You will need your Bible today.
The problem with having your faith tested it that it requires faith.
"Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1 (might be worth memorizing this verse, we'll use it a lot in the next few weeks)
Abram, I imagine, was pretty excited about all the promises that God had given to him. It took him no time to pack up the his wife, nephew and all their stuff after his father died and get going into Canaan. On top of blessings, fame, more descendants that can be counted, protection, and all people in the earth receiving blessing through him, when he entered into Canaan, God promised him the land as well.
I wonder if Abram was just a little bit impatient for all the promises to be fulfilled? When he watched as the land turned to dust and he fled to the more fertile lands of Egypt, I wonder if he thought he was crazy to have believed in God's promises? Certainly he could no longer imagine how things could turn out the way God said they would.
When God promises big stuff it always requires big faith. Big stuff for you might be a spouse, a home, a job, a child. It could be healing from cancer, surviving loss, or waiting on someone you love to fall in love with Jesus. What might be a huge promise for me, might not even register for you, but that doesn't mean its small. We don't all get promised land, fame and kingdoms, but God does give us all promises that will stretch our faith, if we are willing to obey Him.
God wants good things for us, but the most important thing He wants from us is faith. God wants us to trust Him, even when we don't fully understand His plan.
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, ' declares the LORD. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8 & 9
Please read Genesis 13:1-17.
Abram's lack of faith while in Egypt had led to a pretty humiliating situation. When his human eyes couldn't see the goodness of the LORD, he started to question His ability to fulfill any of the promises. Abram decided to take matters into his own hands to protect himself and as a result lost his wife and his dignity. God, who is always faithful, had to restore what Abram had messed up. With his wife and all his belongings returned to him, Abram headed back to Canaan.
"From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where he tent had been earlier and where he have first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the LORD." Genesis 13:3 & 4
There are really only two options when we sin. We can hide like Adam and Eve did, embarrassed and ashamed or we can acknowledge that we made a mistake and run back to the arms of our Savior. Our human pride seems to prefer hiding, God, however wants repentance. Repentance implies changing direction, turning from the path of sin toward the path of righteousness, toward God.* Abram, in the most literal since turned around and headed straight toward where he knew God was. Abram repented of his lack of faith and positioned himself where he knew God was with him.
Soon after arriving in Bethel, trouble began. Abram had been blessed (even through his disobedience) and become very wealthy. Lot, his nephew had also reaped the rewards of God's promise to Abram, and was wealthy in his own right. Too much money, stuff and apparently animals became too much for the land they shared so the obvious choice was to part ways.
Abram was the head of the household, and Lot's elder, it was his right to choose which plot of land he wanted and send Lot off somewhere else, but he let Lot decide.** The plains of the Jordan were fertile pasture land, with a few cities that could be traded with. From where Abram and Lot were standing it was the best land in sight. Lot chose the plain and pitched his tent close to the city of Sodom, while Abram headed back up into the mountains toward Hebron, about 40 miles away.*** On the way God renewed his promise to Abram that all the land he saw would belong to his offspring, forever.
Sometimes (most of the time) faith is believing despite what you see. Through Abram's repentance, his faith had grown. He had learned that God was faithful, even when the land turned to dust, and more importantly, even when he had made a mess. When the time came to separate from Lot, Abram didn't need to chose what looked like the best of the land, he knew that God could bless him anywhere, so he let Lot have the choice, and God blessed him for his faith.
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for." Hebrews 11:1 & 2
* Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible, NIV. Chattanooga, TN. AMG Publishers. 1996. pg. 1651
** Arnold, Bill T. Encountering the Book of Genesis. Grand Rapids, MI. Baker Books. 2008. pg. 75
*** Walton, John H. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary Volume 1. Grand Rapids, MI. Zondervan. 2009. pg. 77
Monday, May 31, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
Abraham:7 big blessings and one big Oops Day 3
You will need your Bible today.
Jesus said, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and i in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5
Jesus is the source of all righteousness, apart from Him nothing is good enough, yet somehow we all seem to try to do things on our own from time to time. There is this inner struggle to let God have control of our lives, while there is a part of us doesn't want to let go. Paul calls it our sinful nature, or flesh.
Today we'll see Abram, in the flesh.
Please read Genesis 12:10-20
I don't think it's any coincident that mountains always come with valleys. I imagine as Abram was standing on mountains of Canaan (where we left him last time), he was pretty glad he had obeyed the LORD and traveled to this new and strange place. Every pasture, highland and city as far as his eyes could see would one day belong to his children. What an awesome blessing, but soon a famine over took the land and there wasn't enough food or water for everyone. I can't speak for Abram but I'd suddenly feel pretty disappointed with my new inheritance. Disappointed or not, Abram packed up the little family and moved south into Egypt.
Few things can send us so quickly into our flesh as fear. The very natural need to feel safe permeates almost everything we do. In the car we put on our seat belts, follow the rules of the road, buy cars with airbags, and crumple zones. At home we wash our vegetables, throw away bad meat, lock our doors, install smoke detectors, baby gates, outlet covers, and security alarms. Even if it isn't at the forefront for your mind, safety is always underlying everything you do. Making wise choices to keep you and your family safe isn't sin, but being in constant fear for your safety makes you vulnerable.
If fear make you vulnerable, then fear coupled with disappointment is a disaster in the making. Abram was clearly worried that his beautiful wife would attract the wrong kind of attention. He was afraid that Egyptians would kill him so that they could possess her. God had promised Abram that He would protect him and keep him safe, but Abram's fear got the best of him and he chose to handle the situation himself. Maybe after watching his promised land turn to dust in the famine, he wasn't feeling so good about God's promises anymore.
God however was faithful, He always is. When Abram lost his wife to the Pharaoh, God struck his entire household with a horrible illness. God also apparently revealed to Pharaoh the reason for the illness, he was a little upset with Abram for the little ruse.
Abram's deception cost him. He had broken faith with the LORD, lied to the Pharaoh, and compromised his wife's dignity. He was still alive but at a price, and it still took the LORD's faithfulness to get him out of the predicament that he put himself in. Under God's protection, Abram was able to leave Egypt with his wife and all his belongings and travel safely back toward Canaan.
Faith takes constant effort. Everyday we have to chose to follow Jesus and fight the urge to try life on our own. Blessings and joy can make faith seem a little easier, while disappointment and fear can knock your feet out from under you. God, however is always faithful. He promises to never leave or forsake us, to give us an abundant life and home with Him in eternity. When our eyes are on Him we can walk through the valleys of our lives without fear, while holding onto the joy of our last mountain top and the hope for the next one. Everyone stumbles, everyone falls sometimes, the question is do you sit down and pout or dust yourself off and refocus on Jesus?
"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. for the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. they are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want." Galatians 5:16 & 17
Jesus said, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and i in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5
Jesus is the source of all righteousness, apart from Him nothing is good enough, yet somehow we all seem to try to do things on our own from time to time. There is this inner struggle to let God have control of our lives, while there is a part of us doesn't want to let go. Paul calls it our sinful nature, or flesh.
Today we'll see Abram, in the flesh.
Please read Genesis 12:10-20
I don't think it's any coincident that mountains always come with valleys. I imagine as Abram was standing on mountains of Canaan (where we left him last time), he was pretty glad he had obeyed the LORD and traveled to this new and strange place. Every pasture, highland and city as far as his eyes could see would one day belong to his children. What an awesome blessing, but soon a famine over took the land and there wasn't enough food or water for everyone. I can't speak for Abram but I'd suddenly feel pretty disappointed with my new inheritance. Disappointed or not, Abram packed up the little family and moved south into Egypt.
Few things can send us so quickly into our flesh as fear. The very natural need to feel safe permeates almost everything we do. In the car we put on our seat belts, follow the rules of the road, buy cars with airbags, and crumple zones. At home we wash our vegetables, throw away bad meat, lock our doors, install smoke detectors, baby gates, outlet covers, and security alarms. Even if it isn't at the forefront for your mind, safety is always underlying everything you do. Making wise choices to keep you and your family safe isn't sin, but being in constant fear for your safety makes you vulnerable.
If fear make you vulnerable, then fear coupled with disappointment is a disaster in the making. Abram was clearly worried that his beautiful wife would attract the wrong kind of attention. He was afraid that Egyptians would kill him so that they could possess her. God had promised Abram that He would protect him and keep him safe, but Abram's fear got the best of him and he chose to handle the situation himself. Maybe after watching his promised land turn to dust in the famine, he wasn't feeling so good about God's promises anymore.
God however was faithful, He always is. When Abram lost his wife to the Pharaoh, God struck his entire household with a horrible illness. God also apparently revealed to Pharaoh the reason for the illness, he was a little upset with Abram for the little ruse.
Abram's deception cost him. He had broken faith with the LORD, lied to the Pharaoh, and compromised his wife's dignity. He was still alive but at a price, and it still took the LORD's faithfulness to get him out of the predicament that he put himself in. Under God's protection, Abram was able to leave Egypt with his wife and all his belongings and travel safely back toward Canaan.
Faith takes constant effort. Everyday we have to chose to follow Jesus and fight the urge to try life on our own. Blessings and joy can make faith seem a little easier, while disappointment and fear can knock your feet out from under you. God, however is always faithful. He promises to never leave or forsake us, to give us an abundant life and home with Him in eternity. When our eyes are on Him we can walk through the valleys of our lives without fear, while holding onto the joy of our last mountain top and the hope for the next one. Everyone stumbles, everyone falls sometimes, the question is do you sit down and pout or dust yourself off and refocus on Jesus?
"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. for the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. they are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want." Galatians 5:16 & 17
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Abraham:7 big blessings and one big Oops Day 2
It's really easy to idealize our heroes. Somehow it just isn't enough that their behavior was heroic, we need to believe that they are special, different, unique in their heroism. Of course maybe our intentions aren't so grand. Possibly we want to believe that there is something special about them that gave them the strength, or ability so we don't have to turn the mirror back on ourselves.
Hebrew lore is full of stories about Abraham. Many of the stories center around his righteousness even as a child. Abraham grew up in Ur, one of the capital cities for moon-god worship. His father Terah, according to Joshua 24:2, worshipped other gods, and many of his family member's names were associated with the moon-god. Yet according to tradition Abraham was supposedly defiant against his father's idol worship and chose to worship the LORD.*
It isn't impossible that Abram worshipped the LORD, after all Shem, Noah's son was still alive, maybe he preached the one true God to Abram. Yet it is equally likely that having grown up in a pagan home, surrounded by idolatry and moon-god worship, that Abram too worshipped idols. Still the Bible is completely silent on Abram's faith prior to God's call. Whether Abram was a pagan idol worshipper or the only faithful among idolaters,what is most important is that when he came face to face with the LORD, he didn't just worship Him, he obeyed.
"The LORD had said to Abram,"Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you...So Abram left, as the LORD had told him." Genesis 12: 1 & 4a The Bible makes no claim that Abram was unique, only that he was willing to obey God. God honored him for his obedience with the greatest blessings mankind could imagine.
"I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you." Genesis 2a
Abram's wife Sarai was unable to have children. Infertility can be devastating. A woman's body was created to make babies. Few things can make a woman feel less womanly and more insecure than infertility. In ancient times people believed fertility was a gift from the gods, and being barren a curse. Children were not just important as heirs and symbols of status, but they were vital to keep the family line going. Abram had every right, in his culture, to abandon his wife for her failure, and she could have been shunned by society for having angered the gods.** Sarai may have been one of the most beautiful women in the world, but her inability to give Abram an heir put her on shaky ground.
God's very first promise to Abram is that He will bless him with so many children that they will be their own nation. God promised to take one of Abram's (and his cultures) biggest insecurities and turn it into countless blessings. God's promise not only blessed Abram but also demonstrated God's love for Sarai and the importance of fidelity in marriage.
"I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing" Genesis 12:2b
Even in ancient times everybody wanted to be somebody. The whole point to the tower of Babel was that the people wanted to make a name for themselves. I heard the most depressing survey a few months ago. Most teens (who took the survey) no longer want to grow up to doctors, astronauts, actors or musicians, they just want to be famous. They want to live the life of the people they see on TV and in movies, yet they don't have desire to accomplish anything. God cannot honor our selfish desire to be famous, yet when we are willing to follow Him, He will make a name for us. When we are willing to be used by God to bless others, He sets us apart and makes us special. God made Abram's name so great that we're still talking about him thousands of years later. God wants us to have a legacy, but one based on obedience to Him.
"I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse" Genesis 12:3a
Fear can be debilitating. Abram would be an alien in Canaan. He would not have any of the rights of a citizen, and he would require the kindness and permission of the local landowners when he wanted to settle in any area or let his flocks and herds graze.*** He would have no rights, and no protection by the laws of the land.
God promised Abram that He would provide his protection. He had nothing to fear when he entered into Canaan because God was going before him. God alone has the authority to protect and provide, and He gave His word to Abram.
"And all peoples on the earth will be blessed through you." Genesis 12:3b
The greatest blessing that God has given was Jesus. Nothing even comes close to how amazing it is that the God of the Universe would send His only Son to die so that we could have a relationship with Him! Jesus is the most loving, most generous, most unbelievable gift God could give and He promised Him to Abram.
I don't know whether Abram understood right away what God meant by the whole "all peoples on earth will be blessed through you," but certainly over time we'll see that he figured it out. Either way, Abram believed that God had something awesome in store for him and he packed up his wife, nephew and all their stuff and set out right away for Canaan. When they arrive God had one more promise to add, He promised Abram that someday his descendants would be given the land.
Abram left his home, his extended family, a country were he could most certainly thrive to follow after the LORD. In return God gave him a new home, with the promise of vast descendants and land that they would someday thrive in. God doesn't just take things away, He replaces them with things that are better.
