Tues.’s Devo - The Fields Are Ripe for Harvesting

Read: Judges 21:1-Ruth 1:22; John 4:4-42; Psalm 105:1-15; Proverbs 14:25 There were only 600 men left in the whole tribe of Benjamin. The men of Israel met to discuss what would become of the tribe. They had all sworn not to let them marry their daughters, so the tribe would eventually die off. They wept, thinking they were losing one of their tribes and asked the Lord for guidance. *** There was one town who had not come up to Mizpah to swear not to let their daughters marry a Benjaminite, and that town was Jabesh-gilead. They sent 12,000 of their warriors to strike down the whole town and take all its young virgins as brides for the 600 Benjaminites. They only found 400 virgins. *** They came up with another plan to get the remaining 200. Every year at Shiloh they celebrated a festival where all the young virgins would do a dance. They told the 200 men who still needed wives to go to wait in the bushes until the dance and then go steal one of the women and take her as their bride. Then their fathers could not say that they “gave" their daughter to them. “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” *** A famine broke out in the land of Israel. One man took his wife and two sons to live in Moab to wait out the famine. The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife was Naomi, and his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They lived in Moab around 10 years. *** Elimelech died and Mahlon and Chilion eventually married wives from Moab named Oprah and Ruth. Then, Mahlon and Chilion both died without having a child. Ruth learned that the famine was over and decided to go home. Her two daughter-in-laws traveled with her at first, but Naomi encouraged them to go back home and remarry there. Orpah returned to Moab but Ruth clung to Naomi and refused to return. She swore that Ruth’s god would be her god and she would belong to Ruth’s people. She went with her to Bethlehem. *** The whole town of Bethlehem was glad to have Naomi return home and sad to hear she was a widow with no sons. It was the beginning of barley harvest. *** In John, Jesus came to a town in Samaria called Sychar. This was near the land given to Joseph and had Jacob’s well there. Jesus sat beside the well while the disciples went into town to buy food. Eventually, a woman from Samaria came to draw water. *** Jesus asked her for a drink. The women asked why he would ask for water from a Samaritan because the Jews hated the Samaritans. Jesus told her that if she knew who he was she would be asking him for a drink of water and he would give her living water. She questioned how he would be able to give her living water when he didn’t even have anything to draw water with. Was he greater that their father Jacob who dug this well? *** Jesus explained that everyone who drank from this well would be thirsty again, but he could give her water that would satisfy her thirst forever because it is eternal. She wanted that water. *** Jesus then began to deal with her heart. He asked her to go and call her husband. She said she had no husband. Jesus agreed and said she had had five husbands and the one she was living with she wasn’t even married to. She perceived that Jesus was a prophet since he knew this about her. She decided to ask her a question she had had about religion. Her fathers had worshiped on the mountain they were standing on, yet the Jews said that people should worship the Lord in Jerusalem. *** Jesus told her that it didn’t matter where you worshiped the Lord as long as you worshiped him from your heart. God is spirit and must be worshiped in spirit and in truth. *** She said that she knew the Messiah was coming and he would tell them what was truth. Jesus then told her that he was the Messiah. *** The disciples returned and marveled that Jesus was talking alone with a woman. She left and went back to her town and told everyone to come and see the man who told her everything she ever did. Could he be the Christ? *** The disciples gave Jesus some of the food they bought, but he was not hungry for natural food. He explained that he was sustained by doing the will of God. The world was ripe for harvesting souls. Many had gone before them and planted seeds into people’s hearts for this very day when they would reap their souls for eternity. *** Many from the town came out to hear Jesus because of the testimony of the woman. They asked Jesus to stay for a while there and teach them. He stayed for two days and many came to believe that he was the Christ. *** Both Ruth and the woman at the well were hungry for something that money couldn’t buy and this world could not give. They were willing to risk it all to find it. *** Lord, may we see the world as Jesus saw it - a field ready to be harvested. May we reap where others have sown and bring many to salvation.

