If you don't
have a One Year Bible or prefer something online, this link will take you to
the day's reading, http://oneyearbibleonline.com/daily-oyb/. This
site allows you to select from several languages and several English
translations.
MARCH 3
Time to celebrate again! Today you will finish the third book in the OT
and begin the fourth. You deserve a Blarney© Latte!
Leviticus 27:14-34
Vs. 14-25 The temporary donation or "vow" of a house or land
will make more sense when we read Numbers. The Levites did not inherit any
land. They had to live among the people. As the nation became more organized
and social needs grew, people could "vow" houses and land to the
Levites to use for themselves, or for the widows and orphans, for example, that
the Levites helped. It could also be that some of these houses might have been
used by the Levites for schools. You get the picture.
V. 19 If a person needed the house or land back, they could redeem it
but all of this was done with respect to the year of jubilee.
Vs. 26-27 All firstborn animals belonged to the Lord, even the
firstborn donkey or camel. These would have to be "bought back" from
the Lord. It is interesting that they didn't call this a tax. It was a
redemption, therefore having a very symbolic meaning that would become a part
of their lives and culture.
Vs. 28-29 This is referring to things given permanently. This was
different from something vowed for a period of time. A person devoted to death
meant that he had committed a felony punishable by death, and therefore he
could not be ransomed, but had to pay for his sin.
Vs. 30-34 Even the tithe of the crops could be redeemed.
One of the first blog entries I wrote in February of 2010 was titled
"Who needs Leviticus?" The answer is, "We do." Because of
the relational nature of Christianity today, we are tempted to treat God as
common, like a buddy; and we forget how awesomely holy and separate He is. We
imagine Him as just a big, mighty version of ourselves, who will even
occasionally laugh at our crassness and bad habits. Not so. The fact that He
loves us and helps us should be beyond our comprehension, considering how holy
and majestic He is. Leviticus brings us back to a place of balance,
understanding that our heavenly Father, our Lord and the Holy Spirit are holy
and worthy of our complete and holy devotion.
Numbers 1:1-54
V. 1 The time marker here is very important. This is taking place one
month after they set up the tabernacle. (See Ex. 40:2.) This means that
everything in the book of Leviticus took a month.
Vs. 2-19 I wonder how they came up with the name for this book? Even
though there had been a census when the people came out of Egypt, this is
official and emphasizes the ordering of the nation before God. The people will
be organized around the tabernacle and be given a specific organization for
traveling to the land. The people should have been kind of excited.
One thing to constantly keep in mind is that they had the manna every
day and they had the pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. They
lived in the presence of God and the supernatural. Also, notice that the only
ones counted were men 20 and up. If you understand this, you realize that the
size of Israel had to be in the millions. That the Lord was feeding them every
day was amazing.
Vs. 20-46 Notice the size of the tribes. Which tribe is the biggest?
How does this relate back to Jacob's parting words in Genesis 49? Now (and this
is a trick question), who is the second largest? This also relates back to
Jacob. In Jacob's parting words, Joseph receives a huge portion. Although
Ephraim is given the firstborn designation, two tribes are counted here as the
people of Joseph. Judah is still bigger. In one very important event in
Numbers, the tribes of Judah and Ephraim will be exalted in Israel, represented
by two men.
Vs. 47-54 The Levites are given a great honor. God already had this
planned, obviously, since both Aaron and Moses were of the tribe of Levi. But,
remember when Moses asked who was on the Lord's side when he needed help
regarding the golden calf? It was the entire tribe of Levi that came to him and
helped to avert God's anger in the camp of Israel. Though the Levites would receive
no inheritance in the land, they were given a special position in the nation,
literally and figuratively, as mediators between God and the people.
V. 53 This means that the Levites would camp encircled around the
tabernacle as a kind of buffer zone between God and the people. Again, there is
great symbolism in God choosing this one tribe to have no inheritance on earth,
but to be near the Lord and serve His people.
