Today's Readings and Stuff -- Wednesday, 17 October 2018

Well, we are at the mid-point of the normal week.  Hurrah or something like it.
The Social Security check went into the account yesterday, so we have paid the electric bill and the rent on our hovel.  The "blood work labs" that we underwent Monday provided cover for the Primary Care doc to authorize refills of my meds, so I placed the order yesterday and was notified that we could pick them up today.  Wife made use of the on-line means to order some month's supply groceries, so we went Across The Line this afternoon and picked up the 90 days' refill of my BP meds and those groceries.  After, first, swing by nephew's house right on the state line to meet the bus dropping off the Great-nephew when the school bus dropped him but parents not home yet.  Spent some time hearing how he's now in an after-school art club and has signed up for band stuff.  A bit of a turnaround for him in the last couple years, so perhaps we've done a little bit of good.
Then race back home so as to "watch" the Little Guy while dad goes to work and mom and great-niece are at the very junior cheerleader practice. 
Then the weekly chore of gathering up the trash, including the used cat litter, fill up the can, and haul the can to the road for morning pickup.  Next-door nephew-in-law is working tonight and won't be home until 07:30 if not later.  The usual pickup time had been around 10:30 - 11:15 but after a recent horrible wreck with a fatality involving "our" driver, there's a new crew and pickup is around 07:10.  So I hauled their can out to the road as well.  No biggie:  we normally have the cans side by side.  So that's done.
Then home to warm up leftovers before crashing.
The earlier afternoon was spent as I started tearing apart our clothes dryer.  Got a broken belt, so yesterday morning Wife put in order for a new belt, which arrived around noon or so.  The tear-apart stuff I've pretty well gotten done, it's the install the new one and reassemble that has yet to be done.  I guess tomorrow's priorities are set.

So this isn't one of those days with Deep Thoughts.  Sorry.

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Jeremiah 29

1Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon;

2(After that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem;)

3By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon) saying,

4Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon;

5Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;

6Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.

7And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.

8For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.

9For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the Lord.

10For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

11For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

12Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

13And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

14And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

15Because ye have said, The Lord hath raised us up prophets in Babylon;

16Know that thus saith the Lord of the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and of all the people that dwelleth in this city, and of your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity;

17Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.

18And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them:

19Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the Lord.

20Hear ye therefore the word of the Lord, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon:

21Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, which prophesy a lie unto you in my name; Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes;

22And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon, saying, The Lord make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;

23Because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours' wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and am a witness, saith the Lord.

24Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,

25Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all the people that are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying,

26The Lord hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest, that ye should be officers in the house of the Lord, for every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in prison, and in the stocks.

27Now therefore why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, which maketh himself a prophet to you?

28For therefore he sent unto us in Babylon, saying, This captivity is long: build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

29And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet.

30Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying,

31Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus saith the Lordconcerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite; Because that Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he caused you to trust in a lie:

32Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have a man to dwell among this people; neither shall he behold the good that I will do for my people, saith the Lord; because he hath taught rebellion against the Lord.

Jeremiah 30

1The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

2Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.

3For, lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.

4And these are the words that the Lord spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.

5For thus saith the Lord; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.

6Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?

7Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

8For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him:

9But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.

10Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.

11For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.

12For thus saith the Lord, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous.

13There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines.

14All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased.

15Why criest thou for thine affliction? thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee.

16Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.

17For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.

18Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwellingplaces; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof.

19And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.

20Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them.

21And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the Lord.

22And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

23Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked.

24The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return, until he have done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it.

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Ecclesiastes 6

1There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men:

2A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.

3If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.

4For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.

5Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other.

6Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?

7All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.

8For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living?

9Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.

10That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it is man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he.

11Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what is man the better?

12For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?

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please keep in mind that this epistle is written to believers who have been part of the Jewish traditions in Jerusalem, which was, still is, and at least until the End, will be the heart of Judaism in this world.  So it is written remembering that those receiving this will have a background and an understanding of the teachings and traditions and, yes, the understandings that came from that background.  Unless you have had involvement with people like the Messianic Jews that can be found in parts of the country, you are not likely to encounter such people.  Sadly, all too many modern Christians have little understanding of that background and those understandings.  Too many NEVER pay attention to the Old Testament.  Yet much of the Gospels and the Epistles, certainly to include the Hebrews, requires some of that understanding.

Hebrews 4

1Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

2For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

3For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

4For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.

5And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.

6Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:

7Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

8For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.

9There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

10For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

11Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

12For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

13Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

14Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

15For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

16Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.