Judges 8:18-9:21
Judges 8:18-35
Vs. 18-21 Apparently there is something going
on here. Normally Gideon would have had these kings killed anyway, but his
words indicate that these two kings were responsible for killing his brothers
in time of peace. Gideon is taking the responsibility as the blood avenger as
he does this.
I have never understood why Gideon did this
to his young son. I'm sure there was some cultural meaning, but every year I
think what a bad idea this was.
Vs. 22-28 This was an understandable gesture
by the people, wanting Gideon to be their king. I wonder why Gideon didn't ask
the Lord and I wonder where the Levites were. Since Gideon asked for help in
other places, why didn't he ask for guidance from the priests? But I think we
will see why Gideon didn't seek the priests.
Gideon was very firm on the idea that God
ruled Israel. Of course, this only worked if the Levites were in place and the
people obeyed God. If they did their parts, then Israel was untouchable.
Apparently during the fighting Gideon did
more leading, than collecting of treasure, so for the main part of his pay, he
asked the people to donate an earring. This way Gideon would be blameless if
any accusations were brought against him, saying he took the biggest share. Up
to here, this is all good thinking by Gideon.
V. 27 This is the only negative that God
mentions against Gideon. Remember, this is Samuel writing about Gideon years
later, so there is an historical perspective here too. If the only
understanding of ephod we have is used here, it is the apron worn by the high
priest in worship in which the Urim and the Thummim were held. Why would you want this unless you wanted to represent
yourself before God and obtain answers without using the tribe that God had
designated for this? The land was full of corruption and I have a feeling that
Gideon had no respect for the Levites. I think this explains why there
were no Levites present. Why go to
them? Later, King Uzziah will be stricken with leprosy for disrespecting the
priests and Levites and trying to represent himself before God.
V. 28 This will be
the last time we will read of the land having rest in the book of Judges. The
next rest will come during the judgeship of Samuel. The next true rest will
come during the reign of David.
Vs. 29-35 This
report about Gideon isn't written in a negative way, but, in my heart, it
indicates that not all was well with Gideon. His wealth allowed him to live in
extravagance. We will see another judge with lots of sons who rode on lots of
donkeys. It is another way of saying that he had lots of money. You notice that
when the people wanted Gideon to be their king, they mention him having a small
family. In the years that passed, apparently, Gideon was a busy guy. All that
Gideon built without God will come to ruin.
It seems to me that
what you learn from Gideon, as a disciple, is that he had no lasting influence.
When the battle was done, he lived for himself, not the Lord, and not for
building the future generations of Israel. If the future of Israel had meant
anything to him, he would have gotten the Levites involved and he would have
been a godly influence to make the Levites prominent again in Israel. Gideon's
first response to the angel of the Lord revealed his ignorance of the Word. His
ignorance of the Word caught up with him. He needed the Levites.
The test of a
disciple is living for Christ, before, during, and after the
"battle." The harvest goes on. People are still lost, needing to know
Christ, and disciples need to keep being made and equipped for the next
generation. In spite of all this need, we still need to be in the Word and
personally close to Christ, abiding in Him and following Him His way. We can't
be too busy for Him and His Word, and we can't disrespect the church.
Regardless of the critics of the church, the church is still the bride of
Christ and entrusted with the harvest. We need to stop criticizing other
churches and just do our work. As disciples of our Lord in the harvest, we need
to make disciples, building the church to be a disciple-making community in the
harvest.
Notice what
happened to Gideon when there was no goal to strive for or no battle to fight.
It is the same thing that happens to us. We might not have an army of spouses
(what madman would want that?), but our cars and TVs and phones and apps and
computers and everything else make us flabby, fat and unfocused as the storm
approaches the harvest.
Judges 9:1-21
Vs. 1-3 Gideon's
concubine in Shechem is mentioned in 8:31. This "wife" and her son
lived with her parents in Shechem and not with the other wives and sons. Gideon
would have visited on occasion.
In Genesis, Shechem
is a notable place, for good and bad. And in Joshua, Shechem is the place,
between Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal, between the blessing and the curse, where Joshua
renewed the covenant with Israel before he died.
