Be Clear In This Matter – I'm Following Jesus

King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34

Date: Monday, March 30, 2020
Chapters: Judges 1-2
Message: Be Clear In This Matter

Hello My Friend,

When I first started reading the chapters for today, I had no idea where God was leading me, then it occurred to me (I was asking God this morning why I felt so anxious and unfocused when I had nothing to be worried about), we are exactly where God wants us to be. With this pandemic that is going on, do you know how many people are praying, returning to God, coming to know Jesus for the first time? This is what it is all about. “Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.” – II Corinthians 7:9-11.

“For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of:” Our salvation can never be taken away from us, but we can lose the zeal we once had when we first got saved. Do you remember when you first God saved, or baptized? Baptism is the first step to take after we are saved, it is our public profession that we are only trusting that Jesus is our salvation. Nevertheless, we are eager, excited, we want to learn and know everything about Jesus, and we start to understand what it means to fear God and not want to sin against Him once we discover how sinful we actually were. Then something happens, life, and it can take a toll on our faith. And that is exactly why we are faced with these trials and tribulations, it puts our perspective back on God.

The Book of Judges contains twenty-one chapters, the author is Samuel, and it was written to Israel. The timeline for these events took place between 1425 BC to 1120 BC. The purpose of the book was to record Israel’s behavior after the death of Joshua, their constant sin, repentance, and the judges God sent to redeem them. What we are to learn from the book is that chastisement is God’s plan to get man to repent, and turn to the Saviour. Israel did not get very far without Joshua, in the beginning, there were still some God fearing elders around so some of them followed God’s command to drive out the Canaanites from the land, and were successful, an account is given of Judah, their success, and God’s hand in their ability to drive out most of them.

“Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand. And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him. And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men. And the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father in law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lieth in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people. And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron. And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said: and he expelled thence the three sons of Anak.” – Judges 1:1-4,16,19-20.

“And the children of the Kenite,” If you wondered what happened to Moses’ sons, here they are. Even though he was a Levites, his sons were only half of the bloodline, therefore, they could not be a part of the ministry. However, they were able to be among the rest of the tribes. God does choose certain people to serve Him in His ministry for specific jobs within it, but He never denies one soul the opportunity to come to Jesus, (Revelation 3:20). “but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley,” Do you wonder why God helped Judah drive the people out of mountains, but not the valley? Well, sometimes we need to be in the valley, which are the trials and tribulations we encounter along the way. We are great at praising God when we are on top of the mountain, but not so much when we are in the valley. Trials and tribulation are what keep us faithful and dependent on Him, and they grow our character into am image that resembles His Son, (I Timothy 4:6-10). Well, Judah had God with them, the others, not so much, well, He was with Ephraim for a little while.

“And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day. And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel: and the LORD was with them. And the house of Joseph sent to descry Bethel. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.) And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, Shew us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will shew thee mercy. And when he shewed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and all his family. And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz: which is the name thereof unto this day. Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns: but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out.” – Judges 1:21-28.

“and the LORD was with them.” So, why was God with Ephraim and not Benjamin or Manasseh? God has mercy on whom He has mercy. I imagine He was not with them because they were not with Him. If we want the blessings of God beyond our salvation, while we are here, we need to do more than just ask Christ to save us, we need to make an effort to keep His commands as well, (Titus 3:8). “but they let go the man and all his family.” This is more proof that you do not have to be of the children of Israel to be saved, you are saved by your faith alone, (Romans 2:9-11). “when Israel was strong,” This further proves that they were not all walking with God, they did not ask Him for help, unlike, Judah who asked Him what they were to do after Joshua died. Think about it, we have our pastors to guide us, but we need some common sense here as well, we need to learn to take some responsibility for our actions, think about the things we are doing and make an effort to seek God’s will, and not our own, (James 4:1-10). “and did not utterly drive them out.” Well, God did give the answer as to why He did not drive out all the people. And it is exactly as I said, they were not following Him. And let me tell you, when God comes to you and speaks to You directly, then you know He means business.

“And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you. And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed. Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died: That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not. Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.” – Joshua 2:1-3,12,15-16,21-23.

“And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim,” Remember, this is Jesus. He sees and knows everything we do. Therefore, we always need to be ready for the day He shows up, (I Thessalonians 5:1-8). “I will never break my covenant with you.” This is why no matter how many times we mess up, God never goes back on His promised to save all whom have put their faith and trust in His Son, (Ephesians 2:8). “I will not drive them out from before you;” Nothing or no one can take our salvation away. That does not mean that we will never suffer should we live a life of sin, it does mean that after we have suffered a while, we will be saved, (James 5:10). “Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges,” Do you think that God wants to see us suffer all the time, even if the suffering is caused by our own sin? He does not. He is always there to help us when we come to Him with sincere repentance. Do not think that God is going to help us get out of something if we are not sincere in repenting of our sin, and asking Him for help to overcome it, (Revelation 2:2-3).

“That through them I may prove Israel,” And this is why God leads all of us in the same mess, whether we are faithful or not, we are all in this, He is using this time to prove not only His unfaithful, but His faithful, and the ones who say they are His and are not. It is time for all Christians to unite as one. “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.” – I Peter 2:13-16.

Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for Your mercy and grace to save a sinner like me. This life You have given me, it is not always easy, it comes with many trials and tribulations, and yet it also comes with many joys, I am certainly more blessed with the little that You give me than the much I ever got out of the world. You promise the second we receive Your Son as our Saviour that You will never leave nor forsake us, and we know that is a promise that You will never break. You only ask Your people to love You with all their heart, and when we do, You will always be there for us, even to help us overcome sin should we come to You in repentance. Lord, Lead us and guide us through this trial, prove us, open our hearts, and show us what we need to do to show the world Your Son through all this. Give us Your power, Your strength, Your mercies, and grace, and deliver us from all evil. In ask this in Your name, Jesus, Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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