2020 Bible Vision

Ryan Hofstetter

8.13.2020

Jeremiah 37-39

Summary:  This is the time just before Jerusalem falls to Babylon.  King Zedekiah sent a message to Jeremiah to pray for Jerusalem.  Jeremiah told King Zedekiah that the Babylonians would return to capture and burn the city because they only left because of Egypt.  Jeremiah said that the Lord said to not be deceived into thinking that this won’t happen.  After King Zedekiah dismissed Jeremiah, the people imprisoned him thinking that he was a deserter.  King Zedekiah later called for Jeremiah from prison and he was allowed to stay in the king’s courtyard.  

Jeremiah told the people that Jerusalem would fall to the Babylonians and that they should surrender before this happens.  The people told King Zedekiah that Jeremiah should be put to death.  King Zedekiah refused, but instead let the people take him.  The people threw Jeremiah into a cistern to die.  King Zedekiah was told what happened to Jeremiah and he had Jeremiah saved.  Jeremiah then warned King Zedekiah to turn himself over to the Babylonians to protect himself and his family.  Jeremiah warned that if King Zedekiah didn’t do this, everyone will end up in the hands of the Babylonians.  King Zedekiah asked Jeremiah not to share this with anyone and Jeremiah kept his promise.

God’s word, through Jeremiah, came to fruition.  The Babylonians came back.  King Zedekiah tried to run, but was captured.  His sons and all of the nobles were killed before his eyes.  King Zedekiah’s eyes were cut out and he was bound and forced to Babylon with the rest of Jerusalem.  Only the poor and the weak were left behind.  The Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar ordered that Jeremiah be left alone and be given whatever he asked for.  God told Jeremiah to give Ebed-Melek the Cushite a message that he had been saved by the Lord because of his trust in the Lord.

What is one key verse?  

Jeremiah 39:16 “Go and tell Ebed-Melek the Cushite this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says ‘I am about to fulfill my words against this city through disaster, not prosperity. At this time, they will be fulfilled before your eyes.’ “

How does what you read change your vision of God?  This verse shows me that God’s will is absolute – His plan is set.  Israel was supposed to be prosperous.  But they didn’t obey and they made God jealous with their idolatrous ways and other wickedness.  So God’s plan moved forward and Israel met disaster instead.  God is a constant.  His will and plans are a force that cannot be changed.  We can see another example of this in the Book of Jonah.  Jonah defies God’s command and tries to run away by boat.  God sent a violent storm against the boat and eventually Jonah is thrown into the sea where he is swallowed by a big fish.  The fish takes him to Nineveh after Jonah prays to God.  Nineveh being where God commanded Jonah to go in the first place.

How does what you read change your vision of yourself or others?  I see that God’s will is going to come to fruition no matter what I may want in the moment.  If my heart and mind are right, I will want God’s plan and will work toward that goal.

How will you Go With God because of this reading?  I will try to be more in tune to God’s will for my life and less focused on what I want.

Where did you see Jesus in these chapters?  I see Jesus in Jeremiah.  Specifically, when King Zedekiah wouldn’t kill Jeremiah, but instead let the people take him.

Dana Hayes

8.12.2020

Jeremiah 34-36

Summary

In Jeremiah 34, Jeremiah tells the King of Judah, Zedekiah, that he and the whole city of Jerusalem are about to be handed over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon because they had become so rebellious toward God. The crazy thing is that Jerusalem was already under the control of the King of Babylon and in fact, Nebuchadnezar had installed Zedekiah as King. Now Zedekiah was thumbing his nose at Nebuchadnezzar! That, of course did not end well. If you are rebellious to the authorities over you, you are probably going to be rebellious to God and visa-versa. One of the big issues which was causing Isreal’s downfall was their failure to release from bondage their fellow Isrealites who had sold themselves into indentured servitude. All Isrealites who had sold themselves into slavery were supposed to be released from that agreement every seven years but…. Noooooo! The owners were too greedy to obey the Lord and this was apparently one of the main reasons God is ticked. In chapter 35, God, through Jeremiah holds up the Rekabites as an example of heart felt obedience. These good people had committed themselves to never drinking wine for several generations and even when they are invited by God himself to the temple for a little party, they absolutely refuse to drink. God is very pleased and lets all Isreal know, in no uncertain terms, this is the kind of obedience which brings him joy. In chapter 36 we meet King Jehoiakim, the epitome of a guy who will not listen…. Are you seeing a pattern? Jeremiah dictates God words to a fellow named Baruch who probably great penman ship,  he writes all the words on a scroll and delivers them to the king. The king reads the scroll inch by inch, cuts of each piece and throws it into his fire pot…. Not cool! God expects us to listen to his word.

