Today we are reading from Genesis 13:5-15:21; Matthew 5:27-48; Psalm 6:1-10; Proverbs 1:29-33
We ended off yesterday at the beginning of Genesis 13. Abraham moved to where God told him and built an altar, there was a detour into Egypt, a mistake and we ended with Abraham building an altar. Today we have another detour of sorts and we will end with an altar in chapter 13.
We also learned yesterday that Abraham had acquired a lot of possessions!Continuing with verses 5-13.... Abraham isn't the only one who is blessed! Lot also has so much stuff that the two of them start to find things getting crowded with them sticking together. The herdsmen start bickering with each other and Abraham says he doesn't want that since the are brothers. They are actually uncle and nephew but like I said earlier - I suspect Abraham may be closer in age to lot then lots dad- his actual brother who has already died. Lot agrees to part ways and Abraham gives him first choice. Lot does not pray to God about where he should go but rather simply looks out at what looks best at a glance. He ends up picking the land to the east and sets up his tent near the city of Sodom and Gomorrah which (we are told -even though Lot probably has no clue yet) is a wicked city where people are constantly sinning "greatly" against God.
14-18
Right after Abraham parts company with Lot and puts his nephew first and is a peacemaker - God talks to Abraham. He tells him a few promises: 1- to look all around him in each direction. He is told all the land he sees will belong to him & his offspring forever.
2- he is told that his off spring will be as numerous and impossible to count as dust is.
Finally God tells him to walk around and check out the land he will get.
Abraham builds another altar to God.
It makes me wonder about altars. They are places where sacrifices are made. They are also reminders of atonement. Atonement is a reminder of grace. Whether it was an animal sacrifice in the Old Testament or Jesus in the new the altar was a reminder that someone else paid the cost for us. Sacrifices are also a way we respond to God by saying He is worthy of anything we can give. Nothing we can give is really enough for all that He is done, but our we our told that we should offer our bodies as a living sacrifice in the New Testament.
Romans 12:1 "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship."
Each new step of the way Abraham reminded Himself that God was worthy of Abraham giving his life over to God.
We open chapter 14 with an inside view of Sodom & Gommorah and the cities that are near Lot.
1-16
For 12 years their is unrest, as the people are all ruled by Kedorlaomer king of Elam. They decide to rebel and gather up five kings to fight against Kedorlamoer who has three other kings who come in as his allies. The result is that the cities of Sodom & Gommorah and the others LOSE and so Lot actually gets captured and taken away with all of his possessions.
We learn that one of Lots people escapes and goes to Abraham for help. Abraham has friends and has a trained army of 318 men, ready to fight for him. It makes me think that as believers we are warned that there is a spiritual war going on and that we must be ready to do battle. How are we training others to fight the good fight?
We see that Abraham has done a great job training these men, and probably we see more then anything that God really blesses Abraham because 5 kings could not take down Kedorlaomer (probably each with their own armies) and yet Abraham and 318 men succeed and win!
17-22
These verses are interesting because they talk about two kings coming out to meet with Abraham. Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine, it says "He was priest of God Most High", and then the King of Sodom who wants the people in exchange for the goods.
This could be seen as a battle of good and evil as Melchizedek is a name used to represent a priest of God. Bread and wine are very symbolic in the new testament - they are the body and blood of Jesus. Melchizedek affirms that Abraham is blessed and praises God.
Abraham responds to Melchizedek by giving him a tenth of everything. Later we see a pattern in scripture of giving a tenth of everything to God.
Sodom is used throughout the bible to represent corruption and evil. So the King of Sodom can also be seen as the devils representative.
To the King of Sodom who wants the people in exchange for goods Abraham does not take anything from the King of Sodom for himself. He does not do a business exchange with him. "I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’"
It is interesting that when Satan tempts Jesus - as we read the other day, he offers him all of the Kingdoms of the world. Jesus doesn't argue with him that he posses what he offers to give back to Jesus. The devil on this earth does reign until the Lord will return to set up His new Kingdom. The devil is interested in keeping the hearts and minds of people.
Although these verses do not say that this is a battle of good and evil or a representation of God vs. Satan there are enough symbols to guide us in thinking that.
In Chapter 15 we are told that right afterwards God talks to Abraham in a vision.
1-6 He tells him not to be afraid and reminds him that He (GOD) is Abraham's shield and very great reward. Abraham has a conversation with God about how he doesn't have any children and as it stands, his servant will inherit everything God blesses him with. He seems confused about the promise. God clarifies and tells him that he will bless him with a son, and then points to the night sky to tell him his offspring will be like the stars in the sky. Abraham believes God and it is credited to him as righteousness. This line about Abraham believing and God crediting it to Him as righteousness is quoted 5 times in the new testament. In Romans, Galatians and the book of James. Also it talks about his faith in the book of Hebrews in the "Hall of faith" where it mentions how Abraham had faith and tells us "without faith it is impossible to please God." Hebrews 11:6.
