February 9

Genesis 42; Mark 12

Daily Catechism

QUESTION 16: WHAT SPECIAL ACT OF PROVIDENCE DID GOD EXERCISE TOWARDS MAN WHEN HE WAS FIRST CREATED?
Answer: When God had created man, he made a covenant with him that he should live and enjoy all the benefits of creation, but that he would die if he forsook the obedience that comes from faith. God commanded him not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and thus forsake his child-like dependence upon God for all things.
Scripture: Genesis 2:15-17; Galatians 3:12; Romans 5:12.

Comment: The “knowledge of good and evil” is the ability to judge independently what is beneficial (good) and harmful (evil) for yourself. What God is forbidding is that man should choose to be independent from God in his evaluation of things. He is command- ing man to walk by faith in the wise and loving care of his heavenly Father. (See the use of this phrase in Gen. 3:5, 22; 2 Sam. 14:17; Is. 7:15; 2 Sam 19:35.)

View this post as a printable document- click here for Today's Word.

Genesis 42

Ready:
The previous chapter established Joseph’s position in Egypt and he is now in a place of great authority and he has a family and he has “forgotten” about his past troubles and his family in Canaan.  Joseph still fears God and deals justly and with integrity but has seemingly resolved to live out his life in Egypt.

Reading thoughts:
In this chapter I see the famine bring Israel to Egypt for survival.  Most of Jacob’s sons travel to Egypt to buy grain but they encounter Joseph there without realizing it.  Joseph plays on as if he does not know them and there comes a conflict between them as to the honesty of their story as Joseph inquires of them.  Joseph hold back Simeon and the rest return with grain to Jacob.  They are supposed to return to Egypt with Benjamin to prove their story (and save Simeon) but this is a challenge because Jacob resists for fear of losing his last son from Rachel.  This family is being put to the test…

Key Verses:
Gen 42:3-4, 6-7, 8-9, 15, 19, 21-22, 23-24, 28, 35-36, 38

I see the theme as- Jacob puts tests the honesty and righteousness of his brothers.  Will they recognize their sin and repent?  Will they value Simeon and return for him even though it is dangerous?

Rumination thoughts:
    v1-5.  Ten brothers head to Egypt at Jacob’s direction to buy grain.  Jacob holds back the youngest Son (though he is about 33 years old) since he is the last child he has from Rachel and he is worried about the dangers they may encounter on their journey.
    v6-17.  When they arrive to buy grain in Egypt Joseph notices them immediately but they don’t know its him and he is also using an interpreter to speak to them (he uses Middle Egyptian as best I can tell).  Joseph may have asked them more questions than this record indicates because in the next chapter we learn that the brothers claim he asked specific questions about their father and other brothers.  He treats them rather rough and seems to be testing them with regard to their honesty.  It is quite possible he is trying to determine himself how to view them.  He had “forgotten” abut them and now here they are and he remembers his dream and they are now bowing before him as in the dream.  It must all suddenly rush to him that God’s hand was in this whole adventure.  Certain that he must determine if his family is faithful and righteous in their dealings (since the brothers were not that way 20 years ago) he sets them up with a test of their character.  He requires that Benjamin join them if they want to live.  He tells them they will need to send one brother back for him but locks them up for three days first.  It seems he is establishing a fear in them that he really might kill them if Benjamin does not come.
    v18-25.  While they are in prison for three days Joseph, no doubt, has time to think and pray about what to do and he decides to let all but one brother head back since it would be a greater test of the family to only have one brother left behind.  After explaining this to the brothers, through the interpreter still, Joseph gets emotional and cries (privately) when he hears them talking amongst themselves about their sin against Joseph and how they saw his distress when he had begged them not to sell him to the Ishmaelites.  Moses records for us that they were near Joseph having this conversation but the interpreter must not have been right there and they didn’t think Joseph understood their discussion.  The brothers considered this a judgement of God against them because of the blood of Joseph (who they might presume to be dead) and they agreed to leave Simeon behind as required.  Joseph has his men sneak all their money back into their sacks before they leave and though this is a blessing it will come to them as a test because they will need to interpret why this happens.
    v26-38.   On the way back with the grain they realize that all their money is also in their sacks and they are panicked.  They know this can be a setup by the "Egyptian Governor” and they may also consider that it could be contested that they sold Simeon.  They know that this means danger either way and are afraid.  They also interpret this as a judgement of God.  Once home they fill in Jacob and request Benjamin return with them but Jacob will have no part in that.  He figures they have lost Simeon and he will not lose another…especially Benjamin.  The decision is stalled and the brothers remain home for now and it appears that Simeon is doomed.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    1.  I take the message from this small part of the big story to be that families fail and families divide and families are traumatized because of sin.  The implication is that we can avoid much distress and division and scandals if we walk according to God’s ways and if we honor our parents and if we love our brothers and if we keep a devotion to our God in all of this.  Personal significance to me is that I can cause division in my family or I can bring harmony and unity to my family depending on how I love God and love them.  I have an opportunity to lead them in seeking God or in seeking other things.  I have an opportunity to lead them in a sole mission or in a diversity of missions.  I have an opportunity to train them in righteousness or in partiality.  I have an opportunity to instill a value of trusting God and risking for the lost or of protecting ourselves in unbelief. 

Response:
“Private”

Reaction:
“Private”

Mark 12

Ready:
In the previous chapter Mark recorded the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem and we see Jesus’ identity and authority declared but then ignored.

Reading thoughts:
I see Jesus rout the Pharisees with a condemning parable of the kingdom of God being handed to the Gentiles due to Israel's hardness of heart over the past 1400+ years.  From there the various Jewish sects come forth with attempts to trap Jesus in his words in order to come up with an excuse to arrest him.  Jesus corrects their understanding of devotion and of resurrection and marriage and he is sure to set their minds to the fact that the coming Messiah is not a mere man but is God in the flesh.  Mark then documents Jesus’ presentation of the opposite examples of the scribes who seek attention and recognition for their “spirituality” and are consumers of wealth and honor against the example of the poor widow who quietly goes about loving the Lord and giving generously more than she can even afford to give without anyone being the wiser of her sacrifice.

Key Verses:
Mark 12:1, 6-7, 9-12, 14, 16-17, 23-24, 25-27, 29-31, 35-37, 38-40, 43-44

I see the theme as- Devotion to earthly authority and even my spouse is temporary and serves as a dim shadow of the real substance.  My highest and permanent eternal devotion is to Jesus, the God-man who loved me and gave himself for me, and this active subjection to his authority will result in a life of true worship, from the heart, that looks like this: I love God above all and I love others sacrificially, seeking not my own glory, but God's.

Rumination thoughts:
    v1-12.  Here Jesus lays out a judgement against Israel for rejecting all the messages of the prophets and now the very Son of God.  The entity of the law and the prophets was pointing toward the coming of Jesus but they reject him and nullify all of the law and prophets by this.  Jesus makes reference of a Psalm that speaks about the gates of righteousness being opened (Psalm 118:19-23) and salvation being provided by this cornerstone that was rejected by the builders.  Peter in Acts 4:9-12 answers to the Jewish council and explicitly states that Jesus himself is this cornerstone.  The part of the Psalm that says it was the Lord’s doing and is marvelous in our eyes reminds me of Romans 11 where Paul explains that God hardened Israel’s hearts and has an amazing plan for bringing together all of his church in the end.  Paul himself exults with marvel at the conclusion of chapter 11 (Rom 11:33-36).
    v13-17.  I take this to be a teaching that we indeed owe our subjection to the governing authorities and Paul later explains that all authority is from God and they even carry out God’s wrath upon the wrong doers (Rom 13:1-7).  But the reason for this subjection, therefore, is because it is God who established them as an authority.  Our ultimate authority is God himself but we have a shadow of or a representation of our subjection to God expressed by our subjection to this under-shepherd.  We owe some taxes to the government but we first owe our hearts and lives and resources to God.  We honor God with all that we are, in part, by paying taxes to the government.  Jesus’ answer astonishes them because the could not imagine a subjection to the Romans ultimately being a subjection to God.  He had handled their impossible quandary with a bigger truth that they did not expect…and it also speaks to their misunderstanding that the Messiah would come with a primary purpose of giving them freedom from the Romans and from the constant oppression of other nations.
    v18-27.  Now the Sadducees take a stab at Jesus with a riddle they expect to trap him with.  They did not believe in an afterlife in physical bodies because they had bought into the Greek teachings of Plato and others that supposed the body to be evil and the goal of life was to get out of and stay out of the body.  They try to create a scenario where people having resurrected bodies would find an impossible problem…but they don’t really do a very good job with their challenge.  Jesus exposes the weakness of their trap is that they don’t know the scripture or the power of God.  I take this to be a subtle reminder that our marriage in heaven is to Christ (Isaiah 61:10) and that God has the power to make mortal bodies immortal in glory.  Jesus has been demonstrating to power of God to cleanse and repair bodies and to remove sin.  These Jews do not understand that all this expresses how it is that God can take a body that lived in sin for all its life and then in a moment translate it into a perfectly immortal vessel to house the immortal soul of that believer for eternity in perfect holiness and cleanliness.  They are falling to understand that marriage is an earthly picture of the real deal that is to come.  Earthly marriage is momentary…temporary…until the reality is upon us.
    v28-34.  Here is the crux of our purpose on planet earth.  Our devotion of heart and mind and body is to God.  This results in a loving of others because God is love.  God charged Abraham (Gen 18:19) with commanding that his family to walk in righteousness (vertical relationship with God) and Justice (horizontal relationship with others).  Here Jesus expresses the “Shema” (as Jewish tradition calls it) from Deut 6:4-5 and adds the love of neighbor as it’s natural result.
    v35-37.  Here Jesus uses scripture to show them that they have been missing an important point.  They are waiting for the Son of David to come as their Messiah but they are not willing to accept him as God in the flesh because of their devotion to a misunderstanding of the Shewa (Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one…).  They cannot accept Jesus or any other Messiah as God because there is only one God.  Jesus pains himself to express that he and the Father are one (John 10:28-31) and he even speaks of the Holy Spirit coming (John 14:25-26) but the triune Godhead is too much for the establishment.  But some were waiting expectantly, like Simeon and Anna, who expected his coming (Isaiah 25:9, Luke 2:25-32, 36-38).  The Father intends our devotion to be to his Son whom he sent to redeem us…we are his bride.
    v38-44.  Here Jesus gives the example of the self-exalting scribes who have an abundance and do not truly have a devotion to God that spills into loving others.  Mark places this account against the widow’s offering perhaps to get to what he thought Jesus was saying.  He was contrasting the shallow religiosity of the scribe against the true religion of the widow.  True worship and devotion to God results in sacrificial living and reliance upon God, not self-exaltation and consumption of wealth.  This widow was not concerned with what others thought of her devotion to God because it was a devotion to God.  Jesus spots her heart and her loving of God and loving of others and he wants the disciples, and me, to know that this is true religion.  It does not take riches to be generous to God or to man.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    1.  I hear the message of subjection to earthly authority is proper but subjection to God in all things is even more appropriate.  I hear the message that earthly marriage is good but temporary.   I hear the message that we must love others and that our Savior is God in the flesh.  I hear the message that Devotion to God is from the heart and it is sacrificial and it does not seek self-exaltation. The implication of all this is understanding that ultimate devotion to Christ drives true, but momentary, devotions here on earth that are undergirded and made stronger because they are an outflow of our waiting and preparing for our true marriage in heaven where we receive new bodies and are perfected.  This devotion to our true and eternal bridegroom will result in pouring his love out to others sacrificially.  The significance for my life is that I can reflect upon my heart and look for patterns that show my motives and where my heart level devotion is directed.  Am I putting earthly devotion above my devotion to Christ?  Alternatively, am I honoring God in how I subject myself to the governing authorities and how I love my bride?  Am I seeking the praise of men or simply seeking to love God and others.  Am I living to enjoy what the world offers or am I living to help others join me in enjoying what God offers?  Then I can re-align myself with a gaze fixed ahead on the prize of Christ and ask God to continue his sanctifying work in me.

