Topic : Genesis

Resource

• Kingdom Conflict, J. Stowell, Victor, 1985.

Days of Creation

Professor James Barr, of Oxford, although he rejects Genesis as sober history, wrote: “So far as I know, there is no professor of Hebrew or Old Testament at any world class university who does not believe that the writers of Genesis 1-11 intended to convey to the readers the ideas that

(a) creation took place in a series of six days, which were the same as the 24-hour days we now experience,

(b) the figures contained in the Genesis genealogies provided by simple addition a chronology from the beginning of the world up to later stages in the Biblical story,

(c) Noah’s Flood was understood to be worldwide and extinguished all human and animal life except those in the Ark.

March 1989, Institute for Creation Research

Politician Joke

Three men were arguing over whose profession was first established on earth. “Mine was,” said the surgeon. “The Bible says that Eve was made by carving a rib out of Adam.”

“Not at all,” said the engineer. “An engineering job came before that. In six days the earth was created out of chaos. And that was an engineer’s job.”

“Yes,” said the politician. “But who created the chaos'

Mary Waldrip in Dawson County, GA, Advertiser and News

Male and Female Views of Creation

God made man and said, “I can do better than that,” and made the woman.

Man’s view: God made beast and man, then rested. Then He made woman, and no one has ever rested since, beast, man, or God.

Word study, bara, to create, New Bible Commentary, pp. 26-7

Resource

• Climbing out of a swamp: the evangelical struggle to understand the creation texts, Clark Pinnock, The Best In Theology, v. 4, p. 39.

Resource

• New Bible Commentary, p. 26. (“tohu wabohu,”)

Image of God

Man is an expression of the eternal incorporeal Creator of the cosmos in terms of bodily form. To make an image of God would reverse the idea of Creation. Image always implies representation...therefore: Dominion. Image corporeal of male and female implies complementarity.

“Evangelical Preaching,” Charles Simeon, p. 13.

Infanticide

A physician in a leading pediatrics magazine has attacked “religious mumbo-jumbo” about the “sanctity of human life.” The article, authored by Peter Singer of the Center for Bioethics in Australia, appeared in a recent issue of Pediatrics, published by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The academy is the principal group opposing the Reagan administration’s new rule demanding treatment of handicapped newborns. Singer argues that a “nonhuman animal: often has “superior capacities” over a “severely defective human infant,” that “species membership” is not “morally relevant,” and that life should be measured in terms of its quality. The academy is the largest professional organization for pediatricians.

Christianity Today, Sept. 2, 1983, Gen. 1:26-27.

Subdue

“Subdue” = Bring under control. Assumes the one being subdued is hostile and there is need for correction.

Cf. Joshua 18:1, Jer. 34:11, Num. 32:22, 29, Esther 7:8.

Balancing Life’s Demands, J. Grant Howard, p. 103.

Leave and Cleave

We were visiting friends when they received a telephone call from their recently married daughter. After several tense minutes on the phone, the mother told the father to pick up the extension. The newlyweds had had their first big fight.

In a few moments, the father rejoined us and tersely explained, “Said she wanted to come home.”

“What did you tell her?” I asked.

“I told her she was home.”

Larry Cunningham (Billings, Montana), quoted in Reader’s Digest

A Wife

I’m responsible to keep my husband from being alone in this terribly lonely world. A wife is a hedge against the alienation that comes from being human. She is a sanctuary when he battles with pain and criticism. Few people care about a man’s dreams, hopes, fears. Society tells him he’s out of sync. His friends lack real love and intimacy. Since being expelled from Eden, man vaguely remembers and longs for the fellowship and completeness only Christ Himself can supply. When the Christian man reaches heaven, he will rest and be filled.

Karen B. Mains

50th Anniversary

When my husband and I were first married, he moonlighted doing remodeling work in people’s homes. One day, we stopped by at the house of an elderly couple he worked for, and the husband joyfully insisted that we join them for some ice cream and cake because it was their 50th anniversary, “Fifty years!” I exclaimed. “That’s a long time with one person!” “It would have been a lot longer without her,” the husband replied.

