Mike Blogs

As you no doubt have guessed, I have a reason for putting the word ‘merry’ in quotation marks for this subseries. So far, the wives of David have not always been merry, and David has not always been thoughtful and kind. Seems that David was always lusting, rarely loving.    The affair with Bathsheba, including the killing of her husband, Uriah, seems to have been the tipping point that exposed David’s weakness as a husband and as a father.    Last week we read that God’s prop

Last week we learned that according to God neither worship or rituals (songs or sacraments) nor sacrifices (sheep or tithes) come first. First comes obedience to God. God says that this was his first word to newly escaped Israelites: “Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; walk only in the way that I command you, so that it may be well with you” (Jeremiah 7:21-23).   There is proper worship with sacraments and offerings, but these will not stand al

“ Thou art the man! ”   “Everyone keep cool; nothing going on here, no deception. We’re just the people of God sitting around talking, right?”  “ Thou art the man!”  “Who keeps saying that? And why is he speaking King James English? Maybe we will wake up; it’s a nightmare, right?”  Yes, David and Bathsheba, it is a nightmare, but you are not asleep. Instead, Nathan the prophet is here in the king’s court, and he has been telling a story. Wind it back a little. Listen again to

Look back a few verses to verse 4: “Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD’.  It is not clear whether this is a chant, or just an oft-repeated saying. Either way, it's like whistling in the dark while walking through a cemetery. Some people are like that at church; thinking they are safe when they are not.   Jeremiah 7: 8-11.  Here you are, trusting in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal,

“ Thou art the man! ”   “Everyone keep cool; nothing going on here. We’re just the people of God sitting around talking, right?”  “ Thou art the man!”   “Who keeps saying that? And why is he speaking King James English? Maybe we should wake up; it’s a nightmare, right?”  Yes, David and Bathsheba, it is a nightmare, but you are not asleep. Instead, Nathan the prophet is here in the king’s court, and he has been telling a story. Wind it back a little. Listen to the story that

Jeremiah 7: 1-2.  The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Stand in the gate of the LORD’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah, you who enter these gates to worship the LORD’.”   With this heading, we can see that the sermons or prophecies of the previous chapters are now behind us and we move on to a new part of the story. In fact, if Chapters 2-6 are a collection of Jeremiah’s early prophecies, as they seem

One would think that David has enough wives; but his attitude and behavior toward women is his weakness. His character flaw carries over into the next generation; it is also Solomon’s weakness. We saw some of the results because we followed the woes of David’s wife Maacah to its end, that is, until Scripture stops telling her story. That tragedy happened after this affair with Bathsheba. In fact, this case of adultery unwinds David’s life.   Who was at fault? Scripture is not

Jeremiah 6:16-21.   Thus says the LORD: Stand at the crossroads and look,    and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies;  and walk in it,  and find rest for your souls. But they said,  “We will not walk in it.” Also, I raised up sentinels for you:     “Give heed to the sound of the trumpet!” But they said,  “We will not give heed.” Therefore hear, O nations,    and know, O congregation, what will happen to them. Hear, O earth; I am going to bring disaster on