Read To Me Daily Semester 3ናሙና

JEREMIAH 34-35:
In yesterday’s reading, Jeremiah bought a field according to the Lord’s instructions. Under the circumstances, that seemed a futile thing to do. He prayed, and the Lord used the situation as a backdrop for wonderful promises to the nation of Israel.

I highlighted a verse earlier in Jeremiah where the coming Righteous King was named, ‘The Lord Our Salvation’. In yesterday’s reading it was the city of Jerusalem that was so named.

Jer. 33:16 GNT The people of Judah and of Jerusalem will be rescued and will live in safety. The city will be called ‘The Lord Our Salvation’.

There is no conflict in this. The Lord is emphasizing something. Keep it in mind!

PROVERBS 4a:
Proverbs 3 extolled the virtues of Lady Wisdom and ended with various nuggets of wisdom. 

1CORINTHIANS 12:
You would have noticed that chapter 11 of 1st Corinthians has two clear topics. The second section is the often-quoted teaching about the Lord’s supper. My opinion is that ‘discerning the body’ is about recognizing the symbolism relating to the Lord’s physical body in the communion elements. The symbolism about the church as the ‘body of Christ’ does not seem to be in view in this context.

The first section of chapter 11 has to do with visually portraying the God-ordained hierarchy of church leadership within the main worship services. (Note: Paul was not talking about general dress everywhere else, but just the worship services.) There is good information about the head ‘covering’ in a NET footnote. (See lumina.bible.org.) That note shows why long hair cannot be considered to be the head covering Paul was talking about. 

I do NOT think we may just dismiss what Paul teaches here by saying that our culture does not visually portray male/female roles in the same way as the Judeo/Roman culture of Paul’s day. Rather than dismissing Paul’s ideas, I challenge us to explore how we may visually display the same spiritual considerations in our worship services in a way that makes sense in our cultures. Remember that he closes with these emphatic words:

1Cor. 11:16 NLT But if anyone wants to argue about this, I simply say that we have no other custom than this, and neither do God’s other churches.

I think it is a good idea to pay attention any time Paul becomes emphatic.

Let’s pray.
Our sovereign heavenly Father who “made the earth and the sky by your great power and might; nothing is too difficult for You!” I pray that You would work in us like you offered to Jeremiah when You said, “Call to Me, and I will answer you; I will tell you wonderful and marvelous things that you know nothing about.” Open our eyes to see those things and receive heavenly wisdom from Jeremiah, from Solomon in the Proverbs, and from Paul in 1 Corinthians.