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.
AUGUST 1
2 Chronicles 30-31
When you think back on the attempt of Jehoshaphat to unify Israel and
the disaster that was, you look at these two chapters and see that God showed
Hezekiah the right way to call Israel together.
I really don't have a lot to say about these chapters other than what
is obvious. A godly king or leader leads his people in following God and worshiping
God, and he oversees the organizing to make this possible. Ezra showed that
this passion for organization began with David and was true of every godly king
who had the heart of David.
Vs. 1-9 I’m sure that they consulted the Lord on changing the date to
celebrate the Passover. Isaiah was a prophet and I'm sure they sought the Lord
to get these concessions. God had already mentioned in Numbers 9:11 that if
someone was unclean, they could celebrate the Passover in the second month.
Vs. 6-9 This message was very straightforward and truthful. Political
correctness and tolerant persuasion were not given any credence. The offer was
very simple and the reasons to respond would only have been felt and understood
by the humble. Notice that it refers to there only being a remnant of the
people left. It was during the reign of Ahaz, Hezekiah’s father, when the
northern kingdom had been taken into exile. The fact that God had allowed the
Assyrians to take the northern kingdom into captivity should have had an impact
on the Jews who had been left in the land.
Vs. 10-12 What is interesting about the couriers being laughed to scorn
is that God's judgment had already hit the northern kingdom. Most of the people
had been dragged away into captivity. These were the few people who were left. Talk
about blindness and arrogance. But even at this late date, there were some who
saw and understood and were humbled. God was still extending grace, but many people
decided to ignore this offer. Still, some responded and came to Judah where the
hand of the Lord was blessing. As disciples, we, like our heavenly Father, keep
extending the offer.
Vs. 13-22 As the people came together to worship God, they noticed the
monuments that had been standing for years, maybe generations, and understood
that they were not just landmarks, they were idols or places of worship. Notice
in v. 15 that the priests and Levites were ashamed. They never believed that so
many people would show up. They hadn’t bothered to consecrate themselves, so
they would be ineligible to make the sacrifices.
V. 17 Again, God showed His flexibility by not judging the people from
the northern kingdom who came to eat the Passover. What is even more amazing is
that Hezekiah and the leaders knew those people were in trouble and they prayed
for them.
V. 20 Hezekiah, though not a priest, interceded for the people and God
“healed” them, by forgiving them.
Vs. 23-27 There was such a spiritual atmosphere and blessing from God
that they decided to celebrate for
another seven days. This second week seems to have surpassed the first
week. The spirit of sharing and devotion to God was so great the entire
congregation rejoiced in God, and God blessed them from His holy habitation.
God had made the feasts a requirement. Obeying Him and celebrating the
feasts would have kept the country unified and focused on Him. Anyway, that had
been the original plan. Notice that nothing like this had happened since
Solomon. What is in view is probably the dedication of the temple. It is very
cool to see the people gathered together like this. At the same time it is kind
of sad that this happened so seldom since God had made the provision for it to
happen three times a year, not once every two hundred years.
2 Chronicles 31
This chapter shows the result of this great spiritual awakening. Hezekiah
organized the worship of Israel. Ezra again is showing that political leaders
do this because it is the mark of a truly spiritual leader.
V. 1 This is the response of the people as they made their way home. Cleansing
had already been done, but I think the deeper the people went spiritually, the
more they noticed the objects of pagan worship that had become invisible parts
of their culture.
Vs. 2-10 Notice that Hezekiah made sure the tithes were brought in to
feed the priests and the Levites. This was an important part of showing that
the people understood the importance of the sacrifices, the worship and the presence
of God among them. Later in Nehemiah, Nehemiah will set up all of this and
convince the priests and Levites to come to Jerusalem. As soon as Nehemiah went
back to Persia, the people stopped giving and the Levites left and went back to
their farms. Tithing is not a matter of economics and return on investment (Why
should I work and pay to have them sit on their hands?); it is a matter of
spiritual perspective. God had commanded the people to support the priests and
Levites so His work could be done, so His people would be cleansed and so that
they would be unified in His love through the feasts. We have seen too that the
Levites taught the people. Men and women of faith saw this and obeyed. Others
didn’t see the importance at all.
Vs. 11-19 Now that the people were willingly giving tithes, these
resources had to be organized and stored. All of these names would have had
meaning to the returned exiles. In a couple hundred years Nehemiah would be
looking at these Scriptures and trying to do the very same thing in Jerusalem.
Vs. 20-21 This is a summary of Hezekiah's faithfulness, and the result
was that people were seeking the Lord.
