20:8 The principle of the fearful being sent back is see here. (Judges 7:3)

V.17-18  An important principle is introduced into the war law of Israel. Regarding the people they fought against, and the cities they besieged, once they entered the land of Camaan. It was to be a war of utter extermination. We saw this when Saul was commanded to slay the Amalekites. 1Sam 15:3  Saul for his failure to destroy all, was ejected from the kingship. 1Sam 15:23

V.17-18  An important principle is introduced into the war law of Israel.Regarding the people they fought against, and the cities they besieged, once they entered the land of Camaan. It was to be a war of utter extermination. We saw this when Saul was commanded to slay the Amalekites. 1Sam 15:3 Saul for his failure to destroy all, was ejected from the kingship. 1Sam 15:23

Lenient treatment was meted out to nations that did not pose an idolatrous influence to Israel (vs.10-12).

But it was imperative that Israel eliminate these Canaanite tribes V.17 so that they were not influenced by their idolatrous ways.  Unfortunately, Israel did not carry out their assignment as commanded.  This caused centuries of problems, especially Baal worship which was allowed to flourish and influence the Israelites. 

The lesson for us is to nip a (sin) problem in the bud before it finds a home and becomes too difficult to remove. 

20:11    Peace could be made with cities ‘far off’ 20:15 They could be made tributaries. Israel sinned in that they treated the inhabitants that lived among them in this way, making the tributaries – Judg 1:30 etc: - but they did not even apply this law consistently because rather than the inhabitants of the cities becoming servants to Israel Israel became their servants.  Judg 3:8

20:8 The ‘faint hearted’ man was a man who lacked faith. We might be inclined in such circumstances to reprove the brother and tell him that he should have more faith. However God’s approach is to recognise his weakness and allow him to return home. Remonstration does not increase faith.

20:18   The ‘vindictive’ God of the Old Testament, as some would portray Him,  has the well being of His people in mind. These nations were being dispossessed because their iniquity was now full – Gen 15:16. There is a spiritual counterpart in our lives. The degree to which God protected Israel by destroying those nations is an indication of how we should feel about the potential influence of the world in our lives.

v. 19-20 we are reminded of the tree of life.  Adam and Eve barred the way to the tree of life Gen 3:17,22,24. For us as we journey and warfare in the wilderness towards the pomised land our tree of life in the wilderness is wisdom and understanding Prov 3:13,18 which must also bring forth fruits of righteousness Prov 11:30, Prov 15:4.  To keep us until by God's grace and mercy we come into that promised land and taste of the fruit of the tree of life Rev 2:7, Rev 22:2,14.

The cutting down of the trees which did not bear fruit takes us to Jesus' parable of the fig tree Luke 13:6-9.

20:1 The fundamental point Israel are being reminded of here is that winning battles was not down to their skills. It was down to God’s involvement. By this point they had already experienced that when they took control of the whole of the East of Jordan when they took the land of Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan. The difficulty is continuing to believe what God has said.

V.1 Today, Israel is largely secular.  It wants to be a nation like all the nations, just as it wanted a king like all the nations (1Sam 8:5).  And so, Israel sees itself solely responsible for its survival.  It does not turn to Yahweh its God for help.  It depends on its armed forces as it struggles in the geo-political world.  And so, it has built up the strongest and most efficient armed forces, which includes nuclear weapons, in the Middle East. 

Israel relies on the arm of the flesh instead of relying on its God.  Israel has forgotten its own history when Yahweh delivered it from the enemy countless times.  Where is the faith of Hezekiah as he faced the most powerful army of his time (2Chron 32:8)?

Despite its powerful armed forces, Israel will be horribly defeated when Russia and its allies invade it (Eze 38:1-9; Zech 14:2).  Only the power of Yahweh, by the hand of the returned Jesus, will be able to save it (Eze 39:1-5).

As for us, we must put our faith and trust in Yahweh when we are faced with the things that oppose us.  We need not defend ourselves.  He will deliver us if we stand firm (Psa 34:7; 37:7; Prov 3:5,6).

Jesus links v5-7 with his parable in Luke 14:18-21. Here he links the reasons for going home  "excuses" for not wanting to come to the feast prepared by the master of the house.

Later in Luke 14 Jesus again picks up our chapter in Deuteronomy. In Luke 14:31-32 he says he who goes to war should first see whether he has enough strength to carry it out. Shouldn't these fearful men have thought about their fields, un-married wives, and houses before they came out to war? Jesus says those who do not forsake his family (Luke 14:25) and all he has (Luke 14:33) can't be his disciple; or in other words go to war with him.

This rather harsh assesment of the old testament scripture was aimed at the Jews. God had provided them with the promised land, but they had never fully claimed it as theirs. The book of Judges is full of failures to fully drive out the people who inhabited it. So Jesus likens this to a feast and guests who turn down the invite. These guests were about to be rejected and the invite be given to the Gentiles. The Romans would now make war against the land and occupy it giving no excuses. It is interesting to note that Roman soldiers were executed immediately on deserting the army.

