January 5

Genesis 5; Matthew 5

Genesis 5

Ready:
I recall that in Genesis 4 I learned from Cain’s sin in the tragic death of Abel and from Lamech and Adam and Eve as well.  The chapter ended looking forward to the lineage of Seth as people began to call upon the lord again in his day.  Lord please reveal to me more of your story of redemption and our need for your rescue in these pages and let me see the message of the coming Messiah to save us.  May I recognize the lessons and encouragements that you intend for me here.

Reading thoughts:
Knowing who Noah is and what is to come I see here that we are being guided to the patriarch who will preserve humanity and therefore all human lineage again narrows through Noah and his wife in the story to come.  Something jumps out at me that there is another introduction speaking of the generations and the creation that tells me Moses is again beginning some significant section of history here.  Again, knowing that the next chapter brings an increasing corruption on the earth it seems this chapter describes the line of Seth that remained God-fearing and trusting of the lord. 

I see the theme as- Another offspring calls upon the lord and here is preserved a remnant of people who have faith in God and through whom the curse will be relieved.

Key Verses:

“22 Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years.” (Genesis 5:22–23, ESV)

“28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son 29 and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.”” (Genesis 5:28–29, ESV)

Rumination thoughts:
    v1-2.  Here is the intro that revisits creation and sets us off into a new chapter of history.
    v3-5.  The language like what was used to describe how God created man in his own image is here assigned to how Seth was fathered in the likeness and image of Adam.  Later in Paul’s letter to the Romans we will learn how death reigned through Adam and it was passed down to all his offspring in a way that we all inherit the sin nature of Adam and can be said to be “in Adam”.  Here now there is no mention of other specific children and their descendants because the concern here seems to be the lineage to Noah.  This can be because they are a righteous line and also because the others will fall off the map due to the coming flood.  Certainly people lived a long time back in this time and there are debates over why that I will not take the time now to consider.
    v6-21.  There is a repeating pattern here of living - fathering a specific son - living longer - and having other children.  Looking forward to the end of the chapter and adding up the years between each man fathering the specific son mentioned it appears that there was 2,612 years from Adam’s creation through ten generations to the birth of Noah’s sons Shem , Ham, and Japheth (assuming that everyone was mentioned in this list).  Since Adam lived 930 years that means he lived though almost half of this period!
    v22-24.  Here the repeating pattern is interrupted to announce something very special as I learn of Enoch.  There is very little disclosed here and much is speculated but what is clear is that Enoch had a special relationship with God.  Unlike anyone else, Moses announces that Enoch “walked with God” and that “God took him”.  Enoch did not have a record of death but instead he appears to have simply been taken up by God!  This makes Enoch a Biblical character to remember although not much else is known of him.
    v25-28.  The pattern resumes.
    v29.  Again an interruption to announce the naming of Noah.  Noah is the patriarch here who will extend the human race beyond God’s judgement of the flood.  Lamech named him this and declared that Noah would bring relief from the work and from the “painful toil of their hands”.  It seems like a reference to the curse of chapter 3 and I see here a reference to redemption.  Lamech seems to know that God is going to do an act of mercy through this son of his! 
    v30-32.  Pattern resumes and we conclude at the birth of Noah’s three sons having covered more than 2,000 years in one chapter.  This chapter is a bit of a time warp compared to the previous ones (other than maybe the eons that transpired in eternity before God created anything).

Response:
Lord I see you weaving together a history to show us that we are not descended from some unknown source or from many different races, but ultimately we come from Adam and through Noah.  We are made of the same sinful fiber as those who came before us and it seems that you save a remnant who fear you.  May my family be part of your remnant Lord who fears you and walks with you as Enoch did.  I see that you slow down to note when someone walks with you and when someone trusts and hopes in you.

Reaction:
Lord let me trust in your plans and hope in the future that you hold for me and let me leave a legacy to my children that they might be known as one who walked with you. 

Matthew 5

Ready:
I left off in Matthew with Jesus calling disciples and healing many people after being tempted in the desert while fasting for 40 days.  Jesus has just begun his public ministry and is now officially “on the scene” there in area of Galilee.  This is far ahead now of where I was just reading in Genesis as this is now the Messiah who came through that line of Seth as “God with us”.  Help me to hear and do what you instruct in your Word Lord and let me see what I should see here.

Reading thoughts:
There are a number of lessons here and I probably will not be able to give deep thought on all of them Lord.  This chapter begins the Sermon on the Mount. Beginning with the beatitudes Jesus addressed a crowd up on a hill where he sat and was joined by “his disciples”.  I take this to be the broad term, not simply referring to the 12 disciples, which had not even been entirely assembled yet.  The beatitudes give us an understanding that blessedness and the favor of God does not look like prosperity and health and an easy life.  He explains that we are to be salty and our lives are to be a message of hope to those around us.  He proceeds to give a number of lessons about life concluding with the statement that “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  A seemingly impossible task is handed to the one who would call himself a follower of Christ.

Key verses:

“17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17, ESV)

“20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20, ESV) 

“29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.” (Matthew 5:29, ESV)

“44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” (Matthew 5:44, ESV)

The theme here is-  That mankind misunderstands absolutely everything.  We have been interpreting reality and even the law completely wrong.  Jesus proclaims that he is here to grant understanding and to reveal to us the reality that we have clouded in our unrighteousness.  He is here to tune our hearts and minds to God on his way to die in our place.