Response:
“Private”

Reaction:
“Private”

Soli Deo Gloria!

February 8

Genesis 41; Mark 11

Daily Catechism

QUESTION 15: WHAT ARE GOD’S WORKS OF PROVIDENCE?
Answer: God’s works of providence are the holy, wise, and powerful acts
which he preserves and governs all his creatures, and all their actions.
Scripture: Nehemiah 9:6; Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:3; Psalm 103:19; Matthew 10:29-30.
 
Comment: It would be helpful to discuss this with your child in relation to the common concept of “luck.” Is there such a thing as luck in a world ruled by the providence of God? “The lot is cast into the lap, but the decision is wholly from the Lord” (16:33). You will also need to stress that many of God’s acts of providence may not look “holy and wise” (like storms that kill thousands of people). But then stress that God has his secret purposes (Deut. 29:29) that we are never great enough to see, and the Judge of all the earth always does right (Genesis 18:25).

Get today's post in a printable newsletter style here- Number 39

Genesis 41

Ready:
In the last chapter Joseph interpreted dreams for two prisoners that were from Pharaoh’s house.  These two had opposite dreams and results and the survivor was released and restored as Joseph interpreted to be so but then the guy “forgot" about Joseph and did nothing to help him.

Reading thoughts:
This chapter is the big turning point for Joseph.  I see him gain the favor of Pharaoh and he gains great power and authority over all of Egypt.  By listening to the Lord’s warning Joseph helps Egypt to prepare for a terrible famine that impacts the whole earth.  Egypt is prepared and survives well and makes provision for others out of the abundance that was preserved by Joseph.  He even has a couple of children by his Egyptian wife.

Key Verses:
Gen 41:1-4, 12-13, 14, 16, 25, 28-32, 34-35

I see the theme as- God uses Joseph’s candor and integrity and fearless commitment to speak the truth in order to accomplish his will in preserving Egypt under the severe famine, placing Joseph in a position of authority in Egypt second only to the Pharaoh himself.

Rumination thoughts:
    v1-13.  Pharaoh in the last chapter has hanged his chief baker so we know that he is a hard man and that he does not take much disrespect or irreverence from his court.  It could be that people were fearful to misinterpret or to offend Pharaoh in their response but regardless of the cause he could not get anyone to interpret his dreams.  I suppose if I had a recurring dream that was vivid and I felt conviction by God to interpret it maybe I would give it consideration but on a daily basis I think nothing of whatever dreams I may have.  The cupbearer finally came though and he spoke up for Joseph, since it was now going to be helpful to him and to Pharaoh in sending this uncomfortable scenario of nobody being able to please Pharaoh.
    v14-36.  Here Joseph is humble to give full credit to God as the one interpreting the dreams and Joseph merely passes on the message.  He really functions as a prophet in this sense.  Joseph makes it clear that he hopes for a favorable interpretation but since it does not come from him... perhaps the Pharaoh will have mercy if he does not find the interpretation favorable.  Joseph then hears and interprets the dream and more than that he gives Pharaoh advice on how to deal with the coming famine.  This includes placing someone over all the land with authority over food production and storage.
    v37-45.  Pharaoh seems to look at his servants with a smirk saying something like “Hmmm, where in the world would we find someone who is clearly blessed by God and wise over such matters who is responsible and has integrity and who would know how to lead our people in preparation for this great famine…I wonder if there is anyone who could handle this.”  Of course, Joseph is the only answer and so it goes that Joseph is given all authority in Egypt over everything but matters that need the Pharoah’s judgement from his throne.  Joseph is given riches and prominence and a wife and all he could probably want as far as earthy possessions and accomplishment.
    v46-56.  Joseph had been in captivity since he was 17 with varying degrees of authority and prominence due to God’s blessing but now he is highly lifted up and at the age of thirty he is placed in the highest position possible in the whole nation of Egypt.  He has lived in Egypt now longer than with his family in Canaan (23 years).  Joseph stores up food in each City (not one big storehouse somewhere) and during the seven years of abundance he has a couple kiddos.  Sadly he names the first one Manasseh, which means something like “to forget” because he had forgotten all his hardship and all his father’s house.  Forgetting his father’s house is the sad part.  It seems that he completely moves on mentally and emotionally and is content now to have no attachment to Jacob or his 11 brothers.  Now would seem to be the time that he could reach out to them since he is in no sense in captivity any longer.  but he spends 7 years focused on per parring for the famine and on making his own family without considering Jacob.  The famine comes and Joseph is put in charge of how and when the storehouses are used and also of the sale of food to outsiders since the famine was affecting the whole earth.  This would have set Egypt up as quite the super-power in that time.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    1.  Like I read in Psalm 128 it seems to be the message here that the Lord blesses those who fear him:
“1 Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways! 2 You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you. 3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. 4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.” (Psalm 128:1–4, ESV)
The implication is that a right view of God and submission to his reign in one’s life is the pathway to happiness.  Surely the Lord took Joseph through many trials and challenges and disappointments along the way but the overarching theme is blessing.  The significance for my life is that I do not need to find my own way of manipulating my circumstances by human wisdom and shrewdness but I can rely on God and I can walk in fear of him and make my decisions based on his Word rather than on what I think will protect me in the moment.  I can trust that doing it God’s way is the right way even when the results do not immediately appear favorable.

Response:
“Private”

Reaction:
“Private”

Mark 11

Ready:
Yesterday Mark presented opposing views of salvation with the juxtaposition of the blind beggar against the rich young man.  The rich young man wanted to know how he could accomplish his own salvation by his “doing” and the blind beggar saw (in a manner of speaking) that it was Jesus who needed to “do” something… out of mercy.  Sandwiched between these stories was Jesus’ description of his work of redemption on the cross and from the grave.  I saw that the one who received from Jesus became a follower and the one who sought to give something to Jesus went away empty.

Reading thoughts:
Here is the triumphal entrance into Jerusalem as Jesus and told the disciples they were headed there.  But the disciples were amazed that he was intent on coming here (Mark 10:32) since he claimed that he would be tortured and killed in Jerusalem.  Jesus sets out fulfilling prophecy with his entrance to the City of David and the crowds welcome him warmly with shouts of joy and cries for salvation that sound like they surely recognize him as the coming Messiah…but in five days time this cry will turn to “Crucify him!"

Key Verses:
Mark 11:8-10, 13-14, 15, 17, 22-23, 28-29, 30, 33

I see the theme as- The identity and authority of Jesus is declared and ignored.

