Thy Kingdom Come!
Verse of the week to live by:
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Heb.11:1)
Bible Readings 2025, Week 44; Oct. 27-Nov.2
Oct.27; Jer. 17-18;
1. Jer. 17:9; “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”
How does this verse support the doctrine of original sin?
2. Jer. 17:22; “And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath or do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers.”
Why did God command Israel to keep the Sabbath?
3. Jer. 18:6; “Making their land a horror, a thing to be hissed at forever. Everyone who passes by it is horrified and shakes his head.”
What is the cultural significance and meaning when someone sees destruction and shakes their head?
Oct.28; Jer. 19-21; Heb. 10
1. Jer. 19:2; “Go out to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the entry of the Potsherd Gate, and proclaim there the words that I tell you.”
What was the “Valley of the Son of Hinnom”?
2. Jer.21:8-9; “And I will make this city a horror, a thing to be hissed at. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its wounds. 9 And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his neighbor in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies and those who seek their life afflict them.’”
Did Prophet Jeremiah’s prediction come to pass?
1. Heb. 10:38; “But my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”
Where in the Old Testament do we find this verse?
Oct. 29; Jer. 22-23; Heb. 11
1. Jer. 23:1; “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord.”
Who were the shepherds Jeremiah was talking about?
2. Heb. 11:1; “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
What is faith?
3. Heb.11: 14; “For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.
What is the homeland the believers were looking for?
Oct. 30; Jer. 24-26; Heb. 12
1. Jer. 24:1-3; “After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.”
What did the two baskets refer to?
2. Heb. 12:1; “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”
What is the cloud of witnesses?
3. Heb. 12:18-21; “For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”
Where in the Book of Exodus do we find this event?
Oct. 31; Jer. 27-28
1. Jer. 27:1; “In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord.”
Who was King Zedekiah?
2. Jer. 27:16; “Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you, saying, ‘Behold, the vessels of the Lord's house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon,’ for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you.”
Why did Jeremiah ask the people not to listen to other prophets?
3. Jer. 28:10-14; “Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke-bars from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke them. 11 And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations within two years.” But Jeremiah the prophet went his way. 12 Sometime after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke-bars from off the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13 “Go, tell Hananiah, ‘Thus says the Lord: You have broken wooden bars, but you have made in their place bars of iron. 14 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put upon the neck of all these nations an iron yoke to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they shall serve him, for I have given to him even the beasts of the field.” Which prophecy came to pass? Hananiah or Jeremiah?
Nov. 1; Jer. 29-31; Heb. 13
1. Jer. 29:10; “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.”
Did this prophecy come to pass? Did the Exile last for seventy years? Why was it seventy years?
2. Jer. 31:3; “The Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love;therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.”
Whom did God appear to?
3. Heb. 13:5; “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
How does this verse teach us to trust the Lord?
Nov. 2; Jer. 32-33; Jam 1
1. Jer. 33:1; “The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the guard.”
Who imprisoned Jeremiah? Please refer to Jer. 32:3
2. James 1:1; “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion.”
Who was James?
3. James 1:2; “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.”
Who were the first audiences for the letter of James? Why did James start his letter with people in trials?