January - Reading 6

Greetings to all:

Church was called off today because of bad weather here today so I was able to do my reading early. Such luxury. I want to write on some on the reading in Acts later but after I have checked a few resources first. For now I wanted to throw out a few thoughts on the readings in Genesis today.

Abram and Sarai certainly had an "interesting" relationship. We read yesterday how Sarai, being a looker, was taken into the Pharoah's harem and now today we read that she gave Hagar to Abram for a surrogate mother. I find it interesting that Abram didn't show jealousy of Pharoah, at least none is mentioned in the scripture, but on the other hand, Sarai and Hagar become very "catty" toward each other. I think this is a reflection of Eve's curse from Genesis 3:16. "...your desire will be for your husband...". I can see an interpretation in this that women are inately jealous over there men. The whole story of Sarai and Hagar could be a Lifetime movie or a two-part episode of Dynasty. As I said last night, I love looking for the human-ness of the Biblical characters. These women are VERY human. Thousands of years have passed but people are still so much the same.

Finally, for this posting, thanks go out to Brother Glen and Sister Helen for the EXCELLENT links of the on-line maps. I will be using these on both my church website and I will probably be throwing in specific links as we go through the year. The distances that these ancient people travelled also add to an understanding of the scriptures and, for me, add even more to the human element of the story.

As Brother Adam always says: Until next posting...

- Clint

 

Please don't skip quickly over the Genesis chapters here. There is so much in them!

Chapter 15 starts right after Abram has refused any reward from the King of Sodom. It is his right to take this reward, but he refuses because he does not want anyone to ever have reason to say he became rich because of Sodom.

Chapter 15 says, immediately, "After this..." and the first thing the Lord says to Abram is "do not be afraid." Abram must have been afraid, or the Lord would have no reason to tell him not to be. Was he afraid of the vision? Possibly. Or maybe part, at least, of the fear had to do with his own position in the land. He had offended the king of Sodom by refusing a gift, he was a wandering tent-dweller with an 'army' of a little over 300 men, and although he was rich by those standards, it was nothing like owning a city and being walled in like a fortress.

And so God tells Abram, "I am your shield, your very great reward."

Than Abram asks about a child, as he and Sarai are childless. Children were the biggest riches, and Abram had none. At this point God tells Abram to look up at the stars, for there is something about them that is being used as a promise regarding Abram's family.

Many people think God is telling Abram to count the stars and that this means he will have a really great number of descendents. Although this promise is given to Abram later, this is NOT the promise of Genesis 15. In Galatians 3:16, Paul defines this particular prophetic utterance by God as a Messianic promise. Abraham is going to be the father, or ancestor, of the Messiah.

So why would looking up at the stars have indicated that? Although it is widely argued, there is good evidence that the gospel message was clearly written in the zodiac itself in the beginning, and that the people on earth understood its meaning. I co-authored an article on this several years ago which is webbed here: http://www.ldolphin.org/zodiac/ -- Signs in the Stars

In Genesis 15:5, the word the Lord uses to tell Abram what to do with the stars is often translated to 'count', but this is not the meaning. The word used is 'sapar' which is 'to tell, or proclaim, or declare' from the root meaning 'to score with a mark, or record'. The normal word for counting is another word. This is why the KJV uses the word that Abram is to 'tell' the stars. There was something about what Abram could see in the stars that was the promise of a Messiah. There is evidence in the Bible that Abram might have thought Isaac, his son by Sarai (Abraham and Sarah by then) was the Promised One, for when Abraham takes his son to sacrifice him, he tells his servants in Gensis 22:5: "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. WE will worship and then WE will come back to you."

If the zodiac as it once was understood (although it has been distorted demonically in meaning now) was clear about need for the Redeemer to be killed and then come back to life, and knowing that God had indeed promised him that the Redeemer would be from his line, this may be an indication that Abraham thought Isaac was indeed the Messiah. But, at the last moment, God stops Abraham and demonstrates to him that God Himself will provide the Lamb.

But as of that night, in Genesis 15, after Abram had come back from battle and rescued Lot, and then insulted the king of Sodom by refusing any gifts of thanks, Abram had no way of knowing what lay in the future. He was simply hit by the impact of what the Lord had just told him. And Abram believed the Lord. He believed about the coming Messiah. And because all righteousness in in Jesus Christ, the Lord credited that faith to Abram as righteousness. Abram was, at that time, believing on Christ just as much as any of the Apostles ever did. And that is where salvation will always be -- in Christ.


