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 1, 2018
I've written the Reading Notes as a help and supplement to leaders
leading discipleship cells. I am not suggesting that everyone read these,
although that might be helpful. The main goal is to have everyone reading The
One Year Bible each day. The Holy Spirit will work with that. For each
person who desires to go deeper and to lead others, answering questions and
adding perspective and detail to the Bible passages, the Reading Notes might be
a help.
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. This would mean that if we were to meet in a cell on any
given evening, we could discuss the Bible reading up to and including that day,
regarding our walk as disciples. The important thing is that people are in the
Word. The leader doesn't need to be a teacher. He just needs to see that people
are in the Word, are interacting and then, when necessary, he can add some
perspective or clarification.
When the year is done, I'm hoping, with your
ideas and mine together, we will have a guide for discipleship to lead a group
through one year of using The One Year Bible as a discipleship tool. Every
year I read like this, I glean more from the reading. The Spirit uses our
growth and our life situation to put His finger on words and thoughts that take
on importance as we follow Christ. So, reading the Word each year will always
be new because of our changing walk and the lives of the new people who will be
in these groups.
In doing this, going through the Bible like this, we are modeling, for
others, the importance of reading the Word and learning from the Lord. We are
also equipping them and helping them become disciples who will feed themselves
from the Word and be able to reproduce this in the lives of others. What a
great privilege.
I'd encourage you to get hard copy of The One Year Bible. I like
to have a book in hand, old school, to mark up and make lines all over. If you
don't have one 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,
though not from the ESV. If you prefer to have a hard copy of the Reading Notes
(I do), you can find documents for each month at www.sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis.
Genesis 1-2:25
In reading the creation account, a disciple is faced with a challenge
of faith and trust. How big will we allow God to be in our lives?
The creation account is very "matter of fact." God doesn't
present Himself figuratively. The account is simple and descriptive. Nothing
suggests that this account of creation is not literal. Our rationality or fear
of seeming irrational sneaks in and says, "But God could have made all of
this over millions of years and the seven days could be figurative." True.
But is saying this really necessary to help God, or ourselves out? If God is
God, could He have done things just this way? Can we put total trust in God
even when things don't "appear" to follow what everyone says? How big
will we allow God to be?
Some examples: The angels that came to Abraham later were in human form.
They made the bodies from the spiritual, without effort. These were full,
normal-looking human bodies, with teeth and tongues and fingerprints, made
immediately, not requiring a billion-year process.
When Jesus raised the young man in Nain, or Lazarus, both men had
decayed. Their bodies and every cell had died. They weren't somehow in
suspended animation. They were dead and decaying. For Jesus to have raised
them, it not only meant calling back the spirit, but their bodies had to be
made new and able to sustain life. To call the spirit into a decayed body
couldn't work. For Jesus to have made the body new, it would have been on the
level of a creation…a re-creation of the body. And it happened in a second and
Jesus didn't break a sweat.
The point being, the spiritual is infinitely more powerful than the
physical. God creates out of nothing, without exertion, instantly. Also, the
fact that the sun, moon and stars were made on the 4th day does not hint to the
fact that the "primitive" writers got mixed up, but simply that the
almighty God called them into existence, in a moment, at the right time, in His
planning.
This all-powerful, sovereign Creator is the Lord we follow. All things
were made through Him and without Him was nothing made that was made. Surely
there are reasons He doesn't answer every prayer the way we ask; but for the
disciple, there is never a doubt to the greatness of our Lord and Savior, or
His ability, at any time, to do what is amazing and to do far more abundantly
than we can ask or think. We serve and follow with confidence in His power.
Genesis 1
V. 1 What a way to begin a book. If you were reading last year, this
verse should sound familiar since it is just like Revelation 21:1.
V. 2 This is very different from Revelation 21. Some see the Spirit
brooding in judgment here. It was probably more like an artist walking around a
piece of marble, visualizing what it was to become.
Vs. 3-5 Day One - Light was given from God Himself. The darkness was
already there.
Vs. 6-8 Day Two - The waters above and below have suggested that there
was a thick layer of moisture in the atmosphere surrounding the entire earth, limiting
the rays of the sun and giving the earth a uniform tropical atmosphere. This
layer of water in the atmosphere would explain the waters of the flood and the
changes that came after the flood. Actually, only God and His power can account
for all of the changes.
Vs. 9-13 Day Three - This was a big day. Not only do you have dry land
and seas separated, but God planted and grew everything. Again, if we have
faith in the Lord, this shouldn't be any problem. We have plenty of examples of
what God can do in an instant, but the most deciding thing is our faith. And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a
grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and
planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you (Luke 17:6).
