Day 90, March 31: Bible reading & prayer
Judges 3-5 (chronological); Judges 3-5, Luke 7:31-50 (OT/NT)
Happy Easter! He is risen!
Our chronological reading in Judges yesterday was a little confusing because it seemed to repeat some events from before Joshua died. A new event was the angel of the Lord reminding the nation of Israel, “I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you, and as for you, you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars. ‘But you have not obeyed Me; what is this you have done? Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they will become as thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.’” This is followed by, “When Joshua had dismissed the people, the sons of Israel went each to his inheritance to possess the land. The people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of the LORD which He had done for Israel. Then Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died” and “All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel.” What followed was ominous: “Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals, and they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them; thus they provoked the LORD to anger,” setting up the continuing cycle we will read about in Judges: “When the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge and delivered them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed and afflicted them. But it came about when the judge died, that they would turn back and act more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them and bow down to them; they did not abandon their practices or their stubborn ways.” Interestingly, God revealed that he did not allow Joshua and his generation to drive out all the nations in order to test the subsequent generations: “Because this nation has transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers and has not listened to My voice, I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died, in order to test Israel by them, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk in it as their fathers did, or not. So the LORD allowed those nations to remain, not driving them out quickly; and He did not give them into the hand of Joshua.”
My outline and “What I Learned” for Judges cover these concepts.
An overview of our yearly Bible reading plan, with all summaries so far, can be found here. My appeal for the resolution to read your Bibles is here.
March 31 chronological reading: Judges 3-5
Judges 3
v1-6 “Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to test Israel by them (that is, all who had not experienced any of the wars of Canaan; only in order that the generations of the sons of Israel might be taught war, those who had not experienced it formerly). These nations are: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. They were for testing Israel, to find out if they would obey the commandments of the LORD, which He had commanded their fathers through Moses. The sons of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and they took their daughters for themselves as wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
v7-8 “The sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, so that He sold them into the hands of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the sons of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years.
v9-11 “When the sons of Israel cried to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the sons of Israel to deliver them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel. When he went out to war, the LORD gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand, so that he prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. Then the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.
v12-14 “Now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD. And he gathered to himself the sons of Ammon and Amalek [note that these are all relatives of Abraham]; and he went and defeated Israel, and they possessed the city of the palm trees. The sons of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.
v15-23 “But when the sons of Israel cried to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for them, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man. And the sons of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. Ehud made himself a sword which had two edges, a cubit in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his cloak. He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. It came about when he had finished presenting the tribute, that he sent away the people who had carried the tribute. But he himself turned back from the idols which were at Gilgal, and said, ‘I have a secret message for you, O king.’ And he said, ‘Keep silence.’ And all who attended him left him. Ehud came to him while he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, ‘I have a message from God for you.’ And he arose from his seat. Ehud stretched out his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh and thrust it into his belly. The handle also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the sword out of his belly; and the refuse came out. Then Ehud went out into the vestibule and shut the doors of the roof chamber behind him, and locked them.
v24-25 “When he had gone out, his servants came and looked, and behold, the doors of the roof chamber were locked; and they said, ‘He is only relieving himself in the cool room.’ They waited until they became anxious; but behold, he did not open the doors of the roof chamber. Therefore they took the key and opened them, and behold, their master had fallen to the floor dead.
v26-30 “Now Ehud escaped while they were delaying, and he passed by the idols and escaped to Seirah. It came about when he had arrived, that he blew the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was in front of them. He said to them, ‘Pursue them, for the LORD has given your enemies the Moabites into your hands.’ So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan opposite Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross. They struck down at that time about ten thousand Moabites, all robust and valiant men; and no one escaped. So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land was undisturbed for eighty years.
v31 “After him came Shamgar the son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an ox goad; and he also saved Israel.”
Judges 4
v1-3 “Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, after Ehud died. And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; and the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim. The sons of Israel cried to the LORD; for he had nine hundred iron chariots, and he oppressed the sons of Israel severely for twenty years.
v4-10 “Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. She used to sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel came up to her for judgment. Now she sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali, and said to him, ‘Behold, the LORD, the God of Israel, has commanded, “Go and march to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun. I will draw out to you Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his many troops to the river Kishon, and I will give him into your hand.”’ Then Barak said to her, ‘If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.’ She said, ‘I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the honor shall not be yours on the journey that you are about to take, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hands of a woman.’ Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh, and ten thousand men went up with him; Deborah also went up with him.
v11 “Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, from the sons of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh.
