JUNE 23
2
Kings 4:18-5:27
2 Kings 4:18-44
Vs. 18-37 There are lots of good things to
observe in this story, but the one thing I'm impressed with every year is the
faith and determination of the woman. She knew that the power and presence of
God was with Elisha. She wouldn't trust anyone else. He was the prophet. Even
after Elisha sent Gehazi, she said in v. 30 that she would not leave Elisha.
She recognized his authority and God's presence with him. She wouldn't leave or
give up until Elisha had come. I read this morning about the Greek woman with the
possessed daughter. Jesus tested her faith; but she never gave up, and finally
Jesus said to her (I think with a smile), "Oh woman, great is your
faith."
Vs. 38-41 This is where we get the saying, Death in the Pot. I wish doing this
could improve my cooking. Again, you know what God was communicating by all of
these small wonders, right?
Vs. 42-44 Where have you seen this before?
Did you know this was here? It's interesting that when Jesus fed the 5000 men,
he did it with barley loaves too, but he had five of them. Jesus also fed about
15,000 people, not 100 men. Still, this should have been a story all the kids
knew.
You can see that these stories don't fit
together, except to say that God was powerfully moving and people could have
come to Him through Elisha at any time. And too, the 7000 were probably being
encouraged in their faith.
2 Kings 5
This is a great event and full of stuff to
observe. I just have a few things.
Vs. 1-7 It seems clear that the Lord was behind
all of these events to give Israel the encouragement to turn to Him. Once again,
there is a lot of mercy and grace to be seen in how persistent God was in
showing His wayward people that He could be sought and approached.
Vs. 1-3 Notice who it was that had made
Naaman a success. Here and in verse 13, observe who the real heroes of the
story are. The Spirit was moving things for this guy to be healed in spite of
himself. God was sovereign in putting people in places where they could help.
He had given Naaman victory, and He had allowed Naaman to capture this young
girl.
V. 7 Talk about the king and people being
spiritually blind. Note that the king could have called Elisha and sought his
help. It shows that there wasn't real interest in God or respect for what God
had done through Elisha and Elijah.
Vs. 8-14 Notice the test here. Elisha himself
didn't even come to speak to Naaman.
V. 11 Naaman was expecting a healing service,
not something that would really test and show his faith. Even Naaman’s reaction
to this seems to be designed by God for His glory.
V. 13 Naaman was wise enough to listen to
reason and the Lord gave him some very loyal servants. This reminds me of
Paul's words to Timothy in 1 Timothy 5, Encourage
him as you would a father.
Vs. 15-19a Notice Naaman's confession of
faith and his request. God approved it. Naaman, though extending a service to
his king, would never again worship anyone other than Yahweh. He now knew there
was no other God. Obviously Naaman didn't need the dirt, but he was a very new
believer and thought that he would worship better if he built an altar on that
dirt. God didn't mind.
It is very ironic, and God is presenting it
as ironic, that the only leper ever to be cleansed in Israel was a Gentile from
an enemy nation; and on seeing one miracle, he understood there was only one
God. Israel by now had seen and heard of dozens of miracles, but didn't turn
from idolatry.
In light of the dangerous, serious situation
of Israel, hanging on the brink of exile, and because Elisha personally hadn't
done anything for Naaman, he refused to take anything from Naaman.
Vs. 19b-27 Notice the words to Gehazi in v.
26. This wasn't the time for such things. The dishonesty and greed were a
product of living with an understanding of life and events driven by the flesh,
not the Spirit. A spiritual view of life given by the Spirit would also keep us
from many things that are OK, because this just isn't the time for them. For a
disciple, we are following Christ in the harvest and there is an urgency. It is
a time for disciples to choose to hunger now and weep now. Our reward is in
heaven when the harvest is over.
What seems missing from this account about
Gehazi is him pleading to the Lord for mercy. You can't blame Elisha for
Gehazi's failure anymore than you can blame Jesus for Judas' betrayal. As
makers of disciples, our job is to be with people, helping and encouraging them
to be in the Word and following Christ in the harvest. There will be people who
will fall away and those who still have to learn the hard way.
Acts
15:1-35
This is a very important portion of
Scripture. It is the first church council.
Vs. 1-6 Notice that this was a huge deal.
Here, the party of the circumcision is called the party of the Pharisees. They
were converted Pharisees. Verse 6 shows that this was not an easy issue for
them to see through.