I don't know what kind of boy Abram was. Maybe he was he did stand out as righteous in a pagan land, but I tend to think he was just like anybody else on his block. It might be nice to think that he was righteous from birth, it certainly would give us a little scapegoat, but the Bible tells us that only Jesus was righteous and He is who makes us righteous. In Him we can be heroes of our faith just like Abraham.
* Moore, Beth. The Patriarchs: Encountering the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Nashville, TN. LifeWay Press. 2005. pg. 12
** Walton, John H. Zondervan Illustarted Bible Backgrounds Commentary Volume 1. Grand Rapids, MI. 2009. pg. 68-69
*** Staliman, Robert. "A Wandering Aramean" in They Spoke From God: A Survey of the Old Testament. Edited by William C. Williams. Springfield, MO. Gospel Publishing House. 2003. pg 184-185
Hebrew lore is full of stories about Abraham. Many of the stories center around his righteousness even as a child. Abraham grew up in Ur, one of the capital cities for moon-god worship. His father Terah, according to Joshua 24:2, worshipped other gods, and many of his family member's names were associated with the moon-god. Yet according to tradition Abraham was supposedly defiant against his father's idol worship and chose to worship the LORD.*
It isn't impossible that Abram worshipped the LORD, after all Shem, Noah's son was still alive, maybe he preached the one true God to Abram. Yet it is equally likely that having grown up in a pagan home, surrounded by idolatry and moon-god worship, that Abram too worshipped idols. Still the Bible is completely silent on Abram's faith prior to God's call. Whether Abram was a pagan idol worshipper or the only faithful among idolaters,what is most important is that when he came face to face with the LORD, he didn't just worship Him, he obeyed.
"The LORD had said to Abram,"Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you...So Abram left, as the LORD had told him." Genesis 12: 1 & 4a The Bible makes no claim that Abram was unique, only that he was willing to obey God. God honored him for his obedience with the greatest blessings mankind could imagine.
"I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you." Genesis 2a
Abram's wife Sarai was unable to have children. Infertility can be devastating. A woman's body was created to make babies. Few things can make a woman feel less womanly and more insecure than infertility. In ancient times people believed fertility was a gift from the gods, and being barren a curse. Children were not just important as heirs and symbols of status, but they were vital to keep the family line going. Abram had every right, in his culture, to abandon his wife for her failure, and she could have been shunned by society for having angered the gods.** Sarai may have been one of the most beautiful women in the world, but her inability to give Abram an heir put her on shaky ground.
God's very first promise to Abram is that He will bless him with so many children that they will be their own nation. God promised to take one of Abram's (and his cultures) biggest insecurities and turn it into countless blessings. God's promise not only blessed Abram but also demonstrated God's love for Sarai and the importance of fidelity in marriage.
"I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing" Genesis 12:2b
Even in ancient times everybody wanted to be somebody. The whole point to the tower of Babel was that the people wanted to make a name for themselves. I heard the most depressing survey a few months ago. Most teens (who took the survey) no longer want to grow up to doctors, astronauts, actors or musicians, they just want to be famous. They want to live the life of the people they see on TV and in movies, yet they don't have desire to accomplish anything. God cannot honor our selfish desire to be famous, yet when we are willing to follow Him, He will make a name for us. When we are willing to be used by God to bless others, He sets us apart and makes us special. God made Abram's name so great that we're still talking about him thousands of years later. God wants us to have a legacy, but one based on obedience to Him.
"I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse" Genesis 12:3a
Fear can be debilitating. Abram would be an alien in Canaan. He would not have any of the rights of a citizen, and he would require the kindness and permission of the local landowners when he wanted to settle in any area or let his flocks and herds graze.*** He would have no rights, and no protection by the laws of the land.
God promised Abram that He would provide his protection. He had nothing to fear when he entered into Canaan because God was going before him. God alone has the authority to protect and provide, and He gave His word to Abram.
"And all peoples on the earth will be blessed through you." Genesis 12:3b
The greatest blessing that God has given was Jesus. Nothing even comes close to how amazing it is that the God of the Universe would send His only Son to die so that we could have a relationship with Him! Jesus is the most loving, most generous, most unbelievable gift God could give and He promised Him to Abram.
I don't know whether Abram understood right away what God meant by the whole "all peoples on earth will be blessed through you," but certainly over time we'll see that he figured it out. Either way, Abram believed that God had something awesome in store for him and he packed up his wife, nephew and all their stuff and set out right away for Canaan. When they arrive God had one more promise to add, He promised Abram that someday his descendants would be given the land.
Abram left his home, his extended family, a country were he could most certainly thrive to follow after the LORD. In return God gave him a new home, with the promise of vast descendants and land that they would someday thrive in. God doesn't just take things away, He replaces them with things that are better.
I don't know what kind of boy Abram was. Maybe he was he did stand out as righteous in a pagan land, but I tend to think he was just like anybody else on his block. It might be nice to think that he was righteous from birth, it certainly would give us a little scapegoat, but the Bible tells us that only Jesus was righteous and He is who makes us righteous. In Him we can be heroes of our faith just like Abraham.
* Moore, Beth. The Patriarchs: Encountering the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Nashville, TN. LifeWay Press. 2005. pg. 12
** Walton, John H. Zondervan Illustarted Bible Backgrounds Commentary Volume 1. Grand Rapids, MI. 2009. pg. 68-69
*** Staliman, Robert. "A Wandering Aramean" in They Spoke From God: A Survey of the Old Testament. Edited by William C. Williams. Springfield, MO. Gospel Publishing House. 2003. pg 184-185
Monday, May 24, 2010
Abraham:7 big blessing and one big Oops Day 1
You will need your Bible today.
What are the most important things in your life? Family, home, financial security, friends, maybe status, or education is really important to you. Most of us (at least if you are doing a daily Bible Study) would say that God is the #1 thing on our list, and we know He should be, but would you be willing to give up everything else on your list for Him? If God asked you to pack up and leave the town you have spent your whole life in would you? What if He told you to quite your job without the security of a new one? Could you leave your family and friends behind and start fresh in a new and completely different place if He asked?
Even in the age of Facebook, email, cell phones and digital pictures leaving what you know and are comfortable with isn't easy. Imagine leaving everything behind knowing you will probably never hear from, or see your family and friends again, hitting the road without GPS, googlemaps or even an atlas. For many of us that would be one of the scariest things imaginable.
Please Read Genesis 11:27- 12:9
The Ur that Abram was from was most likely in the southern tip of Mesopotamia, on the southern edge of the Eurphrates River, near the Persian Gulf. Ur was one of the most cosmopolitian cities in the Ancient Near East. It was a center for manufacturing, shipping and trade, had feritile land for farming, and a huge temple to the popular moon-god, Sin.* Life in Ur was safe, comfortable, and offered plenty of potential for getting rich. Abraham had been born and raised in Ur. Whether he was a city dweller, or his family farmed land outside the city limits, he was used to a certain standard of living.
In contrast Canaan was more like the wild west. Though it was well positioned on the trade routes of the Fertile Cresant, moving goods from Mesopotamia around the desert and down into Egypt, it wasn't heavily populated. There were several nomadic groups that dwelt in Canaan and some had begun to settle into towns and cities. However it was wild and rustic and compared to Ur and the cities of Mesopotamia, it was uncivilized and backward.** God told Abram to leave not just the world he knew, but all the comforts of a large urban area and spend the rest of his life living in a tent, in a strange, unsophisticated, rural country.
According to Genesis 11:31, it would seem that Terah, Abram's father, was the leader of the little family group that set out from Ur headed to Canaan, yet Acts 7 tells us that the LORD had appeared to Abram in Ur. In ancient times the eldest male was always the head of the household. Abram would most likely have gone to his father with the Words the LORD had said to him. One of Terah's sons had died prematurely leaving a grandson, Lot to be looked after, while his son Nahor had a wife and family to look after. It makes sence that when Abram came to his father with plans to travel to the east that Terah would not want him to travel alone. However it also makes since that Terah, having not heard from the LORD himself, and being the patriarch of the family would have decided to travel to the edge of Mesopotamia, but no futher. Haran was another bustling city about 700 mile from Ur, and oddly about 80 miles off the path to Canaan.*** He had allowed Abram to leave Ur, but was probably not willing go further then the world he knew and was comfortable in.
I have a very dear friend who in her mid 20s was called to the mission field. She was young, beautiful and full of life and absolutely on fire for the Lord. God didn't just call her to the mission field, He called her to some of the darkest, feared, occult filled countried in the world. Her parents wanted her to get married, have babies, and have a safe career, to do all the normal, healthy things that our culture desires. They too loved the Lord, but they were terrified for their precious daughter and were relentless in trying to discourage her from her calling. They wanted her to love God and obey Him, just not in such scary, unknown places. It was very hard for my friend to resist her parents but she chose to obey God. It wasn't easy but she'll tell you it was worth it.
Sometimes, no matter how well meaning, the people we love hinder our walk with God. Even Christian families, and friends can have a hard time supporting us when God calls us to something unknown, or countercultural. It is human nature to prefer what is safe, comfortable and known, but God wants us to step out in faith. We need to trust Him, even when it flies in the face of the people we love. Its not that we shouldn't love and honor our friends and family, only that we must love and honor God more.
God may never ask you to leave the life you have, to leave your job, or your home. He may never ask you to travel to strange and scary countries, or sell all your belongings and give the money to the poor, but He will ask you to trust Him. Someday you will have to step out in faith in one way or another. What will you chose?
Abram, left Ur and landed in Haran for a few years, but when his father died he took off again for Canaan. Abram, may have stalled out for a bit, but he took a huge leap of faith and followed the LORD. The blessings he received have changed this world forever. What kind of influence do you have?
"If you love me, you will obey my command." John 14:15
* Halley, Henry H. Halley's Bible Handbook. Grand Rapids, MI. Zondervan Publishing House. 1965. pg. 88-89
What are the most important things in your life? Family, home, financial security, friends, maybe status, or education is really important to you. Most of us (at least if you are doing a daily Bible Study) would say that God is the #1 thing on our list, and we know He should be, but would you be willing to give up everything else on your list for Him? If God asked you to pack up and leave the town you have spent your whole life in would you? What if He told you to quite your job without the security of a new one? Could you leave your family and friends behind and start fresh in a new and completely different place if He asked?
Even in the age of Facebook, email, cell phones and digital pictures leaving what you know and are comfortable with isn't easy. Imagine leaving everything behind knowing you will probably never hear from, or see your family and friends again, hitting the road without GPS, googlemaps or even an atlas. For many of us that would be one of the scariest things imaginable.
Please Read Genesis 11:27- 12:9
The Ur that Abram was from was most likely in the southern tip of Mesopotamia, on the southern edge of the Eurphrates River, near the Persian Gulf. Ur was one of the most cosmopolitian cities in the Ancient Near East. It was a center for manufacturing, shipping and trade, had feritile land for farming, and a huge temple to the popular moon-god, Sin.* Life in Ur was safe, comfortable, and offered plenty of potential for getting rich. Abraham had been born and raised in Ur. Whether he was a city dweller, or his family farmed land outside the city limits, he was used to a certain standard of living.
In contrast Canaan was more like the wild west. Though it was well positioned on the trade routes of the Fertile Cresant, moving goods from Mesopotamia around the desert and down into Egypt, it wasn't heavily populated. There were several nomadic groups that dwelt in Canaan and some had begun to settle into towns and cities. However it was wild and rustic and compared to Ur and the cities of Mesopotamia, it was uncivilized and backward.** God told Abram to leave not just the world he knew, but all the comforts of a large urban area and spend the rest of his life living in a tent, in a strange, unsophisticated, rural country.
According to Genesis 11:31, it would seem that Terah, Abram's father, was the leader of the little family group that set out from Ur headed to Canaan, yet Acts 7 tells us that the LORD had appeared to Abram in Ur. In ancient times the eldest male was always the head of the household. Abram would most likely have gone to his father with the Words the LORD had said to him. One of Terah's sons had died prematurely leaving a grandson, Lot to be looked after, while his son Nahor had a wife and family to look after. It makes sence that when Abram came to his father with plans to travel to the east that Terah would not want him to travel alone. However it also makes since that Terah, having not heard from the LORD himself, and being the patriarch of the family would have decided to travel to the edge of Mesopotamia, but no futher. Haran was another bustling city about 700 mile from Ur, and oddly about 80 miles off the path to Canaan.*** He had allowed Abram to leave Ur, but was probably not willing go further then the world he knew and was comfortable in.
I have a very dear friend who in her mid 20s was called to the mission field. She was young, beautiful and full of life and absolutely on fire for the Lord. God didn't just call her to the mission field, He called her to some of the darkest, feared, occult filled countried in the world. Her parents wanted her to get married, have babies, and have a safe career, to do all the normal, healthy things that our culture desires. They too loved the Lord, but they were terrified for their precious daughter and were relentless in trying to discourage her from her calling. They wanted her to love God and obey Him, just not in such scary, unknown places. It was very hard for my friend to resist her parents but she chose to obey God. It wasn't easy but she'll tell you it was worth it.
Sometimes, no matter how well meaning, the people we love hinder our walk with God. Even Christian families, and friends can have a hard time supporting us when God calls us to something unknown, or countercultural. It is human nature to prefer what is safe, comfortable and known, but God wants us to step out in faith. We need to trust Him, even when it flies in the face of the people we love. Its not that we shouldn't love and honor our friends and family, only that we must love and honor God more.
God may never ask you to leave the life you have, to leave your job, or your home. He may never ask you to travel to strange and scary countries, or sell all your belongings and give the money to the poor, but He will ask you to trust Him. Someday you will have to step out in faith in one way or another. What will you chose?
Abram, left Ur and landed in Haran for a few years, but when his father died he took off again for Canaan. Abram, may have stalled out for a bit, but he took a huge leap of faith and followed the LORD. The blessings he received have changed this world forever. What kind of influence do you have?