Rumination thoughts:
      v1-12.  The beatitudes basically teach me that God is the one who meets all needs and who makes all things right and who is to be trusted with all that we are.  There is no fixing of all our problems in this life apart from God.  I do not see this as a list of traits that we must develop in order to get to heaven.  I see this as a reality that Jesus presents that will be us because he is our all in all.  We need not drum up mourning or persecution or the like but we will indeed identify with these things in life and we can trust that there will be a day when our bodies will be redeemed and when all sin and suffering will be destroyed forever.  The first three teach me about how I see my relationship with you God.  The next four speak about me and how I relate to others. There is certainly no teaching here that God’s blessing brings health and wealth…not quite.
       v13-16.  I am to be salt and light.  I am to have the flavor of godliness and joy and a be a message of hope to the lost.  I do not seek attention but it should be plain to all that I trust in the Lord and that I am not destroyed when trouble comes and when duty calls.  The message of my life is not to be my satisfaction with the world but my trust in God and devotion to God despite my circumstances.
       v17-20.  Christ did not come to give me license to sin.  Christ came to fulfill the law…to keep it perfectly and to fulfill the righteous requirements revealed by God (Rom. 8:4).  Paul says in Romans that he did this for us and that Christ is the end (or fulfillment) of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes (Rom 10:4).  The law is still good and it teaches us to love God and to love others.  It teaches us righteousness and justice.  We are to live in this way despite the fact that the law cannot and does not save us.  The law’s purpose is not to measure our righteousness but to measure our sinfulness and the pharisees had that mixed up (1 Tim 1:8-11). Here Jesus declares that we must have a righteousness that exceeds that of the pharisees and this would have been a huge statement to these people since the pharisees were the most “righteous” people you could find, it would seem.  Clearly Jesus is calling out a different righteousness that is not our own and that is deeper than the surface or the outside of the cup (Matt. 23:25-28).
       v21-32.  Here Jesus picks up three of the ten commandments and exposes our misunderstanding of the law.  Like Paul clarifies in Romans 7, the law is spiritual.  The law cannot possibly be achieved in the flesh.  Jesus exposes the level at which the law functions is deeper than actions.  It is heart level.  With this in mind he admonishes us with a gospel message in the midst of the story about the man being dragged to court. He seems to allude to the fact that we too are being dragged to court for our breaking of this law and we will surely be found guilty if we do not settle with the accuser (the law) before we are before the judge (God) and then cast into hell forever.  We must settle this debt and this is exactly what Jesus is here to do for us.  Here the idea that the fine is not paid until paid to the last penny tells me something of the payment Jesus made on that cross.  There is also a message right on the surface that we need to deal with our broken relationships and we must mend wrongs that we have responsibility for.  The radical way in which Jesus expects me to deal with my sin is clear in verses 29-30.  It would seem plain here that I am not to settle for sin in my life but I am to hate it and to kill it if I would consider myself a member of God’s family.  Clearly I should not interpret this as a command to cut off limbs or gouge out eyes since the Apostles all kept their bodies in tact.  This is an example of exaggeration, which Jesus uses often to make a point.
       v33-37.  Jesus here teaches us not to make promises or take oaths based on things over which we have no control or authority.  We can only control ourselves and we must rely on our word as enough to validate our ability to come through.  This issue is a little tough however, because there are places in the New Testament where oaths are seemingly given by Apostles so this will come up later.
       v38-42.  Here Jesus teaches that I am not to fight for my rights in retaliation and that I am to be content with suffering wrongly.  I am to bless those that curse me and I am to overcome evil with good (Rom 12:14 & 21).  Some will force me and some will simply ask me.  Either way we are not to decide our actions based on what is best for us or on self preservation of my rights.  The idea is that I cannot live protecting myself from all harm or from anyone taking advantage of me…to do so is to be ruled by the enemy.  I am to be free to risk abuse and free to love without protecting myself.
       v43-48.  If I am to be like my Father then I am to be merciful and I am to love those who are not “worthy" of it.  Verse 45 explains what is known as “common grace” where God actually shows grace and mercy to all mankind and even this kindness is founded on the cross of Christ (Rom. 3:25-26).  For this reason Jesus truly did bring blessing to all mankind, not just believers.  God treats man in light of the sacrifice of his Son and always has (Psalm 103:10).

Response:
Lord turn this lesson into much more than information for my mind.  Pour into my soul what you would have me understand and how you would have it impact me. The end of the chapter brings me back to the beginning.  I am to be perfect as you are perfect.  I am to rely on you in all my weakness and in all my trouble.  I am not to live with license but in gratitude and hope.

Reaction:
Let me not hope in what the world hopes in Lord but let me find my rest in you alone. Let me love with a love that does not protect myself.  Let me walk uprightly not to earn my place but because I am a child of yours and I want to be like you O God.  Help me Lord to interpret my day and my thoughts and my desires according to your Word and let me love you and love others as you call me to here in this chapter. 

Soli Deo Gloria!