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June 6

Reading 1 - Judges 1

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This whole chapter seems to give us the message that we can only expect God to be with us and drive out our 'enemies' for us if we play our part correctly and have both a faith in him and a desire to obey him when it means that we must do things we don't want to do. Their example (v.27-36) shows us that we must not hold on to the worldly things that we feel we cannot destroy. This is disobedience and brings about our estrangement from God.
Peter Cresswell
v.17 - This does not refer to the actual men Simeon and Judah, as they were long dead, but to their descendants and yet they still see themselves as brothers - having the same father and mother - being both sons of Leah. One wonders how much this tie from the past influenced the tribes in their dealings with each other.
Peter Cresswell
Chapters 1:1-3:7 serves as an introduction to the time of the Judges. This section of the book of Judges draws on historical data about the time and sketches out the broad picture of how things were during the time of the Judges. A pattern of Rebellion - a cry to God - deliverance - faithfulness - decline. Is shown to be a pattern which runs though the book [Judges 2:21 - 19]
Peter Forbes
Of the time period of the Judges we learn [Acts 13:20] "he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet."

The last section of the book of Judges - [Judges 17-21] relates events which must have taken place very early into the time of the Judges.

When the nation sought counsel as to whether they should go against Benjamin [Judges 20:27] "the children of Israel enquired of the LORD, ...". Phinehas was the high priest at that time for [Judges 20:28] "Phinehas, the son of Eleazer, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days".
Peter Forbes

1:19 That they had 'chariots of iron' should not, of itself, have prevented Judah from taking control of the valleys. This indicates that Judah thought that the battle would be won by their own strength.
Peter Forbes
WORKING TOGETHER

The tribes of Judah and Simeon set a great example to the rest of the Israelites. Both the tribes got together to drive out the Canaanites from their land. Judah, Simeon and the LORD were an almost unstoppable force. The first half of Judges 1 is a record of their success as a team. In contrast to this we read of the rest of the tribes who tried to drive out the Canaanites alone. It seems they neither asked the help from any of their brothers from any of the other tribes, nor sought the help of the LORD, and while they met with some success, the list majors in failure.

The lesson from these events is that we do not succeed alone. We can do so much more and be so much more successful if we do things together. And more than that, when we invite the LORD to be involved and we are doing his will, we can't help but to succeed. This is why God has placed us in families, communities and churches, so that we can get together, support each other, and with the help of the LORD our God, succeed in all we do for him.

So let's not try to make it alone, but get together and be strong and faithful for the LORD our God.
Robert Prins

Reading 2 - Isaiah 30

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v.1 - We all like to be covered with a covering - we all like to try to hide our sins. Scripture teaches however that there is only one way to do that and it involves a total self-sacrifice on our part. Ps.32:1, 61:4, 91:1-4, Rom.4:6-8.
Peter Cresswell
v.21 - there is only one way - Jer.6:16
Peter Cresswell
v.7 - The repeated condemnation of Israel for returning to Egypt for help and the constant reminders in Scripture which show that returning to Egypt for help is futile should alert us to the fact that we, naturally, seek to the world for help rather than go to our Father.
Peter Forbes
30:15 And ye would not, marking the way that Israel would not listen to the word of God, is reflected in the way in which Jesus end a lament to the religious leaders of his day (Matthew 23:33)
Peter Forbes
:17 'One thousand … of one' quotes Leviticus 26:8 - Israel have yet again chosen the curses through their sinfulness.
Peter Forbes

Reading 3 - Hebrews 13

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v.10 - This refers to Christ, our passover, of whose remembrance we partake weekly in the emblems of bread and wine by his command, and daily in prayer and in our lives as we try to live them before God. 1Cor.5:7,8, 9:13, 10:17.
Peter Cresswell
v.2 - the exhortation to 'entertain strangers' would have been very poignant to the brethren and sisters in Jerusalem when individuals were travelling round seeking out the brethren to put them in prison as Paul had done earlier [Acts 8:3]. We do not live in such perilous times but are we hospitable?
Peter Forbes
13:5 will never leave thee Genesis 28:15
13:5 nor forsake thee Deuteronomy 31:6
13:6 The Lord is my helper I will not fear what man can do unto me Psalm 118:6

The threefold quotation in this section shows that God does not change. He made the promise to Jacob and then repeated it to all Israel and finally made it to His son in the Psalm. Do we think that our Father has changed? Do we believe that he will keep His word for us also?
Peter Forbes

:13 The exhortation to go 'without the camp' and the need to bear 'his reproach' would have been very meaningful to the priest which believed. They would be ostracised by their brethren who did not believe and be persecuted for that belief. They would need to understand that the only way to deal with this would be for them to forsake their old way of life and associate themselves with the believers.
Peter Forbes
EMPATHY
I once heard a thought about a man who fell into a pit. Being in the pit caused different reactions from different people.
A subjective person came along, saw the man in the pit, and said, "I feel for you down there."
An objective person saw him and said, "It's logical that someone would fall into that pit."
A Christian Scientist said, "You only think you're in that pit."
A Pharisee said, "Only bad people fall into pits."
A mathematician calculated how he fell into the pit.
A realist saw the pit and said, "Now that's a pit!"
An evasive person came along and avoided the subject altogether.
A self pitying person saw him and said, "You haven't seen anything until you've seen my pit."
An optimist said, "Things could be worse."
A pessimist said, "Things will get worse."
Jesus, seeing the man reached down and took him by the hand and lifted him out of the pit.

We need to be like Jesus. The writer to the Hebrews tells us how. "Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourself were suffering." When we have this sort of empathy we will be as qualified as we can be to reach down and lift our neighbor out of the pit.

Let's stop talking and be people of action like Jesus.
Robert Prins