NL-Day125 Judges 2-3; Psalm 79; Galatians 1
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
Release Date: 05/04/2025
NL-Day341 Amos 5-6; Isaiah 47; 3 John 1
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
AMOS 5-6:One device that Amos used in yesterday’s reading was rhetorical questions. He asked a whole series of them like this one: 3:4 GNT Does a lion roar in the forest unless he has found a victim? All of his rhetorical questions expect the unspoken answer, No. And they all led up to this one: Amo. 3:8 NLT The lion has roared— so who isn’t frightened? The Sovereign LORD has spoken— so who can refuse to proclaim his message? And, surprisingly, the message the Lord proclaimed next was an invitation to Israel’s enemies to come and witness Israel’s destruction. After the...
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NL-Day340 Amos 3-4; Isaiah 45:22-46:13; 2 John 1
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
AMOS 3-4: As I said about Amos yesterday, he was wise in his methods. He condemned Syria, the Philistines, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, and Moab before coming around to Judah and finally the northern kingdom, Israel. We also heard some of the wonderful word pictures Amos used. ISAIAH 45:22-46. Remember that in the last chapter Cyrus’ name was repeatedly mentioned. God’s motivation for making such bold predictions is clear: 19 NLT I publicly proclaim bold promises. I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner. I would not have told the people of Israel to seek me if I could not be found. I...
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NL-Day339 Amos 1-2; Isaiah 44:24-45:25; 2 Timothy 4
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
AMOS 1-2: If you are new to reading the Bible, I hope that you will remember the events and expressions that Joel used. One or two ideas were repeated by Jesus in the Gospels, and we will soon see how important Joel’s predictions are in Revelation. We turn now to Amos, whose name means ‘burden bearer’. Amos— like David and Gideon, started out as an ordinary guy going about his business as a shepherd and grower of sycamore figs. He was not a priest or a man with training as a prophet when God called him. Because of the mention of a great earthquake and king Uzziah, it is likely that...
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NL-Day338 Joel 2:28-3:21; Isaiah 44:12-28; 2 Timothy 3
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
JOEL 2:28-3: An attack by an army of locusts must be so frightening! What descriptions! And even worse when God is bringing the attack as an act of judgement. Yet Joel offers hope. He encourages the people to come back to God and beg for the Lord’s help. We will pick up today re-reading the famous part of Joel 2. ISAIAH 44b: In the first part of this chapter God said: Is. 44:3 NLT For I will pour out water to quench your thirst and to irrigate your parched fields. And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your children. 4 They will thrive like watered grass, like...
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NL-Day337 Joel 1-2; Isaiah 44:1-18; 2 Timothy 2
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
JOEL 1:I feel the need to comment about chapter 9 of Esther and how the Jews “got rid” of their enemies. Remember that those Jews were not Christians. (I know how silly that sounds, but it is actually a common supposition among naive Christians.) The revelation of God’s will did not come all at once, and the Jews did not have the pleasure of knowing what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount or other pertinent NT passages. They most certainly did NOT ‘get rid’ of their enemies, except in the short run. All the relatives of the enemies slain raised up succeeding generations of people...
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NL-Day336 Esther 9-10; Isaiah 43; 2 Timothy 1
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
ESTHER 9-10:We have heard how Esther’s request was granted, the king and Haman came to the second banquet, where Esther revealed her identity. The eunuch Harbona just happened to have pertinent information about Haman’s plans for Mordecai, and Haman was killed and impaled/hanged on the pole he had planned to use for Mordecai. Mordecai, coming into possession of the king’s signet ring, wrote an edict that allowed for the Jews to organize and defend themselves against their enemies. ISAIAH 43: In Isaiah 42 we heard twice about ‘the servant of the Lord’. The first passage is quoted in...
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NL-Day335 Esther 7-8; Isaiah 42; 2 Thessalonians 3
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
ESTHER 7-8: In Esther 5 Haman planned to impale Mordecai on a pole in the NLT, or just hanged in the GNT. (Given the period of time, I think that the impaling method is more likely to be right.) But on the same night that Haman planned for that murder, God caused the king to have a sleepless night and read in the annals of the kingdom about Mordecai. Haman came before the king at just the right time to get assigned the task of honoring Mordecai. ISAIAH 42: In Isaiah 41 we again heard God predict the future, and challenge Israel’s idols to prophesy or do anything at all. 2THESSALONIANS 3: The...
