January 31

Genesis 32; Mark 3

Daily Catechism

QUESTION 7: WHAT DO THE SCRIPTURES MAINLY TEACH?

Answer: The Scriptures mainly teach what man is to believe about God and what duty God requires of man.
Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:16, 17; John 20:31; Acts 24:14; 1 Corin- thians 10:11; Ecclesiastes 12:13.
Genesis 32

Ready:
Jacob and Laban have stuck an agreement and Jacob seems free to return to Canaan with his now large family after 20 years under Laban.

Reading thoughts:
This chapter is pretty big and has a couple of neat elements.  I see Jacob visited by angels and possibly educated in the name of the Lord and also perhaps guided as to where to find his brother Esau and the need to go to him.  I see him meet with God somehow in the really unique all-night wrestling match.  Jacob is renamed by God to be known as “Israel”.

Key Verses:
Gen 1:1-2, 3, 6-7, 9-12, 24-29

I see the theme as- Jacob faces his fear trusting in God to keep his promise knowing that he does not deserve the blessing but depending upon God acting for the sake of his name.

Rumination thoughts:
    v9-12.  My focus here is on his prayer.  This prayer is amazing and Jacob reveals a deep trust in God that goes beyond his fears and his own interests and his rights and his own merit.  He recognizes before God that he is unworthy of the goodness that God has shown him and I think in the way he prays here he is putting the justice of God keeping his promise not upon it being owed in any sense to Jacob but merely upon the very name of God and a trust that God is true.  I see this as a humble prayer that is powerfully focused on the glory of God.  Jacob’s plea to God is that God would protect the promise itself which is bound up in the mothers and the children who are forming this innumerable multitude that God has promised.  Jacob also uses the personal name of God (Yahweh) here for the first time and I wonder if the angels did not reveal this name to him or perhaps he has never approached God in prayer in such a personal way and he chose to use this name because of the nature of his prayer.
    v22-32.  This wrestling match with God in human form (perhaps pre-incarnate Jesus or an angel or ?) seems to be a testament to the fact that Jacob’s life will be one of struggle but in the end he must recognize that his struggle is between him and God and not him and man.  Man and the world around us cannot stop God from working in and for Jacob.  God may have to deal harshly with Jacob and his family but it is for his good in order that he may gain the blessing that God intends for him.  Jacob here thinks that he prevails by getting the blessing from God but where would this blessing had been if God had not engaged Jacob in the match and allowed is to come to this end?  God intended the blessing and I take this as his message that his blessings often come by hardship.  Compare Hosea 12:2-6 and see what the prophet Hosea thought about this wrestling match and its message.  God perhaps also tells Jacob that it is time to become the man God has called him to be and no longer one who fits the name Jacob (‘heel catcher’ or ‘cheater’) but now his is to be one who fits the name Israel (‘God fights’ or ‘he strives with God’).  Perhaps here Jacob is expected by God to no longer strive against man in his own efforts but to rely on God and do his striving in prayer and in dependence upon God.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    1.  I hear a message in the example of Jacob’s prayer teaching humility and dependence and a Godward nature of prayer that correlates with his wrestling match where he will receive his request, but it will not come so easy.  I take the current implication to be that God can and does work his secret (or unknown to me) will masterfully together in the Christian's life (Rom 8:28-29, Eph 1:11, Isa 46:10, Phil 2:13) but this is often going to include trials and hardship and struggles (James 1:2-4, Rom 12:12, 2 Tim 1:8).  The significance for my life is that I know when I pray for the blessings of God upon my life I do not need to interpret hardship and struggle as something other than God answering my prayer.  I may need to wrestle with God over what is going on and why and fight to see the blessing and benefit but I can trust God.

Response:
“Private”

Reaction:
“Private”

Mark 3

Ready:
I left off with Mark documenting Jesus teaching about the Sabbath after teaching about fasting and healing the paralytic man with the great friends who lowered him through the roof.

Reading thoughts:
I see Mark showing me that Jesus does not appreciate hearts that resist the truth and are unwilling to apply it.  I see that Mark gives many accounts of the demons recognizing Jesus.

Key Verses:
Mark 3:3-5

I see the theme as- Jesus comes against men who will not acknowledge his authority while the demons not only acknowledge his identity but fear his authority.

Rumination thoughts:
    v1-6.  In this story of the man with the withered hand Mark gives us a piece of information that Matthew left out.  Mark tells us that Jesus was angered and grieved by the hard hearts of the Pharisees who would not answer his question.  These Pharisees were waiting to try to trap Jesus because they believed it was sinful to heal on the Sabbath, but then when Jesus questioned them on this they refused to answer.  They were silent when Jesus asked them to claim for themselves what they believed.  He put the question to them in a manner of teaching them the truth, but they would not acknowledge it.  They refused to admit that they were wrong in their opinion about healing on the Sabbath.  Mark called this a hard heart when we will not acknowledge our error and when we will not acknowledge the authority of God and repent.  Knowing the truth with my mind is not enough…I must submit to it.  The ironic thing here is that Jesus gets more submission from the demons than he does the Pharisees.
    v7-12.  In this passage there are multiple demons (demonically possessed people) who fall down before Jesus declaring his identity as the Son of God.  These demons know the truth and they even fear Jesus…like a powerful enemy.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    1.  Jesus expects people to value the truth, to feel the personal significance of the truth, to apply the truth, and to speak this truth to others.  A hard heart refuses to acknowledge truth even when it sees it and understands it.  Some lie out values the truth in that moment within the hard heart and it rebels.  The implication for today is that we have an obligation to acknowledge truth and to live according to it.  The significance in my life is that I need to work on ensuring that I value every bit of truth that I learn in God’s Word so that I will feel the full impact of its significance.  This will motivate me to apply the truth and to walk faithfully and even then share it with others.  I need to pray against a hard heart that sits on truth in silence, doing nothing with it.  I need to be actively engaging with God and taking him at his word. I cannot merely acknowledge his identity and be afraid like the demons (Mark 3:11), and I cannot deny or ignore Jesus' authority to cause me to change my actions or thoughts or feelings in response to truth (Mark 3:4-5).  I need to surrender my understanding to his authority (Prov 3:5) and respond in obedience (Rom 2:8, Acts 5:29) to the one who loved me and gave himself for me (Gal 2:20).

Response:
"private"


Reaction:
"Private"

Soli Deo Gloria!