If you don't
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translations.
JULY 1
This looks like a good day to celebrate.
You've completed six months of reading your one-year Bible. Sounds like a good
day for a Frappuccino© or a Chiller. Keeping up on the Bible is the goal, not
these reading notes. The Lord will bless your effort and the Spirit will give
you what you need to follow the Lord in the harvest.
2
Kings 18:13-19:37
These are two great chapters of
the Bible. As disciples we need to be inspired by these. We need to be inspired
by King Hezekiah, a great lover of God, leading his nation in the darkest of
times facing an unstoppable world power. There are probably a million ways to
apply what we have here, but there is one application that is going to repeat
again and again: When God allows us to be pushed into a corner where there is
no hope, He might be on the verge of giving a deliverance that is not only for
us, but is also a sign for everyone else. Hezekiah is facing total annihilation
by Assyria. Unknown to him, soon all nations would be praising the God of
Israel and sending Hezekiah "Thank-you" notes.
2 Kings 18:13-37
Vs. 13-16 Notice that Hezekiah
tried to avoid a fight. The reason Hezekiah said he had sinned is that the
local nations, including Judah, had banded together to resist Assyria. Now, all
of these nations were either conquered or they had withdrawn. Egypt was a
weaker world power and unreliable. Hezekiah and Jerusalem were standing alone.
Vs. 17-18 Apparently the
Assyrians were not happy with the tons of precious metals they had just
received. They wanted everything and were ready for a long siege of Jerusalem. Hezekiah
and his leaders had already anticipated this.
Vs. 19-25 This is the
intimidation part of Rabshakeh's speech. As you read, notice how often the Rabshakeh
tries to use a religious argument to defeat the morale of the people. It will
happen three more times.
Vs. 26-27 I'll bet they wished
afterward that they hadn't asked Rabshakeh not to speak in Hebrew.
Vs. 28-35 But now that he was
excited, Rabshakeh revealed more of his disdain for Hezekiah and for the Lord.
This morning I was reading over
the temptation of Jesus and realized for the first time that the temptation to
throw Himself off the temple was really based on God's promise of help to
Jesus. Satan was trying to get Jesus not to wait for the Father to help Him,
but to force the promise and get help "now." In essence Satan was
telling Jesus not to wait, but to press the "easy" button. Now that
is a temptation I can relate to. One of the hardest things we do as disciples
is to hope in God and wait on Him in the harvest. And the temptation to
"give up" doesn't come from the lost, but from believers. It might
come from believers who are not living for Christ in the harvest, telling us
that we're being impractical or whatever sounds like it might be from God, but
has nothing to do with living to glorify the Father by bearing much fruit and
so proving to be His disciples. It might also be coming from disciples who
don't understand the irregular way God is leading us in the harvest. This is
what will happen to Paul today in Acts. No one will be expecting the Lord to
lead a choice servant like Paul into such grave trouble.
I'll bet Hezekiah was tempted
too. That offer of "a chicken in every pot" that the Rabshakeh was
making must have sounded good. Instead, against all reason, they hoped in God
and waited.
Vs. 36-37 Notice the obedience.
2 Kings 19
Vs. 1-4 This is a godly man
leading the people in worship and fasting and crying out. This is how the
northern kingdom and its kings and people should have come to the Lord. That's
what all those miracles were meant to encourage.
Vs. 5-7 Isaiah said that God did
indeed hear. The faith here is incredible. They are still surrounded, but they
understood Isaiah to be a prophet of God and his words were the Word of God. Imagine
the contrast here to what happened in Israel for years during the ministries of
Elijah and Elisha.
Vs. 8-13 Rabshakeh should have
left well enough alone. This turn of events must have made him think he would
lose face and that the people in Jerusalem "might think" this was
from God. So he decided to put his arrogance and ignorance in writing, just to
make sure everyone knew.
Vs. 14-19 We haven't seen this
kind of faith and godliness since David. Close your eyes and try to visualize
what this might have looked like, the king coming before the Holy Place dressed
in sackcloth, spreading the letter out on the ground, himself lying on the
ground before that Holy Place that held the bread of God's provision, the lamp
of God's presence and leading, and the incense of prayers constantly being
heard by God. Hezekiah realized that just beyond the veil were two golden
cherubim, and between them was the ark of the covenant, but that this only
represented the reality of God upon His throne, carefully listening to every
word that Hezekiah was saying.
V. 19 This is amazing and
inspiring. Hezekiah, in this darkness, had a glimpse of God's redemptive
purpose.
V. 20 God hears prayer.
Vs. 21-28 Much of this sounds
like the book of Isaiah, obviously. It also sounds like what God said to
Pharaoh, But for this purpose I have
raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all
the earth (Ex. 9:16). This is how God uses the arrogant.
Notice God's commitment to Zion
and to Jerusalem. In 100 years God would have these places destroyed because of
Judah's disobedience, but God promised Solomon that His eyes would always look
there and that His name would someday dwell there forever.
V. 28 This reference to hooks is
referring to how the Assyrians used hooks to lead away their captives.
Vs. 29-31 After this, this small
remnant of Judah would prosper. Even though the people hadn't been able to work
the fields, God would supply what they needed. He would make the land produce
enough food all by itself. That was the sign, and really, that would be nothing
compared to providing manna for forty years.
