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MAY 2
Judges 15-16
When you read all this about Samson today, you have to wonder what he
would have been like if he had been fully devoted to God.
Judges 15
Vs. 1-8 According to the Bible Knowledge Commentary-OT, p. 406,
Samson was actually married to her. What had ensued while he was away was a
divorce and remarriage to the best man. Notice in v. 6 she is called his wife.
He actually thought he was still married to her.
V. 1 Although Samson, like all men, was driven by the need for oneness,
like most men, he only saw this one way, in
the chamber.
V. 3 This is another of those provoking moments God used to motivate
Samson. Samson was driven by his passions and this was revenge for giving away
his wife. Too bad he wasn't motivated by justice and love for God.
Vs. 4-5 Think about this. Not only is the destructive creativity pretty
high-end, but what kind of skill, speed and strength was required to do this in
such a short period of time? This is amazing. Foxes are not known for being
slow, stupid or being found in crowds. And they bite (I hear). And then, how do
you collect them and tie their tails together with a torch in between? This guy
was like Superman.
Vs. 6-7 This wasn't to punish Samson, but they thought to punish this
man and his daughter. Now Samson lost his mind, and a mind is a terrible thing
to lose.
V. 8 If Samson's intent above was "X" rated (actually, he
still thought she was his wife), the violence here was "R" rated. The
expression hip and thigh meant
vicious, deadly violence. Samson was a one-man horror, like the Terminator.
Given all of the evidence, I think he also had a sort of invulnerability. If
bees couldn't sting him and foxes couldn't bite him, I'll bet spears, swords
and arrows didn't do much either, adding to the terror of fighting him. Samson
fought by hand. I'm sure someone got close enough to land a blow with a sword.
Imagine how discouraging it would have been to slash him, to no other effect
than to get him really mad.
Just a note here: Some of David's mighty men must have had similar
fighting abilities, but Samson was in a class of his own.
Vs. 9-13 In a way you can understand the distress of the men of Judah.
Samson wasn't a good guy. He was an egotistical loose cannon and not an encourager
or leader of men. Samson could have led these men against the Philistines. He
could have led them in prayer. Instead, he had an idea. He just made them
promise not to try to kill him themselves.
Vs. 14-17 The excitement of seeing the Philistines rush toward him and
the Spirit rushing upon him sparked Samson into action. Apparently the men of
Judah retreated.
V. 15 Obviously a fresh jawbone
was preferred over an old, dry, brittle one. What is sort of interesting is
that, in the course of human affairs, God had it right there at the right time.
According to the Bible Knowledge Commentary (BKC) there is a
word play here, the word for heap
being similar to the word for donkey.
In essence, Samson the poet is saying he used the jawbone of a donkey to make
donkey heaps. I wonder if he put that to some popular melody and hummed it as
he killed these thousand guys.
V. 17 Where he threw the jawbone was thereafter called the "hill
of the jawbone." I say this because in some translations it looks like the
water comes out of the hollow place in the jawbone. Not so. The water came from
the hill of the jawbone.
Vs. 18-20 Notice the faith and familiarity with God that Samson had. He
knew that God was there with him. This guy is a complete contrast between faith
and following the flesh. While this seems like a mystery, it really explains
Christianity today. The Lord has called us to be devoted to Him, following Him
in the harvest making disciples. To be doing anything else moves us closer to
Samson's kind of faith than we think. Faith and devotion can exist right next
to feeding our flesh, enjoying the good life and being virtually ineffective as
disciples during our time on earth. This should frighten us.
Judges 16
Vs. 1-3 This is definitely not a story for your kids. What stands out
to me is Samson's willingness to live in sin and conflict, and his confidence
in the presence of the enemy. He walks into one of the Philistines' major
cities, in plain view and then bides his time. Since these gates would have
been huge, not to mention heavy, for Samson they must have been featherlight.
This is obviously supernatural and beyond what we can imagine.
