1-16 Joshua Exhorts the People
- This is a "long time afterward." Israel has had a peaceful period of existence under Joshua's leadership. Now he's an old man.
- He gathers the Israelite leaders together.
- Joshua to the people: God has done for you everything he promised, and he will continue to fight for you against nations you have yet to conquer.
- But be warned: If you don't continue to follow him, if you intermarry with the nations you conquered, he will turn away.
- 15 - "But just as all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the LORD will bring upon you all the bad things...." If God is true and faithful to award those who are faithful, then He also has to be true and faithful to his promise to destroy those who are not. To praise him for the good but to withhold our belief for the bad is to expect God to be a liar.
1-28 The Tribes Renew the Covenant
- Again they gather at Shechem -- all the tribes and their leaders.
- Joshua to the people: "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel....," then gives a history from Abraham to Canaan to Egypt and back to Canaan.
- This is what I did for you: I led Abraham and gave him descendants; I sent Moses and Aaron; I plagued Egypt; I brought your ancestors out of Egypt; I brought you to the land of the Amorites; I handed them over to you; I destroyed them before you; I rescued you out of the hand of Balak; I handed over Jericho, the Amorites, and all the others to you; I sent a hornet ahead of you to conquer them.
- "I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and towns that you had not built, and you live in them; you eat the fruit of vineyards and oliveyards that you did not plant." How often do we think of those who have made our lives so much easier today?
- Joshua: THEREFORE, Revere the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and faithfulness...."
- And his famous line: "Choose this day whom you will serve...as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
- The people: We remember what God has done for us. We will serve him!
- Joshua: I don't think you can -- remember, he is a very jealous God.
- The people: But we will!
- Joshua: You have spoken; you are your own witnesses.
- Joshua made a covenant with the people and set up a large stone as a witness.
- Joshua: 110 years old, buried in the land of his own inheritance.
- Joshua's legacy: "Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua." Our US Presidents are always wanting to leave a "legacy" of their leadership. What a tribute that would be!
- They buried the bones of Joshua at Shechem, in the ground that Jacob had purchased (Genesis 33:9). See also Genesis 50:24-26 re Joseph's request.( Note: Joseph was also 110 years old when he died!)
- Eleazar the priest, son of Aaron, also died, buried in the town of his son Phinehas.
A combination of pleading, faith that God will rescue him, affirmation, and praise
1 - "Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me."
3 - "[God] will send from heaven and save me, he will put to shame those who trample on me."
7 - "My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast."
11 - "Be exalted, O God, above the heaven, Let your glory be over all the earth."
1 Corinthians 11
1 - Imitate Paul, just as he imitates Christ
2-16 Head Coverings
- I commend you for remembering what I told you, but...
- Remember the order of things: God - Christ - husband - wife
- This is the way it is: A man who prays with a head covering disgraces his head (double meaning here -- both his physical head and his spiritual head - Christ? Paul uses double meanings in other places in this letter.)
- This is the way it is: A woman praying or prophesying without a head covering disgraces her head (again, double meaning - her husband and herself).
- If she's not going to cover her head, she might as well cut it off -- it carries the same kind of stigma.
- Verse 7 I don't understand. Weren't both the man and woman made in God's image? I suppose this refers to the fact that Adam was created first ("let us make man in our own image), and Eve was fashioned after him -- from his very flesh. Man was made for God; woman was made for the sake of man.
- v. 10 - I keep thinking if I just read this enough times, it will make sense to me. Does anyone understand what "because of the angels" means? Do the angels have a symbol of authority on their heads?
- A reminder, though -- men and women are equally important to each other. The first woman came from man; but no man since has ever been born without a mother.
- Judge for yourselves what is proper and improper regarding the head covering, but you know how you naturally look down on a man who has long hair, and you admire a woman for her long hair.
- But -- if anyone is disposed to be contentious--we have no such custom nor do the churches.
- I hear you don't even get along when you gather as a church! (Factions, though, serve to indicate who is genuine and who is not.) Maybe this is indicated by who can rise above the conflict -- and following Paul's earlier teaching, think of another's soul, not one's own rights.
- In your meal together -- Commentators state that it was common practice to have a meal together before the Lord's Supper, but they seemed to be mixing it all together. And some were bringing a lot of food and drink for themselves without sharing with others. Paul tells them that if that's the way they're going to act, it's better they eat at home. They're not only humiliating others, they're abusing the Lord's Supper.
- The purpose of the Lord's Supper: To remember the body and blood of the Lord Jesus.
- Therefore, be careful of your manner when you eat the Lord's Supper.
- Examine yourselves before you eat and drink
- The reason many of you are weak -- and some have even died -- is because you're not remembering Jesus' sacrifice
- Remembering his death and his judgment helps us to discipline ourselves
- So -- when you come together to eat, don't leave others out. If you're so hungry you can't remember why you've come together and end up condemning yourselves by abusing the Lord's Supper, eat at home.
No comments:
Post a Comment