February 19

Exodus 2; Luke 5

Daily Catechism

QUESTION 26: HOW DID CHRIST, BEING THE SON OF GOD, BECOME MAN?
Answer: Christ, the Son of God became man by taking to himself
a true body and a reasonable soul. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and was born of her, yet without sin.
Scripture: Hebrews 2:14; 4:14; 7:26; Matthew 26:38; Luke 2:52; John 1:14; 12:27; Luke 1:31, 35; 2:52; Colossians 2:9.

Comment: I am typing this on a Personal Computer. I have virtu- ally no idea how it works. That it works I am certain: I have typed hundreds of sermons on it. So it is with the “incarnation”--the “how” is (as the old theologians used to say) “ineffable”. We believe it because the Scriptures teach it and because it “works” to make sense out of God’s whole redemptive plan.

Exodus 2

Ready:
The last chapter set the stage and I saw that a new Pharaoh hundreds of years later didn’t so much remember Joseph and was more concerned with how large the Hebrew population was and felt a need to oppress and limit them through slavery and killing their male babies.

Seeing What’s There:
Moses is born and adopted by a daughter of Pharaoh and raised in the royal family until he kills and Egyptian and flees to Midian.

Theme:
God protects his chosen prophet and he sets into motion the answer to Israel’s cry according to his plan that he shared with Abraham hundreds of years ago.

Thinking About the Message:
    v1-10.  Due to the terrible edict by Pharaoh, Moses’ mother is compelled to lovingly place her child in the Nile rather than allow an Egyptian to dash him into the water to die undoubtedly.  In God’s providence and sovereign plan Moses is found by the Pharaoh’s daughter and she ends up paying Moses’ mother to nurse him until he is weaned when she then adopts him as her child to be raised in the royal family.  Interesting that the daughter of Pharaoh took such care for this child and that she risked herself to adopt him and who knows what she revealed to Pharaoh or what it is like to raise a kid in a palace atmosphere…must be lots of help.
    v11-15.  Moses took interest in the Hebrews at some point.  Maybe he was informed from his youth that he was one of them or maybe he learned this just before he documents his observing of their oppression.  He seems to be about 40 years old at this point according to Acts 7:30, Exodus 2:11 and Exodus 7:7.  Moses steps in to protect a Hebrew and he ends up killing an Egyptian and hiding the body.  After he feels found out Moses flees and avoids the anger of Pharaoh who then wanted to kill Moses.  Very interesting that God has arranged for Moses to grow up speaking Egyptian and to have a knowledge of their culture and the royal family.  Moses surely recognizes his sin and now he sits at a well at Midian (East of Egypt) probably not knowing what to do next.
    v16-22.  Here Moses meets the family of the priest of Midian when he protects the priest’s daughters from shepherds who tried to keep them from taking water from the well.  This is the kind of trouble I recall Abraham having in negotiating with the shepherds of the land over wells.  It seems that water was very limited and well were highly valued.  The priest honors Moses and takes him into the family to the point of giving him one of his daughters as a wife who bears him a child named Gershom.
    v23-25.  This is the crux of the chapter and the turning point for the nation of Israel.  God does not listen to the cry of idolators or to a cry that does not acknowledge his truth.  I take it hear that there are God-fearing Jews who walk in the faith of Abraham who cry out to God after all these years of oppression (Job 35:13, Psalm 145:17-20).  This is a cry for deliverance and it comes not from pride or reliance upon merit but upon a trust in what God has promised.  I take the comment that God remembered his covenant to mean that their cry to God was that he would remember the covenant!  Could there have been a remembrance of God’s statement to Abraham about the 400 years of affliction in a foreign land?  Where they watching the calendar?      This is prayer like the Psalmist who pleads with God to take action not with an argument based on the asker but an argument based on the attributes of God and his name.  They had not lost hope…that had not completely forgotten the covenant…fathers had apparently passed this circumcision and its meaning on over these years in Egypt.  Here Moses indicates that God did hear their cry and he intends to answer with might and in a way that will glorify his mighty name.  The chapter closes with “and God knew”.  I wonder if this is not a knowing that the time is fulfilled…that the sin of the Amorites is complete (Gen 15:16) …that the next act in his epic story is ready for action.  The time for God to act in accomplishing his promise has come.  The only aspect of religion that the Jews know at this point is circumcision and remembering the spoken Word of God.  There is no law, there is means of appeasing God other than obedience of faith.  Now God is going to provide more revelation of how he keeps his Word.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    Despite terrible circumstances and hundreds of years of oppression with entire generations knowing nothing but affliction under the Egyptians, there is a cry to God based upon his promise and nothing more.  I take the meaning here to be that this cry of dependance and brokenness and trust against all odds is what the faith of Abraham is all about.  It may have taken a long time to get this people to cry out in dependence upon him…but it happened.  The implication is that God looks for us not to ask for his favor because of our promises to behave or our demonstrations of obedience but to ask for his favor based upon his goodness and mercy and based upon the blood of Jesus.   The significance for me is that I should not seek to convince God to act by something in me but my my trust that he will do precisely what he has said he will do and by a complete reliance upon him to deliver me.

Valuing the Message:
I value this message because it can be easy to get off track and think that God is not watching or caring or something when in actuality he has a perfect timing and a perfect plan for how he will execute on his promises.  God does not want an empty cry from me that is based upon me and my demanding or my convincing him of my own goodness.  This message helps me to know how to cry out to him and that my grounds for a plea to be heard is God’s promises and his own words and his purposes being accomplished.

Reflecting to Feel the Impact of the Message:
I need to consider my heart when I am looking for God to act because of my striving instead of my surrender.

Questions to ask:
What is motivating me to cry out to God?
Is it a desire for gain of something other than him?  Is it a sense of deserving his action?  Is it a frustration that he is not meeting my expectations?  Or is it a desire to see him glorified by a demonstration of his faithful and mighty hand?

Responding to God & Reacting to His Lesson:
Tell God about your observations and your thoughts and your struggles with the chapter and determine how it will change or impact your thinking and your decisions.  Be sure to react in some way to the truth rather than remain silent.

Proclaiming the Truth to Others:
Decide who you can share what you have learned with and ask for God’s help in reaching out to love others.

Luke 5

Ready:
In the previous chapter Jesus declared himself the Messiah in Nazareth and escapes the murder attempt by the Jews.  He demonstrates his authority and teaches of his kingdom.

Seeing What’s There:
I see Jesus demonstrate his identity and call disciples.  I see him show the disciples how they will succeed and he adds to his following of people leaving behind kin and nets and boats to follow the Son of God.  Jesus heals uncleanness and deformity and restores wholeness of body and soul in the sight of all.

Theme:
Jesus demonstrates his power in the lives of his creation and he calls them into a life of transformation and mission.

Thinking About the Message:
    v1-11.  I this passage Jesus brings in an impossible catch and then keeps the sinking boats afloat and the breaking nets from failing.  Jesus promises a catch, instigates and guides their actions to trust the promise, delivers what is out of their control to fulfill the promise, despite their sin and weakness he sustains their effort to receive the blessing without being overwhelmed and sinking, and then commissions them to repeat this task without fear and with men as their catch rather than fish.  They are to serve God’s cause now.
    v12-16.  A couple observations in this passage is that Jesus did not tell the leper that his faith lacked when the leper said “if you will Lord, you can make me clean.”  This is akin to me doubting that I correctly interpret God’s will in a situation but confident that God is able to accomplish all his holy will and he can surely do anything.  So the leper did not doubt Jesus’ ability to put a mountain in the sea even though he did not know if Jesus would choose to heal him.  This is the same greek word used in “thy will be done…” and in Phil 2:13 where it is God at work in us “to will and to work for his good pleasure”.  Jesus shows us that he can make clean what was unclean and he wants to do it.  Jesus does not discount the law and therefore directs the man to be viewed by a priest to begin the official process of being declared clean.  So we see a model that he is in the instant that Christ wills it “clean”.  But then he goes through a process of ritual cleansing that Jesus directs him to submit to.  There is a parallel here to our being cleansed of our guilt and sin in the moment of justification where we are reckoned righteous by God, through faith, but then we still live a life of a transformation (2 Cor 3:18, Titus 2:11-15) unto a realization of this cleanness that will someday be perfected (Heb 10:14) in our bodily redemption (Phil 1:6, Rom 8:23).  Luke notes at the end of this paragraph that Jesus would withdraw to desolate places to pray.  Here again I see that Jesus had a pattern of getting alone with his Father and being devoted to prayer.
    v17-26.  Lots of great things in this story about the faith of those around us and the impact of community in the perseverance of the saints but probably the biggest takeaway is that Jesus reveals why he heals people.  He heals people to demonstrate that he has the authority of God to categorically change people from guilty to innocent, from dirty to clean, from sick to well, from lame to strong.  He expects this to be an indication that he can surely accomplish whatever he says he accomplishes in a person when he tells them that their sins are forgiven.  
    v27-32.  I note here that Jesus does not “hang out” with sinners with a sense of being influenced by them or “walking in the counsel of the wicked” as Psalm 1 warns against…rather he says that he has a message for them…”repent and believe” (Mark 1:15).  His mission is the same as the purpose of Apostleship (Rom 1:5) and the same as the eternal command of God (Rom 16:26)…obedience of faith.  The idea here is that all these “sinners” who are there with Jesus know that they are in need of help…these are not the careless sinners who are flaunting their sin and consider themselves good to go.  These are broken people looking for God to heal them…they just don’t happen to be blind or lame.  It can make sense to me therefore that Paul tells me in 1 Cor 5:11-13 that I am not to associate with or eat with a supposed Christian brother who is living in blatant unrepentant sin.  This is one I should rebuke and they should be purged from among the congregation if they remain stiff-necked.  A broken sinner is different than an arrogant, entitled sinner who claims to be clean.
    v33-39.  Two things here.  Awesome that Jesus identifies himself as the bridegroom of Israel (Is 61:10) so of course you don’t fast when he is here and of course you will fast when he leaves.  Fasting apparently is without purpose when the Son of God is in your presence…but is very purposeful when he is absent.  The wine and wineskins has been attributed to an old and new covenant and also to old an new ways of fasting as we understand the work of Christ as a looking back rather than a less defined looking forward of the OT saint’s fasting.  The last verse is curious and deserves more study.  Perhaps is related to Psalm 34:8 “taste and see that the Lord is good”.  I have thoughts here about how there is no new way of salvation and there is unity of the plan of redemption and to paint a very divergent old and new pattern in some ways is inaccurate but clearly Jesus represents a new covenant.  A new covenant, however that does not nullify the old (Gal 3:15-29), just as the law did not nullify the promise to Abraham and so there is a progression of covenants not a replacement or nullification.  The old has not actual power without the new…mercy is not just until the cross.  For these reasons I think more study of this wineskin concept and the closing sentence here is worthwhile…sometime.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    I take from this chapter that Jesus is looking to make me whole and looking to change me from the inside out and looking to so radically modify how I see the world and my purpose here that I would need an entirely new mindset and world view.  He came to completely change the world for each of his sheep.  The implication is that following him is not just the adding of Jesus to my old way of thinking and living and valuing and my old perspectives.  Following Jesus is a radical transformation of all that I know with a purpose in life that is centered on seeking him and loving others enough to share my highest joy with them.  The significance for me is that Jesus will rightfully demolish my old life until I put on new patterns and new views and I will either be pressed to dump the new wine or replace the wineskin.  I choose to replace the wineskin because I have tasted and know that the Lord is good!

