Day 3
Genesis 4:17-6:22
(4:17-26 | 5 | 6)
Verses 17-24 of chapter four deal with a brief exploration of Cain's line, right down to his great-great-great-grandson (I think) Lamech who boldly declares that although he killed a man, because anyone who murdered Cain would suffer vengeance seven times over, anyone who murdered Lamech would suffer vengeance seventy seven times over. I'm not sure I follow his logic, but never mind. The final two verses speak about Adam and Eve having a third son, Seth, who Adam believed was a granted by God as a result for the murdered Abel. Interesting interpretation.
Chapter 5 details Adam's line through Seth down to Noah. What fascinates me most about this family tree is the ages of the men when their first sons were born. The youngest any of them were when this happened was 65, an age at which most modern men would be looking to start winding down their lives rather than starting up a family. The eldest was Noah, who was 500 when his three sons were born. These ages seem to absurd to us now because most people don't make it past 100, and they certainly don't procreate when they get there. Another thing I find interesting about the chapter is the case of Enoch; he lived for 365 years, after which point he was taken away by God. Considering how up front the chapter is about the rest of the men in the line, I highly doubt this a euphemism for death. So I wonder what he did to cause God to take him away. Was it good or bad? It's strange.
The first part of chapter 6 details how wicked humanity had become, and speaks about God's resolution to destroy his creation and start over. It speaks about how God felt grieved that he had ever created the inhabitants of the planet. Luckily, though, Noah found God's favour. So God tasked him with building an ark, on which to keep safe numerous animals who would repopulate the earth once God had finished destroying its inhabitants. The thing that strikes me here is Noah's obedience. When he got the instructions, he must've thought he'd misheard. When he started, he must have felt ridiculous. I don't know how far from a significant body of water Noah was, but really it doesn't matter. Noah could've been based five minutes from the ocean, and he still would've felt ridiculous because of the sheer size of the boat he was building. This wasn't just a one-man canoe. It wasn't a fishing boat. It was flipping huge. Noah must have felt ridiculous, especially when trying to explain that the reason he was building it was because of God's coming storm. I could certainly do with more faith and more obedience to God's call. People like Noah and Joseph (in yesterday and today's Matthew readings) seem to have this in abundance, and it's inspiring.
Matthew 2:19-3:17
(2:19-23 | 3)
The end of chapter 2 speaks more about obedience. Initially, Joseph leaves the relative safety of Egypt, and then he heads to Nazareth, both on God's command. The thing I like most about this isn't just Joseph's obedience; it's also the way all the events so far have been lined up to fulfil prophecies regarding the messiah; firstly he was born of a virgin in Bethlehem, then he was moved to Nazareth so that he would be known as a Nazarene. Mary and Joseph probably wouldn't have been aware of the events fulfilling prophecies around them, but it's amazing with the advantage of having the whole picture being able to see God's faithfulness in fulfilling his promises.
Chapter 3 sees John the Baptist and his baptism of Jesus. I'm sure a lot could be written about John's speech to the Pharisees and Sadducees. However, I'm going to focus on the difference between this passage here and Genesis 6. In Genesis 6, God sees how wicked people are, and it grieves him. It grieves him that he ever created the population of the earth because they're so wicked, and so he resolves to destroy them and start again. Yet at the time of Jesus' birth, the people were still disobeying God. They were still doing wicked things. Yet God's reaction is entirely different. Instead of feeling grief at his creation's disobedience and wickedness, he rejoiced in his son. I'm sure he did (and does) feel grief at the transgressions of his children. But he knew what his plan was, so he knew how it would all work out. He had every reason to be upset, but he had even more to full of optimism and joy, not least because Jesus was and is God's son. This applies to us, as well; we can be weighed down by our sin. We can feel unworthy of God's presence, and we can feel like we've let God down. Or, we can feel joy because God has fixed the situation. That is something I'm still trying to get my head around. In a way, I hope I never cease to fail to be able to understand why God sent his son to be a sacrifice for our sins, and I hope I never cease to feel overwhelming joy and relief at what God accomplished through it.
Psalm 3
(3)
This psalm is a particularly cheerful one. David was aware of the number of his enemies after his son Absolom seized power from him. However, the King of Israel refused to feel overwhelmed or fearful about his situation. Instead, he found refuge in God, and declared his faith in him. He declared his refusal to be afraid of the number of his enemies because he knew had God. Instead, he prayed to God for deliverance. He prayed to God's help. There's a listen here for us, of course. It's easy to be weighed down by our problems. We may not have physical enemies, but it can feel like the whole world is against us at times. When trouble hits, we need to trust in God, and pray for his deliverance.
