perhaps you will be concealed

Posted on March 27, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

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perhaps you will be concealed

Zephaniah 1:1-2:3

Zephaniah 1:1 The word of Yahveh that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah.
Zephaniah 1:2 I will thoroughly sweep away everything from the face of the land—this is Yahveh’s declaration.
Zephaniah 1:3 I will sweep away people and animals, the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea, and the ruins along with the wicked. I will cut off mankind from the face of the land. This is Yahveh’s declaration.
Zephaniah 1:4 I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the ones who live of Jerusalem. I will cut off every vestige of Baal from this place, the names of the pagan priests along with the priests;
Zephaniah 1:5 those who bow in worship on the rooftops to the stars in the sky; those who bow and pledge loyalty to Yahveh but also pledge loyalty to Milcom;
Zephaniah 1:6 and those who turn back from following Yahveh, who do not seek Yahveh or inquire of him.
Zephaniah 1:7 Be silent in the presence of the Lord Yahveh, for the day of Yahveh is near. Indeed, Yahveh has prepared a sacrifice; he has committed his guests.
Zephaniah 1:8 On the day of Yahveh’s sacrifice I will punish the officials, the king’s sons, and all who are dressed in foreign clothing.
Zephaniah 1:9 On that day, I will punish all who skip over the threshold and fill their master’s house with violence and deceit.
Zephaniah 1:10 On that day — this is Yahveh’s declaration — there will be an outcry from the Fish Gate, a wailing from the Second District, and a loud crashing from the hills.
Zephaniah 1:11 Yell, you who live in the Hollow, for all the merchants will be silenced; all those loaded with silver will be cut off.
Zephaniah 1:12 And at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who settle down comfortably, who say to themselves: Yahveh will not do good or evil.
Zephaniah 1:13 Their wealth will become plunder and their houses a sinister desolation. They will build houses but never live in them, plant vineyards but never drink their wine.
Zephaniah 1:14 The great day of Yahveh is near, near and rapidly approaching. Listen, the day of Yahveh– then the warrior’s cry is bitter.
Zephaniah 1:15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and total darkness,
Zephaniah 1:16 a day of ram’s horn bugle blast and battle cry against the fortified cities, and against the high corner towers.
Zephaniah 1:17 I will bring distress on mankind, and they will walk like the blind because they have sinned against Yahveh. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung.
Zephaniah 1:18 Their silver and their gold will be unable to rescue them on the day of Yahveh’s wrath. The whole land will be consumed by the fire of his jealousy, for he will make a complete, yes, a horrifying end of all those who live in the land.
Zephaniah 2:1 Gather yourselves together; gather together, undesirable nation,
Zephaniah 2:2 before the decree takes effect and the day passes like chaff, before the burning of Yahveh’s anger overtakes you, before the day of Yahveh’s anger overtakes you.
Zephaniah 2:3 Seek Yahveh, all you humble of the land, who carry out what he commands. Seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you will be concealed on the day of Yahveh’s anger.

perhaps you will be concealed

Judgment is going to take place. There is no doubt about that. But God’s people are challenged to gather and seek him and his righteousness in humility. Perhaps they will be spared on that great and terrible day of the LORD.

LORD, we seek your kingdom and your righteousness. Hide us from your terrible wrath.

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wrong time

Posted on March 26, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

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wrong time

Habakkuk 3:1-19 (JDV)

