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APRIL 4
Deuteronomy
26-27
Deuteronomy
26
What
we have in this chapter is something totally unique. The only thing I can think
of like this for the believer is baptism. Because this was also to have been
accompanied by an outpouring of rejoicing and generosity, in principle, it sort
of trumps baptism. The real question is: Did anyone ever do this?
Vs.
1-4 The first event seems to be something everyone in Israel was supposed to do
as an individual and not as part of a regular feast. This could be what is
mentioned in Deuteronomy 14:22-29, but this seems like a special one-time
event. At the time of their very first harvest, each person was supposed to
bring a basket of the firstfruits of their harvest to the tabernacle.
V.
3 Then they made this declaration. Notice that it is a reference to the promise
to Abraham. Again, people were saved by faith in God's promise to Abraham, not
adherence to the law.
V.
4 Then the priest responded by taking those very firstfruits and setting them
before the altar.
Vs.
5-11 Then each person was supposed to make this declaration. I have been at
baptisms where nothing this heartfelt was said. This is amazing. This is the
story of their deliverance attached to the promise to the patriarchs and
concluded by worshiping God and celebrating with those you brought with you
from your home town.
Vs.
12-15 This also looks similar to Deuteronomy 14:22-29, but here there is also a
declaration. This pronouncement is impressive if a person really loved God and
obeyed. Look at the different things this person said to God. I wonder if
anyone ever did this. If I thought of anyone who might have done this, it would
be Boaz in the book of Ruth.
Vs.
16-19 I am so impressed when I read this. I think that if they had only grasped
the wonder of their salvation and God's grace and love to them, they would have
been an incredible people. And then I think that I wish more churches and
disciples could grasp this too. What a difference it would make serving with
one mind, side by side in the harvest, reaching the lost and making disciples,
who make disciples, who make disciples.
Deuteronomy
27
Vs.
1-8 In preparation for going into the land and the initial dedication of the
people before God, God commanded that the entire book of Deuteronomy would be
written on stones. Possibly all five
books, but certainly Deuteronomy would have been written out. Stones probably gives the wrong
impression. It is possible that they built something like Stonehenge in
England. The Egyptians and other cultures did this. The technique was known and
there was no lack of stone and plaster. It might have looked like a long wall
or it might have been a circular series of blocks, but it would have been like
a memorial monument. Remember, the fathers of these people built Egyptian
cities, pyramids and monuments. They had the skill and know-how. This would be
a remembrance of the people "becoming" God's people. Interestingly
enough, it would be built on the mountain of the curse, as seen below.
The
fact that they were to build an altar suggests that this would be a kind of
memorial park, possibly with the altar in the middle and the stones surrounding
it.
Vs.
9-10 This was a moment of recommitment to the Lord.
Vs.
11-26 This ceremony was commanded earlier, but restated here with more clarity.
It would take place in Joshua 8:33. With the stones and the altar and 2 million
people standing on opposite sides of the valley, this must have been an awesome
and memorable event. Here we get just a summary of what the curses would sound
like. I get the feeling that chapter 28 gives a fuller idea of what the
blessings and curses might have actually been.
The
examples that Moses gives here are taken from Leviticus and Numbers, giving me
the idea that this ceremony would have taken hours to perform, and it took
hours of preparation by the priests to locate all the commands and make them
blessings and curses.
Although
this is just a "taste" of what would be said at the ceremony, it is
obvious that the Spirit made sure these examples were given. What kinds of
things come to your mind regarding God when you read these curses? I'm glad we
don't have an equivalent of this in knowing Christ. The curse is gone and the
Spirit dwells within.
Luke
10:38-11:13
Luke
10:38-42
This
is a great story that only Luke has. So, what was the one necessary thing?
Isn't it great that it's ok if we live at Jesus' feet. We can take that time
even when the world is on fire. God can handle things without us for a while.
In fact, we must take that time to be at His feet. If you need some extra Bible
work to do, hunt down all the people who ended up at Jesus' feet. That's the
one thing that is necessary.
Here
we are first introduced to Martha and her sister. Now if you want some
interesting trivia about this story, think about when this happened. Jesus had
just duked it out with the Jews in Jerusalem during the Feast of the Tabernacles
in John 8-10:21. That was the October before Jesus died. The rest of John 10
happened in December. That means this probably took place in November, just 5
months before Jesus died. I wonder if this was when Jesus met Martha, Mary and
Lazarus. In any event, this is when we are introduced to them.
