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Daily Bible Study

January 3, 2019 Bible Study — After The Flood

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I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 8-11.

Yesterday, I commented that parts of that passage suggested that perhaps the Flood did not cover the entire earth, while other parts seem to state that it did.  Today’s passage supports the latter and not the former.  As soon as Noah and his family left the Ark, Noah offered a sacrifice of animals to God.  I find it noteworthy that Noah already had a list of animals which were appropriate to offer as sacrifices and animals which were inappropriate to offer.  

After Noah made his sacrifice to God, God swore to Himself that He would never again wipe out all life from the face of the earth for as long as the earth should endure. We rarely take note of the promise which the writer records God making to Himself when we discuss His promise to Noah and his sons made a few verses later. Having promised to Himself to never wipe out all life on earth until the day the earth comes to its end, God enters into a covenant with Noah and his descendants (which includes us). There are three elements to this covenant. First, God reaffirms Mankind’s dominion over the earth, but adds that animals are there for people to eat (in the Creation accounts God had only specified fruit as food for mankind). Second God declares that He requires the life of any creature which takes a human life. I will note that God specifies that humans should take the life of those who take a human life, which seems to be an exception to the rule about taking human life. Finally God presents the rainbow as evidence that He will never again wipe out all life with a flood. I will note once again that while this promise is only regarding flooding, God had previously promised to Himself not to destroy all life until the end of the earth itself.

The final element of today’s passage which I want to comment on is the beginning of Abram’s story, which is the account of Terah’s family. The story contains elements which intrigue me. First, when Terah set forth from Ur of the Chaldeans he was headed for the land of Canaan. However, he never got there because when he got to Haran, he settled there. Second, when he left Ur, only Abram, Sarai, Abram’s wife, and Lot, Abram’s nephew accompanied him. Nahor and his family appear to have stayed in Ur. Yet later it appears that Nahor’s family also moved from Ur. While nowhere in the Bible does it say this, I believe that Terah moved from Ur because he and his family continued to follow the accounts passed down to them from Noah while the rest of the people of Ur had chosen to worship according to other stories.

Daily Bible Study

January 2, 2019 Bible Study — Give to God First

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I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 4-7.

We have here the story of Cain and Abel.  They both brought gifts to God from what they had produced that year, but God accepted Abel’s gift and rejected Cain’s.  What was wrong with Cain’s gift? At first it seems that Cain’s gift was rejected because it was from his crops rather than from the flocks as was Abel’s.  However, a careful reading shows us the real difference.  Cain presented “some of his crops” as a gift to the Lord, while Abel brought “the best portions of the first born lambs.”  Cain’s gift to the Lord was just some of what he had produced, while Abel’s gift was from the first of what he produced.  Abel gave to God first, Cain did so as an afterthought.  Cain was jealous of the blessings which God gave Abel as a result of his faithfulness.  However, rather than imitate Abel so that he could receive similar blessings going forward, Cain killed Abel.   People today still follow Cain’s example, perhaps not to the extent of murder, rather than imitate the successful they seek to take what they have for themselves.

We also have the beginning of the story of Noah.  The writer tells us that the “sons of God” took beautiful human women as their wives and that their offspring were the Nephilites, the heroes and famous warriors of old.  The writer tells us that Nephilites lived on the earth at this time and for some time after.  Later, when the Israelite spies went into Canaan, they reported that they saw the Nephilim there (the writer at that point tells us that the Anak people were descended from the Nephilim).  This suggests that either the “sons of God” continued to take human women as wives after the Flood, or that the Flood was not as comprehensive as the writer states in today’s passage.  I tend towards believing that the Nephilites after the Flood were not descendant from the ones before the Flood, but wanted to point out the possibility from the passage of an alternate explanation.  I would not be shocked to learn that the flood “merely” wiped out the civilizations on the earth at that time, that the animals on the Ark were merely those which had been domesticated.  The writer tells us that everything which lived on dry land died, and that is what I believe to be the case, but I wanted to note that other parts of the passage contain ambiguous statements which might suggest otherwise.

Daily Bible Study

January 1, 2019 Bible Study

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I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Happy New Year!

