Surrendered- A Gospel Ministry

Friday, February 21, 2014

February 21

Exodus 4; Luke 7

Daily Catechism

QUESTION 28: HOW DOES CHRIST PERFORM THE OFFICE OF A PROPHET?
Answer: Christ performs the office of a prophet, in revealing to us, by his Word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation.
Scripture: John 1:18; 14:26; 15:15.

Exodus 4

Ready:
God met Moses in the area of Mount Horeb in a burning bush and he recruited Moses with explanation of what he would do to deliver Israel from the affliction of the Egyptians.

Seeing What’s There:
In this chapter Moses concludes his conversation with God and though resistant to the point of angering God, Moses is convinced to proceed, with Aaron’s help. Moses meets up with Aaron and tells him all that God had said after God speaks to Aaron and leads him to meet Moses in the wilderness near Mount Horeb. The two meet up with the Jewish elders in Egypt and with signs convince them that God had indeed spoken and that they were to be delivered. Their response is belief and worship of the Lord.

Key Verses:
Exodus 4:1, 8-9, 10, 11-12, 13-14, 16, 20, 22-23, 27, 29-31

Theme:
God will make a way for the weak and broken to carry out his mission.

Thinking About the Message:
    v1-17. Moses makes a couple of arguments in his attempt to resist God’s call upon him. God had already declared that the Israelites would listen to him, but this doesn’t stop Moses from coming up with reasons to doubt himself. First he appeals to an inability to overcome their challenge to his story of meeting with God. After God conquers this fear, by granting him a few amazing signs to evidence his anointing with the authority of God, Moses then appeals to his inability to speak well and to be convincing and proper in speech. But God then comforted him that God himself was the one who grants speech and silence and who can grant him all the ability needed. So all-in-all Moses’ fears of inadequacy are dismantled by God but this does not stop Moses. Next Moses expresses either a failure to trust God or a reluctance to obey God by asking that God send someone else. This angers God and God finally provides Moses with the help that puts Moses over the edge on agreeing to move forward. Moses will receive help from his older brother Aaron, who Moses perceives is a better representative before the people. Moses may not be too accurate is his perception since Luke later refers to Moses as being mighty in his words and deeds. Surely there can be confidence for any believer here to see that a fearful and weak and resistant shepherd was not only selected, but launched into service and indeed accomplished the mighty will of God despite his apprehensions and weaknesses and sin. God indicates that he will speak primarily to Moses and Moses will give Aaron the words of God to communicate to the Israelites but God seems also to have some direct communication with Aaron. In the end God commands Moses to take the staff that he will use to perform signs and to go. A side note in this passage is a realization in verse 11 that God takes responsibility for the mute and the blind and the deaf…our God is sovereign and I need not fear that my circumstances are out of control or pointless!
    v18-20. Moses sets out for Egypt with his family after getting the blessing of his father-in-law and after God reveals to him that there is safety due to the Pharaoh who wanted to kill him being dead at this point 40 years later.
    v21-23. Here God jumps right to the meat. He gives Moses a summary of what is to happen and tells him that God himself will “harden” Pharaoh’s heart and that Pharaoh will therefore not let the people go easily. Verse 22-23 indicate that it will take the most serious plague of killing the first born in Egypt to break the will of Pharaoh to resist.
    v24-26. This is interesting and it seems that Moses had not circumcised at least one of his sons perhaps out of weakness when he first arrived in Midian. Maybe he did not want to challenge his new wife and father-in-law regarding circumcision with his first child. Regardless of the reasons, it is clear that Moses did not circumcise at least one of his sons and this became a major problem. The test indicates that God was in the process of killing Moses, which I take to be a very bad illness that he and his wife perceived to be a judgement of God and they knew the cause…they had not submitted to circumcise their child. Moses’ wife does what must be done while Moses is perhaps laid up and extremely ill. She seems to express disdain toward Moses either because of his previous failure to be firm and stick to his beliefs or because of her current dislike of her circumstances altogether.
    v27-31. Here Aaron is led by God to meet up with Moses and they are reunited after 40 years. There seems to be no hesitation and not the two approach the elders of Israel with the message and the signs of God. The people believe and worship God in thanks, no doubt, of this amazing news that God has seen and heard and now acts by revealing himself to Moses as he has. Unfortunately, this “belief” will prove to not be so deep and true when challenges mount.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    1. I hear a message that God will accomplish what he sets out to accomplish and he will do it through and in spite of my weakness but that he wants me to understand that this is possible because it depends not upon me, but upon him and his power and authority and name. The implication is that the greatest efforts can fail if God is not behind them to give authority and power while God’s plans carried out by the weakest and feeblest will certainly not be stopped. The significance for me is to take heart and walk in the light of the gospel knowing that I have, as all believers do, a calling to make disciples and to teach others all that Jesus said and did and he can accomplish much with very little.

