Judges 9-11; Mark 13; Psalm 49

Jotham hid himself to protect his life.

Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows, who followed him. ⁵ And he went to his father’s house at Ophrah and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, for he hid himself.

Judges 9:4b-5, ESV

He ran away and fled.

²¹ And Jotham ran away and fled and went to Beer and lived there, because of Abimelech his brother.

Judges 9:21, ESV

Hiding and running away might not seem like brave acts, but when you’re being hunted (and outnumbered) by “worthless and reckless fellows” and a power-hungry brother out for literal blood, there’s wisdom and prudence in taking cover, of seeing a threat and acting on it.

²² Abimelech ruled over Israel three years. ²³ And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, ²⁴ that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers.

Judges 9:22-24, ESV, emphasis added

Jotham wasn’t able to fight for his life or avenge his brothers on his own. In God’s timing, and with God’s way, it was handled for him. It took three years. So Jotham lived in Beer for three years because of his brother, and I imagine he was always on guard.

The disciples are wonder-struck by the architecture of a temple. Jesus gives them food for thought to really wonder over:

² And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

Mark 13:2, ESV

He goes on to tell them of things that will come–war, famine, persecution, hatred, deception.

These are but the beginning of the birth pains. ⁹ But be on your guard … ¹³ And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved … ²² For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. ²³ But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand … ³³ Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. ³⁴ It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. ³⁵ Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— ³⁶ lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. ³⁷ And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”

Mark 13:8b-9, 13, 22-23, 33-37, ESV, emphasis added

Jotham didn’t know how long he’d wait. And Jesus tells us we also won’t know when the time will come when God will act and Jesus will return, but in his love he gives warning.

Lord, when I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? (Ps 56:3-4, ESV) Your word is hidden in my heart. I trust in you and your timing. I trust in your strength and your promise. Help me to live alert, expectant, and hopeful. I thank you for all the doors you’ve closed to protect me.

Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
    when the glory of his house increases.
¹⁷ For when he dies he will carry nothing away;
    his glory will not go down after him.
¹⁸ For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed
    —and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
¹⁹ his soul will go to the generation of his fathers,
    who will never again see light.
²⁰ Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

Psalm 49:16-20, ESV

Courtney (66books365)

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Numbers 8-11; Acts 16

God is on the move. It’s easy to see in these chapters: Cloud by day. Fire by night. Provision. An earthquake and prison doors flung open. Reading all this–a page turner, miraculous, and so marvelous that it all happened. God is great.

²³ And the Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.”

Numbers 11:23, ESV

Moses, who had been through so much, even then wonders how the Lord will provide. Thank you, Lord, for remind me of these page turning, miraculous marvels of history.

I can look back on my life and see you at work. Things that seemed miraculous to me and to know that it was from you.

Is the Lord’s hand shortened? No. Not then. Not now.

He is trustworthy and faithful.

Courtney (66books365)

Isaiah 13:17-19:10

There’s a lot of activity in Isaiah. People and places, lifting, shifting, balances teetering. The entire book is a study alone.

²⁴ The Lord Almighty has sworn,

“Surely, as I have planned, so it will be,
    and as I have purposed, so it will happen.
²⁵ I will crush the Assyrian in my land;
    on my mountains I will trample him down.
His yoke will be taken from my people,
    and his burden removed from their shoulders.”

²⁶ This is the plan determined for the whole world;
    this is the hand stretched out over all nations.
²⁷ For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him?
    His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back? (Isaiah 14:24-27, NIV)

But in all the activity, among many verses that call out, I focus here. It’s awe inspiring, fear inducing, reverential, and comforting–the sovereignty, might, trustworthiness and faithfulness of the Lord.

Surely as he has planned, so it will be. Who can thwart him?

Lord, I can fix my eyes on you and trust. You are sovereign, mighty, trustworthy and faithful. Your purposes will always prevail.

Courtney (66books365)

Judges 8-9

I was standing next to a woman and noticed she had a chess game in her bag. I told her I had a board just like it.

“It’s my son’s. He’s really good at playing chess. He beats me all the time. He knows where he wants to go and how many moves it will take him to get there,” she paused. “Isn’t that just like God too? He knows all the moves it takes.”

²² After Abimelek had governed Israel three years, ²³ God stirred up animosity between Abimelek and the citizens of Shechem so that they acted treacherously against Abimelek. ²⁴ God did this in order that the crime against Jerub-Baal’s seventy sons, the shedding of their blood, might be avenged on their brother Abimelek and on the citizens of Shechem, who had helped him murder his brothers. (Judges 9:22-24, NIV)

Part of the road to Gideon’s victory is tainted with resentment and vengeance. A people take an occasion to honor God and turn it into idol worship. A brother conspires against his family for his own power and gain, a drive that is merciless, scheming, and murderous. Years pass. Lives are lost. And in an unexpected turn, God uses the unexpected to achieve his goal–a mortal blow hastened to an end by a trusted servant.

