Joshua 11-12
Believe it
or not, today we finish up the conquest of the land. In terms of discipleship,
there is a phrase that does point to something interesting. It is Joshua's
claim to fame. It is one of those things that doesn't require a lot of skill or
genius or talent. God kind of leveled the playing field when He called us to
His side to work with Him in the harvest. The essential quality of a disciple
is to hear the Word of God and to do it. That's what Jesus said. As you read,
look for and underline where it says that Joshua obeyed. We can all love and
obey the Lord, as we follow Him in the harvest.
Joshua 11
Vs. 1-5
The kings of northern Canaan come against Joshua and the Lord. Again, this is
the irrationality of sin. These people knew what God had done, but still chose
to fight. That’s what makes us human I guess.
Vs. 6-9
Here again we see God promising Joshua victory and Joshua warps into high gear.
Joshua took the fight to the kings. It is interesting to see God command that
all of the war horses were to be maimed and military gear was to be destroyed.
If we have the Lord, we don’t need the enemies’ resources. You think of all the
time and money Solomon invested in horses and chariots and understand what a
show and waste that was. God was showing Israel and the nations that He was
more than enough.
Vs. 10-15
Here are a couple of other things about Joshua. First, he destroyed the royal
city, the symbol of might, and let the other cities stand. That was good
strategy. Next, he regarded Moses as the servant of the Lord and honored Moses’
work. Finally, Joshua totally obeyed. It will be an honor to meet Joshua
someday.
Vs. 16-20
These victories were God’s judgment on Canaan. We’ve mentioned before that He
had shown hundreds of years of patience and had men like Melchizedek and
Abraham live as witnesses among them. We know that there is a personal aspect
to a person hardening their heart to God and then God encouraging the further
hardening of heart. In both Rahab and the Gibeonites, we see that people were
open to turn to God if they desired to turn to Him. In reality, God called
these people into His presence to give account. God’s presence is a place of
ultimate blessing and privilege, unless you don’t like God.
Vs. 21-23
It is kind of an interesting note that when Joshua broke the military might of
Canaan, he also destroyed most of the giants. Remember, it was the presence of
the Anakim that the 10 spies used to frighten the people. You notice the city
of Gath. That will be the city that Goliath comes from.
As God
said earlier, He doesn't remove every point of resistance. If He did, the land
would waste away and wild animals would take over. It will take time for Israel
to move into their inheritance. But what happened yesterday, and is happening
today, is the breaking of military power in the land. From this point on, all
that is left are small towns and cities that could easily be taken by
each tribe. The "could" will be a sad commentary on Israel. Israel
will remain true to the Lord during the life of Joshua and the elders; but
after their influence is gone, Israel will sin, and some of these towns and
cities that could easily have been removed will remain. Without God's blessing,
even the smallest influence will overwhelm them, because like us, our strength
is in the Lord. If the Lord is not present and we are not close to Him, we
cannot fulfill the purpose for our lives or our mission on earth. Regarding our
work in the harvest, Jesus said, "Without me, you can do nothing." If
we "do nothing" it is because we have lost touch with Him and are
living without Him.
Joshua 12
Vs. 1-6
This is a summary of the victories under Moses’ leadership.
Vs. 7-24
These are the victories under Joshua’s leadership.
Luke 17:11-37
Vs. 11-19
This is kind of funny to read because Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem, but
heading east and He'll eventually cross the Jordan. Jerusalem was straight
south. The shortest distance between two points is always God’s way. There are
some great lessons in all of this. Only Luke has this story, and it is the second
time he has reported the cleansing of lepers. This story has a twist.
Vs. 13-14
Notice that they had faith. For them to yell this to Jesus showed they were
aware of Jesus’ power. The fact that they went when He told them also shows
faith.
Vs. 15-16
This guy was overcome with thanks and went all worshipful. He couldn’t help
himself. So, how did they know he was a Samaritan? Did they wear name tags? But
now you see why Luke included this story.
Vs. 16-19
Being overcome with gratitude and worship doesn’t have to be commanded. The
others obeyed Jesus, but this man showed overwhelming love.
Luke was a
Gentile, and a companion and personal physician to the apostle Paul. I’m sure
Luke had experienced the conflicts Paul was constantly facing from the Jews and
Jewish Christians (many of whom were former Pharisees who had been saved) who
wanted the Gentile believers to take on Jewish custom and practice. Luke is
showing his Gentile readers that the Lord Himself honored the outcasts who
worshiped with simple faith and devotion.
Vs. 20-21
Now in contrast, we see the Pharisees. Jesus had already said that the kingdom
would be invisible like that mustard seed or like yeast in flour. That the
kingdom was in the midst of them was Jesus Himself. The import of this episode
is that the Pharisees sought to challenge Jesus, and once they heard His
cryptic answer, they left, shaking their heads.
V. 22 I
think as the Pharisees left, Jesus knew His followers would face deep
persecution because of the kind of unbelief expressed by men like these. In
light of that kind of persecution and scorn, there would come a time when the
disciples would desire to see one day of God’s vindication, one day of what it
would look like when the Son of Man comes in judgment. But, that time is for
the end and they will have to take it by faith that it will be a judgment on
mankind that will account for all harm done by the powers of unbelief.
Notice the
plural days. The days of the Son of Man are the entire seven-year period of the
Tribulation.
Vs. 23-25
During those days, many will claim “Jesus sightings,” or claim to be the
Messiah. The disciples are to ignore these claims. In His day is the actual day of His bodily return. This sign is for
His disciples at that point in history, letting them know that they won't have
to go anywhere to find Jesus. They don't have to go running to find the false
Messiahs that will crop up. Every person on the planet will see Him. The event
won't be hidden and it won't look like normal lightning and they won't have to
tune into CNN to figure it out. Also, they are not to be lured out into the
open. The advent of false Messiahs might also mean that many people living
through the Tribulation, even unbelieving people, will have a religious,
although warped, understanding of the Tribulation. But in the end, only having
a relationship with Jesus will count. The elect will live by obedience to this
command.