The church (Jesus' disciples following during this time of harvest) is
also told it has no inheritance on earth. Jesus taught His disciples that as
they abided in Him, their reward was in heaven and their commission was on
earth to follow Him in the harvest, making disciples, who make disciples. The
disciple's role in assisting people to come before the Lord and worship Him has
a sense of being a Levite or a priest. Look at 1 Peter 2:9 and then read how
Paul saw his service to the Gentiles in Romans 15:16. It is clear that in order
to serve, worship and follow Jesus now, we must have our inheritance in heaven
and see our time on earth as service for Him in making disciples and leading
the lost to Christ. Having treasure on earth is deadly to being a disciple in
the harvest. We cannot serve two masters. Our treasure has to be Jesus, being
able to learn directly from Him daily, through His Word, by His Spirit, following
Him into the harvest.
Mark 11:1-25
Vs. 1-11 This is Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The people
thought He was coming as the eternally reigning king, but He was coming as the
Lamb of God.
Vs. 2-6 Notice that even though "disaster" would follow,
Jesus was showing the disciples that all was divinely planned.
Vs. 9-10 Apparently Hosanna
means something like, "God, come and save us." They misunderstood
what this "coming" meant. Next time Jesus will be coming to reign
over the world.
V. 11 This is interesting. It was apparently late so Jesus just looked
around to get the lay of the land and prepare for the next day.
Vs. 12-14 This passage has always puzzled me. When Jesus curses the fig
tree, why does Mark mention that it wasn't the season for figs? That sort of
makes Jesus' expectation unrealistic and the curse senseless.
What I understand is this. If it had been fig season, Jesus could have
seen the fruit, or lack thereof, from a distance. This explains why he went to
the tree to look. It wasn't fig season. It was, however, common food for people
to eat the buds where the figs would grow. These came out first and then were
covered by the leaves, making them invisible. People ate these buds. Jesus
assumed there would be buds but couldn't see them. He could have seen the figs.
He had to go and look, because it wasn't fig season, so he couldn't see that
there were no buds to eat. The absence of the buds meant no figs later in the
year and that the tree was unfruitful.
Vs. 15-19 This was the second time Jesus cleansed the temple. He did it
at the first Passover of His ministry, mentioned in John 2, and now at the
final Passover of His ministry.
V. 17 This “market” took place in the court of the Gentiles, on the
temple complex and just outside the temple. This is where foreigners were
allowed to come and pray. The Jews despised Gentiles. It is interesting that
Mark mentions that the temple was meant to be a house of prayer for all the nations. It will be in the future.
V. 18 Jesus taught right up to the end and the people were astonished
at His teaching. The astonishment of the people made the leaders fearful. How
funny.
Vs. 20-25 Now, after reading about Jesus cleansing the temple, we can
see how symbolic this sign was. The nation was the unfruitful tree. Within 40
years, that generation would be judged for their lack of faith and
unfruitfulness. The temple would be destroyed and the city left in ruins, and
many of the Jews would be killed by the Romans.
Vs. 22-24 So, why does Jesus give the disciples, what appears to be, a
lesson on faith that can curse trees and move mountains? In the context of the
harvest and in the coming commission to the church, they were given authority
to use God's power. I think the lesson is regarding fruitlessness vs.
fruitfulness. If we are working in the harvest and have faith as a mustard
seed, we will never be fruitless. Our asking will be focused on the harvest and
the Spirit will direct His power to the harvest.
V. 25 Jesus mentioned forgiveness frequently in the training of the
Twelve. You cannot mediate forgiveness if you are harboring unforgiveness
toward others. In that case, God withholds mercy from us for our failings, and
we lack authority in His service. This is a very important thing for us as we
work in the harvest. For the disciples, the events that would follow would
stretch them in terms of being able to forgive others. My take on this.
Psalm 46
A probable time for Psalm 46, and the historical period for the other
psalms written by the sons of Korah, is the reign of Hezekiah. Psalm 46 was
probably written after the events recorded in 2 Kings 18-19. Jerusalem was
surrounded by the invincible army of an arrogant king.
V. 1 This is the declaration, after the fact. What God did was amazing.
One night, there was no hope. In the morning, there was no enemy.
