July 1, 2012 Reading Notes

July 1, 2012 Reading Notes

Today's Reading in the ESV One-Year Bible

This looks like a good day to celebrate. You've completed six months of reading your One-Year Bible. Sounds like a good day for a Frappuccino© or a Chiller. Keeping up on the Bible is the goal, not these reading notes. The Lord will bless your effort and the Spirit will give you what you need to follow the Lord in the harvest.

2 Kings 18:13-19:37

These are two great chapters of the Bible. As disciples we need to be inspired by these. We need to be inspired by king Hezekiah, a great lover of God, leading his nation in the darkest of times facing an unstoppable world power. There are probably a million ways to apply what we have here, but there is one application that is going to repeat again and again: When God allows us to be pushed into a corner where there is no hope, He might be on the verge of giving a deliverance that is not only for us, but is also a sign for everyone else. Hezekiah is facing total annihilation by Assyria. Unknown to him, soon all nations would be praising the God of Israel and sending Hezekiah "Thank-you" notes.

2 Kings 18:13-37

Vs. 13-16 Notice that Hezekiah tried to avoid a fight. The reason Hezekiah said he had sinned is that the local nations, including Judah, had banded together to resist Assyria. Now, all of these nations were either conquered or they had withdrawn. Egypt was a weaker world power and unreliable. Hezekiah and Jerusalem were standing alone.

Vs. 17-18 Apparently the Assyrians were not happy with the tons of precious metals they had just received. They wanted everything and were ready for a long siege of Jerusalem. Hezekiah and his leaders had already anticipated this.

Vs. 19-25 This is the intimidation part of Rabshakeh's speech. As you read, notice how often the Rabshakeh tries to use a religious argument to defeat the morale of the people. It will happen three more times.

Vs. 26-27 I'll bet they wished afterward that they hadn't asked Rabshakeh not to speak in Hebrew.

Vs. 28-35 But now that he was excited, Rabshakeh revealed more of his disdain for Hezekiah and for the Lord.

This morning I was reading over the temptation of Jesus and realized for the first time that the temptation to throw Himself off the temple was really based on God's promise of help to Jesus. Satan was trying to get Jesus not to wait for the Father to help Him, but to force the promise and get help "now." In essence Satan was telling Jesus not to wait, but to press the "easy" button. Now that is a temptation I can relate to. One of the hardest things we do as disciples is to hope on God and wait on Him in the harvest. And the temptation to "give up" doesn't come from the lost, but from believers. It might come from believers who are not living for Christ in the harvest, telling us that we're being impractical or whatever sounds like it might be from God, but has nothing to do with living to glorify the Father by bearing much fruit and so proving to be His disciples. It might also be coming from disciples who don't understand the irregular way God is leading us in the harvest. This is what will happen to Paul today in Acts. No one will be expecting the Lord to lead a choice servant like Paul into such grave trouble.

I'll bet Hezekiah was tempted too. That offer of "a chicken in every pot" that the Rabshakeh was making must have sounded good. Instead, against all reason, they hoped in God and waited.

Vs. 36-37 Notice the obedience.

2 Kings 19

Vs. 1-4 This is a godly man leading the people in worship and fasting and crying out. This is how the northern kingdom and its kings and people should have come to the Lord. That's what all those miracles were meant to encourage.

Vs. 5-7 Isaiah said that God did indeed hear. The faith here is incredible. They are still surrounded, but they understood Isaiah to be a prophet of God and his words were the Word of God. Imagine the contrast here to what happened in Israel for years during the ministries of Elijah and Elisha.

Vs. 8-13 Rabshakeh should have left well enough alone. This turn of events must have made him think he would lose face and that the people in Jerusalem "might think" this was from God. So he decided to put his arrogance and ignorance in writing, just to make sure everyone knew.

Vs. 14-19 We haven't seen this kind of faith and godliness since David. Close your eyes and try to visualize what this might have looked like, the king coming before the Holy Place dressed in sackcloth, spreading the letter out on the ground, himself lying on the ground before that Holy Place that held the bread of God's provision, the lamp of God's presence and leading, and the incense of prayers constantly being heard by God. Hezekiah realized that just beyond the veil were two golden cherubim, and between them was the Ark of the Covenant, but that this only represented the reality of God upon His throne, carefully listening to every word that Hezekiah was saying.

V. 19 This is amazing and inspiring. Hezekiah, in this darkness, had a glimpse of God's redemptive purpose.

V. 20 God hears prayer.

Vs. 21-28 Much of this sounds like the book of Isaiah, obviously. It also sounds like what God said to Pharaoh, "I have raised you up for the very purpose of showing my power in you that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth." This is how God uses the arrogant.

Notice God's commitment to Zion and to Jerusalem. In 100 years God would have these places destroyed because of Judah's disobedience, but God promised Solomon that His eyes would always look there and that His name would someday dwell there forever.

V. 28 This reference to hooks is referring to how the Assyrians used hooks to lead away their captives.

Vs. 29-31 After this, this small remnant of Judah would prosper. Even though the people hadn't been able to work the fields, God would supply what they needed. He would make the land produce enough food all by itself. That was the sign, and really, that would be nothing compared to providing manna for forty years.

