Ephesians 3. “The meaning of the Greek word mysterion is a truth hitherto hidden from human knowledge or understanding but now disclosed by the revelation of God.” With that in mind this chapter reveals the mystery of Christ, its purpose and the appreciation of the mystery.
Isaiah 51 speaks of everlasting salvation out of Zion; via “the rock”. Wake up!
Isaiah 52. God prophetically redeems Jerusalem. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” Verse 13 and forward is the beginning of the prophecy of the suffering servant.
Isaiah 49. A chapter on the servant. Is it Israel or is it Jesus? Isaiah indicated it is both, and “a light to the Gentiles.” Read it and contemplate.
Isaiah 50 continues elaborating about the Servant. The two last verses has meant much in my life: “Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God. Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.”
Ephesians 2:1-10. This is the famous chapter explaining that we are saved by grace through faith and brought near by His blood, and, once saved, we are His ‘poem’ (ποιημα).
Isaiah 46 tells of the dead gods of Babylon and other useless idols. Compare that to the living God! “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:”
Ephesians 1. This letter has a wonderful explanation of the Christian Gospel. The Apostle Paul stars out with a greeting, then explains what it means to get redemption in Christ and ends up with a prayer for spiritual wisdom.
Isaiah 44. Israel is the chosen nation, God is supreme, idols are worthless. Sing, for the LORD has done it. God is the one “That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.”
Isaiah 45. Cyrus was God’s instrument. God gave him “the treasures of darkness”, though he did not acknowledge Him. The Lord is the only savior, there is none else. God said: “I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.”
Galatians 6. Bear one another’s burdens and at the same time each one should carry his own burden. A man reaps what he sows, be generous and do good, especially to those of the household of faith. Glory only in the cross. After these admonitions the Apostle Paul gave his final blessings.
Isaiah 43 speaks of the redeemer and the rebirth of Israel, which took place in 1948. It happened, in spite of Israel’s unfaithfulness, only by God’s mercy, and His promise that He would do a new thing.
Psalm 78, a maskil of Asaph. “This is the longest of the historical psalms. Its lesson is that history must not repeat itself. The people must never again be unbelieving.” (James Montgomery Boice)
Galatians 5: 16-25. “ Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” The Apostle Paul spoke of christian liberty, love fulfills the law and is accomplished by walking in the spirit.
Isaiah 41 waxes eloquent about the helper of Israel. “How firm a foundation” it is to stand with God. Compare that to the futility of idols!
Isaiah 42 records the Servant of the LORD as a light for the Gentiles. The sons of Kedar will sing a new song, which is not the doctrine of Islam, as some Muslims claim, but as so often was the case, Israel was still blind and deaf.
Psalm 77, of Asaph. No matter how dire the circumstances the believer can still sing God’s praises and recall God’s wonders.
Galatians 5: 1-15. “ Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” Thee Apostle Paul spoke of christian liberty, love fulfills the law. Do not be circumcised!
Isaiah 39 tells of Hezekiah’s folly, how he showed all the riches of Jerusalem to the envoys from Babylon, and he said “There will be peace for our time”, like Neville Chamberlain proclaimed before WWII.
Isaiah 40. This chapter of Isaiah is very uplifting and has helped me immensely. I will not comment any further. Read it, listen to the music, read it again and let it sink in!
Despite many nations transitioning away from fossil fuels, in 2023, world coal consumption reached a staggering 164 exajoules (EJ) of energy, a record high for any year.
For this graphic, Visual Capitalist has partnered with Range ETFs to explore the role coal plays in the global energy mix and determine which regions still consume large quantities of coal.
The Role of Coal in Global Energy
Coal is a significant player in the global energy mix, contributing 26% of the world’s energy in 2023, more than all non-fossil fuel sources combined. The only energy source that contributed more to the global energy mix was oil.
Here’s how that consumption breaks down by region:
Region
Consumption (1018 joules)
Share %
China
91.9
56.1%
Asia Pacific (excluding China)
43.8
26.7%
Americas
10.0
6.1%
Europe
8.4
5.1%
CIS*
5.5
3.4%
Africa
4.1
2.5%
Middle East
0.4
0.2%
Total
164.0
100%
Coal consumption has decreased in many regions. For example, both North America and Europe reduced their energy consumption from coal by 16% in 2023. However, a heavy reliance on coal in the Asia Pacific region has led to global coal consumption remaining essentially the same over the past 10 years.
When I saw this statistics I immediately looked up: What is the U.S role in global coal consumption and found out it was 8.2 EJ om 2023 or 5.0% of world consumption.
China’s coal consumption is more than eleven times larger than the U.S Coal consumption. In fact, their appetite for mining coal is that they even mine coal with a noticeable Uranium content, and burn it without separating out the Uranium first, leading to severe health problems for the people downwind from the coal burning power plants. In addition, since scrubbing is expensive the operators have the scrubbers down for maintenance as often as they can get away with it.
China is also the world leader in cement production. In 2022 China produced 2,1 billion metric tons of cement, or 64% of the world total. By comparison, U.S. produced 95 million metric tons, or about 22 times less than China.
But where China has U.S and the rest of the world over a barrel is in the mining and production of rare earth metals. China mined 240,000 metric tons in 2023, or about 64% 0f the worlds total, but China is also the world’s largest importer of rare earth metal ore for refining. By comparison, US mined 43,000 metric tons, but most of it is still refined in China. The US regulatory environment makes it a slow process to get permits. China has strict export controls over who can be allowed to buy refined rare earth metals, and they always want a favor in return for doing so.
We have our work cut out for us. Right now we are too dependent on China to fully be able to sever our dependence on China.
Galatians 4. The Apostle Paul told the Galatians they are children of God and heirs of the promise, but still, he feared for the Church since they preferred the law over the promise. He explained it through two covenants, one in bondage through the law, the other in freedom through the Spirit.
Isaiah 37. Jerusalem’s deliverance is foretold, Hezekiah’s prayer and the word of the LORD concerning Sennacherib is recorded, followed by Hezekiah’s final fall.
Isaiah 38 describes Hezekiah’s illness and how the LORD added 15 years to his life.
Galatians 3. We are justified by faith, even as Abraham was justified by faith. The law brings a curse, it is impossible to keep the law. God gave the everlasting promise to Abraham before the law. “The Law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ.” “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.“
Isaiah 36. Isaiah broke from prophecy and gave a historical rendition, duplicated in second Kings. This is not plagiarism, Isaiah was the scribe during Hezekiah’s reign.
Len Bilén's blog, a blog about faith, politics and the environment. 