February 14

Genesis 47; Luke 1:1-38

Daily Catechism

QUESTION 21: INTO WHAT CONDITION DID THE FALL BRING MANKIND?  
Answer: The fall brought mankind into a condition of sin and misery.
Scripture: Psalm 51:5; Romans 5:18-19; 7:18; Isaiah 53:6; 64:6; John 3:6-7; Ephesians 2:1-3; 1 Corinthians 2:14.

Genesis 47

Ready:
In the previous chapter Jacob has sought after God’s approval to go into Egypt and received a promise that 1. God’s presence would go with them and 2. They would become a great nation there and 3. God would bring them back the promised land of Canaan.

Seeing What’s There:
In this chapter Jacob settles in the land of Goshen and is given provision of food by Joseph, who shrewdly manages the resources of Pharaoh to not only keep the Egyptians alive but Pharaoh becomes the owner of all the land and all the livestock during the remainder of the famine.  The events seem to take place over a period of 17 years.  The following jumps out at me from this chapter:

• Pharaoh put Jacob’s family in charge of his own livestock
• Joseph acquires all the money and livestock and the land of Egypt for Pharaoh
• All of the Egyptian’s come into service of the Pharaoh to survive
• Joseph taxes the people 1/5 of their crops
• Israel gained land (not sold to Pharaoh) and was fruitful and multiplied greatly
• As Jacob perceived death coming, he asks to be carried back to Canaan after he dies

Key Verses:
Gen 47:6, 11-12, 14, 17, 20, 23-24, 27, 30

Theme:
God protects Israel and keeps his promise to multiply them in Egypt even during a great famine.

Thinking About the Message:
    v1-12.  Israel is given land apart from the Egyptians that they can keep for their own and Joseph takes care of them while still living among the Egyptians and managing Egypt.
    v13-26.  Joseph turns Pharaoh into the sole land owner in Egypt (apart from the Egyptian priests) and he ha full control of the people as well, who sell themselves into Pharaoh’s service.
    v27-31.  After 17 years of living in Goshen and multiplying and growing in possessions Jacob prepares for his death.  It seems that God has supernaturally provided for the Israelites that they have not sold their land or their people into Pharaoh’s service and have been preserved in Goshen.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    I take this chapter as a rather simple statement of God blessing Israel in this foreign land and sustaining them and keeping his promise to multiply them.  The implication is that the Israelites are growing in number in this foreign land and there is developing a scenario where Pharaoh has all of the Egyptians in his service, with the exception of the Israelites.  The significance to me at this point is tracking with the story that I know will progress to Israel eventually being brought under the bondage and service of Pharaoh after another generation forgets Joseph and all he did to save Egypt.  Like the Jesus’ church on earth, the nation of Israel will grow and come into maturity in a foreign land before God brings them into the promised land.

Valuing the Message:
I value the fact that God maintains his people and seems to be working toward the fulfillment of making them a great nation here.

Reflecting to Feel the Impact of the Message:
I see this as the first 17 of a total of 430 years that Israel will live in Egypt and what begins as 70 people will leave Egypt, by way of the dry ground under the Red Sea as 600,000 men with their women and children after them!

Responding to God & Reacting to His Lesson:
Tell God about your observations and your thoughts and your struggles with the chapter and determine how it will change or impact your thinking and your decisions.  Be sure to react in some way to the truth rather than remain silent.

Proclaiming the Truth to Others:
Decide who you can share what you have learned with and ask for God’s help in reaching out to love others.

