NL-Day117 Joshua 12-13; Psalm 72; Acts 23:1-22
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
JOSHUA 12-13:As we heard yesterday, God fought for Israel, even causing the sun and moon to stand still. Basically the main central body of land was conquered in only two campaigns. It is important to remember that the total destruction of the people groups listed was commanded by God because of their disgusting pagan and idolatrous practices. Joshua 10:40 “… This was what the Lord God of Israel had commanded.” See also 11:20. PSALM 72:It is clear that this psalm, written by King Solomon— or more likely written about King Solomon, goes beyond Solomon, giving adoration to the King of...
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NL-Day116 Joshua 10-11; Psalm 71; Acts 22
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
JOSHUA 10-11:The king of Ai trusted in appearances, and was defeated. And the leaders of Israel trusted in appearances and failed to ask God for guidance, leading to a problem that would later cause more pain. PSALM 71:This is a poem written by an senior citizen with examples for our prayers that are appropriate for ‘youth’ of all ages. ACTS 22:In the last part of Acts 21, people from the Roman province of Asia recognized Paul and started a riot in the temple. Paul was arrested and now gives his speech to the angry mob. NLT Translation notes:Josh. 10:39 He captured the town, its king, and...
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NL-Day115 Joshua 8-9; Psalm 70; Acts 21:20-40
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
JOSHUA 8-9:Yesterday the walls of Jericho “came a-tumbling down” after some skillful trumpet playing while marching around the city for 7 days. The city was devoted to destruction, meaning that this was God's judgement upon them, and that everything was to be destroyed. Right after this amazing victory, Israel learned through a man named Achan that keeping treasures devoted to destruction makes oneself devoted to destruction. PSALM 70:David pleads in this psalm for help against his enemies. And this poem is a repetition of the last part of Psalm 40. ACTS 21b:Paul, Luke, and the other...
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NL-Day114 Joshua 6-7; Psalm 69:19-36; Acts 21:1-25
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
JOSHUA 6-7:In yesterday’s reading, Joshua lead the people across the Jordan on dry ground, and they set up 12 stones in two places to be memorial reminders for the people of this miracle. All the men were circumcised, and the angel who is the commander of God's army revealed himself to Joshua. PSALM 69:In yesterday’s reading, I appreciated that the writer appealed to God based on the Lord’s ‘constant love’. Let’s continue the reading of Ps 69 with four verses appropriate to Jesus’ life. Note that verse 22 is quoted by Paul in Romans 11. ACTS 21a:Yesterday we heard Paul's speech...
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NL-Day113 Joshua 4-5; Psalm 69:1-18; Acts 20:17-38
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
JOSHUA 4-5:In yesterday’s reading, Joshua sent out two spies. Rahab, who was a prostitute and later became an outstanding example of God's grace, protected them and eventually became a full member of Israel. The people of Israel crossed the Jordan miraculously on dry ground— even though the river was in flood stage, as Joshua leads following God's instructions. PSALM 69:This poem contains words that were quoted about Jesus (v. 4 and 9). Those verses give us an inside view of the nature of Jesus’ suffering while on earth in his public ministry. ACTS 20:In yesterday’s reading, Paul left...
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NL-Day112 Joshua 2-3; Psalm 68:19-35; Acts 20:1-25
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
JOSHUA 2-3:Yesterday we started the book of Joshua, named after the man God chose as Moses’ successor. In this book we will see the victory of the Chosen People in conquering the Promised Land (chapters 1-12) and then the occupation of the Promised Land (chapters 13-24). Three times i n Deuteronomy 31, we heard the charge, “Be determined and confident,” and that command was repeated three more times to Joshua in chapter 1. PSALM 68b:This psalm starts with the words Moses spoke whenever the Ark of the Covenant was taken up to be moved to another place:“1 Rise up, O God, and scatter your...
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NL-Day111 Joshua 1; Psalm 68:1-19; Acts 19:23-41
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
JOSHUA 1:Yesterday we read the conclusion of Deuteronomy with Moses blessing eleven of the twelve tribes with a prophetic blessing. And then Moses died and the Lord buried him in an unknown location in Moab. Now we turn to Joshua, the book named after the man God chose as Moses’ successor. In this book we see the victory of the Chosen People in conquering the Promised Land (chapters 1-12) and then the occupation of the Promised Land (chapters 13-24). Three times in Deuteronomy 31, we find the charge, “Be determined and confident,” and that command is repeated to Joshua in the...