Valuing the Message:
I value the message because it highlights God’s might and how he overcomes our weaknesses and failures.

Reflecting to Feel the Impact of the Message:
I need to look at my own heart and consider if I am resisting action due to my own fears or sense of inability or lack. Perhaps I need to put my eyes on the mission and not on me.

Questions to ask:

Am I looking to God and to his mission and stepping forward or am I standing still and staring in the mirror as if there is something there that will convince me to take a step?

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 7

Ready:
Yesterday I read Luke’s account of the sermon on the mount and Jesus spoke a picture of the children of God and thy kind of fruit that they bear and why.

Seeing What’s There:
I see this chapter teaching on the object of faith and the proper response to the mercy of God. Luke begins with the Centurion (great faith plainly evident) and then to the Widow (no obvious faith until after the resurrection) to John the Baptist (Tested and weary faith), which Jesus comforts and strengthens, to the pharisees holding God in judgement regarding this need for repentance. The pharisees do not accept the message however it may be delivered because they are simply not placing their faith in a promised offspring. They have settled their faith upon a law, which happens to lead to death. In the closing scene Luke recounts the story of the sinful woman who anoints Jesus and washes his feet with tears and her hair and all this to the dismay of the Pharisee who was having Jesus over because he holds contempt for her and does not recognize the place for mercy and forgiveness. Jesus corrects his unstated opinion and makes it clear that she has not only already been forgiven, but even implies that he has not been forgiven.

Theme:
Jesus is the object of faith. The one who reacts to God’s mercy with judgement of God rather than worship of God has not experienced forgiveness and knows not wisdom, which is the fear of the Lord. His faith is not in the right object.

Thinking About the Message:
    v1-10. Here the Centurion’s faith is plain and he see that Jesus us “under” the authority of the Father and that Jesus has this authority fully vested and that he is free to wield it accordingly for the purposes of God. The Centurion is highly respected but yet he humbles himself before Jesus making argument that he is not worthy of Jesus’ presence in his home. He expresses a trust that Jesus has authority to command that illness leave and that blessings or new empowerment come…like sight or hearing or life or faith perhaps. So plainly in this story the Centurion has faith in Jesus and he expresses it compellingly. Jesus even declares that he has seen no such faith in all of Israel.
    v11-17. In the next scenario there is no explicit statement of faith in Jesus but it would seem that Jesus acts unilaterally based on his compassion for the widow. He takes action without any expressions of faith whatsoever and he does something more amazing than he did for the Centurion! I take the point to these back to back stories to be that what ultimately matters is the object of faith (Jesus) and not the degree of faith possessed by the individual. We also see a contrast between someone “worthy” and someone “weak and helpless” and Jesus is not partial. As john 5:25 states, this dead man hears the voice of Jesus and he lives! The dead are given life. Life is called into being by Jesus where it was not (Rom 4:17).
    v18-30. Now we see a man of great faith who was filed with the Holy Spirit from birth but now faces a great test and challenge and he is looking for confidence in his own discernment of the facts. Jesus warmly sends great news to boost John’s faith just like he prayed for Peter’s faith. Jesus even turns to the crowd and boosts their faith in their need for his baptism of repentance since they may be injured by this public question from John. Jesus goes to great ends to lift John up and to tell the crowd that those who were baptized by John will actually be greater than him! The Pharisees did not agree with this a refused to believe that there was a repentance needed for them. Their pride and failure to be on the watch fort the promised offspring sinks them.
    v31-35. Jesus describes their failure like a group of kids who can’t be pleased and who can’t decide what game to play because they hold judgment over the mercy that Jesus dispenses instead of simply rejoicing over it and repenting (Psalm 51:3-6).
    v36-50. Here Jesus makes it clear that those who are forgiven love mercy and they respond with love for Jesus and they are contrite and grateful. The woman expresses her love and gratitude prior to Jesus speaking the words of forgiveness and this speaks to the fact that out love is in response to his, not the other way around (1 John 4:19)! Jesus declares that she was already forgiven when she began blessing him and yet the Pharisee who holds himself to be righteous is yet unforgiven by the implication of Jesus’ quick parable. I do not take it to mean that the Pharisee may have been forgiven little because there is no such thing. The debt owed by all is unfathomable and cannot ever be paid except by the unparalleled blood of Jesus. I take this condemnation of the Pharisee to be a statement that he does not recognize there degree to which he needs forgiveness and he has therefore not been forgiven and he shows it. This speaks back to verse 35 where Jesus personifies wisdom and basically says that the children of wisdom "get it” and these children are forgiven and these children respond in love and they extend mercy.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    I take it that I need to be a child of wisdom and I need to subject myself to the authority of God in repentance and faith in Jesus and this comes to me as a work of God upon my heart like the dead man who is raised by Jesus. The implication is that the one who is proud and hides his sin and is unloving and does not show mercy…this person is not a child of God and has not tasted the forgiveness Jesus gives to his sheep. The significance for me is that it does not matter what I have to offer God, but it matters if I realize what he offers me.

