By now you've worked off your McReuben and
Shamrock Shake. Set your sights on April 1, no joke, and work to stay caught
up. Deuteronomy is fantastic reading, but there isn't a lot of action. There
will be more action in Joshua and then we'll roll for several months reading
about one person after another. That will be more interesting for you. By May 1
everything will go faster. We'll be in Judges and in the Gospel of John. For
now, if need be, forget about these Reading Notes and just keep up in The
One Year Bible. If you get behind, put the Bible somewhere where it is
visible, like on a kitchen counter, and when you pass by it, sit down, read a
page, mark the page as read, and jump back into what you were doing. The
discipline you develop will stay with you all your life. You'll feel good about
yourself, because you are gaining God's Word and heart, and He'll notice you
are doing this for Him. Today we know Him here as we follow Him in the harvest;
tomorrow we will be with Him forever.
Deuteronomy 4
These chapters in Deuteronomy are like
sitting down to an amazing feast, where everything you'd want is there, but
there's too much. Or it's like having a late-night conversation with someone
you haven't seen in years who you really respect, and everything they're saying
is good and confirms and strengthens your heart, but you know in the morning
you won't remember it all. This book, these chapters, is like a deep well that
any disciple will want to come back to repeatedly to drink from. So, mark up
your Bible and highlight everything that speaks to you, that you think is
important for you, for us, as disciples following Christ in the harvest. Next
year, and the next and the next, when you read this again in The One Year
Bible, you’ll find more each time.
Vs. 1-4 This is like the prologue to Moses
giving the new generation instructions. This long "talk," probably
given over a week, will be Moses' final words. Although v. 44 says law, the word is really "instruction."
Moses is advising the people, from his love for Yahweh and his love for them,
to follow the Lord.
V. 2 Notice that the Pharisees, like all of
us, were guilty of both of these. They added traditions to the law, as if to
enforce what can only come from a heart of faith. Then, they lightened the law
to create loopholes for the sins they liked, like divorcing a wife for any
reason.
Notice the contrast in vs. 3 and 4. Listening
to Moses and following God was illustrated in what happened at Baal-peor. Those
who sinned died and those who held fast to the Lord lived.
Vs. 5-8 Israel was to have been a very simple
country with their entire routine ordered around their feasts. The nations
would have thought they were nuts, leaving their homes and fields for these
celebrations, always taking one day off of work per week. Nuts. But as they
obeyed the Lord, all nations were to have seen that something else was at work.
God's blessing of Israel's love and faith would have won nations and people to
the Lord. That was the plan.
Vs. 9-14 I think the primary thought here was
that the people were to fear the Lord. All of these people, if born at that
time, had seen the Lord descend on Mt. Sinai. God wanted to instill a respect
and awe. Not only that, they had seen what happened to the generation that
rebelled against the Lord and how it caused the entire nation to wander for 38
years. God was to be respected, held in awe and feared. Then, out of love for
their kids and concern for the future of the nation, they were to teach their
children.
Vs. 15-19 Notice again that this begins with
a caution. Moses really loved these people. I never noticed the connection of
the people hearing God but not seeing Him, and how that related to not making
an image.
V. 19 And they were warned not to worship any
of the heavenly bodies. When you read the days of creation you notice that the
sun, stars, etc., were made on the fourth day. In an interesting way, that made
them secondary and unnecessary, not only because God made them, but because
there already was light and vegetation on the earth. They were made only to
serve mankind, not to be worshiped by mankind.
Vs. 20-24 God was their Savior and their Lord
who visibly led them to freedom and salvation.
Vs. 21-22 Yet even as great as Moses was, his
own disobedience to the Word of God brought God's punishment. How much more
should the people be alert to obeying God and not making Him angry?
Vs. 23-24 Another warning. It is fair to say
here that Moses was saying they were not to treat God like a
"religion." They were in relationship with a living, listening, and
seeing Lord and Savior.