"If you love me, you will obey my command." John 14:15
* Halley, Henry H. Halley's Bible Handbook. Grand Rapids, MI. Zondervan Publishing House. 1965. pg. 88-89
** Mullins, Robert. "What was the Old Testament World?" in They Spoke From God: A Survey of the Old Testament. edited by William C. Williams. Springfield, MO. Gospel Publishing House. 2003. pg. 151-171
*** Walton, John H. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary Volume 1. Grand Rapids, MI. Zondervan. 2009. pg. 67-68
Friday, May 21, 2010
Intro to Abraham Day 2
You will need your Bible today
One of my favorite things about the Bible (okay I have lots of favorites when it come to Scripture) is that no ones life is sugar coated. In the world of academia, scholars love to argue about how accurate a work of history can be. It is generally thought that history is written by the victors and therefore one sided. Though to some degree this is true, certainly many ancient peoples have had their history absorbed into that of a conquering nation, but it isn't always the case. Throughout the Old Testament Israel is as often (maybe more often) captive to a foreign nation as they are captors. In the New Testament Israel is under the thumb of Rome, clearly the history in the Bible is not from the perspective of the victor. Scripture is about Redemption, it is filled with flawed people, poor choices, sinful behavior and all the negative consequences that come with sin. Knowing that the great godly men and women of the Bible messed up over and over again and still managed to please God should give us hope. We would never be able to relate to Abraham if the only parts of his life that were written in Scripture were his triumphs. What makes Abraham great is that even in his many failures, he grew toward God, he let them humble him and grow his faith. When Abraham took one step backward, he turned around and took two steps forward. That is exactly what we are to do. There is no avoiding mistakes, we will make them. The goal is to learn from them, grow closer to God and begin to make fewer mistakes. We'll never be perfect this side of Heaven, but neither was Abraham. God doesn't ask us to be perfect, He asks us to cling to Him, to trust Him, to follow Him.
We will find as we study Abraham that there are many ways in which his relationship with the LORD is very similar to Christians today. Today we are going to look at just one of the similarities, the one that allowed Abraham to press on toward God even when he messed up.
Please read Acts 7:2-8
2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that all Scripture is God-breathed, not some of it, all of it. Therefore we can trust that when the New Testament speaks about the Old Testament we receiving further, deeper or clearer understanding of what happened in the past. Stephen's speech to the Sanhedrin (the Jewish ruling party) gives a general overview of the history of Israel, but he reveals a detail about father Abraham that we don't find in Genesis, its this detail that to me makes all the difference.
Genesis 12 starts out, "The LORD said to Abram," we don't know from the Genesis text how Abram heard the LORD, only that he did and that he obeyed. In Acts 7:2, Stephen says that, "The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham." I don't know about you, but to me that makes a huge difference! I know people who have read the Bible, literally read the Word of God, but still don't follow Him. There are people sitting in pews in our churches that hear the sermons every week, but spend the rest of the week denying Christ with their lives. What makes the difference? A face to face encounter with the Most High God!
I don't usually like to tell stories (I'm really a bad storyteller), especially ones not in the Bible but I heard this story on the radio a few months ago and it has stuck with me.
A young man from the church wanted to have a strong, life long relationship with God, so he went to speak with one of the elders in his church. The young man found the elder sitting on the front porch with his dog. He said to him, "Sir, how is it that you have followed the Lord all of your days with passion and faith? Most men I know start out passionate but eventually have seasons of doubt or backsliding, you never have." The elder said to the young man, "Do you see my dog here lying on the porch? A few weeks ago he saw a rabbit run through the yard and he took off after it. During the chase many of the neighborhood dogs, hearing the excitement joined in following after my dog. After a while though the other dogs would slow down and eventually went home. The only one that continued the chase was my dog." The young man looked at the elder a bit puzzled and asked, " What does that have to do with faith?" The elder smiled at the young man and said, "The difference between my dog and all the others was that while the others heard the barking and excitement, my dog was the only one who actually saw the rabbit." How ever the LORD appeared to Abraham, in a dream, in person, whatever, Abraham didn't just hear the Word, he experienced His presence and took off after Him. James 2:23 tells us that Abraham was called "God's friend!" Abraham met God and then pursued a relationship with Him, a personal relationship. Abraham knew God to be trust worthy, so he was able to trust Him. He also knew that God was faithful and forgiving, so when he messed up he knew God would forgive him.
All of the "greats" in the Bible were people who actually experience God. When you've know the power of His love and goodness all you want is more. Moses encountered God on the side of Mount Sinai and because of his relationship with God he endured 40 years in the desert with a grumbling, grouchy, sometimes hostile nation. Paul suffered his entire ministry.
"I have worked harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the county, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches." 2 Corinthians 11:23-29
And yet toward the end of his life Paul wrote to Timothy;
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." 2 Timothy 4:7
How did Paul keep the faith? He encountered God on the road to Damascus, he experienced the Lord and knew that God was faithful.
Whats the difference between Christians who fill up pews and Christians who live for the Lord? Knowing God, not just with your head but with your heart as well. As Christians we receive the filling of the Holy Spirit, we can know God even more intimately then Abraham did.
We will spend the next several weeks studying the life of Abraham. We will walk with him as he makes some seemingly stupid mistakes, sometimes more then once. We will also witness him become a changed man, a man that is called God's friend. Abraham didn't just know of God, he actually knew God and we will see that that is what make the difference.
If you want a victorious life, be God's friend.
"Taste and see that the LORD is good;; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." Psalm 34:8
One of my favorite things about the Bible (okay I have lots of favorites when it come to Scripture) is that no ones life is sugar coated. In the world of academia, scholars love to argue about how accurate a work of history can be. It is generally thought that history is written by the victors and therefore one sided. Though to some degree this is true, certainly many ancient peoples have had their history absorbed into that of a conquering nation, but it isn't always the case. Throughout the Old Testament Israel is as often (maybe more often) captive to a foreign nation as they are captors. In the New Testament Israel is under the thumb of Rome, clearly the history in the Bible is not from the perspective of the victor. Scripture is about Redemption, it is filled with flawed people, poor choices, sinful behavior and all the negative consequences that come with sin. Knowing that the great godly men and women of the Bible messed up over and over again and still managed to please God should give us hope. We would never be able to relate to Abraham if the only parts of his life that were written in Scripture were his triumphs. What makes Abraham great is that even in his many failures, he grew toward God, he let them humble him and grow his faith. When Abraham took one step backward, he turned around and took two steps forward. That is exactly what we are to do. There is no avoiding mistakes, we will make them. The goal is to learn from them, grow closer to God and begin to make fewer mistakes. We'll never be perfect this side of Heaven, but neither was Abraham. God doesn't ask us to be perfect, He asks us to cling to Him, to trust Him, to follow Him.
We will find as we study Abraham that there are many ways in which his relationship with the LORD is very similar to Christians today. Today we are going to look at just one of the similarities, the one that allowed Abraham to press on toward God even when he messed up.
Please read Acts 7:2-8
2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that all Scripture is God-breathed, not some of it, all of it. Therefore we can trust that when the New Testament speaks about the Old Testament we receiving further, deeper or clearer understanding of what happened in the past. Stephen's speech to the Sanhedrin (the Jewish ruling party) gives a general overview of the history of Israel, but he reveals a detail about father Abraham that we don't find in Genesis, its this detail that to me makes all the difference.
Genesis 12 starts out, "The LORD said to Abram," we don't know from the Genesis text how Abram heard the LORD, only that he did and that he obeyed. In Acts 7:2, Stephen says that, "The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham." I don't know about you, but to me that makes a huge difference! I know people who have read the Bible, literally read the Word of God, but still don't follow Him. There are people sitting in pews in our churches that hear the sermons every week, but spend the rest of the week denying Christ with their lives. What makes the difference? A face to face encounter with the Most High God!
I don't usually like to tell stories (I'm really a bad storyteller), especially ones not in the Bible but I heard this story on the radio a few months ago and it has stuck with me.
A young man from the church wanted to have a strong, life long relationship with God, so he went to speak with one of the elders in his church. The young man found the elder sitting on the front porch with his dog. He said to him, "Sir, how is it that you have followed the Lord all of your days with passion and faith? Most men I know start out passionate but eventually have seasons of doubt or backsliding, you never have." The elder said to the young man, "Do you see my dog here lying on the porch? A few weeks ago he saw a rabbit run through the yard and he took off after it. During the chase many of the neighborhood dogs, hearing the excitement joined in following after my dog. After a while though the other dogs would slow down and eventually went home. The only one that continued the chase was my dog." The young man looked at the elder a bit puzzled and asked, " What does that have to do with faith?" The elder smiled at the young man and said, "The difference between my dog and all the others was that while the others heard the barking and excitement, my dog was the only one who actually saw the rabbit." How ever the LORD appeared to Abraham, in a dream, in person, whatever, Abraham didn't just hear the Word, he experienced His presence and took off after Him. James 2:23 tells us that Abraham was called "God's friend!" Abraham met God and then pursued a relationship with Him, a personal relationship. Abraham knew God to be trust worthy, so he was able to trust Him. He also knew that God was faithful and forgiving, so when he messed up he knew God would forgive him.
All of the "greats" in the Bible were people who actually experience God. When you've know the power of His love and goodness all you want is more. Moses encountered God on the side of Mount Sinai and because of his relationship with God he endured 40 years in the desert with a grumbling, grouchy, sometimes hostile nation. Paul suffered his entire ministry.
"I have worked harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the county, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches." 2 Corinthians 11:23-29
And yet toward the end of his life Paul wrote to Timothy;
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." 2 Timothy 4:7
How did Paul keep the faith? He encountered God on the road to Damascus, he experienced the Lord and knew that God was faithful.
Whats the difference between Christians who fill up pews and Christians who live for the Lord? Knowing God, not just with your head but with your heart as well. As Christians we receive the filling of the Holy Spirit, we can know God even more intimately then Abraham did.
We will spend the next several weeks studying the life of Abraham. We will walk with him as he makes some seemingly stupid mistakes, sometimes more then once. We will also witness him become a changed man, a man that is called God's friend. Abraham didn't just know of God, he actually knew God and we will see that that is what make the difference.
If you want a victorious life, be God's friend.
"Taste and see that the LORD is good;; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." Psalm 34:8
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Intro to Abraham Day 1
You will need your Bible today
We are about to begin to study one of the most pivitol and important men in Scripture. The call and obedience of Abraham is the most tangible beginning of our Salvation. God had had it in His mind since before the creation of the world. He made clear to Adam and Eve that He would reconcile what they had broken, but it is with Abraham that we see God's plan begin to take shape. It would be thousands of years before our Savior walked the Earth, but Abraham believed God, that all that He promised would happen and his faith was counted as righteousness. Abraham's faith was remarkable. He is as important to today as a role model of faith as he is for being the forefather of Christ.
The next 2 lessons will be an introduction to Abraham before we actually start to study the Biblical text. Abraham, and by extention Israel, takes center stage from this point in Scripture, until the end of Revelation. With the exception of a few prophets, the Bible is all about God's relationship with "Abraham's offspring." The better we understand God's promises to Abraham, the better we can understand His relationship with us.
We will start with a little history. Please read Genesis 11:10-26.
In Genesis 14:13, Abram (he doesn't become Abraham until chapter 17) is refered to as a Hebrew. The name comes from his great, great, great, great grandfather, Eber. In ancient times clans were named after prominent men in their lineage. The descendants of Eber (Heber) were called the Hebrews. Abraham's children continue to be called Hebrews until God gives his grandson, Jacob, the name Israel. Jacob's descendants were called the Israelites until shortly after King Solomon died. Because of his sin, God split the nation of Israel into two, the northern kingdom, Israel, and the southern kingdom Judah. When Judah was taken into captivity by the Bablyonians around 605 BC, they began to be called Judahites, and their religion, Judahism. Over time Judahite was shortened to Jew.* Throughout the Bible, Hebrew, Israelite and Jew are interchangeable names for the Abraham's descendants.
In the New Testament the Israelites continue to take center stage, however a new dimension is added. The Gospel of Matthew traces Jesus' lineage back to Abraham, He was an Israelite, from the the tribe of Judah. Jesus' priority while He was on Earth was to preach the Kingdom to the Jews. There were a handful Gentiles that Jesus ministered to, but most all of His ministries were to Jews. Even after Jesus ascended into Heaven the disciples preached specifically to the Jew. It wasn't until a Christian hating, Jew named Saul got knocked off his horse and encountered Jesus for himself that the Word came to the Gentiles (that's everyone who isn't Jewish). Paul (he took his Roman name after he meet Jesus) spent his entire ministry preaching Jesus to Gentiles, and spreading faith in Christ to the known world.
Paul wrote 13 of the 27 books in the New Testament. One of the themes that carries through his books is the connection between faithful Jews and Christians. Ours is the same God, the same Spirit, the same Savior. The same faith that saved Abraham is the same faith that saves us. Paul makes the point that through faith in Christ we become children of Abraham.
"It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring recieved the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith...Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring- not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. Romans 4:13 & 16
"Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Understand, then , that those who believe are children of Abraham, The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you." So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith." Galatians 3:6-9
"You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourseves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and hers according to the promise." Galatians 3:26-29
In Romans 11:11-24, Paul reminds the Gentiles that we were wild olive shoots that were grafted into the olive root. As Christians we share the roots of our faith with Israel. Father Abraham becomes our father as well.
Tomorrow we will continue our introduction of Abraham, then over the next several weeks we will study his life as told through Scripture. Abraham is the father of our faith and our connection with all that God revealed through the Old Testament. Through Christ we become heirs with Abraham of the Promise. We share a vast history with Israel. I believe the best way to understand who we are is to know where we came from. As we study the life of Abraham we will begin to better understand who we are in Christ.
"Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn; look to Abraham, your father." Isaiah 51:1 & 2a
* Moore, Beth. The Patriarchs: Encountering the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Nashville, TN. Lifeway Press. 2005.pg. 9
We are about to begin to study one of the most pivitol and important men in Scripture. The call and obedience of Abraham is the most tangible beginning of our Salvation. God had had it in His mind since before the creation of the world. He made clear to Adam and Eve that He would reconcile what they had broken, but it is with Abraham that we see God's plan begin to take shape. It would be thousands of years before our Savior walked the Earth, but Abraham believed God, that all that He promised would happen and his faith was counted as righteousness. Abraham's faith was remarkable. He is as important to today as a role model of faith as he is for being the forefather of Christ.
The next 2 lessons will be an introduction to Abraham before we actually start to study the Biblical text. Abraham, and by extention Israel, takes center stage from this point in Scripture, until the end of Revelation. With the exception of a few prophets, the Bible is all about God's relationship with "Abraham's offspring." The better we understand God's promises to Abraham, the better we can understand His relationship with us.
We will start with a little history. Please read Genesis 11:10-26.
In Genesis 14:13, Abram (he doesn't become Abraham until chapter 17) is refered to as a Hebrew. The name comes from his great, great, great, great grandfather, Eber. In ancient times clans were named after prominent men in their lineage. The descendants of Eber (Heber) were called the Hebrews. Abraham's children continue to be called Hebrews until God gives his grandson, Jacob, the name Israel. Jacob's descendants were called the Israelites until shortly after King Solomon died. Because of his sin, God split the nation of Israel into two, the northern kingdom, Israel, and the southern kingdom Judah. When Judah was taken into captivity by the Bablyonians around 605 BC, they began to be called Judahites, and their religion, Judahism. Over time Judahite was shortened to Jew.* Throughout the Bible, Hebrew, Israelite and Jew are interchangeable names for the Abraham's descendants.
In the New Testament the Israelites continue to take center stage, however a new dimension is added. The Gospel of Matthew traces Jesus' lineage back to Abraham, He was an Israelite, from the the tribe of Judah. Jesus' priority while He was on Earth was to preach the Kingdom to the Jews. There were a handful Gentiles that Jesus ministered to, but most all of His ministries were to Jews. Even after Jesus ascended into Heaven the disciples preached specifically to the Jew. It wasn't until a Christian hating, Jew named Saul got knocked off his horse and encountered Jesus for himself that the Word came to the Gentiles (that's everyone who isn't Jewish). Paul (he took his Roman name after he meet Jesus) spent his entire ministry preaching Jesus to Gentiles, and spreading faith in Christ to the known world.
Paul wrote 13 of the 27 books in the New Testament. One of the themes that carries through his books is the connection between faithful Jews and Christians. Ours is the same God, the same Spirit, the same Savior. The same faith that saved Abraham is the same faith that saves us. Paul makes the point that through faith in Christ we become children of Abraham.
"It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring recieved the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith...Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring- not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. Romans 4:13 & 16
"Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Understand, then , that those who believe are children of Abraham, The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you." So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith." Galatians 3:6-9
"You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourseves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and hers according to the promise." Galatians 3:26-29
In Romans 11:11-24, Paul reminds the Gentiles that we were wild olive shoots that were grafted into the olive root. As Christians we share the roots of our faith with Israel. Father Abraham becomes our father as well.
Tomorrow we will continue our introduction of Abraham, then over the next several weeks we will study his life as told through Scripture. Abraham is the father of our faith and our connection with all that God revealed through the Old Testament. Through Christ we become heirs with Abraham of the Promise. We share a vast history with Israel. I believe the best way to understand who we are is to know where we came from. As we study the life of Abraham we will begin to better understand who we are in Christ.
"Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn; look to Abraham, your father." Isaiah 51:1 & 2a
* Moore, Beth. The Patriarchs: Encountering the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Nashville, TN. Lifeway Press. 2005.pg. 9
Monday, May 17, 2010
The Tower of Babel
You will need your Bible today.
I am the most comfortable studying the Bible when I have lot of verses from all over the Bible to connect to any particular verse of the story. For me, writing about the Flood was pure joy since there are so many ways that the Bible connects back to it. I am the least comfortable when the connections are more abstract and I have to rely on commentaries and research to pull something together. Don't get me wrong, I would never teach anything that I wasn't certain was Biblical but sometimes the threads of Scripture are more subtle, and require a broader perspective.
You may (or may not be) surprised to discover that the story of the Tower of Babel is one of those more subtle threads. It is however a very pivotal moment in God's Love Letter.
Tucked neatly between 2 sets of genealogies, these nine verses create a bridge of sorts. They connect the sin and corruption before the Flood with the world that grew out of it. The Bible is quick to point out that even before the population began to grow, sin was already fast at work corrupting the hearts and lives of men.* As the population grew, once again so did their sins. God had poured out His wrath already, now He would intervene to preserve mankind for Salvation.
Please read Genesis 11:1-9
On the surface, the Tower of Babel is a simple one. After Noah and his family got off the ark, God reiterated the command He had given to Adam and Eve.
"Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth." Genesis 9:1 (also Genesis 1:28)
He was not suggesting that they have a few kids and spread out a bit, God had created the whole earth for mankind to dwell in and He commanded them to fill it. When the people gathered together on the plain of Shinar they were being defiant, they knew God's command but willfully chose to do the opposite.
"Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.'" Genesis 11:4
The plain of Shinar was the perfect place for man to settle and make a name for himself. Shinar is nestled between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers along the Fertile Crescent. To the north of the Tigris is a vast mountainous region (Northern Iraq and Iran). The mountains were very difficult to pass, which provided protection as well as forced trade to run along the river. To the south of the Euphrates is the Arabian Desert. It too was difficult to pass through, providing protection and pushing trade up to the river region.** By building between the rivers, the city would have ample protection and be able to monopolize the trade routes on either side. The plain was also an especially fertile piece of land which would be able to produce many crops to support the city and draw traders from neighboring areas. From their human perspective, Shinar was the ultimate place to prove to God that they were capable of making their own way.
God, however desires our obedience not our innovation. God created mankind to be creative, intelligent, and curious. It is in our nature to strive and innovate, however, when we strive apart from God we end up creating new ways to sin.
We live in a world full of modern technologies. Internet, cell phones, hundredss of TV channels. We can get from one side of the world to another in hours instead of months. Most of our technology is helpful and can be used for great good. Sadly it is often used for evil though. It is now easier than ever to view pornography, children (and adults) harass each other on Facebook, Myspace, or over cellphones. We have to be on guard against someone stealing our identity because of the easy access to information. Sin is made easier by modern technology. Please don't misunderstand, technology in itself is not sinful, but people are. As a culture we don't need more innovation, we need Jesus.
"See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed." Deuteronomy 30:15-17
Obedience brings blessing, but disobedience is sin and the cost of sin is death. When God looked out of the plain of Shinar, He saw that mankind had conspired to disobey. In His mercy, He decided to confuse their speech so that it would be more difficult for them to continue conspiring against Him. God is not capricious. He was not afraid that the people would be able to accomplish anything, He knew they would accomplish evil things.
"What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?" Luke 9:24
On the surface it's a simple story of mankind's disobedience, yet it sets the stage for the human struggle that persists through the rest of Scripture. The tower of Babel, would offer it's name to the great city that arose from it's ashes. The city was known as Babylon, and throughout the Old Testament it was the enemy of Israel. Babylon also takes center stage in the book of Revelation.
"Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. This title was written on her forehead: Mystery. Babylon the Great. The Mother of Prostitutes and of the Abominations of the Earth. I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus." Revelation 17:3-6
From the plain of Shinar in Genesis 11 to her destruction in Revelation 18, Babylon represents mankind's defiance of God. She symbolizes all that humanity values apart from God; money, power, intelligence, innovation, the freedom to fulfill your every desire however you see fit. Yet this human-created paradise was full of violence, corruption, and depravity.
In Scripture, Jerusalem stands opposite Babylon. A city on a hill, where the LORD would guide His people. Obedience to the LORD brought security, abundance and peace. Jesus is the only way to true abundance.
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10
* Genesis 9:18-28
** Mullins, Robert. "What Was the Old Testament World" in They Spoke From God. edited by William C. Williams. Springfield, MO. Gospel Publishing House. 2003. pg. 141
I am the most comfortable studying the Bible when I have lot of verses from all over the Bible to connect to any particular verse of the story. For me, writing about the Flood was pure joy since there are so many ways that the Bible connects back to it. I am the least comfortable when the connections are more abstract and I have to rely on commentaries and research to pull something together. Don't get me wrong, I would never teach anything that I wasn't certain was Biblical but sometimes the threads of Scripture are more subtle, and require a broader perspective.
You may (or may not be) surprised to discover that the story of the Tower of Babel is one of those more subtle threads. It is however a very pivotal moment in God's Love Letter.
Tucked neatly between 2 sets of genealogies, these nine verses create a bridge of sorts. They connect the sin and corruption before the Flood with the world that grew out of it. The Bible is quick to point out that even before the population began to grow, sin was already fast at work corrupting the hearts and lives of men.* As the population grew, once again so did their sins. God had poured out His wrath already, now He would intervene to preserve mankind for Salvation.
Please read Genesis 11:1-9
On the surface, the Tower of Babel is a simple one. After Noah and his family got off the ark, God reiterated the command He had given to Adam and Eve.
"Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth." Genesis 9:1 (also Genesis 1:28)
He was not suggesting that they have a few kids and spread out a bit, God had created the whole earth for mankind to dwell in and He commanded them to fill it. When the people gathered together on the plain of Shinar they were being defiant, they knew God's command but willfully chose to do the opposite.
"Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.'" Genesis 11:4
The plain of Shinar was the perfect place for man to settle and make a name for himself. Shinar is nestled between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers along the Fertile Crescent. To the north of the Tigris is a vast mountainous region (Northern Iraq and Iran). The mountains were very difficult to pass, which provided protection as well as forced trade to run along the river. To the south of the Euphrates is the Arabian Desert. It too was difficult to pass through, providing protection and pushing trade up to the river region.** By building between the rivers, the city would have ample protection and be able to monopolize the trade routes on either side. The plain was also an especially fertile piece of land which would be able to produce many crops to support the city and draw traders from neighboring areas. From their human perspective, Shinar was the ultimate place to prove to God that they were capable of making their own way.
God, however desires our obedience not our innovation. God created mankind to be creative, intelligent, and curious. It is in our nature to strive and innovate, however, when we strive apart from God we end up creating new ways to sin.
We live in a world full of modern technologies. Internet, cell phones, hundredss of TV channels. We can get from one side of the world to another in hours instead of months. Most of our technology is helpful and can be used for great good. Sadly it is often used for evil though. It is now easier than ever to view pornography, children (and adults) harass each other on Facebook, Myspace, or over cellphones. We have to be on guard against someone stealing our identity because of the easy access to information. Sin is made easier by modern technology. Please don't misunderstand, technology in itself is not sinful, but people are. As a culture we don't need more innovation, we need Jesus.
"See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed." Deuteronomy 30:15-17
Obedience brings blessing, but disobedience is sin and the cost of sin is death. When God looked out of the plain of Shinar, He saw that mankind had conspired to disobey. In His mercy, He decided to confuse their speech so that it would be more difficult for them to continue conspiring against Him. God is not capricious. He was not afraid that the people would be able to accomplish anything, He knew they would accomplish evil things.
"What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?" Luke 9:24
On the surface it's a simple story of mankind's disobedience, yet it sets the stage for the human struggle that persists through the rest of Scripture. The tower of Babel, would offer it's name to the great city that arose from it's ashes. The city was known as Babylon, and throughout the Old Testament it was the enemy of Israel. Babylon also takes center stage in the book of Revelation.
"Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. This title was written on her forehead: Mystery. Babylon the Great. The Mother of Prostitutes and of the Abominations of the Earth. I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus." Revelation 17:3-6
From the plain of Shinar in Genesis 11 to her destruction in Revelation 18, Babylon represents mankind's defiance of God. She symbolizes all that humanity values apart from God; money, power, intelligence, innovation, the freedom to fulfill your every desire however you see fit. Yet this human-created paradise was full of violence, corruption, and depravity.
In Scripture, Jerusalem stands opposite Babylon. A city on a hill, where the LORD would guide His people. Obedience to the LORD brought security, abundance and peace. Jesus is the only way to true abundance.
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10
* Genesis 9:18-28
** Mullins, Robert. "What Was the Old Testament World" in They Spoke From God. edited by William C. Williams. Springfield, MO. Gospel Publishing House. 2003. pg. 141
Friday, May 14, 2010
The Flood Day 6
Today we will share our last lesson about Noah and the Flood. I will not even pretend that we have exhausted all that there is to learn, but as we wrap up I feel we have at the very least done justice to it's depths. God's Word is perfect. Within in are the keys to Eternity, when we are faithful to study His Word, no matter how familiar we are with it, He is always willing to reveal a fresh Truth that draws us closer still.
"As the rain and snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that is yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:10 & 11
At this point we have looked at the Flood from several points of view. We looked at the conditions leading up to the Flood. How God's heart was broken by the sin and corruption. How a Holy God cannot over looks sin, but must eventually judge the wicked. We've seen that through the Flood, God's grace was sufficient for Noah and his family. And we've seen how even the detail of the story point forward to Jesus. Now we are going to look at the the major theme, judgment and grace, as the Flood points us further forward to a judgment yet to come.
While Jesus walked the Earth, He spoke often of a time when He would return again. Though His disciples didn't understand until after His resurrection, Jesus came the first to seek and save the lost. Through His death and resurrection He opened the way to the Father, but His work is not complete. The time is coming (and has been since He ascended) when Jesus will return to the Earth, not as a Servant , but as LORD.
