I made it to day 2! Yes!
Day 2
Genesis 2:18-4:16
(2:18-25 | 3 | 4:1-16)
The second part of Genesis 2 has always been fascinating to me, simply because of the imagery it inspires. Firstly, God brought all the animals he had created to the man so that he could name them. I can see it now; "What should I name this creature? Well, it's black with white splodges, so I think I'll call it 'cow'." Obviously. There's also the imagery of God sending the man to sleep so that he could remove one of his ribs and use to create a woman. I love the poetry of it. This is also the first time that it is indicated that humanity is meant to be in relationship (verse 18: 'The LORD God said, "it is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper for him"').
Genesis 3 sees the fall, and perhaps the most famous part of the Old Testament. The serpent tricks Eve into eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and she in turn convinces Adam in joining her in disobeying God. God finds them hiding in shame when they become aware of their nakedness. God curses the serpent, and banishes Adam and Eve from Eden.
There is a very important lesson we can learn here; we can learn about how the enemy works. He didn't try to convince Eve to disobey God. Rather he tried to twist the meaning of God's words, and he tried to appeal to her pride. God warned Adam that 'when you eat of it [the tree] you will surely die' (Gen 2:17), a warning Eve repeated in Genesis 3:3. But the enemy twisted God's meaning, suggesting that God meant they would die instantly, and declared the notion nonsense (which of course it was, as God actually meant they would be banished from Eden and eventually die outside it). He then moved on to appealing to her pride by suggesting that eating the forbidden fruit would make them like God, and suggested that this was why God didn't want them to eat it. Being wise to the enemy's tactics doesn't make them easy to resist, but it does make it easier. I also find it interesting that both Adam and Eve try to deflect the blame away from themselves when caught, and neither apologised; Adam blames Eve, and even tries to lay some blame on God for putting her there, while Eve blames the serpent. This is a tendency we still have today; we don't like taking the blame when we mess up. The enemy won't (necessarily) try to get us to do his will, but he will try to stop us doing God's will. And when we mess up - and listen to the little voice saying "are you sure that's actually what he said? Surely he meant this..." - we need to take the blame, turn back to God and apologise.
Finally, Genesis 4 sees the story of Cain and Abel. God looked more favourably on Abel's offering to him than he did on Cain's offering. So Cain got jealous and killed Abel. We catch a glimpse of God's mercy as, although God cast Cain into exile, he still promised to protect him, and offered 'vengeance seven times over' on anyone who killed Cain. God's love for Cain far outweighs the pain of Abel's murder, which is mind blowing. (The passage is also the source for the name of one of my favourite bands, Avenged Sevenfold. But that's a different story.)
Matthew 2:1-18
(2:1-18)
This passage continues dealing with obedience. Three magi felt called to visit and worship the baby Jesus and future King of the Jews, so they did. And when they were instructed in a dream to not return to Herod to tell him of Jesus' location, they obeyed. Joseph was similarly obedient when an angel appeared to him again, this time warning him of Herod's intention to kill Jesus, and instructing him to flee with his wife and son to Egypt until Herod was dead.
I've just taken a quick look at a map, and the distance between Bethlehem and the Egyptian border is fairly large today. I'm not sure how similar the modern day distance is the Biblical distance, but I'm going to assume it was quite large back then too. Joseph undertook a huge task simply because an angel told him to in a dream. He woke up in the middle of the night after this dream, so it would have been very easy (and probably quite appealing) for him to dismiss his encounter as a bizarre dream. Instead, he got up and took off for Egypt with his wife and son that very night. As you do. That's inspiring faith right there. He was told to do something, so he did it. No ifs, no buts, he just did it.
Psalm 2
(2)
The psalm seems to be advising foreign kings not to conspire against Israel, her king, and her God. It warns of God's wrath against those who oppose him. Verse 11 says 'serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling'. I've never liked the phrase 'fear of God'. It seems to give the wrong message. For me, doing things out of 'fear' of God implies that you're only doing them because you're afraid of God. I know what it's supposed to mean. It's supposed to imply respect; a knowledge of who God is, and a desire to your best for him because of that; an awareness of what God is capable of, and wanting to not disappoint him. It's just a little clumsy, I think. Anyway, back on track. The psalm finishes with 'blessed are all who take refuge in him'. It's quite a simple message, really. If you believe and trust in God, you'll be blessed. If you oppose him and his people, bad things will come your way.
