Shining a light on the weekly Bible Lessons published in the Christian Science Quarterly®
Soul
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; . . . Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: . . . And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; . . . Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.
Obedience to God is a primary demand made of His people. Even before they are given the Ten Commandments, God pledges, “If ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people” (Exodus 19:5).
Jeremiah repeatedly urges obedience (see additional examples in 11:1–8; 26:12, 13; 38:19, 20). His many predictions of disaster—seen as the effect of disobedience—seem to eclipse his more hopeful messages. (Today, lengthy laments or prophecies of doom are sometimes called jeremiads.) Yet his vision of God’s goodness to the faithful is clear, recalling Deuteronomy 30:9: “The Lord will again rejoice over thee for good.” And he underscores God’s intention for good with the word assuredly (Hebrew, be’e met, literally meaning “in truth”; see other instances in Psalms 111:7, 8; Zechariah 8:8).
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Resources quoted in this issue
Cits. 5, 9: Keck, Leander E., et al., eds. The New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary. Vol. 7, The Gospels and Narrative Literature, Jesus and the Gospels, Matthew, Mark. Nashville: Abingdon, 2015.
Cit. 6: Marshall, I. Howard. The Epistles of John. Grand Rapids, MI, 1978; Osborne, Grant R., et al., eds. The IVP New Testament Commentary Series. Vol. 1, Matthew. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press Academic, 1990–. Also available at biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries.
Cit. 14: John Heylin, quoted in Benson, Joseph. Commentary on the Old and New Testaments. New York: T. Carlton & J. Porter, 1857. Also available at biblehub.com/commentaries.
Cit. 18: Barker, Kenneth L., John R. Kohlenberger, Verlyn Verbrugge, and Richard Polcyn. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2004.
Cit. 21: Hindson, Edward E., and Dan Mitchell. Zondervan King James Version Commentary: New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010.
COPYRIGHT
Scriptural quotations marked GOD’S WORD Translation are taken from GOD’S WORD®. © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. Used by permission.
Scriptural quotations marked New Living Translation are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scriptural quotations marked Common English Bible are taken from the Common English Bible, copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible.
Scriptural quotations marked The VOICE are taken from The Voice™. Copyright © 2012 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scriptural quotations marked Good News Translation are taken from the Good News Translation in Today’s English Version—Second Edition, copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.
Scriptural quotations marked Amplified® Bible are taken from the Amplified® Bible, copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org.
Scriptural quotations marked Contemporary English Version are taken from the Contemporary English Version, copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.
Scriptural quotations marked New Century Version are taken from the New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scriptural quotations marked New Revised Standard Version Bible are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scriptural quotations marked International Children’s Bible are taken from the International Children’s Bible®. Copyright © 1986, 1988, 1999 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
© 2022 The Christian Science Publishing Society. The design of the Cross and Crown is a trademark owned by the Christian Science Board of Directors and is used by permission. Bible Lens and Christian Science Quarterly are trademarks owned by The Christian Science Publishing Society. Unless otherwise indicated, all scriptural quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.
