The Works of God

I work with really smart guys who can read passages in Greek and Hebrew; they can be intimidating when they start discussing the bible!

But I’ve discovered that with a good study bible, combined with a desire to learn and a dependency on the Holy Spirit for help, even folks like us without those skills can enjoy more of the riches that God has provided to us in his word.

I have a couple of study bibles I use, with the ESV Study Bible being primary.  But my old MacArthur Study Bible still gets used as well.  And I pulled out both for this passage:

In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see (Isaiah 29:18).

The MacArthur Study Bible includes this helpful note on Isaiah 29:18:

The spiritual blindness of Israel will no longer exist. (emphasis mine)  Jesus gives the words an additional meaning, applying it to his ministry of physical healing for the deaf and blind. Macarther Study Bible: New American Standard Bible, p. 977

So, the ‘deaf’ and the ‘blind’ in this case is everyone of the people of Israel who do not know God for who he is.  Their spiritual blindness will be addressed by God himself!

Which indicate the physical healing Jesus provided is a sign pointing to something much greater – God addressing spiritual blindness.  As a sign, the physical healing is secondary and of lesser importance, though clearly a very good gift that Jesus is offering.  And we are told it is coming through God.

Both study bibles then point to Matthew 11:5 where Jesus uses his healing authority as evidence of something greater for John the Baptist, who has asked ‘are you the one’:

And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them (Matthew 11:4-5).”

Again, the healing is a sign of something greater – the arrival of the Messiah who will “save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).”  Why would the Lord emphasize that to Joseph before Jesus was born except that it was of primary importance?

Even logically we know that physical healing is a lesser gift than spiritual healing because eventually everyone will die.  And after we die, we will face God who judges rightly.

Which brought to mind Matthew 5:29:

If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.

“For it is better” for us to disable ourselves than to let sin rule our lives and lead us to eternal destruction.  This is another example of spiritual sight being a great deal more important than physical wholeness.

And we know that spiritual sight is not linked to physical sight:

. . . that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. . . (Ephesian 1:17-18)

This is the sight we should long for and ask for and pursue: Spirit-enlightened heart eyes!

So if you are struggling for a gift for someone this Christmas season, consider a good study bible.  And point people to the free resources of Desiring God where they can read, listen to or watch what Pastor John has to say and learn even more (he also can read Greek and Hebrew!).

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Yes, I know, the new year is still more than a month away.  But I’d like to encourage you to give yourself some momentum before the new year begins.

God has helped me throughout this year through a plan to read through the Bible in a year.  There have been some amazing days when God let me see something new from his word that I had never seen before, frequently drawing together two or more of the four readings for the day.

And I would encourage you start now.  I had every desire to start this journey on January 1 this past year – because that’s when we’re ‘supposed’ to get into better habits!  I think I actually started about January 10 or 15, feeling both sheepish and guilty that I had not followed through on my good intentions.  Two weeks into the year and I was ready to give up on this plan!

I didn’t bother to try to catch up; I just started on that day.

It hasn’t been perfect – I have gotten behind several times during the year.  But it has been very good for my study and my soul.

So why not start now?  By January 1 you’ll already start seeing the benefits, you’ll have developed a new habit, and if the plan you’ve been using just hasn’t seemed to fit your needs, you can start a different one.

I’ve used the free One Year Tract Bible Reading Plan this year with the English Standard Version of the Bible.  This website also renders beautifully on mobile devices like the iPhone, so I have it with me almost anywhere I go.  Dianne listens to the daily reading, also freely available at that website.

There are other one year plans available here.

I would highly recommend a good study bible to go with it, like the ESV Study Bible available from Crossway.  It is a worthwhile investment in your own life, and a great present for somebody else.

Do you have a suggestion for a reading plan that’s been helpful?

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2 Corinthians 4:7-18

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.

13 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, 14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

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Psalm 100:

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!

Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!

For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

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Jeremiah 31:7-9

7 For thus says the Lord:
“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
‘O Lord, save your people,
the remnant of Israel.’
8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country
and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,
among them the blind and the lame,
the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;
a great company, they shall return here.
9 With weeping they shall come,
and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,
I will make them walk by brooks of water,
in a straight path in which they shall not stumble,
for I am a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is my firstborn.

Revelation 7:9-17

9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

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