a kingdom of priests. The work of a priest involved blood, sweat and tears; smoke, dirty ash, and much manual labour. One washed, but was never clean for very long, the work was so messy. And the work of cleaning out the altar, the ground, the ornaments, was never finished. One got one’s hands dirty, immersing them in filth, blood, and broken tissue continually. And one’s neighbours brought their diseases, their lesions, close to one’s face seeking compassion, seeking diagnosis, seeking healing. Lifting; cleaning; scouring; teaching; eating and fellowship, all in the presence of God. What a picture of effortful service. Is this not ecclesial life?” (Dev Ramcharan).

Think of all the cleanup the priests and Levites would have to do. HOW did they deal with all the mess? How did they get all the blood out of the garments? Or DID they? As we think about the work of the priests, we have to naturally wonder: ‘Didn’t they… sometimes… have to make a clean sweep, a spring house-cleaning? Didn’t they have to stop everything else, and wash down the whole altar, tabernacle, temple? And wash it again? Didn’t they have to make a perfectly new, fresh start?

I don’t know. Did they? Could they? Or did they go on, from day to day, and week to week, and year to year, accumulating more encrusted blood and gore, and dirt… and never quite getting clean again, either themselves, their garments, or their work area? Maybe that’s the point: we never ever really “get clean” again either, in the ecclesia, either individually or collectively.

Except… through the cleansing, and sanctifying, of the sacrifice of our Saviour — which cleanses the “conscience” (Heb 9:14) and not necessarily the body.

So there you are: a body (individually) and a “body” (collectively, and ecclesially) unclean in and of itself, and which life soils more and more, with each passing day… but… somehow, miraculously… washed and purified through faith in our Lord.

“Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire”… an allusion to the altar, and the sacrifices?… “and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear — hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh”… sounds like the priestly garments?… “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy — to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!” (Jude 1:21-25).

Reading 1 – Job 28:12

“But where can wisdom be found? Where does understanding dwell?” (Job 28:12).

“Even nature in her silent proclamation of God tells us not the truth of this matter. She tells us in her majestic solitudes that there must be a Master somewhere, and a purpose equal to her greatness; but she speaks not of Christ as the answer to her needs. If she only is our teacher, with all the great sky, the mighty mountain, the towering crag, the deep ravine, the thick forest and smiling plain, the opening flower and hum of insect life, the song of the birds and the lowing cattle, the beautiful landscape and the great and wide sea — she will but fill us with a sense of dreariness as of the emptiness of a majestic and splendid hall interior without an audience or entertainment. To find Christ, we must seek Him where He is to be found, and where, at present, God has appointed He should only be found” (Robert Roberts, “Seasons of Comfort” 157).

Reading 2 – Zec 4:7

“What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’ ” (Zec 4:7).

WHAT ARE YOU, O MIGHTY MOUNTAIN?: Mountains are symbols of large obstacles (cp Isa 40:4; 41:15; 49:11; Mat 17:20; 21:21; Mark 11:23; 1Co 13:2). They are also symbols of kingdoms (cp Isa 41:15; Jer 51:25,26; Dan 2:35,45; Rev 17:5; etc). The whole process of temple restoration seemed like a mountainous job to the few who returned from exile. In addition, there was much opposition to building (Ezra 4:1-5,24), from such as the Samaritans, and the Israelites themselves proved unwilling to persevere in the task (Hag 1:14; 2:1-9).

BEFORE ZERUBBABEL YOU WILL BECOME LEVEL GROUND: God would reduce this “mountain” of difficulty to a flat plain by assisting the workers.

THEN HE WILL BRING OUT THE CAPSTONE TO SHOUTS OF ‘GOD BLESS IT! GOD BLESS IT!’: Zerubbabel would bring forth the top stone, the final stone on the project, with shouts of “Grace… to it.” The joyful cry of the people as they saw the last stone put in place would voice their prayer that God’s blessing would now rest on the beautiful structure that His grace had made possible.

Christ is the stone which the builders rejected, but which subsequently becomes the head stone of God’s spiritual temple: Psa 118:22; cp 1Pe 2:4-7:

“There will exist contemporary with the resurrection, when Zerubbabel shall stand up again, ‘a great mountain’ in the political world, which is to be reduced to ‘a plain.’ But that this will not result by the power and strength of Israel under any organization they might constitute; for at that crisis their power and strength will have been utterly scattered; but it shall be accomplished by Jehovah’s Spirit, which will raise Zerubbabel and his companions from among the dead, to be the captains of Israel together with the living believers; and will be the strength and power energizing them all to the complete reduction of the Great Political Mountain of the Gentiles to the level of a summer threshing-floor: even to cause to go forth the Head, or Chief Stone, with shoutings of ‘Grace, grace unto him!’ ” (John Thomas, “Eureka” 1:65).

