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APRIL 30
Some of what is written here in Judges isn't so much "the history
of the nation," as it is biographical sketches of how being lost on earth
damages the soul. There is a price tag associated with living far from God,
whether you are a believer or an unbeliever. Our sickness is so grave and deep
that to think we can live a day without God, connected intravenously to His
Word, listening every moment to His Spirit to be led by the Spirit, is just
crass foolishness and unbelief. It shows what we really think - that all this
Jesus stuff is good, but not really vitally necessary. We could easily end up
like the men we will be reading about, not realizing that God put their stories
here, publicly, in plain view, so that we could learn the lessons and avoid
their tragic mistakes.
Notice, too, that almost nothing is said about Israel as a unified
nation. The further you go, the more provincial things become. Rather than
tribes banding together to help one another, they are a nation in name only. So
where was that unity supposed to be if they didn't have a king? They were to be
unified around their common worship at one place where all the men of Israel
were to gather three times a year: at the tabernacle. Once they lost their
worship, they lost their unity. The same thing happens to us, but we are
smarter in our disobedience. They worshiped idols, visibly, and neglected the
only true worship that united the nation and people. We worship Sundays, often
singing the same songs that everyone else is singing. But our worship isn't
supposed to be around a building or a service; it is around our Savior and His
mission, the Great Commission.
Israel's worship was daily, in the offerings for sin, reminding them of
the kindness of God and the depth of their need. Their worship on the feast
days was in remembrance of their history of deliverance.
Our worship and following Jesus in the Great Commission does all of
this for us. As we go out we are reminded of grace and His kindness in our
salvation. In this recognition, we bring the message of the work of our Savior,
the power of which brings fruit and redemption. To worship on Sunday, and not
worship in going forth in the harvest, might mean there are other things more
important to us that fill our needs and desires and you can guess what the
Bible calls those things. And so we end up in the same place as the people
we're reading about. They knew the stories, but they didn't know the Word or
the God who wrote it. We need to constantly fight against that happening to us.
Judges 11-12
Judges 11
Vs. 1-11 Notice that Jephthah's life history seems similar to
Abimelech's, and that he also surrounded himself with worthless company. That
he went out means he and his merry
men robbed people and towns outside of Israel. He gained a reputation, and part
of his résumé said he was good at fighting and leading men.
Notice, too, that more is said about Jephthah and what he knew, or
didn't know, than about his battle. The battle against the Ammonites is only
vs. 32-33.
Vs. 4-11 You don't read anywhere here that the elders of Gilead sought
God regarding their decision. Apparently Jephthah was ceremonially made the
leader of the people of Gilead at Mizpah and Jephthah spoke to the Lord there.
The only thing noteworthy about this place was the covenant Laban and Jacob
made there.
Vs. 12-28 Notice that Jephthah sought a peaceful solution first. His
understanding of events and time (300 years) is pretty accurate. If you sense
that he knew his history well, then take note of what follows. Jephthah didn't
know the Lord well at all. Again, we'll see that knowing "about" the
stories is not a substitute for being in the Word and knowing the Lord through
His Word.
V. 24 In a way, it seems like Jephthah makes this a duel of the gods.
This reasoning would have worked well if Israel had been obedient. If they were
ignoring God, God would ignore them and it would make it look like the other
gods are bigger. Just a caution here, notice that you could understand that
Jephthah really believed that Chemosh had given the Ammonites their land. He
doesn't call Chemosh a false god.
Vs. 29-40 It is hard to find any verses in Scripture, next to each
other, which are so stunning and frightening, than vs. 29-31. The Spirit came
upon Jephthah. That's good. Jephthah makes a vow to God to offer the first
person that comes out of his house as a burnt offering to God. How can that be?
It shows that religious sincerity can be totally wrong and ignorant of God,
even in the service of God. We see this even today among Christians, and we
still do not grasp the power of sin and the need for each of us to be in God's
Word. Listening to a sermon and stories about God or singing about God doesn't
do the same thing as sitting together with Him, looking at what He has said. It
is the difference between looking at a pill and actually taking it.
Vs. 34-40 I have done all the gymnastics with these verses trying to
get Jephthah off the hook, imagining that there was a group of people dedicated
to God, like Samuel, who served at the temple for life as virgins, like nuns,
but these people didn't exist. Also, vows could be broken that were in
violation of the law. The solution would have been simple. According to the
law, Jephthah could have bought or redeemed her with money so that she didn't
have to fulfill this vow. If he had only known the Bible. The most simple and
obvious reading of the text is that Jephthah had a simple, sincere, second-hand
understanding of God and he had mixed the paganism of his culture into it. The
worship at the tabernacle had failed and the Levites were not doing their jobs.
Jephthah was a sincere victim of extreme ignorance in his worship and
understanding of God.
I say this is all tragic, in light of guys like Jephthah and Samson,
being in Hebrews 11:32 in the "Hall of Faith." Their faith made them
acceptable and pleasing to God, and they did amazing things, but their
ignorance and sin utterly ruined their lives.