God does not stop with that, however. He goes on to make another promise to Abram. For the third time, it is the promise of the land where Abram is. And this time Abram asks how he can know he will gain possession of the land -- after all, he had just insulted a king! He was not in a terrific position to wage war!

And so God instructs Abram to prepare the traditional blood covenant sacrifices, and Abram does. And then he stands guard over them.

When the Lord talks to Abram again, it is to give him a specific prophecy in terms of his descendents living as slaves for four hundred years before they will be able to come back and take the land. The prophecy is interesting, but there is something just as interesting immediately after which most people ignore. God tells Abram that it will not be for a number of generations yet, "for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."

In other words, the Amorites -- even the Amorites -- were to be given their full time. As Jesus said, it is not until the tares are grown that they are weeded out. And, for sin to reach its 'full measure', that means there is nothing else in the cup. No goodness will be left in the land. No child, growing up, will have a chance to have a good example to follow. The culture will be irredeemably evil and so ripe for wiping out.

These chapters have so much in them -- please do not rush through them!

 

Good evening:

Concerning what I wanted to share with you on our reading in Acts, I am pasting an excerpt from a biography on John Waller, an early Virginian Baptist who along with Lewis Craig and James Childs were arrested in Spottsylvania County, VA, for preaching the Gospel outside of the lines of the so called Acts of Toleration set up under the monarchy of William and Mary. These events occured in the late 1760's:

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> In The Era When The Imprisonment Of Baptist Preachers Began
John Waller, William Webber (the first person Waller baptized), Lewis Craig and his brothers Elijah and Joseph "traveled forth in every direction, spreading the tidings of peace and salvation wherever they went." They faced "magistrates and mobs, priests and sheriffs, courts and prisons" but held fast to the spread of the gospel (with a Baptist flair!)
Then, in 1768, the first instance of actual imprisonment of Baptist preachers that ever took place in Virginia occurred in Spotsylvania County. John Waller, Lewis Craig and others were seized by the local authorities for unlawful preaching. Arraigned in court two days later for disturbing the peace, Waller and his companions refused to promise not to preach anymore for a year and a day. They sang a hymn as they were marched through the streets of Fredericksburg from the courthouse to the jail.
In 1771, while pastor of Wallers and preaching in Caroline County and as Mr. Waller began to pray, a county parish parson, his reverence Morton, "ran the butt end of his whip into Waller’s mouth" to silence him. Then a clerk "pulled Waller down and dragged him to the sheriff," who, with a horse whip, beat him so bad that it left him with permanent scars. It is recorded that he whipped "him in such a violent manner (without the ceremony of a trial) that poor Waller was presently in a gore of blood … [However,] Waller, "sore and bloody as he was, remounted the stage and preached a most extraordinary sermon, thereby showing that beaten oil is best for the sanctuary …"
Other records of abuse include that "Waller was pulled own and hauled about by the hair of his head while he was preaching at Hanover and that he received like treatment in Culpeper where ‘he narrowly escaped with his life.’ Other efforts to silence him have been described as ‘almost torn in two’ and ‘jerked off stage’ and ‘head beaten against ground.’" A jail in Urbanna was described as follows, "The prison swarmed with fleas. They borrowed a candle of the jailer, and having sung the praised of that Redeemer whose cross they bore and from whose hand they expected a crown in the end; having returned thanks that it was a prison and not hell that they were in; praying for themselves, their friends, their enemies and persecutors, they laid down to sleep." Despite the conditions, "the imprisoned ministers preached every Wednesday and Sunday and so many came to hear them that their enraged enemies frequently beat drums in attempts to drown out the preaching."

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>The entire biography can be found at http://www.wallers.org/historypastor.htm

We have the liberty of taking for granted the religious freedom we enjoy because men like Waller, Chiles, Craig, Peter and John have for 2000 years realized that the authority of God and the Scriptures is paramount over any persecution that mobs or governments or religious factions can impose. As I read the account in Acts of Peter and John's imprisonment, I could not help but think of our own Baptist predecessors. I expect these men did as well.

I was unable to locate the account in my scanning of text but there was an early elder who even preached through the bars of his prison cell window. The jailers, in an effort to thwart this, erected a brick wall outside of this opening. The crowd outside then took to signalling their readiness by tossing objects over the wall so that the man's oration could begin.

I have rambled a bit more than I intended but I find these stories of persecution fascinating. Thank you all for reading.

