Genesis 30; Mark 1
Daily Catechism
QUESTION 5: HOW DO WE KNOW THAT THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD?
Answer: The Bible evidences itself to be God’s Word by the heavenliness of its doctrine, the unity of its parts, and its power to convert sinners and to edify saints. But only the Spirit of God can make us willing to agree and submit to the Bible as the Word of God.
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:6-7,13-16; Psalm 19:7-9; 119:18,129; Acts 10:43; 26:22; 18:28; Hebrews 4:12; Romans 15:4;
John 16:13,14; 1 John 2:20-27; 2 Corinthians 3:14-17; 4:4, 6.
Comment: “Heavenliness” refers to the fact [that] the teachings
of Scripture are of such a nature that they cannot be explained by mere human resources. They bear the marks of the supernatural. “No man ever spoke like this man” (John 7:46). The “unity of
its parts” has to do especially with the way all Scripture points to Christ. “To him all the prophets bear witness” (Acts 10:43). There are detailed and scholarly historical arguments for the reliability
of the Bible, but these are generally beyond the acquaintance of ordinary Christians, and so do not serve as widespread support for Scripture. They are needed, however, in the scholarly arena. [See “Is the Bible a Reliable Guide to Lasting Joy” in Desiring God by John Piper (Multnomah Press, 1986).]
Genesis 30
Ready:
Picking up where Jacob has now had four sons all to Leah and his other wife Rachel, the one he loves, is barren. He had tried to take Rachel as his wife but Laban switched brides on him somehow similar to the way Jacob stole the blessing from Esau earlier. Now His first wife, whom he did not choose, has given birth to Judah and Levi, two very important tribes of Israel, as well as Reuben and Simeon. Each of Jacob’s children become the head of a tribe that we refer to as the twelve tribes of Israel. Something funky happens with Joseph where his kids split a tribe but that will come later.
Reading thoughts:
Here in this chapter Jacob’s wives and their servants bear him 11 boys and one girl. His final boy, Benjamin, arrives a few chapters from here. Leah and Rachel are essentially competing to find favor with Jacob by bearing him as many children as they can. No doubt they are aware of the promise of God to make his people a multitude and so there is great value in many children. They are so devoted to this that they result to having him make children with their servants who Laban had sent with them. There is also a tension between the two wives that never seems to be remedied except for some joy that comes with each child they bear. They name the children by the way their emotions were impacted at the blessing of God each time. Jacob prospers in the land there and he is good shepherd and breeder who multiplies the holdings of Laban greatly. After 14 years he negotiates with Laban to move on with his now growing family but Laban is a bit deceptive and manipulative. It seems that Laban wants to take further advantage of Jacob since he perceives God’s blessing upon Jacob that he must fear will vanish with Jacob. The storyline is interesting here where Jacob resorts to some odd breeding methods that seem to stem from a vision he had which is revealed in the next chapter. It seems that God intervenes to overcome Laban’s deceptive actions to keep Jacob there. God ultimately blesses Jacob and he multiplies the flock that would become Jacobs for six years in addition to the 14 he already served Laban. This whole story has distinct parallels with the future captivity of Israel in Egypt and the way God delivers them from Pharaoh using Moses and his staff and the subsequent signs or “plagues”.
Key Verses:
“13 And Leah said, “Happy am I! For women have called me happy.” So she called his name Asher.” (Genesis 30:13, ESV)
“25 As soon as Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country. 26 Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, that I may go, for you know the service that I have given you.”” (Genesis 30:25–26, ESV)
“27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.” (Genesis 30:27, ESV)
“29 Jacob said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you, and how your livestock has fared with me. 30 For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when shall I provide for my own household also?”” (Genesis 30:29–30, ESV)
“34 Laban said, “Good! Let it be as you have said.” 35 But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in the charge of his sons.” (Genesis 30:34–35, ESV)
“39 the flocks bred in front of the sticks and so the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. 40 And Jacob separated the lambs and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban. He put his own droves apart and did not put them with Laban’s flock.” (Genesis 30:39–40, ESV)
“43 Thus the man increased greatly and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys.” (Genesis 30:43, ESV)
I see the theme as- God multiplies and blesses his people, then gives Jacob a vision of how they will get out from under this “captivity” with ample provision and wealth so they can return to the land he came from (as God had promised at Bethel in chapter 28). The vision is acted upon by Jacob here but not explicitly revealed to the reader until the next chapter.
