February 5 ▪ Day 36

Scripture Readings

Proverbs 10:18
Isaiah 21–22
Romans 15–16
Psalms 36

Verse Focus (Proverbs 10:18)

Whoever conceals hatred with lying lips
     and spreads slander is a fool.

Meditation

Proverbs 10:18 is another proverb that can be understood somewhat differently depending on the translation you use. The New International Version says, “Whoever conceals hatred with lying lips and spreads slander is a fool.” The New Revised Standard Version says, “Lying lips conceal hatred, and whoever utters slander is a fool.” These translations are similar, but there are also some different nuances.

As anyone who has studied another language knows, languages don’t perfectly overlap. One language may have concepts that the other language does not — and vice versa. In French, they have the verbs vouvoyer and tutoyer that convey a host of meanings about relationships and status based on whether or not you should use the formal vous for addressing someone, or the familiar tu. English no longer has formal and informal grammatical structure built into our language, although it used to — that’s actually what the “thou”s and “thee”s of the King James Version are all about. Because these forms are used to address God in the Psalms, I assumed that “thou, thee, thy, thine” was the formal version of “you.” Imagine my surprise to find out that “thou” is actually the familiar form of you! Pretty nifty, huh? That the Psalms address God as an intimate?

At any rate, my point is simply that the Hebrew language doesn’t perfectly align with English. So it’s highly likely that both of these translations are accurate — it’s just that one leans more heavily on one nuance of the Hebrew words, while the other leans to another nuance.

So, this proverb tells us that liars are concealing hatred. What kind of hatred, I wonder? What is the object of the hate? Do they hate the person they are lying to? Or do they hate whatever it is they’re lying about? Or is the proverb more basic even — it’s telling us not so much about the hatred but that lying is a form of hate. Isn’t that a scary thought? To think that lying to someone is expressing hate? I know there are a lot of people who would be indignant at the accusation that they might have ever hated another person — but ask that same person if he or she has ever lied? Well, I think we all know the answer to that one (assuming the person answers truthfully, of course 🙂 ).

It’s also interesting that the Scripture tells us that whoever spreads slander is a fool. Granted, the Biblical definition of fool isn’t quite the same as the standard English definition of fool, but both apply. In the Bible, a fool is someone who is morally deficient, not just someone who is stupidly gullible. As you recall, slander is telling an untruth about someone else — usually in a deliberate attempt to damage the other person’s reputation. So the “hatred with lying lips” and “slander” can almost be seen as synonymous.

Father God, I know we don’t always realize just how significant our words are. When we lie or slander, we not only dishonor you, but we dishonor ourselves. Help us to be wise and also to be kind. We want to always speak the truth, but we also know that wisdom (and love and kindness) is sometimes expressed by keeping silent. Please be in our hearts, and in our mouths. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Isaiah 21 contains several prophecies — the first concerns the fall of Babylon at the hands of Medes and Persians in 539 BC. Hopefully, your Bible translation gave you an extra inscription at the top of the chapter to help you understand what this prophecy is about because “the wilderness of the sea” is fairly cryptic. At least verse 9 makes the oracle’s subject clear: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon!” Significantly, this prophecy occurred nearly 200 years before it actually happened. The second two prophecies in this chapter concern Arabian towns associated with two of the sons of Ishmael.

Verse 2 says, “the betrayer betrays, and the destroyer destroys.” I’m not quite sure why this made an impression on me. It would seem obvious that someone who betrays will betray and that a destroyer would destroy. But something about the language felt stark and terrible, giving me the shivers. Commentators have differed as to whether they interpret this verse as referring to the Babylonians or to the Medes — although I have to confess that I’m not sure it makes a difference as far as I’m concerned.

I was struck by verse 7. The prophet speaks of a watchman on the lookout for riders on a variety of different animals — horses, donkeys, camels. I suspect it was this very variety of animals being ridden that was what was unusual. When the watchman sees these riders, Isaiah counsels the watchman to “let him listen diligently, very diligently.” NIV says, “Be alert, fully alert.” Then, in verse 9, we hear what the watchman hears: Babylon has fallen.

This message to listen diligently, to be alert, is a message for us today. Elsewhere in Scripture God tells Ezekiel that he is a watchman for Israel. As far as prophecy goes, all believers have the role of also being watchmen and -women. As someone who watches — someone who is aware of the signs — it is our job to “give warning” (Ezekiel 3:17-19). How can we do that if we do not listen — if we have trouble distinguishing the voice of the Spirit? How can we fulfill our function unless we are prepared and alert?

The oracle for Dumah leaves me a bit puzzled. What does “If you will inquire, inquire; come back again” mean? Is this a message about seeking God? Although this oracle refers to a tribe descended from one of Ishmael’s sons, some interpret the town Dumah’s location to be that of Dumat al-Jandal, located in Saudi Arabia (known today as Al-Jawf). This town was one that was indeed conquered by the Assyrian king Sennacherib. However, the name Dumah is also a wordplay on Edom, and with the reference to Seir, others interpret this as a prophecy against Edom. My own philosophy? I think it’s probably both. (Multiple interpretations, remember?)

