Reading for Today:
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Deuteronomy 17:1
Chapter 17 1 Thou shalt not sacrifice unto Jehovah thy God an ox, or a sheep, wherein is a blemish, `or' anything evil; for that is an abomination unto Jehovah thy God.
–18:22
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Psalms 37:37-40
37 Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright; For there is a `happy' end to the man of peace. 38 As for transgressors, they shall be destroyed together; The end of the wicked shall be cut off. 39 But the salvation of the righteous is of Jehovah; He is their stronghold in the time of trouble. 40 And Jehovah helpeth them, and rescueth them; He rescueth them from the wicked, and saveth them, Because they have taken refuge in him. Psalm 38 A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance.
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Proverbs 12:20-22
20 Deceit is in the heart of them that devise evil; But to the counsellors of peace is joy. 21 There shall no mischief happen to the righteous; But the wicked shall be filled with evil. 22 Lying lips are an abomination to Jehovah; But they that deal truly are his delight.
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Luke 4:1-30
Chapter 4 1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led in the Spirit in the wilderness 2 during forty days, being tempted of the devil. And he did eat nothing in those days: and when they were completed, he hungered. 3 And the devil said unto him, if thou art the Son of God, command this stone that it become bread. 4 And Jesus answered unto him, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone. 5 And he led him up, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said unto him, To thee will I give all this authority, and the glory of them: for it hath been delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. 7 If thou therefore wilt worship before me, it shall all be thine. 8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 9 And he led him to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: 10 for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee, to guard thee: 11 and, On their hands they shall bear thee up, Lest haply thou dash thy foot against a stone. 12 And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not make trial of the Lord thy God. 13 And when the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from him for a season. 14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and a fame went out concerning him through all the region round about. 15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. 16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and he entered, as his custom was, into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And he opened the book, and found the place where it was written, 18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor: He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovering of sight to the blind, To set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. 20 And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down: and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 And he began to say unto them, To-day hath this scripture been fulfilled in your ears. 22 And all bare him witness, and wondered at the words of grace which proceeded out of his mouth: and they said, Is not this Joseph's son? 23 And he said unto them, Doubtless ye will say unto me this parable, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done at Capernaum, do also here in thine own country. 24 And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is acceptable in his own country. 25 But of a truth I say unto you, There were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when there came a great famine over all the land; 26 and unto none of them was Elijah sent, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian. 28 And they were all filled with wrath in the synagogue, as they heard these things; 29 and they rose up, and cast him forth out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might throw him down headlong. 30 But he passing through the midst of them went his way.
Notes:
Deuteronomy 17:16, 17 multiply…multiply…multiply. Restrictions were placed on the king: 1) he must not acquire many horses; 2) he must not take multiple wives; and 3) he must not accumulate much silver and gold. The king was not to rely on military strength, political alliances, or wealth for his position and authority, but he was to look to the Lord. Solomon violated all of those prohibitions, while his father, David, violated the last two. Solomon’s wives brought idolatry into Jerusalem, which resulted in the kingdom being divided (1 Kin. 11:1–43).
Luke 4:21 this Scripture is fulfilled. This was an unambiguous claim that Jesus was the Messiah who fulfilled the prophecy. His hearers correctly understood His meaning but could not accept such lofty claims from One whom they knew so well as the carpenter’s son (v. 22; Matt. 13:55).
Luke 4:28 filled with wrath. This is Luke’s first mention of hostile opposition to Christ’s ministry. What seems to have sparked the Nazarenes’ fury was Christ’s suggestion that divine grace might be withheld from them yet extended to Gentiles.
Luke 4:30 passing through the midst of them. The implication is that this was a miraculous escape—the first of several similar incidents in which Jesus escaped a premature death at the hands of a mob (
John 7:30
30 They sought therefore to take him: and no man laid his hand on him, because his hour was not yet come.
; 8:59; 10:39).
DAY 28: Who is the Prophet that Moses refers to in
Deuteronomy 18:15
15 Jehovah thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
–19?
Read through 18:15–19 again where Moses promises that “the LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst.” The singular pronoun emphasizes the ultimate Prophet who was to come. Both the Old Testament (34:10) and the New Testament (
Acts 3:22
22 Moses indeed said, A prophet shall the Lord God raise up unto you from among your brethren, like unto me. To him shall ye hearken in all things whatsoever he shall speak unto you.
, 23; 7:37) interpret this passage as a reference to the coming Messiah, who, like Moses, would receive and preach divine revelation and lead His people (
John 1:21
21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elijah? And he saith, I am not. Art thou the prophet? And he answered, No.
, 25,43–45; 6:14; 7:40). In fact, Jesus was like Moses in several other ways: 1) He was spared death as a baby (Ex. 2;Matt. 2:13–23); 2) He renounced a royal court (Phil. 2:5–8; Heb. 11:24–27); 3) He had compassion on His people (Num. 27:17; Matt. 9:36); 4) He made intercession for the people (Deut. 9:18; Heb. 7:25); 5) He spoke with God face-to-face (Ex. 34:29, 30; 2 Cor. 3:7); and 6) He was the mediator of a covenant (Deut. 29:1; Heb. 8:6, 7).
In contrast to the true Prophet, Moses predicted there would be false prophets who would come to Israel, speaking not in the name of the Lord, but in the name of false gods (vv. 20–22). How could the people tell if a prophet was authentically speaking for God? Moses said, “If the thing does not happen,” it was not from God. The characteristic of false prophets is the failure of their predictions to always come true. Sometimes false prophets speak and it happens as they said, but they are representing false gods and trying to turn people from the true God—they must be rejected and executed (13:1–5). Other times, false prophets are more subtle and identify with the true God but speak lies. If ever a prophecy of such a prophet fails, he is shown to be false (Jer. 28:15–17; 29:30–32).
From The MacArthur Daily Bible Copyright © 2003. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson Bibles, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc, Nashville, TN 37214, www.thomasnelson.com.
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