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NL-Day110 Deuteronomy 33-34; Psalm 67; Acts 19:1-22
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
DEUTERONOMY 33-34: In yesterday's reading, Moses showed Israel that the leadership was given to Joshua, and he gave the command that this book of Deuteronomy be kept near the Arc of the Covenant. Then God gave Moses a long song to teach people, to help them remember. In this song, God described some future events as happening in the past tense. This is a feature many prophetic writings. Here is one detail you might want to notice today in chapter 33: In Moses’ blessings for the tribes of Israel, only 11 are listed. So I’m giving a digging deeper challenge: Which tribe is left out, and what...
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NL-Day109 Deuteronomy 31-32; Psalm 66; Acts 18
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
DEUTERONOMY 31-32:Yesterday in Deuteronomy Moses reviewed the covenant and again stressed that the choice is between life and death, and between experiencing blessings or curses. Be aware that in the poem dictated to Moses by the Lord, the Lord speaks of things that were in Israel’s future as if they had already taken place. This is called propleptic past tense, and is a feature of prophetic writings. PSALM 66:Our glorious God deserves glorious praise. Note that this psalm shows the importance of confessing our sins to God. ACTS 18:In Acts 17, opposition hounded the steps of Paul, Silas and...
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NL-Day108 Deuteronomy 29-30; Psalm 65; Acts 17
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
DEUTERONOMY 29-30:Yesterday in Deuteronomy Moses ratcheted up the fear index to the red level. And the scary thing about the threats he used to motivate the people to obedience is that they later all came true, as we will see in books like Judges and 2 Kings. PSALM 65:Today’s Psalm is a hymn of joy and mighty praise. ACTS 17:Yesterday we heard of how Paul and Silas were beaten and put in jail. This was as a result of freeing a slave girl from demonic bondage. Their overnight in jail led to the jailer and his family becoming followers of Christ. But the next day, as requested, Paul and Silas...
info_outline1SAMUEL 13:
In yesterday's story, God's Spirit came powerfully upon the new king Saul, and he succeeded in mobilizing all of Israel's fighting men. They won a stunning victory over king Nahash and the Ammonites. Afterwards, Samuel led the people in renewing Israel's call to Saul to be king and then Samuel confronted them all about staying true to the Lord.
PSALM 97:
Even though the psalms (and our translations) may cast a verse in the present tense, the intent of the writer may be about future things. Hebrew is very fuzzy as to verb tense. But also we may consider that all times are present to the Lord, and the psalmist may see things as happening or already happening in his vision that refer to future events. We see an example of this in today’s psalm.
ROMANS 4b:
The new way of being made right with God by means of fully believing which Paul has been talking about, is it a new religion, or is it based on the past? It is based on the past. We follow Abraham's example of believing, and this also fulfills the prophetic promises given to Abraham. Not only that, but we become heirs to the same promises. And note: Paul uses questions to propel his logical arguments all the way through Romans— just like I did at the start of this paragraph.
NLT Translation notes:
Rom. 4:3 For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his [fully believing//faith].”
4 When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned.
5 But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their [believing//faith] in God who forgives sinners.
9 Now, is this blessing only for the Jews, or is it also for uncircumcised [non-Jews//Gentiles]? Well, we have been saying that Abraham was counted as righteous by God because of his [fully believing//faith].
11 Circumcision was a sign that Abraham already had [believed//faith] and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous—even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have [believed//faith] but have not been circumcised. They are counted as righteous because of their [fully believing//faith].
12 And Abraham is also the spiritual father of those who have been circumcised, but only if they [believe the same way Abraham did//have the same kind of faith Abraham had] before he was circumcised.
13 Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by [fully believing//faith].
14 If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then [believing//faith] is not necessary and the promise is pointless.
16 So the promise is received by [believing//faith]. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we [believe like Abraham did//have faith like Abraham’s]. For Abraham is the father of all who believe.
[Here is my new attempt at rendering the meaning of this verse:] So the promise is received by [believing//faith]. It is given as a free gift. And if we become Abraham’s spiritual children by believing like Abraham did, we are certain to receive it— whether or not we live by the Law of Moses. For Abraham is the father of all who believe.]
19 And [Abraham did not weaken in his belief//Abraham’s faith did not weaken], even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb.
20 Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his [believing//faith] grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God.
21 He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises.
22 And because of [Abraham fully believing God’s promise//Abraham’s faith], God counted him as righteous.
25 [Jesus/He] was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.