Vs. 32-34 God is still responding to His promise to David.

Vs. 35-37 Assyria was no longer a world power. In a moment, God broke them. Years earlier He had done this to Egypt, and they never recovered. There is rejoicing among nations, there is freedom, there is a vacuum of power in the world. All eyes are on Israel and their God. And people of all nations are beginning to send boxes of chocolates to Hezekiah.

Being moved to the brink of despair spiritually and emotionally is not fun, but God does that for His glory and to teach us what we could not learn in any other way. As disciples following Christ in the harvest, we need to bear the weight of faith, showing to others what it means to have our hope set on the living God, who is the savior of all men, and who saves those who believe.

Bring It On, Steven Curtis Chapman

Acts 21:1-16

Vs. 1-6 Verses like verse 4 have led people to believe that it wasn't God's will for Paul to go to Jerusalem. Assuming for now that it was in fact God's will for Paul to go (we'll find proof positive in Ch. 23), why do you think the Spirit was telling people to tell Paul that trouble was before him? I don't think the Spirit was telling them Paul shouldn't go, but the Spirit was telling them that Paul was facing some very hard times. This reminds me of the sons of the prophets telling Elisha that he was about to lose Elijah.

Vs. 8-9 So we meet Philip again. Notice the words that Luke uses. Philip was one of "the seven." In the background you can almost hear the theme song of the "Magnificent Seven."

Just for chuckles: The Magnificent Seven

It is interesting that Paul was a part of the mob that killed one of "The Seven."

Vs. 10-11 What I learn here is that if a guy named Abagus comes into the room, I'll definitely tell him to stay away from my stuff.

What's interesting here is that the Holy Spirit is saying this will happen. It is not an "if-then" proposition. Paul was definitely going, this was definitely happening. It was God's will. So why is the Holy Spirit doing this?

Vs. 12-15 Paul was used greatly by God. Knowing Paul, because of what the grace of God made him, Paul was actually a great man. Imagine the shock to the church to have one of your heroes put on ice, in jail, for over three years on some silly technicality of the law and some political corruption. You could imagine that people would be discouraged and churches would be shocked. Paul's opponents would say, "See, we told you." But the Spirit is warning the spiritually perceptive, that His plan in using Paul is about to change. I think the Spirit is getting everyone ready. This is not Paul's mistake. It is God's will and plan.

V. 15 This guy Mnason, whose name appears to be missing an important vowel, is from Cyprus, where Barnabas came from. It was the believers from Cyprus who first began to share the gospel with Gentiles. This would be someone in Jerusalem with whom Paul could feel at home. As we'll see, Paul even had relatives in Jerusalem, but they might not have been believers or sympathetic to how Paul had "thrown his life away."

As disciples, sometimes I think we second guess what happens to others, as if we are God and know better. God's will doesn't always look smooth and straight. His will for us, for a week, a year or a decade of our lives, doesn't necessarily have to follow our plan or have to make sense to everyone else. We only need to follow Christ in the harvest, wherever that harvest is, whatever the field might look like. We draw near to God everyday bearing our cross. If that's all we know of His will, that's a plan and all we need to do.

Psalm 149

I know it is easy to identify with the "praising" part of this psalm and not really endorse the "judgment" part of the psalm. I wonder if the people in Jerusalem who heard the "Rabshakeh Rant"© would have understood both parts of this psalm?

Vs. 1-4 With the reference to a new song and to Zion rejoicing in its king, you could imagine this being the day that Jesus walks into Jerusalem in the Millennial Kingdom to reign forever.

Vs. 5-9 Notice that the "godly" are mentioned three times in this psalm. The reference to the "two-edged sword" does sound like the judgment of God at the end of the age.

I would say that verses 7-9 give this psalm a very prophetic, forward look to the judgment of the nations at the coming of Christ.

As disciples, we need to remember that a part of the gospel is judgment. It is not only love's privilege to make an offer of redemption, but it is also love's duty to warn of impending judgment. And judgment will come and we will not only welcome it when it does, but we will be a part of that judgment.

1 Corinthians 6:2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, matters pertaining to this life!

Proverbs 18:8

The words of the Rabshakeh were meant to divide and go deep. He said that God had sent him. He said God didn't care. He said life could be good by following him. As a pastor and disciple, after all these years, being on both sides of whispers and gossip, I think it is always a bad thing when this happens in a church. If you can't talk openly, sin is around the corner. If I feel I need to whisper, I might need to leave. We are here to follow Christ in the harvest and see the lost reached and disciples made. Focusing on being a disciple who makes disciples can, itself, take away a lot of reasons to whisper. For the sake of Christ and His work through us, we are told to be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. If we are whispering at church, there might be something wrong that needs to be addressed. If it can't be addressed and the Lord has made it important to us, we might need to leave before we cause upset and division.

If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year Bible, click on this link http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/. If that doesn't work, go to http://www.esvbible.org/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. Send comments or feedback to dgkachikis@gmail.com.