Rumination thoughts:
v1-24. Here is the birth of the first 11 tribes of Israel. The nation is born! Well, except for Benjamin who will come later. Rachel and Leah seem to have baby wars here and even get their servants involved in tying to outdo one another. I honestly don’t know what to think of it all since there are plenty of examples so far that do not uphold what Jesus later teaches was made plan in the example of Adam and Eve. I mean that Jesus teaches one man and one woman in marriage and it is permanent. So clearly this is messed up but like I have observed already, God uses messed up people and wrong motives and anything at all because his purposes will not be stopped.
v25-36. So over the 14 years that Jacob was serving Laban in order to gain his wives he had become responsible for great blessing and multiplication of Laban’s flock, which means wealth. God’s favor was upon all that Jacob did and Laban knew this. Here Jacob tells Laban that his time is up and that he wants to leave with his family but that he will not be able to provide for them unless he works for some wages now (since he is done working for his wives). They strike a deal that Jacob will get to take the imperfect sheep and lambs and all the subsequent imperfect offspring (so wiki-answers tells me a lamb is a baby sheep) and that they will become his own flock and he will care for both flocks for a time until he has adequate wealth to care for his family. The trouble is that Laban takes away all of the imperfect of the flock so that Jacob has absolutely zero to begin with. There it is. We will see in the next chapter that God promised Jacob a flock of stripped and spotted and mottled animals and now he starts with not a single one. An impossible feat…like birthing a nation from a barren old woman. God makes it clear to Laban that these are his people and they will be blessed and they will return to the land of their kindred. Interestingly, Laban reveals that he had sought insight through divination and this parallels Pharoah’s use of his magicians while he resisted the exodus of the Israelites.
v37-43. Jacob, trusting God to do a work, puts some sticks before the sheep as they mate as some kind of statement that he believes God will show himself mighty (I parallel the sticks to Moses’ staff and Laban to Pharaoh who will also tried to keep the Israelites captive for his own gain). Laban changes the terms over and over as he sees the spotted or the stripped or the mottled flock grow (this is revealed later) and God continues to show his blessing and meets the new terms each time and Jacob’s flock grows and grows. Interesting that Jacob was able to “request” the offspring of the strong animals and God granted it. I read some commentary by Warren Wiersbe that was pretty harsh on Jacob here but obviously God granted the request and I doubt the sticks really did anything to the sheep. Jacob has been taken advantage of and held in captivity in a way here and Laban is not interested in helping him leave. Jacob is seeking to make good of his service to Laban and to allow God to grant additional blessing from the flock to make provision for his family without injury to Laban. Like Pharaoh many years later, Laban works hard in spite of God’s signs that these are his people and Laban resists letting Jacob and his people go.
Meaning, Implications, and Significance
1. I hear a message that no oppression or affliction of evil men will stop God from keeping his promise and delivering his people. Also embedded is a declaration that he will do it in a manner that makes it clear that it is God doing the work so that he alone receives the glory while his people receive the blessing. The implication for today would be that God still works this way and that none of our circumstances truly stand in the way of God’s work. God can do what seems impossible to us in the moment…he can make a way. The significance for me would be that when the impossible scenario is presented I know that I can pray for God to be glorified in the situation and I know that he can overcome whatever challenge is presented. At each new challenge I can keep the same faith and keep my eyes on him.
Response:
“Private”
Reaction:
“Private”
Mark 1
Ready:
Picking up in a new gospel I looking at introductions by the ESVSB, D.A. Caron, and the Holman Dictionary. I see that the author is anonymous but that early tradition assigns John Mark as the author. Mark was Jewish but was not an eyewitness or disciple of Jesus. He was, however, closely associated with the Apostle Peter who is presumed to be the primary source of the content. The sequence of the record seems to follow Peter’s preaching described in Acts 10. Peter is presented as weaker in this gospel and there is less praise toward him, which indicates the likelihood of Peter’s involvement with this record. The book was probably written in Rome sometime in the 50’s or 60’s AD (perhaps following Peter’s death) and the audience seems to have been Gentile Christians. One evidence of this is that Mark does not include a genealogy of Jesus. Mark was also acquainted with Paul and was with Paul and Barnabas (his cousin) for some of their first missionary journey. Paul and Barnabas split up over their disagreement regarding Mark and it was later that Mark and Paul’s relationship was restored. Marks account does not follow a clean chronological sequence as is referred to as a “docudrama” using shorter “clips”. Mark’s favorite word, and transition, seems to be “immediately” (but in Greek of course). His account has also been referred to as the “action gospel” because he is fast paced and shifts scene rapidly, moving through seven different “sections” according to D.A. Carson. These are:
1. Preliminaries to the ministry (1:1–13)
2. First part of the Galilean ministry (1:16–3:6)
3. Second part of the Galilean ministry (3:13–5:43)
4. The concluding phase of the Galilean ministry (6:7–8:26)
5. The way of glory and suffering (8:27–10:52).
6. Final ministry in Jerusalem (11:1–13:37).
7. The passion and empty-tomb narratives (15:1–16:8).
Commenting on the purpose driving Mark’s gospel record D.A. Carson says "Mark thus wants to help his readers understand who Jesus is and what real discipleship involves. But we must recognize that Mark has many other things to say that cannot easily be placed into these categories."
The ESVSB presents the following themes in Mark’s account:
1. Jesus seeks to correct messianic expectations and misunderstandings.
Mark 1:25, 34, 44; 3:12; 4:10–12; 5:18–19, 43; 8:30; 9:9
2. Jesus is man.
Mark 3:5; 4:38; 6:6; 7:34; 8:12, 33; 10:14; 11:12; 14:33–42
3. Jesus is the Son of God.
Mark 1:11; 3:11; 5:7; 8:38; 9:7; 12:6–8; 13:32; 14:36, 61; 15:39
4. Jesus is the Son of Man with all power and authority.
Mark 1:16–34; 2:3–12, 23–28; 3:11; 4:35–41; 6:45–52; 7:1–23; 10:1–12
5. Jesus as the Son of Man must suffer.
Mark 8:31; 10:45; 14:21, 36
6. Jesus is Lord.
Mark 2:28; 12:35–37; 14:62
7. Jesus calls his followers to imitate him in humble service, self-denial, and suffering.
Mark 8:34–38; 9:35–37; 10:35–45
8. Jesus teaches on the kingdom of God, and implies that God continues to call a people to himself.
Mark 4; 1:15; 9:1; 14:25; 15:43
Reading thoughts:
Mark begins his account without a nativity or a genealogy but goes right to John the Baptist preaching and baptizing in the wilderness. He rapidly gives quick accounts of the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.
Key Verses:
“1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” (Mark 1:1, ESV)
“7 And he [John] preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”” (Mark 1:7–8, ESV)
“14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”” (Mark 1:14–15, ESV)
“17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him.” (Mark 1:17–18, ESV)
“19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.” (Mark 1:19–20, ESV)
“22 And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.” (Mark 1:22, ESV)
“24 “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!”” (Mark 1:24–25, ESV)
“35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.” (Mark 1:35, ESV)
“39 And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.” (Mark 1:39, ESV)
I see the theme as- Jesus demonstrates his power and authority as the Son of God and he garners followers who will watch their teacher be a man of solitude and prayer.
Rumination thoughts:
Not much time due to the introduction of a new book. I note that there is textual criticism here and there in the Bible and one example is in the first verse of this chapter. Notice in the ESV that there is a footnote at the end of the verse. It indicates that some of the manuscripts do not include the phrase “Son of God”. This is helpful to know that there is enough evidence to include it but the translators are honest to admit that they do not have certainty that this was indeed in the autograph (the actual original).
v8. Here Mark ties the symbolism of the water baptism to the real deal of Jesus baptizing with the Holy Spirit. I see that the submersion indicates death and then new birth in union with Christ (Rom 6:3-5, Gal 3:26-29, John 17:22-23, 1 John 5:20-21). The Spirit of God is who unites us to Christ (Rom 5:10) and who kills our sin (Rom 8:13-14) and who gives us new life (2 Cor 3:6).
v35. This is a great picture of Jesus being devoted to solitude and seeking the Father and being in prayer. Jesus teaches me here to be contemplative and to spend time alone with God and to be a man of prayer. Jesus rose early and he sought the Father.
Response:
“Private”
Reaction:
“Private”
Soli Deo Gloria!
