January - Reading 25

We see tonight in Genesis, Joseph and his brothers fulfilling Jacob's wishes to be buried in Canaan. I find it interesting that he has his father embalmed. There is no question that this was a practical solution to transporting the corpse about 300 miles (personal estimate by map key). Notice that Joseph has this done by his own personal physicians rather than professional embalmers. This was probably to avoid the pagan religious rites performed by these ancient tradesmen.
The brothers are obviously still carrying a bit of guilt as we see in verses 15 - 17. Joseph seems surprised that they are concerned and I believe he weeps because he feels he had not made his reconciliation clear enough to them. In verse 18, the brothers bow to him once again making this the fourth instance of the fulfillment of Joseph's dream found in chapter 37. The other times they bowed to him are in 42:6, 43:26, and 44:14. The book of Genesis ends with Joseph prophesying that God would fulfill his agreement and take the nation of Israel out of Egypt and lead them to the promised land that Abraham surveyed so many years before. He states that they must carry his bones (plus, I suppose whatever else was preserved by the mummification) with them when they go. Joseph gives up the ghost and the scene is set for when we turn the next page and flash ahead some 400 years into Exodus.

Matthew 10 is a constant resource for me. It is one of the places in scripture that the 12 disciples are listed. In verse 2 they are called "apostles." This is the only occurrence of the word in the gospel of Matthew. I looked up the word online in Smith's Bible Dictionary and will share my findings here. http://bible.crosswalk.com/Dictionaries/SmithsBibleDictionary/(When I checked this link it did not work so I edited and gave you the "look-up" page. Probably a better resource anyway )
In verse 5 we see that the message is intended for the Jews first. Notice that Samaritans are mentioned separately from the Gentiles and the Jews. The Jews were a half breed race, resultant from the conquering Assyrians bringing in gentiles as attested in 2 Kings 17:24. These gentiles intermarried with the native Jews and the Samaritan race was born. The hostility between the Jews and Samaritans was intense. This is why Christ uses them in certain examples i.e., the Good Samaritan.
I always like comparing verse 16 against Ephesians 6: 13 - 17. I like to think of myself as a well armed sheep.

Finally in Acts we see that Barnabas and Paul (the names revert back to original order here) have arrived back at Jerusalem and they give their testimony of their trip. Acts is a record of the actions of the early apostles and the first churches, hence Acts. I would encourage you to look at a map of their journey and see how much area and distance they covered. The journey is epic in proportion. We see accounts such as in chapter 14:1-5 they are in Iconium , and then in verse 6 they are suddenly in Lystra and then in Derbe. This journey which occurs in one sentence is over 100 miles! The visual aids add much to the texture of these accounts.
Notice that in chapter 15 the early church used a debate forum to determine necessary practices for converting gentiles. Then, when Barnabas and Paul stand to speak they get quiet. It shows the oratory power held by these men.

Been a good month for this family folks. May God bless all of you

- Clint

[ January 25, 2002: Message edited by: Clint Kritzer ]

 

Just wanted to drop by and encourage you in your reading. I hoped to read along with you all in the Spanish Bible, but I just can't keep up. But I'm still gonna try and read that rather than coming back to English just to keep up with you guys. Jumping waaay ahead, but something I thought of on Joseph's bones. When the Israelites would later come out of Egypt, they would take Joseph's bones and bury them in Canaan (Exod. 13:19). THOUGH there arose a King who knew not Joseph, the Israelites certainly remembered him!

 

Hi, all. I've been awfully busy the last few days and didn't log on except to retrieve my e-mail.

Acts 15:1-21. The Israel of God.

James clearly says that the gentiles coming into the church was preceeded by the re-establishing of the house of David. That house has been rebuilt not by those who are literally descended from David, but by those who are descended from David by faith as brothers of Christ. Jesus was, according to the flesh, the Son of David, but that has no significance now. 2 Corinthians 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

 

A couple of days now for revision, I hope to read over all again, but a book at a time e.g. all the Genesis in one stretch - all the Acts in one stretch etc.
Thank you all here for your guidance and knowledge sharing.
Gwyneth

 

I would like to read through some of the January readings again also. The readings from Matthew and Acts were hard to read at times because of how they were divided in the middle of chapters. I guess we have until Saturday, February 1, to review or read something else.

Rod

 

I'm still keeping up and enjoying this reading program so much. Thanks for the input each evening, it helps me ever so much. God Bless. Mk

 

I would like to thank you all for the comments and replys. I'm still following along and have enjoyed it very much. Questions I have come up with almost always get answered with out me having to ask. Thanks, and may God bless you.

 

Our Scriptures on February 1 will be:

Matthew 10:21-42

Acts 15:22-41

Psalm 24

Exodus 1-3

 

Our Scriptures on February 1 will be:

Matthew 10:21-42

Acts 15:22-41

Psalm 24

Exodus 1-3

 

Our Scriptures on February 1 will be:

Matthew 10:21-42

Acts 15:22-41

Psalm 24

Exodus 1-3

 

Our Scriptures on February 1 will be:

Matthew 10:21-42

Acts 15:22-41

Psalm 24

Exodus 1-3