Judges 2:1

 Judges 2:1 says, And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.  The people of Israel had Moses and prophets speak God's word to them, and they often did not obey.  Now, God sent an angel from heaven to speak to them.  The angel, speaking for God, reminded them that God had brought them out of Egypt, gave them the Promised Land, and never failed to keep His part of the covenant He made with them.  We as followers of Christ enter into a covenant relationship with Him and He will never fail to keep His part of the covenant.  Verse two adds, And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?  The angel then said that their part of the covenant was to make no leagues with the inhabitants of the land and to tear down their idols, but that they had not done this.  He then asked them why.  As Christians, we are to make no compromises with the world and are to tear down all the idols in our life, but too often God has to ask us why we haven't done this.  Verse three continues, Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.  The angel then told them that because of their disobedience, God was not going to drive the people of the land out, but was going to leave them as thorns in their sides.  God does not drive out all the idols in the world once we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, but they are there for us to choose whether or not we will allow them to become a temptation.  Verse four states, And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.  We are told that when the angel spoke these words that the people lifted up their voices and wept.  We have One greater than an angel, the Holy Spirit, to point out our sins when we allow them back into our lives, but instead of lifting up our voices in repentance and weeping, we often just ignore Him.  Verse five adds, And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto the LORD.  They called the place Bochim, which Matthew Henry says means Weepers, and they sacrificed to God there.  We need to come to God weeping and offering ourselves as sacrifices when we know that we have been unfaithful to Him.  Verse six says, And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land.  After Joshua, who was still alive to lead them when this happened, let the people go and they returned to claim their inheritance.  We need to repent when we sin today, and then go out and follow Christ once more.  We cannot allow the sin to go unchecked, nor can we allow it to keep us from going out and declaring God's word once we do overcome it.  Verse seven adds, And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel.  We are then told that the people served God as long as Joshua and the elders who had seen the great works that God did in deliver them from Egypt lived.  We have no living witnesses to the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ today, but we must accept it by faith and then allow the Holy Spirit to guide our life.  Verse eight states, And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old.  Verse nine continues, And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash.  Joshua died and was buried.  Now,both Moses and his successor were dead.  We may have been led to Christ by a particular person today, and they may die, but the Lord of our salvation never will.  Verse ten continues, And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.  After the generation that had witnessed God's deliverance of them from Egypt died, a new generation arose that did not know God.  The people of Israel who had witnessed it must not have effectively taught the next generation about God and all that He had done.  As Christians today, we cannot afford to do the same thing.  We must reach the next generation, or they will grow up not knowing about Jesus Christ, the Savior and the only way to salvation. 

Judges 1:27

Judges 1:27 says, Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns: but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.  Next, we are told that the tribe of Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of many towns, which was not what God had told them to do.  Today, as followers of Christ, God tells us to drive sin out of our lives, but we too often want to just coexist with it.  Verse twenty-eight adds, And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out.  Even as Israel became stronger, they did not drive the Canaanites out, but had them pay tribute to Israel.  Maybe sometimes we don't drive all the sin out of our lives because we are profiting from it materially.  Of course, God was just as strong at the beginning as He was later on, and He was the One Who empowered the people of Israel.  We may think that when we become stronger Christians we will deal with certain issues in our life that may be contrary to God's word, but it is by faith that we are successful, and not by our own strength,  Verse twenty-nine continues, Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.  The tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim, Joseph's descendants, did not drive the Canaanites out.  Joseph may have been devoted to following God's will, but his descendants weren't so much so.  As Christians, our descendants may not follow God's will, because they lack a personal relationship with Him or a total commitment to that relationship.  Verse thirty states, Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became tributaries.  It seems that many tribes failed to do as God instructed them to do, even though they were His chosen people and He had already shown them His power.  We as followers, of Christ do not need to be the same way today.  Verse thirty-one adds, Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob:  Verse thirty-two continues, But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: for they did not drive them out.  We are told the tribe of Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of many cities, and it seems that the Canaanites might have been more in power than the Asherites.  We as Christians should never leave the power of sin more in control in our lives than the Holy Spirit is.  Verse thirty-three says, Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Bethshemesh, nor the inhabitants of Bethanath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Bethshemesh and of Bethanath became tributaries unto them.  The tribe of Naphtali did not drive all the inhabitants of two cities out, but they did become tributaries of the people of Naphtali.   Verse thirty-four states, And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain: for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley:  Verse thirty-five adds, But the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became tributaries.  The tribe of Dan not only failed to drive out the people in their land, but they were forced to live in the mountains and concede the plains. Matthew Henry points out that in Jacob's blessing of them, Judah was compared to a lion and Dan was compared to a serpent, and now Judah with their strength was victorious and Dan with their subtlety was not.  We cannot be victorious as Christians if we do not live by the power and direction of God instead of attempting to compromise with the world.  Verse thirty-six continues, And the coast of the Amorites was from the going up to Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.  Though the people of the tribe of Ephraim helped the people of Dan by putting some of the Amorites under tribute,  the Amorites continued to control a lot of the land.  Though our fellow Christians may help us at times, it is ultimately up to us to drive all sin out of our life.  We cannot be content to compromise. 

