Tues.’s Devo- Rise Up

Read: Judges 1:1-2:9; Luke 21:29-22:13; Psalm 90:1-91:16; Proverbs 13:24-25 When Joshua died there was still territory left to conquer. The people asked the Lord who should be first to go up against the Canaanites and the answer they got was Judah. So Judah convinced Simeon to come with them since they would be fighting for their land also. God delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand and they killed 10,000 of them at Bezek. Bezek means “lightning” and their king was Adonibezek which means “lord of lightning”. They defeated the people but instead of killing Adonibezek, they cut off his thumbs and big toes. This kept him from standing or using a weapon but he was still breathing. He had done the same thing to others he had captured. *** When they brought him to Jerusalem, he died there. *** Next Judah took Jerusalem and set the city on fire. They took Kirjath Arba, “city of four” where they killed three kings. Othniel took Kirjath Sepher, “city of the book” and won the daughter of Caleb as his wife. She asked her father for land and land with water and was given them both. *** Judah and Simeonattacked the Canaanites in Zephath, “watchful” and changed the name to Hormah “destruction”. They also took Gaza and Ekron. *** Then we have a list of all the tribes that failed to drive out the enemies from their land: Benjamin, Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, Naphtali and Dan. Instead, they had made covenants with them to make them slaves and let them live. *** The Angel of the Lord confronted them for breaking their covenant with God to make covenants with the inhabitants of the land. He told them since they didn’t drive out the people he had told them to, their enemies would remain to be thorns in their sides and their gods would be snares to them. The people wept when they heard this. They called the name of that place, Bochum which means “weeping.” *** Joshua died at the age of 110 and was buried in the hills of Ephraim. *** In Luke, Jesus told his disciples to look at the fig tree and all the trees. (The fig tree represents Israel and all the other trees represent the Gentiles.) When they are all budding it will be a sign that summer was near and that the kingdom of God was near. That generation would not pass until he saw all of that happen. Seventy years later, Jerusalem fell. Jesus told them to pray that they would be awake to God and doing his will when it happened. It would be a judgement like the one in the end. *** During the day, Jesus was with the people teaching and doing miracles among them but at night he would go up on the mountain to pray. *** It was the time of Passover and the chief priests and scribes were planning how they could kill the lamb of God. Judas went to them and offered to betray Jesus for money and they agreed. *** On the day before the Passover meal, Jesus sent Peter and John to prepare the meal for them. Jesus told them to go to the city and follow the man carrying a pitcher of water. (Usually, men didn’t carry the water, the women did. That would be their clue.) This man would take them to the upper room where they would have their passover meal. *** Lord, you have prepared a table before us to feast with you. Nothing surprises you or can upset your plans. May we walk in assurance of your leading.