Yesterday, after Israel
took (was given) Jericho, Joshua (6:26) cursed anyone who attempted to rebuild
Jericho. You don't have to go looking for it now, but as you read through the
OT this year, you will unexpectedly find the guy who ordered the rebuilding of
Jericho and what happened to the builder who did the work. This is why reading
through the Bible is fun. You find stuff, and the Spirit makes all sorts of
connections for you. It is always better when you find something on your own
and get that "kick" of excitement. That's the kind of joy and
motivation that stays with you and it energizes your teaching and your sharing.
The truth actually becomes a part of you.
Yesterday we witnessed a national
disaster for Israel. In Joshua 7:5 it says that all of the people were
disheartened by the defeat and loss of men at Ai. In contrast to how Israel was
before, you don't see everyone at their tent doors weeping and ready to stone
Joshua. Joshua prayed and cried out to God, but God sort of says to him, "What are you doing? Get up off your face. Obviously the people sinned." The people and Joshua were to learn an important lesson. If they were defeated, it was because of sin. It meant there was something wrong with them, not God.
Joshua 7:16-9:2
Joshua 7:16-26
V. 16 When it says that Judah was taken, I'm guessing a tribal leader stood before the priest, and the priest rolled the Urim and the Thummim. The result showed if a man was to be selected or not.
You can
imagine Achan standing there watching his nightmare come true as the people
were whittled down to his tribe, his clan, his family, his household, and
finally he's standing nose to nose with Joshua, who I think was a rather
imposing dude.
Vs. 24 and
25 are pretty fearful verses. The innocent were immediately with God and
enjoying it. The hard reality is, even today, that the sins of the fathers (and
mothers) harm the children, even in Christian homes.
V. 26
God's anger was satisfied. Now imagine that this is what happened to Jesus. God
just kept heaping it on until He was totally punished in our place. When Jesus
had paid every last penalty for us, you could quote part of v. 26 in that, the Lord (God) turned away from His burning anger toward all who are covered by
the blood of the Lamb.
One more
thought from yesterday. God told Joshua that as long as the devoted thing was among the people of
Israel, He couldn’t be among the people of Israel. It just makes me wonder how
many things I’ve let into my life that have distracted me from loving Jesus and
following Him in the harvest. He never leaves us, but as long as we have
something besides Him, it weakens His ability to speak to us and it keeps us
from fully abiding and loving Him. More about that in Luke.
Joshua 8
Vs. 1-2
God totally affirmed that He would give Joshua victory at Ai. Joshua is one of
the few guys in the Bible who has no mark against him. Moses and David were
both murderers. Not that I’m looking for something bad, but this is the first
time I’ve seen that although Joshua didn’t do anything bad, he didn’t always
ask God first before he did stuff. There was no mention of him asking God
before he sent the spies to Jericho.
That
worked out fine. He never consulted God before the defeat at Ai. That would
have been a good idea. Apparently, like us, Joshua had things to learn, even in
his 80s.
Notice
that God allowed them to take the plunder. Achan should have waited.
Vs. 3-23 I
find it interesting that God turned the entire situation around so that it made
Israel's defeat look like a clever ploy to get the city to empty out, leaving
it defenseless from the rear.
Vs. 24-29
This is Joshua and his leadership. Notice that like Moses holding the staff
back when Joshua fought, Joshua wouldn’t put down his javelin. He was devoted
to the Lord and to his men.
Notice in
v. 29 that Joshua made an example of the king of Ai. He will do this to other
kings, but what he does here is interesting. In Deuteronomy 21:23 it says, for a hanged man is cursed by God.
This curse
of hanging a man before God is what the Father did to His Son for us.
Vs. 30-35
Now that Israel had taken the two fortress cities that guarded the road from
the valley of the Jordan into the hill country, it was time to fulfill what God
had commanded them to do. They themselves had already experienced the emotions
of blessing and curse and knew the terrible effects of the curse. I’ll bet
their experience with Achan, when God left them for that battle, made this event
much more intense and real.
This is
the ceremony that the Lord commanded Israel to carry out: the blessings and the
curses. The way this was organized with the ark in the middle was really cool.
The Bible
Knowledge Commentary-OT, p. 347, adds that Joshua had to move the nation 30
miles to get to the place God said this ceremony was to take place.
I've never
seen before that Joshua wrote on the stones and that he copied it from his own
copy that he himself had written. Joshua was not a king, but fulfilled one of
the requirements of a king by making his own copy of the law and reading it
every day. The BKC mentions that they have found other monuments where
documents three times longer than Deuteronomy were inscribed.
This was a
long event that could have gone days and weeks. Notice v. 35. Everyone was
present to hear the law. Joshua's strength was in fulfilling the law and all
that was commanded him.
Joshua
9:1-2
While
Israel was on its pilgrimage, devoting its heart to the spiritual rather than
the military, apparently all the kings of the land thought it was a good time
to mount an offensive against the worshiping nation. But not everyone was
spiritually irrational and wanted to fight, as we'll see tomorrow. Those who
seek, find.
Luke 16:1-18
Vs. 1- 9
So, imagine there is a connection between this chapter and the past chapter.
What would it be?
I'll make
a suggestion. Jesus was in conflict with the Pharisees over the question of
reaching out to sinners. When Jesus told the parables of the lost sheep, coin
and son, He was really teaching His disciples, because the Pharisees weren't
open anyway. All three of the parables involve things of value, but spiritual
value rather than earthly value. You see this particularly in the father
talking with the elder brother. The Pharisees were rich. It was one of the ways
you joined the club. And actually, the disciples were rich by biblical
standards, since they had food for several days and had several changes of
clothes. But they were also rich in something else, and that needed to be
shared.