Karen Jinks (Houston, Texas)

Mother-in-Law

In Singapore, a young bride had to go to court to force her husband stop letting his mother sleep under their bed.

Source unknown

One Flesh

Genesis in the Bible records the plan of God for mankind to marry; a man is to leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and they will become one flesh. He didn’t say they should be joined to each other until they lost interest in each other. Or until one partner felt trapped by the confines of the relationship and wanted out. Or until a child complicated the scene. He said they should be joined to each other and become one. That process takes a lifetime.

Marilyn McGinnis

Don’t Be Deceived!

...ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil. - Genesis 3:5

One of Satan’s most effective tactics down through the ages has been deception. He is a master at making things appear what they are not. A mixture of truth and error seems to serve his purposes much better than total error.

Donald Grey Barnhouse illustrated this forcefully with the following story: “Duveen, the famous English art connoisseur, took his little daughter to the beach one day, but could not get her to go into the chilly water. After persuasion failed, he borrowed a teakettle, built a fire, and heated a little water until it steamed beautifully. With much flourish, he poured it into the ocean. Greatly impressed, his daughter went in without a murmur.” Barnhouse then made this application: Satan “dilutes an ocean of unbelief with a steaming teakettle of Christian ethics, and people go wading in, self-satisfied, but unaware that they are bathing in unbelief.”

The adversary is delighted when a person turns over a new leaf or engages in good works, just as long as he continues to reject the provision of God’s grace in salvation. Somehow the sinner completely ignores the fatal error or not trusting Christ because his life as been tempered with a teakettle of wholesome resolves.

Our Lord’s words are very clear: “...he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18). Don’t be deceived by Satan’s clever ploy. You cannot dilute an ocean of cold unbelief with a little warm water of religiosity or good human endeavor. P.R.V.

The devil in his subtle way
Will chloroform your soul,
If you don’t quickly turn to Christ,
Whose blood can make you whole.

- Lyle

THOT: Satan will flood you with truth to float one lie.

Our Daily Bread, Sunday, June 29.

No Restrictions

Satan was planting in Eve’s mind the idea that there should be no restrictions in the perfect plan of a good God.

Ryrie, Balancing the Christian Life, p. 26.

You Knew What I Was

Iron Eyes Cody is a native American actor who once did a TV spot for the Keep America Beautiful campaign. He was an Indian drifting alone in a canoe. As he saw how our waters are being polluted, a single tear rolled down his cheek, telling the whole story. This powerful public service commercial still shows up on TV screens after 17 years. In 1988 Cody repeated an old Indian legend in Guideposts magazine. Here it is:

Many years ago, Indian youths would go away in solitude to prepare for manhood. One such youth hiked into a beautiful valley, green with trees, bright with flowers. There he fasted. But on the third day, as he looked up at the surrounding mountains, he noticed one tall rugged peak, capped with dazzling snow. I will test myself against that mountain, he thought. He put on his buffalo-hide shirt, threw his blanket over his shoulders and set off to climb the peak. When he reached the top he stood on the rim of the world. He could see forever, and his heart swelled with pride.

Then he heard a rustle at his feet, and looking down, he saw a snake. Before he could move, the snake spoke. “I am about to die,” said the snake. “It is too cold for me up here and I am freezing. There is no food and I am starving. Put me under your shirt and take me down to the valley.” “No,” said the youth. “I am forewarned. I know your kind. You are a rattlesnake. If I pick you up, you will bite, and your bite will kill me.” “Not so,” said the snake. “I will treat you differently. If you do this for me, you will be special. I will not harm you.” The youth resisted awhile, but this was a very persuasive snake with beautiful markings. At last the youth tucked it under his shirt and carried it down to the valley. There he laid it gently on the grass, when suddenly the snake coiled, rattled, and leapt, biting him on the leg. “But you promised...” cried the youth.

