(remember, these are unedited/draft show notes, not a transcript — listening is always better…and if you listen AND follow along below, you’ll see how)
Focus Question:
Whose real estate do you manage?
Intro:
I heard a financial teacher once say this. “Think about the words ‘real estate.’ Did you know that the word ‘real’ comes from the same place as the word ‘royal’ — and if you don’t think you belong to the king, just try not paying your taxes!”
Now I wouldn’t bet my life on that word study, but it’s a good reminder…and the source of today’s focus question…Whose real estate do you manage?
New Testament segment:
Passage: Matthew 6
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 34
Words: ~719
Even if you don’t own property in the sense of how we think of real estate today, it’s good to remember Jesus’ words about where we put our hope and treasure. We work for the king or THE King. And we are all burning daylight, know what I mean?
Today we finish 2 Kings and remember how God promised Josiah that he’d put off the promised disaster until after Josiah’s death? Well, spoiler alert — you might be able to guess who dies and who gets conquered and taken into exile by the end of the book.
Old Testament segment:
Passage: 2 Kings 23:32-25
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 57
Words: ~1804
Worth noting. Remember how the ten tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel were conquered and taken into exile about 722 BC? Well, this is history folks. And you can see how we didn’t just wrap up the book of Kings, we closed a chapter as a the southern kingdom, comprised of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, are now carted off to Babylon. Welcome to 586 BC.
Wisdom segment:
Passage: Proverbs 12:2-3
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 2
Words: ~32
The bottom line:
One of the repeated promises to Israel was that, even if they didn’t deserve it, God keeping his side of the bargain meant people would again eat of their own fields, and this probably included the ision of doing so without overbearing taxation.
I’ll leave you with some of God’s words in Isaiah, written during the time of King Hezekiah:
30 “ ‘This will be the sign for you: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what grows from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 31 The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 32 For a remnant will go out from Jerusalem, and survivors from Mount Zion (Is 37:30–32 CSB)
I believe this is also a “type” as we talked about a couple days ago. We look forward to heaven where our work will be fairly rewarded.
In the meantime, remember: Whose real estate do you manage? Make sure you’re ultimately working for the right dude.
Love you!
Roger
ForTheHope is a daily audio Bible + apologetics podcast and blog. We’ve got a passion for just keepin’ it real, having conversations like normal people, and living out the love of Jesus better every single day.
Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org.
Sources and resources:
(1) Leland Ryken et al., Dictionary of Biblical Imagery (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 752