Valuing the Message:
The value here is in God and not in me so I can trust that he works in me the same as he works in some great men of old. I can trust that the same Jesus died for me as died for them. I can trust that the same Spirit works life in my soul and I can trust that my love and honor and contrition and hope is not misplaced when it is directed to Jesus.

Reflecting to Feel the Impact of the Message:
I need to consider my heart and my level of comprehension of how needy I am.

Questions to ask:

Do I understand how much I would owe if it were not for Jesus canceling my debt?
Do I understand the power that Jesus has over my soul and life and body?
Do I hold God under judgement by not acknowledging my need for repentance or by looking down upon his mercy toward others?

Thursday, February 20, 2014

February 20

Exodus 3; Luke 6

Daily Catechism

QUESTION 27: WHAT OFFICES DOES CHRIST PERFORM AS OUR REDEEMER?
Answer: Christ, as our Redeemer, performs the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in his condition of humiliation and exaltation.
Scripture: Acts 3:22; Hebrews 5:6; Psalm 2:6.

Exodus 3

Ready:
In the last chapter Moses came into the scene and ended up hiding out in Midian due to his sin and he is now married with a child. God has heard the cry of his people and he has remembered his promise to the patriarchs...

Seeing What’s There:
I see Moses working in Midian as a shepherd caring for a flock and minding his own business…seemingly forgetting the plight of his people as he spends 40 years here in Midian before this day where God speaks to him. But God has not forgotten. This chapter is a huge turn in the story of redemption because here God reveals himself by his personal name which he has given himself and he expresses his plan to Moses and he recruits Moses to be his prophet and the leader of his people. The exodus of Israel from Egypt becomes such a grounding historical moment for the Jews that it’s significance cannot be overstated. God breaks in by his might and does a miraculous delivery of his people that he intends to be remembered forever. It begins here at this bush with Moses hearing the voice of God. The whole chapter basically consists of this conversation between God and Moses regarding what God is going to accomplish. There is certainty in everything that God shares with Moses- nothing less than stating what will come to pass for his purposes.

Key Verses:
Exodus 3:2-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9, 12, 13-14, 15, 17-18, 19-20, 21

Theme:
God starts in motion his intention to deliver and establish his people by his own mighty hand as a people who will know his holiness and hallow his name.

