January 8

Genesis 8; Matthew 8

Genesis 8

Ready:
Yesterday was the beginning of the flood where the righteous remnant was brought out from under the judgement of God.  The cataclysmic event that rocked the earth and killed everything on it was about 150 days running at the point that this chapter opens. Lord let me hear and see what you want me to know and let me see your redemptive plan unfold.

Reading thoughts:
I see a slow recession of the waters and a waiting upon the Lord by Noah and family. Moses begins the account with a summary from God’s perspective and then moves into Noah’s perspective beginning 40 days after he perceived that they had settled on some ground (Mt. Ararat).  Noah sends a scout and eventually determines that the land has been sufficiently dried and then Noah uncovers the main canopy of the Ark to see what the world looks like now that it has been washed from evil and in a way re-created by God.  Here God speaks to him and directs him to go out with his wife and family and like he told Adam and Eve at the initial creation “be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” Next Noah builds and alter to honor God and thank him for deliverance and he offers a sacrifice after which God declares a covenant that he will never again strike down all living creatures in this way.  

Key Verses:  

“1 But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.” (Genesis 8:1, ESV)

“15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”” (Genesis 8:15–17, ESV)

“21 And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.” (Genesis 8:21, ESV)

I see the theme as- God remembers his people and his promise and he brings deliverance.

Rumination thoughts:
        v1.  This first verse is big because it is similar to other places in the Bible where God “remembers his people”.  This is the beginning of a Biblical theme of “remember”. The concept of remembering is closely tied to covenant.  This is where an agreement is made between two people and the agreement rests on them remembering the agreement and acting appropriately in response from then forward and through many generations.  This strikes at Gen 6:18 where God first told Noah to prepare to build the ark and he said “I will establish my covenant with you…”.  God demonstrates this toward his people over and over and he asks his people also to remember him and his provision.  He wants his people to remember his commandments when we lay down and when we rise and to remember the mighty deliverance given from Egypt at the passover each year.  He wants us to remember what Jesus did on the cross when we eat the bread and take the cup.  The psalmist will often cry out that God would remember him when he feels lost or in trouble.  God takes serious the idea of history.  The Bible and all of Christianity is a historical religion.  All that we believe is grounded in history and events and specific people where God acted and moved and accomplished.  There are many times during Israel’s history when they did not remember and God’s judgment and discipline followed.
        v2-12.  So here is the slow receding of the waters and Noah’s testing of the situation to determine when to come out.  There is maybe a reference to a ceremonial period of purification of the earth where Noah waits seven more days after being convinced that the earth is dry.  This was the period of time that would be observed in waiting after cleansing for various reasons.  This could be highlighting the fact that God saw this flood as a cleansing of the earth from the wickedness that had so corrupted it.
        v13-19.  Here Noah and family come out of the ark and God speaks to Noah.  They are given a similar charge as God gave to Adam and Eve.  There is here a re-habitation of the earth again and a fresh beginning.  We have learned that God is just and righteous and holy and merciful.  There should arise in us an awareness already that mercy and justice do not mix.  Mercy is a setting aside of justice or a type of non-justice. Mercy is not injustice but it is certainly not justice.  The same problem occurred when Adam and Eve did not die spiritually and physically when they ate from the tree. God is choosing to deal with us not according to our sin and there is so far no just reason to base this upon.  Since our desire is for mercy we do not readily see this problem or notice that there is a problem with mercy.  Perhaps if it was my loved one who was killed by the drunk driver I would have a different view of mercy vs justice. Right here is how we read the Bible with a reference to the cross and the person and work of Jesus. He is the grounding for all mercy.  He is the reason that God can be both just and merciful.  Jesus received the justice due to us and so God can have mercy on whom he wills without damaging his justice in the slightest.  Nothing makes sense in the Bible without the cross of Christ.  Everything prior is looking forward to and everything afterwards is looking back to it.
        v20-22.  Noah has a proper response to what God has done in delivering his family here.  We see Noah worship God and make a sacrifice that is pleasing to the Lord.  It is only now that I went back and saw in verse 2 of chapter 7 that Noah brought seven pairs of clean animals and birds and only one pair of unclean.  He had prepared for this as God instructed.  He knew he would be making sacrifice to God.  Here Moses give a comment on something God does not really say but merely thinks…God thinks to himself that he is pleased with Noah’s thankfulness and reverence and he determines then to not again bring all creatures to an end like this.  I cannot take this to mean that he felt bad about doing it or that he wished he hadn’t or anything of the sort.  This would be misery if we had a God who was emotional and made rash decisions and was out of control.  The picture is not that, but God is always revealing himself to us and showing us more of how he wants to relate to us.  Throughout the Bible there are correlations between man trusting what God says and acting appropriately in response and how God either blesses or judges them in response to this.  Here God is blessing mankind on behalf of Noah.  It seems a proper response to mercy has begotten more mercy.

