JANUARY 13
Genesis 28:1-29:35
Genesis
28
Vs. 1-5
Apparently Isaac recognized that things had worked out as God wanted them and that the promise was to go to Jacob. You have
to assume that Isaac had always known this, since Rebekah was told that the
elder would serve the younger. It is worth considering what Isaac could have
done to have worked with God. I suppose the parents could have talked with the
boys as they were growing up and told them what God had said to Rebekah and
Abraham, etc. Esau would still be a nation, as promised. I can't imagine that
if they had really prayed and sought God, it would have turned out any worse
than this.
I know that
Jacob is the hero of the story and that Esau is the bad guy, but when they meet
20 years later, guess who looks well adjusted and guess who is a nervous wreck
with a totally dysfunctional family.
As disciples,
it is better to be honest. If God is sovereign and good, we can be open and
communicate honestly. God is not mocked.
Vs. 6-9 This
portion of the story always saddens me. I know Esau was a gnarly, snorting,
burping guy who married women of that same inclination. I know he didn't
respect the promise. I'm good there. But it seems here, that his parents had
never fully communicated their desires. Or, they never thought through what
they wanted for the kids. So, Esau messed up with his wives and now they want
Jacob to do better. When Esau finally sees what his father desired, he tries to
comply; but because of the animosity created here, he goes to another line of
Abraham. I don't get the feeling he was a rebellious son. He wanted leadership
and when he saw what Isaac really wanted, he did it. Communication in
leadership, in family and disciple-making, is important. The other option is
being awakened by the jolts and collisions in a drifting life.
Vs. 10-17 This
was pure grace on God's part. Since Jacob was the son who esteemed the promise
to Abraham, God renewed this promise with Jacob. Notice in v. 14 that the
redemptive part of the promise is restated; that is, God's blessing of
Abe/Isaac/Jacob would lead to blessing of all the nations. This promise is
still part of the first promise to Adam and Eve. Jacob would need faith in this
promise to make it though the educational process God was going to take him
through the next 20 years.
Vs. 18-22 I
know there is a positive aspect of Jacob's response toward God, but I sense
some conniving in this. Jacob seems to make a conditional promise to God,
"If you do this, then I'll serve you.” Abraham believed and obeyed. Notice
too that in the conditions of v. 20, this sounds very much like Jesus' words in
Matthew 6:25, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what
you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put
on.” As disciples, instead of seeking those things, we are to seek first
the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Seeking to serve and please God was
not foremost on Jacob's agenda.
Genesis 29
Vs. 1-12 Being
blessed by God and having the promise confirmed did not spare Jacob from
dysfunction, injury and justice. Notice that just like his dad, Jacob found his
wife at a well.
Vs. 10-12
Obviously Jacob was overcome with emotion because he was running for his life
and was meeting long lost relatives. But since Jacob was going to marry Rachel,
the crying and kissing on the first meeting doesn't seem like the right
"move" on his part. But maybe she said, "You had me when you
moved the stone."
Vs. 13-14 I see
this as being very ironic. Jacob explains what he did back home to Esau, and
Laban says, Surely you are my bone and my
flesh. They were both swindlers, but now Jacob had met his match.
Vs. 15-20 Jacob
actually worked seven years for Rachel before the marriage. This means there
was a lot of longing by Jacob and a lot of plotting by Laban.
Vs. 21-27 How
much does someone have to drink not to know who he's having sex with? I don't
want to know. This happened with Lot too. They must have had some potent wine
back then.
Laban had been
planning this for a long time. Notice Laban's words to Jacob in v. 26. This is
a reference back to what Jacob did to Esau. Laban has gotten to know Jacob and
apparently felt justice was due. It's hard to scream for justice when you have
done the same thing to others. Jacob was "had" and Laban was just a
bigger rat. God was allowing Jacob to feel what his brother had felt. And the
fun wasn't over.
Jacob had to
wait seven days, until after the honeymoon with Leah was over. I'll bet that
was a pretty grim week for everyone. Jacob had never been on the receiving end
of lying, plotting and deception.
Vs. 28-30 Then
Jacob married Rachel, promising to work another seven years for her. Imagine
the joy this created between sisters.
Vs. 31-35 I
have a lot of questions here, but by the time I get to heaven to ask them, I
probably won't want an answer. I imagine that Laban made sure that Jacob
divided his time between the two women. Did they have separate tents? They must
have and I'm sure they did later. Now you have the "baby wars" with
God blessing Leah over Rachel. Later, not in this text, Jacob gets the maids
too! Cool, right? I'll bet it was hell on earth. It must have made his
relationship with Esau look like a Hallmark © moment. He was getting justice
and, believe it or not, it would still get worse.
Notice the
first round of Leah's sons ends with Judah. In spite of Jacob's favoritism
(like his father's) and love for Joseph above his other sons, Judah, the son of
the unloved wife, becomes the line of blessing. Notice too, that there is a
difference with how Leah names the first three boys and how she names Judah.
The first three names seem to reflect something about her fighting to win
Jacob's love. The naming of Judah seems to be her simple praise and gratitude
to God.
That God
chooses Judah to be the preeminent son will seem strange when we get to chapter
38. Quality-wise, you wonder why God chose Judah. He wasn't the firstborn and
he doesn't receive the blessing. He was definitely a better man than his father
in a couple of important ways, which you could hunt down now if you're
interested. We'll talk about this when we get there.
Grace is seen
in God's patience in working with Jacob. The family Jacob makes is not healthy.
Then God takes the unloved wife and gives her children, until she no longer
feels any of the hurt and she turns her heart to God and praises Him. That son
of praise will have a quality of faith and sacrifice that God will bless with
the line of the kings of Israel and the Savior of mankind.