20:3 The encouragement of God ‘let not your hearts fain# is echoed by David when he went out against Goliath – 1Sam 17:32

This chapter speaks, in parable form, about the demise of the nation of Israel.

The almond tree [v5] echoes Aaron's rod [Num 17:8. 'Flourished 05006 actually means 'provoked' see Num 16:30. This use in Ecclesiastes is the only place where the word is not translated in a way which indicates rebellion or displeasure. Thus linking the rebellion of the people against the authority of the house of Aaron and the way that the people provoked God with their sins.

The wisdom of God is contrasted with the wisdom of men. We saw a similar thing in Proverbs. Especially Chapters 5 and 7

12:9  Whilst Solomon did write many proverbs under inspiration his claim to wisdom needs to be tempered by what we know about  his life.

We know God granted him wisdom 1Kin 4:29 but it does not follow that he always used it.

Likewise we know what God requires but we do not always do it.

As the line from a Rolling Stones song says: What a drag it is getting old...  Function decreases while aches, pains and other ailments increase.  The joy of life can fade as mortality becomes ever real.  The whole human experiment seems truly meaningless at this point.  Only the hope of eternal life through the Gospel makes any sense. 

George Bernard Shaw said that: youth is wasted on the young.  The years flee and youth passes quickly.  And so, let us take each moment to serve Yahweh while we are able (v.1). 

V.6 The descriptive phrases of death are similar to the more modern phrase (rearranged to fit the occasion): the bucket be kicked.

12:7 In speaking of the dust returning to the earth the preacher is drawing upon the punishment of Adam and Eve – Gen 3:19 so this is another link we can make to the narrative of the fall as we have already seen links in verses Ecc 12:11,14.. So the end of the matter which the preacher is speaking of is the curse that came upon Adam and Eve.

12:8 This verse contains the last ‘all is vanity’. The remainder of the book extols the virtue of seeing how life is more than vanity.

12:1 The nation was a young kingdom. Solomon, by inspiration, is warning the nation as one would warn a son. We have noted in a previous year the way in which the language of this chapter is used in later prophets as a warning to Israel who have turned away from God.

V.1 Following on from yesterday’s Eccl. 11 comment: Here youth (bechurim; bechurot) means young men and women.

V.7 Science has rightly concluded that: energy can neither be created nor destroyed but that it can be changed to other forms.

Yahweh is the creator of all things including energy.  The spirit which animates a human being is a form of energy that Yahweh loans out for a given time. When that human expires, the spirit energy is not lost but returns to its owner Yahweh.

12:11 Notice the ‘wise’ is a ‘shepherd’ – Eze 34:23-24 - a prophecy of the shepherd who would care for the flock – in times or waywardness.

Remember your creator in the days of your youth

Every day we live, we grow one day older. There are some old people who wish they were younger and some young people who wish they were older. But the truth of the matter is, we need to make the most out of life every day of our lives, regardless of how old we are. The secret is to grow old gracefully. Some learn this lesson, while others never do.

Growing older day by day is not something of which we have control, yet how we choose to live each one of those days is something of which we do have control.

What does it mean to grow old gracefully?
Ecc 10:12 says, "The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious"
John 1:14 The Lord Jesus was described as being "full of grace and truth".
Strongs defines this word "grace" as, "the divine influence upon the heart and it's reflection in life".
There's our secret to growing old gracefully. We must allow God's divine influence upon our hearts.

How?
Rom.10:17 - "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God"
But it dosn't stop there!
We must in turn reflect this Godly influence in our lives, reflecting "grace and truth" in all we do.
If we are wise parents and children, that's what we'll remember to do "in the days of our youth".

11 v.2 The contention of ‘those of the circumcision’ with Peter marks the continuing problem of the integration of the gentiles into he first century Christian community. The first rumblings are seen in the issue of the Grecian and Hebrew widows [Acts 6:1] and rumbles along throughout the whole of the Acts and is seen also in the letters.

12 v.4 ‘Easter’ is more correctly the Passover.

12 v.12 ‘The house of Mary’ may well have become a meeting place in Jerusalem during the early days of the first century ecclesia. During the time that Jesus was in the tomb it would appear that Peter and John, at least, were staying in a house in Jerusalem. Mary, after going to the tomb and finding it empty, told Peter and John who ‘ran’ to the tomb [John 20:1-4] implying that they were staying quite close by the tomb.

11:19 Even though the persecution of Saul had ceased the benefits of that persecution were still being seen. Here we see brethren who had travelled out of the land of Israel to escape the persecution.