Judges 1:17

 Judges 1:17 says, And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah.  Together, the people of the tribes of Judah and Simeon killed the people of Canaan in Zephath and utterly destroyed it.  This was Simeon's land that the were working together to capture, just as the people of Judah had promised.  We as followers of Christ need to keep our promises to others, and we need to help one another defeat sin in the world.  Verse eighteen adds, Also Judah took Gaza with the coasts thereof, and Askelon with the coasts thereof,  and Ekron with the coasts thereof,   We are then told that Judah took Gaza, Askelon, and Ekron with their coasts.  These were cities of the Philistines, not the Canaanites, and all the inhabitants were not destroyed.  We cannot allow any sin, which is our true enemy today, to continue live in our lives as Christians.  Verse nineteen  continues,  And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.  We are told that God was with Judah and that they were successful in driving the people out of the mountains, but not from the valley, because the people there had chariots.  This was due to a lack of faith on the part of the people of Judah, because if they put their faith in God, chariots wouldn't have mattered.  If we are faithfully following God, we don't have to worry about what weapons our enemies may have, because nothing is more powerful than God.  Verse twenty states, And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said: and he expelled thence the three sons of Anak. Caleb was given the land of Hebron to conquer as Moses had promised, and he drove out three sons of Anak who lived there.  Though he was now old, he was still faithful to God and successful because of his faith.  No matter how old we may be as Christians, as long as we are faithful to God, He will continue to give us success as we undertake doing what He calls us to do.  Verse twenty-one says, And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day.  The tribe of Benjamin did not drive the Jebusites out of Jerusalem, as God had commanded.  We as followers of Christ cannot compromise our faith and be totally devoted to God and allow sin to continue to live in our life.  Verse twenty-two states, And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel: and the LORD was with them.  The people of the tribe of Joseph, through Ephraim his son, went up against Bethel, and the LORD was with them.  Verse twenty-three adds, And the house of Joseph sent to descry Bethel. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.)  Verse twenty-four continues, And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, Shew us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will shew thee mercy.  While the people of the house  of Joseph were on their way to Bethel, which had been called Luz, they had sent spies to find the best way into the city.  They met a man coming out of the city, and told him that if he would show them the way in that they would let him live.  Verse twenty-five states, And when he shewed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and all his family.  The man showed them the entrance and the people of the tribe of Joseph killed the people there.  Matthew Henry says the man who showed them the way in was not looked down on for compromising his people.  If a non Christian helps us today, even at the cost of other non Christians, we should not look down on him for his actions.  Verse twenty-six adds, And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz: which is the name thereof unto this day.  Though he could have, the man chose not to stay with the people of Joseph, but went into the land of the Hittites to live, where he built a city and called it Luz.  He may have helped the people of Joseph, but he didn't want to become a part of them.  Non Christians may help us today and yet still not want to be a part if God's family. 