As the prophecy for Kedar (Qedar) concludes the chapter, we have a clear and specific prophecy that within a year “according to the years of a hired worker” the glory of Kedar will end and their warriors will be few “for the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.” This phrase — “according to the years of a hired worker” — is becoming a familiar saying as we read Isaiah. I believe it indicates when a period of time should be interpreted with a specific date. In 2 Peter 3:8 Scripture tells us that with the LORD, “a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” This is a fairly fluid interpretation of what “day” and “year” means in Scripture. Here, though, we are told that the “year” is “according to the years of a hired worker” — in other words, it’s how we reckon time: what a year means to us.

Isaiah 22 speaks of the coming destruction in Jerusalem (although the city name is not specified directly in the text). In verse 3, when it speaks of the rulers fleeing but then being “captured without using the bow” we see this fulfilled when King Zedekiah of Judah and other leaders flee from the Babylonians in the history recorded in 2 Kings 25 and Jeremiah 39. This won’t happen until 586 BC, though — over 135 years after Isaiah gave this prophecy.

Isaiah speaks of a corrupt administrator, Shebna, who will be replaced by God’s servant, Eliakim. Verse 22 says, “I will place on his shoulders the key of the house of David; he shall open, and no one shall shut; he shall shut, and no one shall open.” Likely this verse is meant literally in that Shebna and later Eliakim may have been chamberlains in the King’s house. However, I find it very reminiscent of Jesus’ words about building the church on Peter, the rock — so I can’t help but think of this verse metaphorically. However, the prophecy continues. The prophet says that God will fasten Eliakim like a “peg in a secure place” — but then, peculiarly, only a verse or two later God says that “on that day” the peg will fail. I don’t understand why God would set a secure peg in place, let everything rest upon it, but then allow it to fail. I skimmed some commentaries on this section, and one person believes the failing peg refers to Shebna — but that seems to be a stretch to me since the “secure peg” that was referred to only a verse prior was talking about Eliakim. So I remain puzzled about this section.

Today we read the concluding chapters of the book of Romans. As we can see in chapter 15, verse 25, Paul mentions his plans to take a gift of support to Jerusalem. In the book of Acts, we read about Paul doing this very thing — and that is when he ends up getting arrested, imprisoned, and eventually sent to Rome in chains. I was particularly touched by verse 29 — a bit of prophecy from Paul, even though it doesn’t get fulfilled in a way that he imagines. He says, “When I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.”

Two other things caught my attention today as I read Romans 15. Verse 4 says, “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.” This tells us what benefit the Old Testament is for Gentile believers: to instruct us so that we might have hope. We should be encouraged by what we read and study in the Old Testament; we should be learning of God’s steadfast love.

I also loved the benediction in verse 13: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” This is essentially the entire point of the book of Romans: that our faith might be full of joy and peace so that we abound in hope — all by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 16 contains a number of personal greetings for various members of the church that Paul knows to be in Rome. As the center of government, it’s not surprising that Paul knew so many people who were there even though he had yet to visit the city himself. In verse 17, he has one final instruction for us — to keep an eye on those who cause “dissensions and offenses” and to avoid those people. Other Pauline letters will go into more detail about these false teachers who by “smooth talk and flattery… deceive the hearts of the simple-minded (v. 18).” I think it’s worth noting that Paul counsels avoidance of such people. He doesn’t want us to engage, to argue, or to try to refute whatever matter they are raising to cause the disunity. That is a typical strategy for someone who is still trying to sort out what they believe. But those causing “dissensions and offenses” may be beyond the reach of genuine, thoughtful discussion.

Psalm 36 is an interesting psalm. The first third of the psalm is all about the wicked and what they are like. They flatter and praise themselves and thereby become convinced that their iniquity will never be found out. They plot mischief. I thought verse 4c was very telling: “They do not reject evil.”

Suddenly, however, the psalm completely changes focus and begins to speak of God and His faithfulness. The remaining two thirds of the psalm are all about how wonderful God is. I especially like the detail in verse 6c — God preserves both people and animals. God saves animals! We’re so egocentric we don’t often think about how God relates to the rest of His creation.

I’m not sure it would have ever occurred to me to compose a psalm like this. Each section separately, maybe. But putting the two together so that the contrast is more obvious? David was certainly a talented psalmist. 🙂

Father God, I’m so grateful that you care for us and that you love us. I’m also grateful that you care about all of creation — you care about and you save animals. You know when each sparrow falls. And you’ve said that one day all creation will be redeemed. I’m thankful for your love and faithfulness that is vaster than mountains, oceans, and skies — vaster than anything we can imagine. Please fill us with your Holy Spirit that we might abound in hope. In Jesus’ name, Amen.