May 9 – Judges 9 John 6:1-24 Psalm 58:1-11

Judges 9:52-54

And Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it and drew near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire. And a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull. Then he called quickly to the young man his armor-bearer and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, lest they say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’” And his young man thrust him through, and he died.

The irony is, of course, that’s it’s recorded here in the nations history that a woman did kill him… and that he wanted to cover it up. Which makes him come over worse…

This was a sorry chapter in the history of the nation, and was all brought on by Godwin’s hubris. 

This is what wanting kings did to the nation. Kings bring with them arguments about who should rule. 

It’s amazing to think that all this death and destruction happened because one man made a mistake. Gideon could ever have seen all this coming. 

And that’s something we should be aware of. Not just how our mistakes effect us, but those around us and even the generation to come. Some sin may seem harmless in the here and now, but it’s effect can be far reaching. 

John 6:5-7

Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.

The bread and the fish comes over a little different in John. It’s not just that the people were hungry, they could have gone home to eat but they’d have missed what Jesus had to share. 

Jesus sees the group of people and asks Philip to sort out the catering. He does so to test Philip. 

Philip’s response is great. He thinks Jesus is asking him to do a sandwich run and he’s concerned that there’s not enough money in the float!

But Jesus is seeing how Philip would react. The miracle comes out of a need, but not a desperate need – these people would not have starved. But the need provides the opportunity for Jesus to show a sign pointing to who He is. 

In fact just a few verses further on we read, they were so amazing they referred to Jesus as the Prophet come into the world! That try and take him by force to make Him king! I’d say that was pretty convincing.