Happy birthday Rebecca! 24 is such a nice perfect number… And I’m 42. (Numbers can be cool as long as you’re just looking at them, not trying to add them or anything.)

For the last two weeks, we’ve been taking progressively closer looks at Scripture passages, with a survey/ overview (a fly-over) and last week with a drive-by. This week we’ll try a walkabout. (I don’t know if it was the Australian VBS or if just craving Outback Steakhouse…)

This morning I read some in Isaiah, so I’ll use that as an example. Chapter 38 tells the story of Hezekiah’s terminal illness, his appeal to God, God’s answer and Hezekiah’s praise for healing. It’s mostly a straightforward narrative account, with a little poetry. The tricky thing, though is that the last two verses give you the reasons for the rest of the action. Verse 21 explains when the healing happened and Isaiah’s role in it, and verse 22 tells how Hezekiah knew he would be healed.

Now that we have our background, let’s start that closer inspection.

Sections - Are there natural divisions? We have four in our chapter. The Psalms often have one or two sections, sometimes more. In many of the Gospels’ chapters, there are several short accounts or stories. Paul will hit on a few different topics in the chapters in his epistles.

Who, What, Where etc – There are two main people, Hezekiah and Isaiah, besides God acting. God intervenes with 2 miracles. The healing and the sundial moving backwards.

Lists - (One of my favorites.) Look for series of things. I usually number them right in the text. In God’s answer (vv. 5-9), He lists three things He’s going to do for Hezekiah. 1. Add to his days 2. Deliver him and Jerusalem from the Assyrian threat 3. Defend Jerusalem.

Eye-catchers – Sometimes, things just grab your attention. (Think there’s a reason for that? Absolutely!) Maybe it’s something you never knew. Many times, it’s a fresh take on something familiar. I had two. When the prophet tells the king to get his house in order, what does Hezekiah ask God for? Not healing, like you’d expect. He simply asks that God remember how he has walked in obedience with a loyal heart. The second one was verse 17. “Indeed it was for my own peace that I had great bitterness; but You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.” At first, it was kind of jarring to think that bitterness produces peace, but this is the king’s testimony of what good came from this experience, how God redeemed the situation. Also, don’t you love that God throws our sins behind His back. He doesn’t look at them any more.
Next week we’ll squeeze what we can out of verse 17 for a super-close, rabbit-chasing study.

In Isaiah 37-38, there is a historical account of Assyria’s attempt to frighten Judah into submission. Having just crushed the Northern kingdom, the threat against Judah and the fear it stirred were very real. The story also appears in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. Any story God tells is significant, but one that He records three times bears looking at closely. Here are some things I saw.

1. The opposition was wrong. The Assyrians misinterpreted Hezekiah’s efforts to remove idolatry from Judah as an attempt to remove all religion. Never believe what the opposition says about you, whether you’re dealing with people or when the conflict is more spiritual. Satan lies on purpose. People can purposefully try to deceive or just not have all the facts.

2. The opposition doesn’t know the future. One of the Assyrians scare tactics was a description of what life would be like when Judah was besieged. The siege never came. God intervened miraculously on behalf of His people. Only God knows the future, because only God holds it in His hands.

3. God is more offended than we are. Several times, Scripture mentions Assyria’s reproach of the living God. Judah understood how close their relationship with God and their identification with Him was. In the same way, any attack of any kind against us is an attack against God.

4. Let God fight the battle. Hezekiah went up to the temple and laid his situation out before the Lord and then went home in peace and confidence. I admit, I’m much better at part A, than part B. God took care of the situation in a way that went above and beyond what Hezekiah imagined.

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21

Infinitely more… than we dare ask or imagine…

I love my girls. They’re both sweet, smart, funny, beautiful… (I could go on and on.) My son, though, has taught me so much about the heart of my Father. Alan’s had a tough week. He’s in a new school this year, and all the anxiety seemed to crash in on him at once. On Tuesday. I picked him up early after he ended up in the office with an upset stomach- again. Eventually, he admitted that he’s afraid he’s going to get in trouble, or he’s going to mess up an assignment, or… There was a list of worries.

