All things happen according to the scriptures.
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. 1 Corinthians 15:3, 4
This week’s scriptures will bring us through most of Mark and 1 Corinthians, in the New Testament. Then in 2 Kings, we will see the death of Elisha and the many kings coming and going. Jehu becomes king and is God’s instrument to judge Jezebel and Ahab’s household. All kings in Israel continue in the sins of their fathers and Judea a few good kings. The difference is who seeks the Lord and does what is right versus idols and does what is evil.
Ecclesiastes finishes in wisdom with all its somber tones of Solomon the preacher. We have special readings for the Feast of Tabernacles every day this week.
New Testament
Mark 9 – 14
We begin with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration and coming down from the Mountain Top He heals a boy in the valley of despair after his disciples fail to, and the father cries in faith and asks, “Help my unbelief!” Jesus again predicts his death and resurrection in chapters nine and ten. Entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday He cleanses the temple and then gives promise of the unlimited possibilities of faith in chapter eleven. In this chapter, He shows that forgiveness is paramount in faith. Several years back, I heard the Spirit say to me in my struggle with faith, “If your faith is not working, try forgiving.” It works! Parables, testing, the temple to be destroyed, the last supper, His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, and then faces the Sanhedrin as Peter looks on and then denies Jesus. Peter weeps bitterly.
1 Corinthians 7 – 15
Principles in marriage begin in chapter seven. We see the call to be sensitive to conscience, especially those whose consciences are weak. Our call to self-denial and to strive for the crown. In Chapter ten, we learn about the five sins of Israel that kept them out of the Promised Land and are exhorted to take heed lest we fall. Flee from idolatry and regard others’ consciences as we practice our liberty. Chapter eleven calls us to “wait for one another” in communion while judging ourselves before taking communion. Chapters twelve and fourteen teach about the body and its many members and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Chapter thirteen shows us the most excellent way of love. Chapter fifteen is the greatest expose of the resurrection of the dead and how we will appear, with the final charge to be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that our labor is not in vain in the Lord.
Old Testament
2 Kings 9 – 16
Jehu is anointed as king and moves is such zeal to bring vengeance on the house of Ahab and Jezebel in the ninth and tenth chapters. Jehoash becomes king of Judah and is a good king during the life of Jehoiada, the priest who instructed him having been hidden by him during the coup of Athaliah. Kings will come and go and in chapter thirteen we witness the death of Elisha and the lost opportunity of King Joash of Israel to destroy Asyria through his placid striking of the arrows under Elisha’s call to take the arrows and “Strike the ground.” In the next three chapters, we witness bad kings in Israel and weak kings in Judah. Remember we are reading the horizontal view, of events like a newspaper. We will hear many more details of heaven regarding Judah in a couple of weeks when we begin 2 Chronicles.
Feast of Tabernacles special readings
Ezra 3 We witness the Feast of Tabernacles during the dedication of the altar when the restoration of the temple began after the Babylonian exile.
Nehemiah 8 We witness the Feast of Tabernacles observed after the walls of Jerusalem have been rebuilt and dedicated.
Deuteronomy 15 – 16 We witness debt cancelation and generosity to the poor during Feast of Tabernacles. Then, the three feast that Israel were to observe together each year, Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles.
Deuteronomy 31 Joshu is instructed as the new leader of Israel to read the law, Torah, first five books of the bible every seven years during the year of release, at the Feast of Tabernacles.
Hosea 12 The promise of God that He will make again Israel to dwell in tents during the Feast of Tabernacles. Not as much about the act of Israel as the faithfulness and power of the Lord. “This is, the Lord God of host. The Lord is His memorable name.” Hosea 12:5, Exodus 6:1-8
John 7 Jesus is at the Feast of Tabernacles and declares on this day, the last day, the great day of the Feast the promise of the Holy Spirit to all who believe in Him, as the Scripture has said, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” John 7:38.
