I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
And here we have the outcome that Jotham, Gideon’s son, predicted for Shechem and Abimelech. After three years, the people of Shechem have had enough of Abimelech as ruler and rebel against him. Abimelech responds to this threat to his power in the same way he dealt with his half-brothers, he gathers his army and attacks the city of Shechem. After a two day battle, Abimelech defeats the people of Shechem, kills them all and razes the city. But Shechem was not the only city to rise in revolt. When Abimelech attacks the next city, one of the defenders dropped a millstone on his head. And so the people of Shechem pay for supporting Abimelech in his treachery against his half-brothers and Abimelech pays for his treachery. After Abimelech’s death, there were two more judges over Israel, who apparently led the Israelites to follow the Lord’s commands for 45 years between them.
After the death of the second of these judges, the story tells us that the people of Israel abandoned worshiping the Lord completely in favor of the practices of those around them. As a result of this God turns them over to oppression by their neighbors. We do not normally think of this, but the oppression that the Israelites suffered was no worse than that of the peoples surrounding them. The rulers of those surrounding nations oppressed their own people as much as they oppressed the Israelites. Oppression is a natural result of the worship practices that the Israelites adopted from their neighbors. When people practice the sexual licentiousness and child sacrifice of those religions, they gradually become slaves of the ruling class. It was only when the people of Israel turned away from those practices that they were able to overthrow oppressive rulers.
Again we have a story that one would not expect those making it up to tell. Two of the disciples are returning home to Emmaus after being in Jerusalem. When a man they do not recognize comes up to them on the road and asks what they are talking about. They tell him that they had hoped that Jesus was the Messiah, but that the religious leaders had had Him crucified. They continue by saying that some women said that Jesus body was gone and that He is alive. Finally they say that some of the men went to the tomb and confirmed that the body was missing. If they were making this up, the story would say how they were sure He had risen and that this confirmed that He was the Messiah. But that isn’t how the story goes. The story says that Jesus called them foolish and proceeded to show them from the Old Testament that this was what was prophesied about the Messiah. As it was, they did not even recognize Him as Jesus until he broke bread with them. I do not fault them for their reaction, because it is the way humans really are. I know there have been many times when I have been oblivious to what God was trying to tell me. Once they realized what had happened, they were so excited that they immediately returned to Jerusalem to tell the others, even though it had been so late in the day that they had insisted that Jesus not continue on to a destination further down the road.
When they get back to Jerusalem they discover that Jesus had also appeared to Peter. Even with the experiences and testimony of Peter and these two, when Jesus does appear, they are all convinced He is some kind of vision or apparition until He takes some fish and eats it. It is only now that they finally start to understand what He has been teaching them all of these years He has been with them. I get this, I really do. I cannot begin to number the times in my life where, when I look back at things that happened, I realize that there were things going on that I completely missed at the time. There have been so many missed opportunities because I have not been paying attention to God. I really want to pay closer attention going forward so that I do not miss future opportunities to serve the Lord.
Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing with joy.
Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us, and we are his.[a]
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
and his faithfulness continues to each generation.
This morning this psalm just fills me with joy. I am glad today is a Sunday morning and that I will be going to worship services shortly.
The house of the wicked will be destroyed,
but the tent of the godly will flourish.
There is a path before each person that seems right,
but it ends in death.
Notice how it is the “house” of the wicked. A house is such a permanent structure that we think it will remain for a long time, yet this proverb tells us that that of the wicked will be destroyed. But, also, notice that it is the “tent” of the godly that will flourish. The godly recognize that everything in this life is temporary and fleeting, but the result of this is that God blesses what they establish and keeps it going beyond the limited ability of mortals to do so.
And don’t we wish that there was a big sign like the clip-art I posted before some of the choices we make? Unfortunately, there isn’t, so we must spend much time in prayer and seeking council of those around us before we make a decision, because so often the decision that seems right leads to destruction.