JANUARY 24
Genesis 48-49
In the story about Jacob and Esau, there were two incidents
we read about where Jacob unrightfully took something from Esau. The first
thing Jacob took from Esau was his birthright; that is, the firstborn was
entitled to inherit everything from the father. The second thing Jacob stole
was the blessing. Now, while the birthright was cultural and legal, the
blessing seems to be specific to this family in that God had promised a
spiritual blessing to them through Abraham. It could be that the thought of
spiritual blessing went back to the promise to Adam and Eve. Abraham could have
known Noah or Shem and Shem could have known Seth, Adam's son. This lineage
(Adam to Noah to Abraham) was the connection of people God was using to carry
the promise of a coming redeemer into the future and to all mankind.
Genesis 48
This story is very straightforward. I only have a few
comments.
Jacob "adopts" the two sons of Joseph to be number
one and two in Israel. God apparently led Jacob to do this, but it wouldn't
really turn out quite like Jacob thought. Putting Manasseh and Ephraim into the equation here
would not have made anyone mad. It would be 400 years until the Exodus and when
Jacob blesses his sons in the next chapter, these young men, not boys, are not
mentioned. In essence, Joseph gets two tribes, though it is hard to see any
positive impact by these tribes.
What is
interesting here is that Ephraim seems to get both the birthright and the
blessing. We'll see that the blessing to Ephraim will have an interesting
"moment" during the 40 years in the wilderness. Other than that
moment, it is hard to say that the tribe of Ephraim had any notable
contribution in Israel's later history. In the next chapter, God makes His
choice for the lineage of the blessing, in another way.
As disciples,
we obey the Lord, now, as He directs. We don't need to worry if God makes other
choices tomorrow that seem to indicate that what we did yesterday was
meaningless. Too often we see a decision the Lord makes and then we "write
the story" of how that decision or event is going to work out for His
glory. Then, our "story," or what we have told everyone was
"absolutely God's plan or will," dissolves. The problem is not with
the Lord, it is with us assuming that the "leading," or
"event," or "healing" of today will be something other than
what it obviously is, "the leading for today." Our expectations can
hurt us. A disciple follows. We are servants, workers in His harvest; but He is
God, our Lord, and we follow whether it makes sense to us or not. If He tells
us to dig a hole today and it gets filled in tomorrow, that is His business.
(Those of us who were in the military already understand this as standard
operating procedure. J) We are servants of God and followers of Christ and workers in the
harvest.
Genesis 49
Now, most of these blessings are cryptic. Other than God, no
one really knows what they all mean. Glean from these blessings what you can
from what is obvious. And one other thing, in Bible study methods there is a
thing called "the law of proportion." That means, in making
observations, look for the length of the blessings. Two blessings stand out as
having a larger proportion of text, and therefore, of Jacob's attention and
blessing.
Vs. 1-2 It is hard to know if this event was something all
families did or whether it was expected. This was more than standing around
someone's death bed. Given the importance of what had happened between Isaac,
Jacob, and Esau, all of the sons might have known that a moment like this was
coming and I'm sure they expected the blessing to be given to Joseph.
Vs. 3-4 Reuben is both preeminent and unstable. He doesn't
get a blessing.
Vs. 5-7 The brothers murderous do not get a blessing.
Vs. 8-12 These are very important verses. As we read these
it makes us wonder what it was about Judah that made Jacob elevate him. I've
been pointing to this as we've read, so some of the guess work is taken out. If
you look at all the symbols you'll see that Judah will have victory like a
lion; he will rule forever and he will have prosperity and blessing. All of
this becomes more visible in David and it is all fulfilled in Jesus, the
eternal King, the promised child and the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5).
V. 13 This is interesting because Jacob is actually saying
what Zebulun's land allotment would be about 490 years before Joshua divided
the land. For Moses and the people this would be somewhat interesting.
Vs. 14-15 This "blessing" on Issachar hardly seems
complimentary. It may be that we don't understand the figures of speech and
this was saying that Issachar would be strong and enjoy serving.
Vs. 16-18 I always wonder about this "blessing."
Dan was the first of the tribes to fall into idolatry. Is that in here
somewhere? Only the Lord knows. Notice
the number of verses here compared to the next three sons.
V. 19 I suppose this blessing on Gad can be seen as
complimentary.
V. 20 It looks like the best cooks of Israel will come from
Asher.
V. 21 Naphtali would apparently give Israel beautiful
children. The area of Naphtali was
around the Sea of Galilee.