There are few more controversial issues in the Church today than Christ's return. Though it is a clear doctrine, and there are actually more references to His second coming then to His first, the how and when have sadly created great division within the body. So today I tread lightly. I have no desire to create further divisions, nor do I wish to challenge any of the many perspectives on the End of Days. However I cannot shy away from Scripture nor I will not skip over that which is uncomfortable. The whole Bible is the Council of the LORD, 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that;
"All the Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
With that is mind we keep our focus on the Word of God and I leave you to draw your own conclusions.
In Matthew 24, the disciples asked Jesus what would be the sign of His [second] coming, and of the end of the age. Jesus described the End as birth pains. There would be false prophets, wars, famine, earthquakes. Christians would be persecuted and some would even fall away from the faith. Yet all of this would just be the beginnings of birth pains. Sin in the world would grow continually worse until the moment of Jesus return. Jesus was clear that there would be indications but He also stressed that no one would know exactly when He would return.
"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man." Matthew 24:36-39
This same message is echoed in the Luke 17: 26 & 27. When Jesus returns there will be a similarity to Noah's day. There are many ideas within the Church as to how exactly the End Days will reflect Noah's days. There are scholars, infinitely wiser than me, who love the Lord with all their hearts, who disagree on the full meaning of these verses, but what we can know for sure is only what Jesus said. In Noah's day the people lived as though life would go on forever, and were caught off guard when the Flood waters came.
Jesus said they "knew nothing about what would happen." There are a few words in the Greek that mean, to know. Oida is the most commonly used in the New Testament and it implies a possession of information, being able to use the knowledge attained. Jesus used the world ginosko, which is a more basic understanding.* Noah had been preaching righteousness and coming judgment his whole life. Enoch, before him had preach of the coming judgment. It wasn't that the people hadn't heard that judgment was coming they just didn't believe it. They had no understanding of what was to come because they rejected the Word of God.
Peter tells us that it will be the same in the last days.
"First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, ' Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.' But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heaven and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men." 2 Peter 3:3-7
We do not know the day or the hour when Jesus will come again, but we do know that He will return, this time in glory and judgment.
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world'...Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." Matthew 25:31-41
There is another judgment coming. There will be a time when once again, God can no longer tolerate the rampant sin on this earth and will punish the wicked. Once again there will be those, like Noah, who will be saved, but there will also be those on whom God's wrath will pour out.
It is not pleasant to think about God's wrath. For those of us who are saved through faith in Christ Jesus, we have nothing to fear, yet we have a responsibility. Before Jesus departed this earth the first time He gave His commands to His disciples.
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20
Noah preached righteousness until the moment he got on the ark, God expects us to do the say until He returns. Whether He comes tomorrow or a thousand years from now, Believers have a responsibility to share their faith, and draw others into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
"So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be fund spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation." 2 Peter 3:14 & 15
* Goodrick, Edward W. & John R. Kohlenberger III. The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance. Grand Rapids, MI. Zondervan. 1999. pg. 1538, 1575
"As the rain and snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that is yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:10 & 11
At this point we have looked at the Flood from several points of view. We looked at the conditions leading up to the Flood. How God's heart was broken by the sin and corruption. How a Holy God cannot over looks sin, but must eventually judge the wicked. We've seen that through the Flood, God's grace was sufficient for Noah and his family. And we've seen how even the detail of the story point forward to Jesus. Now we are going to look at the the major theme, judgment and grace, as the Flood points us further forward to a judgment yet to come.
While Jesus walked the Earth, He spoke often of a time when He would return again. Though His disciples didn't understand until after His resurrection, Jesus came the first to seek and save the lost. Through His death and resurrection He opened the way to the Father, but His work is not complete. The time is coming (and has been since He ascended) when Jesus will return to the Earth, not as a Servant , but as LORD.
There are few more controversial issues in the Church today than Christ's return. Though it is a clear doctrine, and there are actually more references to His second coming then to His first, the how and when have sadly created great division within the body. So today I tread lightly. I have no desire to create further divisions, nor do I wish to challenge any of the many perspectives on the End of Days. However I cannot shy away from Scripture nor I will not skip over that which is uncomfortable. The whole Bible is the Council of the LORD, 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that;
"All the Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
With that is mind we keep our focus on the Word of God and I leave you to draw your own conclusions.
In Matthew 24, the disciples asked Jesus what would be the sign of His [second] coming, and of the end of the age. Jesus described the End as birth pains. There would be false prophets, wars, famine, earthquakes. Christians would be persecuted and some would even fall away from the faith. Yet all of this would just be the beginnings of birth pains. Sin in the world would grow continually worse until the moment of Jesus return. Jesus was clear that there would be indications but He also stressed that no one would know exactly when He would return.
"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man." Matthew 24:36-39
This same message is echoed in the Luke 17: 26 & 27. When Jesus returns there will be a similarity to Noah's day. There are many ideas within the Church as to how exactly the End Days will reflect Noah's days. There are scholars, infinitely wiser than me, who love the Lord with all their hearts, who disagree on the full meaning of these verses, but what we can know for sure is only what Jesus said. In Noah's day the people lived as though life would go on forever, and were caught off guard when the Flood waters came.
Jesus said they "knew nothing about what would happen." There are a few words in the Greek that mean, to know. Oida is the most commonly used in the New Testament and it implies a possession of information, being able to use the knowledge attained. Jesus used the world ginosko, which is a more basic understanding.* Noah had been preaching righteousness and coming judgment his whole life. Enoch, before him had preach of the coming judgment. It wasn't that the people hadn't heard that judgment was coming they just didn't believe it. They had no understanding of what was to come because they rejected the Word of God.
Peter tells us that it will be the same in the last days.
"First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, ' Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.' But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heaven and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men." 2 Peter 3:3-7
We do not know the day or the hour when Jesus will come again, but we do know that He will return, this time in glory and judgment.
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world'...Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." Matthew 25:31-41
There is another judgment coming. There will be a time when once again, God can no longer tolerate the rampant sin on this earth and will punish the wicked. Once again there will be those, like Noah, who will be saved, but there will also be those on whom God's wrath will pour out.
It is not pleasant to think about God's wrath. For those of us who are saved through faith in Christ Jesus, we have nothing to fear, yet we have a responsibility. Before Jesus departed this earth the first time He gave His commands to His disciples.
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20
Noah preached righteousness until the moment he got on the ark, God expects us to do the say until He returns. Whether He comes tomorrow or a thousand years from now, Believers have a responsibility to share their faith, and draw others into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
"So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be fund spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation." 2 Peter 3:14 & 15
* Goodrick, Edward W. & John R. Kohlenberger III. The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance. Grand Rapids, MI. Zondervan. 1999. pg. 1538, 1575
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
The Flood Day 5
I had planed for today to be our final day focusing on the Flood, however it seem there is a bit more that we need to talk about. So today we are going to look at one last thread that ties Noah and the Flood to Jesus Christ, and tomorrow we will wrap up the Flood with a look at the future.
I am of the opinion that the Holy Spirit doesn't waste his breath. When specific details are written into Scripture (or even left out) I believe they are there on purpose. That doesn't necessarily mean they are theological, but I do believe there is always a point. It doesn't even necessarily mean that at this time we can know what the purpose is, but I believe the time will come, when Christ returns and all of the Scriptures are fulfilled and complete that every detail will have proven God to be Holy, Perfect and intentional. After all the Bible is clear:
"I make known the end from the beginning, and from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please." Isaiah 46:10
In the Flood account there are 5 specific dates, where the Holy Spirit gives us the day and month. On the 7th day of the 2nd month the rains started (7:11). On the 17th day of th 7th month the ark came to rest on the mountains (8:4). The mountain tops became visible on the 1st day of the 10th month (8:5). On the 1st day of the 1st month of the year the water was dried up (8:13), and on the 27th day of the 2nd month the land was completely dry.
(There are actually several other dates that are inferred, such as 7 days before the rain they got on the ark.)
I believe (my opinion) that part of the reason that these dates are specific is to make clear that the Bible intends the reader to see the Flood as fact, not fiction. Whenever the Bible mentions Noah, it is as an historical figure, and the Flood as historical fact. When Jesus refers to Noah and the Flood, He speaks of them as matters of fact. It is unBiblical to believe that the Flood is just a moral story, that didn't actually happen.
In virtually every ancient culture around the world there are Flood stories. The cultures that are closer, geographically to the Middle East, have accounts that more closely resemble the one in the Bible. The Gilgamesh Epic, from Babylon, contains a flood account that is quite similar, yet it is clearly polluted with pagan themes. The prevalence of Flood stories in every part of the world, certainly would imply that the Flood was historical, not allegorical. That they differ so much only indicates that as time and distance separated people groups the story became polluted. Each culture began to interpret the account based on how they understood the world, instead of how and why the Flood actually happened. Similar to the children's game Telephone, over time the story only barley resembled the original. The true story, however was preserved in Scripture and authenticated by Jesus.**
One of the dates given in the Genesis account has additional significance, but we need a bit more background (well foreground from the Flood).
God created time. The calendar used to mark the days of the Flood was created by God. He set up the night and day as well as seasons, days and years within the first days of Creation. The Hebrew calendar has 12 months and is based on the lunar cycle. Each New Moon was the beginning of a new month. The 1st month of the year was Tishri, followed by; Heshvan, Kislev, Tevet, Shevat, Adar, Nisan, Iyar, Sivan, Tammuz, Av and Elul.
Noah and his family would have gotten on the ark on the 10th of Heshvan, and the rain started on the 17th. The ark rested on the 17th on Nisan, the mountain tops appeared on the 1st of Tammuz, and the water was gone on the 1st of Tishri. Finally the land was completely dry on the 27th of Heshvan, a little over a year from when they boarded the ark.
In Exodus 12 God creates a new calendar. As the Israelites prepared to brush lambs blood over the doors of their homes in Egypt, so that the plague of death would "pass over" them, God told Moses that from then on that month would be considered the 1st month of the year.
"The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year." Exodus 12:1
God wanted the Passover, to signify Israel's new beginning so He made Nisan the 1st month of the year.
Even today Jews around the world use two calendars the civic one beginning in Tishri and the religious one starting in Nisan. (This isn't really that strange, we have school calendars that start in August or September, fiscal ones that start in October, as well as our civic calendar starting in January).
In the Bible, all the dates after the 1st Passover in Exodus are based on the religious calendar. All the months are the same they are just shifted ahead, beginning with Nisan and ending with Adar. (its also important to know that the Jewish day starts at sunset and ends at the following sunset)
In Leviticus 23, God institutionalized 6 festivals as well as the weekly Sabbath. The 1st festival is the Passover which was to be celebrated on the 14th of Nisan. That would be the day that each household in Israel would sacrifice a perfect lamb, and share a meal to commemorate the 1st Passover in Exodus.
When Jesus was in the upper room the night before He was crucified, He was celebrating the Passover feast with His disciples. After dinner, they went to Gethsemane where Jesus was arrested. All night long He was abused and brought before the leaders of the area, until finally they nailed Him to cross. It was still the day of Passover, the 14th of Nisan when Jesus' blood poured out as the perfect Passover Lamb. Three days later, the Bible says, on the 1st of the week two women had the honor of discovering an empty tomb, and bumping into the risen Christ. Three days would make it the 17th of Nisan, the anniversary of the day the ark came to rest.
When Jesus died on the Cross He bore our sins, He took on our judgment. There was (and is) no other way to save mankind from the death our sins demand, so Jesus took it. His death paid the price. His resurrection, His victory over death, is what gives us life and rest. Not only is our sin debt paid but we are made new creations. We are no longer weary and burdened by our sins, we have been given rest. Noah's name meant rest, but it is Jesus who is our Ultimate Rest!
The LORD's fingerprints are all over the Scripture, pointing the way to Jesus, and confirming that only He could write a Love Letter that knows the End in the Beginning. Only through the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit could 40 authors over 2000 years create a work that is so thoroughly integrated that the first author could perfectly foreshadow what the last authors experienced.
"I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come." Isaiah 46:10a
* Walton, John H. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Vol. 1. Grand Rapids, MI. Zondervan. 2009. pg. 48, 49
** Matthew 24:36-41
*** Missler, Chuck. Learn the Bible in 24 Hours. Nashville, TN. 2002
I am of the opinion that the Holy Spirit doesn't waste his breath. When specific details are written into Scripture (or even left out) I believe they are there on purpose. That doesn't necessarily mean they are theological, but I do believe there is always a point. It doesn't even necessarily mean that at this time we can know what the purpose is, but I believe the time will come, when Christ returns and all of the Scriptures are fulfilled and complete that every detail will have proven God to be Holy, Perfect and intentional. After all the Bible is clear:
"I make known the end from the beginning, and from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please." Isaiah 46:10
In the Flood account there are 5 specific dates, where the Holy Spirit gives us the day and month. On the 7th day of the 2nd month the rains started (7:11). On the 17th day of th 7th month the ark came to rest on the mountains (8:4). The mountain tops became visible on the 1st day of the 10th month (8:5). On the 1st day of the 1st month of the year the water was dried up (8:13), and on the 27th day of the 2nd month the land was completely dry.
(There are actually several other dates that are inferred, such as 7 days before the rain they got on the ark.)
I believe (my opinion) that part of the reason that these dates are specific is to make clear that the Bible intends the reader to see the Flood as fact, not fiction. Whenever the Bible mentions Noah, it is as an historical figure, and the Flood as historical fact. When Jesus refers to Noah and the Flood, He speaks of them as matters of fact. It is unBiblical to believe that the Flood is just a moral story, that didn't actually happen.
In virtually every ancient culture around the world there are Flood stories. The cultures that are closer, geographically to the Middle East, have accounts that more closely resemble the one in the Bible. The Gilgamesh Epic, from Babylon, contains a flood account that is quite similar, yet it is clearly polluted with pagan themes. The prevalence of Flood stories in every part of the world, certainly would imply that the Flood was historical, not allegorical. That they differ so much only indicates that as time and distance separated people groups the story became polluted. Each culture began to interpret the account based on how they understood the world, instead of how and why the Flood actually happened. Similar to the children's game Telephone, over time the story only barley resembled the original. The true story, however was preserved in Scripture and authenticated by Jesus.**
One of the dates given in the Genesis account has additional significance, but we need a bit more background (well foreground from the Flood).
