DAY 94    Read Judges 7 and 8.

Today's reading:  We follow Gideon through a marvelous victory to an unexplainable lapse into idolatry.  He failed to keep the light shining.

Memory gem:  "O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles"  (Psalm 43:3).

Thought for today:
Friends, what we need today is the glittering blade of God's divine truth, which is mightier than all the powers of darkness.  And what a victorious and blessed day it will be for God's people when everywhere that unmistakable cry is given: "The sword of the Lord and of His church!"

Gideon and his men blew the trumpets; they broke the pitchers; they held the lamps; and they shouted--those four things.  Every man had a trumpet, a pitcher, and a lamp.  Every man's faith was in the sword of the Lord.  Every man sounded his trumpet as his own individual testimony, yet they all worked together.  It was a united cry.  The great battle was quickly won, and not one of the 300 struck a blow.

Oh, friends, lips telling the gospel of Christ in clear trumpet tones; the light and knowledge of God shining forth from broken hearts; Christ, the Word of God, uplifted--that's what will stir the world.

What was the source of Gideon's great triumph?  The men were united.  They had not only unity, but unison.  They were obedient, and they were faithful.  Every man stood his place.  But it was God who gave them the victory.

The world needs light.  It has always needed light, but the need is greater now than ever before.  The Word of God is light.  "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path," we read in Psalm 119:105.  And so every Christian should be a lamplighter, a lamp holder.

As in the case of Gideon, it is the responsibility of all God's people to turn on the light.  The apostle Paul says in Philippians 2:15, 16:  "That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life."

DAY 93    Judges 4 through 6.

Today's reading:  A dynamic woman encourages a timid soldier to lead his people into battle; then they sing a song of victory.  Later, an angel enlists a reluctant soldier into the Lord's service.

Memory gem:  "Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!"  (Psalm 107:8).

Thought for today:
Friends, before we can do any great work for the Lord, we must overthrow the idols in our lives and be ready to worship God in sincerity.  Gideon had to declare war upon idolatry before going out to battle with the enemies of his people.

What followed after this is what will always follow when one obeys God in this way.

First, it made trouble.  The men of the  city changed their attitude toward him.  They were ready to kill him.

Second, he received a changed name.  His name was changed from Gideon to Jerubbaal, Baal's antagonist.  You know, it is a blessed thing to be called a hater of false gods, an enemy of ignorance and superstition.

Third, Gideon was encouraged.  The Scripture says, "The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet"  (Judges 6:36).  His fitness for the service of God was found only in the Spirit of God.

Convincing proof that the Spirit of God, and not the blind working of chance, was leading Gideon, is found in the three miracles that were performed in connection with his call from God.  First, the miracle of fire: When he brought the covenant angel an offering and placed it upon a stone, the angel touched it and fire broke forth from the stone and consumed the sacrifice.  Then, the two miracles of the fleece: In answer to Gideon's prayer, the fleece which he had put out overnight was wet with dew, while the earth abound was dry.  Then the next night the fleece was dry, while the earth was wet with dew.

Every servant of God may have this threefold witness.  The fire of God will burn.  He will see the evidence of God's power working in hearts about him.  Then, in his own heart, in his own life, he will see a twofold witness--God's Spirit within, and the special tokens of God's workings without.

DAY 92    Read Judges 20 and 21.

Today's reading:  The sad chronicle of Israel's "ups and downs" under the judges ends on a "down," with the repeated alibi that "every man did that which was right in his own eyes."

Memory gem:  "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death"  (Proverbs 14:12).

Thought for today:
The night was very dark.  The road was unfamiliar.  In fact, it was a wild, lonely road which became rougher and rougher as we proceeded.  We were in the far, wild, mountainous interior of New Mexico.  We  had left the main highway, making a detour of forty or fifty miles, to enjoy some very fine scenery and interesting wonders of nature, intending to get back onto the main highway farther west.  But we were disappointed.  The road wound around hills and forests and lava flows for many weary miles--in some places deep in mud; in others, rugged with stones.

Now it was late at night, and suddenly, as we approached a dry arroyo, the road simply ended.  A flash flood had washed out the bridge and cut a deep canyon, which yawned in front of us not twenty feet beyond the car in which we were riding.  This was the end of our journey for that day.  Here we had to spend the night and pick our way out of trouble the next morning in the light of day.  The highway, though longer, would have been better.  It was safer, faster, more certain.  The obvious lesson of this experience is, If you want to arrive at your destination, keep on the highway.

Every one of us is a traveler.  We are all going somewhere, fast.  Every human being is on the highway traveling from yesterday toward tomorrow.  Unfortunately, many are not on God's highway.  Millions are wandering on byways, twisting and turning through the darkness toward Destination Unknown.

Let us open the Holy Scriptures and read a highway text found in Proverbs 16:17:  "The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul."

DAY 91    Read Judges 17 through 19.

Today's reading:  The two episodes recorded in Judges 17 through 21 occurred at some unknown time earlier in the period of the judges, probably even before Othniel became the first judge.

Memory gem:  "Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten Gods: I am the Lord"  (Leviticus 19:4).

