Day 12, January 12, 2021
Scriptures: Genesis 25, Matthew 6 and Psalm 127 Our story progresses along in Genesis, the line of Abraham expands exponentially. And much can be said about the aftermath of the difficulty presented in Ishmael and Isaac. In the end though, I believe God is looking to reconcile all of them, every last one of them, into the family of God and life in His Kingdom. The Gospel of Jesus is for ALL People. Thematically, I see an important connection between Esau and Matthew 6. It comes at the end of Genesis 25 with Esau who is famished. He is so hungry that he feels like he is about to die. I have always been pretty unsympathetic to Esau in this regard. I lack the empathy required to fully understand what it was that he was experiencing. I don’t know of a hunger where I felt like dying. I imagine very few of us ever have, or ever will. And praise God for it! But Esau, most certainly did feel like he was going to die, and Jacob, the shrewd brother that he was, took advantage. That’s going to be a theme, the shrewd nature of Jacob to take advantage of situations to get ahead. When we contrast the desperation of Esau, with the reality that Jesus is presenting in Matthew 6, we get an entirely different worldview. Esau believes in scarcity, whereas Jesus believes in the abundance of blessings in the Kingdom of God. This stands as a great reminder that we can seek first the kingdom of God. It is really easy to get wrapped up into the struggles of the world. We’ve been reminded of this, over and over again it seems, the shortage of life, the insufficiency of what is good, the scarcity of sustenance. We live in a land of fear. Fear of sin, viruses, death, separation and so much more. But Jesus points us forward, to seek first the Kingdom of God. To look at the trees and the fields and the flowers and the birds. He gets us to look away from our present desires and needs, and simply see how God meets the needs and desires of the flowers, birds and fields. As he teaches us to look at the care of God over His creation, he also commissions us to seek first the Kingdom. To seek His righteousness. To seek what is good in the world. Teaching us to trust that as he cares for His creation, he is going to certainly care for the crowning achievement of His creation, those who were created in His image! We don’t have anything to worry about. We have all we need in Him. We don’t need to sell our birthright to get what we need. We get to, celebrate our new birth, into a right relationship with God, and know that we have all we need in Jesus, and more. I’ve just reread what I wrote, and I have another thought. It might sound a little contradictory. I do know the feelings Esau experienced of being famished to the point of death. I can be sympathetic with Esau. I do know what it means to be so famished that I might die, spiritually. While I’ve never felt a hunger so deeply that I might die, I do know what it is like to be so empty of life, that I might die. The despair of death, the loneliness of sin, the tragedy of sorrow and grief. I have been spiritually famished. I know what it is like to be so empty that you know you are lost and broken and have nothing. You can have all the material things in the world, all of the comforts and be filled with pain. There is a hard reality out there, when left on our own, we cannot do enough to save our own skin. When we realize our brokenness, when we realize just how famished we actually are, we might come to the One who can give us what we truly need. The soup of God’s abundant love, mercy and grace. In our famine, we are given Jesus. We give up our birthrights of this world, filled with famine, despair and darkness, and have a new birthright, in the family of God. Seek first the Kingdom of God today! Jordan
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Day 11, January 11, 2021
Scripture: Genesis 24, Matthew 5 Isaac gets a bride. Jesus begins preaching the Sermon on the Mount. What’s the connection? I’ve thought for a while about this and it dawned on me, Isaac had to marry a Hebrew woman. God’s desire is to keep the Israelites separate from other nations. One of the ways God approaches this is by expecting that they don’t intermingle with other nations. This may not seem all that important to us in the 21st century, that a nation keep from marrying people from other nations. But a part of the way that God is working through the Israelites, a part of how God is working in them to bear witness to the world is by separating them from all other nations. Their distinctiveness, set apart, holiness is critical to the plan. Jesus is the fulfilment of all of this and more. Jesus is the fulfillment of the law. Jesus stands before the watching world as the true holy one. In his distinctiveness, he now invites all to come and belong. And now, he can stand before a group of people and announce the good news that is for everyone. He can announce that Blessed are the peacemakers, merciful, poor in Spirit, and persecuted. All of those who never once were considered blessed, now have a place in the Kingdom of God. Isaac marrying Rebekah, begins an early framework of setting apart a people for a distinct purpose. Jesus preaching the Sermon on the Mount marks the beginning of announcing that all people can be distinctively set apart as God’s people. Jesus opening with the blessed is opening the way for all people to come and be a part of the light, to be the city on a hill. All are welcomed to come in and shine for the glory of God. You are the light of the world, shine for God today! Jordan Day 10, January 10, 2021