Key Verse

A key verse for these three chapters is difficult to pin down but next, I think Jeremiah sums it all up in 37:2…

“Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.”

Our take-away for this day…. Listen and obey… there’s no other way.

How does what you read change your vision of God?

This changes nothing! It absolutely solidifies my convictions that obedience is critical for our salvation.

How will you Go With God because of this reading? (What is an action step?)

This provokes me to continue my efforts to promote obedience to Jesus commands, not just hold to simple intellectual belief.

_{Where did you see Jesus in these chapters? (What made you think about Jesus?)}

_{Jesus must have really loved the Rekabites because they had such a consistent faith that obeys.}

Evan Renwick

8.11.2020

Jeremiah 30-33

What really stands out to me in reading through the book of Jeremiah in chapters 30-33, we see how God’s people have been unfaithful again and again, yet because of God’s great love for his people he allows them to go through very difficult and trying times in order that his people will ultimately come back to him and enjoy restoration. God’s promise of restoration bring hope to me knowing that God is in control when trying times come, and that he is ultimately in control and allowing certain events to happen for our good and his will.

Daniel Bohner

8.10.2020

Jeremiah 26-29 

Summarize what you read in one paragraph: in Jeremiah 26-29 you get to see how the Jews are continuing to be disobedient to God and to the prophets God appoints. In this case Jeremiah. It’s obvious the people do not care about what Jeremiah has to say to them concerning God. They continue to go about what they want to. Through this disobedience you can see God having a plan to humble them out, not just the Jews but the surrounding nations as well. God plans to raise up a mighty country to stand up and rule these other nations (Babylon). With all this going on we see how Jeremiah remains obedient through all the heartache and pain he has witnessed. His love and reverence for God shows. 

What is one key verse?

Jeremiah 27:4-7 Give them this message for their masters: ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says:With my great strength and powerful arm I made the earth and all its people and every animal. I can give these things of mine to anyone I choose.Now I will give your countries to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. 

How does what you read change your vision of God? What it shows me is that God’s ways are not ours. That he has plans for our lives but if we continue to disobey God will punish us because he loves us so much. 

How does what you read change your vision of yourself or others? Well it’s easy to point fingers and blame others for whatever. We need to look into our lives and ask am I being disobedient in anyway and if we are how can we change that. 

How will you Go With God because of this reading? (What is an action step?) Asking God to show me where it is we lack. Pray about it and then pray about how we can fight it.

_{Where did you see Jesus in these chapters? (What made you think about Jesus?)}

Honestly Jeremiah made me think of Jesus. Jeremiah wasn’t perfect but he was obedient like Christ was obedient. He stood up in the face of fear and Let God lead. In order to be a disciple we have to take a page from Jesus and go with God. 

Kelsey McIlwain

8.8.2020

Jeremiah 21-25

In these chapters, Jeremiah prophesies about King Nebuchadnezzar’s overtaking of the kingdom of Judah. He warns the people that they will be taken into captivity for 70 years as a manifestation of God’s judgement on the kingdom’s string of wicked leadership. 

One key verse from this passage is Jeremiah 21:9

“Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine, or plague. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Babylonians who are besieging you will live; they will escape with their lives.”

This passage stuck out to me because of its reminder of how important it is to be surrendered to God’s plan. God was addressing the resistance of His people to His plan for them to be exiled by the Babylonians. God had clearly declared that the Babylonians were going to overtake the Kingdom of Judah, but He knew that there were still going to be people that would rip their fate out of God’s hands and try to save it themselves. I think of how often I can have the same attitude – wanting to reject what God has clearly showed me in His Word as the best way to do something so I can go about it how I want (the easier way, the way with quicker gratification, the more culturally acceptable way, etc.). 

I think this gives me a clearer picture of God’s mercy and patience with us. As our Heavenly Father, God disciplines us to refine our character. This is often a painful process, but He still offers to spare us from additional pain if we would just yield to the ways He corrects us. 

I will go with God by taking more time to reflect on what I could be hanging on to that God is calling me to surrender. Even though I resolved to give everything up to God when I became a Christian, I have slowly taken various aspects of my life out of God’s hands and back into my own – how I spend my money, what I choose to do with my free time, my dreams for the future – these are all things that I need to constantly re-surrender to God. 

This passage reminds me of Jesus’ words in Luke 9:24. “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life will save it.” Jesus preaches the same message of surrender so that we can save our spiritual lives. 

