All posts by AttilaDimedici

Daily Bible Study

March 23, 2024 Bible Study — Let Us Stop Waiting for a Leader to Turn People Back to God and Start Serving Him Ourselves

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Judges 9-10.

I was going to write about Abimelek and Shechem but then I was struck by what happened before the people of Gilead decided to follow whoever was willing to lead them against the Ammonites.  We tend to perceive the Book of Judges as teaching that when the people cry out to God because of the suffering which their sin has brought upon them that God raises up a leader, a judge, to lead them back to Him.  However, the passage today makes clear that the people turned back to God before a leader rose up to lead them against their oppressors.  Which is consistent with what God told the Israelites through Moses and other prophets.  And is consistent with what He tells us today.  Personally I think the pattern laid out here perfectly expresses how we should turn back to God.

  • Confession: We (I) have sinned
  • Do with us (me) whatever You think best
  • Get rid of the idols we(I) have set up for myself
  • Serve the Lord
  • God sends someone to lead us in serving Him

When we look at the world around us and see the corruption which abounds, let us not wait for God to send a leader to lead the people back to Him.  Let us confess our sins, throw ourselves on His mercy (which means admitting that we deserve the suffering we see coming on those around us), get rid of any and all things which lead us to sin, start serving God in whatever ways we can find.  Then perhaps God will send a leader to lead our society back to Him.  And, if not, well, we have turned to Him and serve Him.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

March 22, 2024 Bible Study — The Glory for Our Accomplishments Belongs to God

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Judges 7-8.

When Israel’s enemies mustered their army to raid Israel once more, Gideon summoned the warriors of Manasseh, Asher, Zebulon, and Naphtali.  However, the army which answered Gideon’s summons was too large for God’s purpose.  So, God instructed Gideon to reduce his army, from 32,00 to 300.  Here is the important lesson we can take from the story of Gideon’s victory over the Midianites.  When God sends us on a mission, we can’t accomplish it on our own.  In fact, God wants us to go into it knowing that we will only succeed because of Him.  If we go into it thinking that we can pull it off with the resources we have gathered, we aren’t doing it right.  When we go into something to which God has called us, we have to know that we will only succeed because God ordained our victory.

There is a second lesson in this passage as well.  After his initial defeat of the oppressing army, Gideon summoned the warriors he had originally dismissed, plus the warriors of the tribe of Ephraim.  He asked the tribe of Ephraim to hold the crossing points of the Jordan so that the bulk of the enemy army could not escape.  They were successful, but resented that Gideon had not summoned them when he first gathered troops for battle.  However, Gideon did not give them attitude back.  Instead he praised their accomplishments.  He could have claimed credit for what they did, since, after all, what they accomplished was only possible because of what he had done first.  However, Gideon recognized that the glory was neither his, nor theirs, but rather the glory belonged to God.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

March 21, 2024 Bible Study — Not All of Us Are Called to Be Gideon, Some of Us Are Called to Inspire Him to Act

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Judges 4-6.

I was going to write about Deborah and Barak, but then I noticed something about the story of Gideon that we do not often pay any attention.  After the story of Deborah, Jael, and Barak, the writer tells us that the people of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and that they were oppressed by the Midianites for seven years.  As a result they called out to the Lord for help.  Then the writer goes into the account of Gideon, as he did for previous judges.  But before going into the account of Gideon the writer tells us that God sent a prophet who reminded the people about what God had done for their ancestors and about how they had failed to be faithful.

Now, why is that important?  Because, I believe, Gideon had heard that prophet and listening to him had led him to ask the questions he first asked when the angel came to him.  I imagine Gideon having the following conversation with a friend who also loved the Lord, or possibly even that prophet:
Gideon: “If the Lord is with us, why did this happen to us?  Where are the wonders that our ancestors told us about?”
Friend: “Because our people worship Baal, and other gods of our heathen neighbors.”
Gideon: “Well, I don’t and you don’t.  Why does God let us suffer?”
Friend: “Well what have you done about the idolatry?  Your own father has an altar to Baal!”
Gideon” “But my father thinks I’m just a boy, he won’t listen to me!”

I imagine that conversation going on regularly, interspersed with Gideon crying out to God, until God sent His messenger.  So, maybe we aren’t called to be Gideon, maybe we are called to be that prophet (or Gideon’s friend, who egged him on).