Rumination thoughts:
    v1-11.  Here is Palm Sunday!  Jesus entered Jerusalem to begin Holy Week where in the end he will be crucified and then rise from the dead.  Verses 9-10 make it sound like the crowd recognizes Jesus as the coming Messiah and they cry out for salvation with “Hosanna!”.  Of course this is ironic because the crowd will cry out “Crucify him” in five days.  Knowing who Jesus is, or thinking I know who he is, and surrendering my life to him are different things.
    v12-14.  I think this part of the parable illustrates how Jesus wants us to know that the religious system of the Jews (as they have used it) amounts to a leafy tree that is useless since it gives no fruit.  It has the appearance of truth but it lacks any real result.  It cannot feed the soul.  It can dress up the pathway but it leaves the pilgrim empty.  A reliance and boasting in the law leaves nothing to be added to the soul that hungers for God.  Jesus hungered and the tree offered nothing.  The law offers me nothing.  Jesus curses this empty religion because it fools people into thinking that it is the source of righteousness when it is barren.  Jesus has decided to show the reality of this tree.  I don’t think it is any mistake that this sign is given as he come into Jerusalem since it is the center of Judaism and the seat of where the law has been misused as a means to merit righteousness before God (Rich young man from the last chapter) rather than as a means to understand our need for Jesus (blind beggar named Bartimaeus).
    v15-19.  I take the cleansing of the temple here to be related to the fig tree story (since it is placed between the two halves of it).  I think Jesus is illustrating that the misuse of the law and the entire religious system that Moses presented to Israel has been used to gain power and prestige and wealth and personal gain.  It has become a testament to the Jew’s boasting in the law (Rom 3:27-28).  Jesus makes it clear that the temple is a place for spiritually sick people (sinners) to cry out (pray) to God and to rest in God’s mercy that is to come through the promised offspring.
    v20-25.  Here the disciples find the fig tree that Jesus had cursed the day before is now totally withered to the root.  I take this to be a condemnation upon Israel’s failure to trust in God but rather they trusted in a law that failed them because they were not pursuing the righteousness of God, but of men (Rom 10:2-4, Rom 9:30-32).  Putting trust in the means instead of in the goal is a fatal error.  So too here thinking that a trust in the desired outcome (as can easily be taken from this teaching on prayer) is ruled out by Jesus’ first statement…”Have faith in God”.  So the whole teaching must be taken in the context of the object of faith is God and not the requested outcome.  Once the faith is in God we can apply the rest of Scriptural teaching on prayer and we see that Jesus is denied his request to not drink the cup in the Garden (Mark 14:36) and we see that Shadrack and his buddies do not claim to be able to control the hand of God but submit to his will all the while never doubting God’s ability to deliver them (Dan 3:16-18).  Note that it could even be in Mark 11:23 that the “he” in “what he says will come to pass”  can be God and not the person praying.  God is a more natural person to be saying things and then those things come to pass.  So trusting that whatever God says will indeed come to pass and trusting in him to do his holy and good will, I can pray with confidence that he will not withhold any good thing (Rom 8:32, Matt 7:9-11).  An example is the centurion who asked Jesus to say the word in order to heal his servant.  The centurion did not say to Jesus "I know it’s done in my asking with faith", he said “say the word and my servant will be healed" (Matt 8:8-10).  Trust in and submission to the authority of the one who can grant the desired answer is the only thing being taught here.   But since I am often ignorant as to what is good or bad for me or in God’s great plan I can never have ultimate confidence in my requested outcome…especially if I come from a place of submission to the will of God rather than my own.
    v27-33.  He demanded that they answer and it seems he is recalling their silence in Mark 3:4-5 when they would not respond to his question that was exposing their previous error.  They refused to acknowledge truth already and now here Jesus demands that they take a position and then refuses to give them more truth explicitly because they already deny what they have been given…reminds me of Matt 7:6 and his admonition to not throw pearls before pigs.  Jesus is pretty plainly teaching that he has the authority of God to cleanse the temple and to teach in the temple and to heal on the Sabbath and to wither a tree to expose its bare roots.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    1.  I hear the message that Jesus came with the full authority to accomplish all of God’s holy will without restriction and that a trust in him attaches the believer to this omnipotent hand of blessing but a trust in something of our own doing (which is void of any authority) will be fruitless.  The implication for today is that a believer can only trust in God’s authority and his purposes and that it is possible to misuse the law or prayer or anything that is not grounded in the true purpose of God as reveled in his Word.  The significance for my life is that I must trust in God and in his power to accomplish what is good for me in my life…even when it seems gnarly (like being sold into slavery- Joseph).  I need to cry out to him for help trusting that he can accomplish anything and not rely on my own efforts toward righteousness.  I cannot boast or even look to my own righteousness or I am filling the temple with my supposed riches, while the roots are withering away right under my feet.

Response:
“Private”

Reaction:
“Private”

Soli Deo Gloria!

February 7

Genesis 40; Mark 10

Daily Catechism

QUESTION 14: HOW DID GOD CREATE MAN?
Answer: God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.
Scripture: Genesis 1:27-28; Colossians 3:10; Ephesians 4:24.
 
Comment: In saying that we were created after his image “in knowledge, righteousness and holiness,” we do not mean we know all God knows, nor that we are a fountain of righteousness and holiness the way he is. We mean that we were capable of sharing his knowledge and righteousness and holiness in a relationship of trust and love unlike any other creature under the angels.

Genesis 40

Ready:
In the last chapter Joseph was left in prison because of Potiphar’s wife and he is now running the prison because of God’s amazing hand of blessing upon him within an through his crazy circumstances.

Reading thoughts:
I see in this passage that Joseph has a divine appointment with these two men.  In prison he meets the Pharoah’s cupbearer and chief baker who have been imprisoned for an unknown offense to Pharaoh.  Both re troubled by dreams they do not understand and Joseph interprets the dreams for them.  The dreams come true as Joseph interpreted but the Cupbearer, whom Joseph had asked to pass a good word to Pharaoh on his behalf when the dream came true, did not do so but rather he forgot about Joseph…and he continued to help run the prison (for a couple more years).

Key Verses:
Gen 40:2-3, 5, 12, 14, 18, 21-23

I see the theme as- God sets up interactions between people and God moves them toward the fulfilling of his intentions.

Rumination thoughts:
Broadly reflecting upon this chapter is appears that Joseph is living Rom 8:26-29 and he seems to take in stride the circumstances that would naturally be seen as discouraging setbacks.  I don’t take much from the dreams as they are not the main message of the story, but the fact that God brought these officer’s from Pharoah’s house and Joseph together through all the sinful wrong actions against Joseph, beginning with his brothers, is amazing.  God has a work he is doing with Joseph that requires Joseph to be placed in charge of Pharoah’s affairs and this is brought forth by a series or crazy circumstances that Joseph would never know to ask for (Rom 8:26-27) just as I do not always (or usually) know what to pray for.  Even the two guys with the dreams are intermediate players and the real significance will come when Joseph has an audience with Pharaoh in the next chapter.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    1.  God orchestrates and weaves together events in history to accomplish his will in keeping his promises.  The implication of this is that he has made promises to work his omnipotence (Eph 1:19) for my good (Jer 32:40-41) so that all things work out (Eph 1:11) in a manner that I will be conformed to the likeness of Christ (Rom 8:28-29).  I do not doubt that God has the power to move mountains and hearts and cars and bullets and anything else in all creation but I do not know how he may desire to use the circumstances in my life so I take the significance not in trusting certain outcomes but from trusting a loving shepherd (deliverer) who will bring me into the circumstances that will accomplish his pruning and loving work of making me like his Son and delivering me to the bridegroom as one prepared (Col 1:22, 2 Cor 11:2, Jude 24, Is 61:10-11, Rev 19:7-8).

Response:
“Private”

Reaction:
“private”

Mark 10

Ready:
Yesterday I read about the transfiguration and about Jesus’ teaching to me about keeping a focus on him and about taking sin seriously and about not being a hindrance to new believers.

Reading thoughts:
I see Jesus continue his teaching on not causing others to sin and then moves into relying on him like a child relies upon a parent for provision rather than seeking to earn or merit or accomplish my own salvation.  I see Jesus reveal the destination of Jerusalem to the group and he marches there resolutely, to their amazement, since he explain what will happen their is his suffering and death.  The chapter closes with a man in the opposite scenario of the rich young ruler and Jesus teaches where salvation is found.  The main teaching revolves around two questions…one of them is a lie and results in death…”What must I do, Jesus?” or “What do you want me to do for you, Bartimaeus?”  Am I speaking or listening?

Key Verses:
Mark 10:11-12, 15-16, 17-18, 21-22, 25-27, 33-34, 32, 43-45, 51-52

I take the theme as- A broken, humble, others focused reliance upon Jesus and his “doing" is the only way of salvation.

Rumination thoughts:
    v1-12.  I see this section a continuation of not causing others to sin because in divorce we make our spouse an adulterer, unless we divorce for cause of adultery (Matt 5:32).  So in essence, all marriages that end, end in adultery.  I think God cares deeply for marriage because he has built it as a picture of the marriage of Christ with the church (Eph 5:25-33) and this groom will not divorce his bride regardless of her faithlessness but he will secure her by his own faithfulness and he combines the concepts or justice and mercy in this marriage (Hosea 2:19-20).  I see this marriage of opposites (righteousness and justice v steadfast love and mercy) to be related to Rom 3:21-27.  He accomplishes righteousness for us on the cross in order to make it just for him to show us the mercy that he has showed since the garden when he did not kill Adam.  God fulfills the unilateral covenant of Gen 15:17 by an unbreakable marriage resting only upon his own righteousness and faithfulness.  Divorce shatters this picture and also causes the spouse to sin.  Surely it can not always be avoided and it is sad when this is the case and these people need support and love and grace in dealing with picking up the pieces of their lives. I have know too many men who’s wives have left them…
    v13-52.  No more time but look for the opposing questions and the viewpoints of the rich man who wants to know what he needs to do for God vs the beggar who understands that it is the opposite…he needs God to do something for him.  Do I have to merit my salvation or is it already accomplished in Christ and I need merely to follow him?  These accounts are sandwiched around Jesus explaining what he will do for us…die and rise again.  Jesus teaches that we are to come to him for healing and not to demonstrate our righteousness.  Not to ask “How can I show you my righteousness or how can I do the right things to be righteous?”  Jesus says, "you just let me handle that righteousness bit and follow me if you want healing from your sin and state of death.  Trusting in me is the answer."

Response:
“Private”

Reaction:
“Private”

Soli Deo Gloria!

February 6

Genesis 39; Mark 9

Daily Catechism

QUESTION 13: WHAT IS THE WORK OF CREATION?
Answer: The work of creation is God’s making all things [out] of nothing, by the word of his power and all very good.
Scripture: Genesis 1:1, 31; Hebrews 11:3; Exodus 20:11; Romans 4:17.

Comment: Before creation there was only God in the holy fellow- ship of the Trinity. Therefore his creation is always different from ours: we start with something.

Genesis 39

Ready:
Yesterday I saw how God brought Perez to Judah in an unexpected way and how Judah’s sin was not enough to stop God from delivering on his promises.

Reading thoughts:
After being purchased by his distant cousins (the Ishmaelites) Joseph is sold to an important Egyptian named Potiphar.  Joseph has the golden touch here and although God allows some additional hardship and challenges he blesses all that Joseph does and causes his to have favor with all because of God’s clear blessing.  Joseph is quickly in charge of all that Potiphar has and he is greatly respected.  If it were not for Potiphar’s wife he would have likely continued to run Potiphar’s house for many more years.  Joseph is wise and honors God and his master in his dealings with Potiphar’s wife but it still puts him in prison.

Key Verses:
Gen 39:1-2, 5-6, 7-8, 9, 13-14, 19-20, 21-22

I see the theme as- God’s blessing is upon Joseph regardless of his circumstances and more than that- through his circumstances, though not obvious right away at each turn.

