April 4, Reading Notes

Deuteronomy 26-27

Deut. 26:1-19

What strikes me about this section is the healthy emphasis God gave them of giving thanks, remembering what had happened to them and what God had done for them, and showing that same mercy to others.

Remember to underline recurring themes and phrases.

Notice the different ways the great privilege Israel was given is expressed.

The offerings of the fruits and the tithes seem to have been one-of-a-kind dedications, one in the first year and one in the third year they were in the land. They would still have had the festival of the first fruits in the fall.

Vs. 16-19 are great verses and seem to conclude the "law giving" portion of this message.

Deut. 27:1-10

In preparation for going into the land and the initial dedication of the people before God, God commanded that the entire book of Deuteronomy would be written on stones. Possibly all 5 books would have been written out. Stones probably gives the wrong impression. It is possible that they built something like Stonehenge in England, but with more polish.. The Egyptians and other cultures did this. The technique was known and there was no lack of stone and plaster. It might have looked like a long wall or it might have been circular series of blocks, but it would have been a like a memorial monument. Remember, the fathers of these people built Egyptian cities, pyramids and monuments. They had the skill and know-how. This would be a remembrance of the people "becoming" God's people. Interestingly enough, it would be built on the mountain of the curse, as seen below.

Deut. 27:11-26

This ceremony was commanded earlier, restated here with more clarity and would happen in Joshua 8:33. Here we get just a summary of what the curses would sound like. I get the feeling that chapter 28 gives a fuller idea of what the blessings and curses might have sounded like.

The examples that Moses gives here are actually taken from Leviticus and Numbers, giving me the idea that this ceremony would have taken hours to carry out, and it took hours of preparation by the priests, to locate all the commands and make them blessings and curses.

Obviously the Spirit made sure these examples were given. What kinds of things come to your mind regarding God when you read these curses?

Luke 10:38-11:13

Luke 10:38-42

This is a great story that only Luke has. So, what was the one necessary thing? This is where being a Calvinist can be helpful. It's ok if we live at Jesus' feet. We can take that time even when the world is on fire. God can handle things without us for a while. In fact, we must take that time to be at His feet. If you need some extra Bible work to do some time, hunt down all the people who ended up at Jesus' feet. That's really the one thing that is necessary.

Luke 11:1-13

This is absolutely indispensible discipleship stuff. If we were in a group together, we might need to do these passages on a retreat. If you want a fuller treatment of these verses, I have two sermons from Luke 11 on my webpage https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/messages.

What you get out of these verses is very important. I'll just give you some leading thoughts.

The entire section is a response to the disciples' question on how to pray. It is praying in 3 parts, but it is one complete lesson.

Jesus must have taught often about prayer using the Lord's Prayer (LP) as his basic lesson. This event is at least a year later than his giving of the LP when he selected the 12 and gave all of his disciples their orientation in the Sermon on the Mount.

The occasion for them asking how to pray now, is their fear and seeing that public opinion has turned against them. To make matters worse, Jesus keeps uttering "suicidal" thoughts about crucifixion or something. They are in need. Before, the LP just sounded like interesting information. Now they are ready to learn. Jesus gives them the "street" version of the LP, but the disciples have heard it before and can fill in the blanks.

The LP is for them to tune their hearts to God in prayer.

Vs. 5-10 Lesson two is persistence.

Vs. 11-13 Lesson three is expectance.

Notice in verse 13 that the Father gives the Holy Spirit, where as in Matthew, He gives all good gifts. How do you put these two different answers together and figure this out? You can listen to the sermon I have and/ or figure it out yourself by looking at what Paul says about the Spirit in 1 Cor. 2:9-16.

Work on this, and it will make you a very strong follower of Christ in the harvest.

Psalm 76

Fear and wrath seem to be recurring words here. God's glory and majesty will be victorious and those who resist Him will be broken. As disciples, this is good to remember.

Proverbs 12:15-17

I think verses 15 and 16 are a process that most young people, even Christians, go through. God is a good teacher if we're willing to learn. And you become a better, humbler follower of Christ.

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.