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

March 20, 2024 Bible Study — The Cycle of History

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Judges 1-3.

Today’s passage helps explain why the account of Caleb’s daughter marrying his nephew, Othniel, was so important that it was recounted twice in the Book of Joshua, and then again here.  Othniel was the first of the judges to follow the death of Joshua.  I always struggle deciding how to write about this passage here at  the beginning of the Book of Judges.  The writer clearly combines his editorial content with the history he is recording so that it is difficult to separate what he includes because it tells us what happened when and what he includes here because it helps us understand why these things happened.  For example, the passage tells us that the Israelites served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and the elders who outlived him, but that once that generation had died they turned from Him.  Yet, the first of the Judges whom God raised up when they were oppressed was Othniel, the son-in-law of Caleb.  I think we can conclude from this that Othniel did not become a leader of Israel until after the death of his father-in-law and of his father.  However, what the writer does establish here is a pattern we can see in more recent history.

  1. People experience suffering because they fail to follow the laws which God has laid down.
  2. They cry out to God for deliverance,.
  3. God sends a leader to deliver them and turn their hearts back to Him.
  4. That generation dies and the next generation, or the one following that, repeats step 1

 

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

March 19, 2024 Bible Study

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Joshua 23-24.

When we read the account of Joshua’s farewell speech to the Israelites, we typically focus on the choice which Joshua gives them, and his decision on that same choice.  Those are good things for us to take to heart, because we have the same choice to make, but we often misstate what the choice is, or how we arrive at which options we have.  Actually, Joshua gives two speeches here.  It is not clear to me whether or not they were to different audiences, or, if perhaps, they were recorded by different people who were present and later compiled into the single account which is the Book of Joshua.

In any case, in both Joshua recounts the great things which God has done for the Israelites, things which he had witnessed (and which many of them had witnessed many of as well).  Then he tells them that they should faithfully obey the commands which God had given them.  If you are reading this, God has done great things to bring you to this point in your life, and He has probably done at least some of them in ways which you knew were Him blessing you as He did them, so, Joshua’s suggestion applies to you (and me) as well.  We should fear God, serve Him with all faithfulness, and destroy all other gods which we might be tempted to serve in His place.  However, if we think serving God is not desirable, we need to decide which set of gods we will serve instead.  Do we believe that if we serve the government, it will deliver a better life for us than what God will give us if we serve Him?  Will we be better off, if we just pick the right man, or woman, to be our ruler (or group of them to be our rulers)?  Or, maybe we will be better off if we spend our life in the pursuit of physical pleasures?  However, I agree with Joshua, as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

March 18, 2024 Bible Study — The Importance of Building Memorials

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Joshua 21-22.

When Joshua had finished dividing up the land among the tribes he summoned the warriors from the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half of Manasseh which had settled east of the Jordan.  He praised them for aiding the other tribes in conquering the land and dismissed them to return to their homes east of the Jordan.  Their work was completed, but Joshua reminded them that they should continue to love and obey God with all that they were.  These men took Joshua’s instructions to heart, and before they crossed back over the Jordan to their homes they built a memorial altar.  The purpose of the altar was to remind the descendants of those settling west of the Jordan that those living on the eastern side were their brothers and worshiped the same God.  Overall some important lessons there for us.  Even when we have finished the mission to which God called us we need to continue to love and obey Him.  And, it is important to build memorials to remind those who come after us that they are not the only ones who love and obey God.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

March 17, 2024 Bible Study — Perhaps the Last Seven Tribes Weren’t Sure That They Wanted to Settle

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Joshua 18-20.

This passage sheds some interesting light on the process whereby the Israelites invaded and took control of Canaan.  It seems to suggest that Judah, Ephraim, and Manasseh took control of lands west of the Jordan River during the wars led by Joshua, while Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh had control of lands east of the Jordan.  However, it appears that the remaining seven tribes, not counting the Levites (who were not getting a separate territory, had not done so.  In fact, it reads that where those seven tribes would settle had not been determined.  Actually, it reads as if these tribes had given no thought to what land they would settle, as if they were perfectly happy moving around as an army at war, sacking and razing enemy towns.  If I am right, when Joshua asked them at the beginning of the passage how long they would wait to claim their portion, he was calling them to account for their failure to choose a place to settle.

