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APRIL 22
27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, goat, that I might make merry with my
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and because he has received him safe and friends. But as soon as this son of yours
sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’ came, who has devoured your livelihood with
28 “But he was angry and would not go in. harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’
Therefore his father came out and pleaded with 31 “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always
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him. So he answered and said to his father, with me, and all that I have is yours. It was
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‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; right that we should make merry and be glad,
I never transgressed your commandment at for your brother was dead and is alive again,
any time; and yet you never gave me a young and was lost and is found.’ ”
DAY 21:What is the main feature of the parable of the prodigal son?
The parable in Luke 15:11–32, unlike most parables, has more than one lesson.The prodigal is
an example of sound repentance.The elder brother illustrates the wickedness of the Pharisees’self-
righteousness, prejudice, and indifference toward repenting sinners. And the father pictures God,
eager to forgive and longing for the return of the sinner. The main feature, however, is the joy of
God, the celebrations that fill heaven when a sinner repents.
For the son to demand “the portion of goods that falls to me” (v. 12) is tantamount to saying
he wished his father were dead.He was not entitled to any inheritance while his father still lived.Yet
the father graciously fulfilled the request, giving him his full portion, which would have been one-
third of the entire estate—because the right of the firstborn (Deut. 21:17) gave the elder brother a
double portion.This act pictures all sinners (related to God the Father by creation),who waste their
potential privileges and refuse any relationship with Him,choosing instead a life of sinful self-indul-
gence. The Greek word for “prodigal” means “dissolute” and conveys the idea of an utterly
debauched lifestyle.“To feed swine”(v. 15) was the worst sort of degradation imaginable for Jesus’
Jewish audience; swine were the worst sort of unclean animals. His situation could hardly have
been more desperate.
Nevertheless, when “his father saw him [he] had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and
kissed him”(v. 20). Clearly, the father had been waiting and looking for his son’s return.The father’s
eagerness and joy at his son’s return is unmistakable.This is the magnificent attribute of God that
sets Him apart from all the false gods invented by men and demons.He is not indifferent or hostile,
but a Savior by nature, longing to see sinners repent and rejoicing when they do. From Genesis 3:8
to Revelation 22:17, from the Fall to the Consummation, God has been and will be seeking to save
sinners, and rejoices each time one repents and is converted.

April 22 went to his father’s house at Ophrah and killed
his brothers, the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, on
one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of
Jerubbaal was left, because he hid himself.
Judges 9:1–10:18
And all the men of Shechem gathered togeth-
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Then Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal er, all of Beth Millo, and they went and made
9 went to Shechem, to his mother’s broth- Abimelech king beside the terebinth tree at
ers, and spoke with them and with all the fam- the pillar that was in Shechem.
ily of the house of his mother’s father, saying, 7 Now when they told Jotham, he went and
“Please speak in the hearing of all the men of stood on top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted his
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Shechem: ‘Which is better for you, that all sev- voice and cried out. And he said to them:
enty of the sons of Jerubbaal reign over you, “Listen to me, you men of Shechem,
or that one reign over you?’ Remember that I That God may listen to you!
am your own flesh and bone.”
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And his mother’s brothers spoke all these “The trees once went forth to anoint a
words concerning him in the hearing of all the king over them.
men of Shechem; and their heart was inclined And they said to the olive tree,
to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is our ‘Reign over us!’
brother.” So they gave him seventy shekels of 9 But the olive tree said to them,
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silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, with ‘Should I cease giving my oil,
which Abimelech hired worthless and reck- With which they honor God and men,
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less men; and they followed him. Then he And go to sway over trees?’
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