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APRIL 28
Judges 8:18-9:21
Judges 8:18-35
Vs. 18-21 Apparently there is something going on here. Normally Gideon
would have had these kings killed anyway, but his words indicate that these two
kings were responsible for killing his brothers in time of peace. Gideon is
taking the responsibility as the blood avenger as he does this.
I have never understood why Gideon did this to his young son. I'm sure
there was some cultural meaning, but every year I think what a bad idea this
was.
Vs. 22-28 This was an understandable gesture by the people, wanting
Gideon to be their king. I wonder why Gideon didn't ask the Lord and I wonder
where the Levites were. Since Gideon asked for help in other places, why didn't
he ask for guidance from the priests? But I think we will see why Gideon didn't
seek the priests.
Gideon was very firm on the idea that God ruled Israel. Of course, this
only worked if the Levites were in place and the people obeyed God. If they did
their parts, then Israel was untouchable.
Apparently during the fighting Gideon did more leading, than collecting
of treasure, so for the main part of his pay, he asked the people to donate an
earring. This way Gideon would be blameless if any accusations were brought
against him, saying he took the biggest share. Up to here, this is all good
thinking by Gideon.
V. 27 This is the only negative that God mentions against Gideon.
Remember, this is Samuel writing about Gideon years later, so there is an
historical perspective here too. If the only understanding of ephod we have is
used here, it is the apron worn by the high priest in worship in which the Urim
and the Thummim were held. Why would
you want this unless you wanted to represent yourself before God and obtain
answers without using the tribe that God had designated for this? The land was
full of corruption and I have a feeling that Gideon had no respect for the
Levites. I think this explains why there were no Levites present. Why go to them? Later, King Uzziah will be
stricken with leprosy for disrespecting the priests and Levites and trying to
represent himself before God.
V. 28 This will be the last time we will read
of the land having rest in the book of Judges. The next rest will come during
the judgeship of Samuel. The next true rest will come during the reign of
David.
Vs. 29-35 This report about Gideon isn't
written in a negative way, but, in my heart, it indicates that not all was well
with Gideon. His wealth allowed him to live in extravagance. We will see
another judge with lots of sons who rode on lots of donkeys. It is another way
of saying that he had lots of money. You notice that when the people wanted
Gideon to be their king, they mention him having a small family. In the years
that passed, apparently, Gideon was a busy guy. All that Gideon built without
God will come to ruin.
It seems to me that what you learn from
Gideon, as a disciple, is that he had no lasting influence. When the battle was
done, he lived for himself, not the Lord, and not for building the future
generations of Israel. If the future of Israel had meant anything to him, he
would have gotten the Levites involved and he would have been a godly influence
to make the Levites prominent again in Israel. Gideon's first response to the
angel of the Lord revealed his ignorance of the Word. His ignorance of the Word
caught up with him. He needed the Levites.
The test of a disciple is living for Christ,
before, during, and after the "battle." The harvest goes on. People
are still lost, needing to know Christ, and disciples need to keep being made
and equipped for the next generation. In spite of all this need, we still need to
be in the Word and personally close to Christ, abiding in Him and following Him
His way. We can't be too busy for Him and His Word, and we can't disrespect the
church. Regardless of the critics of the church, the church is still the bride
of Christ and entrusted with the harvest. We need to stop criticizing other
churches and just do our work. As disciples of our Lord in the harvest, we need
to make disciples, building the church to be a disciple-making community in the
harvest.
Notice what happened to Gideon when there was
no goal to strive for or no battle to fight. It is the same thing that happens
to us. We might not have an army of spouses (what madman would want that?), but
our cars and TVs and phones and apps and computers and everything else make us
flabby, fat and unfocused as the storm approaches the harvest.
Judges 9:1-21
Vs. 1-3 Gideon's concubine in Shechem is
mentioned in 8:31. This "wife" and her son lived with her parents in
Shechem and not with the other wives and sons. Gideon would have visited on
occasion.
In Genesis, Shechem is a notable place, for
good and bad. And in Joshua, Shechem is the place, between Mt. Gerizim and Mt.
Ebal, between the blessing and the curse, where Joshua renewed the covenant
with Israel before he died.
