Search
Verse 2:"Avenge the sons of Israel on the Midianites; afterward you shall be gathered to your people." May we overcome the enemy before we die.
Verse 3:"And Moses spoke to the people, saying, Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian, to execute Jehovah's vengeance on Midian." When we fight with Satan, we are avenging the Lord. Although God can avenge His own foes, He wants His people to work with Him.
Verse 7:"And they warred against Midian, as Jehovah commanded Moses, and slew every male." Obedience leads to victory.
Verse 9:"And the sons of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones; and they took as plunder all their cattle, all their livestock, and all their goods." The enemy always tries to defeat us in the midst of our victory.
Verse 19:"And encamp outside the camp seven days; whoever of you has killed any person and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day." The most necessary thing after a victory is to purify ourselves.
Verse 4:"The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth." "The wise" feel this way, and "the fools" give themselves to indulgence.
Verse 4:"We must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work." Compare this with verse 5. "Day" refers to the time when Christ was on earth, whereas "night" refers to the time when Christ has left the earth.
Verses 8-9:"The neighbors then and those who previously saw him as a beggar said, Is not this the one who used to sit and beg? Some said, This is he. Others said, No, but he is like him. He said, I am the one." An inevitable condition after a person is saved is "to be like him and yet not be like him."
Verse 16:"Then some of the Pharisees said, This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath. But others said, How can a man who is a sinner do such signs? And there was a division among them." This division lasts until today.
Verse 25:"Then he answered, Whether or not He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." This is the best testimony in the world.
Verse 29:"We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where He is from." They did not know where He came from, yet they "knew" that He was a "sinner" (v. 24)!
Verse 35:"Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and He found him and said, Do you believe into the Son of God?" It is both inadequate as well as useless (Matt. 16) to believe that the Lord is a prophet (John 9:17). This is why the Lord also taught the man who had been blind that He is the Son of God.
Verse 5:"And they said, If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession; do not take us across the Jordan." The rest of Canaan is a type of the millennial kingdom. But before one enters Canaan, he has to cross the river Jordan. Those who have not died with the Lord cannot reign with Him. The descendants of Reuben and Gad wanted to: (1) come into rest without crossing the Jordan, and (2) come into rest before the rest of the family came to rest. How inferior is the joy and pleasure of this world compared with that of the millennial kingdom!
Verses 33-42:"And Moses gave to them, to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land and its cities with their territories, the cities of the land all round. And the sons of Gad built Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, Bethnimrah and Bethharan, fortified cities, and sheepfolds. And the sons of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, Nebo, and Baal-meon, (the names being changed), and Sibmah; and they gave other names to the cities which they built. And the sons of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and captured it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it. And Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he settled in it. And Jair the son of Manasseh went and captured their villages, and called them Havvoth-jair. And Nobah went and captured Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name." The land received by the two and a half tribes stood in opposition to that received by the other nine and a half tribes. But though this land was good, it was dangerous! Please read 2 Kings 10:32-33 and 1 Chronicles 5:26. Besides God's will, there is no rest in this world!
Verse 4:"But when Jesus heard it, He said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, in order that the Son of God may be glorified through it." With such a word from the Lord, even when a person dies, he will still be delivered from death. The Lord looks at the final outcome. Hence, when the Lord leads us through a death that is not really death (such as the one experienced by Lazarus), we should believe in the Lord's word which says, "not unto death."
Verse 6:"When therefore He heard that he was sick, He remained at that time in the place where He was for two days." He loved all three of them (v. 3). Yet He stayed for two more days. This shows that the Lord knows how to put His soul under subjection.
Verse 25:"He who loves his soul-life loses it; and he who hates his soul-life in this world shall keep it unto eternal life." "Soul-life" is the soul, whereas "eternal life" is the spirit.
This was the most successful time of the Lord's life. In verses 11 and 12, there were many Jews who had believed. In verses 20 and 21, even the Gentiles came to worship Him. Indeed, "the world has gone after Him" (v. 19). It would have been very easy for the Lord to lead them to believe in Him through His teachings and His power. How easy was the environment!
But the Father intended Him to die (v. 27). All those who do not submit to the Father are not from the Spirit. Although His ability, which is divine, was well able to attract others, He was not willing to walk according to the soul-life. He chose death. He put His soul-life to death. This is the way to fruit-bearing.
Verses 31-32:"Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself." The Lord's death is the casting out of Satan.
Verses 36b, 42:"Jesus said these things, and He went away and was hidden from them." "Nevertheless even many of the rulers believed into Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue." Who can have natural abilities higher than those of the Lord Jesus? Yet such was the result of His natural ability! If even He had to die, how much more do we have to die?
Verse 39:"Jesus said, Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of him who was deceased, said to Him, Lord, by now he smells, for it is the fourth day that he is there." All those whose eyes are on "the fourth day" will despair, be sorrowful, and weep. We thank the Lord that on the fifth day Lazarus came alive.
Verse 35:"Jesus wept." The Lord Jesus knew that His friend would resurrect. Yet He wept because He sympathized with men. How tender He is!
Verse 1:"Therefore let us also, having so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, put away every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us and run with endurance the race which is set before us." "Encumbrance" and "sin" are two hurdles of Satan. He wants us to sin. If we do not sin, he will try to put burdens, sorrows, grief, apathy, and depression on our hearts. The way to overcome is to exercise our will. To "put away" is an act of the will. This means that we have to exercise our will reject sin and reject the burdens.