Luke 1:1-38

Ready:
Luke was a Gentile and a physician to Paul.  His account was acquired through eyewitness testimony and written documents.  He also authored the book of Acts.  He probably wrote this gospel account in the early 60s AD intended to an audience of Gentile Christians.  Luke wrote after Mark and was familiar with his account.  Luke’s account is more detailed and thorough than the others in some ways.  He includes parables and accounts that only exist in his record.  He has a very extended account of Jesus’ travels to Jerusalem (10 chapters long compared to 1 in Mark).  Luke seeks to give Theophilus and all new converts "reason for the hope that is within them” by showing that God indeed revealed himself in Jesus of Nazareth.  The over-arching structure in Luke is the fulfillment of God’s plan.  Luke 19:10 can be claimed as the thematic verse “For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.”  Luke uses the words “salvation" and “savior" more than any other book in the Bible.  Luke focuses on the Gentiles as the recipients of salvation.  Luke presents Jesus plainly as having great concern for the outcasts of society.  Generally a biography of the life of Jesus, Luke has a broader range of literary sub-genres than the other gospels and Luke is the most descriptive.

The main structural sections of the book are as follows:

I.    The Prologue (1:1–4)
II.   The Infancy Narrative (1:5–2:52)
III.  Preparation for the Ministry of Jesus (3:1–4:15)
IV.  The Ministry of Jesus in Galilee (4:16–9:50)
V.   The Journey to Jerusalem (9:51–19:27)
VI.  The Suffering and Death of Jesus (22:1–23:56)
VII. The Resurrection of Jesus (24:1–53)

Seeing What’s There:
Luke begins with the accounts of the angel Gabriel revealing God’s plans to two families in the Tribe of Judah.  Gabriel has good news for Zechariah and Elizabeth and then 6 months later for Joseph and Mary.  What jumps out at me in this chapter is:

• Only a few angels are named in the Bible and this angel brings news of both births.
• Zechariah has a response of unbelief that results in God making him mute until the birth of John
• Mary has a response of belief and she declares herself a bondservant of the Lord

Thinking About the Message:
    v1-4.  Luke explains that he has compiled this account from various sources and that he himself was not a witness.  Like Mark, this gospel account is not first-hand but is the inspired Word of God. Luke writes so that Theophilus and other believers will be assured of the truth of what they have been taught concerning Jesus.  It is as if Luke is and investigative reporter searching out all the evidence he can to confirm Mark’s gospel record and all that the Apostles were teaching.
    v5-25.  A very interesting account of Gabriel revealing God’s plans to Elizabeth and Zechariah.  Zechariah does not believe the angel and inquires about how the is could be so from a heart level of distrust.  His question to Gabriel is not much different in grammar than Mary’s but his heart and the meaning of his question is very different.  Gabriel reacts with a strong statement that shames Zechariah and puts him in his place as a recipient of a message from Almighty God who should receive with gratitude this revelation.  John is filled with the Holy Spirit while still in the womb of Elizabeth and he clearly has a very unique role to fulfill from day one.
    v26-38.  Now Mary is visited by Gabriel and though she too asks a similar question as Zechariah did, it becomes clear that she was asking in amazement of wondering how this thing that she believed would come to be.  I see it like “Wow, you are kidding me!  That is incredible, so how in the world is this going to happen?”  Her heart is revealed in Luke 1:38 by Mary’s response and also in Luke 1:45 by the words of Elizabeth.  So Mary is betrothed or “engaged to be married" to Joseph (a descendant of King David) and she is yet a virgin.  Gabriel explains to her that the Holy Spirit will accomplish the impossible by creating a human body within her (Heb 10:5) that the eternal Son of God will abide in and he will be holy (no sin carried down from the seed of Adam because there is no human “seed” involved).  Thus Jesus will be born with a human body and soul but without sin (Heb 4:15, 1 Pet 1:22) and not enslaved to sin like the rest of mankind (Rom 6:6) who are born as children of wrath (Eph 2:3).  Only Adam and Eve had known this kind of free-will (prior to their fall) that allowed them to "not sin" before now (Rom 5:14).

Valuing the Message:
Out of time…


Reflecting to Feel the Impact of the Message:
No time…


Responding to God & Reacting to His Lesson:
Tell God about your observations and your thoughts and your struggles with the chapter and determine how it will change or impact your thinking and your decisions.  Be sure to react in some way to the truth rather than remain silent.

Proclaiming the Truth to Others:
Decide who you can share what you have learned with and ask for God’s help in reaching out to love others.

Soli Deo Gloria!