Genesis 15; Matthew 14
Genesis 15
Ready:
The last chapter showed me Abram going after Lot when he was taken captive in the battle between the kings. Abram was successful in rescuing him by the hand of the Lord and Abram then tithed and was blessed by the Melchizedek king of Salem. Let me hear your message here Lord and may you grant me understanding and submission to the authority of your Word.
Reading thoughts:
I see in this chapter the amazing unilateral covenant of God with Abram. I see Abram’s trust in God’s spoken Word counted to him as righteousness.
Key Verses:
“3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.”” (Genesis 15:3, ESV)
“5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:5–6, ESV)
“7 And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” 8 But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”” (Genesis 15:7–8, ESV)
“12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.” (Genesis 15:12–13, ESV)
“17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,” (Genesis 15:17–18, ESV)
I see the theme as- God declares that it will be for his own sake that he will keep his promises and that he will be faithful and it will not rest on the faithfulness of Abram that he shall do this thing that he has declared first to Adam and Eve and then to Noah and now to Abram. He will indeed deliver a people from sin and death by the offspring of Eve as he has spoken because he is the unstoppable God of all creation who has set his love upon us.
Rumination thoughts:
v1-3. Here Abram asks the Lord to keep his promise. Abram is told by God that his reward shall be great for his selfless actions of faith in rescuing Lot and Abram’s response is to see if God would consider the reward to be the offspring he is waiting for. Abraham basically says that all he sees now is that a member of his “household” would be the closest thing to a descendant so far.
v4-6. Here God makes a double statement to Abram by asking him to look to the sky and count the stars. He illustrates that just as he created the multitude of stars in the sky by the power of his Word so too can he give Abram an offspring with no more than the thought of his infinite and unstoppable mind. He says “So shall your offspring be” and this refers to the quantity and the quality. I hear God promising that it will be him that brings the offspring, not Abram’s manipulations (like with telling lies to Pharaoh about who Sarai is to him). I also hear God promising Abram that his offspring will be numerous and as brilliant lights that declare the glory of God (Psalm 19:1, Rev 7:9-12). And I take this vast multitude of offspring to be the inheritance of Jesus (choir of burring lights) that he looks at from the cross and brings him joy in and satisfaction in the seeing (Eph 1:18, Isaiah 53:10-11, Heb 12:2). These are promises that he will keep through many future actions of God and through many actions of men in the coming drama of the story of redemption that we are reading. Here God counts Abram righteous and this means that it is not his own righteousness since it is “counted” to him. Here God tells the world that anyone who trusts him can and will be declared righteous before God with God's own righteousness, which we will lean to be his Son (Rom 10:3-4, Rom 3:22) despite their sin and despite their not being part of some special family by birth (Rom 3:23-24, 4:11, 20-25, Rom 9:8, Gal 3:7). Note that God declared Abram righteous before he changed his name and before he told him to circumcise himself…before Abram became the first Jew. Yes salvation is from the Jews but is is for all who would become a Jew by faith (Rom 2:28-29, Gal 3:26-29)!
v7-8. God reminds Abram of what he has already done for him and Abram, trusting God- I believe, asks now how he can know that he will possess it. I take this perhaps to be Abram questing himself and his ability to do what God is saying because God’s response is not one of curse like the angel had for Zechariah when he doubted the prophecy concerning his own son. Instead God’s response is to declare to Abraham that it will be him alone who accomplishes this mighty thing that is never meant to be a celebration of the faith of the one loved but a celebration of the glory of the one who loves. Salvation is about the glory of God and not the value of man. If God’s choice to save is about my value then I am tore up and without hope when I consider my sin and my weakness and my heart that is inclined to evil. But when I understand God’s choice to save to be about the glory of God he lifts my head and he conquers my sin to the praise of his glorious name!
v9-11. Here God has Abram prepare a common covenant ritual where both parties would walk between the torn carcasses in agreement that each will keep their end or else they would be sawn in two like these animals. This would be a binding covenant resulting in death to the party that did not perform.
v12-16. Here God interrupts as Abram waits for God to direct him now that the ritual has been set-up. God puts a sleep upon Abram and gives him a vision with a declaration that there is certainty of the things to come. He describes the future of the people of Israel and even indicates their captivity in Egypt (which will require unborn descendants to sin against their brother to bring about and then the sin of Pharaoh in holding the Israelites so that God judges Egypt). So God declares that these things are certain even though they include the many choices and actions of people.
v17-21. Here God wakes Abram from the vision of the future to now see what God is doing for him in the present. He wakes to see God, in the form of a smoking fire pot (foreshadowing how he will show his presence to the Israelites in a column of smoke or fire) passing between the carcasses without him! God was supposed to bring Abram through with him so that both parties are bound to the agreement! "I will be their God and they will be my people”…we are supposed to be bound to be his people! Why does God leave Abram on the sidelines as he himself establishes this covenant alone? Moses narrates for us and tells us that on this day God made a covenant with Abram to give his offspring this land. This covenant does not rest in any sense upon Abram but solely upon God to keep. This helps us know why God declares over and over as he deals with the unfaithful Israelites things like “for my own sake I will do it” (Isaiah 48:11). How then does his promise rely on my decision to have faith? (See Eph 2:8, Acts 11:18, 2 Tim 2:25, Rom 4:16-17). God gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist! What was the context of this statement there in Romans 4…search for it. What is he talking about with this life to the dead and making things exist by a call (Rom 11:28-30, Acts 2:39, Rom 1:5-7)? And then- Am I saved for my sake or for the glory of God in keeping his promise in order to show the sinfulness of the sin committed in the garden and the glory of his holy name to a multitude of nations and tongues who will live and be saved by his mighty hand? Is this a story about me or about our amazing God? Is the question “why does he let good people that he loves go to hell” or “why does he slay his Son to save some of the God haters who defile his name with every breath and thought until he would mercifully give some a new heart?” Is hell an injustice and heaven fair and right? Or is hell fair and right and heaven the glorious riches of the mercy of God upon those whom he freely chooses from the pagan idol worshipers in the plains of Haran? This is the epic story of God’s revelation of himself to us!!
