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Welcome to my newsletter! I will be sending out a copy of the newsletter on a weekly basis, and I'll be sending it a day or two before the next week in case you do want to get ahead, but I won't let you get so far ahead that you feel like stopping to let everyone else catch up. I'll also provide some commentary to try and make it all come together for you and for me. It's not set in stone whether I will provide my view on each day's reading or the week as a whole, so bear with me on that if you don't mind.
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I have never had any formal biblical schooling, but I did have a biblical upbringing and do read books that are about biblical matters as well. Much of the commentary will be my own, but it doesn't have to be that way. Many of you likely know more than I about the Bible. So this is my plea. If you would like to contribute to this newsletter, PLEASE let me know! All that I ask is that you be sincere and that your writing takes the Bible literally.
Seems easy enough, right? Well there are some people who claim to take the Bible at it's word and yet believe in evolution-or perhaps that God "got the ball rolling." Perhaps he caused the so-called Big Bang... The Bible I read says that EVERYTHING was formed in the span of one week. Seven days was the difference between absolutely nothing and a perfectly formed world with plants, animals, people (who did walk upright, mind you), the sun and stars...you name it.
With that in mind, let's get started, shall we?
Links to an online Bible for these passages are here, here and here.
I go as often as I can (which isn't often enough) to a men's group known as CrossTrainers which is hosted by Gary Rosberg. I recall a statement Gary made a while back that really put me in my place about the validity of the Bible as a reliable historical book and not just a guide on how to live your life. He said that according to the Bible, everything was created in the span of seven days, and that is that. Before that, I had thoughts that it may have taken longer to fit in with the scientific findings that suggest the world to be millions of years old. Perhaps a week to God is the equivilant to a millenia to humans. Perhaps he made the basic animals and they evolved from there. Whatever.
And then Gary challanged those thoughts. He mentioned the plan of salvation and the sacrifice made by Christ for all of us. Yeah, so? But if you can't take the first verse of the Bible at face value and accept it as fact, then why should you accept any of it? That statement blew me away. My opinion on just how everything got here spun 180 degrees. If I was to think that God just set everything in motion and then retreated back to his heavanly throne to watch and be entertained at how the earth would turn out, I would have to then assume that this salvation stuff I grew up with was a farce. Did God get my attention that day? You better believe it. Thanks Gary.
Links to an online Bible for these passages are here, here, here and here.
The first murder is committed, but God shows compassion. Now where did these wives come from? The first cattle farmer. The first musician. The first metal worker. The "family tree" going down the line to Noah. Enoch is the first person not to die, but to be taken directly to God. Noah builds the ark.
This is a busy day's reading! What's the theme? I believe the first part is a brief history of the early world and the second is a showing that just a few generations from the beginning, the evil that is in the hearts of humans becomes apparent. God saw a populous that was so corrupt, he wanted only to destroy that which he created. And yet one man, Noah, was without blame and that was enough to save the planet from utter extinction. Once again, God expresses compassion. Today's theme must be compassion. And so I ask, who have you shown compassion to today?
Links to an online Bible for these passages are here, here, here, here and here.
Not including the creation of all we have today, I consider the flood and all that transpired in the event to be the earliest miracles. They are definately the first miracles that were shared in their "action" with a person. If you watch, you'll see this throughout the Bible. God tells Noah to build the ark, rather than causing the earth to just swallow everyone else. Later this year, we'll see that Jesus didn't cause wine to appear at the wedding feast. He told the servants to collect water first. Watch for other examples this year. Seldom, if ever, will we see a miracle that God does without someone expressing their faith first. That follows into today as well.
Why did Noah become angered when Ham saw him naked in his tent? Could it be because Ham left him there in his stupor when the other brothers showed respect to Noah and covered him discretely?
Links to an online Bible for these passages are here, here, here, and here and here .
I've heard talk of uniting the world with a common language, political system and currency. I know that these efforts will have only a very limited result. Why? Because God himself caused the peoples of the world to seperate for these very kind of reasons. People, in their pride, chose to build a tower to symbolize their own greatness and God saw the necessity to cause the people to understand each other no more, stalling this project. You could go so far as to say that He caused the people to babble. :-)
Abram (later to be named Abraham) is called apon by God to be the father of a great nation (Israel) but to do this, he must leave his home. If you'll notice, he did this without a question. I don't think of this as a miracle, but you'll notice a strong showing of faith here. Another sign of Abram's faith: His wife was unable to bear children, yet he left with nothing more than the promise that he would father a nation. But was this faith perfect? We shall see.
