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APRIL 14
Joshua 9:3-10:43
Joshua 9:3-27
This is a great portion of Scripture, not because Joshua & Co. were
tricked by the Gibeonites, but because it shows something of the faith of the
Gibeonites, and the understanding that all of the nations in Canaan had of the
people of Israel and what God was doing with them.
Vs. 3-15 Now it says the Gibeonites acted with cunning, but there was
faith in something that motivated all of this. Not everyone responded like they
did.
Notice in vs. 9-10 that they knew of what God had done 40 years earlier
in Egypt and believed it. They also mention Og and Sihon, but notice that no
mention is made of Jericho or Ai. These guys were pretty clever.
V. 14 This is the only negative thing there is in the Bible against
Joshua, and God doesn't make a big deal about it. I'll bet they never failed to
ask the Lord again. We’ve noticed that Joshua had failed to ask God about a
couple of things. Learning to ask God in practical matters was something that
he was growing in, even in his 80’s. He had intense faith in God, as we’ll see
today, but had areas where he thought he could understand a situation without
needing God’s guidance. This is true of all of us. I’m sure this lesson is here
for us as disciples.
To Joshua’s credit, this decision turned out good for Israel and for
the Gibeonites. In Nehemiah, there are Gibeonites in Jerusalem helping to
rebuild the wall.
Vs. 16-21 Three days later when Israel marched on Gibeon they realized
they had been hoodwinked. Notice that Gibeon was the main fortress that
protected three other cities.
Notice in v. 18 that when the people of Israel found out what their
leaders had done, they were upset. Why? Because they had internalized the
message that if one person sinned, the entire nation suffered. They knew they
were not to make peace. God took care of this situation for Israel and covered
this oversight of the leaders, bringing something good out of it. Later, after
Joshua and these leaders are gone, the people will use this incident as
precedence to disobey God and form alliances with people in the land. That will
be sin, since they are not tricked, and it is what will launch them into the
tragedy that is the book of Judges.
Vs. 22-27 The Gibeonites, the people, the leaders, the entire city had
amazing faith. Remember that Abraham & Sons © had lived in Canaan for
generations long before this; and it is possible, besides the information the
Gibeonites had of Egypt, that they also understood something of the history of
Abraham and the promise. That's speculation, I know, but it makes you wonder.
Somehow they knew of what God had said to Moses in Deuteronomy about bringing
all of the inhabitants of the land to judgment. Were there spies in the crowd
as Moses preached? They knew what God had said. In 10:2 it says that this was a great city with real fighters, yet
they had the faith to try to make peace. God rewarded them for this.
Faith is information, trust in that information and obeying that
information. This is why these people received God’s mercy. All of the other
kings in Canaan knew exactly what the Gibeonites knew and chose not to believe
or even run. It is the irrationality of sin.
Joshua 10
Vs. 1-5 It is interesting that God used this event with Gibeon to draw all
of these kings into the open field for battle. Imagine how long this would have
taken going one city at a time. These are basically the kings that held
military power in the southern part of Canaan.
Vs. 6-11 Notice that God assured Joshua of victory. And then you see
Joshua, the man of faith, building his strategy on God’s assurance. This is the
balance of hearing God and then using our passion and creativity in following
God. Both God and Joshua get their licks in, during this battle. Joshua drove
his tired army by night to a place where the attack would be unexpected. Then
God did His thing. First He got some confusion going and then He threw down large stones. God made sure
Israel knew that He was involved and that they weren't just winning by their own
strength. In light of Joshua's request, this must have been a passing, isolated
thunderstorm, since the sky was clear enough to see the sun. I can imagine the
guys running from Joshua, saying, "Is it me, or does it seem to you that
that cloud is following us? Ouch!"
Vs. 12-14 These verses are amazing not only because of what happened,
but because of Joshua. How did Joshua know that he could do this? There must be
a link between this and what Jesus told the disciples about what would be
possible if they had faith as a mustard seed. Inspired by the Spirit, yet as a
man fully immersed in this moment with God, Joshua called on the day to stand
still. Before we get lost in the physics of the situation, think about the
faith that was inspired in Joshua. I think of how Jesus knew to heal one man
and yet pass by another. And how Peter and John one day walked past a guy Jesus
had walked past many times, and knew it was time to heal him. It makes me think
about the harvest and where those intersections of faith and mustard seed
occur.
It was a good thing Joshua didn't know a lot about physics or natural
law or anything, because if he had, he would never have asked this because it
is "impossible." It wasn’t that the day slowed down; it was that it
stood still; the sun and the moon remaining in the same place means the earth
stopped spinning. Apparently God isn't impressed with physics either, because
He did it. Just think about what had to happen for the earth to stop moving.
