Tag Archives: Genesis 23-24:51

January 10, 2015 Bible Study

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 3:1-6

    Let us never forget the teachings we find in the Bible. If we practice loyalty and kindness in all of our dealings we will earn favor with both God and man. The next stanza of this proverb is most important:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.

Those two parts fit together perfectly. We must trust in the Lord with all our hearts and seek to do His will in all we do, but we cannot depend on our own understanding to know what His will is. It is only by listening to others who are also seeking to do God’s will that we can hope to truly discern what His will actually is.

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Psalm 9:13-20

    I beg of God that He save me from the troubles that I will face. I beg this of God so that I can praise Him. The reason I wish to be rescued is so that I can continue to do His will. The wicked seek only to accomplish their own will and will be trapped by the troubles their actions bring them. Those who seek only to do as God wishes will be rescued by God. Let us praise Him for all He has done.

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Matthew 8:1-17

    Today’s passage is three stories of Jesus healing people. Later in the Gospels Jesus tells His disciples (and through them us) that they will perform the same sorts of miracles He did and more. Yet, I do not see healing happening very often in the Church today. I do not know why, but I am convinced that our failure to see more miraculous healing says something is wrong in the Church today. I am convinced that part of the problem is that we do not really expect to see miraculous healing. Another part of it is our failure to discern the Holy Spirit’s leading. This is an area I struggle with.

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Genesis 23-24:51

    There are a lot of things in this passage about trusting God and how God will provide us guidance. However, what struck me today was Abraham’s vehement insistence that Isaac not return to the land of Abraham’s ancestors. There are hints throughout the story of Genesis that Abraham came from a community which shared worshiped God, but there are also suggestions that there was something “wrong” with that community.
    We have Abraham sending his servant to his relatives back where he came from to get a wife for his son from among his relatives. This suggests that there is something about them that makes them a better match for Isaac than the local people (this theme is brought up again with Jacob and Esau getting married). However, there is something about them that leads Abraham to not want his son to live among them. I am not sure what this means for us, but it is something I think is worth some thought.

January 10, 2014 Bible Study — If You Are Willing, You Can Make Me Clean

     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. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day, or more. in advance. My work schedule has recently changed, meaning that I may not have time every day to complete these. As a result, I am trying to get several days ahead. I hope this does not negatively impact the quality of these posts (if that is possible). If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

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Genesis 23-24:51

     After the death of Sarah, Abraham sent his most trusted servant to find a wife for Isaac among the people of his father who still lived in Haran (or nearby). The servant followed Abraham’s instructions. What Abraham’s servant did when he arrived at his destination is a model for us to follow when we are attempting to follow God’s guidance. He asked God for a sign, but the sign was not arbitrary. The sign he asked for was one which would reflect the character of the person who carried it out.
     The servant believed that God had chosen a woman in the town he had just arrived in to be Isaac’s wife, but he did not know who she was, nor did he have any good ideas as to how to find her. He did however know a few things about her. He knew she would be a relative of Abraham, but he did not know how to find Abraham’s relatives in this town. He knew she would be courteous and hospitable to strangers, partly because he knew that was what God (and Abraham) would want in a wife for Isaac, and partly because he knew that Abraham’s relatives would raise their daughter to be that way (that was at least part of the reason Abraham wanted Isaac to marry a woman from his father’s people).
     Now, the servant had a plan that would tell him if a woman met the second criteria, but he had no way to know if she met the first. So he asked God that the first woman he met who met his test be one who met the first. Abraham’s servant laid out his “fleece” (it is kind of funny to call it that, since Gideon had not yet been born at the time of this story). And the first woman he approached did as he had hoped. She not only eagerly offered him water when he requested a drink, as he was drinking she drew more water in order to water his thirsty camels. When she did this, he acted on faith and presented her gifts, which in light of his next question, she would have interpreted, correctly, as “courting” gifts (that he was trying to convince her to marry, and her family to allow her to marry, someone he was representing). When he asked her whose daughter she was, she told him that the daughter of Bethuel and the granddaughter of Nahor.
     Abraham’s servant made a request of God for a sign. When he got the sign, he acted. He did not fail to follow up and confirm that the sign was correct, but he also did not wait until he had incontrovertible proof before he began to take action. God makes His intentions clear to us if we are paying attention.

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Matthew 8:1-17

     This passage contains two stories of Jesus healing people that have some similarities. Both stories demonstrate great faith on the part of those requesting Jesus to heal. The first man is a leper who tells Jesus, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” Notice the man did not say, “you can heal me.” He said, “you can make me clean.” He recognized that he needed more than just healing, although he needed that as well. He needed to be made clean. We, also, need to be healed and made clean. Every single one of us is struggling with something of which we need to be both healed and cleaned (except for a few who have already be healed and cleaned by Christ). Jesus’ answer is quite instructive, as well. He simply said, “I am willing. Be clean.” He then instructed the man to follow God’s commands for demonstrating that he had been cleaned. If we are willing to go forward according to God’s will, Jesus is willing to heal us and cleanse us. Actually, Jesus is willing even if we are not, the problem being that if we do not go forward according to God’s will, we will not stay clean and healthy.
     The next story is that of a Roman soldier, an officer. This man came to Jesus on behalf of his servant, who was paralyzed and suffering. When the man approached Jesus, Jesus said that He would come at once. The Roman officer answered that he was unworthy to have Jesus come to his home and there was no need for Jesus to do so. He knew that if Jesus wished to heal his servant, He could do it from where He was. The Roman officer understood that Jesus had authority over disease. He knew that Jesus did not heal with potions or medicines and neither did Jesus heal by reaching out and comforting the mind of those who were suffering, although those are both fine ways of bringing about healing. Jesus healed by using the power of He who had formed the first man out of the dust of the earth. Do we have the faith to believe that God can and will heal us, or our loved ones, without needing to make use of human hands? This is not to take away from those who work to heal those who are sick in the world around us. I do believe that some of us are called to that. But we are all called to recognize that God does not need that in order to heal our broken world.

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Psalm 9:13-20

     I will call upon the Lord to have mercy upon me for I know that the wicked will be caught in the trap which they set for themselves. It may seem that the needy are being ignored and the poor crushed, but God will stand by them and bring justice to their oppressors.

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Proverbs 3:1-6

     The proverb writer tells us to trust in God and warns us not to rely on our own understanding. If we seek to do God’s will, He will show us the path to take. If we follow that path we will find favor with God and with people.

January 10, 2013 Bible Study –Seeking to Know God’s Will

     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 Revelers Gather
The Revelers Gather