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 1-3.

There are three stories in today’s passage: two different, unrelated, stories about creation and one story about original sin.  The first story contains a few points that I want to bring out today.  God made mankind in His own image.  We were given the ability to be more than slaves to our physical wants and needs.  As part of that, He gave us dominion over the rest of Creation.  That does not mean that we may destroy and kil purely for our own enjoyment.  Instead, God gave us dominion over the earth in order to manage it and care for it.  Just as God tells us that the job of being a leader of people is to serve the needs of those being lead, so having dominion over the earth means serving the interests of those things over which we have dominion (what that means is more involved than I want to go into at this time).  The final point I want to mention is that this first story of creation establishes the week as the basis for scheduling human activity and the fact that we need one day of rest out of seven.

The second story of creation is about the creation of humankind. We can discuss the meanings of the elements of this story in many ways. However, I believe that the most important meaning from this story is that men and women were created to be complimentary to each other and that marriage was created by God as a unique kind of partnership between a man and a woman. The nature of this unique partnership stems from the distinct differences between men and women. I think that I am on solid ground drawing this conclusion, since Jesus Himself referenced this passage when discussing marriage and divorce.

The third story is directly connected to the second story and may not truly be a separate story, but it makes a separate point. In this story, when Adam and Eve sinned, God did not reject them, they withdrew from God. God came looking for them as He had every previous day, but this time they hid from Him. God still comes looking for us, because of our sin our natural reaction is to hide from God. Just as God made clothes to cover Adam and Eve’s nakedness, so He sent Jesus to cover our sin. If we accept the covering which God has given us we can walk with Him once more.

Daily Bible Study

December 31, 2018 Bible Study — There Is a Lake of Fire, Faith In Christ Is the Only Way to Avoid It

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I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Revelation 20-22.

So, we end the year with the last portion of the Book of Revelation, where John writes that the day will soon come when Jesus will rule over all the earth.  Those who suffered for their faith in Him will rule with Him.  Then Satan and all who have joined him in rejecting God’s salvation will be cast into the fiery lake.  Everyone will come before God to be judged according to their actions and thrown into the lake of fire, unless their names are written in the Book of Life.  Death and the grave, which I take to mean entropy, will be cast into the lake of fire as well.  Those whose names were written in the Book of Life will never experience disease or decay again for the curse of sin will be removed.

John writes that Jesus is coming soon and that there is an open invitation to anyone who desires to come to Him.   The Holy Spirit issues an open invitation to each one of use to drink from the water of life which is faith in Jesus.  Each of us who have accepted that invitation should extend it to everyone we encounter.  The end of the Book of Revelation contains two requests which those who follow Christ should also request.  The first is a request to all to come to Jesus and put their faith in Him.  The second is a request that Jesus return.  It is my deepest desire that all put their faith in Jesus and that He return as soon as all who will possibly do so have done so.

Daily Bible Study

December 30, 2018 Bible Study — The Fall of Babylon

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I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Revelation 17-19.

Next in John’s vision is a woman sitting on the seven headed beast.  He writes that the seven heads of the beast represent the seven hills from which the woman rules.  John, and his first readers, would have understood this to mean that the woman was the city of Rome.  Perhaps Rome will once more rise to world dominance, or perhaps this will prove to be figurative.  Or, perhaps this was fulfilled with the fall of Rome many centuries ago.   

 

John writes that in addition to representing the hills from which the woman rules, the heads represent those who rule over that city, as do the ten horns.  What struck me today is that he then tells us that these rulers hate the woman.  Those who rule over “Babylon” will be the ones who bring about her destruction.  This has been true of many great nations throughout history.  A careful study of the fall of Rome reveals that Rome fell more because of the actions of her rulers than because of external actors. 

John writes that he heard a voice telling God’s people to come away from this great city and to not take part in her sins.  I am convinced that this admonition is directed at those of us living today.  We must be careful not to take part in the sins of the nations in which we live.  Time and again throughout history great nations have built their wealth by oppressing others.  If we live in such a nation (and if you are reading this, to one degree or another, you do), we must strive so that we do not acquire wealth through the oppression of others.  And we must strive to use whatever wealth we do acquire to help those who are suffering.