Those hours on earth, everywhere on earth, would have been strange hours. God's
power is beyond physics. Physics exist for His purposes but are not necessary.
He is absolute. He creates. He stops. He resumes. Physics and natural “laws”
work because He makes them work, and life can and will exist (someday) without
the sun.
It is interesting on this point that Luther tried to teach science with
this section and called Copernicus a fool to say that the earth revolved around
the sun because Joshua clearly asked that the sun stand still. Obviously God knew
what Joshua meant, and in the same way, we still call it "sunrise"
and a "sunset," even in scientific journals, even though we know
better.
Again, all of these nations knew what the Gibeonites knew. They could
have fled; they could have repented and asked God for mercy. The same is true
for the people we are sent to reach in the harvest. They need to hear the
message, but responding by faith is between them and God.
Luke 16:19-17:10
Luke 16:19-31
Since Jesus was just talking to the Pharisees, this story would have
been aimed at them and also would have been good teaching for the disciples.
The story of the rich man and Lazarus falls into a different category
than Jesus' parables. The parables are normally faceless, nameless object
lessons. They are examples of "that woman" or a "certain
man." No names of historical people are ever used. Names of known people
throw the meaning of the story into an historical or fictional framework. For
example, if Jesus had told the story of the prodigal son, and Abraham had been
the father, we would have immediately asked the question of the story being
real or being something Jesus just made up using the historical figure. If the
story didn't jibe with what we knew was historical, it would open the question
of what, in fact, is historical in the Bible. That would be a nasty can of
worms. BUT, that didn't happen. When Jesus told a parable, he used no names and
didn't use historical figures.
So, what's going on here? The obvious implication is that this is an
historical event. Jesus was not only the man, the Spirit indwelt Son of God,
but He was also God the Son. He not only had earthly illustrations to draw
upon, but as God, having seen the dramas on earth and how they were concluded
when men left the earth, He knew what happened to these people when they
finally entered the next life. Jesus, as God the Son, had witnessed every
person who had ever lived enter the presence of God. Actually, it is a place of
waiting. The waiting was for the time when the justice and righteousness of God
would be fulfilled by Jesus living the perfect life and making payment for sin.
The question, "Could God really provide salvation for sinners righteously,
according to His own rules," was answered in Jesus' sacrifice, payment and
resurrection. Until that event, there was a place of waiting, which was divided
into two parts: A place of punishment and a place of comfort in the presence of
God. If you read the book of Revelation, people being resurrected to judgment
and being thrown into the lake of fire (hell) is still future (Rev. 20). The
new heavens and new earth (heaven) is also still future (Rev. 21). So for now,
even on the spiritual side of life, things are temporary until the final
judgments and new creations are finished.
As a real event, this story provides us with real learning about what
happens immediately after death, what it looks like and what the awareness of
life is like after leaving this part of life. So, for my part, I treat this
story as an historical event.
Notice that the two parts have names: Hades being the place of punishment and Abraham's side being the good place. Why Abraham's side? I can only guess that God's redemptive purpose was
tied into the promise to Abraham. Though the promise of redemption goes back to
the Fall, it is at God's call to Abraham that the plan of redemption is
mentioned in detail. The promise to Abraham was the object of faith in God for
many generations of Israel's history. Today the object of faith is the gospel
of Christ. Anyway, God calls the good place, Abraham's bosom, or Abraham's side.
Notice that Abraham knows about the Law of Moses and the prophets. You
wonder by that if Abe was able to hear or view some of that history.
Notice that the response of the man in Hades is concern for his brothers.
We often feel very uncomfortable talking about Christ and commitment to God
when an unbeliever has lost an equally unsaved loved one. I get that, and there
should be concern and tact. But in reality, that lost person who has just
stepped into reality, and that being the place of punishment, is consumed with
begging that someone will go to that other person on this side of life and tell
them about Christ. What shocking reality! Not only is heaven cheering us on to
share the gospel of Christ, but hell is rooting for us, too, and maybe with
more emotion and desperation.
Notice that if a
person will not accept the Word, they will not be impressed by miracles. Think
about what we’ve read in Deuteronomy. So much of that was true and inspiring
for us as believers. What Moses said there was the essence of following God in
faith for any generation of people on this earth. The Pharisees put their hope
in Moses, but as Jesus told them in John 5:45-47, Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who
accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses,
you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his
writings, how will you believe my words?