For the last few days I have found myself trying to read between the lines to understand what the people in these events were doing, and perhaps also what they were thinking.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

March 16, 2024 Bible Study — The Territories Assigned to the Tribe of Judah and the Tribe of Joseph

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Joshua 15-17.

Todays passage discusses the territory given to the tribe of Judah and to the tribe of Joseph (as given to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh).  Contained within the description of the territory given to Judah is a partial account of Caleb receiving his portion.  It contains the story of Caleb promising his daughter in marriage to the man who takes a particular town and then his daughter asking Caleb for springs to go with the other land he gave to her and her husband.  I am not sure why the account about Caleb’s daughter is here rather than earlier in chapter 14 where the book first discusses Caleb claiming his portion.

Once the passage concludes describing the territory which was claimed by the tribe of Judah, it goes on to discuss the territory given to the tribe of Joseph to claim.  I am not quite sure what is going on here, this is one of the few places where the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh are lumped together as the tribe of Joseph.  I think if I were to read this without any context from other parts of the Old Testament I would conclude that Joshua initially planned to give territory to Ephraim and Manasseh as if they were a single tribe.  A plan which was disrupted by the numbers of these two tribes and the difficulty which they had displacing the Canaanites living in the territory they were assigned.  And yet, part of this also reads as if they were already given two separate portions.  Perhaps, the way to read it would be that the portion of the tribe of Manasseh which did not settle east of the Jordan was being settled with the tribe of Ephraim , calling the combined group the “tribe of Joseph”.    In any case, both here, and earlier in the description of the territory assigned to Judah, we see indications of the problems which would later face the Israelites due to their failure to expel all of the peoples living in the land which they settled.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

March 15, 2024 Bible Study — Caleb Conquers His Portion

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Joshua 12-14.

The first thing I noticed was that the Midianite kings whom Moses had killed because of their involvement with what happened at Baal-Peor were allied with Sihon.  Which clarifies some of the questions from what happened in that account in Numbers 31, and explains why Sihon attacked the Israelites when they requested to pass through his lands.  Overall, the passage describes the land which the Israelites were claiming as theirs, even though they did not yet control all of it.  Then the writer begins describing how the land was allocated to the various tribes, starting with the land east of the Jordan River.  After describing the basic division of the land, and that the Levites did not get a division, just some towns and cities within the land given to the other tribes.  Finally for today, it describes how Caleb obtained his portion.  I believe that description serves several purposes.  First it shows that Caleb, unlike everyone else of his generation except Joshua, did indeed get a portion of the land promised to the Israelites.  Second, it shows how the ability of the individuals to take their portion played a role in the land which they received.  Finally, it shows that Caleb was still a strong and powerful warrior at the same time his contemporary Joshua was entering into retirement.  We learn from that last piece that God chooses for some us to continue working as others enter into retirement.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

March 14, 2024 Bible Study — Joshua Defeats the Kings of the Land

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Joshua 10-11.

I never quite know what to make of the battles described in today’s passage.  First pass casual reading leaves one with the impression that the battle against the five southern kings took place in a single, extended, day and all five cities were razed on that day.  Similarly, the battle and razing of the northern cities seems like a single day battle.  However, if you read a little more carefully you see that only the battle against the five southern kings is described as being in a single day, and that is only the battle to relieve Gibeon.  Once Joshua and the Israelites had defeated the armies which attacked Gideon, they moved on to raze the cities from which those armies had come.  The passage does not really give us any clues as to how long that took, except that it was fast enough that the northern kings did not have time to muster before Israel had completed razing the cities and returning to Gilgal on the plains of Jericho.  A quick casual read also leaves one with the impression that when the Israelites had finished defeating these two armies (or groups of armies) that they had completely conquered the land.  Yet later in the Book of Joshua it describes further battles of conquest to gain control of the land, and even in the Book of Judges there are areas which the Israelites do not yet control until the time of David.  However, if you take your time and read more carefully, you realize that the conquest of the southern kings was only over the Amorites living in that area.  And you have a similar limited conquest over the northern region.  So, while at the end of these two wars the Israelites have eliminated everyone who could be an organized threat to them in the area, large amounts of land are still controlled by non-Israelites in the land.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.