v12-16 “Then they told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor. Sisera called together all his chariots, nine hundred iron chariots, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon. Deborah said to Barak, ‘Arise! For this is the day in which the LORD has given Sisera into your hands; behold, the LORD has gone out before you.’ So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him. The LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot. But Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not even one was left.
v17-22 “Now Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, ‘Turn aside, my master, turn aside to me! Do not be afraid.’ And he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. He said to her, ‘Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.’ So she opened a bottle of milk and gave him a drink; then she covered him. He said to her, ‘Stand in the doorway of the tent, and it shall be if anyone comes and inquires of you, and says, “Is there anyone here?” that you shall say, “No.”’ But Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and seized a hammer in her hand, and went secretly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went through into the ground; for he was sound asleep and exhausted. So he died. And behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him and said to him, ‘Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.’ And he entered with her, and behold Sisera was lying dead with the tent peg in his temple.
v23-24 “So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the sons of Israel. The hand of the sons of Israel pressed heavier and heavier upon Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin the king of Canaan.”
Judges 5
v1 “Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying,
v2-5 ‘That the leaders led in Israel,
That the people volunteered,
Bless the LORD!
Hear, O kings; give ear, O rulers!
I—to the LORD, I will sing,
I will sing praise to the LORD, the God of Israel.
LORD, when You went out from Seir,
When You marched from the field of Edom,
The earth quaked, the heavens also dripped,
Even the clouds dripped water.
The mountains quaked at the presence of the LORD,
This Sinai, at the presence of the LORD, the God of Israel.
v6-11 ‘In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath,
In the days of Jael, the highways were deserted,
And travelers went by roundabout ways.
The peasantry ceased, they ceased in Israel,
Until I, Deborah, arose,
Until I arose, a mother in Israel.
New gods were chosen;
Then war was in the gates.
Not a shield or a spear was seen
Among forty thousand in Israel.
My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel,
The volunteers among the people;
Bless the LORD!
You who ride on white donkeys,
You who sit on rich carpets,
And you who travel on the road—sing!
At the sound of those who divide flocks among the watering places,
There they shall recount the righteous deeds of the LORD,
The righteous deeds for His peasantry in Israel.
Then the people of the LORD went down to the gates.
v12-18 ‘Awake, awake, Deborah;
Awake, awake, sing a song!
Arise, Barak, and take away your captives, O son of Abinoam.
Then survivors came down to the nobles;
The people of the LORD came down to me as warriors.
From Ephraim those whose root is in Amalek came down,
Following you, Benjamin, with your peoples;
From Machir commanders came down,
And from Zebulun those who wield the staff of office.
And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah;
As was Issachar, so was Barak;
Into the valley they rushed at his heels;
Among the divisions of Reuben
There were great resolves of heart.
Why did you sit among the sheepfolds,
To hear the piping for the flocks?
Among the divisions of Reuben
There were great searchings of heart.
Gilead remained across the Jordan;
And why did Dan stay in ships?
Asher sat at the seashore,
And remained by its landings.
Zebulun was a people who despised their lives even to death,
And Naphtali also, on the high places of the field.
v19-23 ‘The kings came and fought;
Then fought the kings of Canaan
At Taanach near the waters of Megiddo;
They took no plunder in silver.
The stars fought from heaven,
From their courses they fought against Sisera.
The torrent of Kishon swept them away,
The ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon.
O my soul, march on with strength.
Then the horses’ hoofs beat
From the dashing, the dashing of his valiant steeds.
“Curse Meroz,” said the angel of the LORD,
“Utterly curse its inhabitants;
Because they did not come to the help of the LORD,
To the help of the LORD against the warriors.”
v24-27 ‘Most blessed of women is Jael,
The wife of Heber the Kenite;
Most blessed is she of women in the tent.
He asked for water and she gave him milk;
In a magnificent bowl she brought him curds.
She reached out her hand for the tent peg,
And her right hand for the workmen’s hammer.
Then she struck Sisera, she smashed his head;
And she shattered and pierced his temple.
Between her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay;
Between her feet he bowed, he fell;
Where he bowed, there he fell dead.
v28-31 ‘Out of the window she looked and lamented,
The mother of Sisera through the lattice,
”Why does his chariot delay in coming?
Why do the hoofbeats of his chariots tarry?”
Her wise princesses would answer her,
Indeed she repeats her words to herself,
”Are they not finding, are they not dividing the spoil?
A maiden, two maidens for every warrior;
To Sisera a spoil of dyed work,
A spoil of dyed work embroidered,
Dyed work of double embroidery on the neck of the spoiler?”
Thus let all Your enemies perish, O LORD;
But let those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its might.’