Abimelech (melech is a form of the word king)
is not only using the need for a king to push his proposal, but also the
resentment he has toward being rejected from his father's family. This looks
like a bad episode from a TV show.
V. 5 The mention of killing all of Gideon's
sons on one stone suggests a public execution.
V. 6 Notice that it wasn't until Abimelech
had done this, that the men of Shechem made him king.
Vs. 7-21 This is a long story by Jotham, but
you get the point. If this was a fictional event, you would have placed Jotham
over on Mt. Ebal, the mount of the curse; but in reality, he needed to be on
Gerizim to make his escape.
Jotham was predicting the events to follow.
Whatever happened here with the family of Gideon, Israel would never be the
same and they wouldn't see rest. Verses 16-19 are a charge, not only against
the people of Shechem, but against all of Israel. Notice that there is no
outcry from the other tribes when they learned that Gideon's family was
slaughtered like this. The people, all the tribes, should have risen up as one
man to seek justice, but nearly everyone was corrupt and serving idols. How
different this is from the end of Joshua, when the tribes gathered together
because they thought something was done wrong in building that altar. There
will be justice here, but justice isn't always "instant." In the
first verse of tomorrow's reading you'll see how long Jotham had to wait to see
God finally move in and judge Abimelech and the people of Shechem.
Luke 23:44-24:12
Luke 23:44- 56
Vs. 44-49 It was dark from noon to 3 p.m. It was a supernatural
darkness. It doesn't mention a storm or a solar eclipse. The curtain in the
temple, hiding the Holy of Holies, was torn, but not as the result of an
earthquake. Luke doesn't mention the earthquake. The people who came for the
"spectacle" left disappointed, beating their chests in sorrow (of not
seeing a sign, not because Jesus died). At this point, those who loved Jesus
were watching from a distance.
Vs. 50-56 We don't hear of Joseph until now. He, like Nicodemus, was a
member of the Sanhedrin, the group that plotted Jesus' death. Nick and Joe were
against what had happened and were probably not invited to the meeting. The
grave was Joseph's and apparently Pilate and Joe knew each other, so the
request was granted. Being in Joe's tomb fulfilled Isaiah 53:9.
Luke 24:1-12
V. 4 If you add up all of the angels, there were probably at least five
present at the resurrection, two in the tomb, one on the stone and these two
sneaking up on these women and scaring the soldiers.
V. 11 is interesting. Even though they knew these women well, and even
though the women were pretty excited, these
words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. The great
heroes of Christianity responded like duds. Someone promoting themselves would
never write a fable like this. Obviously, this is true and these men were no
heroes, yet.
V. 12 We know that Peter and John took off for the tomb. Why Luke only
mentioned Peter might be because Peter would have been better known by his
readers.
Psalm 99
This psalm is focused on worshiping the Lord in Jerusalem, in the
temple (where He rests His feet), before the ark of the covenant, which is the
mercy seat and the throne of God. With this imagery in mind, see if you can
find all of this. Since it mentions all
the peoples, it is another indication that Israel was mindful of its part
in the plan of redemption, leading all peoples to God. That is still to come.
Again, I think this psalm was part of David's desire to unify the people by
bringing Israel together to worship in Jerusalem.
Vs. 1-5 It is interesting that there are two prominent ideas here.
First, that Zion is the place where the Lord exercises His authority, and
second, that the nations should both tremble and praise Him. This is exactly
what will happen during the Millennium.
Vs. 6-7 The psalmist mentions that three prominent priests called upon
God and God spoke to them. This was to motivate the people to come and allow
the priests to lead them in worship, instead of doing their own thing like
Gideon did. During the judges and during Saul's reign, people worshiped as they
desired, but not as God had told them. This was written to correct that.
V. 8 This is both a motivation and a warning.
V. 9 Here is the point of this psalm.
Proverbs 14:9-10
What an interesting couplet. In v. 10 it suggests that a heart that is
locked up by a lack of confession remains closed and isolated. The fool in v. 9
doesn't realize the freedom that having an open and cleansed conscience gives.
The wise person openly confesses his guilt before God in worship and receives
God's acceptance. The wise person knows submission before God and he knows the
joy of having a cleansed and open heart. These few words could keep a disciple
from developing heart problems.
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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