Vs. 4-22 Samson was not seduced. He was just arrogantly stupid. He knew
what she was after. There was no real trickery. He was the fool of Proverbs and
magnificently over confident. He didn't imagine the Lord would leave him. Also,
he didn't realize that the root of his need would betray him. What I mean is
that Samson really wanted a "one-flesh" companion. We'd say, "a
wife." But all of this would have to have been according to God's plan,
and Samson wasn't really interested in God's plan. Unfortunately we don't
follow God's plans very well either. Samson really wanted someone to trust, but
breaking down and getting all vulnerable and honest with the object of his
hormonal affections didn't make her the person he was seeking. God left Samson,
and the Philistines put out his lights.
Vs. 23-31 This event gives you the sense of how great a relief it was
for the Philistines to defeat Samson. It was like Christmas for them. In a
final stroke of victory, God lured all of the leaders of the Philistines to
Gaza to see what Dagon had done. Again, God used Samson in spite of himself,
motivating Samson to ask to avenge the loss of his eyes rather than seeking
God's glory.
In contrast to the movie, Samson doesn't tell the kid who shows him
where the pillars are to run. You would have thought, with the way Samson asked
for help identifying the pillars, that the young
man would have been smarter.
It is sad to think what might have been if he had been a godly man. I
think for any of us who feel that we've messed up "what could have
been" by our own disobedience, the answer is in God's grace. Paul, a
murderer, began to follow, and look what God did. Even King Manasseh began to
follow. Regardless of lost time and opportunities missed, we can still begin
today to follow. Life can become full of regret and tangled like the Gordian
knot, but the solution is disarmingly simple. The next decision we make, we
decide to honor God, and the one after that and the one after that. Following
Christ in the harvest, despite our past failures, gives us a future and brings
glory to the Father as we labor to bear fruit for Christ. Satan focuses us on
past failure. God focuses us on our Savior, who paid it all for us - past,
present and future.
Not that I have already obtained this or am
already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has
made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But
one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies
ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in
Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:12-14).
John 2
Vs. 1-12 This is sort of a funny event in Jesus' life, but also His
first miracle in front of His disciples. Since John was there for this, he
mentions its impact on the disciples in v. 11.
The third day is not only a
good name for a Christian band, but it is probably the time measured from the
last event: The calling of Philip and Nathanael.
There is no way for us to know the family dynamics going on here. I
think there was some sense in Mary's understanding that Jesus was sent by God.
No one really understood, but you see Mary pressing the issue here for Him to
reveal Himself and Jesus' brothers taunt Him later to declare Himself publicly.
Whatever was happening, with Jesus talking to Mary like this, I think it is
playfully meant and is building off of some of what was known about Jesus in
the family. Besides, here Jesus was, this unmarried son without a job. He quit
his job, stopped supporting the family (He had four brothers and at least two
sisters to carry the load.). He was bumming around teaching, and now He had
these merry men. Maybe Mary just wanted Him to get the ball rolling.
V. 5 This is funny. In spite of what she just heard, she tells the
servants to do what He says. She knew He could and would do something.
V. 7 We are so conditioned by what we know of Jesus, that it would be
easy for us to miss what this would have looked like to the servants and to
these brand new disciples, as Jesus did this. It would have looked like the
world's worst practical joke gone bad. This wasn't a place for a joke. Even
using those purification jars was not kosher. There was no way that this could
be wine. And then why take water to the steward of the feast? Was this some
sort of political statement against wine or weddings or something? No one would
have understood what Jesus was doing until the servants drew the liquid out of
the jars and saw and smelled that it was different.
V. 10 indicates that this was good, potent wine, not the diluted kind.
It was the kind that one usually brought out first, dulling the senses of the
guests so they would not notice the poor wine later.
V. 11 Jesus didn't just do a trick or a sign; He manifested His glory.
He created. Remember the words in the first chapter of John. All things were
made through Him.
V. 12 This seems like a side comment, but Jesus and his family would
eventually take up residence at Peter's house in Capernaum.
Vs. 13-25 Jesus will appear at four Passovers during His three years of
ministry. This is the first of those Passovers, kind of inaugurating the
beginning of His ministry.