“You knew what I was when you picked me up.” said the snake as it slithered away.”

Bits and Pieces, June, 1990, pp. 5-7

Humpty Dumpty

A favorite nursery rhyme is the familiar tale of an egg that takes an unfortunate tumble:

HUMPTY DUMPTY SAT ON A WALL
HUMPTY DUMPTY HAD A GREAT FALL.
ALL THE KING’S HORSES AND ALL THE KING’S MEN
COULDN’T PUT HUMPTY TOGETHER AGAIN.

According to those who know about such things, this piece of wisdom is a relic thousands of years old. Versions have appeared in eight European languages.

In its primitive stages, however, Humpty Dumpty was a riddle. It asked the question: what, when broken, can never be repaired, not even by strong or wise individuals? As any child knows, an egg. Regardless of how hard we try, a broken egg can never be put back together again. We simply have to learn to live with the mess.

There is a Humpty Dumpty story in the Bible. We call it the Fall.

Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit. They claim they posses the necessary wisdom to be like God. When the dust settles, Adam and Eve are not perched on a lofty plane. They have fallen. Regardless of how hard we try, things can never be put back together again.

Our contemporary fall is seen in the feeling that things just don’t work anymore. Our lives appear out of control. Changes come faster than our ability to cope. Broken eggs are an appropriate symbol. Wherever we step we hear the crunch of fragile shells beneath our feet.

Brent Philip Waters

Resources

• Mythical, allegorical, historical views, Satan is No Myth, J. O. Sanders, Moody, 1975, pp. 38ff
• The fundamental deception of Satan is the lie that obedience can never bring happiness. R.C. Sproul
• Our Savior God, J. M. Boice, p. 44.
• Tales of the Neverending, Mark Littleton, Moody, 1990, pp. 30ff
• Biblical Sermons, H. W. Robinson, Baker, 1989, p.13

Original Sin

Original sin was a lust after self-sufficient knowledge, a craving to shake off all external authority and work things out for himself.

New Bible Commentary, p. 17, J. I. Packer.

Resource

• A Holy Rebellion, T. Ice & R. Dean, Harvest House, 1990, pp. 55-56.

Consequences of the Fall

• Loss of self-esteem (v. 7)
• Personal shame and alienation (v.8)
• Fear (v. 10)
• Transference of guilt to another (v. 12)
• Pain in childbirth (v. 16)
• Exhaustion in labor (v. 17-19)

Source unknown

Sheep Thief or Saint'

And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. Gen. 4:15

The story is told of two brothers, convicted of stealing sheep, who were branded on the forehead with the letters ST, to indicate “sheep thief.” The one couldn’t bear the stigma, became bitter, and moved away. Eventually he died and was forgotten. The other brother chose a different course. He said, “I can’t run from what I did, so I’ll stay here and win back the respect of my neighbors and myself.” As the years passed, he built a solid reputation for integrity. One day a stranger saw him, now an old man, with the letters on his forehead. He asked a townsman what they signified. “It happened a long time ago,” said the villager. “I’ve forgotten the particulars, but I think the letters are an abbreviation for ‘saint’”.

Cain too was a marked man who, like that first brother in the story, never thought beyond the severity of his punishment to the severity of his sin. He didn’t realize that his “brand” was a blessing as well as a curse. It held in check the vengeance of his fellowmen so that he wouldn’t be killed. God was granting Cain an opportunity to acknowledge his wrong, to plead for mercy, and to wipe out his reputation as a murderer. How tragic that he chose not to!

A bad reputation doesn’t have to be permanent. Because Christ died for our sins, His forgiveness wipes the slate clean, and His power enables us to live a new life. If you’ve never done so, repent and trust Him as your Savior. If you have received Jesus but have since made a mess of your life, return to Him. He’ll give you grace and power to build a new reputation. -D.J.D.

Once I was foolish, and sin ruled my heart,
Causing my footsteps from God to depart;
Jesus has found me, happy my case—
I now am a sinner saved by grace!

- Gray

THOT: You may have had a bad start in life, but you need not have a bad ending.

Our Daily Bread, Friday, August 20

Cain’s Wife

• Pache, Inspiration and authority of Scripture, p. 142.

Two Books

This is the book of...Adam. Genesis 5:1

[This is] the book of...Jesus Christ. Matthew 1:1

The book of Adam’s family tree and the book of the genealogy of Christ form a striking contrast. One is a record of death, the other of life. Genesis 5 has been called the “obituary chapter” of the Bible, for time after time we read the doleful word,”...and he died.” On the other hand, Matthew, in giving the genealogy of Jesus, constantly repeats the phrase, “...and [he] begot.” Although the people in the line of Christ did eventually die, the word “death” is never mentioned in Matthew, Chapter 1. That suggests to me this application: By our sinful nature we are in Adam’s book on death, but by our spiritual “new birth” we appear in Christ’s living register of the redeemed.

You’ve probably heard the familiar story of the man whose name was printed in the obituary column of a daily paper by mistake. Greatly disturbed, he went to the newspaper office and exclaimed, “This is terrible! Your error will cause me no end of embarrassment and may even mean a loss of business. How could you do such a thing?” The editor expressed regrets, but the man remained angry and unreasonable. Finally the editor said in disgust, “Cheer up, fellow, I’ll put your name in the birth column tomorrow and give you a fresh start!” That’s what happens when we find new life in Christ.

Are you still registered in Adam’s obituary column, or is your name in the Lamb’s Book of Life? There are only two books, and you are in one or the other! H.G.B.

No man can say he doesn’t need
Forgiveness from his sin,
For all must come to Christ by faith
To gain new life within.

- Branon

Salvation changes our heritage from a living death to a deathless life.

Our Daily Bread, Thursday, January 2.

Resource

• The Strong Family, Bible Study Guide by C. Swindoll, p. 138.

Resource

• Bibliotheca Sacra 137:547:223.

Resource

• Bibliotheca Sacra 137:548:340; 549:22.

Resource

• Bibliotheca Sacra 138:550:119 (Ross).

Right Destination

Joseph Chamberlain was a famous British statesman (1836-1914). In his younger years, he taught Sunday school in Birmingham. His favorite verse of Scripture was a sentence from Genesis 12:5, “They went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came” (KJV). It was a motto well-suited to a man of his determination and iron will. It also gave him a biblical basis for citing two qualifications for success in life. One is to have the right destination —”They went forth to go to the land of Canaan.” The second is to keep going after we have started—”into the land of Canaan they came.”

Daily Walk, June 21, 1993

Resource

• “Evangelical Preaching,” Charles Simeon, p. 227.

A Good Reason to Scream

...the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord. Gen. 13:13

There’s an old story about a man who tried to save the city of Sodom from destruction by warning the citizens. But the people ignored him. One day someone asked, “Why bother everyone? You can’t change them.” “Maybe I can’t,” the man replied, “but I still shout and scream to prevent them from changing me!”

Lot was a righteous man (2 Peter 2:7) who should have done some screaming. The record of his life reminds us of how our sense of moral indignation can be dulled by the world. Lot chose to dwell in cities where there was great wickedness (Gen. 13:12,13). When Sodom was invaded by hostile kings, he was captured. Even after Abraham rescued Lot, he was still drawn back to that wicked city (Gen. 19:1). And the last chapter of his story is an account of heartache and shame (Gen. 19). What a contrast—this nephew and his uncle! Abraham trusted God, prayed for the righteous, and lived a moral life. But Lot was “oppressed with the filthy conduct of the wicked” (2 Peter 2:7). Although the sin of his day bothered him, he apparently said little about it.