Reading 3 – Rev 2:14

“Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality” (Rev 2:14).

“The doctrine of Balaam involves a careful study of Num 25 and related Scriptures. Its essence is in Num 25:1. The plan to corrupt Israel by idolatry and its associated unholy alliances was Balaam’s (Num 31:16). It involved not only the worship of Baal-Peor (a form of sun-worship; hence v 4), but also ritual fornication (vv 2,3 RV mg, 8 and Hos 9:10), belief in the immortality of the soul (Psa 106:28) and spiritualism (Deu 32:16,17), and orgiastic feasting in the presence of the ‘god’. The situation demanded drastic discipline, calling for loyalty to God even at the expense of severity to one’s own kith and kin (vv 5,7). Eli in later years failed to supply this discipline when the same evil flourished and thus his line lost the high-priesthood (1Sa 2:22; 3:13). Because the earlier Phinehas was prompt to apply discipline in similar circumstances, God made with his house an everlasting covenant. This danger was a normal part of the ‘civilization’ of the Roman Empire in NT times. Temple ‘virgins’ were recruited in hundreds. Temple prostitution was as respectable as going to church or political meetings today. Public banquets and special celebrations such as birthdays were commonly arranged in the pagan temples, so that each course of the meal was a kind of votive offering to the god. These facts explain the tremendous emphasis in the NT against fornication and eating food offered to idols — the two outstanding features of the Baal-Peor transgression (Acts 15:20; 1Co 6:12-20; 10:14-33; all of 1Co 8; Col 3:5 — this word ‘covetousness’ is used several times in the NT for coveting a woman; 1Pe 4:3,4; 2Pe 2… 1Jo 5:21). Rev 14:4 makes utter nonsense until it is read as a reference to temple prostitution. Paraphrase: ‘they have not indulged in temple fornication because they are lifelong servants of another god, the holy God of heaven, and must serve Him in His temple’.

“But what was the doctrine of Balaam? It was the argument: ‘These wonderful prophecies of blessing which I have been guided to pronounce concerning Israel (Num 22, 23, 24) arc bound to come true. How then can anything which you do interfere with what is the plan of the Almighty? Therefore by all means indulge yourselves in all kinds of illicit enjoyment. Since God has blessed, what curse can come to Israel from Moab?’

“This Antinomianism [the doctrine that salvation is on the basis of “faith” alone, with no regard to morality!] was a serious danger in the early church In Corinth; ‘meats for the belly and the belly for meats’ was the slogan (caustically quoted by Paul), meaning: ‘God has made the body with certain functional powers. Then can it be wrong to use the body in these ways?’ But 1Co 6:12,13 shows that it was fornication which was being justified. Cp also the emphasis in Rom 6:1,15; 3:8; 1Jo 3:3,7; Jude 4, which show that the argument sometimes took the form: ‘Since we have forgiveness (grace) through the blood of Christ, the more we sin the more sin will be forgiven, and thus the more God will be magnified!’ Obviously this argument is wrong…” (Harry Whittaker, “Revelation”).

Reading 1 – Job 29

“Job 29 is a significant [chapter], because it is here that Job makes his crucial error. In his desperation to prove that he is a righteous man, he neglects the role of God in his life — he fails to acknowledge that it is God who has set him up as a pillar in his ecclesia. He resents the loss of his prosperity and reputation. He claims that God has brought him so low that he can do nothing more in his community. But this is untrue.

“He speaks of the time ‘when the Almighty was with me’, but his mistake is in assuming that God has ever left! He laments that men no longer respect him, but he forgets that in God’s eyes, he has not changed! ‘You are still the same person,’ says God, ‘And there is no reason why you cannot still lead a productive life.’

“This is the hardest step for Job to take — to accept that God speaks the truth. And surely we know how he feels. Similar disappointments and trials have arisen in our own lives. We have lost things that we worked hard for; we have not received things that we needed; we have been misunderstood, misrepresented, humiliated. But we cannot afford to dwell on the past.

“For if our own expectations have gone unfulfilled; if we do not achieve some of the goals that we had hoped for, we must learn to let them go, instead of striving vainly for them as if they are ours by right.

“We proclaim the righteousness of God when we resign ourselves to our current circumstances and submit to the life that He has decided we must have. And if, at some stage, we find ourselves in a position of responsibility and authority, guiding the congregation and assisting our brethren and sisters, let us praise God for this privileged role. For if we do not, we will repeat the sin of Job and Moses, in claiming that it is by our own power that we have brought water from the rock” (David Burke).