Thinking About the Message:
    v1. Here Moses has settled in with his wife and family and his new life as a shepherd and he has perhaps tried to forget about the poor Hebrews in Egypt and his concerns for them. Moses has now spent 40 years in Midian and he is about 80 years old (Ex 7:7)…not like its been a few months. But the Lord has a plan for this octogenarian that involves leading sheep away from trouble. Something happens when Moses comes near Mount Horeb this time (another name for Mount Sinai where God will soon deliver the law to Israel).
    v2-4. Moses is stopped in his tracks by God’s appearance to him in burning bush that is not consumed. The Angel of the Lord here is the very presence of God mediated in this bush for Moses’ protection. Sometimes the Bible uses the term Angel of the Lord to refer to God’s very presence or even the presence of pre-incarnate Jesus (but other times it is not God at all, but an angel of God (2 Sam 24:16-17).
    v5-6. This teaches of the holiness of God and how whatever he touches is in that moment made holy…which is fine for a bush or the ground, but deadly for a human with a sin nature (Uzzah’s error in 2 Sam 6:6-7). But what is holiness? God tells Moses to remove his shoes and we know that the sole of shoes are seen as unclean things then and now. God is calling for a hallowing of his name. He ties the term holiness to the removal of uncleanness and to his identity as the God of the patriarchs who he has revealed himself to and made covenant with. This begins to unpack the idea that his holiness is a separation from sin and a very core attribute that is inseparably tied to his identity and how he deals with mankind. R.C. Sproul argues that Holiness is the prime attribute of God that all other attributes come from (e.g., love, justice, omnipotence, omnipresence). Moses’ reaction to knowing something here of the holiness of God is fear. This is appropriate and this is good. He has a sin problem that must be solved (by translation into a glorified state in bodily redemption) before he can openly face the God of the universe (in physical presence). Right now we can come before God spiritually with boldness and confidence as we are told in Ephesians 3:11-12 thanks to Christ’s work. I am always struck by God’s choice to identify himself in reference to his people rather than just as the God who made everything you see and know. God is relational and he desires that his creation would know him in his fullness (no small thing and something that comes at cost- just like all relationships).
    v7-12. A few things here. I see God give two (or three) bases upon which he is grounding his action. One is his care for his people and his faithfulness to his covenant. Secondly he has seen the wickedness of the Egyptians and so he intends to judge them. Implied is also the wickedness of the people living in Canaan as he told Abraham that their sin would be complete by the time he brought Israel into Canaan. Moses can’t imagine how he can accomplish what God is asking and I see God give Moses courage when he lacks it by promising to be with him and declaring that he will indeed bring the people to this very mountain to worship. Interesting that a sign to give him confidence would be in the future…certainly takes the obedience of faith to benefit from such a sign! Hebrews 11:24 makes it clear that Moses walked with faith in God from the time he left Pharaoh’s house but now his faith is again called into action.
    v13-22. It seems here that Moses is on board and now he is looking for all the details on how to proceed. Moses wants to know a few things here. What authority do I come with that I can express to the Israelites…how do I describe you? What is the message to them? What is the message to Pharaoh? God gives him this information and he declares that he himself will accomplish what he is asking Moses to do and he will move the hearts of Pharaoh and the Egyptians so that Israel will indeed leave and they will take with them great provisions. God here makes declaration to Moses that he is a God of covenant. He begins with making clear that he is completely consistent and never changing. He simply is and there is nothing that can challenge that. But going further he expresses how this identity becomes personal and how it is a comfort to Moses. I take it like “This is who I am and this is what I do”. He gives him his personal name “YHWH” written as "The lord” (Lord in small caps) in the ESV Bible and relates this name to his covenant promises to the patriarchs. He says that this will be his name forever thus expressing the nature of his promises to them. He declares that he shall be remembered this way throughout all generations and already this is seen by the crying out of the Israelites under the Egyptian oppression. God tells Moses how to speak to the Israelite elders (first-born descendants of the tribal chiefs) and assures him that they will listen. God gives specific direction on how to speak to Pharaoh and explains that it will take the mighty hand of God to connive him, but that this too will happen. The message is not freedom for the sake of comfort but the message is "let us go so that we may worship our God as he has directed us to.” As God promised in Gen 15:14 to Abraham he now details to Moses that the Israelites will leave Egypt with great possessions.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    There is no doubt that here God intends to do a work that only he can accomplish that will express is identity of a righteous God and a Savior (Is 45:21). God will judge and God will deliver and all by his mighty hand and all in perfect justice for the proud who deny him and mercy upon his chosen people. The implication is that the work God does here is to be a sign and a remembrance forever of who he is and what he does. The significance for me is that I too need to remember who God is (holy and omnipotent) and how he works (judges the proud and saves the contrite) and know that this life is not so small as to ultimately be about houses and cars and jobs, but it is about a great God who saves from a coming judgement that I might live to honor him and love others.

