May 26

Journey-through-the-Bible-with-us

READING FOR MAY 26, 2026: JEREMIAH 2, MARK 9, PSALM 46:8-11

JEREMIAH 2 This chapter is so amazing in that it conveys God’s faithfulness, Israel’s complete sinfulness, and God’s coming severe judgment, yet does so with unmatched beauty of expression. It makes us want to read it many times to enjoy the writing while having its serious message seared into our consciousness. 

The Lord starts by fondly recalling the days of Israel’s devotion to Him in their early days and how He protected them from their enemies. Then God asks them a series of 19 penetrating questions. He is not seeking information. God is omniscient (all knowing), after all. He asks these questions for his people to examine themselves so that they can better understand all that God has done for them and all the many ways they have chosen to go their own way rather than to respond to God’s providence and love with joyful obedience.  

Maybe we could try this approach, ourselves. Reflect on the some of these questions based upon this text as they relate to our lives here is Yorktown, Indiana: 

  • Based on verse 5:  Are there specific ways we find God so unjust so that we will not obey Him?
  • Based on verse 6: Who has enabled Yorktown Methodist Church to continue for 150 years? 
  • Based on verse 11: Have we ever primarily pursued other goals over our pursuit of God?
  • Based on verse 17: Might these mistaken priorities have caused us to be led astray from God’s way?
  • Based on verse 29: Have we found ourselves disagreeing with God’s word as found in the Bible?
  • Based on verse 31a: Have we not had access to God’s word so that it was hidden from us?
  • Based on verse 32b: Have we ever felt the right to roam from God’s word, thinking He is not aware?
  • Based on verses 35-36: Do we think we are innocent because we think God is not a God of anger?

The final two verses infer that Judah, by their behavior, answered all the above answers tragically incorrectly. The result was not “I’m OK, You’re OK.” God put Judah to shame by Egypt, and they eventually lost their land. God doesn’t ignore our rebellious behavior but allows us to follow the path and suffer the consequences our actions seem to indicate we wish: “Just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a depraved mind, to do those things that are not proper” (Rom. 1:28). 

MARK 9 This is Mark’s version of the Transfiguration. The verse before the Transfiguration in the other two accounts (Matthew and Luke) is essentially the same as Mark 9:1: “And Jesus was saying to them, ‘Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.’”  The very next verse is the first verse of the Transfiguration story in all three accounts: “Six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and brought them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them” (9:2). The proximity of the two statements and the fact they are connected by the temporal phrase “six days later,” suggests the Transfiguration is the fulfillment of the prophecy about seeing “the kingdom of God.” There are those who hold another meaning of this prophecy,

READING FOR MAY 26, 2026 CONTINUED: MARK 9, PSALM 46:8-11                                                though, such as Pentecost. 

On the way down the mountain, Jesus told them not to tell others about this until “the Son of Man rose from the dead.” Many of us are puzzled as to why Jesus kept referring himself as the Son of Man, perhaps thinking it is a reference to His human nature. While that might also be true, this expression was very familiar to Jews of that day as a quotation from Daniel 7:13-14 referring to the promised king coming down from heaven: “I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.”                                               

Mark’s account of the demon-possessed boy differs from Matthew’s in that it includes more dialogue between Jesus and the father. Jesus is a bit taken aback by the father’s request to heal the boy if He could. Jesus stresses that all things are possible with sufficient belief. The father’s response was honest and heartfelt: “I do believe; help my unbelief.”  This could be an appropriate request for all Christians. Jesus then implied that the disciples failed to heal the boy because of insufficient prayer. This begs the question: What victories over Satan have we failed to win due to our not engaging in prayer? Let’s pray for our Church with this in mind.

In verses 30-32, Jesus temporarily shut down His public ministry to engage in some intense instruction with His disciples. What is this central doctrine He wanted the disciples to understand and that He wants us to understand? JESUS’S DEATH AND RESURRECTION. Isn’t it ironic that after Jesus tells them about His ultimate sacrifice, His disciples started arguing about which one of them is the greatest? What should we do instead? Serve everyone and especially care for little children. Jesus then warns not to cause these children to stumble, saying those who do would be better off not to have been born. Then He extends this warning to anyone who stumbles: You will be thrown into hell (vs. 47). These words are from Jesus!

PSALM 46:8-11 Notice that verses 7 and 11 are the same: “The Lord of armies is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold.” This literary device, known as an inclusio, brackets material in between this repeated statement that describes the statement. Thus, the Psalmist invites the covenant people of God to examine God’s works that prove God is with them. The reader should notice God’s judgment on the earth, likely meaning against Israel’s enemies, and God’s enforcement of peace. He neutralizes the enemies’ instruments of war and tells those who strive against Him to stop and realize He is in charge. Then He points to a time when all nations will exult Him as sovereign, even if they failed to do so before Judgment Day:“At the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10-11).