[NOTE: For those who are continuing the 1-year Bible reading plan we started on April 1, 2018, just go to the end of this entry and you will find the Day 340 – Galatians 4-6; Matthew 27 summary!]
Today we turn to the Book of Judges. This marked a major turning point in the history of Israel. Chapters 1-2 sound a great deal like the Book of Joshua. The people of Israel continued to take the Promised Land by force, defeating the indigenous people, but we see trouble brewing. In most of the battles the Israelites left some of the people. They were unable to drive them out totally. This became more and more prevalent as we move from chapter 1 to chapter 2. Chapter 2 records the death of Joshua once again and tells us Israel remained faithful to God for as long as the people who knew Joshua remained alive. The statement seems to have a sense of foreboding, and indeed it does.
When that generation died, chapter 3 tells us a new generation arose who didn’t remember Joshua, or the works of the Lord. They quickly rebelled against God and started following after the Baals and Ashteroths and the other gods of the indigenous people. They did precisely what God commanded them not to do. He had warned them the consequence of such disobedience would be He would turn them over to the peoples of the land. That is precisely what the LORD did. As we read chapter 3, we read the first several of many “cycles” of events that went like this: 1) the people abandoned the LORD and went “whoring” after other gods. (This label that equates the people’s sinning with other gods with sexual immorality is found throughout the Old Testament. God considered the people of Israel His “bride,” just as Jesus considers the Church His “bride.” That makes the language of sexual immorality apropos for the situation.) 2) God turns the people over to slavery to the very people they had defeated during the days of Joshua. 3) After years or decades, the people of Israel cried out to God for deliverance. 4) The LORD provides a deliverer a “judge” to redeem them–that is to set them free. 5) During the life of the “judge” and for years or decades thereafter the people had peace and followed the Lord. 6) The people abandoned the LORD… which started a new cycle.
The reason I put the word “judge” in quotation marks is these leaders were not judges as we think of judges. They were charismatic leaders, gifted by the LORD to lead the people of Israel to overcome their enemies. Some are mentioned by name such as Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar in chapter 3. Others are not named. As we read through the Book of Judges, we will see this cycle repeat over and over. We might ask ourselves, “Why didn’t they ever get it? Why did they keep turning away from God? Why didn’t they remain faithful to Him? But then, if we’re honest, we need to ask ourselves the very same questions. Why don’t we ever get it? Why do we keep turning away from God? Fallen human nature is sinful. Even after we’re redeemed by the blood of Jesus, we still struggle with the flesh, so it’s no wonder the Israelites who lived so long before the coming of Jesus struggled, and failed so often.
As we return to John 12, let’s focus on one particular verse, because it sums up the entire chapter. It is John 12:24: Jesus said, 24Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. John 12:24 (ESV) Jesus’ words applied to Him and they apply to us. Jesus’ death which was coming in less than a week from the moment He made this statement, would bring “much fruit.” Millions of people have been saved from sin and death, through Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross. Millions more will be, if Jesus tarries in His return.
But what does it have to do with us? For us to bear fruit, we must “die” to ourselves. We must put our sinful nature to death daily and live in the newness and power of the Holy Spirit. If we fail to do that, we will continue to be nonproductive. I have heard many people say Jesus doesn’t call us to be fruitful. He calls us to be faithful. The truth is Jesus calls us to be faithful and in so doing we will be fruitful! When we faithfully die to ourselves, pick up our crosses daily and follow Jesus, the result will be fruit. The fruit will come in the form of our own spiritual maturity, and in others trusting Jesus as Savior and Lord through our witness. This is a hard teaching. No one wants to “die,” literally or figuratively. But it’s the only way to be reborn, and to produce abundant fruit for Jesus and His Kingdom!
Day 340 – Galatians 4-6; Matthew 27
In Galatians 4, Paul reminds the Galatian believers again of how important it is for them to live into their freedom rather than subjecting themselves again to the Law. He uses a couple of illustrations, the first about an “heir” being the same as a slave until reaching the age of maturity, and then of the difference between Sarah and Hagar. Again, Paul uses mainly Jewish images, even though the Galatian believers came primarily from a Gentile background. He wanted them to understand how important it was for them not to align themselves with the Judaizers, because to do so would be to give up the freedom they received through being born anew in Jesus.
Galatians 5 offers us an important qualification to what Paul has been writing. While he wanted the Galatians to live in freedom, he reminded them not to let that freedom become an opportunity for the flesh or the sinful nature. In other words, we are set free from the Law by the blood of Jesus, and our new life in the Holy Spirit is a life of freedom, butthat freedom is not to do whatever we want to do. It is a freedom to live in alignment with the Holy Spirit’s leading. Paul went on to tell the Galatians, and through them, us of the struggle we face as Jesus followers. The struggle is a war between the Holy Spirit and the flesh or sinful nature. That battle continues throughout our lives and means we aren’t free to do what we want. Paul concludes by saying when we are led by the Spirit, we are not under the Law, that is we don’t need the Law to guide us, because the Holy Spirit leads us to do what Jesus wants. Paul concludes the chapter by listing the deeds or “fruit” of the flesh, which includes a long list of sinful behaviors. He tells us when we live this way, we will not inherit the Kingdom of God. He then says the better way is to live according to the “fruit” of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. As Jesus followers, we have “nailed” the sinful nature to the cross and are not free to live in the Spirit’s power.
Galatians 6 offers Paul’s closing reminders of what it means to live in fellowship with one another as Jesus’ followers who are led by the Holy Spirit: we are to help each other out of sin; we are to sow goodness and blessing, because we will reap what we sow; and we are to persevere in doing good, because we will reap a harvest if we don’t “faint.” Paul offers one more closing volley against the Judaizers, reminding the Galatians that circumcision of the flesh means nothing, and to remain faithful to doing God’s will. Paul reminds the Galatians that he bears in his flesh the marks of Christ, that is the scars from the beatings he received as a result of proclaiming Jesus. This is one final reminder of Paul’s credibility and evidence they ought to trust him rather than the Judaizers.
As we return to Matthew 27, we read again of Jesus’ trial before Pilate, of Judas hanging himself, of Pilate finding Jesus not guilty, but listening to the crowd and turning Jesus over to be crucified. We read of Jesus going to Golgatha, and being crucified. People mock Him, Jesus cries out at being abandoned by His Father, and dies. Jesus is buried in Joseph’s tomb, and the religious leaders ask Pilate to post a guard so no one could steal Jesus’ body. If that were the end of the Gospel of Matthew, we would have the tragic story of a Jewish martyr, a good man, but nothing more. Thankfully, we will read Matthew 28 tomorrow!