Acts 6 by Pastor David Groendyk At the very birth of the church in Acts 1–7, the believers are facing many different types of challenges and trials, both from outside the church and inside the church. There has been persecution and intimidation from local authorities (chs. 4–5), the threat of hypocrisy and lies from the church’s own members (ch. 5), and now they’re facing the issue of division. The specific problem is that certain widows…

Acts 5 Devotional By Pastor Lawrence Thus far in the book of Acts we have seen a vision and a foretaste of the ideal church in glory where everything seemed to be as it should be, but sadly this would not remain the norm. Matthew Henry points out in his commentary that chapter five “begins with the melancholy word ‘but’ which puts a stop to the pleasant and agreeable prospect of things which we had…

Acts 4 by Pastor Mark Hudson Acts 4 is a continuation of the event of healing the lame man in chapter 3.  In chapter 3, Peter preaches to the people at the portico of the temple.  As Peter and John were speaking to the people, the religious leaders came out and arrested them (4:1-4), put them in custody until the next day.  Yet, in the midst of this the report in v. 4 is that…

Acts 3 Devotional By Pastor Lawrence At three o’clock in the afternoon, or the ninth hour after sunrise, Peter and John went to the temple in order to pray, which was their custom having devoted themselves to “the prayers,” as it reads in Acts 2:42. There were three daily prayers that these first Jewish Christians kept in accordance with tradition praying at the third, sixth and ninth hour of the day. And when Peter and…

Acts 2 Devotional by Pastor Mark Hudson Acts 2 begins with a problem which prompts Peter to explain what is happening by a quote from the minor prophet Joel.  Then Peter preaches what is the first Christian sermon, so that 3,000 people join the church.  Next, we read of the most lively and warm fellowship we could hope for. This is such a beautiful and significant chapter. In verses 1-4, it appears the disciples are…

Acts 1 by Pastor David Groendyk Acts is a unique book in the New Testament, because it is the only history book we have in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, we have books like Joshua, 1–2 Samuel, and 1–2 Kings that record almost 1000 years of Israelite history, but in the New Testament, the only book like that is Acts. It only covers about 30 years of history, but what a lot happens…

Judges 21 Devotional By Pastor Lawrence What a depressing conclusion of the book of Judges, for it ends just as it started with there being no king in Israel and everyone doing what is right in his own eyes. But in these remaining chapters, Israel is not facing any external threats from the enemies of God but only internal threats from those whose hearts had been given to sexual immorality and idolatry. But after the…

Judges 20 by Pastor Mark Hudson Judges 20 is descriptive not normative or prescriptive, as if I needed to mention that.  In other words, these chapters are describing not prescribing these actions as normal.  In fact, what we witness is the opposite of what God intended for the conquest, taking, and living in the land of Israel.  Rather than kicking the Canaanites out of God’s promised land so holiness, justice, and righteousness would reign, Israel…

Judges 19 Devotional By Pastor Lawrence After the passing of the generation of Joshua, who famously said, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,” it appears that his descendants did not maintain that perspective and passion for God. In this chapter, another rogue Levite is wandering around the nation of Israel without any sense of calling from God. Instead of indulging in blatant idolatry as the previous Levite did, this one’s…

Judges 18 by Pastor Mark Hudson I always thought these last few chapters of Judges are stories when the Israelites go off the rails.  This is when the readers shakes his head, when she say, “Oh, no.  Not this.”  I remember when I first became a Christian, I heard a sermon called Ten Shekels and a shirt by Paris Reidhead  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d7mhAY5FVwm ) which may one of the best sermons on any chapter in Judges IMHO.…

Judges 17 by Pastor David Groendyk Something feels different about the last five chapters of the book of Judges and this story of Micah. We’re not introduced to anymore judges. There are no more hero-deliverers for the people. Chaos ensues. The book of Judges began with a double crisis, and now it ends with a double crisis. Judges 1–2 described a territorial crisis in which Israel did not take full possession of Canaan as well…

Judges 16 Devotional By Pastor Lawrence Unlike Joshua and his fellow spies, Samson doesn’t visit the house of the prostitute on a reconnaissance mission. No, he has fallen in love with a forbidden woman after sowing his royal oats freely throughout the land. Of course, Sampson’s folly isn’t really unique in that regard, but his case stands out particularly because he is one of the saviors/judges of Israel that is called not only to sanctify…

Judges 15 by Pastor Mark Hudson In our chapter, we discover a violent, destructive Samson.  Recall, that Samson stands out from his fellow Israelites.  In v. 11, the men of Judah have made peace with the Philistines.  Not Samson. In 13:5, “and he (God through Samson) shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”  In 14:4, “for he (presumably the Lord) was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines.”  Samson can deliver and…

Judges 13 by Pastor Mark Hudson Judges 13 is an extended and unusual birth narrative.  We do not often see this in Judges, nor do we often get a birth to death narrative of a person.  We start off with a truncated cycle.  If you can call it a cycle.  “The people again did what was evil, so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years” (v. 1).  There is…

Judges 12 by Pastor David Groendyk It’s not hard to distinguish where someone is from in America based on their accent. Vowels are pronounced much differently in Mississippi than they are in Michigan. (My wife and I frequently joke about how the words ‘pen’ and ‘pin’ sound exactly the same when our Mississippi friends say them.) In a different part of the country, you can tell a Bostonian from a mile away when you ask…

Judges 11 by Pastor Mark Hudson Now on to Jephthah in Judges 11.  Most take Jephthah as a rash person who made a myriad of mistakes.  Maybe that is true but there might be another way to look at this man.  This interpretation if from Prof. David Murray of the Protestant Reformed Seminary.  I listened to his podcast and sermon on Jephthah and found is convincing.  We will see if you do.  This is one…

Judges 10:6-18 by Pastor Mark Hudson Prof. David Murray suggests the following outline for the book of Judges 1          failures of the tribes of Israel 2-16     failures of the judges 17-21   failures of the Levites The Key verses are 17:6, 18:1, 19:1, 21:25 – there was no king in Israel, everyone did what was right in their own eyes.  For our devotional, we will concentrate on how this chapter sets up the story of Jephthah. …

Judges 9 Devotional By Pastor Lawrence Thus far in the book of Judges, we have seen at various points in Israel’s history how God has raised up men to save His people from their oppressors, and that each of these men, no matter how flawed and weak, still point the reader to the ultimate savior, Jesus Christ, who would save his people from their bondage to sin and Satan. But in this particular chapter we…

Judges 8 by Pastor Mark Hudson We begin chapter 8 with more conflict. Only this time we witness fighting within the tribes.  It appears pride is rearing its ugly head as proud Ephraim does not like its role in the battle.  “They accused him fiercely.”  Gideon is not done fighting and the criticism begins already. In chapter 6, Gideon fought against Baal.  In 7, it is the Midianites and in chapter 8, Gideon in fighting…

Judges 7 Pastor David Groendyk Pastor Lawrence wrote yesterday that sometimes we need to be reminded that we’re not as important as we think we are, but other times we need to be reminded that God can use us no matter what the circumstances are. In Judges 6, Gideon needed to learn the latter lesson. In Judges 7, Israel needed to learn the former. Verse 2 is the key to understanding this whole chapter, and…

Judges 6 Devotional By Pastor Lawrence Perhaps many times throughout our lives we need to be reminded that we are not as important as we think we are, not as essential to God’s overall plan, and not as humble as we ought to be. But there are other times in life in which we have the opposite problem when we don’t trust that God can use us at all in certain circumstances, and we think…