May God bless you

- Clint

 

Genesis 16 and 17 are interesting not only as narratives, but as counterpoints to each other. In Genesis 16, Sarai and Abram take matters into their own hands regarding a future heir for Abram and Sarai gives her maidservant, Hagar, to be Abram's concubine. Ishmael is conceived and born and his line has caused no end of trouble from the beginning until now! The angel's prophecy indeed has proven true historically:

He will be wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone's hand against him,
and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.


Compare this to Abram's name change and response to the covenant of circumcision in chapter 17. Abraham is again promised the land, and a son. He is 99. Sarah is almost as old, and so Abraham laughs to himself. God must be a little mixed up...

No, God is not mixed up. In fact He tells Abraham what his son's name will be: Isaac, meaning "laughter." Abraham will never be allowed to forget that he, and later also Sarah, laughed at the Lord's promise.

But take a look at what Abraham did the minute he had finished the time with the Lord. "On that very day" Abraham not only undergoes circumcision himself, but his entire household is circumcized as well! It will be quite understandable to the men, who are probably feeling a bit squeamish about this idea, that Abraham's men were in NO position to defend the camp for a couple of days thereafter, at least.

In other words, instead of taking matters into his own hands and maybe circumcizing them in shifts, Abraham has finally gotten the idea of what really trusting God is all about. The whole household is done on the same day, and Abraham is thereby showing himself totally dependent on God's protection of them all.

 

Hi All,
I would love to have seen the baptism of Jesus!
"..the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice form heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Matt 3:16,17

How we hope, to one day hear the Lord say that about us!

In Acts,
"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus."

This stood out to me that they saw that Peter and John were unlearned and ignorant.

And I love their response to being commanded not to speak or teach of Jesus.

"Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." Acts 4:19,20

These are such good verses to memorize!


Psalms are wonderful. I have read a Psalm before and felt that my soul was mirroring the cry of the Psalm. David was such an emotional man...and God blessed him to allow him to convey those emotions so completely in his writings. David was suffering so much at the hand of Saul...he starts the Psalm pleading for God's mercy (Psalm 6:2)
Then conveying his grief and troubles
"...I water my couch with my tears." (vs. 6)
And then his confidence that God has heard him! (vs. 8.9+10)

I personally need to remember that God hears our prayers, I am trying to remember to leave my cares at His Throne and not carry them around worring about them. And as a born worrier this is hard! But when I think of David's troubles, so much larger than mine, and how he left them with confidence at the Throne. It is a great example to hold up.

In Genesis,
Sarai giving Hagar to Abram. It was a different time, but still hard to imagine.
I admit, that even if I wanted children that badly to give my handmaid to my husband...she would have to be pretty ugly!

I love the name that Hagar named the well where God spoke to her "Be'er-la-hai-roi" (Gen 16:14) which my translation says means
"The well of the Living One, who sees me."

That God would notice, and talk to her! A simple maid...this clearly awed Hagar.

I could go on, but my sister is having trouble with her pregnancy and I need to have the phone lines free (only one line!)
Hugs,
~SeaFlower~

 

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>In Genesis,
Sarai giving Hagar to Abram. It was a different time, but still hard to imagine.
I admit, that even if I wanted children that badly to give my handmaid to my husband...she would have to be pretty ugly! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I laughed out loud at this one! I probably wasn't even that generous when I discussed this passage with my husband! I have been keeping up with the reading but I haven't participated on the BB discussions, choosing to share my thoughts and questions with Clint. But I couldn't resist this quote!

As for the text itself, my study Bible describes this practice of giving the handmaid to the husband as a common gesture among women who failed to conceive. Sarai and Abram just created more problems in seeking this solution rather than trusting in God's promise.

 

Hi Margie and Clint,

Thank you both for your posts. I agree with Clint about the role played by so many through the last 2000 years to keep the true Word of God available to people. Everyone probably knows about Foxe's Book of Martyrs, but there is also a more modern book which is incredible: "By Their Blood" by James and Marti Hefley -- on modern martyrs.

I have a question, and it seems not too many people are posting here, so I'll just ask you two if I am off the wall -- Jesus said when He was baptized it was to fulfill all righteousness. I wonder if, because He took our sins to the cross, He also had to be 'with us' in repentance as well?

Thoughts?

