January - Reading 16

I have to admit, when I read scripture such as we find in Genesis 36, I am bored by it. However, to anyone who approaches scripture as a scholar or historian, these types of passages are of great value. Any of you who are using a study Bible will notice that the footnotes use these passages for clues to other scripture. For instance, verse 11 gives us a clue that Job lived in Edom. Without Genesis 36, we may never have known this. I will take this moment to point out to those of you who are unaware, the Bible is not set up chronologically, but rather is grouped in categories of books. This knowledge may help you when you go to look up passages in the Old Testament. The outline is this:
5 books of Law or Torah (Genesis - Deuteronomy)
12 books of Judges or History (Joshua - Esther)
5 books of Songs or Poetry (Job - Songs of Solomon)
5 Major Prophets (Isaiah - Daniel)
12 Minor Prophets (Hosea - Malachi)
For instance, Hosea lived during the time of "6 kings" of the Northern Kingdom as is referenced in 2 Kings 15 - 17, but the book of Hosea is hundreds of pages later than the book of 2 Kings.
If you are a "new" Christian (or a curious "old" Christian for that matter), I would suggest picking up a reputable study Bible. Though the scriptures speak to all of us on some level, scholars have been analyzing the subtle nuances of this Great Work for thousands of years. I benefit greatly from their efforts.

I have refrained from commenting on the Psalms up to this point because I feel the poetry stands well on its own mettle, but I will make the observation that Psalm 16 shows how little our view of a "good man" has changed since the time of David.

In Acts today, we see how sophisticated the Christian underground has become. Saul, a traitor to the Pharisees, is smuggled out of Damascus and begins his powerful, effective ministry. This is great reading. It moves like a spy novel. One can almost see Paul as a Nazi Gestapo agent who switches sides during the war. The Holy Spirit works well through this convert. Jews who may not have given the time of day to the disciples give audience to Saul and take his words as authoritative.
And just as a good novel jumps from scene to scene, the last part of Acts 9 rejoins Peter's ministry in Joppa. Note the difference in how Tabitha is reanimated as opposed to the accounts of Christ raising the dead in Matthew 9:18 - 26, Luke 7:11 - 17, and John 11:38 - 44. Christ, being God, need only command the corpses to arise. Peter, on the other hand, is not the instrument of reanimation so he needs to kneel and pray. Only God has the power to raise the dead. Only Christ has the power to give us eternal life. Remember Moses' sin of pride in Numbers 20:9 - 12. Moses used the personal pronoun "we" and struck the rock twice for water. He made it appear as though it were him who brought forth water, not crediting God. A common mistake for believers: an easy trap in which to fall.

For any of you who may be interested, I am supplying an online map of Paul's extensive travel in his ministries.
http://gbgm-umc.org/umw/corinthians/maps/pjbig.gif

One other note on a personal level. Jen (my step-daughter) was diagnosed with strep throat. She will be back in school tomorrow thanks to the Good Lord giving us a knowledge of antibiotics.

I hope all of you have a good day and may God bless you.

- Clint

 

Matt 6:25-34 – I am reminded of what little faith I have. Oh if only I would “seek first the kingdom of God.” If only my prayers would be focused on what I can do for God and others and not what God can do for me! What is so important to me, my financial well being, career, affording a vacation or a new car, etc. are all trivial to God. What God desires is ME, wholly consecrated to Him!

Acts 9:22 (ESV)
22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.

People today are still seeking “proof” that Jesus is Lord and God, and still denying the irrefutable evidence of not only the historical Jesus, but of His diety.

Acts 9:27 (ESV)
27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus.

One thing that the Bible does not emphasize is the miraculous “teaching of Paul.” Paul did not follow Jesus during His earthly ministry as the other Apostles did, yet his message completely agreed with theirs. Paul’s mind was supernaturally infused with all the facts and knowledge that he needed to preach the gospel.

Psalm 16 is a beautiful personal testimony of David’s trust in the Lord.

Gen 36 is a fairly detailed genealogy of Esau and his offspring who were to become the Edomites, bitter enemies of God’s chosen Israel.