Habakkuk 3:1 A prayer of the prophet Habakkuk. According to Shigionoth.
Habakkuk 3:2 Yahveh, I have heard the report about you; Yahveh, I stand in awe of your deeds. Revive your work in these years; make it known in these years. In your wrath remember mercy!
Habakkuk 3:3 God comes from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His splendor covers the sky and the land is full of his praise.
Habakkuk 3:4 His brilliance is like light; rays are flashing from his hand. This is where his power is hidden.
Habakkuk 3:5 Plague goes before him, and pestilence follows in his steps.
Habakkuk 3:6 He stands and shakes the land; he looks and startles the nations. The “continual” mountains break apart; the “permanent” hills sink down. His pathways are permanent.
Habakkuk 3:7 I see the tents of Cushan in distress; the tent curtains of the land of Midian tremble.
Habakkuk 3:8 Are you angry at the rivers, Yahveh? Is your wrath against the rivers? Or is your rage against the sea when you ride on your horses, your victorious chariot?
Habakkuk 3:9 You took the sheath from your bow; the arrows are ready to be used with an oath. Selah. You split the land with rivers.
Habakkuk 3:10 The mountains see you and convulse; a downpour of water sweeps by. The deep roars with its voice and lifts its waves high.
Habakkuk 3:11 Sun and moon stand still in their lofty residence, at the flash of your flying arrows, at the brightness of your shining spear.
Habakkuk 3:12 You march across the land with indignation; you trample down the nations in wrath.
Habakkuk 3:13 You come out to save your people, to save your anointed. You crush the leader of the house of the wicked and strip him from foot to neck. Selah.
Habakkuk 3:14 You pierce his head with his own spears; his warriors storm out to scatter us, gloating as if ready to secretly devour the weak.
Habakkuk 3:15 You tread the sea with your horses, stirring up the vast water.
Habakkuk 3:16 I heard, and I trembled within; my lips quivered at the sound. Rottenness entered my bones; I trembled where I stood. Now I must quietly wait for the day of distress to come against the people invading us.
Habakkuk 3:17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there is no fruit on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the flocks disappear from the pen and there are no herds in the stalls,
Habakkuk 3:18 yet I will celebrate in the Yahveh; I will shriek ecstatically in the God of my salvation!
Habakkuk 3:19 The Lord Yahveh is my strength; he makes my feet like those of a deer and enables me to walk on mountain heights! For the choir director: on stringed instruments.

wrong time

The prophet finds himself and his people at the wrong time. He wants to be at the brink of deliverance, but he has arrived at the brink of judgment – on his own people. What does a believer do? Some choose to bury their head in the sand and not think about reality, hoping it will just go away. Habakkuk chooses to do two almost contradictory things. He chooses to quietly wait for deliverance, while continuing to rejoice in the LORD.

LORD, when it’s the wrong time for deliverance, give us the wisdom to rejoice in who you are.

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confidence in the LORD

Posted on March 25, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

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confidence in the LORD

Habakkuk 1:12-2:20 (JDV)

Habakkuk 1:12 Are you not from antiquity, Yahveh my God? My Holy One, you will not die. Yahveh, you appointed them to execute judgment; my Rock, you destined them to punish us.
Habakkuk 1:13 Your eyes are too pure to look on evil, and you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do you tolerate those who are treacherous? Why are you silent while one who is wicked swallows up one who is more righteous than himself?
Habakkuk 1:14 You have made Adam like the fish of the sea, like marine creatures that have no ruler.
Habakkuk 1:15 The Chaldeans pull them all up with a hook, catch them in their dragnet, and gather them in their fishing net; that is why they are glad and shriek ecstatically.
Habakkuk 1:16 That is why they sacrifice to their dragnet and burn incense to their fishing net, because by these things their portion is rich and their food plentiful.
Habakkuk 1:17 Will they therefore empty their net and continually slaughter nations without mercy?
Habakkuk 2:1 I will stand at my guard post and station myself on the lookout tower. I will watch to see what he will say to me and what I should reply about my complaint.
Habakkuk 2:2 Yahveh answered me: Write down this vision; clearly inscribe it on tablets so one may easily read it.
Habakkuk 2:3 Because the vision is yet for the appointed time; it testifies about the end and will not lie. Though it is delayed, wait for it, since it will certainly come and not be late.
Habakkuk 2:4 Notice, his throat is swollen; he is without integrity. But the righteous one will live by his faith.
Habakkuk 2:5 Moreover, wine betrays; an arrogant man is never at rest. He enlarges his throat like Sheol, and like Death he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations to himself; he collects all the peoples for himself.
Habakkuk 2:6 Won’t all of these take up a taunt against him, with mockery and riddles about him? They will say: Woe to him who amasses what is not his– how much longer? — and loads himself with goods taken in pledge.
Habakkuk 2:7 Won’t your creditors suddenly arise, and those who disturb you wake up? Then you will become prey to them.
Habakkuk 2:8 Since you have plundered many nations, all the peoples who remain will plunder you — because of human bloodshed and violence against land, city, and all who live in it.
Habakkuk 2:9 Woe to him who dishonestly makes wealth for his house to place his nest on high, to escape the grasp of disaster!
Habakkuk 2:10 You have planned shame for your house by wiping out many peoples and failing your own throat.
Habakkuk 2:11 For the stones will cry out from the wall, and the rafters will answer them from the woodwork.
Habakkuk 2:12 Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and founds a town with injustice!
Habakkuk 2:13 Is it not noticed by the Yahveh of Armies that the peoples labor only to fuel the fire and countries exhaust themselves for nothing?
Habakkuk 2:14 For the land will be filled with the knowledge of the Yahveh’s glory, as the water covers the sea.
Habakkuk 2:15 Woe to him who gives his neighbors drink, pouring out your wrath and even making them drunk, in order to look at their nakedness!
Habakkuk 2:16 You will be filled with disgrace instead of glory. You also – drink and expose your uncircumcision! The cup in the Yahveh’s right hand will come around to you, and utter disgrace will cover your glory.
Habakkuk 2:17 For your violence against Lebanon will overwhelm you; the robbery of animals will terrify you because of your human bloodshed and violence against land, city, and all who live in it.
Habakkuk 2:18 What use is a carved idol after its craftsman carves it? It is only a cast image, a teacher of lies. For the one who crafts its shape trusts in it and makes idols that cannot speak.
Habakkuk 2:19 Woe to him who says to wood: Wake up! or to mute stone: Come alive! Can it teach? Notice! It may be plated with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all.
Habakkuk 2:20 But the Yahveh is in his holy temple; let the whole land be silent in his presence.