Luke
11:1-13
This
is absolutely indispensable discipleship stuff. If we were in a group together,
we might need to do these passages on a retreat.
What
you get out of these verses is very important. I'll just give you some leading
thoughts.
The
entire section is a response to the disciples' question on how to pray. It is
praying in three parts, but it is one complete lesson and one complete answer
to their request, Teach us to pray.
Luke introduces this section telling us that Jesus Himself was praying and His
prayer life led into this occasion.
Vs.
1-4 Jesus must have taught often about prayer using the Lord's Prayer as His
basic lesson. This event is at least a year and a half after His giving of the
Lord's Prayer when He selected the Twelve and gave all of His disciples their
disciple orientation in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus had already taught them
how to pray, but now the Twelve are desperately feeling the need.
The
occasion for them asking how to pray now is their fear and seeing that public
opinion has turned against them. The Jewish leaders want to kill Jesus. To make
matters worse, Jesus keeps uttering "suicidal" thoughts about
crucifixion or something. They are in need. Before, the Lord's Prayer just
sounded like interesting information. Now they are ready to learn. Jesus gives
them the "street" version of the Lord's Prayer, but the disciples
have heard it before and can fill in the blanks.
The
Lord's Prayer is for them to tune their hearts to God in prayer.
Vs.
5-8 Jesus' second lesson is on persistence. This is unique to Luke. Jesus is
saying that their insistence and need should be bothersome to God. They
shouldn't give up.
Vs.
9-10 This is an application to vs. 5-8 and a bridge to vs. 11-13. This was also
in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:7.
Vs.
11-13 Lesson three is on expectance. This was also given in the Sermon on the
Mount in Matthew 7, but Jesus changed it a little.
Notice
in v. 13 that the Father gives the Holy Spirit; whereas in Matthew, He gives
all good gifts. How do you put these two different answers together and figure
this out? You can work it out yourself by looking at what Paul says about the
Spirit in 1 Corinthians 2:9-16.
I
think there comes a point in following Christ in the harvest when you don't
know what specific things to ask for. You know God is working and more than
anything you want His will. You trust His wisdom, knowing He will do those
things that are needed. You need to accept His leading, and to receive His mercy
and patience. You don't need a certain thing; you need the leading and the
working of the Spirit. I think Jesus intentionally changed this here so the
disciples would see that they didn't need their expectations met. What the
Father was doing was beyond their wisdom. They needed the peace and discernment
of the Spirit as they followed.
Psalm
76
So
which son of Asaph wrote this psalm, and when? Since a great victory has just
been won and the enemy has sunk into sleep (v. 5), I'm going to suggest this was
written during Hezekiah's reign when the Assyrians threatened Zion and spoke
against Yahweh. The situation was totally impossible, but men prayed and God
acted; and the next morning the Assyrian army found that 185,000 of their men
had died in their sleep. This is in 2 Kings 19:32-35.
Vs.
1-6 If this is the event, God protected Zion and showed His glory and majesty.
This humbling of Assyria became an important event for other nations too.
Everyone was talking about Israel's God.
Vs.
7-9 The contrast between the strength and arrogance of the Assyrians and the
humility of Jerusalem was pretty apparent. God's judgment made everyone in
every nation see that God was to be feared.
Vs.
10-12 The wrath of man was seen in the violence of the Assyrian army and in the
words of Rabshakeh. Yet God used all of this for His glory. In a sense God
lured Assyria to stand before Zion in its arrogance. In destroying that army,
God sent a message to all nations.
God's
glory and majesty will be victorious and those who resist Him will be broken.
As disciples, this is good to remember.
Proverbs
12:15-17
I
think vs. 15 and 16 are a process that most young people, even Christians, go
through. It takes a long time to listen to advice and to be patient when our
expectations or plans are not fulfilled. God is a good teacher if we're willing
to learn. And we become better, humbler followers of Christ, walking more in
the Spirit than in the strength of our ideas or expectations.
V.
17 But what if we say nothing. That is testimony too, right? But it is not in
keeping with the grace we have been given so freely in Christ. We are made to
bear testimony and to bear fruit in the harvest.
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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