Vs. 14-19 Day Four - All of the days up to now are pretty straightforward,
but there are some questions about this day. First, it comes after God made the
plants. Second, it has a specific purpose, to separate and to be for signs and
seasons and for days and years.
This would mean that the sun, moon, other planets and galaxies were
made on the fourth day and they were made for us. Their purpose was to give a
"natural" day and night and for counting time. Of course there were
other reasons God made these, but these are the said reasons. We'll see in Revelation,
that life can exist without them; in fact, it will. It seems that these things
were made only for this time during the history of the earth.
Vs. 20-23 Day Five - One interesting thought here is that although the
plants were fine before the sun was made to provide energy and heat, the animals
needed the universe to be there even more than the plants. Birds and insects,
(bees, for example) need the angle of the sun and the other "signs"
for guidance. Probably all of the animals are much more instinctively aware of
the sun, moon and stars than we know.
Vs. 24-31 Day Six - This is the creation of the animals first and then us
as the finishing of God's work.
V. 26 Notice that this is the climax of creation. Nothing else has been
created in the image of God. Man then is to rule over, guide and shepherd all
that God had made. In so much of what we see with God, He always creates with a
purpose and with a sense of giving purpose and responsibility. Being made in
God's image, and being able to talk personally with God, would have given
mankind purpose, fulfillment and responsibility. It would have been cool, and
eventually we would have known and built and developed more than we have at
present. Sin ruined a lot of things.
V. 27 This is a huge verse. Every person on this planet fails to thank
God for His image. It is the thing we take for granted. It is the thing we
twist so we can sin intelligently and deny His existence. Cool. When God pulled
the "image" from Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel, chapter 4, he didn't think
it was cool; in fact, he didn't think. Nebuchadnezzar just mooed.
The second part of this verse is also to be respected and revered. God
made them male and female. Men take the gifts of God and twist them to their
own destruction. Read Mark 10:6-7 where this is quoted by Jesus. Jesus had no
other view of marriage than a man and a woman, who, by the way, did not
divorce.
Vs. 28-31 This is a fuller description of man's rule of the planet. This
authority and power that Adam was given was lost to Satan when Adam sinned. Man
came under the condemnation of sin and was no longer fit to rule the planet. Satan
apparently went from being an assistant to mankind, to being a restricting
guardian.
With all of these blessings, and before the Fall, it was a very good
day.
Note that the real division between chapters 1 and 2 is between 2:3 and
2:4. This is a good time to learn or be reminded that the verse and chapter
divisions were made by Stephen Langton in 1205. He did an amazing job, but the
divisions are not inspired and many of them are not accurate. The general
creation of chapter 1 is revisited in, and focused upon, in chapter 2, giving
some specific detail to the creation of man and woman.
Regarding the creation of woman: As followers of Christ we know that
our world and society is "sex" saturated. We also know that we, like
King David (and countless Christians and ministers), can fall prey to sexually
related malfunctions. What I'm about to say might not have applied to Paul or
to 1% of the population, but I believe it applies to everyone else.
This account, true and literal, shows that "sex" is not the
issue with "sex.” The issue is completeness. There is a huge difference. Generally
speaking, sexual urge is something we "think" we can harness, but the
human need for completeness is an irresistible human need built into us from
creation. Ignore it, and it will run you over. Deny it, and it will find a way
of expression that will create dysfunction and pain. Completeness may be
expressed as sexual, but the real driving power is the spiritual need to be complete
as man and woman, as God made us. This is the reason God later grants a
concession for remarriage. The need He built into us is a part of us. On this
earth and especially with our spiritual sickness (sin) it will not be denied.
All this is to say that in the world of discipleship, this reality has
to be faced. Many couples are ruined and many men maimed in their walk with
Christ, because they don't take their need for being complete seriously. It
becomes spiritualized or put in the category of scratching an itch. Sexually,
they end up wounded and sidelined. Much more should be said on this subject in the
context of discipleship, but suffice it to say that this passage is an
important one every day in our world.
Genesis 2
Vs. 1-3 These verses really end the general description of creation
from chapter 1.
V. 4 This verse is huge. In a sense, it is telling us that the Bible
will be an account of the fallen history of man until this history is ended. Remember,
God had Moses begin writing this well after the Fall. The purpose of the book
is to record the redemptive history of God's working with man to save man. The
conclusion of this book will be in Revelation when God does away with these
heavens (sky, space, galaxies) and earth and creates the new heavens, new earth
and the eternal world.