Valuing the Message:
This message is valuable to me because I know that it represents categorical changes in my interactions with everything in my life.

Reflecting to Feel the Impact of the Message:
I need to reflect on how my love of and trust in Jesus does and should impact my hatred of my sin, my work, my finances, my friendships, my charity, my goals, my time, my attitudes, my fathering, my cherishing, the nurturing and sacrificial leading of my wife, and everything else.

Questions to ask:

1. Where am I trying to put new wine into an old wineskin instead of replacing it?  
2. Do I find myself desiring the old wineskin?  
1. If so, I need to ask God for desire (Psalm 119:36, 141:4) and a right view (Prov 2:5-6, Eph 3:14-19) and for the filling of his Spirit (Eph 5:18) to empower me better sight and hope (Rom 15:13, Psalm 34:8).

Responding to God & Reacting to His Lesson:
Tell God about your observations and your thoughts and your struggles with the chapter and determine how it will change or impact your thinking and your decisions.  Be sure to react in some way to the truth rather than remain silent.

Proclaiming the Truth to Others:
Decide who you can share what you have learned with and ask for God’s help in reaching out to love others.

Soli Deo Gloria!

February 18

Exodus 1; Luke 4

Daily Catechism

QUESTION 25: WHO IS THE REDEEMER OF GOD’S ELECT?
Answer: The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was and continues to be God and man, in two distinct natures and one person, forever.
Scripture: Galatians 3:13; 1 Timothy 2:5; 3:16; John 1:14; Ro- mans 9:5; Colossians 2:9.

Exodus 1

Ready:
Placement: Between Genesis and Leviticus
Chapters: 40
Verse count: 1,213
Author: Moses
Date: After the Exodus (1440 bc)
Genre: Narrative prose, history
Book Theme: God fulfills his promises to the patriarchs by delivering the great nation of Israel from bondage in Egypt and he reveals himself to them by his law and his tabernacle.

Written by Moses this book is clearly an extension of the story began in Genesis, but it picks up about 270 years later and the conditions are different.  Within 80 years of the close of chapter 1, Israel will number in the millions and they are oppressed under bondage of the new Egyptian Pharaoh.  The book is made up primarily of narrative (an epic adventure story) but also includes law and poetry.  The huge significance and impact on the remainder of the Bible and establishes theology and history that will flow through the Bible.  The following breakdown of the book may be helpful in considering it’s structure:

I.  God saves Israel from Egyptian bondage (1:1-18:27)
II.  God gives Israel his law (19:1-24:18)
III.  God commands Israel to build the Tabernacle (25:1-40:38)

Seeing What’s There:
The first chapter sets the stage for the epic story to begin.  A nation has been born within Egypt in Goshen and the Egyptian Pharaoh fears their size.  He determines to put them into slavery and to limit their growth by killing the newborn males.

Key Verses:
Exodus 1:7, 8-10, 12, 16, 17, 22

Theme:
Against odds and despite oppression, the nation of Israel grows within the borders of a foreign land.

Thinking About the Message:
    v1-7.  The history is here linked and the storyline of Genesis is extended into the Book of Exodus.  The tribes are identified and there is a formation or structure among the people of Israel.  They were only 70 persons when they arrived in Egypt but by Joseph’s death 80 years later they had grown by a few generations and now 270 years from that they are within 80 years (Moses’ age at the Exodus) of exceeding 600,000 men or probably over one million people (Numbers 1:45-46).  This already is fulfillment of one of God’s promises to Abraham but they are not yet in their own land and they are about to come under heavy oppression.
    v8-14.  The un-named Pharaoh does not remember Joseph and his help to Egypt some 270 years later and it may be that their records are biased in a way that they would not make such note of the aid of a Hebrew in saving their country in the same way that Egypt does not record the events of the Exodus.  So does this new Pharaoh come against and thwart God’s intention for his people?  Nope.  God told Abraham (in Genesis 15:13-14), at the time of the unilateral covenant demonstration, that the people would be afflicted in a foreign land for 400 years and that this was because “the iniquities of the Amorites is not yet complete.”  It seems that God intends to bring into Canaan in a certain timing that has to do with the condition of the Canaanites.  God intends Israel’s occupation of the land to be a judgement upon the sin of it’s inhabitants.  This makes sense considering some of his instructions that will come and some of the observation of the violent nature of their eventual conquest in the land.  God is not just moving his people into a land but he is orchestrating a great judgement at the same time.
    v15-22.  Here the Pharaoh takes steps to limit the growth of the people since the oppression and hard work is not working.  The Hebrew midwives refuse to kill their children and they clearly fear God more than Pharaoh.  This too fails but an edict remains now that puts the Egyptians in a position of being expected to kill newborn males among the Israelites.  The chapter closes there and the time that passes from the death of Joseph at the end of Genesis until the birth of Moses in chapter 2 of Exodus is about 270 years.  Interestingly the Jews have no law or ceremonies or religious observations of any kind yet except for a pattern of building altars for animal sacrifice in thanks and acknowledgement of God, who spoke to the patriarchs to reveal himself and to make a covenant.  What they have is remembrance of a promise and an identity as his chosen people by circumcision…nothing more really.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    I take the meaning of this chapter to be that God builds his people under adversity and he does so in a foreign land in order to establish himself as the source of their blessing.  The implication is that there is a cultural understanding among the Jews that God built their nation among foreigners who did not fear him and he would take them out of this place and bring them into a promised land where they would receive great blessings.  This shapes up as a parallel to the church (God’s chosen people) today being formed up as sojourners in a foreign land (this world) and waiting our deliverance to heaven (new promised land) where we hold true citizenship as identified by the Holy Spirit’s dwelling within us (new circumcision).  The significance to me is that I am in the midst of an epic story that continues today as we march toward the New Jerusalem.  I am among a people waiting deliverance and I can ignore this fact and go about my business becoming more and more attached to the foreign land or I can prepare and watch and wait eagerly and I can gather the body together as we wait for the bridegroom with whom our true allegiance rests.

Valuing the Message:
This message is valuable because it puts me in the middle of an epic story and makes my life meaningful beyond myself.  I am part of a people that God is delivering.

Reflecting to Feel the Impact of the Message:
I should consider how I am living and if I am looking ahead to the promised land or if am I settling in here in this foreign land.  I see that God dis not choose to built a great people by prosperity but by adversity and I might need to consider how hard I am fighting for comfort and prosperity here in this world.

Questions to ask:
Have I become comfortable in Egypt?
Am I forgetting that God is coming for us?
Where am I investing?

Responding to God & Reacting to His Lesson:
Tell God about your observations and your thoughts and your struggles with the chapter and determine how it will change or impact your thinking and your decisions.  Be sure to react in some way to the truth rather than remain silent.

Proclaiming the Truth to Others:
Decide who you can share what you have learned with and ask for God’s help in reaching out to love others.

Luke 4

Ready:
Luke has summarized the ministry of John the Baptist and given the genealogy of Christ to indicate his ministry role as the second Adam.

Seeing What’s There:
This chapter presents the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness as the preparation/outset of his ministry and then leads into his proclamation in the synagogue at Nazareth that brings a harsh response from the Jews.  It concludes with him healing and teaching across the region.  What jumps out at me in this chapter is:

• The correlation of the baptism, giving of the genealogy, and the temptation
• Jesus’ demonstration of obedience of faith
• Jesus’ proclamation of the arrival of the Messiah
• Jesus demonstrates his identity and purpose

Key Verses:
Luke 4:1-2, 4, 8, 12, 13, 17-21, 31-32, 36, 40, 44

Theme:
Jesus declares and exhibits his authority as the Messiah but he is rejected by his own.

Thinking About the Message:
    v1-2.  Jesus was led by the Spirit and so he understood that there was a purpose to his fast and the temptation he was facing under it.  It looks here like Satan came along not necessarily at the end of his fast but possibly was involved in tempting him during the whole course of the fast.  This fast was not only a preparation for what he was going to face but it seems itself like it was warfare against the enemy.  The Son of God is embodied with a human soul and human weaknesses and he must triumph over sin or else all humanity dies in Adam.  This story if epic.  There is one hero.  The parallel of the forty days in the wilderness with Israel’s 40 years and the parallel of Jesus being shown as the second who is like Adam makes it clear that he is the substance of what has been long explained through the big story of the Bible.  Jesus here will accomplish what Adam and what the people of Israel have failed at.  Jesus will live to the glory of God by the obedience of faith.
    v3-13.  No time to go into the individual temptations, but this is covered in the post on Matthew 4.  The big picture is that Satan is coming after the weakness of Jesus (his humanity).  Satan knows that one sin breaks the entire hope of the gospel and he knows that the flesh has no allegiance to God apart from the mind that is set upon him.  He looks to deceive Jesus or fool him into trusting himself or relying upon himself or taking the easy way out…each of which would be a failure to obey God by not taking him at his word and then appropriately acting upon it.  Anything that does not proceed from a position of trusting God at his word is sin according to Romans 14:23.  Therefore when Satan challenges Jesus to end his fast, although we do not see a law or a command of God to maintain this 40 day fast, it is clear that Jesus understands the Spirit’s lead to rely on God to sustain him during this time so to turn on that conviction would be a sin.  The reality is any action or thought not in service of the glory of God, but in the service of self or anything else is sin and so Satan has a broad array of directions to go in with his temptations.  Jesus makes it clear to the reader that each of the temptations amounted to Satan either explicitly or implicitly looking to get Jesus to doubt or twist the words of God to serve serve something other than God's glory.
    v14-30.  The biggest thing I see here is that Jesus marches into the synagogue and by his omnipotent and sovereign rule of the universe he is handed the scroll he desires and then he chooses to read (as if he couldn’t recite it from memory) a prophetic word about the Messiah coming to bring deliverance to his people.  He then tells those listening that by reading this word, Jesus has fulfilled it.  This is because he was not just reading it but he was indeed proclaiming in that moment that he had arrived to give the good news and to give liberty to the captives and to give sight to the blind and to free the oppressed and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.  Jesus was performing what the scripture has prophesied!  He throws down an amazing statement of his purpose and the arrival of the kingdom in a way that would have made John the Baptist rejoice in his prison cell like he did within his mother’s womb the first time he met his cousin, the Christ.  Although they are initially amazed at him, the Jews soon tried to kill him after he ended up offending them with his accusations of stubbornness and unbelief that led to the rejection of previous prophets.
    v31-41.  In this section Jesus now teaches with authority unlike what they are accustomed to and this fits plainly with his proclamation in the synagogue to be the Messiah.  He also heals with such authority and he establishes power over human bodies and demonic spirits.
    v42-44.  Jesus was not going to be held up in one location and he was not going to focus just on healing but his plan included traveling and his kingdom message was for the lost sheep of Israel and not just that area.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    Jesus wins the battle and then declares the victory but those who should rejoice instead revolt because his message is one that requires humility and surrender to his reign.  The implication is that regardless of the signs and wonders and amazing things God has done it is still required that, but the grace of God, I place my trust in him alone with an understanding that I contribute nothing toward my own justification before God.  I need to accept my own dead condition if I will welcome the life-giver.  The personal significance is that I need to sit under the authority of God’s Word and allow his truth to rebuke, exhort, train, and sanctify me.  I cannot be in a self preservation of my ego mode.  I must surrender and accept from the fountain of living waters without holding onto my pride that wants to accomplish something on my own.

Valuing the Message:
I value this message because it is easy to reject a message that I feel is attacking me.  It is important that I understand the state of my soul and the level of my need.  It is important that I understand the level of authority that God demands to have in my life if I am to be his.

Reflecting to Feel the Impact of the Message:
I need to consider my level of surrender to God’s authority over every area of my life.

Questions to ask:

1. Do I give God room to train me and correct me?  
2. Do I put up my guard when I read or hear the Word preached in a manner that harms my reputation or ego?  
3. Do I keep back any areas that I want to maintain my own authority over?

Responding to God & Reacting to His Lesson:
Tell God about your observations and your thoughts and your struggles with the chapter and determine how it will change or impact your thinking and your decisions.  Be sure to react in some way to the truth rather than remain silent.

Proclaiming the Truth to Others:
Decide who you can share what you have learned with and ask for God’s help in reaching out to love others.

Soli Deo Gloria!

February 17

Genesis 50; Luke 3

Daily Catechism

QUESTION 24: DID GOD LEAVE ALL MANKIND TO PERISH IN THE CONDITION OF SIN AND MISERY?
Answer: God, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, having chosen a people to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the condition of sin and misery, and to bring them into a condition of salvation, by a Redeemer.
Scripture: Ephesians 1:3-4; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; Romans 5:21; 8:29-30; 9:11-12; 11:5-7; Acts 13:48; Jeremiah 31:33.

Comment: The term “covenant of grace” is filled with sweet and precious hope. It refers to the free decision, commitment and oath of God to employ all his omnipotence and wisdom and love to res- cue and glorify his people from sin and misery. It is wholly initiated and carried through by God. It cannot fail.  It is valid for all who believe. Whosoever will may come and enjoy this grace! And, since this “believing” and this “willing” is a work of God’s sovereign grace, those who believe and come are the elect, “chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4). Thus the covenant was sealed in the heart of God before the world was.  This “covenant of grace” is the cry of victory over all the battle strife in missions. The grace of God will triumph! He is covenant- bound, oath-bound to save all those who are foreordained to eternal life (Acts 13:48)! “Jesus died for the nation (of Jews), and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad” (John 11:52).  The battle cry of missions is, “The Lord has other sheep that are not of this fold: He must (covenant-bound!!) bring them also. They will (sovereign grace!!) heed his voice!” John 10:16.

Genesis 50

Ready:
In the last chapter Jacob blessed his twelve children and then died, leaving the nation in the hands of the tribal leaders with Judah identified as a leader.

Seeing What’s There:
This chapter closes the first book of the Bible that took me from the primeval period and then through the patriarchal period as well.  Joseph dies in this chapter about 80 years after Israel came to live there in Egypt and dwell in Goshen.  But Moses begins with Joseph taking Jacob’s body by a great procession into Canaan for burial. What jumps out at me in this chapter is:

• Egypt takes great concern over the loss of Jacob and pays him honor
• Jacob is embalmed (Egyptian practice)
• Joseph declares the evil actions of his brothers to have been the will of God for God’s good purposes
• Joseph promises all of Israel that God will bring them back to Canaan in his timing

Key Verses:
Gen 50:13, 15, 17-18, 19-21, 24

Theme:
God will accomplish his good intentions in this world and in my life.

Thinking About the Message:
    v1-3.  Judah may have been identified as a leader and his tribe surely will take that role but for now Joseph is the one in the leadership role and he remains in charge of all of Egypt.  Here it is Joseph who directs the preparation of Jacob’s body for burial.
    v4-14.  Here Joseph convinces Pharaoh to let his family take Jacob’s body to Canaan and Pharaoh sends a whole procession of people with them in honor of Jacob.  Pharaoh is very much a friend to Joseph and realizes that Egypt is alive and powerful because of him.  There is a special time of lamentation once they get into Canaan before they reach the burial place.  Per the command of Jacob his children bury him with his fathers in Canaan.  Physical locale was of great importance to the Jewish faith and it began in the Garden of Eden where God chose to dwell in presence of man in a certain place.  There will be a continuing theme in the Bible of God dwelling among his people in certain locations that will at Christmas change forever.  Then God will dwell in his Son and this will be his presence among us to be transformed next to an indwelling presence within his people in the birth of the church by the unifying power of the Holy Spirit.  In the end we will again dwell in heaven in the presence not only by indwelling but with a direct and visual presence again.
    v15-21.  This passage is important because it sums up what the story of Joseph teaches.  God is sovereign and evil does his bidding.  The horrible sin of Joseph’s brothers was not only a sin, but more than that, it was the will of God for a purpose that they could not have known.  God determined that Joseph would be brought to Egypt to rule there as he has done and therefore the sins of the brothers was completely within the plan of God, though they are still guilty.  I see this as a category that I must maintain in my mind that God can have purpose for sin and evil without himself being the author of it.  I take it to be that there is this evil enslaved will of man doing the works of the devil, but that God has such an amazing wisdom and glorious power over all things that he has planned that this evil will bring good, by purpose and not by reaction or recovery.  Greater than stomping out evil is to force it to do his will and therefore he puts the forces of evil to open shame (Col 2:14-15).  Joseph says “you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.”
    v22-26.  After burying Jacob everyone returns to Egypt and there they remain and Joseph dies 80 years after his family joined him there.  He makes them promise to bring his bones to Canaan when God takes them back and this comes to pass about 350 years later at the hand of Moses (exodus 13:18-19).  God indeed has a plan for Israel being in Egypt and he revealed it to Abraham in Gen 15:13-16.  It may not seem good to them but God’s definition of good is bigger than ours (Rom 8:28-29).

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    This wraps up a meaning already acknowledged in God’s sovereignty and his plans for his people that he will bring to pass even through their sin or others’ sin.  God is not limited and his plans are never frustrated (Job 42:2; Is 46:10; Is 55:11).  The implication is that there is no such thing as true chaos or chance or luck or coincidence (Prov 16:33).  The significance for me is that I need not fear my circumstances and I can maintain a hope in God that he has good intentions for me in all that he allows me to face.  There is a poem that helps to express this…

Not grace to bar what is not bliss,
Nor flight from all distress, but this:
The grace that orders our trouble and pain,
And then, in the darkness, is there to sustain.

Further I think I need to see the over-all message of the Book of Genesis. I take the most important ideas from this book to be that I am created and that there is a personal God who I am accountable to and that this God speaks truth and I am expected to hear and to trust and to act upon that. Mankind is fallen and is in a sinful and miserable state and needs rescue from the promised offspring.  God has extended us mercy and he gives us glimpses of his wrath and judgement that makes clear his mercy that we enjoy.  This God chooses to reveal himself not only as a judge but also as a savior and he has selected a people through whom to do this. This God is powerful and he makes promises and he keeps them.  This God is the prime actor and the story he tells is about him.  God’s story gives me value.

Valuing the Message:
I surely value the message of this chapter as critical because it changes how I view suffering and trials and hardships entirely.  God is not merely there to help me recover but he indeed had a purpose for the very thing I am facing (Hos 6:1) and it is his omnipotent hand of mercy upon me.  The message of the whole book is valuable because it is a world view in itself.  Being a created being changes everything.  I am not ultimately autonomous.  I am reliant upon God for my very existence.

Reflecting to Feel the Impact of the Message:
I need to reflect upon my reactions to trials and seek to trust the Lord’s goodness and yet know that evil perpetrated against me remains evil and the perpetrator is still guilty and will be held accountable by God.  I can allow God to deliver vengeance however, trusting that I am not in this position outside of God’s plan for me (Rom 12:17-21).  God’s goodness reigns over evil so I also should not let evil overcome me and cause me to sin.  Regarding the whole book of Genesis I need to define my understanding of reality and of this life in light of God’s intention and God’s plans and God’s purposes and not just what I see and feel and think of my own experiences.

Questions to ask:

1. How do I view God’s rule over the universe he created…and over the circumstances of my life?
2. Why was I made?
3. What is my purpose?
4. Whom do I serve?

Responding to God & Reacting to His Lesson:
Tell God about your observations and your thoughts and your struggles with the chapter and determine how it will change or impact your thinking and your decisions.  Be sure to react in some way to the truth rather than remain silent.

Proclaiming the Truth to Others:
Decide who you can share what you have learned with and ask for God’s help in reaching out to love others.

Luke 3

Ready:
The last reading included the birth of Jesus and the presentation of him in the temple where I saw the OT saints rejoice in seeing the salvation of the world before their very eyes.

Seeing What’s There:
In this chapter Luke presents a summary of John the Baptist’s ministry climaxing at the baptism of Jesus.  He then presents a genealogy of Jesus that extends back to Adam.  Luke is close to Paul and this genealogy draws a connection between Jesus and Adam that Paul will highlight since he presents Jesus as the second Adam and another federal head for humanity.  Luke ties John and the genealogy together by the quotation from Isaiah about all flesh seeing the salvation of God.  Our flesh is born in Adam and Jesus comes to free us from this deadness of belonging to Adam.

Key Verses:
Luke 3:3-4, 6, 8

Theme:
The time has arrived for the world to see salvation.  See your need and look to the promised Son, to whom you must belong, if you hope to be free from the bondage we are under in Adam.

Thinking About the Message:
    v1.  Something important about Christianity is that is is a historical religion.  I do not have a belief system that is contrived in the head of some man or by secret revelation from an angel or a system of morals.  Christianity is embedded in historical events and is based upon actual people and places and times and real history.  All of Christianity hinges on the historicity of the Bible and God was sure to put in his book plenty of historical grounding so that we understand this.  There is a great deal of extra-biblical writing that confirms the historicity of the Bible and I therefore have something concrete to view in history and not just thoughts from one man’s head.
    v2-6.  John was filled with the Holy Spirit from within the womb and he is clearly led by God in his perfect timing to come out from the wilderness and to being the message that he was born to deliver.  John is the last OT prophet and he comes with an extremely important purpose.  He comes in the spirit of Elijah with a message of repentance (Luke 1:17).  John comes to bring a final plea and to put a bow on the entirety of Israel’s history.  John comes to declare that we are guilty and accountable to God and that we need to repent and know that the kingdom of God is upon us.  John’s mission is to remind Israel of their dire need for deliverance and their need to trust God to send this help.  John is to help the people see that a savior to die and pay for their sins is the perfect fit to the entirety of the history of their nation and the revelation of their God.
    v7-20.  John presents the need for specific repentance in people’s lives.  He calls upon people to turn back to God with an obedience of faith.  John does not represent his baptism as the end of the line though.  He clearly tells everyone that there is another coming who will bring them power and he is the one who judges and who saves (Luke 3:16-17).  John makes a straight line of sight from the law to the Christ.  Problem- answer.  John’s message was a call to recognize our dependence upon God and he considered it good news (Luke 3:18).  John’s message was not received well by all because not all responded with the obedience of faith.  Herod felt accused and guilty and he did not see it as good news and he locked John up.  Here John also makes it clear that a physical lineage connecting one to Abraham was worth nothing because God can make anyone an offspring of Abraham (Gal 3:7, Rom 9:8).
    v21-22.  But before John was locked up he baptized Jesus and the entire trinity was revealed there in the Jordan when God spoke from the sky and the Holy Spirit came upon his as a dove.  Other gospels give a more detailed account of this and it is an important event because Jesus teaches us what he comes to do in dying for our sins and not for his own.  John is calling for a baptism of repentance and Jesus had nothing to repent of…but he chooses still to be baptized just like he will choose still to die in our place.
    v23-38.  Probably most important of all is to note that in this genealogy there are two people who do not have a human father (note that Luke makes a point of the virgin birth by saying that Jesus was “supposed” as the son of Joseph.  These two people are categorically different than the rest.  This indeed is a beginning to the understanding that Jesus is a type of Adam in that he is a federal representative of mankind who has the same type of free-will that Adam enjoyed.  Adam and Jesus did not suffer from enslavement to sin from birth, but Adam fell into this miserable state and all who comes by his seed was then condemned by his sin (Rom 5:12, 18) and under the enslavement of sin (Rom 6:6) while Jesus practiced the obedience of faith (Rom 5:19, Phil 2:8) and therefore instead of being condemned by sin, Jesus reversed it and he actually condemned sin in his flesh (Rom 8:1-4)!  Therefore all who move from being born "in Adam” to being born "in Christ” (John 3:5-6, 1 Cor 15:22) are free from condemnation and enjoy a truly free will (Rom 8:1-2).  To the lesser observations- this genealogy differs from that in Matthew and many contend that it represent the line from Mary and not Joseph.  There are good reasons to see this but also challenges since the opening clearly claims it to be Joseph’s lineage.  Study resources by scholars is helpful here.  It is also quite possible that this is just a different way of viewing Joseph’s lineage.  There are ideas about Joseph’s father being different in the two genealogies that suppose one to be his real father and the other to be considered his father because his uncle died with no children of his own and his real father took the brother’s wife and had Joseph as an heir to the dead brother.  Nathan is listed as David’s son that carries this lineage instead of Solomon (from Matthew’s account).  This can be again because Nathan was the real father but legally and royally, Matthew considered Solomon the heir that passed the royal line down. The main point is that Jesus is in the line of King David and Luke's statement about Joseph being thought of as his father when in reality it was only legal could also be a clue about his use of Heli as Joseph’s father as I stated above.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    I take the meaning to be that we are under condemnation and wrath by birth and that no special lineage can fix that except to be found in Christ by faith.  The implication is that I can have freedom from sin and death when I, by the grace of God, put faith in Christ and I die a death with him on that cross and I devote my life unto him (Rom 6:3-7; Gal 2:20).  The significance to me is that I can walk in freedom and with the peace of knowing that I am no longer under wrath (Rom 1:18; John 3:36) but I am a justified child of God (Rom 5:1, 9; Rom 8:15-16).

Valuing the Message:
This is a message of freedom only in Christ and nowhere else.  I value this because these are the words of eternal life and freedom to the oppressed.  Without being born again into Christ I remain in Adam and I remain enslaved to sin and condemned.

Reflecting to Feel the Impact of the Message:
I should reflect upon my life and consider the areas where I am willingly allowing sin to still rule me.  This is sad because I am free in Christ and sin has no power over me if I will but walk in the Spirit and put the sin to death (Rom 8:12-13).  I can reflect upon the battle within me between the old man (sin nature) and the new man (new creation in Christ) to ensure that I am setting my mind on Christ for renewal, transformation, and victory (Rom 7:14-25, Rom 12:1-2).

Questions to ask:
Do I see myself as a dead man raised by Christ or as just another living son of Adam?

Responding to God & Reacting to His Lesson:
Tell God about your observations and your thoughts and your struggles with the chapter and determine how it will change or impact your thinking and your decisions.  Be sure to react in some way to the truth rather than remain silent.

Proclaiming the Truth to Others:
Decide who you can share what you have learned with and ask for God’s help in reaching out to love others.

Soli Deo Gloria!

February 16

Genesis 49; Luke 2

Daily Catechism

QUESTION 23: WHAT IS THE MISERY INTO WHICH ALL MANKIND FELL THROUGH ADAM’S FIRST SIN?
Answer: All mankind, by their fall, lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all the miseries of this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell forever.
Scripture: Genesis 3:8, 24; Ephesians 2:3; Galatians 3:10; Romans 6:23; Matthew 25:41-46; Psalm 9:17.

Comment: Keep in mind that “liable to” means that these miseries will indeed befall all people unless a special work of God’s grace intervenes.

Genesis 49

Ready:
Yesterday I read about Jacob blessing the sons of Joseph and adopting them as his own sons into positions of tribal chiefs.

Seeing What’s There:
This chapter concludes the life of Jacob and before he dies he gathers his twelve sons and blesses them each with an individual blessing that involves him telling them what is to come for them.  Jacob clearly has great expectations of Judah and Joseph but the others are either spoken ill of or are given obscure blessings.  Ephraim and Judah will end up as the Northern and Southern tribes of Israel  (respectively) after the split during Rehoboam’s rule around 922 BC.

Key Verses:
Gen 49:1, 8-10, 22-25, 28, 29, 33

Theme:
The last of the great Patriarchs leaves the nation of Israel in the hands of the twelve tribal (plus the two half tribes under Joseph) chiefs and he puts Judah in charge.

Thinking About the Message:
    v1-2.  Jacob intends here to bless his children and to predict their future based on his knowledge of them and the leading of God in his thoughts toward them.
    v3-4.  Reuben is the firstborn but he is essentially passed over due to his sin.  His blessing is basically a declaration that he should have been great but he sacrificed this by his sinful behavior.  Our actions have consequences.  No doubt that Jacob loved Reuben but he knows that he is not stable.  A good lesson for my children to see that the consequences of our actions can severely limit us in our ability to influence others and our ability to be used by God for his glorious purposes.  Remembering that God used Paul mightily after his persecution of the church, it is surely possible still, but the model presented here is to walk uprightly and avoid such consequences.
    v5-7.  Treated the next two sons together Jacob passes over Simeon and Levi as well due to their violence and vengeance they took against the people of Shechem after Dinah was raped.  He declares that they will be scattered among the tribes and this comes to pass later.
    v8-12.  Judah receives the highest blessing and declaration of his royal reign over the nation that will extend even over the beloved tribe of Joseph.  Jacob recognizes the leadership in Judah and the kingly line is here established to be his and not Joseph’s.
    v13-21.  From Zebulun to Naphtali the blessings are specific and limited.  Asher is gonna be a good cook!
    v22-26.  Joseph receives the longest blessing but it is not focused on leadership and rule but rather on fruitfulness and the blessings of Almighty God who will help them.  Joseph’s half tribes will produce kings over the Northern tribes but they will primarily turn from God and face much judgement until they are gathered back to Judah following exile.
    v27.  Benjamin is the youngest and he is seen as a fighter.
    v28-33.  Jacob concludes the blessing and requires that his sons ensurer he is buried with his fathers in Canaan.  He then climbs into bed and breathes his last.  Moses indicates the he is “gathered to his people” which could suggest an intermediate state after death where the OT saints are awaiting something (presumed to be the cross of Christ) for their release from "Abraham’s bosom" into heaven.  This view is debatable but certainly the point is agreeable that Jacob joins his fellow believing family members and any other saints who have previously died.  The sons of Jacob make up the nation of Israel and it is only these sons who are “Jews” except for those aliens who are adopted by circumcision into the family.  Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were all plucked from among their families as Jews but it was not until Jacob that all offspring were among the promised people of God.  So physical election by God was evident from Abraham until Jacob (Rom 9:11) and now there is only the spiritual election of God (Rom 11:7).  God had spoken directly to the three great Patriarchs of Israel but he will communicate with the tribes now through prophets and judges and kings to come…then one day he will communicate through his Son (Heb 1:1-2).

