Today's Readings and Stuff -- Friday, 09 October 2020

 Happy Friday to all who stop by here.  May it be a good day and the first of many such, or even better.

Yesterday was another of "those" days.  A long one.  The boils and such on Wife's lower leg had grown, gotten redder and larger, and were hot.  We called the doctor's office, but he was fully booked for the day, wouldn't be in at all today, and is to be out of town next week.  So, we went to the HMO's walk-in clinic.  That was a good move, a very good one.  And we were there for a good while.  Upshot was/is, that Wife is, even in "normal" circumstances, hyper-allergic to poison ivy.  The meds she takes to suppress the over-active immune system that is slowly killing her, render her susceptible to all sorts of infections, etc., which is what the poison ivy attack has become.  So, the doc at the clinic prescribed a round of VERY powerful antibiotics, as well as another round of steroids.  She had been on steroids for well over 30 years, worked well for some of her ailments, but then they fell out of fashion, and the catastrophe of "Obamacare" only added to that.  So these days she suffers hideously from things that had been held back for decades.  

So she started the round of meds yesterday: the pharmacy was very good about getting them filled, which was nice.  That, added to the injections she received at the clinic, helped some last night, though she had trouble sleeping.  She got up in the night and made herself some cocoa, which often helps her sleep.  We're watching the progress of the visible stuff, if it gets worse we have orders from that doc to head to the Emergency Room.  Hopefully, that won't happen.

But of course, all of this has meant that some of the things I'd planned for the week have been pushed back, yet again.  Perhaps this coming week.   Perhaps??

So pardon my distractedness and gaps in coverage here.  The Scripture passages that have been on the schedule are important ones, good ones, ones deserving careful and prayerful study.

--================

JEREMIAH 13

Linen Underwear

1This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy yourself a linen undergarment  and put it on,  but do not put it in water.” 2So I bought underwear as the Lord instructed me and put it on.

3Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time: 4“Take the underwear that you bought and are wearing,  and go at once to the Euphrates  and hide it in a rocky crevice.”  5So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.

6A long time later the Lord said to me, “Go at once to the Euphrates and get the underwear that I commanded you to hide there.” 7So I went to the Euphrates and dug up the underwear and got it from the place where I had hidden it, but it was ruined — of no use at all.

8Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9“This is what the Lord says: Just like this I will ruin the great pride of both Judah and Jerusalem.  10These evil people, who refuse to listen to Me, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts,  and who have followed other gods to serve and worship — they will be like this underwear, of no use at all. 11Just as underwear clings to one’s waist, so I fastened the whole house of Israel and of Judah to Me”  — this is the Lord’s declaration — “so that they might be My people for My fame, praise, and glory,  but they would not obey.

The Wine Jars

12“Say this to them: This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Every jar should be filled with wine. Then they will respond to you, ‘Don’t we know that every jar should be filled with wine?’ 13And you will say to them: This is what the Lord says: I am about to fill all who live in this land — the kings who reign for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets and all the residents of Jerusalem — with drunkenness. 14I will smash them against each other, fathers and sons alike” — this is the Lord’s declaration. “I will allow no mercy, pity, or compassion to keep Me from destroying them.” 

The Lord’s Warning

15Listen and pay attention. Do not be proud,

for the Lord has spoken.

16Give glory to the Lord your God 

before He brings darkness,

before your feet stumble

on the mountains at dusk.

You wait for light,

but He brings darkest gloom 

and makes thick darkness.

17But if you will not listen,

my innermost being will weep in secret

because of your pride.

My eyes will overflow with tears,

for the Lord’s flock  has been taken captive.

18Say to the king and the queen mother: 

Take a humble seat,

for your glorious crowns

have fallen from your heads.

19The cities of the Negev are under siege;

no one can help them.

All of Judah has been taken into exile,

taken completely into exile.

20Look up and see

those coming from the north. 

Where is the flock entrusted to you,

the sheep that were your pride?

The Destiny of Jerusalem

21What will you say when He appoints

close friends as leaders over you,

ones you yourself trained?

Won’t labor pains seize you, 

as they do a woman in labor?

22And when you ask yourself,

“Why have these things happened to me? ”

It is because of your great guilt 

that your skirts have been stripped off, 

your body exposed. 

23Can the Cushite change his skin,

or a leopard his spots?

If so, you might be able to do what is good, 

you who are instructed in evil.

24I will scatter you  like drifting chaff 

before the desert wind.

25This is your lot,

what I have decreed for you —

this is the Lord’s declaration —

because you have forgotten Me 

and trusted in Falsehood.  

26I will pull your skirts up over your face

so that your shame might be seen. 

27Your adulteries and your lustful neighing, 

your heinous prostitution

on the hills, in the fields —

I have seen your detestable acts.

Woe to you, Jerusalem!

You are unclean —

for how long yet? 

JEREMIAH 14

The Drought

1The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought: 

2Judah mourns;

her gates languish. 

Her people are on the ground in mourning;

Jerusalem’s cry rises up. 

3Their nobles send their servants  for water.

They go to the cisterns;

they find no water;

their containers return empty.

They are ashamed and humiliated;

they cover their heads. 

4The ground is cracked

since no rain has fallen on the land.

The farmers are ashamed; 

they cover their heads.

5Even the doe in the field

gives birth and abandons her fawn

since there is no grass.

6Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights 

panting for air like jackals.

Their eyes fail

because there are no green plants.

7Though our guilt testifies against us,

Yahweh, act for Your name’s sake.

