[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 341 – Ephesians 1-3; Matthew 28 summary!]
Judges 4-5 record the cycle of judgment and release of the Israelites with the Canaanites. The Canaanites subjected Israel to slavery for twenty years. Then two leaders arose who God used to break the cycle of slavery: Deborah and Barak. Deborah challenged Barak to take the lead, because God would be with him, but Barak was unwilling to go into battle unless, Deborah went along. Thus, Deborah received the most glory in the battle, or I should say the second most. The LORD received the greatest glory as we read in Judges 4:15: 15And the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak by the edge of the sword. And Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot. Judges 4:15 (ESV) The mercy of God toward the Israelites is incredible. Time after time they abandoned Him, yet He continued to fight for them. In this battle, God used Deborah, and another woman, named Jael, to overcome the enemy. Chapter 5 contains “The Song of Deborah,” which recounts the victory.
We would think this great demonstration of God’s power and mercy would have caused the Israelites to follow Him out of gratitude for their freedom from slavery. Not so. Chapter 6 begins with the familiar statement, “The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD gave them into the hands of…. This time it was Midian who subjected the Israelites to their rule, but once again it was not the power of Midian that caused this to happen. It was the judgment of God. When the Israelites cried out to God for deliverance, God sent a prophet to remind them how God had delivered them from slavery in Egypt and established them in the Promised Land. He also reminded them of the LORD’s command for them to obey Him, and no other gods. They had disobeyed.
But once again, God’s heart softened toward the Israelites and the Angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon. He told Gideon the Lord was with him. Gideon responded, “Please, sir, if theLORDis with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now theLORDhas forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” Judges 6:13 (ESV) How often our perspective leaves out our part in our circumstances. We can see why it didn’t seem to Gideon that the LORD was with them, but Gideon wasn’t seeing the Israelites role in their situation. Their sin was the direct cause of their situation. Even so, God had come to call Gideon to overthrow the Midianites.
Gideon’s call involved two important acts: First, Gideon tore down the altar of Baal. The people of the town wanted to kill Gideon for doing that, which shows how entrenched they were in forsaking God. Gideon’s father reasoned with the people, so they spared him. Second, Gideon asked the Lord for two, separate signs it was really He who was calling him. You have probably heard the expression, “putting out a fleece.” It comes from Gideon’s request that the LORD confirm His intention to use Gideon, by making the ground dry and a fleece wet, or a fleece dry and the ground wet to show it was God. God gave both signs to Gideon and as we’ll see tomorrow, Gideon took leadership as Israel’s next judge.
As we return to John 13, the time is nearing for Jesus’ death. As we know, Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, the ultimate act of servanthood–next to dying on the cross for them and all of us! He gave them the command to love one another. He told them one of them would betray Him. The detail in that experience that always troubles me is not a single disciple was certain it wouldn’t be he who denied Jesus. Peter asked John to have Jesus tell him which one it would be. Also, John tells us when Jesus identified Judas Iscariot, by giving him a piece of bread to eat that “Satan entered Judas.” What a chilling statement. Satan can only be one place at one time. We read often in the gospels of demons entering people and possessing them, but this was not a mere demon entering Judas–Satan himself entered Judas to ensure the betrayal of Jesus would take place. As we consider our lives as Jesus’ followers, how important it is not to become so sure of ourselves, or too sure that we will never deny or forsake Jesus. Only in the power of the Holy Spirit do we have the power to remain faithful in every situation. Let’s call on the Holy Spirit to fill and empower us right now, that we will remain faithful whatever today’s circumstances bring us.
Day 341 – Ephesians 1-3; Matthew 28
Today we turn to the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus. Biblical scholars believe he wrote it around 60 AD, while in prison in Rome. The first three chapters focus on what we believe as those who have been redeemed by Jesus. The final three chapters focus on how we live out those beliefs individually, as a church family and in our biological families. The letter comes to a close with the power message of our need to put on the “whole armor of God” in the spiritual war we face against the devil.
In Ephesians 1, Paul greets the believers in Ephesus, reminds them of God’s providential hand in choosing him and them for salvation, and gives thanks and praise to God for them. This salutation is much different from the one we read to the Galatian Church. Here Paul offers a much more affirming and even affectionate tone, because the believers in Ephesus have been faithful from the time they heard the good news of Jesus to the current time. While the letter does contain points of correction, it is far more positive in its tone than the letter to the Galatians.
In Ephesians 2, Paul reminded the Ephesians they were once under the control of the devil, as was everyone at one point. Now, though, by God’s great grace they (and we) get to sit with Christ in the heavenlies. The great Bible teacher and pastor of the last century, Watchman Nee, summed up the letter to the Ephesians in a book he wrote about it by titling itSit, Walk, Stand. As we see here, we are to sit with Jesus in our position as His children. In chapters 4-5, we will read what it means to “walk” in Jesus’ ways. Then in chapter 6, we will read what it means to “stand” firmly against our enemy, the devil. Paul reminded the Ephesians in the powerful words of Ephesians 2:8-10, that we are all saved by grace and not works, so none of us get to boast. As we read the remainder of chapter 2, Paul reminds the Ephesians it doesn’t matter what they once were (pagan Gentiles), because now God has brought the two (Jews and Gentiles) together as one.
In Ephesians 3, Paul tells of how God called him to bring the good news to the Gentiles. He admits he wasn’t worthy of the task, but God gave it to him, and he carried it out faithfully. Midway through the chapter, Paul breaks into a prayer for the Ephesians and to recognize the glory of God. He concludes the prayer with the often quoted statement,“20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)
As we return to Matthew 28, we return to the best news ever: The tomb couldn’t hold Jesus! While the women came to the tomb to “finish” the task of embalming Jesus early on that first Easter morning, Jesus had already risen. The tomb was empty and the soldiers left to “guard” the tomb were frozen like stone out of fear of the angel who came to open the tomb. Jesus met the women and sent them to tell the disciples He was alive and would meet them on the mountain in Galilee where He told them to go. Meanwhile, the soldiers woke up, realized what was happened, and went to the Jewish authorities to tell them. (They went to the Jewish authorities, because had they gone to their own superiors and told they fell asleep at their posts, they would have been executed immediately.) The leaders came up with the ludicrous story that Jesus’ disciples had come in the night and stolen His body, while the guards slept. The story is ludicrous for two reasons: 1) if they were sleeping, how would they know what happened? And 2) If they had fallen asleep, their lives would have been forfeit, which is why Roman soldiers didn’t fall asleep on the job! In any case, the story continued to circulate, because as is often the case, people will believe what they want to believe, regardless of evidence at times.
This amazing account concludes with Jesus meeting the disciples. They worshiped Him, but some doubted. We don’t know why they doubted other than people don’t die and then come back to life three days later. In any case, Jesus gave them their marching orders before He returned to heaven. He told them He held all authority in heaven and on earth, and He was giving it to them, so they could make disciples of all the nations, while they went from that place to the ends of the earth. He commanded them to baptize these disciples in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and to teach them to do everything Jesus had commanded. He also told them He would be with them to the end of the age. What a powerful final message. It must have been so difficult to “lose” Jesus through death, then to have Him return only to “lose” Him again as He returned to heaven. Thankfully, upon His return to heaven, Jesus came to His followers again through sending the Holy Spirit to live in them (an us) and to empower us to carry out His commands to the ends of the earth!