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    I take the message to be indication that “the” promised offspring will come from the line of Judah as the scepter that will not depart from him until tribute comes to him.  In this there is a specific redemption coming that is bound up in one person who will conquer and fulfill God’s promise.  This is a particular redemption and not a blanket tolerance of any redeemer (or redemption) that can be claimed.  I also hear a reminder of the nature of fatherhood.  I see that God was done communicating directly to his people with Jacob and that it was up to this father to teach his children what God had spoken and to set them on a course of honoring God.  Similarly the significance to me is that I must infill in my children a hope in Jesus the way Jacob was steering his children toward a future offspring to come.  God may choose that my children rely on my encouragement to get them through a large part of their youth before they begin to hear his voice and walk with him directly.  It is my charge and privilege to steer them and keep them mindful of our purpose here.

Valuing the Message:
I value the message because there is only one offspring and one name by which we must be saved- Jesus.  I value the message that I am to pass on this trust and legacy to my kiddos and that I am to be God’s voice to them until they are mindful of his voice for themselves.

Reflecting to Feel the Impact of the Message:
The choices that I make and my children make along the way impact generations and I need to consider this in the way I train my kiddos and the way I love them.  We need God’s wisdom and this comes from one place…his Word.  And the Word of God will not pass richly from me unless it dwells richly in me!

Responding to God & Reacting to His Lesson:
Tell God about your observations and your thoughts and your struggles with the chapter and determine how it will change or impact your thinking and your decisions.  Be sure to react in some way to the truth rather than remain silent.

Proclaiming the Truth to Others:
Decide who you can share what you have learned with and ask for God’s help in reaching out to love others.

Luke 2

Ready:
Yesterday Luke presented Mary’s Magnificat and also Zechariah’s prophecy.

Seeing What’s There:
This chapter covers a lot of ground (up to the first 30 years of Jesus’ life).

Theme:
God comes to be among us not as an impersonal "force” or as a religious formula, but as a child who comes to seek and save the lost with the offering of his own righteousness that he performs with a perfect love of the Father and of others.

Thinking About the Message:
    v1-7.  The decree of Caesar Augustus is here accredited with causing the Christ child to be born in Bethlehem.  But we know it was the eternal decree of God before time that resulted in this Caesar issuing such a decree (Prov 21:1) in order that the purposes of God would be fulfilled (Micah 5:2, Num 24:17, Gen 3:15, 2 Tim 1:9, Titus 1:2).  Luke here gives one verse to the eternal Son of God being born into humanity by a woman in a stable at the first Christmas.  The union of the divine nature and the human nature in one person is now among us and the Son of Man breathes air (which he made) for the first time.  God himself is now sustained by his own creation and this chapter will show how the humanity of Jesus needs, like us, to grow in stature and wisdom.
    v8-20.  The shepherds see an amazing sight and receive a proclamation of the birth of the Savior…the expected Messiah.  The song of the angels seems to match Mary’s song in that they angels declare peace on earth among those in whom he is pleased.  This compares to Mary’s statement of mercy for those who fear him.  I am struck by Mary’s treasuring up of what she sees and hears regarding Jesus here and later in the chapter when Jesus is 12.  I want to be sure and treasure up in my heart what I see and hear of him as well.
    v21-38.  Here they circumcise Jesus and name him and then another 33 days later (Lev 12:3-4) they present Jesus at the temple (Ex 13:2 ,12) while they make a sacrifice of atonement for mary according to the law (Lev 12:7-8).  It is clear that Joseph and Mary were devout Jews who trusted in God.  In this passage we see Simeon and Anna, who are two OT saints that Luke explains are awaiting the Savior.  This is the picture of what the law was supposed to result in…a waiting and longing for the coming Savior…the promised offspring…the Messiah…the Christ…Jesus.  Salvation come only by Jesus whether OT or NT or in the Garden immediately after the fall of man.  Only Jesus makes one right with the Father.  Me looking back at what Jesus did is no different than Enoch looking ahead at what the promised offspring will do to crush the head of Satan.      v39.  Though born in Bethlehem Jesus shall grow up a Nazarene and the Pharisees will see him merely as Jesus of Nazareth, which highlights only his human nature since the Messiah comes from Bethlehem.
    v41-52.  This is the biggest description of the early years in Jesus’s life and it is clear that by 12 Jesus was very familiar with the Tanakh (Old Testament to us).  It seems like he was asking and answering his own questions and was amazing the rabbis in the temple.  Jesus had to learn and grow and he even gained in favor with the Father through his active righteousness that was daily growing as he matured and submitted and glorified God in all he did.  The divine nature of Jesus was always perfect but the human nature needed maturing and growth.  Without ever having sin, he still needed maturing.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    I take the meaning that God had a specific plan of redemption for his people and it required his own Son to accomplish what Adam failed at.  Jesus is the second Adam and he will fulfill the law perfectly as a man so that I might bear his righteousness in the same way I bore Adam’s sin.  There is no waving of the hand forgiveness of sins independent of the person and work of Jesus.  God is not a whimsical benevolent force that grants forgiveness to the destruction of justice…he is a righteous God and a Savior (Is 45:21) who provides a way out of love for his name and for his creation (Rom 3:26, John 3:16).  The implication is that a right knowledge of God and his righteousness is required in order to receive forgiveness (Rom 10:1-4).  The significance for me is that the message of my life cannot be a religious focus on “being nice” and on “not sinning” but it must be a message of reliance upon the promised offspring for the forgiveness of sins by his work on the cross alone.  

Valuing the Message:
Gotta run...

Reflecting to Feel the Impact of the Message:


Responding to God & Reacting to His Lesson:
Tell God about your observations and your thoughts and your struggles with the chapter and determine how it will change or impact your thinking and your decisions.  Be sure to react in some way to the truth rather than remain silent.

Proclaiming the Truth to Others:
Decide who you can share what you have learned with and ask for God’s help in reaching out to love others.

Soli Deo Gloria!

February 15

Genesis 48; Luke 1:39-80

Daily Catechism

QUESTION 22: WHAT IS THE SINFULNESS OF THAT CONDITION INTO WHICH ALL MANKIND HAS FALLEN?
Answer: The sinfulness of the condition into which all mankind fell is the guilt of Adam’s first sin, the lack of original righteousness, and the corruption of our whole nature (which is commonly called original sin), together with all actual transgressions which come from this nature.
Scripture: Romans 5:19; 3:10; Ephesians 2:1; Isaiah 53:6; Psalm 51:5; Matthew 15:19.

Comment: The Bible says that “in Adam all die” (1 Cor. 15:22) and that “one transgression yields condemnation for all men” (Rom. 5:18) and that “one man’s disobedience made many sinners” (Rom. 5:19). These statements lead us to conclude that God, in a way beyond our comprehension, established a unity between Adam and his posterity which makes it just for us to receive the imputation of his guilt and corruption. He was in some sense our representative head. We sinned in him and fell with him.

Genesis 48

Ready:
Yesterday I saw that Jacob settled in Goshen with his family and they multiplied and gained possessions while the rest of Egypt went into service of Pharaoh and lost their land and pays Pharaoh 1/5 tax on all their crops.

Seeing What’s There:
This chapter is entirely focused on Jacob blessing Joseph’s first two children and adopting them as his own sons so that they become two half-tribes under Joseph and later lists of the tribes in the Bible will leave Joseph out and include one or both of these half-tribes instead.  Though Manasseh was the firstborn, Jacob chooses to place his right hand on Ephraim and therefore gives him the priority of the blessing that he prays over both children in Joseph’s presence.

Theme:
Jacob provides a double blessing to Joseph by adopting two grandsons as full sons and tribal chiefs on par with their uncles.

Thinking About the Message:
    v1-7.  Here Jacob tells Joseph about the day God spoke to him at Luz, which he renamed Bethel.  This was the day that Jacob was promised by God that he was to receive the blessings promised to Abraham and Isaac.  Now Jacob is casting this blessing upon the sons of Joseph who will join Jacob’s other sons in this full degree of blessing as tribes of Israel.  Jacob establishes Joseph as two tribes and thus Joseph receives a double blessing and will eventually mean his family (two tribes instead of one) receives more land.
    v8-21.  Joseph presents his children to Jacob for the blessing with Manasseh to Jacob’s right but then there is drama because Joseph thinks his father errs by crossing his arms during the blessing but Jacob explains that he is purposefully placing his right hand on the younger son since he has decided that he shall bear the primary blessing of the first-born that these boys are assuming ahead of Rueben and Simeon.  Joseph clearly believed that the power of God and the ratification of the blessing by the hand of Jacob come from heaven and so it was a real thing to him where the right hand of his father was placed and it was not trivial.  Prayer and the blessing of a father upon his children is no small thing.
    v22.  Here Jacob seems to consider the land that was emptied by Simeon and Levi avenging their sister against the Hivites at Shechem.  Amorites is commonly used to refer to the inhabitants of Canaan and in this case I believe refers to the Hivites.  I recall that Abraham had purchased this hill but the emptying of the surrounding area must have expanded the property…even though they fled from there for survival from retaliation of surrounding peoples.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    What I take from this is an emphasis on the importance of family.  I take that God has ordained that a father bless his children and set them on a path of fearing the Lord and on fulfilling the promises made to the patriarchs before them.  I see a trust in God and a generational vision that extends far beyond what our culture now considers.  Jacob envisions a great nation (even nations) and so he knows what is riding on these children and the importance of their lives.  Legacy is important and Jacob is here handing a legacy of trusting God to be a covenant keeping God who is almighty and faithful.  The New Testament surely expand this with Jesus’ teaching on family and the fact that our spiritual family is ultimate, but this spiritual family of God all started in the physical family of Abraham.  I take the implication to be that fathers have a privilege and a responsibility to hand their children a blessing by leading them in the direction of honoring God with their lives and living according to God’s purpose, not for selfish ambition or leisure.  The significance for me is that I need to always reflect upon my leading and instructing and loving of my kiddos and I need to ensure that the legacy I am creating is one of trusting God and honoring him in the way we think and act so that our lives are a testament to the glory of God and we function as a telescope to show others the greatness and goodness and beauty of God in the person of Jesus Christ.

Valuing the Message:
This message is valuable to me because we can daily blend in to the American culture around us and be concerned with things that are temporal and will pass away instead of on eternal concerns that are forever and that impact souls.  Capturing the hearts of my kiddos and making my priority in their life seeing them treasure Christ is the only way we will make a gospel impact for generations to come.  This message trumps and must weave itself into every activity and interest that our family has and the importance of a habit of family worship and meals together and discussions and traditions and time alone with dad and spoken prayers and words of encouragement is evident.

