Today's Reading - June 1, 2010

2 Samuel 18:1-19:10
John 20:1-31
Psalm 119:153-176
Proverbs 16:14-15

Question of the day: Why did Ahimaaz want to run to tell David the news but then lie about what he knew of the death of Absalom?

Ahimaaz could have wanted to curry David's favor by bringing him good news, and was unwilling or unable to give David any bad news either out of consideration for David's feelings. Often the messenger was killed when bad news was received, as evidenced by the old saying, "Don't shoot the messenger."

Today's Reading - May 28, 2010

2 Samuel 13:1-39
John 17:1-26
Psalm 119:81-96
Proverbs 16:6-7

Question of the day: In John 17:12, who was Jesus referring to as "the one headed for destruction?"

Jesus was talking about Judas Iscariot, who would soon betray Jesus to the authorities. Judas took thirty pieces of silver as payment for selling Jesus out to the Jewish high council.

Today's Reading - May 27, 2010

2 Samuel 12:1-31
John 16:1-33
Psalm 119:65-80
Proverbs 16:4-5

Question of the day: Why would God kill a child for David's sin?

It seems wrong to us that God would punish the innocent for something they did not do, but it's not the first time that children were killed for the sin of their fathers. In Exodus, God allowed the first born of the Egyptians to die to prove his superiority to Pharaoh. In the Old Testament, under the old covenant, God took sin personally and answered evil with action. In both these cases, God punished the fathers by taking from them something valuable. In David's situation, the child represented the sin that David had committed, and God took matters to rectify the situation.

This also foreshadows the ultimate incident of the innocent dying for the guilty, when Christ died on the cross for us. Under the new covenant, God permits the consequences of the sin to play out. He doesn’t actively punish one person’s sin by taking the life of another. Jesus took the sin of the world on his sinless person when he died. But that was God himself taking the punishment, not his punishing someone else.

Today's Reading - May 26, 2010

2 Samuel 9:1-11:27
John 15:1-27
Psalm 119:49-64
Proverbs 16:1-3

Question of the day: In the space of three chapters of Samuel, we see David going to great lengths to show kindness to Mephibosheth, whom he did not know, and subsequently causing the execution of a man who showed him great loyalty, Uriah the Hittite. How could David fall so far, so fast?

David had been successful, and "the Lord was with him" (such as in 2 Samuel 7:3). This passage shows that Satan never ceases to pursue those who are close to God, and that our faith does not make us immune to temptation. It also shows us that whenever we try to cover up sin, it leads to more sin.

Today's Reading - May 25, 2010

2 Samuel 7:1-8:18
John 14:15-31
Psalm 119:33-48
Proverbs 15:33

Question of the day: In 2 Samuel 8:13, the Bible refers to the Valley of Salt. Where is the Valley of Salt?

The Valley of Salt is in the Arabah, which is located in the Great Rift Valley between the Dead Sea in the north and the Gulf of Aqaba in the south. It is a very dry, sparsely populated area.

Today's Reading - May 24, 2010

2 Samuel 4:1-6:23
John 13:31-14:14
Psalm 119:17-32
Proverbs 15:31-32

Question of the day: Why did the Jebusites think that they were safe, as it says in 2 Samuel 5:6?

Jerusalem was a heavily fortified city with many towers. Many armies had attempted to take it over, with no success. Therefore they had no fear that the Israelites would be able to overtake it. And in fact, militarily, David's strategy was a surprise attack through the city's water tunnel, since they could not breach the walls.

Today's Reading - May 23, 2010

2 Samuel 1:1-2:11
John 12:20-50
Psalm 118:19-29
Proverbs 15:27-28

Question of the day: Why did Judah appoint it's own king, and the rest of Israel appoint a different one?

In that day, it was customary for the kingdom to be handed down from father to son, so when King Saul died, it was natural that his son would take over the kingdom of Israel. Judah, however, had a different idea. David was from Judah, and the men there made David their king, after he was sent there by God. He ruled Judah for seven years, until King Ishbosheth was assassinated. Then the elders of Israel asked David to be their king as well.

Today's Reading - May 22, 2010

2 Samuel 1:1-2:11
John 12:20-50
Psalm 118:19-29
Proverbs 15:27-28

Question of the day:  Why would Jesus not directly answer the crowd in John 12:34-35?

Jesus answered the question in Matthew 13:11-15, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables: 

   "Though seeing, they do not see; 
      though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: 
   " 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; 
      you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 
 For this people's heart has become calloused; 
      they hardly hear with their ears, 
      and they have closed their eyes. 
   Otherwise they might see with their eyes, 
      hear with their ears, 
      understand with their hearts 
   and turn, and I would heal them.' "

Today's Reading - May 21. 2010

1 Samuel 29:1-31:13
John 11:55-12:19
Psalm 118:1-18
Proverbs 15:24-26

Question of the day: Why would David be willing to fight with the Philistines, who were enemies of the Israelites?