Day 2
Genesis 2:18-4:16
(2:18-25 | 3 | 4:1-16)
The second part of Genesis 2 has always been fascinating to me, simply because of the imagery it inspires. Firstly, God brought all the animals he had created to the man so that he could name them. I can see it now; "What should I name this creature? Well, it's black with white splodges, so I think I'll call it 'cow'." Obviously. There's also the imagery of God sending the man to sleep so that he could remove one of his ribs and use to create a woman. I love the poetry of it. This is also the first time that it is indicated that humanity is meant to be in relationship (verse 18: 'The LORD God said, "it is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper for him"').
Genesis 3 sees the fall, and perhaps the most famous part of the Old Testament. The serpent tricks Eve into eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and she in turn convinces Adam in joining her in disobeying God. God finds them hiding in shame when they become aware of their nakedness. God curses the serpent, and banishes Adam and Eve from Eden.
There is a very important lesson we can learn here; we can learn about how the enemy works. He didn't try to convince Eve to disobey God. Rather he tried to twist the meaning of God's words, and he tried to appeal to her pride. God warned Adam that 'when you eat of it [the tree] you will surely die' (Gen 2:17), a warning Eve repeated in Genesis 3:3. But the enemy twisted God's meaning, suggesting that God meant they would die instantly, and declared the notion nonsense (which of course it was, as God actually meant they would be banished from Eden and eventually die outside it). He then moved on to appealing to her pride by suggesting that eating the forbidden fruit would make them like God, and suggested that this was why God didn't want them to eat it. Being wise to the enemy's tactics doesn't make them easy to resist, but it does make it easier. I also find it interesting that both Adam and Eve try to deflect the blame away from themselves when caught, and neither apologised; Adam blames Eve, and even tries to lay some blame on God for putting her there, while Eve blames the serpent. This is a tendency we still have today; we don't like taking the blame when we mess up. The enemy won't (necessarily) try to get us to do his will, but he will try to stop us doing God's will. And when we mess up - and listen to the little voice saying "are you sure that's actually what he said? Surely he meant this..." - we need to take the blame, turn back to God and apologise.
Finally, Genesis 4 sees the story of Cain and Abel. God looked more favourably on Abel's offering to him than he did on Cain's offering. So Cain got jealous and killed Abel. We catch a glimpse of God's mercy as, although God cast Cain into exile, he still promised to protect him, and offered 'vengeance seven times over' on anyone who killed Cain. God's love for Cain far outweighs the pain of Abel's murder, which is mind blowing. (The passage is also the source for the name of one of my favourite bands, Avenged Sevenfold. But that's a different story.)
Matthew 2:1-18
(2:1-18)
This passage continues dealing with obedience. Three magi felt called to visit and worship the baby Jesus and future King of the Jews, so they did. And when they were instructed in a dream to not return to Herod to tell him of Jesus' location, they obeyed. Joseph was similarly obedient when an angel appeared to him again, this time warning him of Herod's intention to kill Jesus, and instructing him to flee with his wife and son to Egypt until Herod was dead.
I've just taken a quick look at a map, and the distance between Bethlehem and the Egyptian border is fairly large today. I'm not sure how similar the modern day distance is the Biblical distance, but I'm going to assume it was quite large back then too. Joseph undertook a huge task simply because an angel told him to in a dream. He woke up in the middle of the night after this dream, so it would have been very easy (and probably quite appealing) for him to dismiss his encounter as a bizarre dream. Instead, he got up and took off for Egypt with his wife and son that very night. As you do. That's inspiring faith right there. He was told to do something, so he did it. No ifs, no buts, he just did it.
Psalm 2
(2)
The psalm seems to be advising foreign kings not to conspire against Israel, her king, and her God. It warns of God's wrath against those who oppose him. Verse 11 says 'serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling'. I've never liked the phrase 'fear of God'. It seems to give the wrong message. For me, doing things out of 'fear' of God implies that you're only doing them because you're afraid of God. I know what it's supposed to mean. It's supposed to imply respect; a knowledge of who God is, and a desire to your best for him because of that; an awareness of what God is capable of, and wanting to not disappoint him. It's just a little clumsy, I think. Anyway, back on track. The psalm finishes with 'blessed are all who take refuge in him'. It's quite a simple message, really. If you believe and trust in God, you'll be blessed. If you oppose him and his people, bad things will come your way.
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