| Date | Version | Reading Plan |
|---|---|---|
| @June 6, 2024 | ESV (2016) | M’Cheyne Plan 2024 |
Deuteronomy 10
Deuteronomy 10:16–17 (ESV) 16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. 17 For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.
God through Moses told the people who God is and what He required of them, to fear Him, walk in His ways, love Him and serve Him with all heart and soul. The people were to circumcise their hearts—a symbol of cutting off their previous life—and no longer be stubborn. Being well-versed in practice of physical circumcision (first mentioned in Gen. 17:10-14 with regard to Abraham and his progeny), its application to the heart would likely have found resonance among the people. It was an exhortation to cut off their old selves and wholeheartedly serve the LORD their God. As with the Israelites, this extends to us today as an admonition of repentance and to live in complete devotion to the Lord.
Psalm 94
Psalm 94:8–11 (ESV) 8 Understand, O dullest of the people! Fools, when will you be wise? 9 He who planted the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see? 10 He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke? He who teaches man knowledge— 11 the LORD—knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath.
The psalmist rebukes the foolish with rhetorical questions and proclaims that the LORD knows the feeble thoughts of man. The fool boasts with arrogant words, saying “The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob does not perceive.”, but they say this is of the God who planted the ear and formed the eye. Not only does God perceive all things, His hearing is clearer and seeing better than any of His creations. How highly does man think of himself and with what flippancy does he regard the LORD. Reading of the psalmists words induces humility, being reminded of who we are in relation to an Almighty God.
Isaiah 38
Isaiah 38:7–8 (ESV) 7 “This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he has promised: 8 Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.” So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.
Isaiah told a sick king, Hezekiah, that the LORD would turn back the dial of Ahaz ten steps as a sign that healing would surely come to him. As the Believer’s Bible Commentary makes note, “…it seems probable that Ahaz had built an obelisk with steps leading up to it for telling time, and that God miraculously caused the shadow to decline ten degrees while Hezekiah watched.” Hezekiah’s healing alone is an amazing act of God’s grace but this is all the more compounded by how He gave a miraculous sign of its assurance. These events point to times in which God works within His creation with a burst of divine activity.
Revelation 8
Revelation 8:7 (ESV) 7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
This chapter begins the blowing of the seven trumpets, each inaugurating a host of dynamic phenomena. Interestingly, John describes how many of these events effected “a third” of its associated object. In fact, the word “third” appears 14x in the chapter. This portion signifies a hefty weight for each occurrence and its significance of impact.