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NL-Day334 Esther 5-6; Isaiah 41:8-29; 2 Thessalonians 2
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
ESTHER 5-6: In Esther 3-4 Haman cast lots (purim) to find out that March 7 was the lucky date to exterminate the Jews. Mordecai requested that Esther intercede directly to the king. And since she hadn’t been called for, the only way to do that would endanger Esther herself, since no one was allowed to approach the king in the inner court uninvited. ISAIAH 41b: Did you notice in yesterday’s reading, we heard a description of a king that sounded similar to one described in the book of Daniel? Isaiah 41:2-4 NLT: 2 “Who has stirred up this king from the east, rightly calling him to God’s...
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NL-Day333 Esther 3-4; Isaiah 41:1-20; 2 Thessalonians 1
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
ESTHER 3-4: Yesterday we heard how Esther became the queen, and how she continued to keep her Jewish background a secret. We also heard how Mordecai, her uncle, was promoted to a palace official after uncovering a plot to assassinate king Xerxes. Today we are introduced to the villain of the story— Haman. The Jews always read the book of Esther in the celebration of Purim. Whenever Haman’s name is read they boo and shake rattles or noisemakers to drown out his name. ISAIAH 41a: The shift to such beautiful poetry that occurs in chapter 40 of Isaiah is one of the things that has made people...
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NL-Day332 Esther 1-2; Isaiah 40:15-31; Philemon 1
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
ESTHER 1-2:In the final two chapters of Nehemiah, we heard of the culmination of Nehemiah’s work— the ceremony for the dedication of the wall. The people proved that the wall could stand up to more than just a fox walking on it. Then Nehemiah went back to Babylon. When he came back to Jerusalem, he needed to right several wrongs, as the people had allowed a deterioration in the temple worship. We now turn to the book of Esther, which may have been written by Mordecai (a major character in the book), or by Ezra or Nehemiah, who would have known this story. The king Xerxes was defeated in a...
info_outlineJUDGES 2-3:
Yesterday we heard how the tribe of Judah was more successful in driving out the Canaanites than the other tribes. Several of the tribes just moved in with their enemies.
PSALM 79:
This lament by Asaph is like Ps 74, talking about Jerusalem and the Temple conquered by enemies. There is a strong comparison with what we see starting to happen in Judges.
GALATIANS 1:
We heard the controversy over circumcision in Acts 15. This letter to the Galatian believers is on a similar theme, and it shows how Paul would have argued with the Jews of the circumcision party. Paul stays very much on this theme in this book— which in some ways foreshadows some arguments in the book of Romans. Important sections for memorizing include the ‘crucified with Christ’ passages in chapter 2 and 6, and the works of the flesh and fruits of the Holy Spirit in chapter 5. This book makes it perfectly clear that we are not saved by religion.
We are saved by ‘faith’— which means ‘fully believing in Christ’. Do not fall into the trap of choosing between what James says about being saved by works and what Paul says. The two teachings are compatible. The saying taught to me by one of my spiritual fathers (Glen Zumwalt) is this: We are saved by ‘faith alone’; but saving faith will never be ‘alone’.
Paul’s introduction in the first chapter is unique among his letters. He normally starts with praise for the congregation he is writing to. Not in this case! After he expresses his shock at the Galatian church, he goes on to remind them that the Good News they had so quickly abandoned was revealed directly to him by the Lord.
NLT Translation notes:
|Jdg. 3:12 Once again the Israelites did evil in the Lord ’s sight, and the Lord gave King Eglon of Moab control over Israel because of their evil.
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Gal. 1:1This letter is from Paul, an apostle. I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority, but by [Christ Jesus//Jesus Christ] himself and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead.
6 [But] I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News
15 But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous [kindness/grace]. Then it pleased him
16 to reveal his Son to me so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles.
23 All they knew was that people were saying, “The one who used to persecute us is now preaching the very [beliefs//faith] he tried to destroy!”
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.