I recently bought a complete set of J. Vernon McGee's Thru the Bible commentary series. These books are loosely based on his popular radio program. I plan on reading or in some cases rereading his commentaries.
Joshua has some very exciting, action-packed sections. But it also has some tedious portions that aren't all that interesting. Same with Judges. I do think believers can pull some general principles from both books. All of God's Word is INSPIRED.
Quotes from his commentary on Joshua:
- In the Book of Genesis Israel was born. In the Book of Exodus Israel was chosen. In the Book of Numbers the nation was proven. In the Book of Leviticus it was brought nigh by the blood. In Deuteronomy it was instructed. Now in the Book of Joshua it faces conflict and conquest.
- Exodus is the book of redemption out of Egypt; Joshua is the book of redemption into the Promised Land.
- The Book of Joshua corresponds to the Epistle to the Ephesians in the New Testament where we see that the believer is blessed with all spiritual blessings.
- The practical possession and experience of them depends upon conflict and conquest. These are never attained through the energy of the flesh, but through the power of the Holy Spirit in the yielded life of the believer.
- Moses was not essential to lead the children of Israel into the land. In fact, he could not bring them into the Land of Promise. Moses represented the Law and the Law cannot save us.
- The Law was never a savior. Moses could not lead Israel into the land because of his failure. The problem was not with the Law but with Moses just as the problem is with us. The Law reveals that we have fallen short of the glory of God.
- My friend, if you are going to walk with Him and live for Him, you will need a daily filling of the Holy Spirit of God.
- In fact, since you fill up the physical man three times a day, it would not be a bad idea to fill up the spiritual man three times a day.
- We are identified with Christ in His death; and when He died, my friend, He died for us. His death was our death. When He arose from the dead, then we arose from the dead.
- The worst enemy that you have is yourself.
- He occupies the same skin that you occupy. He uses the same brain that you use in thinking his destructive thoughts. He uses the same hands that you use to perform his own deeds.
- There are two factors that make dealing with this enemy doubly difficult. In the first place, we are reluctant to recognize and identify him. We are loath to label him as an enemy.
- The fact of the matter is most of us rather like him. The second problem is that he is on the inside of us. If he would only come out and fight like a man, it would be different, but he will not.
- As you recall, Jericho represents the world. How do you overcome the world? By faith. Ai represents the flesh. How do you overcome the flesh? Not by fighting it, but by recognizing your weakness, confessing to God, and letting the Spirit of God get the victory.
- The more I know about Joshua, the better I like him. Through the years he has stood in the shadow of Moses so that we think he is a sort of miniature Moses.
- But Joshua is a man of great stature. God made no mistake in choosing this man. Although Joshua is an average man, this book reveals that an average man dedicated to God can be mightily used.
Quotes from his commentary on Judges:
- Backsliding and the amazing grace of God in recovering and restoring is the theme of Judges.
- This is the Promised Land—God had given it to them! Yet not one tribe, apparently, was able to possess the land that God had given to it. How tragic!
- All of the judges were “little men.” There was not a big one in the lot. These men were used of God because they were—and I have to say it—odd characters. Their very oddness caused God to use them.
- God has a wonderful sense of humor. The Bible is a serious book, of course. It deals with a race that is in sin, and it concerns God’s salvation for that race. It reveals God as high and holy and lifted up. But God has a sense of humor and, if you miss that in the Bible, you will not find it nearly as interesting.
- Today many of us are just rolling a hoop through this world. One day we are up, and the next day we are down. God never intended our spiritual lives to be that way.
- [Jud. 12:11–12]. These two verses tell us all that we know about Elon. He did nothing—he didn’t even have a large family. Apparently all that he did was twiddle his thumbs.
© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible
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