Key Players and Main Narratives

Malachi 2:10-46 Acts 28:1-31; Job 31:23-40 The book of Acts ends on a somewhat unsatisfying note. After all that Paul has been through—imprisonment, trial, shipwreck—we expect a showdown with Caesar or mass conversions of the Jews. Instead, the plot seems to sputter out. Paul arrives in Rome and appeals to the Jews living there. He quotes Isaiah to the Jewish leaders: “You will keep on hearing, and will never understand, and you will keep on seeing and will never perceive” (Acts 28:26). When they fail to respond, Paul determines to reach out to the Gentiles. “They also will listen” (Acts 28:28) and will respond differently. The poignant end of this book leaves Paul “proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, without hindrance” (Acts 28:30). Facing either rejection or reception, he continues proclaiming the good news to both Jew and Gentile. Paul is a key player in the Church that is being gathered by Jesus Christ, but the drama cannot end with Paul. Jesus is the main character in the story of humanity’s redemption. The book of Acts leaves the ending open so that we can pick it up and carry it forward. The work of Jesus, through His Church, continues to the present day, and Jesus is using both you and me in His grand narrative. How do you see your life as a story that honors God as the key player? REBECCA VAN NOORD John D. Barry and Rebecca Kruyswijk, Connect the Testaments: A One-Year Daily Devotional with Bible Reading Plan (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012).

REBUILDING IS NOT ALWAYS WISE

Malachi 1:1–2:9; Acts 27:1–44; Job 31:9–22 Who can rebuild what Yahweh tears down? The prophets articulate this message again and again. Yahweh tears down evil things; evil people rebuild them; the prophets insist that He will just tear them down again. God tolerates evil for a time, waiting for people to repent, but when His patience is up, it’s up. “ ‘I have loved you,’ says Yahweh, but you say, ‘How have you loved us?’ ‘Is Esau not Jacob’s brother?’ declares Yahweh. ‘I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated. I have made his mountain ranges a desolation, and given his inheritance to the jackals of the desert.’ If Edom says, ‘We are shattered, but we will return and rebuild the ruins,’ Yahweh of hosts says this: ‘They may build, but I will tear down; and they will be called a territory of wickedness, and the people with whom Yahweh is angry forever.’ Your eyes will see this, and you will say, ‘Yahweh is great beyond the borders of Israel’ ” (Mal 1:2–5). This scene seems brutal upon first reading. If you’re on Jacob’s side, you’re fine—Yahweh loves you even though you don’t acknowledge it. But if you’re on Esau’s (Edom’s) side, you’re left wondering why God hates you so much—unless you know the backstory: Edom ravaged the lands of God’s people and committed atrocities against them in their greatest time of need. When foreign nations invaded Israel, Edom preyed on its brothers instead of coming to their defense. This is the reason for Yahweh’s anger—and why He will tear down whatever Edom builds. How often do we try to excuse ourselves as Edom did—to defend our behavior as justifiable retribution for previous offenses? What does God think about the state of our hearts and the actions we take against others as a result? How must your plan of action change, today, in light of God’s will and His standard? JOHN D. BARRY John D. Barry and Rebecca Kruyswijk, Connect the Testaments: A One-Year Daily Devotional with Bible Reading Plan (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012).