Vs. 5-9 Now, the account of creation will be retold with the focus on
the creation of man.
Vs. 5-6 Notice how the order is given again, but relative to man. The
earth was planted and God watered the earth from a mist that went up. Apparently
there was no rain until the flood. This would have been complete, including the
garden, before man would have something to eat. Just like a baby, once it's out
of mom, it has to have air to breath and food to eat.
Vs. 7-9 The focus here is the garden and the provision. God planted the
garden, but Adam would have been the landscape architect.
V. 9 Here are the two trees. What a solemn verse. Death and life were
both present. The tree of the knowledge
of good and evil was not magic. The decision made there would give that
knowledge regardless of whether Adam and Eve had obeyed or disobeyed. The
decision was a spiritual action, which would either break their relationship
to God, or it would prove their love for Him. Had they made the right decision,
God would have led them to the tree of life,
where they would have received eternal life and their "innocent"
nature would have been transformed into a mature, sinless "spiritual"
nature. God could have then turned around and judged Satan and the entire sad
tragedy never would have been.
Vs. 10-14 This geography shouldn't make too much sense to us. Moses and
God are giving the people some general bearings. The creation of man and the
garden was between these rivers. However, the earth changed after the flood. In
those generations after the flood it is supposed that the continents drifted,
creating the continents and thereby distributing mankind all over the place. Some
of the continental drift theories make the Persian Gulf the center of a flower
that spread out east and west. Also, there would have been people in Moses' day
who would have still known about this event as history. (Remember, Moses was
well educated, meaning that nations back then had recorded historical events.) Today
it would be the same as telling children that Germany used to be divided. They'll
find that hard to believe.
Vs. 15-17 Notice that "work" was not the curse. Adam would
have been smart and energetic and creative. I'll bet he had all sorts of ideas
on what to do. And then of course, the tree of the test. Imagine, Adam had
hundreds of square miles and every imaginable tree to eat from. I'm sure that
staying away from one tree couldn't have been that big of a deal, right?
Vs. 18-25 Notice that in the creation of Eve, God was very intentional.
He made Adam feel his need. Notice that God made Adam so that even in a perfect
environment, with all his needs met, with a sense of fulfillment in being able
to make his mark on God's creation, and with being able to walk daily with God
in the cool of the evening, according to God's plan, Adam was not complete
without Eve.
V. 20 In naming the animals there wasn't just the idea of
"lordship," but rather connection. Adam would have felt personally
responsible for all of this creation that was given to him to protect and
develop.
Adam eventually probably felt lonely.
V. 22 I wonder if Adam thought it was Christmas! God brought her. This
was the first wedding and I'll bet it was God the Son who was officiating.
V. 23 What an amazing declaration. Again, the naming of woman is
connection. She would now be under his care, figuratively speaking, casting his
garment over her (Ruth 3:9 vs. Malachi 2:16) although they were both naked.
V. 24 Don't let the simplicity of this verse fool you. God is saying through
Moses that this is what began that feeling in man, that force of nature, that
event of life that is so close to us and is still so unexplainable. God did it
and it will be an irresistible part of human history until the end. Our need is
not sex; it is completion.
Also notice the order in this verse: a man leaves, joins to his WIFE (not girlfriend), and then the two
become one flesh.
These were good days on the earth. Redemption was not yet needed, but
tomorrow it will be a bad day and the beginning of all bad days on earth. It
will show us why God has left us here as disciples to follow our Lord in the
harvest.
Matthew 1-2:12
Now, the beginning of the redemptive work of our Lord.
Matthew 1
Vs. 1-17 Notice that Matthew not only uses the lineage of Joseph, but
Matthew only records God speaking to Joseph, the son of David. Matthew is doing
this for his very Jewish audience. In emphasizing David here, there is an
emphasis on grace. It was God's grace that made the covenant with Abraham. It
was God's grace that chose David and promised the Christ would be born in his
lineage. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ in its full revelation. Although
ages changed and the object of saving faith was different for Abraham, for David
under the law, and for the believer in Christ, it has always been by grace,
through faith. Note later that Paul mentions both Christ and His resurrection
and descent from David as a part of his gospel….grace and fulfillment. And in
all of that grace, the salvation of man has been the goal. As disciples we have
received grace, and it is now our mission to tell those around us that this
grace is fulfilled in Christ.