Now if we
put what Jesus is saying here, together with what He said elsewhere about
seeking the kingdom first and selling everything and having treasure in heaven,
you understand Jesus is telling them to use all of their resources for the
kingdom. What I find interesting here is that the steward got everyone squared
up with the master and decreased their debt so it was paid up. So you have two
elements to how the steward used his last days of influence: People paid up
their debts and they were in good standing with the master. I guess, applying
it to us, we should be using our resources so people can trust Christ (who paid
their debt) so they can be forgiven and in good standing with God.
Jesus is
not telling the disciples to be generous if they have a lot to be generous
with. He is telling them to use all of the resources God gives them shrewdly to
help people come to Him. As we’ll see later, the disciples were poor and
getting poorer, but they were beginning to understand what real spiritual
values and riches looked like. In this case, it meant paying a price to be with
tax collectors and sinners.
Vs. 10-13
Here is a clear application. It didn’t matter how much they had or gave, it was
their faithfulness with a very little that counted. Notice the promises in vs.
11 and 12.
We’ve seen
v. 13 before in the Sermon on the Mount. I think it was a standard part of
Jesus’ teaching to His disciples. I still don’t think I take this as seriously
as Jesus meant it.
Vs. 14-15
The Pharisees who objected to Jesus’ association with tax collectors and
sinners were still present. As Jesus was telling His disciples that God does
measure our faith by our faithfulness to Him in using the resources we've been
given, the Pharisees must have been scoffing audibly. When He told the
disciples they couldn’t possibly serve God and money, the Pharisees were
convinced that it was not only possible, but that they were doing it. The
Pharisees were justifying themselves; because, generally speaking, they were
generous in tithing, although they did it publicly for their own appearance and
recognition. Remember, the idea of riches is about what a person values.
Vs. 16-18
Jesus changed the direction of the discussion and got the Pharisees on a point
where they couldn't deny they were at fault. They felt they were teachers of
the people and the compliance officers of the law. They "forced their
way" into the kingdom, trying to make the law conform to them, stretching
truths to make themselves acceptable. But Jesus said that not even the
punctuation of the law could be perverted. It would always stay the same regardless
of how they reinterpreted it for themselves.
Then Jesus got the Pharisees on adultery.
They had engineered the law to allow divorce for burned toast, pretty much like
today. Divorce was so commonplace in those days that later when Jesus told
another group of Pharisees that God was against divorce, even Jesus' disciples
were “amazed and greatly astonished,” and said, If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry. (Matt.
19:10) The implication here is that since the Pharisees had money, they were
manipulating the system to get the women they wanted. If they wanted a new wife
better suited for their needs, they could divorce their own wife and entice a
poorer woman to divorce her husband. Who wouldn’t want an address on “easy street”
for a while? In fact, they could afford to make a poorer, dissatisfied man an
offer he couldn’t refuse to get his wife, and the system was “legal.”
In Jewish society it was a man's world. If a
wife was out of place, it was easy to divorce her. This is how the Pharisees
were using their wealth and position to give them treasure on earth. Their
riches and values had to do with manipulating the law for their own gain.
You’ll see this in the parable tomorrow of the rich man and Lazarus. Again,
this ties back to the issue of tax collectors and sinners, Lazarus being that
needy, but rejected, person. Anyway, the Pharisees probably weren't making audible
noises now.
Psalm 82
So, what's
going on here? It looks like God could be referring to the angelic hosts, but
looking at the rest of the psalm shows you that God is talking primarily to the
leaders of Israel. Yet, even in the two references we have to Satan and his
fall (Isa. 14:12, Ezek. 28:12), his description is taken from the description
of the king of Babylon and king of Tyre, and given such language that makes it
obvious to us that God has now begun to talk about the fallen angel, whose
arrogance was similar to the human judges being described. It could be that the
references to sons of the most high and prince could be shadows, in a secondary
sense, of angelic authorities, since sons
of God (in Job 2:1) and prince of
Persia (in Daniel 10:20) are both titles that refer to angels. If, in fact,
the angels had a guardianship to serve and guide mankind, they perverted it and
did not guide anyone to honor God by giving justice and protection.
Vs. 1-5
The main meaning is to the leaders of Israel. The people needed godly
leadership, but the leaders then, like the Pharisees in Jesus’ day, misled the
people and served themselves.
Vs. 6-8
They had a privilege to serve and guide the people. Think of men like Moses and
the elders he appointed under him who were given a portion of his spirit
(spiritual enabling) to serve before the people and give them justice. The fact
that these judges and leaders had the Word of God made them like gods. They
were given the truth and “power” to direct people in God’s way. That is why God
can refer to them figuratively as gods,
mighty ones. Jesus refers to v. 6 in John 10:34. Even Jesus' usage there has a
twist to it, because in referring to this psalm, He is standing before leaders
of the people who have led the people astray. Jesus’ point was that if they who
had been given the Word were called gods,
how could they say He was blaspheming when the Father had consecrated Him and
sent Him into the world?
As
reflected in this psalm, as Israel settled into the land, they strayed from God
and were led by many who did not honor God. The prophets brought God's
judgments upon the leaders who misled the people. As we go on through the year,
we'll find many portions of Scripture like this in the OT. One that I'll use
here is a good one that eventually promises the Messiah.
“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter
the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD, the
God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have
scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to
them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. Then
I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have
driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be
fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them,
and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing,
declares the LORD.
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the
LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as
king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is
the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah
23:1-6)
Proverbs 13:2-3
V. 2 A
man’s mouth is seen in contrast to the person who is treacherous. A treacherous
person uses his mouth to trick or mislead people, but in relating to people in
that way his inner life is full of turmoil and violence. The good man eats what
is good because he uses his mouth to encourage and enrich others honestly.
V. 3 This
is the obvious corollary and a good reason to honor the Lord with our mouths.
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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