God created time. The calendar used to mark the days of the Flood was created by God. He set up the night and day as well as seasons, days and years within the first days of Creation. The Hebrew calendar has 12 months and is based on the lunar cycle. Each New Moon was the beginning of a new month. The 1st month of the year was Tishri, followed by; Heshvan, Kislev, Tevet, Shevat, Adar, Nisan, Iyar, Sivan, Tammuz, Av and Elul.
Noah and his family would have gotten on the ark on the 10th of Heshvan, and the rain started on the 17th. The ark rested on the 17th on Nisan, the mountain tops appeared on the 1st of Tammuz, and the water was gone on the 1st of Tishri. Finally the land was completely dry on the 27th of Heshvan, a little over a year from when they boarded the ark.
In Exodus 12 God creates a new calendar. As the Israelites prepared to brush lambs blood over the doors of their homes in Egypt, so that the plague of death would "pass over" them, God told Moses that from then on that month would be considered the 1st month of the year.
"The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year." Exodus 12:1
God wanted the Passover, to signify Israel's new beginning so He made Nisan the 1st month of the year.
Even today Jews around the world use two calendars the civic one beginning in Tishri and the religious one starting in Nisan. (This isn't really that strange, we have school calendars that start in August or September, fiscal ones that start in October, as well as our civic calendar starting in January).
In the Bible, all the dates after the 1st Passover in Exodus are based on the religious calendar. All the months are the same they are just shifted ahead, beginning with Nisan and ending with Adar. (its also important to know that the Jewish day starts at sunset and ends at the following sunset)
In Leviticus 23, God institutionalized 6 festivals as well as the weekly Sabbath. The 1st festival is the Passover which was to be celebrated on the 14th of Nisan. That would be the day that each household in Israel would sacrifice a perfect lamb, and share a meal to commemorate the 1st Passover in Exodus.
When Jesus was in the upper room the night before He was crucified, He was celebrating the Passover feast with His disciples. After dinner, they went to Gethsemane where Jesus was arrested. All night long He was abused and brought before the leaders of the area, until finally they nailed Him to cross. It was still the day of Passover, the 14th of Nisan when Jesus' blood poured out as the perfect Passover Lamb. Three days later, the Bible says, on the 1st of the week two women had the honor of discovering an empty tomb, and bumping into the risen Christ. Three days would make it the 17th of Nisan, the anniversary of the day the ark came to rest.
When Jesus died on the Cross He bore our sins, He took on our judgment. There was (and is) no other way to save mankind from the death our sins demand, so Jesus took it. His death paid the price. His resurrection, His victory over death, is what gives us life and rest. Not only is our sin debt paid but we are made new creations. We are no longer weary and burdened by our sins, we have been given rest. Noah's name meant rest, but it is Jesus who is our Ultimate Rest!
The LORD's fingerprints are all over the Scripture, pointing the way to Jesus, and confirming that only He could write a Love Letter that knows the End in the Beginning. Only through the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit could 40 authors over 2000 years create a work that is so thoroughly integrated that the first author could perfectly foreshadow what the last authors experienced.
"I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come." Isaiah 46:10a
* Walton, John H. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Vol. 1. Grand Rapids, MI. Zondervan. 2009. pg. 48, 49
** Matthew 24:36-41
*** Missler, Chuck. Learn the Bible in 24 Hours. Nashville, TN. 2002
Monday, May 10, 2010
The Flood Day 4
It is always a happy day for me when I get to talk about Jesus. If you do these lessons with me you'll find that every time the lesson focuses on Jesus I can't help but say I'm excited. What can I say I love Jesus and I love seeing Him all over the Old Testament. Luke 24:27 is one (of many) of my favorite verses. "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he [Jesus] explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself." On the 7 mile walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus Jesus appeared to 2 of His disciples (there were many more then the 12) who were brokenhearted and confused. They had seen Jesus crucified and heard the story of the empty tomb but they didn't understand what it all meant and they didn't recognize Jesus as He walked with them. So Jesus started telling them a story, a Love Story. Starting with Genesis (the 1st of Moses' 5 books) and ending in Malachi (the last book of the Prophets) Jesus showed the 2 men that it was all about Him.
Oh to have been on that road and hear Jesus reveal Himself through the Old Testament! I'm not sure I could bear to hear Him recite the words of Isaiah 53, "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." (53:5) I can't help but wonder if His nail scarred hands reached out to one of His disciples as He spoke the words. Or if the disciples noticed a certain twinkle in His eye when Jesus spoke the words of Zechariah 14, proclaiming a yet future time when he will return in triumph, "The LORD will be king over the whole earth [and] there will be one LORD, and his name the only name." (14:9)
I wonder how much time he devoted to Noah and the Flood? Seven miles would probably only take about 2 hours, so maybe He just hit the highlights, but I have no doubt that by the time the 2 men got to Emmaus they were awed at what they had been taught. No wonder they begged Him to stay with them a little longer.
Jesus is all over the Flood account. Some things point to Him very obviously, others require a bit of study, some are just hints or common themes. As much as the Flood is about a Holy God judging a sinful world, it is equally (or maybe more so) about a Merciful God providing Salvation to the faithful. Nothing screams Jesus louder then that.
God told Noah, "Make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out." Genesis 6:14
The ark was made of wood, which is pretty much common sence yet hroughout the Old Testament wood is symbolic of humanity. The Hebrew word for ark is tebah, which actually implies more of a box then a boat. Some scholars believe that the word is derived from the Egyptian word for sarcophagus.* Though it was gigantic is size, the shape of the ark definitely resembled a coffin. The means of Noah's salvation was symbolically through the death of a man, Jesus.
"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient to death- even death on the cross." Philippians 2:5-8
"Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." Romans 6:3 & 4
The ark was covered inside and out with pitch, a tar like substance that was probably common for waterproofing, however usually only applied to the outside of a boat. Whats interesting is that the Author used the Hebrew word, koper (which means pitch), instead of zepet (which also means pitch).** When Hebrew is written the vowels are left out, so koper in Genesis 6:14 would read, kpr. To the Hebrew reader this was a play on words. You see the word for atonement is kapar and would be written kpr also. The distinction would be the context. Since kapar (atonement) meant to cover over (most often in reference to the covering over of sin with the blood of sacrifice) it was actually interchangeable with koper. The implication is that it was more then a tar like substance that covered the ark and kept Noah and his family safe. The pitch represented the blood of Atonement that would cover the sins of humanity and provide salvation. When Jesus yelled at the Pharisees in Matthew 23:23-36, He called them "whitewashed tombs" and chastised them for appearing righteous on the outside, while on the inside they were sinful and dead. They needed their hearts covered with the atoning blood of Salvation. The atonement of Jesus begins on the inside and works it's way out into our lives making us new creations. That is why the ark was covered inside and out.
The ark had only one door. Jesus is the door to salvation. In John 14, Jesus told His disciples that He was going back to the Father to prepare a place for them. They were concerned that they wouldn't know the way to follow Him, so He told them that He was the way.
"I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (14:6)
There was also only one ark, and God had made the blueprints. No raft made by human design would be able to provide salvation through the raging waters. No religion apart from Salvatin provided by God through Jesus Christ can save anyone from God's judgment.
Throughout the Bible water is symbolic of cleansing. God's judgment came in the form of torrents of rain and springs bursting out of the ground. The water washed away all the wickedness that had corrupted the earth. The planet was literally baptized. In a way Noah and his family died to the old world and were reborn to a new creation, through the waters of baptisim.
"...God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also- not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 20-21
Sometimes in Scripture it's the details the Holy Spirit leaves out that creates the parallel. The Bible is clear that Noah was found righteous in the eyes of the LORD, but no where does it mention that his wife, sons or their wives were righteous as well. My opinion is that it would be a safe assumption. Each of the fathers and sons of Genesis 5 passed their faith down to the next generation. It makes sense that Noah, a preacher of righteousness would preach to his sons, if they didn't believe that God was going to bring judgment I doubt Noah could force them onto the ark (but this is just my opinion). The Bible, however only says that Noah's whole family got on along with all the animals. Because the Bible omits the families righteousness but highlights Noah's it's possible that the Holy Spirit was drawing a parallel between Noah and Jesus. The Bible draws the picture that through Noah's righteousness his family was saved, just as through Christ's righteousness we are saved.
"For just as through the disobedience of one man [Adam] the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man [Jesus] the many will be made righteous." Romans 6:19
The last parallel we are going to look at today is in Genesis 7:1. The King James Version reads, "And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark." Many scholars believe that using Come in the KJV is a more correct translation than the word Go in the NIV. I do not read Hebrew so I rely completely on Hebrew- English dictionaries and lexical aids for my definitions, and I honestly cannot find a definitive answer as to which is better. However the if the KJV is correct, it creates another beautiful parallel.
God doesn't command us into His presence He invites us. Often in the Old Testament (specifically the Prophets) God is shown as a husband or lover, wooing His beloved, drawing her to Himself. If God indeed said to Noah, to come into the ark, it would be consistent with His invitation to us. Jesus said to the wear and burdened, "Come to me and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). To the hungry He said, "Come to me and never be hungry again" (John 6:35). God invites us to come to where He is.
I don't know if on the 7 mile walk to Emmaus, Jesus took the time to point out every detail of the Scriptures that hinted at Him or if He focused on the major points. I'd like to think that once He started talking that the pace slowed way down. Maybe the 2 hour trip took all day, as they listened more then they walked. When they got to Emmaus they begged Jesus (whom they still did not recognize) to come and eat with them. At the table Jesus broke the bread and gave thanks, and suddenly they saw that He was Jesus, and He vanished from sight. I love what they say to each other after He disappeared.
"Were not our hearts, burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" Luke 24:32.
May our hearts always burn as the Holy Spirit opens the Scripture to us.
* Williams, William C. They Spoke from God: A Survey of the Old Testament. Springfield, MO. Gospel Publishing House. 2003. pg. 127
** Goodrick, Edward W. & John R. Kohlenberger III. The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance. Grand Rapids, MI. Zondervan. 1999. pg. 1400 & 1426
Oh to have been on that road and hear Jesus reveal Himself through the Old Testament! I'm not sure I could bear to hear Him recite the words of Isaiah 53, "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." (53:5) I can't help but wonder if His nail scarred hands reached out to one of His disciples as He spoke the words. Or if the disciples noticed a certain twinkle in His eye when Jesus spoke the words of Zechariah 14, proclaiming a yet future time when he will return in triumph, "The LORD will be king over the whole earth [and] there will be one LORD, and his name the only name." (14:9)
I wonder how much time he devoted to Noah and the Flood? Seven miles would probably only take about 2 hours, so maybe He just hit the highlights, but I have no doubt that by the time the 2 men got to Emmaus they were awed at what they had been taught. No wonder they begged Him to stay with them a little longer.
Jesus is all over the Flood account. Some things point to Him very obviously, others require a bit of study, some are just hints or common themes. As much as the Flood is about a Holy God judging a sinful world, it is equally (or maybe more so) about a Merciful God providing Salvation to the faithful. Nothing screams Jesus louder then that.
God told Noah, "Make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out." Genesis 6:14
The ark was made of wood, which is pretty much common sence yet hroughout the Old Testament wood is symbolic of humanity. The Hebrew word for ark is tebah, which actually implies more of a box then a boat. Some scholars believe that the word is derived from the Egyptian word for sarcophagus.* Though it was gigantic is size, the shape of the ark definitely resembled a coffin. The means of Noah's salvation was symbolically through the death of a man, Jesus.
"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient to death- even death on the cross." Philippians 2:5-8
"Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." Romans 6:3 & 4
The ark was covered inside and out with pitch, a tar like substance that was probably common for waterproofing, however usually only applied to the outside of a boat. Whats interesting is that the Author used the Hebrew word, koper (which means pitch), instead of zepet (which also means pitch).** When Hebrew is written the vowels are left out, so koper in Genesis 6:14 would read, kpr. To the Hebrew reader this was a play on words. You see the word for atonement is kapar and would be written kpr also. The distinction would be the context. Since kapar (atonement) meant to cover over (most often in reference to the covering over of sin with the blood of sacrifice) it was actually interchangeable with koper. The implication is that it was more then a tar like substance that covered the ark and kept Noah and his family safe. The pitch represented the blood of Atonement that would cover the sins of humanity and provide salvation. When Jesus yelled at the Pharisees in Matthew 23:23-36, He called them "whitewashed tombs" and chastised them for appearing righteous on the outside, while on the inside they were sinful and dead. They needed their hearts covered with the atoning blood of Salvation. The atonement of Jesus begins on the inside and works it's way out into our lives making us new creations. That is why the ark was covered inside and out.
The ark had only one door. Jesus is the door to salvation. In John 14, Jesus told His disciples that He was going back to the Father to prepare a place for them. They were concerned that they wouldn't know the way to follow Him, so He told them that He was the way.
"I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (14:6)
There was also only one ark, and God had made the blueprints. No raft made by human design would be able to provide salvation through the raging waters. No religion apart from Salvatin provided by God through Jesus Christ can save anyone from God's judgment.
Throughout the Bible water is symbolic of cleansing. God's judgment came in the form of torrents of rain and springs bursting out of the ground. The water washed away all the wickedness that had corrupted the earth. The planet was literally baptized. In a way Noah and his family died to the old world and were reborn to a new creation, through the waters of baptisim.