There’s much immorality in today’s world—sex before marriage, homosexual behavior, taking the life of the unborn, and pornography. Out of our love for people and a deep concern about the influence of sin on society, we protest! Even if our screaming does little to change society, we do it anyway because we don’t want society to change us—and we just may help others. -D.J.D.

If we would love what’s good and right,
We must be pure within;
But if we compromise the truth,
We lose our sense of sin.

- D.J.D.

The man who cannot be angry at evil lacks enthusiasm for good.

Our Daily Bread, Sunday, January 5

Twelve Tests of Abraham

Abraham’s faith was tested at least twelve specific times. Some of them were not what we might call big tests, but together they establish a picture of Abraham as a person whose faith was genuine. After the last of these, God said, “Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son” (Genesis 22:12).

Each of Abraham’s tests can have applications for us:

Genesis 12:1-7

Test: Abraham left Ur and Haran for an unknown destination at God’s direction.

Application: Do I trust God with my future? Is his will part of my decision making'

Genesis 13:8-13

Test: Abraham directed a peaceful separation from Lot and settled at the oaks of Mamre.

Application: Do I trust God with my interests even when I seem to be receiving an unfair settlement'

Genesis 14:13-18

Test: Abraham rescued Lot from the five kings.

Application: Does my faithfulness to others bear witness to my trust in God’s faithfulness'

Genesis 14:17-24

Test: Abraham gave a tithe of loot to the godly king of Salem, Melchizedek, and refused the gift of the king of Sodom.

Application: Am I watchful in my dealings with people that I give proper honor to God and refuse to receive honor that belongs to him'

Genesis 15:1-6

Test: Abraham trusted God’s promise that he would have a son.

Application: How often do I consciously reaffirm my trust in God’s promises'

Genesis 15:7-11

Test: Abraham received the promised land by faith, though the fulfillment would not come for many generations.

Application: How have I demonstrated my continued trust in God during those times when I have been required to wait'

Genesis 17:9-27

Test: At God’s command, Abraham circumcised every male in his family.

Application: In what occasions in my life have I acted simply in obedience to God, and not because I understood the significance of what I was doing'

Genesis 18:1-8

Test: Abraham welcomed strangers, who turned out to be angels.

Application: When was the last time I practiced hospitality'

Genesis 18:22-33

Test: Abraham prayed for Sodom.

Application: Am I eager to see people punished, or do I care for people in spite of their sinfulness'

Genesis 20:1-17

Test: Abraham admitted to wrongdoing and took the actions needed to set things right.

Application: When I sin, is my tendency to cover up, or confess? Do I practice the truth that an apology must sometimes be accompanied by restitution'

Genesis 21:22-34

Test: Abraham negotiated a treaty with Abimelech concerning a well.

Application: Can people depend on my words and promises'

Genesis 22:1-12

Test: Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac.

Application: In what ways has my life demonstrated that I will not allow anything to come before God'

Source unknown

Stars

According to recent findings, the number of stars in the universe totals approximately 10 to the 23rd power (a number that also approximates the sum of the grains of sand on the seashores).

The Finger of God, Hugh Ross, Promise Pub., 1991, p. 153

Resource

• Joseph Stowell, Through The Fire, Victor Books, 1988, pp. 82ff.

Resources of God

You do not prove the resources of God until you trust Him for the impossible.

Our Daily Bread, Monday, February 6.

Lot

Lot was a righteous man but he moved to Sodom. Although his soul was vexed, he stayed. Finally he lost his influence and had to flee. He probably thought he could change Sodom. But there is ever the danger that before you can bring light to Sodom, you will get used to its darkness. Little by little, sin appears less sinful until the “light within us becomes darkness” (Luke 11:35).

N.E. Rhodes, Jr.