Thought for today:
It is easy for us to study the history of days gone by and to forget that the problem of idolatry is one that confronts us in this modern age.  I have seen various kinds of paganism in different countries of the world.  I have seen idolatry in its rankest forms.  But, friends, let me say this: Idolatry is found in every country, not only in so-called uncivilized portions of the world.

We may not worship at a shrine in some pagan temple filled with graven images, but there may be false gods in the temple of our souls--yes, idols of the heart.

The worship of false gods in Bible times was repugnant to God.  Just so, in the days in which we live, there are modern gods worshiped in the temple of man's heart, which are just as repulsive to God.

We sometimes forget that there are many kinds of idols and many forms of idolatry.  Whatever or whoever we love and serve more than the Creator God is an idol.  This is worshiping the "creature more than the Creator"  (Romans 1:25).

Self-love always leads to self-worship and on to other sins.  Self is the creature that is worshiped above all others, and this leads to the exaltation of other false deities.  Many worship at the shrine of pleasure.  This is a very dominant sin of the last days and is another species of idolatry.

We could go on with a long list of modern gods that are receiving obeisance from their followers.  We must admit that the gods of self, appetite, pleasure, fashion--even the god of the cash register--are evident in this modern age in which we live.

Let us abolish the idols and images in our hearts and worship the true and living God, our Creator.

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Difficult or obscure words:
Judges 18:30.  "Manasseh"--Strong evidence exists that this name should be "Moses": in Hebrew the only difference in the two is the letter "n" in the longer name.  It has been suggested that the letter may have been added by copyists in order to remove from Moses the stigma of admitting that this grandson was a renegade priest.

DAY 90    Read Judges 1 through 3.

Today's reading:  From the account of Israel's victorious conquest of Canaan we turn to one of the darkest portions of Holy Writ--the history of the judges.  How soon after their settlement in the land the Israelites forgot God and turned to heathen practices!

Memory gem:  "Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses"  (Psalm 107:6).

Thought for today:
The Bible depicts men just as they are.  It does not try to cover up the faults of good men, God's men, as a merely human book would do.  It records Adam's fall, Noah's drunkenness, Abraham's lie, Moses' anger, David's impurity, Peter's denial.  The Book tells the truth to make the record clear, but that's not the way man would do it.  A famous portrait of Alexander the Great was painted with his head resting on his hand as if he were in deep thought, but really it was to hide an ugly scar on his cheek.  Wilhelm, emperor of Germany, was photographed and painted in such a position that his withered arm would not show.

So it is with men, but the Bible paints men just as they are.  It tells the truth.  With its marvelous prophecies proved true by history, its fearless depiction of human character, its unbreakable unity, the Bible is the miracle Book of he ages, the inspired Book of God's word to men.  John Randolph said that it would have been as easy for a mole to write Sir Isaac Newton's treatise on optics as for uninspired men to write the Bible.

DAY 89    Read Psalm 105 through 107.

Today's reading reviews, by three poetic passages, God's dealings with Israel from the Exodus to the days of the judges.

Memory gem:  "Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved three at the waters of Meribah"  (Psalm 81:7).

Thought for today:
When you are in trouble, remember the Bible record of God's care for His people Israel.  Read again the story of their deliverance from Egypt--the escape at the Red Sea--the bitter waters turned sweet--the guidance of the cloudy pillar--the miracle of the manna diet and water out of the rock.  This is just a part of the story, but it's encouraging to keep in mind that these deliverances took place in the wilderness--in a desert land--a lonesome, gloomy, dangerous, desolate wasteland--a place where no human help was possible.  Read it all over again, and you will find comfort in God's dealings with wandering Israel.  When the waters are bitter to you and the thunders of trouble seem to roll about your head, you can turn to the secret place and find help in time of need.

Israel called when in trouble, and God answered "in the secret place of thunder."  They cried to Him in their bitter bondage as slaves, and He answered in thunder and lightning in the plagues of Egypt.

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Difficult or obscure words:
Psalm 105:22.  "Bind"--better: instruct.
Psalm 105:22.  "Senators"--literally: elders.

DAY 88    Read Joshua 22 through 24.

Today's reading:  We come to the end of another dedicated man's life.  Joshua's farewell address sounds a challenge down through the ages to our own time.

Memory gem:  "Choose you this day whom ye will serve;...but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord"  (Joshua 24:15).

Thought for today:
What multitudes of people need to hear today is the call of Joshua, who said to the people of his time: "Choose you this day whom ye will serve;...but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord"  (Joshua 24:15).

It was a compromise with the state and with pagan practices that brought the church into the great apostasy of the Dark Ages.  It was compromise that brought ecclesticism into the church and destroyed the life of faith.  Apostate Christianity and the ancient pagan Roman state were united in adulterous union.  The emperors claimed to be Christians and by force compelled acceptance of religious doctrines.  Christianity was poured into the grooves of pagan thought, rites, images, idols, and ceremonies.

