Daily Archives: May 1, 2023

The Thief Comes …

When we left Judges chapter 9 we saw the false judge Abimelech (the concubine son of Gideon or Jerubbaal) ruled (not judged, but ruled) over Israel for three years. God allowed Abimelech to slaughter all but one of the other sons of Gideon (Jotham) to set up his kingdom. After three years, everything fell apart. The men of Shechem who conspired with Abimelech to do evil were utterly destroyed, and Abimelech himself died when a woman dropped a millstone on his head (Judges 9:53; 2 Samuel 11:21). This reminded me of what Jesus said:

Mark 9:42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.

Something interesting happens between chapters 9 and 10. The general pattern of the Book of Judges that we have seen so far is…

Israel rebels against God
God disciplines Israel with an unbelieving nation
Israel repents
God raises up a Judge to restore Israel

Failure To Repent And Pursuit Of Sin
Brings Hardening Of The Conscience

This pattern is disrupted in chapter 10. As we enter this chapter 10, we see two judges in the first FIVE verses of chapter 10:… Continue reading

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Knowing You Have Eternal Life

The power that a Christian has in this life is the certain knowledge that you have eternal life. Of all the Apostles, at 88 years old John was the longest lived. The other Apostles were stoned to death, beheaded, fed to wild beasts in the coliseum, set on fire, crucified, pierced through with spears, or stabbed to death. The world and its fallen leaders tried their best to kill John. They boiled him in oil. When that didn’t kill him, they exiled him to the desert Isle of Patmos, expecting him to starve to death. In Patmos Jesus met him, and took John to Heaven to see the glories of the coming ages.

John and the other Apostles had something that every Christian should have. They had a certain knowledge of eternal life. John said:

vs 13 These things have I written unto you that
believe on the name of the Son of God

If you have BELIEVED on the NAME (the Authority of) the SON OF GOD (Jesus) John is addressing you. What does this mean? It means to believe, as John MacArthur notes:… Continue reading

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