Mon.’s Devo - The Levite and His Concubine

Read: Judges 19:1-20:48; John 3:22-4:3; Psal 104:24-35; Proverbs 14:22-24 This is the hardest story for me to read every year. It begins with “there was no king in Israel.” This tells us that there was no one leading them so they were doing what was right in their own eyes. God wanted to open their eyes to the sin they were in so we have this story. *** This story is about a Levite who was traveling in Ephraim and found a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. I had to look up the meaning of the difference between a concubine and a wife. A wife was a legally and socially recognized partner with full marital rights, while a concubine was a recognized relationship but without the full legal, social, or religious status of a wife. This Levite’s concubine was unfaithful and ran away and went back home. The Levite went to try to convince her to come back to him. The girl’s father welcomed the Levite into his home and they drank and partied for several nights. Finally, the Levite could stay no longer and took his wife and left in the late afternoon. *** They came first to Jebus but didn’t want to stay there since it was not an Israelite town. They went on to Gibeah which was in the land of Benjamin. They sat in the town square waiting for someone to welcome them into their home to spend the night. Finally an old man came who was from Ephraim but was working in Benjamin. He invited them to come to his house to spend the night. *** The townspeople came and surrounded the house and beat on the door demanding that they bring out the man so they could have sex with him. (This is the same thing that the men of Sodom did to Lot’s house.) Instead, the Levite threw out his concubine so they could violate her. *** The next morning when the Levite was ready to go, he found his wife dead by the door. He cut her body into 12 pieces and sent the pieces throughout the territory of Israel. The people were appalled and met at Mizpah. Four hundred thousand soldiers came to fight for the Levite. *** They went down to Gibeah and demanded that the Benjaminites hand over the evil men of their town. They refused to do that and formed an army of 33,000 Benjaminites. *** The Israelites went to Bethel to ask the Lord which tribe should lead the battle and the Lord said that Judah should go first. The first two days of battle did not go well for the Israelites but then they fasted and wept before the Lord and gave offerings. They asked the Lord if they should continue fighting and he said they should. They did an ambush to draw the people out of the city. When they drew the people out of the city, they were able to enter the city and burn it to the ground and kill all of the inhabitants. The survivors of Benjamin fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon. Six hundred made it safely to the rock and stayed there for four months. *** In John, John was having a conversation with his followers. They were concerned that Jesus was drawing more attention and followers than John. John explained that this is the plan. Jesus was from heaven which supersedes all born of the earth. He can tell them about heavenly things because he has been there. The Father loves his Son and has begin everything to him. Whoever believes in him has eternal life, whoever does not obey him will face the wrath of God. *** Lord, will you show us the secrets hidden in your Word and give us understanding. We trust that all you say is true and gives life.

Sun.’s Devo - You Must Be Born Again

Read: Judges 17:1-18:31; John 3:1-21; Psalm 104:1-23; Proverbs 14:20-21 How quickly the children of Israel turned to sin and carved idols. Micah lived in Ephraim with his mother. He confessed to her that he had stolen 1,100 silver coins from her. She was so happy to get the money back, she dedicated it to the Lord and sent her son with 200 pieces of silver to the silversmith to make them a carved image and a metal image. They built a shrine and made an ephod for their household gods. Micah ordered one of his sons to become their priest. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes. There was no king in Israel which means that God was not their king. *** A young Levite came their way looking for a place to serve. Micah brought him into his home and treated him as a son. He let him become their priest. *** Meanwhile, the tribe of Dan had still not taken their land from the enemies. They were traveling to their inheritance to scout out the land. They came to Micah’s house and saw that he had a Levite priest. They coveted Micah’s gods, the ephod, and the Levite. *** The men of Dan found a secluded town of the Sidonians that was wealthy and had no dealings with anyone else. They brought back the report to the rest of their tribe and 600 of them went to take the city. *** They stopped by Micah’s house and stole all his gods and his ephod. They asked the Levite to come and be a priest over their tribe and he agreed. *** Micah chased them and protested what they had done, but it was their 600 warriors, against him and his household, so he had to let them go. *** They attacked the city of Laish by surprise and killed all its inhabitants, then they burned the city with fire. They rebuilt the city and lived in it and named it Dan. They set up the carved images. The young priest, whose name was Jonathan, was their priest until the land went into captivity. Jonathan was the son of Gershom, Moses’ son. *** In John, there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus. He came to see Jesus at night and told him that he knew he was a teacher from God because no one could do the things he was doing unless God was with him. Jesus told Nicodemus that unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus was only seeing the things Jesus was doing, he was not seeing Jesus as the Messiah. Nicodemus, who was a teacher of the law could not understand that Jesus was telling him that his spirit must be born again. *** Jesus told him that God sent him to the world because God loves the world and wants everyone to be saved, not condemned. But, the light that has now come to the earth would condemn those who loved darkness. This light would expose what they did in darkness. But, those who walk in the light will be drawn to the light and understand that Jesus came from God. *** Lord, may you expose the evil in the world and the sin that is in us. May we learn truth so we can be totally set free to manifest your goodness in the earth.

