Matthew 28

WEEK  4                                             Matthew 28

THURSDAY  Reflections

The gospel of Matthew was written with those familiar with Jewish scripture in mind. In their day, due to Greek influence, women were considered less reliable witnesses. The testimony of a woman was less. This being the case, if you were making this story up (as some claim the disciples did), why would you use unreliable witnesses as your primary source? It would be like a defense attorney putting the town drunk or a patient with Alzheimer's on the stand to defend your client. The disciples did not just put these women in the role of first witnesses; they showed themselves as doubters and cowards. Why would they do this if they were making this up? They did it because it was the truth. 

Jesus is alive; he isn't a role model from the past; he is the living Savior of the world.

Mat 28:1-20
(1)  In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
(2)  And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
(3)  His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
(4)  And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
(5)  And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
(6)  He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
(7)  And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.
(8)  And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.
(9)  And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.
(10)  Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.
(11)  Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done.
(12)  And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers,
(13)  Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.
(14)  And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you.
(15)  So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.
(16)  Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.
(17)  And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.
(18)  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
(19)  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
(20)  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Photo by Timothy Eberly on Unsplash

Psalms 98

WEEK 4                                               Psalm 98

WEDNESDAY  Reflections

We praise God for all the good He has done. We praise God for the victories. We should praise God because He will judge the earth fairly. To say it another way, God will make all things right. For all these and more, we should praise God.

Psa 98:1-9
(1)  A Psalm. O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.
(2)  The LORD hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen.
(3)  He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
(4)  Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.
(5)  Sing unto the LORD with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm.
(6)  With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King.
(7)  Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
(8)  Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together
(9)  Before the LORD; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.

Photo by Carolina Jacomin on Unsplash

Hosea 11

WEEK 4                                           Hosea 11

TUESDAY  Reflections

In verse 6, God reminds us that the reason Israel will be devoured is that they followed their own counsel and not the Lord's. Their own actions brought their disaster. Even if God had not been in the equation, Israel's actions and counsel would have seen them destroyed. The one advantage they had was God. He was willing to receive them back if they would turn back to Him, but God says this is the thing they refuse to do.

 

Rarely is it God’s anger at our sin that gets us into trouble; it is the results of those sins that get us in trouble. We can't blame God; it's all on us.   

Hos 11:1-12
(1)  When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
(2)  As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.
(3)  I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them.
(4)  I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.
(5)  He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to return.
(6)  And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels.
(7)  And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.
(8)  How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.
(9)  I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city.
(10)  They shall walk after the LORD: he shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west.
(11)  They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria: and I will place them in their houses, saith the LORD.
(12)  Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints.

Photo by John Cameron on Unsplash

2 Kings 13

WEEK  4                                            2 Kings 13

MONDAY  Reflections

I am accustomed to reading the stories in the Bible, especially in the book of Judges, of how God brought a deliverer. At least for a time, the people turned their hearts back to the Lord. However, here in chapter 13, we read how God answered the prayers of the people. God sent a savior/deliverer who brought freedom, but the people never changed.

 

I don’t know why, but as I write this, my heart breaks. I am nearly moved to tears as I think about a people who took God’s gift and then went back to living as if God didn’t do anything.  The sad thing is this happens today. Some people come to God/church begging for deliverance. Once they receive what they wanted, they are gone.

 

What I see here, though, isn’t just the lack of gratitude, but the wonderful grace of God given to a people who not only don’t deserve it but don’t appreciate it after the fact. This shows God’s love even to those whom we would have written off. This doesn’t let them off the hook, but it does remind us that God isn’t going to just throw us out if we stumble. He is in the savior business. 

2Ki 13:1-25
(1)  In the three and twentieth year of Joash the son of Ahaziah king of Judah Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years.
(2)  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.
(3)  And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, all their days.
(4)  And Jehoahaz besought the LORD, and the LORD hearkened unto him: for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them.
(5)  (And the LORD gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians: and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents, as beforetime.
(6)  Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin, but walked therein: and there remained the grove also in Samaria.)
(7)  Neither did he leave of the people to Jehoahaz but fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria had destroyed them, and had made them like the dust by threshing.
(8)  Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
(9)  And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria: and Joash his son reigned in his stead.
(10)  In the thirty and seventh year of Joash king of Judah began Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years.
(11)  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD; he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin: but he walked therein.
(12)  And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, and his might wherewith he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
(13)  And Joash slept with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat upon his throne: and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.
(14)  Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.
(15)  And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows.
(16)  And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon the king's hands.
(17)  And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the LORD'S deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them.
(18)  And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed.
(19)  And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.
(20)  And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year.
(21)  And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.
(22)  But Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.
(23)  And the LORD was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet.
(24)  So Hazael king of Syria died; and Benhadad his son reigned in his stead.
(25)  And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael the cities, which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times did Joash beat him, and recovered the cities of Israel.

Photo by 立志 牟 on Unsplash

Ezekiel 9

WEEK  3                                              Ezekiel 9

SATURDAY  Reflections

In the vision, God showed Ezekiel that judgment was beginning to fall on Jerusalem. God was going to spare the people who were serving Him, but what caught my attention was where the judgment begins. The Judgment begins in the temple, the house of God. God didn't get the so-called "bad people" first; it was the people who were in the temple.

 

This reminds me of what Peter said in 1 Peter 4:17-18: “For it is time for judgment to begin with God's household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, ‘If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?’" (also look up Proverbs 11:31).

Eze 9:1-11

(1)  He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.

(2)  And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.

(3)  And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side;

(4)  And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.

(5)  And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:

(6)  Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.

(7)  And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.

(8)  And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?

(9)  Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not.

(10)  And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.

(11)  And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me.

 Photo by Derek Story on Unsplash