I’ve been watching crews work on the infrastructure for a new housing and mixed-use development in our town. Weeks and weeks of moving dirt, preparing for future storm drainage and laying out streets. All before a single building goes up. Building a city takes careful planning and lots of hard work.

Which is why I find this brief reference to Sheerah so interesting. Either Ephraim’s daughter or granddaughter (the text is not totally clear), Sheerah built Lower and Upper Beth Horon as well as Uzzen Sheerah.

Rare to see a woman listed as a builder of cities in the Bible. Sheerah must have possessed a great deal of drive and leadership skills to organize those around her to haul rock and level ground and work together for the good of the community. Foundations she laid thousands of years ago remain visible today.

I also find it interesting that one of the cities is named after her—Uzzen Sheerah. I wonder if she named it after herself, or did her grateful fellow citizens title the city in her honor? Either way the name stuck, which says a lot for the character and work ethic of this ancient architect and builder of cities.

1 Chronicles 7 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Ümit Yıldırım

Paul and Silas cast a demon out of a slave girl after she followed their entourage for several days, shouting and making a ruckus. Her owners previously used the girl to predict the future, generating a great deal of money in the process. Seeing the change in the girl, the furious owners incited a mob who beat the preachers and threw them in jail.

Why? Paul and Silas hurt the local economy. Making good money trumps concern for others. It’s part of the base nature of humans, an outgrowth of sin. Why did slavery last so long? It was lucrative. And so is legalizing recreational marijuana and promoting sports betting and hawking drugs to terminate pregnancies. Follow the money and uncover the base intentions of humankind.

Jesus tells us to follow him, not the money. He frees us from slaving for wealth. Followers of Jesus still prosper, and he promises those who turn to him an abundant life.

Generosity of resources and spirit mark the way of Jesus, rather than living large upon the misfortune of others.

Acts 16 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Giorgio Trovato

I think of the people who wrote the Psalms as calm and collected, penning verses on scrolls during days of peaceful reflection. And surely this experience proved true, but it was not always the case.

David wrote a psalm in response to the horrific crime of Saul and his henchman Doeg against a group of guiltless priests. Convinced these men aided David in his escape, Saul ordered them cut down. His guards hesitated, refusing to kill the innocent, so Doeg the Edomite stepped forward. When he finished, 85 men, along with all the women and children in their village, lay scattered and dying. Only one escaped the carnage.

David responded from the cave where he hid: Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero? Why do you boast all day long, you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God? Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin…he will uproot you from the land of the living.

This crime of Saul and Doeg brought forth repugnance and outrage from David, and amazingly an increased dependence on the Lord—I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever…and I will hope in your name, for your name is good.

At times I enjoy the Psalms for their serene impressions. But I also enjoy those written in the midst of a messy, complicated life on the run. David wrote specifically about this crime, and reminds me that the Lord hears us in our specificity. Pour out your anger and fear and hope in the Lord, and trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.

Psalm 52 & I Samuel 22 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Stefano Pollio

Thanks to a miraculous healing, the good people of Lystra erupted in praise. The gods have come down to us in human form! Not missing an opportunity, the priest of Zeus bedecked the city gates with flowers and herded bulls into town to sacrifice to Paul and Barnabus.

Once Paul and Barnabus understood the situation, they ripped their clothes in distress and shouted, Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God. Even with their pleading, the crowd edged toward worship.

Then a turn as voices fed discontent. Perhaps disappointment and embarrassment fueled their anger, but adoring twisted into nasty. The mob stoned Paul, dragged him out of town and left him for dead. Somehow Paul survived and went back into the city. That took guts.

Beware the popularity of the in-crowd. Fickle and easily manipulated, the mob devours whoever stands in its path. Social media mobs run as helter-skelter as the swarm in Lystra, causing much broader damage. If you happen to join one, get out quickly, for the mob eventually turns on itself.

As Paul and Barnabus moved on, they added a new insight to their teaching—We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God. Words they preached and more importantly, words they lived, carrying the scars of their hardships to the end of their days.

Acts 14 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Andrea Lightfoot