Awe

Re:Verse passage – Judges 3:31  and Acts 2:42-47 (day five)  

“Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.” Acts‬ ‭2:43‬ 

When is that last time you were awestruck at the work and presence of God?  According to Acts 2 it was happening over and over in the hearts and minds of those believers (kept feeling awe) in that first New Testament Church.  There is a diligence that is recognized in the attitudes and activities of these believers- God’s Word, genuine community, honest and engaging conversations with the Lord.

As more and more of our church body return to Bible Study and Worship, I see and sense awe in the countenance and the hearts of our members. Now would be the perfect time for each of us (and all of us) to recommit to be diligent to those spiritual disciplines and expressions of love and grace (listed in these 6 verses). We just might keep feeling a sense of awe at what the Lord is doing in and through our church!!

Day by Day

Re:Verse passage – Judges 3:31  and Acts 2:42-47 (day four) 

The Apostles were constantly proclaiming the gospel…repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.  They recognized though that it was not the power of their preaching, but God’s calling the people to Himself.  Three thousand souls in one day…what a revival!  With so many new converts, the church was necessarily thrown together to learn what the Holy Spirit had to teach them.  Verse 47 says, “the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

Two things we can learn for the church today:  1) There must be a constant flow of the gospel message going out to the people.  We are all witnesses!  2)  It is God who calls the people to Himself.  We must ask God to call people to our church and Himself.  Wouldn’t it be awesome to see the gospel spread across the world like a pandemic.  What would we do with three thousand new believers in one day?

Nation

Re:Verse passage – Judges 3:31  and Acts 2:42-47 (day three)

“After [Ehud] came Shamgar the son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad; and he also saved Israel.”

“All the believers were together and had all things in common.”

If there is any commonality between these two passages, it might be that they each present a view of a nation in its formative stages. The former passage from Judges chronicles the rise of Israel in its middle period between wilderness wanderer and geopolitical player on the world stage. The latter passage from Acts narrates the dawning of the church as it represents the eternal community. Hopeful prayers arise in each age. In Judges, one might say the prayer was “In Canaan as it was promised in Egypt.” In Acts, as profound fellowship took shape, their experience echoes another prayer: “In earth as it is in heaven.”

A Good Formula

Re:Verse passage – Judges 3:31  and Acts 2:42-47 (day two) 

They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. vs. 42

What strikes me first about this passage is that the actions being described are taken by the new believers. This isn’t just an account of what the apostles were doing, but more what those with a new found purpose in Christ felt compelled to do. They immersed themselves in learning all they could about Jesus. The learned about his life, the stories he told, his incredible ministry, and the power of his resurrection. They spent time with other believers learning from one another, about one another. As an extension of that they also ate together. Is there a better formula for fellowship than food? More to the point, they honored the Lord by remembering his words at the Last Supper. And they prayed. Does this remind you of our church? Shouldn’t it? What can we do today to word for a better reflection of this early gathering?

Monday Re:Verse Blog – 6/21/2021

Re:Verse passage – Judges 3:31  and Acts 2:42-47 (day one)

Join us as Senior Pastor Chris Johnson, Associate Pastor Aaron Hufty and Associate Pastor Bryan Richardson walk us through Judges 3:31  and Acts 2:42-47 in our Summer Re:Verse Series: “JUDGES – God, Our Deliverer.”

Peace and Rest

Re:Verse passage – Judges 3:11-30 (day seven)

“And the land had rest for eighty years.” Vs 30 (ESV)

Imagine a political paradise where there was peace for 80 years. No wars, no conflicts, everything was calm. The land got to rest! To give you a little perspective, the closest the United States has ever been to this is 31 years between the War of 1812–1815 and the Mexican-American War of 1846–48. We are currently at only 76 years since the end of WWII and have had multiple wars and foreign conflicts in that span. 80 years is a long time for peace!

In the cyclical pattern of sin that chases the Israelites through Judges and seemingly the rest of the Old Testament, we see Israel turn back (repent) to God after a time of running away. What is the result? Peace. It’s not just momentary, but it is lasting peace that allows everyone to take a deep breath and rest with God!

Mercy Doesn’t Wait

Re:Verse passage – Judges 3:11-30 (day six)

But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help, the Lord again raised up a rescuer to save them. Judges 3:15

Their cry for deliverance was not a cry of repentance. They didn’t make things right. They didn’t confess their sin. They didn’t throw out their idols. They didn’t turn to God in faithful obedience. None of those things.

And yet, God delivered them still.

God’s mercy does not wait for us to get our act together.

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. Romans 5:8

Aren’t you thankful.

Lefty

Re:Verse passage – Judges 3:11-30 (day five)  “But when the sons of Israel cried to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for them, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man. And the sons of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab.”
I am indebted to commentator Michael Wilcock for help with understanding and explaining the Hebrew language. Verse 15 is not telling us that Ehud was a “lefty” per say.  Instead, the language is telling us that he could not use his right hand. Deformed? Paralyzed? We don’t know.  This language is telling us that most people (including Eglon) focused on his limitations.  What we do know is that Ehud was faithful/trusting and used what he had been given to serve God.  The “withered” right hand allows him access to an enemy leader. It also further demonstrates the power and purposes of God.  The Israelites must trust God in using someone they themselves saw as limited and an unexpected hero.  Sound familiar?

Isaiah 53- “For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”

1 Corinthians 1- “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.”

One Way

Re:Verse passage – Judges 3:11-30 (day four)

The sons of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.  Were they content to be enslaved?  Did the Israelites just resign themselves to be oppressed?  At what point did they cry out to God for deliverance?  Scripture does not tell us how long God took to raise up a deliverer for them.  One point is certain though… God raised Ehud up for a specific task.  Moab had been used of God to discipline Israel, but now God brought deliverance through His servant, Ehud.

Like Israel, we often get settled into our sin.  We become content for a period of time in our punishment and consequences.  Finally, we begin to recognize that being in relationship with God is much better than slavery to a culture of sin.  When we cry out to God, He is faithful to hear and answer our prayer.  When Ehud called the Israelites to battle, they responded.  Their obedience led to victory and to eighty years of peace.  This lesson is one that Israel faced over and over…never successfully for very long.  Exactly the reason God had to send His Son to break the power of sin.  The Messiah was the only way!

Moment

Re:Verse passage – Judges 3:11-30 (day three)

“They struck down at that time about ten thousand Moabites, all robust and valiant men.”

There were some deliberative and judicial responsibilities attached to the position of judge, depending on the judge. Each judge was remembered, however, not so much for the cases he or she decided, but for the moments they opened up for Israel – opportunities to live out from under the oppressive grip of other geopolitical entities. Judges did not solve all the problems; rather they cleared a space for Israel to act, both in war and in spiritual pursuit. Ehud killed Eglon, but there remained a formidable force of “robust and valiant men” yet to see defeat. Would Israel rise to this opportunity? In this ancient time, war provided the proving ground for spiritual and national focus. The church will have opportunities no less than Israel. What are they?