V. 11 Notice that Jechoniah (also called Jehoiachin or Coniah) was part
of Joseph's genealogy. God spoke through Jeremiah (Jere. 22:30) that Jehoiachin
would never have a descendant who was king of Israel. This is why Jesus is a
physical descendant of Mary, not Joseph. In terms of human lineage, Joseph was
Jesus' legal father, but Jesus was Mary's physical son. Jesus' claim to the
human throne of David is through Mary. In Luke 3:31 it says that Mary was
descended from David through Nathan, Solomon's brother (1 Chr. 3:5).
Vs. 18-25 Matthew is being led by the Spirit to focus on those events
of Jesus' birth that fulfilled the predictions of the law and the prophets. Again,
notice that everything is being directed through Joseph.
V. 18 In Luke we know that Mary was with Elizabeth, south in Judah, for
three months, helping Elizabeth during the birth of John. When Mary returned
home she was three months pregnant and showing, and I'm sure her explanation
sounded great.
Vs. 20-25 I think this is kind and very encouraging of the angel to
address Joseph as "son of David.” Joe must have felt down, thinking Mary
had been unfaithful. Notice that the angel tells Joseph to name the baby in v.
21 and v. 25. That would have been a great honor for Joseph knowing that this
baby was the coming Savior in the line of David.
Vs. 22-23 This is Matthew's and the Spirit's commentary on this event. God
was not just fulfilling Scripture; He was fulfilling His promises of
redemption.
Vs. 24-25 Joe was quite a guy and a man of faith. He named Jesus. Oddly
enough, what we find in Matthew regarding the times the angels spoke to Joseph
is all we know of Joe. He served God in a very quiet, obscure way.
Matthew 2
Vs. 1-2 Notice that Matthew skips the shepherds and the manger. The
wise men have no names. They came from the east, probably the area around
Babylon. It is thought that the inspiration for their waiting and observing
came from the influence of Daniel. We don't know how many wise men there were,
only that they brought three gifts.
Vs. 3-4 Herod was evil and religious. What a combination. He believed
enough to be very dangerous. He claimed to have some Jewish connection to
Israel and to have the right to claim the throne, thus being a king. If the
Messiah were to have been found, it would have been a major threat to Herod. Sin
is pretty irrational.
Vs. 5-6 This is Micah 5:2. Again, Matthew is proving to the Jewish
mind, that Jesus fulfills these prophecies.
Vs. 7-8 Wait until you see what comes of this. Herod was really an evil
genius.
Vs. 9-12 It will be fun one day to meet these guys. I remember the
first time I read this as a disciple of the Lord and realized that they found
Jesus in a house, not the stable and manger. I just kept reading this, stunned.
I'm happy to say I got over it.
Tomorrow, Joseph & family are really going to need those gifts. Stay
tuned.
One of the benefits of reading The One Year Bible is to keep the
perspective of what all this history is working toward. The OT is going to get
hard to read, but in the Gospels and Acts, we stay focused on the unfolding of
God's mission to reach a lost world. Having the New Testament along with the
Old Testament will help us see the very wise and subtle way God uses those
people in the OT to lay the foundation for our salvation.
Psalm 1
What a tremendous promise of the power of the Word in our lives. Yet,
for the disciple, it begins with the delight
in Christ and the saving plan of God. The appreciation of salvation, of His
grace to us, draws us to His Word; and in these our lives are rooted. This is
the strength of abiding in Christ as a disciple.
V. 1 The Lord wants us to be separated unto Him. This reminds me of
John 17:17, Sanctify them in the truth;
your word is truth.
V. 2 Does God really mean this? Every year I believe this more.
Vs. 3-4 This has nothing to do with outward success. It is the life of following
Christ.
Vs. 5-6 The decisions we make now not only affect the kind of life we
lead on earth, but they determine where we stand on the day of judgment when
this tragic time on earth is concluded. Will we stand in the redemption that
Jesus brings or will we stand under God's judgment?
It is easy to read this psalm and enjoy the imagery and say,
"Amen!” But how many of us will really believe that we need to be in the
Bible every single day, drawing our life from Him? If you believe that, do it. Make
time and do it. No excuses. Just do it. It has been the best time of my life
for the past 20 years and I don't know where I'd be without it.
Proverbs 1:1-6
It is always sad for me to begin Proverbs, knowing that the wisest man
in the world stopped loving God, began to love everything else and died a
bitter fool. If it could happen to him, are we any better, even with the Spirit?
No, the strength of a disciple is to love Jesus and to learn directly from Him, abiding in His Word, and following Him into the harvest.
The wise and understanding (Matt. 11:25)
don't get to see what little children
see who simply and humbly hear God's Word and do it.
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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