Greed

In his book Feminine Faces, Clovis Chappel wrote that when the Roman city of Pompeii was being excavated, the body of a woman was found mummified by the volcanic ashes of Mount Vesuvius. Her position told a tragic story. Her feet pointed toward the city gate, but her outstretched arms and fingers were straining for something that lay behind her. The treasure for which she was grasping was a bag of pearls. Chappel said, “Though death was hard at her heels, and life was beckoning to her beyond the city gates, she could not shake off their spell...But it was not the eruption of Vesuvius that made her love pearls more than life. It only froze her in this attitude of greed.”

Clovis Chappel, Feminine Faces.

Abraham’s Offering of Isaac

For family devotions, Martin Luther once read the account of Abraham offering Isaac on the altar in Genesis 22. His wife, Katie, said, “I do not believe it. God would not have treated his son like that!” “But, Katie,” Luther replied, “He did.”

The Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching & Preachers, W. Wiersbe, p. 191

The Lord Our Provider

And Abraham said, My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering. Genesis 22:8

Imagine Abraham’s feelings when the Lord told him to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. Think of what was going through his mind as they climbed Mount Moriah and Isaac asked,

“...where is the lamb?” Yet Abraham had faith that God would provide, and he assured Isaac of his confidence. He was right, for soon a ram was made available. As a result, Abraham called the place Jehovah-Jireh, which means “the Lord our provider.”

In the centuries that have followed, God has continued to demonstrate that He does provide for His own. Dr. Robert Schindler and his wife Marian founded a mission hospital associated with radio station ELWA in Monrovia, Liberia. In their book Mission Possible they wrote, “For us, it was a continued exercise of faith that we would have the right drugs and supplies at the right time. We recall how much we counted on our X-ray machine, something we take for granted (at home). We even had the opportunity to get an extra one when a friend of ours, a doctor with the U.S. Embassy, asked if we could use a portable X-ray machine...But then as the months dragged out, we knew it must be lost at sea. Then one day our big X-ray machine stopped working....We found it was a major problem which would take several months to fix....But that very afternoon, the ELWA truck pulled up to the hospital with a huge crate from port. You guessed it—it was the portable X-ray machine! We plugged it in, and it worked! We didn’t lose a day for X-rays.”

Lord, thank You for being our Provider. -D.C.E.

He cannot fail, your faithful God,
He’ll guard you with His mighty power;
Then fear no ill though troubles rise,
His help is sure from hour to hour.

H.G.B.

God’s provisions are always greater than our problems.

Our Daily Bread, Monday, June 10.

Give or Take'

Abraham built an altar...and bound Isaac, his son, and laid him on the altar. Genesis 22:9

What more poignant account can you find in all the Old Testament than the dramatic scene described in today’s text? The heart of Abraham must have nearly broken when God said, “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest,...and offer him there for a burnt offering” (Gen. 22:2). But notice Abraham’s response. He quickly arose and traveled 3 days with Isaac until they reached the place of sacrifice. I wonder what thoughts crowded his mind during that long journey. Did he doubt God’s wisdom? Surely this question must have raced through his mind: If Isaac, who was born as the result of a miracle, is the son of promise, why is God asking me to slay him? The patriarch, Abraham, however, did not retreat, disobey, or turn aside to avoid making this ultimate sacrifice. Instead, he gave his son back to God. His yieldedness was regarded with these words of divine approval: “...now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from Me” (Gen. 22:12).

Pastor William Sangster went into a hospital room to visit a little girl who was losing her sight. Fear seemed to grip the youngster as with nearly blind eyes she turned her face toward the preacher. “Oh, Dr. Sangster, God is taking away my sight.” God’s servant leaned over the trembling child and said tenderly, “Don’t let Him take it; give it to Him.”

Dear friend, are you struggling with God’s will? Is some cherished plan or possession or person being removed from your life? Don’t let Him take it; give it to Him. - P.R.V.

Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid'
Your heart does the Spirit control'
You can only be blest and have peace and sweet rest
As you yield Him your body and soul.

Hoffman

The Christian’s greatest joy and usefulness is found in letting God fully possess His own property.