Genesis 23-24:51

     Sarah died when she was 127 years old near what was later called Hebron. Abraham approached the elders of the local town and negotiated to buy a plot of land that included a burial cave where he buried Sarah’s body. Shortly after this, Abraham called in his senior servant, who was in charge of all that Abraham had. He asked this servant to take an oath not to find a wife for Isaac among the people of Canaan, but rather to return to the land of Abraham’s birth and get a wife for Isaac there. The servant took ten camels loaded with goods from Abraham’s possessions and went to the region where Abraham was from. When he arrived at his destination and stopped near the town well he prayed to God for guidance. He laid before God what we often call a fleece (from the actions of Gideon who lived long after the time we are now discussing). The servant asked God that when he asked a young woman for a drink that if she was the one that God had chosen for Isaac, she would not only give him a drink but offer to water his camels as well.
     No sooner had he prayed for this sign then Rebekah came to draw water from the well. Abraham’s servant approached her and asked her for a drink of water. She quickly lowered her water jar and gave him a drink of water. As soon as he had finished drinking, Rebekah told him that she would draw water for his camels. She emptied her water jar into the trough and quickly returned to the well and drew enough water to water all of the camels. The servant did not say anything until the camels had finished drinking. He then took out three pieces of jewelry that had a gold value of about $7200 on today’s gold market. He then asked her whose daughter she was and whether there was room in her father’s house for himself and those with him to spend the night. Rebekah responded that she was the granddaughter of Nahor (who was Abraham’s brother) and that they had straw and fodder to feed his camels as well as space for him to spend the night. The servant immediately Gave praise to God, telling Rebekah that she was related to his master Abraham. Rebekah ran home and told her family what Abraham;s servant had told her. When Rebekah’s brother Laban saw the jewelry and heard her story, he rushed out and invited Abraham’s servant to come and stay with them (notice that the story-teller indicates that Laban’s primary interest was the jewelry). When the man came into the house they put food before him. He told them that he would not eat until he had told them his story. He then explained the mission he was on for Abraham and the sign he asked from God. He then explained how Rebekah fulfilled that sign. When Bethuel, Rebekah’s father, and Laban heard his story, they immediately told him that this was from the Lord and they were not willing to stand in the way of what the Lord so clearly supported. They told him to take Rebekah to be the wife of his master’s son.
     This is a great story. We can learn some lessons about seeking God’s will and about how God reveals His will. When Abraham’s servant got to his destination he prayed to God for guidance. He asked for a specific event to show him God’s will. When he got that event, he acted immediately. He did not second guess the sign. Then we see God follow-up by giving him further confirmation that Rebekah was the woman God intended for Isaac, he discovered that Rebekah was Abraham’s great-niece. Also, notice how the sign that Abraham’s servant asked for was indicative of a woman who would make a good wife for Isaac (Rebekah showed a hospitable spirit by on her own initiative watering his camels). God’s follow-up sign fulfilled one of the wishes for a wife for Isaac (she was from the household of Abraham’s relatives).

A Stream In The Woods
A Stream In The Woods

Matthew 8:1-17

     When Jesus finished the Sermon on the Mount and came down from the mountainside a man with leprosy approached Him and knelt. The leper declared to Jesus, “If you are willing, you can heal me.” Jesus reached out and touched him. Leprosy was a scary disease and somewhat contagious (and generally viewed as disgusting), but Jesus was willing to touch this man. Jesus told the leper that He was indeed willing to heal him. Jesus told the man not to tell anyone about the healing until he had gone to a priest and been examined according to the Law so that the evidence of his healing could be properly noted (for the man’s sake, not Jesus’).
     When Jesus entered Capernaum a centurion approached Him and asked Him to heal his servant. Jesus asked the centurion if He should come with him to heal his servant. The centurion replied that he was unworthy to have Jesus in his house. The centurion was confident that if Jesus said that his servant would be healed, the servant would be healed. Jesus commended the man for his faith and told him to go, his servant would be healed. We are told that the servant was healed at that moment. I wish that I had the faith of that centurion. I believe that God will do such things, but I have trouble believing that He will do them through me. Dear Lord, give me the faith of the centurion in this story.

The Woods In Winter
The Woods In Winter

Psalm 9:13-20

     O Lord have mercy on me because I do not deserve to be treated well, yet as long as You have mercy on me and leave me on this earth, I will praise Your name. I will not make the mistake of thinking that I can work my way out of my problems. I know that on my own I will merely be trapped by the wickedness of my acts. If I plot to trap others, those traps will spring on me and entrap me. I will deal honestly and strive to help the poor and needy. I know that you will bring them aid, do not let me be the one they need aid against.

The Fencers' Dance Continues
The Fencers’ Dance Continues

Proverbs 3:1-6

     The writer tells the reader to remember what he has taught then summarizes his teaching. The first lesson is to always be loyal and kind. If we do this, people will think well of us and we will find favor with God. The second lesson is to trust God with all of our being, seek to do His will in everything we do. Rather than rely on our own understanding, let us follow the path that God shows us.