The same goes for miracles. I remember saying, "If God shows me
something, then I'll believe." Not so. The preaching of the Word is
sufficient and goes to the heart and soul. If people will not believe what God
has said, they will not be moved by miracles. We've seen that the miracles of
God bringing Israel out of Egypt and the miracles of His daily provision didn't
do much for them.
Luke 17:1-10
Jesus was still
thinking about the pride of the Pharisees, how they were like the rich man and
made faith and acceptance very difficult for the needy, like Lazarus, tax collectors
and sinners. These little ones are
those in need of redemption like the tax collectors and sinners who had been
drawing near to Jesus to hear the Word. The word for sin, means "to
stumble." I was reading Romans 14 and 15 this morning, and not making
people stumble was a big part of what the Spirit said through Paul. And when
you get to the end of Romans, it says in Romans 16:17-18, I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions
and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid
them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites,
and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. The
word obstacles means a stumbling
block.
Jesus was warning the disciples about this problem and Paul was
fighting against it in churches.
V. 3 seems to be
Jesus warning His disciples not to be like the Pharisees, holding prejudices
and grudges that make it hard for people to come to God and find His
acceptance. Jesus tells the disciples that they are to forgive and thereby not
give people cause to stumble in their steps with or toward God. Notice what
Paul says to Timothy and how that sounds like this: 2 Timothy 2:24 And the Lord's servant must not be
quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil,
correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance
leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and
escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
This gentle spirit, willing to forgive and be patient with the
aggressive, sinning and frustrating, was something that Jesus was trying to
ingrain in His disciples, and something Paul knew Timothy needed. And, hey, I
need it too.
Notice that if the conditions are met, Jesus commands, "you must forgive him." I take it
that the rejection of this person would cause the stumbling.
Vs. 5-10 It seems that with this command, Jesus pushed the disciples to
realize He was asking something of them that was impossible for them to do
emotionally. In fact, it was beyond their faith. So they asked Him for the
faith to trust Him in order to do what He commanded.
In this context, where Jesus has just talked about forgiving in a
complicated situation, it is interesting that He uses the illustration of a mulberry tree. As I understand it, they
make a very dense and complicated network of roots. I know from living in
Texas, that if you had clay or cast iron sewer piping, and you had a mulberry
tree in the yard, the pipes were full of roots.
Jesus is saying that even the tiniest amount of faith would cause, in
this image, the tree to rise up and this complicated root system to release and
unravel. Of course, if you do this, remember that in cities there is often
restricted airspace around international airports so be careful of how high you
throw the tree through the air into the sea. Just a helpful suggestion. J So the
promise of faith is that the most impossible thing and the most complicated
relationships can be overcome with faith.
Vs. 7-10 Now comes the faith itself, and how simple. Faith is increased
simply by obeying with gratefulness, without questioning or thought as to what
we deserve. We think our service for God is above and beyond the call of duty,
but it's not. I struggle with this all the time, but I'm inspired by this
example. In light of all that we've been given as disciples, our salvation, the
Spirit, and eternity with Christ, our work in the harvest is nothing and we are
unworthy servants and have only done what was required of us.
I know that it might be hard to see this, but this actually ends this
section of teaching that began with tax collectors and sinners coming to hear
Jesus in Luke 15:1. The harvest is important to Jesus and a disciple needs to
be able to extend the grace and forgiveness of Christ, not as a conceptual
message, but as his living experience and passion in knowing his Lord.
Psalm 83
Vs. 1-8 It's hard to know when this was written. At the destruction of
Jerusalem, many of the neighboring nations were happy and were judged by God
for their acts during that time. I have the sense this might have been when the
Assyrians were threatening Jerusalem and the surrounding nations were hoping
that Judah would be taken captive.
Notice the references to chapters 4-8 in the book of Judges. That
period of time was a time when the neighboring nations made frequent
"shopping trips" to Israel.
Vs. 9-18 The psalmist cries out to God to save them like He did during
the days of the judges.
Notice the crying out. Earlier in the year, most of The Psalms were the
"crying out" kind. You might conclude that by the mere frequency of
those kinds of psalms, that should be our normal state before God: asking,
seeking, and knocking.
V. 18 The desire is that the nations would know the Lord. If this psalm
was written regarding the Assyrian threat to Jerusalem, God decimated the
Assyrian army. The world was stunned and every nation knew there was a God in
Jerusalem.
Proverbs 13:4
What occurs to me reading this is the difference between knowing God's
will and doing it. We may need to question what His direction for us is, but we
don't need to ask what our sense of interest and energy should be once we know.
Diligence is a response of faith and love.
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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