Valuing the Message:
This message is valuable because it grounds me and reminds me that God is not a genie or a coach but he is the holy God who has worked at great cost to himself in order to protect me from his own holiness (Rom 5:8-11) so that I may know him in his glory (Rom 9:23-24). My relationship to God should not be about what he is going to do for me here on earth (James 4:3-4) but should be about knowing him (John 17:3) and making him known (Matt 28:18-20; 1 John 5:11-12; Col 1:24-29) and about enjoying who he is (Psalm 37:4, Phil 1:21).

Reflecting to Feel the Impact of the Message:
I need to reflect upon my understanding of holiness and God’s character and the centrality of God being the prime actor in this story of my life.

Questions to ask:

Do I say to God each day “Here I am” or do I look away from the bush and keep my shoes on?
Do I say, “Yes Lord, what do you have to tell me?” or do I say “sometime later I will look and see”.
Do I look for ground where my shoes don’t seem so dirty or do I come near and let him teach me what holiness is?

Luke 6

Ready:
The last chapter was about new wine and wine skins and fasting and Jesus calling disciples.

Seeing What’s There:
Luke 6 leads in with Jesus demonstrating in two events that mercy is preferred by God over ceremony or symbols. Souls are matter more to God than ceremony. Establishing this, Luke then documents an abbreviated account of the Sermon on the Mount that Matthew spends three chapters on. I see in Luke’s account one thread of fruit bearing. I see Jesus basically start from the nesting bird and work his way down into the water that feeds the roots. Psalm 1 helps here.

Theme:
What the foundation of the building, or the roots of the tree are set into (choose your analogy) determines the strength of the building or the quality of the fruit. The obedience of faith…taking God at his Word is the bedrock, is the stream of water.

Thinking About the Message:
   v1-11. In this read I am focusing on the big point that I see from the two events here. In both the Lord of the Sabbath and the healing of the withered hand I see Jesus declare that mercy is better than ceremony. Jesus told the pharisees to learn that he prefers mercy to sacrifice in Matt 9:13 and Matt 12:7. In both those cases the Pharisees are condemning someone for something out of a preference for ceremony (sacrifice) instead of love (mercy). Jesus makes it plain here that we are to love and care for our fellow humans as a higher priority than keeping tradition and ceremony for what proves to be an empty religion if it does not make us lovers of people in the first place. This Jesus made clear in Matt 25:31-46 what his sheep look like... and they love mercy.
   v12-16. Next Luke tells of Jesus getting alone and praying all night long just before picking his twelve apostles who will receive his teaching and guidance up close and who will represent him after he ascends to heaven. This choosing of the Apostles may be chronologically placed but I wrestle with how it may relate to the thread or mercy being the primary fruit we bear. Jesus prayed all night for them and the longest prayer of Jesus recorded is for these 12 as well and it is in John 17. He closes with a request that the love with which God has loved will be in them and Jesus in them. Perhaps this abiding love is the source of the mercy and the cause of the obedience of faith that grounds it.
   v17-19. Jesus gets started with some pre-sermon healing and exorcisms. Jesus obliged them and he showed that he can make the sick well and give freedom to the oppressed. Now he begins his message…
   v20-26. The Beatitudes are recorded here by Luke in an abbreviated fashion. He gives four things that do not scare the children of God. He gives for risks that his children take in the cause of love. He gives four things that his sheep risk in order to love mercy. He describes the four things that the world tries at all cost to avoid but his sheep walk right into because they reflect their teacher (Luke 6:40) and their father (Luke 6:36). These things are poverty, hunger, sorrow, and persecution. The world seeks to avoid these with selfish vengeance but the child of God knows that he has everything already (Rom 8:32) and he is not a blind leader (Luke 6:39), but he knows the love of God because it has been poured into his heart (Rom 5:5). The woes are merely the opposite of the beatitudes and the picture of the world. The beatitudes are not an instruction guide but a description of fruit. This is a picture of the children of God and not a lesson in morality. Jesus says blessed “are”, not blessed “will be”. I see Jesus describing the result of the mustard seed of the obedience of faith as it has sprouted by the grace of God into a full blown tree that now serves the good of others (Mark 4:30-32). Jesus declares that the ones who protect themselves at cost of others are not his own.
   v27-36. Here he explains that the children of God love mercy and they risk for the cause of love. They do not fight for their rights (Rom 12:14-21) because their hope is not here in the seen (Rom 8:24-25) because they are not of this world (John 17:15-19, John 15:19) and are not in love with this world (1 John 2:15).
   v37-40. Here Jesus similarly describes fruit. God has forgiven us and given us the gift of righteousness to justify us rather than judged us according to our sin, which would therefore have resulted in our condemnation (Rom 5:15-17). So because we are not blind to this and he has given us eternal life, we bear the fruit of this same love poured out to others in the form of mercy. Therefore we also do not judge and condemn but we offer grace and mercy. This fruit is there increasingly as we become like our teacher and our Father. Yet Jesus offers a point of clarification here…
   v41-42. Here I see Jesus make known that we do bear a responsibility for helping our Christian brothers out after recognizing our own sin and repenting. There is a place for “judging” those inside the church (1 Cor 5:11-13) but it should be done with clear eyes.
   v43-49. I see both of these parables as teaching that quality of our fruit and the strength of our structure will come from what the foundation or roots are sunk into. This needs be the truth of God in the person of Jesus and we do this by the obedience of faith. Luke 6:47 sets it up well…”everyone who comes to me [Jesus] and hears my words and does them. I will show you what he is like…”. Bingo! The obedience of faith. Trust what he says and act on it. Psalm 1 tells us that the one who meditates on God’s Word day and night will be like a tree planted by streams of water and will be fruitful and durable and prosperous…maybe he will bear up the loads of others like the tree in Mark 4:32.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
   The fruit of mercy and selfless risk in my life is not an earning of anything but it is an outflowing of the love of God that he has poured into me. My role is to walk in the obedience of faith and his Spirit will push the fruit out. The implication is that I cannot twist the beatitudes into a list of do’s but it is merely a picture of the believer who is grounded in the truth. The significance for my life is that I can seek after God like Psalm 1 and Proverbs 2 teach and then I am likely to see my life resemble this picture to the glory of God. Read those.

