APRIL 8
Deuteronomy
32:28-52
Vs. 28-33 Notice how God refers to Himself as
Israel's "Rock" throughout the entire song. This is in contrast to
the "rock" Israel would choose to follow. The whole point in this
section is that if they were wise, they would have understood that only Yahweh
could have made them able to do what has been done. This is very much like what
Paul said in Romans 1:22, claiming to be
wise they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images…
Then, as Jesus said, they bore evil fruit.
Vs. 34-38 You were wondering where the verse,
"vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord," came from? God is
saying that although He would allow the nations to punish Israel, He will
punish the nations and vindicate Israel. God will teach Israel through punishment
that they chose the wrong rock.
Vs. 39-42 God declares His ownership of
reality and that all who make themselves His enemy will be judged. Some of this
sounds a lot like John 5. Jesus will be the one bringing this judgment.
V. 43 This sounds like the book of
Revelation. It is obvious that the fulfillment of much of what is written here
will take place in the Tribulation and in the Millennium.
Vs. 44-47 It looks like Joshua had a part in
the "singing" of this song.
Vs. 46-47 are very powerful words and apply
to each of us, too. As Christians, we still have the tendency to underplay the
daily importance of the Word in our lives. As followers of Christ in the
harvest, the Word, like the circulation of blood through our bodies, has to be
constantly circulating through our hearts and minds. The wreckage we see in the
lives of believers is directly connected to this.
V. 48 I wonder how I would feel if I knew
that when I finished my sermon, I would die? That might be a reason to preach a
really long sermon. But on the other hand, what does it mean to die? We show
what we really think of God and heaven when we become overwhelmed by fear when
we think of death. For those who work in the harvest, I think we all end up
with the heart expressed by Paul in Philippians 1, "I'd rather go, but if
it will do some good now in the harvest, well OK, I'll stay."
Luke
12:35-59
Vs. 35-40 Verse 35 is said with the same
enthusiasm and for the same reason as v. 33, Sell your possessions. If our treasure is in heaven, then we are
free to live with joyful abandon toward God. Here, the emphasis is on doing the
work of God in the harvest until He returns. There is that sense in which we
should work with joy and expectation of our Lord's return.
V. 37 Notice that this reward is only for those
servants who were awake.
V. 40 Jesus will talk to His disciples a
couple more times about the coming of the Son of Man. That "day" is
the 7-year Tribulation. Its beginning will be totally without warning. For each
of us as disciples, the day of our death, and the circumstances thereof, can
come without warning too. We need to be faithfully doing His work and living in
expectation of seeing Him at all times.
Vs. 41-48 The answer to Peter's question
seems to be "all believers." You wouldn't call an unbeliever a
"servant." We see plenty of believers lost on earth. Some people get
drawn into the cultural comfort of worshiping worship and stuff, eating,
drinking, being merry. Some really conservative, righteously right people miss
the entire harvest by holding a loveless, military view of protecting the truth
in a bunker, beating the servants. Satan is much wiser than we are and knows a
million ways to get us off track and to neutralize us.
Vs. 46-47 Cut
him in pieces is a euphemism for a beating. Unbelievers don't get a
beating. My sense is that those Christians who fell asleep in the light will be
saved, but only as through fire. That "fire" of judgment for the
unfaithful believer will have some aspect of punishment that will be awful like
fire, but not like the fire of eternal condemnation. Some of us know what we
should be doing and will get punished severely for our disobedience. Some
believers don't quite get it, and will still be punished, but not like those of
us who really have a clear vision of what's going on.
V. 48 The privilege and the requirement. This
is addressed to the disciples then who walked with Jesus and saw who He was. It
also applies to us who have been gifted for the harvest.
Vs. 49-53 The meaning couldn't be clearer.
Jesus came for the harvest. This life will mean great blessing from God, as we
follow Him into the conflict of bearing fruit in a dying, rebellious world. How
can we desire to be anything different than our Savior? How can we expect to
live a life that refuses to embrace what He embraced? How can we not follow Him
into the harvest?
Vs. 54-59 Now this was addressed to the
unbelieving masses. They needed to see what was going on and make a decision.
They, like the whole world, were walking to judgment. Now was the time to settle
with God. Once before the judge there would be no chance for mercy.
I wonder what this sleeping servant looks
like. I wonder if he's more common than we think.
Psalm
78:56-64
This sounds like the period of the judges
before Samuel became their main judge and freed Israel from the dominance of
the Philistines. To get a better idea of what is said here, read 1 Samuel 4.
Vs. 56-58 True to the behavior of their
rebellious fathers in the wilderness, once in the land, they also put God to
the test.
Vs. 59-64 This event sounds like the
capturing of the ark of the covenant, followed by the deaths of Eli's sons,
Hophni and Phinehas, then the death of Eli and finally the death of Phinehas'
wife in childbirth.
Proverbs
12:24
Well, I know which guy I want to be. The word
rule may not mean to be a governor,
but in contrast to the slothful, the diligent will remain free to live his life
without slavery.
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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