Links to an online Bible for these passages are here, here, and here.
It's kinda funny in a way. Abram is speaking with the maker of the heavens and earth and he whines that he has no heir to carry out the covenant with God? What's wrong with this guy? And then to add insult to injury, he takes a servant to produce the heir rather than his own wife? Granted, she hadn't produced any offspring for him, but when God himself tells you to do something, he's not going to ask an impossible task of you. If it's something that you can't do yourself, that's His time to shine! Needless to say, I'm not impressed with Abram thus far. What does this lack of faith cost Abram and his descendents, the Jewish population? What do we call the offspring of Ishmael? Ever heard of Palastinians? Trust and Obey.
What's the big deal about renaming Abram and Sarai you ask? When you name something, you claim ownership of it. I named my son and he is mine. My wife took my last name and she is mine to care for. Adam named the animals and was placed over them. This ownership is more of a caretaker role than master. God was saying to Abraham and Sarah that he would look over them for the end of their days. If that isn't awesome, I don't know what is!
Links to an online Bible for these passages are here, here, and here.
Now Sarah shows a lack of faith and even laughs off God's promise in his presence, then lies about it. But God is patient and wiser than I. I would be tempted to just step on the both of them and make a covenant with someone else. But I'm not God, am I?
Anyway, God announces his intention to destroy the city of Sodom and all of the inhabitants for their wickedness. Abraham pleads with him not to do this and talks God down to not do this if just ten righteous people can be found in the city. So two angels go to the city into Lot's house and and the men of the city called them out for sodomy (hence the term). Lot tries to protect them from the riot of men and they escape. The angels give instructions to run for their lives without stopping or looking back. Lot's wife does look back and is turned to a pillar of salt. Why did she look back? Did she want to see the carnage? Did she miss her home? We may never know the answer to that question. Later, Lot's daughters seduce him with wine. All I have to say is, "Eeugh!"
Am I the only one confused here? Abraham says he wants Sarah to introduce him as her brother, rather than her husband because she's attractive and he doesn't want to be attacked. (lack of faith here) So the king of Gerar finds favor in Sarah, but God keeps him from taking it any farther. And out of this, Abraham must pray for the King's sin to clear up a curse? In my opinion, Abraham's the one that started this fiasco.
Links to an online Bible for these passages are here, here, here, and here.
My Sister has volunteered to write about this day for us, so without further ado, here are her words:
Just as God promised, Sarah had the long-awaited son. Once again, God is faithful. This theme starts in the beginning of the Bible and continues to the end of Revelation. Do you think God is trying to tell us something about His nature? He is faithful! God cared for Hagar and Ishmael, but He still let Sarah dismiss them. The inheritance would now go to Isaac, but God still provided for and blessed Ishmael. Although Abraham was distressed, he still obeyed God.
Chapter 22 brings Abraham to yet another crossroad in his life. He chooses to trust and obey the Lord. He didn't delay but got up early to start the three-day journey. As you look back on Abraham's life, what do you think he clung to as he went to sacrifice his only son? When you look at your own life, what are your anchor points that you reflect upon to reassure you of God's faithfulness and provision for you? Verse 13 is the first place in the Bible where the idea of substitutionary atonement or sacrifice is mentioned. This is a foreshadowing of God's plan of salvation in the New Testament.
Abraham's wife, Sarah, dies in this chapter. In his conviction to bury her in the land God promised to his descendents, Abraham paid a huge amount to purchase the land for her burial. 400 Shekels of silver is an excessive price for the land (see Jeremiah 32:9), but Abraham, in his grief and haste, purchased the land anyway.
Abraham realizes that Isaac needs a wife, but he doesn't want a Canaanite. He sends a servant to his relatives to bring back a wife for his son. Before the servant finishes his prayer, God is already answering it. Enter Rebekah. She takes the servant back to her parents' home, and he explains his mission. They see that this is of the Lord and agree to send Rebekah back with the servant. She agrees to go, and marries Isaac.
I hope you enjoyed this e-zine. If you know anyone else who would enjoy this newsletter, please forward this e-mail to them or direct them to http://www.coffeeswirls.com/weeklybible/
Thanks for sharing my goal of reading the Bible in its entirety this year!