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 21
This is one of those days to celebrate. With today's reading, you have
read the first nine books of the Old Testament.
1 Samuel 29-31
1 Samuel 29
Vs. 1-5 God saved David at the last minute. You know that David would
not have fought against Saul and Israel. David must have discussed with his men
what they would do if it came to a fight. The way that God was with David, in a
fight, David would have torn the Philistines apart.
Notice that the other kings of the Philistines were well aware of
David's reputation.
Vs. 6-11 David was sent home and threw a fake fit for Achish. This is
all ironic, and David's lack of honesty, even in this situation, seems wrong to
me.
I guess this is all to say for us as disciples, if God gets us in a
jam, He will get us out, or show us what to do.
1 Samuel 30
Vs. 1-6 This looks like things going from bad to worse. It took three
days to get back to Ziklag. They had been away for six days. Everyone had lost
their wife and sons and daughters. The note says they were all taken alive, so
there were no bodies lying around; and again, God engineered this so no one
died. David thought he had known bad, but now the men were so bitter they
wanted to kill him too.
But David strengthened himself
in the Lord his God. Psalm
27 is a psalm of David, written sometime during all of his running. The last
line is very instructive and deep, and there might be a slight qualifying
phrase in it. It says, Wait on the Lord:
be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the
Lord (Ps. 27:14, KJV). That line, be
of good courage, is important.
If we really believe God loves us and is sovereign, it gives us what we
need to strengthen ourselves in the Lord. Being of good courage shows that our
hope is set on God, that our treasure is in heaven and that Jesus is the one we
are following in this life. Sometimes it takes suffering in the wilderness to
strip away the things that we've acquired to support us and define us. The
wilderness and suffering are used by the Lord to bring us back to reality. The
reality is that we have been saved from judgment and hell by the blood and
sacrifice of our Lord. The reality is that this world will end and that lost
people desperately need to be presented with the gospel. We have been saved to
be complete in Him and work in His harvest. Our strength is in Him.
Vs. 7-10 I wonder if David had also asked the Lord about going to the
fight with the Philistines. Somehow I don't think he did. But here, pushed by
personal tragedy, and at his wits’ end, he went to the Lord. When will we ever
learn? Disciples need to learn to pray desperately before they get pushed to
desperation by circumstances.
Vs. 11-20 This was a miracle, complete with God leaving bread crumbs
(Ok, an Egyptian) for David to
follow. They not only regained all their families alive, but they won the
lottery. They were suddenly rich. Imagine the happy reunions. Imagine 400
Jewish men singing, "If I were a rich man." Well, maybe not that last
one.
Vs. 21-25 Notice how David dealt with these worthless fellows. Every group/church gets some of these
complainers. Saul didn't have the gumption for dealing with them. David does a
great job. David actually made it a
statute - those who guarded the fort should get the same amount as those
who fought.
Vs. 26-31 David apparently was protecting these Judean towns the same
way he had been protecting Nabal's sheep. David had so much, that he sent gifts
to these towns. More importantly, David understood that the Lord had blessed
them and given them the victory.
With everything that happened here, there was a happy ending. Now, why
did God allow this to happen? I think it was to keep David and his men occupied
with a personal emergency so they wouldn't be wondering how the battle was
going and if they should go rescue Saul. By the time David and his men returned
with their families to Ziklag and then rebuilt the city enough to live in it,
the fight was over. God had taken care of the situation without David. Having
begun the rebuilding of Ziklag, unknown to them, they would soon be leaving.
1 Samuel 31
Vs. 1-7 This was a very sad day for Israel. If David had been there, no
doubt, the battle would have been won, but the problem would have gone on too.
The Lord took care of things.
I would feel bad for Jonathan, but then, what is to feel bad about?
After those few minutes of pain, he was welcomed by God, given a new body, a
place to sit and rest with something nice and cool to drink. Obviously God knew
that if Jonathan had lived, there would be problems in establishing David's
kingdom. I think Jonathan was OK with how this turned out.
V. 4 Notice that Saul's own armor
bearer was afraid, even in these circumstances, to put his hand against
God's anointed. Note this, because David will soon get news from someone who
didn't have this same respect.