Sat.’s Devo - Samson - The Story of Redemption

Read: Judges 15:1-16:31; John 2:1-25; Psalm 103:1-22; Proverbs 14:17-19 When Samson had cooled down after the wedding party, he went back to get his bride. When he found out her father had given her to another man, he felt justified in what he was about to do to the Philistines. He took 300 foxes and tied torches to their tails, then he lit the torches and let the foxes run through their fields. It was the time of the wheat harvest which means it was around the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost. The fire burned up their stacked grain, their standing grain and their olive orchards. *** Pentecost is associated with the spreading of the fire of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is also associated with the oil. In the story of Samson it was a time of the burning of the harvest of the evil. In the New Testament it was the time of setting on fire the hearts of the righteous. Spiritual warfare is also a theme of Pentecost. *** When the Philistines found out who had burned up their fields and why, they went and burned the woman and her house. Samson then when and struck the ones who killed his fiancé and then went and stayed in the cleft of the rock in Etam. *** Three thousand men came from Judah to reason with Samson and remind him that the Philistines ruled over them and he was stirring up trouble of them. Samson told the Israelites not to kill him, but to turn him over to the Philistines. They bound him with new ropes and gave him over to the Philistines. When the Philistines came to take Samson, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and the ropes melted off his hands. He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey and killed 1,000 of them. *** We see another Pentecost theme. When God gave the law to Moses on the first Pentecost, three thousand lost their lives because they made the golden calf. In the New Testament, on the day of Pentecost, three thousand were saved out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. In the story of Samson, three thousand from Judah came to Samson to reason with him. Later will read that three thousand were killed. *** After the battle of one against a thousand, Samson was very thirsty and cried out to the Lord. God opened the hollow place in Lehi and it poured out water. *** Then, Samson went down to Gaza, another Philistine royal city and spent the night with a prostitute. When the Philistines learned he was there, they set an ambush for him. They planned to kill him in the morning. But, Samson left at midnight and ripped the gates the city out of the ground and carried them and set them on top of at the hill in front of Hebron. The gates of hell were not going to prevail against Samson! *** Samson fell in love with a woman from Sorek who would become his downfall. The lords of the Philistines came to Delilah and bribed her with 1,100 pieces of silver to find out the source of Samson’s strength. It took a while, but she finally drug it out of him. His strength was in his Nazarite vow not to cut his hair. *** She got him to sleep in her lap and had the barber come in and shave off his seven locks of hair. Then he was easily captured. They gouged out his eyes and put in prison. *** In prison, his hair began to grow and his strength grew with it. The Philistines planned to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and bring out Samson to show how their god had given Samson to them. They brought out blind Samson to tease him as their entertainment. He asked the guard to let him feel the pillars that the house rested on. The house had about 3,000 men and women watching. *** Samson cried out to the Lord for vengeance and prayed for strength. As he pushed on the pillars, the whole house came down and killed three thousand. He killed more in his death than in his life. Jesus, also, killed more of his enemies in his death than in his life. *** In John, it was the third day. There was a wedding in Cana and Jesus and his disciples were invited to attend. They ran out of wine and Jesus mother came to Jesus to do something. Jesus didn’t think his hour had come but his mother thought differently. *** Jesus obeyed his mother and told the servants to fill the six stone water jars, that were used for Jewish purification rites, with water. Then he told them to draw some of it and take it to the master of the feast. When he tasted the wine, he said that most people served the good wine first. When the people are good and drunk they bring out the poor wine, but you have saved the good wine till now. *** This was Jesus first public miracle. *** It was the time of the Passover and Jesus went to Jerusalem. He found the money-changers who sold sacrificial animals to the people. They were in the temple. Jesus made a whip of cords and drove them out and overturned their tables. He told them that his Father’s house was not a house of trade. When the Jews asked Jesus for a sign to show them how he had the authority to do such things, Jesus told them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” They didn’t understand this and said it took 46 years to build this temple, how would he build it back in three? They would find out later that he was speaking of his body. *** During the feast, many came to believe in Jesus. But, Jesus knew he couldn’t trust the hearts of man. *** Lord, may we have your heart that is trustworthy. May we ever be thankful for the miracle of salvation.