"...God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also- not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 20-21
Sometimes in Scripture it's the details the Holy Spirit leaves out that creates the parallel. The Bible is clear that Noah was found righteous in the eyes of the LORD, but no where does it mention that his wife, sons or their wives were righteous as well. My opinion is that it would be a safe assumption. Each of the fathers and sons of Genesis 5 passed their faith down to the next generation. It makes sense that Noah, a preacher of righteousness would preach to his sons, if they didn't believe that God was going to bring judgment I doubt Noah could force them onto the ark (but this is just my opinion). The Bible, however only says that Noah's whole family got on along with all the animals. Because the Bible omits the families righteousness but highlights Noah's it's possible that the Holy Spirit was drawing a parallel between Noah and Jesus. The Bible draws the picture that through Noah's righteousness his family was saved, just as through Christ's righteousness we are saved.
"For just as through the disobedience of one man [Adam] the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man [Jesus] the many will be made righteous." Romans 6:19
The last parallel we are going to look at today is in Genesis 7:1. The King James Version reads, "And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark." Many scholars believe that using Come in the KJV is a more correct translation than the word Go in the NIV. I do not read Hebrew so I rely completely on Hebrew- English dictionaries and lexical aids for my definitions, and I honestly cannot find a definitive answer as to which is better. However the if the KJV is correct, it creates another beautiful parallel.
God doesn't command us into His presence He invites us. Often in the Old Testament (specifically the Prophets) God is shown as a husband or lover, wooing His beloved, drawing her to Himself. If God indeed said to Noah, to come into the ark, it would be consistent with His invitation to us. Jesus said to the wear and burdened, "Come to me and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). To the hungry He said, "Come to me and never be hungry again" (John 6:35). God invites us to come to where He is.
I don't know if on the 7 mile walk to Emmaus, Jesus took the time to point out every detail of the Scriptures that hinted at Him or if He focused on the major points. I'd like to think that once He started talking that the pace slowed way down. Maybe the 2 hour trip took all day, as they listened more then they walked. When they got to Emmaus they begged Jesus (whom they still did not recognize) to come and eat with them. At the table Jesus broke the bread and gave thanks, and suddenly they saw that He was Jesus, and He vanished from sight. I love what they say to each other after He disappeared.
"Were not our hearts, burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" Luke 24:32.
May our hearts always burn as the Holy Spirit opens the Scripture to us.
* Williams, William C. They Spoke from God: A Survey of the Old Testament. Springfield, MO. Gospel Publishing House. 2003. pg. 127
** Goodrick, Edward W. & John R. Kohlenberger III. The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance. Grand Rapids, MI. Zondervan. 1999. pg. 1400 & 1426
Friday, May 7, 2010
The Flood Day 3
The Bible tells us that God is holy.
We may understand the idea of pure and innocent but the reality is we've never experienced it. Everything on our planet has been contaminated and corrupted by sin and death. The second law of Thermodynamics (entropy) says that everything around us, including us, is decaying. Even a baby, which is possibly the most innocent thing we are familiar with, is fighting for survival. Rightfully so, since they cannot meet their own needs, yet if this were a holy world, there would be no need for survival instincts, there would be no death. There can be no death or decay in perfection or it is not perfect. Our human minds cannot fathom true holiness, therefore we often struggle to understand God.
One of the biggest challenges to studying the Old Testament, and in particular stories like the Flood, is that we have a hard time wrapping our brains around God's wrath poured out in judgement. We tend to focus on His Love poured out in the person of Jesus Christ, and His marvelous grace that gives us salvation. As we bask in the wonder of His grace we sometimes overlook the fact that it is that grace that provides us freedom from His wrath. The Lord God does not change, He is the same today, as He deals with us, as He was in the days of Noah. A Holy God cannot tolerate sin, He couldn't then and He cannot today. The Bible is clear that another judgement is coming. God will once again pour out His wrath on the corrupt and sinful, yet 1 Peter 3:9 reminds us that He waits patiently, withholding judgement so that more might come to repentance.
God told Noah to build the ark possibly 100 years before the Flood came. Enoch had been warning the people of the coming judgment over 400 years before Noah was even born. The LORD was patient even then. He allowed plenty of time for those who would repent to do so. Sadly only 8 people stepped onto the ark, but to those 8 people God showed His ridiculous love and grace.
"The LORD then said to Noah, 'Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation." Genesis 7:1
This is truly a remarkable verse! Was Noah without sin? Not at all, he was sinner just like everyone else, yet according to Genesis 6:8, he found favor in the eyes of God. A better word for favor in this verse is grace! God gave grace to Noah. Why was Noah the recipient of such unmerited favor? I think the clues point to something amazing.
The writer of Hebrews tells us that by faith Noah built the ark. He couldn't possibly understand the magnitude of what was going to happen, nor did anyone else around him believe that a flood was coming. His faith was completely counter-cultural. But it wasn't just his faith. Twice in scripture, before the rains came, God made a point to let us know that, "Noah did everything just as God commanded him."**** Noah didn't just believe God, he acted on his faith.
"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?..faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." James 2:14 & 17
We can say we believe something, but our actions always show our true colors. Noah didn't just tell people the flood was coming, he acted on his faith and in obedience built the ark.
Now I might be going out on a limb here, but please bear with me for a moment.
Genesis 15:6 is the first time the concept of salvation through faith is explicit in Scripture.
"Abram [Abraham] believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness."
In Galatians 3:8, Paul tells us that, "The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: 'All nations will be blessed through you.'"
Abraham's salvation was his faith in a future Cross! He might not have understood that it would be an actual cross, but he had faith that God would someday provide the Sacrifice that would remove his sins and reconcile him to God. Just as our faith looks back on the Cross, his looked forward to the Cross. What was the means of Abraham's salvation? Faith. Faith that played out in the actions of his life.
I suggest that, though it is not explicit in the text, Noah was saved by that same faith. He believed God was the only one who could and would provide him Salvation. He not only believed God, he acted on his faith. It was Noah's faith in action that allowed a Holy God to see him through the lens of a yet future Cross and call him righteous.
Because of Noah's faith, God provided him an immediate salvation from the coming judgement. When Noah finished building the ark God brought the animals to him. A pair each of all the unclean animals and 7 males and 7 females of clean animals. (as a quick aside the idea of clean and unclean animals does not become explicit until Moses is given the Law in Leviticus. The fact that Noah knew the difference demonstrates that God had made clear to Adam and Eve what was an acceptable offering. They would have taught their children, who taught their children, and this knowledge eventually passed down to Noah.) Once everyone was on board, God himself shut the door, and then the rains came. Well not just the rain.
"In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month- on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the flood gates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights." Genesis 11 & 12
God's judgement didn't just fall in a torrent of rain from the sky, the whole earth ruptured with it.
Many scholars believe that prior to the Flood there was a thick layer of water in the earth's atmosphere (this idea is consistent with Genesis 1:6,7). This layer of water could account for the extremely long lives recorded in Genesis 5, as well as the amount of water that it would take to submerge the earth. But the Bible also says that the water from under the earth burst forth. God's Holy wrath didn't just drown all of the living creatures, according to 1 Peter 3:6 it destroyed the known world. When Noah and his family finally, after over a year on the ark, stepped out onto dry land, they were not only alone but they looked out at a vastly different landscape. The earth itself bore the scars of God's judgment.
Today we don't really notice the scars of God's judgment anymore. It could be that we aren't actually looking, His wrath is definitely not pretty. However, everywhere we look, we can see the destructive effects of sin. It didn't take long after the Flood for sin to once again corrupt the hearts and lives of men. You and I live in a world where sin and decay have reigned for thousands of years. There is nothing that is untouched by sin's corrupting influence. As majestic as the mountains are, wind and rain have eroded them from their original glory. Water and air are polluted, all living creatures must fight for survival, and humanity -- still the image-bearers of a Holy and Loving God -- are filled with violence and selfish desires.
God called Noah in a time of utter sin and corruption to be set apart, and He calls us to nothing less.
"I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy." Leviticus 11:44
* holy. The American Standard Dictionary. Boston, MA. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1991. pg 617
** holiness. (n.d.). Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary. Retrieved May 05, 2010, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/holiness
*** Goodrick, Edward W. and Kohlenberger, John R. III. The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance. Grand Rapids, MI. Zondervan. 1999. pg. 1481
**** Genesis 6:22 & Genesis 7:5
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty, the whole earth is full of his glory." Isaiah 6:3
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." Revelation 4:8
Holiness is a difficult concept for most people. If you look in a standard dictionary the definitions are most often vague, such as; "Belonging to, derived from, or associated with a divine power; sacred. Living according to a strict or high moral religious or spiritual system."* Even in some Bible dictionaries the definition is not explicit; "in the highest sense belongs to God and to Christians as consecrated to God's service, and in so far as they are conformed in all things to the will of God."** The definition of the Hebrew word translated holy in the Old Testament is a bit better; "sacred, consecrated, set apart, as dedicated to God; by extension: pure, innocent, free from impurity."***
We may understand the idea of pure and innocent but the reality is we've never experienced it. Everything on our planet has been contaminated and corrupted by sin and death. The second law of Thermodynamics (entropy) says that everything around us, including us, is decaying. Even a baby, which is possibly the most innocent thing we are familiar with, is fighting for survival. Rightfully so, since they cannot meet their own needs, yet if this were a holy world, there would be no need for survival instincts, there would be no death. There can be no death or decay in perfection or it is not perfect. Our human minds cannot fathom true holiness, therefore we often struggle to understand God.
One of the biggest challenges to studying the Old Testament, and in particular stories like the Flood, is that we have a hard time wrapping our brains around God's wrath poured out in judgement. We tend to focus on His Love poured out in the person of Jesus Christ, and His marvelous grace that gives us salvation. As we bask in the wonder of His grace we sometimes overlook the fact that it is that grace that provides us freedom from His wrath. The Lord God does not change, He is the same today, as He deals with us, as He was in the days of Noah. A Holy God cannot tolerate sin, He couldn't then and He cannot today. The Bible is clear that another judgement is coming. God will once again pour out His wrath on the corrupt and sinful, yet 1 Peter 3:9 reminds us that He waits patiently, withholding judgement so that more might come to repentance.
God told Noah to build the ark possibly 100 years before the Flood came. Enoch had been warning the people of the coming judgment over 400 years before Noah was even born. The LORD was patient even then. He allowed plenty of time for those who would repent to do so. Sadly only 8 people stepped onto the ark, but to those 8 people God showed His ridiculous love and grace.
"The LORD then said to Noah, 'Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation." Genesis 7:1
This is truly a remarkable verse! Was Noah without sin? Not at all, he was sinner just like everyone else, yet according to Genesis 6:8, he found favor in the eyes of God. A better word for favor in this verse is grace! God gave grace to Noah. Why was Noah the recipient of such unmerited favor? I think the clues point to something amazing.
The writer of Hebrews tells us that by faith Noah built the ark. He couldn't possibly understand the magnitude of what was going to happen, nor did anyone else around him believe that a flood was coming. His faith was completely counter-cultural. But it wasn't just his faith. Twice in scripture, before the rains came, God made a point to let us know that, "Noah did everything just as God commanded him."**** Noah didn't just believe God, he acted on his faith.
"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?..faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." James 2:14 & 17
We can say we believe something, but our actions always show our true colors. Noah didn't just tell people the flood was coming, he acted on his faith and in obedience built the ark.
Now I might be going out on a limb here, but please bear with me for a moment.
Genesis 15:6 is the first time the concept of salvation through faith is explicit in Scripture.
"Abram [Abraham] believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness."
In Galatians 3:8, Paul tells us that, "The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: 'All nations will be blessed through you.'"
Abraham's salvation was his faith in a future Cross! He might not have understood that it would be an actual cross, but he had faith that God would someday provide the Sacrifice that would remove his sins and reconcile him to God. Just as our faith looks back on the Cross, his looked forward to the Cross. What was the means of Abraham's salvation? Faith. Faith that played out in the actions of his life.
I suggest that, though it is not explicit in the text, Noah was saved by that same faith. He believed God was the only one who could and would provide him Salvation. He not only believed God, he acted on his faith. It was Noah's faith in action that allowed a Holy God to see him through the lens of a yet future Cross and call him righteous.
Because of Noah's faith, God provided him an immediate salvation from the coming judgement. When Noah finished building the ark God brought the animals to him. A pair each of all the unclean animals and 7 males and 7 females of clean animals. (as a quick aside the idea of clean and unclean animals does not become explicit until Moses is given the Law in Leviticus. The fact that Noah knew the difference demonstrates that God had made clear to Adam and Eve what was an acceptable offering. They would have taught their children, who taught their children, and this knowledge eventually passed down to Noah.) Once everyone was on board, God himself shut the door, and then the rains came. Well not just the rain.
"In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month- on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the flood gates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights." Genesis 11 & 12
God's judgement didn't just fall in a torrent of rain from the sky, the whole earth ruptured with it.
Many scholars believe that prior to the Flood there was a thick layer of water in the earth's atmosphere (this idea is consistent with Genesis 1:6,7). This layer of water could account for the extremely long lives recorded in Genesis 5, as well as the amount of water that it would take to submerge the earth. But the Bible also says that the water from under the earth burst forth. God's Holy wrath didn't just drown all of the living creatures, according to 1 Peter 3:6 it destroyed the known world. When Noah and his family finally, after over a year on the ark, stepped out onto dry land, they were not only alone but they looked out at a vastly different landscape. The earth itself bore the scars of God's judgment.
Today we don't really notice the scars of God's judgment anymore. It could be that we aren't actually looking, His wrath is definitely not pretty. However, everywhere we look, we can see the destructive effects of sin. It didn't take long after the Flood for sin to once again corrupt the hearts and lives of men. You and I live in a world where sin and decay have reigned for thousands of years. There is nothing that is untouched by sin's corrupting influence. As majestic as the mountains are, wind and rain have eroded them from their original glory. Water and air are polluted, all living creatures must fight for survival, and humanity -- still the image-bearers of a Holy and Loving God -- are filled with violence and selfish desires.