Daily Bible Study

December 29, 2018 Bible Study — The Rise of the beasts

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I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Revelation 13-16.

John describes a great beast which will arise and rule over the entire earth.  This beast was given power by the “dragon”, which was the devil.  As a result of this power it survived and healed from a wound which appeared to be fatal.     People from all over the world will worship the beast and the dragon which gave it power.  The beast will blaspheme against God and against heaven.  It will wage war on God’s people.  A second beast will arise and exercise the power of the first beast.  This second beast will perform miracles in the name of the first beast.  It will commission a statue of the first beast to which it will give the power of speech.   The second beast will require everyone to have a number written on their hand or on their forehead in order for them to buy or sell anything.

 

As I read all of this passage, I wondered if John’s vision referred to a specific future event, or if it was a figurative description of history from John’s time until Christ’s Second Coming.  I struggle with writing this entry because for the most part, John’s Apocalyptic visions do not speak to me.

Having written the previous, I went back to the passage one more time for something to wrap up this entry.  Whereupon I read the part where God sent the Seven Plagues upon the earth.  The terrible plagues John describes seem to me to be the natural result of the behaviors of those who worshiped the beasts.  More importantly, rather than respond to their suffering by turning to God, the victims of these plagues cursed God and dedicated themselves more fully to service to the beasts.  That speaks to me because it is behavior I see all too often.  Time and again I see people double down on the sins which have caused their misery rather than repent and turn to God.

Daily Bible Study

December 27, 2018 Bible Study — A vision with symbolism galore

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I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Revelation 4-8.

I always struggle with what to make of the vision which John describes here.  It is filled with symbolism from beginning to end, but I am unclear what many of the symbols mean.  Many people strive to interpret it as a prophecy regarding the end of the world, but today’s passage does not seem to me to be that.  Rather, it seems to be a vision concerning the state of the spiritual world as it exists today.

John starts with the description of God’s throne room. The glory and majesty of the throne and all around it are overwhelming.  I am sure there is meaningful symbolism in the emerald glow which surrounds God’s throne, but I do not know what it is.   Then we have the 24 thrones with the 24 elders sitting upon them.  I am sure that the fact that 24 is twice 12 is part of the significance of that number, with 12 being the number of the tribes of Israel and the number of the Apostles…and that may be why 24.

Then we have the presentation of the scroll.  There was no one in all of heaven and earth who was worthy to open the scroll until Jesus died and was raised from the dead.  Here once again John tells us that Jesus and God are One, yet different:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Blessing and honor and glory and power
    belong to the one sitting on the throne
    and to the Lamb forever and ever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both Jesus and God are equally deserving of glory and honor and power. In addition, John describes how the living beings and the elders worshiped the Lamb in the same manner which they worshiped the One seated on the throne.

 

Traditionally, the four horsemen are interpreted as riding forth together.  Yet, as I read it today they seem to ride forth successively.  First, the white horse rides out to win battles and gain the victory.  After that, the red horse rider rides out to bring war to all of the earth.  The third and fourth riders naturally follow after the second.  Widespread famine and hardship follows where there is war and battle.  Famine leads to disease and death.  

Which brings me to one of the messages in this passage which I do understand.  The rich and powerful believe that they are sheltered from the coming destruction.  John’s vision tells us that only those who are faithful to God will be sheltered, and even they will experience suffering.

This entry is longer than I prefer, but I need to cover this last piece of the passage.  After the seventh seal is broken, John’s vision begins to truly enter into a description of the end times.  I am unsure how much of this describes distinct events and how much of this is figurative about those days.  However, John describes how at the end of time seven trumpets will sound, one at a time.  As each trumpet sounds disaster will strike Creation.   It will be a time of great terror, but John reminded us just before he started describing this that those who put their faith in God can be sure of how it will end.

 

 

 

Daily Bible Study

December 26, 2018 Bible Study — Have we lost our enthusiasm for the Lord?

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I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Revelation 1-3.

