Reading for June 13th

 Read Jeremiah 1.1-10. Chs. 1-10: Cosmic destruction. Ch. 1: Jeremiah's call. In verses 1-3: The introductory verse tells who Jeremiah was and when he prophesied. He was from a family of priests from the town outside Jerusalem, Anaoth. His call came during the time of King Josiah and extended until the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon in 587 BCE, a 40-year period that symbolically links him with Moses' 40 years of leadership in the wilderness. Jeremiah is presented as a prophet like Moses, as promised in Deut 18.18. In verses 4-10: In a poetic conversation between God and Jeremiah, Jeremiah receives his mission. His call before birth indicates that his prophecy was not his own invention but given to him by God. His resistance on the grounds that he is only a boy and so cannot speak properly also indicates that God has sent him; he has not chosen this task for himself. God tells him not to be afraid, promises to be with him, and touches his mouth. This gesture symbolizes the divine origin of the words Jeremiah speaks and the words recorded in this book. The book claims that Jeremiah's words are from God. In verse 10: Jeremiah is a prophet to the nations and will tear down and build up. This short poem gives Jeremiah and his book authority in the face of opposition. Comments or Questions..

Reading for June 12th

 Read Philippians 4.21-23. In 4.21-23: Closing. Mutual greetings (compare 1 Cor 16.19-21; 1 Thess 5.26-27) and a blessing (compare Philemon). In verse 22: The emperor's household, the slaves of the emperor in Rome or the colonies. Comments or Questions..

Reading for June 11th

Read Philippians 4.8-20.  In 4.8-20: A call for consistency in all situations. A brief, poetic passage commends right thinking and right action (vv. 8-9) and notes the proper attitude toward changing circumstances (vv. 10-20). In verses 8-9: The whatever statements indicate a series of attitudes for living that can help the community face any difficulty. In verse 10: Revived your concern, the Philippians maintained concern for Paul even when they could not express it. In verses 10-13: Paul's attitude resembles Cynic and Stoic discussions of his time, but he does not see the source of endurance in himself. Paul challenges the Philippians to learn the value of "humiliation," shunned by conventional society but reinforced elsewhere in the letter (2.3, 8; 3.21). In verses 15-19: The community never lacked concern for him (v. 10), even though he neither needed nor sought it. Their reward is from God. In verse 16: Paul never accepted gifts from a church while he was with them (see 1 Cor 9; 1Thess 2.9; 2 Cor 8.1-5). In verse 18: On sacrifice see 2.17. Comments or Questions...

Reading for June 10th

 Read Philippians 4.2-7. In 4.2-7: Exhortations to overcome disunity and opposition. In verse 2: Be of the same mind: The point of disagreement is unknown, but a number of the letter's key expressions (same mind, struggled side by side, work of the gospel) come together here. Book of life, see Ex 32.32; Ps 69.28; Dan 12.1. In verses 4-7: Brief exhortations to develop the right attitude; guard, a military term, describes God's peace. Comments or Questions..

Reading for June 9th

 Read Philippians 3.1b-4.1. In 3.1b-4.1: The example of Paul. A transition (v. 1) and warning (v. 2) lead into Paul's renunciation of his advantages to counter any tendencies to arrogance (vv. 3-11). He commends perfection but notes, a play on words, how perfect people (relatively speaking) know they have not reached perfection (vv. 12-16). Finally, while enemies of the cross have an earthly orientation, Paul commends a heavenly citizenship in which the believers await the glorification in the future (3.17-4.1). In verse 1: To write the same things, probably about disunity; Paul positions the words he writes about his own life as a safeguard for the community's problems. In verse 2: Beware, repeated three times, or "watchout for," warns about a possibility, not what already exists. Verses 2 and 18-19 likely refer to practices of the community, rather than actual opponents, that breed disunity. Dogs in ancient writing were examples of shameless greed. In verse 3: Circumcision, metaphorically, God's people. In verse 7: Regard echoes 2.3, which commends church-members to "regard other better than themselves," and 2.6 which asserts that Jesus did not "equality with God as something exploited." In verse 10: Becoming like ("symmorphizomenos") Jesus, a link to 2.7, in which Jesus took on the "form" ("morphen") of a slave. In verses 13-14: The image is of running a race. In verse 17: Imitation, see 1 Cor.16; 11.1; 1 Thess 1.6. In verse 20: Citizenship, not political but heavenly. See Gal 4.26. Comments or Questions.. 

Reading for June 8th

 Read Philippians 2.9-3.1a. In 2.19-3.1a: Timothy and Epaphroditus: examples of unselfishness. Timothy (2.19-24) and Epaphroditus (2.25-20), examples of unselfishness concerned with the whole church. In verse 22: Timothy, see Acts 16.1-3; 1 Cor 16.10-11; 1 Thess 3.1-6> In verse 25: Epaphroditus, see 4.18; Col 1.7; Philem 23. In verses 29-30: Honor such people, Paul continues to redefine honor: Honor those who risk their lives for Christ (2.30). In 1a: Finally, a transition (aslo at 4.8). Comments or Questions..

Reading for June 7th

 Read Philippians 12-18. In 1.12-18: Applying the hymn to life. Based on the honor of being a slave who brings glory to God, Paul commends efforts that seek to please God, oriented toward the day of Christ, for God began and would continue to work among the Philippians until it was completed on that day (1.6). In verse 12: Work out or "work forth" (that is demonstrate) salvation, a work that is not yet complete. In verse 15: Crooked and perverse generation (Deut 32.5), in contrast to God's blameless children who shine like the stars. In verse 16: Labor, Paul's efforts in proclaiming the gospel, oriented to the day of Christ on which he can boast if his church holds fast. In verse 17: Being poured out as a libation over the sacrifice, Paul's present suffering for the gospel. Later, he views the Philippian's gift as a "sacrifice," That is a financial hardship on behalf of the gospel (4.18). Comments or Questions..