GN-Day202 Jeremiah 1-2; Psalm 138; John 18:1-27

07/21/22 • 21 min

JEREMIAH 1-2:The book of Jeremiah was written between 627 and 580 BC. Counting the number of verses, Jeremiah is longer than all other books of the Old Testament except Genesis and Psalms. Jeremiah is often called the weeping prophet, and his other book is Lamentations. It is possible that he is the son of the high priest Hilkiah who brought the book of the Law to the attention of king Josiah. Having just heard in 2 Kings an overview of what happened during the last days of the kingdom of Judah, we now will hear the poems and sermons of a sensitive man living through it all. Mears says, “No other prophet bares his soul to his readers as does Jeremiah. Although Jeremiah announced the coming destruction of Judah, he looked beyond this judgment to a day when everyone would know the Lord personally through the forgiveness of his or her sins (Jer. 31-34). This new kind of relationship with the Lord would be part of the “new covenant” the Lord would establish with his people (Jer. 31:31).”

PSALM 138:

This is the first of a series of eight psalms where the psalmist speaks in the first person singular. This psalm includes an important declaration in verse two, which ESV translates like this:

Ps. 138:2 I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.

NLT and CEV have done a good job translating the meaning, and I particularly like the second phrase in NLT.

JOHN 18a:

As John said in chapter 13, “Jesus, having always loved his disciples, he loved them to the end.”

GNT Translation notes:Ps. 138:2 [NLT I bow before your holy Temple as I worship. I praise [you//your name] for your unfailing love and faithfulness; for your promises are backed by all the honor of your name.//CEV I worship at your holy temple and praise you for your love and your faithfulness. You were true to your word and made yourself more famous than ever before.//GNTD I face your holy Temple, bow down, and praise your name because of your constant love and faithfulness, because you have shown that your name and your commands are supreme.]====John 18:10 [Peter— whose other name was Simon, had a sword. He//Simon Peter, who had a sword,] drew it and struck the High Priest's slave, cutting off his right ear. The name of the slave was Malchus.

PSALM 138:

This is the first of a series of eight psalms where the psalmist speaks in the first person singular. This psalm includes an important declaration in verse two, which ESV translates like this:

Ps. 138:2 I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.

NLT and CEV have done a good job translating the meaning, and I particularly like the second phrase in NLT.

JOHN 18a:

As John said in chapter 13, “Jesus, having always loved his disciples, he loved them to the end.”

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GN-Day201 Jonah 3-4; Psalm 137; John 17

JONAH 3-4:Running from God didn’t work for Jonah. When saved from the ocean, Jonah grudgingly obeys God.

For most of my life, I have been fooled by Jonah's prayer in chapter 2, and I am not alone, because others have called it, “One of the great prayers in the Bible.” For most of the prayer, Jonah simply borrowed verses from the Psalms. And there is nothing wrong with that! However, if you look closer, Jonah prayed a me-centered and self-righteous prayer. The worst thing about it is there is no hint of repentance or asking forgiveness.

PSALM 137:As a musician, I can imagine what the musician who wrote this felt. The imprecation at the end should be taken in view of God’s justice. Compare the thought here with Rev. 6:9 and following verses (the cry of the saints under the altar), and also the ending chapters of Revelation that portray the vengeful judgment against ‘Babylon’— which in that book is used as a figurative name.

Rereading JOHN 17:Note again the importance of the organic bond of union between the Father, the Son, and we who believe in Jesus. Again note the bond of love. Note that our Savior actually prays for us. And this is because we live in a world that is not our home.

GNT Translation notes:Ps. 137:4 How can we sing a song to [You, Lord,//the Lord] in a foreign land?====John 17:1 After Jesus finished saying this, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to [Me,] your Son, so that [I//the Son] may give glory to you.2 For you gave [Me//him] authority over all people, so that [I//he] might give eternal life to all those you gave [Me//him].3 [I, the writer, agree and add that, “//And] eternal life means to know you, the only true God, and to know [Christ Jesus//Jesus Christ], whom you sent.[” Jesus was still praying,]21 I pray that they may all be one. Father! May they be [joined as one with//in] us, just as you are [joined with//in] me and I am [joined with//in] you. May they be one, so that the world will believe that you sent me. 23 I [— joined as one with//in] them and you [— joined with//in] me, so that they may be completely one, in order that the world may know that you sent me and that you love them as you love me.26 I made you known to them, and I will continue to do so, in order that the love you have for me may be in them, and so that I also may be [one with//in] them.”

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GN-Day203 Jeremiah 3-4; Psalm 139; John 18:19-40

JEREMIAH 3-4:From yesterday’s reading, I highlight 1:12b, where God says,

1:12b GNT “I am watching to see that my words come true.”

In Hebrew, the word ‘watching’ is a play on words.

Yesterday we also read Jeremiah 2:13, which is one of the most frequently quoted verses from this book. Look at it in context starting at verse 11:

Jer. 2:11 GNT No other nation has ever changed its gods,even though they were not real.But my people have exchanged me,the God who has brought them honor,for gods that can do nothing for them.12 And so I command the sky to shake with horror,to be amazed and astonished,13 for my people have committed two sins:they have turned away from me,the spring of fresh water,and they have dug cisterns,cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all.

PSALM 139:What a contrast with what we just read! Our God searches us out and knows all about us. This psalm has been a great comfort to many.

JOHN 18b:

Jesus knew he was walking inexorably to the cross. To me it is interesting that in Jesus’ short time with the governor of the land, he brought the focus to the concept of ‘truth’.

GNT Translation notes:

Jer. 4:2 [NLT Then when you swear by my name, saying,‘As surely as the LORD lives,’you could do sowith truth, justice, and righteousness.Then you would be a blessing to the nations of the world,

and all people would come and praise [Me//my name[//GNT it will be right for you to swear by my name. Then all the nations will ask me to bless them, and they will praise me.”][I was going to bet that the NLT added the words, “As surely as the Lord lives” in order that the idea of ‘swear’ing not be taken in the sense of taking the name of the Lord in vain. That can also be called ‘swearing’ in English. But I find that my assumption was wrong! It seems that GNT left out the Hebrew words ‘YHWH live’, and even literal versions translate the two words like NLT. I think this may be one of the few places where one could defensibly say that GNT made a mistake, and the CEV translators must have simply have followed it without checking the Hebrew.] ====Ps. 139:18 If I counted them, they would be more than the grains of sand. [And] When I awake, I am still with you.==== John 18:33 Pilate went back into the palace and called Jesus.[and asked him,] “[So,] Are you the king of the Jews?” [0//he asked him.]37 So Pilate asked him, “Are you a king, then?”

Jesus answered, “[NIV You are right in saying I am a king.//You say that I am a king.] I was born and came into the world for this one purpose, to speak about the truth. Whoever belongs to the truth listens to me.”38 “And what is truth?” Pilate asked.Then Pilate went back outside to the people and said to them, “I cannot find any reason to condemn him.