The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 255: God Is Good (2023)

Episode Date: September 12, 2023

Fr. Mike guides us through another chapter of Jeremiah and connects it to the sorrow and pain we hear in Lamentations. He reminds us that, even with such evil and desperation filing the world these days, God is still good, and we still have reason to hope in him. Today's readings are Jeremiah 49-50, Lamentations 3, and Proverbs 18:5-8. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 255. Gosh, you guys, 110 days, 110 days, and you have gone through the entire Bible, which is phenomenal, bonkers, crazy. We're reading Jeremiah chapter 49 and 50 today.

Chapter 50 and 51, which will be tomorrow, are really long chapters. Just buckle in and know what's coming. That's Jeremiah 49 and 50, as well as Lamentations chapter 3. We're about halfway, we're a little over halfway. Chapter 3 is the midway point in Lamentations. There's only five chapters. And Proverbs chapter 18, verses 5 through 8. As always, the Bible translation I'm reading from is the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a year. You can also subscribe to this podcast by clicking on subscribe and receiving the daily episodes and daily updates and all the things every day.

Speaking of days, it is day 255. We're reading Jeremiah 49 and 50, Lamentations 3 and Proverbs chapter 18, verses 5 through 8. The book of Jeremiah, chapter 49, judgment against the Ammonites. Concerning the Ammonites, thus says the Lord, Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why then has Milcom dispossessed Gad and his people settled in its cities? Therefore, behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will cause the battle cry to be heard against Rabbah of the Ammonites. It shall become a desolate mound, and its villages shall be burned with fire.

Then Israel shall dispossess those who dispossessed him, says the Lord. Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste. Cry, O daughters of Rabbah. Clothe yourselves with sackcloth, lament, and run to and fro among the hedges. For Milcom shall go into exile with his priests and his princes. Why do you boast of your valleys, O faithless daughter, who trusted in her treasures, saying, Who will come against me? Behold, I will bring terror upon you, says the Lord God of hosts, from all who are round about you. And you shall be driven out, every man straight before him, with none to gather the

fugitives. But afterward I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites, says the Lord. Judgment against Edom. Concerning Edom. Thus says the Lord of hosts, Is wisdom no more in Taman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished? Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Dedan. For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him the time when I punish him. If grape-gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings? If thieves came by night, would they not destroy only enough for themselves? But I have stripped Esau bare, I have uncovered his hiding places, and he is not able to conceal himself. His children are destroyed, and his brothers and his places, and he is not able to conceal himself. His children are

destroyed, and his brothers and his neighbors, and he is no more. Leave your fatherless children, I will keep them alive, and let your widows trust in me. For thus says the Lord, if those who did not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, will you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, drink it, will you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you must drink. For I have sworn by myself, says the Lord, that Bozrah shall become a horror, a taunt, a waste, and a curse, and all her cities shall be perpetual wastes. I have heard tidings from the Lord, and a messenger has been sent among the nations. Gather yourselves together and come against her and rise up for battle. For behold, I will make you small among the nations, despised among men. The horror you inspire has deceived you and the pride of your heart, you who live in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill. Though you make your nest as high as the eagles,

I will bring you down from there, says the Lord. Edom shall become a horror. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its disasters. As when Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbor cities were overthrown, says the Lord, no man shall dwell there, no man shall sojourn in her. Behold, like a lion coming up from the jungle of the Jordan against the strong sheepfold I will suddenly make them run away from her and I will appoint over her whomever I choose for who is like me who will summon me what shepherd can stand before me therefore here the plan which the Lord has made against Edom and the purposes which he has formed against

the inhabitants of Timon. One shall mount up and fly swiftly like an eagle and spread his wings against Bozrah. And the heart of the warriors of Edom shall be in that day like the heart of a woman with her labor pains. Judgment against Damascus Concerning Damascus Hamath and Arpad are confounded, for they have heard evil tidings. They melt in fear. They are troubled like the sea which cannot be quiet. Damascus has become feeble. She turned to flee and panic seized her. Anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her as of a woman with labor pains. How the famous city is forsaken, the joyful city. Therefore, her young men shall fall in her squares and all her soldiers shall be destroyed in that day, says the Lord of hosts. And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus,