By looking up these passages and reading the context we learn a lot about how what Abraham does teaches us about Salvation by Grace through Faith and not by works! Galatians and Romans focus on how it is not by observing the law but by faith that we are saved and credited with Gods righteousness. While James deals with the extreme where people think their actions don't matter. He proves that our actions demonstrate our faith (or lack thereof). However, that doesn't alter the message in Romans about the importance of faith to receive Gods grace rather then by observing commands.
As Romans continues to teach:
13 It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14 For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, 15 because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.
It is neat that even the children that are promised to Abraham are more then just physical blood related offspring. They are children of "faith"... that are his "spiritual" offspring.
Romans 4 says in verse 22:
This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 23 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
Or as Galatians 3:7 puts it
Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham.
7-11 God reminds him again also of him taking possession of the land he promised. Abraham asks how he can know?
God asks Abraham to bring a bunch of animals as a sacrifice.... I am wondering if there are meanings that each one represents. We see a ram used in the place of Abraham's son Issac - a prototype of Jesus. The heifer was used in purification sacrifices. In fact, it was unique in that the entire heifer was burned, including the flesh and blood.
Goats are used to represent Christ as well. A live goat over whose head Aaron confessed all the sins of the children of Israel on the Day of Atonement would symbolically bear their sins and then was sent into the wilderness.
He wants each of those animals to be three years old. Jesus did his public ministry for three years before he was crucified. It says that after three days He rose from the dead.
Each of those three animals that have very Christlike representations are to be cut in two. We are also told that when Jesus gave the bread and wine as symbols of remembrance he broke the bread. We are told in Luke 24 that once Jesus was risen He reappeared to his disciples and they did not recognize him till he broke the bread.
We also know that the curtain in the temple was torn in two as a symbol that God has broken the division between us and him so that we could have access into his presence. The temple curtain separated the most holy place from the rest, and access was only permitted by the high priest under very limited restrictions with many rules.
The other animals, the birds are not to be cut up. A dove is a symbol of peace. I'm not sure about the pigeon.
We then learn that predators want to take away the offering Abraham is trying to give to God but that Abraham drives these birds away!
12-21 Abraham falls into a deep dreadful sleep but afterwards God makes his covenant with Abraham on that day to give the land to his descendant. God also tells Abraham the detailed plan. He wants Abraham to "know for certain" all these details.
1) that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there.
2) the nations that mistreat them will be punished afterwards for their own behavior
3) Abrahams offspring will come out of enslavement with great possessions.
4) Abraham will die at a good old age, in peace.
5) In 4 generations his offspring will come back to the land he is at because "the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
So many neat lessons are through these details. First of all his promise to get all of the land was a process. God promises us things like healing and well being and Shalom in every way, yet we often like quick promises and do not like to wait. God has his own timetables. They could not just walk into a land. People already lived there. Abraham and his own people were not enough to take over everything God wanted to give them. God wanted to use hardship to train Gods people for what he would give them. They come out of enslavement with "great possession". What great possessions do we have as a result of crazy things we have gone through?
We often are given hardship before we are ready for what God has in store for us. God has a logical way of giving us his promises. He must prepare us for it. He will prepare them by waiting four generations and also through their enslavement. They will become more numerous and develop character and the desire for their land.
Also we learn how God deals with the wicked people who may very well be used in each of our lives to grow our own characters. We are shown that God will punish the Amorites, but that He also is patient with them until their sin had "reached it's full measure". God does not immediately strike down our enemies. He promises justice but He is also "slow to anger and abounding in love". He waits and gives many opportunities before he finally disciplines. He is not hasty in giving punishments the way we could be with our children at times.
God accepts Abraham's offering in a weird supernatural way.
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Matthew 5:27-48
27-28 Show us that adultery is not a technical thing but a heart issue. Thus emotional infidelity is a reality. The bible says you can already commit adultery with someone in your heart by objectifying them with your eyes.
29-30 Talks about how seriously we should deal with sin. He uses an extreme metaphor of gouging out eyeballs or losing a limb if it causes you to sin, rather then being thrown into hell. God wants us to treat sin like a serious cancer that needs to be destroyed at the very root of however it gets it's access to us. We need to cut off the access points- and take it that seriously, realizing the damage it can do to our souls.
31-32 Talks about the seriousness of marriage. Nobody should divorce except for in cases of sexual immorality. It also says remarriage after divorce makes the person who is getting married again the "victim of adultery". I'm sure you could google some good commentaries on this one, it's a heavy topic.
Oaths
33-36 Talk about not making oaths and about how people swear by all kinds of things they have no power over. In the end it says just to let our yes mean yes and our no meaning no.