Meaning, Implications, and Significance
1. I hear God declare that he puts his own truth on the line and his own name on the line and his own glory on the line with regard to keeping his promise to Abram. The implication of this is that God intends to do a work and he will do it. The significance is that I can trust that God will work in me to kill sin and to love others and to give me hope and to be my strength and that I can trust that he will complete the work he has begun in me. I can trust that my faith is a gift and he will bring me across the finish line. I, like Abram, can step forward in faith that the promise is a done deal and I can walk as one victorious.
2. I hear Moses teach that the righteousness of God is counted to him in the same manner that he declares me righteous by faith in the truthfulness of God in his promise of offspring. The implication is that righteousness does not come from self accomplishment or religious duty but it comes by trusting God through the person and work of his Son. The implication for me is that I do not need to work for my salvation but I need to trust God to have clothed me in the righteousness of his Son and trust that he will bring the fruit in my life as I walk in the obedience of faith.
3. I hear Moses teach that it is the people of faith that are sons of Abraham and therefore sons of God. The implication is that Christ is available to save all who will trust in his name. Will I trust? Will I have faith? Who is the one who trusts in God? The significance for me is that I am in the family of God and I am part of his choir of burning lights to the glory of his name and not to the value of mine. I rejoice that my salvation rests not upon me but upon the covenant of God to hold true to his Word. This is not a weak Word that leaves me to muddle and toil in sin with some empty guarantee that my living and my desires and my thoughts and my actions do not matter…nope. He gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. He will make me like his Son and he will do much of that work here and now because that is what grace does (Titus 2:11-15, 1 Thess 5:23-24)!
Response:
“Private”
Reaction:
“Private”
Matthew 14
Ready:
In this chapter we are coming from a series of parables by Jesus and now there is a shift in the setting and the characters to indicate something different being taught.
Reading thoughts:
I see the death of the last of the OT prophets and the striking symbolism given by Jesus to his disciples to teach that they will deliver his Word to mankind and they will indeed feed his sheep (John 21:17). He further helps them to see that this word they deliver is the very Word of God.
Key Verses:
“9 And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. 10 He sent and had John beheaded in the prison,” (Matthew 14:9–10, ESV)
“19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.” (Matthew 14:19, ESV)
I see the theme as -The new revelation from God has arrived and it will go forth at the hand of the apostles with the very power of God.
Rumination thoughts:
v1-12. It looks like Herod the tetrarch believed that John was Elijah come from the dead (close but a little off) but because of an oath he took he sorrowfully orders the beheading of this prophet of God as a result of John calling all out of this sin and Herodias being offended. The law of God offends those who want to justify themselves and the OT here comes to a full close with the death of the final prophet (Luke 11:49, Acts 7:52). But John’s job is complete!
v13-21. Here I take this miracle to be the transition of how God spoke in the OT through prophets and angels but now through his Son and his Son is only here teaching for 3 years and then the Word will go through the apostles to the ends of the earth. Here the Word or the “bread of life” is blessed by Jesus, handed to the apostles, and distributed to all who hunger. There is a message there.
v22-33. Then Jesus shows them a miracle that results in their perception that he is the Son of God without question. The Word that they are given comes not from a prophet but from God himself, come among us as a man. Their power is not their own but it comes by the command of God and his call to step onto the water. When they rely on self or believe the lie that God does not reign over their circumstances then they start to sink. Jesus reaches out and is their rescue and the one who will keep them afloat. He will not allow their faith to fail for it is his gift to them (Luke 22:31-32).
v34-36. I take the final paragraph here in closing this passage to be the display of the power of God extending beyond the flesh of Jesus. His very clothing carries his power and so certainly his people can. Only those who touched his garment were healed. It took faith in action…obedience of faith for the sick to be healed.
Meaning, Implications, and Significance:
1. I hear Matthew teaching that the transition from the OT to the NT is complete. The implications is that from here the proclamation of God relies on the God-man Jesus and his followers. The significance is that I carry this message and it is up to me to be a proclaimer of the truth. Jesus is in heaven and the prophets are all dead and the apostles are all dead…who is left?
2. I hear Matthew teach that Jesus has power over creation and over sin and illness and he gives this power to his apostles when they will trust him and put their focus on him. The implication is that the power of God goes with the messengers of God. The significance to me is that I can manifest the power of God here on earth when I trust Jesus and carry the message of the gospel.
Response:
“Private”
Reaction:
“Private”
Soli Deo Gloria!
