Welcome to day 3.
Today we are reading from Genesis 5-7:24; Matthew 3:7-4:11; Psalm 3:1-8; Proverbs 1:10-19
Genesis 5
From Adam to Noah
1-2 It's interesting that certain themes are reiterated as we move forward. 1) God made males and females in the likeness of God. 2) He created them male and female 3) He blessed male and female.
3-5 I think these points show us how things were meant to be. Now we have a different picture after the fall and it says that the sons of Adam are made in his own likeness and image. Adams instead of Gods. All of a sudden there is a switch. Death is mentioned for the first time (without it being because of a murder). Adam dies at almost a thousand years old. And as we see in the descendants up to Noah, this seems to be the trend.
6-32 Is the genealogy of Adam to Noah with the names of the sons (and how old the dads were when they had their sons), the fact that they went on to have other sons and daughters and the age at their death. The bible specifically records the amount of years between Adam and Noah by doing this.
It always repeats that exact pattern in each verse of all the descendants (Ten of them) without telling us anything else with one notable exception. In verse 21 it breaks the pattern and tells us Enoch walked faithfully with God. Then in verse 24 it says "Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away." I guess if you are making a record of all the dates of death then you would have to put a HUGE asterisks here * "Enoch did not die and this is why". It doesn't elaborate a whole lot on how this went down, but rather seems more like a side bar on the genealogy to explain why there is no date of death.
It does stand out and bring a lot of questions to my mind:
Why does He take him home if he is doing good?
Why are we placed on earth?
Wouldn't staying set a good example for others?
What does this say about the ability of fallen humans to walk faithfully with God?
The only other example I can think of in scripture when someone is taken off this earth without seeing death is Elijah.
There are some verses that help me make sense of this.
If God chooses the date we die, then He has a reason for taking us home.
In asking why we exist it puts things into perspective.
"And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." 2 Corinthians 5:15
"For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever!" Romans 11:36
"For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him." Colossians 1:16
"I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him." Isaiah 43:7
"Thou are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour, and power: for
Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were
created." Revelation 4:11
So as we see... we have been created for God, and His glory and His pleasure.
With regard to our purpose on earth God has stuff for us to do and stuff He is doing in us.
In terms of the stuff he has for us to do...
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” Eph. 2:10
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." Ecclesiastes 12:13
In terms of the work He is doing in us....
"being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6
"Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23
“For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God … For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.” 1 Thessalonians 4:3,7
“Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” 2 Corinthians 7:1
“For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren …” Hebrews 2:11
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:18
What God is doing in us is transforming and sanctifying us.
-----------
It's interesting that going from a genealogy where Enoch stands out for being faithful to God in a string of names, we now learn about Noah who stands out to God for the same reason.
It starts off in 29 We hear of how Noah was born. Noah was a comfort to his family while they were dealing with the toil of the ground and pain because of the curse. We see the effects of the curse. The world is not as it was created.
In Chapter 6
verses 1-4 We learn of some "Nephilim" having children with the woman. They are mentioned as "sons of God" which some have speculated to be fallen angels. They have to have human biology to have kids and their children are called "the heroes of old, men of renown." And Gods response to this is that His “Spirit will not contend with humans forever” and shortens the life of humans.
The only other place the Nephilim are mentioned is Numbers 13:32-33, where the Hebrew spies report that they have seen fearsome giants in Canaan:
"And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, 'The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.'"
The flood happens between the two leaving it ambiguous and showing that they cannot actually be the same people. Could this be a term used to indicate something else? Perhaps a race of giant or strong guys? What was the issue with the sons of God getting married with the daughters of Cain? And could this also have a meaning that would apply to the Nephilim mentioned in numbers? There is a good explanation here if you want to read more about possibilities.
5-6, 11-13 Right after their mention is also the mention of increased wickedness with the human race to the point that "every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time." Even worse that that it says God "regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled." Ouch. The heart of God was troubled. Only twice in scripture does it say God had a regret (the other one had to do with letting Saul be King over Israel). We are told "the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence."
7, 13, 17 We learn that God will punish humans by wiping them from the face of the earth and the animals will be wiped out with them in a flood that will cover the earth. The flood will last 40 days and 40 nights and everything will perish. (Also in 7:4,12,21-23)
8-9 But Noah stands out and finds favor in the eyes of the LORD. We are told he is a "righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God." Chapter 7:1 says that he is "righteous in this generation."
