If you don't
have a One Year Bible or prefer something online, this link will take you to
the day's reading, http://oneyearbibleonline.com/daily-oyb/. This
site allows you to select from several languages and several English
translations.
MAY 20
1 Samuel 26-28
We are only getting a few stories from this time in David's life. I
guess you could call The Psalms, David's journal. In Chapter 27 we come to a
point where we know some dates and how much time is passing. David will live in
Ziklag 16 months, and he became king in Hebron when he was 30. This means that
in chapter 27, David is 28 and eight months or so. David has been running for
years, probably since he was 20.
1 Samuel 26
Vs. 1-12 I think this is the first time we hear of Joab the son of
Zeruiah and any of his brothers. During this time of running, David acquired
his mighty men, amazing warriors who could really kick donkey (I think they
said that back then). There were the "three," and then there were the
"thirty." While the "three" refers to three actual guys,
"the thirty" probably refers to a group whose members changed.
Abishai was part of the thirty.
Apparently, as they observed how everyone was sleeping, David knew that
it was a God-induced sleep.
Notice in v. 8 that Abishai was willing to do the job that he knew
David didn't have the conscience for. Abishai might have been with David in the
cave when David spared Saul. David spared Saul again and told Abishai the
reasons why this shouldn't be done, even appealing to God's own judgment. Here,
knowing what Joab's character is like, I find it interesting that the Lord lets
us know it was Abishai who suggested this murder.
Vs. 13-25 Notice how David went after Abner; and then in v. 19 said if
the Lord was doing this, good, but if it was men who were inciting the king,
then they should be cursed. It seems to me that with the length of time David
had been running, and with the length of time David will be in a civil war with
the house of Saul after Saul is dead, that there were other players and people
working to keep Saul on the throne and to kill David. I'll bet Abner played a
major role in keeping the political intrigue and misinformation alive. In many
of his psalms, David talks about lying and treachery. Saul had powerful men
around him who knew that if David came to power, they would lose their jobs and
their income.
V. 21 There is nothing more uncertain and unstable than someone who
says he's wrong and keeps on doing the same wrong thing. I'm sure this is what
led to David's actions in chapter 27. David finally saw there would be no human
solution.
Vs. 23-24 David seems to be saying that he expected the Lord to keep
him safe and understood this was a kind of test that the Lord had given him.
The opposite would be true of Saul, who was neither righteous nor faithful.
1 Samuel 27
Vs. 1-4 This is the same Achish, king of Gath, that David did the drool
thing with back in 1 Samuel 21:13. Now, possibly seven or eight years later,
the madness of Saul and the plight of David were a kind of legend. Achish had
proof that David was hated by Saul and alienated from his people.
For some undisclosed period of time, David lived at Gath with his small
army and their families. This must have been crowded, but it did achieve a
purpose. In v. 4 it shows that Saul was still actively pursuing and trying to
kill David, but there was no way Saul would go to the gates of Gath to do it.
Saul stopped.
Vs. 5-7 This is ironic. In return for David's loyalty, Achish gave David
Ziklag. According to Joshua 15:31, Ziklag belonged to the tribe of Judah. This
would be David's home, with his 600 men and their families, for the next 16
months.
Vs. 8-12 What do you do if your only skill is killing and looting?
Somehow when I read this, I don't think David's lying is noble or honoring to
the Lord. I don't know what David should have done, but his lying and deception
will come back to haunt him, I think.
On a positive note, in v. 8 I finally noticed that the people David
preyed upon were the "old" inhabitants of Canaan, who Israel, in
disobedience, did not drive out. Some of these people were preying upon Israel.
In effect, David was acting as a judge in Israel and fulfilling some of what
God had told Joshua and Israel to do.
Apparently the times were so lawless that you almost expected some
nomadic group to swoop in and destroy a town. That must have added to David's
deception and have kept him safe.
V. 12 Achish definitely got the wrong idea. David was a thoroughly
true-blue Jew and follower of Yahweh.
1 Samuel 28
Vs. 1-2 I think this put David into a hard situation, but he played
along. The words, you shall know what
your servant can do, would have been an amazement to Achish, if David had
gone into battle with him. David would have fought to defend Israel, and Achish
would have been toast.
Vs. 3-7 In the years of David's hiding, Saul did some "god things”
to show he was religious and was a "good" follower of Yahweh. One of
those is that he had all those who communicated with the dead put out of the
land or put to death. Apparently Saul did this out of some emotional response
to Samuel's death. Later in 2 Samuel 22:1, we'll find out that during this
time, Saul also almost exterminated the Gibeonites from Israel. These are the
people who tricked Joshua and with whom Joshua made a covenant. Saul apparently
thought killing these people would make God happy. This act of Saul's will come
back to haunt his family. Whereas David promised not to kill Saul's family,
because of God's judgment on what Saul did to the Gibeonites, most of Saul's
male heirs will die. Anyway, during this time Saul was busy doing “god things”
to get back into God's good graces. He just never changed his heart. God never
rejects true repentance.
Vs. 8-14 I heard a Walter Martin tape on this one time and it made
sense to me. The woman had a "familiar spirit," a demon she worked
with that could impersonate the dead person who was "called." What
freaked her out was that this wasn't her lying spirit, it was actually Samuel
whom she saw. Therefore she freaked and knew that she had been tricked and was
in danger.
Notice that Samuel appeared in bodily form, as do Moses and Elijah
later with Jesus. Texts like these help give us the "doctrine" or
teaching of the intermediate body. That is, before we receive a resurrection
body, we will still have a body. For the church, the resurrection body comes at
the coming of Christ for the church (1 Cor. 15:51-58 …the dead in Christ shall
rise and we [those of the church living at that time] will be changed), and
then for all other believers (pre- and post-church age) they will be given a
resurrection body at the second coming of Christ at the end of the Tribulation.
Finally, for those who have rejected God from every age, they will receive a
resurrection body, albeit, without a sinless nature, at the end of the
Millennium (Rev. 20:12-13) and be thrown into eternal judgment.
I'm sure you wondered where we get all this theology and teaching from.
It's from the Bible and all of this stuff you're reading. Pretty cool, huh?
Anyway, Samuel had a body.
V. 19 almost sounds like that "good news/bad news" joke,
where the good news is that there's baseball in heaven, and the bad news is
that the guy getting this report will be pitching tomorrow. But Saul didn't
think this news was funny.
Vs. 20-25 At the end of the story there is a little more going on than
meets the eye. Saul refused to eat…almost made a vow; but in typical fashion,
Saul was talked out of it and gave in to those urging him. He was a man of no
resolve, except to resist God and kill David.
But, on the part of the woman, if they received her hospitality, they
couldn't kill her. That is why she did the elaborate fattened calf thing. I mean, how long did that take? They didn't
have microwave fattened calf. This
had to have taken hours. A couple of sandwiches would have worked too. Saul
must have rested during this time and talked with his men. Anyway, they
couldn't receive her kindness and then kill her. It looks too, that she wanted
Saul healthy enough to get up and get out of there.
What a messed-up deal, but really, on this earth, all of us are
messed-up, walking encyclopedias of contradictions. That's what sin does to us.
John 11:1-53
This is another great chapter in John with great disclosures about
Jesus' identity, and it shows us how Jesus abided in the Father.
Vs. 1-4 When Jesus heard this, He understood from the Spirit that this
situation was for the glory of God, and would be a testimony to His identity. I
think that in abiding in Christ, this is how we also are to understand the
situations the Lord brings into our lives. We are here to serve Him in the
harvest and He designs every intersection. Our job is to remain alert and ready
for what He has for us.
V. 2 is an editorial note. Apparently this event was known throughout
the church. Mary anointed Jesus' feet weeks after this event.
Vs. 5-6 Under the Spirit's direction Jesus knew what was happening, and
therefore stayed until Lazarus was not just dead, but good and dead.
