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Thoughts on the readings for June 6th (Judges 1; Isaiah 30;Hebrews 13)
Episode 916
The remarks in Joshua 16:10 and 17:8 tell us of Israel’s failure to follow Yahweh’s command to destroy the Canaanites. Judges begins with mighty conquests accomplished by faith. The total time in which the Judges ruled in the land was 450 years (Acts 13:20) – these Judges were not consecutive, but overlapped during their rule. They often ruled in different parts of the Promised Land. If we total the years for every judge we get 450 years – thus show Paul’s comments to be inspired. It was rightly Judah, the lion of God, which led the campaign. The first battle was at Bezek, near Jerusalem where the king of Jerusalem (Adoni-Bezek) ruled. This city had deteriorated since the great King-Priest, Melchizedek ruled as God’s representative into a parody by a miscreant who called himself “the Lord of righteousness”. He had subjugated 70 kings who represented in his mind all nations. Next we have the faithful exploits in destroying 2 of the giants of that land and the taking of the fortress city of Hebron. This is followed by Caleb’s younger brother Othniel and his family overthrowing the strongholds of the Negev. But the reversals start to occur from v20 onwards with a waning faith and a ‘failure through compromise’ one of the three great themes of this book. The other two being ‘God’s strength is made perfect in (human) weakness’ – 2 Corinthians 4:7-11; Hebrews 11:32-34 – and ‘in those days there was no king in Israel and everyone did that which was right in their own eyes’ (Judges 17:6; 21:25).
Isaiah 30-31 are woes about those who placed their confidence in Egypt to aid them against their foes. Judah should have placed her confidence in the Living God who alone could deliver them from the calamity that they were now facing. Verses 1-5 of chapter 30 state this. These verses also state that Egypt was a weak and confused kingdom. Verses 6-7 describe Egypt as a land which deified animals and to rely on Egypt for help would prove useless – for when it came to supporting Judah they would prove themselves to be best at sitting still. The rebellion of Judah would be written in a book as a witness against the nation. Verses 10-11 tell us that Judah only wanted to hear lies from the false prophets; rather than heed the word of the Almighty. Verses 12-14 tell us that the consequence of turning aside from their Sovereign would be that the nation was to be smashed to smithereens like a clay pot. Verse 15 is a plea for Judah to forsake their failing to believe their God. Verses 16-17 tells us that they will be left no path to escape, but the curse of Deuteronomy will be seen in their judgment. Verses 18-26 explains that because Yahweh is gracious He will pour many blessings upon His humble and repentant people. The nation will finally, in that Age, accept their Messiah and he will teach them the ways of righteousness. Verses 27-28 speaks in graphic images of the LORD’s fiery judgements. Verses 29-33 speak of the Almighty’s destructive fire on the Assyrian oppressor. Let us in humility faithfully serve our God that we may receive His grace and not His refusal to accept us as His children.
Hebrews 13 begins, “Let brotherly love (Greek “philadelphus” the love among brothers) continue”. And this is the message of the first nineteen verses. There are many ways to show brotherly love and in verse 2 the writer shows that hospitality is one of the ways. Everyone is a stranger until you get to know them; and who knows whether the unknown person to whom you show kindness might even be an angel. In Genesis 18:3 strangers came to Abraham’s tent bringing great blessings. Verse 3 focuses on supporting the afflicted and counsels believers to encourage the afflicted through visiting and exhorting. This helping of strangers has often been done by Christadelphians resulting in people becoming believers. Even if that was not the outcome of your actions you will still be blessed in your care being shown to another. Verse 4 tells of the honourable an
Published on 2 months, 3 weeks ago