38-42
Starts with talking about how people like getting revenge or compensation for their injuries. God tells us not to "resist an evil person". Now this could be taken out of context to mean that we should let rapists and pedophiles run free, but this would go against all the scripture that explicitly tells us to be just and care about justice. Instead it goes on to give it a context that makes sense: "If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also." A slap on the cheek is not a bullet. A bullet will kill you, a slap will hurt your pride. Often times the things we go after are the things that hurt our pride rather then defending the actual oppressed. It also gives the example of a person wanting to sue you- that you should respond by being generous and doing more then you should rather then fighting them. Again, God is giving us examples of places where we are not in actual danger but it is our personal pride that is at stake. It ends with "If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you."
42-45
Now we get into loving enemies. This section is more difficult then the last ending with verse 48 that says "be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect." As we know in other parts of the bible: (1 John 1:8&10)
"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. And... If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us."
or as James 3:2 put it: "We all stumble in many ways." or as Isaiah 53:6 says-
"We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." or as Isaiah 64:6 puts it
"All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away."
So we know that perfection is not a reality, so why does God ask us for it? Because it is something done through Jesus. The verse in between those two verses in 1 John say that "If we confess our sins God is faithful and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness". Our righteousness and forgiveness and "perfection" is not our own, but it's Gods righteousness given over to us.
In other words, on our own we can't be clean or perfect, but with God we can be, and ONLY through God.
In the same way this section on loving our enemies needs to be looked at through that same supernatural lens. We need to pray to God to give us strength to do the impossible.
"Love your enemies" is followed by "pray for those who persecute you". There is a direct correlation there between the ability to love our enemies and a dependence on God through prayer for that love. Verse 45 talks about how things are not always fair. Bad people get good things sometimes and good people get bad at times. This time on earth is not what we should be looking at. We need to keep our eyes on heaven as the verse also points out we are children of "our Father in heaven". We need an eternal perspective so that we don't get discouraged or grow bitter.
Verse 46-47 talks about how we need to be different. Why would we be different then anyone else in the world if we do what they do? Those who do not have Gods love know how to love those who love them. We should be different from those in the world. Loving those who love us makes us like the rest. We need to love even those who do not love us!
I like how it talks about greeting people though! Love is reflected in who we greet and how we greet them as well. It's not a fluffy emotion but an action.
moving on to Psalm 6:1-10
Yay, back to stringed intstruments for David. Love those instuments- especially all together with other instruments too- like Viva la vida by cold play.
Okay I'm getting off track...
1-3
"LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.
Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am faint;
heal me, LORD, for my bones are in agony.
My soul is in deep anguish.
How long, LORD, how long?"
David knows he is not perfect (we were talking about perfection earlier) and he is willing to confess it before God as we are told to do. Two things we read earlier tie in with this as well. David would like grace, and as we learn- God was graceful and long suffering with the Amorites in Genesis. Not disciplining in haste. David is not asking for extra time to go on sinning, but for forgiveness because he would like to turn around and be in Gods favor. He knows he deserves a rebuke or discipline and needs mercy. What David asks for falls in line with how God is so good to us. He is full of grace.
But we also see that even though David is wanting God to come to his rescue, that he still goes through some hard stuff. In Matthew we saw that God allows the rain to fall on the good, and we learned in Genesis that Gods people would have to go through the enslavement before walking out with all those possessions. Bottom line: Life is not always easy. Following God is sometimes very hard and we are not preserved from difficulties in life. Sometimes it does feel like they go on forever. For some of Abraham's ancestors their whole lives were spent in enslavement. The question "How long?" Is a cry we all have at times, and David (along with God) understands our weariness.
6-7 The bible says David is "worn out". That he has literally spent all night bawling his eyes out. The pressures on him feel too much.
4-5 turning to God to deliver you is the way to go when you feel that way (rather then turning to drugs, alcohol, divorce, affairs, or anything else!) because even if life can wear us down God's love is unfailing. We are Gods living testimonies of His goodness- and even the bad times will not change that fact.
8-9 Is a victory cry. Those who hurt you will not have the last word cause God sees your tears, he hears your crys, and he accepts your prayers.
10 Anyone who tries to hold you back will regret it eventually, and they will be put to shame for their actions.
Do you trust God during the most difficult times and react like David? Do you turn to God and realize he will deliver you and hear you?
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Proverbs 1:29-33
my summary of the first 3 verses is that people reap what they sow. Even without God handing out additional punishments to bad actions their are always natural concequences. Some are immediate and some are not, but God allow us to suffer the concequences of our sin when we don't listen. The last verse says that if we do listen to God we are safe & at ease, and don't need to fear.
On that note, let's continue to listen to God as we not only read his word but follow it. Peace be with you. :)
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