Vs. 32-34 God is still
responding to His promise to David.
Vs. 35-37 Assyria was no longer
a world power. In a moment, God broke them. Years earlier He had done this to Egypt,
and they never recovered. There is rejoicing among nations; there is freedom;
there is a vacuum of power in the world. All eyes are on Israel and their God. And
people of all nations are beginning to send boxes of chocolates to Hezekiah.
Oh yeah. And again, God opened
windows in heaven to supply the needs of His people. When the few survivors of
the Assyrian army awoke, found the dead and left (fled?) for home, they left a tent
city full of supplies, food and precious metals (money). For Hezekiah and the
people it would have been like a super Walmart ©. God was taking care of His
people and because they followed, ironically, there was “a chicken in every
pot,” compliments of the Assyrians.
Being moved to the brink of
despair spiritually and emotionally is not fun, but God does that for His glory
and to teach us what we could not learn in any other way. As disciples
following Christ in the harvest, we need to bear the weight of faith, showing
to others what it means to have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior
of all men, and who saves those who believe.
Acts
21:1-16
Vs. 1-6 Verses like v. 4 have
led people to believe that it wasn't God's will for Paul to go to Jerusalem. Assuming
for now that it was in fact God's will for Paul to go (we'll find proof
positive in Ch. 23), why do you think the Spirit was telling people to tell
Paul that trouble was before him? I don't think the Spirit was telling them
Paul shouldn't go, but the Spirit was telling them that Paul was facing some
very hard times. This reminds me of the sons of the prophets telling Elisha
that he was about to lose Elijah.
Vs. 8-9 So we meet Philip again.
Notice the words that Luke uses. Philip was one
of the seven. In the background you can almost hear the theme song of the "Magnificent
Seven."
It is interesting that Paul was
a part of the mob that killed one of the
seven.
Vs. 10-11 What I learn here is
that if a guy named Agabus comes into the room, I'll definitely tell him to
stay away from my stuff.
What's interesting here is that
the Holy Spirit is saying this will happen. It is not an "if-then"
proposition. Paul was definitely going; this was definitely happening. It was
God's will. So why is the Holy Spirit doing this?
Vs. 12-15 Paul was used greatly
by God. Knowing Paul, because of what the grace of God made him, Paul was
actually a great man. Imagine the shock to the church to have one of your
heroes put on ice, in jail, for over three years on some silly technicality of the
law and some political corruption. You could imagine that people would be
discouraged and churches would be shocked. Paul's opponents would say, "See,
we told you." But the Spirit is warning the spiritually perceptive, that His
plan in using Paul is about to change. I think the Spirit is getting everyone
ready. This is not Paul's mistake. It is God's will and plan.
V. 15 This guy, Mnason (whose
name appears to be missing an important vowel), is from Cyprus, just like
Barnabas. It was the believers from Cyprus who first began to share the gospel
with Gentiles. This would be someone in Jerusalem with whom Paul could feel at
home. As we'll see, Paul even had relatives in Jerusalem, but they might not
have been believers or sympathetic to how Paul had "thrown his life
away."
As disciples, sometimes I think
we second guess what happens to others, as if we are God and know better. God's
will doesn't always look smooth and straight. His will for us, for a week, a
year or a decade of our lives, doesn't necessarily have to follow our plan or
have to make sense to everyone else. We only need to follow Christ in the
harvest, wherever that harvest is, whatever the field might look like. We draw
near to God every day bearing our cross. If that's all we know of His will, that's
a plan and all we need to do.
Psalm
149
I know it is easy to identify
with the "praising" part of this psalm and not really endorse the "judgment"
part of the psalm. I wonder if the people in Jerusalem who heard the "Rabshakeh
Rant"© would have understood both parts of this psalm?
Vs. 1-4 With the reference to a new song and to Zion rejoicing in its
king, you could imagine this being the day when Jesus walks into Jerusalem in
the Millennial Kingdom to reign forever.
Vs. 5-9 Notice that the godly are mentioned three times in this
psalm. The reference to the two-edged
swords does sound like the judgment of God at the end of the age.
I would say that vs. 7-9 give
this psalm a very prophetic, forward look to the judgment of the nations at the
coming of Christ.
As disciples, we need to
remember that a part of the gospel is judgment. It is not only love's privilege
to make an offer of redemption, but it is also love's duty to warn of impending
judgment. And judgment will come and we will not only welcome it when it does,
but we will be a part of that judgment.
1 Corinthians 6:2-3 Or
do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be
judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? 3Do you not know that we are to judge angels?
How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!
Proverbs
18:8
The words of the Rabshakeh were
meant to divide and go deep. He said that God had sent him. He said God didn't
care. He said life could be good by following him. As a pastor and disciple,
after all these years, being on both sides of whispers and gossip, I think it
is always a bad thing when this happens in a church. If you can't talk openly,
sin is around the corner. If I feel I need to whisper, I might need to leave. We
are here to follow Christ in the harvest and see the lost reached and disciples
made. Focusing on being a disciple who makes disciples can, itself, take away a
lot of reasons to whisper. For the sake of Christ and His work through us, we
are told to be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. If
we are whispering at church, there might be something wrong that needs to be
addressed. If it can't be addressed and the Lord has made it important to us,
we might need to leave before we cause upset and division.
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.