THORNS, THISTLES, AND TOILING

Thorns, Thistles and Toiling Reflections on Genesis “To the woman he said, ‘I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.’ “To Adam he said, ‘Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, “You must not eat of it,” cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life’ ” (Gen 3:16–17). Perhaps it’s because of the immense joy and pain I’ve experienced being a parent that I’ve been thinking a great deal lately about how the actions of Adam and Eve, our first parents, influence our daily lives. As I’ve read it and heard it preached, the curse itself seems to be pretty straightforward: Women will toil in childbirth while men toil in work. I find myself wondering, though, how is this ancient curse evidenced in our modern existence, as we seek to work out our salvation with fear and trembling? At the very core of the curse is the act of rebellion against God. Adam and Eve were not satisfied with what their Father had given them and deemed it necessary to follow their own interests. They chose to look outside of their relationship with God for fulfillment, instead of trusting that he would satisfy their every need. In doing so, they broke relationship with him. The rest is history. I’m not sure if the curse, as seen in 21st century America, is only the actual pain of childbirth and hard work. I believe that we are cursed also (perhaps even more) by our desire to find satisfaction, identity and meaning in our children and work, rather than our relationship with God. Male and female, it seems that we are endlessly striving to make a name for ourselves—whether that would be in reaching the top of the corporate ladder, or parenting the next Albert Einstein. Take a look at the shelves of your local bookstore: You’ll find countless resources on how to become a more effective, successful person in the world of work. A quick search on the internet can yield a wealth of information on how to best meet the physical and emotional needs of your child, even before birth. The creators of these resources appeal to our deepest insecurities and deceive us into believing that if we can somehow find the secret formula, our success will be guaranteed. People typically aspire to be the absolute best at what we do, which in and of itself is a noble pursuit. Our problems begin to arise when we seek to measure our intrinsic value by our successes and failures. Contrary to what we’ve been told, we are not what we do. It has never defined the essence of who we are, and it never can. We have been created by a loving God to bring glory to his name in all the circumstances of our lives. And often the very circumstances that bring him the most glory are the times of our greatest failure, times when we give up trying to work in our own power and instead allow his power to be made perfect in our weakness. The Word of God says in Ecclesiastes 1:9, “there is nothing new under the sun.” While our daily struggles may not appear in the same form as our first parents’, their essence is quite similar. We often find ourselves dissatisfied with the path that God has ordained for us, which leads us to pursue our own agenda. Instead of taking our confusion and dissatisfaction to the one who knows us best, we are tempted to look outside of our relationship with God to find answers to our failures and disappointments. We toil, not against actual thorns and thistles, but against “the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things [that] come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful” (Mark 4:19). We seek the forbidden fruit of this world that will never satisfy, while God waits for us to come and walk with him in the cool of the day. He can meet our every need, if only we would let him. JEANNIE SEERY ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN BIBLE STUDY MAGAZINE MAR–APR ‘09 BIBLICAL REFERENCES FROM NIV Jeannie Seery, “Thorns, Thistles and Toiling,” in Moment with God: A Devotional on Every Biblical Book, ed. John D. Barry and Rebecca Van Noord (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).

VISIONS, REVELATIONS, AND QUESTIONS

Zechariah 6:1–7:14; Acts 22:22–23:22; Job 29:13–25 The prophets of old had visions and dreamed dreams. They experienced apocalyptic nightmares and witnessed breathtaking scenes of beauty. Perhaps most fascinating, though, is how they reacted. Zechariah provides us with an example of both the revelation and the proper response. “I looked up again, and I saw, and look!—four chariots coming out from between two mountains, and the mountains were mountains of bronze.… And I answered and said to the angel that was talking to me, ‘What are these, my lord?’ And the angel answered and said to me, ‘These are the four winds of the heavens going out after presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth’ ” (Zech 6:1–5). Zechariah could not have understood what he was seeing, but he paid attention, and he asked questions. Although we may not experience visions as confounding as Zechariah’s, we certainly have the opportunity to be perplexed by God. Our response should be modeled after Zechariah’s: Ask questions and then act. Zechariah’s life was marked by asking and responding, and it made a difference for his generation. People came to God because Zechariah was willing to be God’s instrument. How many people experience incredible revelations from God and then fail to respond? How many people come near enough to glimpse God’s plan but never pay close enough attention to receive it from Him? How much are we losing as individuals, and as people, because we don’t care enough to ask God for the answers? What confusion or uncertainty can you overcome by asking questions? JOHN D. BARRY John D. Barry and Rebecca Kruyswijk, Connect the Testaments: A One-Year Daily Devotional with Bible Reading Plan (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012).

