One Year Bible Readings and Commentary for Friday, April 29th
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Click Here to Read Judges 9:22-10:18
Shechem Rebels against Abimelech
Abimelech reigned for three years when there was peace, but it was only a matter of time before the men of Shechem starting scheming against him for killing Gideon's 70 sons. The Shechemites picked Gaal as their new leader, who was a brash talking man who predicted how he would take down Abimelech. Not only was he drunk and cursing Abimelech, but he and his thugs were drinking in a temple of a local god.
Though eventually God would judge Abimelech, he ambushes Gaal and his men and drives them out of Shechem. The people who were living in the tower of Shechem fled and hid in a temple dedicated to Baal-berith. Abimelech and his men took branches and set the temple of fire. Abimelech was planning to do the same to another tower in the town of Thebez, where a lot of other the people had fled. But as he was about to do this a woman on top of the tower dropped a millstone on Abimelech and killed him. Abimelech finally faced the consequences of his murder of Gideon's sons.
We can be certain that God will repay wickedness, either in this life or the life to come. Often God finds a way to do it both in this life and the life to come. - Guzik
How does knowing that God's justice will eventually be exacted on those who do evil help you deal with it? Knowing that Jesus took on God's wrath for our own evil should make us even more grateful that we didn't get the punishment we deserved.
Todo and Jair Become Israel’s Next Judges
We don't hear much about these two, but they judged Israel for twenty three and twenty two years respectively. Since we don't hear anything negative about them, we might conclude that they were decent leaders.
The Ammonites Oppress Israel
But again we see the familiar pattern of the Israelites returning to the pagan gods of the Canaanites. They abandoned God and no longer served Him. So God's anger burned against them, and he allowed the Ammonites and Philistines to attack the towns west of the Jordan river. Then, the Ammonites crossed over to the east side of the Jordan and attacked Benjamin, Judah and Ephraim.
The Israelites cried out to God in their misery. God recounted how he had delivered them from all these enemies when they came into Canaan. He did not immediately rescue them. He chided them to reach out to their so-called gods.
Finally, when the Israelites continued to cry out to God and got rid of their foreign gods, God listened to their cry for mercy. At the end of the chapter, the Ammonites are poised to attack Gilead at Mizpah when the leaders say, "Anyone who leads the attack against the Ammonites will be the leader over us."
Though God is merciful, sometimes he allows us to face the consequences of abandoning Him. He allows us to see what is like when He withdraws his hand of blessing at our choosing. It reminds us of how good we had it when we were walking with the Lord. If you are far from God, what has it done for you? Didn't you have it a lot better when you were living in step with God's will in your life? It is never too late to repent and turn back to him. He will welcome you with open arms.
Click Here to Read Luke 24:13-53
This story, called the "Road to Emmaus", is only recorded in Luke's gospel.
1. As they were walking along the road 7 miles from Jerusalem, Jesus came in their midst. Jesus asked them what they were talking about. The two men were shocked that Jesus had not heard any of the details about what had happened to him. (They did not know it was Jesus who was talking to them).
The two men recounted all of the events of the last three days. They even recounted the women who saw the empty tomb and how some of the men had gone to see the empty tomb.
2. At a certain point Jesus could not take it much longer. Though he did not specifically reveal himself to them, he quickly led them through the scriptures teaching them how the law and prophets pointed to the Messiah, just like these events had been fulfilled among them.
3. At the end of the journey, the men were still wanting to hear more from Jesus, so they invited him into their home. When Jesus took the bread, he blessed it and broke it and gave it to them. Suddenly their eyes were opened and they knew it was him. Then he disappeared.
4. When they got back to Jerusalem the other disciples were gathered and recounting that Peter had seen Jesus and that He really was risen.
Conservative, evangelical commentators refrain from making any association with this scene with the Sacarment of Holy Communion, but I think they are wrong. Why? Some of the same language is spoken as Jesus used at the Last Supper. He took the bread, blessed it, and broke it and gave it to them. Suddenly it says their "eyes were opened". It is clear that Luke is linking Jesus' breaking bread with these men's eyes being opened. In this meal the true nature of Jesus was revealed to them.
Though we don't know exactly how Jesus was made known, as we remember him in Holy Communion, we experience him. He promised he would be with us as we remember him, and he commanded us to remember him in this way. Though the sacrament is not "magical", it is the real presence of Jesus made through through the breaking of the bread and pouring out of the wine always with thanksgiving. The sacraments of baptism and communion are the means of grace, where the gospel is made known to us through bread and wine connected with God's promises in Christ.
Jesus Appears to the Disciples
The two men on the road to Emmaus shared with the disciples their experience of Jesus. And Jesus suddenly appeared in their midst. The men were frightened, as if they were seeing a ghost. Apparently they weren't very convinced from Peter's story. Jesus even showed them his hands and feet as evidence he was not a ghost. They still were not convinced, so he asked for a piece of fish and ate it with them. But still the disciples did not seem to believe, which is kind of hard to believe.
Similar to the men on the Road to Emmaus, Jesus explained to the disciples how the scriptures (in theis case the Old Testament) all pointed to him. It says he "opened their minds to understand scripture". Jesus revealed himself through God's Word.
“In that one hour, in the upper chamber with Christ, Scripture became a new book to the disciples. Never forget how earnestly and constantly our Lord appealed to the testimony of the Word.” (Morrison)
Jesus reminds us how important it is to know the Old Testament. whose purpose is to point us to Jesus. This is why it is so good we are reading the One Year Bible with readings in BOTH the Old and New Testament. Oftentimes Christians neglect reading the Old Testament. We need to remember where Jesus came from and all the other great stories from the Old Testament which show God's mercy and grace. They reveal collectively how salvation came through the Jewish people. God made a covenant with Abraham, Issac and Jacob and God kept all of His promises.
The Ascension
Jesus led the disciples to Bethany, blessed them and lifted up his hands and was taken up to heaven. This happened 40 days after the resurrection. Jesus then predicted that the Holy Spirit would be coming soon!
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