One Year Bible Readings and Commentary for Monday, January 3rd! Abraham to Noah The Wickedness of Man Increases, Jesus is Baptized
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Old Testament Reading: Genesis 5:1-7:24
As we have seen so far in the first four chapters of Genesis, God made everything on earth and it was "all good". In chapters 3-4, we learned about the fall of humankind. after Adam and Eve believed the lies of Satan instead of trusting in God's promises. While Adam and Eve trusted in God they naked and unashamed. They enjoyed a perfect relationship with God and each other. After they bit (literally) the serpent's lies, they were naked and afraid. Instead of being in an intimate relationship with God, they hid from him. This might be said of many people today.
In chapters 5 through 7 today, we see that wickedness only increased from the 10 generations from Adam to Noah. Genesis 5:
"The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart." Genesis 5:6-7. The NLT translation puts it aptly in their title for this section, "the world gone wrong".
Notice it broke God's heart that the crown of His creation, human beings, had so thoroughly been corrupted by evil in everything they thought and did. So God decided to wipe out everything on the earth through a horrific flood. Though it seems harsh, I don't think we have any idea of just how evil it was during Noah's time. It must have been pretty horrible for God to deliver such a far reaching judgment.
But this was not the end of the story. God still had a plan to save the world and continue His Story. He did it through a man named Noah. What do we know of Noah? Noah "found favor with God". Noah was a "blameless and righteous man". Noah worshipped God and his whole life reflected it in the way he lived his life.
God made the first covenant with the human race through Noah. It is called the "Noachic Covenant" The covenant revealed God's plan to save every living creature and Noah's family so the human race would continue. To accomplish this God gave Noah VERY specific instructions. He was told to build a large boat (ark) with very specific directions about its dimensions etc... He was to bring a pair of every kind of bird and animal on to the boat.
Can you imagine what the people around Noah must have been thinking? I am sure this earned him a lot of sarcastic remarks.
But the most important line in today's Old Testament reading happens after Noah had received all of God's instructions. It says of Noah, "So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him." The same verse is actually repeated twice. Through God's grace and Noah's faith in God's covenant the world, as we know it today, was saved. This is a pattern we will see over and over in the bible in the upcoming days.
New Testament Reading Matthew 3:7-4:11
There are really two major stories in our New Testament reading from Matthew today. First, the story of Jesus' baptism by John the Baptist. Second, the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. It is interesting that right after Jesus is baptized, and hears the words from His Father, "This is is my Son with whom I am well pleased", he is sent out into the wilderness for 40 days to be tempted/tested. The Greek word can either be translated either "tested" or "tempted". They are like two sides of the same coin.
First, a few words about Jesus' baptism. Jesus was not baptized because of any siu in his life. He chose to be baptized by John in obedience to God's command. John did not think Jesus should be baptized, least of all by him. But Jesus said to John, "We should do this, to fulfill God's command". As our audio commentator said today, "Jesus was not so much baptized for himself as for us".
Most importantly I love the words from the Father, as heaven is opened and the Spirit descends upon Jesus. God says, "This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” Guess what? This is how God feels about you!
The second part of the New Testament reading is Jesus' 40 day experience in the wilderness. Jesus fasted for 40 days and nights to prepare for the testing he was about to undergo. Notice "fasting" is a spiritual discipline that helps prepare us for the battle we inevitably face against our enemy, the devil. To summarize the story, the devil tried three times to tempt Jesus where he thought Jesus was weak. He tempted him to satisfy his hunger. He tempted him to be prideful and show off his power before it was his time to do so. And finally, he tempted Jesus to give him all the kingdoms of THIS WORLD if he worshipped him.
But Jesus had a strategy that we would do well to use. With each temptation, he quoted Old Testament scriptures to stand up against the devil's lies. The devil even tries to twist scripture, but Jesus wasn't buying it. The story reminds us that Jesus was not immune to temptation, and he used the spiritual disciplines of "fasting" and "bible memorization" to ward off the devil's attack. I am glad you are reading through the bible to do the same!
This is a great Psalm for "worriers". David is being hunted down by his son, Absalom, of all people. His life is truly in danger. But instead of focusing on the potential danger around him, he focused on God above him. The text says David cried out to God, and God answered him. God gave him such peace that he was able to sleep soundly. David knew that if he had ten thousand enemies against him, if God was for him he had absolutely nothing to fear. Where are you living in fear today? How can David's prayer today give you strength and even victory over it?
The Proverbs today connect with Noah's temptation to conform with those around him, and Jesus' temptation to buy into Satan's lies. The author writes to "my child" and instructs him that if his "so called friends" try to entice him to kill someone and take all their money. He teaches them to, "Turn your back on them", "Don't go along with them", and "Stay far from them". Why? The reality is that though these evildoers may think they are going to get away with something, in the end they will be the ones ambushed
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