Response:
Lord thank you for being a God who remembers and a God who keeps covenant and who is truth.  Thank you for revealing to us your holiness and justice and even your mercy.  I look forward in this story to the revealing of your glory in the person of your Son where you unravel the mystery of your mercy that covers your people from the time of Adam’s sin until the curtain splits and your holy Son cries out “it is finished”.

Reaction:
Let me always remember your love and protection Lord.  Let me always remember how you have covered my sin and kept from me the wrath that is due to me.  Let me always remember what ends you have gone to in order to reveal yourself to me and to let me know you.  Let me remember you in the moments when the world or my flesh or the devil present me with non-truth.  Let me remember you and choose you O God.

Matthew 8

Ready:
I pick up after Jesus concluded the Sermon on the Mount where he is recognized to be teaching with complete authority that was unknown to the people before this.  Jesus demonstrated a knowledge and a way of speaking that was altogether different than they have ever known.  There indeed was no darkness or lack in him and he sees perfectly and completely and he is want of no wisdom or knowledge except for a very few secret things that in Jesus' humanity the Father has reserved (like the day and hour of his second coming).  Let me understand and apply your teaching here in Matthew Lord.

Reading thoughts:
I see Jesus demonstrating power and correcting misunderstanding.  He demonstrates his sovereign rule over people, the earth, and spiritual beings (demons).  He reveals the power he has to make us clean and to remove wickedness and to rule all our circumstances.  Looking over a text very broadly and putting occurrences into categories like this help me to get a better view of what is really happening in the big storyline.

Key Verses:

“2 And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 3 And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.” (Matthew 8:2–3, ESV)

“9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.” (Matthew 8:9–10, ESV)

“11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”” (Matthew 8:11–12, ESV)

“22 And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”” (Matthew 8:22, ESV)

“26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”” (Matthew 8:26–27, ESV)

“29 And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”” (Matthew 8:29, ESV)

I see the theme as this- Jesus confirms the authority they heard in his voice and establishes his identity and his reign over all of creation for those with eyes to see.

