Judges 7:1-23 Dear RTB’ers, And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will work for you today. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” Exodus 14:13-14 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear …
Monthly Archives: May 2025
May 11 / Judges 6
Judges 6 Dear RTB’ers, First, clearing up an item… Yesterday I made a light-hearted remark about Gideon and fleece before the Lord. That remark was only intended to introduce the next day’s reading – I am not a person who supports the idea of our putting fleece before the Lord. But clearly the connection between …
May 10 / Judges 5
Judges 5 Dear RTB’ers, I asked a couple of days ago whether the judges are deliverers for all of Israel or if they are more regional in their leadership. Today we see a very national Israel at war with Sisera and the Canaanites – national, except that not all tribes participated. First of all, Judah …
May 9 / Judges 4
Judges 4 Dear RTB’ers, Today we have our only female judge, Deborah, and another female hero, Jael. If an “average” Bible reader were asked to name Israel’s judges, the three most commonly named (in my mind) would be Deborah, Gideon, and Samson. In truth, more pages are devoted to these three than to any of …
May 8 / Judges 3:7-31
Judges 3:7-31 Dear RTB’ers, The geography might be a bit confusing. When we left Joshua, Israel had possession of the Promised Land plus the Trans-Jordan land where Reuben, Gad and one-half of Manasseh lived. We also learned two days ago that Israel did not drive out all the inhabitants of the land, but that in …
May 7 / Judges 2:6-3:6
Judges 2:6-3:6 Dear RTB’ers, There are a couple of key verses in today’s reading. First, And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that He had done for Israel. (v. 2:10b) One generation had served the Egyptians and seen the miracles that the Lord had brought about …
May 6 / Judges 1:1-2:5
Judges 1:1-2:5 Dear RTB’ers, Today we go back to the Old Testament, to the book of Judges. Joshua is the book immediately preceding Judges in the Bible. It’s been a while, almost nine months (August 2024) since we read Joshua in our RTB reading schedule. It was inserted by the STS authors halfway through Exodus, …
May 5 / Mark 16:9-20
Mark 16:9-20 Dear RTB’ers, Today we end Mark’s gospel, the second gospel on our three-year journey. John will come later this year and we’ll pick up Matthew next year. Tomorrow we will return to the Old Testament, to the book of Judges. As you may have noted in today’s STS footnote, today’s reading (vv. 9-20) …
May 4 / Mark 15:42-16:8
Mark 15:42-16:8 Dear RTB’ers, And when evening had come … Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. (vv. 42-43) “…took courage”. The NASB says “…gathered up courage…”. Both Matthew and …
May 3 / Mark 15:22-41
Mark 15:22-41 Dear RTB’ers, And it was the third hour when they crucified Him. (v. 25) And those who passed by derided Him, wagging their heads… (v. 29a) So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked Him to one another… (v. 31a) And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the …