Reflecting to Feel the Impact of the Message:
The legacy I hand down is my responsibility and if I am not purposeful in accomplishing it then they will still receive a legacy but it will be watered down and probably not focused on hallowing the name of God.  I need to reflect upon my own heart and how I spend my energy and ensure that I am not letting other things distract me from how I steer my children and pour myself into them.  The generations to follow (come Jesus come) will carry more impact for Christ if I am devoted to this message.  I can’t let Egypt swallow my children.

Questions to ask:

1. Read verse 21.  Why wouldn’t Jacob want Joseph and Ephraim and Manasseh to remain in Egypt where they were excessively wealthy and under the care of Pharaoh?
2. What is the most important thing I focus my children’s attention on?  Financial security and comfort, influence and power, morals and ethics, education and curiosity, strength and teamwork, or a heart for God and a trust in his promises?

Responding to God & Reacting to His Lesson:
Tell God about your observations and your thoughts and your struggles with the chapter and determine how it will change or impact your thinking and your decisions.  Be sure to react in some way to the truth rather than remain silent.

Proclaiming the Truth to Others:
Decide who you can share what you have learned with and ask for God’s help in reaching out to love others.

Luke 1:39-80

Ready:
Picking up after Gabriel has foretold the births of Jesus and John the Baptist…

Seeing What’s There:
Mary may have been aware that Elizabeth was pregnant and would have then known of the amazing occurrences and how Zechariah was muted by Gabriel, but now in response to Gabriel’s prodding she heads out to give Elizabeth the news of her own pregnancy and the amazing message she also received from Gabriel.  What jumps out at me from this half of the chapter is:

• Elizabeth blesses Mary at her arrival
• Baby John leaps in the womb when Baby Jesus comes near in Mary’s womb
• Mary rejoices in praise with The Magnificat
• Zechariah honors God and receives his voice back at the naming of his new son
• Zechariah prophesies about John being the prophet of God who will prepare the way
• John the Baptist goes into the wilderness as soon as he is grown and remains there until he begins his public ministry

Theme:
God breaks into humanity to deliver on his promise and to offer help to Israel (his people) who cannot achieve salvation by the law alone.  The point of the law was to motivate a fear of God that brings them to trust in the coming offspring and repent of their sin (obedience of faith).

Thinking About the Message:
    v39-45.  There is a neat bond between Jesus and John from the womb that comes out later when Jesus is baptized by John and then when Jesus declares John to be the man of men.  In the meeting with Elizabeth they both exult and praise the Lord for their amazing blessing and for what God is doing in the world.  They are an amazing part of God breaking into mankind in a mighty way.
    v46-56.  Mary’s song of praise in this passage has three main parts (plus an opening) that are worth considering.  She begins with the personal impact God has had upon her and then considers what he is doing for all those who fear him and finally brings it back around to the fact that this is all part of his keeping his covenant because he is a faithful God who speaks truth.

• God is magnified within her and she rejoices for the reasons in the subsequent verses (verse 46)
• Her innermost emotions and drive is to exalt the Lord and rejoice in what he has done.  This is a worship that comes in spirit and truth.  She is not giving lip service to God here but she is pouring out what is in her heart.  She has three reasons to praise God that she sings to him with joy.

1. God’s grace upon her (verses 47-49)
1. She recognizes that God has put special favor upon her and she knows that she has not merited this honor.  She recognizes that all generations to follow will find blessing from her child and she will forever have been given this gift of being the mother of God.  She recognizes that what God has done in her body is physically impossible and was accomplished by the power of his name in holiness and purity.  Luke 11:27 has an example of a woman noting the blessedness of Mary but Jesus corrects her slightly to indicate that the blessing extends specifically to those who listen to the God who they hear…who have the obedience of faith…those who fear God
2. God’s mercy and power upon those who fear him (verses 50-53)
1. Mary knows that the blessing of God’s mercy is not universal but is upon those who fear him.  Mary understands that there is no universal salvation and she knows that salvation is not for one bloodline but for all who fear the Lord and put their faith in the promised offspring that she has been chosen by God to bear.  Her understanding of the promised offering mentioned at the end of her song makes clear that she recognizes the fruit of her womb to be the very offspring promised to Abraham.  
2. She recognizes God’s omnipotent hand at work to bring this mercy in spite of wickedness and brokenness of this world.  God accomplishes his salvation despite the pride and the opposition to his message in the wicked hearts of mankind.  It is his arm that puts down the proud and raises up the humble.  He gives to those who see their need and not to those who think they offer him a gift.
3. God’s keeping of his covenant with the true children of Abraham (verses 54-55)
1. Mary concludes with the fact that it is this omnipotent God who spoke and who’s Word is true.  In faithfulness to his name, he puts the fear of the Lord in the hearts of his sheep.  Since the grace of God moves in a unilateral covenant with Abraham, God will establish through this child a new and everlasting covenant that purchases the fear of him in his people.  See again Jeremiah 31:33; Jer 32:40, Ezek 36:26-27, Deut 30:6 and it is clear that he does not leave it up to the dead and enslaved to free themselves (Luke 1:54) from the bondage of sin but that he himself grants them what he requires…that they fear the Lord.  The law demands what we cannot accomplish and only condemns.  Grace demands even more but then gives us the very thing it requires.  

   
v57-66.  The whole thing of Zechariah regaining his voice in the moment that he honors God and stands up for God’s intention to name the child John is a tear-jerker.  I can’t imagine Elizabeth not being bowled over with joy and amazement and awe at the power of God and the glory of his name.
    v67-80.  John will prepare the way for the Messiah with a final plea that Israel acknowledge their sin in a correct use of the law (faith in the coming offspring and repentance).  He will announce the arrival of the kingdom of God among us.  John ends up in the desert from an early age.  Unlike other great Biblical figures there is no record of big stumbles by John the Baptist.  His question to Jesus confirming that he is the Messiah is the worst we see of him and even Jesus will declare that John is the greatest human to ever live (I bet there will be a line at his dinner table in heaven!).

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    God broke into mankind to deliver us.  In the end salvation was smoke and mirrors and mercy was unjust unless the offspring came and died.  Salvation was available before Jesus came by the same means as after he came- obedience of faith.  Recall that the obedience of faith is this: Taking God at his word, turning form our sins and trusting that an offspring was coming who would take our sins away for good.  Obeying him because we trust him.  But Israel was in large part failing because they were misusing the law.  They were trusting and boasting in the law as a measuring stick to live up to in order to achieve salvation rather than receive salvation (Rom 9:30-33, Rom 2:23, Rom 3:20-24).  So God broke in to finalize the salvation (Gal 4:4, Eph 1:10) that he had already been applying to OT saints (Luke 2:25-32) and to vindicate his righteousness in having mercy by passing over our sins (Rom 3:25-26).  Mary’s song celebrates this mercy.  The significance to me is that by faith I become an offspring of Abraham (Rom 9:8, Gal 3:29) and a child of God (Rom 8:14-16).

Valuing the Message:
I value this message because it is this very gratitude and awe of God and his work that should motivate a life of worship.  My life should be a reflection of the glory of this mighty God who saves.

Reflecting to Feel the Impact of the Message:
I need to asses my own heart and my motives and what excites me.  

Questions to ask:
Do I have a song in my heart like Mary’s?  Am I excited about what he has done and what he is doing?  Do I seek for God in a way that puts his thoughts and priorities on my mind all day?  Is my trust in my actions or in the persons and work of Jesus?  Do I worship from the heart or from the lips and vocal cords?  Am I bowled over by God’s work or am I busy thinking of my work?

Responding to God & Reacting to His Lesson:
Tell God about your observations and your thoughts and your struggles with the chapter and determine how it will change or impact your thinking and your decisions.  Be sure to react in some way to the truth rather than remain silent.

Proclaiming the Truth to Others:
Decide who you can share what you have learned with and ask for God’s help in reaching out to love others.

Soli Deo Gloria!

February 14

Genesis 47; Luke 1:1-38

Daily Catechism

QUESTION 21: INTO WHAT CONDITION DID THE FALL BRING MANKIND?  
Answer: The fall brought mankind into a condition of sin and misery.
Scripture: Psalm 51:5; Romans 5:18-19; 7:18; Isaiah 53:6; 64:6; John 3:6-7; Ephesians 2:1-3; 1 Corinthians 2:14.

Genesis 47

Ready:
In the previous chapter Jacob has sought after God’s approval to go into Egypt and received a promise that 1. God’s presence would go with them and 2. They would become a great nation there and 3. God would bring them back the promised land of Canaan.

Seeing What’s There:
In this chapter Jacob settles in the land of Goshen and is given provision of food by Joseph, who shrewdly manages the resources of Pharaoh to not only keep the Egyptians alive but Pharaoh becomes the owner of all the land and all the livestock during the remainder of the famine.  The events seem to take place over a period of 17 years.  The following jumps out at me from this chapter:

• Pharaoh put Jacob’s family in charge of his own livestock
• Joseph acquires all the money and livestock and the land of Egypt for Pharaoh
• All of the Egyptian’s come into service of the Pharaoh to survive
• Joseph taxes the people 1/5 of their crops
• Israel gained land (not sold to Pharaoh) and was fruitful and multiplied greatly
• As Jacob perceived death coming, he asks to be carried back to Canaan after he dies

Key Verses:
Gen 47:6, 11-12, 14, 17, 20, 23-24, 27, 30

Theme:
God protects Israel and keeps his promise to multiply them in Egypt even during a great famine.

Thinking About the Message:
    v1-12.  Israel is given land apart from the Egyptians that they can keep for their own and Joseph takes care of them while still living among the Egyptians and managing Egypt.
    v13-26.  Joseph turns Pharaoh into the sole land owner in Egypt (apart from the Egyptian priests) and he ha full control of the people as well, who sell themselves into Pharaoh’s service.
    v27-31.  After 17 years of living in Goshen and multiplying and growing in possessions Jacob prepares for his death.  It seems that God has supernaturally provided for the Israelites that they have not sold their land or their people into Pharaoh’s service and have been preserved in Goshen.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    I take this chapter as a rather simple statement of God blessing Israel in this foreign land and sustaining them and keeping his promise to multiply them.  The implication is that the Israelites are growing in number in this foreign land and there is developing a scenario where Pharaoh has all of the Egyptians in his service, with the exception of the Israelites.  The significance to me at this point is tracking with the story that I know will progress to Israel eventually being brought under the bondage and service of Pharaoh after another generation forgets Joseph and all he did to save Egypt.  Like the Jesus’ church on earth, the nation of Israel will grow and come into maturity in a foreign land before God brings them into the promised land.