and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-Hadad. Judgment against Kedar and Hazor. Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, struck. Thus says the Lord, Rise up, advance against Kedar, destroy the people of the east. Their tents and their flocks shall be taken, their curtains and all their goods. Their camels shall be borne away from them, and men shall cry to them, terror on every side. Flee, wander far away, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Hazor, says the Lord. For Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, has made a plan against you and formed a purpose against you. Rise up, advanced against a nation at ease that dwells securely, says the Lord,

that has no gates or bars, that dwells alone. Their camels shall become booty, their herds of cattle a spoil. I will scatter to every wind those who cut the corners of their hair, and I will bring their calamity from every side of them, says the Lord. Hazor shall become a haunt of jackals, an everlasting waste. No man shall dwell there, no man shall sojourn in her. Judgment against Elam. The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah. Thus says the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the mainstay of their might,

and I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and I will scatter them to all those winds, and there shall be no nation to which those driven out of Elam shall not come. I will terrify Elam before their enemies, and before those who seek their life. I will bring evil upon them, my fierce anger, says the Lord. I will send the sword after them until I have consumed them, and I will set my throne in Elam, and destroy their king and princes, says the Lord. But in the latter days I will restore the fortunes of Elam, says the Lord. Chapter 50. Judgment against Babylon. The word which the Lord spoke concerning Babylon,

concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet. Declare among the nations and proclaim, set up a banner and proclaim, conceal it not and say, Babylon is taken, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is dismayed. Her images are put to shame, her idols are dismayed. For out of the north,

a nation has come up against her, which shall make her land a desolation and none shall dwell in it. Both man and beast shall flee away. In those days and in that time, says the Lord, the people of Israel and the people of Judah shall come together, weeping as they come, and they shall seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion with faces turned toward it, saying, Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant which will never be

forgotten. My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their fold. All who found them have devoured them, and their enemies have said, We are not guilty, for they have sinned against the Lord, their true habitation, the Lord, the hope of their fathers. Flee from the midst of Babylon, and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as he goats before the flock. For behold, I am stirring up and bringing against Babylon a company of great nations from the north country, and they shall array themselves against her, and there she shall be taken. Their arrows are like a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed. Keldia shall be plundered.

All who plunder her shall be sated, says the Lord. Though you rejoice, though you exult, O plunderers of my heritage, though you are wanton as a heifer at grass, and nay like stallions, your mother shall be utterly shamed, and she who bore you shall be disgraced. Behold, she shall be the last of the nations, a wilderness dry and desert. Because of the wrath of the Lord, she shall not be inhabited, but shall be an utter desolation. Everyone who passes by Babylon shall be appalled and hiss because of all her wounds. Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about. All you that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows, for she has sinned against

the Lord. Raise a shout against her round about. She has surrendered. Her bulwarks have fallen. Her walls are thrown down. For this is the vengeance of the Lord. Take vengeance on her. Do to her as she has done. Cut off from Babylon the sower and the one who handles the sickle in the time of harvest. Because of the sword of the oppressor, everyone shall turn to his own people and everyone shall flee to his own land. Israel is a hunted sheep driven away by lions.

First, the king of Assyria devoured him and now at last Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, has gnawed his bones. Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing punishment on the king of Babylon and his land as I punished the king of Assyria. I will restore Israel to his pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and in Bashan, and his desire shall be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead. In those days and in that time, says the Lord, iniquity shall be sought in Israel, and there shall be none, and sin in Judah, and none shall be found.

For I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant. Go up against the land of Merathaim and against the inhabitants of Pekod. Slay and utterly destroy after them, says the Lord, and do all that I have commanded you. The noise of battle is in the land and great destruction. How the hammer of the whole earth is cut down and broken. How Babylon has become a horror among the nations. I set a snare for you, and you were taken, O Babylon, and you did not know it. You were found and caught because you strove against the Lord. The Lord has opened his armory

and brought out the weapons of his wrath. For the Lord God of hosts has a work to do in the land of the Chaldeans. Come against her from every quarter, open her granaries, pile her up like heaps of grain, and destroy her utterly. Let nothing be left of her. Slay all her bulls. Let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them, for their day has come, the time of their punishment. Listen, they flee and escape from the land of Babylon to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God,