Scriptures: Genesis 21-23, Matthew 4 Theme: On the Mountain of the Lord, He provides! In Genesis 21-23, we have life and death. The life of Isaac, the potential death of Isaac, the life of Sarah, the death of Sarah. In the midst of life and death, Sarah finds her joy complete in what God has given her. She has had laughter. She never thought she would laugh, and those who knew her well, they certainly would not attribute joy and laughter to her name. But she has a son, in her ripe old age of 90 and she delights and laughs with joy, that God has provided her a son. Abraham would have a test come some years after the birth of Isaac. The leading question, will the Lord again provide? The test on Abraham is to see if he will sacrifice his son Isaac. The question I’m sure perpetually on the mind of Abraham is, “will the Lord provide?” God provides a ram, caught in the thicket. They named the location, “The Lord Provides.” A big question of why this is necessary remains with us. But certainly having the recent narrative fresh in our minds, Abraham has had problems trusting in the provision, power and presence of God. He doesn’t trust God to provide a son, so he sleeps with Hagar. Doesn’t trust in God’s provision, power and presence in Egypt, and tells others that Sarah is his sister, and not his wife. There is stark evidence that Abraham is having difficulty trusting God. For all the times he believed in the Lord, there are equal, if not more times that he failed to trust. I suppose we know what that is like. In today’s New Testament reading of Matthew 4, we see Jesus, tempted in the wilderness. The aim of this temptation, I see a fairly similar test that was given to Abraham. That temptation being, at its most foundational level, questioning: “Will the Lord provide?” Test one: Turn these stones into bread. It begs, “Will the Lord provide for my hunger?” Test two: Will the Lord provide protection if I were to jump from the temple? It asks, “Will the Lord provide His protection?” Finally, Test three: Will the Lord provide power or should I take the easy path? It leans in to Jesus’ identity, “will the Lord provide me power or do I achieve it through some other means?” And Jesus, deeply and intimately familiar with the story of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the life of Israel, Jesus knows the Lord will provide. He can trust Him! And he puts it on display. And will display that trust in the provision of God through the rest of his earthly life and ministry. Even unto death. And from that time on, Jesus began to preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God. The good News that God is providing a way forward for us all. A way of comfort and strength, a way of God’s power, presence and provision in our everyday lives. Shortly he will tell us to “Seek first the Kingdom of God, and everything will be provided” (My paraphrase of Matthew 6:33). This is Good News. The Lord Provides. He did for Abraham, He certainly did for Jesus, and in the kingdom of God, He will for you too. The Lord will Provide! Jordan Day 9, January 9, 2021
Scriptures: Psalm 11, Genesis 19-20, Matthew 3 Theme: The consequences of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus! The very real problem of sin comes to the foreground in our Bible reading today. Enough to make your skin crawl, we have the terrible story of Lot, His family, and townspeople bent on evil acts. The grotesque nature of the story, makes it a difficult read, for certain. But we are reminded that there is a way forward, there is One who redeems and saves. God rescues Lot, and while not everyone makes it out, Lot and His daughters are rescued. The Moabites and Ammonites are going to come into the picture soon enough in the grand narrative of scripture. The Israelites will continuously be in contention with them. Remember that Ruth is a Moabite woman. So we will see that the narrative of Scripture will continuously bring about these people and it is important to know their origins. That’s why we get it here. But the sin, the ugliness of what is happening and the heartache of the death that comes, to Sodom and Gomorrah, the unrighteous getting what is coming to them…this whole scene is heart wrenching. Matthew 3 comes as a reprieve, a cooling balm on the burning angst over Genesis 19. There is one in the desert announcing the Good News of one who is greater than him, who is coming to make things new. John the Baptist is preparing the way for Jesus and announcing the Good News of the Kingdom of God. Instead of destroying the cities filled with corruption, God is rescuing them, calling them out, to bear fruit worthy of repentance. The Savior is coming, and so John baptizes people after they confess their sins. They begin to bear the fruit that is worthy of repentance. This is how God is dealing with sin in the world today. There is a way out of our certain death. We are also encouraged to bear fruit that is worthy of repentance. We don’t look back with fondness of our previous life that brings death. We look ahead, we look to the cross, we look to Christ! There is a rescue plan in place. Look to Christ, the one who is greater! Remember your baptism! Jordan Day 8, January 8, 2021