confidence in the LORD

Habakkuk’s second complaint is that the LORD is overlooking the evil of Babylon as he metes out judgment through them. The answer is an oracle against Babylon which will be fulfilled in due time. Meanwhile, how does a righteous person live in a time when his own people are being judged for their sin? God’s righteous person lives by faith — confidence in the LORD regardless of the circumstances.

LORD, make us examples of your kind of person – the righteous who live by faith.

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his solution

Posted on March 24, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

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his solution

Habakkuk 1:1-11 (JDV)

Habakkuk 1:1 The pronouncement of what the prophet Habakkuk saw.
Habakkuk 1:2 How long, Yahveh, must I call for help and you do not listen or cry out to you about violence and you do not save?
Habakkuk 1:3 Why do you force me to see injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Robbery and violence are right in front of me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.
Habakkuk 1:4 This is why the law is ineffective and justice never emerges. For the wicked restrict the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted.
Habakkuk 1:5 Look at the nations and observe — be utterly astounded! For I am doing something in your days that you will not believe when you hear about it.
Habakkuk 1:6 Notice! I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter, impetuous nation that marches across the land’s open spaces to seize territories not its own.
Habakkuk 1:7 They are fierce and terrifying; their views of justice and sovereignty stem from themselves.
Habakkuk 1:8 Their horses are swifter than leopards and fiercer than wolves of the night. Their horsemen charge ahead; their horsemen come from distant lands. They fly like eagles, swooping to devour.
Habakkuk 1:9 All of them come to do violence; their faces are set in determination. They gather prisoners like sand.
Habakkuk 1:10 They mock kings, and rulers are a joke to them. They laugh at every fortress and build siege ramps to capture it.
Habakkuk 1:11 Then they sweep by like the wind and pass through. They bear guilt; their strength is their god.

his solution

Habakkuk begins with a complaint from the author to God, and God’s response was totally not what was expected. It is like Habakkuk had put in an emergency phone call, and the reply was, “OK, I’ll send you an enemy army!” Wrong number? No, the prophet is learning to trust God to do what needs to be done his way. His ways are not our ways.

LORD, teach us to pray prayers which seek your solution to our problems, not to dictate to you what you must do. May your kingdom come, not ours.

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stay in the truth

Posted on March 23, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

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stay in the truth

2 John (JDV)

2 John 1:1 The elder: To the chosen lady and her children, whom I care about in the truth — and not only I, but also all who know the truth —
2 John 1:2 because of the truth that remains in us and will be with us permanently.
2 John 1:3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and care.
2 John 1:4 I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, in keeping with a command we have received from the Father.
2 John 1:5 So now I ask you, dear lady — not as if I were writing you a new command, but one we have had from the beginning — that we care about one another.
2 John 1:6 This is care: that we walk according to his commands. This is the command as you have heard it from the beginning: that you walk in it.
2 John 1:7 Many deceivers have gone out into the world; they do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.
2 John 1:8 Watch yourselves so you don’t lose what we have worked for, but that you may receive a full reward.
2 John 1:9 Anyone who does not remain in Christ’s teaching but goes beyond it does not have God. The one who remains in that teaching, this one has both the Father and the Son.
2 John 1:10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not welcome him into your home, and don’t greet him;
2 John 1:11 because the one who greets him shares in his evil works.
2 John 1:12 Though I have many things to write to you, I don’t want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to come to you and talk face to face so that our joy may be complete.
2 John 1:13 The children of your chosen sister send you greetings.