Judges 1:9

Judges 1:9 says, And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites, that dwelt in the mountain, and in the south, and in the valley.  The people of Judah continued in their fight against the Canaanites even after defeating many and capturing Adonibezek.  We may reach some sinners with the gospel, but there will always be others, so we can never be satisfied with reaching just somewith the gospel.  Verse ten adds, And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron: (now the name of Hebron before was Kirjatharba:) and they slew Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai.  The tribe of Judah next fought the Canaanites that lived in Hebron, and killed Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.  They did not quit after their early success, but continued toward their goal.  We cannot let early success stop us from reaching out to others with the gospel of Christ.  Verse eleven states, And from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir: and the name of Debir before was Kirjathsepher:  They next went to fight the people of Debir.  Verse twelve adds, And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjathsepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.  Caleb, the only remaining one of the twelve spies, and one of the two faithful ones, promised his daughter as a wife to the man who defeated Debir, which he called by its original name, Kirjathsepher.  Verse thirteen continues, And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife.  Caleb’s nephew took Debir, and Caleb gave him his daughter Achsah as his wife.  We as followers of Christ should fulfill our promises to others so that God might be magnified, without concern for material blessings.  Verse fourteen says, And it came to pass, when she came to him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted from off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wilt thou?  We are told that when Achsah came to Othniel that she moved him to ask Caleb for a field, but then she did so herself.  This is also referred to in Joshua 15:16-19,  When Achsah got off her donkey before Caleb, he asked her what she wanted.  Even though he had given her to Othniel in marriage, he was still interested in what she wanted.  When our children are grown and on their own, we need to continue to be concerned for them.  Verse fifteen adds, And she said unto him, Give me a blessing: for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs.  Achsah asked Caleb to give her a blessing by giving her some springs of water to go along with the south land that he had given her, and he gave her two springs.  We as Christians inherit everlasting life when we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, and He makes the Living Water available to us to help sustain us at that time.  Verse sixteen continues, And the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father in law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lieth in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.  The children of Kenite, Moses's father-in-law went with Othniel and Achsah and possessed the city of palm trees in the wilderness of Judah along with the people of Judah.  We as Christians may not all be of the same family by birth, but we are of the same family spiritually and we should all be willing to live together in peace.

Judges 1:1

Judges 1:1 says, Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them?  After  Joshua, the leader of the people of Israel after Moses, died, they asked the LORD who was going to lead them now in their war against the Canaanites.  They had only known two leaders, and the first, Moses, had appointed the second, Joshua, before he died.  Even if we don't know who he is immediately, God will never leave His groups of believers, the local church, without a leader.  We just need to look to Him for guidance in finding that person.  Verse two adds, And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.  God said the tribe of Judah would would go up against the Canaanites, and that He had delivered the land into his hands.  If we are appointed by God, He will always be with us to give us success if we put our faith in Him.  This doesn't mean that we will physically defeat every foe we encounter, but will have everlasting spiritual victory.  Verse three continues, And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him.  The people of Judah asked the people of the tribe of Simeon to go with them into the battle, and promised that they would assist the people of Simeon in their battle when they went to war.  Judah was the largest tribe, but they had no problem asking for help from and promising help to others.  We should never believe that we are so strong that we cannot use the help of fellow Christians nor that we are above offering help to others.  Verse four states, And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men.  When the people of Judah did as God directed them to do, God delivered their enemy into their hands and they killed ten thousand men of the Canaanites and Perizzites.  God has already defeated our enemies forever by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, so we can go forth boldly and proclaim the gospel to the world.  Verse five adds, And they found Adonibezek in Bezek: and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites. They came up against Adonibezek in Berek.  Verse six adds, But Adonibezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.  Adonibezek fled from them, but they caught him and did not kill him, but instead cut off his thumbs and big toes.  This made him unable to fight, and was also a witness to his followers who may have been left to his weakness.  God has effectively eliminated the power of the people of the world to have the ability to defeat us spiritually today.   This does not mean that we, like Paul and so many early Christians will never suffer a physical defeat though.  Verse seven continues, And Adonibezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.  Adonibezek said that he had cut off the thumbs and big toes of ten kings who ate under his table, and that now God had done this to him.  No matter how powerful our enemies may be today, they have already been defeated by God from a spiritual, everlasting view.  Verse nine concludes, Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it, and smitten it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.  The people of Judah had taken Jerusalem and set it on fire.  God has already given us victory over all our enemies, but our reward will be in heaven. 

