Naaman was a Syrian, and there was no love lost between the Syrians and the Israelis.
The devil is good at using scripture to tempt the believer!
The Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah is 54 segments long. Jesus had to scroll down for quite some time before he found the passage, even though he knew where it was!
Notice, Jesus ended the reading of Scripture in the middle of the sentence. We now still live in the time between “the acceptable year of the LORD and the day of vengeance of our God”!
Today we finish up the gospel of Luke with the glorious resurrection and the events that followed. The chapter in Joshua tells of the consequences of worshiping false gods.
April 14:Luke 24, Judges 10 (click on the chapter to begin reading)
Luke 24, this is it, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the most important event in the Christian calendar! Later that day two dejected disciples met someone on the Road to Emmaus and finally realized they had met Jesus. then Jesus appeared to the Disciples back in Jerusalem. The Gospel of Luke ends with the Ascension, but that event is better described in the Acts of the Apostles, also authored by Dr. Luke.
Judges 10 Things went from bad to worse with Tola, Jair and Jephthah as leaders, so Israel was again oppressed. They finally repented and got rid of their false gods.
Today’s chapter of Luke contains the Good Friday message, read it carefully and ponder. The chapter in Judges is a lesson in how not to behave.
April 13: Luke 23, Judges 9 (click on the chapter to begin reading)
Luke 23. This is it, the second most important day in the Christian calendar. Jesus was on trial before Herod and Pilate. Pilate was trying to wiggle out of sentencing Jesus by setting one condemned prisoner free on Passover. The crowd chose Barabbas over Jesus, Pilate reluctantly gave in, so Jesus was sentenced to be crucified. On the cross Jesus said the famous “Seven Last Words”, (taken from the four gospels), then he died and was buried before sundown.
Judges 9. The Bible tells it as it is, warts and all. So it is with the story of Abimelech’s Conspiracy and the parable of the trees. All the evil led to Abimelech’s Downfall. A take home from this chapter is his last words, after his skull was cracked by a millstone, dropped by a woman. “Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him.”
Today’s chapter of Luke tells the first half of Jesus’ last day before his death. The chapter in Judges tells the rest of the story of Gideon, the part never preached. Read it as history.
April 12: Luke 22, Judges 8 (click on the chapter to begin reading)
Luke 22. Judas agreed to betray Jesus, it was Passover so Jesus commemorated the Last Supper with his disciples, after which they went to the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed. While they were there Jesus was betrayed, arrested and taken to the house of the high priest. Waiting outside, Peter disowns Jesus three times before the cock crowd. Jesus was interrogated during the night and before daybreak the Sanhedrin had heard enough, and were ready to sentence him to death, but only the Romans had the right to execute the sentence.
Judges 8. Gideon Defeated the Midianites, the story is getting complicated but read it anyway. After the great victory Gideon made an Ephod from the Ishmaelites’ golden earrings and this became a snare to them all. Finally Gideon died and immediately after the Israelites fell back into idolatry, worshiping Baal.
April 11: Luke 21, Judges 6, Judges 7 (click on the chapter to begin reading)
Luke 21, there is giving and then there is giving. Jesus watched the people give their offerings in the Temple with his disciples, and from that he taught us a lesson about the widow’s two mites. After that he told about the signs of the times, the end of the age, the destruction of Jerusalem, the coming of the Son of Man and finally the parable of the fig tree.
Judges 6. Things were going bad for Israel, the Midianites oppressed them, God called Gideon, Gideon was reluctant but after speaking with the Angel of the LORD Gideon destroyed the altar of Baal. God wanted Gideon to defeat the Midianites but again Gideon was reluctant, so he demanded the sign of the Fleece (twice). God provided the sign, so in
Judges 7 eighty-two thousand men gathered to fight. God said that was too many, reduce their number, and in two steps they were whittled down to Gideon’s Valiant Three Hundred men. With that “army” and God the Midianites were defeated.
Len Bilén's blog, a blog about faith, politics and the environment. 