Psalm 6 is special to me. It is one of the Psalms that told me, in some of my darkest hours, that it was OK to cry all night and soak my bed with tears. It was OK to feel utterly defeated for a bit when something so horrid and unexpected came crashing into my life that I came to a shuddering stop. And it ends, thank God, with the the wonderful, "The Lord has heard my weeping. The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer." There is one verse after that, but that part lifted my head from sobbing before. I'm so grateful David wrote during all his ups and downs. Knowing he was a 'man after God's own heart' shows me that there are things the world may say mean I'm not trusting God, but that God knows what I am going through at that time and He will let me cry and then see me through.


And that wonderful verse which closes the Acts reading today: "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

That's what makes biblical Christianity so exclusive ----- and thus, unpopular!

 

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> Jesus said when He was baptized it was to fulfill all righteousness. I wonder if, because He took our sins to the cross, He also had to be 'with us' in repentance as well?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Hi back at ya Helen:

I'm not sure what scripture I would be looking for in answer to your query, so I will just answer with my sense of Christian philosophy as I apply it to my own life.

I agree that Christ took our sins with Him to the cross and for our sins to be those for which He died we must repent of them. We need Christ for that repentance. We are the confessors; he is the confessee. Christ Himself was sinless and in no need of repentance. So, yes, Christ must be "with us" to hear. He must always be with us. That is the very nature of salvation. He didn't have to do what He did - die.
John said to the crowd at Jordan "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." Matthew 3:11. John balked at baptizing Christ because he knew that Jesus was blameless, hence no need for repentance.
I hope this at least presents my viewpoint on your question.

As for the first part of your question:
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> I'll just ask you two if I am off the wall <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Yes!

j/k

May God bless you

- Clint

 

Falling off the wall.......

clunk, splat....

Whew, that wasn't so bad

OK, I understand what you said, but that does not explain why JESUS had to be baptized or how that was fulfilling righteousness. When He was baptized by John, He was taking the part of the person repenting...

It could not possibly have been for Himself, so it must have been for us....

???


hand me the rope and I'll get up on that wall again....

 

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> OK, I understand what you said, but that does not explain why JESUS had to be baptized or how that was fulfilling righteousness. When He was baptized by John, He was taking the part of the person repenting... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


Good Morning, Helen:

I read your last post late last night but I felt no inspiration to respond. I was hoping that as I slept and meditated some original ideas would come to me on the issue of why Christ "needed" to be baptized. Nothing revolutionary has struck me.
The explanation I have always accepted was that Christ's baptism and life in general was an example to us. He was baptized at the start of his ministry, so should we be baptized at the beginning of our marked spiritual growth. I looked up "way" in the concordance and ran across this reference in Isaiah:
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> Isaiah 30
19
O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you.
20
Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them.
21
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."
22
Then you will defile your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, "Away with you!" <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

My study Bible does not denote this as a Messianic prophecy but I think verse 21 reflects the attitude Christ had when He went to John in the Jordan River.

Also I looked up "follow". There are so many references to the word! This one stood out in this context:
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> John 10
24
The Jews gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."
25
Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me,
26
but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.
27
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
28
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

"My sheep listen to my voice and follow me." The whole point, I believe, in God coming to earth in the flesh, a true physical manifestation, was to lead by example. God the Creator was not the type of parent to say, "Do as I say, not as I do!" He blazed the trail for us and His baptism was the first blazing on that trail.

So, yes, it WAS for us. I have noticed that you have also been using the NIV for some of your readings. I will finish by sharing their text notes on these passages of Matthew 3:15 - 17 so that the other readers may benefit from these scholars' insights.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> 3:15This occasion marked the beginning of Christ's Messianic ministry. There were several reasons for his baptism:
1. The first, mentioned here, was "to fulfill all righteousness." The baptism indicated that He was consecrated to God and officially approved by Him, as especially shown in the decent of the Holy Spirit (v.16) and the words of the Father (v.17;cf. Ps 2:7; Isa 42:1) All God's righteous requirements for the Messiah were fully met in Jesus.
2. At Jesus' baptism John publicly announced the arrival of the Messiah and the inception of His ministry (Jn 1: 31 - 34).
3. By His baptism Jesus completely identified Himself with man's sin and failure (though He himself needed no repentance or cleansing from sin), becoming our substitute (2Co 5:21).
4. His baptism was an example to His followers.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I look forward to our discussions later today.

May God bless you, Ma'am

- Clint

[ January 07, 2002: Message edited by: Clint Kritzer ]

 

Barry is still in Australia, so he and I talked at length about this on the phone last night, with very little feeling 'settled' about it. But then my oldest son called about something that had caused him some recent emotional pain and we talked for a long time. I brought up the subject of Jesus' baptism and he thought a moment (he is 28) and said,

"Ok, Mom, what is righteousness?"