Valuing the Message:
I value understanding this message because I know that God is the one who will accomplish these attitudes in my life by my abiding in him and not by my striving to be a really good guy.

Reflecting to Feel the Impact of the Message:
I need to pray and ask for God to search out my motives and drives and desires and I need to reflect upon my heart and ensure that my roots and my foundation are in his truth and that I walk in out of a trusting of his word and not out of a proving of my goodness. The latter is using these beatitudes as a list of to do’s and this is using the law to try to impress God…he is really only impressed by his Son…better to focus on loving that Son and in time I will look more and more like him, but the sheer grace of God.

Questions to ask:

Does my fruit look like the mushy stuff that the world produces or like the ripe and plump fruit that God produces in his children?
Am I busy trying to make fruit when I should be pushing roots down into the soil?

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

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:

Where am I trying to put new wine into an old wineskin instead of replacing it?
Do I find myself desiring the old wineskin?

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).

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

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:

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

Monday, February 17, 2014

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:

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

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!

Sunday, February 16, 2014

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!

Saturday, February 15, 2014

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:

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?
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?

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.

God’s grace upon her (verses 47-49)

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

God’s mercy and power upon those who fear him (verses 50-53)

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.
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.

God’s keeping of his covenant with the true children of Abraham (verses 54-55)

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!

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Friday, February 21, 2014

Exodus 4; Luke 7

Daily Catechism

Exodus 4

Luke 7

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Exodus 3; Luke 6

Daily Catechism

Exodus 3

Luke 6

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Exodus 2; Luke 5

Daily Catechism

Exodus 2

Luke 5

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Exodus 1; Luke 4

Daily Catechism

Exodus 1

Luke 4

Monday, February 17, 2014

Genesis 50; Luke 3

Daily Catechism

Genesis 50

Luke 3

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Genesis 49; Luke 2

Daily Catechism

Genesis 49

Luke 2

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Genesis 48; Luke 1:39-80

Daily Catechism

Genesis 48

Luke 1:39-80