MARCH
30
Deuteronomy 13-15
Look for
recurring words, phrases and themes. There are some big themes that God is
emphasizing for Israel.
Deuteronomy 13
Vs. 1-5 It's
interesting that the example mentioned here is where the words of the prophet
come true and God allows it to happen. Wouldn't miracles be a case for
listening to what he says? Paul ups the ante on this and says in Galatians 1:8,
But even if we or an angel from heaven
should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him
be accursed. I’ll bet Paul was thinking of this portion of Deuteronomy.
I really don't
think we grasp the consequences of sin and separation from God. Truth is vital
and far more important than our experience. That is why the Bible is important.
This thing on earth is happening so slowly and invisibly as to put us to sleep.
Reality, however, remains unchanged. In spite of what we feel, there is a
contest for the souls of men being waged every day. Paul told Timothy in 1
Timothy 6:20, O Timothy, guard the
deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of
what is falsely called “knowledge...”
By the way,
this would have been someone like Balaam.
Vs. 6-11 Now
this rule was only for Israel as they were a nation under God's rule. This is
hard for us to choke down, I know, but the lessons of the wilderness taught
them that, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5:6, a little leaven leavens the whole lump. How much cancer is
acceptable? What God is setting up here is a "perfect" society that
He knows won't work. It won't work, not because it is a "perfect"
society, but because there is something in mankind, inside of each person, that
rebels against God. By the end of the book of Judges, everything will have
fallen apart. Sin will be shown to be sin.
Vs. 6-7 Notice
that the enticement is to worship gods they have never worshiped. If the
argument is raised that they were told not to worship the gods of Canaan, then
they might say, “I know, those were really bad and awful, but this god is from
far, far away and is OK. It is from a place called ‘USA.’ Now we’ll press this
button here and watch the idol ‘boot up.’” (I’m trying to be funny.)
V. 10 These gods
were in contrast to the God they did know, who saved them. Notice how important
their salvation was. As long as they treasured what God had done for them, they
would be safe.
V. 11 If they
did this, it would have a good effect in the entire land.
Vs. 12-18 Moses
has gone from addressing the false messenger, to the false loved one, to the
false city. This will happen at the end of Judges and the tribe of Benjamin
will almost be lost. It is a very sad and conflicted story. But I’m sure this
was repeated throughout Israel. In fact, one of those stories at the end of
Judges shows the entire tribe of Dan going “idol.” I think it is for this
reason that the tribe of Dan is not mentioned among the 144,000 in the book of
Revelation.
Since Christ,
the power of the gospel and the love of God is the only thing that works in a
pluralistic, relativistic, lost world. Society today doesn't give a parent or
employer many rights on limiting the freedom of the people they are responsible
for. As disciples of Christ, the truth we bring is wrapped in spiritual power
and in the love of Christ working through us. Sin rebels against law. It is not
so powerful when confronted by the love and grace of Christ. Today our work is
not to shape people or nations by activism, but by working and witnessing and
praying "under the radar" to see people come to Christ.
1 Timothy 2:1 -
First of all, then, I urge that
supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all
people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a
peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it
is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved
and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Deuteronomy 14
Vs. 1-2 These
verses attest to their great privilege on the earth and launches this chapter
on being a distinct people for the Lord on the earth. Here, they are told not
to copy this pagan custom of mourning for the dead.
Vs. 3-21 Since
God says in the NT that all foods are clean, this was a law showing their
“differentness” among the nations. It was the equivalent of them eating with a
fork and a knife instead of their fingers or blowing their noses instead of
picking them.
V. 21a Again,
it showed a sense of propriety and "rightness" to their customs. I
definitely wouldn’t lament that I couldn’t eat road kill or something that just
fell over and died.
V. 21b As often
as this is mentioned, I wonder if this was just a point of propriety or respect
or if it had something to do with Egyptian/pagan ritual or superstition.
Vs. 22-29 This
section is about the tithe and in that there is a link between only offering
the tithes at the tabernacle and the provision for the Levites. In giving the
tithes, there is the underlying value that this is important. But why? Does God
need food? No. So do they give because of raw obedience? That only takes you so
far. Valuing the presence of God at the tabernacle was faith. Providing for the
Levites was also faith, because they scattered around the country and taught
the people spiritual values. They were the "Sunday school teachers"
of Israel. If the people lost the value of being a spiritual nation, they would
stop coming to the tabernacle and they would stop providing for the Levites.
These two "rules" showed what the people truly valued in their
hearts. And, their tithing showed they understood that God was providing for
them.
When the people
came to offer the tithe of their crops, they were to celebrate before the Lord.
This is kind of interesting because v. 26 suggests a feast and a celebration.
Before the Lord, held in check by their love for God, they could buy any food
and drink wine or "strong drink." There is the balance between the
occasional being "merry of heart" and being a perpetual drunk.
Drunkenness means being given to being drunk. There is a positive rendering of
being mildly intoxicated that God doesn't seem to judge; for example, Ruth 3:7
- And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and
his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then
she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down.
Vs. 28-29 Here
was an exception to going to the tabernacle. On the third year, they brought
their tithes into their own towns, invited the Levites who lived in the area
and then held a feast for the Levites and all of the poor and needy. More on
this in the next chapter.
Deuteronomy 15
Vs. 1-6 Now,
this would never work today. Apparently, not only was the 50th year
the year of jubilee, where lands would revert back to the owners and slaves,
but also people who had sold themselves to someone, because they were poor,
would be set free. This canceling of debts and freedom of servants also came
every seven years during the Sabbatical year. Today this would mean the credit
card companies would cancel your bill every seven years!