In the introduction to his letter to the seven Churches of Asia (Asia Minor), John gives us a description of God and Jesus which shows us that they are One.  Yet, despite being One, they are different.  God is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.  Jesus is the First and the Last, the Living One who died but is alive for eternity.  Both of them are the One who <strong>IS</strong>, who <strong>ALWAYS WAS</strong>, and who <strong>IS STILL TO COME</strong>.  I can think of no way to easily express better that for God time is no constraint.  He is present both at the beginning and at the end (not “was present” and “will be present”), and at every point in between.  Yet, He understands the passage of time.

Often times I have seen people talk or write that each of the seven Churches represent archetypes of Church, “which one is YOUR congregation?”  However, I realized today that there is only three types listed here.  There are variations between those that fall into each of these categories, but only three categories.  There are three Churches which have lost their enthusiasm: Ephesus, Sardis, and Laodicea.  There are two Churches which tolerate false teachers: Pergamum and Thyatira.  And there are two Churches which are faithful in the face of opposition:  Smyrna and Philadelphia.

I think it is worth looking at the Churches which have lost their enthusiasm in more detail.  Laodicea is neither an enthusiastic, energetic group who strive to get everyone excited, nor a solid, pragmatic group which sees it through to the end.  Sardis is living in the past.  They have a reputation for doing good things, but they are not doing them anymore.  They are just going through the motions.  Finally, Ephesus is still doing good things, but has lost the love which motivated them in the first place.  They no longer act out of love, just routine. 

Daily Bible Study

December 24, 2018 Bible Study — Sin is contrary to love

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I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 John 1-5.

John tells us that he wrote this letter so that we will not sin.  However, he also tells us that if we do sin, Jesus will act as our mediator with God and plead our case with Him so that we receive God’s mercy.    Further, John reminds us that each and everyone of us has sinned, and probably will again.   He makes the important point that, even though we will probably sin in the future, those who follow God do not make a practice of sinning.   If we confess our sins to God, He will forgive us, but that does not mean that we can sin with impunity.  As we continue to sin we turn ourselves over the devil as his possessions.  It is only by seeking to live righteously by the power of the Holy Spirit that we become God’s possessions.  <br>

John wrote that the key to living righteously is to love our fellow believers.  It is not enough to say that we love them, our actions must show it.  If we have enough to live well and do not help those who do not, we do not truly love them.  I believe that John makes it clear that providing for the material needs of those unable to do so for themselves is just the starting point of showing our love for others.  John tells us that as we grow in the love which God has given us we will cease to fear.

I want to bring up one final point that John makes in this letter.  God hears us when we ask Him for things that please Him, and will grant those requests.  The more we act in love for those around us, the more our requests of God will please Him and the more we will see His power expressed in this world in answer to our prayers.

 

Daily Bible Study

December 22, 2018 Bible Study — Living Holy lives means loving those around us

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I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Peter 1-5.

As I started this letter from Peter I was struck by the contrast with the one from James I read yesterday. James built a logical case for why we should behave as God wills. Peter, on the other hand, takes a different approach and focuses on applying God’s love in our lives. Because God has shown His love to us we should love those we encounter. That means getting rid of evil behavior: deceit, jealousy, hypocrisy, and unkind speech.

Peter goes on to tell us to respect those in authority, in fact, he tells us to respect everyone. We should show this respect even when people insult us and mistreat us for doing good. Let us live our lives so that those who accuse us of wrongdoing will be shown to be liars and frauds. IF we always do the right thing, the godly thing, there are those who will persecute us and mistreat us. We should rejoice when that happens because similar, even worse, things were done to Christ. If we continue to do what is right, even when we suffer for it, we will provide a compelling witness for the Gospel message. Peter stresses that suffering in and of itself is not a good thing. If we suffer for doing wrong, there is no redeeming feature to the suffering (except possibly that it inspires us not to do wrong again). Our joy in suffering should not lead us to do wrong in order to suffer more. It would be easy to read Peter as suggesting that we should seek suffering, but I believe he is not saying that. He is telling us to do what is right, even if that means suffering. He goes a little further than that. I am going to step a little bit out of what I am sure of here. Peter tells us that if we have two courses of action which both seem right, but one of them will lead to our suffering, we should probably choose that one.