stay in the truth

John’s second letter was to a church group. Although he addressed it to “the elect lady and her children” all of the commands in it are plural, which suggests he had the group in mind — probably with a female leader.

He encouraged them to stay in the truth they know, and not to be eager to “go beyond it” (9). It is tempting to always be looking for some new teaching, but those who do so are in danger of wandering away from the simple message of grace in the gospel.

John warned the believers not to even receive those with “new” teachings into their homes. That would be taking part in a deceiver’s “evil works” (11).

LORD, help us to stay in the truth, and so avoid being lured away from it by “new” teachings.

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Nahum’s Nineveh

Posted on March 22, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

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Nahum’s Nineveh

Nahum 3:5-19 (JDV)

Nahum 3:5 Watch, I am against you. This is the declaration of Yahveh of Armies. I will lift your skirts over your face and display your nakedness to nations, your shame to kingdoms.
Nahum 3:6 I will throw filth on you and treat you with contempt; I will make a spectacle of you.
Nahum 3:7 Then all who see you will recoil from you, saying, “Nineveh is devastated; who will show sympathy to her?” Where can I find anyone to comfort you?
Nahum 3:8 Are you better than Thebes that sat along the Nile with water surrounding her, whose rampart was the sea, the river her wall?
Nahum 3:9 Cush and Egypt were her endless source of strength; Put and Libya were among her allies.
Nahum 3:10 Yet she became an exile; she went into captivity. Her children were also dashed to pieces at the head of every street. They cast lots for her dignitaries, and all her nobles were bound in chains.
Nahum 3:11 You also will become drunk; you will hide. You also will seek refuge from the enemy.
Nahum 3:12 All your fortresses are fig trees with figs that ripened first; when shaken, they fall — right into the mouth of the eater!
Nahum 3:13 Watch, your troops are like women among you; your land’s city gates are wide open to your enemies. Fire will devour the bars of your gates.
Nahum 3:14 Draw water for the siege; strengthen your fortresses. Step into the clay and tread the mortar; take hold of the brick-mold!
Nahum 3:15 The fire will devour you there; the sword will cut you down. It will devour you like the crawling stage locust. Multiply yourselves like the young locust; multiply like the winging stage locust!
Nahum 3:16 You have made your merchants more numerous than the stars of the sky. The crawling stage locust strips the land and leaves it dark.
Nahum 3:17 Your court officials are like the winging stage locust, and your scribes like clouds of locusts, which settle on the walls on a cold day; when the sun rises, they take off, and no one knows where they are.
Nahum 3:18 King of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; your officers sleep. Your people are scattered across the mountains with no one to gather them together.
Nahum 3:19 There is no remedy for your fracture; your injury is severe. All who hear the news about you will clap their hands because of you, because who has not experienced your constant cruelty?

Nahum’s Nineveh

Shame, fear and destruction will come to Nineveh: the same shame, fear and destruction that she has meted out to her neighbor nations. Why should the God of Israel waste time sending this message from his prophet? He cares about Nineveh, and showed that care by sending Jonah. But this time, there appears to have been no repentance. Nineveh got hers. How many times has the LORD sent his word to us, pleading for us to repent? We cannot escape Jesus Christ. He will either be our Savior or our judge.

LORD, renew our minds, so that we respond to your word. May we be like Jonah’s Nineveh, not like Nahum’s Nineveh.