Rumination thoughts:
    v1-6.  Here Joseph excels in managing Potiphar’s affairs.  God seems to gift Joseph in management as he gifted Jacob in sheep breeding.  Joseph’s responsibility and honesty and integrity seem to produce great confidence in Potiphar and I take this favor to be God’s intervention as much as any skills that Joseph displays.  I get this because verse 5 says the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake, which seems to indicate God intervening himself, not just Joseph being a wise manager.
    v7-10.  It gets dicey here but Joseph stands upon his convictions and he maintains a fear of God despite his riches and place of honor and responsibility.  It seems that Joseph has not lost sight of his God and of righteousness in the midst of such crazy blessings.  It might seem that coming out of such a tragic family event and the loss of his family that he might be bitter toward God and that the new environment could have been opportunity for him to despise the God of his father who allowed this all to happen…but no.  Of any of the brothers, it seems Joseph knows God and trusts him.
    v11-18.  Here Potiphar’s wife gets crafty and after failing again and again at getting Joseph to take her offer she finds the chance to blame him for something he didn’t do and this gets him in hot water.
    v19-23.  After being put in prison for the crime he did not commit, Joseph continue’s to carry God’s blessing and he gains the favor of the prison keeper and soon Joseph is running the prison.  It seems that Joseph is bound to be in charge of anything that he gets involved in!  God’s hand is supernaturally upon this man, no doubt.  The true golden child.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    1.  I hear a message that though someone may fear God and do everything right, God may still have a plan that includes hardship and trials and unfair treatment and scandal.  The implication is that right living today does not guarantee the circumstances that I would ask for.  God’s blessing can be balled up into what seem to be very bad circumstances.  The significance for me is that I can trust God to be at work in the good days and the bad days and whether I am receiving plenty or am in want.  God has the power and authority and right to prosper me or to bring suffering and both can be his blessing.

Response:
“Private”

Reaction:
“Private”

Mark 9

Ready:
Yesterday I read Mark’s account of Jesus teaching on his identity and his work of redemption and how we must not be ashamed of (expect to be disappointed or fail to trust in) his name or his words.

Reading thoughts:
I see (and hear) God announcing that the new way he speaks to mankind id by his only begotten Son and we should listen to him as the one who carries the very authority of God just as the law and the prophets did in the Old Testament times.  Like Moses going up the mountain to receive the initial revelation from God relating to the law, here Jesus and a couple of the disciples come down the mountain in similar fashion to find the disciples not worshiping a Golden calf but failing to keep unclouded faith in Christ and this hinders their ability to cast out demons with his authority.  Probably still stewing over only Peter, James, and John getting to go up the mountain with him, the disciples argue with one another over who is the greatest and Jesus knows this despite their effort to hide it.  Using a child and using outsiders who are preaching Jesus, he teaches them that the kingdom is about bringing in new followers and is about advancing the kingdom and not about their status and their following.  He warns them that they are to support and build up others and to be at peace with others, not tear them down.  Jesus speaks with incredibly extreme examples to make the point of how seriously we are to oppose sin in our lives that would be a hindrance to anyone hearing the message of Christ.

Key Verses:
Mark 9:2-4, 7, 14, 18-19, 23-24, 28-29

I see the theme as- Jesus carries the authority of God and is his now his unique mouthpiece.  His followers need keep their focus on him and not upon themselves in order to remain a positive impact in the growing of the kingdom of God.

Rumination thoughts:
    v1-8.  Here I mostly take the Father announcing that he has completed the time of the OT where he revealed himself by the law (Moses) and the prophets (Elijah) and that he is now going to reveal himself and his plan of redemption to mankind by his own Son who stands with them in human flesh, similar to Moses and Elijah.  This is big and sets Jesus as authoritative and thus whatever he speaks should be taken as the Word of God and could all have been recorded as scripture.  Indeed John mentions something like this at the end of his gospel that Jesus did much more than he documented but he couldn’t possibly write it all down.
    v9-13.  Here the three disciples that went with Jesus (Peter, James, and John) are trying to figure out what Jesus means by telling them to keep quiet about what they saw until he rises from the dead.  They are perplexed possibly because they could be picturing the resurrection to be something in the after-life only, at which time the vision they saw on the mountain would not so much matter…I dunno, but they didn’t understand the concept of when it would then be ok to tell the others about what they saw.
    v14-29.  Here Jesus and the three come down the mountain and find a scene that is not so good (though maybe not as gnarly as what Moses found Aaron and the Israelites up to when he came down from Mount Sinai (Ex 32:7-10).  Based on the remainder of his teaching in the context around this and considering the account in Matthew it seems that the disciples may have been focusing on their own authority or influence and “power” and not quite relying on God to exorcise the demon at hand.  Jesus ultimately tells them that this kind is only driven out by prayer (some versions add “and fasting” because some manuscripts have it).  This could be taken a couple of ways but I think in context the best way to take it is to say that reliance upon God to do the exorcising is the way to make it happen.  The fact that the disciples were arguing about who is greatest and sneering at other people doing the Lord’s work makes it pretty clear that they were lifting themselves up and had a pretty high view of themselves.  Paul teaches in Romans 12:16 to live in harmony with others and to not think too highly of ourselves.
    v30-32.  Again Jesus teaches them briefly about what is to come but they don’t understand because they seem to be focused on the earthly scenario and not the bigger idea of the kingdom of God.  It could be that it was pride that made them “afraid to ask him” when they didn’t understand his teaching.  None wanted to look like less than the other perhaps and they all wanted to wear a mask of greatness and prominence.  This can happen to me or anyone today and I need to guard against such mask wearing and be transparent and real and dependent upon God.  I must admit what I don’t know and seek understanding from the Lord.
    v33-37.  Here is their arguing about who is greatest that Jesus pretty well despises.  He tells them that to be great is to be a servant and they should be doing the work of mothers and their maids…they should be receiving children and caring for them.  This is not seen as a high and lofty job by anyone in this day but Jesus lets them know that this is the mission.  To bring people into the kingdom and care for them and grow them up.  They are to be about this work and not concerned with thrones and titles and prominence.  The path to God is the one that seeks to love those who would seem to be the least important…not seeking out fame and prestige by ministering to the elite who have the power to grant great recognition.
    v38-41.  Jesus illustrates this further by turning a question they ask against them.  They question Jesus on what to do about others who are not in their group (Jesus’ disciples) but are casting out demons in the name of Jesus.  Like Paul in Romans who rejoices that the name of Christ is preached even by those that do it out of selfish ambition (Phil 1:17-18), Jesus tells the disciples to not worry about it.  It seems within context to see that the disciples were earthly minded and looking at keeping this privilege and authority to themselves, but Jesus tells them that if they are lifting up the name of Jesus then they are surely not against them.  There may be many people in this world who are different than me and who are in a different “camp” regarding various disputable teachings and such but we all lift the name of Christ and we are all to live in harmony and to praise God that he works through all of us to accomplish the growth of his kingdom.  There is great temptation here to hold an ownership or an authority of my own that Jesus hits on next…
    v42-50.  I take this teaching to be Jesus making it painfully clear (by hyperbole…aka exaggeration) that we are to make great effort to avoid causing others to sin by our selfish focus on ourselves and our own message when Christ is the salt.  We cannot leave a focus on the reliance upon Christ out and expect to have a gospel message for anyone.  Christ is what gives life to the gospel and to lead anyone onto sin by getting them focused on us or to make new believers stumble because of our sin is bad news.  We are supposed to be drawing people into Christ and not running them off.  We will be made thirsty for Christ through trials and hardships and we must keep this reliance upon Christ rather than a trust in ourselves or a concern over our own reputation and name.  We should have a thirst and reliance upon Christ, thus making much of his name and not a thirst for my own reputation, living at peace with others without concern that they follow me…let them follow Christ!  I relate this to Paul’s teaching on how to remove obstacles of the gospel though how we suffer well and rely on God and rejoice in spite of suffering (2 Cor 6:1-10).  The embedded teaching on taking sin seriously and taking extreme measures to avoid it is also an important lesson to draw from this.  I am not saved by routing out sin but if I am saved, this supernaturally follows (Romans 6:1-4, Titus 2:11-14, Rom 8:13-14).

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    1.  Jesus is God with us and he speaks with the very authority of God and it is the message of his identity and his work of redemption that is to be the focus.  Jesus is the aim.  Thirst for Jesus is the goal and sometimes this thirst comes by trials and hardship in our lives.  The implications then and now is that we must not let sin (like pride) get in the way of the gospel message being received by others.  The significance to me is to know that my life will help or hinder the growing of his kingdom based upon my focus and reliance upon Christ that conquers, by drastic measures if needed, my sinful desire for personal recognition and gain and comfort.  If I let my life be about thirst for comfort or recognition or gain...how am I pointing people to Jesus?  Do I even draw new believers into the same habits?  Do I tie a millstone around my neck?  Let me thirst O God, let me thirst for your Son alone!!!

Response:
“Private”

Reaction:
“Private”

Soli Deo Gloria!

February 5

Genesis 38; Mark 8

Daily Catechism

QUESTION 12: HOW DOES GOD EXECUTE HIS DECREES?
Answer: God executes his decrees in the works of creation and providence.
Scripture: Genesis 1:1; Revelation 4:11; Matthew 5:45; 6:26; Acts 14:17: Proverbs 16:9, 33; 19:21; 20:24; 21:1, 31.
 
Comment: Instead of “execute” you can say “perform” or “accomplish” or “bring about”. The word “providence” will be taken up in a later question. For now it refers to the way God preserves and governs all his creatures and all their actions (like the fall of a bird or the election of a president). It refers to God’s general rule over the world he has created.

Genesis 38

Ready:
Yesterday I saw Joseph traded for some cash by his brothers who were fed up with him.  Not all of the brothers participated but in the end all of them but perhaps Benjamin were keeping a secret from Jacob…Joseph is alive (maybe)…and this continues for 20+ years.

Reading thoughts:
This chapter presents more family drama and it focuses on Judah, the fourth child of Jacob.  The bulk of the account pertains to his dealing with his daughter-in-law after her husband, Er, dies mysteriously.

