TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
Jeremiah 51:1-53
Titus 2:1-15
Psalm 99:1-9
Proverbs 26:17
Jeremiah 51:5 — Why is God judging Babylon? Because God isn’t done with Israel!
Jeremiah 51:8 — The declaration that Babylon is fallen is repeated in Revelation 18:2.
Jeremiah 51:15 — Note the greatness of God’s power, wisdom, and understanding!
Jeremiah 51:28 — God is using the Medes to defeat the Babylonians, as He used the Babylonians to defeat the Judeans. Interestingly, Jeremiah is prophesying about who will destroy Babylon roughly seventy years before it happens!
Jeremiah 51:45 — God told His people to surrender to Babylon (Jeremiah 27:11), and now He is telling His people to flee Babylon. This is not an example of God changing His mind but of having different purposes at different times for His people! God is not done with Jerusalem (Jeremiah 51:50).
Titus 2:1 — Did you notice Paul’s theme of the importance of doctrine?
Titus 2:2 — Paul has behavioral expectations for elders (Titus 1:5-6) and bishops (Titus 1:7-9). Now he covers seniors (Titus 2:2-3), younger people (Titus 2:4-8), and servants (Titus 2:9).
Titus 2:10 — Does your behavior adorn the doctrine of God?
Titus 2:12 — How can we live up to the behavioral expectations? We have power from the grace of God that lets us deny ungodliness and allows us to live soberly.
Titus 2:13 — Are you looking for the Blessed Hope and the Second Coming of Jesus? In the mean time, are you walking in freedom from iniquity, and are you zealous for good works (Titus 2:14)? Remember “peculiar” doesn’t mean weird!
Titus 2:15 — Speak, exhort, and rebuke are not synonyms.
- Speak – proclamation of the boundary line
- Exhort – encouraging people to defend the boundary line
- Rebuke – confronting people who have not defended the boundary line
Psalm 99:5 — He is holy. Holiness implies separation. Separated from us because of our iniquities, yet He is a God Who forgives (Psalm 99:8).
Proverbs 26:17 — Mind your own business!
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