I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
The serpent approached Eve in the Garden and convinced her to eat from the tree that God has forbidden them to eat. The serpent did not come right out and suggest that she eat from it. He first made it seem that he thought the command was applied in areas and ways that it did not. Then he told her that God’s reason for telling them not to eat was petty. An important point is that while Eve, the woman, took and ate the fruit first, Adam was standing there the whole time listening to the exchange between Eve and the serpent. Adam failed to counter the serpent’s arguments or to tell Eve that she should not eat of the fruit. He made no attempt to convince her to not violate God’s command, suggesting that he wanted to eat but wanted her to go first so that he could blame her.
After Adam and Eve are cast out of the Garden, they have two sons, Cain and Abel. The two brothers gave a gift of the produce of their labor to the Lord. Abel brought the best of the firstborn lambs of his flock. Cain brought some of his crops. God preferred Abel’s offering and Cain became jealous. Abel put thought and effort into giving God a gift from the best of what he had gained. Cain just took some of what he had and made that the gift. God wants our best, not just our leftovers. But Cain, rather than accepting this and resolving to do better in the future, killed his brother. This points up a human tendency to blame those who do better for our own shortcomings. Just like yesterday there is a lot more in this passage that I could talk about, but I need to move on.
After the wise men leave, Joseph has a dream warning him to flee with his wife and child to Egypt. Joseph heeds the warning and goes to Egypt. When Herod realizes that the wise men are not going to return and tell him where to find the child that they were seeking, he decides to have every boy in Bethlehem who was the right age to be the child killed. Herod takes this action even though he knew the child was the prophesied Messiah. That is not quite true. He knew that either the child was the prophesied Messiah, or the child was no one of any particular significance. If the former, than his attempt to prevent his rise was pointless and he was doing battle with God. On the other hand, if the latter, Herod’s actions were pointless cruelty.
When Herod died, Joseph had another dream instructing him to return to Israel. While they were preparing to travel, they discovered which of Herod’s sons was ruling in Judea. Joseph has yet another dream warning him away from Judea. As a result, he takes his family and settles in Galilee, in Nazareth. A lesson I need to take from this is that Joseph was very receptive to God’s leading. He followed God’s lead to marry Mary. He listened to God’s warning and fled to Egypt. He listened again to God and when he returned he went to Nazareth.
This psalm is appropriate to follow today’s reading from Matthew. I commented how Herod’s action in killing the baby’s in Bethlehem was fruitless and this psalm points up how often the rulers of this earth take similar fruitless undertakings. The psalmist points out that attempting to resist God’s will is a losing enterprise. Rulers time and again attempt to overthrow God’s control over the world. The psalmist tells us that rebelling against God’s rule is destined to end in sadness for those who rebel. On the other hand those who submit to God will experience joy. I will strive to emulate Joseph who listened carefully in order to follow God’s will and not Herod who chose to rebel against what he believed to be God’s will.
Today’s proverb completes the theme. Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge and wisdom. If our starting point is a fear of going against God’s will, we will seek to know and follow His will. On the other hand, fools often act according to their desires without thinking through the implications of their decisions. When you are young, listen to the instructions of your parents allow them to correct your actions and learn from their greater wisdom. Always be prepared to learn from those with more experience.