Key Verses:
Gen 38:1-3, 6-7, 8, 10-11, 12, 14, 24, 26, 28-29

I see the theme as- Man’s sins does not stop God from accomplishing his purposes and the promised offspring (Jesus) will surely be provided by God.

Rumination thoughts:
    v1.  It seems that Judah was not getting along with his brothers, no doubt they all carried quite a burden in hiding the truth of their actions from Jacob.
    v2-5.  Here Judah does not follow the tradition of his Isaac and Jacob but he takes a wife from Canaan.  It also seems like he may not be very devoted to this woman since we are not given her name and then he is not around when Judah is born.  Judah has three boys by his unnamed wife.
    v6-11.  Judah found a wife for Er, probably a Canaanite as well, but then Er died when God put him to death for his wickedness.  This is interesting because there has been plenty of wicked things done and God did not slay Cain or Lamech (the bad one) or others.  Maybe since this is the line of Judah there is a different way of discipline here by God.  Or perhaps Er’s wickedness is profound here and is better I don’t even know.  Enough weirdness happens in this chapter that it seems odd Moses would hold back the detail about Er but let the secret things remain with God.  In this section Judah directs his second son to provide another offspring for Tamar according to what will become a formal expectation called the “levirate marriage” where a brother provides offspring to a childless widow in order to continue the dead brother’s family line.  Significant in this case is the fact that Tamar was the mother of Judah’s first born and this act of replacing the first born would give the new child the rights of Judah’s first born.  This means that Onan would be giving up the chance for his children by his own wife to take this blessing.  It sounds like Onan was probably already married and was not interested in having a child by Tamar.  He selfishly and deceitfully buses Tamar by only pretending to fulfill his obligation.  This is called wicked and like Er, God puts Onan to death.  Now Jacob leaves Tamar out in the cold because he fears that he may lose his only remaining boy if he also messes up and grieves the Lord.  He sends Tamar to her Father’s house and promises that when Shelah grows up he will give him to Tamar in marriage…so he buys some time.
    v12-19.  Here Judah is tricked by Tamar because she seems quite upset that he never followed through and gave her Shelah as a husband to give her a child.  Rightfully upset he comes up with a funky plan to fix her trouble.  Judah ends up fathering twins by Tamar when she pretends to be a prostitute and this ends up leading to the birth of Perez (who will carry the bloodline and royal legal line to Jesus).
    v20-26.  Here Tamar is suspected of immorality and then she reveals that it is Judah himself who is responsible for her pregnancy.  Judah realizes that is was his fault for holding his son back from her and he acknowledges his guilt and contends that she is righteous.  I can’t take a lesson from specific actions or even opinions of the characters here because this is a narrative history and not a lesson on how to live.
    v27-30.  Here is the interesting wrestling match between Perez and Zerah.  Perez seems to pull Zerah back in and he claims the birth right, setting himself up with some unique expectation of lineage…which is fulfilled.  There are interesting parallels here since Perez is a replacement child, like Seth was for Eve when Abel was killed by Cain.  And how Perez takes the birth right from Zerah compares to how Jacob took it from Esau.  Judah is tricked into fathering Perez like Jacob was tricked into marrying Leah (who gave him Judah).  The family (led by Simeon and Levi) kills a whole people group over their disdain for their sister being treated like a prostitute and now Judah puts the lineage to Jesus through a “supposed” prostitute by the deception of Tamar.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    1.  I hear a message that the lineage to the promised offspring of Eve is nothing that man could have planned and it is not a pretty story.  God deals in real life and he deals in problems and he deals in unraveling our sin.  God demonstrates his sovereign rule by accomplishing his will despite our sinful ways.  God does not drop our savior from the sky upon us but he delivers him in a much more amazing way.  God demonstrates a valuing of family and inheritance and relationships.  The implication for today would be that he is still in control and he still values family and relationships.  The significance for me is that I need to seek to lead my family to honor God but I also need to leave room for God to work through my errors and their errors and our messy lives.  I can’t lose heart when things don’t go as planned (by me).  This is because they are always working according to God’s plan.  

Response:
“Private”

Reaction:
“Private”

Mark 8

Ready:
Yesterday was another look at he Canaanite woman and the idea of where defilement comes from.

Reading thoughts:
This section seems to be a new teaching some time later based on the wording of the first verse.  I see Jesus repeat a miracle that they failed to learn from the first time.  I see Jesus refuse a sign to “this generation” which sounds like the “adulterous and sinful generation” mentioned later in the chapter.  Jesus warns the disciples to not allow any of the teaching of the Pharisees to take root in them..which was a boasting in the law as their means of righteousness.  I see Jesus teach on discipleship and what it is to trust in him rather then in oneself or in the law (which is the same thing).  I see Jesus give a picture of his first and second advent, in the two-stage healing of the blind man, where we will see and know in part but in full once we are glorified in heaven.

Key Verses:
Mark 8:6, 8, 11-12, 15, 17, 23-25, 27, 29, 31, 34, 38

I see the theme as- Die to the law and self-accomplishment and self-merit.  Be untied to Jesus by trusting only in his identity and work as the Son of God come to earth as a man to redeem us... or else remain united to the law and face its judgement.

Rumination thoughts:
    v1-10.  Do you get it?  Toward helping the disciples get the picture, Jesus repeats the miracle of multiplying the bread and letting the disciples feed the people.  I think he give a message about them carrying his word to the people but the bigger point is how he evidences his omnipotence which is a deceleration of his identity as God in the flesh.
    v11-13.  All the Jews should have been watching for the bridegroom expectantly (Matt 25:1-2, Rev 19:7-8), like Simeon and Anna (Luke 2:25-35, 36-38)…not quizzing him and looking for grand shows while ignoring the star of David (Num 24:17, Matt 2:1-6) and the many signs already performed (Matt 11:2-6).  In Matthew we see that he did reference only the sign of his resurrection will remain (Matt 16:4) and they will need to decide what to do with that declaration of his identity (Rom 1:4).
    v14-21.  Do not let the Pharisaical teaching break into your thoughts.  I take this teaching with consideration of his comments later in the chapter in Mark 8:34-35, 38).  Do not misuse the law.  Trust in me and not the law.  Trust in me and not in your ability to keep the law.  Do not let this error enter your thinking.  Never think that Adam seas going to merit the favor of God by his performance of obedience.  He was to obey God out of a realizations that God already favored him by free grace and he was to obey by the obedience of faith…trusting God at his Word.  That is how it was and that is how it is and that is how always it will be…never think that your obedience merits God’s mercy or grace.  Your obedience is born by his mercy and grace!
    v22-26.  I see this message in the way Jesus healed the blind men and it explains why it is placed here in this section- Jesus will not take away all obscurity until his second coming.  To paraphrase, "Don’t expect all the information and full clarity as the Pharisees demand because this will not be so until I come again.”  I will give you partial vision when I come the first time and you will know by faith that God provides (Matt 16:16-17) but then you will know in full once you are with me in heaven (1 Cor 13:12-13).
    v27-30.  The identity of Christ.  "God will give you understanding without your discerning it by your own effort of examining evidence.  You will know my identity and my role as Messiah.”  I take this by harmonizing Matthew’s account where he tells Peter that God revealed this to him…not man…not Peter’s wise and educated seeing and discerning of evidences.
    v31-33.  The work of Christ.  "You will plainly see my work and I am telling you now what it will be because it has been determined from before time began.  I just told you what was going to happen Peter…didn’t you just acknowledge that I am the Son of God?  Do I not speak and it is?  Do I not command the waves and the wind and the bread?  I am truth Peter.  Do not try to rewrite what I am declaring to be.  You are treating me like I am only a man and not God."
    v34-38.  "Here is what it means to be my disciple.  Here is what is looks like to trust me instead of the law.  If you take the law (justice) over me (grace) then that is what you will get in return (judgement according to your works- justice).  Do not be left in care of the guardian eternally in the refusal to receive the bridegroom!”  I take this in light of the other statements he makes in this chapter and launch off into consideration of what it means to be "ashamed of me and my words” as Jesus says.  I take “me” to be his identity and “my words” to be his description in verse 31 about his suffering, death, and resurrection or summarized as his work.  So I take being “ashamed” of the identity and/or the work of Jesus to be warned against here.  Click the following link to see a fuller treatment of this conclusion: Not Ashamed (TO BE POSTED LATER), but the bottom line is that if I do not trust completely in Christ’s identity and work as the sole basis for my standing as righteous before God then I am left not in union with Christ but still under the care of the law (which was only a temporary guardian) and I will eternally be left with the only thing the law has power to do…condemn me to hell in perfect justice.  But if I trust in Jesus’ identity and work to be my sole merit of righteousness before God then I die to the law (self merit by obedience) and am united to the bridegroom and I receive the righteousness of God (Rom 10:3-4, Rom 3:22-24, 2 Cor 5:21, Rom 6:11)!

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    1.  The message I hear is plainly stated above.  The implication is that even today we can use the law wrongly and think that we are to somehow merit God’s favor upon us unto salvation.  The significance for me is that though not everything is plainly visible, I know enough to trust Jesus and to deny any trust in myself.  I am to walk in obedience with joy because it is not for the sake of my salvation that I obey, but it is in celebration of the salvation that was already accomplished by Jesus!

Response:
“Private”

Reaction:
“Private”

Soli Deo Gloria!

February 4

Genesis 37; Mark 7

Daily Catechism

QUESTION 11: WHAT ARE THE DECREES OF GOD?
Answer: The decrees of God are his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby for his own glory, he has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.
Scripture: Ephesians 1:11; Romans 11:36; Daniel 4:35; Isaiah 46:10; Psalm 115:3; Amos 3:6.

Comment: You might shorten it to: “God’s decrees are his own plans for history. And they always happen.” His purpose for the world is eternal because there never was a time when he didn’t know what he was going to do. His purpose accords with the counsel of his will--that is he did not consult anyone else. He thought it all up. All plans were made in order to maximize the display of his glory. Nothing falls outside the decrees of God.

