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APRIL 27
Judges 7:1-8:17
Judges 7
This chapter has one of the more well-known stories of the OT. It also
gets used for management and discipleship pointers all the time.
Vs. 2-8 Notice how often you find the words, the Lord said to Gideon. God was very involved in this action and
in guiding this fearful follower.
V. 3 Isn't it interesting that God told Gideon to let the fainthearted
go home? The last sentence where it says, Then
22,000…, the RSV and Luther say first that "Gideon tested them and
then 22,000 returned home." Gideon did as God said and the people left.
Humanly speaking, this says something for Gideon's faith in accepting God's way
of doing things, considering he was facing a huge army. Later we will see King
Saul break faith with God when the people begin leaving him as he is getting
ready to face the Philistines. Waiting for Samuel to arrive and sacrifice to
the Lord was too hard for Saul. Seeing these 22,000 men leave was just as much
a test for Gideon.
I've heard people discuss why the "lappers" were chosen over
the "kneelers," and my conclusion is that it had nothing to do with
one group being better fighters than the others. God simply wanted the smaller
group.
Vs. 9-25 Notice that it was God who told Gideon to go and listen to the
dream (nightmare) being explained. The Lord's encouragement of Gideon was very
gracious. This was good timing too.
V. 18 When Gideon had the men yell out, For the Lord and for Gideon, I think he included himself because of
what he heard in the explanation of the dream. The enemy army knew Gideon's
name.
Notice that once the victory was given, Gideon engaged the help of the
other tribes. Gideon, in a good sense, always seemed to be thinking of doing
what he did with others.
Since God was doing this, He didn't need the numbers. Actually, God
could have fought this war completely without Gideon. So, why did God need
anyone at all? There are some good things for us as disciples here. One thing
that stands out to me is that every generation needs to follow God and allow
Him to give them their own experiences of grace and deliverance. This event
became a testimony to the people, showing them, among a thousand other things,
that the Lord loved them and could deliver them if they followed Him. We have
the Word that tells us to follow and trust God, but God gives us our individual
testimony and stories of His love and power as we trust and follow.
Judges 8:1-17
Vs. 1-3 This is a strange event and we'll see this kind of situation
again, but not with a happy ending. The tribe of Ephraim seems to have an
awful, aggressive spirit. The issue was not that they wanted to help, but they
wanted the booty, the goods, materials, money, weapons and livestock they would
obtain from the plunder. Gideon is the model of diplomacy. And, in fact,
Ephraim was called and they were raking it in. They were saying they wanted to
have been called to the initial battle to have obtained the plunder of the
Midianite camp. In a few pages, Ephraim will pull this stunt again with a guy
who has just "lost" his daughter. Jephthah won't think it is funny
and he won't back down.
Vs. 4-9 These Israelite towns guessed wrong. Since Gideon already had
the Midianites on the run, these people should have trusted God and helped him.
This lack of faith and disloyalty to God and to Gideon would prove fatal for
them. If Gideon was known to the Midianites, he was certainly known to his own
people. Not to help was the same as refusing to follow the Lord. It might have
been that these towns had seen how many Midianites had retreated, and were now
looking at how few men Gideon had. They may have been good at mathematics, but
it is always better to side with the Lord and let Him make the final
accounting.
Vs. 10-12 Here is where we get the numbers. The enemy began with
137,000 and were reduced now to only 15,000. Gideon personally only had 300 men
with him and they were about to clean house. Obviously the victory was from the
Lord, in fulfillment of what He had spoken to Moses in the blessings and
curses. If Israel obeyed, one man would be able to put a thousand of the enemy
to flight. It was God who fought. The people were merely representative and
there for clean-up.
Vs. 13-17 Gideon, as a judge, also judged and gave order to Israel.
I guess my thoughts for us as disciples are what I shared above. The
stories of others may encourage or inspire us, but what God wants for us is
more. As we follow His Word, trusting and obeying Him in the harvest, He gives
us our own stories as we see Him do that which only He can do. So many of our
stories today come from popular writers and the experiences of the saints of
yesteryear. God wants to do things with us in our part of the harvest that
testify to His presence with us and His power to transform people. We need to
follow as disciples, reaching the lost and making disciples. He will show us it
is not by our power, but His. He will receive the glory as we tell others what
we have seen Him do.
Luke 23:13-43
Vs. 13-25 Luke makes it clear that Pilate really did try to release
Jesus, including a massive "pre-pre-crucifixion" beating to make the
Jews feel sorry for Him, feeling that justice had been delivered. The number of
beatings Jesus received are, humanly speaking, why He needed help carrying His
cross and why He died so soon. The reality is, that if any of us had received
those beatings, we would have never been the same and might have died from the
wounds. It might have been years before we could have done anything public. We
would have never been normal. Here and in John's account, you sense that Pilate
was slowly understanding the deep, irrational, spiritual hatred that was
flowing through that place.