God called Noah in a time of utter sin and corruption to be set apart, and He calls us to nothing less.
"I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy." Leviticus 11:44
* holy. The American Standard Dictionary. Boston, MA. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1991. pg 617
** holiness. (n.d.). Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary. Retrieved May 05, 2010, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/holiness
*** Goodrick, Edward W. and Kohlenberger, John R. III. The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance. Grand Rapids, MI. Zondervan. 1999. pg. 1481
**** Genesis 6:22 & Genesis 7:5
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
The Flood Day 2
I promised myself that I would never make this blog about me, its about God and His awesome Word and nothing else. With that in mind though I must share something personal with you. Yesterday the Lord gave clear and wonderful answers to 2 direct prayers of mine. Both were answered in unexpected ways and blessed me ridiculously. I offer this to you as encouragement as we study His Word together, He is truly beyond measure.
"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" Luke 11:11-13
Now to the Flood!
Think for a moment about where you live. Imagine if your neighbor on the right was married and had a few children, and was having an affair with the neighbor on your left. Every night after the families went to sleep you could see the two sneak off into the darkness. Now imagine that the guy across the street loved to walk over and brag to you about how he swindled the life savings from elderly women, and bounced his mortgage check. He would wink at you as he explained how he would only pay enough on the house to keep from being evicted but had no intentions of paying what he owed. Through your kitchen window you could see into the house behind you. There the owner had turned the kitchen into a meth lab, and every night he was busy mixing, boiling and creating the tiny pills you'd sometimes see him selling down by the high school.
If this was your neighborhood you'd probably want to move. To be surrounded on all sides by sin would be painful and discouraging. How could you raise godly children in that environment? But what if there was nowhere to go? If every street in every city was like that. If you were the only one who loved the Lord, would you be able to be the light in such a dark community? What if the flagrant sin all around you was even worse then you could imagine?
The first 8 verses of Genesis 6 paint a very bleak picture.
"The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time." Genesis 6:5
Paul does a pretty good job of describing the lives of wicked men in Romans 2:28-32,
"Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; They invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them."
He goes on to say in Colossians, "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming." Colossians 3:5 & 6
From the moment that Adam and Eve left the Garden, sin spread like a plague though the hearts and lives of mankind. Every thought that every person had was self-serving and sinful, God could no longer watch while His beloved children continued to corrupt themselves.
"The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain." Genesis 6:6
God is all-knowing and all-powerful, He is also perfectly emotional. He chose to give humanity the ability to either love Him or reject Him, knowing that when people chose to reject Him it would break His heart. When the LORD looked out over the earth and saw the horrible evil that was rampant everywhere, He was grieved! It hurt Him to see His children doing things that would hurt them, destroy their lives and kill them. What hurt Him worse was that He also saw into the hearts of the people and knew they would never repent. Our Righteous and Holy God could no longer withhold judgement, He would destroy the earth and everything on it, except Noah and his family.
"But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD...Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God." Genesis 6:8 & 9
Out of all the people in the world (possibly several billion*) only one man loved and obeyed God. Only Noah walked with the LORD, and because of his relationship with God his family was saved from the coming judgement.
Noah was over 500 years old the day that God told him to build the ark!** Boats may have been common in his day. Its possible that hollowed out logs or even crude wooden plank boats would have been used for traveling up and down the river.*** God did not ask Noah to build a little boat though, He told him to build an ark, and He gave Noah the blueprints. Made from cypress (maybe gopher) wood, the ark would be roughly the size of the Titanic, have 3 floors and many rooms. It would have 1 door, a roof, separated by 18 inches from the walls to provide fresh air, and it would be covered inside and out with pitch (tar).
God told Noah that He would bring 2 of every animal to him, and that he, his family and all the animals would be kept alive through the coming flood.
"Noah did everything just as God commanded him." Genesis 6:22
Every single person around him wallowed in sin and indulged every selfish, lustful desire, yet Noah, obeyed God! He didn't just build the ark and wait for some animals, according to 2 Peter 2:5, Noah was a preacher of righteousness. He was actually trying to save the people around him. Some scholars believe that it had never rained on the earth before the Flood.**** Can you imagine telling your neighbors that a flood was coming, that water was going to fall from the sky and kill everyone if they didn't change their ways? They probably thought he was crazy anyway, what with gigantic boat being built in the front yard, but if they had never seen rain before I bet the mocking Noah endured was cruel and relentless. Yet Noah was faithful to the LORD.
"By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith." Hebrews 11:7
Noah did his best to be light in a very dark world, and God blessed him for it. When the rains came it was only Noah and his family that were on the ark, they were the only people that had faith, and the only ones to survive. God's grace was available to everyone, but 8 out of possibly billions received it.
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Matthew 7:13 & 14
Yet for those who do enter the narrow gate,
"I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have the power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ." Ephesians 3:17b & 18
* Genesis 5:32
** Courson, Jon. Application Commentary: Old Testament, Volume 1: Genesis- Job. Nashville, TN. Thomas Nelson, Inc. 2005. pg. 29
*** Walter, John H. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary: Volume 1. Grand Rapids, MI. Zondervan . 2009. pg. 47
**** Stewart, Don. Frequently Asked Questions. http://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/don_stewart/stewart.cfm?id=738 (accessed 5-4-10)
"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" Luke 11:11-13
Now to the Flood!
Think for a moment about where you live. Imagine if your neighbor on the right was married and had a few children, and was having an affair with the neighbor on your left. Every night after the families went to sleep you could see the two sneak off into the darkness. Now imagine that the guy across the street loved to walk over and brag to you about how he swindled the life savings from elderly women, and bounced his mortgage check. He would wink at you as he explained how he would only pay enough on the house to keep from being evicted but had no intentions of paying what he owed. Through your kitchen window you could see into the house behind you. There the owner had turned the kitchen into a meth lab, and every night he was busy mixing, boiling and creating the tiny pills you'd sometimes see him selling down by the high school.
If this was your neighborhood you'd probably want to move. To be surrounded on all sides by sin would be painful and discouraging. How could you raise godly children in that environment? But what if there was nowhere to go? If every street in every city was like that. If you were the only one who loved the Lord, would you be able to be the light in such a dark community? What if the flagrant sin all around you was even worse then you could imagine?
The first 8 verses of Genesis 6 paint a very bleak picture.
"The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time." Genesis 6:5
Paul does a pretty good job of describing the lives of wicked men in Romans 2:28-32,
"Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; They invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them."
He goes on to say in Colossians, "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming." Colossians 3:5 & 6
From the moment that Adam and Eve left the Garden, sin spread like a plague though the hearts and lives of mankind. Every thought that every person had was self-serving and sinful, God could no longer watch while His beloved children continued to corrupt themselves.
"The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain." Genesis 6:6
God is all-knowing and all-powerful, He is also perfectly emotional. He chose to give humanity the ability to either love Him or reject Him, knowing that when people chose to reject Him it would break His heart. When the LORD looked out over the earth and saw the horrible evil that was rampant everywhere, He was grieved! It hurt Him to see His children doing things that would hurt them, destroy their lives and kill them. What hurt Him worse was that He also saw into the hearts of the people and knew they would never repent. Our Righteous and Holy God could no longer withhold judgement, He would destroy the earth and everything on it, except Noah and his family.
"But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD...Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God." Genesis 6:8 & 9
Out of all the people in the world (possibly several billion*) only one man loved and obeyed God. Only Noah walked with the LORD, and because of his relationship with God his family was saved from the coming judgement.
Noah was over 500 years old the day that God told him to build the ark!** Boats may have been common in his day. Its possible that hollowed out logs or even crude wooden plank boats would have been used for traveling up and down the river.*** God did not ask Noah to build a little boat though, He told him to build an ark, and He gave Noah the blueprints. Made from cypress (maybe gopher) wood, the ark would be roughly the size of the Titanic, have 3 floors and many rooms. It would have 1 door, a roof, separated by 18 inches from the walls to provide fresh air, and it would be covered inside and out with pitch (tar).
God told Noah that He would bring 2 of every animal to him, and that he, his family and all the animals would be kept alive through the coming flood.
"Noah did everything just as God commanded him." Genesis 6:22
Every single person around him wallowed in sin and indulged every selfish, lustful desire, yet Noah, obeyed God! He didn't just build the ark and wait for some animals, according to 2 Peter 2:5, Noah was a preacher of righteousness. He was actually trying to save the people around him. Some scholars believe that it had never rained on the earth before the Flood.**** Can you imagine telling your neighbors that a flood was coming, that water was going to fall from the sky and kill everyone if they didn't change their ways? They probably thought he was crazy anyway, what with gigantic boat being built in the front yard, but if they had never seen rain before I bet the mocking Noah endured was cruel and relentless. Yet Noah was faithful to the LORD.
"By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith." Hebrews 11:7
Noah did his best to be light in a very dark world, and God blessed him for it. When the rains came it was only Noah and his family that were on the ark, they were the only people that had faith, and the only ones to survive. God's grace was available to everyone, but 8 out of possibly billions received it.
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Matthew 7:13 & 14
Yet for those who do enter the narrow gate,
"I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have the power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ." Ephesians 3:17b & 18
* Genesis 5:32
** Courson, Jon. Application Commentary: Old Testament, Volume 1: Genesis- Job. Nashville, TN. Thomas Nelson, Inc. 2005. pg. 29
*** Walter, John H. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary: Volume 1. Grand Rapids, MI. Zondervan . 2009. pg. 47
**** Stewart, Don. Frequently Asked Questions. http://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/don_stewart/stewart.cfm?id=738 (accessed 5-4-10)
Monday, May 3, 2010
The Flood Day 1
You will need your Bible today
I think pretty much everyone has at least heard of Noah and the Ark. They may not have actually read it, they might not even know that it's in the Bible, but they've heard about it. Fisher Price makes the most adorable little play set for toddlers featuring a plastic ark that opens up so you can put Noah and all the sweet little creatures in it. Melissa and Doug (the children's toy company) have a wooden shape sorting toy in the shape of the ark. "Camels and kangaroos, monkeys and alligators are among the charming chunky animal pieces to sort into this wooden ark. The two-story ark features flip-open doors, twenty-six animal blocks, plus Noah and his wife!"* In 2007 Universal Studios released Evan Almighty, staring Steve Carell as a modern day Noah, learning to trust God in the face of persecution.** The story of Noah and the Flood is a great children's story.
Unfortunately it seem even many Christians think it is nothing more than a children's story. Once you are out of Sunday School you don't often hear the story anymore. Preachers and teachers might mention Noah or the Flood within a study, but rarely are they the focus.
As a student of the Bible one of my most favorite things is to go back over all the wonderful Sunday School stories with a fresh and grown up eye. The Bible is both utterly simple and incredibly complex at the same time, which make a story like Noah's perfect for Sunday School children and yet multifaceted and deep enough for mature Christians to not grow bored.
I am going to break my preferred pattern of completing a study in 3 lessons, I could never do justice to God's Word about Noah and the Flood that way. So this week we will read the complete story and focus on the plain text, then next week we will take an additional 2 days to look at many of the ways this story points to Jesus.
Please take the time to read the Genesis Chapters 6, 7 & 8 in one setting. Try to read it with fresh eyes and an open heart. No matter how familiar you maybe with parts of God's Word, there is always something new that God wants to reveal to you.
" I meditate on your precepts and consider you ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word." Psalm 119:15, 16
* description from: http://www.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=426558&cm_mmc=Google_Feed-_-9-_-53-_-%7Bkeyword%7D&kw=%7Bkeyword%7D (accessed 5-2-10)
** IMDB.com (accessed 5-2-10) for a Christian movie review of the the film check out http://www.pluggedin.com/videos/2007/Q2/EvanAlmighty.aspx
I think pretty much everyone has at least heard of Noah and the Ark. They may not have actually read it, they might not even know that it's in the Bible, but they've heard about it. Fisher Price makes the most adorable little play set for toddlers featuring a plastic ark that opens up so you can put Noah and all the sweet little creatures in it. Melissa and Doug (the children's toy company) have a wooden shape sorting toy in the shape of the ark. "Camels and kangaroos, monkeys and alligators are among the charming chunky animal pieces to sort into this wooden ark. The two-story ark features flip-open doors, twenty-six animal blocks, plus Noah and his wife!"* In 2007 Universal Studios released Evan Almighty, staring Steve Carell as a modern day Noah, learning to trust God in the face of persecution.** The story of Noah and the Flood is a great children's story.
Unfortunately it seem even many Christians think it is nothing more than a children's story. Once you are out of Sunday School you don't often hear the story anymore. Preachers and teachers might mention Noah or the Flood within a study, but rarely are they the focus.
As a student of the Bible one of my most favorite things is to go back over all the wonderful Sunday School stories with a fresh and grown up eye. The Bible is both utterly simple and incredibly complex at the same time, which make a story like Noah's perfect for Sunday School children and yet multifaceted and deep enough for mature Christians to not grow bored.
I am going to break my preferred pattern of completing a study in 3 lessons, I could never do justice to God's Word about Noah and the Flood that way. So this week we will read the complete story and focus on the plain text, then next week we will take an additional 2 days to look at many of the ways this story points to Jesus.
Please take the time to read the Genesis Chapters 6, 7 & 8 in one setting. Try to read it with fresh eyes and an open heart. No matter how familiar you maybe with parts of God's Word, there is always something new that God wants to reveal to you.
" I meditate on your precepts and consider you ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word." Psalm 119:15, 16
* description from: http://www.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=426558&cm_mmc=Google_Feed-_-9-_-53-_-%7Bkeyword%7D&kw=%7Bkeyword%7D (accessed 5-2-10)
** IMDB.com (accessed 5-2-10) for a Christian movie review of the the film check out http://www.pluggedin.com/videos/2007/Q2/EvanAlmighty.aspx
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