Genesis 37

Ready:
Moses has just wrapped up the life if Isaac and concluded the story of his unchosen line of Esau whose descendants formed the people later known as Edom.  In the meantime Jacob and his sons are still in real time and they are really only at the first generation.  His children are the heads of the twelve tribes and so far I have not heard of them taking wives.

Reading thoughts:
I see straight off the phraseology Moses has used at various points of his narrative that key me into another shift.  He says “these are the generations of Jacob” and I take this to mean that he is moving into a new period that should get my attention.  I take it that here he is now moving into a focus on the lives of the twelve tribes of Israel.  This story picks up 11 years after they arrived in Canaan and There is overlap here because Isaac seems to have died while Joseph was in Egypt and presumed dead by his brothers.  Looking at the timeline I also realize that Dinah was about 14 years old (or younger) when Shecham raped her and this brings a little more insight into the reaction of her big brothers Simeon and Levi (who were about 21/22).  Back to the story, Joseph is about 17 and he is telling his family about the dreams he is having and he is enjoying the favor of his father.  This favor must stem from the fact that Joseph is the first born to Rachel and the only other child born to Rachel is the youngest brother Benjamin.  He also seems to be a tattler (or very responsible and concerned) as he reports what his older brothers are up to to his dad at the beginning of the story.  This sets him up to be at odds with his older brothers, who were maybe 24 or older and did not so much like the idea of their kid brother suggesting that they would be bowing to him.  They end up selling him into slavery (to the dismay of the eldest brother Simeon, who tried to work out a plan to save him but then ultimately goes along with the cover-up).  Benjamin seems to be at least 6 years younger than Joseph which means Benjamin was 11 when his brothers sold Joseph into slavery and I would imagine that Benjamin was at home with Jacob when Jacob sent Joseph out to check on his other brothers.  This young age of Benjamin I think creates a bond between him and Joseph (not to mention that Benjamin didn’t sell him to slavery- I don’t think) that shows up later.  Maybe Benjamin was also not in on the cover-up and maybe this accounts for the teary reunion between him and Joseph later?

Key Verses:
Gen 37:2-3, 9, 11, 14, 18, 20, 21, 26, 28, 29, 32, 34, 36

I see the theme as- Jealousy and/or envy that stemmed from the favoritism (partiality) shown by Jacob results in his sons sinful actions against their brother and their deception toward Jacob.  The family is beset by a terrible falsehood for the next 20-27 years while Joseph is presumed dead by Jacob…but God had a plan that included all of this!

Rumination thoughts:
    v1-4.  Jacob’s family nope being the focus of the storyline it doesn’t take long to get to some drama.  Jacob favors his oldest son by Rachel over the others and it could partially be because he was more obedient and responsible than the older brothers.  But in verse two it is clear that Joseph has a practice of reporting the misdeeds of his brothers to his father and this may reveal his obedient and responsible nature but this does not make well for good relations between him and his brothers.  The brothers cannot hardly speak to him except with contempt.  This is not so good.
    v5-11.  Already hated by his brothers Joseph seems to have no problem telling them about his dreams that clearly refer to him ruling over them or them bowing before him in some context.  Of course this drives them crazy.  Even Jacob rebuked him for telling of this dream, but Jacob also kept what he said in mind.  I take this to mean that he wondered if it might be prophetic.
    v12-17.  Here Joseph is sent off to check on the older brothers because Jacob must be worried that they are either messing around and not taking care of the flock or else they may also be in some trouble.  I figure Benjamin is as home (6-7 years younger than Joseph).  So Joseph indeed finds out that his brothers are not at Shechem caring for the flock but they have gone to Dothan…not so responsible or obedient.  The story is shaping up to resemble Cain and Able here.
    v18-28.  In this section the brothers spot Joseph and knowing that they are busted for not being in Shechem and since they already hate Joseph, they conclude that they will throw him in a pit and sell him to traders when they get a chance.  This plan started with a plot to kill him but Reuben talked sense into the other brothers and they decided to throw him alive into a pit.  It seems maybe that Reuben came up with some reason that he needed to split at this point and maybe he was off to come up with a means to rescue Joseph from the pit.  In the meantime the remaining 9 brothers had a meal and then decided to sell Joseph to some passing traders.
    v29-36.  Reuben came back and found that Joseph was gone and was distraught.  Judah had convinced the other 8 brothers during their meal to sell him since they still wanted to kill Joseph.  From there all 10 joined in on a plan to deceive Jacob with the suggestion that Joseph was killed by a wild animal.  This destroys Jacob who now only has little Benjamin by Rachel and the family continues in this lie for over 20 years.  Meanwhile Joseph is sold into slavery in Egypt.

Response:
“Private”

Reaction:
“Private”

Mark 7

Ready:
So most notably in the last chapter, Mark documented how Jesus displayed the characteristics of God who tramples the sea (Job 9:8) that he created and controls (Psalm 33:6-7).  And we are to fear this God who can speak things into being and who can command the creation to be firm (Psalm 33:8-9) and it listens (like water being firm enough to hold the weight of a man).  Jesus even intended to “pass by them” as he revealed his deity (glory) to them like the way God passed by Moses who was in the cleft of the rock (Ex 33:19, 22).

Reading thoughts:
I see Jesus respond to the Pharisees on the topic of whether a failure to keep traditions defile a person and then he give us the example of a woman who has not kept one Jewish tradition in her life and yet she has a humble and dependent heart that believes in the blessing of the promised offspring being extended to her.

Key Verses:
Mark 7:5, 6-8, 9, 13, 15, 18, 20, 23, 24-25, 27-29, 35-37

I see the theme as-  A heart that honors God above all and seeks him is the heart that worships God.  It is defilement to prefer the favor and traditions of men over the mercy of God.  True worship of God come from the humble and dependent heart.

Rumination thoughts:
    v1-13.  Here Jesus routs the Pharisees who are holding pride in their practices of washings and cleanings that are not commanded by God but that they think protect them from becoming “dirty”.  Before getting to the bottom of how they have confused defilement he first chooses to set them back, exposing their use of this man made tradition to cover their sin.  They have been hiding greed and a failure to honor their parents behind a tradition of man that is supposedly holy and good.  What was happening was they were withholding resources that should have been used to care for their aging parents by claiming that this wealth was “God’s”.  Jesus exposes it here and lets them know that there is no good to be had in preferring man’s tradition to God’s command.
    v14–23.  Then Jesus goes further.  He turns them upside down by explaining to them that the dirtiness comes from inside the man, not from anything outside of him.  The fall of man in the Garden gave us a sin nature and a will that is enslaved to it.  Our hearts are a desire factory for things other than God. This is the defilement.  This is the dirtiness.  It has been said that Uzzah’s error in 2 Samuel 6:6-7 was that he considered his hand to be cleaner than the ground.  Trying to keep the Ark of the Covenant from the “defilement” of touching the ground by grabbing it (which was forbidden by God) showed that he considered himself less defiling than the ground.  But the ground does not have a sin nature and has done no wrong to the creator!  He died for this error because he did not trust God at his Word.  The dirt does not defile but the human heart does. My going to church or attending a Bible study or reading of my Bible or "you name it" does not wash away the evil desires of my heart that is inclined to chose myself over God.  Only the blood of Jesus cleanses me. Only the application of the work of Christ to my soul can make me right with God…not my rituals.  The work of Christ is not applied to me apart from a trust that rests in his work alone that is itself apart from my own effort (Rom 3:27-28).  Banking on anything I “do” to be of any merit when it comes to me being seen as clean by God is a failure to trust Jesus.  All the things I do in the obedience of faith are celebration of God’s favor but never do I earn or merit God’s favor…only the blood does that.  Jesus indeed merited my salvation.  Jesus accomplished my washing.  Jesus did the only saving work that is needed.  Everything else is an outflow of that.  Holiness is Christ in me.
    v24-30.  In Matthew this story was called the "Canaanite Woman”.  With Mark’s account I am focused more on how Jesus was stealth about his arrival in this Gentile area.  I think this tells me something about her...So what was special about her?  This woman was clearly on the lookout for him.  This woman was searching for Jesus.  This woman was more than an opportunist.  She sought him out and she was humble and recognized that his help would be mercy and that she had no right to be at the table.  She knew he had more to offer than could be consumed by the children of Israel.  Below is a restatement of their dialogue (harmonized between Matthew and Mark):

Appeal #1 by the woman
Mercy from the Son of David for her sick daughter

Response #1 from Jesus
Silence

Appeal #2 by the woman
Crying out without stopping

Response #2 from Jesus
So you believe in the Messiah…but you are not a Jew and the Messiah (Son of David) comes to deliver Israel

Appeal #3 by the woman
I know that I don’t need to be a natural child in order to serve you as master and I know that your abundance spills from the table and from this abundance I am asking that you might have mercy and allow me to partake.

Response #3 from Jesus
Well done.  You rightly trust in my authority and abundance and you know it is faith that connects you to the blessing rather than physical inheritance.  Enter into the joy of your master!

    v31-37.  In this passage Jesus reveals that he has the power to grant hearing and proper speech.  I think there is a connection to the surrounding storyline because we see Pharisees speaking improperly (“we avoid defilement by our traditions on the authority of our elders…what is your authority, Jesus?") that comes from their failure to hear the message of the scriptures (Abraham was declared righteous before partaking in any tradition…merely trusting God at his Word) while this Gentile woman hears and speaks just fine (“You have the authority of God himself to save.  I am defiled and unworthy and need your help") without any of the advantages enjoyed by the Pharisees religion.

Response:
“Private”

Reaction:
“Private”

Soli Deo Gloria!

February 3

Genesis 35-36; Mark 6

Daily Catechism

QUESTION 10: HOW MANY PERSONS ARE THERE IN THE GODHEAD?
Answer: There are three persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one God, the same in essence, equal in power and glory.
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:11; 8:6; John 1:1; 10:30; 14:9; 20:28; Acts 5:3,4; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 1:3.

Comment: The word “Godhead” is needed because we shouldn’t say that there are three persons in God. No, there are three persons who are God. Nor should we say that there are three Gods. There is one God. They are distinct persons with special roles in creation and redemption. But they are in perfect harmony and are (in ways beyond our comprehension) perfectly One God. (See The Pleasures of God, by John Piper, Multnomah Press, pp. 38, 42-44 for one explanation of the Trinity.)

