Category: Genesis-BibleTrekToday
Trek through Genesis
Wisdom to rule and live!
Scripture reading for July 9: Proverbs 22-24
The Bible teaches that we are all designed to rule and have dominion! Adam was given dominion over creation in order to tend and care for it as God desired and instructed. (Genesis 1:27-28) We need God’s wisdom because He is the source of all wisdom and authority and created all things for His purposes. The proverbs offer wisdom to those in authority to enable them to effectively rule with the mind of God.
Proverbs emphasizes our need for humility. (Proverbs 22:4) When we fear the Lord, God gives us discernment between good and evil. When we choose the good consistently we get wealth, honor and life as added benefits. We also get a good name and reputation, something that money can’t buy! (Proverbs 22:1) Keeping humility when God has blessed you can be a real test, for many times prosperity causes pride and God is forgotten or not honored.
When a king rules, he acts on behalf of God. Rulers are to treat the poor with equity and respect. (Proverbs 22:16, 22-23) When the poor are mistreated, God Himself promises to take up their case and rule on their behalf! Rulers must stay away from the adulteress and the hot-tempered man. (Proverbs 22:14, 24; 23:26-28) Both of those people lead to trouble. When rulers judge in court, they must be sure to convict the guilty and not show partiality or take a bribe. God will bless righteous judgment and integrity! (Proverbs 24:23-25) Also, do not seek revenge because that is for God alone! (Proverbs 24:29)
Those in authority must avoid drunkenness and laziness. (Proverbs 23:29-35) Drinking takes away your ability to have sound judgment and to see clearly. It causes violence and strife and quarrels. A hangover comes the next day and bloodshot eyes! It poisons our life like a snake-bite! The second warning is against laziness. (Proverbs 24:30-34) Laziness causes life to fall into ruin around you. Your life looks like a field that is not tended. Walls of protection are broken down and enemies steal the crop. Weeds grow and choke it out and thorns are a sign that the curse is at work. Laziness leads to poverty and lack!
Is you life marked by humility and respect for God? In your leadership, are you applying the wisdom of God in setting a good example? “Humility and the fear of the Lord bring wealth and honor and life.” Proverbs 22:4
Son of David–Lord of David!
Scripture reading for June 24: Psalms 107-110
Psalm 110 was used by Jesus Christ to confound his adversaries. Jesus was being tested by the teachers of the law. To counter their arguments, Jesus quoted Psalm 110:1 and attributed it to King David speaking under the power of the Holy Spirit. “The Lord said to my lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.” (Psalm 110:1) “David himself calls Him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be His son?” (Mark 12:36-37a) Jesus’ question was designed to help these teachers connect with the plain teaching of God’s Word that the messiah would be a son of David as well as his Lord! (2nd Samuel 7:12, 13, 16)
The psalm is a prophetic picture of the messiah who would come from the line of David. This messiah would sit at God’s right hand and rule until the Lord God put all His enemies under His feet. The messiah would be made or declared a priest as well as a ruling king! A priest represents the people before God by intercession and sacrifice. The king was to rule on behalf of God. These offices were not combined in the Old Testament history of God’s people. There was one person in history who was both a priest and a king. His name was Melchizedek. (Genesis 14:18-20) (Hebrews 5:5-10, 6:19-7:28) Melchizedek was the King of Salem (Peace) and a priest of the Most High God. He received tithes from Abraham and blessed Abraham. This descendant of David Who was to come would be a priest and king like Melchizedek!
Priests normally did not sit down while at work. This King/Priest Who was seated at God’s right hand was invited to sit! He could sit because His work of sacrifice on behalf of the people was completed! (Acts 5:31) (Ephesians 1:20) David was seeing a vision of the throne in heaven following the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Who offered His own sinless body as the payment for the sins of the whole world! John the Baptist remarked of Jesus: “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) Jesus now is interceding as our Priest before God, seated at His right hand! (Romans 8:34)
This King/Priest is ruling in the midst of His enemies now, waiting for them to bow their knees! (Psalm 110:2,3) There is a coming day of wrath where all enemies who have not become one of his troops by bowing their knees will suffer a crushing defeat! (Psalm 110:5-6) Have you bowed your knee to Him? Are you sharing the Good News of a King/Priest Who is praying for all to be saved?
King of the flood!