Our Daily Bread, Wednesday, May 4.

Jehovah-Jireh: The Lord Will Provide

The saints should never be dismay’d,
Nor sink in hopeless fear;
For when they least expect His aid,
The Saviour will appear.

This Abraham found: he raised the knife;
God saw, and said, “Forbear!
Yon ram shall yield his meaner life;
Behold the victim there.”

Once David seem’d Saul’s certain prey;
But hark! the foe’s at hand;
Saul turns his arms another way,
To save the invaded land.

When Jonah sunk beneath the wave,
He thought to rise no more;
But God prepared a fish to save,
And bear him to the shore.

Blest proofs of power and grace divine,
That meet us in His Word!
May every deep-felt care of mine
Be trusted with the Lord.

Wait for His seasonable aid,
And though it tarry, wait;
The promise may be long delay’d,
But cannot come too late.

Olney Hymns, William Cowper, from Cowper’s Poems, Sheldon & Company, New York

Stars

According to recent findings, the number of stars in the universe totals approximately 10 to the 23rd power (a number that also approximates the sum of the grains of sand on the seashores).

The Finger of God, Hugh Ross, Promise Publ., 1991, p. 153

Resource

• “Evangelical Preaching,” Charles Simeon, p. 77.

Oral Blessing

• J. McDowell, More Evidence That Demands a Verdict, p. 302.

Stolen Images

• J. McDowell, More Evidence That Demands a Verdict, p. 303.

Resources

• God Came Near, Max Lucado, Multnomah Press, 1987, p. 147.
• Living Dangerously, S. Briscoe, Zondervan, 1968.

Resources

• Someone Who Beckons, p. 21, Hymn of Wesley.
• The Holiness of God, R. C. Sproul, pp. 176f.

Resource

• Under James, Swindoll.

Remember to Forget

And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget. Genesis 41:51

Some things should be forgotten. Joseph could have wasted his life dwelling on the injustices he suffered. As a youth, his brothers sold him into slavery, and he was forced to live in a hostile land. He had to spend his teenage and adult years away from his beloved father. Joseph even spent time in prison. In spite of all he endured, he harbored no resentment. In fact, he named his son Manasseh, which means “forgetting.” He explained, “For God...hath made me forget.”

The result of “forgetting” past hurts is illustrated in the life of Pastor William Sangster. A guest who had come to spend the Christmas holidays with Sangster was watching him address the last of his greeting cards. One of the names on the list startled the friend. “Surely you are not sending a card to him,” he said. “Why not?” the preacher asked. “Don’t you remember what he said about you just 18 months ago?” Sangster replied that he only remembered a resolution he made at that time. He had determined that with God’s help he would forget about the man’s cutting remark. The card was sent as planned.

Yes, some things need to be dropped from the Christian’s memory. He shouldn’t harbor wrongs done to him. He mustn’t let some unkind word keep him from maturing in Christ as he should. And he should never use another’s insensitivity as his excuse for not serving the Lord.

Are there things in your past that you need to forgive and forget? -D.C.E.

Let me forget the hurt and pain
Found along life’s way;
Let me remember kindnesses
Given day by day.

Berry

It is far better to forgive and forget than to resent and remember.

Our Daily Bread, Thursday, December 20

The Marvel of Design

“And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marveled one at another” (Genesis 43:33).

When creationists calculate the extremely low probability of the chance origin of life, many evolutionists scoff at the calculation, alleging that any one arrangement of the components of a simple living molecule is just as likely as any other arrangement, so it is no great marvel that the components fell into this particular arrangement.

This is a puerile argument, of course, quite unworthy of the intelligent scientists who use it, since there is only one (or at best, only a few) arrangements that will contain the organized information necessary for reproduction, compared to “zillions” of arrangements with no information at all.