Reading 2 – Zec 6:10,11

“Take silver and gold from the exiles… who have arrived from Babylon. Go the same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. Take the silver and gold and make a crown, and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son of Jehozadak” (Zec 6:10,11).

This silver and this gold were constituents of the crown which Zechariah placed upon Joshua. Joshua is a representative of Jesus Christ, and the events concerning him as recorded by Zechariah are prophetic of our Saviour. Joshua was a priest who succeeded in his work of leading the people of God in building God’s temple. Therefore he received a crown — but a crown reserved only to be worn by kings. We can see in this transaction a preview of the time when Jesus, our High Priest, will become King as well.

And at this time, we are assured, we shall have the opportunity to become “kings and priests” also (Rev 5:9). Our promotion to such an estate will be upon the principles which this silver and gold represent: the silver being the redemption which is in Christ Jesus by the mercy of God, and the gold the proving of our professed faith by our character and actions (1Pe 1:7).

In the New Testament, different crowns figure very prominently; but they are all in truth the same crown. In the consideration of these crowns we can see the hand of God working through His Son to help us in attaining to His Kingdom. The victory of Christ over sin has opened for us the way of life:

“Be though faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life” (Rev 2:10).

“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him” (James 1:12).

In Jesus Christ we have an Advocate with the Father, a man who can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, and an intercessor through whom we may pray to our Father. It is because of this that we may be accounted righteous before God-

“Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day. And not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” (2Ti 4:8).

Thus, only through Christ can we attain to a glorious immortality:

“And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away” (1Pe 5:4)

A crown of life, a crown of righteousness and a crown of glory — here is the reward set before us: an immortal life based upon righteous principles, and the privilege of serving with Christ as kings and priests in the kingdom which he will establish upon the earth — a Kingdom that will break in pieces and consume all the Babylons and Persias and Russias and Americas of this present time.

Reading 3 – Rev 4:8

“Day and night they never stop saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come’ ” (Rev 4:8).

“We never love God enough. That is what we must constantly work on. Pray and strive for a love for God of such drive and intensity that it will never rest until it has cleared from your life everything that is in the slightest way out of harmony with God — negative and positive. That is, right down to every empty thought, every wasted moment of time. The Cherubim cease not day and night to worship and praise God in holiness. This doesn’t mean they just stand still and sing. It means that every moment of their lives, every activity, every thought — is intense with love and service to God. That is the ideal. We can, and must, get a lot closer to that ideal than most ever dreamed of. At least, we must recognize it, and how far we fall short of it, and never rest in our striving toward it” (GV Growcott).

HOLY, HOLY, HOLY: That is, “Most holy”. The “Most Holy” typified the immortal state which Christ figuratively entered at his resurrection (Heb 10:19,20). It is the state of complete union with the Father (John 17: 21), which we can only attain unto when clothed upon with His nature (2Pe 1: 4; Rom 5:1,2). The four living creatures proclaim that they have attained unto that state.

Reading 1 – Job 32

“So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite said: ‘I am young in years, and you are old; that is why I was fearful, not daring to tell you what I know’ ” (Job 32:6).

In vv 6-22, Elihu addresses the three — giving his reasons for intervention.

God’s endorsements of Elihu’s words:

Reading 2 – Zec 8:16,17

“The LORD had determined to do good to Jerusalem instead of the evil He had given them because of their wickedness. But to ensure that the good He gave them was going to continue, there were four small but challenging things He asked them to do:

Speak the truth to each other. Grumbling behind each other’s backs, misleading people, gossip and lies seem to be the normal standard of speech for the world today. But it must be different for us. The NT adds to this instruction when it tells us to ‘speak the truth in love.’ Render true and sound judgement in your courts. ‘The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.’ This phrase and swearing on the Bible do not mean what they used to. But we must do our part to be true. Do not plot evil against your neighbour. Climbing the corporate ladder and getting rid of neighbourly nuisances are both ways we can be sucked into plotting evil. Be kind and compassionate instead. Do not love to swear falsely. Instead we must delight in doing what is right and just.

“Do these things and be well on the way to being pleasing to the LORD” (Robert Prins).

Reading 3 – Rev 5:3-5

“But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals’ ” (Rev 5:3-5).

“And there was found none worthy to do so, neither an angel in heaven, nor any mortal man on earth, nor any of past generations now buried under the earth. Well might John weep! The situation emphasized that redemption and the reading of a Book of Life could never come by angelic ministration nor by the efforts of any mortal man, nor by the self-sacrifice of those prepared to die for others, but in one way and one way only — through the death of a divinely provided sacrifice (v 6). Is it exaggeration or presumption or blasphemy to suggest that even divine omnipotence and omniscience could have devised no other means to bring about human redemption than that Purpose which is being worked out in Christ?” (Harry Whittaker, “Revelation”).