Scriptures: Genesis 16-18, Matthew 2 Another great connection between the Scriptures today, Genesis 18:13–14 “Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son.” “ Is anything too hard for the Lord? As we skip forward to Matthew 2, we are reminded of the powerful work of God, to bring about His purposes. We have a child born, from the virgin Mary. We are reminded that God is doing something special. The rhetorical question, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Emphatically, “No!, Nothing is impossible for the Lord!” What an important reminder of what God is doing in the scriptures and history, to accomplish His purposes. It’s this connection, but even more, the Promise is reinstated. Despite the failures and miscues from Abram with Hagar, thwarting the purposes, God is merciful, patient, forgiving. Genesis 18:18–19 “Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. 19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.” Jesus is the fulfillment of this blessing. All nations will be blessed through Abraham, through Jesus. I don’t know what encouragement you need today, but it is an important reminder that we find ourselves in the midst of this story. The nations are blessed, all peoples are blessed through Abraham. A Promise given by God, is fulfilled by God. Despite the failures of humankind, over and over again, the plans of God aren’t thwarted. God works in them in such a way, to redeem us and save us. You are blessed! Jordan Day 7, January 7, 2021
Scriptures: Genesis 14-15, Psalm 47 and Matthew 1 What a great connection between the scriptures today, between Abraham and Jesus. We are just coming out of the Christmas season, so the text of Matthew 1 is fresh in our minds and hearts. What we often overlook, or skim past is the opening Genealogy. Genealogies have become increasingly popular, whole television programs show a celebrity discover part of their family tree and their story. I’m not sure why people tune in for a celebrity genealogy, but I know why Matthew includes his genealogy. At least, in part, it is tied to what God says to Abram in Genesis 15:2-6 2But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” 4Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.” 5He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. When we reflect on Matthew and Genesis together, we get a wonderful reminder of the faithfulness of God, to accomplish His purposes. God will accomplish His purposes. Right out of the gate in Matthew’s Gospel, He is communicating that Jesus is King, an heir of Abraham, and God has accomplished His purposes through His son, Jesus Christ. Will you believe this? You are a part of something that is more numerous, and more glorious than the multitude of stars in the sky. You are a child of God and belong to the family of God. We will come to see this story draw out in both Genesis and Matthew. For now, we are encouraged to know that God is with us, Emmanuel. God be with you. Jordan Day 6, January 6, 2021
Scriptures: Genesis 11-13, Ephesians 6 As I write this, I’m looking out at my children who are enjoying the snowfall we had on Saturday. They are currently building a snow fort. As a father, I couldn’t be prouder. But I know that what they are building, will soon melt away. The people at Babel are building a tower to reach the heavens. They are building to make a name for themselves. An interesting correlation takes place in Ephesians. Paul calls the people of God to work for the Lord. In everything they do, they do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, serving him wholeheartedly. When we set out to do our work for the Lord, we can very easily make it about our name and our fame. Scripture is clear, we are created for the glory of God, not the glory of our own. How easy it is, to set out and do something, and get the goal mixed up. Here comes then, the most important of scriptures for the rest of Genesis, and guides the rest of the story of Scripture. Genesis 12 and the Promise of God to Abraham. Everything is going to hinge on this Promise, this covenant with Abraham. Much is going to thwart the accomplishment of this Promise. God promises the 4 P’s to Abram. People, Place, Purpose and Privilege. Abram’s offspring will be a great nation (People), they will be a blessing to the nations (Purpose), God will be their God and they will be His (People/Privilege) and give them a land all of their own (Place). This Promise will undergo great pressure. Abram gets to Egypt, threatens the Promise by telling Sarai to lie about being married to him. “Tell them you’re my sister.” Good idea! Not! Lot gets in the way of the Promise. We get a little foreshadowing of Sodom and the wicked people who make up the city. More will come on this in our story, soon enough. The Promise is made, and its already under threat because of human frailty and sin. But God will work to accomplish His purposes. Our refreshing return to the New Testament, keeps us grounded in what is good about our life and the New Creation. We know that God will accomplish His purposes, despite the failures of Abram/Abraham. In the closing of Ephesians, we are encouraged to take up the full armor of God. To stand up against the schemes of the devil, stand for what is righteous and good. We are armed with the Word of God, prayer, truth and the righteousness of Jesus. The nations are formed in Genesis. And we find that we are called to go to the nations. To stand in the midst of them, and not make a name for ourselves, but to make much of the name of Jesus. We do this, by the power of Christ, and the full Armor of God. The shield of faith is ours! Family, Let us put on the full Armor of God! Jordan Scripture: Psalm 8, Genesis 9-10, Ephesians 5
I have so far, very much enjoyed the connections that have come from the reading. Today’s was a bit of surprise, one I didn’t see coming. “He drank some of the wine and became drunk, and he lay uncovered in his tent.” (Genesis 9:21) “Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18) There is so much happening in Genesis 9 and revealed in Ephesians as well, that to dwell on this connection seems foolish. But there it is, and on deeper reflection, it is the crux of all of the chapters we’ve read today. In Genesis 9, the flood is over, a covenant is made between God and humankind. God places the bow in the sky, what we’ve commonly accepted as a reference to the rainbow, as a reminder that God will never again deal with the depravity of humankind through a global flood. God continually establishes a means of protecting His creation, and the next way He does that is protect life. In the opening 8 verses of Gen. 9, we see a protection of life. There is an accounting of blood for humankind, but also for animal life as well. All creation is to be protected and cared for by humankind. The level to which we understand this is how we come up with a bevy of diets to protect life. At the heart of this text, is an understanding and perspective about God and creation. He loves it deeply and His desire appears to be to keep there from being bloodshed and disregard for life, be it plant life, human life or animal life. All life, all of creation is of deep importance to God. In comes then, the fall of Noah, after the promise of God to protect the earth, Noah gets drunk with wine. Noah painfully reveals once again that while there are protections in place on creation, and commitment from God to deal with sin differently, sin is still present amidst creation. The brokenness of the world is still there, still wreaking havoc on families, friends, neighbors and creation. The accounting of life from the blood then, comes into play in the book of Ephesians: Ephesians 1:7 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” We are brought near the shedding of Jesus’ blood. Genesis 9 and the accounting of blood, becomes the means of our redemption. More will come into play, as we explore the books of Leviticus and Exodus. What we know is the blood of the Lamb of Jesus, the life blood in Him through the Grace of God, becomes our life. So, we are encouraged, to leave the life of the flesh, the darkness and evil of the world. Leave debauchery behind and be filled with the Spirit. We are called to leave drunkenness behind, the abuse of something good, and called to be filled overflowing in the goodness of God. Something new is happening in Jesus Christ. The flood may have started the creation over with a reset. But sin was still very much there, real and problematic. Today, there is forgiveness of our sins, and new life made possible through the blood of Jesus. A flood of mercy pours out at the cross. Sin is forgiven, and new life is ours. Be filled with the Spirit! Jordan Scriptures – Genesis 7-8, Ephesians 4
Follow the plan together, here: www.biblestudytools.com/bible-reading-plan/thematic.html Did the flood change the condition of the human heart? “The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of human beings, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.” (Genesis 8:21) What is God’s response to the human condition? We know that it is Jesus Christ. God in the flesh. He is the one who will give us a new heart. He is bringing new creation: “17So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed. 20That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:17-24) Discipleship, following Jesus, can become a really long list of things you do and don’t do. Sins to avoid and commitments to keep. Social occasions to avoid, and social occasions to attend. We reduce discipleship to a different social calendar with the avoidance of vices and embracing of virtues. All of it is nothing, if the inclination of our hearts aren’t