Romans 15:1-22
Paul is continuing his teaching about what to do when you have people
in the congregation who are weak in conscience because of their past life in
paganism or in legalism. The answer will be to imitate the love of Christ and
to focus on why we are left here, that is, to proclaim together the glory of
God to a lost world.
Vs. 1-3 Notice that Jesus is the example. We were (are) all weak and
Christ bore with us. He is our example. So, who do you suppose reproaches
sinful worthless humanity?
Vs. 4-7 Verse 4
sounds very much like 1 Corinthians 10:11, Now
these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our
instruction, on whom the end of the age has come.
Notice that the
focus of all of this is to have the unity to proclaim together the glory of
God. Jesus again becomes the one we imitate. He didn't save us to be alike, but
to give glory to God together. Regardless of our differences, we should all be
able to welcome one another into the company of the redeemed and work together
in the harvest. Right?
Vs. 8-13 How Paul and the Spirit state this is very interesting. The
promise to Abe and to this nation is always being respected. Christ came one
way, as a servant to the Jews (Jesus the deacon), for two purposes. First, He
confirmed the promises to the Jews. He didn't fulfill them. He showed by His
coming that they would one day be fulfilled. Second, in fulfillment to the
promise to Abraham and using the blessing to the Jews, Jesus started a fire
under the Gentiles so that because of receiving God's mercy, the Gentiles would
proclaim God's glory in all the earth. That's why we were left here, to
proclaim God’s glory. It is another way of expressing the Great Commission.
Notice how Paul goes to the OT to show that God's plan of redemption
always included the Gentiles and how reaching the Gentiles was always the
mission of the Messiah.
Vs. 14-16 This is a very clear expression of Paul's commission by God. Notice
that one of Paul’s criteria is that they not only knew the Word, but that they
were able to teach one another. That would be important if disciple-making was
functioning in that church. When Jesus called the disciples as apostles, there
were three things that stood out: they were to be with Him, they were to preach
and they were to have authority. All of these are seen in Paul. Here Paul
expresses his “authority” as his service to the Lord and to other disciples in
the harvest.
Vs. 17-21 I think
this is our commission also as disciples working in the harvest. This portion
is worth memorizing. When I read this I think of Paul’s words in 1
Corinthians 4:7 For who sees anything
different in you? What do you have
that you did not receive? If then you
received it, why do you boast as
if you did not receive it?
Paul understood the grace and commission given to him. It was all a
gift and there was never room to boast in anything but Jesus. I’m sure Paul was
amazed and humbled by what God had done through him. Paul and the Spirit said
in 1 Corinthians 15 that Paul worked harder than any other apostle, but it was
the grace of God. Only Jesus could have designed a guy like Paul, and it came
at a price to Paul and to many other believers for Paul to be the grateful,
driven man he was. Unknown to Paul, shortly after this writing, God was going
to give him at least four years of R&R in jail, with some adventures in
between.
V. 22, in my thinking, should have gone with tomorrow's reading.
Psalm 25:1-15
I get the feeling that David wrote this while he was still in distress,
either before Ziklag or afterward in Hebron. It's interesting to me that when
we are in distress, we also think back on our own sins. I guess we can't help
thinking there might be a connection. Subconsciously we are always under the
weight of our sin and our failures. Isn't it great to know that Christ has
lifted that weight, and we are totally whole, loved and accepted in the
Beloved?
The parts that speak to me are the desire to know the way of the Lord
(4-5), the remembrance of, and pleading for, God's steadfast love (6-7), the confidence that when the Lord leads us we
realize His steadfast love (10), and
finally, David's desire for God's friendship
(14).
Vs. 1-3 David knew he was being judged and ridiculed for waiting on the
Lord. David also knew that God respected that kind of faith.
Vs. 4-5 In spite of all the criticism directed at David, David knew he
was following the Lord. David wanted to know the Lord more and more. What a
guy.
Vs. 6-10 This is something David learned from God. What a thing to
learn. God gives love and that love is the basis for forgiveness.
Vs. 11-15 On the basis of all of this, David became a witness to the
nations, glorifying the Lord for His love and greatness.
Proverbs 20:13-15
This seems like another random smattering of wisdom. I guess
if I were putting them together to make sense of them, I would say that
diligence (13) and craftiness (14) can get you what you need, because there is
an abundance of gold and costly stones to be had (15); but lips of knowledge (of the Lord) are rarer, more valuable, and you
only get them one way. We have to seek the Lord and stay alert for His leading
(13). The people in the ruined northern kingdom figured this out when they
received Hezekiah's offer to celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem. They humbled
themselves, saw the opportunity, sought the Lord and went to Jerusalem.
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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