Fri.’s Devo - Jesus, the Ladder to God

Read: Judges 13:1-14:20; John 1:29-51; Psalm 102:1-28; Proverbs 14:15-16 Israel went into idolatry again, so the Lord gave them over to the Philistines who oppressed them for 40 years. *** God was ready to begin delivering Israel. God went, in angel form, to a barren woman married to Manoa from the tribe of Dan. He told her that she would have a son. She was to drink no wine or strong drink and eat only what was clean. He would be born a Nazarite and stay one until he died. He would begin to save Israel from the Philistines. *** She told her husband what the angel had said. Manoa prayed that the angel would return and tell him what the mission would be for their son. The angel did return and told him just what he had told his wife. Manoah wanted to feed the angel, but God told him that he could offer a burnt offering, instead. Manoah asked the angel what his name was so that when what he said happened, he could honor that name. God told him that his name was a wonderful secret. Then he wondrously disappeared into heaven in the flames of the sacrifice. *** Manoah’s wife did have a son and they named him Samson which means “little sun.” When you think of God being “the Sun,” then Samson was His light dawning on the earth. We are God’s little suns and we are to walk in the power of the Lord like Samson did. *** Samson liked to hang out in the Philistine towns and fell in love with a Philistine woman. When he told his parents, they were not happy he had chosen a Philistine woman instead an Israelite, but they agreed to go meet her and her family. On their way, a lion attacked Samson. The Spirit of the Lord came on him and he tore the lion apart with his bare hands. He told no one about it. *** When Samson returned he saw the dead lion beside the road, and bees had made honey in its carcass. He scraped some of it and ate it. This gave him an idea about a riddle for his wedding. *** At the wedding feast, Samson proposed his riddle to the 30 friends. He gave them 7 days to answer it, and the loser would give the winner 30 linen garments and 30 changes of clothes. *** Around the fourth day, when they still hadn’t figured out his riddle, the men went to Samson’s fiancé and told her that if she didn’t tell them the answer, they would burn her and her father’s house down. She nagged Samson day after day till he finally broke on the last day and told her. She quickly told her friends and they brought their answer to Samson. *** Samson knew where they had gotten their answer and was so mad, he went to Ashkelon and killed 30 men and took their clothes and brought them to the 30 “friends.” Then he went home very angry. The woman’s father gave Samson’s fiancé to his best man to wed. *** In the New Testament, John had just told the Pharisees that he was not the Christ, but the Christ was coming. The next day, John saw Jesus and proclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” This was the man he was talking about the day before. He told them how when he baptized Jesus, he saw the Spirit of God descend on Jesus and remained there. *** The next day, John saw Jesus again and told his two disciples that he was the Lamb of God. John’s two disciples then began following Jesus. When Jesus noticed them following, he asked them what they were looking for. One of these men was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. Andrew went and got Peter and when Jesus saw Peter he told him he would be called Cephas which means “a stone.” *** Just like Samson was the little sun, Peter was the little stone from Jesus, who was the Rock. *** The next day, Jesus went to Galilee and found Philip to be his disciple. Philip went and got Nathanael, but Nathanael was hesitant when he learned Jesus was from Nazareth. When Jesus told Nathanael he had seen him under the fig tree, this meant something so profound to Nathanael that he professed that Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus told him he would see greater things than that. He would see heaven opened and God’s angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man. *** Remember when Jacob saw angels ascending and descending on the ladder. Jesus is the ladder between heaven and earth. He is the only way to God. *** Lord, thank you that we have a ladder to you and his name is Jesus. Thank you that you have called us to be your disciples, your children and your friend.