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city of blood

Posted on March 21, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

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city of blood

Nahum 2:1-3:4 (JDV)

Nahum 2:1 One who scatters is coming up against you. Man the fortifications! Watch the road! Brace yourself! Summon all your strength!
Nahum 2:2 Because Yahveh will restore the majesty of Jacob, yes, the majesty of Israel, though ravagers have ravaged them and ruined their vine branches.
Nahum 2:3 The shields of his warriors are dyed red; the valiant men are dressed in scarlet. The fittings of the chariot flash like fire on the day of its battle preparations, and the spears are brandished.
Nahum 2:4 The chariots dash madly through the streets; they rush around in the plazas. They look like torches; they dart back and forth like lightning.
Nahum 2:5 He gives orders to his officers; they stumble as they advance. They race to its wall; the protective shield is set in place.
Nahum 2:6 The river gates are opened, and the palace erodes away.
Nahum 2:7 Beauty is stripped; she is carried away; her ladies-in-waiting moan like the sound of doves and beat their breasts.
Nahum 2:8 Nineveh has been like a pool of water from her first days, but they are fleeing. “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one turns back.
Nahum 2:9 “Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!” There is no end to the treasure, an abundance of every precious thing.
Nahum 2:10 Desolation, decimation, devastation! Hearts melt, knees tremble, insides churn, every face grows pale!
Nahum 2:11 Where is the lions’ lair, or the feeding ground of the young lions, where the lion and lioness prowled, and the lion’s cub, with nothing to frighten them away?
Nahum 2:12 The lion mauled whatever its cubs needed and strangled prey for its lionesses. It filled up its dens with the kill, and its lairs with mauled prey.
Nahum 2:13 Watch, I am against you. This is the declaration of Yahveh of Armies. I will make your chariots go up in smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions. I will cut down your prey from the land, and the sound of your messengers will never be heard again.
Nahum 3:1 Woe to the city of blood, totally deceitful, full of plunder, never without prey.
Nahum 3:2 The crack of the whip and rumble of the wheel, galloping horse and jolting chariot!
Nahum 3:3 Charging horseman, flashing sword, shining spear; heaps of slain, mounds of corpses, dead bodies without end — they stumble over their dead.
Nahum 3:4 Because of the continual prostitution of the prostitute, the attractive mistress of sorcery, who treats nations and clans like merchandise by her prostitution and sorcery.

city of blood

Nahum calls Nineveh the city of blood, which was probably the name given it by the Israelites and others who had felt the violence of its attacks. The prophet described in vivid detail one of its attacks, but with Nineveh as the victim. The LORD would return its violence upon its own head. The heaps of corpses would testify that the LORD does not allow such sin to go unpunished.

LORD, we fall at the foot of the cross and plead his blood as atonement for our sins. Do not give us what we deserve. Give us your grace, for we fear your justice.

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obliteration

Posted on March 20, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

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obliteration

Nahum 1:1-15 (JDV)

Nahum 1:1 A pronouncement concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
Nahum 1:2 Yahveh is a jealous and avenging God; Yahveh takes vengeance and is fierce in wrath. Yahveh takes vengeance against his foes; he is furious with his enemies.
Nahum 1:3 Yahveh is slow to anger but great in power; Yahveh will never leave the guilty unpunished. His road is in the whirlwind and storm, and clouds are the dust beneath his feet.
Nahum 1:4 He rebukes the sea and dries it up, and he makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither; even the flower of Lebanon withers.
Nahum 1:5 The mountains quake before him, and the hills melt; the land trembles at his presence — the world and all who live in it.
Nahum 1:6 Who can withstand his indignation? Who can endure his burning anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; even rocks are shattered before him.
Nahum 1:7 Yahveh is good, a stronghold in a day of distress; he cares for those who take refuge in him.
Nahum 1:8 But he will completely destroy Nineveh with an overwhelming flood, and he will chase his enemies into darkness.
Nahum 1:9 Whatever you plot against Yahveh, he will completely destroy; oppression will not rise up a second time.
Nahum 1:10 Because they will be consumed like entangled thorns, like the drink of a drunkard and like straw that is fully dry.
Nahum 1:11 One has gone out from you, who plots evil against Yahveh, and is a wicked counselor.
Nahum 1:12 This is what Yahveh says: Though they are strong and numerous, they will still be sheared off, and he will pass away. Though I have punished you, I will punish you no longer.
Nahum 1:13 For I will now break off his yoke from you and tear off your shackles.
Nahum 1:14 Yahveh has issued an order concerning you: There will be no offspring to carry on your name. I will cut down the carved idol and cast image from the house of your gods; I will prepare your grave, for you are contemptible.
Nahum 1:15 Notice the mountains — the feet of the herald, who proclaims peace. Celebrate your festivals, Judah; fulfill your vows. For the wicked one will never again march through you; he will be entirely cut down.

obliteration

The Ninevites are at it again, and this time God is determined to obliterate them. He has his tolerance for evil, and will allow the wicked time to repent, as we saw in Jonah. But when a nation, a people, or a person consistently does evil in his sight, and does not repent, he will make of them “a complete end” (9). They will be “consumed like stubble, fully dried” (10). The LORD promises his people a peace so thorough that “never again shall the worthless pass through you; he is utterly cut off” (15).