and escape from the land of Babylon to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, vengeance for his temple. Summon archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. Encamp round about her, let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds, do to her according to all that she has done. For she has proudly defied the Lord,

the Holy One of Israel. Therefore, her young men shall fall in her squares and all her soldiers shall be destroyed on that day, says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. Therefore, her young men shall fall in her squares, and all her soldiers shall be destroyed on that day, says the Lord. Behold, I am against you, O proud one, says the Lord God of hosts, for your day has come, the time when I will punish you. The proud one shall stumble and fall, with none to raise him up. And I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it will devour all that is round about him. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the people of Israel are oppressed and the people of Judah with them. All who took them captive have held them fast. They refuse to let them go. Their redeemer is strong. The Lord of hosts is his name.

He will surely plead their cause that he may give rest to the earth, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon. A sword upon the Chaldeans, says the Lord, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes and her wise men. A sword upon the diviners, that they may become fools. A sword upon her warriors, that they may be destroyed. that they may become fools, a sword upon her warriors that they may be destroyed, a sword upon her horses and upon her chariots, and upon all the foreign troops in her midst that they may become women, a sword upon all her treasures that they may be plundered, a drought upon her waters that they may be dried up. For it is a land of images, and they are mad over idols. Therefore, wild beasts shall dwell

with hyenas in Babylon, and ostriches shall dwell in her. She shall be peopled no more forever, nor inhabited for all generations. As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbor cities, says the Lord, so no man shall dwell there, and no son of man shall sojourn in her. So no man shall dwell there, and no son of man shall sojourn in her. Behold, a people comes from the north, a mighty nation, and many kings are stirring from the farthest parts of the earth. They lay hold of bow and spear, they are cruel and have no mercy. The sound of them is like the roaring of the sea, they ride upon horses, clothed as a man for battle against you, O daughter of Babylon. on horses, clothed as a man for battle against you, O daughter of Babylon. The king of Babylon heard the report of them, and his hands fell helpless. Anguish seized him, pain as of a woman

in labor. Behold, like a lion coming up from the jungle of the Jordan against a strong sheepfold, I will suddenly make them run away from her, and I will appoint over her whomever I choose, for who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd can stand before me? Therefore, hear the plan which the Lord has made against Babylon and the purposes which he has formed against the land of the Chaldeans.

Surely the little ones of their flock shall be dragged away. Surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. At the sound of the capture of Jeremiah, Chapter 3 God's Merciful Love Endures I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath. He has driven and brought me into darkness without any light. Surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long.

He has made my flesh and my skin waste away and broken my bones. He has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation. He has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago. He has walled me about so that I cannot escape. He has put heavy chains on me. Though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer. He has blocked my ways with hewn stones. He has made my paths crooked. He is to me like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in hiding. He led me off my way and tore me to pieces. He has made me desolate. He bent his bow and sent me as a mark for his arrow. He drove into my heart the arrows of his quiver. I have become the laughingstock of all peoples,

the burden of their songs all day long. He has filled me with bitterness. He has sated me with wormwood. He has made my teeth grind on gravel and made me cower in ashes. My soul is bereft of peace. I have forgotten what happiness is. So I say, gone is my glory and my expectation from the Lord. Remember my affliction and my bitterness, the wormwood and the gall. My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul. Therefore, I will hope in him. The Lord is good to those who wait for him,

to the soul that seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone in silence when he has laid it on him. Let him put his mouth in the dust. There may yet be hope. Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him and be filled with insults. For the Lord will not cast off forever, but though he cause grief,

he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love, for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the sons of men. To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth, to turn aside the right of a man in the presence of the Most High, to subvert a man in his cause, the Lord does not approve. Who has commanded and it came to pass unless the Lord has ordained it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and

evil come? Why should a living man complain, a man about the punishment of his sins? Let us test and examine our ways and return to the Lord. Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven. We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven. You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us, slaying without pity. You have wrapped yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through. You have made us offscouring and refuse among the peoples. All our enemies rail against us. Panic and pitfall have come upon us, devastation and destruction. My eyes flow with rivers of tears because of the destruction of the daughter of my people. My eyes will flow without ceasing, without respite, until the Lord from heaven looks down and sees. My eyes cause me grief at the fate of all the maidens of my city.

