One Year Bible, May 12

JUDGES 12:1-13:22                                                                                                  
EVIDENCE OF INGRATITUDE:
(1) After God gave them Aaron and Moses to lead them to freedom, they "forgot the Lord their God".  They neglected their relationship to God until He never even crossed their minds!

(2) God gave them Judges to fight against their enemies, until they lived securely, and God still was NOT "enough" for them. They wanted a visible substitute - a king, even though God was already their king. Demanding King Saul was a form of idolatry.

JUDGMENT:  Rain during wheat harvest was judgment against Israel for demanding a king other than Jesus.  It was just a sample of all that a king would strip from them!

SAMUEL:   He believed he would be sinning against the Lord if he failed to intercede for them in prayer.  He promised to teach them by example, by Word from God, and by prayer.

SAUL:  When Saul was tested by the Philistines, he took credit for Jonathan's victory.  Saul was surrounded at Michmash and waited for Samuel in Gilgal for 7 days.  Saul's testing revealed disobedience, unbelief, presumption. He shipwrecked his faith and was disqualified for the Kingdom. God rejected him.

JONATHAN:  Jonathan was 40 year old and David was 17 when they met.  Jonathan started out good, but was a hypocrite in that he poured new wine into an old wineskin and ended up torn and dead. He refused to bear the reproach of being an outcast with David because he would not leave his father.

Unless you are a "man after God's heart", you are not prepared for the day of battle.

RESPONSE:   When you get "used to" your "idols" (substitutes for God) your relationship with God fades through neglected. Dependency on God is a GOOD thing. He knows that you can do NOTHING without Him (John 15:5)!  But Saul tried anyway.  He sealed his death when he got presumptuous.  Presumption is when you ask God to bless YOUR plans, instead of finding out what HIS plan is. There are some lines you just don't cross!  Saul said he felt pressured by the people to do something horribly wrong.  This tells me that the people were already idolatrous about Saul - they were independent from God and relied on leadership to take God's place!  How easy it can be to trust your pastor, your husband, your prayer partner - or whatever, instead of going to God for leadership.  Yes, we must submit to authority.  But, for our day-to-day "walking orders", we had better check with God!  Find out what His plans are! "This is the day which the LORD hath made (for me); I will rejoice and be glad in it." (Psa 118:24)

JOHN 7:1-29                                                                                                                     
FEAST OF TABERNACLES: Feast of Harvest or Ingathering.  There are more sacrifices during this feast than in all the other offerings put together!  The first six days of the feast, a priest would pour water from a golden pitcher at the foot of the altar.   All the people were waving palm branches, blowing trumpets and singing. Water and light.  This feast coincided with the Fall Equinox - the nights would get longer after this.

JESUS, THE TEMPLE, IN THE TEMPLE: Jesus had gone to Judea "under the radar" because of building opposition. But He still walked right into the teeth of the storm because the people are still in rebellion to the Truth. They would rather be ruined than change!

FIVE REASONS TO "BELIEVE":
(1) His knowledge. How did Jesus know what He knew? He heard it from His Father, Who sent Him here! This wasn't just His opinion, or even His own words.

(2) His test: Jesus can stand the test - he is open to scrutiny. See if He won't change your life!   If you honestly want to know the will of God, you will know Jesus is telling the Truth. When you have an unbelieving heart or a disobedient heart, you won't know anything.  Some people want to know Jesus without really committing to Him.  That's an adulterous spirit - the privileges without the responsibility.

(3) His selflessness. "He that speaks of himself seeks his own glory; but he that seeks his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him."  Phony "saviors" want glory for themselves, or they are looking to get rich.  But Jesus bore our sin in His own body on the Cross.

(4) His impact. Jesus had shock value. He struck out of the blue here in chapter 7.   In confronting their UNBELIEF, he brought threats and hatred on Himself.  The world will tolerate kooks and weidos, but not Jesus. The world hates Him because He isn't a part of it and He doesn't belong there.   His claims demand a response and change in us.

(5) His deeds. Not just the miracles, but His right and ability to forgive sin.  But the religious people wanted to kill Him for healing because He did it on the Sabbath!  They didn't care about people, they wanted to protect the status quo!  They didn't want to change anything.  Jesus said that people get circumcised on the Sabbath; but He hadn't wounded the man with circumcision but instead made him whole!

BASIS FOR JUDGMENT:  Don't decide to follow Jesus based on superficial study.  Consider the evidence.  But don't write Him off too fast either!  If you come honestly and humbly, you will see Who Jesus is.

RESPONSE:   John 6:66 says that a lot of his disciples left Jesus and "walked no more with Him". Jesus' claims demand that we change our minds, change our mission, change our lifestyle, change our perspective, change our paradigm. We belong to another universe now. He even tells us how to think!  If we want to belong to Jesus, we must actually partake of His life.  Drink His blood and eat His body.  Next He is going to wreck their Great Feast!

PSALM 108:1-13                                                                                                             
BATTLE SONG: David won't defend himself, but waits for God. He praised God for His Mercy and Truth, His deliverance, His protection, for His faithfulness, for His plans and purposes concerning David.

HOW DOES ONE GET HIS HEART FIXED (established, certain, firmly rooted)?  By keeping our focus on God.  It is not an external thing gained by living right or keeping the rules.  It is the relationship of being able to hide behind "Daddy".  David FORCED his heart into a "fixed" position by speaking to his own heart about the faithfulness of God.   About the goodness and greatness of God.  He gives God all the credit, and all the glory for battles won.

PROVERBS 15:4                                                                                                            
Gentleness of speech is a tree of life, whose fruits preserve life, heal the sick, and raise up the bowed down. "A deceitful tongue" (perverse, false, or vicious tongue) will wound the spirit. It breaks the heart.

RESPONSE:   The way we talk to people is no joke.   It is very serious.  We can destroy lives with what we say or how we say it.  Sarcasm is a "deceitful tongue" because we actually TELL people we were lying when we said something. We make our insult, then say we are "kidding" - isn't that a lie?   That is like telling someone that they shouldn't be insulted when we insult them!   We overcome evil with good. (Rom 12:21)  So, let's make a habit of always saying something good and kind and empowering to people.