Scripture reading for June 7: Psalms 25-30
“The Lord sits enthroned over the flood, The Lord is enthroned as King forever. The Lord gives strength to His people, the Lord blesses His people with peace.” Psalm 29:10-11
This psalm contains an unusual phrase about the Lord. He is pictured as ‘enthroned over the flood’. The word used here for “flood” is “mabbul” which is used exclusively of the world-wide flood described in Genesis 6-9. Why is the psalmist caught up in this idea of the flood? What is David thinking about in this psalm that he would see God as enthroned as King forever in connection with this flood?
This psalm begins with David exhorting the ‘mighty ones’ to ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. In the previous psalm David had cried to the Lord to save him from wicked men and God had answered. We are not sure if these mighty ones are his “mighty men” or the mighty angels that attend to the Lord and cry “Holy, Holy, Holy” before His throne. We do know that all creatures owe worship to the Lord of glory!
We don’t know if David was near some body of water, but possibly a thunderstorm broke loose as he was writing this psalm. David heard the majestic voice of the Lord in the thunders. Perhaps a bolt of lightning struck one of the cedars of Lebanon, splintered it, reducing it to a smoldering pile of sticks right before his sight. These cedars often grew over 100 feet tall and the power released to break the tree would cause anyone to worship or fear! David saw the violent thunderstorm with thousands of lightning strikes as a manifestation of God’s mighty power to shake the earth. David realized that he was small and God was mighty and that all in God’s temple are crying “Glory”!
It is at this point that David speaks of the Lord as enthroned over the flood. This violent storm had brought the great flood of Genesis to his remembrance. He realized that God was judge and in control over wind and storm! Our lives are truly in His hands and our King gives peace to His people in the floods. This same King promised to never destroy the world with water again. (Genesis 9:15-16)
What is man that You care?
Scripture reading for June 4: Psalms 7-12
“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him, the son of man that You care about him? Yet You have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have give him dominion over the works of Your hands. . “ Psalm 8:3-6
As David worshiped the majestic Lord who was “our Lord”, he began to contemplate creation. God’s glory is displayed majestically in the heavenly bodies. The sun, moon and stars all speak of the wonder of a God who breathed out the stars. (Psalm 8:1,3) In Psalm 33:6, David actually says that God made the starry host by the breath of his mouth! When looking at those heavenly hosts, David began to think about man and how insignificant man seemed compared to the vast glory of creation.
What is man? Man has been made or created just a little lower than the heavenly beings. God has crowned him with glory and honor. Man is made in God’s likeness and image. (Genesis 1:26) He has been given dominion and authority to rule over the fish of the sea, birds of the air, and over the livestock and over all the earth! God has entrusted man with His creation! That alone is enough to make us worship this amazing God! He breaths out the stars but cares enough about us to crown us with honor and glory too!
A proper understanding of Who God is and who we are in relation to Him is a great aid to true worship. We are blessed by God to be formed in His image and given authority to rule over His creation. We are mere specks of dust in comparison to the vastness of space and the heavens! Such understanding draws us to worship and adoration! Take time today to note the glorious creation and the majesty of God displayed there! Thank Him for crowning you with glory and honor! Worship His majestic name!
The land of milk and honey!
Scripture Reading for February 23: Deuteronomy 8-11
In 1995, my son and I went to Israel and Egypt on a three week study tour of the Holy Land plus the route of the Exodus and Egypt. In Egypt we visited the Great Pyramid, the Sphinx and several museums. The land of Egypt was primarily desert and dry rocky mountains until we got to the Nile River where the water and irrigation made some green areas and lush groves of tropical plants. The land was fairly flat and sandy. Israel, on the other hand was varied in topography and had many different areas of climate and vegetation. The Jezreel valley was a rich agricultural region with big farms. The vineyard country was terraced and had trees and vines. The area around the Sea of Galilee was lush and had banana and pineapples growing. There were herds of cattle and sheep in the Golan Heights. Shepherds drove their flocks of goats and sheep and camped in tents in the Negev desert. It was a varied land full of milk (goats and cattle) and honey (bees pollinating vines and flowers).
