The Lord of History

Tomorrow’s reading is Daniel 11-12.

What an odd section of Scripture. King of the North and King of the South can get confusing. What is amazing is opening up the encyclopedia and looking at the history of the Greek kingdoms and their relationship with Jerusalem after the death of Alexander the Great. If you replace King of the North with the Seleucid king and King of the South with the Ptolemies, these chapters look surprisingly like reading the encyclopedia. Why? Because Yahweh can speak the end from the beginning, because Yahweh is the Lord of History (and the future). Be amazed and praise the Lord!

Monday’s reading is 1 Thessalonians 1-2.

Don’t Envy Sinners

Today’s reading is Proverbs 22-23.

“Let not your heart envy sinners,
but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day.”
Proverbs 23:17

This gets back to our earlier post about Now and Later. Sometimes we look at sinners now. They seem to be having fun. They appear to have many pleasures. In those moments, it may appear that righteousness and wisdom are merely ways to limit our fun. We think we are missing out and envy the sinners their good time. If only we could see them later when their sins have come home to roost. Often their sins come home to roost even in this life, leaving them in the wake of broken relationships, empty lives, disconnected from all good things. However, sometimes it doesn’t come home to roost until this life is over and like the rich man of Luke 16 he finds himself in torment. Don’t see the sinner now, keep your eyes on what is coming later and don’t envy the sinner.

Monday’s reading is Proverbs 24-25.