Today's Readings and Stuff -- Saturday, 01 April 2017
Glad to see the end of a not-so-great week. It's been a challenge.
And VERY glad to see that we are now into the month of April. No, I'm not running around barefoot (outside) yet. But the 10-day forecast has everything above the freezing point. Not always by much (expecting 34° tonight), but above. Which is an improvement over February. Our "day" is to be 12 hours 42 minutes, and gaining nearly 3 minutes per day. MUCH better than we had in late December. So it is progress. Now, in the midst of all of that, there is a possibility of SNOW on NEXT Saturday, the 8th! Snow in the 2nd week of April. Yet, even if it occurs, no real accumulation expected, not with an expected high of 46 degrees. Just glad I'm not running an orchard, and yes I know those who do.
A lot in my mind during the night. Perhaps more later.
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The Old Testament reading today is chapters 6 and 7 of Judges. The account of Gideon.
Judges 6
1 And the
children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD
delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.
2 And the hand of Midian prevailed
against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel
made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong
holds. 3 And
so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the
Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against
them; 4 And
they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth,
till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither
sheep, nor ox, nor ass.
5 For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they
came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were
without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it.
6 And Israel was
greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of
Israel cried unto the LORD.
7 And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried
unto the LORD because of the Midianites,
8 That the LORD sent a prophet unto the
children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of
Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the
house of bondage; 9
And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the
hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and
gave you their land; 10
And I said unto you, I am the LORD your God; fear not the gods of the
Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice.
11 And there came
an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that
pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by
the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.
12 And the angel of the LORD appeared
unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of
valor. 13 And
Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is
all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers
told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the
LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the
Midianites. 14
And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou
shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?
15 And he
said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my
family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.
16 And the LORD
said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the
Midianites as one man.
17 And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy
sight, then show me a sign that thou talkest with me.
18 Depart not hence, I pray
thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it
before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again.
19 And Gideon went in,
and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the
flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it
out unto him under the oak, and presented it.
20 And the angel of God said unto him,
Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock,
and pour out the broth. And he did so.
21 Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end
of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the
unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed
the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed
out of his sight. 22
And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon
said, Alas, O LORD God! for because I have seen an angel of the LORD
face to face. 23
And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt
not die. 24
Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it
Jehovahshalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
25 And it came to
pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take thy father's
young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw
down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that
is by it: 26
And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, in
the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt
sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down.
27 Then Gideon took
ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto him: and so
it was, because he feared his father's household, and the men of the
city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.
28 And when the men of
the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast
down, and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock
was offered upon the altar that was built.
29 And they said one to another, Who hath
done this thing? And when they inquired and asked, they said, Gideon the
son of Joash hath done this thing.
30 Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring
out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of
Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it.
31 And Joash said unto
all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? he
that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet
morning: if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath
cast down his altar. 32
Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead
against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.
33 Then all the Midianites and the
Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and
went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel.
34 But the Spirit of the LORD came
upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him.
35 And he sent
messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was gathered after him:
and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali;
and they came up to meet them.
36 And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel
by mine hand, as thou hast said,
37 Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor;
and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth
beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as
thou hast said. 38
And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the
fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of
water. 39 And
Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will
speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the
fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground
let there be dew. 40
And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and
there was dew on all the ground.
Judges 7
1 Then
Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up
early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the
Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the
valley. 2 And
the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many
for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt
themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.
3 Now therefore go to,
proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and
afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there
returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten
thousand. 4
And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them
down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall
be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same
shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go
with thee, the same shall not go.
5 So he brought down the people unto the water: and
the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his
tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every
one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.
6 And the number of them that lapped,
putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the
rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.
7 And the LORD said
unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and
deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go
every man unto his place.
8 So the people took victuals in their hand, and their
trumpets: and he sent all the rest of Israel every man unto his tent,
and retained those three hundred men: and the host of Midian was beneath
him in the valley. 9
And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Arise,
get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand.
10 But if thou
fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host:
11 And thou shalt
hear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to
go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant unto
the outside of the armed men that were in the host.
12 And the Midianites and the
Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like
grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as
the sand by the sea side for multitude.
13 And when Gideon was come, behold, there was
a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a
dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian,
and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that
the tent lay along. 14
And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword
of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God
delivered Midian, and all the host.
15 And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of
the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and
returned into the host of Israel, and said, Arise; for the LORD hath
delivered into your hand the host of Midian.
16 And he divided the three hundred men
into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man's hand, with
empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers.
17 And he said unto them, Look on me,
and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it
shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do.
18 When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that
are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the
camp, and say, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.
19 So Gideon, and the hundred men
that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning
of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew
the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands.
20 And the three
companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps
in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow
withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.
21 And they stood every
man in his place round about the camp; and all the host ran, and cried,
and fled. 22
And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man's
sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host
fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto
Tabbath. 23
And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali, and
out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites.
24 And Gideon
sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim, saying, come down against
the Midianites, and take before them the waters unto Bethbarah and
Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and
took the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan.
25 And they took two princes of the
Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and
Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought
the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan.
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Our passage in the New Testament is Luke chapter 8, verses 1-21
Luke 8:1-21
1 And it came
to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village,
preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the
twelve were with him,
2 And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and
infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils,
3 And Joanna the
wife of Chuza Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, which
ministered unto him of their substance.
4 And when much people were gathered together,
and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable:
5 A sower went out to
sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was
trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.
6 And some fell upon a rock; and
as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked
moisture. 7
And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked
it. 8 And
other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold.
And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear,
let him hear. 9 And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? 10
And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom
of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and
hearing they might not understand.
11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12
Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and
taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and
be saved. 13
They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with
joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of
temptation fall away.
14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they
have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures
of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
15 But that on the good ground are
they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it,
and bring forth fruit with patience.
16 No man, when he hath lighted a candle,
covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a
candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light.
17 For nothing is secret,
that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not
be known and come abroad.
18 Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to
him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even
that which he seemeth to have.
19 Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and
could not come at him for the press.
20 And it was told him by certain which said, Thy
mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee.
21 And he answered and
said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word
of God, and do it.