Thurs.’s Devo - The Word

Read: Judges 11:1-12:15; John 1:1-28; Psalm 101:1-8; Proverbs 14:13-14 Gilead was the founder of his town. He had many sons from his wife and one son named Jephthah, from a prostitute. Jephthah was a mighty warrior but the sons of Gilead’s wife threw Jephthah out of the house because they didn’t want to share their inheritance with him. *** The Ammonites came up against Israel to defeat it, so the elders of Gilead went and brought Jephthah back to help. They promised him he could rule over them if he would help them fight. Jephthah agreed and sent a message to the king of the Ammonites asking him why he was coming to fight them. He explained that he was coming to get his land back from when Moses led the people out of Egypt. Moses had fought the king of Sihon and took his land and drove them out. They wanted it back, peacefully. *** This land had been occupied by the Ammonites and the king of Sihon, but when they waged war on Moses, God gave it to the Israelites. The tribes of Gad, Manasseh and the half tribe of Manasseh lived in their land now. Jephthah told the king that they should possess the land God gives them and the Ammonites should possess the land their god, Chemosh gives them. But, God had given Israel this land. *** The king of Ammon wouldn’t listen to Ahimelech. The Spirit of the Lord was with Jephthah as he took his army to meet the Ammonites. Jephthah pledged that when God gave him victory over the Ammonites, he would sacrifice to him the first thing that came out of the door of his house, thinking it would be an animal. *** God did give him a great victory and when he returned home, the first thing to come out of his house was his only daughter. She came out with her tambourine, dancing. *** Jephthah was distraught and told her what he had vowed. She asked for two months first to go wander the mountains and mourn the fact that she would never become a wife and a mother. She took some friends with her, then returned and he sacrificed his daughter to the Lord. *** Keep in mind, this was the days of the judges where man did what was right in their own eyes. *** After Jephthah’s great victory and sad ending, the people of Ephraim came to fight against Jephthah because he hadn’t invited them to fight with them against the Ammonites. Jephthah told them he did ask them to help and they had refused, so he did it himself and God gave him the victory. *** Now, Jephthah had to fight the army of Ephraim. They took the fords of Jordan that had belonged to Ephraim. The Gileadites refused to allow anyone from Ephraim to cross over the Jordan. They would make them say the word Shibboleth and if they could’t pronounce the “h”, they would know they were from Ephraim and kill them. They killed 42,000 Ephraimites at this ford. *** Jephthah judged Israel for 6 years then died. Ezban judged the next 7 years, and Elon the next 10. After him Abdon judged Israel for 8 years. *** We start reading John today, which begins the same way Genesis does. John explains that Jesus was with God from the beginning when he created the earth. When God said, “Let there be light,” he was referring to Jesus as the light. *** John was sent by God to witness to the people about this light, the true light, who was Jesus. He said the world wouldn’t receive Jesus, but those that did, would have the right to be his children. These were the people who were born of God. *** Jesus was God’s Word that became flesh and lived on earth among people. He showed us what the Father was - full of grace and truth. *** The Jews sent priests and Levites to ask John if he was the Christ. He said that he was not the Christ or a prophet, but a voice, crying in the wilderness to get their lives straight and make a way in their hearts for the Christ. When they asked him why he baptized, if he was not the Christ or a prophet, and he said that there was one coming who was much more worthy. He would baptize, not with water, but with fire. *** Lord, thank you for your baptism. May you baptize us fresh with your fire and your power.