Vs. 26-29
Using both the flood of Noah, and Lot and the destruction of Sodom, Jesus shows
there was a time factor from the sudden beginning of the event to the
destruction. Once Noah entered the ark and the rain began to fall, life as they
knew it ended. Once the angels arrived in Sodom and Lot left the city, nothing
was ever the same. Once the destruction begins during the Tribulation, although
seven years will pass before Christ's return, normal life will have ended. If
you read Revelation you’ll see that the disasters of the first 3.5 years will
break down the entire network and technology of the world. The entire planet
will become “third world,” and that might be more advanced than things will
actually be.
Vs. 30-33
These verses seem to parallel what Jesus says later regarding the middle of the
Tribulation and the desecration of the temple. That will begin a time of
unparalleled persecution of the Jews and Christians over the entire earth.
On the
other hand, since there is no reference here to the antichrist, it could be
that Jesus is applying this to the entire time of the Tribulation. Those who
think to save anything during that time will end up losing everything. Notice
in v. 30 that it talks about a particular “day.” On that day the Son of Man is
revealed. This could be talking about the beginning of the Tribulation. It will
be through the entire Tribulation, as the Lord opens those seals, that He is
revealed and makes His judgment of the earth manifest.
Interestingly,
in v. 33, Jesus uses a phrase that He's used before regarding the cost of
discipleship. I find this pretty interesting, to think He used the same images
with slightly different meanings in different contexts.
Vs. 34-37
At first glance, this summary note by Jesus could be talking about the time of
persecution of the Jews and Christians. The implication would be that they
should have obeyed what Jesus has just said and should have run for the hills.
In that case, it wouldn’t seem that these verses could apply to the rapture.
On the
other hand, when Jesus was talking about His return, the three points He
consistently emphasized and repeated were that the time was unknown, that the
time would come suddenly and that the sign of His appearing would be in the
sky. The reference to the eagles (vultures)
is in answer to where these people would be taken. Since a corpse is mentioned
it seems that there is judgment in view. Yet if you look at the next reference
to the “eagles” in the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24:28 (two days before His
death) it is clear that the only thing Jesus is using the eagles for is to tell
the disciples where to look, that is, up. The sign of His coming will be in the
sky. If you were wondering where a corpse was, you would look in the sky to see
where the vultures were. The sign was in the sky. Close to the time of Jesus’
coming, there will be many impersonators and people will be deceived into looking
for Jesus in many places. In both Matthew 24:28 and here, the only place to
look will be “up.” From this, I would say that Jesus is saying these will be
taken into the air.
Since
these are the final words of this teaching and a parable is about to follow, I
think Jesus is referring to the beginning of the “day” of His coming, that is,
the beginning of the Tribulation and what Paul is referring to in 1 Corinthians
15:50-52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16. However, if you read Revelation 19:11-21 you
will find the Lord arriving at the battle with His people (the ones taken?) who
have been instantly gathered from all the nations. These believers will not be
resurrected or changed, but will follow Christ into the battle at Armageddon,
where He will feed His enemies to the birds (vultures). These same believers
will follow Christ into the Millennial Kingdom. I mention this only to say that
there is some leeway here for another interpretation.
Notice
that there is no v. 36. Apparently some copyist added it later to parallel the
Olivet Discourse in Matthew. We have so many manuscripts of the NT that these
are easy to find.
As
disciples, we need to be careful to submit our lives and expectations to the
Lord and His Word. These events are coming and the Democrats and Republicans in
the USA will have nothing to do with it. Our passion has to be to keep our
hearts free of civilian affairs so we can please the One who enlisted us. We
follow Him in His harvest to reach those for whom He shed His blood as the
storm clouds gather.
Psalm 84
According
to the Bible Knowledge Commentary-OT, p. 855, this is a “pilgrim” psalm,
meaning it was sung by the processions of people being led into Jerusalem for
the feasts. It was a song that helped the people tune their hearts to worship.
Though these songs were written by the sons of Korah, they may have been
influenced by David. One of David’s passions was organizing Israel around the
worship of God. As soon as he could, David brought the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem
because it signified the presence of God. David’s longing, particularly after
the long years of running, was to dwell with God. We've seen these recurring
themes in David’s songs: dwelling with the Lord, finding strength in God,
pleading that God would hear our prayer.
Vs. 1-4 It
is interesting to me that God made us to dwell with Him in the garden. Whether
it was David or Paul, as they grew in their faith they desired more and more to
be in God’s presence.
Vs. 5-7
What an interesting way to express strength. All the ways of our hearts lead to
God’s presence. It takes a while to learn this, but when God is our only
desire, instead of living from bump to bump, we go from strength to strength as
our hearts “appear” before Him.
Vs. 8-9
This is the only “crying out” in this psalm. It is the constant affirmation of
those on this earth who recognize this separation from God because of sin, and
desire this day to be over.
Vs. 10-12
Why wouldn’t we be content to serve at the door if it meant being in His
presence? In that service all of our needs are met with favor, light and
safety. Just reading this challenges my heart.
Proverbs 13:5-6
What
strikes me is the connection in v. 5 of falsehood, shame and disgrace. The
latter two are a good reason to be truthful. Our deceptions find us out. Jesus
warned the disciples to count on it.
V. 6
Righteousness is not a practical means to an end. It is living to please God.
In gratefulness we desire to live in a way that expresses our gratitude to God
and reflect His goodness. The fact that righteousness protects us is just
collateral blessing.
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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