Isaiah 34:5(ESV) 5 For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; behold, it descends for judgment upon Edom, upon the people I have devoted to destruction. God’s election is tough for us to reconcile with His holiness and perfect righteousness. We must trust that God’s infinite wisdom and knowledge is far superior to how our intellect can deal with these truths.

Clint, Jen is in my prayers!

God bless,
John

[ January 16, 2002: Message edited by: John Wells ]

 

Hi All,
What stood out to me in today's reading was of Barnabas.

In Acts 9:27 we see that when Saul tried to join the disciples in Jerusalem...they were all afraid of him (Quite understandable! )
But Barnabas took that first step of friendship/fellowship.

I also found it interesting that Barnabas was also noted for selling land and giving the money to the apostles.(Acts 4:36)
But this act of taking Saul in, is what joins him to Saul/Paul on his missions. (Acts 13:2) Of course, later they have their dispute and separate ways.
But it just made me think more of how important it is to reach out to others...even when we and others are afraid too.
I don't know that I would have been able to reach out to Saul, after his "reign of terror" unless like Ananias, you actually heard from God in this matter.
Otherwise, I probably would have thought it was a trick of some sort. But I am cautious, and as my Dad always says "Are you ready to meet your Maker, or what?"
Hugs,
~SeaFlower~

 

I'm laughing, Clint -- I know chapters like Genesis 36 are not actually for reading. They are what anchors this time in history with the world around them. These chapters are for research for those who need them. I have been amazed at the times when I have found a clue in some of these lists, though. For instance, Job could easily be the Jobab of Genesis 10:29 -- Peleg's nephew. Bit by bit I have learned to appreciate some of these 'boring' chapters through the years -- also the census counts in Numbers still leave me a little numb...

Psalm 16 truly is lovely. David is showing some spiritual maturity here, I think, knowing that the Lord is always right there with him, and that he is secure.

It is good to note that the end of the Psalm is considered a Messianic prophecy:

"...you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will not let your Holy One see decay."

David is sure of the resurrection not only for himself eventually, but for the Messiah who is to rise from death before HIS body sees decay. And that is exactly right on both counts.

And there really are times -- like right now -- when I have found myself saying "The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance." And I praise God.


In Acts, Luke tells these incredible events with such a calm attitude! How different from today's news reporting! Here's what happened, folks... 1... 2... 3....

Amazing.

I note in v. 31 that the church grew in numbers 'living in the fear of the Lord.' You don't hear that now, do you? This kind of fear is like 'total awe.' And some nervousness, too. This was GOD. We take it all for granted so much, don't we? God came down. His name was Jesus. He died for us and on the third day rose again....

Stop. Think about that. He was GOD. We, too need to be living out our walk as His sheep with that kind of awe, I think.


Matthew 6:25-34 -- wo easy to say "Don't worry..." and so hard to follow that advice. I'm learning. And you know something? God has not let me down yet!

I have a story to tell you from my husband. His parents were Salvation Army officers in Australia during the Depression (It was there, too!) and after. I don't know how the Salvation Army deals with its retired officers now, but then there was no pension plan, no retirement fund, nothing. When it was over it was over.

And so Barry's family knew abject poverty in his parents' later years. After his father died, it was even worse. In 1987 his mother had a severe heart attack that left her in bed and an invalid for the rest of her days. Barry's sister, Marilyn, is epileptic and cannot be allowed to cook. So from 1987 on, Barry would go downtown about twice a week to get a roasted chicken to bring home.

One autumn they were out of money. He had three dollars left -- and a chicken cost five. He had not told his mother their predicament and when she told him to please go downtown for the chicken, in a daze he went out to the car and sat there. He felt the urging inside, from the Lord, to get going. Go down and get that chicken.

"But Lord, I have no money. You know I only have three dollars. I need two more!"

"Get going."

The parking places in front of the chicken shop were full, so he parked across the road. It was a gorgeous day, with colored leaves swirling around. Not knowing what he was going to do, he simply started walking across the street to the chicken shop, in trusting obedience to God. He was looking at the leaves and enjoying their colors when one caught his eye. It was quite green still. He bent down to look at it and picked it up.

