Posts with the tag “conquest”

Today's Reading: Hebrews 4:1-16Because the Israelites never fully obeyed God, they never entered into the rest that God intended for them to have in the Promised Land. So, as we've seen in the book of Judges, the people were constantly being conquered by the surrounding nations until they finally called out to God and God sent a deliverer.In Jesus, we can have full spiritual rest. Because our rela...  Read More

Today's Reading: Acts 13:1-52When Paul and Barnabas arrived at Antioch they went to the synagogue and used the Old Testament Scriptures to recount the history of Israel, including the period of the judges that we have been reading about. They revealed how that was all part of God's plan to bring salvation to all people through His Son, Jesus. And the people who heard the word begged them to come b...  Read More

If you're interested in learning more about the life of Samson, here's a link to a sermon series from three years ago:https://sermons.logos.com/series/101683-samson...  Read More

Use today to catch up on your reading if you've fallen behind....  Read More

Today's Reading: Judges 16:1-31Once again, Samson's weakness for women gets him in trouble. But this time, he violates the Nazirite vow that he had carried out since his birth and God's spirit leaves him and he loses all his strength. This should serve as a reminder that we all have weaknesses and if we don't turn them over to God and take steps to keep them from becoming a lifestyle, they will ev...  Read More

Today's Reading: Judges 15:1-20During this period of his life Samson is used by God to defeat the Philistines. Once again we see that he is empowered by the Holy Spirit to do feats of great strength. We also se Samson calling on the Lord here. He acknowledges that it is God who has enabled him to carry out the salvation of God's people from the Philistines.When something good happens in your life ...  Read More

Today's Reading: Judges 14:1-20This chapter reveals the tension in Samson's life. On one hand, he seeks only to satisfy his own desires, even when that violates God's commands. So he seeks a wife from among the Philistines saying "she is right in my eyes", even though God had commanded the Israelites not to intermarry with the surrounding nations. But in spite of that, God still chooses to use Sam...  Read More

Today's Reading: Judges 13:1-25For the next few days we'll be reading the account of Samson, who is undoubtedly the most well known of all the judges of Israel.Here in this chapter we have an appearance of "the angel of the Lord". Most Bible scholars believe, and I agree, that when that phrase is used in the Old Testament it is "Christophany", or pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus. (Note: This is o...  Read More

Today's Reading: Joshua 2:1-23The book of Judges covers the time period from the conquest of the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua until the kingdom is established. The "judges" are not the same kind of judicial officials that we are familiar with, but rather military leaders raised up by God to deliver Israel from their enemies.There is a repeated cycle throughout the book: Once the ge...  Read More

Consider some of the main takeaways from your reading this week....  Read More

Use today to catch up on your reading if you've fallen behind....  Read More

Today's Reading: Joshua 24:1-33Before his death, Joshua summons all the people and exhorts them to abandon all other gods and serve the Lord alone. The people promise to do that, even after Joshua warns them that they are incapable of doing that. So Israel renews their covenant with God. And until Joshua died, they generally kept their word. But as we'll see in the coming days, that didn't last fo...  Read More

Today's Reading: Joshua 6:1-27The Lord gives the city of Jericho to the Israelites in a very unique and unusual way. God had never worked this way in the past and He doesn't do it again in the future. A couple thoughts come to mind here:Sometimes God calls us to act in ways that don't make any sense to us. That is always an opportunity for us to trust God and obey Him even when we don't understand...  Read More

Today's Reading: Joshua 1:1-18Moses has died and God appoints Joshua to take his place. God commands Joshua to be "strong and courageous" three times in this passage. But God only gives that command after He has promised to be with Joshua and never leave him or forsake him. God also instructs Joshua that the way he will be prosperous and successful is to continually meditate on the law with the in...  Read More

Today's Reading: Deuteronomy 3:1-29God had already promised the land to the east of the Jordan River to the tribes of Rueben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh. But He required that all their fighting men accompany the rest of tribes as they entered into the Promised Land and conquered the people there. This map may help you see the areas promised to each tribe. God had already allowed Israel ...  Read More

Today's Reading: Deuteronomy 2:1-37While it's easy to get caught up in all the details in this chapter, the overall theme here is the sovereignty of God. God had determined exactly what land He was going to give Israel and which land He had reserved for others, like the descendants of Esau and Lot. And when the people obeyed God, He provided victory over their enemies, just as God had promised.God...  Read More

Take some time today to reflect on what you read this week and to pray about how God wants you to apply what you learned from the message this morning....  Read More

Use today to catch up if your behind and/or to reflect on what you read this week.This would also be a great time to prepare for corporate worship tomorrow. Read Hebrews 12:12-17 and ask God to prepare your heart to receive His Word....  Read More

Today's Reading: Deuteronomy 1:1-46Today we begin a new section in our reading plan. Joshua leads the nation into the land promised to Abraham, and the initial period of leadership by the judges is one of ups and downs. Deuteronomy means "second law". It is essentially a farewell address by Moses to the Israelites before they enter into the Promised Land. Even though the people disobeyed God when ...  Read More