That's a stopper. So we both looked it up in our various concordances.

Righteousness is not simply 'to be made right with God', but comes from words, in the Hebrew, meaning 'cleansing, evening out (legally), to be balanced' and such.

And Scott, my son, brought up some interesting points as we worked this through:

1. We can never know all the sins we have committed. We could not bear that weight. So in the same way that Jesus took our death for us, He also took our repentance for us. The way had to be cleared for forgiveness, as Paul says in 2 Cor. 7:10 "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation..." Repentance and salvation are linked throughout the New Testament.

2. The "It is finished!" cry of Jesus on the cross was begun at the baptism. Full repentance, perfect obedience to the law, complete teaching, a blameless example, and the spotless sacrifice were all part of the deal. Even repentance had to be complete, and none of us is really even capable of repenting completely. There is no way we can understand or bear the comprehension of our own guilt before God if we were to stand on our own.


So I checked back with Barry later.

"I think he has a real point there," was Barry's reply.

Comments?

 

As I re-read all of this, yours and mine, it seems we are zeroing in on the same idea.

I use the NIV mostly for basic reading but have several Bibles here and frequently check translations of puzzling sections as well as going into the concordances, commentaries, and the Hebrew and Greek parallels. Barry has the LXX with him right now! But usually when I quote, it will be from the NIV as the words are clear and it is a solid conservative translation. Still, we have found some funny errors in it, so any translation is fine with me for quoting most of the time.

All that aside, a final thought occurred to me as I posted the last message. Something my head 'sort of' knew but had not really hit home: Jesus began carrying the burden of us at His baptism. It was not just sort of dumped on Him at the cross. He had been carrying it the entire time.

For me, this morning, that is a mind-blower.

I'll be back later. Have house and shopping and such calling right now.

God bless.

Helen

 

Helen,

Don't fret that it seems there anrn't many here. Ill bet that Im not the only one who gets here to read what the wiser more mature christians have to say. For the most part I will have a question, and someone has already talked about it before I get here. That way I have my answers just waiting for me.

Bill

 

One time I was teaching this passage in Sunday School about Jesus "fulfilling all righteousness." I suggested that Jesus was affirming that it was righteous to be baptized and that He therefore was, himself, going to be baptized, even though he had nothing to repent of.

One of the class members was touched by this story and decided himself, at last, to get baptized and joing the church.

 

Cross reference links on the board

Read through the Bible forum:

Genesis 15, the Covenant

 

And now, my friends, I know quite well that you acted in ignorance, and so did your rulers; but this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold in the utterances of all the prophets: that his Messiah should suffer. Acts 3:17-18. (NEB)

Many times the insults and offenses that come our way are because of the ignorance of those who offend us. Certainly the Jews that crucified Jesus thought they were doing God a service.

Yet we may take comfort in the fact that God is at work despite the outward appearances of the events sent our way. The one who curses you was sent by God, 2 Sam. 16:10. Hardships and trials are one of the birthmarks of a Christian, Heb. 12:6-8. We may also take comfort in the fact the the Captain of our Salvation walked this way before we did.

 

Great read. I have been reading everyday and following all of the posts. Matt:3, very powerful discussion. I believe that when Jesus was Baptized, that was to set an example for all Christians. To walk with Jesus we should follow everyone of His footsteps. God Bless

 

Mark,
I agree, but also think it goes further than example. I believe Jesus was emphasising the fullness of His nature, "very God and very man" as we used to put it, "that all righteousness be fulfilled." The fullness of His human nature did not need to repent, but it did need a public acknowledgement of being established "in the name of" God. His entire public ministry was done "in the name of" (that is, in the power of, with the full authority of, and with the full knoweldge/consent/backing of) God.

Dan S

 

Not only have I kept up with the readings so far, but I am immensely enjoying it praise the Lord! Guys, could you imagine being circumcised at 13 or at 99?

Question about Genesis:

It seems that God is playing favorites with Abraham even though he did many things that were wrong. He slept with his maid Hagar because he did not believe what God said he was going to do later with Sarah. And God did not even judge him or rebuke him for it.

Did God and does God still really show favortism with some of us? Why was I born in KY in a Christian home versus a shack in Iraq? Why has God blessed me so much and put me in a great local church here in Hawaii while some have never had the opportunity to even step in a church?

I truly thank God for his goodness and his blessings towards me, but reading about Abraham makes me wonder a bit why some have had it better than others.

Aloha and God Bless!