⁵⁰ Next Abimelek went to Thebez and besieged it and captured it. ⁵¹ Inside the city, however, was a strong tower, to which all the men and women—all the people of the city—had fled. They had locked themselves in and climbed up on the tower roof. ⁵² Abimelek went to the tower and attacked it. But as he approached the entrance to the tower to set it on fire, ⁵³ a woman dropped an upper millstone on his head and cracked his skull.

⁵⁴ Hurriedly he called to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and kill me, so that they can’t say, ‘A woman killed him.’” So his servant ran him through, and he died. ⁵⁵ When the Israelites saw that Abimelek was dead, they went home.

⁵⁶ Thus God repaid the wickedness that Abimelek had done to his father by murdering his seventy brothers. ⁵⁷ God also made the people of Shechem pay for all their wickedness. The curse of Jotham son of Jerub-Baal came on them. (Judges 9:50-57, NIV)

Likely, Gideon never imagined the events that would follow his victory. But God knew. And this story emphasizes to me that in the crazy, the unthinkable, the deceitful and vengeful things of life, in the loss and injustice I witness, there is a just God who knows. He is so many steps ahead and already working things out toward an end he has known all along.

Lord, I don’t know all the details. But you do. Your word prepares my heart and gives me a perspective, a hope, and a gratitude of your sovereignty, might, and justice. Who would I be without your mercy, faithfulness, and love? Oh, to know that no matter what, you hold me in your hand. Thank you.

Courtney (66books365)

Ezekiel 28-30; John 10

God is just. When he sends word to the prince of Tyre, he explains the fault and the consequence. And I am most effected by how the attitudes of the heart can be such a trespass against the Lord.

“In your great pride you claim, ‘I am a god!
    I sit on a divine throne in the heart of the sea.’
But you are only a man and not a god,
    though you boast that you are a god.
³ You regard yourself as wiser than Daniel
    and think no secret is hidden from you.
⁴ With your wisdom and understanding you have amassed great wealth—
    gold and silver for your treasuries.
⁵ Yes, your wisdom has made you very rich,
    and your riches have made you very proud.

⁶ “Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
Because you think you are as wise as a god,
⁷     I will now bring against you a foreign army,
    the terror of the nations.
They will draw their swords against your marvelous wisdom
    and defile your splendor!
⁸ They will bring you down to the pit,
    and you will die in the heart of the sea,
    pierced with many wounds.
⁹ Will you then boast, ‘I am a god!’
    to those who kill you?
To them you will be no god
    but merely a man!
¹⁰ You will die like an outcast
    at the hands of foreigners.
    I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!” (Ezekiel 28:2b-10, NLT, emphasis added)

God’s heart was for man. He wanted the best for man. I find this passage a tender grief and grievous contrast between the life the Lord offered and the life man chose.

“You were the model of perfection,
    full of wisdom and exquisite in beauty.
¹³ You were in Eden,
    the garden of God.
Your clothing was adorned with every precious stone—
    red carnelian, pale-green peridot, white moonstone,
    blue-green beryl, onyx, green jasper,
    blue lapis lazuli, turquoise, and emerald—
all beautifully crafted for you
    and set in the finest gold.
They were given to you
    on the day you were created.
¹⁴ I ordained and anointed you
    as the mighty angelic guardian.
You had access to the holy mountain of God
    and walked among the stones of fire.

¹⁵ “You were blameless in all you did
    from the day you were created
    until the day evil was found in you.
¹⁶ Your rich commerce led you to violence,
    and you sinned.
So I banished you in disgrace
    from the mountain of God.
I expelled you, O mighty guardian,
    from your place among the stones of fire.
¹⁷ Your heart was filled with pride
    because of all your beauty.
Your wisdom was corrupted
    by your love of splendor.
So I threw you to the ground
    and exposed you to the curious gaze of kings.
¹⁸ You defiled your sanctuaries
    with your many sins and your dishonest trade.
So I brought fire out from within you,
    and it consumed you.
I reduced you to ashes on the ground
    in the sight of all who were watching.
¹⁹ All who knew you are appalled at your fate.
    You have come to a terrible end,
    and you will exist no more.” (Ezekiel 28:13-19, NLT, emphasis added)

Jesus explains abundant life–he is the gate. He is the shepherd. He watches over, protects, and provides for his flock. He loves them (to death!), and they love and trust him.

“I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸ All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. ⁹ Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. ¹⁰ The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. ¹² A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. ¹³ The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep.

¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, ¹⁵ just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.

¹⁷ “The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. ¹⁸ No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.” (John 10:7b-18, NLT)

I think of this selection alongside the previous one–of things given on the day we were created. How sin, arrogance, pride, greed, haughtiness, unbelief–all the things that can come between us and a pure and rich relationship with God. It starts in the heart.

²⁴ The people surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

²⁵ Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name. ²⁶ But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep. ²⁷ My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. (John 10:25-27, NLT)

Lord, I focus on you and keep you center of my vision. It’s so easy to be distracted by polarizing points, the next great fear or concern, or even when the good and great things happen–to be fed full of the reward to lose sight of the provider. Be my center. Be my focus so I’m not distracted or diverted down wrong paths. Gate and shepherd–you are truly all that I could ever need.

Courtney (66books365)