Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Day 106 of Reading the Bible Cover to Cover in 365 days commentary, insights and thoughts. If you would like to follow along with the book offered exclusively on Amazon, please refer to https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Bible-Cover-365Days/dp/B0B6XSNMY6/ref=mp_s_a_1_90
This is a podcast sharing thoughts and insights for the accompanying the daily reading schedule for the book, Reading the Bible Cover to Cover in 365 Days.
Welcome to Day 106 of Reading the Bible Cover to Cover in 365 Days!
Let us pray:
O Lord, thank You for the wisdom You impart into our hearts. Help us hear Your gentle whispers of wisdom today. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Let’s see what’s happening in Matthew chapter 17!
Jesus takes His best three men up the mountain for an experience – an amazing experience – one that would change them forever. Jesus was transfigured. His face became as bright as the sun and his clothing as white as light. Imagine that! If that weren’t enough, Moses and Elijah appeared. We have read so much of Moses in the last few months. These men knew of Moses too. Everyone did. He was the pinnacle of their faith because he had been given the Law. And here he was on the mountain with their Teacher. Elijah was also present. The prophet of old. Peter knew this was BIG stuff. He started talking about making three booths – one for each of them. And then God spoke out of the cloud. If it couldn’t get any more miraculous, the voice of God spoke. He told them He loved His Son and instructed them to listen to Him. The disciples became extremely fearful. I imagine we would have to. This moment on the mountain was life-changing for them, and yet Jesus told them not to tell anyone about it at the time. They would need this experience for later when it was their turn to teach and preach. I love that the Lord equips us for His service. This was part of their equipping even though they didn’t really know it at the time. Let us know and believe the Lord is equipping us too. We may not recognize it at the time, but He uses every experience we have to equip us for His use. There is nothing wasted in His economy.
Then Jesus mentions that the spirit of Elijah had already come, as was predicted, in the person of John the Baptist. I’ve mentioned this before, and here we see it again. Remember, I am not a theologian, just a reader of the Word. Do your own research here. I merely point it out to you.
Then Jesus helps a boy with epilepsy. His disciples were unable to cast out the demon, but Jesus was able. Then Jesus told the disciples that this kind of demon does not go out except by prayer and fasting. This is a great lesson for us. When we are unable to deal with difficulties that plague us, there is something more we can do. We can pray and fast. Let us keep our hearts soft toward this nugget of wisdom.
I love the last 2 verses of our chapter where Jesus tells Peter to go fishing and the first fish that he catches will have a shekel in its mouth. He was to take it and give it to pay the temple tax for them both. Jesus shows us to pay what is due. He also shows us He will provide.
Let’s see what Paul is writing Timothy in I Timothy chapter 5!
Paul advises Timothy on how to treat people – his elders, women, both young and old, and widows. Paul gives him many instructions about widows. He tells him to make sure she has no relatives for relatives must take care of one another instead of burdening the church. In verse 8 he says, “If anyone fails to provide for his relatives, and especially for those of his own family, he has disowned the faith [by failing to accompany it with fruits] and is worse than an unbeliever [who performs his obligation in these matters].” Paul is very stern here about how we are to help our families. Some of this likely comes from the history of the Israelites. As we have read, the Lord required the same of them, and so it is passed on here. We likely live by a watered-down version of this, and I am convicted every time. Let us search our hearts and see if we are neglecting anyone in our family.
Both Jesus and Paul address offenders in this chapter. Paul advises Timothy to make sure the offenders are not allowed back into their positions before they are ready and to keep sin far from himself. We need to be careful here too in not letting other people’s sins affect us and our hearts. Another thing to take inventory of today.
We start a new book in the Old Testament - the book of Judges.
The book of Judges spans about 400 years from Joshua’s death to a man named Samuel and his ministry. Many nations tried to invade and overrun the Israelites. We will read about leaders who were divinely called to fight these enemies. We will also read the Israelites tended to go their way which resulted in some of the takeovers.
Let’s see what chapter one tells us.
We read about Judah fighting and taking over many lands. We’ve read parts of this before where Caleb gives his daughter Achsah to Othniel for Othniel’s victory in battle and she asks for springs of water, and it is granted to her and her new husband. We read about all the victories God gives the tribe of Judah until they came to a valley and those inhabiting the valley had chariots of iron.
We read again about the Benjamites not driving out the Jebusites from Jerusalem, so they coexisted with one another.
And we read about many other tribes not driving out all the inhabitants of the lands they possessed too. All of this resulted in various tribes intermingling with people from other lands which was prohibited by the Lord.
In chapter 2, an Angel of the Lord came to visit them to remind them He brought them out of Egypt and entered into a covenant with them. As long as they didn’t make a covenant with any other people from other lands, He would keep His covenant with them. But they didn’t keep their end of the bargain. At this time, the Israelites were fighting with the Canaanites, but God took away His help. He wouldn’t fight for them anymore and told them they would suffer because of this. The gods that the Canaanites worshiped would be a snare for them, and that is exactly what happened. When Joshua died, they worshiped Baal and other idols. As the generations passed, the young people didn’t know Almighty God and all He had done for their fathers and their fathers. They drifted further from God, and God was angry. However, He did send them judges. Verse 18 says the Lord was with the judge and the people were delivered out of the hands of those who robbed them. But when the judge died, the people became even more corrupt than they were before the judge ruled. Eventually, the Lord didn’t fight for the Israelites anymore.
Rahab did not give these men over to the authorities. In fact, she hid them and then lied about where they were. She asked that they remember her and her family when they would come and overtake the city. The men agreed to take care of them, and they did. Rahab eventually married into the tribe of Judah.
Psalm 106 starts with praise. And then there is a recap of all that has happened with the Israelites from Exodus through II Kings which we have not yet read. It talks about the rebellion of the people and all that God did for them and then His coming against them. Again, it’s a great recap of all that we’ve read about and foretells a bit that we haven’t. The psalmist ends by asking for deliverance from the Lord and praise from Him.
Let us pray:
O Lord, thank You for Your Word that shows us Your power and might. May we praise You for all You do and all You are! Keep our eyes on You as we traverse this life. Don’t let us turn away from You, Father. In Jesus’ name, amen.