Valuing the Message:
I value the fact that God maintains his people and seems to be working toward the fulfillment of making them a great nation here.

Reflecting to Feel the Impact of the Message:
I see this as the first 17 of a total of 430 years that Israel will live in Egypt and what begins as 70 people will leave Egypt, by way of the dry ground under the Red Sea as 600,000 men with their women and children after them!

Responding to God & Reacting to His Lesson:
Tell God about your observations and your thoughts and your struggles with the chapter and determine how it will change or impact your thinking and your decisions.  Be sure to react in some way to the truth rather than remain silent.

Proclaiming the Truth to Others:
Decide who you can share what you have learned with and ask for God’s help in reaching out to love others.

Luke 1:1-38

Ready:
Luke was a Gentile and a physician to Paul.  His account was acquired through eyewitness testimony and written documents.  He also authored the book of Acts.  He probably wrote this gospel account in the early 60s AD intended to an audience of Gentile Christians.  Luke wrote after Mark and was familiar with his account.  Luke’s account is more detailed and thorough than the others in some ways.  He includes parables and accounts that only exist in his record.  He has a very extended account of Jesus’ travels to Jerusalem (10 chapters long compared to 1 in Mark).  Luke seeks to give Theophilus and all new converts "reason for the hope that is within them” by showing that God indeed revealed himself in Jesus of Nazareth.  The over-arching structure in Luke is the fulfillment of God’s plan.  Luke 19:10 can be claimed as the thematic verse “For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.”  Luke uses the words “salvation" and “savior" more than any other book in the Bible.  Luke focuses on the Gentiles as the recipients of salvation.  Luke presents Jesus plainly as having great concern for the outcasts of society.  Generally a biography of the life of Jesus, Luke has a broader range of literary sub-genres than the other gospels and Luke is the most descriptive.

The main structural sections of the book are as follows:

I.    The Prologue (1:1–4)
II.   The Infancy Narrative (1:5–2:52)
III.  Preparation for the Ministry of Jesus (3:1–4:15)
IV.  The Ministry of Jesus in Galilee (4:16–9:50)
V.   The Journey to Jerusalem (9:51–19:27)
VI.  The Suffering and Death of Jesus (22:1–23:56)
VII. The Resurrection of Jesus (24:1–53)

Seeing What’s There:
Luke begins with the accounts of the angel Gabriel revealing God’s plans to two families in the Tribe of Judah.  Gabriel has good news for Zechariah and Elizabeth and then 6 months later for Joseph and Mary.  What jumps out at me in this chapter is:

• Only a few angels are named in the Bible and this angel brings news of both births.
• Zechariah has a response of unbelief that results in God making him mute until the birth of John
• Mary has a response of belief and she declares herself a bondservant of the Lord

Thinking About the Message:
    v1-4.  Luke explains that he has compiled this account from various sources and that he himself was not a witness.  Like Mark, this gospel account is not first-hand but is the inspired Word of God. Luke writes so that Theophilus and other believers will be assured of the truth of what they have been taught concerning Jesus.  It is as if Luke is and investigative reporter searching out all the evidence he can to confirm Mark’s gospel record and all that the Apostles were teaching.
    v5-25.  A very interesting account of Gabriel revealing God’s plans to Elizabeth and Zechariah.  Zechariah does not believe the angel and inquires about how the is could be so from a heart level of distrust.  His question to Gabriel is not much different in grammar than Mary’s but his heart and the meaning of his question is very different.  Gabriel reacts with a strong statement that shames Zechariah and puts him in his place as a recipient of a message from Almighty God who should receive with gratitude this revelation.  John is filled with the Holy Spirit while still in the womb of Elizabeth and he clearly has a very unique role to fulfill from day one.
    v26-38.  Now Mary is visited by Gabriel and though she too asks a similar question as Zechariah did, it becomes clear that she was asking in amazement of wondering how this thing that she believed would come to be.  I see it like “Wow, you are kidding me!  That is incredible, so how in the world is this going to happen?”  Her heart is revealed in Luke 1:38 by Mary’s response and also in Luke 1:45 by the words of Elizabeth.  So Mary is betrothed or “engaged to be married" to Joseph (a descendant of King David) and she is yet a virgin.  Gabriel explains to her that the Holy Spirit will accomplish the impossible by creating a human body within her (Heb 10:5) that the eternal Son of God will abide in and he will be holy (no sin carried down from the seed of Adam because there is no human “seed” involved).  Thus Jesus will be born with a human body and soul but without sin (Heb 4:15, 1 Pet 1:22) and not enslaved to sin like the rest of mankind (Rom 6:6) who are born as children of wrath (Eph 2:3).  Only Adam and Eve had known this kind of free-will (prior to their fall) that allowed them to "not sin" before now (Rom 5:14).

Valuing the Message:
Out of time…


Reflecting to Feel the Impact of the Message:
No time…


Responding to God & Reacting to His Lesson:
Tell God about your observations and your thoughts and your struggles with the chapter and determine how it will change or impact your thinking and your decisions.  Be sure to react in some way to the truth rather than remain silent.

Proclaiming the Truth to Others:
Decide who you can share what you have learned with and ask for God’s help in reaching out to love others.

Soli Deo Gloria!

February 13

Genesis 46; Mark 16

Daily Catechism

QUESTION 20: DID ALL MANKIND FALL IN ADAM’S FIRST SIN?
Answer: All mankind, descending from Adam by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him in his first sin.
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:21-22; Romans 5:12, 18-19.  

Comment: God considered all mankind as being in Adam so that when Adam went bad we all went bad in him. The nature that we have by virtue of belonging to Adam’s race is morally corrupt. We are under the wrath of God “by nature” (Ephesians 2:3) from the time we were conceived in the womb. This is why conversion and salvation must be much more than a “decision” for Christ. It must be a new creation, a rebirth, an exchange of hearts.

Genesis 46

Ready:
In the previous chapter Joseph broke down and revealed himself to his brothers and then invited them to go and bring back Jacob and all of Israel.  The Pharaoh gave a bunch of food and wagons and all that would be needed to move the seventy people or so that were to come to Egypt.

Seeing What’s There:
Jacob and Joseph are reunited in this chapter.  The following things jumped out at me in this chapter:

• Jacob makes a pit-stop in Beersheba to sacrifice to God and seek guidance
• Moses gives a detailed listing of the sons of Jacob’s children
• Jacob and Joseph have an emotional reunion
• Joseph explains to Jacob that the Egyptians despise shepherds and that this will actually guarantee that they receive the land of Goshen since it is apart from most of civilized Egypt

Key Verses:
Gen 46:1-4, 5, 26-27, 29-30, 33-34

Theme:
With the blessing of God, the entire nation of Israel enters Egypt and settles in a fertile but isolated land apart from Egyptian society.

Thinking About the Message:
    v1-7.  I see Jacob here honoring his God and seeking to ensure that this trip to Egypt is indeed the right thing to do.  It makes sense since God had promised Canaan to them and now he was looking to leave Canaan behind.  It is here in Beersheba that God now promises to not only make him a great nation in Egypt but he also promises that his presence will be with them there and that he will bring him back to Canaan.  This promise was that God would bring them back and this is key.  It will not be in their power to return, but it will require God’s intervention.  This important blessing of approval will eventually require Moses to come along and at great cost to the Egyptians, Israel will depart from Egypt.  So with God’s blessing, Jacob heads off from Beersheba into Egypt.
    v8-27.  This whole section mainly serves to show me that the entire nation came into Egypt and that they were only 70 people in total at this point.  The promise of God at Beersheba, however, is that in Egypt they will become great.
    v28-34.  Jacob and Joseph have a warm reunion here and the patriarch is now content to die…though not quite yet.  Joseph explains to Jacob that he will go and advise Pharaoh that they have arrived in Goshen and to make sure Pharaoh knows their occupation.  Joseph explains that they Egyptians despise shepherds for some religious reason and that this is what will guarantee that they indeed receive the land of Goshen because it is remote from the civilized areas of Egypt and they will therefore be able to exist apart from the God-less culture of the Egyptians.  The wording is odd and a bit hard to follow but in the end Joseph himself uses the term shepherd with Pharaoh and so do the brothers in the next chapter so I don’t take it that Joseph is advising any deception.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    I take this to be a huge shift in the storyline because the promised offspring (plural) and the whole nation are now leaving the very land that was promised to them.  This requires explanation and Moses offers it to us by God’s interaction with Jacob at Beersheba.  So God has chosen to multiply the people of Israel outside of Canaan and will himself bring them back once they have become a great nation.  In Gen 37:10-11 Jacob considered Joseph’s dream that included him coming to Joseph and bowing down as well and although he rebuked Joseph for sharing this dream Moses records that Jacob “kept the saying in mind”.  I would imagine that this was still in his mind and probably helped him make the decision to pack-up and head to Beersheba for confirmation from God.
    1.   They are to trust God despite what seems like a crazy detour.  The implication is that God clearly plans for detours and less than obvious ways of fulfilling his will in the life of his people.  The significance for my life is that I can trust that detours and challenges and things that seem like an obstruction or hindrance to God’s blessing in my life may indeed be the fulfillment of his blessing in my life.  I can interpret my circumstances not on their merit alone but with the understanding that Almighty God has me in his hand.
    2.  Jacob sought God’s approval and blessing upon this major decision and change in their life and God indeed provides blessing and confidence to Jacob that it is right to go.  The implication is that I would do well to seek God’s approval for major decisions in my life especially when I am unsure of the thing being honoring to God.  The significance in my life is that I now have God’s Word and I should regularly consider what his Word tells me in relation to the decisions I make in life to ensure that I am always honoring him in my choices and actions rather than choosing for my own selfish interest.  I should also take these decision to God in prayer and ask that he might give me guidance and peace.

Valuing the Message:
This message is valuable to me because it is very practical and there will surely be detours from what I think is God’s plan.  The value of making a life habit to go to the Bible for direction is huge.  This lesson can make the difference between me honoring God with my life or just offering him lip service.

Reflecting to Feel the Impact of the Message:
I need to reflect upon my habits of decision making and think about how I usually make decisions.  Am I just looking for the most comfortable solution?  Am I looking for the most financially beneficial?  Am I thinking about the mission of the gospel and how it is advanced or not with my decision?  Am I giving God the last say in what I will consider appropriate in my life or do I reserve that to myself?

