Skip to main content

bible reading july 7



Bible reading for July 7. 

Joshua 9. 

"So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the LORD." (Joshua 9:14) 

THE GIBEONITES. The Israelites are deceived into making a covenant of peace with an Amorite group associated with the city of Gibeon, which was not far away. The Israelite leaders did not seek guidance from the Lord. If they had waited and prayed for a few days they would have seen the ruse. The Lord does not judge Israel for this, and the leaders realized that, deceived or not, they needed to honor their pledge. The Gibeonites in a sense acted in faith, believing that the God of Israel (and Moses) was indeed God. As seen in the next chapter Israel's commitment to defend Gibeon proved the occasion for a very large and decisive battle for southern Canaan. We find in the biblical story much later that King David continues to honor the covenant with the Gibeonites (2 Sam 21). After the exile, Gibeonite families help repair the wall of Jerusalem (Neh 3:7), so apparently some (or many) within the Gibeonite clan became believers in the Lord. 

TAKEAWAY: Do not rush into commitments. Take time to seek wisdom and counsel from the Lord (Prov 3:5-6; James 1:5). Honor your commitments even though it may prove difficult (Prov 20:25; Eccl 5:4-5; Rom 13:7-8). Even when we have made poor decisions, the Lord may yet bring good from those  circumstances (Gen 50:20; Rom 8:28). 

==============  

Psalms 140-141.

"Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice! Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!" (Psalm 141:2-3) 

TWO PRAYERS FOR PROTECTION. These two psalms are prayers of David for protection from evil designs against himself. The first psalm (140) is about opponents who are planning evil, and the second (141) includes the evil that he himself is tempted by. He asks that his prayers be a kind of sacrificial offering, pleasing to God, like the evening incense offered in the tabernacle. Indeed, we see that the angels in heaven handle the prayers of God's people as holy offerings (Rev 5:8; 8:3-4). 

TAKEAWAY. The believer must be on guard from evil arising both from outside and from within himself. Our Lord has warned us that we live on a spiritual battlefield (Matt 26:41; Mark 13:23; 1 Pet 5:8). Ongoing prayer is vital to our welfare and ministry (Eph 6:18-20). In the prayer that he taught his disciples, Jesus tells us to pray, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" (Matt 6:13). So... do I have the high value of prayer that David (and the angels) have? Am I praying daily for wisdom, protection, and guidance regarding my life in this world? Am I praying for God to show me the traps and pitfalls that I might face each day? 


Image credit: photo by nega on unsplash. 
We are following the Robert Murray M'Cheyne (RMM) two-year reading schedule, as arranged by D. A. Carson.
Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The NET Bible is a free, online resource, and a ministry of bible.org.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

clement quotes hebrews

Clement of Rome wrote to the church in Corinth around AD 90.  This is perhaps the same Clement, companion of Paul, mentioned in Philippians 4:3.  Many hold him to be the first bishop / pope in Rome, aka St. Clement I.   Clement quotes from the letter to the Hebrews.  Origin suggested that Clement was in fact the writer (as transcriber or amanuensis) of Hebrews.  Perhaps this letter began as a "word of exhortation" given by Paul at the synagogue (Heb 13:22; cf Acts 13:15) which then became a circular letter for the churches.  Other possible authors of Hebrews include Luke, Barnabas, or Apollos.  The theology is Pauline, but the transcriber is obviously second-generation (Heb. 2:3-4). At any rate, this early church leader in Rome, is already quoting Hebrews in his letter in AD 90:    CHAPTER 36  ALL BLESSINGS ARE GIVEN TO US THROUGH CHRIST This is the way, beloved, in which we find our Savior, even Jesus Christ,  the High Prie...

Howard Hendricks on OT books chronology

When I was in seminary, Howard Hendricks (aka "Prof") gave us a little card with the books of the OT chronologically arranged. The scanned copy I have was a bit blurry and I wanted to make something like this available for our church class in OT theology ("Story of Redemption"). A few minor edits and here it is...

a brief history of bcf

Blacksburg Christian Fellowship, or BCF as it is popularly known, was founded in November 1969. Prior to this time several families had been meeting for Bible study and prayer, with a particular concern that the Lord raise up an effective biblical ministry to the students of the Virginia Tech campus. Growing from these meetings, the Lord led them to begin a public ministry on Sunday mornings. The Wesley Foundation agreed to the rental of their facilities, and the first meeting was held in November 1969, with about 30 people in attendance. Since the first meeting BCF has been greatly blessed by the Lord and has seen a steady growth in ministry and in numbers. Two other local churches were formed in part from BCF. In 1974 the Lord led Houston Couch, who at that time was an Elder in BCF, to leave and start Dayspring Christian Fellowship. In 1980 Max Harris, who was a regular attender at BCF, was encouraged by the Elders and members to start a ministry which has now become Grace Cov...