Rumination thoughts:
        v1-4.  Here Jesus heals a leper and makes it plain that he has the power to purify and to make someone holy.  He can cleanse me and he can completely change what was true of me just a moment ago.  He does this by his unstoppable will.
        v5-10.  This story of the Centurion is awesome.  Here is a Gentile who knows who Jesus is even though he was not raised to believe in a coming Messiah.  This Gentile knows what authority is and how it works.  He shows Jesus that he believes him to have such authority over the universe in that Jesus could say the word from anywhere and heal anyone whom he wills to heal and the sin and the sickness will obey the voice of the King of Kings immediately.  Like a soldier receiving command from his general the sickness marches or stops, stands or sits.  The soldier is at the service of the commander.  Jesus sees in the heart of this Gentile a trust in his identity and the absolute truth of his Word.  The idea of Jesus “marveling” here is breathtaking and I come to this with a belief that faith expressed by this man is granted to him by God as a gift that was not his own lest he can boast (Eph. 2:8-9) but this does not lesson the amazement I have for the marveling and for the teaching that Jesus gives through this moment.  There has been none among the Israelites with a faith like what has been granted to this Gentile.  See Rom 12:3 regarding God assigning our measure of faith.  John 17:6 also helps here as I see Jesus referring to the Father giving Jesus his people out of the world and Jesus glorifying God in declaring that indeed they have kept the Father’s word (obedience of faith- this concept will come up more and be explained more later).
        v11-13.  Here Jesus teaches about how salvation comes to the gentiles because of the Jews rejecting him and he declares that many of the Jews (sons of the kingdom) will not be saved while many Gentiles will recline at the table with the Jewish patriarchs in heaven.  This is dramatic and sad but we do see in Romans 11 the hope of Israel being “grafted back in” to the olive tree and all of Israel being saved in the future (all those still living).  For the one who walks in obedience to the faith granted him by God though…healed that very moment.
        v14-17.  Here Matthew wants us to know that the healing Jesus does is related to his taking of our sins and uncleanness upon himself on the cross.  The reference to Isaiah 53 is interesting.  This chapter of Isaiah speaks plainly about the death of Christ on our behalf and how he takes the punishment we deserve.  Just right on the surface is the idea that we are deserving of the illness and the disease but that he takes it from us upon himself like he does our sin.  The visible change helps us to know what he accomplishes in the unseen realm of taking our guilt before God away.  I also see Peter’s mother-in-law responding to the healing my becoming a servant of the Lord!
        v18-22.  Here Jesus corrects a couple of misunderstandings.  He makes is clear that following him is not easy and is not something you do when it is convenient.  He also reached something about man in that he refers to the dead burying their own dead. I take this as a clue to the spiritual state of man being like a dead man walking.  We are born under the reign of sin and death and we are in need of new life by the Spirit of God as Jesus will teach Nicodemus later.
        v23-27.  The author of life was in their boat.  The Son of the Living God was feet away from them and he was so calm he was sleeping.  The circumstances were overwhelming them and they truly did not understand who Jesus was.  Jesus therefore gives them a mild rebuke for not knowing that he rules over all and that he is always aware of our concerns whether we can plainly see it or not.  At least that is what I am taking from this.  Here there are some implications that seem logical and make sense but I always need to be ready to give us something implicit if something explicit elsewhere in scripture overrules it or makes is inconsistent.  Jesus displays for these men his sovereign rule over the earth.  This plainly helps us to know the true nature of the idea that Satan rules the earth and is the “prince of the power of the air”.  Well, kind of.  He rules as far as Jesus allows him to and now farther.  He rules over the moral condition of fallen man except for the mercy of God to restrain us (Gen 20:6).
        v28-34.  Satan was defeated in the desert so any hope of the enemy questioning the identity of Jesus is lost.  Here the demons recognize and acknowledge not only the divine identity of Jesus but also his sovereign authority.  They are looking out for their own skin (pun intended) here as they make a case for what they know to be their future destiny based upon knowing that Jesus already refused to take short cuts and would not skip the cross in his ascent back to the throne and in his suffering to achieve complete authority and reign that was partially given over to the enemy by Adam and Eve.  The time of their torment will come but this does not stop Jesus from demonstrating his ability to cast out wickedness according to his purpose.  He sees fit to oblige the demons and send them into the unclean pigs.  Animal are deemed clean or unclean by God and there is no way to be purified like there is for mankind.  This becomes a stumbling block for the gentiles in the areas because it would seem that these pigs in the area are probably their livelihood and their food and perhaps something they sacrifice to pagan idols.  Perhaps for these reasons they beg Jesus to leave.

Response:
Lord you reign on high and you are the creator of all and ruler of all.  There is nothing over which you do not have dominion and even the things which you have allowed the enemy to exercise some level of dominion over you come and pluck from his hands at your pleasure.  You have the power to heal me and to make me clean and to change everything about me.  You can turn my heart and my mind and my flesh.  But you do not call me to be a fair weather follower who comes and goes on my own clock and based upon my own perceptions.  You call me to follow when it is hard and there is no comfort.  You call me to follow when it costs me.  You call me to follow at great expense sometimes.  You are not a genie waiting for me to make requests but you are the God of all creation who has called me out from the world and unto yourself for holiness and for worship.  Your authority is uncontested O God and I glorify your name.

Reaction:
Let me not delay in following and let me not stumble over difficulty or trials but let me trust and obey.  Let me fight the fight Lord and let me trust your authority to rule over all the circumstances that threaten me.  Let me have faith that you can say come or go and the heavens and the earth will move for you.  Let me have the faith of the Centurion.  Let me have the response of Peter’s mother in law.  Let me be cleansed like the leper.  Let me not bock when your purposes do not lend to my financial gain or comfort like the Gentiles at the Gadarenes did.  Thank you that my faith is in a person who walked among us and not in a force or a thought or any other impersonal being. Thank you for marveling at the faith of the Centurion.  May I please you today and always when I trust you O God.

Soli Deo Gloria!