Note that v. 6
gives the reasoning for this. If the people obeyed, God would so super-bless
Israel that they would have so much that they would be sinning to hold back and
not give freely. They were not to try to get rich, but to be openly generous
with what God gave them. This sounds like some of the things Jesus said to His
disciples.
Notice also
that in v. 4, it says they would not have poor people, but in v. 11 it says
they would always have poor people. So what does that mean? I believe it means
that God would work things out so that there would always be people who needed
help from others. This would be to test the hearts and generosity of the
people. Personally, I would rather have been on the giving end of that process
than on the end where God pulled the rug out from under me to put me on the
receiving end to test the hearts of others. But it is obvious that God was
going to do this. I think this goes for today too and extends to health care
costs and to the protection of the helpless. Lots of wisdom is needed in all of
this, but the point seems obvious; God keeps some people in a state of need to
see if the surrounding society is humble and willing to care and share.
The contradiction
in vs. 4 and 11 is dissolved in that God would bring people to the place of
being poor, but Israel would meet their needs so that they would no longer be
poor. That would be pretty cool.
Vs. 7-11 Again,
remember that this wasn’t true, genuine slavery. People were free after six
years. Imagine today if someone was out of work and destitute. Mercedes comes
along and says, "We'll give you a job, food and a place to live if you'll
sign a 6-year contract." Isn't that nuts! Who would say no?
Vs. 12-18 In
fact, if the situation were really good, at the end of six years, the
"slave" could say he wanted to stay on permanently and could retire
from there. The nations back then were largely farming communities. Help was
always needed. The people were to be generous and actively help people by
signing them on to work. God said He would bless them for that. For the
provision of six years of food, clothing and shelter, a poor person worked. Not
a bad set up for the poor. No local government was involved and no taxes were
levied on the people to give aid to the needy.
Vs. 19-23 are
again that test of heart and security in God's provision. Animals were
valuable, yet as the animals gave birth, the first of those animals suitable
for sacrifice had to be given back to the Lord. Sacrifice and gratitude were
built into every day of everyone’s lives. Those men and women of faith who
realized they were set free and now blessed because of the promise to Abraham
would love much and give back to God out of joy and thanks. To everyone else,
sacrifice would be a religious duty. When we get to Malachi the people were not
giving God the best, because they were pressed by hard times. It's hard to give
when it hurts, but it really is hard to give if we don't believe or trust God.
I am so
impressed in all of this, that God kept telling the people to remember they had
been slaves and were now free. They were free because of God’s amazing grace
and His desire to bless. Do we work in the harvest following Christ for any
other reason? He loved us. How do we know? He set us free, dying for us while
we were still enemies. As disciples making disciples in the harvest, we need to
love the Lord and we need to remember that we were lost, but saved and found by
His grace. A good song to listen to in this connection is "Remember Your
Chains" by Steven Curtis Chapman.
Luke 8:40-9:6
Luke 8:40-56
V. 41 This was
back in Capernaum. Jesus was popular there and remember that Jesus just healed
the servant of the centurion who built this synagogue. For Jairus to come to
Jesus was one thing, but to fall at His feet meant that Jairus was desperate
and believed Jesus could help.
Vs. 42-48 This
was a God-planned fiasco. I’m sure when it happened Jesus smiled, knowing His
Father was designing a situation in which many hearts would be revealed. I need
to smile more.
This is the
first time I’ve ever noticed that the woman was sick as long as Jairus’
daughter had been alive. They were both 12, in a manner of speaking.
Unlike us,
Jesus was not upset, anxious about the delay, or embarrassed by Peter’s remark.
I need to learn to abide in the Lord.
Vs. 49-50 This
was Jairus’ test of faith and by allowing Jesus to come to his house he was
showing faith.
Vs. 51-56
Reading Mark’s account, I have a feeling this went very quickly once Jesus got
the mourners outside. He didn’t want to draw attention to the event. I’ll bet
it was only seconds after entering the room that Jesus had her on her feet.
Luke 9:1-6
And now we have
another twelve. This is just coincidence….I think.
To understand
the chronology here a little better, read Matthew 9:27-34, then Mark 6:1-6 and
finally Matthew 9:35-38.
It seems to me
that the dramatic nature of these healings and the second rejection in Nazareth
somehow added to the decision to send the Twelve out. Their confidence would
have been high.
To read a more
complete version of this, look at Matthew 10. Matthew was one of those
disciples.
Psalm 71
This psalm and
the next four are pretty long, and it's easy to get lost in the alternating
thoughts of crying out and confidence and desiring justice and praising God.
I'd suggest you choose something(s) to underline; for example, the pleas (rescue me, be not far from me, etc…) or the praises.
This looks like
it could have been written by David later in life and just before the fight
with Absalom’s army.
Vs. 1-3 This is
vintage David. God was his refuge.
Vs. 4-11 Here
you have the cry for rescue. David asks God to hold him now in his old age and
failing strength as He did when David was young. Once again, David’s enemies
thought God would not save him. They forgot that God’s grace was upon David.
Vs. 12-24
Notice how often David says he will testify to the Lord and notice how many
ways he says he will do this.
I find v. 20
interesting, You who have made me see
many troubles….will revive me again.
Even David realized that God led him into troubles, to show him that he could
depend on God and that God would revive him again. That is a good lesson for a
disciple to learn. He leads us to bring praise from our mouths. So let’s do it.
Proverbs 12:5-7
I don't know. I
guess I'd rather hang with the righteous dudes. So what does real biblical
righteousness look like? Just, fearless, compassionate, and enduring. Jesus put
it like this in Luke 6:47, Everyone who
comes to me and hears my words and does them, I
will show you what he is like…
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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