I hugged him, brainstormed with him how things could be better, and made his favorite dinner. And yesterday morning… he sat in the car in tears again. I wish I could fix it for him. I wish I could smooth out the path in front of him (and the girls) so he never has heartbreak or struggle or pain… but I can’t. I have to stand by and watch him go through these things. I can hug him. Comfort him. Commiserate with him. Yes. But he has to face this himself.

In a greater way, the heart of my Father God, is that tender towards my struggles. He knows it’s hard. He knows it hurts, but yet, He also knows I have to face it. Even Jesus Christ faced extreme suffering. Thankfully, my Father God has the power to redeem the hard times, so that they turn out for my good and His glory. And while I can’t be with my son during his school day, God never leaves my alone.

When I was in Florida this past summer, I stood on the beach the very first day and watched wave after wave roll in around my ankles. A mother stood nearby helping her little boy jump the waves. As I watched, I heard a whisper in my soul. “See that?” God said. “I will not stop the waves, but I will NEVER let go of your hand.”

In last week’s study tip we looked at the benefits of a fly-over, that is a quick overview read-through. It helps us become familiar with the layout, the major themes, and the key people or events. Today we’ll take a little closer look in a drive-by.

Imagine you want to buy a new house, and you’ve scoured the weekend papers, and circled all the possibilities in red. Your next step in the search will be cruising the neighborhoods with a lingering look at each prospect. This is the kind of Scriptural drive-by we’re working toward, not the zipping down the highway kind, but the slow, stalker-ish kind of look. And since we’re driving by so slowly, we’re not going to cover a lot of ground, so we’ll limit this kind of examination to the chapter.

Here are the steps to a drive-by.
1. Read the chapter straight through as a unified whole. Don’t necessarily look at the divisions or headings if your Bible has them. Just read like you’d read any other writing.
2. What are your first impressions? Is this a story or is it more informational?
If it’s a story, what happens? Were you surprised by the events? Did it ‘end’ or do you need to keep reading to get to the end?
If it’s informational, what’s the tone? A rebuke, or encouragement? Maybe it’s instructional.
3. If you’re a note-taker, write down a summary statement or a chapter title. This goes a long way toward helping you remember what the chapter is about.

Next week, we’ll get out of this metaphorical car and walk around a bit.

In Matthew 4 and Luke 4, there are parallel accounts of Jesus’ temptation. It’s a deep, rich account of the proof of Christ’s worthiness, His sinlessness. I’ve taught it several times to my kids to drive home the point that we need to know Scripture, and that God’s word is our surest defense against temptation. But I got some fresh insights this time through about how to misuse Scripture, and three subtle ways to do it, all from Satan’s tactics.

Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’” (Luke 4:1-4)

Tactic #1 – Don’t even bother checking.
In this first encounter, Satan entices Jesus to exercise His power to meet a legitimate physical need. In a similar way, we rely on our own assessment of a situation and decide how God should respond. When He doesn’t meet our expectations, then we fall into a despair of shaken faith. However, God reveals His character and His ways in His word. Jesus response tells us, “You expect God to operate this way, because you don’t see the real need. That’s the one He’s meeting.” Staying in His word helps us focus on God’s view of things rather than our own.

Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” (Luke 4:5-8)

Tactic #2 – Ignore God’s timing.
This time, Satan tempts Jesus to take His place as ruler of the world. After all, God had promised that to Him. It was His. Satan had at least that much right. Jesus Christ will rule as King of Kings and Lord of Lord, but there is the issue of God’s timing. God has a plan and all these things will fall into place on His schedule. When we seize God’s promises without accounting for His timing in fulfilling them, we risk shattering our faith.

Then [Satan] brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’” (Luke 4:9-12)

Tactic #3 – Take Scripture out of context
Satan twists a promise of God’s care and provision into a challenge for God to prove Himself. It’s easy for us to do the same thing. God promises to bless our obedience. However, our ‘obedience’ can’t be used to manipulate God into doing what we ask. We obey God because He’s God, not for what we get out of it. We serve Him and not our own interests. Keeping Scripture in context helps us remember that.