LORD, forgive us for our unfaithfulness. Make us a people who survive to your peace, not a people who come to an end.

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what he knew about God

Posted on March 19, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

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what he knew about God

Micah 7:14-20 (JDV)

Micah 7:14 Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock you possess. They live alone in a woodland surrounded by pastures. Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead as in ancient times.
Micah 7:15 I will perform miracles for them as in the days of your exodus from the land of Egypt.
Micah 7:16 Nations will see and be ashamed of all their power. They will put their hands over their mouths, and their ears will become deaf.
Micah 7:17 They will lick the dust like a snake; they will come trembling out of their hiding places like reptiles slithering on the ground. They will tremble in the presence of Yahveh our God and stand in awe of you.
Micah 7:18 Who is a God like you, forgiving iniquity and passing over rebellion for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not hold on to his anger forever because he delights in faithful love.
Micah 7:19 He will again have compassion on us and vanquish our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
Micah 7:20 You will show loyalty to Jacob and faithful love to Abraham, as you swore to our fathers from days long ago.

what he knew about God

Micah lived among a people who had forgotten about God. But Micah held on to two theological truths which stubbornly refused to fade away. The LORD is a great shepherd who had brought his people where he wanted them, he can do it again. The LORD has the capacity to forgive so completely it is like having thrown the offending sins into the depths of the sea. When things looked their worst. Micah held to what he knew about God.

LORD, may our understanding of who you are sustain us when nothing else seems to work.

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miles of crimson bushes

Posted on March 18, 2025 by Jefferson Vann

20250318

miles of crimson bushes

Micah 7:1-13 (JDV)

Micah 7:1 How sad for me! Because I am like one who — after the summer fruit has been gathered after the gleaning of the grape harvest — finds no grape cluster to eat, no early fig, which I crave.
Micah 7:2 Faithful people have vanished from the land; no one is upright among the people. They all wait in ambush to shed blood; they hunt each other with a net.
Micah 7:3 Both hands are good at accomplishing evil: the official and the judge demand a bribe; when the powerful man communicates the greed of his throat, they plot it together.
Micah 7:4 The best of them is like a brier; the most upright is worse than a hedge of thorns. The day of your guards, the day of your punishment, is coming; their panic is here now.
Micah 7:5: Do not rely on a friend; don’t trust in a close companion. Seal your mouth from the woman who lies in your arms.
Micah 7:6 Surely a son considers his father a fool, a daughter opposes her mother, and a daughter-in-law is against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his household.
Micah 7:7 But I will look to Yahveh and wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.
Micah 7:8 Do not rejoice over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will stand up; though I sit in darkness, Yahveh will be my light.
Micah 7:9 Because I have sinned against him, I must endure Yahveh’s rage until he champions my cause and establishes justice for me. He will bring me into the light; I will see his salvation.
Micah 7:10 Then my enemy will see, and she will be covered with shame, the one who said to me, “Where is Yahveh your God?” My eyes will look at her triumphantly; she will be trampled like mud in the streets at that time.
Micah 7:11 A day will come for rebuilding your walls; your boundary will be extended on that day.
Micah 7:12 On that day, people will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, even from Egypt to the Euphrates River and from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.
Micah 7:13 Then the land will become a sinister desolation because of those who live there and because of their actions.

miles of crimson bushes

When I lived in Maine, I enjoyed looking on the bright red blueberry barrens, after harvest. It was an awesome sight to see miles of crimson bushes. Yet, it meant that there was no fruit left. The berries had already been harvested. This is how Micah saw his people. There was no righteousness left, no fruit for his master. Even his loved ones – even the one who lies in his arms – everyone was asking him where God was. Micah chose to wait for the LORD to reappear.

LORD, make us people who trust you, who dare to wait for you to show up, even when everyone around us is denying your existence.

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