Genesis 24; Matthew 23
Genesis 24
Ready:
Yesterday’s read was entirely about Sarah’s death and how Abraham acquired land in Canaan from the Hittites as a burial plot. Isaac is about 36 years old and there was no real interaction with God in the previous chapter.
Reading thoughts:
This chapter presents Abraham’s unnamed servant fetching a wife for Isaac from the area of Haran where God had initially called Abraham. It seems that because of the account given by the servant regarding the answered prayer and the guidance by God there is no question on the part of Rebekah’s family as to the divine nature of the request. Rebekah goes and become’s the wife of Isaac without delay and Isaac, who must have been mourning still over his mother’s death was now comforted by Rebekah.
Key Verses:
“2 And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh, 3 that I may make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, 4 but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”” (Genesis 24:2–4, ESV)
“8 But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there.”” (Genesis 24:8, ESV)
“12 And he said, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham.” (Genesis 24:12, ESV)
“27 and said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the Lord has led me in the way to the house of my master’s kinsmen.”” (Genesis 24:27, ESV)
“50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “The thing has come from the Lord; we cannot speak to you bad or good. 51 Behold, Rebekah is before you; take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has spoken.”” (Genesis 24:50–51, ESV)
“61 Then Rebekah and her young women arose and rode on the camels and followed the man. Thus the servant took Rebekah and went his way.” (Genesis 24:61, ESV)
“67 Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother and took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.” (Genesis 24:67, ESV)
I see the theme as- Without specific direction from God, Abraham acts with faith to keep the command of God that he "command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” (Gen 18:19) Furthermore God is faithful to aid Abraham in keeping this command.
Rumination thoughts:
v1-2. Abraham had been greatly blessed and he saw every promise of God before him and as he drew close to death he made use of his oldest and probably most faithful servant, since this man was in charge over all of his things.
v3-9. Here Abraham seems to know that the right thing in commanding his family to do righteousness and justice and knowing that the entire nation to come will be from wife of Isaac he does not think for a moment to take this wife from among the heathens in the land. He has already expressed an opinion that he does not think there is a fear of the Lord in this land and he knows the importance of a God fearing wife to raise up this nation. So he directs the servant to gain a wife from his old homeland from his family and the servant obliges. They have discussion about the whole “well what if the one I find doesn’t think its so hot of an idea?” thing and this helps me see that Abraham was acting by faith and he did not have specific direction from God and he didn’t have a prescription for how this was exactly to go down but he knew in general that the Lord would guide them and he trusted this. The message was clear to the servant. 1. Do not take Isaac from this land. 2. Do not take a wife for him from this land 3. Take a wife from my family back in Haran. The other details were for the servant to workout and Abraham trusted God to guide him.
v10-28. The servant shows a sincere reliance upon the Lord for success on this important mission and he appeals to God according to the promise to prosper Abraham and according to the faithfulness of God (steadfast love). This kind of prayer is not about the servant or about his interest but it is appealing to the name and reputation of God himself and so the prayer is about the glory of God being shown. Further he shows wisdom in looking for a wife who takes concern with his welfare and that of his camels. He is searching for a virtuous woman (and Abraham didn’t need to tell him to do this)! He finds success and he worships God in response. This servant is an awesome guy and he fears the Lord…wise choice by Abraham. I like verse 21 where he is staring quietly at Rebekah and asking considering if God had prospered his journey. He did not wonder if he was successful or if he had done a good job but his question was in reliance upon God and he does not seem to consider himself much in this scenario.
v29-49. So he gets an audience before Rebekah’s family and he first lets them know that Abraham is wealthy so they do not fear that he comes looking to gain access to their wealth but that Abraham’s family is self sufficient and Isaac is a worthy husband (provider). He then explains the divine intervention of God to get them to this point and the family is moved by this. It would appear by their response that although Abraham had left the land where they were previously worshiping idols (Gen 12) they now seem to fear the Lord and they trust that this indeed is God’s will.
v52-61. The servant worships God at a few points in this story as he is clearly grateful for every step toward success. He is very eager to return and he negotiates a swifter departure than the family initially wanted but Rebekah agrees and off they go. He leaves some riches behind in gratitude and maybe as a dowry.
62-67. The couple meets and Isaac is pleased with the wife that God has provided for him. He is so pleased that he is consoled of his grief over his mother’s death and he takes Rebekah as his wife. No doubt the servant worshiped God again at this point but his story now fades because the focus is Isaac and the faithfulness of God to keep covenant.
Meaning, Implications, and Significance
1. God provides and he answers prayer even when Abraham and his servant didn’t know exactly what was supposed to happen. They acted based upon principles and upon what they did know and they left room for the details to be handled by God. The implication is that today we have much guidance in the Bible to follow and we have many principles to apply and can do similar. The significance for me is that I can also trust the principles of God’s Word and rest in his faithfulness even when I don’t know exactly how he may get me across the finish line. So I can pray with faith in God’s ability to put mountains into the sea and I can leave room for my misunderstanding of a specific intermediate outcome (will the first girl agree to come) and I can trust God to work his omnipotent goodness toward me (Rom 8:28, Eph 1:19, Jer 32:41).