Indeed, our rebellions  are many;

we have sinned against You. 

8Hope of Israel, 

its Savior in time of distress,

why are You like a foreigner in the land,

like a traveler stopping only for the night?

9Why are You like a helpless man,

like a warrior unable to save? 

Yet You are among us, Yahweh, 

and we are called by Your name.

Don’t leave us!

10This is what the Lord says concerning these people:

Truly they love to wander; 

they never rest their feet.

So the Lord does not accept them.

Now He will remember their guilt

and punish their sins. 

False Prophets to be Punished

11Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of these people.  12If they fast, I will not hear their cry of despair. If they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. Rather, I will finish them off by sword, famine, and plague.” 

13And I replied, “Oh no, Lord God! The prophets are telling them, ‘You won’t see sword or suffer famine. I will certainly give you true peace in this place.’ ” 

14But the Lord said to me, “These prophets are prophesying a lie in My name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, worthless divination, the deceit  of their own minds. 

15“Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, though I did not send them, and who say, ‘There will never be sword or famine in this land.’ By sword and famine these prophets will meet their end. 16The people they are prophesying to will be thrown into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword. There will be no one to bury them  — they, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. I will pour out their own evil on them.”

Jeremiah’s Request

17You are to speak this word to them:

Let my eyes overflow with tears;

day and night may they not stop, 

for the virgin daughter of my people

has been destroyed by a great disaster, 

an extremely severe wound. 

18If I go out to the field,

look — those slain by the sword!

If I enter the city,

look — those ill  from famine!

For both prophet and priest

travel to a land they do not know.

19Have You completely rejected Judah?

Do You detest  Zion?

Why do You strike us

with no hope of healing for us?

We hoped for peace,

but there was nothing good;

for a time of healing,

but there was only terror. 

20We acknowledge our wickedness, Lord,

the guilt of our fathers; 

indeed, we have sinned against You.

21Because of Your name, don’t despise us.

Don’t disdain Your glorious throne. 

Remember Your covenant  with us;

do not break it.

22Can any of the worthless idols of the nations  bring rain?

Or can the skies alone give showers?

Are You not the Lord our God?

We therefore put our hope in You, 

for You have done all these things.

=======================

Another change of study here.  The book of Ecclesiastes.  

This section, chapter 1, is an important one.  The reading in the KJV uses the term "vanity" and "vanities".  The tendency is to understand that to mean vanity as in pride, foolish pride.  What it really implies is acting or believing in vain.  The translation used here, the Holman Christian Standard more correctly renders it as "futility".  We, myself included certainly, tend to spend far too much of our time and attention on things that really don't matter in eternity, on efforts that are pretty pointless and futile.  This teaches on that matter.

ECCLESIASTES 1

Everything is Futile

1The words of the Teacher,   son of David, king in Jerusalem. 

2“Absolute futility,” says the Teacher.

“Absolute futility. Everything is futile.” 

3What does a man gain for all his efforts

that he labors at under the sun? 

4A generation goes and a generation comes,

but the earth remains forever. 

5The sun rises and the sun sets;

panting, it returns to its place 

where it rises.

6Gusting to the south,

turning to the north,

turning, turning, goes the wind, 

and the wind returns in its cycles.

7All the streams flow to the sea,

yet the sea is never full.

The streams are flowing to the place,

and they flow there again.

8All things  are wearisome;

man is unable to speak.

The eye is not satisfied by seeing 

or the ear filled with hearing.

9What has been is what will be,

and what has been done is what will be done;

there is nothing new under the sun.

10Can one say about anything,

“Look, this is new”?

It has already existed in the ages before us.

11There is no remembrance of those who  came before; 

and of those who  will come after

there will also be no remembrance

by those who follow them.

The Limitations of Wisdom

12I, the Teacher,  have been  king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13I applied my mind to seek  and explore through wisdom all that is done under heaven.  God has given people this miserable task to keep them occupied.  14I have seen all the things that are done under the sun and have found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.  

15What is crooked cannot be straightened; 

what is lacking cannot be counted.

16I said to myself,  “Look, I have amassed wisdom far beyond all those who were over Jerusalem before me,  and my mind has thoroughly grasped  wisdom and knowledge.” 17I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge,  madness and folly;  I learned that this too is a pursuit of the wind.  

18For with much wisdom is much sorrow; 

as knowledge increases, grief increases.

=======================

TITUS 3

Christian Living among Outsiders

1Remind them to be submissive  to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, 2to slander no one, to avoid fighting, and to be kind, always showing gentleness  to all people. 3For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved by various passions  and pleasures,  living in malice and envy, hateful, detesting one another.

4But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love

for mankind appeared, 

5He saved us  —

not by works of righteousness that we had done, 

but according to His mercy  —

through the washing of regeneration 

and renewal by the Holy Spirit. 

6He poured out this Spirit on us abundantly 

through Jesus Christ our Savior

7so that, having been justified by His grace, 

we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life. 

8This saying is trustworthy.  I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed God might be careful to devote themselves to good works. These are good and profitable for everyone. 9But avoid foolish debates,  genealogies,  quarrels,  and disputes about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. 10Reject a divisive  person after a first and second warning,  11knowing that such a person is perverted and sins, being self-condemned.

Final Instructions and Closing

12When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you,  make every effort to come to me  in Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13Diligently help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos  on their journey, so that they will lack  nothing.

14And our people must also learn to devote themselves to good works for cases of urgent need, so that they will not be unfruitful.  15All those who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with all of you.