April 25, Reading Notes

Judges 4-5

Judges 4

One of the things that is hard, is to get a sense for the passage of time. I like knowing when things happened. According to the Bible Knowledge Commentary (BKC) about 200 years have gone by since the Exodus. I guess if you take the 40 years of wandering + 7 years of war + 10 years of settling into the land up until to Joshua's death + 8 years of oppression + 40 years of peace with Othniel +18 years of oppression under Eglon + 80 years of peace with Ehud, you get about 203 years. Time is ticking away.

So now we add another 20 years of oppression under Sisera.

V. 6 Apparently the cries of Israel reached a certain level of intensity and God sent Deborah a command.

V. 9 Personally, I don't think it was wrong for Barak to want Deborah to go with him, but it is cast in a negative light. According to the BKC, Barak is still honored in Hebrews 11 as a man of faith.

V. 15 According to the song in 5:20-21 there must have been a torrent of rain that made the chariots ineffective.

V. 23 Apparently, it was a huge battle and Jabin was wiped out.

Judges 5

V. 2 has always seemed like the miracle to me: The leaders led. You realize in any endeavor, if it goes bad, the leaders are the ones who are targeted. Here, the leaders came forward and were willing to take responsibility.

Luke 22:35-53

To understand some of what Jesus is saying here, you need to look at verse 53, “But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”

Vs. 35-38 Jesus tells the disciples to expect the worst, to care for themselves and be prepared to defend themselves. When He sent out the twelve, Jesus told them they could depend on God moving in people’s hearts to provide for them. Now Jesus tells them the opposite. I believe it is because of this special hour on the earth. Except for the Fall of man, this is probably the worst hour on earth and there probably won’t be another like it until during the Tribulation.

Vs. 39-46

Jesus tells the disciples twice what they should be praying for. Even here, Jesus is interested in His disciples.

Jesus was on the edge, humanly speaking, during this prayer. “Being in agony” describes the depth of the human and emotional weight He was under. Submission and prayer, humanly speaking, got Him through. What a great model, and to think, nothing we can face will even come close to what He endured.

Vs. 47-53

Good old Dr. Luke tells us it was the right ear, and that Jesus healed it.

I get the feeling reading this, that the words of Jesus were a distraction of sorts to get everyone focused on Him and to give the disciples a chance to run.

Psalm 94

I think as a disciple, it gives security to know and remember that God has all things in control. Vs. 8-11 confirm that since God made man, He hears and sees and disciplines and teaches. In other words, He keeps track of men and their acts and is in control.

Vs. 12-19 are a great consolation and encouragement. Discipline might hurt, but to be trained to know God and to know His love and consolation makes anything we can face, worthwhile.

Proverbs 14:3-4

So, why did they put both of these verses together? I don’t know but I’ll hazard a guess.

Foolishness hurts and destroys itself. Keeping your manger clean by not having an ox is foolish. A man should be willing to do the work of upkeep. Sitting and avoiding the toil that will bring others closer to the Lord, gives you more time to enjoy life. But if you do the work, you’ll enjoy life more, have the blessing of God and you’ll have an abundance of hope, having seen God work. The wise man welcomes the mess.

If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year Bible, click on this link Every Day in the Word. If that doesn't work, go to http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/devotions/ and click on “Every Day in the Word.” 

I'm writing these comments to and for those who are following a One Year Bible and interested in growing deeper as a disciple, following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see the growth of a discipleship culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples, meeting weekly, encouraging each other to follow Christ and work to reach out and make disciples who make disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal manual we have and key to our growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused on why we are here or what we are to be doing. My comments are only meant to provide some explanation of the events or to show the flow of God's plan of redemption. My comments are in no way exhaustive, but are designed to keep us focused on Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is that the people in these groups will grow in Christ and be willing, after a year, to find 3 others to meet with and encourage in their growth as disciples, disciples making disciples in the harvest.

If you would like a more descriptive commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's keyed to the NIV, so the result is, the commentators are constantly telling you what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.

I am not endorsing any particular One Year Bible; in fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte Lutherbibel 1984.

Anyone reading along with us is welcome to do so and is encouraged to take their own notes and make their own observations. If the comments made do not agree with your particular tradition or understanding, that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any point of view, but only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as I understand it.