2. I see a principle, by example, that you would not seek to fulfill the will of God haphazardly with means that are less honorable than the goal. Could Abraham have ever concluded that the way for him to respond to this promise of God to bring this great nation by Isaac is to take an idol worshiping heathen wife from for his son? This was his previous manner of thinking, it would seem, when he would lie about his wife’s identity! He appears in this case to be a better example. The implication is that the promised end does not warrant disregard for the nature and character of intermediate actions. To the contrary, the promised end should inspire the high nature of the intermediate actions (Eph 4:1, 1 Thess 2:12, 2 Thess 1:11). I take the significance of this as it relates to my choices to rout sin from my life vs just letting sin remain and “trusting God” to sanctify me like he promises (1 Thess 5:23-24, Titus 2:11-14, Rom 6:6-7). Do I daily walk in the direction of the Celestial City (reference to Pilgrim’s Progress- read that book!) or am I circling around in Sodom like Lot? So I do not need an explicit command of God to know how to do the "right" thing. What thing works toward the goal and is in accord with his Word? Now I can pray for his blessing and charge ahead trusting him for the outcome and being patient if I need to look for a second girl (you get the point)!
Response:
“Private”
Reaction:
“Private”
Matthew 23
Ready:
I pick up here after Matthew had recorded Jesus routing the Jewish leaders and explaining the need to receive the bridegroom and to devote myself to loving God and loving others.
Reading thoughts:
Big chapter here where Jesus presents seven woes of the Pharisees and completely dismantles their errant religious system and announces that they are hell bound and that they are taking lots of people with them. This is a very serious message and Jesus details the reasons that their kind of faith or religious practice is not what results in salvation. Jesus concludes with a lament that this is the sad state of Jerusalem and references a Psalm about Israel turning to him for salvation after recognizing the faithfulness of the Lord. All of the cross-references in this lament passage are very interesting (check it out).
Key Verses:
“2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, 3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.” (Matthew 23:2–3, ESV)
“25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.” (Matthew 23:25–26, ESV)
“27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matthew 23:27–28, ESV)
“38 See, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”” (Matthew 23:38–39, ESV)
I see the theme as- Jesus teaches the summary of the law of God (love God and love others) from the previous chapter through the negative example of the Jewish leaders who knew only the letter of the law as an external thing and not the spirit of the law as internal reality.
Rumination thoughts:
v1-2. Here Jesus begins a discourse leading up to declaring seven woeful errors of the hypocritical Jewish leadership of the time. He begins by acknowledging that they actually have a good starting point of relying on the Law of God (the first five book of our current Bible, written by Moses, known as the Pentateuch or the Torah or simply "the Law"). So Jesus says go ahead and listen to the scripture they read you and indeed you should heed it! But then the problem comes in.
v3-12. He then spends a number of verses describing the hypocrisy and correcting their error as follows: 1. They do not follow the Word that they preach and 2. They give out heavy burdens of required obedience and they do not carry it themselves and 3. They do righteous acts for the recognition and 4. They seek the place of honor and luxury and 5. They seek recognition and titles as authoritative teachers. Jesus corrects these things by stating 1. Do not seek recognition as an authoritative teacher but know that you are merely a messenger because Christ alone is the teacher. 2. The one who is great in faith and who God has gifted mightily will be as a servant and not be seeking honor and luxury. 3. Those who seek such honor are due to be humbled and yet the one who purposefully humbles himself before God and man will be exalted…though probably in heaven and not here on earth (Prov 25:6-7)!
v13. Woe number 1. I Take this to be Jesus telling them that they do not teach in a manner that rightly explains the law as a sign post. They are not teaching people to be on the watch for the divine Messiah to come and to free them from their slavery to sin. John the Baptist had to do this for them. They are not teaching a trusting in the coming offspring as a salvation from their sins. This is the critical element that was required for salvation of OT saints. They needed to know their sinfulness and trust God that his coming offspring was their salvation from this wretched state. This was not at all what they taught and sometimes I fear that it is also not what our churches teach. Too often our focus is on "God’s amazing plan for your life" which sounds like “God is going to free us from these Romans and set us up in a mighty kingdom here and we will have freedom”. Should our message be closer to “trust in Jesus to have paid for your sins on the cross and walk faithfully with him because he rose from the dead and you can trust that he will empower you to repent and to honor God with your life by seeking first the Kingdom of God and trusting him to meet your earthly needs”? This is more like the "repent and believe for the kingdom of God is at hand" message that John the Baptist and Jesus gave.