Responding to God & Reacting to His Lesson:
Tell God about your observations and your thoughts and your struggles with the chapter and determine how it will change or impact your thinking and your decisions.  Be sure to react in some way to the truth rather than remain silent.

Proclaiming the Truth to Others:
Decide who you can share what you have learned with and ask for God’s help in reaching out to love others.

Mark 16

I will catch up soon :)

Soli Deo Gloria! 

February 12

Genesis 45; Mark 15

Daily Catechism

QUESTION 19: WHAT WAS THE SIN WHEREBY OUR FIRST PARENTS FELL FROM THE ESTATE WHEREIN THEY WERE CREATED?
Answer: The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created, was their eating the forbidden fruit
Scripture: Genesis 3:6, 12, 13.

Genesis 45

Ready:
Picking up at the conclusion of Judah’s plea for mercy before Joseph after discovering the allegedly stolen cup in Benjamin’s bag.

Seeing What’s There:
To me this is a highlight of the Bible and a story that is impossible to read without tears.  The things that jump out at me in this chapter are:

• Joseph’s joy and loving reception of his brothers who were so wicked to him many years earlier
• Joseph’s perception that his brother’s sinful actions were ordained by God for a purpose
• The bond between Joseph and Benjamin that 20 years cannot hinder
• Pharaoh commits a great deal of resources to bring all of Jacob’s family to Egypt and offers them the best land
• Jacob’s joy over a son resurrected by his Almighty God who can do more than we can ever ask or think

Theme:
The Almighty God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob can bring the dead to life, can restore dead relationships, and can use mankind’s worst sins to accomplish his great purposes in his people's lives and across this earth.

Thinking About the Message:
    v1-15.  This emotionally charged passage includes Joseph forgiving his brothers on account of the fact that what happened to him, though the immediate result of their terrible sin, was actually purposed by God in order to accomplish God’s greater purpose across the earth and in the family of Jacob.  Does this sound like the promise to Abraham in Gen 12:1-3 (great name, blessing to all the families of earth)?  I take it that God’s great story and the purposes that he has in this universe will be orchestrated to display his glory by his accomplishing it despite our sin and rebellion against it.
    v16-24.  The brothers are sent with amazing provisions and resources to help get the entire family back to Egypt.  Moses adding the statement of Joseph to his brothers that they should not quarrel along the way is a nice touch to remind us that this is not a made up story but a real account of a real family and these brothers were sure to have quite the conversation on the journey as they reconsider the last 20+ years of their lives.      v25-28.  Jacob was trusting God but still human he was weak in spirit and sorrowful over his lost children and who knows what he was thinking regarding God’s claim to have already made a great nation out of Abraham.  Was he utterly confused as he sat there looking at his grandchildren wondering if this was how it was supposed to go down?  Is he supposed to lose all his children and now the grandchildren take it from here?  God blows him away by, in his mind, resurrecting Joseph and providing abundantly for him and his entire household.  Jacob seems now ready to die like old Simeon who was ready to go once he saw baby Jesus.  Off they go to Egypt.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    I take the main meaning of this chapter to be that God does not simply redeem our sinful actions and turn it into some good but he plans ahead of time that he will accomplish his purposes through the sin that he knows will happen.  I see this not as God reacting but acting.  Joseph did not say “you sent me here but God found a great use for it”.  He said basically, “You did not send me here, God did.  God sent me before you for a purpose.”  This is quite different than "chaos from your sin hindered the plan of God but he recovered by bringing something unplanned but good from it.”  The implication is that even heinous sins and injustice and suffering in this life are not without purpose and meaning.  This includes the smallest imaginable circumstances like the falling of a sparrow from the sky and the hair falling from my head (Matt 10:29-30).  The significance for me is that I can trust Almighty God to have all things under control and therefore there is true cause to rejoice in suffering (Rom 5:3, Col 1:24) and the be thankful in all circumstances (Eph 5:20) since I know that absolutely each and every one of them is under the sovereign reign of my loving Father who puts his omnipotent goodness to work (Eph 1:19) for my good with all his heart and soul (Jer 32:41).  This knowledge is what Paul wants me to have when he prays in Ephesians 1:16-23 and this is how I can have peace beyond understanding (Phil 4:7) when I give God my cares.

Valuing the Message:
This message redeems all the “bad" things in my life.  This message should have amazing significance if I understand the level of care that God takes in the smallest and biggest things that happen to me.  I need to decide if indeed I take God to be exercising what seems to be a complete reign over all things or if I believe that he resists holding this kind of control for some other purpose.  Many take both sides on this but I see this text today motivating my assertion that God Almighty rules his creation and accomplishes his purposes.  

Reflecting to Feel the Impact of the Message:
Reflecting on this message I would need to reinterpret all the circumstances that I ever faced (like the brothers on the road back to Canaan who Joseph warned not to quarrel).  I think God calls me to transform my thinking and come to a realization that he promises to do me good (Jer 32:41) and to work all things out for good (Rom 8:28) and to accomplish all his purposes (Is 46:10) and to work all things according to the counsel of his will (Eph 1:11) because he actually does this with intentionality and because he is indeed exercising sovereign rule over all things.  This would change how I relate horizontally with others who hurt me.  It would give me a different response to the guy cutting me off on the road or the guy swindling me out of my cash or the drunk driver.  Knowing that all responsibility remains on the wrong doer and that I am to do justice and love mercy I know that fighting for justice and peace is right but I can do so without fear that evil runs out of control and actually threatens the very purposes of God in my life or in this world.  This chapter helps me see that God’s purposes are even accomplished by the evil and thus Satan is God’s lackey that serves God’s cause with the worst that he can ever do (like slay his only begotten Son at the hand of his own people).

Responding to God & Reacting to His Lesson:
Tell God about your observations and your thoughts and your struggles with the chapter and determine how it will change or impact your thinking and your decisions.  Be sure to react in some way to the truth rather than remain silent.

Proclaiming the Truth to Others:
Decide who you can share what you have learned with and ask for God’s help in reaching out to love others.

Mark 15

Ready:
The previous chapter covered institution of the Lord’s Supper and the Garden of Gethsemane and the Jewish Council deciding to kill Jesus for blasphemy after he is betrayed by Judas.

Seeing What’s There:
This chapter covers the Roman trial of Jesus (but leaves out the account of Jesus before Herod- as do all the gospels except Luke), the scourging and mocking of Jesus, the crucifixion of Jesus, and finally his burial by a respected member of the Jewish Council named Joseph of Arimathea.

Key Verses:
Mark 15:1-2, 5, 9-11, 14-15, 17-18, 29-32, 33-34, 37-39, 43

Theme:
According to the will of God, the rejected King of the Jews takes the unmerited punishment of God so that his people will receive God’s unmerited favor.

Thinking About the Message:
    v1.  The council had determined they would kill Jesus the night before but they met again in the morning to formalize their decision without being under the cover of night to perhaps settle their own seared consciences a bit.
    v2-5.  Just as he did before the Jewish Council Jesus affirms statements of truth but chooses not to respond to lies and false accusations.  He gives Pilate a qualified affirmation that he is indeed the King of the Jews but Mark (informed by Peter) gives an abbreviated account of this interaction, which Luke expands on by his eyewitness research (Luke 18:33-38).  Jesus explains that he is indeed the King of the Jews but that his Kingdom is not of this world.  He also seems to be speaking directly to Pilate because he asks Pilate if he came up with the idea that he was the King of the Jews or if the Council had told him this…but Pilate will not answer.  Though Jesus never claimed to be establishing an earthly kingdom, he was probably represented that way by the Jews because they knew this was treason and the only thing that would be likely to result in death by the Romans.  So Jesus was here acknowledging a true statement but correcting Pilate’s misunderstanding of the truth that he spoke.
    v6-15.  Pilate had begun some tradition of releasing a prisoner to the Jews during the Passover Festival, which began Friday and runs through the Sabbath for a total of seven days in remembrance of God protecting the Israelites from the last plague upon Egypt during their exodus.  In this festival the passover lamb is selected on the 10th day of the month, and then slaughtered and eaten on the 14th day.  I draw a parallel here since we know Jesus is himself the passover sacrifice (1 Cor 5:7) I figure it must line up with the passover festival.  Jesus entered Jerusalem on the 9th day (before sundown on Sunday) and was welcomed warmly and cried out for salvation with “Hosanna!” (Mark 11:9).  Then the next day (the 10th day of the month) he angered the Jewish Council by his cleansing of the temple so that they sought a way to destroy him (Mark 11:18).  Jesus would take the passover meal with his disciples (Mark 14:12) on the 14th day (after sundown on Thursday) and then be killed before sundown on Friday (Mark 15:25, 33... still the 14th day) before the Sabbath begins (Mark 15:42).
    v16-20. Jesus is mocked as he had prophesied (Mark 10:34) and he takes abuse from people whom he sustains by the word of his power as they rightly call him King but show him no honor and no thanks but only hatred.
    v21-41.  Interesting that Mark throws in the account of Simon of Cyrene carrying Jesus’ cross with his two boys watching.  I wonder what sort of conversation that family had over the years!  His identity and authority are openly mocked and challenged with suggestions that he rescue himself…thankfully he had settled himself the night before in the garden and he was resolute in his purpose.  Even with the weaknesses of a man, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah held on with loving obedience and paid the penalty that was not his, except by his union to me! In verse 31 the curtain tears representing high point of what occurs on The Day of Atonement when the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies in the temple to splash the blood of the sacrifice on the mercy seat.  Jesus demonstrates that he has entered and he has accomplished the sacrifice and satisfied God’s wrath.
    v42-47.  This is a neat twist that there is a man on the Jewish Council who has secretly been a follower of Jesus despite and he now takes the risk of being known and persecuted by donating his tomb to hold Jesus’ body.  The other gospel accounts come together to paint the picture more fully than just this passage (Matt 27:57; Luke 23:50-52; John 19:38).

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
More here than can be said, but Jesus clearly was a willing and obedient sacrifice for his people and he took what was due to me that I might have what was only his- the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21).

Valuing the Message:
This is why there is life on earth.  The cross is the center of time and the apex of the universe and all of creation hinges upon it...

Reflecting to Feel the Impact of the Message:
“20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20, ESV)

Responding to God & Reacting to His Lesson:
Tell God about your observations and your thoughts and your struggles with the chapter and determine how it will change or impact your thinking and your decisions.  Be sure to react in some way to the truth rather than remain silent.

Proclaiming the Truth to Others:
Decide who you can share what you have learned with and ask for God’s help in reaching out to love others.
Soli Deo Gloria!