The readings take us to the end of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, through most of Jeremiah, and all the way through the small book of Habakkuk. Just a reminder that Baruch, son of Neriah, was Jeremiah’s faithful scribe who recorded God’s word through Jeremiah for decades. The focus is on the destruction of Jerusalem and those left to try and pick up the pieces. Will this be the thing that finally causes God’s people to repent? Habakkuk raises even deeper questions about God’s character. He was a prophet, and the book of Habakkuk records a conversation between God and himself. Habakkuk wonders how a good God can tolerate such evil, and raise up an even more evil people. Is God idle? Does God endorse evil? How do believers make sense of what seems like conflicting information? This is the Big Picture for this week.
Each week, as you take in the Bible, find some friends to talk it out. You can follow this simple guide to help. First, R.E.A.D. and P.R.A.Y. on your own. Then, meet with friends to share what you've learned.
R - Repeated words
E - Examine and mark
A - Ask what you learn about God
D - Do if there is anything to do
P - Praise
R - Repent
A - Ask
Bible Plan Reading Links - Week 44
START IT.
We're reading the Bible together in 2024. Specifically, we're taking a journey into how the story of the Bible unfolded in the Old Testament. If we get the big picture, we get the story the Bible is trying to tell us. From Sunday's message or The Big Picture Bible Reading Plan this week in the book of Jeremiah, 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, or Habakkuk, what is impacting you the most? Was there a word, phrase, Bible verse, or theme that impacted you?
STUDY IT.
Read 2 Chronicles 36:12-13. Why is God allowing Judah to be conquered? Read Exodus 19:5-6. What was the nation supposed to be?
Read Habakkuk 1:2-4. What is Habakkuk’s question? Read Habakkuk 1:5-6. Is the Lord idle? What is God’s solution to the injustice in Judah?
Read Habakkuk 1:12-13. Habakkuk is surprised that God is using even more wicked people to judge Judah. Does God endorse evil in certain circumstances?
Read Habakkuk 2:3. What does God say to do if the outcome seems slow? Jeremiah 50:17-18, 24. So, what do these verses teach us about God’s judgment against evil and the length of time before judgment?
Read Habakkuk 3:17-19. What is Habakkuk’s circumstances versus praise?
SHARE IT.
Read Jeremiah 40:4-6. What choice was Jeremiah given? Read Jeremiah 1:17-19. What was Jeremiah called to do, and how might this have affected his decision to stay in Judah?
Read Matthew 28:16-20. What are you called to do? How might this affect your decision-making in your life? When the disciples doubted, what comfort did Jesus tell them?
Read Habakkuk 2:3. If the Lord seems idle, what does He say to do? Is this to be passive or active waiting? Read Psalm 27:14. Read Psalm 37:34. Read Proverbs 20:22.
Read Jeremiah 50:34. God can grant rest despite armies moving across the land. Where do you need rest today that only the Lord can grant?
Read Habakkuk 3:17-18. What would cause you to rejoice in God when everything is going wrong? Read Habakkuk 2:4. What are the righteous called to live by?
FINAL THOUGHT
Much of the content this week has been about dealing with injustice and waiting on the Lord to act. There is this curious line in Habakkuk 3:13 that states God saved His people by “crushing the head” of the house of the wicked. It is hard not to hear the ring of Genesis 3:15 or that the coming Messiah would crush the head of the serpent, but the serpent would bruise His heel. Jesus defeated sin, death, and the evil of this world by dying on the cross and rising again once and for all. There is a small section of verse 2 in Habakkuk chapter 3 that reads “in wrath remember mercy.” The whole world is receiving a measure of mercy in God’s delayed judgment. The penalty for sin fell on Jesus so that God’s perfect wrath and perfect mercy could be satisfied. 2 Peter 3:8-10 clarifies the link between God’s delay and His perfect character. It states, “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.” Christians too do not wish that anyone would perish, but long for the return of the King. Until that day, the righteous live by faith making disciples, baptizing them, and teaching them to observe all the Lord commanded.
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