Vs. 7-16 It is interesting to see that the disciples were very
concerned with their lives. They knew the danger of going anywhere near
Jerusalem, and Bethany was only two miles away from Jerusalem. Jesus' comment
for them to walk in the day either meant to follow Him while He was still
there, or to follow when God's will is clearly laid out before us. In any case,
following the Lord, we can have absolute confidence that nothing can happen to
us that is not allowed by the Father.
I don't know that they understood Jesus would raise Lazarus, but Thomas
spoke for all of the disciples by his willingness to follow to the death. He
wasn't being funny. He meant that.
Vs. 17-19 This is all very interesting information. That Lazarus had
already been in the tomb for four days is important. The Jews thought that the
spirit hovered over a dead person for three days. So, it is significant that
Jesus waited until the fourth day to arrive. Also, it says that many Jews,
leading people from Jerusalem, were present with Martha and Mary.
Vs. 20-27 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went into action
and met Him. Apparently as a result of Jesus' teaching, she had a good idea of
the coming judgment and resurrection. Her remark that Jesus could ask anything
of the Father and receive it could have been her hoping against hope that Jesus
might raise Lazarus, but when she raised a stink at the tomb, it appears that
she didn't believe Jesus would raise her brother. She must have only understood
that Lazarus would be raised on the last day.
V. 25 Jesus told her that the resurrection wasn't focused on a time,
but on a person, Him.
V. 27 This is a great confession of faith.
Vs. 28-37 It is interesting to see how the Father set up this
situation. The Jewish leaders all followed Mary, and when Jesus was faced with
all this sorrow, He too was overcome. Verse 35 is the shortest verse in the
Bible.
When it says Jesus was deeply
moved, that can be translated as "angry." I've heard a lot of
spiritual explanations of why Jesus was angry, but I think Jesus looked angry
because He was simply fighting back tears. I think His face was contorting,
because he was trying to keep from crying, and this is what John expressed.
Vs. 36-37 Now the Jewish leaders were also caught in the emotion,
wishing Jesus had been there.
Vs. 38-44 There isn't a lot of build up here. Martha objected to the
stone being removed, but Jesus told her that faith was necessary in order for the glory of God to be seen. Jesus
prayed very briefly, shouted, and out popped Lazarus. The expression in Greek
is, "Loose him and let him go." I like that.
So, was this resurrection or recreation? If the spirit had returned to
that body, it would have been a mess. After four days the body was just rotting
flesh and dead blood, yuck! In order for the body to have been made ready for
the spirit of Lazarus to return, the body had to have been fully recreated:
every cell and every function. Who says God needs billions of years to create?
Jesus did it there. It took no time, and there was no pause, or grunt of
exertion.
Vs. 45-53 Many Jews believed but some were snitches. The entire
discussion of the leaders was a profound lesson in irrationality. Jesus did
mighty signs. Everyone might believe in
Him. The Romans would come and destroy Jerusalem. But if Jesus was the
Christ, the signs were from the Father, and believing in Him was right. If the
nation had turned to Him, the Romans would not have been a problem.
V. 51 God can even use the mouths of evil men.
V. 52 This is John showing that this was for the plan of redemption.
Psalm 117
V. 1 Paul quotes this in Romans 15 when talking about Jesus coming to
save the Gentiles. Nations and Gentiles are the same word.
Romans
15:8-12 For I tell you that Christ became
a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm
the promises given to the patriarchs, 9and
in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.” 10And again it is said, “Rejoice, O Gentiles,
with his people.” 11And again, “Praise
the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him.” 12And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse
will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles
hope.”
V. 2 God's faithfulness is to
fulfill His promise of redemption, to save and rescue those lost in sin and
darkness. We, the rescued, work with Him as His disciples, following Christ in
the harvest. In so doing, He continues to show His steadfast love and faithfulness
to those who need Him.
Proverbs 15:22-23
Amen.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment