January - Reading 20

Okay then. Twenty to seven and no one else has posted. I'm used to it though, I'm always the first to speak in Sunday School, too! I guess maybe I just like to talk...

I don't think Genesis requires a bit of commentary tonight except to say that the brothers probably didn't recognize Joseph because he was now clean shaven. This story stands quite well on its own with simple emotions and a simple plot. You gotta know that Joseph is just LOVING his trick on the brothers!
Speaking of Genesis, in Sunday School today our text was Exodus 1. Margie and I mark our places for the BB Bible reading with post-it notes. She looked at how few pages were left in the first book of the Bible and said,"We're almost through Genesis! I'm disappointed." We've both very much enjoyed this. The ladies are having a very in depth discussion about Eve up in their public forum that you should all see if you haven't already.

In Matthew today, I noticed something I had never picked up on before. I'm reading along and I see the words "Peter's mother-in-law." Mother-in-law? I checked my footnotes and sure enough, Peter was married. There is this reference, one in Mark 1:30, and Luke 4:38. Of all the disciples, Peter has always stood out for me. I just learned a new dimension to his character. One can never exhaust this Book of knowledge and facts.
As for the reference to the dead burying the dead, this shows the urgency of Christ's ministry. This is referring to the spiritually dead burying the physically dead. I checked a few commentaries on this and they all seem in agreement.

In Acts, as I read I have this image of an old Bugs Bunny cartoon where there is a hole in a dam where a stream of water is spewing out. I think it's Yosimite Sam puts a finger in the hole and two more holes appear. He plugs those with a couple fingers and three more holes appear. By the time he is using his whole body to stop the leaks, the dam collapses and he is swept away. I bet the Pharisees are feeling about like poor old Sam about this point...

By revealing the time at the beginning of this commentary, you now all know how slow I type.

May God bless you

- Clint

By the way Bill, I noticed your comments at the end of yesterdays thread and I appreciate it very much. I enjoy Helen and John's comments as well, but sometimes I feel like we're night time DJ's. "Is there anybody out there...?"

[ January 20, 2002: Message edited by: Clint Kritzer ]

 

Psalm 19:1 (ESV)
1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

One of my favorite verses! It saddens me though when I think that not only do atheists fail to recognize the “handiwork” of God all around them, but also theistic evolutionists (Christians who believe in evolution) who try to reconcile opinionated science (evolution) with the Bible and wind up having to claim errancy in God’s Word to make sense of the world as they’ve come to believe in. Rather than side in favor with God in matters where things are not crystal clear, they side with science and conclude that the Bible must be mythical or outright wrong! How sad!

Psalm 19:7-9 (ESV)
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; 8 the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; 9 the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.

Wow! If more believers would meditate on this passage and realize that the “law,” “testimony,” “precepts,” “commandments,” “fear” and “rules” of the Lord are not to be subjected to secular humanistic interpretation, i.e. adjusted to fit modern times and modern ways of thinking, then we would not have the mess of disagreements that we have in Baptist and all other denominations that we see today. Those things are unchangeable!

Psalm 19:11-12 (ESV)
11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. 12 Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.

But even men (man) of the pulpit have declared things described as “abominations” to God (homosexuality) to be acceptable for today. I, personally cannot “discern his errors!”

In Genesis 42 and 43 we see one of the most touching episodes in the OT. Joseph restrains himself as the prophesy of his earlier dream is played out; i.e. that his brothers and eventually even his father should bow to him. That Joseph has to excuse himself several times to regain his composure (weeping uncontrollably in private) tells us of the true Christ likeness of Joseph.

 

...and trotting like mad along behind.....

but, hey, in California we have to MOW our lawns in the MIDDLE of JANUARY. So I did that and planted a new pear tree. Partridge will have to find it on his own...

Most of the stuff has been covered. Very little left --

Matthew: the healings are not only immediate but the person is always in perfect health AND ENERGY immediately afterwards! Peter's mother-in-law, a moment before with a fever, 'got up and began to wait on him.'

Coming out of a section of the Assemblies of God churches is something called the "health and wealth doctrine", which states, basically, that if God is approving of you, He will bless you with good health and riches. Thus, if you are poor, or sick, or have any infirmity from any cause, you must have a sin or several in your life which you need to repent of so you can have your health and wealth.

Note that Jesus, however, would not have been blessed by God according to this aberrant doctrine: "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

And something I learned in a sermon about the end of this section: when the disciple asks to be let go so he could go bury his father, that did NOT mean his father had just died! (if it did, why did he not ask Jesus to come raise him back to life?). It was a reference to the filial duty of a son to a father; the son was not free to pursue a life of his own away from the family group until the father had died. This was especially true of the oldest son, which may have been the case here (although we don't know that). The disciple was asking for permission to follow some time later, possibly MUCH later, depending on when his father died. But with Jesus it is a "While it is called today" proposition. We have no guarantees about our own lives tomorrow. Today is the day. And it's the only day we have to decide what needs to be decided.

However, notice that the disciple is nevertheless referred to by Matthew as being a DISCIPLE, even though he is unsure of the way to go.


Acts: Note that the scattering took place because of persecution. Kind of reminds me of Babel...grin. It seems we try to stay put, or stay in our 'comfort zones' until forced out. But look at the result! The church spread, and 'the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch."

Note also the prophecy and the fulfillment regarding the famine. God had prepared His people -- again -- though, and they reached out to one another to make sure everyone had enough.


Psalm 19 -- I learned something very interesting about this from my husband: the actual translation of verse 3 goes something like: "Without speech or language their proclamation is heard..."
This may be a reference to the same proclamation, or story, Abraham was told by God to 'recount' or tell in Genesis 15:5.

If this is a reference to the Gospel story in the stars, then the first lines of this Psalm pick up even more meaning:

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Again, I don't know -- but it keeps adding up.

A couple of notes on the lines John loves so (and John, I really appreciated your comments on this Psalm today), from a sermon:

v. 7 "making wise the simple" -- the word for 'simple' there is a reference to 'open door', meaning this is a person who accepts everything without discernment. One good word today for it would be naive.

v. 8 "giving light to the eyes" -- idiomatic for giving understanding. This also gives us the meaning of what Jesus said in Matthew 6:22, which the Jews would have understood immediately, but which has been the subject of some really 'interesting' interpretations by others. Here are Jesus' words:
Th eeye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

So, again, Bible explains Bible -- and who would know except the person who actually READS the Bible!?!

If we were to translate the MEANING of what Jesus said, in accordance with the meaning of the Hebrew idiom of Psalm 19, then we would have something like:
"Your understanding guides your entire life. If your understanding is right, then your entire life will reflect that. But if your understanding is not right, then your entire life will be wrong. If your understanding is wrong, that is a LOT of wrong!"

Back to Psalm 19 -- in v. 11 we read that the statutes and precepts of the Lord are a warning sign to the servant. So this is another use of the law -- as a system of warnings, and not just declarations.

In verse 12 David seems to have learned something, and how only the Lord knows:
"Who can discern his errors?
Forgive my hidden faults."

This is then distinguished from 'willful sins' in the next verse. We are all guilty of both, but, like David can only pray for forgiveness and the strength keeping us from willful sins.

And then the closing, which should be our prayer everyday:
May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heartbe pleasing in your sight,
O Lord, my ROCK, and my Redeemer.

Note that there is no question but that they understood that God Himself was the Redeemer. This is something the Pharisees also knew, and which fueled their fires of hate, later, against Jesus.


And just a short bit about Gen. 42-43. I always think of Jacob's anguish -- he is still mourning Joseph and now he must send Benjamin, too. As a parent, my heart aches for him there.

And who can really know the incredible tornado of emotions Joseph had to endure through this? This is an incredible story of testing and reconciliation. But God always provides a way...

 

Helen: then we would have something like: "Your understanding guides your entire life. If your understanding is right, then your entire life will reflect that. But if your understanding is not right, then your entire life will be wrong. If your understanding is wrong, that is a LOT of wrong!"

I would modify this slightly: "if your understanding is not right, then your entire life will reflect that also. History is replete with unbiblical sociological solutions gone amuck. Welfare, abortion, birth control, sex education, and sexual preference are examples where naturalistic, secular humanism’s solutions have utterly struck out! And I would agree that we wind up with a LOT of wrong!

The glaring truth about biblically based philosophical issues and answers to society’s woes is . . . they consistently prove workable and true to the human experience! The naturalistic secular humanism solutions to society’s woes have a horrible track record: Nazism, Fascism, and Communism being the most recent attempts on a governmental scale; Welfare, abortion, sexual liberation being examples on a more narrow scale.

[ January 21, 2002: Message edited by: John Wells ]

 

I don't have a problem with that change, John! Thanks.

It's really interesting to see a little deeper sometimes, isn't it? I know the detractors say "Oh, you're interpreting it again," but no -- we are letting it interpret itself. We are just getting to know a few of the idioms, and I think that helps.

Thanks for the input.

 

Our Scriptures for 1/21 are:

Matthew 8:23-34

Acts 12

Psalm 20

Genesis 44-45

 

Our Scriptures for 1/21 are:

Matthew 8:23-34

Acts 12

Psalm 20

Genesis 44-45

 

Our Scriptures for 1/21 are:

Matthew 8:23-34

Acts 12

Psalm 20

Genesis 44-45

 

Our Scriptures for 1/21 are:

Matthew 8:23-34

Acts 12

Psalm 20

Genesis 44-45