Genesis 9 & 10; Matthew 9
Genesis 9
Ready:
Noah has come out of the Ark and received charge from God to be fruitful and multiply. They have found the land to be dry and are re-habitating the earth in a kind of a re-creation and purification.
Reading thoughts:
So I see your covenant of mercy to mankind, your approval of eating meat, the verbal law of capital punishment for murder along side a reminder again to multiply and fill the earth. I also see a strange account of Noah’s life and his family dynamics. Noah curses the son who seemed to disrespect him and blessed those who looked out for him and gave him honor even when he was behaving poorly and was in a bad way. Interesting that 350 years of the life of the patriarch of the history of the world is summed up in a story about him being drunk and naked.
Key Verses:
“3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.” (Genesis 9:3, ESV)I see the theme as- A promise of mercy to a fallen people who will need it.
“6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” (Genesis 9:6, ESV)
“15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”” (Genesis 9:15–16, ESV)
Rumination thoughts:
v1. A return to the command given in the garden as a new beginning. This time man knows that God judges sin righteously. We know more of the justice of God by this revelation.
v2-4. Man will now be carnivorous and the animals will know it. This is new and there is now a tension I suppose between them as there was no fear or violence between man and animal at that point. This leads God to mention animals as murderers as well as man in the next verse.
V5-6. Here God requires a life for a life whether it requires the life of an animal that kills a man or another man. Capital punishment is instituted by God and man is in a modern sense told to establish government. Justice is clearly an attribute of God and he calls us to administer it among ourselves. Later there will be clear rules for the witnesses and a legal system to protect the innocent (Deut 19:15).
v7-17. God determines and sets himself in covenant to never again flood the earth to destroy mankind. This is a revelation of his mercy and it would seem that he must know we will need this understanding. This is a redemptive promise that only foreshadows or vaguely explains how it works or why. We know enough to know that God is just and that he yet has mercy when he is pleased to have mercy. I recall that the Lord said in his heart when he received Noah’s sacrifice that he would not destroy all life again and also that he told Noah before the flood that he would establish a covenant with him…and now he does it. So the sacrifice of Noah here could be, as the ESVSB notes suggest, representative of the sacrifice of Christ that is the basis of God’s mercy for all time. It can be a picture here of God first determining that he will have mercy and save a remnant by mercy. Then he indeed does spare and save them from death and then the sacrifice that made it all possible comes and then he honors that sacrifice into the future. Just like Christ’s sacrifice came after many years of God’s mysterious mercy and now we enjoy the mercy of God knowing that is is rooted behind us in the cross. This is the directional focus of redemption either forward to the cross in the OT or backward to the cross for us today.
v18-29. I take this to be an expression that things didn’t all go so hot from the time they came out of the ark. This is about like life as we know it. Sometimes we can blow a good thing in half a second. Noah’s youngest son mocks his father and does not respect him and this sets him off. Interesting that this youngest son’s son and subsequent descendants become the enemies of Israel. These are the people that God drives out of the promised land with the Israelites. The first born son, Shem, is blessed and it is him who will carry the lineage to Abraham.
Response:
Lord thank you for this picture of success and failure. You bless and we blow it. You promise mercy and we need it. Thank you for the picture of redemption and the way that you base your actions on something future that you set out to accomplish and we benefit from it. You designed a marvelous plan and we get to live in it.
Reaction:
Let me think to regard your mercy regular and to see the ways that I rely on it. Let me honor my father and family always and let me look out for even those who are not doing right things. Let me think more highly of others than myself and let me not expose or mock others in any way.
Genesis 10
Ready:
Continuing today here into the next chapter...
Reading thoughts:
I see that chapter 10 is chronologically out of sequence with chapter 11 to come. This chapter focuses on genealogy and does not respect the scenario of Babel that actually happened before it. Here I see the aftermath of babel with the nations being born and the sons of the sons of Noah dispersing over the earth with various nations and languages.
Key Verses:
“32 These are the clans of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, in their nations, and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.” (Genesis 10:32, ESV)I see the theme as- The earth is populated with diversity of tongues and nations from the blessed and the cursed sons of Noah.
Rumination thoughts:
v1. This is a simple summary of the chapter right at the outset and the beginning of the populating of the ravished earth.
v2-5. Japheth’s sons and their sons.
v6-20. Ham’s sons and their sons. Extra attention is given here to establish for us that this is the source of some of the wicked people on the earth that will oppress the Israelites. Babylon and the Canaanites are included in the lineup and there are to be “mighty men”. Perhaps giants?
v21-32. Shem’s sons and their sons. Here is a summary although in the next chapter we will have a breakdown including ages and more detail for Shem’s descendants.
Response:
Lord you have your reasons for allowing wickedness and surely you use evil for good and I see the story playing out and leading toward Israel’s captivity and crying out to you. You lead us to call to you O Lord and this is your mercy. Hosea 6 explains that you tear us in order that you may heal us and so that we will run to you.
Reaction:
Let me be a quick learner Lord and run to you swiftly and let my descendants honor you. May Asher and Anna extend a legacy of fearing the Lord and of seeking you hotly.
Matthew 9
Ready:
I pick up now after Jesus was asked to leave the area of the Gadarenes since he seems to be hurting their business by their pigs mysteriously running off cliffs.