Abimelech (melech
is a form of the word king) is not only using the need for a king to push his
proposal, but also the resentment he has toward being rejected from his
father's family. This looks like a bad episode from a TV show.
V. 5 The mention of
killing all of Gideon's sons on one stone suggests a public execution.
V. 6 Notice that it
wasn't until Abimelech had done this, that the men of Shechem made him king.
Vs. 7-21 This is a
long story by Jotham, but you get the point. If this was a fictional event, you
would have placed Jotham over on Mt. Ebal, the mount of the curse; but in
reality, he needed to be on Gerizim to make his escape.
Jotham was
predicting the events to follow. Whatever happened here with the family of
Gideon, Israel would never be the same and they wouldn't see rest. Verses 16-19
are a charge, not only against the people of Shechem, but against all of
Israel. Notice that there is no outcry from the other tribes when they learned
that Gideon's family was slaughtered like this. The people, all the tribes,
should have risen up as one man to seek justice, but nearly everyone was
corrupt and serving idols. How different this is from the end of Joshua, when
the tribes gathered together because they thought something was done wrong in
building that altar. There will be justice here, but justice isn't always
"instant." In the first verse of tomorrow's reading you'll see how
long Jotham had to wait to see God finally move in and judge Abimelech and the
people of Shechem.
Luke 23:44-24:12
Luke 23:44- 56
Vs. 44-49 It was dark from noon to 3 p.m. It
was a supernatural darkness. It doesn't mention a storm or a solar eclipse. The
curtain in the temple, hiding the Holy of Holies, was torn, but not as the
result of an earthquake. Luke doesn't mention the earthquake. The people who
came for the "spectacle" left disappointed, beating their chests in
sorrow (of not seeing a sign, not because Jesus died). At this point, those who
loved Jesus were watching from a distance.
Vs. 50-56 We don't hear of Joseph until now.
He, like Nicodemus, was a member of the Sanhedrin, the group that plotted
Jesus' death. Nick and Joe were against what had happened and were probably not
invited to the meeting. The grave was Joseph's and apparently Pilate and Joe
knew each other, so the request was granted. Being in Joe's tomb fulfilled
Isaiah 53:9.
Luke 24:1-12
V. 4 If you add up all of the angels, there
were probably at least five present at the resurrection, two in the tomb, one
on the stone and these two sneaking up on these women and scaring the soldiers.
V. 11 is interesting. Even though they knew
these women well, and even though the women were pretty excited, these words seemed to them an idle tale, and
they did not believe them. The great heroes of Christianity responded like
duds. Someone promoting themselves would never write a fable like this.
Obviously, this is true and these men were no heroes, yet.
V. 12 We know that Peter and John took off
for the tomb. Why Luke only mentioned Peter might be because Peter would have
been better known by his readers.
Psalm 99
This psalm is focused on worshiping the Lord
in Jerusalem, in the temple (where He rests His feet), before the ark of the
covenant, which is the mercy seat and the throne of God. With this imagery in
mind, see if you can find all of this. Since it mentions all the peoples, it is another indication that Israel was mindful
of its part in the plan of redemption, leading all peoples to God. That is
still to come. Again, I think this psalm was part of David's desire to unify
the people by bringing Israel together to worship in Jerusalem.
Vs. 1-5 It is interesting that there are two
prominent ideas here. First, that Zion is the place where the Lord exercises
His authority, and second, that the nations should both tremble and praise Him.
This is exactly what will happen during the Millennium.
Vs. 6-7 The psalmist mentions that three
prominent priests called upon God and God spoke to them. This was to motivate the
people to come and allow the priests to lead them in worship, instead of doing
their own thing like Gideon did. During the judges and during Saul's reign,
people worshiped as they desired, but not as God had told them. This was
written to correct that.
V. 8 This is both a motivation and a warning.
V. 9 Here is the point of this psalm.
Proverbs 14:9-10
What an interesting couplet. In v. 10 it
suggests that a heart that is locked up by a lack of confession remains closed
and isolated. The fool in v. 9 doesn't realize the freedom that having an open
and cleansed conscience gives. The wise person openly confesses his guilt
before God in worship and receives God's acceptance. The wise person knows
submission before God and he knows the joy of having a cleansed and open heart.
These few words could keep a disciple from developing heart problems.
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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