Genesis 35

Ready:
Coming off of the devastating reaction that Simeon and Levi had to their sister’s rape and Abraham’s disappointment they are now at risk.

Reading thoughts:
I see that Jacob began to fear what will happen to his family as a result of their actions against the Hivites.  God then instructs him to go back to Bethel where God had previously spoken to him.  Jacob perceived that they needed to rid themselves of the idols acquired in the sacking of the Hivites and he ask everyone to purify themselves as they mobilize to head to Bethel.  God speaks to Jacob and reaffirms the new name he has given him and increases the detail of his revelation to Jacob.  God appears to him using the same name “God Almighty” as he did when he renamed Abram in chapter 17.  Here God tells Jacob to be fruitful and multiply perhaps because he has one more son yet to come (Benjamin) from whom will come Paul the Apostle, who will prove to be quite important.  The chapter closes with a strange account of Reuben laying with Bilhah, the mother of a couple of his brothers and one of Jacob’s two concubines.

Key Verses:
Gen 35:1-3, 5, 7, 11-12, 17-18, 22, 28-29

I see the theme as- God tells Jacob to multiply and extends his “already-not yet” promise of a multitude of nations from Abraham to Jacob who will yet see Benjamin born, whose descendant (Paul the Apostle) will take the gospel to the Gentiles and in this we will see God become the God of all nations by faith and not just Israel.  "For is God the God of Jews only?” Paul will ask in Rom 3:29-30.

Rumination thoughts:
    v1-4.  Jacob receives direction from God after the slaying of the Hivites and he takes action.  He wisely directs his family to dump the idols they found in the Hivite camp and prepare themselves to worship the Lord.  He rightly esteems the house of God and plainly recognizes the need for personal preparation of heart and mind when coming before God to worship.  Jacob recognizes the rescuing characteristics of God who delivers and who answers prayer.
    v5.  God supernaturally protects his people by striking terror into those who would consider attacking them during their travel to Bethel.
    v6-15.  Here God appears again to Jacob at Bethel where he had spoken to him directly as he fled from Esau.  God extended the covenant to Abraham to Jacob here previously and he had also changed his name previously during their wrestling match.  But now God seems to want to bolster his faith and to increase the detail and glory of what Jacob understands of the promise.  Here in Gen 35:11 God uses the title “Almighty God” like he did when he renamed Abram to Abraham because God told him “For I have made you the Father of a multitude of nations”.  So the only previous times so far in the Bible that the title “Almighty God” was used was there in Gen 17:1-8, and then in Gen 28:3 where Isaac blesses Jacob and happens to tell him “God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples.”  Now again the same title is used when God tells Jacob to be fruitful and multiply for he bring a company of nations from his loins!  It is by the almighty power of the God who creates from nothing that the nations of the world (stemming from the scattering of Babel) are grafted into the family of Abraham (Rom 4:16-18)!  "You are not done Jacob…there is another child yet and he will bring Paul who will testify for me and carry the message to the Gentiles that they will come and the nations will rejoice (1 Chron 16:8-34).”  The spiritual offspring of Abraham are pictured as the "company of peoples" or "company of nations" or "multitude of nations”.  So Bethel is a pretty special place and Jacob responds to God by making an offering to the Lord after he receives this restatement of the covenant.
    v16-21.  Here Benjamin is born and the 12 tribes are complete!  Rachel dies and “Israel” travels on.
    v22-29.  Here is the odd inclusion of a sin by Reuben that becomes the cause of the loss of the blessing to the first-born.  In chapter 49 Jacob will pass over the first three sons because of their sins (Reuben for laying with Jacob’s concubine, Simeon and Levi for killing the Hivites) and therefore the fourth son, Judah will receive the blessing and this indeed is the physical bloodline (Mary) and the spiritual lineage (Joseph) of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!  Almighty God indeed works through the sins of man to bring about his mighty purposes according to the counsel of his will!  The chapter concludes with the death of Isaac after Jacob gets to Mamre.  Isaac indeed dies with the blessing of God as he sees his boys reunited for a period of maybe 50 years before he is buried by them with Abraham and Sarah there in the place Abraham had purchased (Gen 49:31).  Rebekah’s death is not mentioned but she was ultimately buried there with Isaac as well.

Response:
“Private”

Reaction:
“Private”

Genesis 36

Ready:
Immediately jumping into this chapter in today’s reading...

Reading thoughts:
After Isaac dies this chapter seems to serve to button up the history of the unchosen line of Esau so the storyline would then follow Jacob and his children from here on until the death of Joseph in Egypt.  But this does not “button up” so cleanly for the reader since the names of Esau’s wives seem to be mixed up compared to the previous record in Gen 26:34 and Gen 28:9.  Here is a decent explanation from the Jamieson, Fausset, Brown commentary:  "Esau took his wives of the daughters of Canaan—There were three, mentioned under different names; for it is evident that Bashemath is the same as Mahalath (Ge 28:9), since they both stand in the relation of daughter to Ishmael and sister to Nebajoth; and hence it may be inferred that Adah is the same as Judith, Aholibamah as Bathsemath (Ge 26:34). It was not unusual for women, in that early age, to have two names, as Sarai was also Iscah [Ge 11:29]; and this is the more probable in the case of Esau’s wives, who of course would have to take new names when they went from Canaan to settle in mount Seir. “

Key Verses:
Gen 36:1-3, 6-8, 9, 31, 40-43

I see the theme as- Esau picks all the wrong women and births a kind of Bizzaro-Israel nation who will be a thorn to Israel.

Rumination thoughts:
    v1-5.  This is the quick explanation of the three wives of Esau.  Putting aside the confusion of their identities, the main thing I notice is that he picked all the wrong women and then all of his children were conceived and born there in Canaan.  Jacob, by contrast, acquired his wives in the land of his grandfather (as directed by Isaac and Rebekah) and all of his children were conceived outside of Canaan (Benjamin seems to have been born there in Canaan, near Bethlehem).  Esau even married a Hivite which means that Simeon and Levi later killed her entire bloodline after the rape of Dinah.
    v6-8.  Here Esau ends up separating from Jacob and he seems to actually prosper more initially in fulfillment of the blessing of his father that he would break Jacob’s yoke from his neck (Gen 27:40).  Esau is identified as Edom from where the Edomites come and the conflicts between them and the Israelites are documented well in 2 Sam 8:13, 1 King 1:14, 2 Chron 28:17, Ob 1-21, Psalm 137:7-9).  So although the brothers reconciled it seems that the following generations didn’t get the memo.
    v9-30.  Here is established a careful genealogy that seems to illustrate the whole Bizzaro or “alternate” nation created.
    v31-43.  Here it is interesting that the nation of the Edomites is established with Kings ruling before Israel ever has a king.  This is because Israel begins as a Theocracy where God is their King but this changes based upon their sin and failures until eventually they too have a human King.

Response:
“Private”

Reaction:
“Private”

Mark 6

Ready:
Coming off of Jesus demonstrating authority over spirits...

Reading thoughts:
Mark now documents Jesus returning to his hometown of Nazareth, where he had spent most of his life until he began his ministry at 30 years old.  Rejected at Nazareth because they could not get over the fact that they knew him as a child and so "clearly he was just another man like them”.  Heart hearts made it difficult for people to see past his humanity to see his deity, despite the healings and miracles that he performed.  Jesus sends out the disciples with a similar message to John the Baptist’s and here Mark documents the OT prophet’s death.  Mark follows the same sequence of events here as Matthew did in chapters 13-14.  Jesus feeds the 5,000 and then sends the disciples across the sea of Galilee while he goes up and prays on the mountain.  Jesus watches as a heavy wind strives against the disciples while they try to reach Bethsaida as he directed them.  Unlike Matthew’s account of Jesus walking on the water here Mark gives a statement that the disciples hearts were hardened and they didn’t understand the message of the loaves.  Ultimately, as documented in Matthew, they acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God at the conclusion of this event, but I take Mark’s account to mean that until this they were hardened and did not understand his deity, like the Nazerites.  In this passage Jesus seems as though he was to “pass by” (Mark 6:48) like God passed by Moses in Ex 33:19 to show him a glimpse of his glory.  Jesus here was showing them a glimpse of his deity and it relates to Job 9:1-12 that they should have been familiar with.  In Job 9:8 it mentions God stretching out the heavens and trampling the waves of the sea and then Job 9:10 says that he does great things beyond searching out, and marvelous things beyond number.  Job 9:11 says he passes by me, and I see him not…Jesus seemed to be giving a clear message for the one with eyes.  He had calmed the storm in chapter 4 and they ask “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”.  Now he has multiplied the bread and walks on the waves to reveal the answer to them.

No more time... Soli Deo Gloria!

Rumination thoughts:



Response:



Reaction:

February 2

Genesis 34; Mark 5

Daily Catechism

QUESTION 9: ARE THERE MORE GODS THAN ONE?
Answer: There is only one living and true God.
Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:4; Jeremiah 10:10; Psalm 96:4-5.

Comment: There are “gods” which are idols, but they are not “living”. And there are “gods” which are angels or demons, but they are not “true” God, that is they are not eternal, infinite and unchanging. Only one God is living and true.

Genesis 34

Ready:
I left of with Moses’ account of the peaceful and joyful reunion of Jacob and Esau.  Jacob has come into Canaan and he is setting up his camp and he has constructed and altar called “God, the God of Israel”.

Reading thoughts:
This chapter is a pretty gnarly account of the rape of Dinah followed by the vengeance of Jacob’s sons (Simeon and Levi) upon the Hivites by killing every male of their people.    It seems that the full brothers of Dinah (all children of Leah) were incensed and perhaps the other brothers and Jacob were not intent on this plan that they carried out.  I would imagine they received much help from others of their households or perhaps even other brothers but these were the leaders in this plot to avenge their sister.  This sin brought great judgement upon Shechem’s people but it came through a failure of the sons of Jacob.

Key Verses:
Gen 34:1-2, 3-4, 7, 9-10, 13, 15-16, 24, 25, 30-31

I see the theme as- Jacob’s sons sinfully react to evil by returning it in excessive vengeance.