12:11 That peter was delivered by the angel is like David's deliverance from Achish - see David's comment about this event Psalm 34:7. There are a number of similarities between the two events. Herod wanted to kill peter with the sword. David was trapped by the Philistines. Peter had already been in trouble because he used a sword in the garden of Gethsemane. David had Goliath's sword with him when he went to Achish. Rhoda was accused of being 'mad' because she asserted Peter was outside. David was 'mad' before Achish.

11:1 'they that were of the circumcision' is not speaking of the apostles. It is a name to describe a faction - like those who claimed to be 'of Apollos' (1 Corinthians 1:12). One wonders how this faction viewed the command of Jesus 'go ye into all the world and preach (Mark 16:15) and ' ye shall be witnesses ... unto the uttermost parts to the world' (Acts 1:8). Maybe the gave the restricted meaning 'land (of Israel)' to the word translated 'earth' indicating a narrow view of preaching. If we ever think to be restrictive in our preaching, being selective in whom we speak to for whatever reason we must remember that if the apostles had been restrictive in their preaching we would not be 'in Christ'.

12:4 That Peter was imprisoned at Passover - the same time of the year as Jesus' death, might have caused Peter to wonder about what Jesus had said of Peter's death (John 21:18-19).

11:16 In remembering what Jesus said Peter is remembering what Jesus said in Acts 1:5

12:1 In saying that Herod 'stretched forth his had to vex certain of the church' we learn that his approach was very different from Saul. Whilst Saul cast any believer into prison Herod was selective. He, it seems, had it in mind to kill the brethren he saw as the leaders of the new community.

11:2,3,4  Peter was confronted by Jewish believers concerning Gentiles.  His explanation that the Gospel was open to all was accepted.  Contrast this episode with Peter's later lapse under pressure from Judaizers (Gal 2:11,12).

12:4 This is the only place in the KJV where the word Easter appears.  It is an error which has been corrected by modern translators as Passover.  

The term Easter (from the Saxon word Eostre) is named from the pagan Anglo-Saxon goddess of dawn.  Springtime is an awakening like dawn, and hence the connection.  Springtime is associated with fertility and thus such manifestations as eggs and bunnies form part of the tradition. It was at the time of Passover that sacrifices were made to Eostre.

True believers should shun participation in any pagan activity, no matter how innocent it seems.

11:1-3 That Peter was the one who had to contend with the Jews would help to confirm in his own mind that the gentiles are now included in God’s plan. If we have to prove our point to others it has the benefit of confirming the correctness of our view to ourselves.

12 Peter’s deliverance from prison was his ‘Passover’ deliverance. Consider the links remembering that this was at Passover time (12:3)

12:3	unleavened bread	Exo 12:17
12:4	Passover	Exo 12
12:7	arise quickly	Exo 12:11,33
12:9	followed	Exo 13:17,21

12:6  Peter, imprisoned at passover – Acts 12:3-4 – had his own passover deliverance. The lamb was ‘bound’ and ‘kept’ as was Peter.

11:11   That the angel delivered Peter out of the hand of Herod is a fulfilment of God’s promise which David understood Psa 34:7

11:10-11 Here we see an indication as to how Peter was able to see that the vision he saw related to the coming of Cornelius. The three times the command to kill and eat was given matches the three men of Cornelius. Whilst we may think that we would like clearer indications than this the way in which Peter spoke shows that he saw a relationship between the two ‘three’ events.

11:22 There were two cities named Antioch.  The one mentioned here was in Syria. It lay 300 miles north of Jerusalem and 12 miles from the Mediterranean Sea.

The other Antioch was in Pisidia a region of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey) (Acts 13:14).

11:25 Tarsus was the capital of Cilicia in Asia Minor (present-day Tersous in Turkey, a decrepit town where no remains exist of the former Tarsus).  It was the birthplace of the apostle Paul (Acts 21:9; 22:3).

The city was founded by the Assyrians.  The Greeks colonized it, and then the Romans took over.  It is no wonder that Paul was multi-lingual, adding, at least, Aramaic and Hebrew to his Greek and Latin (1Cor 14:18).

During the Roman civil wars, the city was faithful to Julius Caesar.  He rewarded it for its service.  Later, Augustus made it a free city.  Under the Romans, a free city was one which could govern itself and which did not have to pay tribute to Rome. However, Roman citizenship was not granted. Then, how did Paul acquired his Roman citizenship (Acts 22:25-28)?   

Paul was free born (citizen by birth) in a place that did not automatically confer citizenship. Therefore, his father or someone in Paul’s ancestry must have either paid to become a citizen; or that the ancestor in question did something for the Romans that resulted in the reward of citizenship. Once that person became a citizen, the honor was automatically passed down to progeny.

11:17 Gamaliel had warned the Jewish leaders about how they should treat the apostles – Acts 5:39- and now Peter uses the same argument. Not that Gamaliel was a good counsellor but that his argument was sound. The apostles should leave things in God’s hand and accept the way He worked.