V. 5 Take note of what is said here. It clearly says in the text that
Saul was dead. Remember that.
Vs. 8-13 The Philistines dishonored the bodies, but the men from
Jabesh-gilead slipped in and brought the bodies to be buried. Do you remember
what Jabesh-gilead has to do with Saul?
The running was
finally over. God protected David and judged Saul and did things His way. David
had no guilt for sinning to avenge himself. For ten years David lived the words
that Paul/Spirit would write in Romans 12:19-21, Beloved,
never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written,
“Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your
enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for
by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by
evil, but overcome evil with good.
With God's help, David was able to do this. These words,
however, are for us, Christ's disciples, as we follow Him in the harvest,
reaching out to the sinning, and making disciples, who make disciples. As we
work in the harvest we get battered and have lots to forgive, but the love of our
Lord refreshes our hearts and we rest in Him, knowing He is in control.
John 11:54-12:19
John 11:54-57
After Jesus raised/recreated Lazarus, He and His disciples went about
15 miles north of Bethany and Jerusalem to stay away from the Jewish leaders.
Being on the edge of the wilderness, it would have been easy for them to
escape, if need be.
Since the Passover was a major event, people got there early and began
looking for Jesus. He usually taught on the temple grounds.
John 12:1-19
This is the week that Jesus will die.
Vs. 1-8 There is a little difference of opinion regarding when Mary
anointed Jesus. It could have been here, on Saturday when He arrived, or it
could have been Wednesday evening. At this point, it isn't important when it
happened, only that it happened.
V. 3 This Mary is not the woman who did this earlier in the house of
Simon the Pharisee in Luke 7; but this Mary, a rich woman with a good
reputation, humbled herself to imitate that woman, a sinner, and anoint Jesus'
feet.
V. 4 We know that all of the disciples objected to Mary
"wasting" this ointment, but Judas must have been the most vocal. In
v. 6 John tells us why. It was probably as a result of this that Judas became
enraged, allowed Satan into his heart, and went to betray Jesus. Judas probably
went to the chief priests to betray Jesus on Wednesday evening or on Thursday.
Vs. 9-11 How irrational can you get? Sure, go and kill the guy raised
from the dead and hide the evidence, for God's glory.
Vs. 12-19 One interesting addition here is that as Jesus entered
Jerusalem, the people who had seen Lazarus raised were in the crowd bearing
witness to Jesus. You don't get that from the other Gospels. Nor do you
understand from the other Gospels that the reason that many of these people
were there to greet Jesus is that they heard that Jesus had raised Lazarus.
Although the people were saying the right things, there was still no
real recognition of who Jesus was. Even the disciples didn't understand this
event until after Jesus was glorified. So, what were they really celebrating
here? I think they thought that the kingdom would appear immediately.
Psalm 118:1-18
Doesn't this read like something David would have sung when the 10
years of running were over? It seems like he remembered all of the desperation
and emotion; but what saved him was what he mentions four times at the
beginning, His steadfast love endures
forever.
We get the second part of this psalm tomorrow. In the second half,
there are allusions to Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem and His rejection.
Knowing that, read this portion today with the idea that some of what is
written here could be a prophetic expression of how Jesus would feel, and as a
man, how He would find strength in His Father.
Vs. 1-4 This is what David learned in the wilderness. Each day had its
ups and downs, but the steadfast love
of the Lord never failed him.
Vs. 5-9 David didn't even trust his own men. They would have killed
Saul. But David was vindicated by the special deliverances God gave him.
Vs. 10-13 After David became king in Hebron, civil war raged for seven
and a half more years. Then when he became the king of the entire nation, other
nations came against him. He cried out to the Lord; God gave David victory and
suddenly distant countries were paying tribute to David.
Vs. 14-16 In all of this, the Lord was David's salvation.
Vs. 17-18 There was discipline and "pruning" by the Lord to
make David ready to be king.
Proverbs 15:24-26
Amen, amen, and amen! I would think that David was being taught all of
this in the wilderness and while he was running. I know that hard times have
been the only way I have learned some of these things on my journey as a
disciple.
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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