v15. Woe number 2. I see this as a slight variation on the false teaching woe. I think this expresses the fact that when they convert someone to being a Pharisaical law-keeper they give them a sense of arrival and a sense of salvation that is completely false. Before they knew they were sick and needed God but now they think they are good to go and woefully they are not! Lord Lord… (Matt 7). Do we do this by getting people to pray a prayer or get baptized yet they do not have a saving faith based on a right understanding of the person and work of Christ (trusting in the promised offspring)? Is my trust in my prayer? Is the trust in my decision? Do I welcome salvation but not repentance? What does obedience of faith mean? Do I see grace as license instead of as a trainer (Titus 2:11-14, Rom 6). Do I waver then when I un-decide or when I don’t feel so saved? After-all, why is it that we believe other religions that "believe in Jesus" do not lead to salvation? Does this relate to how we teach “belief in Jesus" and how we should teach it?
v16-22. Woe number 3. I see this as their teaching to rely on what the human brings to the relationship with God. The temple is the place where we meet with and relate to God and where we are made right with him be sacrifice according to his commands (obedience of faith). They seem to have been teaching that the more holy thing was our part of the relationship and not God’s temple itself and the integral components of it. When I take my actions and my obedience and elevate it to be the supreme definer of my relationship or standing with God them I am in error. The idea is that God sanctifies us and makes us right with him…we don’t do that. We receive that from him.
v23-24. Woe number 4. I take this to be saying that it is wrong to seek out portions of the law that we can easily comply with or that are convenient and consider that to be all hunky dory when we are totally disregarding the parts that are hard. God is not impressed with my Bible reading or my church attendance if I am cruel to my wife or if I show no generosity and forgiveness to others and if I do not keep my word.
v25-26. Woe number 5. Here I see that cleaning up of outward actions and such does nothing to change the desires of my heart. When I desire selfish gain and I hunger for the world then my external restrictions of not cussing or not lying or not gossiping or not stealing from the government or whatever are not true representation of the state of my heart. God sees my heart. Jesus instructs to clean the inside of the plate and this will result in the outside being clean as well. For this topic of how to get clean dishes I suggest a look at a devotion I prepared some time ago and it can be found at this link: God is not Hiring Dishwashers. Salvation does not come by the application of a formula or my conformance to a system of belief but by the internal action of the Spirit of God causing me to trust and adore Jesus. By bringing me into an obedience of faith. I believe that God has spoken and I act like... by his power.
v27-28. Woe number 6. This woe is very closely related to the last but maybe it is more focused on the presentation by the hypocrite. The previous was maybe more on the actual condition and now on how the hypocrite strives to present a whitewashed and pure image. The previous may have legitimately been how they thought (by false teaching of their predecessors) they were supposed to do it whereas this is now a disguising of what they know if wrong. They feel inside and know that they are hypocrites and they know their own lawlessness. This is repentance time, not keep on going and assume that its all cool time.
v29-33. Woe number 7. I take this as Jesus coming against their pride and arrogance to think that they would not have made the errors that their fathers did. They now honor the prophets who were slaughtered by the unrighteous Israelites who like them, did not hope in the promised offspring to save them from their sins. I think this is a way of explaining to that when we are guilty we are guilty and that trying to honor the history and the goodness of the religion that I follow does nothing to make me right with God. Statements about Jesus and church and all that do nothing when my heart is far from God (Matt 15:8). Jesus here indicates that they have yet some more killing to do…”fill up then the measure of your fathers”...prophetic.
v34-36. Here Jesus pronounces a condemnation upon them for continuing to reject his messengers. He seems to indicate future prophets and scribes and wise men. I take this to be the apostles and others (including some Jewish leaders who convert) who will be persecuted and even killed in days of the early church after Jesus ascends to heaven. Interestingly he refers to the very first martyr and then to one who was not the very last by chronological order (which would have been John the Baptist or by the existing OT Bible would have been uhh…someone else). Instead Jesus names the martyr who was the last prophet killed according to the sequence of the Jewish Bible (canonical order). Meaning in the last book of the Jewish Bible (2 Chronicles) Zechariah was the last prophet killed. This is helpful in making a case that the Jews of that time indeed held a certain sequence of books and Jesus himself acknowledged it and this reference is said to be confirmation that Jesus considered the Old Testament to be closed to any additional revelation.
v37-39. Jesus laments the condition of Israel and he promises that they will yet turn to him. After-all, God made a unilateral covenant to ensure this! Take a read of the Psalm that he quotes in verse 39 (Psalm 118) and see if you can tell that he is giving a message that Israel will turn to him and relate this to to Romans 11 where we learn that their sin and failure here was necessary for the salvation of the rest of the world and would eventually come around and lead to the conversion of all of what remains of Israel after the last of the Gentiles “comes in”.
Meaning, Implications, and Significance
I think this is all embedded above well enough.
Response:
“Private”
Reaction:
“Private”
Soli Deo Gloria!
