May - Reading 18

The Scriptures in today's schedule are:

Mark 14:43-52

Galatians 2

Psalm 111

2 Samuel 11-12

May God bless the reding of His Word.

 

Good morning -

On the 17th we read in 2Samuel about some of the successes of David militarily in his monarchy. There is little doubt that David had become a powerful king and ruled Israel very effectively under the guidance of the Lord. I found it interesting in verse 8:4 that David hamstrung so many of the chariot trained horses. It seems like he would have kept this war trained beast for his own arsenal.
In chapter 9 David honors the friendship that he had with Jonathan by taking in Mephibosheth. It's amazing that of the great house of saul, all that was left was one poor crippled young man.
Tonight in 2Samuel we read of David's great sin: his lust for Bathsheba and indirect murder of Uriah. By committing adultery with Bathsheba, both of them could have been subjected to death by the Levitical code. This is why Nathan says in verse 12:13 that David would not die. However, the sword would always be upon David's house and we will see this prophecy unfold in the deaths of his sons Ammon, Absolom, and Adonijah. Another point to notice in our reading of tonight is that in verse 11:4 we see that Bathsheba was "purified from her uncleanness." This lets the reader know that she was only seven days past her period and the pregnancy was unquestionably of David.
One quick side note, Uriah's Heap is the name of an old rock band. Uriah's heap was the symbol and result of David's sin. I always remember his name from this.

In Mark on the 17th we read about Christ's prayers in Gathsemene and the disappointment that he felt in His disciples. Tonight we read about the arrest and pick up one more detail from Mark, the young man in linen who fled last. My text notes say that some scholars interpret this figure to be John Mark, the author of this Gospel and the fact that there were no undergarments indicate that he prepared hurriedly to dress in order to follow Christ.

Now a few notes about the Book of Galatians. Galatians is considered a great apologetic and stands well as a defense of justification through faith. The Galatians were inundated by "Judaizers". This sect believed that certain practices of the Jewish Covenant were still necessary for salvation, or, in other words, justification through works. The Book of Galatians is a cornerstone of the theologies that arose from the Reformation. Scholars are unsure of exactly who the Galatians were. There are two schools of thought: 1) the North Galatian theory stating that the Galatians were in north-central Asia-Minor, and 2) the South Galatian theory which states that the Galatians were in the southern Roman province of Galatia which Paul had visited in his first missionary journey.

So far in this Epistle, we have read that Paul was called by God to proclaim the Gospel and that he was accepted by the other Apostles for this task. It is interesting to me that Peter was called to witness to the Jews and he always seemed rooted in his old Jewish teachings of dietary law. Remember his vision in Acts with the sheet being lowered and the Spirit telling him to eat. Now in Galatians 2 Paul reveals that he was still backsliding into his old practices.

If there is anyone out there who follws these posting I am sincerely sorry for the lag yesterday. I'm sure you've noticed that the BB is undergoing some house cleaning and I had some duties to which to attend. When Margie goes to have the baby in July, I hope to have someone post these for me if I can get them written out ahead of time. But even if I can't, PLEASE always continue your reading. I hope that we will be doing this again in 2003, then it will be one of you who may take a turn at this.

May God bless you

- Clint

 

The Scriptures for 5/19 are:

Mark 14:53-65

Galatians 3:1-14

Psalm 112

2 Samuel 13

 

The Scriptures for 5/19 are:

Mark 14:53-65

Galatians 3:1-14

Psalm 112

2 Samuel 13

 

The Scriptures for 5/19 are:

Mark 14:53-65

Galatians 3:1-14

Psalm 112

2 Samuel 13

 

The Scriptures for 5/19 are:

Mark 14:53-65

Galatians 3:1-14

Psalm 112

2 Samuel 13

 

The Scriptures for 5/19 are:

Mark 14:53-65

Galatians 3:1-14

Psalm 112

2 Samuel 13