Mon.’s Devo - The Resurrection

Read: Judges 8:18-9:21; Luke 23:44-24:12; Psalm 99:1-9; Proverbs 14:9-10 Gideon asked the two kings he had captured, Zebah and Zalmunna to describe the men they had killed at Tabor. He described his family so Gideon killed them. *** The Israelites asked Gideon, then his son, then his grandson to be their king but he refused and told them that the Lord was their king, then he did something very foolish. He asked for a gold earring from each of them and made a sacred ephod out of it which ended up being worshipped and a snare to all of them. *** Gideon had 70 sons and many wives. One of his concubines had a son named Abimelech. When Gideon died the people went back to worshipping Baal, the very thing Gideon delivered them from. *** Abimelech went to Shechem and asked his uncle to speak on his behalf and ask the people if they would rather be ruled by all of Gideon’s 70 sons or by him who was from Shechem and was closely related to them. They chose Abimelech. They gave him 70 silver coins which he used to hire mercenaries to fight for him. They went with him to Ophrah and killed all 70 of Gideon’s sons except for the youngest who escaped. His name was Jotham. They then made Abimelech their king. *** Jothan climbed up to the top of Mt. Gerizim (where the blessings were read many years before) and shouted to them a parable. It was about trees that represented Gideon, his son and his grandson who were asked to rule over them and refused. Then the last tree was a thornbush which represented Abimelech. Jotham reminded them of all his father had done to deliver them from the Midianites and confronted them with what they were doing now. He cursed Abimelech and the town with fire, then escaped to Beer. *** In Luke, Jesus was on the cross and it grew dark from noon till three. You can read a detailed account of what happened during that three hours in 2 Samuel 22 and in Psalm 18. The curtain in the Temple was torn from the top, down. This was an invitation that all can come into his holy presence. Jesus gave his spirit into God’s hands and died. *** When the Roman soldiers saw all this, they were convinced Jesus was an innocent man. Everyone there went home sorrowful. His followers watched from afar. *** Joseph of Arimathea was a member of the Jewish high council and had not been in favor of killing Christ. He went to Pilate and was granted Jesus’ body. He took it down and wrapped it in linen and laid it in a new tomb. He had to hurry before the Sabbath began. *** The day after the Sabbath, early in the morning the women went to the tomb with spices for his body. The stone had been rolled away and they went in and saw two angels in dazzling white. They asked them why they were looking for the living one here in a grave. They reminded them of Jesus words that he would rise from the dead on the third day. *** They remembered and ran to tell the disciples what they had found. The men didn’t believe them but Peter jumped up and ran to the tomb and found it empty. *** Remember that in the Old Testament, Joseph told them not to leave his bones in Egypt but to take them to the promised land. That Joseph had to empty his tomb to get to his promised land and “sleep with his fathers” (Kings 2:10 KJV), just as this Joseph’s tomb was emptied so Jesus could go to his father’s house where he rests. *** Lord, thank you for the resurrection! Because you lived, we live. May we shout your praises and live daily in resurrection power.