Colossians Review

 Colossians was written by Paul as a letter of encouragement and instruction to the Christians at Colosse while he was imprisoned in Rome.  He did not write to complain about his situation, but out of concern for them.  Evan if we are in a bad situation ourselves as followers of Christ, we should be concerned about others and point them to Christ and obedience to Him instead of concentrating on our own situation.  Paul then gives a summary of Christian doctrine concerning the Holy Spirit, the person of the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, the work of redemption and the preaching of the gospel.  Once we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, we have everlasting salvation provided for us by His death, burial and resurrection, and we are immediately indwelled by the Holy Spirit.  This should lead us feel compelled to share the gospel, the Good News, with others and to have compassion for our fellow Christians, even when we ourselves may be suffering.  Paul shared what he had heard about the faith of the Christians at Colosse, and we should encourage other Christians when we hear about good things that they are doing for Christ.  Paul was not jealous, but he was uplifted for their faith.  We never need to be jealous of the good things that other Christians do for Christ, but need to be an encouragement to them instead.  Reaching the lost is not a competition, but a joint effort for us as followers of Christ.  Paul then shares some concerns that he has for the church at Colosse, warning them against false teachings.  Though he had heard good things about them, he had also heard some things that concerned him.  Even if churches are doing good works for Christ today, there is always a danger that they can allow false teachings to enter into their beliefs if they are not careful.  This is why we must study and teach the Bible and lift one another up in prayer.  Paul exhorted them to set their heart on Christ, and so must we.  He did not call on them to set their heart on Paul himself, but on Christ.  We cannot set our heart on a particular preacher today, but must set our heart on Christ alone.  Paul warned them against sexual sins, and so must we warn the world today, no matter what the world may say about it.  Paul then shared how families should work under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  This still has not changed.  Paul closed by sharing about the work of some other Christians there.  We need to realize that we are not alone in working for Christ, if we are, and be willing to give praise to the work other Christians are doing to spread the gospel and teach God's word.  Next, we will look at the book of Judges.

Colossians 4:10

Colossians 4:10 says, Aristarchus my fellow prisoner saluteth you, and Marcus, sister’s son to Barnabas, (touching whom ye received commandments: if he come unto you, receive him;)  After telling the church at Colosse who he was sending to them, Paul continued to tell them about others who were with him, starting with Aristarchus and Mark, his  fellow prisoners.  We don't know much about Aristarchus, but Mark, Barnabas's nephew, had once started on a missionary journey with Paul and Barnabas and had turned back.  This led to a split between them, but now Paul was speaking well of Mark, who also would write the book of Mark.  Just because we may at one point disagree with another Christian doesn't mean that we should let that disagreement rule the way the treat them forever.  Verse eleven adds, And Jesus, which is called Justus, who are of the circumcision. These only are my fellowworkers unto the kingdom of God, which have been a comfort unto me.  Paul then concluded by naming Jesus, who was called Justis, who was a Jew, as a fellow laborer, and said those mentioned were his only fellowworkers for the kingdom of God.  Though they were very different in the eyes of the world, they were all joined together by faith in Jesus Christ.  We may all be different in the view of the world, but as followers of Christ we are all united by our faith in Him.  Verse twelve states, Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.  Paul then mentioned Epaphras, who was from Colosse, as saluting them and said that he was always laboring fervently for them in prayer.  We may not thank of prayer as laboring for others, but if we are fervent in our prayers, it should be.  Verse thirteen adds, For I bear him record, that he hath a great zeal for you, and them that are in Laodicea, and them in Hierapolis.  Paul said that he would vouch for the faithfulness of Epaphras in praying not only for the church at Colosse, but for the church at Laodicea and Hierapolis as well.  We should never limit our prayers to our home church, but should be fervently in prayer for others as well.  Verse fourteen says, Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you.  Paul said that Luke, who was a physician and who would write both the book of Luke and the book of Acts, greeted them.  He did not hold himself to be above them, but considered himself to be a fellow laborer for Christ.  No matter what we may do in the world, we as Christians should always know that with God we are all equal.  Verse fifteen says, Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house.  Paul then asked them to salute the brethren at Laodicea and Nymphas, whose home the church at Colosse met in.  Verse sixteen adds, And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.  Paul asked that they read his epistle, or letter at the church at Laodicea, and that they also read the letter written to Laodicea.  This implies that Paul had also written a letter to the church at Laodicea, but if he did, we do not have it.  Verse seventeen continues, And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it.  Paul also asked that they ask Archippus to take heed to the ministry that he had received from the Lord and to be faithful in it.  We need to always encourage and support preachers today to be faithful in their calling from God.  Verse eighteen concludes, The salutation by the hand of me Paul. Remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen. Written from Rome to the Colossians by Tychicus and Onesimus.  Paul concluded the letter by asking them to remember him in his bonds and asked that the grace of God be with them.  We need to ask that other Christians pray that we might continue to be faithful to God today, no matter what our status in the world may be.