Rumination thoughts:
    v1.  This is not a good description of Dinah.  She is becoming here a friend of the world and a friend of a people who are not God fearing.  This is probably an invitation of trouble upon their house and it come to be so.  Her brothers needed to be honorable and protective at this point here and counseled their sister to remain apart from the Canaanites.  The family knew well not to mix with them and not to take wives from them, yet Dinah goes and becomes buddies with the women there.
    v2-4.  Now a prince sees her.  So Dinah must be hanging out with the elite ladies or the “in crowd” or somehow is in a place to be seen by the “prince” of the land.  This prince as he is nobly called sets his eyes on her and is settled to have her for himself.  He seems to rape her but is also drawn to her and wants to marry her.  So this guy is really something.  He is overcome with a desire to take her and he disregards he wishes and he forces himself upon her but then walks to talk sweet nothings to her and take her as his bride.  Times were different then but I am thinking this was pretty much ridiculous.  As the test says he humiliated her by treating her in this way.  He then convinces his daddy to help his get her as a bride.  Perhaps a better play would have been to have presented himself to Jacob in brokenness and confessed his sin and begged forgiveness before asking for her hand in marriage.  I equate this to the idea that a man who is committing fornication with his girlfriend or fiancé aught to repent and seek to correct the relationship prior to slapping a ring on the finger of his mistress.  Throwing a ring on the finger is not an acknowledgement of sin and is not repentance and is not honoring to God.  I don’t say the marriage is doomed but it surely begins with a sinful posture and a failure to fear the Lord.  Humiliating the woman we want to marry is not a good way to begin.   Honoring her and fearing God by confessing and repenting and then seeking to approach her afresh would be a better way to go.
    v5-6.   Here it is clear that Jacob intended to have some strong words and perhaps to do violence in some manner when he would meet up with the guilty party but he waited for his sons to return.
    v7.  Understandably her brothers are angry when they hear of this and they take it as an offense against their entire family.
    v8-12.  Here Hamor and Shechem make their case on the merits of this marriage and their is no mention of the offense.  The bridegroom here is not owning up to the offense at all but they are simply trying to negotiate a marriage.  There is no chance that this would be considered since Jacob knows that they are not to mix with the Canaanites but yet their answer is deceptive because of the rage in the hearts of her brothers.
    v13-24.  Dinah’s brothers probably felt that this was not an appropriate way to handle the offense.  Slapping a ring on does not fix anything.  There is no honor is this and they intend to see justice.  Jacob mysteriously seems silenced or maybe overwhelmed by his sons as they take over the conversation with Hamor and Shechem.  They strike a deal for marriage that requires the Hivites to all be circumcised immediately.  This is pretty crazy misuse of the covenant of God…deception for the purpose of revenge at their own hands.  A humble repentance before the Lord is what these people needed but this is shortcut by a death sentence hidden in a promise of peace.
    v25-29.  Here Simeon and Levi (the tribe that Moses and Aaron come from) lead the charge and they kill every male when they are weak and in recovery from their circumcision.  Moses is the author here so he is plainly laying out the ignobility of the patriarch of his tribe from whom all the priests of Israel would come.
    v30-31.  Jacob is not pleased and he knows that they have just unsettled the entire land who may mobilize against them, but his sons still appeal to justice for their sister as their cause and that any price is warranted.  Later Jacob withholds blessing from these two sons for this action that he condemns in chapter 49.  The sons rightly notice that taking for a bride someone who was wrongfully treated is nothing more than prostitution.  Again- repentance lacked.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    1.  I hear a message that reactions matter.  Shechem reacted to his lust by raping Dinah and then he reacted to his sin by wanting to brush it under the rug. Simeon and Levi reacted to the dishonoring of their family by murder.  And then they reacted to their sin by blaming someone else.  The implication for today is that we are responsible for out reactions and they should always honor God, not our rights or our comfort.  The significance for me is that I must confess and repent of sin, not blow it off.  Further, I should seek to honor God and when I am angry, not sin (See Psalm 4 and consider Cain).  Simeon and Levi and Cain all could have used this Psalm…to bad it had not been written.

Response:
“Private”

Reaction:
“Private”

Mark 5

Ready:
Picking up after Jesus calms the storm and proves his ability to soften soil or sink roots...

Reading thoughts:
In this chapter I see Jesus face a group of demons called “Legion”, in a man and he exorcises these demons into a herd of pigs.  This is not before the demons also bow before him and acknowledge his identity as Son of the Most High God.  Next Jesus is approached by a Jewish leader who indeed trusts in Jesus’ authority.  This ruler appeals to Jesus asking that he come and heal his sick daughter but unlike the Roman Centurion who knew that Jesus did not need to be present to heal someone…indeed Jesus is already there (being the omnipresent Son of God- recalling the dual natures of Jesus).  Jesus ends up resurrecting the 12 year old girl who died before his arrival and he tells the family to be quiet about the event.  Interesting how he tells some people to go and shout it from the mountain top (like the demon possessed man) and others to say nothing (like this family).  

Key Verses:
Mark 5:2, 6-7, 9, 12-13, 14, 17, 18-19, 22-24, 28-30, 34, 35-36, 38-39, 40-41, 42-43

I see the theme as- Jesus, against whom death is no match, reigns over the spirits of demons and man.

Rumination thoughts:
    v1-20.  The familiar account of Jesus casting the demons into the swine.  Again Mark hits the reader with another account of demons rightly ascribing Jesus with deity and showing fear of his authority.  Like Satan asking permission to destroy Job’s riches and family the demons ask permission to enter the swine, which is the wealth of the people of this region.  Jesus permits them and this ends up bringing a frenzy of people who, although they are amazed at what Jesus has done, are blinded by the loss of their pigs and beg him to leave because they seem to value their wealth more than whatever this Jesus has to offer.  Jesus even tells the healed man to go and tell everyone what has happened and perhaps this is to further test the reaction of the locals in regard to this swine loss and to let them decide if they value the healed man more or less than the swine.  Jesus here displays full authority over demonic spirits and next he will do it with a human spirit.  This man’s body was being ruled by evil spirits and there will be a little girl who’s body is ruled by death…both of which are ruled by Jesus.
    v21-24.  A Jewish leader named Jairus comes to Jesus and begs him to lay hands on his daughter who is about to die.  Jesus agrees and goes with him.  Unlike the Centurion who compelled Jesus to heal from where he stood respecting his ultimate authority to bring his will about from any distance, this Jew perceived great power in Jesus but not the kind of authority that the Centurion saw.
    v25-35.  An interlude here to the story of Jairus’ daughter, perhaps in order to give her time to die.  A great crowd slows them down and a woman is healed by merely touching Jesus’ garment.  She had a discharge of blood for 12 years and was only getting worse with all the help that human physicians could offer her.  In the next passage we will see that the little girl is twelve years old and it would appear that this woman has been ill for the entirety of Jairus’ daughter’s life, which has ended at about the time that the woman is healed.  The story of Jesus speaking to the woman and advising her that her faith has healed her is interrupted by the messengers telling them that the girl is dead.  This detail (or connection in the stories) may not be important and may have no discernible meaning (not one that I can see) but seems notable.
    v36-43.  Straight off Jesus tells Jairus to not fear, but believe.  Perhaps the meaning of the 12 years of illness healed in a moment by the mere touch of his garment was to strengthen the faith of Jairus who would in but a moment face the massive faith tester of learning of his daughter’s death.  Perhaps Jesus allowed the delay of the crowd and the woman’s unique healing in order to bring about this faith tester/builder for Jairus.  In this moment Jairus can fear that Jesus is no longer able to heal her or he can believe that Jesus can do what he said he would do by agreeing to come with him in the first place.  The woman in the crowd was sick for twelve years and all the human help to be offered made her worse, but she is now healed by the touch of Jesus’ garment. I am sure Jairus, who has apparently hired professional mourners was wealthy enough to hire physicians to care for his daughter and yet she also got worse and not better.  Perhaps Jesus intended for Jairus, or at least me, to see the connection and to know that Jesus is able.  Man strives to maintain health and is unable…man strives to maintain wealth and security (the pigs) and is unable.  When they get to the house Jesus knows there is no true compassion in the hearts of the mourners and he simply puts them out to deal with the family.  He speaks to them in obscure language that might be part of his plan to not broadcast what occurs here (except by later writing in the case of Mark’s gospel account).  Jesus resurrects the little girl and the family is overcome with amazement.  He says to her “rise” but he would not be speaking to an empty body would he?  Jesus speaks to the girl herself, who is a disembodied spirit.  Better documented by Luke, the girl’s spirit is directed by Jesus to return to her body (Luke 8:54-55).  Jesus then charges them strictly to tell no one about what happened.  I take this to be due to the point of his ministry still being early and looking at what happened in the aftermath of the resurrection of Lazarus (John 11:47-48) it is clear that such a miracle brings immediate reaction from the Jewish Council.  Jesus has a distinct plan and purpose for what he is doing and when he is doing it.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    1.  I hear the message that Jesus has authority over life and death and over the embodiment and disembodiment of spirits.  The implication is that the spirit has certain authority over the body that it resides in but the spirit ultimately answers to Jesus.  The significance to me is that as an embodied spirit myself, I have responsibility for what I do with my body and what I do with it reveals the condition of my spirit (soul).  My spirit is what matters to Jesus and I can’t let the limitations of my body define me.  I may be strong or weak, short or tall, healthy or ill, but Jesus reigns and my soul belongs to him (Rom 14:7-9).  Let me worship God with this body (Rom 12:1-2) because I (my soul that is) am a child of God (Rom 8:15-17) and I look forward, in great hope, to Jesus granting me a new (spiritual) body in heaven (Rom 8:23-25, 1 Cor 15:40-44).  Therefore my hope is indeed not in what I see in the mirror but in the great God who made me and put me here in this body and so I can wait with patience in well doing, pursuing 1. the glory of God, 2. his honor in my life, and 3. a future immortality (Rom 2:6-7).

Response:
“Private”

Reaction:
“Private”

Soli Deo Gloria!