Vs. 25-31 What an amazing portion of
Scripture. This is prophetic to the point of telling of the Tribulation and the
Millennial Kingdom.
Vs. 25-26 Moses was a wise steward over God's
house. He knew these people. This generation was "charged up" on the
fear of God, but if they failed to teach the next generation, they would stray
from God.
Vs. 27-29 This happened, officially, after
the devastating rule of King Manasseh. Israel was exiled for 70 years, one year
for every Sabbatical year they missed. The book of Daniel accounts for the
entire time of the exile. If you want to see an example of v. 29, read Daniel,
chapter 9. This promise has been available to every generation of Israel. The
last scattering of Israel happened to the generation that rejected the Christ.
V. 30 Israel will seek God earnestly
when they see the day of the Son of Man, the Tribulation, begin. Then there
will be a national turning of Israel to God. For those seven years of
Tribulation and for the thousand years of the Millennial Kingdom, Israel will
be a testimony and witness to the nations of the glory of God.
V. 31 This is the promise to Abraham and the
hope of Israel. Israel may fail to obey the covenant they made at Sinai, but
God will never forget the covenant He made with Abraham. Notice what both Mary
and Zechariah say in Luke 1:50-80. Both of them mention God's promised mercy to
Israel. That mercy has always been there, and it will "kick in" with
full power when Israel turns to God in the future and begs for their Messiah's
return.
Vs. 32-40 Again, this section is a powerful
plea from Moses and God Himself for the people to take to heart what has been
done for them. What deep love and faithfulness God had shown them.
V. 40 This command is based on the living
proof of God's love and salvation.
For us as disciples, our response to God is
and always has to be from His love and His salvation. God does call us to hardship
and to sacrifice in the harvest, but Jesus walked there before He ever called
us. What He paid will always outweigh anything we ever do in this life. We will
always be the unworthy servants who, when we have done all that is commanded
us, say, "we have only done what was our duty." But we obey and do
this because we are, and always will be, overwhelmed by the super abundance of
His grace, love and mercy.
Notice the reference to Israel being given
the land for all time. This will
explain the next few verses.
Vs. 41-43 This might seem out of place.
Suddenly there is another subject. Moses has been talking about them polluting
the land through idolatry, but there is another way for them to pollute the
land, through murder and bloodshed. The next great curse on creation, after
Adam and Eve rebelled against God, was that Cain killed Abel and
"hid" his blood in the earth. God cursed the ground. When Israel is
finally exiled out of the land, which has just been spoken about, it is because
of how King Manasseh filled the land with innocent blood.
Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent
blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides the sin
that he made Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight of the
LORD. (2 Kings 21:16)
and also for the innocent blood that he had
shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD would not
pardon. (2 Kings 24:4)
You don’t really have to wonder what God
thinks about the killing of innocent children for the sake of our sexual
freedom and convenience. The Canaanites sacrificed the children born through
Baal worship to Moloch. For all of this, after hundreds of years of patience,
God finally judged them through Israel saying that the land vomited them out.
If God is silent, God’s silence is scary. There is grace and there is patience,
but His patience is His kindness trying to lead us to repentance. When we
reject His kindness, only judgment is left.
Or do you presume on the riches
of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness
is meant to lead you to repentance? (Romans 2:4)
As a friend of mine said, “God doesn’t always
pay on Friday.” The Bible, from one end to the other, says that “pay day” is
coming.
The cities of refuge were a provision to make
sure the innocent were protected, so that the land wouldn't be polluted through
the shedding of innocent blood.
Vs. 44-49 What we have read is the reason
Moses needed to give the coming instructions and motivation to follow the Lord.
Now we are told where this all took place. Tomorrow we will begin reading
Moses' great sermon to Israel.
Luke 6:39-7:10
Luke 6:39-49
Jesus finishes up His "disciple
orientation." Think of what you just read in Deuteronomy. Moses will keep
telling Israel to heed God's words. Jesus is telling His disciples to heed His
words. How interesting. The instructions Jesus is giving the disciples here
will be repeated again in Luke. I wonder how often Jesus repeated these things
to His disciples in different situations over the next two years.
