February 20

Journey-through-the-Bible-with-us

READING FOR FEBRUARY 20, 2025: JUDGES 21, MATTHEW 14, PSALM 10:1-11                     JUDGES 21 In reading this chapter, keep in mind the concluding words: “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.” Although we see Israel sacrificing to the Lord at Bethel, we don’t read of them asking for or receiving direction from God. They realized that they had nearly wiped out one of the tribes of Israel, Benjamin—except for a few surviving men. They apparently had murdered all the marriageable women and made a pledge beforehand at an assembly at Mizpah never to give their daughters to Benjaminites to marry. Like many ancient people, they felt they could not go back on their pledge. In wracking their brains, they recalled they also made a pledge at Mizpah that anyone not present at the assembly should be killed. (That attendance policy is too tough.) When they found the people from Jabesh Gilead did not attend, they decided to kill everyone from that town except for the virgins. They took the virgins as wives for the surviving Benjamin men. 

After doing this, they found they still needed more virgins for their project to repopulate Benjamin. Their next step was to ask the still unmarried Benjaminites to attend an upcoming festival in Shiloh, just north of Bethel. While the virgins of Shiloh were dancing at the festival, the unmarried Benjaminites could hide in the bushes and grab a wife for themselves. Since their fathers didn’t officially give these girls away in marriage, it wouldn’t be considered break- ing their pledge not to offer their daughters to Benjaminites. These fathers should consider it just “taking one for the team.” Remember this entire two-part scheme doesn’t have sanction from God and should not be considered as normative behavior for God’s people.

MATTHEW 14  As a tetrarch, Herod Antipas had governing responsibility for one fourth of the territory previously governed by his father, Herod the Great. We already met the father from the story of the birth of Jesus. John the Baptist’s ministry was so prominent that he came into personal contact with this Herod Antipas. Since the focus of John the Baptist’s ministry was to call people to repentance, he was true to form and called out an obvious sin of Herod’s: divorcing his original wife and marrying his brother’s wife. This led to John’s imprisonment and eventual beheading, which still happens on occasion in the Middle East.

What are some principles to be drawn from this story? 

  • Jesus proclaimed John as great as any man in human history. Thus, it seems that Jesus approved of John not toning down his message of repentance for such an important man. Again, those of us who believe we should never judge another person’s behavior need to consider this. Perhaps review this study guide’s discussion for Matthew 7.

READINGS FOR FEBRUARY 20, 2025 CONTINUED: MATTHEW 14, PSALM 10:1-11  

  • There can be a human price to be paid for speaking truth, especially to those in power. 
  • Herod’s sense of entitlement led to forcing him to do what he did not want to do: behead John. Sin is not the way to freedom but will eventually lead to bondage. Take John’s way, not Herod's.

Jesus’s feeding of the 5,000 and His walking on the water are two of the most famous stories in the Bible. Perhaps just an observation about each is in order:   

  • Despite what we have been taught, America’s founding fathers were not all Christians. Thomas Jefferson, for example, created his own version of the New Testament by cutting out all the miracles. Many who are embarrassed by the supernatural today interpret this feeding of 5,000 without the miracle. They suggest it was the donation of the loaves and fish by one person that led everyone else to generously give their food to the cause. This interpretation makes no sense. Be forewarned, there are ministers today who also deny the miracle of the resurrection. This teaching is false and Satanic.
  • We, in our limited human capacity, cannot possibly understand reality and cannot imagine our potential, without the help of God. This leads us to distorted perceptions of our current experience and undue defeatism about the future. The disciples’ misperception of reality led them to think Jesus was a ghost. When Peter focused on the natural world instead of Jesus, he began to sink. How can we gain an accurate view of reality and of our highest potential? READ, MEDITATE ON, OBEY THE BIBLE.

PSALM 10:1-11 The first half of this Psalm is indeed only half the story. It portrays the visible dominance of the those who either 1) do not believe there is a God (vs. 4) or 2) don’t believe God is involved in our daily lives (vs.11). This might be accurate of current opinion in America.Remember, Jesus told us to seek first the Kingdom of Heaven. In response to a very similar question: “Is religion the most important thing in your life?” only 16% of all Americans said yes in 2022 vs. 20% in 2013. For those in the mainline denominations, such as the United Methodist Church, the figures were 6% in 2023 vs. 8% in 2013. Do we need to close our church doors? As the late radio commentator Paul Harvey used to say, stay tuned, tomorrow we will learn “the rest of the story.”