Wed.’s Devo - A Turn of Events

Read: Judges 9:22-10:18; Luke 24:13-53; Psalm 100:1-5; Proverbs 14:11-12 The leaders of Shechem had agreed to let Abimelech kill Gideon’s sons and rule over them, but God was not pleased. After three years, God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem to punish them for killing Gideon’s sons. The leaders robbed from anyone coming their way and Abimelech found this out. *** A new man, Gaal, moved to Shechem and the leaders liked them. He hosted a huge party and didn’t invite Abimelech. At the party, Gaal told the men that if he was in charge, he would get rid of Abimelech. *** Zebul, the ruler of Shechem reported what Gaal had said to Abimelech. He suggested that Abimelech do a surprise attack against Gaal early the next morning. When Gaal came to the city that next day, he stood at the entrance of the gate of the city and told Zebul that it looked like people coming down from the mountaintops. Zebul told him it was just shadows so he would’t have time to stage a counterattack. *** When Abimelech’s men got close enough for Gaal to see who they really were, Zebul said, “Where is your mouth now, you who said, ‘Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him.’” Now, Gaal and his men had to fight them. Abimelech chased him and his men out of town and forbid them to live in Shechem. *** The next day, people in the city came out to the field and Abimelech ambushed them and killed them. He razed the city of Shechem and sowed it with salt. *** The leaders of the Tower of Shechem heard what had happened and had entered the stronghold of El-berith. Abimelech had his men gather brushwood and set it on fire, killing everyone in the tower. One thousand men and women died in the tower. *** Then Abimelech went to Thebes and captured it. The people fled to their tower for refuge. Abimelech was making a fire to burn it down like he had done in Shechem, but a woman threw a millstone down from the tower and it fell on Abimelech’s head, crushing his skull. He had his armor-bearer kill him so he wouldn’t die by the hand of a woman. *** Abimelech had reaped what he sowed and the curse of Jotham had come upon the men of Shechem for killing all the sons of Gideon. *** Another judge rose up to save Israel whose name was Tola from Issachar. He judged Israel for 23 years. *** Then Jair from Gilead judged Israel for 22 years. After him, Israel did evil and gave themselves to worship Baal, Ashtaroth, and the gods of the nations they were told to defeat. God was so angry, he gave them over to the Philistines who oppressed them for 18 years. *** They finally cried out to the Lord to save them, but the Lord was done with saving them. He told them to go cry out to the gods they had chosen to serve over him. When the Lord said this, the people got serious and put away their false gods and served the Lord. *** God saw their repentance and the oppression they were under. The Ammonites encamped in Gilead against the people of Israel. Israel’s leaders met at Mizpah and discussed finding a man to lead them to battle. *** In Luke, Jesus had died and rose from the dead. Two of the men, who were returning from the Passover, were on their way to Emmaus which was about 7 miles from Jerusalem. They were discussing the Passover and Jesus’ death on the cross. Jesus walked up beside them and asked them what they were talking about. *** The two men, told of how Jesus had died on the cross and they had thought he was the Messiah. Then, the women had found his tomb empty and angels told them that Jesus was alive. *** Jesus then told them what all the prophets, starting with Moses had said about this very day. When they arrived at Emmaus, they urged Jesus to come stay with them for the night. He agreed and as they sat to eat, he took the bread and blessed it. When he broke it and gave it to them, their eyes were opened and they recognized him. He suddenly disappeared. They were so excited they immediately got up and returned to Jerusalem to tell the disciples. *** As they were telling the disciples, Jesus appeared and stood with them. He told them not to be depressed, this was all part of the plan. He ate with them and explained through scripture what had happened and why. Now, they would be his witnesses to the world. But, they were to wait in the city until he gives them power from heaven. *** He led them out to Bethany and blessed them then departed and told them to meet him in Jerusalem. *** Lord, it is amazing how quickly you can turn our sorrow to joy. May we remember that everything works for the good for those who love the Lord and are called to his purposes.