Matthew 9:18-38
Vs. 18-26
Matthew is summarizing these events to show Jesus' power to heal and how the
word about Jesus was getting out so that people knew God's power was in Him to
heal.
In order for a
ruler of the synagogue to come to Jesus, there would have been a desperate need,
since Jesus didn't have the "right" credentials. Yet, he had heard
enough about Jesus and His power to know he could approach Him.
V. 20 Likewise,
this woman had heard much about Jesus and she literally reached out in
desperation. From Mark and Luke we know that the ruler's daughter was at the
point of death, but not yet dead. I always wonder how the father felt. Jesus
was on His way and then this "stupid," unclean woman touched Him, and
then Jesus had to waste time with her. It was during this time as Jesus was
speaking with the woman that someone arrived and said the daughter was dead. (See
Luke 8:49.) How could a loving God let this happen? How could Jesus be so
distracted and calloused?
As disciples,
we learn that waiting is the rule, not the exception, in following Christ. This
was a divinely arranged malfunction. The result was that both Jesus and His
Father received more glory; and the parents, the daughter, and the three
disciples would never be the same. Was it "worth the wait?" God
thought so, and then, after a short delay, so did they.
Vs. 27-31 This
was great faith on the part of the blind men. How did they figure out to call
Jesus with the messianic title, "Son of David?" They may have been
blind, but they saw something that others were missing. Notice that their faith
was genuine. Jesus prefaced His healing on what it was that they held in their
hearts. We shouldn't be too hard on these guys for not obeying. Hardly anyone
paid attention to Jesus' instructions to keep quiet. I always laugh at this one
because Jesus says to the blind men, "See that no one knows about it."
Vs. 32-34 This
event is important because it is the first time you see this
"explanation" of Jesus' healing power. The people thought it was
obvious that God was with Jesus, so the authorities had to come up with an
explanation that would lead the people away from Jesus. First we'll hear the
Pharisees and scribes making this accusation. Later, it will be on the lips of
the masses.
Vs. 35-38 You
could preach a sermon on these verses. Note the reasons in vs. 35-36 that cause
Jesus to say vs. 37-38. God in veiled glory was walking among those He created
to be the object of His love and kindness. It is safe to say that you will not
have vs. 37-38 be real in your life as a disciple, if you don't have vs. 35-36.
The key is compassion for the lost. The more you are with the lost, trying to
help them with the gospel, the more compassion you have. Without those two things,
you don't passionately pray the prayer and seek to make disciples.
Notice that the
prayer is not for the harvest, it is for harvesters; that is, disciples who
will make disciples, who will make disciples, living their lives in the fields,
following Jesus. Not many people feel the desperate compassion for lost people
to beg the Lord of the harvest to send more and more laborers into the fields.
Psalm 11:1-7
Vs. 1-3 I'm
sure that many people must have threatened David. Many more must have mocked
him and spoken down to him. He was a servant running from his master. But
because his hope was in God, he knew that he didn't have to fear and that the
foundation of his hope could never be touched or shaken.
Vs. 4-7 This is
an interesting picture. The Lord tests men to see what they are, righteous or
wicked, obedient or disobedient. In v. 7 it says that God Himself is righteous,
so it is natural that those who share His heart will see His face.
What speaks to
me out of this psalm is the play between vs. 3 & 4. The wicked are right. We
have no hope if we have no foundation, but the Lord is real (just unseen) and
is enthroned where nothing can shake the foundations of life and hope. This
mindset is hard to hold on to when it seems like God is not present and things
are spinning out of control. The disciple of Jesus is constantly being trained
in the harvest to be steady and confident, because his hope is in the One who
is unshakable.
Proverbs 3:11-12
I'm reminded of
what the writer of Hebrews says, It is
for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what
son is there whom his father does not discipline? (Hebrews 12:7)
The Lord
Himself is making us disciples, so we can reach and guide others. All of the
waiting and learning and lessons of faith are for our benefit and theirs.
Blessed is the disciple (man or woman) who, unlike Jacob, is a quick learner
and close follower of the coming King.
It's
interesting how all these readings complement one another. Tomorrow we continue
to see God's discipline of Jacob.
If you’re reading along
and don’t have a One Year Bible, click on this link http://oneyearbibleonline.com/weekly-one-year-readings/?version=47&startmmdd=0101. This
version is set to the ESV but you can reset this to a different version or
different language.
I'm writing these
comments to and for those who are following a One Year Bible and interested in
growing deeper as a disciple, following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see
the growth of a discipleship culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples,
meeting weekly, encouraging each other to follow Christ and work to reach out
and make disciples who make disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal
manual we have and key to our growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us
more focused on why we are here or what we are to be doing. My comments are
only meant to provide some explanation of the events or to show the flow of
God's plan of redemption. My comments are in no way exhaustive, but are
designed to keep us focused on Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is
that the people in these groups will grow in Christ and be willing, after a
year, to find 3 others to meet with and encourage in their growth as disciples,
disciples making disciples in the harvest.
If you would like a
complete description of this model of being and making disciples you can find
it in my book: Simply Disciples*Making Disciples.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011WJIDQA?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
If you would like a more
descriptive commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the
Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's keyed to the NIV, so the result is the
commentators are constantly telling you what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never
hurts.
I am not endorsing any
particular One Year Bible; in fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte
Lutherbibel 1984.
Anyone reading along with
us is welcome to do so and is encouraged to take their own notes and make their
own observations. If the comments made do not agree with your particular
tradition or understanding, that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to
criticize any point of view, but only to express the truth of what God has
written to us, as I understand it. Send comments or feedback to dgkachikis@gmail.com.
If you would like
documents containing an entire month of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes. You can download these to use on your computer or to
print.
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