David was hiding from King Saul, and he thought that hiding among the enemies would be a place where Saul would not look. Saul did learn that David was hiding among them, but because of the military might of the Philistines, Saul chose not to pursue David.

Today's Reading - May 20, 2010

1 Samuel 26:1-28:25
John 11:1-54
Psalm 117:1-2
Proverbs 15:22-23

Question of the day: Why was Jesus "still angry" in verse 38?

Jesus had been subjected to questions and comments of people wondering why he didn't come sooner, as if he could heal someone thereby stopping death, yet not believing that he could reverse death. He had people saying, if he could heal a blind man, why couldn't he raise Lazarus? He was experiencing a lack of faith all around him, which no doubt upset him. Yet he could also have been angry at the consequences of sin, and the fact that death has too happen at all.

Today's Reading - May 19, 2010

1 Samuel 24:1-25:44
John 10:22-42
Psalm 116:1-19
Proverbs 15:20-21

Question of the day: Were Abigail's actions commendable, even though they went against the wishes of her husband? Doesn't the Bible tells us that he has authority over her as her husband?

God has made it clear that when a husband is in opposition to God, he has given up authority over his wife. Abigail did what she knew to be right, and God blessed David through her actions.

Today's Reading - May 18, 2010

1 Samuel 22:1-23:29
John 10:1-21
Psalm 115:1-18
Proverbs 15:18-19

Question of the day: What are the strongholds of En Gedi?

The city of En Gedi was located on the western shore of the Dead Sea and later became famous for it's palm trees and balsam. It was destroyed by the Roman Empire after the battle of Masada in A.D. 68

Today's Reading - May 17, 2010

1 Samuel 20:1-21:15
John 9:1-41
Psalm 113:1-114:8
Proverbs 15:15-17

Question of the day: Why did Jesus tell the Pharisees: “But you remain guilty because you claim you can see"?

Jesus was always harder on people who claimed to be followers of God than those who made no such claim. The Pharisees were notorious for publicly proclaiming their adherence to the law but privately breaking it.

Today's Reading - May 16, 2010

1 Samuel 18:5-19:24
John 8:31-59
Psalm 112:1-10
Proverbs 15:12-14

Question of the day: Why would the people call Jesus a "Samaritan devil?"

Samaritans were considered by the Jews to be second class citizens. Samaria was a country between Judea and Galiliee that formerly belonged to the kingdom of Israel. It had been conquered by the Assyrians some 700 years earlier and led to the intermarriage of Jews and invading Assyrians, in addition to other local non-Jews, such as Philistines, Edomites and Moabites.

This mixture caused those of "pure" Jewish extraction to look down upon the Samaritans as less than themselves. So by calling Jesus a Samaritan devil, they attempted to insult him as being second class.

Today's Reading - May 15, 2010

1 Samuel 17:1-18:4
John 8:21-30
Psalm 111:1-10
Proverbs 15:11

Question of the day: Why was Goliath so tall?

Goliath was a descendant of Anak, who had descended from the Nephilim. The Nephilim were described as large men. Genesis 6:4 tells us that the Nephilim were "the heroes of old, men of renown." Numbers 13:33 tells us that after seeeing them, the Israelites said, "We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."

Today's Reading - May 14, 2010

1 Samuel 15:1-16:23
John 8:1-20
Psalm 110:1-7
Proverbs 15:8-10

Question of the day: Who was Samuel talking about in 1Samuel 15:29 when he referred to the "Glory of Israel?"

Samuel was simply referring to God, whose mind was made up about taking the kingdom away from Saul.

Today's Reading - May 13, 2010

1 Samuel 14:1-52
John 7:31-53
Psalm 109:1-31
Proverbs 15:5-7

Question of the day: In reference to John 7:39, when was the Spirit given?

According to Acts 2:1-4, "When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them" This occurred after Jesus had died, rose from the dead, and had ascended to Heaven.

Today's Reading - May 12, 2010

1 Samuel 12:1-13:23
John 7:1-30
Psalm 108:1-13
Proverbs 15:4

Question of the day: In John 7:8, why would Jesus say that he was not going, and then go anyway. Wasn't that a lie?

If you go back to the original Greek in which John wrote, the timing of the writing was not as sequential as the English translation makes it sound. Jesus was not trying to deceive his brothers, only to let them know that he was not yet going to go to the feast.

For more on this passage, check out this blog post by Carl Gobelman. The post is not necessarily endorsed by CCCEV, but is offered as a source of additional information.

Today's Reading - May 11, 2010

1 Samuel 10:1-11:15
John 6:43-71
Psalm 107:1-43
Proverbs 15:1-3

Question of the day: Why did Saul hide in the baggage if God had given him a new heart?

Saul's fear illustrates to us that even though we are all given a new heart when we turn our lives over to the Lord, we will still struggle to trust in Him and follow Him completely. Despite his reluctance, Saul was still used of God to accomplish great things.

