Other comments on this day's readings can be found here.
Reading 1 - 2Ki 9:35,36
"But when they went out to bury her [the abominable,
idolatrous, immoral Jezebel], they found nothing except her skull, her feet and
her hands... This is the word of the LORD that he spoke through his servant
Elijah the Tishbite: On the plot of ground at Jezreel dogs will devour Jezebel's
flesh" (2Ki 9:35,36).
But they did not eat everything! There is undoubtedly a lesson
here, expressed symbolically: so wicked was Jezebel, that even the wild
scavenger dogs of the streets -- capable of eating the most disgusting garbage
and offal -- did not consider her head (symbolizing her thoughts), her feet
(symbolizing her walk), or her hands (symbolizing her actions) fit to consume!
When these dogs, which may readily consume their own vomit (Pro 26:11; 2Pe
2:22), turn their backs on any "dish", then it must be abhorrent to the last
degree!
Reading 2 - Lam 5:1-4
"Remember, O LORD, what has happened to us; look, and see our
disgrace. Our inheritance has been turned over to aliens, our homes to
foreigners. We have become orphans and fatherless, our mothers like widows. We
must buy the water we drink; our wood can be had only at a price" (Lam
5:1-4).
Is it far-fetched to suppose that, in His mercy, God might
bring such reproaches on His Ecclesia before it is too late? Loss of homes and
wealth, break-up of families, destitution... But the flesh's failure can become
the Spirit's successes. And if we as God's children need the lesson reinforced
that we are still "strangers and pilgrims" on the earth, with no permanent
dwelling-place, and no "fine prospects" in this wicked generation -- then, most
assuredly, God will see that it is done.
Reading 3 - 2Co 4:17,18
"For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an
eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is
seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen
is eternal" (2Co 4:17,18).
"There can be no comparison between a temporal and an eternal
object, since the finite can never be compared with the infinite. It is a fact,
however, that in all temporal objects men pay great regard to the time required
for the endeavour and the durability of the finished work. Who would not be
willing to endure a single second of suffering in order to secure some
substantial advantage for the rest of life? Yet even a second is a proportion of
our allotted span. The fraction can easily be expressed in figures, and not such
an appalling array of figures either. Sixty seconds to the minute, sixty minutes
to the hour, twenty-four hours to the day, three-hundred-sixty-five days to the
year, and then seventy years for a human life. But the whole history of mankind
does not constitute a fraction of eternity. The realization of this fact helps
us to see something of God's point of view, and we can understand why that which
seems like the most awful suffering to us can be described as a 'light
affliction which endureth but for a moment' " (Islip Collyer, "Convictions and
Conduct" 125,126).