I have been hunted like a bird by those who were my enemies without cause. They flung me alive into the pit and cast stones on me. Water closed over my head. I said, I am lost. I called on your name, O Lord, from the depths of the pit. You heard my plea. Do not close your ear to my cry for help. You came near when I called on you. You said, do not fear.

You have taken up my cause, O Lord. You have near when I called on you. You said, do not fear. You have taken up my cause, O Lord. You have redeemed my life. You have seen the wrong done to me, O Lord. Do judge my cause. You have seen all their vengeance, all their devices against me. You have heard their taunts, O Lord, all their devices against me. The lips and thoughts of my assailants are against me all the day long. Behold their sitting and their rising. I am the burden of their songs. You will repay them, O Lord, according to the work of their hands. You will give them dullness of heart. Your curse will be on them. You will pursue them in anger and destroy them from under your heavens, O Lord. them from under your heavens, O Lord. The book of Proverbs chapter 18 verses 5 through 8.

It is not good to be partial to a wicked man or to deprive a righteous man of justice. A fool's lips bring strife and his mouth invites a flogging. A fool's mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to himself. The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels. They go down into the inner parts of the body. Father in heaven, we give you praise. We thank you so much. Gosh, Lord God, we've been thanking you for the last couple of days, Lord. Thanking you for your justice. Thank you for your judgment. Because your judgment is just. Your judgment is fair.

Your judgment is true. And Lord God, even in the midst of the pain of your judgment, we ask that you please also give us mercy. We know that your mercy costs something. Your ability to give us your mercy, your ability to forgive us, comes at the cost of the life and death and resurrection of your son, Jesus. That your forgiving us came at a price and that price you were willing to pay for us. And so, Lord God of justice, we thank you for your justice. We thank you for your judgment and we ask for your mercy. We need it because without the mercy that comes to us from your son, from the cross, Lord God, we'd be lost. In fairness, in justice, we'd be lost. So please,

in your mercy, meet us with your love and your grace this day and every day, especially in the moments we need you and need it the most. We make this prayer in Jesus' name, in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Okay, so on a roll with Proverbs, why not? Proverbs chapter 18, we have verse 8. The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels. So the words of a whisperer, right? So someone who's telling secrets, someone who's gossiping, that kind of idea, are like delicious morsels.

They go down into the inner parts of the body. And that is kind of, I don't want to say ironic, sarcastic. I'm not sure how, what the exact description of this, but basically saying they're great. And just like food that's so good gets digested and becomes part of you, the same thing is true with secrets. The same thing is true when it comes to pieces of gossip

that gets inside of you and becomes a part of you. And without even telling us, you don't want that to happen, the author of Proverbs basically lets us know, you don't want that to happen. They're like delicious morsels. Yeah, we love those little tidbits, right? We love those tidbits of secrets or gossip or news or info, and they can become part of us and corrupt us. And so we are on guard against them. Okay, that's Proverbs. Wonderful. Awesome. Thank you, Lord. We have Jeremiah. We're getting to the end, right?

This is Jeremiah, as mentioned at the very beginning of the book of the prophet Jeremiah. It is the longest book in the entire Bible, 52 chapters. We are hitting the last couple chapters in the next two days. So 51 is tomorrow and then 52 is the last day. Oh, and there's a couple of prophets who, when it comes to the return of the Jewish people to the Holy land, but pretty much we're, we're kind of concluding this whole time period, which is really remarkable. And again, I mentioned this, I think yesterday, it's a big deal that y'all have persevered during this time of the prophets, because I keep saying this, everyone thought,

oh, Leviticus is the hardest thing. And then you get through Leviticus and you realize, actually, that wasn't too bad. Numbers, all the names, you know, some of the same thing with the Chronicles, all the names, those things are tough. But when it comes to the prophets, a lot of times there's names that we have no idea. The context, we have no idea. So we're reading things, even like today, we have the condemnation against the Ammonites and judgments against Damascus and against Edom. And then the big one, of course, in chapter 50 is against Babylon. And part of us is like, I don't care, right? I imagine a big part of us are, we're thinking, okay, yeah, the proud one. Who's the proud one? Nebuchadnezzar, right? The proud one. He's going to be cast down. Jeremiah