Reading thoughts:
I see Jesus show that the faith of a community matters in the life of an individual and I see him declare that he came for sinners who know they need mercy and I see him announce his identity as the bridegroom of Israel, God himself, in the presence of whom there will be no fasting or weeping because the bridegroom is here!! I see Jesus healing people as quickly as he can move and judging hearts in a moment as he disperses a crowd mourning a death differently than when he wept with the family of Lazarus. Jesus here proclaims and displays that the Kingdom of God has come to earth. He is compassionate and recognizes the need for laborers beyond on man.
Key Verses:
“5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.”” (Matthew 9:5–6, ESV)I see the theme as- Jesus proclaims himself as the bridegroom and displays the coming of the Kingdom to rescue sinners who will acknowledge their need and put their trust in him.
“11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”” (Matthew 9:11–13, ESV)
“14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” (Matthew 9:14–15, ESV)
“36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;” (Matthew 9:36–37, ESV)
Rumination thoughts:
v1-8. Jesus’ own city is now Capernaum based on Matt 4:13. This is an abbreviated account of the man who is lowered through the roof by his buddies in Luke chapter 5. Matthew also calls out the fact that Jesus is responsive to “their faith” and not merely the faith of the paralytic. Here is a wonderful picture of brotherly love an community and the impact of building one another up that we can have. Our faith is strengthened by others just as Paul speaks of in Romans 1:11-12. Jesus also makes it clear that he is able to forgive sins. He reads the thoughts of the pharisees and he explains a huge reason for all the miracles that he is performing. He wants to give visible, verifiable evidence of the authority that he carries so that they will believe it when he also claims authority to forgive sins, which is clearly an invisible act.
v9-13. The calling of Matthew (our narrator) the tax collector. A very simple description of Matthew answering the call of Jesus without question. He appears to leave his job and the next thing we see recorded is Matthew hosting a dinner for Jesus and some other disciples. There are also a number of other people there that include shady characters and people who the religious establishment would not typically associate with. These were sinners who knew they were sinners and who wanted help from this Jesus. When the pharisees ask the disciples why the shady people are here and why Jesus is spending time with them Jesus spoke up, maybe from across the room, and told them that they are jacked up. He makes clear that he is here to help those who are sick and who know it. He tells them to think about having mercy on others rather than following religious rituals. In other words, he rebuked them for not understanding that they are called to love others and they don’t recognize that they are failing to do this. He comes to rescue those who admit their sin, not hide it or cover it with a bunch of outward actions.
v14-17. This is the heart of the chapter I think. Here Jesus makes reference to Isaiah 61-62 where the bridegroom of Israel, their God, delivers them and delights in them and they rejoice in the Lord and exult in their God. Jesus is asked why his disciples don’t fast. Fasting before the coming of Christ was about sorrow over sin and a longing for the Messiah and a need for relief and it was an anticipation. Well wait no longer!! There is no reason for such fasting when God is with us! Here he is…the long awaited Messiah is here and there can be no fasting for this is a celebration! God has come to earth and he walks among us and we shall rejoice. This is the message Jesus proclaims when he says that the Kingdom of God is here. Fasting in the OT (old wine skins) was anticipatory of something that they were told of but had not tasted. The new wine skin of the New Covenant arrival and work of Christ gives us a taste and a knowledge of his glory and now we fast since he has left to the right hand of the Father but it is with new wine skins and new understanding of our hope. We no longer look forward to some rescue but we look back at the work of Christ and rejoice for “it is finished.” My opinion on the wine skins interpretation here comes from a sermon by john Piper.
v18-34. I don’t know how much time passed in this flurry of miracles but it seems unending and like he doesn’t get a breath. In the end the pharisees blaspheme God by concluding that Jesus is working miracles by the power of the devil.
v35. Here Matthew summarizes the ministry of Jesus in teaching from the scripture about himself, preaching the good news of forgiveness, and healing to prove his identity, authority, and power to change everything, including our sinfulness.
v36-38. Now Jesus makes observation that this flurry in one town needs to spread and there needs to be more witnesses and more people declaring the kingdom. He tells his disciples of this and they perhaps get the idea right away that he is talking about them stepping up. "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few”…and he tells them to pray about this. He was likely speaking to a broad group that is referred to as disciples rather than just the 12. I am thinking that the 12 were among these and their hearts probably burned in hearing this and they came to know that they were called specifically for this ministry that Jesus spoke of. The next chapter leads us on in their sending...
Response:
You are amazing and your arrival and announcement to the world is more plain to us than to these who watched it happen. I thank you for the revelation of your scriptures that help us to interpret and know what it is you have done. Thank you for coming as the bridegroom to Israel and although they did not recognize you this was for the salvation of the Gentiles and the good of the world. You have changed everything Jesus and now we can fast with different focus and hope and understanding and assurance and joy.
Reaction:
Lord let me rejoice and be glad that the bridegroom has come and you have made atonement for my sin and you have conquered sin and death and I can now look back at your work with trust and delight. Let me look forward also to your promises and the glory of the resurrection to come. Let me be mindful of my sin and not hide it or pretend it isn’t there. Let me love others and be merciful rather than distance myself from people who may have different troubles than I have.
Soli Deo Gloria!