Joel Nagel

8.7.2020

Jeremiah 16-20

These chapters in Jeremiah continue to make the point that God is going to punish Judah and Jerusalem for abandoning him and going after false gods. Jeremiah is the messenger of the bad news. He is told that he must speak against his own people and that they are past the point where prayer will help. The destruction and the lessons learned are still for the good of the people. The destruction will be devastating but not complete – God has a plan to redeem his wayward people in the future!

Key Verse:

Jeremiah 18:6 (HCSB) “‘House of Israel, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay?’ – This is the Lord’s declaration. ‘Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, house of Israel.'”

Vision of God

This is a great reminder of just how in control God is. He’s totally in control. He can do whatever he wishes, whenever he wishes. The fact that we’re not being totally crushed all the time reveals that he is a good and loving God. Even when we are crushed it is for our good and for his glory.

Vision of Self and Others

When I look at all of the things happening in our world in the light of this scripture, I marvel at what God could be doing. He’s working for all 7.5 billion souls so they could find him. The big issues we’re dealing with can seem overwhelming but God is focused on people’s hearts and I should too.

Go With God

I want to look at the ways God is molding hearts through all of this and join in his saving work. If I can keep from being overwhelmed or overburdened and stay outward focused on individuals who are searching for God then this can be a great time of impact.

Jesus

In the next chapter, Jeremiah shows us what happens to clay when it gets hard. It can no longer be molded so it is thrown into the valley of Ben Hinnom which was the trash dump outside of Jerusalem. The Greek word for hell, Gehenna, comes from Ben Hinnom. It was a place where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. Jesus allowed himself to be crushed, to go through hell (literally) so that we could be saved. This was the ultimate plan for God’s people even as the people of Jeremiah’s day experienced his wrath.

Jerry & Kim Jones

8.6.2020

Jeremiah 11-15

Summarize what you read in one paragraph: 

Israel was committing the same sins their ancestors were guilty of and they refuse to obey God’s warning to turn from their sins to him. So, God used Jeremiah to deliver his message of judgement that was irrevocable. Jeremiah pleaded on Israel’s behalf, but God wouldn’t relent.   

What is one key verse?

Jeremiah 15:6 – “You have rejected me, declares the Lord; you keep going backward, so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you-I am weary of relenting. 

How does what you read change your vision of God?

It didn’t change our vision of God. It reinforced our idea of the importance of obedience to God and the severe consequences for disobedience.

How does what you read change your vision of yourself or others?

Reading this helped us to understand that we have to be vigilant about being obedient, even in the ‘’small” things, because we know that, in God’s eyes, there is no “big” or “small” when it comes to sin; there is only obedience.

How will you Go With God because of this reading? (What is an action step?)

We intend to take personal inventory to make sure that our lives match up with God’s law, making adjustments when we find misalignments.

Where did you see Jesus in these chapters? (What made you think about Jesus?)

When Jeremiah was pleading on behalf of Israel, he resembled how Christ pleads on our behalf with God.

Monty Binkley

8.5.2020

Jeremiah 7-11

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Christina Binkley

8.4.2020

Jeremiah 1-6

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Laticia Bleck

8.3.2020

Isaiah 63-66

Summarize what you read in one paragraph:

Throughout the chapters I read God is retelling the story of how His people were given many blessings and grace and how they continued to disobey and shun the words God had given them.Throughout all the disobedience from His people, God continues to share His desire for His people. God remained fixed on wanting “US” to be with Him. Even though His people continue the way of sin, God gives a new prophecy, a new promised land is proclaimed, a new heaven and a new earth.

What is one key verse?

Isaiah 64:4

“Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.”

How does what you read change your vision of God?

 What I read did not necessarily change my vision of God but reaffirmed the consistent and constant love God has for me. It also reminds me that my actions or inaction have consequences, all seen by God. 

How does what you read change your vision of yourself or others?

Verse 64:4 changes my vision for my self by being a reminder for my heart that God is always with me, unchanging and steadfast.  I tend to be anxious by nature, especially right now because life is so unsure and unstable. Knowing that God is acting on my behalf gives me peace. 

How will you Go With God because of this reading? ( What is an action step?)

Personally I am going to memorize this scripture so that I allow my heart to be reminded about God’s nature, that He acts on my behalf, that I am not living this life alone.

Where did you see Jesus in these chapters? (What made you think of Jesus?)

Isaiah 63:1 “ Who is this robed in splendor, striding forward in greatness of his strength?  “It is I, proclaiming victory, mighty to save.” This scripture reminds me of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday just days before He gave his life for ours, to save us!