If you don't
have a One Year Bible or prefer something online, this link will take you to
the day's reading, http://oneyearbibleonline.com/daily-oyb/. This
site allows you to select from several languages and several English
translations.
JANUARY 20
Genesis 41:17-42:17
Genesis 41:17-57
Vs. 17-33 Knowing that the dream came from God makes it a very
interesting dream. What stands out to me is the length. Fourteen years is a
long time.
Vs. 34-36 Joseph was a "full-service" dream revealer. I'm
sure this was part of God's working too.
Vs. 37-45 Talk
about "rags to riches!" This deal included power, authority and a
wife. Isn't it interesting that God had this planned all the time and never
told Joseph? God was making Joseph a certain kind of man that He could trust
with this kind of power and responsibility. Joseph never knew what was coming
and he could have given up; but then, God kept just enough favor and blessing
coming, to keep Joseph encouraged through his trials. And He can do this with
us. His wisdom and working are beyond our comprehension, or as Paul said in Romans
11:33-36, O the depth of the riches and
wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how
inscrutable his ways! "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has
been his counselor?" "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be
repaid?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be
glory forever. Amen.
Vs. 46-57 In this summary of the fulfilling of the dreams and the
success of Joseph's work, there is some very interesting information.
V. 46 Notice how old Joseph was when he entered into service. He was
sold when he was 17 and now he is 30. He was a slave for 13 years. The years
with Potiphar and in the prison taught Jacob skills. He learned the language,
the customs, the business of buying and selling, and he learned the laws. But
he was still a slave and still suffered under the injustice of what his
brothers had done to him. And then, there was the injustice of what Potiphar's
wife did to him. I'll bet that was a long 13 years.
Vs. 50-52 What does the naming of his children tell you? We make Joseph
out to be a superhero, and he was, sort of. Still, I'm not getting the idea
that he knew yet what God was up to. The names show that Joe was still grieving
and healing, and this, many years later. The year before the famine means that
Joe was now 36 and hadn't seen his family for 19 years, over half of his life.
V. 57 All the "world" in that area of the world knew there
was grain in Egypt. Egypt would have been a hopping place.
Genesis 42:1-17
Time has passed. To see how many years it was now since Joseph had seen
his brothers, peek ahead at Genesis 45:6.
Vs. 1-5 After all these years, we finally hear something about Jacob
and the family. Actually, the adventures of Judah (chapter 38) have taken
exactly as long. What does v. 4 suggest to you? In Jacob's thinking, Benjamin
was the only remaining son of the Rachel side of the family. By now all of the
other men had their own wives, families, tents, servants and herds.
Vs. 6-17 This is Joseph meeting his brothers.
V. 9 What is the importance of this verse? What does this tell you
about Joseph and his thinking the past __ years? It does not seem to me that
Joseph anticipated seeing his brothers or had given the significance of his
past dreams any thought until now.
Why do you think Joseph is treating them so roughly? I don't think it
has anything to do with revenge. The last time Joe saw them, they were
murderous, merciless men.
We'll put more of this together tomorrow. It is enough to say that, as
disciples, God doesn't do everything in our lives at once. We often look back
and say that we should have known or understood something at a certain time in
our lives, or we wish we had. The Father is a good teacher. His plan is vast
and He teaches us in His time. He opens our eyes according to His timing and
plan. In the meantime, even in our struggles, we trust Him and follow in the harvest.
Matthew 13:24-46
It would be a good exercise to think of how all of these parables fit
together. The parable of the sower comes first, then the wheat and the weeds,
then the mustard seed and leaven, then the ditty on parables, then the explanation of the
wheat and weeds, then the hidden treasure and finally the pearl of great price.
I think I have it figured out, but your exercise will benefit you more than my
ideas, and don’t try to Google and find someone else’s explanation. Do it
yourself.
Vs. 24-30 The wheat and the weeds. Jesus gives the parable here and
then the explanation later. This parable is similar to the parable of the net
and the fish later, but this story has the twist of there being an enemy. So,
what do you think the role of the enemy is here? The weeds don't keep the wheat
from being harvested, but they do make the growth of the wheat more difficult
and it makes the harvest more work. Ultimately all the wheat will get into the
barn and all the weeds will be burned. It seems like the impact of weeds is the
difficulty during the present time regarding the growth of the wheat and the
kingdom.
Vs. 31-32 In Jesus saying that the mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds, I don’t believe He is trying to make a
scientific statement. In the experience of the people listening, the mustard
seed was a very small seed, probably the smallest they had to deal with. What
do you think Jesus is teaching about the kingdom in this parable? It seems like
the point is that of a small beginning being contrasted with the huge result.
I've heard some people suggest that the birds are evil, but I don't see that.
In other places a king's sovereignty and power is expressed in his ability to
provide shelter to the birds and animals.
V. 33 Again, this is a positive expression of the kingdom being small
in its beginning and size, but permeating everything though unseen.
Vs. 35-36 As Matthew has done before, he is showing that Jesus was
fulfilling the words of the OT prophets. It is interesting to see who this
prophet was. Look at Psalm 78:2.
Vs. 36-43 This is pretty straightforward, dealing with the end of the
Tribulation and the second coming of Christ. Still, notice that the time of the
impact of the parable is now and the difficulty the weeds present to the
growing wheat and the growing kingdom. The angels won't break into a sweat
doing their part. Notice in v. 43 what happens to the children of the kingdom
once the weeds are removed. I think that helps show the point of the parable.
V. 44 This is pretty easy to understand. Is knowing Christ worth
everything? Paul thought so in Philippians 3:8.
Vs. 45-46 Ditto. Isn't it interesting that the dream to Pharaoh was
repeated twice using different figures? Here we are given something similar.
That it is said twice means that it is certain and true, fixed by God. (Genesis 41:32)
Given the importance of understanding what Jesus is saying, as
disciples we can ask ourselves if we are giving enough of ourselves to growing
in Jesus and serving Him in the harvest. Is knowing Christ the most important
thing in our lives, visible in all we say and do and spend our time on? The
hidden treasure and the pearl are an invitation to a willing heart. I've been
following for 35 years, and although I agree with the "give
everything" teaching, I still catch myself holding back from really giving
everything. These parables are a constant invitation and exhortation to give
everything and follow our Lord in the harvest. That's what disciples do. Or as
someone has said, "To give all that you are for all that He is; this is
the gospel according to Jesus."
Psalm 18:1-15
Vs. 1-6 As with most of the psalms so far, the first six verses are
great encouragement and will resonate with those who have been in the press and
have desperately needed the Lord to rescue them.
Vs. 7-15 These images are of God coming to David's rescue. What do you
see in the images that follow, that is interesting to you? To me this was
figurative of how God vindicated and brought David to the throne, but it looks
literal with regard to the events in Revelation before the Son comes to His
throne.
Proverbs 4:1-6
These verses seem autobiographical. Solomon is recounting David sitting
down with him and talking.
It seems to me that Solomon wrote this during a period when he was
close to the Lord, but he drifted later in life. Rehoboam, Solomon's son, did
not heed this advice. The inspiration of the Spirit and the truth of God's
words remain, even though the messenger didn’t heed his own message. Here’s
what Paul said to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:16, Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. (RSV "and
your teaching") Persist in this, for
by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.
It makes sense, doesn’t it, and it really applies to us as disciples
making disciples.
The other thing that hits me and applies to us as disciples is v. 6, love her, and she will guard you.
Apparently in Solomon's later years, he loved something else.
For us as disciples, for our entire lives following Christ, there is no
more secure place on the planet than abiding in and loving our Lord, staying in
His Word, working in His harvest. Life situations change. Our ages change. Our
Savior, His love and His salvation remain the same. It is our love for Him and
our hope in Him that keeps us.
Please Read
the Following Disclaimer
I'm writing the Reading Notes to and
for those who are following a One Year Bible and are 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, that is, 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 and important discipleship manual we have and it is the 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, or whom we are to be following. 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, as disciples, 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, making disciples in the harvest.
If you would like a more descriptive
commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary (BKC).
I read the BKC in doing background for the Reading Notes and refer to it quite
often. I also make reference to maps or charts in the BKC, though I will only
note where those resources can be found. Often you can do a search for these
and find them in Google books. Buying both volumes of the Bible Knowledge
Commentary would be a good idea.
I am not endorsing any particular
One Year Bible translation; in fact, I read something you probably don't, Die
Revidierte Lutherbibel, 1984. Unless noted, all Scripture quotes are from the
ESV Bible.
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. Often there is a breadth of opinion on certain events, both
historical and prophetic. Many of my views come from my church background,
theological training and my personal study.
I'm
doing this with discipleship in mind, meaning, I'm writing out thoughts that
will keep discipleship and our growth as disciples applied to what we are
reading. Remember, the real focus of the Reading Notes is to be a
supplement, a disciple’s commentary, giving motivation and insight so that we
will keep following our Lord in the harvest, reaching the lost and making
disciples, who make disciples. Being in
the Word every day, sitting at Jesus’ feet, learning directly from Him, is the
essential essence of being and making disciples.
May the Lord bless you as you follow
Him in the harvest, reaching the lost and making disciples, who make disciples. Dan
The daily installments of the Reading Notes can be found at http://fencerail.blogspot.com/
If you would like documents containing an entire month of the
Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes.
If you would like a full presentation of discipleship read Simply Disciples*Making Disciples.
Or if you are struggling with insomnia and would like a long
boring dissertation on disciple making, these can both be found on https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes.
Reading Notes ©, Dan Kachikis 2011
The One Year Bible © by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton
Illinois 60189
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) Copyright ©
2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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