When you read these same things in Matthew,
chapters 5-7, it is a bit easier to see the logical connections between one
thing and another. The order was very logical and necessary for the disciples.
Vs. 39-42 Jesus had just told the disciples that
to follow Him in the harvest they needed to have a perspective of life on
earth, working in the harvest, which was very supernatural. If they didn't have
that, they would be horrible makers of disciples, like blind men leading blind
men.
V. 40 They had to become total disciples of
Jesus to be like Him. Their disciples in the future would reflect their same
level of discipleship. That could be good, or bad.
Vs. 41-42 This is a warning to them, and to
us. The disciple maker and the disciple are in view here. For the next two
years, Jesus would be helping them to examine their own eyes.
Vs. 43-45 Just as the "eye" stood
for perception and honesty of heart in the last illustration, the fruit is an
illustration for the content of the heart. Disciples of Jesus are not primarily
people of skill or ability, but they are deep lovers of Jesus. It all flows
from a heart in love with Christ.
Vs. 46-49 And having said all of that about
heart, love is seen in obedience. To have a feeling of love is not the same as
following. What are His commandments? Most of the commandments I see from Jesus
involve following and bearing a cross in the harvest, acknowledging His name
before men. That is a love and a life that can withstand this planet and its
sickness.
Luke 7:1-10
This was probably the first big lesson for
the Twelve. Here was a Gentile who actually had the kind of faith in Jesus that
recognized Him as one with authority, a Lord. If you are a master, you say it
and it is done. This Roman soldier knew Jesus was a ruler. As in the parable
above, not everyone who calls Jesus “Lord” recognizes Him as Lord. The proof is
in the doing.
V. 9 You don't see Jesus marveling over faith
very often.
Psalm 68:1-18
David must have been having a good day. This
seems to have been written after David brought the ark of the covenant into
Jerusalem, fulfilling David's dream to dwell in the presence of the Lord in
Zion.
Vs. 1-3 We haven't read about David's life
yet, but this is a very joyous summary of his suffering and that God had saved
and vindicated David.
Vs. 4-6 This praise is to come from the
oppressed and those in need of mercy and comfort. That was David for many
years. God is a gentle protector.
Vs. 7-10 All the years before God established
David in Zion, Israel lived as a prey of the nations. David is describing God
bringing physical blessing and peace to Israel.
Vs. 11-14 This is some celebration among the
people of the victories the Lord gave. Apparently the Hebrew is hard to
understand, but later, we'll see that when Saul and David returned from
battles, the women lined the roads and sang.
Vs. 15-18 This is a poetic expression of the
greatness of Mt. Zion, Jerusalem, because the Lord chose it as His abode. All
the other mountains were envious.
V. 18 Notice that Paul quotes this in
Ephesians 4. Yahweh is seen here coming up the mountain into the city in
victory, leading the captives. Here, the victor receives gifts and in Ephesians
4, having received the spoils of victory, He gives gifts to men. (See also,
Isaiah 53:12.)
Proverbs 11:28
The thing is, society exalts the prominence
of the rich, but you don't notice the leaves of trees.
I was reading this morning where Jesus told
the disciples that it would be almost impossible for those with riches to enter
the Kingdom of God. The disciples seem to have understood this and were shocked
that to have possessions could actually block you from saving faith. But it
seems that the issue is really who, or what, is ruling our hearts. If riches
are our trust and our comfort and our hope, they are an idol, a god. If a
person has that kind of god, it is hard to go to the real God who says, blessed
are the poor and go, sell what you
possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come,
follow me. (Matthew 19:21)
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 complete description of this model
of being and making disciples you can find it in my book: Simply
Disciples*Making Disciples. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011WJIDQA?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
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.
If you would like documents containing an entire month
of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes. You can download
these to use on your computer or to print.
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