As disciples we would be wise to remember that this same supernatural,
spiritual resistance and hatred are always at work, sometimes even among the
saved. Our praying and serving need to be on a supernatural level. Reading
books on conflict resolution and honing our communication skills are great
ideas, but thinking that we have the wisdom and skill always to succeed is
foolish. We will never equal Jesus and Paul, and both Jesus and Paul said that
our conflict is spiritual, both in dealing with the world rulers of this
present darkness, and with dealing with the spiritually rebellious and depraved
nature of men. Jesus was rejected and Paul was hounded by pharisaical
believers. Our work in the harvest is no "cake walk," and any
advances should be regarded as occasions to worship God for His grace.
Vs. 26-31 Matthew, Mark, and Luke all mention Simon of Cyrene. What is
significant here is that as Luke wrote Acts, the influence from Cyrene was
seen. The men of Cyrene were some of the first gospel preachers to the
Gentiles. And I wonder, like you do, if Simon had some hand in what happened in
the spread of the gospel in Acts.
V. 27 This apparently took place when they were putting the cross on
Simon. Luke is the only one who records Jesus' words to the women. It seems
that His words to them foreshadow the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the
temple in 70 A.D. The destruction among the Jews would be so severe, that the
only women who wouldn't lose a child would be the childless.
Vs. 32-43 In keeping with Luke's interest in God's grace and the gospel,
Luke records the salvation of one of the two thieves who were crucified with
Jesus. The other writers mention that they both verbally abused Jesus at first,
just like all the others did. But in those hours on the cross, as the leaders
paraded before Jesus expressing their irrational hatred, it must have dawned on
one of these men what was happening. All that he had heard about Jesus came to
mind, and even on the cross, as he witnessed Jesus and the hatred directed
toward Him, he believed Jesus was the Messiah. This guy actually understood and
believed that Jesus would be coming into His kingdom.
To think, that among Jesus' final words on the cross, there were words
of confirming the salvation of a lost person. Even in His death, Jesus was
alert to what the Father was doing around Him. This is something for us as
disciples to think about as we live and die for Christ in the harvest. Jesus
did not wrangle or cry aloud, but His Father used His heart, His silence,
obedience and gentleness, even in His death, to convict others.
Psalms 97-98
We don't know who wrote these psalms, but I would think they were
written sometime just after David became king, as he was organizing the nation
around coming to Jerusalem, to Zion, and to worship. David appointed singers,
some of whom had been with him during those long years of running from Saul.
They would have known David's heart and spiritual influence and they would have
been able to express these influences in worship. Since David was Israel's
sweet singer, David may have had a direct hand in writing these psalms.
Psalm 97
Vs. 1-5 The earth recognizes that God reigns and it responds. The earth
knows how to respond to God when He comes in judgment. Apparently men should do
the same.
Vs. 6-7 This sounds like Romans 1:18ff. Interestingly, the heavens
(angelic world) proclaim God's righteousness while God's followers witness His
glory. Those who worship idols have the IQ of soup, and the demons behind idol
worship are subject to God's power.
Vs. 8-9 God's choice to be worshiped in Zion, then and in the
Millennium, shows that He is above all creation.
Vs. 10-12 seem to be for His servants and how we, as disciples, are
supposed to respond to the Lord. It is interesting here to see the love of the
Lord spoken of; but then, it is said that if we really love Him, it will be
seen in keeping ourselves from things He hates, and hating them too. Our joy is
to be in His deliverance, His light (His Word and the Spirit's leading) and His
joy as we follow Him.
Psalm 98
Vs. 1-3 This song of joy is for the coming of God in salvation and
judgment. Notice how often salvation is mentioned here. And look how often the
nations are referred to. This reminds me of Romans 16:26, but (the gospel) has now been
disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all
nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the
obedience of faith.
Vs. 4-6 The power of this joy is in proportion to our grasp of the
greatness of the Lord and His salvation.
Vs. 7-9 The perspective is clearly that of being completely in love
with the Lord. Judgment is only mentioned as being equitable, and His judgment
is not to be feared by those who love Him. The real focus is that He will come,
and when He does, everything will be complete and everything will rejoice at
His arrival. This is a good thing to remember as we work in the harvest and
live in a sad, tragic, dying world.
Romans 15:13 May
the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace
in believing, so that by the
power of the Holy Spirit you may
abound in hope.
There is that joy again and it should be present with us in the
harvest.
Proverbs 14:7-8
V. 7 seems to complement 8b, in that the wise man seeks God in all the
events of life to understand God's way and will for Him. For a wise man, there
is nothing that helps him find God's will in the presence of a fool.
Apparently, a fool's own folly looks like the right way for him.
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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