The selling of animals and changing of money could have been done in
the city, away from the temple. There was a practical need since many Jews came
from all over the Roman Empire. They needed animals and they needed to change
their currency. This was all understandable. However, the fact that they did it
in the temple in the court of the nations (Mark 11:17), was not only racism
(the hating of Gentiles which would invade the church in Acts), but it was in
denial of God's plan of redemption for man, the promise to Abraham, and God's
design for Israel. This wasn't just some little noise Jesus was making in
protest to the corruption of the priesthood. He, as the Savior of all men, was
coming to the place all nations were to gather to receive forgiveness from Him.
Someday, all men of all nations will come to the temple in Jerusalem and meet
Jesus. Jesus had a right to do what He did.
Notice that the order of oxen and sheep is inverted from v. 14 to v.
15. It would have been easier to get the oxen out of the temple by scaring the
sheep. Then the oxen would have moved too. That makes you think about the
importance of little details in reading. Speaking of which, notice that Jesus
didn't throw over the tables of those selling pigeons. He told the sellers to
take them away. No animals were hurt in the performing of this cleansing.
V. 17 The disciples thought of this verse. The Holy Spirit was helping
out.
V. 18 This is Jesus' first confrontation. In this sense, Jesus was like
Samson. He invited hostility and His reply was not only cryptic, but was an
"in your face" reply. We don't understand the severity, in God's
eyes, of stiff-arming the Gentiles and using their court as a farmers' market.
Jesus cleansed the temple on His first visit and on His last visit to Jerusalem
during the Passover. What He said to the Pharisees here was cryptic, but the
disciples remembered it later and believed. Also, the priests and Pharisees
eventually got the point too. That's why they demanded to have the garden tomb
guarded. They believed something, but believed it in the way that sin and hate
believe and still irrationally try to defeat the truth.
Vs. 23-25 Jesus understood the deep, deadly sickness of sin in the
people and understood not to entrust Himself to them. It is hard to know what
the people actually had faith in. Whatever it was, Jesus didn't trust it. This
mixture of faith and folly was in Samson, and it's in us, too. It is good for
us as disciples to remember that we also have a deep irrationality because of
sin. If not for the Spirit, I don't think we'd stand a chance of warding it
off. Imagine what it is like for people who don't know Christ. We need to be
wise, humble and understanding.
In John, Jesus
will eventually define being a disciple as abiding in Him. It isn't just
remaining in Him, but it is a kind of faith that redefines us. Paul probably
described it best when he said in Galatians 2:20, I have been crucified
with Christ. It is no longer I
who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and
gave himself for me.
This is the kind of faith that makes a disciple in the harvest a fisher
of men and a maker of disciples.
Psalm 103
This seems like the psalm that launched a thousand songs. I found
allusions to at least six songs in it. There is not only strength of hope for
His people, but the confirmation of salvation for those who seek Him. You'll find
plenty to underline, like the phrase steadfast
love. David must have written this in his early days as King of Israel,
having brought the ark to Jerusalem. It seems that all of his suffering and
waiting on God had borne fruit in his confidence and praise to God.
Vs. 1-5 This is the call to worship, summarizing God's salvation and
renewal of those who trust Him.
Vs. 6-13 This seems to praise God's justice, discipline, love and
forgiveness. For David, this was like summing up all of the years of running from
Saul into one declaration of God's wise and sovereign working.
Vs. 14-19 Not only is there love, personally, but it is faithful love
over generations and connected to the promise to Abraham. Through David's
kingship, God would finally bring the peace to Israel. All of the confusion of
the book of Judges was gone and godly order would arrive. David saw that God
was using him for the nation and to bring some fulfillment to the covenant with
Abraham.
Vs. 20-22 All of creation was being called to bless the Lord.
Proverbs 14:17-19
The thought of God's steadfast love makes a person prudent and slow to
anger. Since He is in control, even to the place of making sure the fresh
jawbone of a donkey is where it can be obtained when needed, we who are loved
by Him can wait patiently as the storm rages around us and look for what the
Lord is doing.
A quick temper is a denial of
God's presence in the present. Being simple is ignorance of God's Word. God's
Word is to make us prudent and alert and good, having the confidence to be
godly in an evil world.
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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