Vs. 22-26 You can see that Judah and Joseph receive the
largest blessings.
V. 27 This may be showing us that those of the tribe of
Benjamin would become skillful fighters. Also, the only left-handed people we
know of in the Bible were warriors from the tribe of Benjamin. (Judges 3:15 and
20:16)
Vs. 28-33 This is the final instruction of Jacob and his
death.
V. 31 Call me sentimental, but I think it is "sweet"
that God chose Leah to be buried in the family tomb with Sarah and Rebekah, the
women of the promise. Leah was unloved, yet was blessed by God and bore more
children than any of the other women. And through Leah came the Christ.
Matthew 15:29-16:12
As Jesus returned to Galilee from Tyre and Sidon, He went
through a region called the Decapolis or Ten Cities. These cities had large
Gentile populations.
Matthew 15:29-39
Vs. 29-31 Jesus' "attractional" ministry had the
effect of gathering a crowd for Him to teach. Jesus' miracles were acts of
mercy and were evidence that the Father was in Jesus and had sent Him. Faith
and welcoming Christ as Savior and Lord were always the main point of the
miracles He did. The effect of feeding the 5000 (read John 6) was to expose the
crass need fulfillment of the people. The people who ate were the people who
later rejected Jesus. This is why disciples should never be fooled by numbers.
People (and Christians are people) use churches. Good leaders and disciples,
who make disciples, focus people on the necessity of living faith, following
Christ into the harvest, as disciples making disciples in the harvest. Church is never
ever about a crowd or primarily about our needs. Church is about strengthening
and encouraging the disciples in the harvest. Nothing should distract us from
the mission.
V. 31 Notice that they glorified the God of
Israel. Many of these people would have been Gentiles.
Vs. 32-39 This "feeding" had several purposes. It
gave the disciples more training in handling a large group, and it gave them
confirmation that they could depend on God. The people were mostly Gentiles,
showing both the people and the disciples, that Jesus and His offer would be
going to the Gentiles. And it set them up for what was about to happen with the
Pharisees.
Notice that there were 4000 men besides women and children.
This means you can take the number for this feeding (and the previous feeding)
and triple it. This was a very large crowd.
Matthew 16:1-12
Vs. 1-4 Jesus had already rebuked the Pharisees and
Sadducees regarding seeking signs, but He added a new "picture" here.
Jesus points them to their ability to look at the sky and understand the
weather. So then, why couldn't they figure out what was happening at that time
with Him in Israel? The miracles, healings, and feedings were hard things to
ignore. Jesus is telling them that they were suppressing truth by purposely
missing the obvious. The real issue was sin. They didn't want to believe,
regardless of the evidence.
Vs. 5-12 So what is the leaven
of the Pharisees? In Luke 12:1 Jesus tells the disciples that it is
hypocrisy. It is teaching that gives lip service to the truth, allowing people
to say they are obeying when they are actually disregarding the obvious truth.
Since Jesus is warning His disciples, it means they could do that too. The
tragedy of saying one thing and living another is all too common in the church.
We laugh at the disciples in the boat, acting like the 12
stooges, "Hey, did you bring bread? No, I didn't. I thought it was your
turn. Nuts, I think Jesus wants bread. Holy cow, we're in trouble." I'm
sure this was a moment when Jesus just shook His head.
This is a very interesting lesson. They missed what Jesus
was saying because they were anxious for their daily needs. How often do we not
hear the Lord because of the cares of this life? Jesus has already taught them
the importance of not worrying or being anxious about food or clothing or
anything else. This then is one of the reasons disciples need to live in
complete trust in His care. If not, we get embroiled in life and fail to hear
His voice.
Psalm 20
Vs. 1-5 These read like a benediction pronounced on others
by David. Notice the repetition of may.
Vs. 6-9 David can give this pronouncement of blessing
because of his experience with the Lord. God's promises and steadfast love
never failed.
Proverbs 4:20-27
Imagine that this is the Father speaking to you and that the
"word" is not simply these proverbs, but the entire Word of God. His
Word is for the heart of faith that sees through the eyes of faith that God
deeply loves us and is trying to help us in this world of death. That pleading
that Solomon is doing is really the Spirit pleading with you. Notice the
commands or exhortations in these verses. The strength, joy and desire of a
disciple is to follow Christ into the harvest, abiding in Him and His Word,
bearing fruit to the glory of the Father. That is the path we are to ponder.
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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