SPEAKING THE TRUTH WITH LOVE

Zechariah 3:1–5:11; Acts 21:27–22:21; Job 29:1–12 Read today’s headlines and you might conclude that Christian boldness is a thin disguise for defensiveness, anger, and demeaning behavior. Believers who feel voiceless in their society sometimes respond by becoming adamant “defenders of the faith” in ways that can be destructive. In an age of instant electronic communication, our potential for good or harm has increased exponentially. But if we lay claim to special rights as Christians, we have forgotten that we’re supposed to be like Jesus. We need wisdom and spiritual maturity to share our faith with love. Paul serves as a model for using influence in a Christ-like way. In Acts 21–22, Paul encountered an angry Jewish mob that wanted him dead. He could have responded to the crowd self-righteously, looking down on them from his enlightened position. Instead, Paul confessed that he was once a persecutor of “this Way” (Acts 22:4). He could have used his status as a Roman citizen to his own advantage. Instead, he testified about the “Righteous One” to people who vehemently opposed him. Paul came from a place of humility. He appealed to the Jews by telling them his own story—simply, boldly, and honestly. He emphasized his transformation: He was once a persecutor of the Church, but now he shared the work of Jesus in his life. We should be ready to do likewise, to spread the gospel by speaking the truth in love, without insisting on our rights or using our influence in self-serving ways. We should be like Paul, but mostly we should be like Jesus. We should be ready to preach wherever and whenever we can and trust that God will work out the rest. How are you sharing the gospel with both truth and love? REBECCA VAN NOORD John D. Barry and Rebecca Kruyswijk, Connect the Testaments: A One-Year Daily Devotional with Bible Reading Plan (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012).

BEYOND MEASURE

Zechariah 1:1–2:13; Acts 21:1–26; Job 28:12–28 When we say, “God is gracious; God is kind,” do we fully comprehend the extent of God’s graciousness and kindness toward us? We glimpse it in Zechariah: “You must say to them: ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts: “Return to me,” declares Yahweh of hosts, “and I will return to you,” ’ says Yahweh of hosts” (Zech 1:2–3). An astounding reversal is hidden in these words, couched in a dialogue expressing how terribly God’s people have treated Him (Zech 1:4–6). By relying on their ancestors’ wisdom, God’s people are marching toward their own destruction: “Your ancestors, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?” (Zech 1:5). Instead of wiping them from the face of earth or banishing them from relationship with Him, however, God acts graciously: “Return to me … and I will return to you” (Zech 1:3). It’s an incredibly generous offer, one that the people accept (Zech 1:6). But this is not the end of the journey. Zechariah’s vision goes on to illustrate painful times on the horizon before moving once again to hope (Zech 2:1–13). Ultimately, Yahweh remarks: “Many nations will join themselves to Yahweh on that day, and they will be my people, and I will dwell in your midst. And you will know that Yahweh of hosts has sent me to you. And Yahweh will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and he will again choose Jerusalem” (Zech 2:11–12). The one “that Yahweh of hosts has sent” is likely a reference to the Messiah. Here Yahweh moves from welcoming only the people of Israel to welcoming all people into His kingdom. Anyone can return to Him or come to Him—because that is what He desires. His graciousness and kindness are truly beyond measure. What graciousness and kindness are you grateful for today? JOHN D. BARRY John D. Barry and Rebecca Kruyswijk, Connect the Testaments: A One-Year Daily Devotional with Bible Reading Plan (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012).

KEEP US FROM DISTRACTION

Haggai 1:1–2:23; Acts 20:1–38; Job 28:1–11 It’s easy to get distracted from the good work God intends for us to do. Competing forces vie for our attention; we’re sidetracked by fear or selfishness. We start living our own stories and lose sight of the greater narrative, of which our lives are just one thread. The Jewish exiles who returned to Jerusalem had begun the work of reconstructing the temple, a symbol of God’s presence among His people. In the rebuilding of the temple, they gathered up the remnants of their broken identities and together formed a collective identity as Yahweh’s people. They had their priorities in order. Then they got distracted. When they started putting their own needs and security first, Yahweh sent the prophet Haggai to remind them of their true purpose: “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your houses that have been paneled while this house is desolate?… Consider your ways! You have sown much but have harvested little. You have eaten without being satisfied; you have drunk without being satiated; you have worn clothes without being warm; the one who earns wages puts it in a pouch with holes” (Hag 1:6). The work that the Jewish exiles did outside of God’s purpose for them had no lasting effect or real merit. Because they were neglecting their first calling, their frantic attempts to meet their own selfish needs were doomed to fail anyway. Outside of Yahweh, there could be no blessing. God used Haggai to speak this truth into the lives of the Jewish exiles, but He also encouraged them with His presence: “I am with you” (Hag 1:13). Listen to the words of Haggai. Speak truth into fear and selfishness—either your own or others. Remember that you’re not meant to travel through life on your own, outside of this great narrative or apart from the presence of God. What is the priority in your life right now? How can you shift away from priorities that aren’t part of God’s grand scheme for your life? REBECCA VAN NOORD John D. Barry and Rebecca Kruyswijk, Connect the Testaments: A One-Year Daily Devotional with Bible Reading Plan (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012).