One Year Bible Daily Readings and Commentary, Wednesday January 5th The Tower of Babel, Abraham's Journey to Egypt with Sarai, Jesus' Sermon on the Mount
The 4 Audio Readings and Commentary
Old Testament Reading Genesis 11:1-13:4
There are two stories in today's Old Testament readings. First is the story of the Tower of Babel. This is where we get the English word "babble".
We see even after the judgment of Noah, the people continued to sin. As the people went to Babylon, a future enemy of Israel, they wanted to build a monument to their own greatness. In this way unity was not a good thing, because the purpose was to become like God. God had plans to bring people into unity through His chosen people, but the unity would be centered in him. Other versions say the tower was meant to go up into the heavens.
"This tower was real. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus said the tower of Babel still stood in his day and he had seen it." (Guzik)
So God says, "Let us go down and confuse them with different languages". Notice the "us" is a subtle reference to the Trinity. One God in three persons.
"The whole account of what happened at Babel with its anti-God dictator, its organized rebellion against God, and its direct distrust of God’s promise shows man hasn’t gotten any better since the flood. Time, progress, government, and organization have made man better off, but not better." (Guzik)
The next major section gives the genealogy from Noah's son, Shem, all the way to Abram, the son of Terah. As we know Abram, later called Abraham, is one of the most important figures in the Old Testament. Even into the New Testament, the Jews were called themselves sons of Abraham.
In chapter 12, we read of the call of Abram to leave the country he knew and move to Canaan. Mind you, Abram knew absolutely nothing about this country. Then we read of the next covenant of God with humandkind, often referred to as the "Abrahmic covenant." Before Abram leaves, God tells him he is going to make his name great, and he will be a blessing to all nations. Note though God will work through the Jewish people, God's penultimate goal for the offspring of Abraham to be a blessing to ALL nations or "people groups".
As Abram left with his wife Sarai and nephew Lot and all of his possessions, the Lord made a promise to him that he would inherit the land he was standing on. This was the land of Canaan". Later this land will be called the "Promised Land". Abram erected altars at each spot he traveled to as a memorial to God's promises. We will see the importance of altars throughout the rest of scripture. An altar is a place where we meet with God.
Abraham's journey then takes him to Egypt in Africa. There we learn how beautiful Sarai was. Abram knowing this tells the palace official she is his sister. When they take her into the palace, God brought terrible plagues upon them. God did not want this woman who would bring the offspring of Issac and Jacob to be defiled by Gentile kings.
Abram ends up in the Negev desert, a huge tract of land south of Israel. The word Negev means "barren and dry". It was in the form of a big triangle and made up 60% of Israel's land.
Matthew 5:1-26 The Beginning of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount
Jesus' Sermon on the Mount is widely considered one of the finest expositions of the foundations for ethical behavior every given by a man. Simply put, if people followed Jesus' teaching from the Sermon on the Mount, our world would be a much DIFFERENT place. The Sermon on the Mount represents the ideals for our behavior as human beings. These are the same behaviors and attitudes Jesus will exhibit through his 33 years on earth.
Verses 3-10 are called the "Beattitudes". Each one is started with the term "Blessed are ...". As we will see those who practices these principles will be blessed and be a blessing to others. Someone has called them the "BE-ATTITUDES".
"All of these character traits are marks and goals of all Christians. It is not as if we can major in one to the exclusion of others, as is the case with spiritual gifts. There is no escape from our responsibility to desire every one of these spiritual attributes. If you meet someone who claims to be a Christian but displays and desires none of these traits, you may rightly wonder about their salvation, because they do not have the character of kingdom citizens. But if they claim to have mastered these attributes, you may question their honesty." (Guzik)
Another major verse is Matthew 5:17 where Jesus says, “"Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose."
The easiest way to look at the Law, especially the moral part of it, is the Ten Commandments. One of the claims the Pharisees (those in charge of enforcing the laws) made was that Jesus disrespected the Law of Moses. But Jesus did not come to erase the Law, but to fulfill it. Jesus constrasted the "letter of the Law", which is mere outward observance of the Law, with "the Spirit of the Law". The Spirit of the Law had to do with the motive of one's behavior.
We will see him give examples of this throughout this famous sermon.
David shows us again what a fervant prayer life looks like. It is typified by verse 3, "Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly."
David shows us three things about prayer. He prays every day. He prays in the morning. Even after he p prays, he waits expectantly. I am sure many of you have prayed only to have to wait EXPECTANTLY to see God's answer. There are probably prayers right now you are waiting to be answered.
Despite David's answered prayer listen to his confidence in God,
"Because of your unfailing love, I can enter your house; I will worship at your Temple with deepest awe. Lead me in the right path, O Lord, or my enemies will conquer me. Make your way plain for me to follow."
Again today we see the personification of the voice of "wisdom". Though wisdom had called out to its subject many times, the person rejected her. The results of such petulance will be that wisdom will not be sorry when the consequences of not listening occurs.
"What Now" Study Questions:
Praise God for the moments in your life when he has blessed your path because you heeded his directions.
Is God calling you to take a leap of faith like Abram?
You are the light of the world--like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. ~ Matthew 5:14-16 (NLT)
Comments
Post a Comment