10 (also 5:32) Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. And God decides to establish his covenant with Noah in verse 18, "and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you." (also verse 7:7,13) We are told only Noah will survive along with those with him in the ark." (7:23)
God gives him instructions on building the ark, food for the ark, and how many and how he is to bring the animals to the ark. (Gen.6:14-16,19-21; 7:2-3,8-9,14-15 )
We are told that Noah did exactly everything and all that God commanded him to do in both 6:22 and then repeated in 7:5.
Which part of doing everything God commands do I struggle with?!
7:6, 10 & 11 Noah was given the exact timing that the flood waters would burst forth and the heavens would open with the water coming.
16 "Then the LORD shut him in."
17-20,24 He was safe, for the full hundred and fifty days of the flood, even though it only rained 40 days. The water got so high that it lifted the ark, covered the earth, and covered all the mountains.
But the Ark floated safely on those waters!
In Matthew 3:7-10,12 We have another section that deals with corruption, sin and redemption. This time we are dealing with John the baptist who was preaching repentance to prepare people for Jesus. His message was harsh towards the religious leaders of his day who were leaning on their heritage and John warned them that they still needed to repent and that they need to take action fast because judgement would be coming swiftly to them if they did not turn from their ways.
3:11-4:11
11 We are told that John is baptizing them with repentance but that Jesus who is more worthy and more powerful will baptize us with the Holy Spirit and fire.
13-17 A beautiful scene plays out of Jesus coming to John to get baptized. John tries to talk him out of it because he knows Jesus doesn't need repentance. He also knows that he needs Jesus and not the other way around. But Jesus explains he is fulfilling what needs to be done. The heavens open at the baptism of Jesus and the Spirit of God descends like a dove with a voice from heaven saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” The Trinity is represented in this beautiful scene. :)
Speaking of corruption in Matthew 4 the devil enters the scene right after his baptism as He tempts Jesus in the wilderness. An interesting thing I notice with people I know who also get baptized is that the enemy enters the scene wanting to take them down right afterwards. I have seen many cases where he has succeeded.
2-4 Jesus goes without food for 40 days and 40 nights (exact length of the rain coming down in the flood). So he is physically vulnerable when the enemy comes to Him. The devil tells him to use his power to make food out of stones and take a short cut to serve himself. Jesus uses the bible to fight the devil and points to it as what we need for survival.
5-7 The devil knows the bible too, and tries to use it to get Jesus to test God. Jesus knows the bible is being twisted by the devil, and also uses scripture back to show that this is not what He should do.
8-10 Satan wants to exchange the kingdoms of the world for Jesus worshipping Satan. Jesus never debates that Satan has the power to give him the kingdoms of the world, but He instead goes back to the bible and the fact that it is quite clear that we are to worship God and serve him only!
11 We are then told the devil leaves him and angels attend to Him.
This goes along with James 4:7
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Or the Armor of God in Ephesians 6 Where we are told to put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground. We are told that are fight is not against flesh and blood but "powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." The devil fights against us and part of the armor to fight him with that we are told to use is the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Psalm 3:1-8
Reflects what we have been going over. When it comes to redemption and an enemy and corruption.
David is echoing fleeing from an enemy. He is in pain because just like God's heart was troubled by people, David's enemy is his son. (Talk about regret!)
1-2 David talks about his enemies mocking him and deliverance.
3-4 David recognizes that God will protect him and lift him up when he calls. He realizes that God answers and is his glory.
5 God marks out his days & sustains him.
6-8 The number of enemies he doesn't need to fear because God is bigger and can deliver him and handle all the wicked. He blesses His people.
We start Proverbs 1:10-19 with talk about sinful men as well and not giving in.
Just like Jesus resisted temptation we are told not to give in when enticed.
11-14,16 The cruelty of greedy men who don't care who they hurt or kill is spelled out. Violence towards the innocent for the sake of money or possessions.
15 we are warned to not even set foot on their paths;
17-18 In the end these foolish men will hurt themselves.
19 This is the pattern of all of the people who go after what is not theirs;
"it takes away the life of those who get it." They exchange possessions for their lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment