Genesis 26; Matthew 25
Daily Catechism
QUESTION 1: WHO IS THE FIRST AND BEST OF BEINGS?Answer: God is the first and best of beings.
Scripture: Isaiah 44:6; Psalm 8:1; 96:4; 97:9, 1 Samuel 2:2
Genesis 26
Ready:
The previous chapter included Abraham’s death and a description of the line of Ishmael as well as the beginning of the story between Jacob and Esau and the selling of the birthright for a meal.
Reading thoughts:
This chapter is almost a redo of Abraham and his treaty with Abimelech. It could be that this is a descendent of Abimelech or perhaps Abimelech was much younger than Abraham in their earlier dealings. A famine takes him into gerar again and by the end he is at Beersheba again in a renewed agreement with Abimelech and more importantly he meets with God and hears the Lord repeat his promise that is clearly extended from Abraham to Isaac. No mention in this chapter of Jacob and Esau but I am sure they are along for the ride and going about their business or hassling one another.
Key Verses:
“23 From there he went up to Beersheba. 24 And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.” 25 So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well.” (Genesis 26:23–25, ESV)
I take the theme as- The promise is extended as Isaac carries on where Abraham left off...though its not all roses.
Rumination thoughts:
In Gerar Isaac pulls the whole “its my sister” thing like his dad was known for and again it upsets the ones being fooled. Ultimately God blesses Isaac and he became wealthy in the land. So wealthy than Abimelech told him to get lost and make some room. It becomes apparent that Abimelech had disregarded the agreement about the land and the well at Beersheba because he had all the wells in the valley outside Gerar filled up at some point. Now Isaac goes about digging out the wells again again and negotiating with the herdsmen over the wells. Isaac deals graciously with the herdsmen and once it is clear that they have reached an acceptable agreement on the arrangement in the valley Isaac blesses the Lord and gives thanks to God. Once settled there in Beersheba God speaks to him and this seems to be the first time that God speaks to Isaac directly regarding the extension of the promised blessing and covenant to Abraham. Beersheba turns out to be an important place as we are seeing. Here God announces himself as the God of Abraham (suggesting that Abraham lives even though he had died) and repeats the promise to Isaac. Isaac builds an alter to commemorate this huge moment and then worships God there in Beersheba. Now Abimelech comes around (seeing Isaac’s success surviving in the valley living in cooperation with the herdsmen) and wants to renew the treaty that he had with Abraham (sort of the same thing God just did). But in contrast to God’s covenant, Abimelech’s treaty was obviously broken since as they are discussing the treaty Isaac’s men are digging out the well that should have still been functioning if Abimelech gave a darn about his first treaty with Abraham. As far as Abimelech cared the agreement must have died with Abraham and it seems to be that he was really just interested in Abraham because he saw that God was blessing him and he wanted maybe some blessing by association and here again he does the same with Isaac, once he is convinced that God is also blessing Isaac. If Isaac did not have evidence of God’s blessing then Abimelech probably would not have cared a lick about him. The chapter wraps with a new conflict or tension in the storyline. Isaac’s son Esau marries a Hittite (not cool) and this embitters his parents Isaac and Rebekah. Hopefully Jacob does better.
Meaning, Implications, and Significance
1. I take the meaning to be that only God keeps his covenant perfectly throughout the generations as he promised. Man is incapable of this and here Abimelech let the promise die at one generation. The implication is that only God can be trusted to be always true and faithful and good because men will fail and men will often do what serves their own good regardless of the impact on others. God will keep his covenant and this does not require it to be convenient for him or easy. Here God lets Isaac, and Abimelech, know that he has indeed extended the blessing of Abraham unto Isaac. The significance for me is that I know that God’s promises do not depend upon the actions of men who may or may not support me or God’s cause. I know that the wells may get filled up but God gives the strength to dig them out and the circumstances are not indication of God’s forgetfulness but rather they are a chance for me to show my trust in him. Start digging, not complaining…the water is there.
Response:
“Private”
Reaction:
“Private”
Matthew 25
Ready:
Picking up Jesus’ teaching of the judgement to come he had just finished teaching on how the day will come as unexpected, though there will be signs of the times. The teaching is continuous and the chapter break, as with all of them in the Bible, is artificial. Though I recall referring to Matthew “picking up again” in previous days, I do not mean that Matthew wrote in chapter form. The original “autographs" as the call them (original writing) did not have chapters or verses and did not even have punctuation for that matter. These were all added later to make it easier to reference and in some ways easier to read.
Reading thoughts:
This chapter is all about being ready and being ready is something that every Christian will indeed do, because those that do not get and remain ready are thrown into hell. Jesus uses two parables to cover this topic and then moves into a description of the judgment where he will separate between the people who have indeed loved God above all and loved others as themselves and those that have not. There is a huge call in this chapter to be ready and then an explanation is given as to what ready looks like…will I hear the call?
Key Verses:
“1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.” (Matthew 25:1–4, ESV)
“8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.” (Matthew 25:8–10, ESV)
“11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” (Matthew 25:11–13, ESV)
“14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.” (Matthew 25:14–15, ESV)
“19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’” (Matthew 25:19–21, ESV)
“24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed?” (Matthew 25:24–26, ESV)
“30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” (Matthew 25:30, ESV)
“31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.” (Matthew 25:31–33, ESV)
“34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’” (Matthew 25:34–36, ESV)
“41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’” (Matthew 25:41–43, ESV)
I see the theme as- The judgement is coming. Some are preparing and some are not. Those who will be ready are those who love Jesus and these know what it is to love him.
Rumination thoughts:
v1-10. Here Jesus lays out a beautiful parable of readiness and anticipation. The wise virgins knew that they had to put themselves into this task and they needed to do something here. The others went as though everything would just be handed to them and they needed not to be thinking ahead. The wise realized that the bridegroom is coming for those who are prepared for him.
v11-13. This is an echo of Matthew 7:21-23. The people in Matt 7 were doing amazing acts and displaying religious fervor and this was the “evidence” that they indeed knew Jesus as "Lord”. Jesus told them to depart like he does these unwise virgins because he does not know them. He closes with “you do not know the day or the hour” and the implied message is that we are to be getting ready and staying ready for his arrival. What does it look like to do this? This comes in verse 31-46.
v14-30. Here Jesus presents another amazing, and closely related, parable about people who are entrusted with gifts, resources, abilities, blessings…the precision of what the “talent” represents (beyond the obvious of money) does not matter exactly. The servants already know that this master is quite hard. He is righteous and he is good at all he does and he has high expectations. He is able to reap even where he does not sow! So when he leaves them behind with some resources there is an implied expectation that they will do well with what they were given and they will get to work. There is no expectation of waiting around for the master to come back and multiply the talent…not at all. Except for one of the servants. One servant claims that he was afraid and even though he received from the hand of this mighty master who reaps where ho does not sow and he seemed to have been given the authority of this master…still the servant feared failure and feared everything…everything but his master. The master makes it clear that he ought to have invested the talent in some way because the point of receiving it is not to hoard it and to just hide in a hole and enjoy how shiny it is. The point is to multiply the glory. The point is to go and to proclaim the goodness of the master. The point is to be outward and selfless and fearless and to know that we serve a mighty master. The point was to get busy and to not be selfish and lazy and focused on things other than the return of the master…or the coming of the bridegroom. Am I asleep? Do I hear the call? Am I hiding the treasure? Am I hoarding the gifts and blessings of God? The master casts this worthless servant into hell at the end of this story…the unwise virgins were kept from the marriage feast. But what does it look like to invest the talents and to trim the lamps? What does it look like to be eagerly waiting for Jesus and to be prepared?
v31-33. The word him, his, and he appears quite a bit in these first three verses. It is Jesus’ glory, Jesus’ throne, Jesus’ story, Jesus’ judgement of all the nations. The story is ultimately about the bridegroom and not the bride…the master and not the servant, the king and not the sheep. We get this wrong and it shows.
v34-45. Here the King calls the sheep, who are blessed by the Father, to the kingdom inheritance that was prepared beforehand for them and they receive blessing. Contrast the message he gives to the goat who are cursed and without family membership and inheritance in verse 41. Then for each of these two distinct groups he gives a description that seems to identify them as evidencing their identity as either blessed or cursed. Recall that we are all cursed from Adam and that we all come from the same wicked lump of humanity (Gen 3:14-24, Rom 9:21). But some are rescued from this state and brought near and adopted into the family of God by grace. So I suggest that verses 35-40 are a description of what the grace of God does to his sheep while verses 42-45 show what we would be like with a lack of this grace in our life. Looking at this in the context of the two preceding parables I take it that this is a description of what it looks like to get ready and to be ready versus not to. It gives me a picture of love for God resulting in love for others (righteousness & justice). The obedience of faith leads to this or it is not there. I gave thought to this and to some other passages that took my thoughts and I have put my conclusions below into a short devotion about what it looks like to be eagerly anticipating the arrival of the bridegroom.
v46. Here is the end result for the virgins or the servants who are prepared or not prepared…who are walking with obedience of faith or who are just expecting the bridegroom or the master to work a miracle with the oil or the talent when he arrives. The identity (family or not family) drives the way we live and not the other way around but the way we live is the only evidence and it matters because it is the result of the obedience of faith. Sheep or goat? Blessed or still cursed?
Meaning, Implications, and Significance
Translation or Transformation? (to be posted later)
Response:
“Private”
Reaction:
“Private”
Soli Deo Gloria!