basically says that, yeah, another nation is going to come from the north. We know who they are. They're the Persian empire. They're going to come in and destroy Babylon, take over that, and be the new world superpower, basically. And here is Jeremiah prophesying this. We might listen to this and just ask, so? At the same time, we know that God's word is important for us to take in. And one of the pieces that I just will walk away with when it comes to Jeremiah 50 is

not only that God is promising, I'm going to do this so that my people can go back home, that he's going to bring another nation to give justice to the Babylonians, but also to set my people free again. Cyrus, king of Persia is going to say basically to the people of Israel, you can go home now. Now, not all of them are going to do it, but those that want to, those that are able to are going to have the opportunity to go back home. And that is part of God's justice in recognizing this is going to be how God fulfills his promise of, no, this exile to Babylon is not forever.

This destruction is not permanent. I'm going to restore you. And he actually does this after 70 years of exile. to restore you. And he actually does this after 70 years of exile. He allows the Northern tribe or Northern kingdom, sorry, of the Persian empire to come in and take over Babylon. And that's what he's prophesying right now, because God is good. And that's so important for us because gosh, in Lamentations chapter three, I mean, hopefully these first three chapters of Lamentations, we can hear the true lament. Remember, Jeremiah is the weeping prophet, and he is walking around the city of Jerusalem during the siege, and he says,

my eyes stream with tears day and night without rest. I can't stop crying because what do I see? Everywhere I turn, there are people whose lives are being destroyed. Children are being destroyed. We're going to get to chapter four tomorrow, and it's going to be brutal. It's going to, it's the picture that Jeremiah paints tomorrow is some of the most desperate I've ever, ever read in the entire Bible. And yet here is Jeremiah who writes, and he says this, the God has bent his bow. He set me as a mark for his arrow, and he drove into my heart the arrows of his quiver. He has filled me with bitterness. He has sated me with wormwood.

And here's this next line. He has made my teeth grind on gravel and made me cower in ashes. My soul is bereft of peace. I have forgotten what happiness is. I've forgotten what happiness is. That sounds so much like Job, right? And it sounds so much like a lot of people, maybe a lot of this community as you've been praying, as you've been journeying, we have this life happening around us. And in this life happening around us, there can be times of incredible pain. And we might be in a place where we have forgotten what happened. I can't remember the last time I laughed out loud. I mean, honestly, think about that.

Maybe that's something that's been absent from your life. When was the last time you laughed freely? If it's been a long time, here you are with Jeremiah and God's word is speaking to you where he says, my soul is bereft of peace. I have forgotten what happiness is. So I say, gone is my glory and my expectation from the Lord. Think about that. Gone is my glory and my expectation.

I don't expect anything from God anymore. Like hope is almost out the Lord. Think about that. Gone is my glory and my expectation. I don't expect anything from God anymore. Like hope is almost out the door. But then, but then, but then after all that, he says, remember my affliction, God, remember my bitterness. This is again, chapter three, verses 19, 20. My soul continually thinks of it. My is bowed down within me, but, and there's this big, but, but this I call to mind and therefore I have hope. And then he launches in the middle of this, some of the worst, worst descriptions of a broken heart and broken lives and the siege of Jerusalem. He launches into this declaration of hope in this declaration of faith. After all of this, my food is gravel. You made my teeth grind on gravel,

cower in ashes. I've forgotten what happiness is, but, but the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul. Therefore, I will hope in him. Oh man, I, hmm. I invite you to go back to chapter three of Lamentations and read that section. Then not only the section where he talks about hope, but even like verse 16, all the way to verse 33, because he says, for the Lord will not cast us off forever. This is verse 31. For the Lord will not cast us off forever, but though he caused grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love, for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the sons of men. This is not something God wants. Our pain is not something God wants.

He wants our healing. He wants our freedom. He wants our hearts. And so, gosh, today I ask the Lord to give us all hope, especially if we've forgotten what happiness is, that we can ask the Lord, help us, help us to persevere, help us to hope in you. Help us to trust in you. Help us to love you and to know that you are on our side and your mercies are new every morning. Please pray for me. I am praying for you. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.