And the land was undisturbed for forty years.”
March 31 OT/NT readings: Judges 3-5, Luke 7:31-50
The text of Judges 3-5 is available above, in today’s chronological reading.
So far in the Gospel of Luke: the angel Gabriel appears to the priest Zacharias, telling him about the impending birth of his son John, and then to Mary, telling her she will conceive Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit; Joseph and Mary go to Bethlehem due to a census decree and Jesus is born there; Mary and Joseph then go up to Jerusalem to dedicate Him to the Lord as the Law required; Jesus and his parents return to Nazareth; during his family’s annual visit to Jerusalem for the Passover when he is twelve, Jesus stays behind at the temple for three days; John begins preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, admonishing people to bear fruit in keeping with repentance; John baptizes Jesus; genealogy of Jesus via Mary from Adam, the son of God; Jesus is tempted by Satan during 40 days in the wilderness; Jesus returns to Galilee, begins preaching in synagogues, and news about Him spreads; Jesus reads from Isaiah in the synagogue in Nazareth, claiming Isaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled in their hearing, and they drive Him out of the city; Jesus comes to Capernaum and people are amazed at His teaching with authority; a demon possessing a man in the synagogue recognizes Jesus and Jesus casts it out; Jesus heals Simon’ mother-in-law; Jesus heals many, so crowds begin searching for Him, but He moves on to other cities in order to preach the kingdom of God; Jesus teaches from a fishing boat, and has Simon put out for a catch that is so big it requires two boats to haul in; Jesus heals a leper and news about Him continues to spread; Jesus heals a paralyzed man to demonstrate He has the authority to forgive sins; Jesus calls Levi (Matthew); Levi has a reception for Jesus, and the Pharisees criticize him for eating with tax collectors and sinners; Jesus answers the Pharisees on why His disciples don’t fast, including the parable of the wineskins; the Pharisees accuse Jesus’ disciples for picking and eating heads of grain on the Sabbath, but Jesus explains He is Lord of the Sabbath; Jesus heals a man with a withered hand in a synagogue on the Sabbath, and the enraged scribes and Pharisees begin to plot against Him; Jesus spends a night in prayer and then appoints twelve of His disciples as apostles, and then teaches them (content very similar to the Sermon on the Mount); Jesus heals the centurion’s slave; Jesus raises a widow’s son from the dead in Nain; John sends His disciples to verify Jesus is the Expected One, and Jesus uses Scripture to verify that He is, and then explains John is a prophet who fulfilled Malachi 3:1
I have written an outline that I will edit as we go along. I also wrote “What I Learned” as an introduction to Luke, informed by my reading of Eugenia Constantinou’s book, “The Crucifixion of the King of Glory.” I have also begun to write another “What I Am Learning” from Luke that I will also edit as we go along. I said this when we read Mark too, but it may be more helpful, and less cumbersome, to look at “what I am learning” as we go along, if you are interested, rather than waiting until we are done with this book.
If you desire to read the four Gospel accounts chronologically, with more commentary than these daily readings/prayers (generated by my leadership of my church’s women’s Bible study), you can subscribe for that content here.
Luke 7
v31-35 “‘To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children who sit in the market place and call to one another, and they say, “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.” For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, “He has a demon!” The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, “Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!” Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children.’
v36-39 “Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume. Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.’
v40-50 “And Jesus answered him, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ And he replied, ‘Say it, Teacher.’ ‘A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?’ Simon answered and said, ‘I suppose the one whom he forgave more.’ And He said to him, ‘You have judged correctly.’ Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.’ Then He said to her, ‘Your sins have been forgiven.’ Those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, ‘Who is this man who even forgives sins?’ And He said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’”
Dear Lord,
“Curse Meroz,” said the angel of the LORD,
“Utterly curse its inhabitants;
Because they did not come to the help of the LORD,
To the help of the LORD against the warriors.
Deborah and Barak’s song is interesting. It praises You and those who helped You gain victory for the nation of Israel over Jabin, king of Canaan, and Sisera, commander of his army. But it shames those who did not fight, including even a curse from Your angel. Help us to discern when we are to be shamed for not fighting on Your side.
There is so much to learn in this interaction with Jesus, the woman, and Simon. We all have been forgiven much, so should love much. Simon simply did not assess himself correctly. But because this woman loved Jesus much, He pronounced her forgiven. If we love You, we are in right standing with You. Help us to love You.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Happy Easter! He has risen! "If we love You, we are in right standing with You. Help us to love You." - Amen. Thank you Dr. Milhoan. Happy Easter!