Today's Reading - May 10, 2010

1 Samuel 8:1-9:27
John 6:22-42
Psalm 106:32-48
Proverbs 14:34-35

Question of the day: Why was God so against Israel having a king, but yet choosing someone as promising as Saul to lead them?

God chose the first three kings of Israel: Saul, David, and Solomon. He gave Israel every advantage for having a king to be a good thing, but he knew that eventually Israel would again turn it back on the Lord and follow evil kings.

Today's Reading - May 9, 2010

1 Samuel 5:1-7:17
John 6:1-21
Psalm 106:13-31
Proverbs 14:32-33

Question of the day: We are reading the fourth book of the gospels. Why would God want the story of Jesus' life told four times?

The Gospels are told from four different perspectives: Matthew, the tax collector who wrote for the better educated Jews; Mark, who wrote down what he heard from other apostles and whose audience was common Gentiles; Luke, an historian who talked to eyewitnesses and wrote the more educated Gentiles; and John, an apostle and eyewitness who would have experience things with Jesus that other wouldn't have.

Today's Reading - May 8, 2010

1 Samuel 2:22-4:22 John 5:24-47 Psalm 106:1-12 Proverbs 14:30-31 Question of the day: Why would God allow the Philistines to capture the Ark? God allowed the Ark of be captured to show them the power and might of the Lord and to illustrate to the Israelites the tragedy of not guarding it closely.

Today's Reading - May 7, 2010

1 Samuel 1:1-2:21
John 5:1-23
Psalm 105:37-45
Proverbs 14:28-29

Question of the day: What is significant about Samuel's place in Jewish history?

Samuel was the last of the Judges of Israel and the first of the major prophets. He appointed the first two kings of Israel.

Today's Reading - May 6, 2010

Ruth 2:1-4:22
John 4:43-54
Psalm 105:16-36
Proverbs 14:26-27

Question of the day: What did "uncovered his feet" mean in Ruth 3:7?

Hebrew translation reveals that the phrase is a euphemism for uncovering his genitals. Ruth meant to ensnare Boaz after his night of drinking. Boaz, to his credit, or his incapacity, did not have relations with Ruth, but made arrangements to marry her the next day.

Today's Reading - May 5, 2010

Judges 21:1-Ruth 1:22
John 4:4-42
Psalm 105:1-15
Proverbs 14:25

Question of the day: In John 4:22, Jesus said "You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship." Why did the Samaritans know so little?

The Samaritans were descended from the Israelite people who had not been deported when the Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom (722/21 BC) and imported other peoples into the region (2 Kings 17:22-41). They continued to worship Yahweh, but also allowed the worship of other gods from the resettled peoples’ homelands.

Alexander the Great allowed the Samaritans to build or renovate a Samaritan temple on Mt. Gerizim. This became a point of contention to the Jews who had returned and rebuilt Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem. Tensions continued to degrade until the temple on Mt. Gerizim was destroyed by the Jews in 128 B.C. (The Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, 726-7). Both groups believed that they were worshiping Yahweh, and both believed that they had the right place to worship Yahweh. The woman had met a prophet–someone who knew what had happened in her life, and one she was sure could answer the most pressing theological question of her heart and of the time.

For more information, visit http://www.crivoice.org/WT-samaritan.html.

Today's Reading - May 4, 2010

Judges 19:1-20:48
John 3:22-4:3
Psalm 104:24-35
Proverbs 14:22-24

Question of the day: Why is there a recurring statement that "Now in those days Israel had no king."

While it is true that Israel did not have a human king, the Lord had wanted Israel to look to Him as their king and serve Him only.

Today's Reading - May 3, 2010

Judges 17:1-18:31
John 3:1-21
Psalm 104:1-23
Proverbs 14:20-21

Question of the day: Why had the tribe of Israel not settled into the land that the Lord had allotted them?

The Tribe of Dan, while being the second largest of all the tribes, was unable to defeat the Philistines, to gain control of the land. Militarily, they were a very poor tribe, able to defeat only the weak and defenseless.

Today's Reading - May 2, 2010

Judges 15:1-16:31
John 2:1-25
Psalm 103:1-22
Proverbs 14:17-19

Question of the day: Why did God give Samson his amazing strength?

God foresaw that Samson would be a mighty warrior for Israel, and it was common for God to intervene for the Israelites, as we just saw with Gideon (Judges 8). God chose to endow Samson with great strength because of his love for Israel.

Judges 13:1-14:20
John 1:29-51
Psalm 102:1-28
Proverbs 14:15-16

Question of the day? Why would Nathanael say, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

Nazareth was an insignificant agricultural village that was home to 200 to 500 people in Jesus' day. It was unremarkable in every way, so it would not be uncommon for someone to be surprised at the news that someone as important as the Messiah would come from there.