Day 11
Genesis 24:1-67
(24)
To modern, western eyes, this story might seem a bit absurd. Abraham asks a servant to leave Canaan and go back to Abraham's home land to find a wife for Isaac. Abraham tells the servant that he has to bring the woman back with him, and that if she refuses to come back with him, he is released from the agreement. Under no circumstances is he to take Isaac out of Canaan, as this was the land the LORD had promised to give Abraham's descendants.
Just outside the town of Nahor, Abraham's brother, the servant stops by a well, and he prays. I find it interesting to note that he prays to "the God of my master Abraham" - it might be that this was contemporary servant etiquette, or it might be that the servant wasn't a believer at the time. Or there could well be a third option I haven't even considered. In any case, the servant prayed that he would be successful in finding a wife for Isaac, and he prayed that he could identify her by her behaviour. God answers his prayer by bringing Rebekah to the well, where she behaves in the way that the servant asked.
The servant is eventually invited to the house of Bethuel, Abraham's nephew, and Laban, Bethuel's son. He asks if they would allow him to take Rebekah to marry Isaac, and they say yes. As soon as they get back to Canaan, Isaac and Rebekah marry. Like I said, this might seem a bit absurd to us. But what I take from the story is the faithfulness of the servant in obeying Abraham, and the faithfulness of God in helping the servant find Isaac a wife.
Matthew 9:14-38
(9:14-38)
A lot happens in this passage. Firstly, Jesus is questioned why his disciples never fast. Of course, with the benefit of the whole picture, we can see it's a ridiculous notion for those spending the most time with Jesus to fast; you fast in order to grow closer to God and hear him more clearly, an exercise rendered entirely unnecessary by the fact that Jesus is God. Once he's gone, Jesus tells the questioner, his disciples will fast. But while he's around, it's an entirely futile exercise.
This is followed by a succession of healings which are down to the faith that Jesus can heal. A man's daughter is dead, and he believes Jesus can bring her back to life. On the way there, a woman who had been suffering with heavy periods for 12 years touches the edge of Jesus' robes in the belief that this will heal her. When Jesus notices, he tells her that her faith had healed her, and she was healed. Jesus gets to the dead girl, and tells everyone she's asleep, not dead. Jesus takes her hand, and she gets up. (Okay, so this might be a resurrection, not a healing.) Later, two blind men are healed because of their faith that Jesus could do it, and a mute man is able to speak after Jesus drives a demon from him. God can and does heal people. But it's important to remember that if he doesn't, it is absolutely not down to a lack of faith on our part.
Psalm 8:1-9
(8)
This psalm is just there to glorify God. It speaks about awe at the majesty of God and his creation. More than that, it speaks of the amazing truth that a God capable of all that cares for each and every single one of us. Not only that, but he's made us "ruler over the works of your hands". Sometimes, in amongst all the theology, we lose sight of these amazing truths. It's nice to have this here to remind us.
Genesis 24:1-67
(24)
To modern, western eyes, this story might seem a bit absurd. Abraham asks a servant to leave Canaan and go back to Abraham's home land to find a wife for Isaac. Abraham tells the servant that he has to bring the woman back with him, and that if she refuses to come back with him, he is released from the agreement. Under no circumstances is he to take Isaac out of Canaan, as this was the land the LORD had promised to give Abraham's descendants.
Just outside the town of Nahor, Abraham's brother, the servant stops by a well, and he prays. I find it interesting to note that he prays to "the God of my master Abraham" - it might be that this was contemporary servant etiquette, or it might be that the servant wasn't a believer at the time. Or there could well be a third option I haven't even considered. In any case, the servant prayed that he would be successful in finding a wife for Isaac, and he prayed that he could identify her by her behaviour. God answers his prayer by bringing Rebekah to the well, where she behaves in the way that the servant asked.
The servant is eventually invited to the house of Bethuel, Abraham's nephew, and Laban, Bethuel's son. He asks if they would allow him to take Rebekah to marry Isaac, and they say yes. As soon as they get back to Canaan, Isaac and Rebekah marry. Like I said, this might seem a bit absurd to us. But what I take from the story is the faithfulness of the servant in obeying Abraham, and the faithfulness of God in helping the servant find Isaac a wife.
Matthew 9:14-38
(9:14-38)
A lot happens in this passage. Firstly, Jesus is questioned why his disciples never fast. Of course, with the benefit of the whole picture, we can see it's a ridiculous notion for those spending the most time with Jesus to fast; you fast in order to grow closer to God and hear him more clearly, an exercise rendered entirely unnecessary by the fact that Jesus is God. Once he's gone, Jesus tells the questioner, his disciples will fast. But while he's around, it's an entirely futile exercise.
This is followed by a succession of healings which are down to the faith that Jesus can heal. A man's daughter is dead, and he believes Jesus can bring her back to life. On the way there, a woman who had been suffering with heavy periods for 12 years touches the edge of Jesus' robes in the belief that this will heal her. When Jesus notices, he tells her that her faith had healed her, and she was healed. Jesus gets to the dead girl, and tells everyone she's asleep, not dead. Jesus takes her hand, and she gets up. (Okay, so this might be a resurrection, not a healing.) Later, two blind men are healed because of their faith that Jesus could do it, and a mute man is able to speak after Jesus drives a demon from him. God can and does heal people. But it's important to remember that if he doesn't, it is absolutely not down to a lack of faith on our part.
Psalm 8:1-9
(8)
This psalm is just there to glorify God. It speaks about awe at the majesty of God and his creation. More than that, it speaks of the amazing truth that a God capable of all that cares for each and every single one of us. Not only that, but he's made us "ruler over the works of your hands". Sometimes, in amongst all the theology, we lose sight of these amazing truths. It's nice to have this here to remind us.
No comments:
Post a Comment