changed. You are being made new, created to be like God in what is truly righteous and holy. That’s Paul’s message, to those who remained living in the old ways. He says, “put on the new self.” When God arrives in Jesus, suddenly what’s on the inside really matters. The Pharisees are condemned, even though they appear to be righteous by their lawful activities. Jesus knows their hearts, and despite their best appearances, they are far from God. And those who traditionally are viewed far from God, Jesus draws nearer to them, sometimes declaring their faith greater than any he found in Israel. Ephesians is written after the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. So Paul writes with the luxury of knowing something special about the world. It’s possible now, in light of Jesus life, death and reign, to live a new life. New creation has come, and Paul wants to let everyone in on what God has done. For Paul, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Eph. 4:4-6) Jesus does what the flood can’t do. The flood cleansed the outside. It did nothing for the condition of the human heart. So old ways stayed the same. Yet the cross cleanses us through and through. The Lord descends and ascends. And in His ascension He gifts us, graces us with His Spirt, with Spirit-filled people, to build us up and build us together. To fill us up in every way, to fill the earth with the glory of God. Today’s a good day to ask God for him to search our hearts, to know our anxious ways, and lead us to the way of everlasting life. (Psalm 138) Today’s a good day, to remind ourselves of the condition of our hearts, and what Christ has done, at the cross, to make us new. You are new, through the cross, through and through. Jordan Scripture: Genesis 5-6, Psalm 12, Ephesians 3
Follow the plan here: www.biblestudytools.com/bible-reading-plan/thematic.html The thought never occurred to me to read Genesis alongside Ephesians. But here it is, this beautiful connection between the travesty of the human race, hell-bent on destruction, and the grace of God and new life through Jesus Christ. We are taking a very high overview look at the text through my daily devotions, and I intend on popping down for closer looks from time to time. One instance here is to take a look at the limitations of days. In God’s grace, he limits the lifespan of humankind. Why is shorter, better? My friend John Nugent would argue that the shortening of days is all a part of God’s redeeming plan to protect creation. A possible way God keeps his creation from running in the direction of destruction is to limit the power and lifespan of humankind. We see the “sons of God” taking women to be their wives. The jury is out on who these individuals are, and a google search will run you down several contradictory theories. The simplest and best answer to me is that the “sons of God,” were powerful men, who took what they wanted. They were perhaps kings, “men of renown.” That of course is speculation, and the best we can do with the information we have. But it stands to reason that this is a good limitation, that powerful people would be limited in their days. If someone like Hitler could live and rule for 800 years, we’d have some very serious problems on our hands. God graciously limits lifespans, to protect all of creation. We hear of the corruption of the human condition, as well as a genealogy. And we are told of faithful people like Enoch, and Noah. We don’t know much about Enoch, he doesn’t appear to die. And then we have Noah, who walks faithfully with God. He is commissioned to build an Ark. God’s rescue plan. God is ready to do away with all of creation. But he doesn’t, because He sees a faithful man in Noah. Psalm 12, highlights again the problem of the human condition. “Human depravity is celebrated.” We often think that today is worse than yesterday. That the depravity of humanity is much worse than it could have ever been. But the Bible reminds us that is not the case. The days of Noah, the evil and depravity was so great, God’s only response was to start over. Hear Paul’s encouragement: “7I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. 8Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, 9and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. 10His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 13I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.” God dealt graciously with Paul, that he might preach the boundless riches of Christ. And having the genealogy fresh in our minds, it really stands out in my mind and heart: “14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the Lord’s people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” There is so much there to reflect on, but at the heart of it all is that the depravity of man is not greater than the boundless riches of love, found in Christ Jesus. God’s means of helping creation is to give us His heart and his boundless love. God’s plan is to redeem and save. Let every generation give God Praise! Jordan |
AuthorJordan Ickes, Minister of Etna Green Church of Christ. Archives
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