Vs. 2-3 Compare the threat of the Assyrian army to the poetic threat of
the raging seas, shaking the earth to its foundations, waiting with its mouth
wide open, devouring mountains. The Assyrians had "defeated" all the
other gods, and thus "devoured" all the other mountains or hopes or
refuges of the surrounding nations. Now they made a mistake. They came to the
wrong mountain, and to the wrong, actually the real, God.
Vs. 4-5 These verses are a contrast to the chaos outside Jerusalem and
the situation in the middle of God's city on top of His mountain. A stream
flows out from His throne, spreading throughout the city, bringing peace and a
mellow, intoxicating joy. God is the cause, because of His presence.
Deliverance will come in the morning, usually seen as the time of worship and
prayers to God.
Vs. 6-7 The nations have to rage to make kingdoms totter, but God only needs to say a word. Verse 7 is God's
victory and Israel's declaration, which will be repeated again.
Vs. 8-9 This tells the people to look and see what God did with a word.
In 2 Kings 19 it says in very few words, almost anticlimactically, that God
sent out an angel, and 185,000 soldiers were slain in their sleep. The
Assyrians awoke; the camp was full of dead bodies, and they went home. There
was a lot of supplies and equipment left behind, and the people used the
weapons and chariots for firewood.
Vs. 10-11 This tells us what to do when we have no place to find refuge
or help or hope. Amen.
Proverbs 10:23
Basically this Proverb is a gauge to see if we are fools or people of
understanding. A fool gets "a kick" out of doing stupid stuff. It
feeds his heart to frustrate a boss or get some silliness going. It's like
telling a good joke.
For a person of understanding the same is true. It feeds his heart to
find wisdom and to put it into practice, seeing it work through his family or group
of friends.
It may be that we can say of ourselves that while we are not fools, we
haven't yet learned to be persons of understanding. If finding and using wisdom
doesn't yet feed our hearts, it needs to.
Please Read
the Following Disclaimer
I'm writing the Reading Notes to and
for those who are following a One Year Bible and are 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, that is, 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 and important discipleship manual we have and it is the 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, or whom we are to be following. 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, as disciples, 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, making disciples in the harvest.
If you would like a more descriptive
commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary (BKC).
I read the BKC in doing background for the Reading Notes and refer to it quite
often. I also make reference to maps or charts in the BKC, though I will only
note where those resources can be found. Often you can do a search for these
and find them in Google books. Buying both volumes of the Bible Knowledge
Commentary would be a good idea.
I am not endorsing any particular
One Year Bible translation; in fact, I read something you probably don't, Die
Revidierte Lutherbibel, 1984. Unless noted, all Scripture quotes are from the
ESV Bible.
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. Often there is a breadth of opinion on certain events, both
historical and prophetic. Many of my views come from my church background,
theological training and my personal study.
I'm
doing this with discipleship in mind, meaning, I'm writing out thoughts that
will keep discipleship and our growth as disciples applied to what we are reading.
Remember,
the real focus of the Reading Notes is to be a supplement, a disciple’s
commentary, giving motivation and insight so that we will keep following our
Lord in the harvest, reaching the lost and making disciples, who make
disciples. Being in the Word every day,
sitting at Jesus’ feet, learning directly from Him, is the essential essence of
being and making disciples.
May the Lord bless you as you follow Him in the
harvest, reaching the lost and making disciples, who make disciples. Dan
If you would like documents
containing an entire month of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes.
If you would like a full
presentation of discipleship read Simply
Disciples*Making Disciples.
Or if you are struggling with
insomnia and would like a long boring dissertation on disciple making, these
can both be found on https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes.
Reading Notes ©, Dan Kachikis
2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018
The One Year Bible © by
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton Illinois 60189
The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version® (ESV®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers.
All charts/graphics/outlines
from the Bible Knowledge Commentary are used with the permission of David C.
Cook.
© 1983, 2001 John F Walvoord and Roy B Zuck.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary is published by David C Cook.
All rights reserved. Publisher permission
required to reproduce.
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