I think God is trying to make a strong point here and in the three
stories that follow. People can call upon God sincerely and follow Him
sincerely, yet His own people can still be ignorant of Him. The same
Corinthians who had the spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12-14 were the same
people worshiping demons in chapter 10. When Jesus says that we need to hear
His words and do them, He is commanding us with profound simplicity. We need to
know His words. The Bible is meant to teach us about God, about our Lord, to
know His heart and mind and plan and will. Then, we need to do what He says.
The reality is that many believers don't know His Word, but they know something
about it, so they assume they know Him and His will. This "feeling"
about God actually becomes an extension of their own wills and desires and
plans. Being a disciple means having one Lord, one Word, one Spirit and one command
to follow.
Judges 12
Vs. 1-7 Do you remember the Ephraimites who came after Gideon to make
trouble? Their concern in v. 1 is that they wanted a share in the plunder. This
time they picked on the wrong guy.
V. 6 Can you imagine losing 42,000 people in a single battle? At the
end of Numbers, over 300 years before, the Ephraimites numbered about 32,000.
Who knows how the tribe might have grown in this time, but it probably means
that losing 42,000 men reduced the tribe to near extinction.
V. 7 just seems sad to me.
Vs. 8-15 These guys are all localized even though it says they judged
Israel. Notice that two of these men were rich with children and donkeys,
meaning they were also very rich with stuff.
Notice that Abdon was buried in the hill country of the Amalekites. The
Amalekites would not have been there, if Israel had followed God.
Today's reading is
why, as disciples, we need to follow Jesus in the harvest making disciples, who
make disciples. Discipleship is growth in Christ in His Word. Jesus summed it
up like this in John 15:7-8, "If you abide in me,
and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. By this my Father is glorified,
that you bear much fruit, and so
prove to be my disciples."
Without loving the Lord and following Him in the Word and obedience, we
are really only following our own desires and making our own god. Even
believers get lost on earth, forget who their Lord is, and they forget there is
a harvest.
John 1:1-28
This is one of the most amazing chapters of the Bible.
Vs. 1-5 The Jehovah's Witnesses insert an "a" in "…and
the Word was a God." It is totally wrong, but they use it to support
their view that Jesus was once Michael the Archangel who was turned into a god.
Notice that Jesus was the maker of all things. And He is life. And
knowing Him gives all men light.
I was reading this morning that the Pharisees told Jesus to rebuke His
disciples, and Jesus told them that if the disciples were silent, the very
stones would cry out. God the Son, the maker of all things and the life and
light of men was entering Jerusalem and they couldn't see it. How sad.
Vs. 6-8 A big point that John makes involves the witness of John the
Baptist. John was the fulfillment of not only Old Testament prophecies, but He
was also the final OT prophet.
Vs. 9-13 If you understand this, you see that there is no room for
Islam or any other religion. The one Creator came to His creation. Because of
the power of sin in us, mankind couldn't see He was the Creator, and Jesus' own
family and nation rejected Him. But salvation became open to all who would
receive Him. Verse 13 shows that being born again is a creation by God and has
nothing to do with us, other than receiving Him.
Vs. 14-18 John never recovered from this amazing visitation. Neither
should we. The wonder of these verses needs to live in us.
Notice in v. 15 that John and the Spirit are making a point that John
the Baptist said that Jesus was the Christ.
Vs. 19-28 This event would have happened at least 40 days after Jesus
was baptized. After the temptation in the wilderness, Jesus returned to John,
victorious. John had become such a phenomenon that this was an official
delegation sent to question him. He not only said he wasn't the Messiah, he
said he was the herald who went before the Messiah.
V. 26 Jesus was already back from the wilderness. John knew He was
there.
V. 28 This Bethany was on the east side of the Jordan.
We are not finished with the witness of John the Baptist. Just like
John the Baptist, our only reason for being here now is to give praise and
testimony to our Lord in the harvest.
Psalm 101
This psalm begins sunny, but ends darkly in judgment, or does it? I
think this was written by David after he was the king.
Vs. 1-3 David is committing his life to following the Lord in the
influences of heart and his conduct in his house.
Vs. 4-5 He also declares that he will not have close associates who do
not follow the Lord. He would also be a judge for the innocent, helping them
against the arrogant and proud. Too bad he didn't keep to this. We'll see that
the more political David became, the more compromised his heart became.
V. 6 David is promising to show God's kindness to these people in
obedience to the Word.
Vs. 7-8 David might be overstating his devotion to keeping Israel
worshiping God and keeping the people holy.
We tolerate wickedness in our lives, and out of necessity, in our
towns, cities and world. But shouldn't there be a desire to see wickedness done
away with? That may not be our heart, but it is the heart of God to judge all
wickedness. Here is something that Jesus said regarding this judgment, and
you'll see that the result is kind of unexpected. It is unexpected in that none
of us realizes the dampening power that sin and wickedness actually have on a
person, a family, a town, city, country or on the world in general.
The
Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all
causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In
that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their
Father. He who has ears, let him hear (Matt. 13:41-43).
Removing the wicked allows the righteous to shine like the sun.
Proverbs 14:13-14
When I read this, I think of what Jesus said, "Out of the
abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." We can fool others, but God
knows what is in our hearts. By reading through the Bible like this, learning
more about God and His heart, the Spirit is changing you and giving you a
different treasure in your heart, out of which you learn to speak and live.
Again, it is all about hearing and doing.
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.