It was a two dollar bill.

He bought the chicken and took it home to his mum and sis.

I'm still way behind my husband on the 'trust and obey' angle -- which is the main thing in Christian life -- but I'm improving! Sometimes I even encourage him!

Jesus meant what He said. We can depend on that.

[ January 17, 2002: Message edited by: Helen ]

 

Cross reference links on the board

Read through the Bible forum:

Genesis 36, Esau's line

 

I love reading about how God took Saul, who was one of the greatest persecuters of Christians at that time, changed his name to Paul, and used him to spread the Word to the Gentiles. I wish I could have seen the look on the disciples' faces when he came to them. I know I would have been thinking it was all just a trap until I had proof. They must have been very confused and scared at the same time. Suddenly the man who has been searching for you to either throw you in prison or kill you now wants to become one of you.

Also the Jewish religious leaders must have wondered what happened to cause Saul, who had come to them wanting permission to find Christians and take them back as prisoners now was preaching the same message as those he wanted to destroy.

How can anyone think their past is so horrible that God would never want them after reading about how He used Paul? It still amazes me reading through the Bible some of the people God chose to use. Many of them had what I would think were major problems, but he still chose them anyway. Even His "chosen people" constantly rebelled against Him. I'm so thankful that God still loved us sinful, imperfect humans enough to send His Son to die in our place and that He still has the ability to change lives today.

 

Excellent insight and application, Rod!

 

G-r-o-a-n I found Genesis 36 hard going... but still up to date with reading
Gwyneth

 

Glad you are still with us Gwenyth!

That was hard for me to read through also, but hang in there and we will make it through. I like the way it breaks it up so we aren't reading 4 or 5 chapters of a book at a time. Some parts of Matthew and Acts have been a little too broken up for me, so I have to go back and read the previous days passage again to make it flow a little better.

Rod

 

Rod,
Yes still in there, and I do revision before I start each evening, like you . I don`t get on the BB so much lately, as I am so took up with the plan, and it`s good to have the company, and comments to read, even if I don`t write in so much as I used to. is changing into it`s really good to be part of the group.

 

I feel helpless with Genesis, chp 36. Everytime the Bible lists generations, it just gets confusing and memorizing them is very difficult.

Does anyone know of a link that has easy to read and easy to understand family trees on the main people mentioned in the Bible? It would greatly help following it that way versus reading them verse by verse.

Aloha and God Bless!

 

Lucky Guy in Paradise

Will this Help?

Adam & Eve's Family Tree

In His Grace
KayDee

 

I can't even imagine trying to memorize these geneaologies though there was a time that people did so on a regular basis in order to preserve their heritage through oral tradition.

A great many of the names listed are unique to the Passage or will not occur again in the Scriptures. For those that do and are relevant to future study, you may want to use a highlighter or make a margin note (if you're one of those folks who writes in their Bible like I do).

The hardest section of the Scriptures for me to get through is the first 9 chapters of 1Chronicles which is almost nothing but names. What I would like to find is a pronunciation program. It exists but I have not found it for free yet.

 

Clint

What is the name of the software you can buy? The only way I've known is to go to Crosswalk, type in the name and click on the little speaker. But, I'd love one that I didn't have to be on line with.

In His Grace
KayDee

 

KayDee -

It has been a few months since I've searched around for it but I will see what I can find this afternoon for you.

 

Thanks Clint, I appreciate it. I did a little searching, too, the only thing I could find was Bible Works and it was a little pricey.

KayDee

 

KayDee -

I looked around for a bit and came up with nothing under $69.95 (which is quite pricey, IMO). There are, however, quite a few online resources that are compatible with my sound card and speaker system. I will, Lord willing, make a post towards the end of the month that lists study resources and feature it in this forum and will list some of them.

I will, however, continue looking. I remember getting a lot more hits when I searched before.

 

Thanks, Clint.

KayDee

 

Third time around with this group and still struggling with these lists.............. I read them, but they don`t seem to stay in my head, I suppose thay are for reference scholars.....
Gwyneth