Let me put the question directly to you, friend: Are you willing to be separated to God, to Christ?  Are you willing to be His child?  It is not always easy from a human standpoint.  It means something to be a Christian.  It means a change of life.  It means a turning away from sinful practices.  It often means being different.  But here is the word of Christ, the warning of Christ, "Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly"  (Revelation 2:5).

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Difficult or obscure words:
Joshua 24:2, 14, 15.  "Flood"--Hebrew word used here in reference to the Euphrates River--not to Noah's Flood.

DAY 87    Read Joshua 19 through 21.

Today's reading completes the dividing of the Land of Canaan, and then names the six cities of refuge and the other cities given to the Levites throughout the land.

Memory gem:  "In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge"  (Proverbs 14:26).

Thought for today:
The safety afforded by the city of refuge did not depend upon its wall, gates, or guards, but solely upon the divine appointment.  So it is the word of God that gives us all safety in Christ, "for him hath God the Father sealed"  (John 6:27).

All who flee to Christ will be received.  All races, all classes, all kinds of people are invited--yes, urged to come.  The Saviour says, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out"  (John 6:37).

As it was the death of the high priest which made the prisoner in the city of refuge free, so the death of our Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross was for us, and it sets the believer free from condemnation.  God cannot overlook sin, the transgression of His commandments (see 1 John 3:4).  Divine justice must be done, and the righteous sentence must be pronounced; but Christ Himself pays the debt and the sinner is set free.

My friend, are you in God's city of refuge?  It is the only safe place in the world today.  Has Psalm 142:4 been your experience?  "I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul."

Has human refuge failed you?  Have there been times when it seemed that no man cared for your soul?  Well, there is a refuge--there is one Friend who cares.  Just read the next verse: "I cried unto thee, O Lord: I said, thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living"  (verse 5).  There it is: the Lord is our refuge.  As we read in another place: "In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge"  (Proverbs 14:26).

That's what a man needs when he is in trouble--"strong confidence" and a "place of refuge."  And that's what you will find in Christ.  I have found it so, and thousands--yes, millions--testify to the same blessed truth.

DAY 86    Read Joshua 15:20 through chapter 18.

Today's reading continues the description of tribal boundaries.  In the midst of this territorial business we find a brief mention of setting up the tabernacle in a permanent location.

Memory gem:  "The whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there"  (Joshua 18:1).

Thought for today:
"Heretofore Gilgal had been the headquarters of the nation and the seat of the tabernacle.  But now the tabernacle was to be removed to the place chosen for its permanent location.  This was Shiloh, a little town in the lot of Ephraim.  It was near the center of the land, and was easy to access to all the tribes.  Here a portion of country had been thoroughly subdued, so that the worshipers would not be molested.  'And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there.'  The tribes that were still encamped when the tabernacle was removed from Gilgal followed it, and pitched near Shiloh.  Here these tribes remained until they dispersed to their possessions.

"The ark remained at Shiloh for three hundred years, until, because of the sins of Eli's house, it fell into the hands of the Philistines, and Shiloh was ruined.  The ark was never returned to the tabernacle here, the sanctuary service was finally transferred to the temple at Jerusalem, and Shiloh fell into insignificance.  There are only ruins to mark the spot where it once stood.  Long afterwards its fate was made use of as a warning to Jerusalem, "Go ye now unto my place which was Shiloh,' the Lord declared by the prophet Jeremaiah, 'where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel....Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers as I have done to Shiloh.'  Jeremiah 7:12-14."--Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 514, 515.

DAY 85    Read Joshua 13 through 15:19.

Today's reading, concerned as it is with dividing the Land of Canaan among the tribes, contains a heartwarming story about faithful old Caleb and his family.

Memory gem:  "Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord"  (Matthew 25:23).

Thought for today:
"Before the distribution of the land had been entered upon, Caleb, accompanied by the heads of his tribe, came forward with a special claim.  Except for Joshua, Calen was now the oldest man in Israel.  Caleb and Joshua were the only ones among the spies who had brought a good report of the Land of Promise, encouraging the people to go up and possess it in the name of the Lord.  Caleb now reminded Joshua of the promise then made, as the reward of his faithfulness....He therefore presented a request that Hebron be given him for a possession.  Here had been for many years the home of Abrahaam, Isaac, and Jacob; and here, in the cave of Machpelah, they were buried.  Hebron was the seat of the dreaded Anakim, whose formidable appearance had so terrified the spies, and through them destroyed the courage of all Israel.  This, above all others, was the place which Caleb, trusting in the strength of God, chose for his inheritance.

"His claim was immediately granted.  To none could the conquest of this giant stronghold be more solely entrusted.

"Caleb's  faith now was just what it was when his testimony had contradicted the evil report of the spies....Caleb did not ask for himself a land already conquered, but the place which above all others the spies had thought it impossible to subdue.  By the help of God he would wrest this stronghold from the very giants whose power had staggered the faith of Israel.  It was no desire for honor or aggrandizement that prompted Caleb's request.  The brave ole warrior was desirous of giving the people an example that would honor God, and encourage the tribes fully to subdue the land which their fathers had deemed unconquerable.``--Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 511-513.