God described the land that the Israelites were going to as a land flowing with milk and honey! It was a land of hills and valleys! God sent the rain of heaven on Israel where in Egypt, by hand and foot, the land had to be irrigated! In Canaan, God cared for the land and His eyes were upon it to bless His people! (Deuteronomy 8:7-12) God wanted to inspire His people to move forward in faith to possess it.
As my son and I walked and rode through that land, God’s presence was evident to us. It is a special land, although it is not remarkable or extraordinary in itself. God’s presence and His people made it special! God’s promises to Israel and His love for His people and our forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob stand as a testimony of God’s faithfulness. Four thousand years after Abraham, his descendants are still in that land and are taking possession of it yet! They have defeated armies more numerous and stronger, because God is with them and His Word is still true. (Deuteronomy 11:23,25) It is a land that God cares for and His eyes are upon it continually! He desire them all to know their Messiah, Jesus Christ!
Take time today to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and support God’s land and people! Pray for the salvation of those who are seeking to destroy Israel. A blessing is on those who bless Israel! (Genesis 12:3)
Sin that makes earth vomit!
Scripture Reading for February 7th: Leviticus 18-20
God talks about sex and all it’s perverted variations in these chapters of Leviticus. He tells his people that they are not to have sexual relations like the nation of Egypt where they were enslaved. God’s people are to live differently from the world. God’s laws about sexual conduct are designed to bring about a holy people who have children who will be blessed by God with His presence and power through a relationship with Him.
Honor is important in sexual relations. Incest dishonors your father or mother and you if you initiate it. God also states that it is wickedness. (Leviticus 18:17) Sex with close relatives (incest) is wrong and dishonors the family. Sex with another man’s wife (adultery) defiles you! (Leviticus 18:20) Sex with the same sex is “detestable” to God. (Leviticus 18:22) Sex with an animal (bestiality) is perverted! (Leviticus 18:23) God has designed man for one woman for life and has promised to bless that relationship. (Genesis 2:24) Are you pursuing His blessing?
When you commit any of these sexual sins, God says that you defile the land where you live. God states that this defilement causes that land to “vomit” out people who do these sins! (Leviticus 18:24-28) In fact, this is why and how God has destroyed many of the great civilizations in history! Many people living in America are committing sins of incest, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, and bestiality. We may appear to get by but the consequences of sin always find us out. (Numbers 32:23) God’s people are to be markedly different! They are to be holy because God is holy. (Leviticus 19:2) This holiness is to be walked out in love and respect for God’s laws and in our conduct towards others.
America today needs our prayer and intercession. We are a nation who knows too much and applies too little. These sins are prevalent in the church as well as in the nation we live in. Take time today to repent and pray for God’s mercy. The earth may be ready to vomit!
“And if you defile the land,(with these sexual sins) it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you.” Leviticus 18:28
Sin and death
Scripture reading for February 1st: Leviticus 1-3
Leviticus 3:16 “And the priest shall burn them (kidneys and fat) on the altar as a food offering with a pleasing aroma. All fat is the Lord’s.” It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, in all your dwelling places, that you eat neither fat nor blood.”
This book of Scripture was not originally one I liked to read. But after careful and prayerful reflection, I began to understand. Sin causes death. (Genesis 2:16-17) Death spread to all men by Adam’s sin. (Romans 5:12-14) God provided the first blood sacrifice for Adam and Eve after they sinned. Initially, they had used fig leaves. God clothed them with bloody skins of animals. (Genesis 3:21) He was showing them the effects of sin each time they put their new “clothes” on.
God was again visually helping His people to see how sin affects their lives and nation. These sacrifices offered made man aware of the cost of sin and a safe way to approach God. When an animal was offered according to God’s instructions in Leviticus, God would accept the sacrifice and be pleased. (Leviticus 1:9,17; 2:9) God was pleased because those who made the sacrifice were using their faith in His Word!
Jesus Christ shed his precious blood on the cross of Calvary and declared: “It is finished!” (John 19:30) When we approach this same Holy God, we can come boldly before His throne any time day or night for prayer, fellowship, or forgiveness. (Hebrews 4:14-16) We do it by faith in the sacrifice of the body and blood of our Savior!
Why did God choose blood sacrifice as a way to cover sin? How would you describe your faith in Christ’s sacrifice for you? Why is a works-based salvation easier for mankind to trust in?
“But now He (Christ) has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.” Hebrews 9:26-28
Sunday rest and reflection
Genesis began with God. He is the central figure! He is creating, working and enjoying! It was good! Man was placed by God in a Garden, walking with God in the cool of the day! Man is made special and in God’s image, male and female. Man is to rule over creation and tend it with God’s blessing!
Genesis is foundational to our worldview as Christians. Without Genesis we wouldn’t understand where the universe, earth, and solar system came from. Without Genesis we wouldn’t know about the serpent and how sin entered along with death. We wouldn’t know about our special creation and purpose on the earth. We wouldn’t understand why the world was flooded and where the rainbow came from and what it testifies about! We would struggle to understand how we got all the nations and languages. We would not know how and why God began the nation of Israel and His plans to bless the world through Abraham’s offspring. We would not understand the conflict in the Middle East that pits millions of Arabs and Ishmael’s descendants against the Jews and Christians. We would miss all the rich stories of the fathers of faith as they struggled to walk with God, wrestled with Him, and followed Him through famine, imprisonment, threats and their eventual death. The lives of Adam, Eve, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob, Esau, Rachael, Leah, Joseph, Judah, and numerous others are chronicled. We read about their successes and failures; their loves and their quarrels; about births and deaths. They were much like us, yet known by name by our Father God!
Genesis 50:24-25 “And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.”
The Lion Roars!
Scripture reading for January 17th: Genesis 48-50
Genesis 49:10-11 “You are a lion’s cub, O Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness–who dares to rouse him? The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his.”
Have you ever been at the bedside of a loved one who was soon to enter eternity? If they are alert and able to talk, we listen for every word and thought. Joseph or someone in the family took down Jacob’s last words to each family member. He gave a special blessing to Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. He then spoke a word, also recorded, over the other sons. (Genesis 49:9-20)
The blessing of Joseph’s sons effectively made Joseph the first-born, who by law was to receive a double portion of the inheritance. Israel blessed Joseph and adopted the boys. The other brothers had tried to kill Joseph and cut him out, but God re-established his place and doubled the inheritance! Israel also chose Ephraim over Manasseh. The younger over the older. All blessing and God’s reward comes not from birth order but Divine order! God alone knows the hearts and the end from the beginning!
One other blessing is worth noting. Judah also received a word in Genesis 49:8-12. Judah was told that his brothers would praise him. (His name means “praise”.) His hand would be on the neck of his enemies and his father’s sons would bow down to him. He was called a “lion’s cub”. Jesus was the offspring of Judah in the genealogy of Matthew 1:3. He is known as the “Lion of Judah” (Revelation 5:5) He triumphed over all God’s enemies! Israel finally made Joseph swear to take his bones back to the promised land of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel). He believed in God returning and that land his property that he wanted to be buried there.
What would you say if you just had a very short time left here on earth? What words would you leave with those closest to you? Would your faith be evident in you life and statements?
“When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.” Genesis 49:33
Don’t quarrel on the way!
Scripture reading for January 16th: Genesis 45-47
Families and churches are sometimes prone to conflict! I know because I live in a family, have attended churches for many years, and have pastored for 34 years in four different churches. I have experienced conflict in family and church settings and sometimes been responsible for it myself. Sometimes conflict comes from misunderstanding and poor communication. Other times it comes from jealousy or envy. Sometimes it comes from sin and wrong-doing. Everybody wants to blame somebody else and arguments ensue about who is at fault!
In our reading today, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers after a series of encounters with them. When Joseph revealed himself to them, they were astonished, speechless, and terrified because of guilt! (Genesis 45:1-7) Joseph had to reassure them that it was truly him. He understood their feelings. He had likely worked through these same kinds of feelings himself over the years. God gave him understanding of His greater purpose that was being worked out. Joseph shared this purpose with his brothers to encourage them. “It was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.”
As Joseph sent them away to bring Israel and the rest of the family down to Egypt to save them during the coming 5 years of famine, he warned them not to quarrel on the way! He knew human nature and the temperament of his brothers. God desires forgiveness, unity, and humbly serving one another. In that unity He can bless and fulfill His promises. Prophetic vision of God’s purposes helps us cooperate.
Are you experiencing strife or quarreling in your family, church or at work? What is God’s purpose that He has to place you there? How might you share this to God’s glory?
Genesis 45:24 “Don’t quarrel on the way!”