Genesis 4:17-6:22
(4:17-26 | 5 | 6)
Verses 17-24 of chapter four deal with a brief exploration of Cain's line, right down to his great-great-great-grandson (I think) Lamech who boldly declares that although he killed a man, because anyone who murdered Cain would suffer vengeance seven times over, anyone who murdered Lamech would suffer vengeance seventy seven times over. I'm not sure I follow his logic, but never mind. The final two verses speak about Adam and Eve having a third son, Seth, who Adam believed was a granted by God as a result for the murdered Abel. Interesting interpretation.
Chapter 5 details Adam's line through Seth down to Noah. What fascinates me most about this family tree is the ages of the men when their first sons were born. The youngest any of them were when this happened was 65, an age at which most modern men would be looking to start winding down their lives rather than starting up a family. The eldest was Noah, who was 500 when his three sons were born. These ages seem to absurd to us now because most people don't make it past 100, and they certainly don't procreate when they get there. Another thing I find interesting about the chapter is the case of Enoch; he lived for 365 years, after which point he was taken away by God. Considering how up front the chapter is about the rest of the men in the line, I highly doubt this a euphemism for death. So I wonder what he did to cause God to take him away. Was it good or bad? It's strange.
The first part of chapter 6 details how wicked humanity had become, and speaks about God's resolution to destroy his creation and start over. It speaks about how God felt grieved that he had ever created the inhabitants of the planet. Luckily, though, Noah found God's favour. So God tasked him with building an ark, on which to keep safe numerous animals who would repopulate the earth once God had finished destroying its inhabitants. The thing that strikes me here is Noah's obedience. When he got the instructions, he must've thought he'd misheard. When he started, he must have felt ridiculous. I don't know how far from a significant body of water Noah was, but really it doesn't matter. Noah could've been based five minutes from the ocean, and he still would've felt ridiculous because of the sheer size of the boat he was building. This wasn't just a one-man canoe. It wasn't a fishing boat. It was flipping huge. Noah must have felt ridiculous, especially when trying to explain that the reason he was building it was because of God's coming storm. I could certainly do with more faith and more obedience to God's call. People like Noah and Joseph (in yesterday and today's Matthew readings) seem to have this in abundance, and it's inspiring.
Matthew 2:19-3:17
(2:19-23 | 3)
The end of chapter 2 speaks more about obedience. Initially, Joseph leaves the relative safety of Egypt, and then he heads to Nazareth, both on God's command. The thing I like most about this isn't just Joseph's obedience; it's also the way all the events so far have been lined up to fulfil prophecies regarding the messiah; firstly he was born of a virgin in Bethlehem, then he was moved to Nazareth so that he would be known as a Nazarene. Mary and Joseph probably wouldn't have been aware of the events fulfilling prophecies around them, but it's amazing with the advantage of having the whole picture being able to see God's faithfulness in fulfilling his promises.
Chapter 3 sees John the Baptist and his baptism of Jesus. I'm sure a lot could be written about John's speech to the Pharisees and Sadducees. However, I'm going to focus on the difference between this passage here and Genesis 6. In Genesis 6, God sees how wicked people are, and it grieves him. It grieves him that he ever created the population of the earth because they're so wicked, and so he resolves to destroy them and start again. Yet at the time of Jesus' birth, the people were still disobeying God. They were still doing wicked things. Yet God's reaction is entirely different. Instead of feeling grief at his creation's disobedience and wickedness, he rejoiced in his son. I'm sure he did (and does) feel grief at the transgressions of his children. But he knew what his plan was, so he knew how it would all work out. He had every reason to be upset, but he had even more to full of optimism and joy, not least because Jesus was and is God's son. This applies to us, as well; we can be weighed down by our sin. We can feel unworthy of God's presence, and we can feel like we've let God down. Or, we can feel joy because God has fixed the situation. That is something I'm still trying to get my head around. In a way, I hope I never cease to fail to be able to understand why God sent his son to be a sacrifice for our sins, and I hope I never cease to feel overwhelming joy and relief at what God accomplished through it.
Psalm 3
(3)
This psalm is a particularly cheerful one. David was aware of the number of his enemies after his son Absolom seized power from him. However, the King of Israel refused to feel overwhelmed or fearful about his situation. Instead, he found refuge in God, and declared his faith in him. He declared his refusal to be afraid of the number of his enemies because he knew had God. Instead, he prayed to God for deliverance. He prayed to God's help. There's a listen here for us, of course. It's easy to be weighed down by our problems. We may not have physical enemies, but it can feel like the whole world is against us at times. When trouble hits, we need to trust in God, and pray for his deliverance.
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