Congratulations to Michelle! She is the winner of the December “Bible in a Year” Sign Up drawing. She’ll receive a copy of Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney.
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Are you going through some difficulty? Are the things of this world pressing in? Do you feel like God isn’t even listening? Meditate on today’s reading in Psalm 30 … joy will come! Also, read about the mouth of the righteous and the words of the perverse. And from our New Testament reading, how even the disciples struggled to understand some of the things Jesus taught them.
Imagine sitting at a party when suddenly a hand appears out of nowhere and begins writing on the wall. No body. No explanation. Just fingers writing a message no one can understand. That is exactly what happened at Belshazzar's feast. The king had been drinking, mocking the things of God, and living as though his power and position made him untouchable. Then God wrote His verdict on the wall. And before the night was over, Belshazzar was dead and his kingdom was gone. We may never see supernatural handwriting appear on the walls of our homes, businesses, or government buildings. But that doesn't mean God has been silent. He has already written His warnings in His Word. And today's New Testament reading contains another warning—this one about false teachers whose message can be especially dangerous because it doesn't always sound obviously false. Sometimes error comes wrapped in just enough truth to make it believable. So how can we recognize it? And could we be ignoring warnings that God has already clearly given?
“Let your women keep silent in the churches … they are to be submissive.” Those words can stop a modern reader in her tracks. For many women, the first reaction is confusion. For others, it may be frustration or even anger. Does God value men more than women? Is Paul saying women have nothing important to contribute? And how do we reconcile this passage with other Scriptures that clearly show women praying, serving, teaching other women, exercising spiritual gifts, and being fellow heirs of God's grace? The key is not to isolate one difficult verse from the rest of Scripture. In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul was addressing a church marked by confusion, disorder, and the misuse of spiritual gifts. His concern throughout the passage was that worship be orderly, edifying, and conducted under God's authority. So what does “let your women keep silent” actually mean in that context? What does biblical submission have to do with worth, roles, and authority? And why is submission not something unique to women? We'll also begin the book of Isaiah, where God confronts His people for practicing outward religion while their hearts were far from Him. Judgment was coming—but even in those opening chapters, we begin to see glimpses of the mercy and grace He would later provide.
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