This fact is beautifully illustrated in our text. Why should Joseph’s brothers “marvel” when they were seated in chronological order of birth by a host who (presumably) was entirely unaware of that order? The reason why they marveled was because there could have been over 479 million different ways (calculated by multiplying all the numbers, one through twelve, together) in which the twelve brothers could have been seated!

Maybe an evolutionist would not “marvel” that this unique seating arrangement happened by chance, since he somehow believes that far more intricately organized arrangements than this happened by chance to produce our universe and its array of complex systems. Anyone else, however, would immediately have realized this, and so the brothers of Joseph marveled one at another. So also when we behold the wonders of design in the creation, should we “lift up (our) eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things” (Isaiah 40:26). HMM

Our Daily Bread, Sunday, January

Resources

• Swindoll, You and Your Problems

Setbacks Pave the Way for Comebacks

Our Daily Bread, Monday, May 21

Resource

• Evidence That Demands A Verdict, p. 168.

Israel’s Blindness

“What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded: (Romans 11:7).

One of the saddest aspects of our world is the blindness of Israel. Even the Orthodox Jews, who strongly affirm their belief in the Old Testament Scriptures, seem unable to see what the Scriptures clearly show, that their Messiah has come and gone. In the first book of the Torah, we read: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between His feet until Shiloh come, and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be” (Genesis 49:10). Ancient Jewish commentators agreed that Shiloh was another name for Messiah, but this very fact should prove to modern Jewish expositors that Messiah has already come, for the scepter (the symbol of national leadership) did depart from Judah, very soon after Jesus was crucified.

King David was the first descendent of Judah to attain the scepter of leadership among the tribes of Israel, and the divine promises were clear that Messiah would be in David’s lineage. That Jesus’ legal father, Joseph, and human mother, Mary, were both in that lineage was shown in the genealogies of Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-38, respectively, both of which were written when the genealogical records in the Temple were still intact. No one at that time ever questioned their validity, in spite of intense opposition by the Jews to the claims of Jesus and His disciples.

In 70 A.D., the records and the Temple were destroyed, so that no later claimant to the title could ever prove his right to the throne. Messiah had come, and was slain, so the scepter departed from Judah until He comes again. It is certain that Jesus was, indeed, the Jews’ promised Messiah, and we should pray that God will soon open their eyes to see and believe. HMM

Our Daily Bread, Saturday, August 1.

Messianic Prophecy

“The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be” (Gen 49:10).

This is a remarkable Messianic prophecy, given by Jacob 1700 years before the first coming of Christ fulfilled it. Later prophecies would focus on His descent from David and then His birthplace in Bethlehem, but first one of the twelve sons of Jacob must be designated as His progenitor. Remarkably, Jacob did not select either his first born son, Reuben, or his favorite son Joseph. Nor did he choose Benjamin, the son of his favorite wife. He chose instead his fourth son, Judah, by divine direction. Yet it was over 600 years before the tribe of Judah gained ascendancy over the others. The greatest leaders of Israel were from other tribes-Moses and Samuel from Levi, Joshua from Ephraim, Gideon from Manasseh, Samson from Dan, Saul from Benjamin. Finally, David became king, and “the sceptre” was then held by Judah for a thousand years, until Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea. Jesus’ parents were both of Judah, both of the line of David, with both the legal and spiritual right to David’s throne. But then, just 70 years after His birth, “the sceptre” (that is leadership over the twelve tribes) departed from Judah, with the worldwide dispersion of Israel, and no man since has ever held that right. It is still retained by Jesus, and will be reclaimed and exercised when He returns. In the meantime, the prophecy stands as an unchallengeable identification of Jesus as the promised Messiah. Ancient Jewish commentators all recognized “Shiloh” as a name for Messiah. Since the sceptre has already departed, Shiloh has already come. When He returns, His people will, indeed, finally be gathered together “unto Him.”

HMM

Source unknown

Resources

• Setbacks pave the way for comebacks.
• Our Daily Bread, Monday, May 21.