Note that this clarification, council and the
resultant blessing came as the result of a conflict generated from some rogue
disciples who were creating dissent. Notice too that as Paul and Barnabas made
their way to Jerusalem, they were spreading joy among the brethren. That is an
interesting contrast between the real disciples and the fake disciples.
Vs. 7-11 God saved the day by the experiences
He had given Peter. The special, visual way the Holy Spirit had come and the
gift of tongues were the signs to the Jews that eventually broke down the walls
that would have excluded the Gentiles. Peter came through here, but this really
needs to be seen as something God did, anticipating this reaction from the
Jewish believers who didn't believe the Gentiles could be saved without obeying
the law.
Peter doesn't seem like the big imposing
disciple from the Gospels, but in v. 10 he seems to have put the rogue
disciples in their place.
V. 12 The signs
and wonders were evidence of God's presence and working. The result was the
salvation of the Gentiles. God gave these particular signs for the Jews (Jewish
Christians), not for the Gentiles. And the salvation of the Gentiles was solely
on the basis of faith, not works.
Vs. 13-21 This is James, the brother of
Jesus. Notice that he mentioned that God had made the first move toward the
Gentiles through Peter. Back in chapter 11 they had a mini-crisis conference
over that event too.
Rebuilding the tent of David was the raising up of the king from David's
lineage, Jesus, who would reign forever. The promise of the Messiah was the
same as the promise of the salvation of all mankind. (Amos 9:11-12)
V. 20 Abstinence from raw blood. This was
something God had said to Noah before the giving of the law and so was seen to
be binding on all of mankind. I think the prohibition from eating what was
strangled was the same as the raw blood. I don't believe this is saying that
raw meat is forbidden, but this is talking about animals that have not been
prepared and had the blood drained. An animal that has been killed and drained
has been killed with a knife, not through strangulation. I think the issue here
is ingesting raw blood by the cup or in freshly cut, unprepared meat.
Vs. 22-29 Notice that in this letter, the
apostles wrote Barnabas and Paul, but
outside the letter, Luke usually reversed their names.
V. 24 It was nice that they mentioned that
the troublemakers were not sent out by them.
Vs. 30-35 The result was rejoicing in
Antioch.
This council and conflict freed up the church
to reach the Gentiles and it made the gospel simple. Still, the underlying
conflict wasn't over. In Galatians, Paul tells of a run-in he had with Peter,
possibly after this council as Peter was enjoying a pork chop. Also, when Paul
came to Jerusalem for his last time, James gave Paul some advice to try to
appease these very conservative, pharisaical believers. Now, however, the focus
of Acts will be completely beyond Jerusalem, and this will be the last time in
Acts that we hear from Peter.
Finally, just to make the point again: This
issue wasn't resolved because they were super spiritual men with good people
skills. It was resolved because God saw it coming and prepared for this
conflict beginning at the day of Pentecost with the gift of tongues and the
visual coming of the Spirit. These things all had a purpose that was very
specific for Acts and the beginning of the church.
Psalm
141
What is interesting for me is that David
didn't want to become like his enemies, running his mouth in an ungodly way.
Vs. 1-2 express the intensity of his need and
his desire to have God help him.
Vs. 3-4 Apparently David understood the
temptation to become like those who were cursing him. Hate and stress can do
that to us. David was also leading men who wanted to kill Saul because of all
the hardship they had to go through.
V. 5 David would have gladly endured physical
discipline and verbal correction rather than become like his enemies.
Vs. 6-7 These verses are hard to understand
in the Hebrew. It seems that David was saying that even when these men were
judged and God vindicated him, David would only speak gently of them and not
curse them. You can see how David did this when he learned that King Saul had
been killed.
Vs. 8-10 David concentrated on God, not his
enemies. David knew that God would protect him, but punish his enemies with
their own punishment. David focused on the Word, the character and the love of
God.
It's interesting that the Lord caught me on
something like this while talking to my neighbor. Complaint and criticism is a
common language, and there is no easier way to strike up a conversation than to
find something or someone you and your neighbor can mutually trash. But our
mouths are not supposed to be like theirs, because our Spirit is different and
our Lord loves all men. Disciples in the harvest have to see a different world
and have a different heart. We are to be recreated in our Lord.
Proverbs
17:23
This couldn't happen in the church, could it?
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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